Stem Research On Stem Cell Research - 1530 Words

Cody Kojima Mr. Higa Capstone 2 October, 2014 Stem Cell Beats Ethic Issues Stem cell research is the most controversial topic in the health field since abortion. Stem cell research however, has the potential to unlock an infinite amount of possibilities as well be the key to curing patients with terminal illnesses. Many people from around the world have their opinions on this type of research dealing with ethics, politics, and religion. The most efficient way to study stem cells is taking them from donated embryos (which have been banned in the United States). This research process is claimed to be unethical. The fact is that stem cell research if ever accepted in society, will lead to one of the biggest, if not the biggest medical revolution in the twenty-first century. Stem cells are basically undeveloped cells. Though this may sound insignificant, these cells have the potential to develop into any cell during the early development stages. The goal of stem cell research is to use these cells to cure degenerative and term inal illnesses such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, heart disease, lung disease, and various types of cancer. The purpose of researching these stem cells is to see what else they can develop into thus creating more possible cures for patients. It seems like a simple science experiment but it is truly the exact opposite. Anything having to do with the embryonic membrane such as abortions brings up many controversial issues. In 2005, the North EastShow MoreRelatedStem Research On Stem Cell Research1747 Words   |  7 PagesEnglish 111-36 25 November 2014 Stem Cell Research Stem cell research has cultivated a new, miraculous study in the health field. The study has led to an increase in curing diseases over the past couple of decades. Before stem cell research, diseases were destroying and devastating lives continuously on end. With the use of stem cells in modern time, diseases are no longer taking control of lives. The innovation in biomedical technology, such as stem cell research, has greatly impacted the understandingRead MoreStem Research On Stem Cell Research1271 Words   |  6 Pages! ! ! Stem Cells Research ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Jabaree Shipp English III NCVPS Mrs.Gallos 8, December 2014 ! ! ! ! ! ! Throughout most of our lifetime on Earth many have pondered the thought of how they and the things around them have been created. They wondered what makes grass grow to what makes themselves grow mentally and physically. Through extensive research and major advancements in technology over these years, decades, and centuries we still have no answer to our own questions. But, we do howeverRead MoreStem Research On Stem Cell Research1318 Words   |  6 Pagesknown as Stem Cell Research (SCR). Stem Cell Research is a relatively new field that has shown much promise to help deal with hundreds of different conditions and diseases. Though this astounding field holds the key to saving thousands of lives, there is a misguided ethical problem with Stem Cell Research raised by the church. The church only focuses on one aspect of harvesting stem cells when there is more than one way to get stem cells. This isn’t the only thing that is holding SCR back. Stem CellRead MoreStem Research : Stem Cell Research1692 Words   |  7 Pages Stem Cell Research As stem cell research progresses, it is essential that we think about the issues encompassing our future. One of the exceptionally debated topics, stem cell research, is gathering a lot of information. Stem cell research is as of now is legal in many nations. The united states, regularly a pioneer in all things new and energizing is one of the last to investigate this topic. As this sort of examination continues advancing, as citizens, we will in all likely need to vote onRead MoreStem Research On Stem Cell Research1212 Words   |  5 PagesStem Cell Research Jason Bernard BIOL-10000 July 26, 2015 Introduction In this essay, I hope to analyze both sides of the debate, and also learn more about the topic and share that information. Prior to researching this topic, I feel that any research that can help prevent or cure diseases, than the research should receive full funding and support. What Are Stem Cells? Stem cells were first discovered in the 1960s by Dr. James Till and Dr. Ernest McCulloch, professors at the University of TorontoRead MoreStem Cell Research : Stem Cells1338 Words   |  6 Pages Stem Cells Stem cells are cells that are found throughout the human body. They reproduce over a long period of time without changing. Stem cells can produce specialized cells, such as brain, muscle or lung cells. Stem cells in the last few years have recently made a big debut because medical professionals have discovered so many unique qualities to stem cells. They are on the cutting edge of medicine because of all their uses and the qualities that make them so unique from any other cell in theRead MoreStem Cell Research : Stem Cells941 Words   |  4 PagesStem cells have the extraordinary power to develop into several body cell types during early growth and development. (Stem Cell Basics). Stem cells are either embryonic: from a human fetus, or somatic: from an adult (Stem Cell Basics).These cells can be used to rebuild body tissue, treat diseases, and even cure others. They can be more effective in treatment of illness than the common treatment, such as therapy or medication. Stem cells a re potentially more medically effective than traditional treatmentsRead MoreStem Cell Research : Stem Cells1416 Words   |  6 PagesSTEM CELLS In this report, I mainly focused on Stem-Cells. You will read about Stem-Cells and its history from the moment this term was known. Also, you will know the Sources, properties, and the types of Stem-Cells. In addition, you will know some of the pros and cons researches about Stem-Cells. Stem-Cells are cells that have the ability to divide and multiply and renew itself. †¢ Sources of Stem-Cells: 1- The first source is Bone Marrow. 2- The second source isRead MoreStem Cells And Stem Cell Research1310 Words   |  6 Pagesnonspecialized cells which have the potential to create other types of specific cells in order to survive? Those cells are called Stem Cells and they are very crucial to develop organisms. Stem cell research is a subject that most people in the world have a different viewpoint on. Some view the issue of stem cell research and stem cell therapy as morally wrong and a crime against humanity, others view the study of stem cells as the next step in modern science (Reeve.) I think in some twisted way, stem cellRead MoreStem Cell Research : Stem Cells1261 Words   |  6 Pagescure diseases. Now we have stem cell therapy. Stem cells promise future cures for many currently considered to be â€Å"incurable† diseases, but with more research, we can overcome the controversy surrounding this this topic and help people live longer, improve their quality of life, and save many many lives. To understand the big hype about stem cells, one must know what a stem cell is. Stem cells have specialized functions that have the potential to become any type of cell in the body. According to

Why Did the American Banking System Fail - 2387 Words

1. Introduction To understand the development and the impact of the financial crisis, the following paragraph gives a general overview about the timeline of the financial crisis and the series of reactions which caused, at the end, the failure of the American banking system and led to a worldwide economic downturn with the result of the global economic crisis. The topic of this paper is the failure of the American banking system, but as the banking systems of the whole world are interdependent, the whole situation and the whole crisis has to be investigated. 2. Timeline of the economic downturn As a result of the declining U.S. house prices in 2006 and 2007, refinancing became more difficult and as adjustable-rate mortgages began to†¦show more content†¦It is hard to identify only one responsible party or institution, it is more a complex interaction of ignorance, megalomania and greed which lead to the collapse of the American and international banking system. 4. The dream of owning a house The â€Å"American Dream† of owning an own house can be stated as one basic issue leading to the financial crisis. The issue is that banks borrowed money to individuals and families who had a relatively low income. This was possible because the interest rates were low and at the beginning, they did not even have to pay any interests. This fact allowed even poorer families to afford their own houses. This system worked well for a long time, because interest rates were low and house prices were growing steadily. This system of lending money from a bank and paying very low interest rates also worked in other areas despite the housing sector. But this system was predicted to fail at a certain moment. Interest rates began to increase and many of the house owners could not pay the money back which they borrowed from the banks. As a result, many house owners had to sell their houses which led to decreasing house prices on the market. The major problem in this vicious circle was that the banks partly had sold their outstanding receivables of their own clients to investment banks and funds. As some house owners could not pay their money back, this caused a mistrust amongst severalShow MoreRelatedThe History And Future Of The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation900 Words   |  4 Pagesimportant to understand why and how it was created, its history, major responsibilities and who the leaders are. FDIC Creation and History After the Stock Market Crash of 1929, Americans immediately withdrew their money from banks, causing numerous bank failures all over the nation. Multiple bank panics in 1930 and 1931 increased the severity of the Stock Market Crash and turned it into the Great Depression. As panic spread, money withdrawal did too, leading to an unstable banking system. Between 1929 andRead MoreArguments for and Against Complex Regulation in Banking Essay1121 Words   |  5 Pagesmaster everything and put as much limits as they can to avoid crisis. Yet, it cannot be denied that among the sectors â€Å"affected† by regulation, the area of banking is one of the most important. In an original speech pronounced in August 2012, Andrew Haldane, the director of the Bank of England denounced a too much complicated regulation in banking. If Haldane admits that the regulation is inevitable, it remains that a complex regulation is sometimes useless. Haldane’s speech entitled â€Å"The dog and the Read MoreThe Federal Open Market Committee1313 Words   |  6 Pages Abstract The Federal Reserve System has three branches: the Board of Governors, The Federal Open Market Committee, and Reserve Banks. The Federal Reserve System (Fed) supplies and regulates America’s money to all the banks. The Board of Governors is the main authority of the three branches of the Fed, and it supervises other banks. The Federal Open Market Committee is the most prominent policymaker of the three branches and regulates the supply of money in the economy. Federal ReserveRead MoreBank Regulations : The Backbone Of The U.s. Economy1102 Words   |  5 PagesTherefore, we live in a system that affects us every day. Banks have certain requirements and instruments that help them stay open and be profitable. In the 1990s, interstate banking was finally permitted to create nationwide banks of unprecedented size. Congress s also attempted to force banks to make home loans to people who had limited creditworthiness. These regulations are a major factor in why as many banks failing and disappearing today as we did pre Federal Reserve System. Bank regulations areRead MoreAnalysis Of Paulo Freire s The Banking Concept Of Education905 Words   |  4 Pagesessay â€Å"The Banking Concept of Education,† Paulo Freire Explains his view of the educational system. His essay is primarily based on two types of educational methods, which are the â€Å"banking education† and the â€Å"problem-posing education†. Banking education resists the communication between the student and the teacher, and it does not encourage critical thinking. Problem-posing education gives the students liberation to dialogue and encourages critical thinking. In this essay, I will explain why I promoteRead MoreThe Great Depression And The Glass Steagall Act1683 Words   |  7 PagesHenry Lehman and his two brothers Emanuel and Mayer in 1850. Lehman Brothers was able to overcome many obstacles– â€Å"the railroad bankruptcies of the 1800s, the Great Depression of the 1930s, two world wars, a capital shortage when it was spun off by American Express in 1994, and the Long Term Capital Management collapse and Russian debt default of 1998.† (Investopedia) But the collapse of the housing market was one obstacle they could not overcome. During the Great Depression the Glass-Steagall Act wasRead MoreThe Financial And Banking System Of The Standard Chartered Bank Iranian Transaction Scandal1466 Words   |  6 PagesThe Financial and Banking System of: Standard Chartered Bank Iranian Transaction Scandal Presented In Partial Fulfillment of the Course Requirements for FIN 4634 International Banking Prepared for: Marcos A. Kerbel Participating Adjunct Professor Department of Finance Real Estate Florida International University Miami, Florida Prepared by: Deyved Massaad 3316868 786-266-1849 dmass019@fiu.edu 10/05/2015 †¢ What are ethics and their importance in global banking and business todayRead MoreGlass Steagall Act For Banks And Securities1549 Words   |  7 Pages Glass-Steagall Act for Banks and Securities The banking and securities industries had regulations since the 1930s or earlier. The laws were there to help regulate and give depositors some security. For one reason or another, the law has been changed, updated or appealed. The Banking Act of 1933, known as the Glass–Steagall Act named after the Congressional sponsors: Senator Carter Glass, a former Treasury Secretary and Senator Henry Steagall (Heakal). The Glass-Steagall Act foresaw problemsRead MoreThe Great Recession Of 20081388 Words   |  6 Pages The great recession of 2008 affected everyone around the world. The great Recession is considered the second worst economic crisis in American history, behind the Great Depression. The Recession of 2008 was caused by two major faults: the use of subprime lending and changes in banking culture leaning towards self interest within the banking industry. There is no doubt that subprime lending was a major cause of the Recession. It was a tactic used by investment banks in order to get more moneyRead MoreToo Big to Fail Essay732 Words   |  3 Pages1. (Up to about 25:00) Why did Henry Paulson have to call all the CEOs to make a private sector deal? What deal? Why did Henry Paulson think that the private sector solution was necessary? Explain from the point of the idea of Moral Hazard. The taxpayers would not be willing to go for another bailout therefore trying to fix this issue with a private sector deal seemed a better fit for this situation. The deal would assemble all the major banks CEOs in a room and they would have

Haywin the Painting Essay Example For Students

Haywin the Painting Essay This painting shows us a beautiful scene of the countryside along with a cottage type of house made of brick and wood. There is so much variety shown in this composition with all of the amazing details. Directly behind the house and in the background you can see a lot of amazing trees, and in the beautifully painted blue sky. The sky is filled with puffy clouds lazily floating across the sky. A few of the clouds are shaded a grey color as if a storm is moving in chin. John Constable has a way Of accurately showing us nature in this landscape scene, and by accurately showing us this John Constables theme of unity between man and nature is realized, and because the humans in this painting seem to blend into the artwork. Like in the pond like body of water are two humans that are trying to get the horse drawn wagon across the body of water. It is almost like we are not supposed to be drawn to the humans in the painting. There are no real features that stand out much on the humans there are just kind of there. The go has more details on him then the humans, hut it is all still amazing. If we look at the painting some more you can see that there is a medium sized body of water in the foreground of the painting, am confused about what type of body of water it is, but most likely it is a shallow pond that is fed tromp a very small stream which can he seen in the background of the painting, In Haying you can see a contrast between the pool Atwater, the tall beautiful trees and the bold brick house. The different colors complement each other throughout this ice and are repeated to add harmony to the piece of artwork. The cool blue colors of the pool of water are reflected in the sky causing a symmetrical balance within the painting. Also in Haying the red of the house is highlighted in the trees everywhere In the pond like body of water are two humans that are trying to get the horse drawn wagon across the body of water. The horses themselves are really beautiful, they are black and dark brown, and the red is seen again in the harness of the horses.

Love marriages Essay Example For Students

Love marriages Essay Haralambos (1995, pg 317) stated in his book that the family is regarded as the cornerstone of society. It forms the basic unit of social organization and it is difficult to imagine how human society could function without it. In the past the family has been seen as an institution, which has formed the foundations of many societies throughout the world such as morality and the progression of economics. On the other hand, in the light of various observers, the family is seen as an oppressive institution which benefits men only Delphy and Leonard cited in Haralambos (1995, pg333). In order to try and discover whether family life has lost its significance in contemporary Britain or not, there are certain types of questions that must be kept in mind and asked in order for an effective answer to be given to the title question. What are the arguments that support or rebut the notion as to whether family life has lost its significance in contemporary Britain? Why is family life even being considered to be losing its significance in contemporary Britain? The overall aim of this essay is to discover whether family life has lost its significance in contemporary Britain and by engaging in subjects such as divorce and cohabitation, one hopes to form a naturally reasoned essay structure, with the chances of a plausible conclusion may be being achieved. With the rise in love marriages and the decline in marriages for convenience, divorce in modern societies where the former type of marriage reaches a state of crisis seems inevitable. Wilson (1993) a Marxist sociologist, acknowledges the fact that changes in the law, notably the divorce act of 1969, was the most dramatic of all divorce reforms which preceded this date. The full year to which the new law was applied was 1972, and in that year there were 119,000 divorces made absolute in England and Wales (Wilson 1993, p85). On the other hand Diana Gittens (1993, p161) a feminist, notes undoubtedly divorce is a source of upset and disruption for children, yet it can also be a great source of relief and release from a previously painful and intolerant situation.  This breakdown of the ideal family unit has resulted in the creation of three different types of family units. The first unit to be created is due to divorce, which refers to the legal termination of marriage. The result is two homes created for the child/children and two families with both usually competing for the affections of the children. The second unit to be created is that due to separation, which refers to the physical splitting of the two partners and what is more of a temporary measure before a decision is reached as to whether they should get back together or divorce. This undoubtedly can go on for several years. Ultimately there is the empty shell marriage where the spouses remain legally married and live together but the love between them is close to non-existent, it is jus a marriage that exists in name and on paper only. The existence for this shell is only for the sake of the children involved, but the results are often less helpful and more damaging. An article published in The Observer 05/05/2002 Nuclear family goes into meltdown in which it discusses the fall in marriages and the rise in cohabitation, seems one of the obvious datas, which supports the idea that family life is losing its significance in contemporary Britain. It is no wonder researchers have coined a name for the emerging British household the Beanpoles. They live together and have 1.8 children.

Tess of the dUrbervilles as a Tragedy Essay Example

Tess of the dUrbervilles as a Tragedy Essay Although there is a tendency in 20th century writers, and literary critics, to approach tragedy as a high and daunting ideal, to attempt a tragedy in the 19th century was a frequent undertaking, and it is not surprising that, given Hardys brooding and unflinching intellect, the genre has a powerful presence in his stories. If his success is finest and most subtle n tragedy, he had attempted and succeeded before, and his experiments continued after Tess of the dUrbervilles. Hardy came to the writing of Tess of the dUrbervilles with a full head of steam after deciding about six years earlier that Wessex was his subject and tragedy his genre, and in the midst of a reading and thinking program that made him aware of the latest developments in late-Victorian intellectual cogitation. Some of the events associated with the cogitations of that age are social and monetary exploitation of down-and-out peasantry by nouveau riche gentry, terrorism by arrogance, intellectual adventures without a clear sense of purpose or of social obligation; larger social, industrial and agricultural movements that proceed without concern for those persons most materially and physically viscerally affected (threshers, Swede diggers); the vacuity and haplessness of social agencies such as the Church presumably set up to help those in need, but which instead work doctrinally and careeristically, and neo-complexity of all, relativism and subjectivity. We will write a custom essay sample on Tess of the dUrbervilles as a Tragedy specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Tess of the dUrbervilles as a Tragedy specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Tess of the dUrbervilles as a Tragedy specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer An interesting speculation might be whether these concepts in humanistic terms so admirable and desirable might not be ultimately responsible for the suffering of such people as Tess, who are not able to incorporate such complexities into the mundane ness of their conceptions and ambitions. First of all, the course events Tess undergoes may be considered. Tess is the eldest daughter of John Durbyfield. But later on it is discovered that they are actually descendents of the once famous knight DUrbervilles. Poor parents of Tess send her to the DUrbervilles who are actually stokes and member of the nouveau riche gentry to claim kin with them and thus, if possible, to improve their lot. But there she is seduced by Alec DUrberville and after she returns, she gives birth to a child, who dies within a few days. Then for the second time, she goes out for employment to Tallothays dairy where she is in love with Angel Clare and subsequently married to her. But on her wedding night she is deserted by Clare, and again has to go to Flintcomb Ash for work. There again she comes across Alec, who is relentlessly pursuing for her body. In the meantime Angel leave for Brazil. Tess gives her consent to live with Alec as her mistress, the reason being her familys hard up situation. Angel at last realizes his fault and returns from Brazil. Tess murders Alec, is united with Angel and within a few days is captured by the police and towards the end she is sentenced to death. As has already been pointed out that there are several aspects of the tragedy of Tess: social, individual, historical and intellectual. Arnold Kettle, the veteran Marxist critic, figure among those who are interested in the social aspect of Tesss tragedy. According to him, Tesss story, though a poignant individual case history, would not have become so famous if it were no more than that. The history and geographical background of southern England are not just a necessary background to Tesss story, they are integral to it, entering at every turn and level into the essence of the situation that Hardy describes. It is evident in the course of Tess of the dUrbervilles that industrial invasion from the northern England is posing a serious threat to southern England, the place where Tess and people of her likes live. Industrialization is destroying the social fabric of the organic community of the south. The traditional land owning class is at stake by the newly rich tradesmen, who are at least partly represented by Angel. Sifting of people from country owing to lack of employment is also happening. Tess and girls of her like are vulnerable. They are seduced by people like Alec. Arnold Kettle concludes, saying that if David Copperfield is every fathers child abused by an unkind stepfather, Tess is every innocent but ruined woman. The author himself Hardy seems to be interested in the historical perspective of Tess of the dUrbervilles. Tess is a daughter of the once influential DUrbervilles. Violence was a part of the life of the DUrbervilles and when they were extremely powerful they used to abuse young women. But history repeats itself, and there is also a bitter irony of it. Today, Tess, the descendent of the ancient DUrbervilles is abused by others. History is repeating itself but only the role has been reversed. How eloquent the irony of history is! In chapter 59, it is mentioned that . he dUrbervilles knights and dames slept on in their tombs unknowing. This famous statement, added in revision, underscores the centrality to the novel of the ancient DUrbervilles. Hardy has a serious use for the ancient family a reminder both of time and of cyclic occurrence but also f the irrelevance of the DUrbervilles in the modern world. The individual and intellectual aspects interpenetrate and overlap with each other. Tesss tragedy has both its individual and intellectual aspects. The foundation of Hardys idea of tragedy of the individual pervades the novel. Although now Tess is simply a maiden and perhaps his DUrberville background is also of little importance. But yet she is an individual whose distinction from other country girls can be marked in many events. Tesss skin is as sumple as a duchesss. It indicates that her complexion is one of her significant aspect. Hardy, the narrator, has mentioned that Tess uses two dialects one at home to converse with her mother and another, which is more standard and modified top converse with outsiders. This is clearly a distinction from other country girls. In this respect it is also significant that she has read up to the sixth standard at a school and she nurtured the hope of becoming a school teacher. Tesss sense of dignity demarcates her from the rest of the country girls. When the country folk make fun of her father she retorts. There is another aspect in her character which is probably uncommon in a male dominated society. She is always ready to take the responsibility of anything related to the fortune of her family whether it be the death of their horse, Prince or the responsibility to ensure financial sufficiency for the family. Her mother has a special liking for music and she can memorize any tune after listening to it only once. This has influenced Tess. The most significant trait in her character is that she is able to make such reflections as to amuse even Angel. He tells her that she reflects on such issues which are in keeping with the ache of modernism. An American critic, Dale Kramer, while commenting on Tesss character, has said that there is a contradiction in her character; she is a combination of mundane ness and extraordinariness. We might wish to follow a different track. Tess, on the superficial level, may appear mundane, but in reality, compared to others and given so many traits of her character, she is obviously extraordinary. In this respect what D. H. Lawrence says is unforgettable, Tess is passive out of self-acceptance, a true aristocratic quality, amounting almost to self-indifference. She knows she is herself This is a rare quality, even in a woman. And in a civilization so unequal, it is almost a weakness. This is the essence of Tesss tragedy. She is so aristocratic that she can only help, she can never be helped. Both Alec and Angel do her harm. To Alec she made a confused surrender. She discovers that she does not love him, she returns home. The chief problem of Tess if that she is looking for an identity which will fit her. It is in Angel that she finds it. But, unfortunately enough, Angle cannot detect this. He, who is a student of something and everything, has, at the beginning, loved only an image in Tess, not her real self. As soon as the image disappeared, he deserted her. It is only after a long course of sojourn in Brazil that he comes to realize his fault. But it is too late. In the seventh phase, Tess got her identity and that is her union with Angel and now she is ready to die, since she has achieved her fulfillment the peak of her prosperity. In her relationship with Angel, love is the main stimulus. But Angel cannot realize it. He cannot discover the depth of Tess love, nor its honesty. So he also suffers. She kills Alec because he was an obstacle a man between Angel and herself in the way to achieving her identity. This killing is a heroic deed, no doubt, if we consider the reason behind it. Tess assumes a heroic grandeur when she utters in Chapter 58, What must come will come. Upon awakening at Stonehenge to find police there, she echoes Aeschylus in saying, It is as it should be (Chapter 59) and also in her last words in the novel, I am ready. (Chapter 59) Towards the end Hardy provides a context for Tesss climactic suffering and tragedy obviously, directly associating his rural, quotidian sufferer with the mythological Ixion being punished in hell by being tied to a revolving wheel. (It is interesting that the Ixonean wheel is one of Schopenhauers favorite classical images. ) Society has contributed much to Tesss tragedy. It is always hostile to aristocrats of Tesss like. Hardy, Tesss creator, and perhaps only a few sensitive readers will realize the degree of cruelty and harshness committed against Tess, who is held with high esteem in their hearts, Poor wounded name! My bosom as a bed shall lodge thee.

The Definition of a Ultra Low Emissions Vehicle (ULEV)

The Definition of a Ultra Low Emissions Vehicle (ULEV) ULEV is an acronym for Ultra Low Emission Vehicle. ULEVs release emissions that are 50 percent cleaner than the current average years models. ULEVs take the LEV, Low Emission Vehicle, standard a step further but dont yet qualify for Super-Ultra Low Emissions Vehicle (SULEV)  status. Although already a concept in car manufacturers wheelhouse, the rise in popularity of ULEV vehicles came after a ruling by the California courts in 2004 that all new cars sold in the state must have at least a LEV rating. Similar measures passed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on vehicle emissions regulations have also given rise to the popularity of eco-friendly vehicles.   Origins of Low Emissions As a result of the EPAs 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act of 1970, light-duty vehicle manufacturing began to undergo a phased implementation of cleaner emissions standards. Typically restricting the output of too much carbon monoxide, non-methane organic gasses, oxides of nitrogen, formaldehyde, and particulate matter, these regulations sought to downsize the carbon footprint of the automobile industry in the United States. The phases of this plan rolled out Tier 1 classifications from 1994 through 1999 with Tier 2 implemented from 2004 to 2009.   As part of Californias 2004 low-emissions vehicle initiative, which provided much stricter regulations for qualifying as a low-emission vehicle, the tiers were further broken down into six sub-classifications: Transitional Low-Emissions Vehicles (TLEV), LEV, ULEV, SULEV, Partial-Zero Emissions Vehicle (PZEV) and Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV). In 2009, President Barack Obama announced a new initiative to further decrease emissions outputs for American auto consumers. This included expanding the classifications definitions as well as standardizing Californias 2004 bill as a federally mandated program, requiring manufacturers to produce a net emissions output of their vehicles (meaning the combined average of each vehicles emissions rating) that equaled  more than 35.5 miles per gallon. Common Examples The number of ULEVs on the road has exponentially increased annually since 1994, though it wasnt until the 2010s that the market for LEVs really took off. Still, decades of experience have taught car manufacturers one thing: eco sells. More and more, companies are rushing to meet requirements for their vehicles to qualify as LEVs.   Examples of these Ultra-Low Emissions Vehicles have begun cropping up more and more frequently starting with 2007s Honda Odyssey minivan, the 2007  Chevrolet  Malibu Maxx and the 2007  Hyundai Accent. Prices are typically midrange for these mid-range low-emissions autos, encouraging more consumers to be eco-conscious with their driving habits.   Fortunately, the advent of such fuel economy measuring tools as the instant fuel economy display  also helps further combat fuel waste by alerting drivers to the real-time miles per gallon fuel consumption their car requires to operate given the drivers handling of the vehicle. Most cars produced in the United States now qualify at the very least as LEVs, with emissions across the board now down to less than one percent of emissions allowed in the U.S. in the 1960s.   Soon, hopefully, we will move further away from gasoline-reliant vehicles and instead switch to electric or hydro-powered engines.

Famous Filmmaker Robert Rodriguez Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Famous Filmmaker Robert Rodriguez - Essay Example While Rodriguez today has achieved tremendous critical acclaim this was not always the case. Rodriguez started from humble beginnings and in-large part carved the path for his own success. This essay examines Chicano filmmaker Robert Rodriguez. Robert Rodriguez is Chicano American, with both of his parents -- Rebecca Villegas and Cecilio G. Rodrà ­guez – being of Mexican descent. While many people struggle to discover their path in life, from a young age Robert Rodriguez knew he was interested in artistic production. In his autobiography, Rodriguez indicates that â€Å"I associate my earliest memories with the movie theatre† (Rodriguez, p. 1). Here there is the recognition that Rodriguez formative youth was occupied by his life at the movie theatre. One considers the understanding that oftentimes foreign languages are difficult to learn late in life. Rodriguez early youth obsession with the cinema seems to have profoundly affected his cognitive development. Rodriguez indicates that his mother took him to the Olmos Theatre in San Antonio and he would watch classic films (Rodriguez, p. 1). While many mothers allow encouraging their children to read books, Rodriguez mother was unique in that she encouraged the future filmmaker to watch these classic films. Rodriguez’ ability to watch classic films was a great benefit for the filmmakers, as the Olmos Theatre was a rare art-house theatre. Rodriguez access to these films then further shaped his development as a filmmaker. Rodriguez first great break as a filmmaker came after he filmed the short ‘Bedhead’. This short film featured a girl and her brother. The film had a very simple plot, with the boy having disarranged hair. The boy’s disheveled hair causes him to come into a number of conflicts with his sister, as her fastidious behavior is at odds with the boy’s awkward appearance.

Three men who have played othello Research Paper

Three men who have played othello - Research Paper Example One of the major differences that have been seen in the character of Othello has been his race. Scholars have always had controversy over Moor’s origin. Some think that he is Arabic others think that he is black. However, before the blacks got into acting, Othello’s role has been played by white actors wearing blackfaces. However, this has slowly been black actors with the white actors being quite rare today (Shakespeare, 135). In this article we are going to discuss how Orson Welles, Ira Aldridge and Tommaso Salvini have represented the character of Othello. Orson Welles was a white actor who takes the role of Othello. He applies a lot of makeup in order to appear black. He was generally able to bring out the best of the character Othello. For instance, despite the fact that he stood out of the crown not only because he was tall but he that he was very courageous and would challenge anyone. Welles Othello is a flawless lover who finds himself in caught between honesty and intrigue. He is a vulnerable hero with two personalities. At some point he is brutal and baseless and at other times he is sensitive and noble. He does not realize that his wife has been faithful and devoted all the way until it is too late and at this point he decides to commit suicide. Unlike other Othello’s who were either black or which actors who wore a blackface, Welles Othello had a brown skin and black hair. He however wore a white cap at the scenes in the beginning of the play. Iran Aldridge was the first black actor to take up the role of Othello. This was after two hundred years of white actors taking up this role. He played several other Shakespeare roles. His acting as Othello was quite spectacular and left the audience earning for more. However, since he lived in an era when racism was very ripe, he was not welcomed by the conservatives who believed that the place of black people was just being slaves. The Times once commenting on one of his performances in Covent Garden said that it was objectionable for Desdemona to be pawned upon by a black man on stage London was the hub of racism and he was not allowed to perform in London theatre. He however performed in several other cities where he got a better reception. A Russian critic commented that Iran performances â€Å"were undoubtedly the best that I have ever spent in the theatre’ (Lindfors, 64). He acted under the directions of Dowling who followed the structure of the original play closely with the lines being quite the same. He used an accent that revealed an African dialect. This was a better portray of Othello considering that he was believed to be black in the original play. Tommaso Salvini is another actor who played the role of Othello. This man had won an international reputation of performing the roles of the Shakespeare tragic heroes. He performed in various countries starting with America Europe and his home country Italy. He was a not English speaker the use of bi lingualism on stage gave this actor a unique appeal. He would say his lines in Italian alongside and English speaking Lago. He had an imposing figure giving the Othello character Intensity and passion. Some critics are of the view that he was too passionate at times. In fact, it was said that he played the last scene aggressively than was intended in the book. Rumors said that some actors would refuse to be his Desdemona for this reason. Salvini also made other

The Laramie Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Laramie - Essay Example in which religion puts people apart in the play as paradoxically as it is through judgment and the feelings when he questions if his priest and father are right about their arguments against homosexuality. The questioning raises the difference between reality and religion as well as the statement of not giving the organized religion permission of the contents of the said character (Kaufman 21). Evident from the text is the ability to differentiate between religion and spirituality. The idea of well-established religion as well as that of orthodoxy as shown in a way that practices the singular notion of the best. Such traits are depicted by Reverend Phelps when he tries to make the matter of homosexuality be the one who questions whether ones allegiance to his God as it creates a setting that looks to separate individuals from "us or them" situation (Kaufman 32).  Moreover, such also is the same as it discourages the Muslim woman in the play as it awakens the social status of some townspeople simply because of the cultural traditions.   At such point, also, one can get the difference such regards the approach that separates individuals from religion does not represent all the established religions when Matts funeral is held in a Catholic church, the time where establishment of religion does look to bring people collectively. Moreover,  there are also other religions, which cannot really be ready for them to accept fully homosexuality, and as well as its implications on the clergy, given so they cannot respond in the way of Reverend Phelps.   The play makes the greatest statement on religious views of love together with compassion by the individuals as it is seen in the play.   Those who live in the town like Jedidiah work extra hard to reconcile the meaning being loyal to the town, and they also commit themselves to the fraternity by accepting all individuals living there. Romaine Patterson also willingness to remove the perception of "angels" 23 is a good

Does Managing An Organizations Culture Replace Bureaucracy Management Essay

Does Managing An Organizations Culture Replace Bureaucracy Management Essay Bureaucracy is concerned with the imposition of rules and the attitude that management knows the best. There is a strong hierarchy, and no involvement of lower level employees; work-to-rule principle, there is division of labour and impersonality (see Fincham and Rhodes,2005). Weber argued it to be the absolute necessity in modern times since it is the most technically efficient model the decisive reason for the advancement of bureaucratic organizations has been purely its technical superiority over any other forms of organizations (Weber:1964). Therefore, the question arises as to which is the best way to achieve the coordination and control of an organization, Webers claimed technically efficient model bureaucracy, culture management using Peter and Waterman claims for Human Relations or post bureaucratic approaches and so on , which will be argued upon in this essay, and giving a conclusion in the end. Bureaucratic organizations develop a culture of the master knows all and is always right. This was facilitated by unskilled work requirements and hence, managers were able to keep important information to themselves, with no discussion with those down the hierarchy. Due to low skill levels, employees were easily replaceable, obedience to rules was fairly easy to achieve, and employees themselves were reluctant to participate due to lack of knowledge. Such a system is easily maintainable in a situation of unskilled workers, who are just required to work along the machinery pace, controlled by top management (see Charlie Chaplin- Modern times). However, employees are now more educated than ever before, they want to be appreciated for the higher level efforts they place and the greater knowledge they posses. Peter and Waterman in their book In search for excellence argue that the workers have more to give and managers have more to gain if they are willing to listen and understand employ ees feelings. This point is further justified by the issue of job security. Managers deliberately restricted individual autonomy since they feared the loss of their own positions if workers know more. They deliberately used technology to deskill work as they feared their seats being at risk. Lane(1988) argues that higher education has made managers less insecure and more willing to delegate work to those below them. The Japanese success (Clarke and Newman:1993) featuring introduction of new cost effective means of production, teamworking, and continuous production (Kaizen): someone who work daily on an issue understands the problem more than those who have virtually no practical experience about it, and small contributions by every worker leads to continuous improvement in productivity, whereas technology gives only a one off improvement, accelerated the establishment of formal culture in which employee contributions could be formally encouraged. Teamworking was giving boost to the productivity in Japan, with American firms losing out, led to the culture establishment using Mayos claim for human relations theory, and away from Webers ideal bureaucratic model. A movement from standardized mass market products to niche marketing; concentration on each individual market segment requiring flexible specialization(Piore and Sabel: 1984), increased globalization and competition(Lash and Urry:1987) and emergence of complicated technology giving power to people who possessed knowledge about it, trade unions pushing for more employment rights and shift towards demand driven economies(Moody:1987) emphasizing the inflexibility of large scale organizations, led to the emergence of Post bureaucratic Organizations(PBO), reinforcing that bureaucracy is not perfect. However, more power to those down the line may lead to chaos as everyone will be pushing forward their own ideas, PBO no longer remain stable since more worker autonomy may lead to confusion, as Willmott places it Autonomy is slavery, Bureaucracy is freedom(Willmott:1993). This may also lead to jealousy and rivalry amongst employees, and groups will be concerned about their own productivity rather than moving towards the corporate goal. Issue of inequality may arise if views of a certain person or group are given more importance than others, leading to conflicts, and deviation from the corporate mission. Decentralized culture would mean that there is a quick response to market changes, in competitive environment decentralization will help the business to keep its competitive edge and avoid time wasting in decision making. However, what will happen in situations that put the corporate image at risk? In this case, decentralization might lead to chaos and conflict only; bureaucratic organizations which are centralized maybe preferred more. Network firm arise as organization grows complex and global rather than a hierarchy: a set line of accountability and authority, free from confusion. Again, stability is at risk, as control and command in a bureaucracy are taken over by employee empowerment and participation; chaos and conflicts are inevitable(see Thompson and McHugh: 2002). Therefore, I believe managing a culture based on Post-bureaucracy doesnot completely undermine the need for bureaucracy. Bureaucracy Dysfunctions and work definition Peter and Waterman argue that bureaucratic organizations: deskilling of work, strict division of labour and strong hierarchy, may lead to monotonous, fatigue and skill rottening, which leads to workers losing interest and adverse productivity. The solution to this was provided by Dickson and Roethlisberger in their human relations theory in which they argued that management should develop a culture which is concerned towards workers needs, soul, believes, and values. Work, as defined by Watson certain effort and commitment offered by the employee to the employer in return for monetary and other rewards(Watson: 2006): these other rewards are clearly the autonomy and empowerment, being appreciated for a work well done and so on, as recognized by Mayo also. Therefore a change in the work definition from Webers work-to-rule, to Watsons commitment and effort require the establishment of a more understanding culture. Burawoy(1980) argue that workers have a moral commitment to work ; work p rovides identity, as opposed to Foucault who believes that the instrument of discipline and punishment should be used; where a normal behaviour is described and there is control depending upon the power of individual. Keeping the issue of fatigue and interest in mind, I believe that managers should concentrate on selecting the right person for the right job (see Blau and Schoenherr:1971). Whether a bureaucratic culture is preferred or a lose control one, the right employee type should be chosen to fit in. Perhaps the greatest argument made in favour of bureaucracy is by Weber that it creates an iron cage of rationality; all decisions made are free from sentiments, emotional bias and error, and every action is carried to amplify business success. The question arises, whether it is practical or just an ideology? To be rational one must possess knowledge and understanding of all the relevant information, but no ones knowledge is perfect, so can a rational decision be taken. Simon addressed this as bounded rationality. Bauman(1989) argued that too much concentration on cost effectiveness is dangerous as it may undo value (ethical) judgments. Merton(1949) argued that it might be the case that rules become more important than result, which may lead to inefficiency, as thought by Blau(1955), who feared that trade unions may set up an agreement of work to rule only. Ritzer(2000) argued that bureaucracy has dehumanizing effect (see The McDonaldization of Society), which is unethical. However, all of these arguments are ignored by Du Gay(2000) who says that bureaucracy protects against unfairness. Although bureaucratic organizations may set up strict obedience to rule and formal communication channels but Whyte(1943) argues who can stop informal channels from existing? These grapevines are disruptive and may cause revolts against management. Weber argues that trust is installed in bureaucratic organizations since everything is known, where as in case of Post bureaucracies a sudden change of attitude maybe seen with suspicion contradicting Morgan and Sayers views(1988), who believe in the opposite. Management attitude and relevance to Taylorism McGregor argued that how culture is managed depends to a large extend on what is expected of the employees: management perceptions about their employees. If managers believe that workers are loyal, see work as natural and use their own initiative(Theory Y), then he might set a loose culture with more autonomy. If however, managers believe workers are lazy and need to be urged and pushed to work then a work to rule(Theory X) atmosphere may be preferred. Child(1984) thought bureaucratic organizations have close relevance to Taylorism: dehumanizing work, economic man and master knows all, but, the important point to note is that it was only successful in old less competitive times. With the emergence of flexible firms (Atkinson: 1984) and networks this becomes more of an ideology. New management styles and normative control Peter and Waterman in their literature argue that managers should move from being bureaucrats to more creative and flexible. Clarke and Newman (see Clarke, John and Newman: 1993) further suggest that managers should : Have a visionary quality : inspiration for staff Be peoples centered: encourage employee contributions Be customer centered: dynamic to adapt to market changes Manage culture: not by creating rule focused/bureaucratic organizations that inhibit flexibility but creating loose tight organizations, giving way to centralization and decentralization as argued by Peter: an essential factor in leadership à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.is to influence and organize meaning for the members of organization(Bennis and Nanus:1985). Kunda High Technologies studies and Etzionis work argues about normative control, where employees character should be taken over rather than his work; shape behaviour in purposive way( Lammers :1981). Creation of a family culture will encourage worker to give his every effort for the success of the work; culture fosters success(Deal and Kennedy:1982). By creating a playful environment, managers can control the personal life of employees and mold their actions to obtain desired work behaviour. However there are sinister and aggressive sides of normative control: marriage failures and poor health may drag down the productivity and image of the company (see culture control and culture management: 2000). Conclusion Bureaucracy has certain advantages interms of stability, rationality and planning, and so does the development of a strong formal culture based on worker autonomy and entrepreneurship. Fletcher Byrom argued make sure you generate a reasonable number of mistakes, which is considered to very important by Peter and Waterman, who argue that successful companies need to innovate , carry out research and develop loose tight properties. I believe that much depends on the type and size of business: a large firm comprising of several thousands of employees, it would be time consuming and disruptive to give autonomy and might cause rivalry and conflict: preferring bureaucracy. Incase of delayered globalised firms like multinationals, networks and flexible firms, culture management and empowerment is required. Furthermore, due to variation in human nature who can be sure which factor is a motivator? Whether autonomy and establishment of a strong culture actually facilitates motivation or causes disparity between formal and informal culture as in Disney. Whether employees take pride in empowerment, as thought by Berggen or are too shy, afraid and lazy to take responsibility? Some argue that PBO is not a new concept but merely a redefinition of old bureaucracy: it has driven out of bureaucracy. As Smiricich argues organization is a culture, I believe that bureaucracy and culture management are not the alternatives for each other, but, should be used simultaneously and interchangeably to boost progress, depending upon the situation; Peter and watermans claim for simultaneous loose-tight properties.

A Conversation Overheard :: Dialogue Conversation Essays

A Conversation Overheard Laughing and crying. Like salt and pepper, peanut butter and jelly, they go together. Yeah, they do. Think about it. People laugh until they cry, some people laugh through their tears. And, after you finish either process, you usually feel better, am I right? Also, both laughing and crying are essential to survival in life. No one can successfully thrive and function without doing either of these things, laughing and crying. All that emotion kept inside, with no means of escape? Imagine a person who doesn't laugh or cry as a bottle of soda. Shake that person/bottle up and down, shake, shake, shake. What'll happen? Pressure will be building up every time the bottle is shaken and the person holds in laughter or tears. Now, let go of this person/bottle, who has not vented these essential emotions. What'll happen now? The soda sprays everywhere, and the person probably goes nutty. Chances are, either way you'd end up ruining the clothes of the person next to you. Get it? I don't know the exact physical ramification of not laughing or crying, but I just bet you it's something like I just described. You wanna make a bet? Let's talk some more about this laughter/crying thing. It's pretty interesting, don't you think? How they're, like, two parts of a whole or two separate entities? Blows my mind. I'm racking my brain (how exactly is that done?) to think of the last time I laughed. I'm not talking like getting the giggles and whatnot. No, no, I'm talking pure, unabashed hilarity. The knee-slapping-stomach-hurting-laugh-till-you-wanna-hurl kind. I've got that short term memory loss thing, so my last personal episode escapes me, but I know there's been dozens of occasions where I've personally gone nutty (even without anyone shaking me). But, I find it hard to imagine that anyone hasn't had these fits. Even the most dry, seemingly humorless people have had episodes in their otherwise mundane existences where they weren't in complete possession of their faculties. Just thinking about it is enough to produce a guffaw or two. Okay, picture someone as obscenely serious as a Buckingham Palace guard going off over a Three Stooges movies. Isn't that a riot? Though, seriously I doubt that his taste would run in the vein of three goofy-looking guys poking each other in they eyes and sayi ng, "Soitinly." If you wanna know the truth, I personally find the Stooges boring with a capital b.

Lehigh’s 1993 product mix Essay

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The objective of this memo is to recommend you a product mix for Lehigh in the year of 1993 based on profit calculations and other business considerations. Recommendation: 1993 product mix should include only High Speed Based on an approach resultant from the combination of ABC plus Theory of Constraints (TOC), I recommend that the company include only the High Speed (machine coil) in its mix. The table bellow contains the unitary cost for Standard and ABC and the throughput per unit of the constrained resource ($/min), calculated diving the unitary ABC cost ($/lb) by the machine time for the rolling process (lb/min): The following paragraphs present a deeper analysis to allow comprehension of the logical steps that led to this recommendation. Rationale: ABC and TOC combined approach The major idea behind combining ABC and TOC approaches is to come up with a fourth method of calculating profits that overcomes the shortcomings of the other three methods (Standard, ABC and TOC). Based on the ABC model (see description of this model in the next section of this report: Alternatives Rejected), I calculated the unitary operating profit per product. This operating profit eliminates the major issue concerning the Standard Costing system: to average uneven resource consumption across products. The next step was to incorporate the concept of time as a factor used in Lehigh’s decision-making. First, by obtaining information from the operations staff, I defined the CRM as the constraint of the plant. Then, I calculated the  throughput per unit of the constrained process (Rolling – CRM) by diving the unitary ABC cost ($/lb) by the machine time for the rolling process (lb/min). Exhibit 1 presents the results for these calculations. According to this approach, alloys, roller wires and chipper knives present losses, while only high speeds and round bars showed profits: respectively $4.84 and $0.08 per minute of rolling machine (CRM) used. However, considering this small profit per minute for round bars and that Die Steel market is broad and requires that its participants offer a full product line to maintain share (this means that Chipper Knives should also be produced), I recommend that Die Steel products be removed from product mix. Consequently, high speeds are the only products that I recommend be kept in Lehigh’s product mix in 1993. It is important to mention that with demand recovering in 1993 and Lehigh’s superior product performance, it may be possible that the company command a price premium for its alloys high enough to turn it profitable in this method and, consequently, to include it in its product mix. Alternatives rejected: Standard, ABC costing and TOC approach Analyzing the scenario, Lehigh had 3 other possibilities for calculating its profit per product: Standard costing The product weight was considered the primary driver of resource consumption, so the indirect manufacturing and administrative costs were allocated to products based on pounds produced. As a result, this approach considers that each of the five products uses manufacturing and administrative overhead equally (their unitary costs are all $0.64 per pound). Moreover, direct manufacturing costs were allocated based on machine hours and materials and direct labor were allocated based on the bill of materials and routings. The calculations for this first alternative are presented in exhibit 2. According to this approach, all products but alloys present operating losses. However, standard costing is averaging the diverse resource use by products and that one it points as the most profitable (alloys) is already promoted by marketing and sales teams, but Lehigh is not showing profits during this period. Therefore, this alternative is not recommended. ABC costing In this second approach, I considered Utilities, Maintenance and Depreciation as direct manufacturing costs and allocated them based on machine hours. Number of skus was considered driver for Technical Support. The product weight was considered driver of resource consumption only for General & Administrative costs. Moreover, materials and direct labor were allocated based on the bill of materials and routings (exactly the way they were allocated in Standard Costing system). Finally, Material Handling & Setup, Order Processing and Production Planning were driven to products using number of orders. Consequently, ABC solves the major issue regarding the Standard Costing system: the assumption that all overhead costs can be included into one cost pool. All the drivers are summarized in exhibit 3. Exhibits 4 and 5 present respectively the ABC drivers and allocation rates. The calculations for this alternative are presented in exhibit 6. According to this approach, alloys, roller wires and chipper knives present operating losses, while only high speeds and round bars showed operating profits: $0.15 and $0.01 per pound. However, ABC does not take into consideration how smoothly material flowed through the plant and product profitability should reflect this kind of difference in resource consumption. This is the reason why this alternative was not selected. TOC approach In this third approach, it was proposed a simple operational measure to orientate the decision-making process within the company: Throughput. It was calculated as sales less material cost (â€Å"contribution margin†) per unit of the constrained resource. As already mentioned, the rolling process (CRM) is the bottleneck of the plant. TOC approach considers that the efficient management of the constrained resource is the key factor to increase profitability. The calculations for this alternative are presented in exhibit 7. According to this approach, high speeds and alloys were the products that showed higher â€Å"contribution margins†: $25.00 and $17.70 per minute of rolling machine (CRM) used. However, TOC approach only takes into consideration the material costs, leaving aside all the other relevant costs that could be allocated to each product according to ABC approach. In other words, TOC method does not reflect the real operating profits. Considering  this point, this alternative was discarded.

president clinton essays

president clinton essays President Clinton recently visited Mexico. While there, he met with PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party) president Ernesto Zedillo. The PRI is the political party in power. It has been in power for over 60 years and has never lost a presidential election. Is the PRI the true expression of the democratic will of the people of Mexico, or a totalitarian dictatorship? In 1968 Mexican students protested the PRI government and army. Over 300 students were murdered. On January 1st 1994, a group of Mayan Indians calling themselves the EZLN (Zapatista Army of National Liberation) rose up in arms to protest the same government and army. This paper will explore the history of the PRI, the 1968 student massacre, and the formation of the EZLN. By examining this part of Mexican history, this paper will show direct links between governmental corruption, the lack of democracy, the intolerance of social protest, and the necessity for the oppressed to move towards armed struggle. In 1924 Plutarco Calles was the president of Mexico. He was the founder and organizer of the P.N.R.(National Revolutionary Party), which later changed its name to the PRI. Calles was a Masonic anti-clerical president, who closed many churches and deported a number of priest and nuns. Calles portrayed himself as a socialist, but it was a front. Vincent Padgett writes, as the money poured in, all those at the top embarked upon a pattern of conspicuous consumption in fine houses, luxuries cars, clothing, and jewelry which marked them as something totally apart from the rank and file they professed to serve(30). Calles was the president of Mexico until 1928, but was so powerful that he continued to run the country behind the scenes. Padgett also writes, He [Calles] picked a relatively obscure man, Pascual Ortiz Rubio, as the PNRs candidate to succeed Portes Gil at the end of the provisional presidency, and arranged a lopsided victor over t...

How to Manage a Social Media Crisis Without Losing Your Mind

How to Manage a Social Media Crisis Without Losing Your Mind A social media crisis is something most brands will encounter at some point in time. Some will be more serious than others, but a solid social media crisis plan can help you better manage the situation and mitigate damages. Maybe an intern accidentally posted on the company account (instead of a personal profile). Or, a major mistake (understandable or not) might spark online outrage amongst your audience. Whatever the case, marketers and social media managers need to be prepared, which is why every company should have a social media crisis management plan in place. Equipped with your crisis survival guide, you’ll be prepared for even the worst situations. How to Manage a Social Media Crisis Without Losing Your Mind via @Document Your Social Media Crisis Plan Before we dig into the nuts and bolts of crisis planning, snag your free template to put together a complete crisis communication strategy. Use this post as a guide to complete it. Then, keep it somewhere easily accessible for your team, and youll be ready for the worst. Awesome news! Youre invited to a 1on1 marketing demo of ! In 30 mins or less, you can see howtoGet your free social media crisis management plan template from @What Qualifies As a Social Media Crisis? First, we need to be clear about what is (and isn’t) a crisis. Linking to the wrong blog post on a social message – a minor mistake, but definitely not of crisis proportions. Using a national disaster to promote your products and receiving backlash for it – definitely something that falls into the crisis category. The first scenario happens from time to time. Humans make mistakes. We're all busy and sometimes minor things slip through the cracks. The second situation, however, is obviously urgent. A strategic choice has led to some major issues and could do the brand major damage. So, you get the idea. But, how do you actually separate day-to-day hiccups from genuine catastrophes? When it comes to social media problems, how do you actually separate day-to-day hiccups from...Create a Social Media Crisis Scale Convince and Convert  devised a great solution to this problem. They built a customer response flowchart that matches the severity of an issue, to the right course of action. Here’s what theirs looks like: You can create something similar by establishing five levels of issue severity: Customer service question: Routine inquiries that your customer support team can answer. Here's an example from Delta: This customer reached out on Twitter with a question regarding frequent flyer upgrades. An angry customer: More than just a question, this person is actively upset. Allow customer service or PR to respond, with a manager’s guidance. Here's an example from United: Several angry customers: If you have several (let’s say ten or more) customers complaining about the same issue in the space of an hour, get a customer service manager or PR specialist directly on the appropriate social channel. Here's an example from Instagram when the platform experienced an outage. Something terrible just happened: In the event of a major news catastrophe, shut down all scheduled social media posts. If there’s a serious defect with a product, your service is down, or something similar, consider creating content answering common questions. Get senior-level managers, PR, or marketing and the C-Suite involved. Issue statements, apologies, etc. Here's an example of how Samsung handled a terrible incident when its Galaxy Note 7 mobile phones were recalled due to safety issues. Your brand is serious jeopardy: There's been a misstep in communication and something was handled poorly resulting in lawsuits, public backlash, and boycotting.   Consider getting a statement from your CEO, or reissuing an apology and admitting your mistakes. Involve your senior-level managers, customer service, PR, and marketing staff and monitor the situation closely. Here's an example from an incident where United handled the removal of a passenger poorly resulting in broken bones and unnecessary force. Following the incident, an internal statement from the CEO went public after reaffirming his support for employees while describing the passenger as "disruptive and belligerent." After, the public was outraged and resulted in the CEO issuing an apology, new regulations and nearly $1 billion axed from its market value on the stock market. Here are some examples of situations that would fit each level: Crisis Level 1: Isolated customer complaints and questions. Crisis Level 2: Angry customers, broken links, posts directing to the wrong page, factual inaccuracies, major misspellings on social posts. Crisis Level 3: High volume of angry customers, service outages, lack of product availability. Crisis Level 4: Product recalls, defective services or products, widespread negative press coverage, layoffs. Crisis Level 5: Lawsuits, serious accidents resulting in injury, illegal employee conduct. This isn’t a scientific scale, but it should give you some idea of how to prioritize. Unless it’s above Level 2, it’s really not a crisis at all. If it’s less than a Level 3, it most likely does not need to be escalated past your customer service team, or routine PR messaging. Here's how to identify a social media crisis using a five-point scaleIdentifying a Crisis Using Social Listening Now you know what a crisis looks like. Next, let’s walk through how to spot them as they happen. One of the worst things you can say in a crisis is nothing. So, make sure you’re monitoring what’s being said about your brand is essential for responding promptly. The best way to do this is with social listening. The good news is, you can do this with . You no longer have to have your social message scheduling separate from your social media conversations. Here's how it works: Why should brands use 's new social listening feature to spot a crisis before it spreads?How Can I Tell My Brand Has a Problem? Follow these two steps: Keep an eye on your brand mentions. Check in periodically and use email alerts to stay on top of discussions as they happen. Use your crisis scale to assess problems. Then, respond accordingly. To determine how many negative messages constitutes a crisis, Hootsuite recommends setting crisis thresholds. Here’s an example they outline for a hypothetical sports clothing company: Less than five negative mentions per hour: Continue monitoring closely. Compile a report for senior management to review at the end of the day. More than five negative mentions per hour: Begin assigning messages to the public relations manager in Hootsuite. More than 10 negative mentions per hour, for more than three consecutive hours: Contact the CMO on her cell phone, and begin officially rolling out the social media crisis management plan. You can establish your own thresholds similarly, based on what you might think is reasonable. Recommended Reading: How to Create a Social Media Strategy With 3 Steps and a Template Develop a Plan Before a Crisis Happens Prevention is the best medicine. Short of that, having a plan in place before things go haywire is the next best option. Here are four things to prepare and keep on hand in case of emergency. Establish a Crisis Chain of Command Using your crisis scale, establish who is responsible for managing the response at each level. It might look something like this: Develop an Internal Response Protocol Your employees likely have their own social media accounts. When disaster strikes, they may not know what they can (and can’t) say about the issue publically. So, it’s important to make sure they don’t go rogue or leak information you don’t want to be released. This could make a bad situation worse. Get in front of this with a documented response plan. If a crisis reaches a level 4 or higher, do the following: Send an internal email alerting everyone about the situation. When a problem reaches this stage, people need to know. They should hear about it from their own company before family, friends, or strangers start asking. Provide messaging they can share. They might get asked questions. Either create copy-and-paste messaging they can share or a link to a page they can direct people toward. This will help keep your message consistent and take the pressure off team members to respond (who might not know what to say otherwise). Keep your company up to date. Continue to keep the flow of information open. Let everyone internally know when the issue is resolved. Recommended Reading: How to Complete a Social Media Audit in 9 Steps (Free Template) Secure Social Media Login Credentials This is important for two reasons: If your crisis is the result of a hack, you’ll want to change your passwords. You may want to consider changing login email addresses and usernames, too. If you need to remove something or stop automated posts, it’s important that all authorized staff know where to find the login info. The last thing you need is to have your PR and social teams scrambling to find the Twitter password because the manager is on vacation. The best way to do this is with a shared and secure password repository. Some options include: 1Password Dashlane LastPass KeePass Roboform 8 You can learn more about each of these services via Lifehacker. They all achieve more or less the same goal (and can be used for securing a lot more than just social media credentials). Plus, they make it possible for each member of your team (or at least those who need social account access) to store and secure passwords in one place. Social media crisis management tip: Keep passwords secured and stored somewhere team members can...Craft Emergency Response Messaging Templates When a mistake happens, you may not have time to issue a detailed response right away. However, you’ll need to say something to acknowledge you’re aware of the issue before things get out of hand. Plus, for routine inquiries, it can save time to have messaging ready to help you respond promptly. You don’t need to be beholden to your templates, either. Keep them flexible enough that they can be edited to fit the given situation (and make sure they actually make sense before posting). Here are some copy-and-paste examples you can use. Example 1: Hi [USERNAME], We’re sorry to hear you’ve been experiencing [INSERT PROBLEM]. Our customers expect and deserve better from us. Could you send us a DM with more details? Example 2: This sounds frustrating! Please accept our apologies, we should have resolved [INSERT PROBLEM] before it disrupted your day. Please call us at [INSERT NUMBER] and we’ll take care of this right away. Example 3: We’re extremely sorry to learn [INSERT PROBLEM] has been happening. Fortunately, we do have a solution that should help. Check out [INSERT URL] to find the next steps you should take. If there’s anything else we can do, let us know! Templates like this can help resolve routine inquiries fast. However, be cautious of overusing the same messaging too frequently. It can come across impersonal (though, really, most people will be okay with that as long as their problem gets fixed). If your problem is more than just a customer complaint, though, you’ll need to go into full-on crisis mode.

Profnessional paper (exdended nursing roles) Term

Profnessional (exdended nursing roles) - Term Paper Example The curative health care costs are currently increasing thus the need of preventive health care and health care insurance for the minority groups (Chernecky & Murphy-Ende, 2009). Approximately, health care costs account for about 14 percent of US Gross domestic product through federal and state spending on Medicare, TRICARE, Medicaid and other health care programs. The rise of new medial technologies like imaging tests and new diseases will require nurses to have advanced degrees in the future. The aging citizens consist of 15 % of total US population and the figure is projected to reach 21 percent in the next two decades. Another changing trend in healthcare is the increase in the use of Electronic Medical Records (EMR) that will require all nurses to learn how to use the systems and also offer telemedicine services since many patients carry out self-assessments daily (Chernecky & Murphy-Ende, 2009). The current trends in health care require a visionary role in order to match the fu ture health care needs. My visionary role will require me to empower the relationships with patients and take an innovative approach in delivering health services to the population. I have a deep sense that in the future patients will need enhanced confidentiality and privacy protection of their health care information due to emergency of new disease trends (Chernecky & Murphy-Ende, 2009). I aspire to work with physicians and hospital administrators in delivering the health care services to Hispanic women suffering from breast cancer. I will work with physicians and hospital administrators, clinical counselors, surgeons, dieticians, chemotherapists, oncologists, and radiologists in delivering the healthcare. Other professionals will include medical geneticist who will predict the chances of a patient suffering from breast cancer and breast surgeons who will remove cancer tumors (Chernecky & Murphy-Ende, 2009). My new role will enable me create awareness on the need of taking early t ests and preventing the chances of suffering from breast cancer in Hispanic women. Hispanic women are vulnerable to breast cancer due to lack of awareness and their lifestyles. I will coordinate the breast cancer awareness efforts and offer by advocating for the patients’ interests and ensuring that all patients receive holistic care while in the hospital. I will provide feedback and train colleagues in delivering the heath care. I will ensure all Hispanic women suffering from cancer in the hospital receive enough fluids, and take the vital signs and symptoms of the patients. I will display sound judgment and ethical considerations in ensuring all patients follow their medical schedules (Chernecky & Murphy-Ende, 2009). In order to effectively deliver healthcare services to the vulnerable population, I need advanced nursing education and work experience for the clinical preparation. I need a graduate degree in nursing in order to provide direct care to patients in a hospital e nvironment. Some of the issues I need to be aware of include CNS practicum, diagnostic reasoning, evidence-based practice, health care ethical policies, and patient stabilization and breast cancer assessments. I will complete the Master of Nursing degree program in clinical nursing specialty within four years and obtain the minimum working hours requirement before receiving the certification. I

Evidence-Based Practice Project Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Evidence-Based Practice Project - Assignment Example There are five categories of adopters in this theory including earlier adopters, early majority, late majority and laggards (Sahin, 2006). In the implementation plan of the research geared towards understanding the use of echocardiography in the treatment of heart diseases, the diffusion of innovation theory will be helpful. From the PICOT questions, the target population is teenagers that suffer from heart problems to the extent that their productivity is affected. It is from this population that the five categories in the diffusion of innovation theory will be taken out from for the implementation plan. The intervention under the PICOT question is securing and protecting these teenagers from succumbing to heart problems through a research program that will provide the required information on the best way to solve the heart problems that they face. Here, the five-stage adoption process in the diffusion of innovation theory will be used in implementing the intervention in the five categories established from the chosen population. The first stage is knowledge or awareness stage (Sahin, 2006). In this stage of implement ation, I will search for information that will enable me to gain knowledge of the clinical change required for the teenagers. this will involve asking questions from professionals in the area and researching on the information. This stage will feature the comparison aspect of the PICOT question because information has to be compared in carrying out the study (Santos, Pimenta, & Nobre, 2007). The second stage is the persuasion or the interest stage. This stage involves gaining interest and persuasion about the advantages of the innovation (intervention). This will involve looking at the intervention both from the positive and negative side and weighing the two to determine whether the advantages are more than the disadvantages. This will lead to persuasion on exactly the side to take with regard to the intervention. This stage

Administrative ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Administrative ethics - Essay Example The article written by Mehnke (2010) entitled â€Å"Managing a breach in patient confidentiality† and published in the Nursing Critical Care journal proffered issues pertinent to the crucial importance of observing privacy and confidentiality when dealing with patients. In a scenario, a nurse accessing patient’s records for personal use emerged without thinking of the possible repercussions of her action to the patient and to herself. Mehnke (2010) revealed that â€Å"a nurse knowingly accessed a neighbor’s electronic medical record and acted on the information she found by confronting the patient. The nurse approached the patient in the perioperative waiting area before the surgery and asked what procedure she was undergoing† (1). As a consequence, the nurse’s action dealt with the utmost penalty of firing her from employment because of breach of confidentiality. The decision precludes other nurses and health care practitioners from repeating the s ame offense. The gravity of the issue was addressed by severing the employment from the health care institution to show other health care practitioners that there is no compromise to the issue. The issue’s impact on health care practitioners focused on giving primary importance and utmost care in adhering to the laws and regulations prescribed by Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), specifically on the protection of patient privacy rights.

Trust Among Project Managers and Their Team Essay Example for Free

Trust Among Project Managers and Their Team Essay One of a Project Manager’s most important roles is that of building a team. In building that team, he or she must gain the respect and trust of all of the members within that team. In the book trust is defined as â€Å"the confidence one person places in another that the other will honor all commitments†(Thompson, p. 93). This is a vital component because the team must have faith in the person who is leading the project. Being the project manager is a very important job which requires not a lot of experience, but also hard work and determination. The project manager has to have a good understanding of what the objective is, understand what is needed to get to that objective, and be able to communicate all levels of the project effectively to the team. Basically, the project manager must go above and beyond that of meeting the expectations of all of the members in order to gain their trust. It is not only important that the members of the team trust the project manager, but also that the project manager can trust the rest of the team. Being a part of a team involves risk, especially when there is a level of self-management that the team members will have to do. Having trust in the team can have many benefits such as improving communication, better performance and less conflict among the members. Many times in groups we see implicit trust which is when we trust someone for little or no reason at all based on short interactions that we may have had. (Thompson, p. 95) When we have extremely high levels of trust in a group, we can tend to see the level of performance go down. We can see the performance of a team improve when the project manager and the team members are all monitoring each other’s activities or keeping themselves aware of what is going on in all different areas of the team. Monitoring the team is not necessarily an indicator in a lack of trust, but merely an attempt to assess the project and the progress of the team. It is important to use discretion when choosing when and how much to monitor the team activity because too much monitoring can affect the performance of the team. It has been said that high levels of trust are associated with low monitoring and low trust is associated with high monitoring. (Langfred 2004) Although the team needs to have a strong and organized leader, the team also needs to feel a sense of independence and trust. The image below shows how trust can affect a team’s performance. http://search. ebscohost. com/login. aspx? direct=truedb=buhan=13405639site=ehost-live As we can see, there are several different aspects of trust that can affect the team and its performance. By placing more trust in the members of team and giving them challenges that will require them to work individually as well as together as a team, you will have a more successful outcome. Team members will work better together and separately when they feel that they can be trusted and that what they are contributing to the project is making a difference.

The Life of Alan Shapiro and Analysis of “Country Western Singer” Essay

Alan Shapiro is a poet whom uses the sorrowful tragedies that occurred in his lifetime and turns them into beautiful poems in which he greatly expresses through his poetry. Most of his poems symbolize either a type of sorrow or tragic death, and the expressions used throughout his poetry make it noticeable that Alan Shapiro endured a life of hardship and tragedy. While Shapiro was growing up he lost his brother and his sister in which the poem â€Å"Sleet† by Alan Shapiro beautifully encompasses his feeling of grief and sorrow due to the loss of his siblings. Alan Shapiro was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on February 18th, 1952. He is the son of Harold and Marilyn Shapiro. Growing up Shapiro was a part of a Jewish household. Shapiro received his education at Brandies University. While attending Brandies University he discovered that his one and only passion was for the astounding art of poetry and he found an escape from all the devastating disasters he encountered in his youth (Garbett). Shapiro is also now an educator at Stanford University and he has also worked at Northwestern University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. As Shapiro conveys in many of his works after researching Shapiro’s life it is known Shapiro’s brother and sister both died of cancer while Shapiro was very young, and these events highly contribute to Shapiro’s work as a poet. The memoir that Shapiro wrote which was entitled Vigil is about the tragic death of his sister due to the unfortunate events of being diagnosed with bre ast cancer. As it is well known Shapiro’s poems are very tragic and sorrowfully oriented it is no fault to say that different people happen to react and cope with death in different ways and Shapiro expresses his sadnes... ... This line implies that the drinking will never end and that no one can stop him from drinking no matter what you do. This poem is a poem that has beautiful imagery that consistently connects the reader to what’s going on in the actual poem like these lines from â€Å"Country Western Singer†, â€Å"And the blood I taste, the blood I swallow / Is as far away from wine / as 5:10 is for the one who dies at 5:09† (37-40). These lines have to do with the final push of the alcoholic and the fact that they lost the battle against alcoholism and did in fact pass away. In the most recent of years Alan Shapiro has not been as popular as he was some years ago, but no matter what Alan Shapiro poems will forever be engraved in the poetry world as the poems that many people of the world can relate to and I think that this will help him remain a staple in the poetry world for years to come.

Macbeths tragic insanity Essay -- William Shakespeare

Insanity is defined as â€Å"[the] inability to understand the nature and consequences of one's acts or of events, matters, or proceedings in which one is involved.† In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the protagonist turned antagonist, Macbeth, was once â€Å"valour’s minion† (I.ii.16) a loyal and devoted nobleman of Scotland. However, he commits a heinous act of regicide in order to ascend the throne, only to become a tyrant who in the end was regarded as nothing but a â€Å"dead butcher† (V.ix.35). Macbeth was unarguably sane in the beginning of the play, however, at the end of the play its unclear whether or not Macbeth truly was a â€Å"deranged blood hound† (V.ii.32), or if he was still acting on his own accord. Critics may say that this â€Å"Bloody sceptered tyrant† (IV.iii.95), who murdered innocent people indiscriminately through the novel befell the holds of insanity, but in truth, Macbeth, whether for better or for worse, ne ver was truly driven insane. An attribute of insanity was previously defined as the inability to understand the consequences of one’s acts or events around one, which furthers the argument that Macbeth was sane. When Macbeth, due to his insecurity of his position as king starts eliminating his enemies, he does display a certain degree of incomprehension towards the consequences of his actions, saying â€Å"the very firstlings of my heart shall be/The firstlings of my hand† (IV.i.157-158). However, the very fact that he says he will not take into account what he thinks (such as the consequences of his actions), shows that he indeed does still have the ability to understand the consequences of his actions, hence he is not insane. Towards the end of the book is where Macbeth’s sanity is questioned most. One such question arises up... ... towards Macduff, this not only shows Macbeth’s guilt at having committed such a horrible crime towards Macduff, but also has an inkling of a conscience. From Macbeth’s comprehension of the events taking place around him to his repentance to his conscience, its unarguable that Macbeth at the end of the play was insane. From the beginning, Macbeth fabricates his own demise, eventually going on to control his fate right up till his ruinous end. Once a good, and loyal noble man of Scotland, Macbeth, was driven to by whatever motivation to commit acts of such malice, such cowardice and of such malevolence that it’s an insult to the memory of those whose lives were taken by him, to classify him as merely a ‘deranged hell hound’. Works Cited Shakespeare, William. Tragedy of Macbeth . Ed. Barbara Mowat and Paul Warstine. New York: Washington Press, 1992.

Predictors of Interracial Dating and Marriage Essay

Interracial relationships and marriages have long been in existence. It was an inevitable outcome of the migration of various other races to the United States since the time of the Mayflower. Such relationships have weathered the height of social discrimination way back during the human rights movements of the sixties and have evolved from the shadows to the forefront of today’s open and well-balanced relationships between a man and a woman. In the United States, it has always been people from the same social class or those financially equal who end up marrying, it is not necessarily out of love. These parings are usually done in order to preserve a certain social order and it works just fine most of the time. It becomes socially unacceptable therefore for someone of a lower or more inferior social position to â€Å"marry up† and make things unpleasant for the couple because their families and friends often get involved and make dating a living hell for the couple. My researches for this paper have proven to me that skin color has never been an issue for any of the interracial couple. Skin color and race have no bearing on their common interests, goals, ambitions, and beliefs in life. The aforementioned are the key predictors in whether their relationship will work or not and for how long in any normal relationship. Even though such relationships have to usually struggle for acceptance in society, the couples involved do not even notice it anymore because to them, they are simply normal human beings in love with one another. Although interracial couplings made up only 2. 9 percent of marriages since 2002 according to the United States Census Bureau, these marriages seem to last longer and seem to be very widely discussed amongst local populations. It is my opinion that 2 social norms, beliefs and traditions most often dictate who we should have a relationship with and eventually end up starting a family with, these very norms are also the reason why such traditional hook-ups fail. In the case of a relationship, the difference in race, traditions, and beliefs work to keep the pairing interesting since it becomes a learning experience for both parties. A marriage is a union of two souls that become one. It is also a life long learning experience for the spouses as they learn about their varied traditions and beliefs and work with each other towards making those clashing beliefs gel and work towards solidifying the union. The people of the 21st century have seemingly decided to turn a blind eye towards interracial couplings. This may be because the United States has become a melting pot for not only the African- Americans, but for the Asians and Hispanics as well. The greater predictor of whom one will most likely choose to love and marry is no longer based on social norms but on personal preferences regardless of skin color, race, and social standing. An estimated 46. 3 million Americans, with ages ranging from 14-24 compose the Millennial Generation, who no longer believe that race is an issue. Instead they set out looking for others who share common perspectives and interests with them. The modern relationships they are involved in are based in multi-cultural diversity and inclusions. Television programs such as Grey’s Anatomy further help to erase the great racial divide as they provide story lines with interracial couplings, such as the Korean Christina Yang and her immediate superior Preston Burke, who happens to be an African-American. Though different as night and day, their relationship simply works, and never 3 was their culture, race, or skin color called into question by their friends, relatives, and co-workers. Instead, they have had to struggle to make their relationship work because of their personal, not racial, differences; the fact that they are an interracial couple makes them interesting to get to know. In an effort to become a politically correct nation, we have become a race of people suffering from â€Å"color-mute syndrome†. It teaches us not to be a racist person by acknowledging a person’s color or race. We are all becoming involved in the process of learning to choose our friends, lovers, and companion solely on the basis of common ground. Race is no longer an issue these days. It is no longer a make or break factor in relationships because we have learned to see beyond color and race, and all the way into a person’s heart and soul. We no longer judge a person by his skin color. A man no longer carries a stigma because of belonging to a certain race or skin color. There are no longer limitations as to who you can be and whom you can be with. Karina Anglada, a 17-year-old High School senior in Chicago who hails from Puerto Rican roots says, † It goes beyond that to whom you get along with. † That in my own personal opinion, is the greater predictor of whom you might choose to love and marry regardless of social indicators. Works Cited: Sharon Jayson. February 8, 2006. New Generation Doesn’t Blink at Interracial Relationships. USA TODAY. February 8, 2006. Retrieved December 30, 2006 from http://www. usatoday. com/news/nation/2006-02-07-colorblind_x. htm Mary Ann Albright. Love Sees No Color. Corvallis Gazette-Times. December 11, 2004. Retrieved January 2, 2007 from http://www. gazettetimes. com/articles/2004/12/12/news/top_story/sunloc01. txt

Risk Assessment and Decision Making Child protection, safeguarding The WritePass Journal

Risk Assessment and Decision Making Child protection, safeguarding Risk Assessment and Decision Making Child protection, safeguarding IntroductionDEFINING THE PROBLEMTraining and professional development.Capacity and recruitment.Relationships and understanding.Quality assurance and monitoring.Serious case reviews. Referral and assessment.REFERNCESRelated Introduction Whether a nurse, doctor, allied health professional, manager or clerical worker, the contribution of health service workers to the protection of children is crucial. The well-being of children and in some cases child’s life depends not only on professional vigilance and a willingness to consider the possibility of abuse but also on action taken in response to it. It depends on talking to the child, listening to what they say; sometimes believing things people think do not, could not or should not happen to children. Ensuring the safety and promoting the welfare of children who are at risk of harm is not an easy undertaking. It is sometimes difficult to assess the significance of the information about a child, to gauge its seriousness and decide what to do next. It is easy to lose a sense of perspective and the focus on the child in an attempt to also take into account the needs of the parent, family and professional network. It is not necessary to be an expert in pediatrics or child abuse to have concerns about a child but following child projection guidance once abuse is suspected is a requirements for everyone, managers and clinicians alike. The protection of children is a responsibility that crosses all services and hierarchies. It places equal value on each person’s contribution to the process of protecting children, and its guidance is designed to inform everyone working in health service as well as workers in other agencies. (Judy Barker and Deborah hodes 2007). Child abuse and neglect occur across all socioeconomic, religions and ethnic groups. No one single source can be identified (Finkelhor Korbin 1988.) However, because many occurrences of  child abuse  and neglect go unreported or undetected, official figures do not necessarily state the true incidence. They tend to reflect on what State government agencies are doing. ( James, M.1994). There is a lack of consistency in how ‘neglect’ is defined. Several definitions of neglect have been proposed. Most commonly they emphasise that a child’s basic developmental needs have not been met by acts of omission by those responsible for that child. In contrast, abuse is associated with acts of commission resulting in harm to the child. Usually neglect is categorised into physical, emotional, supervisory, medical and educational neglect with several sub-categories for each type. Greater specificity of definition is hampered by debates about what constitutes basic developmental needs and the level of care considered adequate to meet these needs. Definitions are further qualified by debates about actual harm, potential harm, impaired development, social conditions, cultural beliefs, levels of chronicity and severity and the intent of caregivers. Neglect is the most common form, and also the fastest growing category, of maltreatment in Canada, United States and the United Kingdom. In Australia overall rates of neglect appear lower. However, definitional differences make international and interstate comparisons in Australia, difficult. (Dr Johanna Watson 2005). Recently there has been an increase in public awareness of the intricacy of all of the issues connected with child abuse and neglect, as well as a realisation of the complexity of the responses required. Much of this is due to increased television, radio and newspaper coverage of the topic as well as specific mass media campaigns. The professional community, however, continues to recognise that child emotional abuse and child neglect can be just as damaging as child physical abuse and child sexual abuse. There is, therefore, a concern to understand both how best to respond to the issue and what can be done to prevent all types of child abuse and neglect from ever occurring in the first place. The long-term nature of the problem and the difficulties in finding solutions has led to the search for more refined responses which involve a range of activities and support programs (Calvert et al. 1992). This needs to involve an interdisciplinary perspective and extend across the community in order to protect abused children and bring about change in their families (Untalan and Mills 1992). Decision-making takes place all the time; it toggles between small and large, slight and most important, compound and simple, tense and easy, multi-agency or single practitioner (Mantell, 2009) . DEFINING THE PROBLEM In United Kingdom there is many legal and variations in the definition of child abuse, so this is make it difficult to provide consistent national data on incidence. Indeed, variations may occur depending on the context in which they are used. For instance, UK government departments may use different definitions from those used by community service professionals. However, all of the definitions refer to the  physical or psychological damage caused to the child by the abusive behavior of others, or the failure of others to protect a child from such damage.  Most commonly, the categories of abuse cover physical, emotional and sexual abuse, as well as neglect. The debate surrounding child abuse has now moved away from disbelief that it occurs, to legal and academic discussion as to what parameters it includes (Boss 1987). Many of these arguments centre on disciplinary and other childrearing practices which can sometimes be abusive. For instance, the physical abuse of children can be seen in the context of the prevailing values in our society, where there is a degree of acceptance of violence as a legitimate means of attaining ends. This element of violence is represented in child-rearing practices where physical force is condoned and in some cases encouraged as a disciplinary measure (Miller 1988, Edgar 1991). Child abuse is, however, more generally characterized by the deliberate infliction of physical, emotional or sexual harm on the child. Child neglect can also incorporate a situation in which there is a failure to provide conditions which are essential for the health, physical and emotional development of the child. Corby (2000) argues that child protection work consists of two important assessment points. Firstly, apprehension of an abuse and to make a short term decision for quick safety of child. Secondly, to take an action when decision is made to make sure for the protection and welfare of the child (Corby, 2000). Corby (2000) summaries that research on short-term assessment and decision making in child protection work points out to a different way being adopted depending on whether the subject inquiry is a case of physical or sexual abuse. Firstly, assessment focuses on the parents and secondly, on children. In the case of physical abuse and neglect, there is a little evidence of use of research findings in carrying out assessments, and some evidence to suggest that this is vindicated (Corby, 2000). I did a literature review done by Lord Laming, The purpose of this review is to identify any evidence of changes and improvements in safeguarding practice since the Laming review. It distils current learning about the challenges and identifies factors which are supporting improvements in safeguarding work. In March 2009, Lord Laming published the findings of a review investigating the progress being made across the UK to implement effective arrangements for safeguarding children. The review, which was commissioned by the (then) Secretary of State for children, Schools and Families in response to the case of Baby Peter Connelly being made public in November 2008 set out to evaluate progress since Laming’s first report, published in 2003 in response to the death of Victoria Climbie. The review stated the need for ‘a step change in the arrangements to protect children from harm’,(DCSF, 2009). In June 2010, Professor Munro was commissioned by the new Coalition Government to conduct an independent review of child protection in England. In the review’s first report, published in October 2010, Munro sets out the review’s intended approach and the features of the child protection system that need exploring in detail (Munro, 2010). Following initial feedback from a wide range of stakeholders, Munro suggested that ‘good practice thrives’, in many parts of the country despite the numerous system-level challenges that are yet to be resolved. This literature review builds on learning from initial scoping study carried out by the NFER for the local government Association earlier in 2010, which set out relevant literature on safeguarding practice published since the laming review in 2009 (Atkinson, 2010). Training and professional development of social workers, Ofsted’s first annual survey of social work practitioners across local authorities in England suggested that the training and professional development of social workers has progressed considerably since the Laming review (Ofsted, 2010a). The survey found that, in general, social work practitioners are positive about their training experiences in relation to safeguarding. The majority of respondents also reported that such training helps them to understand and meet the needs of children and young people. The first line managers always supporting the social workers to assess and manage any risk in their works by attending the required training and by providing them with a full support. A majority also report that they are able to express concerns to their line manager and in just half of the cases; these concerns are dealt with satisfactory (Ofsted, 2010a). The challenges associated with training and professional development in relation to safeguarding include the need to encourage critical reflection. Social workers can then increase their capacity to make effective decisions by critiquing their own judgment when considering cases (Burton, 2009). In addition, Barlow and Scott (2010) reported that specific safeguarding training is required to support professionals working in multi-disciplinary teams. Methods used to develop relationships and understanding, a recent report by the Children Commissioner (2010) highlighted social care professionals’ qualities and skills conducive to building relationships with children and families. Interagency communication and information sharing, The findings of Holmes et al. (2010) suggested that agencies are continuing to develop and improve their information sharing. However, the same study also suggested this can be improved further. Ofsted’s(2010a) survey of social work practitioners found that fewer than half of respondents agree that communication and information sharing is effective both within their local authority and with other organizations contributing to safeguarding children. Within the health sector, the Care Quality Commission (2009) found that just over a third of applicable acute trusts do not have a policy in place for joint working between maternity services and social services. There were instances where health practitioners had noted the sign and symptoms of potential abuse, but had not communicated there to other professionals. The use of Common Assessment Framework (CAF), provides all professionals with a consistent method of performing an assessment of   a child’s needs and to decide how those requirements can be performed and very useful in places like primary health care schools and children centers to recognize and deal with problems before these problems become serious( Barker and Hodes, 2007). Developing of safeguarding practice, here its examples to develop safeguarding as identified in the literature: Training and professional development. (Munro,2010) highlighted the importance of social workers training and professional development in supporting system change related to child protection. The report also emphasized the commitment of the Government to continuing the reform of the social work profession. Capacity and recruitment. The first report of the Munro review echoed this literature review in suggesting that the challenges posed to the social work profession in relation to the recruitment and retention of staff ongoing particularly in the face of intense media and public security. Munro argued that such challenges make it difficult for social workers to provide the flexible and sensitive responses that match the wide variety of needs and circumstances that are presented, (Munro 2010). Relationships and understanding. Munro indicated that the review team will work closely with those involved in the family justice review, commissioned by the Ministry of Justice, to improve the experiences of children and young people involved in care proceedings.(Munro2010). Interagency working. it is evident that the challenges of working across organizational boundaries continue to pose barriers in practice, and that cooperative efforts are often the first to suffer when services and individuals under pressure. (Laming 2009). Quality assurance and monitoring. The Laming review identified local authorities performance management as a central of leadership and accountability. Munro highlighted the importance of ensuring quality assurance and monitoring systems (including performance management and inspection processes) are designed to support children’s social care teams’ core aim to deliver high-quality services for children. Therefore, the review aims to consider how to create a system characterized by good local management information, with focused and meaningful national data, combined with regular feedback from children, young people, families, staff and partners. (Munro 2010). Serious case reviews. (SCRs). The purpose of an SCR is to establish whether there are lessons to be learned from a specific child protection case for professionals and organisations that have worked together to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. SCRs are, therefore, critically important to the ongoing protection of children. Laming identified SCRs as ‘an important tool for learning lessons from the death of, or a serious incident involving, a child’ (Laming 2009). Munro suggested that there is considerable progress yet to be made in supporting SCRs to reflect learning culture based upon an understanding of why circumstances have arisen and a keenness to ensure that this learning is carried forward into other child protection activities.(Munro 2010). Referral and assessment. Munro highlighted examples of local innovation in response to this. For example, there are systems enabling experienced social workers to discuss potential referrals with referrers before a referral is made to ascertain whether it is necessary and appropriate; there are also systems enabling social workers to form multi-agency teams with potential referring agencies in order to improve the flow of communication. The review will therefore be working with local authorities to explore the effectiveness of such innovative strategies. (Munro 2010) After reviewing the literature review I noticed that there is a good amount of evidence of change regarding the improvements in safeguarding practice, since Laming did a review in march 2009, also there evidence to suggest that work to develop the safeguarding of children is being used among many practice. UK Government is fully committed to ensuring that children and young people should have the opportunity to make their views known in decision-making concerning their future but without placing undue stress and unnecessary burdens on them if the complexity of the case does not warrant it. There is now much greater awareness of the need for and importance of criminal record bureau CRB checking. Checking for new recruits is well-established in children’s services and robust arrangements exist for checking contract staff in nearly all local authority areas. However, weaknesses in recruitment practices remain in some services, for example in the timeliness of checks on people who apply for approval as adopters resulting in delays in decision- making by adoption panels.(safeguarding children 2008). I am interested in comparing and contrasting the Maria Colwell and Victoria Climbià © inquiries. There are many cases about children who suffering at the   hands of their parents, and often ending the tragedy of their lives lead to change in policy, for example Maria Colwell she was killed by her step father in 1973, she was 8 years old when she died, she returned to the care of her mother after she lived 5 years with a foster family who were relatives of her natural father in fact the Colwell report noted clearly that â€Å"there is a failure of the system compounded of several factors of which the greatest and most obvious must be that of the lack of, or ineffectiveness of, communication and liaison. (Jones et al , 1987). While both were living at home with their primary carers (more of this later) and had been in frequent contact with a range of professionals in different agencies for a period of time, no professional was able to intervene appropriately. More particularly, both inquiry reports identified numerous opportunities when professionals had failed to intervene; these individual failures, it is argued, need to be understood in their wider context. Both reports argue that these failures were not simply a consequence of individual incompetence but were a reflection of fundamental inadequacies in their respective systems. What has clearly emerged, at least to us, is a failure of the system compounded of several factors of which the greatest and most obvious must be that of the lack of, or ineffectiveness of, communication and liaison. A system should so far as possible be able to absorb individual errors and yet function adequately. (Parton, 2004: P.84). Acording to the House of Commons 2003 that In England around 80 children die every year from abuse or neglect,for instance, the recent case was the death of Victoria Climbià © on 25 February 2000,her death was caused by multiple injuries arising from months of ill-treatment and abuse by her aunt, who take Victoria from her parents in France to UK after she promised them that Victoria would have greater educational in Europe, but Victoria had suffered months of physical abuse and neglect at the hand of her aunt and the aunt’s   boyfriend.(Doyle,2006) In fact, the suffering and death of Victoria was a result for the system failure, in 2001 after one year of Victoria death the Lord Laming was appointed to chair an independent statutory inquiry into the circumstances leading to and surrounding the death of Victoria Climbià ©(House of Commons, 2003) the Liming report identified the need for clear accountability about who is responsible at every level for the welfare of children(Doyle, 2006) and this is the same point that identified 20 years ago in the Colwell enquiry. In addition, according to the Lord Laming (cited in The Victoria Climbià © Inquiry Report, 2003:P9) that† this tragedy of Victoria Climbià © been because one doctor, one social worker, one police officer, had failed to see one telling sign indicating deliberate harm† furthermore the report pointed out that the failure in dealing with Victoria case due to many factors such as the failure of communication between different staff and agencies, and Inexperience and lack of skill of individual social workers. Moreover the failure to follow established procedures, and inadequate resources to meet demands. (Lord Laming 2003). Both inquiries were established by the relevant Secretary of State. However, this is perhaps the first important area of difference, for whereas the Maria Colwell inquiry was set up by the Secretary of State for Social Services, the Victoria Climbià © inquiry was set up by the Secretary of State for Health together with the Secretary of State at the Home Office. In effect, the latter was to conduct three parallel statutory inquiries in relation to local authority social services, health services as well as the police. (Parton, 2004: P.84). The Victoria Climbià © inquiry provides a coherent, convincing and powerful account of what happened to Victoria, how she was failed and how this can be avoided in the future. While the account in the Maria Colwell inquiry is of a similar nature, it is also much more equivocal. This is in part because the inquiry report has within it the minority report written by one of the inquiry team, Olive Stevenson. It is not that the report has a major dispute over the facts, but it is in their interpretation, particularly in relation to some of the early decisions leading up to why Maria was returned home, from her foster carers, that there is something of a difference of opinion. In her minority report, included as chapter five in the Maria Colwell report, Olive Stevenson writes as follows:â€Å"As a social worker, my education and experience has taught me that in such matters, there is no one truth; in considering the subtleties of human emotions everyone is subjective. One’s feeli ngs, attitudes and experience color one’s perception. This is as true for me as it is for my colleagues. And when one is dealing with events now some time in the past, drawing to a large extent on records for evidence, and inevitably affected by the eventual tragedy, the probability of distortion in interpretation is all the greater. Those who have worked in child care social work have learnt of the impossibility of predicting the future†. (Parton, 2004: P.84). In Maria Corwell inquiry a major issues was concerned with trying to judge how significant the issue of ‘blood tie’ was in relation to the decision making, and how this was appropriately addressed. Such issues now seem remarkably old fashioned. There is now considerable variation and complexity in household and family structure and relationships, such that the model of the traditional nuclear family no longer seems to represent the majority of the population. As a consequence we now usually refer the ‘family’ as opposed to the family. (Parton, 2004: P.84). The other major area for social change over the intervening thirty years is probably concerned with globalisation. Issues related to and arising from this are core to the Victoria Climbià © in a way which is hardly evident with Maria Colwell. While both reports discuss the importance of cultural differences between the workers and the adults and children with whom they work, the way this is discussed is very different. For example, in Olive Stevenson’s minority report she discusses, the cultural differences that were possible in the way Mr Keppel, Maria’s stepfather, made sense of and responded to Maria’s behaviour compared to the way the professionals might have analysed this (Parton, 2004: P.84). The decisions were shown to be bounded by the ‘objective’ principles of the Children Act 1989 and Working Together (1991). However themes that emerged from the analysis of the cases suggest that there is a ‘subjective’ influence on decision processes. Evident within the analysis was a shared fundamental belief in keeping children with their mothers. Both these objective and subjective influences suggest that almost inevitably decision making in child protection practice will be driven in directions that result in courses of action that involve potential and actual risks for children. The findings emphasise how an explicit recognition of the multifaceted nature of decision making can assist in more reflective practice. The ways in which national and local policy impacts upon decision processes, at the level of the individual and groups need to be monitored in order that the needs of children in situations that involve risk remain paramount Kelly (2000). From the two cases I mentioned violence against children is a complex issue, so it seems the system of protection and decision-making in cases of child abuse is difficult and sometimes ambiguous ,but over the case difficult is that the decision to take protection to protect children from people who are supposed to be responsible for the protection and welfare (parents), here are a difficult equation between the rights of children and parental rights, but the decision is based on providing the best for the child. 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