Compare a success project with a fail project Essay

Compare a success project with a fail project - Essay Example most Hong Kong citizens use this as their main mode of transport, with the trains making over 5 million rounds every working day (Mass Transit Railways 2014). The trains have specific times for each destination, which they keep no matter what because it is a part of MTR’s objectives and initiatives too. As of last year, Mass Transit Railway owned half of the public transport market share, ranking it as the top means of transport preference in Hong Kong. Unlike most of the train systems in other countries, MTR integrates the Octopus technology enabling people to pay their fares using the master cards; significantly, this has been in place since 1997 and it is one of the facilitators of the system’s success because travelling is easier with it. Essentially, a research by the Hong Kong government prompted the production of the Mass Transit Railway; typically, the research basis was the increasing problems caused by road jams because of the countries rapidly growing economy. The first construction began immediately after the government released the study and around ten years later, there was the launching of the first track (MTR Corporation 2004). Due to the multiple cases of road congestions, most of the citizens immediately switched to the trains as modes of transport. Appreciably, since then, there have been more consequent lines built, aiming to cover more land and areas with the highest populations. Through the journey, the government has faced challenges based on areas to expand the network and what strategies to apply; however, it is among the most successful railway projects in the world today, especially because it covers a very wide area moving even into China’s main land. The Miami Metrorail, also referred to as The Metro, is also a large railway transport system that covers parts of Florida, the United States and a bigger part of Miami. Miami Dade Transit governs and oversees every operation of The Metro; moreover, it is one of the core agencies of

Intro to Linguistics Essay Example for Free

Intro to Linguistics Essay The study of human languages; including the influence of one language on another; how language and words are formed and change within time; the rules of the language- how words are formed, the structure of sentences and words; relationship between culture and language; how language is acquired- the process of language acquisition (foreigner verses mother tongue language). There are two approaches/types of linguistics: 1. Traditional Linguistics- the only field that ruled until the 20 century. 2. Modern Linguistics Traditional Linguistics. Characteristics: 1. Proscriptive approach- according to this approach, linguists tell native speakers how to use their own mother tongue- what are the rules: set norms of/ dictating the right use of the language, the rules and the right use of the language- educating the native speakers. The goal is to tell the speakers what is considered right or wrong language. 2. Focus on the written language- Most of the focus is on the written text, which is considered superior to the spoken language; the base of the rules. 3. Diachronic Research (etymology) Historical research- the study of the origins of words and languages, which reveals many connections between different languages. Due to technological developments, the influence of one language on another is even higher these days. Modern Linguistics At the beginning of the 20 century, there was a shift of interest to the following: The human languages are more complex and highly different than animal communication systems- due to amazing cognitive human communication ability (the language faculty). A known Swiss linguist, Ferdinand de Sassure- the first linguist to pose the following question: what do we know when we know a language (mother tongue)? By asking this question the focus of linguistics was shifted from grammar to the study of human language as a cognitive ability (cognitive science). The focus shifted to Language faculty ( ) and what it consists of. Characteristics: 1. Descriptive approach- we observe native speakers use the language, both in writing and in speaking, and try to draw conclusions out of it- learn about the changes that the language undergoes through time. Not interested in what should be, but rather in what IS. There is no judgment of the use, just observation and description of the current use, in order to analyze and find correlations. 2. Focus is on the spoken language- point of departure is that the spoken language is more important to the research because of the following: * It is less conscious, more natural, spontaneous and dynamic and therefore it reflects better the current use of the language. * Not all languages have a written system, but everyone has at least one mother tongue language. * The written language is less natural- one needs to study it in a very logical way; whereas the spoken language –mother tongue is acquired in a natural process, common to everyone (normally in the early years of 3-4). 3. Synchronic Research (current) the focus is not on the origin/History of the words; but on the current use of the words today. We are less interested in what happened; but rather in what is happening today. Knowing The whereas knowing about! 07/11/11 Linguistic Fields 1. Phonetics- the study of linguistic sounds (also called phones) which are consisted of consonants and vowels. The focus is on the articulation and pronunciation of sounds (independent of the letters/ graphics). How the sound is produced. It is independent of the letters (which is just the graphics). How we produce and perceive sounds. 2. Phonology- deals with sounds in interaction, and when they are brought together into words- they usually affect each other. Cats(s), dogs(z)- something very systematic- ( )) 3. Morphology- examines words structure, and the ways words are added into our vocabulary, i. e. how we form new words. Ex- dis/content/ed/ness (the parts are also called Morphemes- small units of words) 4. Syntax- deals with sentence structure and the meaning of sentences. We also examine differences between languages- the order of verb and its subject, adj, nouns etc. In addition, we examine Syntaxic Processing , for example: Without her contributions/ are hard to find. At first glance- it looks like something is missing in the sentence, when actually we did not process it in the right way- we can look at the sentence as: without her, contributions are hard to find. 5. Semantics- the study of meaning- both of words and sentences, and the logic behind them. 6. Pragmatics –deals with meaning in context- how we understand one another beyond what is actually said (the use of the language). For example: do you have the time? – One wont answer: yes; but rather tell the person what time it is. Not like the dry literate meaning, Pragmatics deal with the actual use of language – meaning in context- beyond the literate words that were actually said. 2 - : * 6 ( = 6 ) * 6 ( = ! ) 7. Discourse Analysis- Like Pragmatics, this also examines the use of language, but the focus is on the text. Written vs. spoken text; Narratives vs. expository text; the use of conjunctions; types of text; different tenses; complex vs. simple sentences; the length of sentences; vocabulary etc. 8. Language acquisition- we examine the process of acquiring a language- mother tongue and then foreign languages. How children acquire their mother tongue so quickly? How does the process happen? Which words are produced first etc. It is related to all the other fields mentioned above. 9. Neuro Linguistic- examines how linguistic knowledge is represented in the brain. For example: aphasia- brain injury that affects the part of the brain that understands linguistics. 10. Psycho Linguistic- a very big field that examines the correlation between language and psychological cognitive processes (for example: lexical retrieval). Sometimes one meaning of a word is more prominent than the other, depending on the context. For example: bug- insect/ computer related problem. The field also examines what happens when there is no context- how we associate between words and its meanings. For example: word priming- Duck-(goose/ book)- the word duck primes with goose, faster than with the word book. 11. Historical Linguistics- examines the evolution of languages, the origin of words, and the relation between languages- how they genetically related to one another (Etymology). 12. Computational Linguistics-deals with building artificial intelligence, creating models that try to imitate how language works and use it in different applications. Related to the implementation of linguistics. Information extraction, more practical. (for example: Google translate). 13. Clinical linguistics ( )- the use of linguistic tools for speech therapy, for people who have language disorders (both kids and adults). 14. Social Linguistics- the field that examines the interaction between language and society (socio economic and cultural factors). Socio-linguistics We distinguish between dialects- different varieties of the same language, as a result of many factors. Types of Dialects- 1. Geographic Dialect-changes according to region (city, country). In the states there are so many different dialects, depending on the area one grew up in. 2. Sociolect-typical for a certain group in the society, which has its own social, economic and cultural characteristics. 3. Idiolect-dialect that is typical to an individual. It is sometimes gradual, and we dont always notice it. Usually bases on imitation. Each of us speaks a little bit differently (intonation, pronunciation, vocabulary etc). 21/11/11 Linguistic knowledge- every 4-5 year old can speak the mother tongue language. Where does the ability to understand and speak a language comes from? The 2 opposed approaches argue on the source of that ability/knowledge Is it innate (genes) or acquired (comes from the environment, stimulates, feedback)? Two opposed currents in science, which have great debate on the nature of human knowledge in general. They argue on the source of the human knowledge: 1. Empiricism (John lock; Hume) -every person comes to the world, as a clean slate- have no knowledge, which means that human knowledge equals the sum of experiences. Nothing is innate, we are only equipped with the ability to respond. Everyone are born equal- with nothing innate. This means humans can be shaped- their thought can be manipulated using feedback and exposure. 2. Rationalism (Decardes)-claim that human knowledge does not equal the sum of experiences: we are born with some innate material- we are equipped with some ability, to which experience is added. Experience is not the only thing! All people are equal, but this equality is based on richness- we all share something very basic and innate, to which environment is added. At the beginning of the second half of the 20 century, the argument of human knowledge continued with regards to the human language – mother tongue (different theories): Behaviorism- As continuance of Empiricism- there was a current called Behaviorism (BF Skinner, wrote the Verbal Behavior, 1957). B. F. Skinner claimed, based on Empiricism, that Linguistic knowledge is based solely on exposure and the ability to react- to learn from experience. That means everything is acquired, nothing is in the Genes. Skinner also claimed we expand our sets of sentences, by analogy (differ in only one thing- thus it is able to expand ones use with the other). For example: a kid only heard John ate an apple- but he will be able to create the following sentence: John ate an Orange; using Analogy. This means, we learn and use language, by: exposure +analogy. - In the following sentences, configuration of who does what changes (relationships between the entities) when changing the word told to promise and still, it is automatically understood by a child in his mother tongue: John told bill to clean the room; John promised Bill to clean the room. How? -analogy is not enough to explain the above. - Noam Chomsky (Influenced from Rationalism; wrote the Syntactic Structures, 1957) -a linguistic who argued against Skinners observations, claiming Analogy is not enough; and we have to assume inborn/innate linguistic knowledge, common to all human beings (regardless of their language or culture), which is also known as the Hypothesis of innateness. The experience and the feedback are mapped on to these language biological properties (encoded in our genes). The experience and feedback are not enough to explain mother tongue knowledge! We have to add it to something innate. Language is partially innate! Evidence Chomsky proposed to enforce his theory: 1. Properties of human languages (natural languages, animals communication systems are excluded)- * Homogeneity- except for pathological cases, all human beings acquire at least one mother tongue; more or less at the same time; regardless of their region, culture, socio-economical condition etc. This implies there is something biological in the acquiring of a mother tongue language- we are all the same. * Infiniteness- language is infinite- we have the ability to produce and understand an endless number of sentences, including sentences that we have never heard before. We have the ability to expand the language (for example- we never count to 1,000,000 but we can). * Identical properties across languages- there are some properties that all languages share (therefore- it has to be in the genes, otherwise – how can it be explained? ). For example: * All languages have nouns and verbs –thus, it has to be some inborn categories. * Universal grammer rules/structures, that all languages share: * John said that Mary bought a car. What did John say Mary bought? * Bill said that John said that Mary bought a car. What did Bill say that John said that Mary bought? * John spread the rumor that Mary bought a car. What did John spread the rumor that Mary bought? Ungrammatical sentence- any speaker will know this sentence is ungrammatical- impossible in English. What prevents speakers of using the above structure intuitively (in other languages as well)? Chomsky claimed that there are universal constraints (in all grammer of all languages) that prevent it. 28/11/11 2. Properties of the process of language acquisition (mother tongue) * Process is quick and efficient- child has to acquire a very complex system of rules, and he does it by the age of 4-5. By the age of 5 he already masters the language (in comparison to the long and complex process of learning a foreigner language). It shows that there is something innate behind it, otherwise- it would have been a quick process also when learning foreigner language. * Critical period/age- there is a certain age in which the child must be exposed to a language (the innate system has to be stimulated, activated), in order to acquire it- the age is usually around 6-8, and in some extreme cases it can go until adolescence (16). If it was not activated during the critical period, the child will have no mother tongue- he will have no grammer. He will be able to communicate in a basic function, but without the richness and infinity of the mother tongue acquisition, since the brain is no longer elastic enough to acquire a mother tongue. The issue of critical period provides support for the importance of both exposer and innate theories. Chomsky agrees that exposer is crucial, but it is crucial to activate innate abilities. If it was only exposer – it would have been possible to acquire a mother tongue at any age. * Process is spontaneous/ immune against external interference- the process happens by itself and the teacher/ parent cannot manipulate it. MCNeal (1964)-research that shows you cannot manipulate childs grammer, it will eventually change by itself with exposer. * Identical stages across languages- children acquire their mother tongue in parallel stages across linguistics, more or less at the same time, regardless of the language. This shows that there is some biological aspect to the process of mother tongue acquisition we have to assume something innate in order for the process to be so universal. (First they babble, then acquire first words, combining 2 words together, then start using sentences). * Poverty of stimuli- stimuli(the input) is poor- it is not enough to explain completely how a child acquires and masters his mother tongue: a. The stimuli is partial and consists of errors- the child can never be exposed to everything, still he makes up sentences he has never heard before. What he is exposed to is limited, yet what he can produce is endless. In addition, the stimuli consist of errors- he child doesnt always listen to complete/ grammatical correct sentences: the input he hears consists of partial sentences and grammatical errors; yet the children know how to filter the errors and eventually acquire a perfect grammer. b. There is no teaching- the process of acquiring a mother tongue involves no methodological and pedagogical process (in regard to grammer). c. No negative evidence- there are mistakes that no child will ever make, even though he is not told ahead not to make them. For example: John thinks he is smart (he can be either John or somebody else) VS. He thinks John is smart (he can never refer to John). When examining language acquisition, we see children making many mistakes, but no child will ever use the second sentence when he wants to refer to John. No child will make such mistakes to begin with- they just know, without being told ahead. De Sassure was the first one to ask what do we know when we know a language? What does it mean to know a language? He distinguished between the following terms: * Langue-the rules of the language, that are agreed upon by some society. The rules of a language, but from a social point of view (a social term). * Parole-everything we use or say- the way we actually use the language (What we actually do, language wise). Linguists are generally more interested in the Langue (the knowledge). De Sassure didnt relate to the question of innateness- what abilities, if any, we have in our minds†¦ 12/12/11 Noam Chomsky used 2 other terms: Competence vs. Performance. 1. Performance: the same as Parole: performance is how we actually use the language: what we actually write or say. 2. Competence: is not exactly the same as Langue. Both relate to the rules of the language, but Langue is about the society, the community (grammer is something social, that we all agree on- social interaction creating social agreement) and Competence is about the individual (the system one has in his mind: some of it comes from the genes and some from the environment). Competence is the ability that each of us has to produce and understand an endless number of sentences. Every speaker of every language, has the ability (whether it is innate or not). The point of view of Chomsky and De Sassure is different when relating to the rules of the language. In modern linguistics- the focus is on the Langue- competence and not directly what we say/do with the language (the main goal is to crack the black box and understand how the system works). The performance is the mean to learn about the competence, not the direct end. It teaches us/indicates about the competence: the way we speak or write tells us about how the knowledge is organized in ones mind. The main question that linguists ask is: what does competence consist of? Chomskys Model: UG+EXPOSER= G. Chomsky assumes innateness and that language faculty is to some extent universal (some things are common to all languages). He Offers a SPECIFIC model for this question: When a child is born he is in the initial state. In this state, he has some specific knowledge, shared by all languages: Universal Grammer (UG) it is the grammer that is common to all languages. In addition to the difference in vocabulary, there are grammatical differences between languages: by the end of the critical period, he has more than the UG, he ends up with Particular Grammer (PG, G)- specific grammer of a specific language. There are many Gs, as many as the number of languages in the world. A child is equipped with universal grammer, common to all languages, and during the first years he is exposed to his mother tongue and how it takes place (feedback, corrections, mistakes etc)- and acquires particular/specific grammer. UG+EXPOSER= G. The G is a combination of something innate and something that comes from the environment. What does the UG consist of? According to Chomskys model, UG consists of two things: 1. Principles- rules that are innate and that are common to all languages (things that dont change at all from one language to another, such as: the existence of nasal consonants). 2. Parameters- those are also rules that are innate, and are also part of universal grammer; but in contrast to principals, these are open rules, whose values (fillings) are acquired during the exposer. The values are not common to different languages, Thus they have to be acquired via exposer. For example: in all language there is a subject in every sentence; but in some languages the subject must be a separate entity- which means the subject position is always occupied vs. in some languages the subject can be dropped (English does not allow the dropping of a subject: cant say ate an apple. We must add a subject; vs. Hebrew- represents the subject. In the French language, we are not allowed to drop the subject, even when it is known who did the action: Jai mange la pomme- the French ai is like the Hebrew , yet we still cannot drop the J: we have to have a separate entity for the subject). This parameter is called the Null subject parameter ( )- The Parameter: the subject must be pronounced separately; The Values of the Parameter: (that has to be filled- determined through the acquisition process) Yes or No. In Hebrew and Italian the value is no (in some cases, we can have a sentence without a subject), in English and French the value is Yes. During the critical period, the child is exposed to the data in his mother tongue and they acquire the values to the fixed parameters (the parameter is innate, its values though are not innate- they change from language to language and acquired in the childs critical period). Another Parameter is: * It is hot outside- * It seems that Marry is late- * There is a cat in the room- In English the occurrence of the pronouns (functioning as the sentences subject) it and there is a must: they cannot be dropped (it is not grammatical, although one will be perfectly understood if hell say it); in Hebrew, we can drop them. Even though semantically we dont need the subject, in English it must be filled. These pronouns are called: Expletive / Pleonastic Pronouns- pronouns that do not refer to an entity, but theyre only function is to fill the subject position. They HAVE NO SEMANTIC ROLE, THEY ARE ONLY THERE TO FILL THE POSTION OF THE SUBJECT. We distinguish between pleonastic pronouns and referential pronouns, which refer to some kind of entity (he, she, w, they etc). It and There are not always expletive pronouns- they can also function as referential pronouns: It is hot outside (expletive) vs. I cant eat the soup, (referential); the cat is there (referential) vs. there is a cat in the room (expletive). We can relate to it as two parameters: 1. Parameter: an expletive pronoun exists; values: yes/no. (In English- yes, in Hebrew- no). 2. Parameter: a subject is a must; values: yes/no. (We can say that if a language must have a subject, it will necessary have Expletive pronouns; and vice versa: If the subject is not a must- there are no expletive pronouns. there might be, but they will not be a must). The two things come together- * Cluster of properties- The Parameters come in clusters- one affects/ can teach about the other. The existence of Principles and Parameters strengthens the hypothesis of innateness, because it shows the occurrence of certain grammer structures is not random- there is something consistent across different languages, which therefore must be predetermined, innate. 19/12/11 Some languages require an independent subject and in addition- they have expletive pronouns (it seems that the quiz will be difficult- expletive; this soup is not tasty because it is cold. The it is referential- points to an entity). Proposition Stranding and Pied Piping Who did you speak to? can also be asked as followed: To whom did you speak? - These are two possible grammatical structures that manifest the same idea. It is not possible in Hebrew: : : This construction is called- Preposition Stranding- you desert the proposition by itself: leaving the proposition by itself at the end of the sentence. It can be viewed as a parameter, differentiating languages. Another construction/parameter is: Pied Piping- locating the proposition at the beginning of the sentence. This parameter is valued yes in both English and Hebrew (allowed in both languages). Material for the quiz is up to here! - Phonetics and Phonology- These are both fields that deal with sound and specifically linguistic sounds (phones- ) sounds that are parts of a language. Phones are divided into: consonants (b, l, r, m†¦) and vowels (e, a, i ). The differentiation doesnt refer to the letters, but to the sounds that are used naturally/ automatically. (Since the same sound can be expressed/ represented by different symbols/letters, for example: the sound K- is represented by 4 letters: k, c, q, ch. We will refer to all 4 as K). In Phonetics- Different sounds are examined in different languages: how they are produced and how they are perceived- it is a technical field regarding how pronunciation works. One sound can be expressed/ represented by different symbols/letters or one letter u represents many sounds: university, fur, put, cut etc. Conclusion: there is no correspondence between sound and symbol. Phonetic systems (systems of symbols- used for transcription- write exactly as you here it- distinguish between spelling and pronunciation) 1. International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) – a system of symbols, used mainly by linguists, in which every sound corresponds to one symbol and vice versa. 2. American Phonetic Alphabet (APA) similar, yet competing system to the IPA. These are two similar, yet competing, artificial languages/ systems, dealing with the ambiguity of the languages/ with the lack of correspondence between sound and symbol. Both systems are based on English letters, other than special sounds/exceptions (that have no one specific letter in English that prescribe them) such as: * in order to indicate/transcribe sh we use: stretched big s (IPA) or s^(APA)- (the ^ should be upside down) * ch= t+stretched big S with a bow on top of them (IPA) or c^ (APA) * for th (such as in thin) = 0 with a line across it (APA+IPA) 26/12/11 A minimal pair- * big- pig * sing- sang. * dean- teen (The only difference is the phone- t vs d. The spelling is irrelevant) * knight- light These words are different in meaning, yet they are different in only one sound. The switch of the consonant g/ p changes the meaning of the word. This kind of word pairs are called minimal pair-a pair of words that differ from one another in meaning and in one phone (sound) only. (Only one difference in pronunciation- the spelling is irrelevant) * night- knight : are not a minimal pair, because there is no difference in pronunciation. Phoneme- Phoneme- a minimal linguistic unit that can change the meaning. One of the goals of recognizing minimal pairs is to recognize the basic sounds in a language, that can cause a change of meaning. We use the tool of minimal pairs to identify and distinguish between the Phonemes of a language. Aspirated consonant ( ) * Spy vs. pie- when we pronounce pie, there is a greater puff of air when pronounced. This is also the case in: stole vs. tall (in tall we puff much more air). These are aspirated consonants, which are marked with a little h on top of the consonant. They are two types for the same consonant- the regular and the aspirated one, where we puff a greater amount of air (pie; tall). Are the aspirated consonants phonemes? (Can they distinguish between a minimal pair? -can we find a pair of words that the only difference between them is aspirated consonant vs. non-aspirated). In English, there is no such pair; yet in the Hindi language we can find several examples. Conclusions: 1. In English, they are not phonemes (vs. Hindi), because they can never occur in the same environment/location of the word, which means they are 2 manifestations/versions of the same thing. We can predict in which environment/ when the aspirated consonant will occur. 2. Minimal pairs are used to distinguish between phonemes and also to determine which consonants and vowel are not phonemes. 2/1/2012 Pig – big (minimal pair) vs. Pie, spy (not a minimal pair since there are 2 differences in pound). In English, aspirated and regular – Complementary Distribution- these two sounds never occur at the same environment/ same location of the words, which means they are two manifestations of the same thing – of the phone p. This means P is the phoneme which has two manifestations: aspirated and regular (non-aspirated). This means that this phone has two allophones. Two ways of language representation- 1. Phonemes- the general term for linguistics sounds. These are the basic sounds of a language, and are language specific (are not the same in different languages). They are part of the Underlying Representation (UR): the way and the place words and sounds in specific, are represented in our mind- in the backstage- abstract representation. The phoneme has two manifestations: one is the actual p and the other is the aspirated one. 2. What we actually say are allophones. Allophones are in the Phonetic/ Representation (PR) what comes out of our mouths (articulation). Every phoneme is also an allophone, but not the other way around! Thus, there are some things that are represented in the PR, yet are not represented in the UR (like the aspirated p). In the Ur we have the regular P phoneme, which has two manifestations in the PR: In English, the only case we see an aspirated P is in the beginning of a word and before a vowel (both must occur together). In all other case the P will not be aspirated. For example: Possible, put, pink, pan, etc. vs. apply, spring, play etc. This means the aspirated P has no independence existence- we can predict its occurrence. The default is the regular P and only in a specific environment will have an aspirated P. The aspirated P doesnt exist in the UR! Another example is: regular N vs. the back N: They cannot distinguish between minimal pairs in English- will never occur in the same environment. We will find the back n only before the sounds k and g- in specific environment, which is predictable. For ex: bank, Bangkok, rank, chunk, rang, ring, thanks, bring. The normal N is the default – will occur everywhere else, except for before the sounds: g and k sounds. These two allophones are two versions of the same thing (of the one phoneme) that never occur in the same environment- complementary distribution. N is the phoneme, which has two allophones: n and back n. We can predict exactly where each of the manifestations will occur. * The phoneme is in the UR and the allophones are in the PR. * The default is always in the UR! – The phoneme. * The allophones are always in complementary distribution- meaning they never occur in the same environment and will never distinguish between minimal pairs. You can nver find in English 2 words where the only difference between them will be n and back n. * Minimal pairs are the tools to identify phonemes. Distinctive Features 1. Aspiration The pair pal- pal (with aspirated p) in Hindi – these two words are different in meaning and in one phone only. In specific, they are different in one feature only: aspirated vs. non-aspirated. This means, they constitute a minimal pair (In Hindi). Aspiration – this feature in Hindi unlike the English, we have both – because they have independent existence- each of them is a phoneme on its own. Aspiration – this feature in Hindi, unlike English, is a Distinctive Feature- a feature that distinguishes between 2 phonemes in the same language and as a result it can create a difference between minimal pairs. Aspiration is not a distinctive feature in Hebrew and English. It is a distinctive feature in Hindi language. 2. Voicing ( )- Dean – Teen: d- Is a voice (+voice) consonant ( ) and t is voiceless (- voice). This feature, called voicing, creates different meaning in both words. Thus, it is a distinctive feature in English, because it can distinguish between minimal pairs. Minimal pair- a minimal pair is a pair of words that differ from one another in one meaning, 1 phone (sound) only, and the 2 phones must be different in one feature! 9/1/2012 Phonetic features of consonants- What makes sound/phones different from one another? Linguistic sounds are called phones, and are divided into: consonants and vowels. The difference between the two: in the production of vowels the air flows freely, however in the production of consonants the air is blocked to some extent. The speech organs- body organs that are involved in the production of phones (Lips, tongue, nose, teeth, and palate). Generally, the following are involved: the oral cavity and the nasal cavity ( ). The consonants differ from one another according to 3 criteria: 1. Place of articulation- the location in which the air is blocked and the consonant is produced (B- in the lips; T- in the tongue; P-in the lips and teeth) 2. Manner of articulation ( ) relates to the manner of the air flow and the degree of blocking. For example: n- blocked in the nose. 3. Voicing- relates to the vibration/ the lack of vibrat.

Lord of the Flies :: essays research papers

Often in our lives other people affect us in both negative and positive ways. In the case of Lord of the Flies, the kids influence one another while on the island, in mostly negative ways. These influences cause for mental changes in the brain. Most of the time, mental changes affect physical changes. However, in some rare occasions it is the other way around. While on the island the boys go through numerous physical and mental changes. Although mental changes are somewhat more significant than physical changes, physical changes are still very much apparent and can sometimes cause for mental change.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Crashing onto the island, the kids have immaculate, clean faces due to the fact that they attend a Catholic school which, incidentally, enforces a school uniform code. As time progresses, some of the kids, particularly the choir boys, dirty their faces because of their hunting adventures. As seen on page 69, â€Å"Jack, his face smeared with clays, reached the top first and hailed Ralph excitedly, with lifted spear.† After dirtying their faces, the choir boys proceed to paint them. Page 74 mentions, â€Å"I painted my face—I stole up.† In the beginning the face painting is only something they do for fun. However, near the end of the story it becomes so bad that Ralph cannot even recognize who was standing in front of him. On page 195, â€Å"A smallish savage was standing between him and the rest of the forest, a savage striped red and white, and carrying a spear.† It can be seen by this quote that the face painting becomes a mask of evi l over the choir boys’ faces. Nevertheless, besides their faces, there is a smaller, more inconspicuous physical change, hair.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Their hair is manageable and of appropriate length when they arrive on the island. As time passes, they develop more animal-like characteristics as their hair becomes long and tangled. On page 64, â€Å"His fair hair was plastered over his eyebrows and he pushed it back.† However, Piggy did not experience a significant change in length of hair; it can be inferred that this was meant to symbolize his difference from all the other boys not just in hair length, but also intellectually. On page 64 it states, â€Å"The rest were shock headed, but Piggy’s hair still lay in wisps over hi head as though baldness were his natural state and this imperfect covering would soon go, like velvet on a young stag’s antlers.

Critique of What I’ve Learned from Men

In Barbara Ehrenreich's article â€Å"What I've Learned from Men† she discusses that women can learn a lot from men. How the lack of toughness in a woman's personality can negatively affect their progression and position in life. The author also discusses how some of the â€Å"ladylike† qualities can prove to be hindering to progress. Barbara's article is persuasive because the writing style was appealing, the evidence was logical, and the article was well structured and easy to follow.The article's extreme sarcastic and humorous tone helps transmits the wanted concept, unlike most feminist articles which consists of redundant repetition of needed freedoms, mistakes and needs. A great example of this humorous approach is how the writer avoided falling into the â€Å"ladylike† category by saying, â€Å"We're still too ladylike. Let me try this again- We're still too damn ladylike† (Ehrenreich, 2005, p. 308), using a swear word (damn) to break the existing f emale stereotype.The sarcasms was emphasized in the introduction, where countless differences between the genders have been listed, such a light hearted start give a sense of acceptance of what is to come. On a more serious note, the article discusses, with evidence, important issues. How women think it is their responsibility to â€Å"niceness† attitude in a conversation, and how this alleged responsibility negatively affected the author first hand.Another issue is sexual harassment; the writer speaks from personal experience as she explains the story of the professor that sexually harassed her over the course of a 20 minute conversation; where she did not react as she was maintaining â€Å"nice† environment (Ehrenreich, 2005, p. 308). Such a story appeals to logic, one may wonder, â€Å"How can highly educated prestigious professor react in such an unethical manner? † Examples like this indicate that change must take place to avoid these predicaments.This shor t example also appeals to the emotional side of thinks, as one can sympathize with her position. Finally, the essay was well structured and easy to follow, which made the transmission of the writer's ideas simple. The writer hooks the reader and establishes her agenda in the first couple of paragraphs (through both humorous and direct language). The author then lists her evidence, and also stats her recommendations of â€Å"cutting back on the small acts of deference that†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Ehrenreich, 2005, p.  308).Lastly, the writer was able to formulate a successful conclusion; she put her recommendation to action by reliving the scenario that took place with the â€Å"prestigious† professor, stating what she would have done differently, how she would take control from the very start by moving her chair away from the professor, reacting negatively to his hollowness and ending it with a confident exit.It is an essential to think about why women are usually sexually harassed . Maybe the answer is for women to toughen up, and step forward to take praise as the writer Barbara suggested. Imagine a male dominated world where sexual harassment is extremely common. Would you like to raise a daughter in such a world? Critique of What I’ve Learned from Men In Barbara Ehrenreich's article â€Å"What I've Learned from Men† she discusses that women can learn a lot from men. How the lack of toughness in a woman's personality can negatively affect their progression and position in life. The author also discusses how some of the â€Å"ladylike† qualities can prove to be hindering to progress. Barbara's article is persuasive because the writing style was appealing, the evidence was logical, and the article was well structured and easy to follow.The article's extreme sarcastic and humorous tone helps transmits the wanted concept, unlike most feminist articles which consists of redundant repetition of needed freedoms, mistakes and needs. A great example of this humorous approach is how the writer avoided falling into the â€Å"ladylike† category by saying, â€Å"We're still too ladylike. Let me try this again- We're still too damn ladylike† (Ehrenreich, 2005, p. 308), using a swear word (damn) to break the existing f emale stereotype.The sarcasms was emphasized in the introduction, where countless differences between the genders have been listed, such a light hearted start give a sense of acceptance of what is to come. On a more serious note, the article discusses, with evidence, important issues. How women think it is their responsibility to â€Å"niceness† attitude in a conversation, and how this alleged responsibility negatively affected the author first hand.Another issue is sexual harassment; the writer speaks from personal experience as she explains the story of the professor that sexually harassed her over the course of a 20 minute conversation; where she did not react as she was maintaining â€Å"nice† environment (Ehrenreich, 2005, p. 308). Such a story appeals to logic, one may wonder, â€Å"How can highly educated prestigious professor react in such an unethical manner? † Examples like this indicate that change must take place to avoid these predicaments.This shor t example also appeals to the emotional side of thinks, as one can sympathize with her position. Finally, the essay was well structured and easy to follow, which made the transmission of the writer's ideas simple. The writer hooks the reader and establishes her agenda in the first couple of paragraphs (through both humorous and direct language). The author then lists her evidence, and also stats her recommendations of â€Å"cutting back on the small acts of deference that†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Ehrenreich, 2005, p.  308).Lastly, the writer was able to formulate a successful conclusion; she put her recommendation to action by reliving the scenario that took place with the â€Å"prestigious† professor, stating what she would have done differently, how she would take control from the very start by moving her chair away from the professor, reacting negatively to his hollowness and ending it with a confident exit. It is an essential to think about why women are usually sexually harasse d.Maybe the answer is for women to toughen up, and step forward to take praise as the writer Barbara suggested. Imagine a male dominated world where sexual harassment is extremely common. Would you like to raise a daughter in such a world? Ehrenreich, B. (2005). What I've learned from men. In A. Abusalim, N. Bilikozen, T. Ismail, & S. Sayed (Eds. ), Where I stand: The center and the periphery (1st ed. ) (pp. 307-311). United Arab Emirates: Oriental Press.

Costco History

The History of Costco Wholesale DeAna Castro Wilmington University MGT 6501 Abstract Costco is a members only, international retail chain discount warehouse Club. They combine high quality merchandise with low prices. Costco began in 1976 as Price Club and restructured in 1997 as Costco Wholesales. Costco’s passion, mission, and ethics have been the key to the leading membership warehouse retail giant to supply their customers with low prices. Their low cost business strategies and dedication to their employees, suppliers and shareholders have proven success. The History of CostcoThe history of Costco began in July, 1976, in San Diego, California, and its name was Price Club. It was cofounded by Sol and Robert Price. The newly designed business was the first ‘warehouse’ business of it’s kind. This retail business originally targeted other business owners, but blended retail and wholesale. Price Club had unbeatable low prices and sold bulk items. Three years later, 1979, Price Club expanded two new locations. They acquired 200,000 members and profited 1 million dollars. Price Cub showed a loss of profits the first year, but the expansion proved profitable.Jim Sinegal is a key player to the success of Costco because he started his career being mentored by Sol Price. He worked in the warehouse business at Price Club and another warehouse business called Fedmart, both owned by Sol Price. (Cardon). In 1983, Jim Sinegal and Jeff Brottman would open their own warehouse club near Seattle Washington, and it was called Costco (Daft, 2012 pp. 605). One year later, Costco expanded to nine warehouses in five states. It was not long before Price Club realized they could achieve larger cliental if they served a selected audience of ‘non-business’ members.This payed off by the year 1984, Price Club sales would be greater than one billion dollars and is the first company to achieve this mark in a six year period. Almost ten years later, 1 993, Costco and Price Club, would merge and become PriceCostco. This merge was nicely matched because they were very similar in business model and size. The combined companies included 206 locations and generated $16 billion in annual sales. Jim Sinegal would also become Costco’s President and chief executive (Priceviewer). The merger only lasted about four years and, in 1997, PriceCostco became Costco.Jim Sinegal remained President and chief executer (Carden, 2011). Costco’s Mission statement: To continually provide our members with quality goods and services at the lowest possible prices in order to achieve our mission we will conduct our business with the following Code of Ethics in mind: Obey the law, Take care of our members and our employees, and respect our vendors/suppliers. â€Å"If we do these four things throughout our organization, then we will realize our ultimate goal, which is to reward our shareholders. † Jim Sinegal. (Costco, 2011)Costco’ s operating philosophy is to keep costs down, and pass the savings on to their customers. To offer high quality brand name merchandise at prices below any other avenue of retail. They accomplish this several ways. They buy high volumes of merchandise directly from manufactures and not distributers. The merchandise is shipped directly to a selling warehouse and not a storage area, and this also reduces freight costs. Costco warehouses are located on sites where property costs are minimum not on high real estate locations. Merchandise, or stock, is placed directly on a selling floor and on the pallets that they are delivered on.By doing this, labor and handling, costs are reduced to save the customer money. Sales and service employees are kept at a minimal to also reduce overhead costs. Last, because Costco’s has such an incredibly large membership base they have influence and power to haggle prices with their manufacturers and suppliers. â€Å"Costco is able to offer lower pr ices and better values by eliminating virtually all the frills and costs historically associated with conventional wholesalers and retailers, including salespeople, fancy buildings, delivery, billing and accounts receivable.We run a tight operation with extremely low overhead which enables us to pass on dramatic savings to our members. † Jim Sinegal (corporate, 2012). Costco pride’s themselves as a leading warehouse/big box retailer. Sales volume exceeds that of their competition and they use a â€Å"consumer first† business model. This business model is a creative way that has expanded sales. Costco has developed additional ways to continue to save money for their customers. They did this by creating their own brand. Costco’s personal brand is ‘Kirkland Signature. Kirkland, Washington's the root of Costco and is where their headquarters is located. Kirkland Signature brand was introduced to Costco stores in 1995. It was designed to be equal or bette r quality than national brands. Kirkland Signature products include diapers, coffee, tires, clothing, film, housewares and more. (Priceviewer). Often, national brands are co- brands with Kirkland Signature products. Some manufactures realize the success and power of Costco and have agreed to manufacture products with the Kirkland Signature label. Some companies include Hanes and Whirlpool. Branch, 1999). â€Å"Costco continues to prove their â€Å"consumer first† business model, through the creation of new and unique business concepts, included Costco Pharmacy (1986) Produce and Bakery (1987), Optical labs (1987), 1-Hour Photo (1989), Hearing Aid Centers (1994), Costco Gas stations (1995), Costco business Centers (1996), Costco Travel (2000), Costco Home (2003), and Car Washes (2006)† (Walker, 2011). Costco’s structure and culture, meets customer needs further than low prices. Costco focuses on value of it’s products but also focuses on value of itâ€℠¢s employees.They believe that achieving a long term objectives of reducing employee turnover and enhancing employee satisfaction is beneficial. To accomplish this they hire employees at an above average hourly rate, they train and promote from within. Doing this, their employees feel loyalty and valued. Costco Continues to be financially successful today and has expanded internationally. Their mission and ethics have proved to be successful and beneficial to all that the organization is involved with to include, customers employees, suppliers/vendors and stockholders.What does organizational design truly mean? Have you considered how it can work best? If yes, how? If no, why not? Organizational design is a formal process for integrating people, information, and technology. Organizations are people that have a declaration of purpose, vision and strategy. This structure matches people to the purpose it seeks to achieve a common goal or purpose. It is designed to enhance communication , information, and resources to optimize human achievement. The end product is an integrated system of people and resources tailored to the specific direction of the organization.Organizational design basically is an execution of an administrative plan guided by a leader/leaders. The design of the organization can work best if the people work together as a team. It will also work best, if the mission, vision, strategy, purpose and needs of the organization are identified and the goals are achievable. Organizations also work best if it’s leader understands, guides and assures the process is followed and encourages creative thinking. If their is not an effective leader who does not have a mission, vision, strategy and followers, the organization can and will fail.Costco has proven to have a successful organizational design. Describe the â€Å"Trap of favored ways of thinking†? How did it impact your thinking? In Organizations ‘traps’ can be hazardous to thei r success. These traps can prohibit and restrict creativity, limits capabilities and limits ability to progress into the future. Some common traps are: Group Thinking- Productive conflict is critical if common traits are shared in a group because it prevents bad ideas from being implemented without discussion or consideration. Non productive conflict is not productive and can become a hostile situation.Group thinking is pervasive. â€Å"We have never done it like this before† If you always do what you do, you always get what you got. Be courages and attempt change. Make sure to make meaning changes. â€Å"You’re Gooder† syndrome- Respect is over emphasized to their authorities and lacks candor, honesty and courage. Inbred Culture When hiring employees is based on time, ore years of service and loyalty rather than exceptional performance. Problems will arise. The leadership chain of command will be incompetent and will breed more incompetence. Arbitrary Directive s and policies are determined by top management.If decisions and policies are made with randomness and for unknown reason then those are signs that indicates that the leader is disconnected and out of touch. This truly impacted my thinking because I was not aware and I learned many things! It made so much since why organizations struggle, fail and succeed. It caused many flashbacks to my military career, and also, my teachers, mentors and friends. When I think about this, in reference to Costco, any of these trapped ways of thinking could have jeopardized their success. â€Å"The Ugly Face† often stifles an organizations growth. How? Did you position to circumvent it in your design?The ugly face refers to organizations that exploit employees, the global economy, or the natural environment as instruments of domination that furthers selfish needs and dominance. Taking what they need and throwing or destroying what isn’t needed. â€Å"Whether by design or default, organi zations often have a large negative impact on our world. † (Morgan,1998 pp. 261). Pollutants, poisons and other cancer causing hazards are ingested or promoted by food and tobacco companies. Similar threats are caused from environmental pollutions that are legally and illegally dumped in water and land.Contaminated air, land and water hurt people causing cancer or other health problems and big corporations that cause these hazards are sometimes not penalized. These organizations place profits before human welfare. Foreign countries are easily manipulated by employment with hazards, disease, and degradation. Costco has circumvented many of the â€Å"ugly face† views by taking care or rewarding their customers, employees, and suppliers. They take care of their employees by giving them a substantially higher pay than other companies, they promote from within and they are rewarded and valued as people.Globally, Costco has expanded to foreign countries and has provided emplo yment and opportunities for others by creating employment, giving them higher above average salaries and valuing them as people with respect and appreciation. References Branch, S. (1999, 09 06). Inside the cult of costco. Fortune, 140(5), Retrieved from http://web. ebscohost. com/ehost/detail? [email  protected] Cardon, B. (n. d. ). Costco company history. Retrieved from http://goarticles. com/article/Costco-Company-History/4651134 Costco Wholesale Corporation SWOT Analysis. 2011) Costco Wholesale Corporation SWOT Analysis. Daft, R. (2013). Organizational theory & design. (11 ed. , pp. 54-61). Canada: South-Western, Cengage Learning. Walker, S. (2011, 05 16). The history of costco. Retrieved from http://www. vendor. com/_blog/VENDORCO_BLOG/post/The_Hisory_of_Costco Retrieved from http://www. costco. co. jp/eng/costco. htm Retrieved from http://phx. corporate-ir. net/phoenix. zhtml? c=83830=irol-homeprofile Retrieved from http://priceviewer. com/costco/costco. htm Retrieved from h ttp://www. referenceforbusiness. com/history2/91/Costco-Wholesale-Corporation. html

buy custom Managed Care essay

buy custom Managed Care essay Managed care refers to a range of health care systems that are used to reduce the cost of health benefits provision and improve the value of care. It could also be a health insurance plan that covers the enrolled persons through co-copayment or co-insurance. These are programs that are used to lessen needless health care costs using various systems such as economic inducements for doctors and patients to identify more affordable types of care and improved beneficially cost allotment. It ensures a balanced billing to every member of the society irrespective of their status. Managed care was facilitated by the ratification of the Health Maintenance Act of 1973. Though the techniques were introduced by the public health preservation organizations, different private health benefit schemes are now using them. Managed care is supposed to suppress medical cost by for instance, reducing avoidable hospitalization and causing the healthcare field to develop efficiency and competitiveness. When a person enrolls for the managed care plan, he identifies a doctor who is referred to as the primary care provider who takes over the responsibility of coordinating his health care Managed care has played a significant role in making quality healthcare reachable by many people across all economic status. Let us examine how this system has achieved success in the society as well as its failures. There are several managed care systems that have been employed by experts in reaching their goals. These include capitation, which involves paying a doctor a certain fixed amount for each sick person irrespective of the cost and time needed to treat a person. In this system doctors agree to charge a certain reduced amount from their normal charges in substitute of giving medical care to a group of sick people. Capitation is an example of managed care operations that try to keep the cost of healthcare at manageable level. Other systems that seek to improve the quality of healthcare for example clinical procedures that try to change the clinical administration of certain specific health issues such as high blood pressure are also regular managed care practices. What are the weaknesses of managed care? Since managed care seeks to reduce cost and time of treating a patient and on the other side improve the healthcare standards, critics have argued that it may not reach its intended goals. The technique has therefore achieved some success but has also experienced its fair share of shortfalls. Among its shortfalls is that most of the managed care wellbeing plans are provided by commercial firms, consumers argued that their cost control efforts were more geared towards saving money that providing proper health care (Nations Business, 1998). Consumers felt that manage care reduce the amount of time physicians spent with patients. This made it difficult for patients to get doctors attention thereby failing the techniques intended purpose. Dissatisfied patients and lobby groups argued that managed care systems were managing costs by refusing necessary services to patients, including in fatal situations or by provision of low substandard care. Due t o the increased criticism, many states passed legislations regulating the standards of managed care offered to patients. In addition, insurance companies answered the public and political demands by starting to give other plan options that had a wider range of care networks. Managed care has a wide range of structures and names. One of the structures is the risk based Managed Care Entities (MCEs) which are employed in providing and managing benefits. In a contract that covers the full risk, MCE agrees to offer all benefits on the basis of per month per member which is known as complete capitation. In case the enrolled person uses the services that go beyond the capitation payments, the additional costs are met by the managed care plan. If the case is the other way round where the enrolled person uses less, the plan either reinvests or keeps the unused money. If the contract is partial, the plan is usually paid beforehand to deliver a section of services such as crisis services or mental health case while the rest of the services are givenon a fee of services basis. In some cases, an incomplete plan could be at risk for costs or gains that go beyond a predetermined edge more than or less than a set cost. Another structure is the Administrative Services Or ganizations (ASO) which governs benefits and claims for a set administrative charge while carrying petite or no risk at all for the price of delivering care. As much as all the stakeholders may want to control the costs of health care using managed care system, doctors are the ones who can make this fact more real. This is because managed care is configured around different incentives to promote the practice of affordable medicine and to reduce differences in medical practice patterns. This means providing quality healthcare and at the same time reducing the recourses needed and in this case money. More often than not, efficiency is capitalized on by increasing production while managing cost. Therefore, managed care may necessitate performing more using less time per every sick person, less expensive drugs as well as less expensive diagnostics examinations and treatments. All these operations or tasks are carried out by the doctor and therefore he is the only one who can determine whether they are achievable or not. Incentives in monetary form are often used to influence doctor behavior and may involve rewarding doctors who exercise medicine prudently by giving financial rewards for example bonuses. Those who carry out unnecessarily numerous procedures and are not cost efficient on the other hand, may be reprimanded by preservation of bonuses or parts of their income. Inducements which are not in money form may be used by superiors to pressurize those who are not able be accountable to the financial interests of their employer. These fiscal and non fiscal incentives raise the moral concern that doctors may compromise patients support in order to realize cost savings. There is also the issue of trust between patients and physicians. Many are alarmed that managed care could weaken patient doctor relationship by eating away at the patients confidence in their doctors thereby minimizing the time doctors spend with sick people and curbing patients access to doctors. Managed care has been known to alt er the way relationships between doctors and patients begin and end. Health preservation organizations for instance only pay for medical care that is provided by their doctors. Annihilation of patient doctor relationship can in addition occur without the choice of the sick person. This occurs for instance where employers change health plans and hence employees have no other option but to cut ties with their doctors. Further more, some types of managed care develop a monetary incentive for physicians to spend very little time with every individual patient. For example, in the preferred provider arrangements, doctors may reimburse for cheap costs for attention by attending to many patients. This could be detrimental since it reduces the available time to talk about patients problems, explore different treatment options as well as maintain a significant relationship with patients. How can managed care affect the facts stated above? As we had mentioned earlier the success or failure of the managed care techniques largely depends on doctors. Since managed care is supposed to structure ways of reducing the cost of medical care, doctors should be able to draw a line between moral responsibility and money. By this I mean, doctors should not ignore patients need for attention just because they are on a managed cares scheme. Like we have mentioned above, some schemes authorize the doctor to give the patient a certain amount of time after which he must proceed to the next patient. Critics of managed care have always raised issues with such arrangements arguing that this does not give priority to the patients well being. Another problem that managed care experts are working on is the quality of health that patients get. There is a probability of compromising on the standards of treatment as people try to minimize cost. According to the American Journal of Medical Care there has been unsuitable antibiotic prescription to patients under managed care suffering from influenza (Misurski, Lipson Changolkar, 2011). This means that experts in the industry must ensure that high quality of medication is maintained. It must be understood that no amount of money can be compared with the safety of a person and therefore we cannot afford to save money at the expense of human lives. As much as we may want to save on medical cost, we may end up loosing more when lives of people are put on the balance. Let us now look at how well managed care has achieved its objectives. The purpose of managed care has been to ensure quality health care, at an affordable cost with easy accessibility to all members of the society. According to the available information, managed care has received good response from the general public as well as the authorities. In the US for instance, 90% of all the people who are insured are now under the enrolment of a certain from of managed care (America's Health Insurance Plans, 2007). This shows that the plan is working well in the public domain and therefore many people have preferred to enroll. Through the use of various points of service it is possible for the enrollees to choose the system to use up to the point where the service is available. Various techniques have been put in place to ensure that the plan achieves the success it is currently enjoying. These include selecting providers that supply a comprehensive collection of medical care services to the enrolled individuals. This means that the providers have to be scrutinized and vetted properly before being allowed to operate. This ensures that only legitimate and capable providers get to offer the plans. Another technique that has been used is the official utilization appraisal and quality enhancement programs. The quality improvement programs are geared towards improving the providers services to meet all the required standards as well as the new challenges that could face the plan over time. The providers are also supposed to review their plans to ensure a continued improvement program to fit every enrollee. Another method is the stressing on the importance of preventive care. This system seeks to educate the general public on observing the necessary measures that prevent new infections. These include encouraging people to observe hygiene, taking precautionary measures when using machines or properly dressing to keep warm just to mention a few. All these measures and others h elp in avoiding cases of illness or diseases that could necessitate one to get the attention of a physician. This meets the objective of managed care by ensuring that the visits to a doctor or administration of medication are kept at the minimal level and hence reduce the cost of health care. In addition, there has been economic incentives that encourage those who are enrolled in a program to use care efficiently. This could be through the providers or even through other health institutions. Some provider associations also allow negotiating of favorable fees in order to encourage new enrollees to get into the program. A survey that was done in 2009 by the Americas Health Insurance Plans discovered that patients who decided not to use managed care program providers were sometimes charged exceedingly high prices (Gina, 2009). This could also be tact to encourage people to enroll for the program. All these techniques have seen the number of people in the managed care rise steadily over the years. In summary, the general results of managed care have remained widely debated. The system seeks to reduce that cost of health, increase the quality of treatment and improve accessibility of health facilities to the public. Managed care received a lot of opposition from critics in the beginning who argued that the system seemed to prioritize the issue of costs rather that the more important issue of good health. Hospitalists were accused of not giving enough attention to patients under certain types of the program even during fatal situations. They believed that the scheme had not achieved its intended objective on the quality as well as the cost of health. However, with the different techniques that have been employed, managed care has been able to get impressive success and hence about 90% of the US insured population is enrolled in a certain type. Buy custom Managed Care essay

CHILDHOOD VACCINES essays

CHILDHOOD VACCINES essays Vaccinations are the best weapon against disease, at one point in time devastated people around the world. Unfortunately, far too few people are getting them as needed. Immunizations vary in dosages and concentrations for adults and children. In the sake of this paper I will be going over pediatric vaccines. Pediatric vaccines are administered at certain ages depending on the vaccine. These vaccines would include Polio, Diphtheria and Tetanus Toxoids and Acellular Pertusis absorbed, Hepatitis B, Pneumococcal Conjugate, Haemophilus Inluenzae Type B, Inactivated Influenza, Measles Mumps The first vaccination a child receives is Hepatitis B. The Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a very serious disease. This disease can cause acute illness that leads to loss of appetite, diarrhea and vomiting, fatigue, jaundice (yellow skin or eyes), pain in muscles, joints, and stomach. It possibly can cause chronic illness that may lead to cirrhosis (liver damage), liver cancer or death. HBV is spread through by contact of blood or body fluids from an infected person. The first Hepatitis B Vaccine is administered to children within 12 hours of birth. Children will receive three more doses of Hep B at age 2, 4, and 6 months. Totaling 4 vaccinations all together. Haemophilus Influenzae Type B (HIB) vaccines are administered at 2 months, 4 months, and again between the ages of 12 months and 15 months. HIB disease is caused by a disease is caused by a bacteria. This disease normally strikes children around the age 5. Before the HIB vaccine, the HIB disease was the leading cause of bacterial meningitis. Meningitis is an infection of the brain and spinal cord coverings. This infection usually leads to deafness or brain damage. Diphtheria Tetanus ...

How Soap Works

How Soap Works Soaps are sodium or potassium fatty acids salts, produced from the hydrolysis of fats in a chemical reaction called saponification. Each soap molecule has a long hydrocarbon chain, sometimes called its tail, with a carboxylate head. In water, the sodium or potassium ions float free, leaving a negatively-charged head. Key Takeaways: Soap Soap is a fatty acid of a salt.Soaps are used as cleansers and lubricants.Soap cleans by acting as a surfactant and emulsifier. It can surround oil, making it easier to rinse it away with water. How Soap Cleans Soap is an excellent cleanser because of its ability to act as an emulsifying agent. An emulsifier is capable of dispersing one liquid into another immiscible liquid. This means that while oil (which attracts dirt) doesnt naturally mix with water, soap can suspend oil/dirt in such a way that it can be removed. The organic part of natural soap is a negatively-charged, polar molecule. Its hydrophilic (water-loving) carboxylate group (-CO2) interacts with water molecules via ion-dipole interactions and hydrogen bonding. The hydrophobic (water-fearing) part of a soap molecule, its long, nonpolar hydrocarbon chain, does not interact with water molecules. The hydrocarbon chains are attracted to each other by dispersion forces and cluster together, forming structures called micelles. In these micelles, the carboxylate groups form a negatively-charged spherical surface, with the hydrocarbon chains inside the sphere. Because they are negatively charged, soap micelles repel each other and remain dispersed in water. Grease and oil are nonpolar and insoluble in water. When soap and soiling oils are mixed, the nonpolar hydrocarbon portion of the micelles break up the nonpolar oil molecules. A different type of micelle then forms, with nonpolar soiling molecules in the center. Thus, grease and oil and the dirt attached to them are caught inside the micelle and can be rinsed away. The Disadvantage of Soap Although soaps are excellent cleansers, they do have disadvantages. As salts of weak acids, they are converted by mineral acids into free fatty acids: CH3(CH2)16CO2-Na HCl → CH3(CH2)16CO2H Na Cl- These fatty acids are less soluble than the sodium or potassium salts and form a precipitate or soap scum. Because of this, soaps are ineffective in acidic water. Also, soaps form insoluble salts in hard water, such as water containing magnesium, calcium, or iron. 2 CH3(CH2)16CO2-Na Mg2 → [CH3(CH2)16CO2-]2Mg2 2 Na The insoluble salts form bathtub rings, leave films that reduce hair luster, and gray/roughen textiles after repeated washings. Synthetic detergents, however, may be soluble in both acidic and alkaline solutions and dont form insoluble precipitates in hard water. But that is a different story... Sources IUPAC. Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. (the Gold Book). Compiled by A. D. McNaught and A. Wilkinson. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford (1997).  Archived. Klaus Schumann, Kurt Siekmann (2005). Soaps.  Ullmanns Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry. Weinheim: Wiley-VCH.   Thorsten Bartels et al. (2005). Lubricants and Lubrication.  Ullmanns Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry. Weinheim: Wiley-VCH.​

International Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

International Marketing - Essay Example Spain is the principal olive oil manufacturer in the world. Therefore, the companies producing olive oil in Spain will diversify their markets by exploiting market opportunities. Over the past 20 years, there has been an augment in olive oil consumption in United Kingdom where in 2010; half of the households were consuming olive oil. United Kingdom is the main importer of olive oil in the world (Food & Drink Innovation Network 2010, p. 1). The company will, therefore, expand its market by selling olive oil surplus in United Kingdom. The other objective of the company will be to increase the awareness of its olive oil brands among customers in United Kingdom. United Kingdom is the largest consumer of olive oil in Europe. There are various uses of olive oil as a salads condiment or a cooking ingredient (Harwood & Aparicio 2000, p. 15). The company will seek to inform olive oil consumers concerning the various dietary benefits and outstanding culinary traits of consuming olive oil. The company has to inform consumers about their product, first whether it is extra virgin olive oil, which is utilized principally for dressing salads, for preparing sauces and as a dip for bread. Mixed oil and olive oil are utilized for cooking and preparing tender sauces. Assessment of the Market Over the last twenty years, the consumption of olive oil in the United Kingdom has been increasing constantly. From 1990 to 2009, the United Kingdom share of the global consumption of olive oil increased from 1.9% to 2.9%. All the quantity of olive oil consumed in the United Kingdom is imported. Spain is the leading exporter of olive oil in the United Kingdom. In 2009, half of the United Kingdom households were... This paper stresses that the company has to assess the size of the potential market, the type and level of competition, promotional variations, price, product variations and barriers to trade. The company has also to analyze the cost effectiveness of various modes of transport. The company has to identify marketing objectives, marketing strategies and marketing budget of this market. The company has also to identify the potential customers of olive oil in United Kingdom, identify the critical issues and develop a system of monitoring and evaluating the marketing activities. This essay makes a conclusion that while preparing an initial market plan, the company first identifies the target market. The company will then conduct a market analysis to evaluate the viability of the market. Secondly, the company set objectives it seeks to achieve in the new market. The analysis of the company comprises of the assessment of the market environment. The assessment will identify the prevailing economic conditions, challenges and the level of competition. The company decides the best marketing mix for its products. The company will offer a broad variety of products with different brand names, which will attract new customers. The company will adopt advertising activities, which will persuade consumers to buy its products. The pricing strategy of the company will influence the amount of sales in the target market. The company has to develop distribution channels, which will deliver products to the target customers.

Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 38

Summary - Essay Example Though none of the children managed to end up heroically and simply followed their elders, they both survived the war and saw its end. Therefore their actions cannot be referred as something trivial. The story begins in a flashback note where the events of Bloody Sunday (1965) were recollected. The two girls recollect their experiences in the three months of their lives in 1965. These events and experiences are presented in the form of interviews suitable for newspapers. The book does not focus on a detailed version of what happened during the time nor does it emphasize upon the day-to-day experience of the girls but the records are based upon oral history style. Around forty interviews were conducted by Frank Sikora, journalist, and the venue was mostly domestic in nature including the living rooms and kitchens in the George Washington Carver Homes conducted over a span of 1975 to 1979. The discussion has been presented as the interviewer mentions according to what he learnt from th em, their speech and feelings during their experience. Selma observed that her recollection was like writing her own story and for Rachel it was like holding a conversation with the Blessed Virgin Mary. They were not aware beforehand joining the thing was not formal – â€Å"You didnt enlist. You just were, or you werent† (Webb, Nelson and Sikora, 3). But after observing the crowd for sometime, Selma joined the movement willingly. The idea behind interrogating two young ladies, who experienced the time as children while there were several known personalities as well, is that Sikora wanted to bring out those unknown faces that faced the similar experience of violent, arrest and torment as the elders. The two girls could therefore represent the other children form the other towns as well who went through similar experience but whose names have not been officially

Business plan Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Business plan - Term Paper Example Its operating hours would start at 5:00 o’clock PM until 5:00 o’clock AM of the next day. Three regular staff would be manning the cafà ©. The owner, as manager, would be in the cafà © during the week and can assist the staff on some tasks, especially is the volume of customers would need additional hand. The target gross income per month is $8,000 that would yield $96,000 in a year. Break-even point and return of investment can be attained in three to five years depending on the actual inflow of customers. With the start-up expense of $100,000 and initial month operational expense of $5,000 ($105,000), the current cash on hand of $80,000 would only require $25,000 that would be sourced out from relatives and friends. Bank loan is not a viable alternative at present since it will incur interest in addition to the burden of monthly amortization (which will not occur in the case of investors). An initial of 20 computer units will initially provide the internet services with a plan to add 20 more units after three years. After five years, there will be expansion in the area, lease another property with larger space or establish a second branch. Hang-out Cyber Cafà © is a one-stop shop business outfit that will offer product and services to customers during nighttime. It will be operating for 12 hours daily from 5:00 o’clock PM to 5:00 o’clock AM for seven days a week. It can offer its internet services and products continuously in a month without interruption. This will ensure continuous earning for the business. Hang-out Cyber Cafà © will offer snacks and drinks for users and shoppers. It will also offer office, school and computer supplies that consumers can purchase conveniently since most of the stores and malls will be closed at nighttime. The supplies would include bond paper, ball pen, pencil, stationery, notebook and pad paper, blank CD and DVD, printer ink, etc. Besides the internet services,

Exposit both Sartre's account of freedom and Kant's. Which of the two Essay

Exposit both Sartre's account of freedom and Kant's. Which of the two is the most cogent (compelling or convincing) or is th - Essay Example Nevertheless, looking at the universal aspects of morality and rationality, Kantian â€Å"freedom† is more cogent to get it and further put in action. First off, the existentialistic ideas proposed by Sartre follow the idea of absurd and determinism. To be precise, Sartre is likely to suggest a free will when he talks on freedom able to override people’s rationality (Palmer 283). In other words, he pinpoints that a man is allowed to do what he/she wants to notwithstanding possible negative outcomes after possessing such a freedom. Obviously, Sartre highlights the concept of freedom in keeping with the best tradition of the existentialism. As opposed to Kant’s interpretation, Sartre underpins the idea of freedom by the idea of values people get thereafter: â€Å"Sartre has radicalized Kant’s view that the source of value is always the human being, and he has prioritized freedom over rationality† (Palmer 292). Henceforth, Sartre does not rely on the o mnipotence and power of reason. Regardless of it, he shows up the pleasure of freedom as if behind the social life. In turn, Kant would oppose this characterization by giving more grounds to freedom which is a result of a man’s rationality. Immanuel Kant worked out his own vision of the moral philosophy when highlighting the need for freedom. However, he suggests lots of arguments to make his vision out. Thereupon, Kant outlines the meaning of autonomy going hand in hand with what he claims to be freedom. Although Sartre is likely to denote the authorship of a man in what he/she does, Kant is driven by giving some contrast to justify morality and freedom. Thus, he points out morality as a contradiction between duty and inclination and freedom as a controversy between autonomy and heteronomy (Sandel 117). The latter is an opposition to being autonomous, as might be seen. In this vein, Kantian philosophy states that freedom and justice go hand in hand. That is, a person subject to the law is one to accept freedom in its core values. Ostensibly, such evaluation of freedom goes apart with Sartre’s understanding thereof. In fact, Kant’s philosophic treatment of people’s actions can be simply narrowed down to his well-known categorical imperative which is all about mutuality in actions people commit toward one another. Kant’s claims are possible through his close attention to living within the society and complying with the rules and norms of social life. His moral position touches upon the â€Å"intelligible† realm when he remarks: â€Å"†¦we transfer ourselves into the intelligible world as members and recognize the autonomy of the will together with its consequence - morality† (Sandel 128). Membership comes first as a prerequisite of sharing similar ideals and values between individuals. Societal constraints like the law and its execution serve to strike a balance within the society leading toward freedom. In the European tradition, it is all about the democracy as a weighed sum of people’s wants and needs so that to make all of them free and autonomous as well. When Sartre is quite straight-forward paying much attention to the freedom of action despite of the legal limits shared within the society, Kant just traces back to the basic rules of a civilized social life so that to construct the most applicable and unrepugnant concept of freedom. The difference is that Kant is more obliged to the norms of the society seeing a human being as a biosocial creature equally dependant on the natural

Comparing Two Similar Businesses Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Comparing Two Similar Businesses - Assignment Example With the passage of time, it grows from just a book store to a super store that offers its customers a relaxing and comfortable environment to linger, and also provides ubiquitous espresso bars. The Borders Group expanded internationally beginning with a store in Singapore 1997, and then eventually expanded to more than 40 stores in Europe, Asia and Australia/New Zealand (About.com, 2011). With the advent of information era, things changes globally; it’s the era of internet. Many new companies emerge on the face of internet, offering products at competitive prices; present a threat to brick and mortar store. So borders recognize the need of the hour that they could not survive by just being a brick-mortar company, hence they created their online presence in 1998 (Reuters, 2011). Amazon.com is an American based e-commerce company that was pioneer in online business. The company is based in Seattle, Washington and was founded by Jeff Bezo in 1994 (web hosting report.com, 2011). The primary focus of the company is to become a leader in online bookstore and to achieve this goal, the company offers a very different experience from a regular bookstore; it allows book writers to write book reviews about their books, which greatly adds to Amazon success. And now it became the largest internet sellers of media in the world today, and has expanded its selections to include clothing, beauty products, house wares, and thousands of other items. Borders however were late in embracing e-commerce as they entered the cyber world in four years after Amazon.com; by just offering online website. It was not a success for the company as market was monopolized by the Amazon, who had been serving customers for four years and had established a trustworthy place in the consumer’s mind. Borders had been lacking skills that were required to do internet marketing i.e. it announced a deal with Amazon.com Inc to re-launch its e-commerce site. In 2008, Borders finally establishe d its own e-bookstore, and made partnership with  Kobobooks.com  to facilitate its eBooks sales. To retain its customer it further offers free Wi-Fi almost in all its stores and start providing self-publish facility to its customers (About.com, 2011). Key success factor in internet marketing and sales is attractive and user friendly interface; which amazon.com initially lack i.e. amazon start was shaky. But by injection of more capital; it offers a better looking website and hosting capabilities. Being pioneer and new entrant in the online book selling industry, Amazon demonstrated innovation, impressive management and creativity to get it registered in online business. Its company’s core business strategy to make online experience easy and user friendly and for this very purpose they introduces a very secure credit card processing system and 1-click ordering system; which proved helpful in achieving its mission. To acknowledge Amazon efforts in innovating a unique online ordering system;  the U.S. Patent Office awarded its 1 click technology Patent No. 5,960,411 on September 28, 1999 (Amazon.com, 2011). Amazon management also made some useful decisions like changing its location to avoid additional sales tax; changed headquarters that made it close to largest books wholesalers. Another unique feature that Amazon offers to its customer includes the use of personalization tool that allowed it to offer unique storefront for every individual customer, according to their needs. Amazon,

Exposit both Sartre's account of freedom and Kant's. Which of the two Essay

Exposit both Sartre's account of freedom and Kant's. Which of the two is the most cogent (compelling or convincing) or is th - Essay Example Nevertheless, looking at the universal aspects of morality and rationality, Kantian â€Å"freedom† is more cogent to get it and further put in action. First off, the existentialistic ideas proposed by Sartre follow the idea of absurd and determinism. To be precise, Sartre is likely to suggest a free will when he talks on freedom able to override people’s rationality (Palmer 283). In other words, he pinpoints that a man is allowed to do what he/she wants to notwithstanding possible negative outcomes after possessing such a freedom. Obviously, Sartre highlights the concept of freedom in keeping with the best tradition of the existentialism. As opposed to Kant’s interpretation, Sartre underpins the idea of freedom by the idea of values people get thereafter: â€Å"Sartre has radicalized Kant’s view that the source of value is always the human being, and he has prioritized freedom over rationality† (Palmer 292). Henceforth, Sartre does not rely on the o mnipotence and power of reason. Regardless of it, he shows up the pleasure of freedom as if behind the social life. In turn, Kant would oppose this characterization by giving more grounds to freedom which is a result of a man’s rationality. Immanuel Kant worked out his own vision of the moral philosophy when highlighting the need for freedom. However, he suggests lots of arguments to make his vision out. Thereupon, Kant outlines the meaning of autonomy going hand in hand with what he claims to be freedom. Although Sartre is likely to denote the authorship of a man in what he/she does, Kant is driven by giving some contrast to justify morality and freedom. Thus, he points out morality as a contradiction between duty and inclination and freedom as a controversy between autonomy and heteronomy (Sandel 117). The latter is an opposition to being autonomous, as might be seen. In this vein, Kantian philosophy states that freedom and justice go hand in hand. That is, a person subject to the law is one to accept freedom in its core values. Ostensibly, such evaluation of freedom goes apart with Sartre’s understanding thereof. In fact, Kant’s philosophic treatment of people’s actions can be simply narrowed down to his well-known categorical imperative which is all about mutuality in actions people commit toward one another. Kant’s claims are possible through his close attention to living within the society and complying with the rules and norms of social life. His moral position touches upon the â€Å"intelligible† realm when he remarks: â€Å"†¦we transfer ourselves into the intelligible world as members and recognize the autonomy of the will together with its consequence - morality† (Sandel 128). Membership comes first as a prerequisite of sharing similar ideals and values between individuals. Societal constraints like the law and its execution serve to strike a balance within the society leading toward freedom. In the European tradition, it is all about the democracy as a weighed sum of people’s wants and needs so that to make all of them free and autonomous as well. When Sartre is quite straight-forward paying much attention to the freedom of action despite of the legal limits shared within the society, Kant just traces back to the basic rules of a civilized social life so that to construct the most applicable and unrepugnant concept of freedom. The difference is that Kant is more obliged to the norms of the society seeing a human being as a biosocial creature equally dependant on the natural

Ecomerce Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Ecomerce - Essay Example developed world, there is one upcoming piece of technology which might have a greater effect on the economies of the developing work than anything else in the past. The internet and electronic business might have got their start in America but the expansion and further development of their use will take place in countries like Venezuela, Brazil, India and other countries where the cost of computer equipment still places it out of reach for many people. This is where the $100 laptop and the one laptop per child program comes in, with the market penetration that the low cost laptop brings the number of people who are online will be increased many fold and along with that there will be additional input for e-commerce. In the coming years, EBay could get bids on products from across the world and other discount retailers could find themselves selling to individuals living in places where they wouldn’t even have dreamt of selling their wares. Fundamentally, the $100 laptop is a solution for bringing the internet to the real masses of the world that have till yet remained outside the information loop (Laptop.org, 2006). Since the laptop also functions as a capable internet device the information access and communication technology which is taken as a given by the developed world will also make their way towards the developing countries (Wikipedia, 2006). It may not be the perfect method to bring about equality in the world but it will certainly boost global e-commerce over the coming years. The central characteristic of the project is the cost of the laptop which is expected to start somewhere in the range between $130 and $140 initially when it is launched in 2007 (Zuckerman, 2005). However by the year 2008, when it is delivered in large numbers to distribution centres around the world, the cost is actually expected to be less than $100 (Stecklow, 2005). Additionally, due to the donations expected from large organizations which are supporting this initiative the

Alberto Korda Essay Example for Free

Alberto Korda Essay The history of Spanish culture and their historic events have been captured through art for centuries. Photography is one form of art that has documented and symbolized historic events that are still used today as historical documents. A Cuban photographer, Alberto Diaz Gutierrez, also known as Alberto Korda, famously documented the events of the Cuban Revolution. Alberto Korda became the world’s most famous Cuban photographer for his photography, documenting history of the revolution with over 55,000 revolutionary themed photographs. Korda was born in Havana Cuba in 1928. He taught himself about photography with his father’s camera, leading to capturing some of the world’s most famous photographs known today. Korda’s career began shooting photographs at weddings and baptisms, and selling his photo’s as souvenirs at the event after he developed them. In 1953 Korda opened up his own studio with photographer Luis Pierce. When the studio first opened, they were accepting any jobs that they came across from advertising to fashion jobs. Korda’s style of photography was distinctive from the traditional photographers style. Korda was different from the traditional style because he disliked artificial lighting and only used natural light in his studio. Korda was quoted saying that artificial lighting was â€Å"a travesty of reality.† It was Korda’s unique style that helped him become widely recognized in the fashion world photography. He quickly established himself as Cuba’s leading fashion photographer. This unique style of untraditional photography led his business to becoming more then a photography studio, but an art studio. In 1959, Korda hit a turning point in his career, the Cuban Revolution. When the Cuban Revolution began, a newspaper was created which was different from most, in which it had many more photographs than articles documenting the uprising events in Cuba. Korda was sent with a team of photographers from the paper to the United States to document the events while Fidel Castro was visiting the United States in 1959. One of the first monumental photographs taken during the visit was a photo of Castro’s visit to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C, photographed by Korda. From then on, Korda became Castro’s personal photographer; following Castro wherever the revolution took him Korda went, traveling throughout Cuba and overseas. On an assignment after the guerrillas defeated dictator Fulgencia Batista, Korda encountered such extreme poverty that changed his life, transforming himself to become a part of the revolutionary cause. Korda said, â€Å"Nearing 30, I was heading toward a frivolous life when an exceptional event transformed my life: The Cuban Revolution. It was at this time that I took this photo of a little girl, who was clutching a piece of wood for a doll. I came to understand that it was worth dedicating my work to a revolution which aimed to remove these inequalities.† The photograph was named La Nina de la Muneca de Palo. One of the images that Korda captured of the leaders involved was of Fidel and Nikita Khrushchev, illustrating the differences in each of them that were obvious in their individual politics. He continued to follow the new Cuban leaders wherever the revolution took them, Korda followed. Fidel returned to Sierra Maestra, in 1959, where the attacks of Fulgencio Batista regime began. Korda would always get himself in front of the uprisings Fidel was leading in order to get the photographs he wanted. Whenever Korda was return home, he would develop the documentary images and give them to the newspaper to print. During the trip to Sierra Maestra, Korda snapped many pictures and named the series of photos â€Å"Fidel Returns to Sierra.† In 1960, Korda captured a worldwide symbol of revolution and rebellion, the iconic image of Che Guevara. The image was taken at a protest rally after a Belgian freighter carrying arms to Cuba was blown up by counterrevolutionaries while being unloaded in Havana harbor, killing more then 100 people. Doctor Ernesto Che Guevara joined revolutionaries to help save lives, but during a historic battle, her took up arms and came a symbolic freedom fighter. This photograph of Che Guevara captured by Alberto Korda is considered to be the most iconic image in human history. Every one of Alberto Korda’s photographs of the revolution was symbols of the revolution. He wanted to help complete the goals that were thought to be what the revolution was about. He dedicated his life to Fidel Castro as an official photographer, a friend, and a personal photographer. Korda did not get paid to be Fidel’s photographer. Korda more recently spoke in Havana and said, â€Å"Life may not have granted me a great fortune in money, but it has given me the even greater fortune of becoming a figure in the history of photography.† Korda had a passion for photography, his country, and the causes of the revolution.

What Theological Or Ethical Principles Religion Essay

What Theological Or Ethical Principles Religion Essay As palliative care is specialized comfort care for people who are approaching the end of their lives, it is related to many ethical issues and concerns. Its framework is based on the moral values and principles of the professionals involved, patients concerned, their families and society as a whole. Palliative care is a very sensitive issue and it is important that it is administered in an appropriate manner. The main objective is to achieve the best possible quality of life, both for the person, and for their family. As such, palliative care is more than the provision of medical relief from pain and other distressing symptoms. It encompasses the psychological, social, emotional and spiritual aspects of end of life care. The palliative care philosophy affirms life and regards dying as a normal process. It neither aims to hasten nor postpone death. It endeavours to provide a team-based support system for the person, enabling them to live as fulfilled a life as possible for the time remaining; and to help their family cope during their loved ones illness and prepare for their bereavement. Care can be provided at home, in a hospital, an aged care facility or a palliative care unit. Above all, palliative care respects the dignity of the person who is dying, carefully honouring their story, wishes and needs. A discussion about palliative care doesnt necessarily mean that death is imminent, in fact, its far better to start thinking and talking about your palliative care options before you need them. Palliative care is sometimes required for a person whose death is very near a matter of hours or days while others will need care over a longer period of time, sometimes years. In this case their care needs will tend to be less intensive and more episodic. The need for palliative care does not depend on any particular medical diagnosis, but the combination of many factors assessed through the judgement of the person, their family, the palliative care team and other medical professionals, including the persons GP. Families and carers may also receive assistance from palliative care services in order to help them cope with emotional and social problems; wounded healers also need healing. To palliate is to cover with a cloak of care; to offer protection and provide relief in the last chapter of life. A palliative approach is a type of palliative care and recognizes that death is inevitable for all of us. For me writing, I am reminded of a comment Professor John Swinton made in response to a question at the recent CAPS conference: Wherever we are in life, there is a storm coming preparedness becomes about the solidity of our foundations. End of life questions of quality, planning and dignity are ethically and theologically grounded in solidifying our foundation. Clements (1990) wrote of this, explaining that as the person moving through life finds their roles stripped from them, and if they have no spiritual foundation, they may be found naked at the core. Residential Aged Care Facilities are often the place where people spend the final chapter of their life; people come into care because they are no longer able to look after themselves and most will have chronic illness alongside ageing. The focus of care in aged care facilities is to help people live well with their illness and frailty during their time spent there. This focus on living well is the essence of the palliative approach to care. Our goal is always to assess and treat pain and other symptoms thoroughly, in familiar surroundings and in the company of the persons loved ones. Theres a Japanese proverb of which I am particularly fond, A sunset can be just as beautiful as a sunrise. In my work Ive seen many beautiful sunsets in peoples lives. Sadly, Ive also witnessed some that arent so beautiful. With forward planning they may have been different. The sudden onset of illness has a way of turning our lives, and the lives of our family and friends, upside down at any age. Suddenly decisions can be very difficult to make; thats why planning ahead is important. If we know what a persons choices and wishes are, were able to respect them if something should happen and theyre unable to tell us themselves. Medical treatment to manage symptoms goes alongside comfort care and could include surgery or medications. The focus of a palliative approach is on living. That is why staff will want to set goals and to plan for how the person wants to live the rest of their life. The end-of-life stage is an extraordinarily profound and emotional time; and a person does not have to be religious to have spiritual considerations. Spirituality is about how we make meaning in our lives and feel connected to other things, people, communities and nature. Spiritual questions, beliefs and rituals are often central to people when they are in the final chapter of their lives. Ensuring that staff are informed about each residents unique spiritual considerations will allow them to be properly respected and addressed. Helping the person to tell their story can help them find meaning, affirmation and reassurance. To effectively palliate would mean that: family and staff communicate openly and with compassion with the person in care and with each other; that pain control and comfort is achieved as far as possible; that the resident has every opportunity to communicate with those who are important to them; and that their physical, emotional, social, cultural and spiritual needs are addressed and as far as possible met. One size cloak of care does not fit all (Hudson, 2012). When these elements are neglected the cloak becomes an empty cover up, leaving the resident exposed rather than protected. When the cloak does not fit it is uncomfortable to wear (Hudson 2012) but the vulnerable population of people in their fourth age may wear it anyway for fear of seeming ungrateful. An appropriate cloak of care must have a spiritual lining, and provide opportunities to reveal hidden hurt; forgive, reconcile; and find peace in loss through tasks of self-reflection and self-transcendence. Spiritual and pa storal care in this context aims for wholeness and spiritual growth. Palliative care should not palliate death itself denying the stark reality of death and dying with false platitudes and consolation can mask existential pain and real needs and further, make these taboo. From a Christian theology, death is recognized as inevitable and necessary. Ageing is an inescapable process that in part defines human existence and experience. From the moment we are born we age. Ageing only ends when we die. Experience of human life tells us that ageing and death are linked. The curse of Adam in Genesis 3 introduces this finitude to our lives. Our role as pastoral carers is one of empowerment, relationship and human presence. Care of people who are suffering means providing real spiritual care, where a closeness or intimacy is developed between the person who is suffering and the carer. This is often quite alien for health professionals, who, through the culture of residential aged care accreditation, are subscript to activity theory and a doing role that emphasizes action rather than being with (MacKinlay, 2006). This involves not a sense of competence, but a sense of humility in the awareness of our own inability to fix anything, beyond being with that person at their point of need. The vulnerability of being present to ageing and death constitutes a simple and costly demand to stay. Not to understand or explain just to stay; Or else to expire in terrible wilderness, lonely silence (Caldwell 1960). In MacKinlays (2006) observation that care of people who are suffering means to walk the journey of suffering with them, to be present with them and authentic in caring (p. 167) I am reminded of Jesus telling his disciples to watch and pray (Matthew 26:36-46)  to bear witness. We cannot cure the scriptural worst enemy of the fatal sting but we CAN care sincerely respecting that the cloak is not ours to fashion and that the chapter will always have an end (Hudson, 2012). Jesus, in becoming human and by his death and resurrection, defeats death and gives resurrection hope of a body free from ageing, decline and frailty, providing hope to all people, especially those in the fourth age. Terminal illnesses do not inhibit people the way they used to; a person burdened with such an illness can live a long and reasonably well life. Consequently terminal disease is tangled in an ethics web concerning limited health resources, contributing to funding and community tensions. These tensions intrinsically present ethical issue in the equity of service provision. Stemming from this is the sensitive nature of transitioning to palliative care, and further to end-of-life care. End of life can be defined as that part of life where a person is living with, and impaired by, an eventually fatal condition, even if the prognosis is ambiguous, or unknown. The World Health Organisation defines palliative care as an approach that improves the quality of life of individuals and their families facing the problems associated with life-threatening illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment and management of pain and other needs, physical, psychological and spiritual. There is further tension surrounding communication and generational knowledge. As with Jefferys Mrs Davis there can be enormous gaps in generational perspective which may compromise informed decisions. The onus for decision making in a palliative care team lies with the resident themselves so, ethically, whose responsibility is it to be sure that a decision is well-informed? And further, who can be unbiased in providing information so as not to manipulate a decision? Contradictory beliefs, conflicting principles, and competing duties between the parties involved in end-of-life care can tear the cloak. Beauchamps primary principles of health care include: non-maleficence, confidentiality, autonomy, truth telling, informed consent, and justice. Empathy underpins each of the principles above, and in this lies the difficulty. We cannot understand (Okon, 2006 cited by Hudson 2012), we cannot try the cloak on for size but sometimes just looking as though you could understand (Saunders, 1987 cited by Hudson, 2012) makes a world of difference and goes some way to thwart loneliness. In end-of-life care, our presence as pastoral carers is strengthened in enabling spiritual growth through the sharing of connectedness and ritual. A palliative approach is built on an understanding of the uniqueness of individuals life histories and personalities, and implies commitment to an individuals developmental tasks of ageing and coming to peace. To be able to reach such goals as personal satisfaction, the individual must have means of expressing themselves. Our role in the care of older people is to support and enable each individuals sense of meaning and self-expression; to affirm each individual as a person of great value, and loved by God. Aged care is a delicate balancing act in that functional decline, infirmities and diseases are often inherent in ageing. Because of the nature of chronic illness in the fourth age, a caring response in the face of incurable illness is respect, and commitment to personal autonomy and integrity. That is, our role in promoting overall comfort and wellbeing through positively reinforcing and enabling those with such prognoses, to live to their best quality of life. The goal of palliative care is to provide comfort and care when cure is no longer possible. This paradigm shift entails a shift in the definition of autonomy. People at the end stage of life are not playing by the same rules as you or I who would oblige patient autonomy and nod to expert medical opinion. Health professionals in this context need to be enablers not decision makers. Gradual functional decline and loss of control in autonomy are inevitable with age. Loss of control is painful and scary. Perhaps this kind of persona is paralleled only in infancy leaving our elders feeling a sense of childhood being forced upon them (Jeffery, 2001). Unfortunately admission to aged care often does not help these older adults to feel less like children. The danger and ethical dilemma here is the assumption of impaired autonomy; in that decisions are made and autonomy declared lost even when this is unnecessary, because it is a simpler, easier course of action we know what is good for you (Jeffery, 2001). The basis of this kind of paternalism is beneficence its motivation is to act in a persons best interest so that no one gets harmed; making harm or burden the reason for intervention. Some loss of autonomy is inevitable in later life and steps have to be taken to act in the incompetent persons best interest, sometimes with their wishes recorded in living wills or advance care plans. Often autonomy presupposes someone, who acts in accordance with such a pre-conceived plan, and who is rational and independent; but autonomy may be better understood in terms of identity and self expression of values (Jeffery, 2001). A written advance care plan is about ensuring peace of mind. Effective advance care planning can avoid an unwanted transfer to a hospital. But even such counteractions as advance care planning can be problematic as these are based on todays situation and forecasted futures i.e. these cannot take into account tomorrows medical breakthrough. This being the case, there arise new ethical dilemmas e.g. do we have a right as people acting in someones best interests to tweak what they have proclaimed to want for themselves? Would they have wanted what they said they wanted were they deciding now? When autonomy is understood as a property of action or a capacity of persons (Reich, 1995); impaired autonomy, becomes a hopelessly limiting self fulfilling prophecy in that it diminishes à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the opportunities of those who lack certain abilities or capacities (Caplan, 1992). Autonomy needs to be seen as a way of valuing the human person, respecting them and recognizing their right to make decisions as the master of themselves. Personhood is not compromised or incapacitated by end stage life we are who we remember one another to be an essential aspect of being human is to care and be cared for; interdependence is a non-accidental feature of the human condition. Being human, we are bearers of the image of God (Gen 1:26). This image demonstrates our capacity for relationship with God, and with the rest of humanity (Green, 197). This capacity for relationship does not diminish as we age. If autonomy is taken as valuing ones uniqueness and the capacity to give gifts, it is a search for meaning in life authenticity. That is: as Jeffery writes; authentic choice is the autonomy of action that requires meaningful choices to be offered and identified with which equates to ones values and essentially what they stand for. If this is how we understand autonomy then this sheds new light on impaired autonomy. In effect we lose the ability to stand for what we stand for. In this case, autonomy becomes less about incompetence and more about advocacy in helping the person to reconnect their essential values to their choices and allowing them to give meaning to their life. By honouring this form of authentic control rather than a control via acquiescent consent or accept it or leave it culture we enable fulfillment and empowerment of the persons dignity. Being a resident in a nursing home may conjure conceptions of a twisted and limited self, and is destructive of autonomy. This is partly because the environment is thick with congruity and thin with community (Jeffery 2001); and partly because decision making is made nearly obsolete. The desire to control is moderated by the self-realization of the possibility of not being able to process all the relevant information: as the person psychologically shrinks, so too does their autonomy and self faith. Further, someone faced with a life shock can find their autonomy impaired in that they find themselves in a dramatically different world where previous life plans have no meaning and even stable values disappear (Jeffery 2001). In such settings autonomy becomes about the ability to make meaningful choices. An older person may not be able to carry out what they decide, but they are able to recognize commitments and to be themselves (Jeffery, 2001). As partners in end-of-life care, aged care staff must take into account such ethical dilemmas as autonomy and intergenerational tension in the way physical care is given; by focusing on presence, meaningful experience, journeying together, listening, connecting, creating openings, and engaging in reciprocal sharing.  Affirmative relationships support residents, enabling them to respond to their spiritual needs. Barriers to appropriate palliative care include lack of time, personal, cultural or institutional factors, and professional educational needs.  By addressing these, we may make an important contribution to the improvement of patient care towards the end of life.