Recommendation for reducing substance dependence disorder from Essay

Recommendation for reducing substance dependence disorder from alcoholism - Essay Example Last year, there were 500 new cases of substance abuse mental disorder related to excess regular alcohol consumption. In this report, I give an explanation on better solutions identified by the state welfare committee and present our findings after comparison of substance abuse mental disorder cases in the state. Together with the social welfare committee, we have considered the following solutions: - law enforcement on bar attendants and the owners who sell alcohol to drunken patrons and extending drinking time limits. - increase the punishment of drunkenness and violation of regulations, which controls the selling and alcohol drinking - Social workers to create forums to educate the public on dangers of excessive alcohol drinking. There has been a big increase of substance mental disorder cases over the past couple of years. Excessive drinking of alcohol has been one of the major causes. This increase is attributed to ignorance, violation of rules controlling sale and drinking of alcohol not having effective public sensitization programs on dangers of abusing alcohol and lineament punishment to the offenders. Substance abuse disorder statistics compared The following statistics represents the total cases of diagnosed substance abuse mental disorder in 2010 and 2012 the percentage of the diagnosed cases related to alcoholism (Newton 183). The enforcement of laws that govern alcohol sale and consumption is a major step. This can be enhanced by employing more officers and giving them relevant patrol facilities. This will deter the law breakers from going against the regulations that control alcohol sale and consumption.

Bluefield health plan Essay Example for Free

Bluefield health plan Essay Arc Electric employees were opting for their health insurance plan. Arc Electric had expanded their workforce due to which more employees were enrolling for Bluefield’s health insurance plan for the benefits. But when Bluefield released that the utilization of their physician services had tremendously increased in the last 6 months because of which their profits were being affected, they had to find out the cause for this. Soon they realized that the main cause for the increase in the utilization of their physician services was the increase in the number of new employees who were opting for the health insurance plan. Exhibit 1 clearly shows that the number of Arc Electric employees using Bluefield’s Health insurance plan has increased from 3912 in July, 2006 to 4137 in August, 2006. Thus, in only one month the increase has been of 225 people, which is comparatively quite high. Also, in 2006, the total cost incurred by Arc Electric for inpatient and outpatient hospital services were 203425 and 182440 in July and 212250 and 180700 in August, and for surgical services were 101250 and 103400 in July and August. Thus, the total cost incurred for hospital services and surgical services were 487115 and 496350 in July and August. While on the other hand the total cost incurred by Arc Electric for visits to physician’s office was only 337900 and 391450 in July and August. Therefore we can see that the difference is almost of 147215 and 104900 in July and August. As Bluefield’s contract with Arc Electric was about to expire the next month, they had to renegotiate the terms in their contract with Arc Electric and request for an increase in their premium rate in order to maintain their profit. They had realized that the main reason for their erosion of profits was the increasing number of Arc Electric employees who had opted for their health insurance plan. But, Bluefield were also aware of the fact that during renegotiations if they tried to increase the fixed premium which they charged every employee of Arc Electric per month, then they may refuse to do anymore business with them and sign a contract with some other health insurance company. This, Bluefield was not ready to risk. Thus, Bluefield wanted the staff members and directors to devise a renegotiating strategy which they could present before Arc Electric and maintain their contract with them while at the same time see to it that their profitability remains at par. After much consideration and results from various studies, including Exhibit 1, the employees of Bluefield realized that simply by increasing their copayment charges they will not be able to bring about a decrease in the number of physician visits since people do not actually like to visit the physicians but rather do it in order to remain healthy and fit. The only way they can reduce their costs is by paying less to their health care providers, like the physicians. Thus, they first needed to negotiate with the physicians and ask them to decrease the costs of services supplied by them. If they simply asked the physicians to lower their cost of service by around 10% or 25% they might do it with the fear that they may loose all of their patients and also be left out of Bluefield’s health insurance plan. But this may have certain negative effects as in return of a lower fee per visit the physicians may also lessen the quality of care that they give to their clients. This is the reason why Bluefield required a further analysis of physicians visit. Out of the $250 fixed premium that Bluefield charged each employee of Arc Electric every month, the total premium revenue was portioned out as 55% for the hospital and surgical services and 30% for the physician visits. Thus while $137. 5 went for the hospital and surgical services only $75 went in for the physician visits. Thus for every premium collected, the profitability of hospital and surgical services was almost $62. 5 more than the profitability of the physician services. Thus, when compared to physician’s services, hospital and surgical services have a profitability of almost 45% more than the former.

SWOT Analysis Essay -- Business Analysis

Organizational performance is a result of business interaction with its internal and external environment (Houben, Lenie & Vanhoof, 1999). There are a variety of internal and external forces that either stimulate or compromise the organization's performance in achieving objectives or goals (Houben, et al., 1999). An analysis can identify and evaluate areas within or outside of the organizations to provide information for leadership. The analysis can be done by internal personnel or external experts. Experts are often used to identify, monitor, forecast and assess environment trends (Swayne, Duncan & Ginther, 2008). Often the SWOT analysis is used to review internal and external areas in the four components; strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats. The SWOT analysis indicates that the strengths and weakness are internal. Strengths are the organizational competitive advantages and distinguishing competencies (Houben, et.al, 1999). Weaknesses hinder the progress of the organization in a certain direction (Houben, et.al, 1999). Weakness can be considered areas of opportunities. Data collections from employees and customer surveys along with financial information can indicate the strengths and weakness. Opportunities and threats are viewed more as external forces. Opportunities are investment or change which the organizations may consider. Threats could be competitors or other known factors which the organization should identify. This paper will review a SWOT analysis that was conducted by an external exporter on the healthcare organization, Kaiser Permanente. The external expert is Datamonitor and is familiar with nonprofit organizations. Datamonitor (2011) indicates â€Å"that Kaiser Permanente (KP) is one of the ... ...amonitor (2011). Kaiser Permanente.,Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. SWOT Analysis; Dec2011, p1-9, 9p DATAMONITOR (2010). Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. SWOT Analysis; Nov2010, p1-8, 8p Hardwick, P.l (2005). Want a better business? Invest in SWOTing . Mississippi Business Journal, 1/31/2005, Vol. 27 Issue 5, pA5-A5, 3/5p Houben, G. Lenie, K. Vanhoof, K. (1999). A knowledge-based SWOT-analysis system as an instrument for strategic planning in small and medium sized enterprises. Retrieved from. http://www.cuaed.unam.mx/puel_cursos/cursos/d_gcfe_m_dos/modulo/modulo_2/m2-10.pdf Weisman, S (2008). S.W.O.T. analysis is no longer the best approach to planning for success. Hudson Valley Business Journal, 10/27/2008, Vol. 19 Issue 43, p11-11, 1/3p Swayne, L. E., Duncan, W. J., & Ginter, P. M. (2008). Strategic

The Protagonist Victor in “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona” by Sherman Alexie

Victor In the very first sentence of Sherman Alexie's â€Å"This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona,† you can assume that the main character, Victor, is facing a hard life. Not only did he lose his job, he also lost his father to a heart attack the same day. The story tells the journey of Victor and an old friend, Thomas Builds-the-Fire, traveling to Phoenix to pick up his father's ashes, pickup truck, and money from his savings account. Victor did not have any money and neither did anyone else living on the reservation, â€Å"Who does have money on a reservation, except the cigarette and fireworks sales-people? (page 275) Victor has to turn to the tribal council for money, but they are also low on funds and can only give him one-hundred dollars. Thomas is considered the town’s outcast and he is the only one willing to help Victor. Victor goes on to say that he used to be friends with Thomas until they were about fifteen and then Victor turned his back on him bec ause everyone else thought he was weird. He also talks about their childhood and the memories they share and the fact that Thomas knew about Victor’s father wanting to leave before it ever happened. Once, when they were seven years old, when Victor’s father still lived with the family, Thomas closed his eyes and told Victor this story: â€Å"Your father’s heart is weak. He is afraid of his own family. He is afraid of you. † (page 275). Thomas ends up giving Victor the rest of the money he needs, but only if Victor allows Thomas to go along. The author never really gives any physical traits, but you know he is an Indian, does not have a lot of money, just lost his father, and lives on a reservation.The author does not specially tell you how old Victor is. There is no mention of any other family besides his mother, â€Å"†¦and the rest of his family didn’t have any use at all for him. † (page 275) Even though Victor’s father did no t play a big part in his life, â€Å"there still was a genetic pain, which was soon to be pain as real and immediate and a broken bone. † (page 275) Victor is a dynamic and round character because he slowly begins to change throughout the story. Victor is continuously complaining about Thomas or making fun of him.When they are on the plane and Thomas is talking to the gymnast, â€Å"Victor was ready to jump out of the plane. Thomas, that crazy Indian storyteller with ratty old braids and broken teeth†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (page 278) I think that Victor is somewhat ashamed of his Native American background because he did not want to turn out like Thomas. Throughout the course of their trip, Victor begins to accept Thomas and understand him more. When Victor agrees to listen to just one of Thomas’ stories, â€Å"Just one time when I’m telling a story somewhere, why don’t you stop and listen?Thomas asked. Victor waved his arms to let Thomas know that the deal was good,† (page 282) the reader begins to see the new, more accepting Victor. The old Victor would be too afraid of what others were thinking about him to stop and listen to Thomas tell a story, but now he accepts who he is and also who his cousin Thomas is. â€Å"Victor was quiet for a long time. He searched his mind for memories of his father, found the good ones, found a few bad ones, added it all up, and smiled. This is another turning point in the story because this is where Victor finally accepts his relationship with his father and is at peace. â€Å"This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona† shows the true value of friendship. In the later part of their relationship, Victor was a really bad friend to Thomas, but Thomas has been there for Victor so many times throughout their childhood, and even now that they are adults. Although Thomas was not physically by Victor’s side, he was there the whole time waiting to come to Victor’s rescue.The story go es back and forth to show how Victor and Thomas were once friends. Thomas even made a deal with Victor’s father to watch over Victor, â€Å"But he said I had to watch out for you as part of the deal. † (page 279) Victor is in debt to Thomas and even gives him some of his father’s ashes. By the end of the story, Victor finally realized the true meaning of friendship with his own cousin Thomas, and that all those other guys that made fun of him for being friends with Thomas when they were children were not true friends.At the end of the story Victor realizes how hurtful he has been to Thomas when in reality; Thomas was the only one who stood by Victor’s side and in return â€Å"all Thomas had ever wanted from his whole life,† (page 282) was for someone to just stop and listen to him tell one of his stories. I think Victor became a man at the end of the story. He finally learned to accept Thomas, his relationship with his father, and his Native Americ an heritage.

Ho Chi Minh Puppeteer

Ho Chi Minh: Puppet or Leader? United States presidents from Harry Truman to Richard Nixon were wrong to think that Ho Chi Minh and his followers were â€Å"puppets† to the Soviet Union or Chinese Communist. Many policies the Presidents made throughout the war proved that they never tried to see Ho Chi Minh as anything else but communist and were convinced that they had to do everything and anything to stop him from gaining any control over the country of Vietnam.The Vietnam War, specifically the United States aid to France, agreements at the Geneva Conference, and the election of 1956, are prime examples of how far American Presidential Administrations went to exclude themselves from their own Constitution to give themselves a blank check and continuous, unnecessary escalation for war. When I look at Communism I view it as a dictatorship, someone more or less trying to control the people of the country they have control over by putting fear in the eyes of the citizens and not allowing them to live a peaceful, independent life.With that said, yes, Ho claimed to be a Communist but I truly feel that his sole goal was to conquer the independence of the country of Vietnam from forces trying to control it and give it back to his people, basically saying that Ho was a nationalist and communism was simply the most effective way to carry out his tasks. He followed the way of what the Trung Sisters wanted Vietnam to be and did everything in his power to give the â€Å"What it is to be Vietnamese† outlook to his people. The United States would view his ideology as only communism, arguing that nationalism was just a maneuver.United States involvement in Vietnam occurred within and because of the larger context of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. Immediately after World War II, tensions between the United States and USSR escalated. Ho needed the help from the Soviet Union to follow out his goals for Vietnam. He obviously was not th eir puppet; the Soviet Union helped fund the war for the Vietminh with supplies and ammunition but half the time they made empty promises of what they would do to help.Truman feared that if Ho were to win the war, with his ties to the Soviet Union, he would establish a â€Å"puppet† state and the Soviets would ultimately control Vietnamese affairs. (New World Encyclopedia) The Vietminh were not very militarily effective in the beginning of the war and only really harassed the French troops. China gained control over the northern borders which allowed unlimited support in terms of weapons and supplies to the Vietminh which transformed itself into a conventional army between two armies equipped with modern weapons supplied by the United States and the Soviet Union. 29) The idea of communist domination in Southeast Asia was all the United States needed to support France in containing communism. Gaining help from USSR and China was all Ho could do to regain Vietnamese independenc e. He was looking for the bigger picture and if letters from him would have been answered then the thought process of him and a communist puppet would have never existed, nor would the assumption of the domino theory.It was completely and utterly wrong, immature, foolish, and rude for President Truman to ignore the many letters Ho Chi Minh sent to him in 1945. How as the president of the most powerful country in the world just get handed letters over and over and continuously set them aside and allowed them to go unnoticed. Ho Chi Minh wrote eight letters to President Truman reminding him of the self-determination promises of the Atlantic Charter. He even sent one to the United Nations. Zinn) Within one of the letters that Ho Chi Minh sent he offered a deep-water port in Cam Ranh Bay to be used as a military port, but still the letters were ignored. For years, Ho had tried to court the United States to support him against the French, including supplying the U. S. with military intel ligence about the Japanese during World War II. Whatever hopes Ho had for securing American assistance died in anticommunist paranoia. (20) The communism is not a disease; it’s not like if you kiss someone communist you therefore become communist.This unfortunately is the ridiculous theory that Eisenhower came up with about countries trickling from one communist country to surrounding countries, to next thing having the entire world plagued with communism. After the fall of Dien Bien Phu in 1954, Eisenhower gave a speech that would become a famous and important outline of United States Cold War policy. Eisenhower stated that the United States needed to contain the USSR at all locations for its neighbors to not become Communist. The theory was coined the domino theory.The Nationalist government of China fell to the Communist forces of Mao Zedong and this started to put the United States into deep paranoia and fear that Communists would take over the world and might even be plo tting secret operations in the United States. The U. S. policy makers began to see Vietnam as extremely important. If Vietnam was to be a united nation with Ho Chi Minh as its leader and become a communist country then in logic to the domino theory all of Indochina would fall and maybe even Southeast Asian countries to communism.I don’t believe that the small country of Vietnam, who was just trying to gain recognition as an independent country had that much power over its surrounding countries or even of the entire world. The popularity of Ho Chi Minh and the Vietminh in both Northern and Southern Vietnam had U. S. leaders in fear that the free elections promised at the Geneva Conference to occur in 1956, would result in a unified, Communist Vietnam. (SparkNotes Editors) After WWII, President Truman set up, what I think, was a fair plan to stop colonialism throughout the world.In his State of the Union speech in October 1945, he stated that he believed 1) in the eventual retu rn of sovereign rights and self-government to all peoples who have been deprived of them by force, 2) that all peoples who are prepared for self-government should be permitted to choose their own form of government by their own freely expressed choice, without interference from any foreign source, 3) the United States will refuse to recognize any government imposed upon any nation by the force of any foreign power. (Pamphlet No. , PILLARS OF PEACE) These are just some of the points within the twelve stated. Unfortunately, none of these points were actually followed by the President, himself, or the United States. These points were supposed to end colonialism throughout the world after World War II, but when France asked the United States for help to continue their control and reign over Indochina, President Truman went very willing. Fear of communism was in his eyes and with the help of the USSR to Vietnam he didn’t believe that there was any other way.In May 1950, President Truman announced his decision to supply $15 million in military assistance to Indochina, but realistically just to French troops, to fight the Vietminh. (29) In order for France to fight this war without it looking like it was to gain control over a colony that they have already been fighting for, they defined it as a fight against Communism instead of a colonial war. Ho hated the French for what they had done to his country, but also hated the elite Vietnamese who enriched themselves at the expense of the poor peasants.The Vietnamese people were broken under French rule both prior to WWII and after. Truman in one week sent an abundance of supplies to the French and continued to do so for the next four years. Throughout the aids exceeding number of ammunition, weapons, tanks and other supplies were sent to both the French and Vietminh from the US and USSR and China. This resulted in the battle of Dienbienphu. In 1954, the French planned on overtaking the outpost of Dienbienphu in th e mountains of northern Vietnam. Their idea was to take post in the center on these mountains and lure the Vietminh in.The Vietminh saw this strategy a mile away. They moved 40, 000 troops up into the mountains and conquered this territory. Even though there were more Vietnamese casualties than French, they had military brilliance and were more willing to a higher death toll then their enemies. (SparkNotes Editors) The victory over the French at Dienbienphu had demonstrated the triumph of Ho’s nationalism. (46) And the United States would later learn that no matter what is handed to the Vietminh they were going to fight to the death for the independence of their country.I believe and have also heard and even read that if the election of 1956 had been held that possibly eighty percent of the population would have voted for the Communist Ho Chi Minh as their leader rather than Chief of State Bao Dai. In April 1954, the world's powers had met at Geneva to discuss Vietnam. Many a rguments can be presented for the escalation of the war. One reason is the failure of the United States to adhere to provisions in the Final Declaration of the Geneva Conference on the Problem of Restoring Peace in Indo-China. In July 1954, it was decided to divide the country in two at the 17th parallel.Bao Dai was to lead the south and Ho Chi Minh the north. The meeting also decided that in 1956 there would be an election in both the north and south to decide who would rule the whole country. The election would be supervised by neutral countries. This election did not take place and the split had become permanent by 1956. Ho Chi Minh was very liked by a great majority of the people in both North and South Vietnam and Boa Dai was just a puppet to the United States to carry out their commands and also was controlled very much by the corrupt madman Ngo Dinh Diem. Simkin) The United States and Diem refused to allow the 1956 elections to happen. Diem stated that it would only be a mean ingful election on the condition that it was absolutely free. No communist was going to be democratically elected if the US had anything to say about it. All not allowing this election did was set the course of escalation to the war further in motion. I do not understand why we even needed to get involved. As Americans we believe in the right to vote and free election, that is exactly what Ho Chi Minh wanted but was denied by us, a democratic country. (rationalrevolution. et) The Vietnam was an unnecessary war because of the way America handled it. The countries or nations involved had nothing to with the United States and we were supposed to take a neutral role. When we didn’t stay neutral the USSR and China stepped in and also helped. In America’s eyes that was only to spread communism, but truthfully we were no better and had every opportunity to stop this war and not allow it to escalate as it did with our help. â€Å"Vietnamese history is the history of defense b y outsiders and resistance to occupation when outsiders were temporarily successful. †References: VietnamWar. et, â€Å"Educational, Entertainment, and Research Material Relevant to the Study of the Vietnam War† http://www. vietnamwar. net Simkin, John (BA, MA, MPhil) â€Å"Vietnam War† http://www. spartacus. schoolnet. co. uk/vietnam. html SparkNotes Editors. â€Å"SparkNote on The Vietnam War (1945–1975). † SparkNotes. com. SparkNotes LLC. 2005. Web. 28 Oct. 2010. Pamphlet No. 4, PILLARS OF PEACE. â€Å"PRESIDENT TRUMAN'S NAVY DAY ADDRESS: An excerpt dealing with Four Military Tasks and the Fundamentals of Foreign Policy, October 27, 1945. † pages 136 and 137, Published by the Book Department, Army Information School, Carlisle Barracks, Pa. May 1946 http://www. ibiblio. org/pha/policy/post-war/451027a. html rationalrevolution. net, â€Å"The American involvement in Vietnam† http://rationalrevolution. net/war/american_involvement_in_v ietnam. htm, 2003 – 2007. Web. 20 Oct. 2007. Zinn, Howard. â€Å"The Impossible Victory: Vietnam excerpted from a People's History of the United States† http://www. thirdworldtraveler. com/Zinn/Vietnam_PeoplesHx. html New World Encyclopedia â€Å"Indochina_War_(1946-54)† Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. http://www. newworldencyclopedia. org/entry/Indochina_War_%281946-54%29. 2009. Web. 1 Dec. 2007

thesis statement example - pros and cons of minimum wage uk The WritePass Journal

thesis statement example - pros and cons of minimum wage uk Introduction thesis statement example pros and cons of minimum wage uk ). The Low Pay Commission are continually identifying employers that are not paying their workers the minimum wage (937 cases in 2010/11). Additionally, data show that in April 2011, approximately 233,000 UK adults were paid less than the minimum wage (LPC, 2012). Not all individuals receiving less than the prescribed minimum wage (currently  £6.08 p/h for over 21s,  £4.98 for 18-21 year olds [HMRC, 2012]) are doing so against the minimum wage employment law. Exceptions include workers who have accommodation provided by their employer, apprentices and interns. One group particularly vulnerable to not receiving the national minimum wage is migrant workers. Research has shown that migrant workers have filled gaps in the UK labour market, however have also put downward pressure on wages at the bottom of the distribution, which have been prevented from falling further by the national minimum wage. The existence of a minimum wage to prevent wages falling further has positive implications for native workers, meaning they do not fall subject to lower wage rates. It also however, means that wages are unable to fall to a rate at which supply meets demand potentially leading to an increase in unemployment for those in unskilled jobs. The implication s of the minimum wage for unemployment are not constrained to the presence of migrant workers, and this will be discussed in more detail later on. As well as having an impact on the labour market, migrant workers have been shown to be examples of people in the country receiving less than the prescribed rate. Research by French and Mohrke (2006) found that some employers of migrant workers put various charges on their salaries, reducing wages below the minimum wage, and deducting accommodation fees that were in excess of the legal allowance. The exploitation of migrant workers was further highlighted by Moore and Watson (2009) who discovered that they were at risk from low wages, unclear payslips and unauthorised deductions from wages. It is therefore clear that the introduction of a national minimum wage in the UK has not provided everyone in the country with a wage above the prescribed rate, however the Government measures and implemented compliance enforcing techniques are further insuring that those entitled are receiving the minimum wage. There is considerable evidence to show a compression of the lower wage distribution and therefore improvement of wage inequality as a result of the introduction of a national minimum wage. Machin et al. (2003) investigated this effect in the care home industry, a low-wage heavy sector, finding that the minimum wage had a sizeable impact on wage dispersion. The inequality between those earning in the 10th percentile (the lowest paid workers) and the 50th percentile (mid pay-range) reduced from 21% to 9%. There was no change between wages in the 50th and 90th percentile (a 34% gap). This effect is replicated in the UK labour market, with Butcher, Dickens and Manning (2012) finding evidence that income inequality at the bottom of the wage distribution since the introduction of the minimum wage. These findings demonstrate a ‘greatness’ of the minimum wage in achieving the Government’s aim of protecting the lowest earners from low wages, and achieving a more equal wage distribution. Despite evidence of the desired effects on wage equality, the ‘greatness’ of the national minimum wage is something that has received debate since its introduction, with both scepticism and support for its effect on the UK labour market and economy. Economic theory would suggest that in certain economic conditions, such as a recession, a national minimum wage would inflict a negative impact on employment, with employers being unable to afford workers and these workers being unable to offer their services for a lower wage to escape unemployment. Additionally, there is some evidence to suggest that employers substitute their unskilled workers for increased use of technology (Bullock et al., 2001; Gilman, 2002) to maintain productivity. Despite this, investigations into the rate of unemployment have shown few effects of a wage floor on jobs (Petongolo Van Reenen, 2011). The LPC acknowledges the existence of a pay level that would ‘destroy’ large numbers of jobs and aims to ensure that the minimum wage does not rise to this level (Manning, 2012). The LPC does, however, highlight several issues that have arisen in the labour market as a result of the minimum wage, which may compensate for not cutting employment rates. These responses to increased labour costs include cutting overtime hours, decreasing annual leave entitlement and pensions, merging pay zones, and reducing working hours (LPC, 2011). Although keeping individuals employed, these compensatory measures may mean that workers are not actually receiving a gain from the introduction of a minimum wage. However, the LPC subsequently states that reduced hours have not affected weekly earnings. Another viewpoint is that the minimum wage actually encourages people into the workforce by providing increased incentive to work. For the voluntarily unemployed, it becomes more beneficial for them to enter into work instead of receiving unemployment benefits. This may explain why any effect of the minimum wage on employment levels in low-earners has been negligible (Manning, 2012). It is also important to consider the effects of having to pay a minimum wage on the employers. Some businesses have responded to the minimum wage by increasing their prices, or accepting a lower profit margin (LPC, 2011). This may have implications for demand for products, and lower profits will have implications for investment in technology, advancements and training, as well as business growth. Consequently, a slowing in business growth has implications for employment, living standards, and consumer confidence (Riley, 2006). Whilst employers may suffer with increased labour costs, the minimum wage has also been suggested to have an impact on the productivity of workers. Standard neo-classical models would suggest that when introducing a minimum wage, all workers producing an output (marginal product) below that of the wage rate would likely be dismissed, as the firm substitutes labour for capital. The productivity of the workforce would therefore rise, as the same level of output w ould be required from fewer labour inputs (Forth O’Mahoney, 2003). If this scenario holds true, it is evident again that unemployment would likely increase. Alternatively, as suggested by efficiency wage theory (Rebitzer Taylor, 1995), employees may increase their marginal product in response to increased motivation from higher wages. This may also occur as a result of further employer supervision of effort as employers seek to protect their increased investment. Additional hypotheses suggest that to avoid dismissal, workers seek to increase their skills and education and therefore the quality of their output (Cubitt Heap, 1999). This has positive implication for employment, as employers will not need to dismiss any workers and therefore output would rise equally with labour costs (Forth O’Mahoney, 2003). Opposing theories claim that rather than providing incentive to gain skills and remain in employment, the guarantee that all workers receive above a minimum amount will lead to lack of labour force skill development. It has been proposed that this occurs because young unskilled workers are enticed out of education and training and into the job market (Neumark Wascher, 2008) something that has been shown in other countries. The UK’s LPC are concerned that there not be an incentive for young people to leave training (Croucher White, 2011) and additionally have observed that the decision of young adults to stay in full-time education has been unaffected by wage rates (De Coulon et al., 2010). Whilst the improvement of pay inequality at the bottom end of the wage distribution cannot be disputed, raising the pay of low skilled workers may lead to the demand for companies to ensure the maintenance of pay differentials as higher-up workers insist on pay rises. In a case study, (Denvir Loukas, 2006) found that 56% of companies interviewed had changed their hourly pay rates for those earning above the minimum wage in order to maintain wage differentials. This puts further pressure on companies’ labour costs and pressure to maintain employment levels, prices and profits. Whilst the minimum wage is pulling the lower skilled workers out of poverty, it may seek to push the wages of those greater skilled and earning employees even higher, and thus furthering inequality at the between those earning in the middle and top percentiles. This is something noted by Manning (2011) who asserts that it is those earning in the middle part of the income distribution that are feeling the real squeeze in their incomes. Although the minimum wage serves to protect those at the lower end of the wage spectrum, those earning higher rates may also be pushed out of employment or forced to absorb the work of lower skilled workers as employers are forced to make redundancies. The introduction of a national minimum wage means that all workers meeting the criteria, regardless of location within the country, are entitled to receive the minimum rate or above. This has implications for those living in more expensive regions of the UK, where the minimum wage has greater ‘bite’, reaching further up the wage distributions in certain geographic regions than others (Stewart, 2002). This therefore means that the effect of the minimum wage and way that it works will differ in each geographical area. Some theorists argue for a regional variation in minimum wages (Smith, 2006), founded on the argument that employment and company efficiency in certain regions may be adversely affected by a minimum wage rate that is above the region’s productivity levels (Dolton et al., 2008). For example, whilst a higher minimum wage may be applicable in a highly competitive and productive capital city, this wage rate may not be sustained in a rural community with lo wer costs of living. It must also be appreciated however, that productivity, unemployment and employment rates have varied across regions from well before the inception of the minimum wage. Investigation by Dolton et al. (2008) elucidates the impact of regional variation on minimum wage effects, showing that areas where the minimum wage has a larger bite experienced larger declines in the 50th percentile- 5th percentile wage ratios than elsewhere. They additionally found that these areas were more susceptible to higher rates of unemployment in the first few years of the minimum wage introduction, which then reversed with these areas experiencing lower rates of unemployment in the years to follow. Additionally, the discrepancy between the minimum wage bite between geographical regions does not just have implications for the labour market as a whole, it also affects individual workers differently. Whilst the wage has been introduced to reduce poverty, increase living standards and inequality amongst the low skilled workers, it seems ironic that this may be a case more greatly than for others dependent on where they live. Consider the case of a set of twin brothers, who both work as toilet attendants. On the minimum wage, twin A, who lives in Northumbria has a purchasing power 10% greater than twin B, who lives in greater London, meaning that twin B has to work an eleven days to be able to purchase the same goods as twin A (Office for National Statistics, 2010). Disparity such as this has been recognised by the UK government, reflected in the introduction of the London Living Wage, whereby London address holder employees of Greater London Authority member companies (such as the NHS) benefit from an increased wage rate. Overall, the ‘greatness’ of the minimum wage can be seen in its assurance that no employees of working age will be subjected to low or unfair wage rates. The national minimum wage ensures that no members of the labour force need live in poverty, although the regional variations in such a statement have implications. The quality of life and fairness for individuals provided by the minimum wage is of great importance, and this is something that is emphasised by the UK government’s efforts to ensure compliance to the minimum wage jurisdiction. Despite benefit for many individuals, a national minimum wage presents many implications for countries’ labour markets and economies. The results of these implications can be controlled with an effective wage floor rate, and the issue of balance should be carefully considered and monitored by any regulatory body. References Bullock, A., Hughes, A., Wilkinson, F. (2001) The Impact of the National Minimum Wage on Small and Medium Sized Businesses in the Cleaning and Security Sectors, Cambridge: Centre for Business Research. Butcher, T., Dickens, R., Manning, A. (2012) â€Å"The Impact of the National Minimum Wage on the Wage Distribution†. Research Report for the Low Pay Commission. Croucher, R. Rizov, M. (2011) The Impact of the UK National Minimum Wage on Productivity by Low-paying Sectors and Firm-size Groups. Research Report for the Low Pay Commission. Cubitt, R. Heap, S. (1999) Minimum wage legislation, investment and human capital, Scottish Journal of Political Economy, 46, pp. 135-57. De Coulon, A., E. Meschi, E., Swaffield, J., Vignoles, A., Wadsworth, J. (2010) Minimum Wage and Staying-on Rates in Education for Teenagers. Research Report for the Low Pay Commission. Denvir, A. Loukas, G. (2006) The Impact of the National Minimum Wage: Pay Differentials and Workplace Change. Research Report for the Low Pay Commission. Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (2011) National Minimum Wage Annual Report for 2010/11. London: Crown Copyright. Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (2010) National Minimum Wage Compliance Strategy. London: Crown Copyright. Dickens, R., Manning, A (2004) Has the national minimum wage reduced UK wage inequality? Journal of the Royal Statistical Society A, 167, 613-626. diNardo, J., Fortin, N., Lemieux, T. (1996) Labour market institutions and the distribution of wages, 1973-1993: A semi-parametric approach. Economertrica, 64(5), pp. 1001-1045. Dolton, P., Rosazza-Bondibene, C. Wadsworth, J. (2008) The Geography of the National MW, Report for the Low Pay Commission. Gilman, M., Edwards, P., Ram, M. Arrowsmith, J. (2002) Pay determination in small firms in the UK: the case of the response to the National Minimum Wage, Industrial Relations Journal, 33(1), pp. 52- 67. HM Revenue and Customs (n.d) The National Minimum Wage [WWW] HM Revenue and Customs. Available from: hmrc.gov.uk/paye/payroll/day-to-day/nmw.htm [Accessed 01/08/2012]. Forth, J., O’Mahoney, M. (2003) The impact of the national minimum wage on labour productivity: An analysis using industry data. Research Report for the Low Pay Commission. French, S., Mohrke, J. (2006) â€Å"The Impact of ‘new arrivals’ upon the North Staffordshire labour market†. Research Report for the low Pay Commission. Lee, D. (1999) Wage inequality in the United States during the 1980s: Rising dispersion or falling minimum wage? Quarterly Journal of Economics, 114(3), pp. 977-1023. Low Pay Commission (2007) National Minimum Wage, Low Pay Commission Report. London: Crown Copyright. Low Pay Commission (2011) National Minimum Wage, Low Pay Commission Report. London: Crown Copyright. Low Pay Commission (2012) National Minimum Wage, Low Pay Commission Report. London: Crown Copyright. Machin, S., Manning, A., Rahman, L. (2003) Where Minimum Wage Bites Hard: The Introduction of the UK National Minimum Wage to a Low Wage Sector. Journal of the European Economic Association, 1(1), pp. 154-180. Manning, A. (2011) Wage inequality and job polarization show that it is time to be pursuing from the highest-earners to those with middle and lower incomes. [WWW] British Politics and Policy at LSE. Available from: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/38319/ (Accessed: 01/08/2012). Moore, S., Watson, M (2009) UNISON Migrant Workers Participation Project Evaluation Report. London: UNISON Communications Unit. Neumark, D. W. Wascher, (2008). Minimum Wages. Cambridge: MIT Press. Office for National Statistics (2010) UK Relative Regional Consumer Price levels for Goods and Services for 2010. Office for National Statistics. Petrongolo, B., Van Reenen, J. (2011) The level of youth unemployment is at a record high. Policy makers should focus on strengthening and refining welfare-to-work and education-to-work programmes and forget about caps on immigration or reductions in the minimum wage which would do nothing to help. [WWW]   British Politics and Policy at LSE. Available from: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/38022/. (Accessed: 01/08/2012). Rebitzer, J., Taylor, L. (1995). The consequences of minimum wage laws: Some new theoretical ideas. Journal of Public Economics, 56, pp. 245-255. Riley, J (2006) AS Macroeconomics/ International Economy [WWW] Tutor2u. Available from: http://tutor2u.net/economics/revision-notes/as-macro-economic-growth.html {Accessed: 01/08/2012}. Smith, D. (2006) Does Britain Have Regional Justice or Injustice in its Government Spending and Taxation?, Economic Research Council Digest, 37(1), pp. 9-26. Stewart M. (2002) Estimating the impact of the minimum wage using geographical wage variation, Oxford Bulletin of Economics Statistics, 64(5), pp. 583-606.

The English Channel Tunnel essays

The English Channel Tunnel essays For many, many years there have been several attempts to connect England and France. Bridges and tunnels have been conspired, but all attempts failed. Many thought it could never be done, but England and France have finally been connected via the English Channel through a subaqueous tunnel. The English Channel Tunnel is one of the worlds greatest engineering feats. For more than two centuries, there have been numerous attempts and plans to link England and France across the English Channel. Iron bridges, undersea tunnels, causeways and damns were suggested in every way and combination possible. The main reasons for the attempts that failed were due to lack of technology and funding. (Featherson 4) In 1987, a dream became a reality for all of Europe when preliminary work on a tunnel under the English Channel began. Construction on the project was one of the worlds largest undertaken on the planet. The tunnel was more than a hole in the ground. Its one of the worlds largest engineering projects ever, says Gordon Creighton, a project developer. (Featherson 3) The two main stations are on Shakespeare Cliff in England and Coquelles in France. The English Channel Tunnel was a complex web of tunnels. There were a total of about twelve tunnels; six on Englands side and six on Frances side. The tunnels on each side started at the bottom of a 110-meter shaft. There are three main tunnels; two main rail tunnels and one maintenance tunnel. (Kirkland 255) This is actually an easy tunnel. It is just a long, long process of construction, says Peter Bermingham, a project engineer. (Newman 40) The service tunnel is used to transport emergency as well as maintance equiptment. The two rail tunnels were to transport the trains traveling in each direction. The the basic tunnels; service and two main rail tunnels; were designed in a clever way. The two rail tunnels were on ...

Using TDictionary for Hash Tables in Delphi

Using TDictionary for Hash Tables in Delphi Introduced in Delphi 2009, the TDictionary class, defined in the Generics.Collections unit, represents a generic hash table type collection of key-value pairs. Generic types, also introduced in Delphi 2009, allow you to define classes that dont specifically define the type of data members. A dictionary is, in a way, similar to an array. In an array you work with a series (collection) of values indexed by an integer value, which can be any ordinal type value. This index has a lower and an upper bound. In a dictionary, you can store keys and values where either can be of any type. The TDictionary Constructor Hence the declaration of the TDictionary constructor: In Delphi, the TDictionary is defined as a hash table. Hash tables represent  a collection of key-and-value pairs that are organized based on the hash code of the key. Hash tables are optimized for lookups (speed). When a key-value pair is added to a hash table, the hash of the key is computed and stored along with the added pair. The TKey and TValue, because theyre generics, can be of any type. For example, if the information you are to store in the dictionary is coming from some database, your Key can be a GUID (or some other value presenting the unique index) value while the Value can be an object mapped to a row of data in your database tables. Using TDictionary For the sake of simplicity, the example below uses integers for TKeys and chars for TValues.   First, we declare our dictionary by specifying what the types of the TKey and TValue will be: Then the dictionary is filled using the Add method. Because a dictionary cannot have two pairs with the same Key value, you can use the ContainsKey method to check if some key-valued pair is already inside the dictionary. To remove a pair from the dictionary, use the Remove method. This method will not cause problems if a pair with a specified key is not a part of the dictionary. To go through all the pairs by looping through keys you can do a for in loop. Use the TryGetValue method to check if some key-value pair is included in the dictionary. Sorting The Dictionary Because a dictionary is a hash table it does not store items in a defined sort order. To iterate through the keys that are sorted to meet your specific need, take advantage of the TList a generic collection type that supports sorting. The code above sorts keys ascending and descending and grabs values as if they were stored in the sorted order in the dictionary. The descending sorting of integer-type Key values uses TComparer and an anonymous method. When Keys and Values Are of TObject Type The example listed above is a simple one because both the key and the value are simple types. You can have complex dictionaries where both the key and the value are complex types like records or objects. Heres another example: Here a custom record is used for the Key and a custom object/class is used for the value. Note the usage of a specialized TObjectDictionary class here. TObjectDictionary can handle objects lifetime automatically. The Key value cannot be nil, while the Value value can. When a TObjectDictionary is instantiated, an Ownerships parameter specifies whether the dictionary owns the keys, values or both and therefore helps you not have memory leaks.

Leapolds Land Ethic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Leapolds Land Ethic - Essay Example Overview of Leopold’s land ethics Leopold states that it is imperative to incorporate human beings and non human factors of the ecosystem when developing ethical standards. As such, the collectivity of human and non human elements of the ecosystem is referred to as land. The ethics developed as a result of the human and non human collectivity within the ecosystem is referred to as land ethics. According to him, the principle of land ethics is aimed at preserving the beauty, stability and integrity of the biotic community and so anything, action or view that tends to counteract this opinion is considered to be wrong. In his view, the intention of land ethics is to increase the boundary of the community from one that incorporates only human beings to that which includes waters, animals, plants and soils. The land ethics shifts the Homo sapiens’ roles from being conquerors to being citizens of the land community. Respect for the land community is vital for sustainable and stable ecosystem. Leopold’s view of developing a balanced, stable and friendly environmental system to include all aspects of nature is supported by Baird Callicott, who expounds the land ethics by developing an environmental ethics that call for inclusion of other non human elements in the human legacy. Leopold’s ideas is well expounded in his deeds when he was employed to terminate bears, mountain lions and wolves in new Mexico(Leopold and Michael 42).The local ranger hated the predators because they used to attack their livestock, but Leopold views were different because he felt that they were part of nature and had a positive role in maintaining a balanced ecosystem. For instance, if all predators were terminated, their natural prey would increase exponentially resulting in extreme competition with rangers’ animals for vegetation, a fact that would be disastrous to both the ranchers and the balance of the ecosystem. Basing on Leopold’s land ethics, th ere is a close relationship between ecosystem balance and evolution, but human factors have brought detrimental impact on the relationship causing disastrous results to the course of nature (Leopold and Michael 72). The relationship between land ethics and evolution and how man has come to affect it Evolution is a gradual and natural change of biological population over a period of time. It occurs in natural settings and results in extinction of some species and development of other generations. Charles Darwin is a major proponent of evolution theory and his ideas have been instrumental in the formulation of land ethics. The relevant ideas in land ethics that were influenced by Darwinian’s natural selection principal hold that the survival and reproduction of animals is well achieved within cooperative group, no groups can remain integrated without necessary ethical standards and ethics are started within the family cooperation of species. Darwinian’s notion is reflect ed well in land theory which calls for cooperation between humans beings and non human factors of the ecosystem to ensure stability of biotic system and sustainable living conditions. For evolution to occur well, it must take a natural trend. However, if other factors distort the natural pathway, there is likely to be an unexpected

Land Desertification in China ( only climatic factor) Essay

Land Desertification in China ( only climatic factor) - Essay Example So China’s arid climate through its consequences of overflows and droughts constitutes a menace to the full-fledged life support of the Chinese and their future generations. In this regard one of the primary concerns is the functioning of the appropriate technologies aiming at recovery of the degraded soils. In the point of the discussed theme there are two key terms, namely: degradation and desertification. Degradation is the steady deterioration of soil characteristics as a habitat of biota, and reduction of its fertility as a result of the influence of natural or anthropogenic factors. Desertification is a process of irreversible changes in soil and vegetation, and reduction of biological productivity, which in extreme cases can lead to the complete destruction of the biospheric potential and turning of the territory into desert. The primary concern of desertification in China is a food crisis, as the issue is the main cause of aggrieving the country’s stores of wheat and rice, which form the basis of China’s agriculture. â€Å"According to a general survey of the country, the total area of †¦ regions vulnerable to desertification has reached †¦ 34.6 percent of the entire territory† (Longjun). In the context of the most grounds intended for sowing of the seeds, the percentage of the lands under desertification is critical. Moreover, it rises with the demographic problem of China or the top-priority challenge for survival of the Chinese. Overpopulation of the country is a well-known issue, and desertification in this respect is extremely hazardous for the great number of people whose needs don’t decrease with the degradation of soils. As for the secondary concern of the issue, it deals with the dwindling water supply as well as groundwater decrement. It goes without question that the consumption of water for China’s agricultural needs, human wants, and for the artificial irrigation of the arid lands substantially wreaks havoc on the

Implementing the Risk Management Process in New Kitchen Heaven Retail Essay

Implementing the Risk Management Process in New Kitchen Heaven Retail Store - Essay Example The intention of this study is risk as the probability that a chosen action or activity including the choice of inaction might result into a loss or undesirable outcome. This implies that a choice has an element of influence on the outcome. Risk management process is therefore the systematic application of the policies, methods and practices of management to the tasks of establishing the context, analyzing, evaluating, monitoring, treating and finally reviewing the inherent risks. Risk management process is therefore an ongoing process that aids in identifying potential problems that could emerge when new projects are undertaken within a business. A solid risk management process facilitates the smooth running of a project. By identifying and addressing a list of project risks which are also part of the larger project or business management system, many disclosures and roadblocks are eliminated. Consequently the risk management process is an essential factor that should be considered in an organization so as to enable its business to effectively run. It ensures that a well structured a framework for more effective strategic planning to enable maximization of opportunities and minimization off losses is put. It equally promotes greater openness in decision making and improves communication in an organization as well as providing an effective and systematic approach which enhances the management focus on areas of risk concentration in their operations. Moreover, risk management widens the management’s perspective and encourages initiative and proactive behavior that improve the level of accountability in an organization. Identifying the Risk Factors Considering the compilation lists of the NKHRS project risks, it is realized that the major risks are concentrated in three sections, that is, in areas of Information Technology, Facilities and Retail. In the area of Information Technology there is the risk of getting a professional contractor to install the Eth ernet so as to enable effective operations. Similarly, there is the risk of getting the Point of Sale and server hardware in time for the smooth operations .In the area of facilities it is noted that there is a risk in obtaining the right and desirable location bearing the right price range This location might as well be risky in terms of the availability of the goods and the products accessibility to the consumers. In this case a plan should be developed to decide on whether to find the right location for a high producing store to avoid great loss in sales or to consider a different alternative that can generate good profits (Culp, 2006). Consequently, in the Retail category there is the risk of the availability of the products at the right time to the customers and that the shipment date for the

Using Social Media in the Middle East Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Using Social Media in the Middle East - Essay Example However, the main audience was alienated by the youth on the street, in terms of often spilled, North Africa and lifeblood. The rebellion of the youth spread far beyond Egypt and Tunisia in order to enflame the whole region. The combination of offline and online strategies and other additional tactics that the organization used helped in bringing political revolution. Pollock explains that Takriz began as a tiny cyber which proclaimed itself as self-described tank (15 -24). It had thousands of networks that cooperated with journalists and as a result guarded their anonymity. Since Takriz was an elusive word, it came from street slang, which means frustration due to anger or breaking balls. Additionally, Foetus is an MBA consultant of technology who knows many languages and plays off his friend Waterman who is gifted in writing. Ben Ali’s removal made the group believe that Tunisia’s government is cut from the same cloth as the predecessor who was corrupt. It also talks about the situation being similar in Egypt, whereby the Egypt activists are cautious of the supreme council where the Armed Forces replaced Mubarak Hosni. North Africa and Middle East are elderly regimes who are unwilling to leave power as well as unable to satisfy the economic and political demands of the bulge demographic youth. The region’s population is under 30, and the unemployment of the youth stands at 20 percentage. The media technology also brought about the political revolution in the region because of the extreme use of Face book, you tube, cell phones, and satellite TV among others. Pollock notes out that Takriz also made internet access affordable as well as freedom of speech to the organizers (25-32). Internet was the only option for them in 1998, because Ben Ali is said to have taken control of the other media. However, Takriz technology officer was a skilled hacker, and since he could not afford Tunisia’s phone and internet cost, turned to internet as well as for safety, since he would meet the other organizers online without any identification. The government blocked Takriz website and many others. TuneZine was arrested and tortured. He was sent to the worst prison in the region, 120 people in one room with only one bathroom and no water. When he got sick, instead of calling a doctor they beat him and gave him no food. In 2003, he was released but died because of a heart attack at the age of 37 and Ben Ali imposed a curfew, in which journalists and activists were arrested, speeches and documents censored as well as blocked websites. The Tunisian’s protests turned to a political revolution because the videos captured events that were extremely depressing as well as highly influential. One such video was about Kasserine’s hospital that was in chaos, and desperate to treat the wounded and an image of a dead young man who had his brains spilt out. This was critical and use of this video made the second political revolu tion. It was posted on face book, YouTube and any other influential sites (Pollock, 32-44). Such acts are against the human right law. The use social media is significant in bringing out political revolution in any country. This is because social media reaches a good number of people both regionally and internationally. For example, when Takriz sent the video to Aljazeera, it reached people globally, a population face book cannot reach; the rich,

Conflicts ad Ethcs Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Conflicts ad Ethcs - Coursework Example A personal situation where conflict existed was between me and the fire brigade on the steps to take to put off the fire at my shop. In the end, it seemed the conflict only wasted time because we had diverse objectives. Mine was to try and save my property though it was impossible while the fire brigade’s was to try and put out the fire before it spread. The best conflict management style that we decided to adopt was collaboration. We decided to partner in order to achieve a common goal. Each of us was allowed to table their ideas, and in the end it leads to a win-win situation. Collaboration works in complex situations and trust is key. This method seemed to be the most appropriate for this situation. The ten basics for ethical communication are; seek to elicit the best in communication and interaction with other group members, speak non-judgmentally, listen when others speak, only speak from experience and perspectives expressing your thoughts, needs and feelings, speak to understand others, respect other’s boundaries, avoid speaking for others, manage personal boundaries, avoid interrupting and side conversations and finally everyone must have equal time to speak (Corvette, 2006). In accommodation, all the ethical guidelines were

Entreprenuership -Trader joes Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Entreprenuership -Trader joes - Assignment Example He opened stores designed with fish nets and boat oars on the walls. Employees were dressed in bright tropical shirts and the stores where packed with food items which are preferred by the customers during vacations. The enterprise also partnered with dealers worldwide to make the foods available at popular holiday destinations at their stores. The founder believed that if the people can spend huge amount of their money to experience great tastes available at those holiday destinations, people would definitely spend on those goods if they are available in store near their homes. The unique value proposition of the company includes availability of unique food items with new tastes, minimum price charged for products, high bargaining with suppliers. The organization researched about the products that the Americans prefer the most on their vacations. It also believes that the money saved by the organization while procuring goods from suppliers is the money saved by the customers. Thus, the company creates value by supplying goods at minimum prices. The enterprise also acquires goods directly from the suppliers to reduce their costs. Trader Joe’s also utilizes the loop holes of government regulations on wines. Since private label wines were not covered under the laws, the company persuaded them to sell their production under the label of Trader Joe’s. As the price of these labels were low than popular brands, they were preferred by the customers (â€Å"Understanding Trader Joe’s†). The key metrics are the measures which assess the performance of the company. Traders Joe’s growth in sales and the increase in the number of stores are the metrics used to understand the success of the enterprise. It has been observed that the sales growth of the company has increased over the years but in the recent times, there is a high competition in the retail sector and this may lead to

Conflicts ad Ethcs Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Conflicts ad Ethcs - Coursework Example A personal situation where conflict existed was between me and the fire brigade on the steps to take to put off the fire at my shop. In the end, it seemed the conflict only wasted time because we had diverse objectives. Mine was to try and save my property though it was impossible while the fire brigade’s was to try and put out the fire before it spread. The best conflict management style that we decided to adopt was collaboration. We decided to partner in order to achieve a common goal. Each of us was allowed to table their ideas, and in the end it leads to a win-win situation. Collaboration works in complex situations and trust is key. This method seemed to be the most appropriate for this situation. The ten basics for ethical communication are; seek to elicit the best in communication and interaction with other group members, speak non-judgmentally, listen when others speak, only speak from experience and perspectives expressing your thoughts, needs and feelings, speak to understand others, respect other’s boundaries, avoid speaking for others, manage personal boundaries, avoid interrupting and side conversations and finally everyone must have equal time to speak (Corvette, 2006). In accommodation, all the ethical guidelines were

Nature of Health Service Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Nature of Health Service Management - Essay Example It was founded to serve three major purposes: to offer uniform healthcare in all parts of the UK; provide free health services to all citizens without discrimination based on medical requirements; and lastly, to offer all-inclusive services covering medical needs. The name NHS refers to three of the four state financed healthcare systems in the UK including the English NHS, NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland (HSC). The NHS offers all-inclusive health services to all basic and community healthcare, intermediate care and hospital-based care, and provides information services, as well as helping individuals in relation to health promotion, disease prevention, self-care, rehabilitation and after-care (NHS, 2010). The current NHS boasts of a new constitution mandate of the government in enhancing NHS accountability in the provision of a comprehensive health service out of national taxation and support (DH, 2010. P.4). The NHS is under Department of Hea lth that is headed by the secretary of state for health who answers to the prime minister, which also runs England’s 10 Strategic Health Authorities (SHAs) - which manage all NHS activities in England, with each SHA supervising all the NHS trusts in its jurisdiction (NHS, 2010).   ... The trusts include structural facilities and other facilities such as medical evacuation services, ambulance services, and consultation services. There are various NHS trusts and authorities overseeing running of NHS, which include acute trusts, primary care trusts, ambulance trusts, care trusts, mental health trusts, foundation trusts, strategic health authorities, and special health authorities. Primary care trusts (PCTs) provide health and social care services for general health needs of local communities. Generally, there are about 151 PCTs in England, controlling 80% of NHS budget (NHS, 2010). Acute trusts oversee running of hospitals, ensuring hospitals offer good health services and meet financial obligations. Ambulance trusts offer emergency link to healthcare through ambulance services. Basically, there are 12 ambulance services in England dealing with emergencies that are categorized into category A emergencies that are life-threatening condition and category B or C emergen cies that are not life threatening (NHS, 2010). On the other hand, care trusts are institutions that offer both health and social care services, and currently, there are very few. Mental health trusts offer health and social care services to patients with mental health problems through primary care or specialist care. Moreover, strategic health authorities oversee management of local NHS on behalf of the secretary of state, and they were formed by government in 2002 (NHS, 2010). Lastly, special health authorities are national institution offering health services to entire country and are not restricted to a local community. The NHS is managed by health

Feeling like “Other” Essay Example for Free

Feeling like â€Å"Other† Essay I will be exploring a time when I felt like â€Å"other†, in this situation I was made to feel invisible, excluded and too visible all at the same time. In this situation I mainly felt excluded but nonetheless I felt all of the above. My husband is Nigerian and I am African American, he attends a Nigerian church and all of the members are Nigerian. Every time I go to church with him I feel as if I am too visible because I am the only non-Nigerian person there, yes we are all black but I know nothing about their culture and I do not speak their language. They often sing Nigerian praise songs and do traditional dances and when this is occurring I often feel excluded and invisible because it seem like it doesn’t matter if I’m included since I’m the only one who doesn’t understand what is going on. Because of this I very seldom go to church with him, it would be nice for us to go to church together all the time but it’s not comfortable to feel excluded or invisible. You wouldn’t think you could feel excluded or invisible around your own race but subgroups of the same race often have different cultures and traditions that the other doesn’t understand. In a lot of cases African’s who live in America feel that African Americans have acculturated into society which is â€Å"a form of assimilation wherein an ethnic or racial group or an individual takes on the cultural ways of another group, usually that of mainstream culture, often at the expense of traditional cultural ways†(2014). Being African American around Africans you often get a sense of ethnocentrism from this culture in regards to language, religion and behavior. Sometimes people are not aware that they are making the â€Å"other† feel uncomfortable or excluded simply because they don’t know how to include the â€Å"other†. Many people are not as culturally competent as they may think and this can cause a lot of discord between different  cultural groups. Unfortunately both groups have been marginalized, having diminished value, importance, contributions, or attributes. Because both groups notice cultural differences we feel the need to be guarded and defensive at all times. This does not help with communication and interaction between our cultures. One way for me to overcome this is exercising emotional intelligence which involves developing the ability to manage and appreciate differences. References (2014, November 1). Identity and Difference . Weekly Lecture. Lecture conducted from , . Harvey, C., Allard, M. J. (2011). Understanding and Managing Diversity, 5th Edition. [VitalSource Bookshelf version]. Retrieved from http://devry.vitalsource.com/books/9781269562744/id/ch01lev2sec22

The War Poems of Wilfred Owen - Contradicting the Classical Ideas of He

Contradicting the Classical Ideas of Heroism and Romanticism in Dulce et Decorum est, The Send Off, But I Was Looking At The Permanent Stars, The Deadbeat soldier, Counter Attack, Metal Cases and other War Poems by Wilfred Owen   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Owen displays the reality of war, atypically shown in 20th century literature. By divulging the secrecies and terrors of brutal warfare, he exposes the superficiality of valor and false heroism; through his vivid writing, he opens the eyelids of his readers and discloses, â€Å"the old lie (Owen, Dulce et Decorum est, 25). Owen breaks idealism, replacing it with illness, physical injuries, exhaustion, fatigue and personal hells. Contrasting the Hemingway code hero, Owen displays the reality of war, which diverges from the epic and heroic displays of war displayed through classic characters like the code hero.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The dead beat soldier symbolizes classic 20th century anti-war sentiments. Flesh torn and maggot eaten, skin writhing, crack and molested from heat; the dead beat soldier is presumably one of the most wretched people, and one with the most deathlike traits. Death written in his eyes, he walks fruitlessly with no aim; for one who walks with no purpose is the living dead. Both mind and spirit have been broken, the pieces of body that seem to drop off fall in line with what is already lost; this is the result of war. The soldier can be looked at as the living dead because although he is alive, he is dead in mind and spirit and heart. â€Å"He dropped,- more sullenly that wearily, lay stupid like a cod, heavy like meat (Owen, The Deadbeat soldier, 1-2).† â€Å"Just blinker at my revolver, blearily; didn’t appear to know a war was on (3-4).† The deadbeat soldier reverts to a fetal like mental state, incapable of noticing or responding to the world around them. This state is not so much a rupture in brutish nature, but a reversion back to nothingness and unknowingness for protection; rather both mind and body shut down from weariness. The dead beat soldier no longer responds to their environment; it’s as if their reality no longer exists. They are not worn from war, but rather circumstance and loss of hope, lives and chance. â€Å"It’s Blighty, ‘praps, he sees; his pluck’s all gone, dreaming of all the valiant, they aren’t dead: Bold uncles, smiling ministerially (10-12).† â€Å"Maybe his brave young wife, getting her fun. In some new home, ... ...and the Young, 7-11).† Isaac is betrayed by his father and murderers that he may have more glory symbolizing the government and soldiers.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The reasons why the men chose to go into war are shown as foolish and not self-controlled. â€Å"It was after football, when he’d drank a peg, He thought he’d better join- He wonders why (Disabled 23-24).† â€Å"Smiling they wrote his lie: age 19 years. Germans he scarcely thought of; all their guilt, And Austria’s, did not move him. And no fears of Fear came yet. He thought of jeweled hilts For daggers in plaid socks; of smart solutes; And care of Arms; and leave; and pay arrears. This was the â€Å"old lie (28),† imbedded in the young men. â€Å"There was no glory, little or no honor; Some cheered him home, but not as a crowd cheers a goal (Disabled, 37-39).† Owen tries to discard the â€Å"old lie (28),† through his war poems and through smart prose creates a plausible contradiction to classical ideas of heroism and romanticism. Works Cited Owen, Wilfred. Wilfred Owen: Collected Letters. Ed. Harold Owen and John Bell. London: Oxford UP, 1967. -----. Wilfred Owen: The Complete Poems and Fragments. Ed. John Stallworthy. 2 vols. New York: Norton, 1984. The War Poems of Wilfred Owen - Contradicting the Classical Ideas of He Contradicting the Classical Ideas of Heroism and Romanticism in Dulce et Decorum est, The Send Off, But I Was Looking At The Permanent Stars, The Deadbeat soldier, Counter Attack, Metal Cases and other War Poems by Wilfred Owen   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Owen displays the reality of war, atypically shown in 20th century literature. By divulging the secrecies and terrors of brutal warfare, he exposes the superficiality of valor and false heroism; through his vivid writing, he opens the eyelids of his readers and discloses, â€Å"the old lie (Owen, Dulce et Decorum est, 25). Owen breaks idealism, replacing it with illness, physical injuries, exhaustion, fatigue and personal hells. Contrasting the Hemingway code hero, Owen displays the reality of war, which diverges from the epic and heroic displays of war displayed through classic characters like the code hero.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The dead beat soldier symbolizes classic 20th century anti-war sentiments. Flesh torn and maggot eaten, skin writhing, crack and molested from heat; the dead beat soldier is presumably one of the most wretched people, and one with the most deathlike traits. Death written in his eyes, he walks fruitlessly with no aim; for one who walks with no purpose is the living dead. Both mind and spirit have been broken, the pieces of body that seem to drop off fall in line with what is already lost; this is the result of war. The soldier can be looked at as the living dead because although he is alive, he is dead in mind and spirit and heart. â€Å"He dropped,- more sullenly that wearily, lay stupid like a cod, heavy like meat (Owen, The Deadbeat soldier, 1-2).† â€Å"Just blinker at my revolver, blearily; didn’t appear to know a war was on (3-4).† The deadbeat soldier reverts to a fetal like mental state, incapable of noticing or responding to the world around them. This state is not so much a rupture in brutish nature, but a reversion back to nothingness and unknowingness for protection; rather both mind and body shut down from weariness. The dead beat soldier no longer responds to their environment; it’s as if their reality no longer exists. They are not worn from war, but rather circumstance and loss of hope, lives and chance. â€Å"It’s Blighty, ‘praps, he sees; his pluck’s all gone, dreaming of all the valiant, they aren’t dead: Bold uncles, smiling ministerially (10-12).† â€Å"Maybe his brave young wife, getting her fun. In some new home, ... ...and the Young, 7-11).† Isaac is betrayed by his father and murderers that he may have more glory symbolizing the government and soldiers.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The reasons why the men chose to go into war are shown as foolish and not self-controlled. â€Å"It was after football, when he’d drank a peg, He thought he’d better join- He wonders why (Disabled 23-24).† â€Å"Smiling they wrote his lie: age 19 years. Germans he scarcely thought of; all their guilt, And Austria’s, did not move him. And no fears of Fear came yet. He thought of jeweled hilts For daggers in plaid socks; of smart solutes; And care of Arms; and leave; and pay arrears. This was the â€Å"old lie (28),† imbedded in the young men. â€Å"There was no glory, little or no honor; Some cheered him home, but not as a crowd cheers a goal (Disabled, 37-39).† Owen tries to discard the â€Å"old lie (28),† through his war poems and through smart prose creates a plausible contradiction to classical ideas of heroism and romanticism. Works Cited Owen, Wilfred. Wilfred Owen: Collected Letters. Ed. Harold Owen and John Bell. London: Oxford UP, 1967. -----. Wilfred Owen: The Complete Poems and Fragments. Ed. John Stallworthy. 2 vols. New York: Norton, 1984.

Collin Powell Essay -- essays research papers

Secretary of State Colin Luther Powell served as national security adviser to President Ronald Reagan, and under President George Bush became the first African American to serve as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1989-1993). In 2001 the U.S. Senate confirmed him as the Secretary of State. Colin Luther Powell was born in Harlem, New York City on April 5, 1937, the son of a shipping clerk and a seamstress, both of whom were immigrants from Jamaica. Powell spent most of his childhood in the South Bronx, then regarded as a step up from Harlem. Despite the urgings of his parents that he should "strive for a good education" in order to "make something" of his life, Powell remained an ordinary student throughout high school. At City College of New York, Powell discovered himself; his retentive mind and leadership abilities made him a conspicuous success in the Army's Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC). He graduated from the program in 1958 with the rank of cadet colonel, the highest awarded, and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He was then assigned to duty in West Germany. In 1962, while stationed at Fort Devens, Massachusetts, Powell met and married Alma Vivian Johnson. The couple had three children. Powell's next overseas assignment was in South Vietnam, where he was wounded in action. He then studied at the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, finishing second in a class of more than twelve hundred officers. During a second tour in Vietnam he received the Soldier's Medal for pulling several men from a burning helicopter. The army then provided Powell the time to study for a Master's degree in business administration at George Washington University. He received the degree in 1971, after which he worked as an analyst at the Pentagon before securing what he called a "dream job": an appointment as a prestigious White House fellow in the Office of Management and Budget under the director, Caspar Weinberger, and his deputy, Frank Carlucci, two men of rising influence in Washington who perceived Powell's uncommon abilities and who would help shape his career. A man of commanding presence at six feet one inch and 200 pounds, Powell was assigned to South Korea in 1973 to command a battalion troubled by racial animosities. "I threw the bums out of the army and put the drug u... ...gure in government. During the 1996 presidential race, it was announced that Powell would run. He declined, citing various reasons. The withdrawal was disappointing to many Americans. In April 1997 Powell chaired a Volunteer Summit in Philadelphia. Powell, President Bill Clinton, Vice President Al Gore, former presidents, and other big names, including Oprah Winfrey, proposed the advent of a new volunteerism that would include people from all walks of life, place, and age. Powell's next step was to chair America's Promise, the Alliance for Youth. This organization is "dedicated to mobilizing individuals, groups and organizations from every part of American life, to build and strengthen the character and competence of our youth." Although the organization experienced some difficulties initially, Powell's commitment did not waver. Evaluations conducted in the spring of 1999 indicate that the organization has touched the lives of over 10 million children since its inceptio n. On December 16, 2000, President-elect George W. Bush nominated Powell to become the 65th Secretary of State. Following a unanimous confirmation by the U.S. Senate, he was sworn in on January 20, 2001.

Preferences for Boys and Girls in South Korea, China, India and Nepal

Preferences for boys and girls in South Korea, China, India and Nepal The studies of gender bias in several developing countries in Asia have received wide attention over the past two decades. Demographers have noted worrying trends in sex ratio at birth in some of the most populous countries in Asia; South Korea, China, India and Nepal are the most markedly countries. One of the measures of agreement that has been recognized in this phenomenon among these four countries is the traditionally-and-culturally-rooted of son preference. Son preference has several features that illustrate the inclination of the male sex in contrast to the female sex resulting numerous differences in preferences of boys and girls in the societies of these four countries. The features of son preference are based on socio-cultural, socio-economic and institutional factors in South Korea, China, India and Nepal, and consequently, have formed an imbalance in the countries’ sex ratios mainly due to female infants mortality. South Korea was one of the first countries to represent the trend of son preference. This is mainly due to Confucian influence that is acutely embedded in the populace, whereby the eldest son of the most recent male ancestor must lead family rituals. The family â€Å"dies† if there were no sons being born (Westley & Choe 2007). Since pre-industrial South Korea, a person’s access to power, social status and economic opportunities depended heavily on their gender, lineage and their position within that lineage. Chung & Gupta (2007) described that a number of the lineages in South Korea had formed into larger super ordinates lineage or in other words can be referred to as â€Å"clan†, where some joint properties are held and utilized to support ancestor worship rituals and to help lineage members in need. Therefore, it was a primary duty to bear sons to ensure the continuity of a family’s lineage. On another note, son preference played a role in terms of a socio-economic view when the South Korean governments had subsequently reinforced the Confucian traditions in a series of authoritarian policies in order to maintain social and political stability. For example, the Family Law stipulated that family headship must be held by men in the line of the eldest son, inheritance should be through male line, women should be transferred to their husband’s family register upon marriage and children are belonged to the father’s lineage even in the case of divorce (Chung & Gupta 2007). {draw:frame} _Figure 1. 0: Trends in sex ratio at birth and total fertility rate, South Korea, 1980-2003 (Westley & Choe 2007). _ In addition, ultrasound equipment was first mass-produced in the country in the mid-1980s. Therefore, the introduction in technologies to determine the sex of unborn fetuses combined with the widespread of abortion availability made it possible for couples that wanted a son to selectively abort female fetuses. In 1990, as seen in Figure 1. 0, the sex ratio indicated that nearly two boys were born at this birth order for every girl (Westley & Choe 2007) resulting in an increase of sex ratio at its highest peak in South Korea. Similarly as South Korea, son preference became visible in China since it is another Confucian-practiced country. The people held beliefs that a person’s empowerment relies on their lineage and the lineage is solely traced through the male. Therefore, failure to produce a son is considered tantamount to extinction of the family line (Almond et. al 2005). Furthermore, the influence of son preference has been historically and traditionally strong in the country where it can be reflected in this ancient Chinese song quoted; â€Å"When a son is born, Let him sleep on the bed, Clothe him with fine clothes, And give him jade to play†¦ When a daughter is born, Let her sleep on the ground, Wrap her in common wrappings, And give broken tiles to play†¦ â€Å"- Book of Songs (1000-700 B. C. ) (Baculinao 2004). {draw:frame} _Figure 2. 0: Sex ratio of population age 0-4 in China, 1953-2005 (Shuzhuo Li 2007)_ In rural areas of China and among the less educated societies, sons are basically preferred because they are needed to carry out farm work, offer financial support to aging parents, continue the family name and receive family inheritance, and also responsible for ancestor worships. Apart from that, as seen in Figure 3. 0, there has been a sharp rise in sex ratio of children age 0-4 since 1982. This is due to China’s government imposing the â€Å"one-child policy† as one of the forces to fast-track economic modernization. The policy’s main condition is that a family, reliant to their will, is allowed to have one child only. Subsequently, a son is more favoured among the societies due to putting Confucian values into practice (Muller n. d). The government had later on enforced the policy strictly over time where by the regulations included mandatory IUD insertion for all women who had one child and abortion for a woman who had an unauthorized pregnancy. Consequently, out of desperation for a boy, some parents may have killed newborn daughters or undergo an abortion (Graham et. al 1998) and thus, mothers suffer tremendous psychological pressure and health risks while undergoing sex-selected abortions, which affect both their physical and reproductive health (Shuzhuo Li 2007). {draw:frame} Figure 3. 0: Sex ratio of the child and overall population, India, 1951-2001 (Guilmoto 2007)_ In India, son preference is influenced by the strong religious Hindu belief in the country to a certain extent where by a family needs a son to perform last rites in order for salvation to be achieved. In other words, sons are considered as breadwinners as they will look after their parents and continue the family name. In addition, Almond et. al (2005) stated that only sons could light a man’s funeral pyre and perform the traditional ancestor cult. Moreover, some Indian societies practice a tradition whereby daughters have to be married off with a substation dowry and hence, daughters are more often considered as a financial burden resulting the killing of female newborn babies as the final solution to the dowry problem. What is more, it is enlarged and even becoming more accepted, particularly in the poorer areas of India (Almond et. al 2005). Since daughters will be married into another family, therefore only sons can guarantee for the care of the parents in old age, which then resulted a far more widespread practice of discrimination against daughters. Hence, in its most extreme manifestation, the influence of son preference in India can affect on how many girls survive into adulthood and even how girls are born (Westley & Choe 2007). As summarize in Figure 3. 0, from earlier years mortality conditions of female infants had increased from killing of the female infants and sex-discrimination regime started to experience a deep change during the 1970s, since pre-natal sex-determination tests became widely available and often led to selective abortion to female fetus (CHREHPA 2007). draw:frame} Figure 4. 0: Trends in sex ratio at birth under 1 year old in Nepal, 1952/54 – 2001 (CHREHPA 2007). Nepal has been classified as having considerable levels of son preference since the World Fertility Surveys first documented the phenomenon in the 1980s. As seen in Figure 4. 0, there was an inclining trend in sex ratio at birth in 1970s to 1980s. Son preference in Nepal is a little different compared to the other countries concerning the discrimination against daughters are at a distinctive level. Daughters are very much loved in the family, as they are valued for their responsibility in religious festivals as well as for their emotional and household contribution to the family. Hindus in Nepal assign great value to marrying a virgin daughter. Girls marry early and universally in Nepal because of the religious merit bestowed on those who give them in marriage (Karki 1988). Nevertheless, having sons are very highly prized among the Nepalese societies compared to daughters (Leone et. al 2003). Sons are preferred due for old age security, and lineage where by the Hindu code of conduct in Nepal reinforced the transfer of family name through male offspring. Other than that, sons are more desired for their roles in religious rituals, agricultural labor and companionship. However, many Nepalese couples are willing to surpass their ideal family sized to satisfy their desire for sons (Hollander 1997). As a consequence, the son preference has affected the contraceptive behavior in Nepal to the extent that Nepalese rarely begin contraception until the desired numbers of sons are born. However, they began to articulate their realization that large families are contributing to shortage of cultivable land and to the deteriorating fuel wood and water supplies in the hills of Nepal (Karki 1988). Hence, methods of pre-natal sex determination came to view during the 1970s, and according to research from CHREHPA (2007), 10 out of 25 women that had been told the fetus was a girl resorted to sex-selective abortions an increase in Nepal’s maternal mortality rates and sex-ratio imbalance as seen in Figure 4. . As a whole, it can be seen that the rationale behind son preference in South Korea, China, India and Nepal are based on these six features; discriminatory inheritance laws, economic value of sons, continuity of family line, family security and strength, socio-cultural norms and customs and dowry system (Gupta et. al 1998). Enhancement of new medical technologies and sex-selective abortions had somehow supported the idea of son preference in these four countries a nd seem to be a method of having the desired son. Next, it is then perceptibly has created several impacts in socioeconomic and demographic manifestation where by it resulted in higher fertility transition, promotes inequality in social and human development, associated with excess female deaths and poor health of women, lowers quality of life for women, wastes a valuable human resource and perpetuates cycle of poverty and increases income inequality in these four countries (Gupta et. al 1998). Fortunately, the imbalance in sex ratio has spurred some official efforts to shift public opinion in these four countries. Approaches have been made to reduce the sex-ratio imbalances in these countries by making daughters more wanted. Governments and non-governmental organizations work through advocacy, sensitization and awareness-raising programs. In South Korea, after a series of extensive campaigns and programs, sex ratios were once greatly imbalanced, are now returning to normal after women gained status in society through employment opportunities, increased education, and parents with enough money to be financially secure without dependence on their sons (Guilmoto n. . ). South Korea now is the first Asian country to reverse back the trend of rising ratio of sex at birth. China on the other hand, participated by the country’s ambitious â€Å"Care For Girls† program. The program encompasses many dimensions of the sex-ratio predicament. It offers cash and other incentives to families with daughters, scholarships for girls, better housing or loans for targeted families and others. It als o includes several awareness-raising campaigns, as well as repressive measures against illegal abortions and infanticide. In India, a program called Tamil Nadu is created in 2004 that gave monetary rewards to couples that had one or two girls and agreed to be sterilized. The state also created a Cradle babies in which empty cradles were placed in government centers across the states for couples to abandon unwanted female child without killing them. Furthermore, in 2007, the New Delhi municipal government sponsored a program that provide every girl born in a government hospital with a gift deposit of 5000 rupees that accumulated interest and could be cashed once the girls reached the age of 18 (Lederer 2008). Nepal has banned sex-selective abortions in 2002 when it liberalized its own law on abortions. These laws were then strengthened later on in various ways, in order to make them more effective (Guilmoto n. d. ). Although the strategies for reducing son preference and getting back female’s rights are many, these are all rather considered as a short-run implication despite the positive and optimistic outcomes. According to an American demographer who has been closely following China's population program stated that, â€Å"The country may be coming o grips with problem as they country is still in dilemma – emotional and policy dilemma – because the solution to the problem will conflict with other parts of their population strategy to reduce birth rate or some of the measures could perhaps make the problem even worse. The country still has a lot of work to do. There’s no road map yet on how to achieve the goal of normal sex ratio† (Baculinao 2004). There fore, the future trends of the son preference are impossible to predict in the long run. Patriarchal systems are still underneath the attitudes among the societies in these countries. Regardless of how many levels of development in lasting efforts to address sex-selective abortion and female infanticide, it will fully require fundamental changes in cultural norms that promote son preference. References Almond, D, Edlund, L & Milligan K (2005) ‘Son preference and the persistence of culture’. Downloaded from http://www. nber. org/papers/w15391 as at 25 November 2009. Baculinao, E (2004) ‘China grapples with legacy of its ‘missing girls’, MSNBC. Downloaded from http://www. msnbc. msn. com/id/5953508 as at 20 November 2009. Chan, A & Yeoh, B. S. A (2002) ‘Gender, Family and Fertility in Asia: An Introdyuction’. Downloaded from http://www. unescap. org/esid/psis/population/journal/Articles/2002/V17N2A1. pdf . As at 25 November 2009. CHREHPA (2007) ‘ Sex Selection: Pervasiveness and Preparedness in Nepal’. Dowloaded from http://www. unfpa. org/gender/docs/studies/nepal. pdf as at 20 November 2009. Chung, W & Gupta, M. D. (2007)’Why is Son Preference Declining in South Korea? : The Role of Development and Public Policy and the Implications for China and India’, Policy Researh Working Paper, No. 373, The World Bank. Eberstadt, N (2004) ‘Power and Population in Asia: Demographics and the strategic balance’. Downloaded from http://www. aei. org/docLib/20040211_PowerandPopulationinAsia. pdf as at 25 November 2009. Edlund, L & Lee, C (2009) ‘Son pereference, sex selection and economic development: Theory and evidence from South Korea’. Downloaded from http://www. e con. columbia. edu/RePEc/pdf/DP0910-04. pdf as at 25 November 2009. Graham, M. J, Larsen, U (1998) ‘Son Preference in Anhui Province, China’, International Family Planning Perspectives, Vol. 24, No. 2.

Texas Constitution and New Hampshire Constitution

The constitution is the fundamental principles of law that the state's law system is base on. Regardless of where it was created, New Hampshire or Texas, the constitution always went through different processes of drafting, revising, and amending several times over the courses of history to result in the modern constitution as people look at it today. At a glance, there is Texas, a state that is known for its notorious cowboy culture and rebellious history, to be compare to New Hampshire, a quiet little state that locate in the northeast corner of the US.In omparison and contradiction, the two states' constitution share many similarities in their bills of rights but maintain many differences in their legislature, especially in the meeting cycles. Whether or not Texas should change its constitution in order to ensure the effectiveness of legislative session in a given time frame is still in debate. One of the major and most obvious similarities that appears in almost every state's con stitution is the freedom of religion.In Texas constitution, this category is worded as â€Å"freedom of worship†, section 6 of article 1 states, â€Å"All men have a natural nd indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences. No human authority ought, in any case whatever, to control or interfere with the rights of conscience in matters of religion†¦ † (Texas Constitution. Art. l, sec. 6. In a like manner, the New Hampshire constitution states, â€Å"Every individual has a natural and unalienable right to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience, and reason; and no subject shall be hurt, molested, or restrained, in his peers on, liberty, or estate, for worshipping God. † (New Hampshire Constitution. Part 1 . Art. 5) The first two sentences from each section of the two states constitutions strongly proclaim that it is the natural right of the people to worshiping any kind of deity without getti ng punish or being force to worship a different deity against their wish.This similarity of religious freedom from both constitutions illustrated the state founders' strong desire for a society in which people are free to pursuit a faith of their own. However, within these similarities there are still some important differences. To be more specific, the second sentence of religious freedom on the New Hampshire constitution does mention that the right to worship can be achieved only if â€Å"†¦ he doth not disturb the public peace or disturb others in their religious worship. (New Hampshire Constitution. Part l. Art. 5). This statement means to say that one individual cannot use their freedom of worship to disturb other individual's life or his or her freedom of worship. Texas constitution did not state specifically the same idea but it took into account another important element- the equality of religions: â€Å"It shall be the duty of the Legislature to pass such laws as may be ecessary to protect equally every religious denomination in the peaceable enjoyment of its own mode of public worship. (Texas Constitution. Art. I, sec. 6). This is one very important element that the New Hampshire constitution does not mention. Texas, in the other hand, put down in text that the government is responsible to protect every religion the same as others by passing such law to Speaking of the government structure, both Texas and New Hampshire have the basic form of government in which the structure is similar to the United States federal government. Each has three branches: legislative, executive and Judicial.The Texas legislature, however, has one substantive difference to the New Hampshire legislature, the meeting cycle. The Texas constitution requires the legislature to meet in regular session once every two years. â€Å"The legislature shall meet every two years at such time as may be provided by law and at other times when convened by the Governor. † (Tex as Constitution. Art. Ill, sec. 5). Normally, the session held on the second Tuesday in January of odd-numbered years and may last for 140 days.The New Hampshire constitution requires the state legislature to meet more often. Article 3 of Part II of the New Hampshire constitution states that the state legislature is to meet in session for once a year in January (New Hampshire Constitution. Part II. Art. 3); a session usually last until June. In addition, the legislature has to meet again on December of the next even-numbered year for organization purposes, bringing the number of session to three times every two years.The difference between each state legislature's meeting cycles is particularly stood out because Texas is geographically huge state with large population, and the fact that its meeting cycle is too far away from each other is very uncommon among other large states. The difference between Texas and New Hampshire constitutions in regard to the frequency of legislative mee ting can be explain by several reasons. According to Texas former senator Will Harnet, â€Å"Annual sessions are expensive and can chase off quality law-maker that are paid as little as $7,200 a year† (Schechter).But in contrast, meeting annually has advantages that included dealing with complex problems, inishing works on time and reducing the number of special sessions (Schechter). For a state that is the second most populous in the nation, Texas is the only large state that has legislature meet every two years, the other states are Montana, Nevada and North Dakota, all with tiny populations (Schechter). Recently, this frequency of meeting has shown its disadvantage. The most obvious example is that during the summer of 2013, Texas Governor Rick Perry has called three back-to-back special sessions (Schechter).This puts a question mark on the Texas constitution, why ouldn't change the legislative meeting cycle to annual if Texas law-makers are not able to get their business done on time? New Hampshire has a much smaller population than Texas and still able to meet annually without any restrictions. The legislature meeting cycle is one big problem that Texas needs to amend into the constitution, not only to save the budget from all the extra special sessions but also giving law-makers a more flexible cycle to work on many complex problems.In the end, both Texas and New Hampshire constitution serve one and only one urpose is to maintain their societies within the law of the state and also in respect to the United Stated constitution. A society in which every individual are born with natural and unalienable rights including the right to worship, and that no human authority can restricts people from doing so. On the other hand, the differences of population, geographic and political beliefs are reflected on the word of each state's constitution, which in this case is the difference between the legislative meeting cycles.The Texas legislature apparently had experience the flaws of their cycle, eing said, it is now the time for the Texas government to reconsider amending their constitution, in order to create a better legislative system that is capable of getting their business to finish on time.