The Power of a Little Girl’s Photo

The picture from Sudan, which won Kevin Carter a Pulitzer Prize in 1994, is memorable because it shows the seriousness of the situation in Sudan during that time; reflects the role of photographers in conveying the unknown circumstances to us; and   tells the impact of covering such events on photographers as manifested by Carter’s suicide. The winning picture depicts a pitiful, starving little Sudanese girl with her head bowed to the earth; obviously very weak and dying. Behind her back is a vulture which seems to be waiting for her to die so it could have something to eat.The story behind the picture is related by Mac Leod Scott in his article, The Life and Death of Kevin Carter. Mac Leod wrote how Carter was able to shot the photograph. Carter went to Sudan to photograph the rebel movement in the country. When he reached the country, he started taking pictures of famine victims. He saw lots of people who are starving. They were so thin and terribly malnourished. In his at tempt to find another view, he went to an open bush. While in the bush, he heard a soft whimpering sound and found a little girl trying to walk her way to the feeding center. He came nearer to photograph her.As he tried to shoot, a vulture landed just behind the girl. He captured the scene. Carter later confessed that he waited for another 20 minutes expecting the vulture to spread its wings but it did not. After taking all the shots that he needed, he chased the vulture away. He saw the helpless little girl attempting to walk toward the feeding center. Carter remained in his position under the tree. He smoked and cried. He became depressed afterwards.To stress why the Pulitzer-prized picture is memorable, four supporting claims are written below.Firstly, the picture itself shocked the world. According to Scott’s words, the photograph â€Å"made the world weep†. The emotional impact of the photograph is hard to forget.   In the picture, the vulture is just waiting fo r the girl to die so it could eat her. Imagine a big bird is preying on the flesh of a child for its food. Many find it gruesome as they don’t usually such kind of pictures and news in the headlines. The photo got many reactions from different people around the world. When someone sees it, there is something in the emotion that makes one feel more than pity for the little girl.Further, Scott reported how the picture was seen by millions of people.   The New York Times was looking for pictures about Sudan back then when Carter sold the photograph to the famous newspaper in March 26, 1993. The NY Times published the picture and many readers were overwhelmed by it. Many papers also published the picture and were stared by millions of people around the globe.The media picked up on the story and the picture. Those who saw the picture pity the Sudanese girl and wondered what have become of her. Hundreds of readers called the NY Times office to inquire what happened to the girl. T he NY Times said it did not know if she reaches the feeding center. The paper said that no one knows the fate of the poor little girl. Likewise, the readers also wanted to find out if Carter was able to help her in her struggle.Secondly, the picture reveals the real condition of Sudan during that time. The world came to know Sudan because of the picture. Sudan is a large country in North Africa. Until now, the political unrest in the country continues and the civil war is killing many people. On top of that, famine has been ravaging the land regularly. Based on an article by Bruce Nelan, published in Time Magazine on July 27, 1998, the country experiences famine every three or four years.Both the civil war and the famine resulted to the death of hundreds of thousands of Sudanese. The year 1994 marked the most devastating famine – the year when the picture was taken. Nelan added that hunger is always a threat in the country of roughly 40 million people. In 1989 alone, 250,000 died. In a related article, written by another Time reporter, Maryann London in 2001, about 1.5 million of people have already died either in the civil war or in famine. Sadly, the famine affects everyone most especially the children who are the most vulnerable segment of the population.Nelan further wrote that, usually, the only way to get to a feeding center is by walking which usually takes days or weeks to reach these centers run by international relief agencies. Mostly die along the way as what might have happened to the girl in the picture. According to Bill Keller, in his article in the Time Magazine published on July 29, 1994, the girl collapsed as she was on her way to the feeding center.Thirdly, the photographer who took the picture committed suicide by carbon poisoning three months after receiving his prize. Carter is from Johannesburg, South Africa. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography that year together with Paul Watson who took a picture from Somalia (Gord on, 1994).But, as Keller reported, the people blamed him for not helping the dying little girl. Carter’s action was criticized. Many suggested that he should have decided to help the little girl by giving her something to eat or by carrying her to the feeding center. He has the chance to help one starving little girl but he walked away after taking her picture.Moreover, as Scott said, Carter was haunted by what he had seen during his career- the violence, famine, dying people and war. Maybe he could not take it any more. Presently, there is a documentary film that seeks to explain Carter’s suicide, entitled as The Death of Kevin Carter: Casualty of the Bang Bang Club by Dan Krauss.On a personal note, I do not want to judge Carter as many have already blamed him in the past. However, I am one with others in saying that he should have somehow helped the dying girl by offering food or water. I do not know what was in his mind then. Blaming is the readers’ reaction on Carter which I think had much effect on him and his decision to end his life.Lastly, the picture highlights the role of photographers in showing the unknown to us. Before Carter took the picture, many people were not aware of the gravity of the situation in Sudan. Most people in the West are not even familiar with the country.Through the picture, the world suddenly realized that there is so much happening in many countries that we are not aware of. It is the photographers who connect us to the unfamiliar sufferings around the globe. They give us pictures which tell stories. As Susan Sontag wrote, â€Å"to collect photographs is to collect the world† and photographs provide evidences. More so, Nathan Thornburgh of Time Magazine penned that photography has the power to trap moment in time and he ascribed photojournalism as the perfect medium for showing stories. I say, without photographers, there would be no pictures to behold.Nevertheless, capturing the scenes of a war-tor n area or other violence-related activities is tough. From here, one can infer that covering such violence and heart-wrenching events have impact on the photographers as evidenced by Carter’s suicide. The drama and the difficulty of recording such delicate situations may have its negative influence on the photographers. It can be noted that Carter sunk into depression before he committed suicide. The violence, famine, and dying children- Carter remembered while he lived- and made him more depressed. He maybe was too sad. He might have remembered the dying little Sudanese girl from time to time.In conclusion, I guess the picture is powerful enough that’s why it is too memorable. My reasons are all cited above. Pictures show us reality. And the photographers who took them for us deserved to be affirmed as they serve as our link to many realities around the world. As what the picture of the dying Sudanese girl tells us, we can say that photographers are very important as they show us the different situations in the world. Without them, there will be no pictures which will show us how blessed we are because we have more than enough food to eat and how other people in the world are suffering because of famine. Without the pictures and the photographers, we will never know what is really happening. We will remain ignorant of the people who need our help – even just for a piece of food.Works CitedGordon, Jim.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Judges have a difference of opinion†¦.†Ã‚  News Photographer  49.n5  (May 1994):  4(1).  General OneFile.  Gale.  Northern Virginia Community College Annandale campus.  21 Apr. 2008.Keller, Bill.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Kevin Carter, a Pulitzer winner for Sudan photo, is dead at 33.†The New York Times  143  (July 29, 1994):  C16(N) pB8(L).  Expanded Academic ASAP.  Gale.  Northern Virginia Community College Annandale campus.  21 Apr. 2008  .London, Maryann B. â€Å"Baroness who Frees Slaves†. 19 March 2001. Time Magazine. 30 April 2008

New Jersey’s Proposals to Cut Health Care Spending

In virtually every corner of the United States, State governments are grappling with the inevitable challenge of deriving a balanced budget given the outstanding deficits in revenues, a scenario largely precipitated by the financial crisis that has hit the nation. New Jersey is no exception. Indeed, state officials have increasingly found themselves faced with the reality of soliciting sufficient revenues to fund the topmost priority issues, unlike in previous budget allocations. In an attempt to draw a balanced and fair budget for the 2010 fiscal year, various proposals have been advanced.One of the efforts that can not escape notice is the idea of cutting funding for the state’ FamilyCare. The proposed strategy in realizing such an objective involves freezing the enrollment of parents between 150 and 200 percent of the federal poverty level and the implementation of co-payments for individuals in Medicaid and the AIDS Drug Distribution Program (ADDP) (NJ for Health Care, 200 9). Indeed, the budget dilemma facing the state is understandable, given the severe economic conditions.Whereas the idea of cutting monetary allocations on some items would suffice in minimizing the critical budget deficits that are essential in facilitating the advancement of the state’s yearly programs, adopting a rational approach based on critical evaluation reveals the utter need to reconsider the said proposals. In an economy where a significant majority is struggling to meet the high costs of living, the proposal to cut back FamilyCare enrollment of parents is evidently a grave issue that can be described as a matter of life and death.The fact that a healthy population is vital in the enhancement of economic prosperity is an indisputable reality that the state authorities embrace. In essence, the provision of Medicaid prescription drug benefits as well as the upgrading of Drug Distribution Programs for AIDS patients is essential in promoting health and wellness among N ew Jersey residents. Amidst the tough economic times, the advocacy of a sound healthcare policy is of critical significance. As such, the proposal to cut back funding on health-related programs like FamilyCare, Medicaid and ADDP should be inevitably reconsidered.The Significance of the Proposed Changes on Health Care The availability of quality and affordable health care services is necessary in the advancement of individual well-being. From a medical perspective, the client (patient) is the most important person. A general look at the proposed cuts and co-pays gives the indication that they will affect the ability of individuals to meet health care costs at a time when the cost of living has reached significantly high levels.In reality, the proposals will have a significant impact on health-seeking behavior, which constitutes a direct concern for the nursing and medical professions. The Impact of the Proposals from Positive and Negative Perspectives Generally speaking, the idea of coming up with a single healthcare policy that is not only budget-friendly, but which adequately addresses the health needs of the American population has remained elusive.At the national as well state level, financial analysts have year in year out grappled with the task of allocating funds to diverse priority issues. The idea of substituting certain financial allocations with others discerned to be of more socioeconomic consequence, often with mixed repercussions, has emerged as one of the most popular trends. Indeed, years of research and analysis has depicted the initiative of cutting health care spending on specific items as a double-edged sword. Positive ConsequencesOne of the healthcare policy issues that have been extensively studied is the effect of Medicaid drug co-payments. Examining the results reveals a significant degree of consistency in as far as the programs’ ability to minimize the overall healthcare expenditure is concerned. A longitudinal survey carried ou t in thirty eight states revealed that co-payments play an important role in barring individuals entitled to Medicaid benefits from filling prescriptions during a particular year, holding all other factors constant (Mason, Leavitt, and Chaffee, 2007).The predominant argument advanced in support of such behavioral trends is that beneficiaries of government-sponsored healthcare programs are inherently motivated to excessively utilize healthcare services funded by the government, which include ADDP and Medicaid, when compared with those with private insurance (National Organization for Women, 2007). By extension therefore, implementing co-pays suffice in instilling an increased sense of responsibility on beneficiaries of such programs, thus minimizing the tendency to seek unnecessary medical care.In essence, the rationale behind the suggestion to implement co-pays is based on their underlying assumption that the move would discourage unnecessary consumption of the Medicaid and ADDP pro grams which have traditionally been sponsored by the New Jersey government. In the long-run, the move is expected to save the state from excessive expenditures, and the arising funds directed to other priority issues. Negative Consequences A closer evaluation depicts the proposed healthcare cutbacks as likely to precipitate numerous unintended consequences in the long-term.For instance, it would expose the residents of New Jersey to increased health risks and dangers. This is particularly so considering the vulnerable population groups such as the poorest of the poor, the physically and mentally challenged, and those suffering from terminal illnesses. According to preliminary projections, the Medicaid proposal will affect an estimated 418,000 of the most vulnerable individuals, while the ADDP one will affect about 7,500 individuals registered under the program (NJ for Health Care, 2009).Indeed, New Jersey’s FamilyCare program acts as the principal health insurance plan for lo w-income families within the state (Castro, 2007). Thus, the decision to close the insurance programs and implement co-payments will have far-reaching consequences on health-seeking behavior amongst these vulnerable groups. The most obvious result would be to deter patients from seeking healthcare at the appropriate times. This would serve to exacerbate their health conditions, and majority would definitely end up requiring specialized hospitalization and emergency attendance.For instance, baring individuals with HIV/AIDS from accessing the AIDS Drug Distribution Program and imposing co-pays implies that a significant majority from low-income households could fail to access the life sustaining drugs as well as the related services necessary for positive living. While the assumption that depicts co-pays as serving to reduce unnecessary expenditures for individuals entitled to state-sponsored medical programs like Medicaid and ADDP could hold under certain circumstances, there is also a strong counterargument that the opposite could be true.Denial of the existing health insurance program (FamilyCare) which is fairly affordable would precipitate avoidable scenarios such as healthcare emergencies as well as serious illnesses (National Organization for Women, 2007). On another front, raising co-payments encourages patients to avoid cost-effective healthcare, and instead, seek medical attendance when their health status has significantly deteriorated. Examining the previous results of implementing co-pays gives provides strong indications that they indeed cause disadvantaged and marginalized groups to forego healthcare services, even those often described as fundamentally essential.In the last financial year for instance, the state of Oregon eliminated co-pays for prescription drugs after it emerged that the state’s Medicaid program co-payments were precipitating significant shifts in treatment patterns (Mason, Leavitt, and Chaffee, 2007). According to an inv estigation carried out in the same year, Medicaid co-pays for low-income individuals not only failed to reduce health costs as envisioned in the initial plan, but also precipitated clients to prefer a waiver of the co-pay as opposed to seeking medical services. The overall result of such tendencies is to inevitably increase the associated healthcare bills.Thus by implementing the FamilyCare, Medicaid and AIDS Drugs Distribution programs, the state of New Jersey would end up incurring more costs. From a practical point of view, this increased burden would be transferred to the ordinary taxpayer who has to pay additional taxes so as to cater for the unplanned healthcare expenditures. According to an analytical survey conducted by the Hispanic Directors Association of New Jersey (HDANJ), the proposed cuts are indeed shortsighted, and will most likely have severe financial implications (NJ for Health Care, 2009).This is not only in reference to the direct costs incurred in curative care , but as well those initiatives deemed to alleviate disease causation and spread. A case in point is when we consider the possible costs of patients who contract infectious diseases like the HIV virus, simply because they lack concise awareness of how the infection is transmitted. Similarly, it would be necessary to embrace a relatively new approach in the institutionalization of mentally sick clients who fail to receive appropriate outpatient counseling (Castro, 2007).In practice, these and other cases would most likely make the state and county governments incur additional and unplanned healthcare costs. Why the Nursing Professional Body Should Oppose the Proposed Cuts and Co-pays Examining the available body of evidence provides sufficient proof that the proposals to freeze the enrollment of parents in FamilyCare and implementation co-payments for individuals in Medicaid and the AIDS Drug Distribution Program are not only unnecessary, but also poses unprecedented health risks and dangers to the residents of New Jersey.It is imperative that nursing professional organizations throughout the state join hands with the rest of the citizenry in ensuring that these proposals are not implemented, considering the pivotal nature of the nursing profession in advocating for sound healthcare policy and promoting individual wellbeing in society. Indeed, the nursing fraternity should fight these cuts by using whichever means possible to influence state authorities to safeguard the health for all residents through the restoration of funding for the State’s FamilyCare, Medicaid and AIDS Drug Distribution Programs.This could be achieved by heeding the recently derived initiative of making phone calls to the state headquarters so as to express dissatisfaction with the proposals. Rationale for the Decision The proposals to cut health care spending on programs like Medicaid and ADDP in the state should not have been advanced at such an inappropriate timing. Indeed, the c urrent financial crisis facing the nation as a whole has not spared New Jersey. Examining the unemployment rates reveals that they have attained record-high proportions.As more and more citizens are laid off thus losing individual and family healthcare insurance, the situation is becoming more and more desperate for many residents, particularly for low-income households. At a time when living costs have attained unprecedented levels, the move to cutback enrollment in the State’s FamilyCare for poor working adults as well as the initiative to implement co-payments for individuals who least can afford them could not be less untimely and misplaced.To further highlight why the proposed cuts and co-pays are unwarranted, it is worthwhile mentioning that New Jersey has indeed received unanticipated federal funding aimed at stimulating the state’s economic growth. Recently, for instance, the state received a windfall of an estimated two billion dollars (for Medicaid) and anoth er one hundred million dollars (for FamilyCare) in additional federal funding, both of which were unexpected (). Despite the fact that these funds were largely utilized to correct the deficits in the state budget, it would have been similarly important to use a certain percentage cushion the health cutbacks.Indeed, this was the actual intention of the Congress. By utilizing the additional funds in appropriate ways, New Jersey would have probably won itself even more federal funding to meet its priority issues. In a nutshell therefore, implementing the said proposals is certainly a misplaced option, considering that it would have been avoided had the sound allocation mechanisms been employed. According to recent projections, an estimated seventy thousand people would be removed from the FamilyCare program, the only major health insurance scheme for low-income households should the stated proposals go through (NJ for Health Care, 2009).Likewise, the proposed move to implement Medicaid co-payments will affect the majority of those it is intended for: the elderly, poor, and children. The increased premiums and co-pays for health care have the implication that these vulnerable groups will be unable to access and afford essential medical services. Indeed, thousands of children in New Jersey could end up losing coverage for essential health care services such as payments for hearing aids, eyeglasses, and speech therapy among other necessary therapies hardly affordable to low-income households.In addition, implementation of co-pays for patients registered in the ADDP means that the less disadvantaged may experience unprecedented challenges in accessing drugs, counseling services, and any other necessary therapies and therapies. Overall, the implementation of the proposed cuts and co-pays make it hard for New Jersey residents to access quality and affordable health care which has often been cited as a necessary prerequisite for economic growth and development. As evide nce from the Oregon case where similar cutbacks were implemented, the overall state expenditure on healthcare is likely to increase, rather than decrease.Though proposal to implement FamilyCare cuts and Medicaid programs co-payments may lead to reduced costs in the short-term, the unintended consequences such as the tendency by patients to seek medical services when their health condition has deteriorated will mean additional in the long-term. Rather than the envisaged intention of lowering costs, the implementation of the proposals will only serve to place extra pressure on the state coffers, which in turn will be redirected to ordinary taxpayers.As New Jersey’s Senator Joseph Vitale recently observed, not only will vulnerable families be affected, but the state economy will also be hurt (NJ for Health Care, 2009). According to state projections, investing a single dollar in FamilyCare generates about four dollars in business activity, which translates to a loss estimated at forty million dollars (The Star-Ledger Editorial Board, 2009). Evidently therefore, the implementation of the proposed cuts and co-pays will have vast, disastrous and multiple consequences on individual families and the state as a whole.Those arguing for the implementation of Medicaid and ADDP co-payments also seem to neglect the essentiality of good health. By making healthcare services less affordable particularly for low-income families, the proposed co-pays will push individuals to the edge where they will continuously face one inevitable dilemma: that of choosing between basic necessities like food and housing on the one hand, and heath care needs on the other. The overall result would be to discourage health-seeking behavior.By implication, the nursing and medical professional fraternities will be faced with the increased task of attending to patients in critical conditions, which puts unwarranted burdens on an already strained health care system. Conclusion Considering the t ough economic conditions that prevail in the state of New Jersey, it is imperative that the proposals to implement cuts for FamilyCare and co-pays for Medicaid and ADDP programs be reconsidered.Particularly for individual families earning low incomes, the implementation of such initiatives presents a situation where one is increasingly faced with the dilemma of choosing between heath care needs and other necessities of life. Considering that the harsh economic conditions may force the State’s residents to opt to satisfy the more pressing needs of food and rent at the expense of health care services, it is necessary to reexamine the proposals.In a nutshell, the New Jersey State authorities should focus on expanding health care insurance coverage for all residents irrespective of their socioeconomic status or race, rather than suggesting cuts and co-pays which will not only harm individual families, but the wellbeing of the state as a whole. References Castro, R. J. (2007). Tim e to Keep the FamilyCare Promise. New Jersey Policy Perspective. http://njcitizenaction. org/hcfallingshort. pdf Coalition for a Moral Budget. (2009). Press release: Medicaid and ADDP co-pays will harm the most vulnerable New Jerseyans call upon legislature to eliminate co-pays from budget.Mason, D. J. , Leavitt, J. K. , and Chaffee, M. W. (2007). Policy & politics in nursing and health care. (5th ed). Edinburgh : Elsevier Mosby. National Organization for Women. (2007). Tax cuts hurt the poor. Opposing Viewpoints: Poverty. Ed. Viqi Wagner. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2007. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Apollo Library. Retrieved June 25, 2009 from http://find. galegroup. com/ovrc/infomark. do? &contentSet=GSRC&type=retrieve&tabID=T010&prodId=OVRC&docId=EJ3010159287&source=gale&srcprod=OVRC&userGroupName=apollo&version=1.0 NJ for Health Care (2009). Senator Vitale, Chair NJ Senate Health Committee stands with advocates to oppose cut backs to NJ FamilyCare, Medicaid and the Aids Drug Distribution Program. May 12, 2009. Retrieved June 25, 2009 from http://njcitizenaction. org/hcpress20090512a. html The Star-Ledger Editorial Board. (May 26, 2009). N. J. FamilyCare funding: An avoidable budget cut. The Star-Ledger. Retrieved June 25, 2009 from http://blog. nj. com/njv_editorial_page/2009/05/nj_familycare_funding_an_avoid. html

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Part III Marketing Plan - Essay Example Through sites such as Facebook and Twitter, I will post pictures of Lagree Fitness facility`s new product that is â€Å"The Megaformer â„ ¢Ã¢â‚¬  with detailed information on the efficiency and importance of this machine as opposed to others. Through likes and positive comments on social sites, I will determine the success of Facebook and Twitter in advertising my products. I will also monitor the traffic to the page of the advert to determine its success. As a result, I will increase sales of my products and services. Social media advertisement is free. Thus, I will not have major things about it in the budget. Equally important, it advisable to use sales promotion as a strategy for increasing sales of products and profit margin. Most companies promote their goods or services through various channels such as media and non-media. Moreover, according to Kazmi and Batra (2009), efficient and appropriate sales promotion results in increased value of products since it is used to persuade and inform the audience of the importance and purpose of the product and services. Similarly, through sales promotion I can reach a wider audience and educate them on the importance of going to the gym. I will encourage free visits to Lagree Fitness Facility by various people to give them an overview of what I offer and its advantages over other similar services in the market. Through these free visits, they will have a feel the new service that is â€Å"The Lagree Fitness Method†and give an immediate response. Thus, I will immediately know the reaction of my target customers and get vital information on whether to alter some elements in my services or not. Furthermore, through promotion I will also get an opportunity to sell some of my services to various people at a subsidized fee. Additionally, I will evaluate the success of this marketing strategy through observing the number of visits

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Postgraduate International Marketing Coursework Assignment - Essay Example The article identifies five key issues a company must take into consideration and adapt to in order to participate in the high demanding business field. These are (i) a core value strategy, (ii) development of a clear market strategy, (iii) integrating an Internet-based technology strategy, (iv) managing key organizational process strategy to achieve total integration among business functions (v) and manage change strategy programs in the form of internal marketing (Piercy, 2002). The aim of this paper is to evaluate how the former key issues reflect the constantly evolving changes of the marketplace and how much these contribute to the success of a high standards company. The critical evaluation is based on relevant articles and real-life examples. An estimation and personal viewpoint is supplied at the end of the paper. The key to success as far as value-based strategies are concerned is the constant evolvement and adaptation to offer the customer something new. Recycling of the same product or service over and over again is not competitive in the marketplace anymore. Customer needs call for innovative ideas which treat the customer as a market selling strategies aware person (Piercy, 2002). According to Piercy also, the customer retention relationship, first invented in 1990's, is based on profitability rather than a love level; in this case the customer is viewed as a stupid profit machine that requires little or no attention and is only valued for the profit they leave the company with. The example of Toyota selling cars with no interaction at all with the company stuff is a good example. In this era everything around the customer was about branding; the brand is the selling product and it sells good since customers seem to prefer famous brand which they equate to high performance. Customer need s and tastes however change and a high competing company has to evolve to in order to meet these needs of Relationship Marketing. According to a research value-based marketing for fed-beef cattle using real-time ultrasound and graded animal relations for the selection of animals to slaughter increased profit range of $10.61-27.26 per head from using relations data, $9.04-16.75 per head from using RTU measures and $11.27-27.93 per head from using both to selectively market beef animals. Building a relationship where the customer satisfaction is the core product sells pays off and is the main criterion to a successful company. Value Strategy Value strategy defines monitoring of the customer needs to provide the products a services of importance to them. Value strategy comes in to bring the customer in the focus of the firm selling strategy and off the competition among organizations. The main issues we confront as far as value strategy is concerned is that there is no standard way of estimating the value attached to the customer and even though past techniques are thought as obsolete there are still many companies that have a big with low price products and friendly customer approach. Put in other words, it is really difficult to find the trick that will work for customers. Customers buy on personal values basis: religious, spiritual, environmental, or

Earth Science Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Earth Science - Essay Example Moreover, an analysis of current strategies as well as alternative energy dependence will also be discussed. It is hope of this author that through an analysis of these different mechanisms, the reader will be more fully able to integrate an understanding and appreciation for the fragile environment that humans currently exist within. Firstly, it should be understood by the reader/researcher that many natural processes that take place within the current system have a contributing effect upon the mass of CO2 that is released into the air atmosphere; thereby directly contributing to the greenhouse effect that impacts the planet as a whole. Recent research into this topic has indicated that processes such as volcanic eruptions or even the methane gas released by the Earth’s bovine population have an even greater impact upon overall CO2 levels than all human activity within any given year. However, this should not be seen to delegitimize the processes whereby humans can provide ad ditional negative impacts upon the global environment. Due to the fact that the Earth is ultimately a closed system, it can only integrate a certain amount of change before negative impacts are seen. As such the Earth’s ecological system might be able to integrate with volcanic eruptions or the methane gas produced by cows; however, further integration of the ever-increasing levels of human CO2 emissions is likely well beyond the capabilities of the system as a whole. Although human CO2 emissions have commonly been viewed within the context of emissions from internal combustion engines, the fact of the matter is that industrialized nations as well as power generation from a variety of sources, rainforest instruction, and a litany of other activities contribute to the overall levels of CO2 that are produced within any given year. Due to the fact that the earth’s population has continued to increase at an exponential rate of growth over the past centuries, it is only rea sonable to assume that the impacts of technological advancements as well as further urbanization and construction play a prominent role in the overall level and extent to which humans affect the environment. Whereas the preceding analysis has focused solely upon whether or not, and to what extent, humans’ impact upon the global environment is, the proceeding section will seek to place a level of focus upon some of the strategies and means by which humans can seek to wean themselves from fossil fuel dependence and become more reliant upon alternative energy. Whereas few individuals promote industrialization as a means of promoting the global environment, the most rational and reasonable strategy is to seek to find alternative means to continue the technological and industrialization advancements while at the same time promoting the environment. One of the most powerful mechanisms to accomplish such an end is by focusing upon the means of energy production that humans so readil y consume. Some of the most effective means of accomplishing this are by integrating a further reliance upon solar, nuclear, wind and other alternative means of energy production. Although the â€Å"dirty† forms of energy generation provide for the current needs of the system, they have a massively negative impact upon the environment.

Legalization of marijuna Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Legalization of marijuna - Essay Example A professor of economics at California State University suggests that the legalization of marijuana would have considerable positive economic consequences. The taxation and regulation processes involved with decriminalization would provide the federal government with $6.2 billion worth of tax revenues (Grammy 2). When adjusting for inflation, this total increases to over $8 billion (Grammy 2). For just one state, California, legalization is estimated to be an opportunity to produce an additional $151.8 million (Grammy 2). Another economist significantly inflates the aforementioned projections, suggesting that in California alone, legalization would provide the state with between $1.5 billion and $4 billion of new tax revenues (Wolff 2). These are significant improvements in the strength of state level economies which, under current prohibitive economic environments, are not achievable through any reputable taxation program. Additionally, marijuana prohibition under the current nation al drug enforcement policy is considerably expensive. In Alaska, these costs total $24 million (Bates v). None of these costs have been able to be compensated for with grants or imposed fines associated with marijuana consumption. A professor of economics at Boston University estimates that in Massachusetts, the costs of enforcement equal $120.6 million (Miron 1). The state-level expenditures for enforcing marijuana prohibition are paid by taxpayers, which represents a burden for hard-working Americans that must service enforcement programs whether or not they agree with the policies. These are significant state-level costs that could easily be avoided by legalizing the substance. Furthermore, the criminal justice system is fraught with problems associated with prison over-crowding, which also imposes costs on society and state/local budgets. Many local jails and prisons are at maximum capacity, continuing to be a problem as non-violent offenders arrested for marijuana production an d consumption contributes to this problem. The estimated costs of police protection under the prohibitive policies are $2.55 billion annually (Grammy 2). Judicial and legal costs under this policy are estimated at $7.76 billion annually (Grammy 2). Furthermore, the total cost of national corrections is projected to be $776.2 million (Grammy 2). These are rather outrageous costs that are imposed that could be better allocated to more socially-centric programs such as violent offender rehabilitation or other preventative programs that would provide better protections to society against violence. Taxpayers should not be financially supporting these inflated and rather ridiculous costs that are incurred for a policy that is largely ineffective. The White House, however, is a stoic opponent of legalizing marijuana, despite the aforementioned financial gains that could be incurred through legalization. The Office of the President believes that legalization would do little to prevent furth er drug violence. The White House is firm that members of drug cartels would simply attempt to create an undercutting pricing structure to ensure they maintained their long-standing market share on marijuana sales (ONDCP 3). Drug cartels are usually involved in violent behavior and, under the White House’

ATM Services Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

ATM Services - Assignment Example After selection of the withdraw option, at this point the user is requested to select the type of account he or she is willing to withdraw from i.e. saving the account, fixed account, and deposit account. After selecting a type of account you wish to withdraw from, you enter the amount you wish to withdraw and submit to bank database for verification. The system verifies whether the amount submitted by the bank customer is sufficient for withdrawal, if not, the customer is requested to enter different amount whereas if the amount entered is approved by the bank or there is sufficient cash, the system sends the account number, PIN, choosen account and the amount in the bank which approves the transaction thus dispensing the correct amount requested by the user and issues a receipt else if the transaction is disapproved because of the incorrect PIN, the disapproval are reported to the system thus initiating Failed Transaction extension. Therefore, informing the bank whether the transac tion has been approved or not; it is completed the bank debits the customer’s for the amount. A transaction involved when depositing dollar amount starts with a session when a customer chooses from the possible transaction types indicated or shown by an ATM machine or system. Therefore, he or she chooses the type of account he or she is wishing to deposit to form the various menu accounts option given and then he proceeds by choosing the amount of dollar through pressing the key or typing digits of the amount to be deposited. During this moment, the bank customer information is sent to the bank database for verification i.e. user card number, PIN, the amount to be deposited, and amount to the bank.

Money and Morality Essay Example for Free

Money and Morality Essay MONEY AND MORALITY: Gifts of eternal truth in moments of the mundane By Cheryl Leis, PhD, Management Consultant/Practical Philosopher As inhabitants of this 21st century Western world, we all have to deal with money. We participate in the world of commerce as a means to obtain those things considered necessities of life. Money plays the role of the most commonly accepted means in this giving and getting from others. And the more money one has, the greater one’s power to regulate the particulars of survival – one’s own and that of others. We use money to participate in the exchange of products or services, individually and corporately – whether employed by or leading an organization. In some cases these organizations are publicly funded non-profits, and in other cases they are private, for-profit ventures. Money and morality is a topic that has surfaced on many occasions in my line of work. One such instance was during a contract with CBC TV to work on the development of a six-part national series titled: â€Å"Beautiful, Filthy Money and the Search for Soul. † The title itself speaks to the ambivalent nature of our responses to money and its presence in our lives. As part of the contract, I appeared as a guest on the panel, where I was asked to complete the following sentence: â€Å"Money is†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Yes, what is money? My response was: Money is a tool for finding out who we really are. What you do with money, and how you live with money’s presence in your life, tells a lot about your values. Or, as Ralph Waldo Emerson puts it: â€Å"A dollar is not value, but representative of value, and, at last, of moral values. † This is apparently pretty close to what Buddhists believe about money. There are times when many of us are faced with an imbalance between money and morality and find ourselves asking in some form or another: How we can put â€Å"Money† and â€Å"Morality† in the same sentence and not end up with an ethical contradiction? The incompatibility of these Mwords is an inherent, yet complex part of being human. And it is only when we face the truth of their incompatibility that we can come to understand the utter necessity of their coexistence. The challenge stems from the fact that there is both a spiritual side and a material side to our situation. When we don’t bring the spiritual side into dialogue with the material side, problems result. This is true for individuals as well as organizations. Think about Enron – what do you think their way of dealing with money says about the moral values that guided senior management there? Each of us could turn the question on our own lives. Money, in and of itself, is neutral. It has no intrinsic value, but is a mere yardstick of value, a means of measuring or comparing in the exchange of one thing for another. Money â€Å"belongs to the class of great mental inventions, known as 1 measures†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Measures of distance – the meter or mile – span the gulf between two things or places yet are not themselves things or places. Similarly, money brings things of different value together without becoming one or the other. † Because money is merely a way of measuring, it is in itself, therefore, not real. Thus, money is both neutral and unreal. Nevertheless, we often seem oblivious to this unreal nature of money and equate it with things that are very real, like our own values. But if, as Aristotle says, â€Å"[a]ll things that are exchanged 2 must be somehow comparable,† what are we saying about our perception of reality when we measure our sense of self-worth by our net-worth? While money is a measure of value, that value can change depending on what the market is willing to bear. It’s rather similar to the story of the emperor’s new clothes. As soon as we agree something no longer has value, our whole perception of it changes. This change in the perception of the value of something affects humans psychologically and emotionally. So when the value of stocks falls through the floor, people react in fear or paranoia. Conversely, when stocks rise like crazy, there is frenzy fuelled by hope and even greed. What then, motivates our relationship with money? With what intention do we strive to accumulate wealth? Do we recognize what our relationship with money says about our values? Money Obsessing For some the question of ethics and money leads down another path. In â€Å"Is Lucre Really 3 that Filthy? † Craig Cox, executive editor of Utne magazine, reflects on his own journey from disdain for the almighty dollar as a child of the 60s to becoming – of all things – â€Å"bourgeios,† earning money and learning to manage it. There was the example by a leading voice of the counter-culture of the day, Allen Ginsberg, who wrote in Howl! of burning all his money in a wastebasket. Times have changed – even for Ginsberg, 1. David Appelbaum, â€Å"Money and the City,† Parabola, Volume XVI, No. 1 (Spring 1991), 40. 2. Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics 1133a 18. 3. Craig Cox, â€Å"Is Lucre Really That Filthy,† Utne Reader (July-August, 2003), 63. who â€Å"†¦of course, sold his papers to Stanford University for 4 nearly a million bucks. † The irony, points out Cox, is that social justice activists who want to eschew wealth in order to bring about social justice and help the poor are in fact helping people to attain the very thing they, the activists, abhor: a comfortable life. He sets up an interesting dilemma when he insists that â€Å"If you insist on embracing poverty in your own life, how do you become a credible advocate for folks who would do almost anything to 5 escape it? † True enough, there are those who become enslaved to money in their attachment to mere accumulation of more and more capital. However, there are also those who are enslaved to money in their ascetic avoidance of it. Both are obsessive behaviours: obsessed with having money or obsessed with avoiding it – like the alcoholic’s family that is obsessed with avoiding alcohol. In neither case is money at the service of the individual as a means of providing for the necessities of life; rather, the individual is at the service of money. Our emotional responses to this neutral thing called money often lead to an automatic attachment of value-statements. We grab on to labels such as â€Å"evil,† â€Å"bewitching,† â€Å"aweinspiring,† or â€Å"filthy lucre. † Respect for money is replaced with either worship or condemnation of it. Emotional and value-laden responses are also evident when conversation turns towards money and self-righteous posturing rises very quickly to the surface with comments like: â€Å"Well, I don’t soil my hands with money. † Or: â€Å"I certainly don’t 4. Ibid 5. Ibid work for money. † A lot of judging of others happens: â€Å"He’s just in it for the money. † Or: â€Å"She’d do anything for money. † This judgmental posturing also leads to ideological positioning. Anyone who focuses on making money is immediately dubbed a capitalist and conversely, anyone who speaks of communal sharing is dubbed a socialist. Subtleties are lost and conversation ends right there. No dialogue is possible. We move from love of money to love of ideology, where anyone who thinks differently than I do about money is immediately evil. Spiritual Moments of Mundane Existence To judge from one side or the other is to forget that we inherently have one foot in heaven and one foot in the mud of the earth below. The challenge is to live in both simultaneously. Living as a human being means learning to deal with money – whether one has a lot or a little matters not. It will do us no good to merely pursue a spiritual life unless we are living equally and simultaneously in the material world. Christians are exhorted to remember that even Bishops, or spiritual leaders, are told to balance both. â€Å"For if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how can he take care of God’s church? † (1 Timothy 3:5) A life of wholeness, or one in which the spiritual and the material are in balance, guarantees freedom from distortion. Yet the need for wholeness is also at the heart of the contradiction. The spiritual and the material are of entirely different natures. Not only must they live in the same world, both the spiritual and the human sides of our existence must also have 2 their own identity and remain in full relationship with each other. We have to work at accepting this incompatibility for what it is. These are separate parts of who we are and of our daily existence. These separate parts are in a dynamic relationship one to the other, like notes in a beautiful song: you might have harmony, but you still have separate notes. If they are all the same note, there is not harmony, there is unison. Harmony has tension. It is beautiful because of the tension. Unison is nice, but harmony is richer. Morality And Business Just as it will not help us on an individual level to focus only on the one side of our nature at the expense of the other, likewise it will not help to divide our culture into the spirit-lead and others. It reminds me of a story I recently heard: Two men met for the first time, in of all places, a church on a Sunday morning. The one asked the other: â€Å"So what do you do? † To which the second responded: â€Å"I work as a director of XYZ division of a business. † â€Å"You’re in business? † quipped the first, who was a teacher, â€Å"Oh that’s too bad. † The work of the businessman was seen as inherently less worthy. How far could the conversation go after that? It is a difficult chasm. One finds a classic case of a religious-affiliated venture that refused to acknowledge that it must run itself like a business. After decades of mismanagement, the publishing house cried out to its constituency to get it out of a multi-million debt. One former board member was even quoted in a church publication as saying that this was seen as â€Å"a church venture, not a business venture. † The mistake lay in this eitheror posture. There was no acknowledgment that gifts and talents and skills of different sorts were needed. The disdain goes the other way too. One has only to think of the now infamous corporations like Enron or Livenet, where the situation is merely the reverse: a business enterprise that lacks spiritual sense, and results in moral bankruptcy. If our moral principles give us the framework within which we operate and the ability to continue operating depends upon financial viability, then integrity is automatically lost for any organization when either half of the morality and money equation is lost. Balancing the Equation Only when we pay attention and only when we come to recognize the true place and role we have allowed money in our lives, only then can we possibly hope to reach a deeper understanding of how important a balance between the material and the spiritual is. This deeper understanding may only come in flashes, only fleetingly. Yet the truth that is understood in an instant opens us up to the truth of our everyday actions and existence. In other words, we must become conscious, we must become aware of our human condition – this life lived in a dynamic balance between the spiritual and the material – and be attentive to both. But instead of giving the right amount of attention to those mundane and material aspects of life like taxes and monetary demands put upon us, we often get caught in a bias against money. We would rather point fingers and condemn in broad strokes than engage in dialogue of particular money matters. We would rather alienate than seek to understand. Instead of casting judgment or pretending we, personally, are above being affected by money, we need to face our human situation and recognize we live in two worlds simultaneously. Maybe then we would do a better job of living in both. â€Å"If great truth does not enter into our relation to money, it cannot 6 enter our lives. † And if we do not allow ourselves to face that truth, the negative aspects of our relationship to money will sneak up on us unawares. Bad debts, overdue bills, or an empty fridge will suddenly demand so much of our human attention that we will have no energy left to focus on matters of the spirit. Undeniably, it can be a challenge to live out our moral principles in the marketplace; it is inherent in the challenge of being spiritual and human at the same time. Not giving enough attention to either the spiritual or the material, on an individual or an organizational level, leads to bankruptcy, whether moral or financial. In his book, Business and the Buddha, Dr. Lloyd Field states, â€Å"greed is a choice. † We can choose to allow our insatiable desires to form our intentions or we can choose to recognize where our intentions are ultimately leading us. It is not money or wealth or even the capitalist system that is the problem, he argues. Buddhists regard wealth as neither bad nor negative. Rather, the problem sits plainly with us, human beings, and the intentions which we allow to motivate our thoughts, our emotions and our actions. It cannot be stated any clearer than said in this book: we are exhorted to â€Å"continually make the connection between money and human values. † And then the question that really gets to the heart of the matter: â€Å"What price do we put on our ethics? † We will need to move past our biases and disdain for those whom we consider to be on the other side of the money and morality equation and allow moments of eternal truth and even grace to infiltrate our discussions and our questions. When all gifts and skills are welcome and when integrity is our priority, then there will be the possibility of a true and dynamic relationship between money matters and morality. 6. Needleman, 265.

President of Venezuel Essay Example for Free

President of Venezuel Essay The current president of Venezuela named Hugo Rafael Chavez was born in Venezuela’s western grassland region on July 28, 1954. Socialism, Latin American integration and anti imperialism are promoted by the president because he was also leading the Bolivarian Revolution. Neo-liberal globalization and U. S. foreign policy were the main critics of the president. His parents were schoolteacher which is not a lucrative profession by any mean in Venezuela. He was belong to a poor family besides this in Venezuela dark skinned dark skin people faces strong racial divisions and white skinned people are elite. When he was seventeen years old he enrolled at Venezuela â€Å"Academy of Military Sciences† and studied engineering. After completion of acidic career he joined he joint military for several months. Chavez was immediately popular with his fellow students, he and his fellow students developed a left nationalist doctrine that they termed Bolivarianism inspired by his real hero Simon Bolivar, the father of Venezuelan independence and a figure of legendary dimensions. He was an excellent player of baseball and he played a lot for team called the Criollitos de Venezuela. Moreover, upon completion of his studies, Chavez entered the active military service. His military career lasted for 17 years, during this time he held variety of posts, seniorities and commands. He was also the part of the lectureship and was famous for his fiercy lecturing style and radical critique of Venezuelan government and society. With his natural charisma, he brings closer soldiers to his ideas, and built a network of supporters within the army. In 1983 he established MBR 200, the revolutionary Bolivarian movement (Movimiento Bolivariano Revolucionario 200), 1983 being the 200th anniversary of Simon Bolivars birth. Simon Bolivar: Influent Al Person in Hugo Chavezs Life Major influence on Chavez came from Simon Bolivar, from where Bolivarian movement was developed. The memory of Simon Bolivar has yet kept alive in Venezuela, the revolution of 19th century which led the sub continent independence battle against Spain. Simon Bolivar was born in Spain and many of his followers were native of Venezuela. Nonetheless, Simon Bolivar remained to be a significant and founding myth for the Venezuela institute. Particularly, his arm forces helped him a lot to bind them together even though of political instability. Chavez when he was a school child during the periods of 1950’s and 1960’s in the school studied a lot Bolivar’s feats against the Spaniards. The defining event in his life came when in 1989 the economy was devastated by rising oil prices which led President Carlos Andres Perez to a serious of tough measures. As a result of rising oil prices, buses fares were increased which led to protests by poor people and the army was sent to suppress the protestors. Chavez belong that part of the group that was deployed and he was enraged when he listen the order shoot all the citizens who he believes had a legitimate grievances. This was the motivation which led to his army coup that he organized against the same president some three years later. MBR 200. Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement-200 The MBR 200 was the social and political movement that Hugo Chavez founded in 1983. Chavez established MBR 200 setting as its political goals the realization of Bolivars ideals by means of a Bolivar resolution, which refers to a mass social and political movement in Venezuela aimed at eradication of corruption and emphasized on redistributive social justice and economic and political sovereignty. Some important points of Chavezs Bolivarianism are: †¢ Political participation of the masses by votes, referendum and councils †¢ Political and economic sovereignty †¢ Economic self – sufficiency †¢ Building in people nationality and patriotism †¢ Eradication of corruption †¢ Equal distribution of oil revenues of his land 1992 Coup Chavez was working as a lieutenant colonel during his late 30s. In addition, he was also working as a committed left wing activist, mixing with left wing group outside the army and conspiring in the institution for the sake of coup d’etat. So, after an extended period of dissatisfaction and economic decline under the administration of President Perez, Chavez and his fellow conspirators launched a military coup in Feb 1992. Although the coup was not entirely successful Chavez came to national prominence due to a abruptly speech made shortly after his arrest, the Venezuelan government allowed him forty five second speech in order to tell his co-conspirators to lay down the arm. It was a mistake made on the government part and Chavez made the most of it. Chavez in Power When Chavez spent his 2 year life in Jail during the period of 1990s economy of Venezuela was went on to bear the huge burden of oil prices. Support for the two of main political parties decline in elections of 1994, Chavez found the population increasingly receptive to its critique of the two party models and its associated corruption. Chavez organized a new party called the â€Å"fifth republic movement† During 1996 97 his support gradually increased in polls and he scored a comfortable majority and took power in 1998, his first political office with 56 percent of votes. Chavez Is Moving Venezuela from A Democracy To A Totalitarian State â€Å"Chavez supporters assert that, in fact, it is the current administration which is successfully steering Venezuela away from its statist and authoritarian past. They refer to the introduction of the new constitution at the beginning of Chavez’s term, which provides numerous opportunities for citizens to become directly involved in participatory politics, including making provisions for the current recall drive. Civil society groups can, for example, participate indirectly in the selection of judicial officials as well for as the national electoral commission. Furthermore, Chavez’s standing with his own people seems to be improving, which reflects an economy which once again shows promises. Even though the middle-class led last year end’s strike cost the economy $10 billion, unemployment has slowly dropped to 15%. The Bloomberg News Service credits the Venezuela Stock Exchange with one of the two best performances of the 59 exchanges it monitors worldwide. With Chavez’s personal popularity, he has climbed back to 40% after dipping to 30% a number of months ago†. Authoritarian Vs Democratic (Democracy Vs Totalitarian State) There has been a continuous debate whether Chavez has released from corruption accusation or he himself damaged the country’s own foundation of democracy. Authoritarian Some believe that the Hugo Chavez have more power than any president should have. Chavezs new constitution has been seen as authoritarian. Although there are detailed sections involving human rights, but some believe that the power given to the highest branch of government can easily lead to human rights violations. The new constitution also allows the president to be in the office considerably, which some suggests leads to authoritarianism. Scholars also criticized the way Chavez gained power and his conduct afterwards. The motivation behind his recent constituent assembly has been seen as to settle the score with Venezuelans traditional opposition parties and remove them from all positions of influence. One scholar suggested that Chavez himself overthrown the government in 1992 as similar to the corruption of the traditional parties of Venezuela, which clutched power by the military inventions in 1945 and misbalanced Venezuela’s supreme court and congress. Democratic Stance On the other way, some believe that the Chavez protected the democracy. In their point of views, â€Å"Chavezs government does emphasize the mobilization of the masses and confrontational speeches, Chavez cannot be equated to fascism since his ideology is left wing. Others are more pronounced in their view that Chavez is a benefit to democracy. These people believe that Chavez simply frees Venezuela from the corruption and he stands for a much needed transformation in Venezuelan society† Since Chavez does not belong to any party, and he came from the grass roots and has seen all the hardships, therefore he is more capable to meet the interest of the Venezuelans. Some opponent of Chavez equates him with Fujiori but his comparison is not correct because unlike Fujimori Chavez has an self-governing foreign military, a revolutionary disclosure and he did not endorse huge privatization. Economic Policies Venezuela is the 5th largest oil producer, which remains the key of Venezuelan economy. Chavez has gained a reputation as a price hawk in OPEC. At a meeting of OPEC in July 2006, Venezuela was the only country calling for lowered production to drive oil prices higher. Some critics say that under the President Chavez regime the output of Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) which is a state owned company, has been reduced by 25% and Venezuela cannot meets it current quota. However Forbes argues that the political and other influence have an effect on numbers. Nonetheless, Chavez has attempted to broaden Venezuelas customer base by getting into joint ventures with other developing countries including China, Brazil, Argentina and India. Although the record oil prices have meant more funding for the social and development plans, but it has also left the economy dependent on oil sector, private sector role has diminished. â€Å"February 6, 2006 Chavez announced a 15% increase in the minimum wage and a new model for Venezuela’s national health-care system, with US$449 million allocated to upgrade 43 hospitals. Implementing a measure of the constitution that recognises housework as an economic activity, the government will also provide wages to 200,000 poor homemakers. January 30, 2006 Chavez launched 12 new state-run Social Production Enterprises (EPS) in key industries, with the aim of substituting for the many products Venezuela currently imports. This is a key part of overcoming Venezuela’s underdevelopment and achieving genuine sovereignty. The EPS follow a new economic model oriented towards human need rather than private profits. February 7, 2006 Chavez announced his government would provide $1 billion in funding to community planning councils. These elected councils aim to greatly deepen participatory democracy by allowing people to directly control public policy†. Unemployment is down â€Å"Venezuela is experiencing a period of economic growth which has moved the formal employment sector (businesses with five or more employees) past the 50 percent mark. When businesses with less than five employees are taken into account the informal sector is much lower (perhaps 35 percent) — unusual for Latin America, which suffers from chronic unemployment and underemployment. I happened on a long line in a downtown shopping district and asked some ladies if they were waiting for the internet cafe to open. No, mi amor, la tienda de zapatos. â€Å"The finest shoes added another. The National Institute of Statistics is preparing a study that will measure the standard of living, not only wages as the World Bank does. Taking the social programs into account — especially the 15,000 Cuban doctors and more money invested in the Social Security hospitals — the standard of living should show more improvement than wages alone show. The institutes president says free education at all levels has drastically reduced dropout rates. This will undoubtedly raise standards of living in the long run as more students go on to higher education†. Highlight of Key Statistical Data Per Capital GDP: During Chavezs presidency per capital GDP dropped 1% 2%. GDP Growth Rates: 18% in 2004, 9% in 2005 and 9% in the first half of 2006. Non-Petroleum Sectors: From 2004 to the first half of 2006, Non Petroleum Sectors showed a growth of greater than 10% Poverty Figures: Dropped by 10% officially. Unemployment: Dropped by 7. 7% since the start of Chavezs presidency. Inflation: Dropped from 29. 9% to 14. 4%

Operations Management of Supermarket Retail Shops

Operations Management of Supermarket Retail Shops Operations are a primary activity for a supermarket retail business. As such, a business that wants to be successful needs to have a leading operating model. Staff plays very important role in this model. It is necessary to put a sustained focus upon how to develop best operational staff to ensure the supermarket industry is fit to embrace the significant future developments that are expected and to excel in customer service (Sramek, Mentzer Stank, 2008). As per Martyn (2010), operations must be viewed with the appropriate level of importance, so as to support an ambition to create a world-class operating environment, which consists of people, process, technology and organization. A good operational team staffed by good operational individuals can create a competitive advantage, keeping customers satisfied, having a company that is efficiently, economically and effectively run, and creating a band of loyal and committed employees (Foster Jeffrey, 2008). It is worth being ambitious for the operations function and the associated staff it will make a difference to the business According to Willis (1998), operational management is the systematic management and control of processes that transform resources into finished products and services. The operation includes support for a significant proportion of the workforce and material assets in most organizations. Managers are involved in each step in the operations. They determine what kind of equipment, labor, tools, equipment, materials, energy and information must go into the operating system and how these materials can be the best way to go and use to meet the needs of the market (Banker and Khosla, 1995). Managers are responsible for critical activities such as quality management and monitoring, capacity planning, materials management, purchasing and planning (Goodale and et al. 2010). Without the assistance of staff, these activities cannot be successful. Operations management is also known for production and capacity management and operations management area is a multidiscipline that focuses on operations of the organization (Lashley Taylor, 1998). Schniederjans Cao (2009) states that OM includes many decisions such as the scale of operations, including managements decision regarding the design, planning, and managing a number of factors that affect the operation. (Shin Collier, 2000). Operations Manager needs to apply the ideas and technology to increase productivity and reduce costs, increase flexibility to respond quickly to changing customer needs, shorten delivery times, improve product quality, and improve customer service. These are the important areas to be taken care of for the success of a company or a branch. There has been dramatic increase in the importance of operations management. Significant foreign competition, shorter product and service life-cycles, better-educated and quality-conscious consumers, and the capabilities of new technology have placed increasing pressures on the operations function to improve productivity while providing a broader array of high-quality products and services (Williams Anderson, 2008). With the globalization of markets, firms are recognizing that the operations function can be used to strengthen their position in the market place. Managers in operations management play a strategic and tactical role in satisfying customer needs and making their firms strong international competitors. Organizations should follow the competition. If an employee is away from work or not paying attention then the company will lose customers and its competitors are able to take this opportunity, the company can lose its popularity and profitability. For gaining efficiency quality is the key to success and which is an effective treatment, especially for continuous improvement (Soteriou Chase, 1998). Excellent customer service is essential to the success of any business. Officials must be monitored at all times, if they offer a good customer service or not, so they can better perform and can excel in customer service and their work should be assessed frequently. It takes time to really excel in customer service, but this ability can be learned with proper training. Employees should leave the bad attitude, family problems and personal issues at the door. Generally, customers will not see the owner or management f the company. Instead, they see that the customer service and this is how t hey judge the whole business. Employees are the mirror of the company so the employees should show their best services through their good attitude. Employees should sincerely welcome every customer with a smile, they are valuable. A participatory management and team work are major components of successful operations (Hays Hill, 2006). Motivation, leadership and training are essential too. In addition, materials management and quality, these are two important areas. Materials management is becoming increasingly important in many organizations as the cost of purchasing materials is more than 50% of the total cost products (Shin Collier, 2000). Quality management programs and quality products are essential to compete in todays business environment. The supermarket retail branch staff should have the qualities to win the heart of the customers by their services. For excelling in customer service employees should consider that customers are not easy to deal with but if employees have the patience and the people skills to overcome that, it would be easier for them to excel in it (Sramek, Mentzer Stank, 2008). Perhaps the most essential thing the employees should always remember when on a customer service job is to keep a positive attitude. For instance, if one works at a call center, the first thing the employee should expect from a call from online is a burst of angry customers (Soteriou Chase, 1998). Although sometimes this may not be the case but it is better if one is prepare for it. To develop that pleasant and relaxed attitude, it is best to smile even if one is only on the phone. The action of smiling automatically buffers the outbursts you are going to get from your client. In the case of working in a retail business, smiling will go a long way with the customers. When the customers are greeted with a friendly face, they will start t o give their interest. The next thing the employee must remember is how to respond at a time when they come into contact with customers. For a retail customer service, employee does not follow the customers around when they come into the store (Hays Hill, 2006). This is a common mistake made by the store customer service staff. Employees must make it possible for customers to have the freedom to explore the product without tailing behind him. They should let them walk around and check out the goods. When they are ready to ask questions, they talk to employees. Employee must comply with them if they seem to ask, is the signal for the employees can go up to them and ask how they can help them out (Sramek, Mentzer Stank, 2008). All this will result in having good reputation in the market. The working operations can output more than they would work alone as the organization has developed sophisticated systems and equipment that increase worker productivity (Horvathova, 2010). The company also provides education and training for their workforce to increase their knowledge and improve their skills. As a result of improvements in productivity and improved training, more outputs are produced and the standard of living increase for all. Employees should think of customers as individuals. If they think so, they realize that their business is their customers, not their products or services. Put all the attention for goods in shops, or companies offering their services, leaving the most important component: each individual customer. For good customer service, employees must go the extra mile. They should include a thank you note to the package to a customer, send a greeting card, clip articles, and write a note of congratulations when they get a promotion (Martyn, 2010). There are many ways for employees to stay in touch with customers and make them closer. An effective operations strategy can provide a competitive advantage. Managers must rethink many of the basic principles of good managers of operations who worked in the past (Schniederjans Cao, 2009). Companies should adopt a strategy for improvement that fits the specific needs of the organization at that point. Assigning a team to perform a task may not always be the best idea. Sometimes it is better to allow an individual to work alone. Foster Jeffrey (2008) believe that the main purpose of Operations Management is to plan, organize, direct, and control the process of bringing together people, equipment, materials, and methods to accomplish a broad range of operational tasks outlined below in the most cost-effective manner. The manager of the branch should understand how people think and act accordingly to motivate workers by creating a harmonious workplace. Proper management of the operations function has led to success for many companies. For example, in 1994 Dell Inc. was a second-tier computer maker that managed its operations similar to others in the industry (Schniederjans Cao, 2009). Then Dell implemented a new business model that completely changed the role of its operations function. Dell developed new and innovative ways of managing the operations function that have become one of two- days best practices. These changes enabled Dell to provide rapid product delivery of customized products to customers at a lower cost, and thus become an industry leader. As change is the law of the nature, the operations of the supermarket retail branch should be flexible so that they can adapt the changes in the future. For operations management to be successful, it must add value during the transformation process (Willis, 1998). The greater the value added, the more productive a business is. Activities that do not add value are considered a waste; these include certain jobs, equipment, and processes (Banker Khosla, 1995). In addition to value added, operations must be efficient. Performing well at lowest possible cost results in greater efficiency. An important role of operations is to analyze all activities by eliminating those that do not add value, and restructure processes and jobs to achieve greater efficiency (Goodale et al. 2010). Todays business environment is more competitive than ever, and the role of operations management has become the focal point of efforts to increase competitiveness by improving value added and efficiency. This can be possible by employing new methods, new technology and by training employees. As customers demand ever higher quality in their products and services, companies have been forced to focus on improving quality in order to remain competitive. With TQM everyone in the company is responsible for quality. TQM was practiced by some companies in the 1970s and became pervasive in the 1990s (Foster Jeffrey, 2008). Quality is the area of the operations management which can never be ignored by companies. The importance of this movement is demonstrated by the number of companies joining the ranks of those achieving ISO 9000 certià ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ cation (Foster Jeffrey, 2008). ISO 9000 is a set of quality standards developed for global manufacturers by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) to control trade into the then emerging European Economic Community (EEC) (Foster Jeffrey, 2008). Today many companies require their suppliers to meet these standards as a condition for obtaining contracts. To have effective operations management, the company must employ T QM. Competition based on time is the one of the recent trends in the companies. It has many aspects like development of the new products and services and reaching the market first and meeting customer orders most quickly (Schniederjans Cao, 2009). For example, two companies may produce the same product, but if one is able to deliver it to the customer in two days whereas the other delivers it in five days, the à ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ rst company will make the sale and win over the customers. Time-based competition requires specifically designing the operations function for speed (Schniederjans Cao, 2009). Supermarket branch should cater to the needs of the customers more quickly in order to gain competitive advantage. Supply Chain management plays a vital role in appropriate operations management. Willis (1998) states that supply chain management (SCM) involve managing the à ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ow of materials and information from suppliers and buyers of raw materials all the way to the final customer. Its aim is to reduce the overall cost and improving the quality and the delivery of the service. Team approach is essential in supply chain management. It requires the co-operation from all the departments such as marketing, purchasing, operations, and engineering. It will result in more satisfied customers (Banker Khosla, 1995). It has become possible with the development of information technology (IT) tools which assist in collaborative planning and scheduling. The technologies help to combine the supply chain execution and design collaboration, which enables companies to respond better and faster to changing market needs. The companies which have achieved great success through supply chain management are Dell Computer, Wal-Mart, and Baxter Healthcare (Banker Khosla, 1995). Today businesses must think in terms of a global marketplace in order to compete effectively. This includes the way they view their customers, competitors, and suppliers. Key issues are meeting customer needs and getting the right product to markets as diverse as the Far East, Europe, or Africa (Willis, 1998). Operations management is responsible for most of these decisions. Operations Management decides whether to tailor products to different customer needs, where to locate facilities, how to manage suppliers, and how to meet local government standards (Williams Anderson, 2008). Also, global competition has forced companies to reach higher levels of excellence in the products and services they offer. The use of best supply chain management should be used in supermarket retail branch for excellent management of the operations. There should be an effective, consistent and impartial way to benchmark service levels in all the supermarket retail branches, and Mystery Programmes can provide the solution. The employees should have thorough understanding of what the branch offers in order to win and retain the customers. Moreover, the employees must fully understand the position of the branch in the market and what is expected of them (Horvathova, 2010). Mystery shopping programmes support the management and development of service delivery in supermarkets, transforming an intangible asset into exactly what one promises to the customer a vital competitive advantage in todays uncertain market (Hays Hill, 2006) . This programme is very helpful for making improvements among the staff. It will help in identifying areas for revenue improvements, recognizing and rewarding employee and customer service initiatives Mystery shopping programmes should be developed to reflect own unique quality protocols. These systems wil l help to measure the staff performance. Continous monitoriting of the service improvements can be done through this programme. One can define and monitor staff in many ways. These programmes should be designed in such a way so that these can check variables like employee product knowledge, check consistently the quality check standards and uniformity, and monitor customer care and communication (Martyn, 2010). Benchmarking should also be employed in the branch in order to make the comparison among different branches. Otherwise, it is complex to identify the areas that need improvement. Employees should be rewarded on the basis of their performance and there should be incentive plans which will reward the employees when they outperform. This will be very helpful for effective operations management. At the end, it is concluded that for the success of the retail branch operations the employees should pay full attention rather than taking their personal performance for granted. The quality of the service will decline if they dont co-operate. The employees should be checked at all times whether they are providing good customer service or not and there should be training conducted from time to time so that they can learn to excel in this skill and their work should be evaluated frequently. They should also be trained so that they can acquire new skills. There should be an effective, consistent and impartial way to benchmark service levels in all the supermarket retail branches. Todays business environment is more competitive than ever, and the role of operations management has become the focal point of efforts to increase competitiveness by improving value added and efficiency. This can be possible only by employing new methods, new technology and by training employees. By behaving strategically, the supermarkets or companies can pave their way towards effectiveness, efficiency, productivity and prosperity.

I am alone :: essays research papers

I am alone In the speech â€Å"I am alone† by Cochise, a Native American leader address to the white people for peace. The story goes back when the Native Americans (Chiricahua tribe) owned the land in the western part of the United States known as Apache land. First the Mexicans came across their land and try to over-rule them in which resulted the Mexican War. The war lasted years and the Natives eventually overcame the Mexicans. After the Mexican War then came the Europeans who sailed across the Pacific Ocean and landed on the Apache land. At first the Europeans make friends with the Natives then the Europeans turned against them and falsely accused Cochise of kidnapping a white child. The captured of Cochise made the Natives furious and brought tension on the Europeans. In 1861 the conflict between the Natives and the Europeans begins in which caused war. The Europeans were too much to handle for the Natives; they brought many troops across the sea to fight the Indians and eventually overcame them. Many Natives and Europeans were killed in the war, the Natives were forced to give up their land and be transferred to a reservation far from Apache. It was 1871 when the Natives seek peace with the Europeans; they send Cochise to address peace with the Europeans and negotiated a new treaty which allowed the remaining Natives to stay in Apache.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the reading it sounds like the Chiricahua tribes were gullible and compassionate. The Natives were gullible because they assume the Europeans come to Apache for visit or to make friends with them. After the horrible tragedy with the Spanish the Natives should have attacked all the intruders that came across on their land instead of befriending the Europeans and ending up loosing their territories to the Europeans. I am alone :: essays research papers I am alone In the speech â€Å"I am alone† by Cochise, a Native American leader address to the white people for peace. The story goes back when the Native Americans (Chiricahua tribe) owned the land in the western part of the United States known as Apache land. First the Mexicans came across their land and try to over-rule them in which resulted the Mexican War. The war lasted years and the Natives eventually overcame the Mexicans. After the Mexican War then came the Europeans who sailed across the Pacific Ocean and landed on the Apache land. At first the Europeans make friends with the Natives then the Europeans turned against them and falsely accused Cochise of kidnapping a white child. The captured of Cochise made the Natives furious and brought tension on the Europeans. In 1861 the conflict between the Natives and the Europeans begins in which caused war. The Europeans were too much to handle for the Natives; they brought many troops across the sea to fight the Indians and eventually overcame them. Many Natives and Europeans were killed in the war, the Natives were forced to give up their land and be transferred to a reservation far from Apache. It was 1871 when the Natives seek peace with the Europeans; they send Cochise to address peace with the Europeans and negotiated a new treaty which allowed the remaining Natives to stay in Apache.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the reading it sounds like the Chiricahua tribes were gullible and compassionate. The Natives were gullible because they assume the Europeans come to Apache for visit or to make friends with them. After the horrible tragedy with the Spanish the Natives should have attacked all the intruders that came across on their land instead of befriending the Europeans and ending up loosing their territories to the Europeans.

Survivor :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Survivor Africa has been entertaining to watch and will be interesting to see how the different episodes relate to the topics discussed throughout the course. It will be interesting to see how the different group dynamics within each tribe collaborates. You have a plethora of different personality types within each tribe. There are young and old members, gender differences, workers and slackers, introverts and extroverts, and racial differences. However, the first and most appropriate example that comes to mind that is directly related to the show and the course is the Robbers Cave Study. The study was able to show that whenever you are competing for limited resources, conflict is inevitable.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first days most dramatic moments in the Boran tribe revolved around Diane and Clarence. I believe Diane started off on the wrong foot by taking control of the map and then leading the rest of the tribe in the wrong direction. She assumed a leadership role without earning it. When they finally arrived at their campsite they were lacking water, so they decide to open a can of cherries. They carefully passed the can around, with each member taking one. Well, each person except Clarence, who helped himself to two cherries. This was Clarence’s first mistake, this was not a brilliant move on Clarence’s part, especially after only the second day. As we learned in chapter four, first impressions are lasting, and people are slow to change their first impressions on the basis of new information. Later on that day, both teams had their first immunity-reward challenge that involved having a race. It was quite obvious that Diane did not do very well, she pret ty much passed out. Samburu ultimately won the challenge. When Boran returned to camp, Diane was still not feeling well, so Clarence decided to stay behind to help her while the other team members went to get water. While the other team members were away, Clarence decided to open a can of beans to feed to Diane thinking it might do her some good, What a guy! Well, Diane ate some and Clarence polished off the rest of them and then discarded the can. To make a long story short, this was Clarence’s second mistake. When the team returned, they realized what had occurred and all lashed out at him. Considering what just occurred, I must admit, Clarence handled himself extremely well.

Ironing out carbon - One mans solution to carbon sequestration Essay

â€Å"Ironing† out Carbon Dioxide   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Carbon Dioxide plays a key role in the atmosphere. This gas has properties that allow it to sustain and hold in heat, which in turn warms the planet (EIA, 2004). Carbon, the primary component of carbon dioxide; is also the essential molecule for life and is the most basic building block found in all organic compounds. Human activities been blamed for the disruption of the earth’s natural carbon cycles and according to some studies, carbon is being added to the atmosphere faster than the natural processes that sequestrate it. The massive carbon sinks that naturally regulated and fixated excess carbon dioxide have been destroyed as humans have deforested ancient forests for the sake of building their cities and supplying lands for agriculture. Research shows that there has been a consistent balance of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere for the past 10,000 years (Hamburg, Harris et al 1999); this balance has shifted rapidly in the last 150 years. The Problem   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Carbon dioxide, produced through combustion and oxidation has become a growing concern in today’s society. In industrialized countries greenhouse gases and the effects on our environment are becoming an issue that no longer can be ignored. Changes such as increasing temperatures, the melting of the Arctic ice cap, rising sea levels, and more violent weather activities (hurricanes, droughts, and hotter/longer summers) are becoming more and more evident with each decade. The rapid increase of carbon dioxide appears to be a key component of the in the development of these occurrences, however global warming has sparked much debate because the data that has been collected over the past century has conflicting trends (planktos.com, 2004). It is difficult to predict the behavior of the earth’s climate because it is ever changing and erratic, much to the chagrin of scientific modelers; the earth’s climate refuses to adhere to computer models.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Historically temperatures have fluctuated on the surface of the planet; however, with new technology and satellite data collection, conflicts in data have caused scientists to rethink their conclusions on the causes of these temperature fluctuations. What can be proven is that humans are affecting the planet in adverse ways. Mass deforestation, burning of f... ... Sources cited: â€Å"American Society of Limnology and Oceanography†. The Scientific and Policy Uncertainties Surrounding the Use of Ocean Fertilization to Transfer Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide to the Oceans. American Society of Limnology and Oceanography. http://www.aslo.org/meetings/carbon2001/chisholm/transcript2.html Caroline Dopyera, â€Å"The Iron Hypothesis† Earth, October 1996 Hamburg, Steven, Harris, Neil, et al. 1999: â€Å"How do we know that the Atmospheric Build-up of Greenhouse Gases is Due to Human Activity?† 20 October 2001 http://www.gcrio.org/ipcc/qa/05.htm Lawrence, Mark G. â€Å"Side effects of Oceanic Iron Fertilization† Science 20 September 2002 National Energy Information Center (NEIC),Energy Information Administration, â€Å"Greenhouse gases, climate change and energy† Publication EI-30 http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/1605/ggccebro/chapter1.html PALMER, ALASDAIR. â€Å"FOCUS PLANKTON TO THE RESCUE: the man who says he can save the planet† The Sunday Telegraph [Sydney] 23 August 2003 United States, Department of Energy. Capturing and Sequestering Carbon Dioxide DOE Document PI -0001. November 2003 http://climatetechnology.gov/library/2003/currentactivities/sequester.htm