Reasearch paper on the HIPAA Privacy Standards that went into effect Essay

Reasearch paper on the HIPAA Privacy Standards that went into effect in April of 2003 greatly affect both the privacy rights of patents and duties of medical pe - Essay Example The â€Å"designated record set† is the cluster of records used by a covered entity in part or in whole (to make decisions) that includes billing records, plan enrolment, payment, claims and management record of systems (United States Department of Health and Human Services 12). Exception to the right of access includes information gathered for legal proceedings, laboratory results where the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act (CLIA) disallows the right to use, or any data in custody of certain research laboratories. Information incorporated in the right of access may be denied if the covered entity deems that it could cause harm to the patient or another person. In this case, the patient can ask for a second opinion from a licensed health care professional (United States Department of Health and Human Services 12). Realistic fees for copying and postage may be charged by covered entities. Yes, there are certain requirements for covered entities to have written privacy policies. This generally contains an account of the staff or personnel who has access to the protected information, how the information will be used and when or under what circumstance should it be disclosed (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2). Covered entities must likewise make sure that business associates who have the right to use any protected information must bounded by agreement for the restrictions and utilization of said information (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2). 4. How will employees in the medical office have to be trained regarding privacy (for example, who is responsible for training and record keeping?) what is required of an employee does not follow the privacy policy? When must employees be trained? In what manner? Covered entities must educate their staff/employees regarding their privacy procedures and must train its entire workforce concerning its privacy policies and procedures which are

Case of Genie Essay Example for Free

Case of Genie Essay 1.Describe the case of Genie. What happened to her? Why is this case important? Genie was left in extreme isolation. She was kept in a back bedroom,tied to a toilet. She received little stimulation of any kind and was fed baby food.She was given no visual or other sensory stimulation.This case shows that infancy and childhood are critical times for brain development. 2.What have scientists learned about the way that the brain develops in children? Describe how this development happens. They have learned that there are critical periods for brain development. They discovered that parents fill a vital role in the development of their child’s brain through their interactions with the child.Parents and caregivers must provide proper stimulation to help develop connections. Scientists believed that childrens brains were predetermined to a great extent in terms of how they would develop. However, scientists now know that an infants experiences help determine how connections are formed and which pathways will develop in the brain. Thus, rather than being predetermined, an infants brain is a work in progress, influenced not only by his or her genetics, but also the surrounding world. 3.Describe how speech generating devices work. Explain the importance of augmentive communication. Speech generating devices are electronic devices that help individuals communicate verbally. Augmentive communication is important because it helps individuals produce or comprehend written or spoken language.These communication devices can be important tools to help children with speech difficulties communicate with parents, teachers, friends, and others in their lives Critical Thinking Questions 1.What do scientists mean when they say that there are critical periods for brain development? Why are these periods important? When scientist say that there are critical periods for brain development they  mean that if a child misses that period theyll be noticeably different from others in the same age group. These periods are important because they’ll need them all throughout life.

Starbucks Social Media Marketing Strategy

Starbucks Social Media Marketing Strategy In year 2008 operating income of Starbucks took a sharp drop, the majority of which stems from restructuring charges, related to store closures in the US and value share growth drop 0.5% from the year 2007 to 2008 (Euromonitor international, 2009). Chairman and CEO of Starbucks announced in year 2008 that unfortunately Starbucks would force to close down 600 stores this end of 2008 and lay off 12,000 employees. Its a blow, but far from fatal for a company with more than 6,700 locations in the United States and nearly 16,000 worldwide. (TheNewYorkTime, 2010). In resolve part of the problem, Starbucks gone further that involved cutting costs and in the first three quarters of 2009 in few different areas, part of the cost cutting focus on marketing and advertising and this has resulted in savings of US$370 million(Euromonitor international, 2009). However gaining more sales will be the main objective for a healthy growth. Marketing and advertising will be the key element on increasing sales volume. Based on this principle, Starbucks will need to find and alternative way as a substitute for the traditional marketing and advertising. Analysis, planning, implementation, control (APIC) system by Philip Kotler has been effectively as the subtitle of his Marketing Management (Kotler, 1994). As the management issue for Starbucks, managing the communication mix need to take place for solutions. Firstly Analysis of the present situation as the question of where are we now, Starbucks has a high reputation for their company and products that have a great market value. However in the crisis with limited budgeting, Planning will need to take place on reforming on the objectives and positioning. Starbucks has taken the opportunity by utilized the advantages of social media for their reorganization. With the objectives of create high engagement and create positive relationship with their customers through actively engaging in social media that provide the advantages on cost effective and efficiency. In addition Starbucks has formed a social media team to take control, monitor and evaluate the process and development of the us ed of social media. Started on October 2008, Starbucks began to actively engaging in social media, official Starbuck Facebook fan page is one of the major social networking sites for the company. Starbucks started to connect in to the cyber world of social media, and that is speak for itself in the number of Fans the company is engaging with. Facebook as a social media platform that has incorporates with different types of videos, content, and has active interactive activities with the fans. 2.1 Social media marketing strategy Starbucks has a small social media team with only six people; however they obtained a high level of engagement with their consumer in social media. (ENGAGEMENTdb , 2009) On the other hand Starbucks has building social media as a key part in their marketing mix, a stable platform for advertising and promotions. At the same time it creates a centre of attention to attract web traffic to the social networking site fan page with heavy advertising and promotion activities. Alexandra Wheeler, Director of Digital Strategy of Starbucks stated that, We live in the physical world with thousands of natural touch points, so when we laid out the vision for our social strategy, it felt like home for the brand. Its about the relationships we form with our customers. (ENGAGEMENTdb , 2009) The social media marketing strategies that Starbucks are using include special offers, coupons, sapling and discounts distributed through Facebook, because Facebook is the main social networking site for Starbucks. Promotion event on Facebook by Starbucks with the title of Free Pastry Day promotion allowing executively for Facebook fans of Starbucks to print out the online version of coupons for complimentary item with a drink purchase. Through this particular event in July 2009 it further added 200,000 fans just in a week. In the same year, by promoting the launch of the branded ice cream, Starbucks offering coupons for free pints via the Facebook application. Besides, Starbucks also used Facebook to promote a Taste Challenge together with the launch of Starbucks VIA instant coffee, offering participants with a free cup of Starbucks coffee will be given on their next purchase and discount of USD 1 with the VIA instant coffee purchase. (Mark Walsh, mediapost.com, 2010) Throughout the examples from above it is clearly presented that marketing theory of push and pull strategy are being used. A push strategy involves pushing the product of information through marketing channels to final consumers (Kotler and Gary Armstrong, 2009). Two types of push strategies were being used, first the push promotion strategy with the online version of coupons and discount on product purchase, flowing by push marketing with the channel by using Facebook social networking site to transmit the message across their audiences. Objective of the promotion is to gain immediate sales at the same time promote the fan page through the social networking side. Starbucks successful created high level of attention throughout the product promotion on Facebook with encouraging results. Based on a Razorfish study (2009) that generated a conclusion that traditional direct marketing practices for example offering discount and promotion are the keys on building engagement on social networking sites moderately focusing on to create deeper relationship and connection to a brand (Razorfish, 2009). CEO of social media management firm ViTrue, Mr. Reggie Bradford illustrious that Starbucks has the advantage on take in charge and managing all the Starbucks stores, provide an easier way to run standardized marketing programs that team up with Facebook. More significantly, Starbucks well manage with various types of updates that content, and interesting that includes blog articles and videos sharing that cover all aspects of coffee that includes how to grow coffee beans, pieces of writing about Starbucks and Starbucks employees. The tone and pitch of the updates is informative and relaxed, in addition even on their own product updates are kept in a wide-range that enough to remain interesting, for example, by offering and introduction up reviews of new music and books to be displace and for sale in their cafes. Therefore, the well managed and quality status update content has achieved a very engaged fan base, with every update on the social networking site will receive thousands of feedbacks and comments. 2.2 Success Following by reviewing the successful social media marketing strategies that used by Starbucks and the way the coffee giant fully utilized the opportunities of social media to create an interactive and interesting business approve. The level of engagement of a brand in social media will bring different level of success. As Howard Schultz, chairman and CEO of Starbucks said Were not just selling a cup of coffee, we are providing an experience (Business Week 18 November 1991). This implies that customers satisfaction is given top priority. In order to do so Starbucks serve coffee with great taste and quality. Not only quality the treatment of customer is excellent and the variety of beverages served is good (Kotha Glassman 2003). Based on the principle of providing an experience to the customers social media is a latest and most advance technology in communicate that can be personalize between the company and their customers. Coffee house giant Starbucks continue to develop its social media operations in attempt to extend its relationship with its end users. The reason for advertisers using social media is to go where consumers are and to provide a valuable and meaningful brand experience, according to Alexandra Wheeler. Although the challenges of the economic downturn, Starbucks posted profits of $242m in Q4 2009, as revenues rose 4%, to  £1.7 billion, mostly as a result of improved Starbucks store sales (Financial Time.com, 2010). From the research paper on the title of related to how Social Networks Improve e-Commerce, stated that creativity is an extremely important elements when come to approaching a social network (Gayatri, Christo Bryce, Kevin, and Ben Y. Zhao, 2009). Few of the successful principles are value need to be added to the interaction and use the naturally viral nature of community instead of forcing the marketing message through. On social network it have to communicate with people before selling, traditional ad campaigns and promotions should not be forced on the potential customers immediately (Social Media Optimization, 2007). Social network is all about building a community around the brands and the products, promoting, sharing and discussion (Brown, 2009). Get involved in the social network regularly, completely understand the content and focused to the topic is being said amongst the social network community, and the targeted audience before engaging (SocialMediaOptimization, 2007). Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks stated that the global economic recession has very much shaken consumer confidence and retailers which wish to stay relevant in the future will have no choice but to recognize and respond to this new reality and to continue and to accelerate. Starbucks current direction with continue to improve, innovate, and focus on strengthening the relationship with their customers. (The Seattle Times, January 28, 2009). In the year 2008 Starbucks promoted the worlds biggest Facebook ad campaign that including Facebook members in 16 that will be served ads for a Starbucks (RED) charity sing along of The Beatles All You Need Is Love when user log in. Starbucks undertook the biggest global Facebook ad campaign the purpose is to raise awareness of the project, which was a celebration of its partnership with (RED), the charity with the aim to fights Aids in Africa (Jennifer Whitehead, brandrepublic.com, 04 December 2009). This particular campaign has invited people to take part in stores which Starbucks donated a percentage of the cost of each selected product sold. The social media campaign that carries out this initiative received as the most viral impression ever; result of millions of people aware of the Facebook digital invitation which given respond (Wheeler, 2009). On Starbucks promotion Free Pastry Day where pastry will be give away for free with every drink purchased, resulting nearly 600,000 people who expressed an interest in that particular promotion on the social networking site Facebook. On the other social networking site Twitter also generated good respond with a similar promotion event. Besides on the public social networking sites Starbucks also has its own platform My Starbucks Ideas on online community that allows customers and staff to put together suggestion to the company, in August 2008 total of 75,000 of suggestions have been recorded (AdWeek, WARC, 2009). Based on the number of people involved has created a strong awareness outcome at the same time it had increase the sales at the period of time. The result on social media has the similarity outcome with the advertising objective that can be achieve through the social networking site. Starbucks persist as one of the brand that gains most popularity on Facebook, with sites now launched globally in 14 countries. In 2009 the consultancy company Altimeter Group, positioned Starbucks is of the brands make good use of the web properties, and Schultz stated that they would be integral to its operations going forward. The importance of our social media expertise continues to grow, and we evolve the conversation with our core customers, (Altimeter Group, 2010) Engaging with the millions of consumers through social media is a success. Multi-step flow is the extension of two step flow theory. A strong multi-step flow and personal influence model being involved in the process. Fill (2002) provides a clear description of the potency of word of mouth that can give a depth of credibility other form of communication cannot. Because of the nature of social media, the process of opinions and comments flow around in the social media, at the same time the social media management team will be able to monitor and provide instant reply. Starbucks brand, content and online vice president Chris Bruzzo, toldAdAge.com: Its like weve taken the version 1.0 of last year and now they are really doing it at scale and going to a lot more places where their customers already are and people are saying this is going to be a big year for social media and they are a microcosm of that. While last year it was a curiosity, this year its a core part of the program. (WARC, 2010). 2.3 Rewards This section will present the rewards that Starbucks gained throughout the Facebook campaign, based on the success factor that had been discuss on the above paragraph Starbucks also picked up a lot of benefits throughout the process. Financial performance correlates with engagement will determine the rewards that the company gains from the involvement in social media. Survey of Syncapse Consultancy Company, in an effort to gain understanding of the long term business value that generate by social network. The target research company in this survey is based on twenty most popular corporate users actively engaging in social network that includes Coca-Cola, Starbucks, McDonalds, Dove, Gillette, Nokia, Nike, Victorias Secret and Red Bull. The result found out that consumers who like a product in the Facebook feature were found to spend  £93 a year on the item in question, $71.84 more than the shoppers who have not performed the action (Syncapse, 2010). Starbucks is one of the brands th at scores at least 80% in the category of building empathy among their fans. Besides, the products of Starbucks scored over 90% associated with the feeling consumers that result in warm, gratified or happy. Fan value is cyclical and ever changing based on the ongoing marketing performance, (Syncapse, 2010). The result in the survey illustrate that long term brand value can be build by using the social network, independent social network campaign should be taken to increase the value of their company through their fan. Director of worldwide interactive marketing of Coca-cola Michael Donnelly acknowledged that end users perform activities of sharing information via using Facebook meaning that the fan-page of an organization is an additional way to promote and take immediate sharing information in the platform that the users are spending time with, based on the highly engagement platform it create a channel to listen and collect feedback s from consumer. The varies quick feedback that can be received from different methods for example photos, videos or status updates from the page and the message will rapidly share among their network (WARC, Brand Channel, 2009). Relationships are a form of organizational capital that provides value for the organization, the view that relationships are an enabler for resource exchange is well supported by relationship literature (Baxter Matear, 2004) The involvement of social media has became a importance role in achieving this aim, one of the Starbucks campaigns join together with Project Red to help promote fight AIDS in Africa, which was promoted using social media Facebook, where Starbucks has more than 5.5 million fans in end of 2009 that became the most popular brand second by Coca-cola and does not take long for Starbucks to achieved 10 million Facebook fan in July 2010. Schultz mentions that the effort of creating the world largest campaign ever on the Facebook social media platform is further strengthens Starbucks unique connection with their customers (Starbucks, 2010). Alexandra Wheeler stated that the campaign has became the most viral event in the history of Facebook and meant that this not only were trigger customers excited about the Starbucks at the same time the customer also came together on one day to accomplish something excellent. Take as a whole; she asserted that Facebook helps them get a pulse on the impor tant to their customers. The organization can have a direct communication dialog with their customers about the values and ideals that they gained and share the valuable experience with them. (Brand Channel, 2009) According to a report by ENGAGEMENTdb 2009 with the title of top 100 worlds most valuable brands, who is most engrage? In the report it divided brands in to four profiles with different levels of engagement, depending on the figure of channels and how intensely they are engaged in the brand. Starbucks fall in to the category of Mavens has been description as brands that are engaged in seven or more channels and have a greater than average engagement score. The brands are able to maintain a high level of engagement throughout multiple social media. The Mavens are not just a healthy strategy and enthusiastic teams focused on social media, but also make it a core part of their marketing strategy. Companies in this category will operate with a strong presence in social media. Company like Starbucks with deeply and widely engaged in social media outshine their competitors in term the performance in both revenue and profit by a large difference. Mavens group they have sustained strong reve nue and margin growth in spite of the current economy. (Figure 14) Further on with a strong engagement and multi-step flow and personal influence model it will develop on the principle of relational exchange theory. A brand relationship is being established, self-interest is best maximized by the returns available through cooperation in a relationship (Blau, 1964). In this approach, the analysis of interim relationships moves from the focal firm to the dyad or network level in an effort to understand interorganisational relationships (Cook Emerson, 1978; Bradach Eccles, 1989; Husted, 1994). There is interest in relationship quality that stems from trust and the high degree of certainty of predictable and obligatory behavior that leads to sales giving the seller integrity and the process a high degree of certainty (Crosby, Evans and Cowles, 1990). Based on a study, brands with more supporters and fans on Facebook more likely to involve in discussions, and could gain higher returns (Vitrue, 2010). According to chief product officer at Vitrue Michael Strutton stated that it is important to know that to build up a Facebook fan base will need consistent and well management. The learning process from customer can perform through social media. According to Bruzzo one of specialist members of staff at Starbucks stated that If you approach it as a customer relationship and as a multi-faceted human connection between Starbucks and customers, then we can have more than a conversation about products it can be a customer-insight channel and we can learn things from them. (Seattle PI, 2009).General Manager of advertising and customer engagement of Microsoft, Gayle Troberman, said social media offers a highly engaged audience who keen to know information about the company. She also mention that part of the social media strategy, is to focu s on honesty and authenticity, as well as attempting to respond to users as quickly as possible. (Seattle PI, Warc, 2009). 2.4 Risk On the above paragraphs it discuss about the success and reward of using social media of Starbucks, at the same time the risks of using social media need to take in consideration as well. As different social media evolved there will be multi channel for communications, at the same time communications professionals have a various options to connect with audiences. Worldwide audience can easily be reached with web 2.0, but the heady possibilities come with potential liabilities. Errors or mistakes in communication will be amplified. This is the reason why a lot of companies find the concept of social media as a risky media. The innovation of internet and World Wide Web have brought the world closer, and since social media are available on this technology there are different rules and regulations in different part of the world to protect the end user. From a international point of view for example regulations in the United Stated with the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive guards against false representation, Securities and Commission (SEC) and their Regulation Fair Disclosure (Reg FD) which set to protect the use of the social media. Beside in the EU there are also protecting against the use of social media for example EU privacy rules that against collection of personal information and email addresses on website. Because social media is an open world for every user around the world, different rules and regulations in different part of the world might come into conflict when it operates in business related activities on social media. Further on move on to the use of social media internally under a company. The use of social media should be guardian by rules and regulations, managing social media a company is agreed to allow employees to wiring blog, tweet or post Facebook comments updates. In the past companies tried to control risk on social media by disallowing access to cyberspace, however that will not work with the current situation of the use of social media. Robert Stroud, international vice president of ISACA, said in a statement. Companies should embrace it, not block it. But they also need to empower their employees with knowledge to implement sound social media governance. (ISACA, 2010). This managing process is apparently with high risk than not permitting whatever thing out of the usual channels. In particular if the social media management teams include top level executives or the CEO, where regulations exist which govern the disclosure of information by publicly traded companies. According to a stu dy by Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA, 2010) employees who dabble in social networking both on and off the job could expose their companies to a variety of risks. Malware, brand hijacking, lack of content control, noncompliance with rules over recordkeeping, and unrealistic expectations of Internet performance were the top five social-media risks to businesses (ISACA, 2010). 2.5 Challenges All kind of social networking challenges will be face by organization. Following this section will discuss the possible challenges for organization that are using social media as part of their marketing strategy. Social media providing a lot of benefit to an organization, a well managed of the use of social media will bring great future for the company, at the same time the hard work of minimize the challenges will be the best practice for prevention. 8% of companies had terminated employees because of the usage carelessness of social media (Proofpoint, 2009) for example a very frequent causes that might happen including sharing confidential or sensitive information or data on a network channel. According to David Arman, there are five possible challenges that every organization should be thinking ahead (Harvard Business review, 2010). The connection and linkage of social media cover almost every aspects and function of a business. All organizations will eventually grapple with integrating social into their entire ecosystem adopting either centralized, distributed or hybrid approaches (David Arman, 2010). The first challenge is regarding integration, because of the broad coverage of social media alongside the business, the decision of form up a specialize team to supervise the social media process is a judgment to be consider. Following by the second challenge governance, has been described as task to control and recognize both the contents produced for the public and also information that internal used around employees. Organization will need to keep attention on the internal contents among the company as well as set rules of engagement in the process how employees responding to the social media. The next challenge is that every organization have their own culture on the spectrum either being more transparent of the way they operate and collaborative or keep knowledge internally. Through using social media, organization can strengthen their company policy by managing customers and employees by using this channel, however it have to manage it intelligently and with purpose. The fourth challenge is related to the human resources of a company, emerge of social media business, rules and regulation of human resources will also need to keep up to date. Because of the fast moving and changeable technology set of rules and regulation will be an ongoing development process. At the same time organizations will need to train employees on the use of social technologies for work. The fifth challenge is on the measurement and return on investment. There will be difficulty on measuring the results on using social media, however it is measurable but to work out the financial definite will be a challenging task. 2.6 Conclusion After critical analysis on the achievements and threats, a conclusion can be made that the best practice to maximize on return and minimize risk of using social networking is to develop a well planed social media marketing strategy that cover a large part of the business. By minimizing the risk companies should develop social media policies and build up training meeting and classes to educate employees about the use of social media. The social media policies should includes personal use of social networks as part of the job description and also the personal use outside the work place. The use of visual in the social network is one of the way to stand out from the crow, visual communication is part of the design elements should be consider on how to communication with the audience by using design principles.

Do Science And Technology Provide A Solid Base For Technocracy :: essays research papers

To answer this question one must first understand that every politico-economic ideology, like every religious belief, proclaims that it has the one true doctrine and that all others are entirely different or at opposite ends. In most instances individuals join in voluntary association to act upon those opinions, ideas or beliefs which they hold in common. These opinions, ideas or beliefs may or may not be based on facts and hence most end with disastrous results. However once ideas have crystallized into organized action little question is raised to their feasibility or conformance to fact. Conclusively the objective of the group is either initially or ultimately the result of compromise being either very limited or very general in scope. This explains the ineffectiveness of the emotional approach and the political generality does not adequately define the project. The end result is the making of a mountain out of a molehill where the emphasis is on the exaggeration and reiteration o f minor differences while ignoring what they have in common. Technocracy partakes one single element in that it is dependent on the voluntary association of individuals acting upon certain ideas upon which they are in agreement. Comparatively it differs from all other social movements since its common ideas are not the result of philosophic agreement. Technocracy does in fact in theory need science and technology to be based upon, but it is this â€Å"science and technology† that the populace overlooks and assumes it as engineered technology.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ideas of engineering are in fact in our bones and part of human nature and experience (Petroski preface). This statement by Petroski is the very basis of technocracy. With it one can claim that No, Science and Technology do not provide a base for Technocracy yet to be a technocrat is to be human. If we consider democracy or any other doctrine and compare it with this proclamation then we may argue that one in their everyday life is more apt to be a technocrat then a democrat (Petroski 16).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Technology and Technologists, we may assume include each individual and each idea that lends itself to the productive incline in the lifestyle of individuals. Thus encompassing not only scientists and engineers but also teachers and experts in departments that are remotely necessary for the operation of a social norm. One may argue upon the failures of engineers and expansionists in the field of technology throughout history but overlook the successes.

The World of Glassblowing

25, February 2013 The World of Glassblowing Ever imagine what it’s like to play with honey? Now imagine playing and shaping honey when it’s glowing red hot with strange yet interesting instruments and turning it into some beautiful and out of this world. A piece of art that is completely unique and one of a kind. Well this is exactly what it’s like in the world of glassblowing. By trying and experiencing the art class here at SBVC one can truly learn to perfect not only just the skill, but expand your own imagination as well as your creativity.Glassblowing is a dying trade and skill in the art world. Now it’s mainly considered more of a hobby. On a more serious note career-wise it’ll get you far but it will not et you a life of luxury, but it does provide if your living the single life. Family-wise your better off having another full time job because this particular career would only pay enough to cover for the materials, the tools, the furnace, etc that one would use. These costs tend to be particularly high in price which would be the main reason to look for employment else where when it comes to providing for a family.Naturally, most people would think that glassblowing originated from Mexico because a lot of handmade glassware is manufactured and created there. In Mexico glassblowing is actually done outside in the public for all to see this fascinating art. So it’s not surprising that so many people are convinced that this intriguing skill would come from our neighbors down in the South. When in fact glassblowing originated from across the world in Italy, where it’s a tradition to earn a living from. In most Italian families a trade like glassblowing is naturally passed down from one generation to the next.Italy focuses mainly on the handmade arts such as glassblowing, pottery, stain-glasswork, etc and avoids mainstreaming it. Which in conclusion is why most handmade objects that are purchased and shipped fr om Italy is so highly priced. Most likely that piece of art is one of a kind and cannot be replicated. In my own observations at the SBVC Glassblowing class, I was able to witness the delicate procedure it takes to perfect this particular skill. As I sat and observed Stephen, a student here at SBVC’s Glassblowing class, he explains carefully every step that must be taken along with some precautions.Stephen then explains the dangers of this type of artwork and gives some examples of injuries that he and many other students acquired white participating in this class. One example that he used was how one student subconsciously caught an object he knocked over in an attempt to save it from shattering but in return burned both hands because the object was still hot. This student obtained first-degree burns on both hands and thus was not able to participate in the class for two weeks. As Stephen preps and prepares his materials and tools for his project I then proceed to ask him mo re questions.Such as what made him want to pursue this dangerous yet interesting trade. He then set his tools down and simply replied that he wanted a fresh start. Something new and exciting and that when he saw the title of this class he knew right then and there that that was something he wanted to do. Stephen then grabs a blowpipe, expected it and then approached the glory hole with it and began to heat one end of it. As he was heating or warming up the blowpipe I then continued with my interview. My next question that I addressed to Stephen was what did he personally benefit by taking this class and learning this skill. Well.. † Stephen said as he opened the furnace, â€Å" By taking this class and learning this skill I learned how to be patient, which I never was before taking this class. † Stephen then dips the end of the blowpipe in the furnace to gather the red hot glowing liquid and quickly closes the door while maneuvering the blowpipe to keep the glass from f alling to the ground. Stephen then said, â€Å"and I also learned really good hand-eye coordination too as well as working in a high stress environment. After finishing with that reply, Stephen then when to the marver and evened the molten glass on the pipe and quickly sat down at his bench and continued his project by blocking the glass. â€Å"Are there any disadvantages in glassblowing? † I said and Stephen then quickly replied â€Å" Other than getting burns no not really. † After rounding the glass with the block to his liking Stephen then got up and inserted the glass into the glory hole to reheat the glass before blowing and shaping it into a perfect bubble.As Stephen resumes his place at the bench, I quietly watched as he skillfully reshapes the glass and then using one end of the blowpipe gently blows air into the glass, forming a small but perfect orb. As Stephen manipulated his small glass bubble, I then asked him what was the most interesting part of his ne w found skills. As he created the jack line, which formed a neck separating the bubble from the pipe he replied that the most interesting part of Glassblowing was the unlimited amount of ideas that can be made with the glass if one has the imagination and creativity to bring them to life.With that Stephen then quickly moved over to a box with what looked like cotton inside and gently tapped the blowpipe with the back of his jacks (a tool that looks like a very large set of tweezers) and the bubble simply fell from the blow pipe and into the box. Stephen then quickly put the box in the annealed which slowly cools the glass over a period of a few hours (depending on how large the object in question is). Before I was able to ask another question Stephen then said to me in a cool tone that if he had to choose between pursuing Glassblowing as a career or a hobby that he’d rather keep this as a hobby.His reason behind this statement was that it was something that he would continue to do for peace of mind. If he were to pursue this skill as a career that he would love to teach it but that it was unlikely to happen for him. As our interview came to an end, Stephen then took me under his wing and taught me some of the basic yet advance techniques that he uses to create small objects. Such as small teacups. After he gave me a small run thru on how to make a small tea cup with a handle, I was then instructed to try the procedure on my own.I then slowly mimicked Stephen’s every step: I heated the blowpipe and then gather a good size amount of the molten glass on my pipe. Next I then rolled the glass in a quick but steady pace on the marver to even the glass forming a small cylinder. Then I approached the scorching hot glory hole, reheated the glass, sat down at the bench and then proceeded to block the molten glass until it was completely even. I then angled the blowpipe just like Stephen instructed me to do, took a deep breath and blew into the blowpipe.At first it was a bit difficult, but after the first few seconds grew easier. Right when I was getting comfortable with this my bubble suddenly popped! Apparently I blew the glass so much that the glass became thin and popped. Glassblowing not only teaches one how to manipulate the red hot glowing liquid with strange tools, but also teaches one how to express the creativity and imagination of the mind to create mind blowing works of art. What made you want to take this particular class? What have you benefited from taking this class and learning these skills?What would you say are the disadvantages of glassblowing and why? What are the advantages of glassblowing and why? Would you recommend this class or learning these specific skills to anyone? What would you say is the most interesting part of glassblowing? Would you ever continue these skills as a career path or a hobby? Why? When you first started taking this class what was the worst experience you ever had? Did that experience inc lude getting any type of injuries while participating? What was the most extreme injury you’ve ever gotten?Did you ever receive any burns that were third degree burns? How did your parents react when you told them of your new found interest in glassblowing? Did they oppose it or support it? How do you feel about the class fee you had to pay? Do you feel that the class fee is fair or unfair? Recently I’ve heard that most of the art classes are being cut. What are you going to do if the distract cuts the glassblowing program? Will go elsewhere to continue learning and perfecting this art or call quits? Tucker

Greeks Essays - Trojans, Mythological Kings, Iliad, Diomedes

Greeks Essays - Trojans, Mythological Kings, Iliad, Diomedes Greeks The greeks were fascinating ye BRISEIS Captive girl originally awarded to Achilleus but taken by Agamemnon, precipitating the wrath of Achilleus. CATALOG OF SHIPS Long descriptive passage in Book II outlining all the battle contingents at Troy. CHRYSEIS Captive girl taken by Agamemnon. Apollo forces him to return her by sending a plague on the Greek forces. CHRYSES Father of Chryseis, priest of Apollo. DACTYLIC HEXAMETER The metrical form used by Homer in his epic poems, consisting of six feet of variable quantity. DANAANS One of three interchangeable terms for the Greeks (also Argives, Achaians). DARDANIANS Trojan contingent headed by Aineias. DECEPTION OF ZEUS Passage in Book XIV in which Hera seduces Zeus. DEIPHOBOS Brother of Hektor. DIOMEDES Great Greek warrior, son of Tydeus (sometimes referred to as Tydeides). Book V is often called the Diomedeia because of his powerful exploits. DOLON Trojan spy caught by Diomedes and Odysseus in Book X, which is called the Doloneia after him. EPIC CYCLE Group of poems by various authors that make up the entire story of the Trojan War. EPITHET Short descriptive term used by Homer to describe a character, frequently repeated throughout the poem. ERIS Goddess of strife. EROS Love-power governed by Aphrodite. EUPHORBOS Trojan warrior, killed by Menelaos. His death in Book XVII is described in a famous simile. EURYPYLOS Greek warrior, wounded in battle. GLAUKOS Trojan warrior, ancestral friend of Diomedes, who spares his life. HADES Ruler of the underworld, brother of Zeus and Poseidon. HEKABE Wife of Priam, mother of Hektor. HEKTOR Greatest and most beloved Trojan warrior, arch enemy of Achilleus, son of Priam and Hekabe, husband of Andromache. HELEN Beautiful woman; wife of Menelaos but mistress of Paris. The Trojan War is fought on her behalf. HELENOS Trojan warrior, brother of Hektor. HEPHAISTOS Lame god of the blacksmith's art, creator of divine armor for Achilleus. HERA Ever-scheming and powerful goddess; wife of Zeus, major defender of the Greek cause. HERMES Also called Argeiphontes, god who protects Priam. HOMERIC HYMNS Group of narrative poems sometimes attributed to Homer. ICHOR Divine substance that runs through the immortals' veins instead of blood. IDA Large mountain near Troy. IDAIOS A herald of Priam. IDOMENEUS Kretan commander, a great Greek fighter. ILION Another name for Troy, from which the Iliad gets its name. IRIS Messenger of Zeus. KALCHAS Soothsayer for the Greeks. KEBRIONES Trojan warrior killed by Patroklos, sparking a fierce battle over his body. KRETE Largest of the Greek islands, whose forces are led by Idomeneus. KRONOS One of the ancient Greek gods, overthrown by Zeus, his son. LEDA Mother of Helen, perhaps by mating with Zeus in the form of a swan. LYKAON Trojan warrior, killed by Achilleus. MACHAON Physician for the Greeks. MEDUSA The Gorgon: snake-haired creature whose severed head stared from the aegis. MEGARON Large Greek room. MELEAGROS Legendary hero whose story is used by Phoinix to persuade Achilleus to fight. MENELAOS Ruler of Sparta, brother of Agamemnon, cuckolded husband of Helen. MENOITIOS Father of Patroklos. MERIONES Greek fighter, companion of Idomeneus. MUSE One of the nine goddesses who inspire the various arts, invoked by Homer to begin the Iliad. MYKENAI Powerful Greek city, ruled by Agamemnon. MYRMIDONS Greek contingent led by Achilleus. NEREIDS Sea nymphs, companions of Thetis, daughters of Nereus. NESTOR Elder statesman of the Greeks, a great talker. ODYSSEUS Brilliant Greek warrior and counselor. His travels home from the war are the subject of Homer's epic, the Odyssey. OILEUS Father of one of the fighters called Aias. OKEANOS Primal waters surrounding the world, depicted on the divine shield of Achilleus. OLYMPOS Mountainous abode of the immortals. PANDAROS Trojan warrior who breaks the truce in Book IV. PARIS Another name for Alexandros, Trojan prince. PATROKLOS Greek commander, comrade of Achilleus, whose death causes Achilleus to reenter the war. PELEUS Father of Achilleus. PHOINIX An elder of the Greeks, old friend of Achilleus. POLYDOROS Son of Priam, killed by Achilleus. POSEIDON Fierce god of the sea and of earthquakes, brother of Zeus and Hades, defender of the Greeks. POULYDAMAS Trojan warrior and friend of Hektor. PRIAM King of Troy, father of Hektor and many others. PYLOS Greek city, domain of Nestor. RHAPSODE Ancient Greek singer who recited epics. RHESOS Trojan ally, killed by Diomedes; possessor of great horses. SARPEDON Son of Zeus, a Trojan fighter whose death almost causes Zeus to intervene. SKAIAN GATES Landmark gates before the walls of Troy. SKAMANDROS River that crosses

Great Guide to Taking Online Tests

Great Guide to Taking Online Tests Great Tips to Help You Succeed in Online Tests While sitting an online test is very similar to taking a classroom test, there are some differences. In truth, many of the same success strategies apply to both types of exams, but there are a few other rules that apply to online tests. The tips provided below are designed to help you get the best possible scores in online tests, in part by making you aware of what mistakes to avoid mistakes that have no bearing on your knowledge of your course material. What to do Prior to an Exam It is important to study beforehand. Sometimes, students think that because they are not visible in an online test, they will have chance to check notes or books while a test is in progress. However, even if you cannot be seen, the time spent checking notes and/or books limits the amount of time left for the actual exam. It does not help much in the long-run if you get a couple more correct answers but do not have time to address all the questions. Therefore, studying in advance is important in order to familiarize yourself with the material. Additionally, unless your exam is of the open book variety, checking notes and books while an exam is in progress is viewed as cheating. So, try not to do this. Even if you are taking an open book exam, it is still necessary to do some advance study in order to understand the materials. This helps to make you more efficient and it maximizes exam time, thereby allowing you to earn the best possible grade(s). Identify a quiet space with no chance of interruption for your exam. Time is limited in exam situations. If you are taking your exam at home, let your family know the exam time and ask for quietness. Look for other options if you think this will not work. A lot of college and local libraries have quiet study rooms. By contrast, the local coffee bar is not a good option. Make sure you know what the technical requirements are.Do you know if your laptop or desktop computer is set up in the required way? Does your link to the test website work properly? Double-check that you are able to access the exam site and that you understand the login procedure well in advance. Another tool that is being increasingly used in online tests is webcam monitoring. If it is the case your particular course uses this technology to detect cheating, make sure your system is set up properly and understand what is and is not permissible. A webcam monitor is often set up to see the test-takers head, hands, computer/laptop screen, and a 180-degree view of the exam space. Understand the parameters of your test. There are a number of things it is essential to know about how a test is to be conducted. You may find some answers in your course syllabus. For instance:What is the duration of the test/exam? If you leave or log out of the test, will you be able to return i.e. log back in? Will you be able to revisit earlier questions or must you submit answers in order to proceed?Understanding the exam rules will allow you to use the allocated time more effectively and efficiently. What Happens While an Exam is in Progress During an exam, only the exam application should be kept open.Other open windows and/or applications could indicate cheating. Additionally, too many open windows can affect speed of response, which means time may be lost. So, do bear this in mind. Keep an eye on time.When you begin, calculate the amount of time you want to allocate to each question or section. This helps ensure you get through everything. Resist cheating. The aim of a test is to accurately measure the participants knowledge. It is unlikely you would employ a dentist or plumber who had cheated during their exams and did not properly understand their profession or trade. The exam system is only effective when participants act with honesty and integrity. In most universities and colleges, cheating is considered a violation of a code of honor. It can lead you to fail a test or entire course, or get you expelled. If you follow this advice, you should succeed in online tests. Feel free to add any of your own tips to our list!

don essays

don essays What is your first thought that comes to mind when someone says Princess Diana or Diana, Princess of wales? First, maybe tragedy, love or maybe even scandal comes to mind. I am going to try to tell you a little about her and her life. Princess Diana was born to frances roche daughter of a Baron. She was born on July 1, 1961. She was born in Sandringham Northfolk, England. She had 2 older sisters Sarah and Jane Spencer and one Brother Charles. They lived a life of luxury spending their early years at a park house, a 10 room mansion on the queens country estate in Sandringham Northfolk England, where Diana was born. The boy next door was her future husband Charles. He was 12 years older then her so she played with other royal children her age like his brother Prince Andrew and Edward. Dianas privileged upbringing didnt guarantee her a happy childhood. In 1969 her parents dragged all the children thru a bitter divorce. She and her brother charles were being pulled back and forth thru their parents problems. Dianas father Earl Spencer won the custody battle of the children so when Diana was 13 she and her brother and sisters moved to the Spencer family home a 14,000 acre country estate 75 miles north of London. At age 16 Diana and charles paths crossed once again. He was 28 and she 16. 2 years later at age 18 she moved to London and found work first as a nanny and then as a kindergarten teacher. Then in the summer of 1980 a phone call came that would begin to change her life forever. It was Prince Charles asking her for a date. She watched the Prince play polo and spent time with him on the royal yact. Soon Diana was officially seeing him this meant dealing with the press. Can you imagine everytime you came out of the having 20 or 30 cameras flashing in your face? But no matter what she did the press just couldnt get enough of her. Just six months after their polo outing Charles proposed to Diana after a candle ...

Pick ad Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Pick ad - Essay Example The imagery in the ad further reinforced this feeling of healthiness, with the Heineken having almost the exact same color as an apple (a traditionally healthy food) and being coated in water, something that is common in exercise imagery, implying that this will keep you hydrated and healthy. Though not being marketed as healthy per se, the ad attempts to connect Heineken to healthy concepts through imagery. This ad is for young, stylish men, and it attempts to connect with them both through positive body image (through the healthy angle) and through the clean, compact lines of the advertisement. There is another beer ad in the magazine, for Budweiser, but it goes more for the social angle, and does not directly compete in ideology. This is a good investment, as it makes Heineken seem like a healthy, young, vibrant drink, something which beer often has trouble doing, so it probably has a corner on the young, style-oriented beer drinking

Is Miltons Satan the hero of Paradise Lost in any way other than being Research Paper

Is Miltons Satan the hero of Paradise Lost in any way other than being the effective protagonist Is it possible to sympathize with him - Research Paper Example The paper will give an account of Milton’s treatment of Satan, while taking into account the critical tradition and debate represented by some of Teskey critics mentioned above. Like other epics, Milton’s poem, Paradise Lost celebrates a culture or a religion he fervently fought for. Satan is one character who has and still provokes emotions such as loathe, despise, and terror. However, these emotions are mainly elicited by the societal reflections on Satan and not from individual experiences. Generally, Satan is a character who is admired by some writers due to his reputation of pursuing evil. Milton is one such writer who demonstrates Satan as a hero though in a negative way (Herman and Sauer 50-54). Milton did not intend to popularize the evilness associated with Satan. On the contrary, he wants to establish Satan’s motive of wanting to be above his peers. While describing the Creation and Fall of Man, Milton focuses more on roles of Satan other than those of God. However, he is able to defend God’s superiority and virtuous intentions and portray Satan as malicious and compelling. Milton’s depicts Satan as one who understands our interests and plans to use this knowledge to deceive us into believing that he cares for us ("Answerable Style": The Genre of Paradise Lost Web). According to C. S. Lewis, â€Å"Every poem can be considered in two ways- as what the poet has to say and as a thing which he makes. From the one point of view it is an expression of opinions and emotions; from the other, it is an organization of words which exists to produce a particular patterned experience in readers† (Milton and Gordon, â€Å"Paradise Lost: Authoritative Text, Sources and Backgrounds, Criticism† 404). Milton’s poem has different variations of epic conventions, which makes it prevalent. In Paradise Lost, Satan is one of the characters whom some critics such as William Blake and Percy Bysshe Shelley consider the epic hero of the poem. This

Leith Agency Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Leith Agency - Case Study Example This is clearly evident in the Tennents Lager, a beer brand in Scotland, wherein it had good market share with one out of four pints consumed, but it wasn't popular among younger population. The question why younger lots were not drinking the Tennents Lager was a critical incident and the challenge was to make them believe that it was their brand (Lieth Agency case study). Lieth Agency can identify the critical incidents in the similar manner by analyzing the product and its marketability as in the above mentioned case. It is necessary to assess customer satisfaction as it is the best lead indicator of future loyalty as mentioned by Hill et al (2003:3). It is further stated that customer satisfaction will enable to know whether their expectations have been met, identify priorities for improvement for customer satisfaction and set goals for service improvement and monitor progress against a customer satisfaction index. Customer satisfaction is measure of how your organizations "total product" performs in relation to a set of customer requirements. (Hill et al, 2003:6). Similarly Vavra (1997:3) states that customer satisfaction measurement is formalized, objective tool for assessing how a business treats its clients and employees as well who testify that an organization is quality oriented. In regard to Leith Agency, the company can assess its customer satisfaction through product survey and its improvement index in terms of sales and its market share after the campaign. This will give an insight int o the effect of advertising campaign on the particular product which will in turn help in assessing the customer satisfaction. Merits of Servicescape Framework The concept of a servicescape developed by Booms and Bitner emphasizes the impact of the physical environment in which a service process takes place (Ghanghas,M n.d) wherein it plays an important role, both negative and positive, in customer's impression formation (Lin, 2004:163-178). According to Lin (2004), servicescapes are an important tangible component of the service product that provide clues to customers and create an immediate perpetual image in customers' minds. At Leith Agency, customers can encounter interpersonal servicescape as the company has to provide few ideas and samples of the ad campaign, discuss the changes required and then strike a deal while completing talks in financial matters. The framework plays important roles as package, wherein the customer is allowed to see a sample of their product or what they are going to get, so that client gets what he wants; facilitator, providing equal opportunities for both customers and service employees; socializer, providing cordial and friendly atmosphere to the customers in the office and differentiator, wherein the appearance and ambience of the workplace leaves an overall impression on the customers and provides pleasant atmosphere for its employees to work (Ghanghas, M, n.d).. The merits of servicescapes as mentioned above like package, facilitator, socialzer and differentiator will be helpful to the agency in developing a cordial atmosphere among its employees and making it stand apart from its competitors. Moreover, a difference in the type of working and ambience is itself a creative thinking which may entice the existing and future customers. References 1. CALT Learning (2007)

Delusional Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Delusional - Essay Example They have done series of tests in laboratories and published reports about their findings. They have also been done in the field of medicine. Under the field of medicine, psychiatry lies there wherein reports, experiments and thorough studies are conducted to help patients with mental disabilities and illnesses. Usually the ones used to help patients with undesirable mental conditions rely on chemical drugs to ease the pain or correct certain imbalances in their brains. Chemicals are used to alter their behavior especially when the patients are behaving outside the norms like being in a catatonic state. The use of drugs like for depressed people may have side effects. Side effects may affect the patients negatively. Drugs may cure the patients and help with their mental conditions but other illnesses may arise because of side effects. Other organs may possibly be negatively affected as the drugs may serve as toxins to those organs like heart, liver, kidney and stomach. The use of dru gs on health mental patients have been the subject of the book made by Robert Whitaker. Robert Whitaker is a renowned writer in the field of science especially with the medical field. He even became an editor for the publications of the medical school of Harvard. He published other books prior to the one where talked about delusions. He had been an award-winning author and writer and a controversial one. His book entitled Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America is a controversial book by Robert Whitaker where he tackled delusion as the cause of the mental illness growth in USA. Various issues can be connected to delusion and the growing rate of mental illness patients and all of them would be discussed on the paper. Delusion has been defined many times by many sources from textbooks to dictionaries as the term pertains to the false belief or state of resistance to the reality as the person does not accept logica l explanations. It can be used in various contexts but it is commonly linked with psychiatric conditions like schizophrenia, depression and bipolar disorders. The aforementioned psychiatric conditions are illnesses which the medical field has combated through the years using techniques and formulations created based on years of studies via experimentations. Scientists, doctors and psychiatrists in particular have relied upon those observations and analyses recorded via published scientific reports and journals to verify the efficacies of the methods to cure the psychiatric conditions. Whitaker had debated about those methods especially with the use of chemical drugs. Chemical drugs are formulated in laboratories and manufactured in bulk by licensed pharmaceutical companies as those are dangerous if no regulations are made. Those manufacturers have the right to create those products based on the formulations recommended by the experts who studied particular cases. Despite of their re ported efficacies, they pose hazards or risks to the patients. They have side-effects that can advertently affect other parts of the body. Patients may suffer other diseases or weakened immunity or particular organs may become damaged because of those synthetic substances being taken in for their psychiatric conditions. Whitaker has been concerned with the growing mentality of people about drugs and how those can cure the conditions of psychiatric patients considered to

Renal system Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Renal system - Essay Example In intrinsic or renal type, structural and functional damage of nephrons occurs due to inflammatory, cytotoxic or inflammatory insults to the kidney. In postrenal kidney injury, there is obstruction to passage of urine. Acute renal failure can be oliguric or nonoliguric. In the former type, the daily urine volume is less than 400ml/day. The prognosis in this type is usually poor except in prerenal cases. Urine output of less than 100ml per day is anuria and occurs when there is bilateral obstruction or injury to both kidneys (Workeneh, and Batuman, 2011). 2. Tests useful in the management of acute renal failure are serum biochemistries, complete blood picture, urine analysis and urine electrolytes. Ultrasonography is useful is ascertaining the cause of renal failure, especially if the failure is due to obstruction. The hallmarks of acute renal failure are serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen , both of which are elevated. However, the levels of these substances and the rate of ris e depend on the degree of insult to kidneys. It is important to ascertain the ratio of BUN to creatinine. When the ratio is 20:1, is suggests enhanced absorption of urea, suggesting prerenal injury. BUN may be elevated in other conditions like gastrointestinal bleeding, steroid administration and loading of proteins. rise of serum creatinine by more than 1.5mg/dL/d warrants evaluation for rhabdomyolysis. Complete blood picture provides an overview of the anemia and leukocytosis. Peripheral smear shows schistocytes in conditions like hemolytic uremic syndrome. Increased formation of rouleax is suggestive of myeloma and the workup must be directed towards serum and urine immunophoresis. Other tests which help in detecting the etiology are presence of free hemoglobin, free myoglobin, increased levels of serum uric acid, serological tests like antinuclear antibody, antistreptolysin antibody and serum complement levels. Urine analysis is a very useful investigatory tool. In tubular necro sis, granular muddy brown casts will be seen. In some cases tubular cast cells or oxalate crystals may be seen. Cola colored urine or reddish brown urine is suggestive of hemoglobin. Presence of significant proteinuria is suggestive of tubular injury. Presence of red blood cells in urine is suggestive of inflammation of glomerulus or bleeding in the collecting system. Presence of white blood cells or their casts in urine is suggestive of acute interstitial nephritis or pyelonephritis. Presence of eosinophils indicates allergic interstitial nephritis (Schrier, 2004). There are basically 3 stages of acute renal failure and they are oliguric-anuric phase, early diuretic phase and late diuretic phase. In the oliguric-anuric phase, the urine output is less than 400 ml/day. There is electrolyte imbalance, metabolic acidosis and raised serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen. The phase lasts for about 14 days. In the early diuretic phase, the patient passes large volumes of urine, about m ore than 3000ml per day. This is because; the glomeruli are functioning but the tubules are not. The tests reveal electrolyte imbalance, metabolic acidosis and even raised serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen. In the late diuretic phase, the urine output is still above normal limits. The urine specific gravity is rising. Fluid and electrolyte balances and acid-base balances are within normal limits (Schrier, 2004) 3. More often than not, the only symptoms of acute

Leadership Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Leadership - Research Paper Example art U.S., â€Å"should work with OUR Wal-Mart to improve jobs at our company so that we have an opportunity to join the middle class, strengthen our company’s bottom line and improve our nation’s economy† (Ausick, 2014, para 2). This paper discusses Wal-Mart’s problem in ethical leadership, and proposes and defends solution to this dilemma. The proposed solutions are ethically grounded and based on principles of social justice and quality of life. OUR Wal-Mart publicly specified three issues that the former Wal-Mart leader, Bill Simon, failed to address: weakening brand image, dropping sales, and low wages. The organization refers to a research by Demos-- a public policy research institute-- that reported a higher wage rate for full-time workers of retail corporations that hire thousands of employees could significantly improve the quality of life of hundreds of thousands of women and their families (Tepel, 2014). The worsening performance of Wal-Mart U.S. has also been observed by some professional groups, and they claimed that Simon’s use of smaller stores was not the appropriate solution. The organization also mentions a survey of consumers that reveals â€Å"Wal-Mart’s pay and treatment of workers are influencing shopping habits† (Reuters, 2014, para 2). The poll revealed that a quarter of the overall number of the company’s most loyal customers is disappointed by how Wal-Mart handles its emplo yees, and that they, consequently, avoid shopping at the stores (Reuters, 2014, para 2-3). Although Wal-Mart’s terrible business practices have been known for several years, workers were not inclined to protest against it; but OUR Wal-Mart changes it. Since these courageous employees are not unionized, they were risking their jobs by protesting. In 2012, Wal-Mart publicly announced $444 billion in profits. Robson Walton, the successor of Wal-Mart, received roughly $420 million in 2011, while the company’s employees receive a meager annual salary of $15,500

Delusional Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Delusional - Essay Example They have done series of tests in laboratories and published reports about their findings. They have also been done in the field of medicine. Under the field of medicine, psychiatry lies there wherein reports, experiments and thorough studies are conducted to help patients with mental disabilities and illnesses. Usually the ones used to help patients with undesirable mental conditions rely on chemical drugs to ease the pain or correct certain imbalances in their brains. Chemicals are used to alter their behavior especially when the patients are behaving outside the norms like being in a catatonic state. The use of drugs like for depressed people may have side effects. Side effects may affect the patients negatively. Drugs may cure the patients and help with their mental conditions but other illnesses may arise because of side effects. Other organs may possibly be negatively affected as the drugs may serve as toxins to those organs like heart, liver, kidney and stomach. The use of dru gs on health mental patients have been the subject of the book made by Robert Whitaker. Robert Whitaker is a renowned writer in the field of science especially with the medical field. He even became an editor for the publications of the medical school of Harvard. He published other books prior to the one where talked about delusions. He had been an award-winning author and writer and a controversial one. His book entitled Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America is a controversial book by Robert Whitaker where he tackled delusion as the cause of the mental illness growth in USA. Various issues can be connected to delusion and the growing rate of mental illness patients and all of them would be discussed on the paper. Delusion has been defined many times by many sources from textbooks to dictionaries as the term pertains to the false belief or state of resistance to the reality as the person does not accept logica l explanations. It can be used in various contexts but it is commonly linked with psychiatric conditions like schizophrenia, depression and bipolar disorders. The aforementioned psychiatric conditions are illnesses which the medical field has combated through the years using techniques and formulations created based on years of studies via experimentations. Scientists, doctors and psychiatrists in particular have relied upon those observations and analyses recorded via published scientific reports and journals to verify the efficacies of the methods to cure the psychiatric conditions. Whitaker had debated about those methods especially with the use of chemical drugs. Chemical drugs are formulated in laboratories and manufactured in bulk by licensed pharmaceutical companies as those are dangerous if no regulations are made. Those manufacturers have the right to create those products based on the formulations recommended by the experts who studied particular cases. Despite of their re ported efficacies, they pose hazards or risks to the patients. They have side-effects that can advertently affect other parts of the body. Patients may suffer other diseases or weakened immunity or particular organs may become damaged because of those synthetic substances being taken in for their psychiatric conditions. Whitaker has been concerned with the growing mentality of people about drugs and how those can cure the conditions of psychiatric patients considered to

Leadership Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Leadership - Research Paper Example art U.S., â€Å"should work with OUR Wal-Mart to improve jobs at our company so that we have an opportunity to join the middle class, strengthen our company’s bottom line and improve our nation’s economy† (Ausick, 2014, para 2). This paper discusses Wal-Mart’s problem in ethical leadership, and proposes and defends solution to this dilemma. The proposed solutions are ethically grounded and based on principles of social justice and quality of life. OUR Wal-Mart publicly specified three issues that the former Wal-Mart leader, Bill Simon, failed to address: weakening brand image, dropping sales, and low wages. The organization refers to a research by Demos-- a public policy research institute-- that reported a higher wage rate for full-time workers of retail corporations that hire thousands of employees could significantly improve the quality of life of hundreds of thousands of women and their families (Tepel, 2014). The worsening performance of Wal-Mart U.S. has also been observed by some professional groups, and they claimed that Simon’s use of smaller stores was not the appropriate solution. The organization also mentions a survey of consumers that reveals â€Å"Wal-Mart’s pay and treatment of workers are influencing shopping habits† (Reuters, 2014, para 2). The poll revealed that a quarter of the overall number of the company’s most loyal customers is disappointed by how Wal-Mart handles its emplo yees, and that they, consequently, avoid shopping at the stores (Reuters, 2014, para 2-3). Although Wal-Mart’s terrible business practices have been known for several years, workers were not inclined to protest against it; but OUR Wal-Mart changes it. Since these courageous employees are not unionized, they were risking their jobs by protesting. In 2012, Wal-Mart publicly announced $444 billion in profits. Robson Walton, the successor of Wal-Mart, received roughly $420 million in 2011, while the company’s employees receive a meager annual salary of $15,500

Costco Wholesale in 2012 Essay Example for Free

Costco Wholesale in 2012 Essay Analysis and Evaluation Since the inception of Costco in 1983, one of its drawbacks is, they have 4,000 selections of merchandise compared to their competitors. In addition, customers can only purchase merchandises in bulk. Consumers who shop at Costco do not have the choice to pick up one single item, for instance a can of soup. Although Costco prices are low and the consumers get more for their money, more consumers are wasting food because they no longer have the big families. Costco needs to look at the demographics and re-evaluate their business model, as this could be detrimental to the company. In today’s society, more families are getting divorce and are becoming single parents. The big families are almost none existent; therefore, most consumers do not need to purchase in bulk. Many consumers want to have choices when it comes to the amount of food they purchase. One may say there are other shopping establishments a consumer may visit to get exactly what they want; however, that is beside the point. Giving consumers the choice to purchase individual merchandise will not only bring in more business but also an increase in cash flow, which will also increase profits for Costco. On the other hand, Costco competitors such as Wal-Mart stocked up 40,000 to 150, 000 items for shoppers to choose from and Sam’s Club have over 16,000 items. Sam’s Club have the treasure-hunt items but tend to be less upscale and carry lower price tags than those of Costco. Both Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club give shoppers more choices than Costco even though Costco offers a cheaper price on their merchandise. Costco spends very little in advertisements and they totally rely on their name and word of mouth by their customers. Compared to Sam’s Club they spent about $50 million annually advertising and direct mail promotions. Furthermore, Costco does not have a Public Relation department, which is not good business practice, even though they have been around for years and they are doing well financially. However, there are many opportunities for one of its competitor to come in take away their market share. Costco does not attract people who are below the poverty line; they cater to the business consumer and urbanites that have an annual income of $100,000; therefore, people who are impoverish cannot afford the membership fees and bulk purchase. In addition, Costco membership fee is more expensive compared to Sam’s Club. Recommendation Costco needs to improve the variety of choices by giving the consumer more than 4,000 items to choose from while their competitors are actually giving customers what they want. Costco needs to take into consideration the economy; people have lost their jobs and the recession, as customers are looking for cheaper prices and ways to saving money. Furthermore, if Costco does not come up with new and innovative strategies to entice low income and single household family to their establishment they are giving their competitors the upper hand. Costco should also focus on the advertisement because number of its rivals is already doing intense advertisement. In today’s global and technological world, many businesses are being aggressive and are taking advantage of investing heavily on the marketing. Costco cannot continue to use the concept of sitting back and waiting for their customers to spread the word by mouth. Costco needs to move in the direction of the 21st century by being more proactive by utilizing technology and a PR department for marketing purposes. It is true that company like Costco are doing good in economic downturn but competitors like Sam’s club is outperforming Costco in pricing which could be biggest threats to the Costco even though Costco keeps relatively branded and qualitative product than that of Sam’s Club The Five Forces Model of Competition Substitutes Strong threat Good substitutes everywhere Price not significantly higher Comparable product features More variety of features Low switching cost Potential new entrants Low threat Small pool entry candidates High barriers to entry Expanding market Attractive profits Buyers Weak bargaining power Some switching cost Large membership base Costco has the best value Suppliers Weak bargaining power Many suppliers Low switching cost Many substitutes exist Large quantities are needed Competing sellers Fierce Competition Costco is on top Quality is slightly better Buyer demand is growing Buyers switching cost is low SWOT Strength| Weakness| Low product and services†¢ Strong brand†¢ Excellent merchandise†¢ Exceptional employees†¢ 54 million members†¢ Economics of scale†¢ Efficiency| James Sinegal is 79†¢ Maintain high wages†¢ 42% higher than Sam’s Club†¢ Comparatively less attractive store layout for luxury items†¢Ã‚  Declining or inconsistent profit margins†¢ Primary focus on business customers rather than individual customers| Opportunities| Threat| Recession- Easier to find bargain luxury-items- Increased popularity of Costco†¢ Expanding foreign markets- Europe- China India †¢ Positive image in terms of employees pay and social responsibility†¢ Increasing brand awareness| Fierce competition†¢Costco cannot attract people who are below poverty line due to its membership fees and bulk purchase†¢High competition from Sam’s Club and BJ†¢Political problems in other countries| References Thomspson, A. A., Peteraf, M. A., Gamble, J. E., Strickland III, A. (2012). Crafting Executing Strategy (19th ed.). New York, New York: McGraw-Hill/Irvin.

Needs and Expectations of Healthcare Stakeholders Case

Needs and Expectations of Healthcare Stakeholders Case You are asked to critically investigate and validate the needs and expectations of healthcare stakeholders in relation to the above ABC Concordia Healthcare Ltd organisation’s policy on equality and diversity. Prepare a summary of your investigate on the needs and expectations of Concordia Healthcare Ltd which relate to: Internal organizational needs External needs Fairness and justice The impact of prejudice and discrimination on individuals and groups Answer Organizational Needs and Expectations The consideration of organizational needs and expectations has a positive effect on outcome of health care delivery programmes or systems. Equality is the state of being equal, especially in status, rights or opportunities. Diversity means understanding that each individual is unique and recognizing our individual difference. Policy is a course or principle of action adopted by an organization or individual. It is set of principles or rules that provides a definite direction for an organization. An equality policy is a written statement showing that your organization actively opposes discrimination .It demonstrates your commitment to making organization a fully accessible that welcomes and respects diversity. Developing an inclusive equality policy is one of the key factor in creating a sustainable organization that reflects the rich diversity of society and ensures equality of opportunity for everyone involved.[1] Internal needs and expectations If there is anything any that is steadfast and is unchanging, it is change itself and the organization that does not accept change that is the cause of failure or domain. There are events or situations that occur that affect the organization in two ways, in positive or negative way. The internal needs are easier to control, it usually are management changes, employee morale, culture changes and financial changes. The clients want the deals with them on the basis of their skills and experience instead of race and cast. They want the organization to focus on their physical disability. The clients want respect for their cultures, values, beliefs and preference and they need a friendly and comfortable environment. And we can say like that there few main expectations of every individual from an organization that should be met to make the working environment good and comfortable. These expectations are respect for their values, preference and expressed needs. Coordination and integration. The clients of an organization needs full information and communication. External Needs External environmental factors or needs are the events that take place outside the of the organization and are harder to predict and control. These needs can b more dangerous for an organization if are not met by the organization. These needs include the changes to the economy, threats from the competitions, political factors, government regulations or the industry itself. External needs also include the customers and contractors because without them they can not work and earn anything. Technology and resources are also the external needs requires for the proper functioning of an organization.[2] Fairness and Justice A lack of organizational justice can lead to negative outcomes, such as lower performance, lower satisfaction and higher absenteeism. To prevent the organization from the negative outcomes, the organization should promote equality and diversity policy that applies to service provision and not just employment. The organization to make a commitment to tackle discrimination. It should provide equal opportunities and access to all stake holders and support equality act 2010. The organization should use the policy to train the staff and integrate the policy into their activities. Organizational needs to explain hoe the policy will be put into practice and how it will be communicated to all staff and service users. The policy should be linked to the complaints and disciplinary procedures. The impact of prejudice and discrimination on individuals and groups Prejudice is a preconceived opinion not based on research or experience. Discrimination is the unjust or prejudicial treatment or different categories of people or things especially on grounds of race, age or sex. There is endless number off groups affected by prejudice and discrimination around the word and these are lower class, different cultures, women, different religions, elderly, and immigrants. Homosexuals, different races, teenagers, mentally or physically challenged. Examples of prejudice and discrimination are as teens are often discriminated against because people assume that they are rebellious and unless when teens are often very helpful and compassionate. Second is women who are often judged because of their past struggles to obtain acknowledgement by society as person. Immigrants are sometimes not allowed into a country or not given work because they are simply too different and people cannot accept change ,not realizing that they are fully capable of accomplishing tasks just as easily as someone of a similar race to themselves Effects on the individual are Acceptance- They believe what is being said about them. They feel that they have an inferior status in society. Accommodation- They don’t like or believe what is being said about them, but try and make the best of the situation. Voluntary segregation- Groups may live or work in separate areas in order to feel more comfortable and to succeed. Organized Protest- A person may join organizations to help fight against discrimination and get involved with marches, protest, and media exposure. Aggression- A person may take action against a prejudice individual’s property. Examples of aggression are crime and terrorism. Effects on the Discriminators are this person feels hate and resentment in their life. They don’t enjoy life or people as much as they could have. They focus only on one aspect of some individuals. They tend to lose friends (People don’t like to associate with the discriminator In conclusion, prejudice and discrimination is a serious issue that affects many people including the individual, the discriminators and society. The citizens should pay more attention to the solutions to prejudice and discrimination then may be society feel more comfortable Task 2 Consider what ABC Concordia Healthcare Ltd organisation’s policy currently proposes as methods to address, review and monitor equality and diversity issues in the organisation. You are asked to propose improvements to address gaps or shortfalls in their systems and processes. Consider where improvements could be made in terms of plans, team meetings, roles and responsibilities, timescales, audit, policy reform and allocation of resources. Answer ABC Concordia healthcare LTD Equality and diversity guidance and policy 2012 Investigation Results The internal organization needs the following changes to be included in the organization for making the environment comfortable for the clients and promote the work. The organization needs to take steps to identify the need of each and every client in the organization. Needs to devise the policies and procedures and to put in place customers service, should provide appropriate facilities and services and draw up a plan. Moreover, take appropriate actions wherever is needed, Monitor and record equal and provide opportunities on the basis of their experience instead of age, gender, ethnicity and disability. Solutions and preventions of prejudice and discrimination are; know the facts of the problem or situation. Be aware of your attitude and behaviour towards other clients. The words should be carefully selected before saying anything to the employees in an organization. The focus should on the positive and others should be supported. Get to know the people from the other groups. Hold monthly meetings with the staff. Recommendations; the organization should review the needs and finalize policies –strategic planning activity. It should formulate procedures for every policy covering all corners of its concern; communicate the approved policies and procedures to all. The organization should conduct regular meetings as follow ups on feedback and incident report.[3] References www.equalityhumanright.com www.managementhelp.org/orgcom/ [1] [2] [3]

A Thousand Acres as Movie is Melodramatic and Bogus Essay example -- M

A Thousand Acres as Movie is Melodramatic and Bogus Perhaps Jane Smiley's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel "A Thousand Acres" was a bit over-rated. For one thing, the book's "dark secret" seemed utterly implausible. I just didn't believe that the book's protagonist and narrator, a 37-year-old Iowa farm wife named Ginny, could have completely repressed the fact that her father had sex with her when she was 15 years old, night after night, for a year. For True Believers in "Repressed Memory Syndrome," this might sound like gospel: I found it melodramatic and bogus. Furthermore, the sensitive-unto-death narrative voice was dissonant and grating: Ginny came across as too intelligent and self-aware to be as clueless and numb as she was supposed to be. Despite these major flaws, however, Smiley's au courant revisiting of "King Lear" had its virtues: keen insights into family dynamics, a stately, beautifully controlled pace and a weirdly chipper, let's-do-the-dishes-everybody quality that only heightened the ominous sound of fatal machinery grinding away beneath the banal surface of Happy, Happy American life. Unfortunately, these literary achievements -- created by tone and nuance as well as the sheer hypnotic effect of time spent turning the pages -- are not easily captured by film. The movie fails to convey any of the book's strengths -- and it magnifies its shortcomings into bathetic clichés. "A Thousand Acres" may simply be one of those books that can't be made into anything but a plot-driven movie-of-the-week. Although the first half hour is really dreadful, with its hokey plot-establishing voice-over and choppy, melodramatic action, it's not easy to imagine how director Jocelyn Moorhouse an... ... or the face-off between her way of living in the world and Rose's. Smiley's novel is filled with an unnecessary amount of family horror -- she could have achieved the same artistic effects without sprinkling on the Gothic MSG. But the interiority of the novel form allows us to look away from the lurid plot, to follow the subtler movement of Ginny's mind. Moorhouse halfheartedly tries to tell the story from Ginny's point of view, but she keeps going back to the external, epic vision. Instead of feeling like an epic, however, "A Thousand Acres" feels like a soap opera -- an impression not lessened by the soupy this-is-a-sad-scene music and the treacly voice-over that keeps telling us what just happened -- "going to court had divided us from each other." If Shakespeare spun a few times when Smiley's novel came out, he must be rotating like an eggbeater now.

The Sins of Gregor Samsa of Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis Essay

The Sins of Gregor Samsa of Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis Gregor Samsa’s crimes originate from his intense devotion to his family, and thus in his intense devotion to his work, which in turn makes him intently devout to the conformist society that creates his world. Gregor’s crimes are not of the scope that contains what one may consider normal or standard crimes, and his motivations come from a separate set of values than those that society would consider to be the median. As a result of Gregor’s abnormal and distinctive crimes, he becomes the victim of an odd punishment that indirectly benefits all of Gregor’s previously mentioned motivations. Within the text of Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, Gregor’s awkward punishment turns out to be his transformation into a despicable and horrid bug. Gregor’s transformation is due to his crimes, which include alienating and losing himself in his work, stealing the position of head of the house from his father, and becoming a conformist in a society th at needs deviation to define and justify its conformity. Gregor’s punishment of transformation gives him the ability to repent for all of the crimes for which he has been convicted of by himself and society and make right all of his aforementioned wrongs. Gregor’s dedication to his job remains undeniable; even directly after the metamorphosis Gregor has plans for making it to work, alibi a few moments late. However, despite his dedication, Gregor refuses to be satisfied with his job and all that it entails, most especially his treatment. â€Å"What a fate; to be condemned to work for a firm where the slightest negligence gave rise to the greatest suspicion† (Kafka 9). The disdain for his job happens to be warranted, just as his ded... ...elf, or prepare to accept the consequences, whatever they maybe. Works Cited Honig, Edwin. â€Å"The Making of Allegory.† The Metamorphosis. New York: Bantam Books, 1981. 138-142. Kafka, Franz. The Metamorphosis. New York: Bantam Books, 1981 Kaiser, Hellmuth. â€Å"Kafka’s Fantasy of Punishment.† The Metamorphosis. New York: Bantam Books, 1981. 147-156. McNeil, Russell. â€Å"Gregor Samsa as Functional Deviant.† The Kafka Project. Feb 11,2003. Nabokov, Vladimir. â€Å"Lecture on ‘The Metamorphosis.’† The Kafka Project. Feb. 11, 2003. http://www.kafka.org/verw_issue/nabokov.htm Sokel, Walter. â€Å"Education for Tragedy.† The Metamorphosis. New York: Bantam Books, 1981. 169-186. Webster, Peter. â€Å"Franz Kafka’s ‘Metamorphosis’ as Death and Resurrection Fantasy.† The Metamorphosis. New York: Bantam Books, 1981. 157-168.

Contents of a Marketing Plan

TABLE | 2. 2 Contents of a Marketing Plan Section Purpose Executive summary Presents a brief summary of the main goals and recommendations of the plan for management review, helping top management find the plan’s major points quickly. A table of contents should follow the executive summary. Current marketing situation Describes the target market and a company’s position in it, including information about the market, product performance, competition, and distribution.This section includes the following: †¢ A market description that defines the market and major segments and then reviews customer needs and factors in the marketing environment that may affect customer purchasing. †¢ A product review that shows sales, prices, and gross margins of the major products in the product line. †¢ A review of competition that identifies major competitors and assesses their market positions and strategies for product quality, pricing, distribution, and promotion. A revi ew of distribution that evaluates recent sales trends and other developments in major distribution channels. Threats and opportunities analysis Assesses major threats and opportunities that the product might face, helping management to anticipate important positive or negative developments that might have an impact on the firm and its strategies. Objectives and issues States the marketing objectives that the company would like to attain during the plan’s term and discusses key issues that will affect their attainment.For example, if the goal is to achieve a 15 percent market share, this section looks at how this goal might be achieved. Marketing strategy Outlines the broad marketing logic by which the business unit hopes to create customer value and relationships and the specifics of target markets, positioning, and marketing expenditure levels. How will the company create value for customers in order to capture value from customers in return? This section also outlines speci fic strategies for each marketing mix element and explains how each responds to the threats, opportunities, nd critical issues spelled out earlier in the plan. Action programs Spells out how marketing strategies will be turned into specific action programs that answer the following questions: What will be done? When will it be done? Who will do it? How much will it cost? Budgets Details a supporting marketing budget that is essentially a projected profit-and-loss statement. It shows expected revenues (forecasted number of units sold and the average net price) and expected costs of production, distribution, and marketing.The difference is the projected profit. Once approved by higher management, the budget becomes the basis for materials buying, production scheduling, personnel planning, and marketing operations. Controls Outlines the control that will be used to monitor progress and allow higher management to review implementation results and spot products that are not meeting their goals. It includes measures of return on marketing investment.

Communications & Crisis Essay

The Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) has begun to receive official reports stating that the public water supplies of several towns in the South East Texas (SET) area have become contaminated with life-threatening biological agents. As director of this office, it is my responsibility to address contingency plans within the organization and the public; without creating panic. Areas of focus will include external and internal communication channels, communication advantages and challenges, communication strategies, applicable technology, technology utilization, and media opportunities. Successful management of the situation requires the establishment of teams and communication channels. Organization teams include a state relations team, district relations, media relations, and a crisis communications team (CCT). State, district, and media relations will communicate with CCT acting as coordinator. As the director of TDEM, I will be in charge of the CCT and oversee all organization operations. The state relations team till will be in charge of communications with the Texas Department of Health, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Texas Emergency Management Council (TEMC), and other government officials. According to Texas law, mayors and county judges serve as emergency management directors, bearing the responsibility for maintaining an emergency management program within their respective jurisdictions (TDEM, 2014). This will help with local emergency coordination’s. The district relations team will engage with local authorities to organize emergency response operations. The media relations team will communicate with local and online media sources and keep them informed of the issue. Our organizations communication channels can instantly connect with multiple organizations at once. This gives our organization a major advantage. We have the ability to spread and collect information quickly and on a grand scale. Information needs to be disseminated as fast and efficiently as  possible. The challenges associated with communications is the coordination of all efforts. According to Athena du Pre, lack of communication can lead to duplicated efforts, costly (and sometimes life-threatening) delays, frustration, and wasted time (Du Pre, A., 2003). During crisis events delays and wasted time can cost lives. This means that our team must keep in constant communication with other organizations to prevent overlapping efforts. Crisis communication is an ongoing process. Having a crisis communication plan is important so that more time can be spent acting and less time be spent making decisions. Examining the communication process of other crisis events can be a useful way to identify successful strategies. In 1979, the Three Mile Island reactor malfunctioned. The major form of communication used to report the event at the time were televisions and radios. Access to information was limited and local television and radio station bore the bulk of public inquiries. Organization communications had to be accomplished via telephones or face-to-face. Public communications were also limited to telephones and face-to-face. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina ravaged the city of New Orleans and left a large portion of it underwater. The major forms of communication during this event included television, radio, and the internet. With this event the internet provided quick connection and communication with multiple entities. Information could also be transferred on faste r and larger scale. However, with this particular event a large portion of the public had to go without electricity for an extended period of time. Without electricity television, radios, and the internet cannot be operated. Smartphones existed at the time, but were not as abundant. Those with smartphones and cell phones had a small window for communications after the loss of electricity. Unfortunately, these devices require recharging and are useless after so many hours. Examination of these scenarios provide proof of the importance of information access during times of crisis. In 1979, their limited resources increased the levels of public concern. In 2005, their lack of resources reduced the number of communication channels. Many people were left clueless and helpless. I believe that a good way of utilizing this knowledge is to prepare for similar situations. Publishing emergency information to the public on a wide variety of channels means more access to information, less confusion, and better coord ination of efforts. Fortunate for us, the current  scenario is not a threat to public electrical systems. However, we should be prepared for interruptions or breakdowns amongst communication channels. Each team should have contingencies in place, in case one or more resources is lost. These contingencies should include backup agencies, officials, and media sources. Teams should also have contingencies in place incase internal communications are interrupted or broken-down. Organization teams should allocate responsibilities between different members. If something happens to a team member, their responsibilities should either be divide up amongst all other team members or given to a single member. This largely depends on the size of responsibility and number of available team members. If an entire team becomes unavailable, then that teams responsibilities will be divided by the CCT and distributed amongst the remaining teams. Public contingency plans must also be addressed. In this scenario there are effectively two distinct immediate dangers. Lack of public knowledge leading to exposure, and difficulties decontaminating the public water supplies. In regards to public knowledge, it’s important that information be disseminated not only through technological communication channels, but through ground communication channels as well. Public and municipal service employees of all types should be called upon to spread the word throughout the public. The more entities that can be informed via employer to employee, the better. In regards to decontamination, the public should be fully aware that government agencies are working around the clock to solve the issue. Government entities should also offer access to alternative water supplies. During times of hurricanes, many agencies and charitable services hand out bottled water from multiple locations in their respective cities. This strategy should be utilized with the current scenario. If necessary, these services should be offered for as long as they are needed. As indicated in the previous scenarios, technology and the spread of the information go hand in hand. With the addition of the internet and digital communications, the communication process has become much more versatile. Social media often provides as a communications network for the public. Social media users can connect with other users and members of the public to share information and coordinate efforts. In today’s world many people have smartphones that are capable of internet access. These devices provide people with the ability to  access information no matter where they are. The downside to this technology is the requirement of data access. Times of crisis can overwhelm internet infrastructure, making communications slow or impossible. Short messaging services (SMS)’s are a good way of combating this effect. The benefit of SMS’s is that they operates on the mobile carrier signal rather than the connection used for mobile voice and data, allowing messages to be delivered and received on mobile devices even when the networks are too congested to make voice calls (Anonymous, 2014). Emergency alerts are also able to be broadcasted this way. Those with smartphones can be sent instant notifications; keeping them updated with current information. These systems can be used to inform a large number of people all at the same time. Compared to previous crisis scenarios, it’s possible that some technologies could be used differently. With the expansion of available communication channels, reliance on some technologies may not be as abundant as it once was. Television and radios no longer bare the sole burden of emergency broadcast communications. This can free up the efforts of local news and radio stations. Fewer public inquires to contend with, increases the overall resources of the stations. People will still call the stations for information, but the number will be significantly lower than it was in previous scenarios. In some cases television and radio may not even be utilized. Advancement in technologies has allowed the home computer to become the central h ub for information in some homes, and amongst many college students. Computers can be used for watching television and listening to radio programming. This technology increases the need for broadcasting emergency information over internet channels. Media opportunities of this management crisis include redundancy broadcast. According to a study from the University of Texas, redundancy is often necessary to overcome the noise in people’s lives because it reveals that people’s urgency perception increased after receiving three messages (Stephens, K., Barrett, A., & Mahometa, M., 2013). Having the media broadcast continual information will help increase the urgency perception of the public. The more people that are made aware, the less potential there is for casualties. Social media could also be used as a way to broadcast emergency information to different groups. Sites like Facebook and Twitter, can be used to spread information. Users connected or â€Å"subscribed† to  different groups receive notifications from those groups. This allows for information to be spread quickly across a major network. Often groups will be connected to other groups. When one group learns of the emergency they can then share the information with another group, and so on. Crisis management is an urgent matter that must be handled swiftly and efficiently. Planning and communications are vital for coordinating efforts. To protect the public, organization and communication strategies and contingencies must be in place. Communication channels must be established and their advantages and challenges should be known. Applicable technologies and their utilizations should be identified. Media opportunities should also be known so that appropriate communication channels can be utilized as a means of keeping the public informed. References Anonymous. (2014). Dynmark International: SMS is most effective communication channel during emergency. (2010). Wireless News, Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/750383013?accountid=458 Du Pre, A. (2003). Communicating About Health (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: McGraw Hill HIPAA compliance. Corrections Forum, 12(1), 15-16. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/214412170?accountid=458 Seeger, M. W. (2006). Best Practices in Crisis Communication: An Expert Panel Process. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 34(3), 232-244. doi:10.1080/00909880600769944 Stephens, K., Barrett, A., & Mahometa, M. (2013). Organizational Communication in Emergencies: Using Multiple Channels and Sources to Combat Noise and Capture Attention. Human Communication Research, 39(2), 230-251. doi:10.1111/hcre.12002 Texas Department of Emergency Management (TDEM). (2014). Retrieved from http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/dem/ he Fiscal Year of 214.