Theresa Kennedy Instructor

The business plan I chose was a child care services business plan titled Kid’s Community College, this business plan is very well thought out and provides much strength. The owner/proprietor has seventeen years of executive management experience, budgeting experience, and has a lot of knowledge in advanced technology. The industry consultant is relied upon for industry expertise and offers insight regarding rules and regulations, and government programs.This person is qualified as they own their own licensed day care. The campus director has a BS in education, two years experience as a Facility Administrator, two years experience as an Operations Manager, five years of managerial experience, and three years of grant writing experience. The vice president offers college level public relations experience, five years of customer service experience, eight years of child care services experience, and extensive knowledge in dance, art, and theatre.The business plan expresses a need for an experienced CPA and expresses that some of the current members need to obtain their Child Care Development Associate credentials, which will be a requirement among future upper-level employees. The business model is very well developed and researched. The plan provides breakdowns of what capital is needed to start-up, maintain the business, and provides an anticipated growth plan for the next three years. The plan also provides information on how many students are required to be enrolled, on an average weekly basis, to break even.Furthermore, the plan provides information for anticipated growth into a franchise consisting of three separate locations. The owner also researched the need for services in the area, the competitors and how to offer services to differentiate the Kid’s College from competitors, and how many â€Å"target† homes were within the ten mile radius. The owner also researched what the projected growth of the community is by researching construc tion of new homes. I believe the services this plan depicts are well-designed to compete with competitors in the surrounding areas.I also think the company has a sound mission statement and has put much thought into how to go about achieving the goals stated in the mission statement. I think this business will attract many clients as the owner intends to be active in the community, form partnerships with local businesses, and offer discounts to clients of partnering businesses. I believe the market segments are accurately targeted. The price the organization will charge for the services they intend to offer will meet this segment’s budget, and there is definitely a need for quality child care services when both parents have a career.The location of the proposed business is in a medical plaza which also houses a fitness center. Clients of the fitness center have already expressed a need for child care services. The company has ideal plans for marketing their services. I think the pre-enrollment drives, waiver of application fees on initial start-up of the business, and community weekends will be a superior way of attracting clients and building a strong reputation.The start-up members provide adequate support for customer service relations and management responsibilities, but I feel as the business grows these areas will need to be strengthened. I also feel the educational instructors and activities instructors need to be implemented as soon as possible so as not to weaken the mission statement and goals of the facility. The plan was very well organized and thought out. The charts provide a detailed break down of revenue which shows that the company will be stable, and make a profit.Further break downs show that a minimum average of thirty four students a week is necessary to break even. The customer demand for child care services in the area is increasing. The owner cites the 2000 Florida Business Census shows there is an annual population growth of 2% per year and with the residential construction that is under way this growth is supposed to reach 14. 6% per year. The existing business plan has room for potential growth if necessary. The employees’ growth is anticipated and encouraged through various incentives.The plan proposes encouraging employees by offering incentives for obtaining quarterly financial and enrollment goals, probationary completion, passing county inspections that may be required, perfect attendance, tuition reimbursement, and customer service awards for those who exceed customer expectations. These incentives will motivate employees in their jobs and increase product quality.References  http://www. bplans. com/child_day_care_services_business_plan/executive_summary_fc. cfm

Body language Essay

Gestures- an example of an gesture would be a thumbs up to refer to well done. I tried to use hand gesture to help the women to understand what I was saying.  Body language – body language is a broad term for forms of communication using body movements or gestures instead of, or in addition to, sounds, verbal language, or other forms of communication. It forms part of the category of paralanguage, which describes all forms of human communication that are not verbal language. This includes the most subtle of movements that many people are not aware of, including winking and slight movement of the eyebrows. I tried to adapt to Egan theory of SOLER by leaning forward to show that I was interested. Listening- if we are not talking we are listening to what others are saying and trying to understand there views our body language can tell if we are listening to a persons whenever any body was talking I would lean forward to shows that I am interested. Because it was an group interactions I had to give other people the chance to talk and t get their opinion across  * Expression- facial expression can send very complex message that can be read easily. I tried to use a good facial expression to make her feel comfortable and welcomed. Eye contact – Eye contact is the event when two people look at each other’s eyes at the same time. I kept good eye contact with her to show that I was actually listening and with the other members of the group  One 2 one – seven year old boy  Verbal-  Tone /Pitch – its not just what we say, but the way we say it. If we were to talk very fast in a loud voice with a fixed voice tone,  people may think that we are angry and shouting. I did not shout at the seven year old boy and I talk out a tone and pitch in which he could hear clearly. Slang’s and jargons- I did not use slang in my dialect. This is because slang is mostly associated with teenagers and also he may not understand what I was saying  Pace – the pace is the speed in which I talk. I can talk fast and I can talk slow. Because he is a kid I had to talk slow so that she can understand  Non verbal  Gestures- an example of an gesture would be a thumbs up to refer to well done. I tried to use hand gesture to help the boy to understand what I was saying and also used hand gesture when I had to take the boy to the toilet I had to hold his hands. Body language -. This includes the most subtle of movements that many people are not aware of, including winking and slight movement of the eyebrows. I tried to adapt to Egan theory of SOLER by leaning forward to show that I was interested. I did not stand over him Listening- if we are not talking we are listening to what others are saying and trying to understand there views our body language can tell if we are listening to a persons whenever any body was talking I would lean forward to shows that I am interested. Because it was an group interactions I had to give other people the chance to talk and t get their opinion across. Expression- facial expression can send very complex message that can be read easily. I tried to use a good facial expression to make him feel comfortable and welcomed by smiling a lot.  Eye contact – Eye contact is the event when two people look at each other’s eyes at the same time. I kept good eye contact with him to show that I was actually listening to him.  The care value base is very important. The care value base is used widely in the field of health , social care and early years. The care value base is used to describe a set of principles that were thought to be relevant to the health and social care practitioners. The care value base can be used as an ethnical guide to decision making and practice in health, social care and early years setting. The care value base is used to be certain that care works or practitioners are not discriminating, being unkind, or providing poor care for their patients or service users The care value base covers five main areas:  1. Promoting anti-discriminatory practice  2. Maintaining confidentiality  3. Promoting and supporting individuals’ rights and respect  4. Acknowledging individuals’ personal beliefs and identities  5. Promoting effective communication  The care value base can form part of a code of conduct, or a professional code of ethics for anyone working in a caring profession. The car value base has become more important due to the fact the country has become more and more multicultural and ethnically diverse. Also there more people with disability. Laws have been passed which prohibit discrimination on the grounds of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability etc. is therefore vital that people do not feel discriminated against when they are using care services.

An Analysis of Irony in Emily Dickinson’s “I Felt a Funeral in My Brain”

The whole poem was in the past tense, just like relating to the poet’s nostalgic retrospective, telling a story that truly happened to her. What’s so scary a part about the poem is, if without the first line, the major subject — a â€Å"Funeral† that Emily once went through by herself, offering readers an angle of view from their own coffins, alive. The poem, thus, has put up a question probably with no answer: â€Å"what if you died and were about to be buried, but were still conscious all the time through the funeral?†.Since a coffin can directly represent a loss of â€Å"life†, Emily tried to make use of that sense of loneliness and isolation (yet devoid of a feeling of terror), which can be found in a coffin, to denote a thing worse than death — a loss of â€Å"mind†, as opposed to a loss of â€Å"life†. In fact, that’s just the beginning of Emily’s irony, which is, burying someone that merely lost †Å"herself (or himself)† instead of her (or his) â€Å"life†. The point is that in Emily’s mind, it was even worse than death to lose one’s own â€Å"Self’.The first imagery showing up and running through the whole poem is the â€Å"Mourners†. In common sense, they were supposed to sob or wail over the lost person; while on the contrary, there were no sounds of sadness at all in the funeral, which is quite ironic. The only sound that the poem was trying to convey is their stupid march — treading, treading — and their so-called service — beating, beating, resembling an army of cumbersome robots in their â€Å"Boots of Lead† disposing a bin of trashes or nastily, corpses.Weirdly enough, no mourning attire, no face, no interaction (for example, bestowing a rose on the dead, or whispering muffled with one another about the dead), and even no slightest feeling are described, at least for the sake of the dead person; ins tead, all in all is merely a simple statement of a routine procedure (arriving — taking a seat — waiting for the â€Å"Bell† ringing — then burying the coffin), so as to give the poem, in its least sense, the tone of a funeral procession. Yes, ironically, the least important thing seemed to be the dead guy; while the formality of the process was what only mattered.In pursuit of consistency, Emily also used a ballad meter style, of which the strong rhythmic tone could exactly cater to the marching sound and play as similar to a dirge, and the simplicity sensed in this meter could echo with that of the funeral. In addition, this simple rhythm had been also achieved by the repetition of the same words — â€Å"treading and treading†, â€Å"beating, beating† and â€Å"dropped down, down†, where the sense of motion had been created for readers to feel by themselves and been stressed by alliteration as well.However, on the other hand, the â€Å"simplicity†, both in the sense of the funeral and the â€Å"Mourners†, made a sharp contrast with the poet’s relatively complicated â€Å"mind†. And ironically, the only thing that was very likely to satirise that stupid â€Å"simplicity† had gone mad or even been lost, which is why Emily felt a Funeral in her â€Å"Brain†. Besides the visual imagery of â€Å"Mourners†, the sound of a â€Å"Bell† is another auditory one and its tolling was meant to signal the end of the funeral, which is, in fact, an echo to the imagery of â€Å"Mourners†.In the fourth Stanza, Emily referred â€Å"being† to â€Å"an ear† — partly in that the living â€Å"Mourners†, just like the lifeless robots without the ability of independent thinking, was awaiting the next-step instructions, and apart from a heart, a brain created to sense feelings and thinking, an ear was the only organ they needed to simply ab sorb orders to proceed the funeral; partly in that hearing a sound can be a sign of â€Å"being† and is privileged to â€Å"the being†, both of which she was no longer in possession, and this in part explains why â€Å"Silence† and she belonged to some strange Race.And â€Å"wrecked†, â€Å"solitary† were the only feelings that she had been having since being part of this â€Å"Race†. Apparently, the â€Å"Mourners† are a metaphor for all the people in her life that once mattered and since they were of the same race, they talked and acted in the same way that unfortunately she would never approve of and would do her best to satirize by despising them with a pen. She thought that staying reclusive could help maintain her superiority over the stir of the society, but is this really the case?At first, they began their treading and gradually, their noise started to make sense and affect her in some way. â€Å"That Sense was breaking thro ugh — †indicates that she had a momentary impression that her sense (or her mind) was escaping and continued to go away as the dash implies. The treading evolved into the beating, which confused her and finally managed to numb her mind. For them, the treading and the beating would never be enough for such a complicated and mature mind; thus, they planned to beat it down, put it into a coffin and bury it; and before all that happened, they tortured it again and again, as â€Å"with the same Boots of Lead, again† implies. When the mind could no longer bear the torture, it came to an end with the â€Å"Bell† tolling. Finally, finally it surrendered and was determined to be estranged from the outside world and stay lonely â€Å"in her coffin† by stopping communicating with those â€Å"ears†, but the torment went on. Everything seemed fine until â€Å"a Plank in Reason, broke† and she began to descend — madness, madness, madness. Wha t could have been more awful if there was a hole on her mind?But what’s worse, even though she kept dropping, experiencing all types of mental disorders, there was no demise and there would never be one, which means that she had to be kept under torture and pain. This is the most horrible thing, worse than death. The ironic part lies in that the pain she had been through was actually brought about by her own self. She built herself a coffin to avoid harm or obstacles in her way and keep her mind intact, which unavoidably led to her emptiness or even depression. There is a turn in rhyme in the last stanza — â€Å"And I dropped down, and down- /And hit a World, at every plunge, /And finished knowing thenâ€Å".The use of the slant rhyme wakes us up out of the boredom of the marching sound, and this turn also marks the waking up of Emily when she realized that something was wrong with her mind. This blink of realization was actually caused by the speed of the dropping, as Emily used â€Å"plunge† to depict her situation. Before the â€Å"realization†, she was by no means self-conscious of what was going on and the fact that everything taking place in her brain was all made up by her own self as a way to flee away from the outside world.However, ironically, no matter how hard she tried to bury her mind, she was just fleeing away to another state — mad, solitary, wrecked and worst of all, hopeless. After the â€Å"realization†, she was disillusioned, which is actually even more tragic, because there was no way to bury her mind but merely transforming its state into abnormality. Instead of a period, Emily used a dash to end the poem, which tells the readers that there would be no end to this hopeless process but an eternal struggle with self-consciousness — an eternal inner torture.

Impact of Poverty on Children Essay

According to data from UNICEF, a child in the United States is more likely to live in poverty than any other developed nation (American Psychological Association, 2012) Children living in poverty suffer from lack of nutrition. Lack of nutrition can lead to premature birth and/or low birth weight (APA, 2012). Inadequate access to healthy foods can lead to obesity (Dalton, 2007). Lack of food can lead to hunger or food insecurity (APA, 2012). Malnutrition can lead to deficits in cognitive and social development (APA, 2012). Failure to thrive can be a result of under nutrition (APA, 2012). According to the American Psychological Association (2012) poverty can lead to poor academic achievement. Stress connected with living in poverty affects concentration and memory (APA, 2012). Lack of encouragement to promote literacy and reading readiness (Cuthrell, Stapleton, & Ledford, 2010). No exposure to activities such as museums and camps (Cuthrell et al., 2010). Several states with school districts in low-income areas receive much less in state and local funding than other school districts (Hutchinson, 2013). Poverty and lack of insurance affects children’s health. Barrier to children receiving proper vaccinations (Becton, Lee, & Nieman, 2008). Children are a greater risk of behavioral and emotional issues (APA, 2012). Increased risk of asthma, anemia, and pneumonia (APA, 2012). Exposure to lead and other environmental contaminants (APA, 2012). Micro social work Working with families with children to provide services for food and health care. Collaborating with other agencies to provide services such as health departments, community service boards, and mental health service providers. Working with schools to ensure child(ren)’s needs being met. Assisting family with nutritional education and access to healthy foods. Macro social work Work with community to increase support for Head Start and preschool programs for all children. Policy and laws must address the lack availability of services and health insurance for children living in poverty. Advocate for school systems to better educate teachers to deal with children living in poverty – hire teachers who care about student’s achievements (Cuthrell et al., 2010). Encourage school boards to eliminate all sugary foods and drinks from school campuses. Encourage communities to be proactive in assisting families living in poverty with food and educational programs. Work with policy to promote increase in wages and employment opportunities (Fass et al., 2009). Social Constructionist Perspective Children in poverty have a place in society – do not move up in class. Children in poverty have certain characteristics: not intelligent, slow-minded, dirty, obese, wanting hand-outs, criminals. Children in poverty should not aspire to improve their circumstances. Society class structure gives the need for children and families to live in poverty. Poverty is accepted as a norm – need change of thinking. Social Behavior Perspective Children in poverty expect to grow up to live in poverty. Children in poverty thinking is reinforced by their environment. Children in  poverty do not have high expectations or goals. Children living in poverty continue the cycle of the parents and grandparents previously. Conflict Perspective Children in poverty are a non-dominant group. Children in poverty have no voice. Children in poverty are results of social and economic injustice – unequal division of power. Children in poverty affect all facets of society Schools and all children affected by policies such as: No Child Left Behind Act – teaching more to state testing versus academics and knowledge. Children in poverty cost an estimated $500 billion in lost productivity and spending on health care and criminal justice systems (Fass, Dinan, & Aratani, 2009). Children in poverty are more likely to be poor as adults, continuing the cycle increasing chances of chronic poverty ((Fass et al., 2009). The research on children living in poverty reinforces how the environment can and will affect an individual’s situation. Poverty influences a child’s health, education, and future well-being. If a child is not given the same opportunities as other children not living in poverty, the struggle to rise above poverty can be overwhelming. The cycle of poverty will only change when there is an equality of resources. The change starts at the micro level with the individual child and the family receiving services. To break the cycle, the change must be at the macro level with change in policies and laws. Agencies and social workers must give the children living in poverty a voice that can be heard. References American Psychological Association. (2012). Effects of poverty, hunger and homelessness on children and youth. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/print-this.aspx Becton, J. L., Lee, C., & Nieman, L. Z. (2008). The effect of lack of insurance, poverty and paediatrician supply on immunization rates among children 19-35 months of age in the United States. Journal of evaluation in clinical practice3, 14(2), 248-253. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2753.2007.00841.x Cuthrell, K., Stapleton, J., Ledford, C. (2010). Examining the culture of poverty: promising practices. Preventing school failures, 54(2), 104-110. Dalton, S. (2007, January). Our vulnerable children: poor and overweight. Southern Medical Journal. pp. 1-2. Fass, S., Dinan, K. A., & Aratani, Y. (2009, December). Child poverty and intergenerational mobility. National center for Children in Poverty. Retrieved from http://nccp.org/publications/pub_911.html Hutchinson, E. D., (2013). Theoretical perspectives on human behavior. Essentials of human behavior integrating person, environment, and the life course. (pp. 39 – 42). Thousand Oaks, CA Sage Publications. Compare/Contrast Krystal and Jessica both want to work with immigrants to help integrate them into the schools and society and overcome barriers. My desire to help children in poverty could be viewed as similar as both groups have barriers due to their status. Immigrants and poor people are looked upon as being less of a person. Each group I believe is affected by the conflict perspective. The unequal balance of power and resources prevents immigrants and poor people access to the same opportunities. If there is not a balance or equal opportunity to services and resources, how can immigrants and people living in poverty achieve the successes of those with access? The environment in which immigrants and poor people are exposed to everyday does not meet the basic needs of acceptance and hope. If children are to succeed in the classroom they must be given the tools and support to do so. Things such as food, shelter and language are taken for granted by society when there is not a need. How is a child who cannot understand what a teacher is saying or is being bullied by other children because of their different speech or clothing achieving success in the classroom? How can a child who has not eaten since lunch in school the day before concentrate on what is being taught by the teacher? Society must take responsibility for these  children. Social workers must advocate at all levels: micro and macro – to ensure immigrants and children of poverty are receiving equal access to opportunities available to others. Social workers and society cannot accept poverty as a norm. Social workers and society cannot accept lack of resources and/or funding an excuse to not properly educate children of immigrants.

History on the Middle East Essay

Middle East Conflicts Question’s 1. The zionest is a movement founded in the 1890’s to promote the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine 2. The 1917 Balfour Declaration declared that the British favored a Jewish homeland in Palestine 3. Divide palestine into two states one for the palestinians and one for the jews. The jews supported it but the palestinians did not. 4. The Israeli Declaration of Independence was read out on Friday, the 14th of May 1948 by David Ben Gurion, who then became the first Prime Minister of the new state. 5. The Arab-Isreali conflicts broke out when five arab nations invaded Isreal. 6. In 1956 the isrealies attacked the suez canal,Israel held the Gaza Strip and had advanced as far as Sharm al-Sheikh along the Red Sea. 7. The Six-Day War took place in June 1967. Arab countries attacked isreal, and Isreal gained control of old city Jersalem, the Sinai Peninsula, the Golan heights, and the West bank. 8. On October 6, 1973, hoping to win back territory lost to Israel during the third Arab-Israeli war, in 1967, Egyptian and Syrian forces launched a coordinated attack against Israel on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. Taking the Israeli Defense Forces by surprise, Egyptian troops swept deep into the Sinai Peninsula, while Syria struggled to throw occupying Israeli troops out of the Golan Heights. Israel counterattacked and recaptured the Golan Heights. A cease-fire went into effect on October 25, 1973. 9. The Palestine Liberation Organization it was formed in 1964 the laeder ofthe group was Yasir Arafat. 10. On september 17, Egypt and Isreal signed two agreements, the leader of Egypt was Anwar Sadat and the prime minister Menachem begin. 11. Egypt recognized Isreal as a state, and Isreal returned the Sinai Pennisula to Egypt. 12. President Anwar Sadat angered arabs and was assinated in 1981. 13. The intifadas were unarmed teenagers who attacked Isrealie soldiers. 14. The people involved in the Oslo Peace Records were Isreal(yitzhak Rabin) and palestine(Arafat) 15. Isreal, under the leadership of Yitzhak Rabin agreed to grant the palestinians self-rule in the gaza strip and the west bank. 16. Yitzak was assainated by a right-wing jewish extremist who opposed concessions to the palestinians.

Substance abuse among the older adult Research Paper

Substance abuse among the older adult - Research Paper Example Drugs prescription is one of the commonly abused substances, and led to the death of most elderly persons. Older adults who are affected by this abuse are seen with negative effects. Some of them were not given treatment and remained untreated until they die. Thus, this paper seeks to investigate how services and facilities--designed to at least save the patients from death--are delivered. Further, this paper identifies commonly abused substances and their effects. Commonly Abused Substances 1.1 Alcohol Alcohol use among older adults is not rare as it is one of the causes of severe diseases to them. In the United States, there is an approximately 2.5 million older adults that have been found out to be alcohol drinkers, and 21 percent of hospitalized adults aged of over 40 have been diagnosed of alcoholism (Blow, 1999). Not only older men have been found to be alcohol drinkers but also women, and became more dependent to alcohol. Myers et al. (1984 as cited in Blow, 1999) stated that older men are more inclined to alcohol drinking than older women. Dependency on alcohol becomes a serious problem but is not given proper attention and treatment. Older adults, who drink alcohol whether in a binge or heavy manner, have seen to have negative psychological and emotional experiences. Alcohol drinkers can be of two classifications, binge drinkers and heavy drinkers as far as the frequency of alcohol intake is concerned. Blow (1999) further stated that binge drinkers are those people who drink alcohol occasionally like once per week while heavy drinkers consume alcohol as often as daily or five drinks per week (p. 22). However, no matter what the frequency is, the problem still lies on the alcohol dependency among older adults. Alcohol, as a substance, is being abused by elder men and women and strikingly became leading causes of fatal diseases like cancer, diabetes, and liver illnesses. 1.2 Cigarette and Tobacco Cigarette and tobacco are widespread in the whole world an d have been taking its rank to the top place of most deadly substances. These substances are known to be the leading cause of lung cancer. Not only younger people are likely to get deadly diseases but most especially the older ones, as their body are not that strong in terms of immunity. Most deaths in the United States were driven by tobacco smoking and are increasing every year. One out of every five Americans died because of their excessive tobacco use. In addition, survey indicates that the number of older adults who use tobacco or cigarette have declined after reaching the age of 65 and over (Blow, 1999, p. 25). Although the number has sharply decreased, actually this does not mean that the problem with smoking was eradicated. 1.3 Drugs Older adults in their dawning age are likely to intake drugs which are intended to cure their sickness, but a large number of them have been found out to use drugs not prescribed by physicians. This contributes to the aggravating cases of substa nce abuse, and must be brought to a greater concern. In addition, the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment found out that in the year 2000, 25-28 percent of older adults used a psychoactive medication, and 20 percent took a tranquilizer on a daily basis (Blow, 2002 as cited in Yoshida, 2006). Further, illicit drugs are also widespread anywhere in the globe. According to Jinks and Raschko (1990 as cited in Yoshida, 2006) prescription drug abuse has reached an average percentage ranging from 30 percent to

MMR Vaccine Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

MMR Vaccine - Essay Example Prior to introduction of the vaccine, the most common cause of meningitis related to virus was mumps (NHS, 2004). Mumps is also in the stage of wiping-out because of the vaccine. Even the impact of rubella on fetuses has drastically decreased due to the vaccine. MMR has always been given as a combination vaccine and separate vaccination programme was never there in the United Kingdom (NHS, 2004). Thus, MMR is a very effective vaccine. However, several concerns have been raised by some experts about the safety of these vaccines because of reports of some studies pointing to the development of various complications like asthma, Guillain-Barre Syndrome, Crohns disease, Autism and Subacute Sclerosing Panencephalitis (Mediinfo, 2004). Of interest is a major study by Wakefiled et al (1998) published in the popular magazine Lancet which linked mumps vaccine to autism. According to this study, MMR vaccine can lead to autism spectrum disorders with associated enterocolitis. In the study, parents of eight out of 12 children who presented with "history of normal development followed by loss of acquired skills, including language, together with diarrhea and abdominal pain" (Wakefiled et al, 1998) reported that the onset of symptoms were after administration of MMR vaccine. This was a major breakthrough study that forced the UK government to discontinue the vaccine until further research . Based on the reports of the study, the rates of vaccination of MMR vaccine dropped dramatically (McIntyre and Leask, 2008), leading to an increase in the incidence of mumps and measles and their associated complications like morbidity and mortality (Pepys, 2007). The reports of the study were investigated by a journalist by name Brian Deer who discovered the fact that the main researcher of the study, Andrew Wakefield had some conflicts of interest that were

Language & Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Language & Culture - Essay Example As the essay stresses language diversity has always existed in America. It has never declared any national language in the last 200 years. Until two decades ago, Americans did not have to provide bilingual ballots, education, publications, and similar services at public expense. To manage diversity many nations had to declare an official language but America did not have to. In the 19th century state laws, constitution and legislative proceedings appeared in languages as diverse as Welsh, Norwegian, Czech, Spanish, French, and German. America has migrants from many countries of the world. Three US States are officially bilingual. Louisiana has English and French, New Mexico (English and Spanish), and Hawaii (English and Hawaiian). This discussion declares that it is impossible to generalize the meaning of an official language. If a small country like Iceland declares an official language it is workable but it is not practical for a country like Canada. Recently the colony of Puerto Rico ended its official bilingualism in favor of Spanish as its sole official language. Japan is not adopting English as the second official language and it fears that it would lose its leading position in the world. It fears losing its culture if English is added as the second official language. Canada is officially bilingual under the Official Languages Act and the Constitution of Canada that require the federal government to deliver services in both official languages, namely English and French. Approximately 25% of Canadians speak French.

Auditing. PARMALAT COMPANY. The series of scandals caused a general Essay

Auditing. PARMALAT COMPANY. The series of scandals caused a general crisis of confidence in the integrity of the entire system o - Essay Example This was one of the prime reasons which had brought the scandal under limelight. In the year 2003, Parmalat was severely penalized for trying to raise 300 million in the form of bonds (Word Socialist, 2004). The author of the study will highlight the impact of the integrity in the system of corporate accountability process, role of the auditors with respect to Parmalat scandal. The study will also highlight the importance of corporate governance mechanism related to Parmalat. The credibility of the audit reporting, functions and regulations will also be discussed with respect to the auditing procedure carried out by Deloitte & Touche in Parmalat. Finally, the study will conclude highlighting the changes in the critical evaluation of changes in auditing, corporate governance regulations in prevention of scandals. Integrity in the System of Corporate Accountability The corporate accounting system encompasses the traditional accounting and also the social reporting method. The social re porting concepts are supposed to revolve around environmental and also the social aspects of the assets and liabilities reporting methods. It is concerned with the benefits and cost associated with the issues and the verification, assurance provided by the auditors (Rao, Tilt and Lester, 2012). It encompasses various issues which revolve around the interactions and the inclusion of elements like ethics, corporate governance, social and environmental accounting, philanthropy activities (Pollock, 2011). The development of social corporate accounting encompasses the formulation of accounting systems as per the guidelines provided by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) to provide accuracy in the global and environmental accounting. Role of Auditors The role of internal auditors of the company identifies the errors and checks whether the measures undertaken by the management are in compliance with the norms and regulations. The duty of internal auditor is to check of the transparency o f accounting system and also provide advice based on the conducted auditing function (National Fraud Authority, n.d). One of the prime objectives of the auditor is to provide the stakeholders and shareholders the key assurance that risk management activities are carried out effectively. The auditor’s incompetence will be observed when he/she would be able to uncover the misappropriations in the accounting systems and also the preparation of the timely accounting reports, risk management system and various other activities. They evaluate the accounting activities and provide certain reasonable assurance that enables the accomplishment of goals and objectives of the organization (Ferrarini and Giudici, 2005). Accurate and transparent auditing function can also necessitate the entire financial system and help in the removal of accounting discrepancies within the systems (Caraballo, Cheerla and Jafari, 2010). The management of the company is unaware that inaccurate auditing proce dure leads to the complexities within the accounting system of the organization (George, 2011). In the context of Parmalat, the internal auditors were not only able to perform accurate auditing, detection of error on the methods of the system but also had involved itself in the creation of the forgery of accounts (Action Fraud, 2013).This was one of the prime reasons which had

Effects of the Smoking on Humans Health Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Effects of the Smoking on Humans Health - Article Example A major reason why people smoke is that they do not realize what harm smoking causes to the health. The inhaled smoke harms the biological system that oxygenates the bloodstream, but smokers may not know that. Carbon monoxide present in the cigarette smoke reduces the transported amount of oxygen through blood. This research project compared a group of smokers with a group of non-smokers to study the relationship between smoking and level of oxygenation in the blood. There were a total of 13 members in each group. A pulse oximeter was used to gauge the levels of blood oxygenation. On the basis of the previous research, this research project’s results should identify lower levels of blood oxygenation in the smokers as compared to the blood oxygenation levels of the non-smokers because of the reduced efficiency of the smokers’ bodies to carry oxygen through the bloodstream. Differences between the blood oxygenation levels of the selected groups were measures using means, t-tests, and standard deviations. In spite of the support of the previous research for drastic difference between the blood oxygenation levels of the two groups, this research project did not find any significant difference. The major anticipated reason for the deviation of the results of this research from the previous researches is that the groups selected for this research comprised young people whereas the effects of smoking possibly take time to reveal themselves. Retesting the same groups after some time is recommended.

Literary works comment on society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Literary works comment on society - Essay Example These all show her vacillation between tradition and modernization, comfort and progress, and that Tess is unable to decide which is right for her. The new order seems to ignore emotion, but the idea of condemning the baby Sorrow to eternity in purgatory for the sake of her anti-Christian beliefs makes â€Å"her nightgown damp with perspiration† (Chapter XIV). Tess becomes the unsure frontrunner of the new, twentieth-century combination of Christian doubt and personal spirituality. Tess is personified as a â€Å"daughter of Nature† (Chapter XVIII), with religion as a function of civilization, and as such she cannot quite choose which authority to be persuaded by: tradition deems that she should follow Christian law closely, although certain allowances are made in her hometown. For example, near the start of the novel, Tess participates in Cerealia, a festival for the Goddess of the Harvest (Chapter II).

Online Socializing Has Given Rise to Social Isolation Essay

Online Socializing Has Given Rise to Social Isolation - Essay Example   When there is too little interaction with people, man tends to get socially isolated and becomes depressed. This gives rise to anxiety and stress which is not manageable by the person himself. Hampton, Sessions and Her state: â€Å"Evidence from the US General Social Surveys (GSS) suggests that during the past 20 years, people have become increasingly socially isolated and their core discussion networks have become smaller and less diverse.† When a person spends hours and hours in front of the computer screen behind the objective of staying connected to the people online, he is unaware that he is getting disconnected from the world around him, and is getting oblivious of those living around him who need him and can make him happier than the online community. Social isolation creates adverse effects on the family relationships because online socializing works â€Å"by divorcing social relationships from physical reality and moving them beyond our local community† (Ro bins, qt. in Straubhaar, LaRose and Davenport 437). Hence, we can say that social isolation, anxiety, depression, and loneliness are linked with each other, and the root cause is the epidemic of online socializing. Literature supports that online networking gives rise to many problems.  Ã‚  

Identify & reviewing the company's investor relations information Essay

Identify & reviewing the company's investor relations information - Essay Example In sum, net profit declined by 3.13%. This can be attributed to a significant increase in operating expense from $46.875 in 2010 to $47.373 in 2011 while increase in sales was only moderate from $49.243 in 2010 to $49.747 in 2011. The profitability ratio of the company is not that very good. Return on assets (Net income/average total assets, 1,427.00/17,849.00) is only 7.9 %. It meant that the company use a lot of resources to yield returns. Return on equity ratio(net income/average stockholders’ equity, 1,427.00/6,602) or Equity per share (EPS) however is moderately positive with 21.6 % return to investors. But while the company is giving modest returns, its stability in terms of debt to equity (total liability/total stockholder’s equity) ratio is very disturbing. Its debt is more than 270.35% (17,849/6,602) than its equity which means that the company is heavily indebted. This is being supported by its liquidity ratio which has current ratio (Current asset/current lia bility) of .47 which means that Best Buy cannot settle its obligations right away and has to source out more than half of its obligations. The shortcoming of Best Buy is however recognized by the company and vowed to address them. In its press release, it enumerated as one of its action plans to improve business performance is its reduction in its operating cost which caused the the company’s lesser profitability. It vowed to reduced cost by $800 million dollars and along with this is the closure of 50 big box stores in 2013 to be replaced by 100 Best Buy Mobile small format stand-alone stores in fiscal 2013 (Epstein, 2012). It also plans to grow its online presence revenue by 15% recognizing the growing profitability in ecommerce. If I am an investor, I will not put my money in Best Buy because I am worried with the company’s long-term stability. It just owes a lot

Middle East Conflicts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Middle East Conflicts - Essay Example Though history is replete with the countless wars fought between the followers belonging to divergent faiths, where both the sides asserted their claim to be the people of God, yet the Middle East crisis have witnessed over two centuries long clashes along with six decades long bloody struggle between the Jews and Muslims. Consequently, four wars have been fought between the two communities in order to win complete domination and hold in the region. Took place in 1948, 1967, 1973 and 2006, the Arab-Israel conflicts are the worst precedents of wars in the name of religion. Historical Background: During 19th century, when the nationalist movements began to emerge in Europe and Jews were being persecuted in Austria, Prussia and England by the orthodox Christians, the Jews started dreaming of acquiring their separate homeland, where no one could gather courage to hurt, humiliate and discard their community. Thus the Zionist movement came into being by the end of nineteenth century. The Jews started to shifting to Palestine and purchased land there en mass. Initially, the Arabs allowed them live side by side with them, but due to the continuous increase in Jewish population, the Arab nationalism emerged, and the young generation started resistance against further Jewish immigration in the region. Twentieth century brought the news of independence for countless nations in the aftermath of two Great Wars between the then superpowers of the world, which had weakened the UK, Germany, France, Austria and Japan. Palestine was under the subjugation of the Ottoman Empire till 1917, which was captured by the Allied Forces in the aftermath of WWI. The big powers allow the Jews to enter their ‘promised land’ Israel in the neighborhood of Jerusalem, the most sacred area for Jews on the earth. It was really perturbing for the Arabs, who had been in majority and political domination in the entire region for

Leadership Styles In Professional Nursing Research Paper

Leadership Styles In Professional Nursing - Research Paper Example This component of the essay seeks to achieve two major aims. Firstly, it is to describe two different leadership styles in the nursing profession and also discuss how these two nursing leadership styles can be implemented in a professional nursing practice. In the first place, Rampur (2011) identifies two major leadership styles in the nursing profession. According to him, these leadership styles are democratic and autocratic leadership styles. Earlier in his submission, Rampur (2011) elucidates that leaders in the nursing profession are mostly seen to be either nurse managers who are â€Å"assigned the obligation of handling one unit† or nurse executives who are â€Å"responsible for the operations of all in-patient nursing units.† Under whatever portfolio a nurse might be in a leadership position, the leadership styles mentioned earlier happen to reign at one point in time or the other. On the whole, the type of leadership style that implemented should depend on a spe cific situation rather than adopting one of the two as a routine leadership style (Cummings, 2010). With the democratic leadership style, the nurse leader â€Å"engages his nurses in decision-making and let them carry out their work in an independent manner (Rampur, 2011).† In the autocratic nursing leadership however, the nurse leader â€Å"would provide instructions without looking for inputs and superintend his nurses in a close manner (Rampur, 2011).† Simply put, democratic leadership allows for group participation, discussion and contribution as far as decision making is concerned but with autocratic leadership style, subordinates always have to take instructions from the leaders. Without passing outright judgment on the either types of nursing leadership styles as to which is right and which is wrong, it is worth noting that there are different ways and at different points in time that the various leadership styles are brought to work. As a matter of fact, the is sue of whether a particular leadership style is right or wrong would come in if the right leadership style is implemented at the wrong time and vice versa. In implementing any of the leadership styles, it is important that leaders put into consideration the â€Å"health authority structures, inter-professional teamwork and conflict, the actions and decisions of senior administrators and government officials, changing public demographics and consumer expectations of the healthcare system, and the implementation of new knowledge, evidence and innovation†

Auditing and assurance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Auditing and assurance - Essay Example Therefore, this report will discuss the background of the financial crisis and the proposals tabled by the commission. 1. Background of the financial crisis The financial crisis started in the year 2007 and spread with intense in 2008 despite of the central banks and regulators effort to calm it down (Merkel, 2012). In early 2009, the global economy was experiencing recession and the only way out was to focus was on preventing the downtown from prolonging to a great depression. The root causes of the financial crisis had to be looked into so as to take a cause of action (Se Hoon et.al 2008). Everyone one was responsible for the financial crisis from the government, auditors, credit agencies, banks and the public. But most of the causes originate from banks and financial institutions since they are responsible for regulating monetary policies and financial stability. Banks and other financial intermediaries play a critical role in the financial system thus it is vital to understand th eir role (Allison 2012). For instance, they respond to contagion meaning that one shock can affect a wide area. Therefore, if a shock is experienced by the banks, then the whole financial sector will experience the same impact. According to Allen (2001), a study conducted shows that when banks are have different network structures, they likely respond to contagion. Diamond (1996) points out those banks insure against liquidity shocks by having their interbank deposits exchanged. As a result, swapping of deposits exposes the banking system into contagion. This means that if the banks are secure from liquidity, then the financial sector is also safe. Therefore, we can say that banks responded to contagion during the financial crisis and as a result the global economy was affected (Se Hoon et.al 2008). Banks eliminate information problems between investors and borrowers by monitoring and ensure that depositors’ funds are in proper use. Secondly, they spur up economic growth. The y also provide intertemporal smoothing of non-diversifiable risk at a given time as well as insuring depositors against consumption shocks. Moreover, the origin of the crisis is believed to be in U.K and in U.S. In the financial system, lenders of money include households and firms while borrowers include firms, governments and households. Lenders supply funds to borrowers in two ways. To begin with, lenders supply money through the financial markets. Secondly, through which lenders supply money is through financial intermediaries such as the banks, mutual funds, market funds, pension funds and insurance companies. The bank relaxed the lending policies by reducing the interest rates and as a result many borrowers were attracted. In U.S mortgage lending rates were relaxed and also in U.K by the Bank of England. The housing prices rose and then began to fall to unsustainable levels as a result of the abundant credit and as a result the housing bubble came into the scheme (Calvo 2009). The decline in the value of houses made borrowers to default their mortgage loan payment. The U.S public debt which forms 100% of its GDP was also another contributor of the financial crisis. Other countries such as Japan and china run surpluses. Investigations show that many banks had an

Medical Marijuana Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Medical Marijuana - Research Paper Example It was marred with political motives and manipulations. Not all facts were presented. The long-proven therapeutic use of marijuana was not made known to the public. Rather, it was consciously and systematically put aside by emphasizing and worse exaggerating the harmful effects of marijuana. In short, marijuana was demonized driven by political and economic reasons. Since then, the criminalization of drug abuse has become not only legally but also morally right and the war on drugs has become not only a civic but also a moral duty. As a consequence, small drug offenders filled correctional facilities, causing not only human rights abuses in and outside corrections but also causing the Federal State coffer to bleed unnecessarily; urban violence between drug users/pushers and law enforcers heightened, entailing greater police visibility, capability, and sophistication which means bigger budget allocation for efficient law enforcement; and drug operations went underground, not only making law enforcement more difficult but also denying the government millions of potential taxes while enriching drug cartels and crooked law enforcers and legislators. Other than this, the criminalization of marijuana has also deprived patients of a potent alternative medicine that could be less expensive than those being produced by profit-oriented pharmaceutical com panies. Within this context, this paper argues for the legalization of medical marijuana because it is more economically beneficial than it is socially costly. Marijuana is a Spanish-American term originally used to refer specifically to tobacco, but was used later in South and North America to refer generally to cannabis (Iversen 26). This reference change must have been due to the fact that marijuana comes from the Cannabis or hemp plant, named scientifically as Cannabis sativa in 1735 by the well-known Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus, making it an officially classified species (5). Marijuana was

Legal regulation of the sex work Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Legal regulation of the sex work - Essay Example Against the background of the heritage of Canadian laws on prostitution or sex working, this essay discusses how prostitution laws in Canada currently stand and takes into consideration law enforcement patterns, as well as the non-enforcement patterns. It also discuss what or who is being controlled by sex working laws and their enforcement. The history of lawful regulation of sex working in Canada is one of the countrys intervention to try and bring to a stop prostitution under public annoyance provisions in and attempts to utilize the Contagious Diseases Act in Canada in the 1870s, as well as the 1880s (Moscucci, 2012). From about 1910, every Canadian state began using criminal laws on sex working, wherein the act of sex working itself is not an illegal act, but various prostitution-related events are considered illegal. These regulations are mostly based on Canadian laws on barring under-aged individuals on areas used by prostitutes, soliciting, brothel keeping and renting rooms to prostitutes (Moscucci, 2012). The legacy of Canadian law borrowed four notable elements from English law on prostitution. First was the stress on regulation of prostitution under the appearance of public nuisance regulations or the avoidance of annoyance. Under the Criminal Code, it is illegal for a sex worker to publicly importune or solicit with an aim of selling themselves to others and also under the Canadian 1959 Street Offenses dictated that prostitutes are likely to create annoyance or disturbance simply because of their presence, even if no one is annoyed (Moscucci, 2012). Secondly, the critical phrase, common prostitute that applies to women alone, initially appeared in the 1822 English Vagrancy Act and was later incorporated into Canadian law concerning sex working. The effect is that law enforcement officers can overlook a number of formalities in order to arrest common sex workers (Moscucci, 2012). Thirdly, the 1864 Contagious

The Dilemma of Lieutenant Jimmy Cross in Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried” Essay Example for Free

The Dilemma of Lieutenant Jimmy Cross in Tim O’Brien’s â€Å"The Things They Carried† Essay In Tim O’Brien’s â€Å"The Things They Carried† First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross is a 24 year old young man in love with a girl named Martha, who is thrust into the jungles of Vietnam. Carrying â€Å"the responsibility for the lives of his men† but distracted by his fantasies of Martha, tragedy strikes his platoon and Ted Lavender is shot and killed. (p. 97). Lieutenant Cross grieves for Lavender, for Martha, for himself, as he curtails his daydreams â€Å"determined to perform his duties firmly and without negligence. † (p. 106). PARAGRAPH The war was gruesome, relentless, monotonous, and purposeless. The men of Lieutenant Cross’s platoon carried everything they needed (and some things they did not) on their persons as they â€Å"humped† it through the jungles of Vietnam (p. 98). They carried food, clothing, bedding, weapons, photos, diseases, parasites, wounded and dead comrades, memories, reputations, dreams, and â€Å"the common secret of cowardice barely restrained† (p. 105). They carried things for many different reasons: choice, necessity, entertainment, superstition, or as a function of rank or field specialty. PARAGRAPH Among his things, Lieutenant Cross carried memories, letters, pictures, and a good luck charm from a young college student named Martha. Although they dated before the war, they only kissed briefly, and her letters carried news of a â€Å"separate-but-together quality† they shared (p. 99). He knew that just because she signed her letters love Martha did not mean she was in love with him, but he was hopeful. He often lost himself in fantasies of her, wondering about her virginity and what â€Å"her truest feelings were† (p. 99). He moved slowly and distractedly finding it difficult to keep his mind on war and his men’s security. His mind continuously wandered to thoughts of â€Å"Martha’s smooth young face, thinking he loved her more than anything, more than his men, and now Ted Lavender was dead because he loved her so much and could not stop thinking about her† (p. 99). He was young and in love and could not help it but he was ashamed and hated himself too. PARAGRAPH Among his things, Ted Lavender who was scared, carried tranquilizers, premium dope and extra ammunition, necessities for him. On the day he was shot and killed, he had just popped a tranquilizer and gone off to pee. Caught by a bullet to the head, in the act of zipping up, he went down instantly, under an exceptional burden of â€Å"unweighed fear† and extra bullets (p. 99). PARAGRAPH â€Å"The morning after Ted Lavender died, First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross crouched at the bottom of his foxhole and burned Martha’s letters. Then he burned the two photographs† (p. 105). He realized that daydreams of unrequited love had no place in this nightmare world he called reality. He knew that this sentimental gesture could not burn the blame he felt for Lavender’s death, but perhaps it would keep the rest of the platoon alive. PARAGRAPH Lieutenant Jimmy Cross’s dilemma arose from the natural impulses of a young man in love coupled with the incessant responsibilities of a combat officer. Following Lavender’s death he realized â€Å"that his obligation was not to be loved but to lead† (p. 107). A heavy burden to carry indeed. He vowed to himself diligence to his officer’s duties, fully intending to run a tight ship regardless of the complaints of his men.

Skellig Film Analysis Essay Example for Free

Skellig Film Analysis Essay 1) At first sight, Skellig does not want Michael’s friendship and wants to be left alone. Directly Skellig says ‘You again? Thought you’d gone away’. This implies that he never wanted to see Michael there and is hoping, through the conversation, for him to leave ask quickly as possible. I strongly believe that Skellig does not want anyone visiting him and that he wants to be left isolated. 2) The reader suggests to us that there is a relationship between Michael and Skellig because Skellig is like an angel and Michael’s sister is like an angel too. Skellig says â€Å"They say that shoulder blades are where your wings were, when you were an angel, she said. They say theyre where your wings will grow again one day.† This shows that Skellig knows about Michael’s sister. 3) At the end Skellig is getting stronger. He was playing football with other people and was more active, before he wanted to be very lonely and isolated. He would be in his own world. 4) The author suggests that Skellig is not a normal person, when Skellig could not stop drinking 27 and 53. Skellig says â€Å"More 27 and 53 †¦ Ah the food of the gods.† This suggests that he is not normal because he is drinking too much stuff he should not be. 5) We first realised that Skellig might save Michael’s baby sister when he went over to the hospital and saw her wings. This shows that he tried his best to save her by taking off her wings and healing her back. This made Michael’s sister ready for the operation. 6) 27 and 53 have a big effect on Skellig, they make him feel more relaxed but energetic, and he is able to visit other places, when he drinks it. Like when he went to the hospital to save Michael’s sister. He ate 27 and 53 before going then saved her.

Impact of the Ageing Workforce

Impact of the Ageing Workforce Prior to the passage of the Social Security Act in 1935 work did not typically end with a planned retirement. Average retirement (meaning the age at which 1/2 of workers from an initial age cohort remain in the workplace) was age 70 or more for men. After World War II there was a need to open the workplace to growing numbers of unemployed younger workers, particularly veterans. Also retirement leisure was becoming a symbol of success. Social security and private pension policies were designed to encourage earlier departures from work. In 1961, for example, Congress lowered the age men were eligible for unreduced Social Security benefits from 65 to 62. Average retirement dropped from age 70 in 1950 to age 65 in 1970 with age 62 becoming the norm by 1985 [Quinn, 2002; Cahill et al., 2005]. Despite this long trend toward earlier retirement since the 1940s, the 78 million baby boomers born between 1946 and 1964 comprise such a large group that there are more workers in their fifties and sixties on the job than ever before. As they leave the workforce, whether at age 55, 62, 65 or later, there will also be more retirees than ever before. To complete the picture, as these baby boomers age at work and then leave for retirement, they are followed by a substantially smaller younger generation, the baby bust of 1965–1976. The enormous economic and labor market consequences of this demographic transformation are becoming clear. In the State of Washington, for example, 29% of employed workers were 45 or older in 1995. This had grown to 39% by 2005 [Kaglic, 2005]. This growth is not being matched by younger workers. By 2015 there will be 115,000 more 60- to 64-year olds and 30,000 fewer 40- to 44-year olds in the Washington State labor force (those who are either employed or seeking employment) than there were in 2005 [Bailey,2006]. As these older workers move into retirement the direct impact will be a tighter labor market and a shortage of various skills. According to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers by 2010 as many as 60% of today’s experienced utility workers will retire. Similarly, the average age of hospital caregivers today is about 45, with 70% of the hospital workforce eligible to retire over the next 20–25 years [Briley and Hutson, 2002]. The indirect, but equally profound, impact of the demographic changes will be economic. The integrity of our federal social security system has depended upon the labor and income of large numbers of young workers supporting the retirement needs of smaller numbers of disabled and retired workers and their dependents. In 2005 for every person 65 and older there were five people aged 20– 64 (i.e., an old age dependency ratio of 20%). The Social Security Administration e stimates that by 2080 this ratio will more than double, to more than 40%, with only 2.5 younger people for every older one. Not only will the number of retirees grow, but their life expectancy and associated duration of retirement is increasing as well. While private pension systems are theoretically fully funded at the time the commitment is made to provide the future benefit, in fact this is often not fully realized. Underfunded pension programs in both the private and public sectors are now common, the federal assurance program for these pensions is not robust, and these pensions may also be jeopardized by these changing demographics. Although the impact of the growing dependent older population will be somewhat mitigated by lower fertility rates which reduce the numbers of the very young who are also dependent on the working age population [Burtless, 2005], this will not offset the profound economic consequences of the demographic trends. As these trends progress—more old er workers moving toward retirement with fewer younger replacements— substantial pressure on our social security and pension funds will accompany the anticipated shortages of labor and skills. Public and private employment policies will almost certainly evolve to encourage workers to stay on the job longer. Other factors creating incentives to stay at work longer include the need for private health insurance until at least the age of 65 in the face of relentlessly rising health care costs and the increasing uncertainty about pension benefits that comes with the trend from defined benefit private pension plans shift toward defined contribution programs. Some of the expected policy changes are already evident, including the 1978 and 1986 amendments to the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 [ADEA, 1967] which have largely eliminated mandatory retirement ages, the gradual increase in the age for full social security benefits from 65 to 67, and a relaxation of the social security retirement earnings test so that workers can stay on the job longer without a loss of benefits. The Pension Protection Act of 2006 has made it easier for senior employees to phase their retirement plans by starting to draw pension income without penalty while they continue to work full or part time past age 62 [PPA, 2006]. These changes are probably not enough. Business Week magazine, for example, predicts that social security’s normal retirement age will incrementally rise to 70 [Coy and Brady,2005]. This, however, is not certain since along with predictable political opposition many actuaries assume that raising the retirement age would result in an increasing number of older people applying for Social Security disability benefits, thus offsetting the possible savings from the raised retirement age. The impact of these developments is already apparent. While the labor force participation rate among 65-year-old men dropped from 70% in 1940 to only 32% in 1985 [National Research Council, 2004] this trend shows signs of reversing as the incentives for early retirement are beginning to soften. From 1985 to 2004 the labor force participation rate of 25- to 54-year olds stayed essentially stable (à ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡uctuating between 82% and 84%) while the rate among 55- to 64-year olds increased consist ently from 54% to 62% [Toossi, 2005]. This trend is likely to continue, as signaled by a May, 2005 Gallup survey showing that the percent of people planning to put off retirement until after age 62 had risen from 35% in 1998 to 55% in 2004. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that the percent of older workers staying on the job will continue to rise at least through 2014, even without major changes in social policy such as further increases in full social security retirement age. The impacts of age on cognitive function are more complicated. Some mental processes such as those requiring spatial abilities, problem solving, and processing of complex stimuli are especially age sensitive. Cross sectional data sets suggest declines in these domains beginning as early as 20–30 years old, while the onset is a bit later for longitudinal studies. Performing multiple simultaneous tasks or holding multiple items in working memory are examples of these age dependent processes. Psy chologists distinguish these ‘‘fluid’’ functions which involve processing input at the time of performance from other ‘‘crystallized’’ cognitive functions which are the cumulative results of earlier processing and are better preserved with age. The ‘‘crystallized’’ knowledge of word meaning or the ability to retrieve familiar information, for example, is relatively age stable. In addition to these crystallized semantic skills, memory for procedural skills such as typing, which relies on early learning, is also relatively well maintained with age [National Research Council, 2004]. The ability to work successfully with increasing age is thus the integrated result of many factors. For example, older typists have been shown to have slower tapping rates and reaction times, but are able to compensate for declining motor speed by using experience to scan characters further in advance than younger, less experience d typists [Salthouse, 1984; Bosman, 1993, 1994]. Similarly, despite significant age-related declines in the cognitive ability to recall short musical melodies, at every age those with musical experience and skills tend to maintain their advantage in musical memory over those with less experience and skill [Meinz and Salthouse, 1998; Meinz, 2000]. Based on a comprehensive review Salthouse [2006] has concluded that while many types of cognitive and physical performance are improved at all ages with training and practice, this does not appear to change the rate at which capability declines with age. In other words training, practice and experience can enhance performance at older ages and can often result in older workers outperforming younger ones, despite the fact that age-related declines continue at the same rate as they do in workers with less experience and practice. Laà ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡amme and Menckel [1995] have summarized these relationships in a study of work injuries by noting that skills and experience can compensate for age-related physical and cognitive declines only when the job demands remain lower than overall work capacity and that this compensation is not feasible when work organization and working methods are rigid. Several recommendations have been made for the implementation of practical programs consistent with the evidence summarized above. Four strategic dimensions have been suggested, including interventions that focus on the work environment, the way work and retirement are arranged and organized, the health and fitness of the individual worker, and the social context of work [Moyers and Coleman, 2004; National Research Council, 2004]. We are beginning to experience profound work place changes related to the demographic changes of an aging population. Those who do encourage older employees to remain at work but fail to take steps to support their productive capacities and minimize their vulnerabilities may experience adverse impacts on qu ality, productivity, workers’ compensation and other insurance costs. On the other hand employers who promote and support the work ability of employees as they age may gain in safety, productivity, competitiveness, and sustainable business practices. There are several possible reasons why employers have been slow to anticipate and meet the needs of an aging workforce. First, some of the actions that that have been suggested— such as phased retirement programs—might require complex changes in pension law, benefits agreements and personnel policies. Second, many employers still harbor false beliefs that older workers are less reliable, less productive, less safe and more expensive than younger ones [Wegman, 1999]. Third, some employers are insuffiently informed about laws governing workplace bias and equal opportunity and are fearful that measures perceived to favor older workers might open them to charges of discrimination. Two recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions should mitigate these fears, but knowledge of them is not widespread [General Dynamics, 2004; Smith, 2005]. In combination these decisions make it clear that while age sometimes does affect an individual’s capacity to do certain types of work, employers may attend to the special needs of older workers without providing equivalent assistance to relatively younger workers. Thus, it is permissible to treat older workers preferentially in comparison to younger workers, but it is not permissible to deny them advantages or privileges extended to younger workers. It is important to note, however, that programs and policies which most effectively meet the needs of an aging workforce are not just programs for older workers but are those starting when workers are young in order to prevent or slow the effects of aging at work. Fourth, while there is strong evidence to support the implementation of some of the interventions discussed in this paper (e.g., ergonomic measures to prevent mu sculoskeletal disorders and clinical preventive services to reduce disability from cancer and cardiovascular disease), the evidentiary is limited and unknown to most employers. Research is needed to determine the effectiveness of the various program designs together with a substantial effort to disseminate results and recommendations to employers and employee organizations References Quinn J. 2002. Changing retirement trends and their impact on elderly entitlement programs. In: Altman SH, Shactman DI, editors. Policies for an aging society. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, p 293-315. Kaglic R. 2005. 2005 Washington State Labor Market and Economic Report. Olympia, Washington: Washington State Employment Security Department. Bailey S. 2006. 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Research Paper on Dowry System in India

Research Paper on Dowry System in India In todays world, we are surrounded by media. Our lives are saturated by newspapers, radio, books, television, movies, the Internet, and many other aspects of media. These can be broadly classified into two types: news media and popular media. In India, both these types provide an insight into Indian life, which is filled with romance, tradition, and all the other day-to-day experiences and situations one might come across. But, even though they might seem the same, they both play very different roles in society. Popular media represents and recounts a vast number of real life stories, and portrays them in a manner enjoyable for the audience. News media on the other hand, provides more facts and raw information for the audience to understand, with or without a firm opinion of its own on the matter. Popular media reaches out to a much larger audience, as both literate and illiterate people are able to access it, while news media only reaches out to the literate and wealthy people. This difference can become a problem in certain situations. Both these parts of media reflect society constantly, as they are shaped from and around experiences and stories of the people in the society. Usually, both these types concur with each other in the content and representation of society, but there are specific cases in which this ceases to be true. An example of this is the portrayal of the prominence and effects of the dowry system in India today. For a long time, both popular and news media reflected the a spects of the dowry system in the Indian society very vividly and comprehensively, and shared the same view on the topic. But over time, it was noticed that popular media deviated from this pattern and no longer reflected the prominence of the dowry system in society, while the news media continued to do so, thus creating an ideological difference between the two. The problem of the dowry system is still prominent, and the news media continues to reflect this. But since popular media does not reflect society anymore, a majority of the society comes under the impression that there is nothing wrong in what they are doing. This can cause the dowry system to be persistent in the everyday lives of Indian families. The dowry system is a cultural system in India in which the parents of the bride pay a large sum of money, and give expensive jewelry and other gifts such as car or other household items, to the parents of the groom during marriage (Borah 2). Traditionally, there were many reasons for the establishment of this system. It was a form of inheritance for the bride, since all the family property was inherited by men. It was supposed to be the security for the bride in case any misfortune befell her husbands house. It was also a system of honoring the groom for his willingness to accept the bride as his wife in marriage, and the gifts given could range from anything significant to even a small token of good wishes (Borah 2). However, the greed for dowry has affected almost all ordinary families in India. Nowadays, in marriages between or amongst all hierarchal levels of society, dowry is generally an unspoken requirement. And due to the exposure to mass media, the gifts given in dowry have transformed into a large transfer of wealth, making it an important factor in marriage. The social and cultural effects of the dowry system are devastating to the society as a whole. The system reduced women to a commodity and a source of wealth. Even if the dowry is paid, in most cases, the bride is tortured by her in-laws, mentally and physically as their demand for more dowry becomes endless (Chirmade 1992). This torture generally leads to suicide or murder of the bride. The reason why dowry is still persistent in India is not only because it is difficult to enforce the law against it or because the grooms family is very demanding, but also because the brides family continues to bear with it. Despite the widespread awareness of the negative consequences of dowry and the problems cause by it, it is still seen as a way of buying happiness for the bride (Stone and James, 1995). Many families believe that giving a large dowry would result in better treatment of the daughter by the grooms family. This has only aggravated the problem as the standard for dowry became high and marriage was made dependent on whether the brides family could meet that standard of dowry or not. A study was done in 1980 which examined students expectations of dowry for people with various education backgrounds. Even though majority of the students viewed the dowry system as an evil in society and considered it unimportant for marriage, most of the brothers of the respondents gave or received dowry for their sisters marriages (Rao and Rao, 1980). Also, depending on the social status and affluence of the family, and the education qualifications of the bride and the groom, the amount of dowry needed to be given varies significantly. There is a positive correlation between a mans education and status to the dowry his family demands. As a grooms educational experience increases, the dowry demanded for the marriage also increases. In 1961, the payment of dowry was prohibited under the Indian Civil Law, and also under sections 304B and 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Despite this, this system of dowry has been a continuous and never ending menace in Indian society. These laws were made in order to make it easier for women to seek redress from the harassment she is under by the mans family. But these laws have been of little help to brides, who are harassed even today by their in-laws. Instances of such situations have constantly been shown to the public by the media. The power of media in todays world is surprising. The media has the freedom to form opinions, and through this they can change the opinions of people. But, people forget that in the end, all media is doing is reflecting society. The stories the media covers, and the plots of the movies that are made (except fantasy fiction of course), all are based on situations which may occur in day to day life, or real life situations. Same was the case with the dowry system. The media clearly depicted the agonies and pain of Indian women as they were suffering from the cruelties of the dowry system. This can be seen from very far back in popular as well as news media. Dowry-inspired murder cases received immense coverage by news media in the late 1970s and 1980s due to the active role played by womens organizations. The womens organizations played a very important role in increasing awareness and coverage of dowry related cases. A study done on the coverage of dowry related cases from 1979-1984 concludes that there was a noticeable improvement in the coverage of dowry in the national papers due to the womens organizations, although the coverage in regional papers remained the same. By 1979, one dowry related death received serious press coverage. A 24 year old bride from New Delhi, Tarvinder Kaur, was set on fire by her mother-in-law and sister-in-law due to an insufficient dowry paid by her parents. Another significant dowry-related murder case was that of Tripti Sharma, who worked at the Ministry of Defense. She was burned to death by her husband and his family in 1986. A more optimistic and recent case is that of Nisha Sharma. In May 2003, she handed over her future husband to the police on the day of the wedding itself as he was demanding more dowry from her. This example shows what women need to do in cases of dowry abuse. Nisha refused to come under the pressures of the grooms family, and decided that she was not going to sustain it. These examples from news media are clearly reflective of the state of affairs in India at that time, and the case with popular media was similar. In 1992, the movie City of Joy depicted a family which had really high dowry demands. In the movie, the grooms father clearly states, I am firm in requiring for my exceptional son the bicycle, 1000 rupees, and one ounce of gold. The brides father responds by saying, The child of a king might be worth that, and Im not even sure of that! (City of Joy) Another 2001 movie, Lajja, clearly displayed the consequences of the dowry system, its working, and how it may be a big burden on the brides family. In the movie, Maithili (Mahima Chaudhary) is about to be married to a wealthy man of a family with a high social status. Maithilis parents give away everything they have in the dowry, including their land and saved money. Upon still falling short, they take loans from their friends, but they are still not able to gather the full amount. Maithili requests her future husband to convince his dad to let the rest of the money be, but he is too scared to do so. Seeing this, and seeing her dad beg i n front of the grooms father to accept the money he has, she rebels, and calls off the wedding. She was not able to bear to see her father being humiliated in such a manner by the grooms father. Both these movies showed that the brides family has to struggle a lot in order to gather the dowry for the grooms family, and thus is a big burden on them. This depiction of the dowry system by popular media was in concurrence with its reflection in the news media, but as we move ahead on the timeline, this concurrence slowly fades away. The movie Lajja was the last movie to clearly depict the pain inflicted due to the dowry system. The 2006 movie Lage Raho Munna Bhai also had the concept of dowry, but it did not demonstrate the consequences of the dowry system, and only showed that the concept of dowry existed. Since then, popular media has not depicted any case of dowry related abuse or murder. This would have been perfectly fine if the society had transformed to this effect and there were no more dowry related crimes taking place, but this was not true, as news media still continued to report about such crimes taking place. Number of dowry cases goes up (The Hindu, January 2008); Dowry death after love marriage (The Times of India, April 2008); Harassed for dowry, teacher ends life (The Indian Express, November 2007). These are just three headlines from three of Indias popular newspapers that show the persistence of the dowry system and its consequences in modern India. Dowry is still prevalent in modern India, in not only the illiterate section of the population, but also the educated elites in Indias major metropolitan cities. Surprisingly in the past decade, the number of dowry related crime cases has actually gone up, despite dowry being banned since 1961 by Indian law. According to the statistics released by the National Crime Records Bureau, a total of 8391 dowry deaths were reported in 2010 itself, which means that a bride was killed every 90 minutes due to dowry related reasons. In 1988, this number was 2209; in 1990 it rose to 4835; in 2000 (a decade earlier), this number was 6995, and in 2007 it climbed up to an astounding 8093 (Bedi 2012). According to other government records, Delhi itself records a few hundred dowry deaths every year, while womens rights groups estimate this number to be at 900 per year. This is a phenomenal increase compared to the numbers for the 1990s, which were about 300 per year (Bedi 2012). It is important to note that these are just official records, and are thus immensely under-reported. 90% of the cases in which women are burnt are recorded as accidents, 5% as suicides, and only the remaining 5% of the cases are shown as murder. These shockingly high numbers clearly reflect the continuous increase in dowry related crimes and deaths in India. This is due to the continued commercialization of marriages in the modern Indian society. Indias economic liberalization has seen a proportionate rise in the levels of greed as compared to 1990, and a bride is now perceived by her future in-laws as a source of potential cash flow. A famous quote from former Justice Markandey Katju reads, On one hand, people regard women as goddesses, and on the other hand they burn them alive. This is against the norms of civilized society. Its barbaric (Bedi 2012). This is in response to an appeal filed by a husband who had just been sentenced to imprisonment for life by a Sessions court for burning his wife due to dowry related reasons. The effects of the dowry system are so far and wide ranging, that they can even be traced back to the womb. This system is the primary cause for female feticide and infanticide as poorer parents get to avoid the lifelong burden of saving up for the dowry for their daughters marriage (Krishnamurthy, 1981). The commercialization of marriage and female infanticide is clearly reflected in the movie Matrubhoomi, in which a reverse dowry system is depicted. The movie shows a society in which there are no women left due to excessive female infanticide, and the men have grown to be so sexually frustrated, that they are ready to pay large amounts of money to get a wife for themselves or their sons. So as soon as the head of the family finds Kalki, they literally buy her from her father, by giving him five lakh rupees and five cows, and marry her to all five of his sons. Kalki simply becomes a source of money for her father, and a sex object for her husbands (Matrubhoomi). Nowadays, there are famous advertisements which have been put up in many of the rural villages, which read, Spend 500 rupees today, save 5000 rupees later. This is a reference to the cost of abortion compared to the cost of the dowry which they might have to give. It basically encourages the families to get an abortion if their child is a girl, so that they dont have the burden of paying the dowry while getting her married in the future. This is the primary reason why India has a distorted sex ratio of 933 girls for every 1,000 boys. As is evident, the problems due to the dowry system have only been rising over the past decade. Despite this, popular media has failed to reflect these problems. News media has continued to keep up with these updates, and report about them, but popular media has deviated into its own path. Since popular media has a much larger audience compared to news media, this results in the society getting a skewed viewpoint of what is happening in their world: an incorrect portrayal of society in which what they are doing is not wrong. Also, since popular media has a much larger international audience as compared to news media, people from other countries get a totally different view of India: a world in which the dowry system does not exist and is not causing any problems at all. Thus, an untrue version of the society is shown to the world outside, which is not good, as when these people actually come to India and read about the truth, it is a shocking revelation for them. A shift in Indias attitude towards the dowry systems is urgently due. In simple words, dowry is equal to a family paying a man to accept their daughter as his wife, while the man along with his family, tries to get the maximum price out of the womans family. This association of economic gain with women in marriage is something which has long been persistent in India, and needs to stop. Simply making anti-dowry laws has proved to be inefficient. We need to make the society see their mistakes and realize what they are doing wrong, and this can only be done if popular media continues to reflect society as it did before. India must come together to end this practice. This could see couples channel their funds to provide education to their daughters, instead of saving money for years and years for dowry. The days of the persistence of the dowry system in India must be numbered, or Indian societys claim to be progressive is disingenuous.

Social Determinants of Health and Mental Health

Social Determinants of Health and Mental Health The social determinants of health, according to WHO (2004), state that the social conditions in which people live greatly affect their chances of being healthy. For the purpose of this assignment, this writer has chosen to critically analyse how the following determinants of health; (1) Social Exclusion (2) Community Support, and Employment, impact the lives and health of people living with a mental health condition. This student will then attempt to critically discuss the political actions that have been taken to address these inequities as experienced by this social group. Raphael (2008) and WHO (2008) state that social determinants of health are the socio-economic circumstances which affect the health of individuals, communities and jurisdictions as a whole and the conditions in which people are born, grow, live work and age, including the health system. The Commission on Social Determinants of Health (2009) deliver three recommendations, (1) to improve daily living conditions, (2) to tackle the inequitable distribution of power, money and resources, and (3) to measure and understand the problem and assess the impact of action, in order to improve health services for all. The American Psychology Association (APA) and WHO define mental health as; A state of emotional and psychological well-being in which an individual is able to use his or her cognitive and emotional capabilities, function in society, and meet the ordinary demands of everyday life. 2. Social Determinants of Mental Health and Their Consequences: While medical intervention can prolong life and improve outcomes after serious illnesses, what is more important for the health of the population as a whole, are the combined social and economic factors that make people ill and in need of medical care in the first place. (WHO, 2003). 2.1 Social Exclusion: Social exclusion is a vicious circle that deepens the predicament that people with a mental illness face. When a person is treated as less than equal, or excluded from society due to their illness, they will become even more psychologically damaged. This in turn will also affect their physical health and their perceived ability to function as a normal member of society. Some forms of social exclusion these people face are discrimination, stigmatisation, hostility and unemployment. Access to education or training programmes is hindered. Men and women that may have been institutionalised at some point, such as in childrens homes, psychiatric units and prison services are especially vulnerable to social exclusion. Supportive relationships makes people feel cared for, loved, esteemed and valued. These are powerful factors for a positive impact on mental health. People who do not get enough social and emotional support from those around them are more likely to experience mental and physical health difficulties. The quality of social relationships, the existence of trust and mutual respect help to protect a persons sense of self. Some experiments have even found that good social relations can reduce the physiological effects of stress on the body. This is important in relation to cardiovascular and immune system function, which are both directly affected when the stress-response fight or flight is constantly activated. Unemployment only serves to reinforce anxiety and depression in the mentally ill. Financial worries, combined with feelings of worthlessness and inability to contribute to society increases stress, worry and inability to cope. These insecurities and frustrations can affect the relationships with friends and family members, further isolating them from the social network that they are reliant on in order to stay well. Before the 1945 Mental Treatment Act, no policies had been implemented since Victorian times, which saw Fools, Lunatics and the Mad incarcerated in penal institutions or asylums. With this Act and the establishment of the Irish Free State, the nomenclature associated with insanity and the insane began to change, albeit gradually. Asylums became hospitals, Insanity was renamed Mental Illness and Lunatics were now called Patients. A shift towards a more psychodynamic approach to recovery began to emerge. The first comprehensive report specifically addressing the needs of the mentally ill was the Commission of Inquiry on Mental Illness in 1961. The final report was released in 1966. Segregation from society, separation from other patients and staff members and classification according to social status and illness was still prevalent In relation to the 1945 Mental Treatment Act, Irish medical legal expert Deirdre Madden questions the definition of competence, regarding a persons capacity to understand, use and weigh consequences of their decisions. Outside the Mental Health Act 2001, there is no legal assessment in Ireland for determining competence. [Donnelly 2002:50]. Van Dokkum (2005) states the medical profession would use a status approach which is essentially a label and be done with it approach rather than a fairer relative capacity approach. The Mental Health Commission acknowledge that some of the recommendations in this policy have been implemented, such as child and adolescent services, the finalising of mental health catchment areas and the progress in the appointment of leadership structures both nationally and regionally. However, the inspector of Mental Health Services has been critical of the HSE to appoint a Mental Health Directorate, arguing that a well-run, accountable and partly autonomous division would be budget beneficial and improve outcomes. This report goes on to state that a change is required in how mental health services are delivered and in how we think about mental health itself. Mental health services should focus on the possibility of recovery. In 2009, this group published a report entitled Third Anniversary of AVision for Change; Late for a Very Important Date. They state that reform has been painfully slow and despite statements of support from Government and the HSE, basic systems to promote reform are not in place, targets have not been met and development funding has all but ceased. Irelands mental health expenditure has dropped from 13% of the national health budget in 1984 to 7.34% to date. The economic costs of mental health problems are considerably large, most of these costs being encurred through loss of jobs and absence from work due to ill health. They state that cutting the health budget in relation to mental health provision is short-sighted as the cost of providing preventative and screening services is modest in comparison to the socio-economic costs as listed above. There have been many positive campaigns in recent years to highlight mental health issues. However, according to Mental Health Ireland, mental health promotion remains the most underdeveloped area of health promotion. The WHO states that strengthening mental health promotion is necessary to achieve real reform. Some of these positive health campaigns include Beat the Blues Aware, Mental Health Matters Mental Health Ireland, Reach Out National Strategy on Suicide Prevention and Please Talk campaigns run by The Samaritans. Although many inequities of mental health service provision have been addressed with the implementation of government policies in recent years, we have a long way to go before social integration and inequalities are recognised. A very significant step forward has been the establishment of the Mental Health Commission. [McAuliffe et al]. The biggest challenge will be to establish social support networks in relation to mental health. [Kelly 2003]. If mental health becomes more of an everyday issue, affecting us all, then the stigma surrounding it will be alleviated. While Irish society faces many economic challenges in the future, establishing a more aware, mentally healthier community will provide better coping mechanisms for those affected by these issues. Moving away from the current medical model of psychiatry and drug-based therapies to a more holistic all-inclusive biopsychosocial approach is a key element in addressing inequities relating to mental health care. Sociology shows how mental illness is socially patterned, which suggests the importance of the social environment to mental well-being. Implementation of the community care model has proven to be a slow process and its implementation needs to be critically readdressed to recognise the needs of those with chronic mental illness and not just of those who are acutely ill. [Hyde et al (2005)].