Case Analysis: Ski-Right Essay

I. Background of the Case The case begins with Bob Guthrie, a retired physician and an avid skier, who realized that there was a need for a special ski helmet following the recent incidents that lead to serious head injuries for skiers. There were existing ski helmets in the market, but Bob believed that he had a chance to make helmets more appealing to the people, by adding new features. Bob took this idea as something that could not only be an outlet for his creativity, but as a way for him to make some money. He set out with the goal of making helmets that were attractive, safe and fun to wear. With this in mind, Bob came up with several ideas for his new helmet, which he named ‘Ski Right’. Bob wanted his helmets to be attractive, so they had to come in several colors and feature the latest fashion trends and designs. But aside from this, they also had to be fun and useful. To achieve this, Bob thought of putting a built in AM/FM radio and cellphone to the helmets, with controls in a pad on the skier’s leg or arm. Before proceeding to build the helmet, Bob thought of the possibilities of success and failure in his venture. He figured that there was a 20 percent chance that there will be an excellent market for his product, a 40 percent chance that the market will be good, a 30 percent chance that the market will just be average and a 10 percent chance that the market will be poor. With this in mind, he continued his plans. Bob found several companies that could help him build his helmets. Progressive Products agreed to be a partner in developing Ski Right and would share in the profits and losses. Bob also discovered Leadville Barts, who specializes in bike helmets. They could be of great help in the production of the helmets itself. Bob was also talking to Talrad TR, a radio company in Florida, who had experience in making military radios. They could assist in putting the AM/FM radios in the Ski Right. Finally, Bob was meeting up with Celestial Cellular, who could develop the cellphones. Bob Guthrie now has to take into consideration all this information in making the decision of how to make and launch his new product, with the intention of making the most money he can as possible and avoiding failure. II. Problem Statement Bob’s problem now is deciding which combination of partners would result in the best profits for his new product, Ski Right. His first option is to partner up with Progressive Products in developing the helmets. He also has the option to ask Leadville Barts to make the helmets, which will then be taken by Progressive Products for finishing. His third option is to contract Talrad TR to make the radios for the helmets, which will then be brought to Leadville Barts and Progressive Products. Bob’s fourth choice is to work with Celestial Cellular to make the cellphones which will be passed to Progressive Products for the rest of production and distribution. His final option is to forget about Progressive Products completely, contract the three other companies and hire some friends to assemble and market Ski Right. Other than choosing which of the options would be the best recommendation for Bob, the case also calls for us to compute the expected opportunity loss that Bob would have if he chose one option over another. The group also has to determine what the value of perfect information is, which represents the maximum that Bob should pay in order to get perfect information. The group will also identify if Bob was logical in his approach to setting up his business and making decisions. III. Model Development The objective of this study is to identify what would be the most profitable course of action for Mr. Bob Guthrie. Another objective is to identify the opportunity loss in this situation as well as the value of perfect information. In all of the options available to him, Mr. Guthrie calculated the possible profits or losses he would have for every possible state of the market. He also determined the probabilities of each of the states of market given. The information is shown in the table below. In order to meet the given objectives, the group will apply the method of Decision Making Under Risk due to Mr. Guthrie being aware of the probabilities of all outcomes. There is also a need to identify the possible amount of losses Mr. Guthrie may incur which means that gaining a perfect or accurate forecast would be beneficial to better clarify what is the best decision to take. V. Conclusion After applying the method of Decision Making Under Risk, based on the decision table used to sort out and categorize the information given, the group was able to analyze and interpret the results, and found out he best decision Mr. Guthrie could choose for the new product he’s about to make. After determining the EMV for each alternative, option 2 which EMV for $2,600, came out as the highest among the other EMVs. Next, the group was able to identify the possible amount of losses Mr. Guthrie may incur. After getting all the opportunity loss for each alternative, the one with the lowest value of EOL which is $14,300 is determine. The result is once again, option 2. This was made sure by getting the EVwPI and subtracting it to the maximum EMV, thus giving us the EVPI of $14,300 which is equal to the EOL we determined earlier. According to the option 2 which is getting Leadville Barts to make the helmets, and Progressive Products to finish them, LB had extensive experience in making bicycle helmets which gives Mr. Guthrie a higher chance of assurance in getting the job done right, especially that he considers the quality of the helmets to be produced. On the other hand, he’s facing a greater risk since he’s handing out to job to two different companies.

Theories and Administrative Thought on Modern Day Police Departments

Various sociological theories and administrative thought shows that modern police department is a combination of a hierarchical and quasi-military bureaucracy. In accordance to the fundamental rationality of Weber's theory of bureaucracy, the modern police department is wrought with red tape and other unfortunate side-effects of bureaucratic organizations. On the other hand, as Weber suggested, many large-scale organizations, especially those linked to the government, must be bureaucratic if they are to be most effectively and rationally run. The modern police department, although it has adopted theories of modern sociologists and administrative thinkers, continues to resemble traditional hierarchical and bureaucratic systems. The modern police department resembles least Fayol's theories of management, in which red tape detracts from effectiveness and in which horizontal communication is widely practiced. At the same time, many police departments use Fayol's theories of horizontal communication when seeking accountability and attempting to eliminate corruption within the force. Also in accordance with the theories of Luther Gulick, the theories of Fayol show how within large organizations like police departments, specialization of tasks can lead to effectiveness. Therefore, the modern police department in many ways reflects old-school sociology and administrative theories in that at each rung of the hierarchy, an individual is assigned highly specific tasks and reports to specific individuals in positions of immediate authority. The hierarchy entails that individuals usually report to the person who is ranked immediately above them, similar to a military bureaucracy. The titles and ranks underscore the connections between the modern police department and military organizations. At the same time, police departments are trying to incorporate the more open systems of modern theorists. Based on effective business models, some administrative thought discounts the relevance of bureaucracy and hierarchy in favor of a more democratic operation. Police departments have yet to incorporate such democratic principles within their ranks but at the same time must allow for the inclusion of minorities and minority opinions on the force.

The Day You Were Born

The Day You Were Born I was forty-one weeks and one day pregnant, lying in an uncomfortable hospital bed, wearing a hideous pink gown, and counting the minutes until my next contraction. Apparently, you were very comfortable in my tummy because there was no sign of you making your appearance any time soon. I was having plenty of contractions but was not dilating; our doctor was looking for a count of at least 60 on the room monitor, but I was only in the mid-20s. Before long she ordered that Pitocin be administered to induce productive labor.It seemed to work– after only twenty minutes, my contractions went from the twenties to the eighties and continued to increase after that. A few more long hours passed. The doctor returned to our room to check on my progress. Surprisingly, after the initial dosage of Pitocin, I had only slightly progressed during the intervening hours. The doctor told me I should have advanced toward your delivery much more than I had and determined that m y inability to relax my body was the reason why the process had again been slowed.I was so excited to meet you that I couldn’t help but cry, thinking that you would never show up. A wonderful nurse then came in the room and sat down to talk with us. She assured me that every woman, and every pregnancy, are different. She promised me that I would not leave the hospital without you in my arms. She introduced herself as Nurse Pam, and called herself â€Å"The Pitocin Queen. † She told your Daddy and me all about her days as an Army nurse. We became instant friends. In order to get things moving along a little more quickly, she encouraged me to undergo an epidural to help me relax.Your Daddy was very supportive, holding my hand and reassuring me. Accepting pain medication, he said, did not mean that I was a failure; it just meant that plans had changed. After forty hours of labor, I was willing to try anything to get you to come into the world. After another long hour pass ed, the anesthesiologist came into our room. Your Nana happened to be downstairs getting coffee, and your Daddy and Aunt Lindsay couldn’t stomach a procedure involving a large needle, so the anesthesiologist ordered everyone but your Mimi to leave.The epidural took only about ten minutes, and between the anxiety and pain from the contractions, I didn’t even feel the needle. I was ordered to lie down and relax so that the medicine could fully take effect and was urged to let the nurses or doctor know if I wasn’t completely numb within a few minutes. About forty-five minutes passed, but I was still able to feel my left leg and move it around. Nurse Pam called the anesthesiologist back in for round two, and that time it finally worked.It was so odd to be lying in bed watching television while your Nana, Aunt Lindsay, Daddy and Mimi giggled about how I couldn’t feel the contractions. We would take turns looking at the monitor and exclaiming, â€Å"Did you fe el that one? It was huge! † I had completely relaxed at this point and wasn’t nearly as anxious about the passing time. I was even able to joke with your Daddy, â€Å"Wouldn’t it be crazy if they came back in here and I still haven’t progressed? Looks like we are moving in! † He was happy that I was feeling better, but now he was getting more anxious and ready to meet you.When the doctor came back in to check my progress, we were all happy and relieved to hear that I had progressed to the point where delivery was imminent. The excitement intensified with everyone talking about who you might look like and whose personality you would take after. It was only about one last hour later when I grabbed your Daddy and said, â€Å"Get the doctor– the epidural isn’t working anymore. I feel a lot of pressure. † The doctor returned and checked my progress, and said that the epidural was still working, but that the time for your delivery had finally arrived!The doctor dressed in her gown and gloves and said, â€Å"Go ahead and push when you’re ready! † I grabbed your Daddy’s hand and pushed hard, took a deep breath, and pushed again. The doctor yelled, â€Å"She has black hair! One more push! † I closed my eyes, pushed so hard, and after a big exhale, I heard you scream. That moment the doctor laid you on my chest was indescribable. My heart was pounding and tears were pouring down my face. I couldn’t believe that after waiting forty-one weeks to meet you, you were finally here! Nurse Pam gently took you to bathe, weigh and measure you.Your Daddy and I looked at each other and just smiled. We were both so happy you were finally here with us. Pam called out, â€Å"She’s nine pounds one ounce, and nineteen and a half inches long. She’s a big girl. † She wrapped you up in a blanket and placed you in your Daddy’s arms. His eyes welled up with tears and he immed iately fell in love with you. Everyone in the room was staring at your Daddy holding you and your Nana was lots of taking pictures. You had a full head of jet-black hair, dark eyes, ten precious figures and toes and flawless soft skin. You were the most perfect thing we had ever seen.

Fast-food outlets and poor health in America Essay

Fast-food outlets and poor health in America - Essay Example There has been an increase in the number of convenience and fast food stores across America. For this reason, many low income earners purchase their food from these stores as opposed to buying from grocery stores and supermarkets. This purchasing behavior has exposed millions of Americans to unhealthy foods. The number of obesity and other health related cases has been on the rise. This has sparked debate on whether these fast food stores should be blamed for this trend, or if the blame should lie squarely in the hands of the consumer. For instance, Brownlee, Cohen and Zinczenko argue that fast food outlets have played a big role in encouraging unhealthy consumption habits. This paper aims to contribute to this debate by arguing that fast food outlets have contributed to this problem significantly by encouraging and enticing consumers to buy from them. Fast-food outlets market their products to consumers, mainly children, foods that have health hazards without proper warnings and labels. In the essay by David Zinczenko, the author highlights how advertisements from fast-food outlets don’t come with warning labels. For example, an outlet may list its chicken salad as containing 150 calories, yet the dressing, almonds and noodles that come with it account for additional 470 calories. This argument clearly shows how these fast food outlets hide information from the consumers that would otherwise help the consumers make better choices.

Policy development Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Policy development - Case Study Example The sports are girls filed hockey, boys’ football, boys and girls’ soccer, lacrosse, and archery. Every sport require a game time on the one outdoor field. It is impossible to drop any sport because all of them are important (Baird 2011, p. 78). It is also illegal and uncomfortable to use a field that is not within the school compound. Students are required to carry out all their activities within the school. There are several ways of handling the matter. The problem of land as a limited resource is a common problem in all institutions. Wisdom is applied to make use of what is available. The school has to participate in all the sports. Leaving out any one of them will amount to discriminating the group of students who play those games. The school’s principles work to eliminate any form of discrimination by promoting equity and fairness. There is an option of finding a field outside the school compound. The option has some limitations. There is an option of partitioning the field into small portions but this also has some limitations (Baird, 2011). The third option is to prepare a schedule of events on when every sport takes place. However, the third option is limited by the existence of a parallel school schedule which we have to give priority. All the options have limitations. A solution can be to find another field outside the premises of the school. Students will waste time going to a field located off the school property. Acquiring a field implies an additional cost. The process of accessing funding to undertake such a project is involving as it is difficult to get approval. The second option of partitioning the field is limited by the small land available. The school compound can only accommodate one outdoor field (Baird 2011, p. 96). The school has no option but to work with the small land available. Another option is to form a schedule by planning the time in which every sport takes place. There is a challenge of coming up

MDCM (B) Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

MDCM (B) - Case Study Example In light of this fact, it was decided to alter the overall IT systems. The CEO and the CIO decided to present before the board 12 numerous potential projects. However, the members were to keep into consideration that they ought to accomplish the desired goal within short period of time (Jeffery, M & Norton, J. F. â€Å"MDCM, Inc. (B): Strategic IT Portfolio Management†) The main goal of these set of projects according to the IT Portfolio Management (ITPM) team was to overhaul MDCM’s IT system in the period ranging thirty-six months. In total, twelve major potential projects and initiatives were identified. The main objective of the team was to eradicate innumerable standards as well as IT methodologies all over the country. It can be examined that this initiative would require all the IT professionals, contractors and consultants to be trained as per the new methodology. This project would therefore require three months (Jeffery, M & Norton, J. F. â€Å"MDCM, Inc. (B): Strategic IT Portfolio Management†) Network consolidation leads to increased needs for storage consolidation. Some companies as well consolidate the data centers together with the intranets, traditional LANs and computing networks (Blade, â€Å"Introduction†). The company found it beneficial to consolidate the data centers to three locations and therefore shift the network of the company to a virtual private network (VPN). It was estimated that the savings from this project would be approximately $1.1 million and the time required for successively completing the project would be six months (Jeffery, M & Norton, J. F. â€Å"MDCM, Inc. (B): Strategic IT Portfolio Management†) The main objective of the company was to standardize the hardware and the platforms. The main benefits that the organisation receives on standardizing them include reduced cost of IT deployment and easy IT support and training (Gantz & Turner, â€Å"Standardisation†). There are many underlying

The strategy of Cathay Pacific (Customer Loyalty) BA (Hons) in Essay

The strategy of Cathay Pacific (Customer Loyalty) BA (Hons) in Business Administration - Essay Example In order to sustain in the competitive global market, the airline services significantly needed to acquire great proportion of loyalty and satisfaction from the customer. However, this high competition has proved to be an advantage for the travelers as they get chance to travel for low cost. With every airline service offering better product quality, lower price and promotional offers, the competition became even tougher. Since there is numerous number of airlines in the international routes, it gets harder to reap on profits .It is a saddening fact that the event of September 11 attack has impacted the airline industry in a very destructive way. It not only decreased the passenger traffic but also hiked up the airfares to make things worse. Eventually, the global recession made the airline industry struggle to subsist in the market and maintain their profit ratio. Subsequently, the only way to boost the sales was to gain customer confidence and loyalty. In order to gain customer’s satisfaction and loyalty, the airline industry initiated to make use of the marketing mix and its 7Ps.Since only a right marketing strategy can increase the customer’s loyalty and satisfaction; the airline services rested their trust on the 7 ps of marketing mix model. The 7 elements of marketing mix like product, process, price, place, physical evidence, people and promotion was sure the best concept for them. For this reason, the airline companies started to come up with promotions, advertising campaigns, frequent flyer programs and many online services to melt the mind and hearts of customers. They assured the customer that they would not regret for choosing their service as they are the best in the market in respect of price and comfort. Many airline services experienced that the customers definitely responded well to their marketing strategies and this enabled them to at least cover up their operating

Competitor Analysis and the Development of a Brand Assignment

Competitor Analysis and the Development of a Brand - Assignment Example ishwasher was widely accepted by the market with the result that Fairy could make way to launch further of its brand extensions which it did in the coming years. Fairy’s innovation appealed to the masses and its performance became anonymous with combating stubborn and burnt stains the best way (Datamonitor, 2011); fairy.co.uk, 2011; Superbrands.com). The promotions of the brand were strongly backed by Above the Line advertisements with celebrity endorsements to establish strong brand equity. As the brand moved into the future to meet the changing consumer tastes and preferences accordingly, Fairy’s packaging was changed to a transparent bottle which was easier to handle. After a massive success, Fairy Liquid was launched with a lemon scent. This was followed by Fairy non-bio laundry product for sensitive skin, anti-bacterial Fairy Liquid, Fairy Powerspray for tough burnt on stains. With these brand extensions, Fairy could cash in the revenue from every possible segment and sub-segment of liquid cleansers (Datamonitor Research Store. 2011); Datamonitor, 2011; fairy.co.uk, 2011; Superbrands.com). Fairy had and still has the advantage of a long-established equity along with a strong brand image with which it can tap into all the possible markets successfully through its brand extensions. Fairy currently operates in a mature market the product lifecycle of which has predominantly been extended by creating sub-segments of the dishwasher and sink sectors. Fairy has a whopping share of 57% in the sink washing sector and is second to Finish in the dishwasher category (Superbrands.com, Datamonitor, 2011). The launching of Fairy Active Burst and Active Powder Burst marks Fairy’s presence in both the categories of sink and dishwasher category. The brand extensions of Fairy Powerspray and Fairy Active Foam however can be considered as the most selling brand extensions. Following these developments, Fairy Active Foam was voted as the product of the year by the shoppers

Patient Confidentiality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Patient Confidentiality - Essay Example The information being provided by the manufacturers are skewed towards giving positive data on the effectiveness of their products. Information-wise, patients lack the capabilities to properly assess the appropriateness of the medication being marketed to them by the manufacturers through the marketing company. 2. If patients give their health information voluntarily, it means that they are allowing the information to be used freely by whoever sent the questionnaire. They should realize that providing information especially through the web, makes the data public. In this case, the patient is given a choice whether to answer freely the questionnaire or not. They are not being forced to do so. Some questionnaires though would specify from the very beginning that any information submitted may be used in whatever way the website wishes. If a patient reads the said statement and still goes on to answer the questions about their health, then it is implied that they approve of the use of their health

Trace the scientific Method in a Primary Scientific Article Assignment

Trace the scientific Method in a Primary Scientific Article - Assignment Example The final step includes monitoring the blood glucose every week for five weeks (American Chemical Society, 2010). The experimental design consists of a control group that is made up of a control group that comprised of 11 mice given regular water. The treatment group comprise of 10 laboratory mice that were fed on diluted coffee. The independent variables are diluted water and regular drinking water. The dependent variables are the mice and the blood glucose. The outcomes indicate that drinking coffee may prevent the growth of high blood sugar as well as enhance insulin responsiveness in the laboratory mice. The conclusions suggest that caffeine is a very effective antidiabetic compound in coffee (American Chemical Society, 2010). The test subjects and the treatment were important and appropriate because the issue of concern in this study was to test if coffee could reduce the level of blood glucose. Therefore, it was paramount for one group to be fed with coffee and the other with regular water. The restriction of the conclusion drawn by the study is that it does not specify the quantity of coffee drank by each mouse in the control group. Therefore, it difficult to conclude which amount of diluted coffee is suitable to suppress diabetes. This research is important because it gives a comprehension of how the caffeine in the coffee is assumed to lower the blood glucose. The caffeine is ingested hence causing amelioration of hyperglycemia and also enhances fatty liver. As a result, coffee puts a suppressive impact on hyperglycemia through the improvement of insulin reactivity (Yamauchi et al., 2010). Horio, F. (2010). Coffee and caffeine ameliorate hyperglycemia, fatty liver, and inflammatory adipocytokine expression in spontaneously diabetic KK-Ay mice. Journal of agricultural and food chemistry, 58(9),

Un Action Against Terrorism Essay Example for Free

Un Action Against Terrorism Essay The issue of coming up with ways to combat terrorism has been prioritized by the entire community internationally and it is also a major task in the United Nations. Various UN bodies have come up with different initiatives to try and combat terrorism and bring to justice those involved with the act. The most controversial issue within the UN in its battle against terrorism is the counter terrorism measures that are stipulated in the resolutions of the UN Security Council. One of the most serious threats towards human rights in the world is terrorism as it takes lives of thousands of innocent people every year and also breaks democratic orders. It is quite important for Countries to react to any threat of terrorism but at the same time there have been concerns that some forceful measures against terrorism may also greatly violate the human rights. The UN requires balancing the two competing interests in the fight against terrorism which are individual rights on one hand and protection of civilian and national security on the other hand. In some exceptional circumstances to curb threats and activities of terrorism there may be some justification to the abuse of human rights but only when it is an emergency case. It is very important for any country to ensure that any decisions that are made in order to preserve national security are according to the law, compensation is done to individuals whose rights were violated and those decisions should be subjected to review in the near future to avoid violation of human rights. The UN did not make any attempt to resume or revive the efforts that the League of Nations had made to control international terrorism after these rules were greatly interrupted by the Second World War. These efforts had finished the integration of the 1973 complementary conventions to deal with the punishment and prevention of terrorism and also the establishment of an International Criminal Court. This has resulted in a problem of international terrorism as it has been observed in a number of actions that have been carried out by the UN involving progressive development and codification of the international law since the early 1950s. Before the year 1972 the issue of terrorism was not a major topic of discussion in the general assembly of the UN. In 1972 there was a kidnapping of Israeli athletes at Munich during the Olympic Games, as this was seen as an act of terrorism, the then Secretary-General of the UN introduced an item on measures to curb terrorism and any kind of violence that would take innocent lives or endanger any human fundamental freedom to be discussed in the twenty-seventh session of the United Nations National Assembly. In 1985 the General Assembly of the UN pointed out that there may be some cases in which the perpetrators may be pushed to terrorist acts by violation of the human rights; it also urged Nations and the UN organs to make contributions to the progressive elimination of any causes underlying international terrorism. Sri Lanka is one of the examples where the UN failed to fight terrorism; this is clear in that the Sri Lanka government was able to reduce the LTTE power from being a formidable organization to a mediocre organization. The LTTE is one of the most cruel and ruthless terrorist groups that can use any weapon to cause mass destruction of property and loss of life. The UN took no action to try and bring to an end the LTTE group of terrorists but fortunately the Rajapaksa government succeeded in defeating the LTTE. The main objective of the UN is to settle disputes between countries by use of diplomatic approaches before the countries decide to use military force or before the conflict becomes uncontrollable. Unfortunately the UN has not attained this goal. The UN is a forum where member states send representatives to argue for or against their countries. These representatives have been seen to be just spokesmen for their country but back in their country they do not have any power or influence. Another issue is that those countries that are ruled by dictators or those that are not at peace use the UN debates to delay and complicate issues in their favour. Over the last fifty years during the existence of the UN the debates have not resolved any issues but threats, direct military action and hidden negotiations that were not sponsored by the UN have had positive changes in solving most of the conflicts. An example of this is the case of Iraq which was under the UN forces for over 100 years during which the Iraqi people were subjected to sufferings while on the other hand Saddam Hussein continued with his dirty games with the UN of only allowing inspection of weapons of mass destruction at certain periods and also coming up with solutions to the oil for food agreement imposed by the UN. This stalemate was broken by the United States of America by invading and overthrowing the Saddam regime. Had this stalemate not been broken the people of Iraq would still be under the oppressive rule of Saddam. The UN has also been unable to take actions that are direct and independent without seeking the support of its members. In the current world which is full of oppressive regimes and war mongering dictators who understand that the UN lacks any real power therefore making them free to do anything they want. For example the North Korea has been testing nuclear weapons and it has currently threatened to do it again while the UN is just considering an act of sanctions. If North Korea today decides to use the nuclear weapons in an act of terrorism many people would end up losing their lives just because the UN failed to take action in time. The member States of the UN should then be urged to contribute equal military force or money that is equivalent. The UN should then have these resources at its disposal and it should be free to use it without any approval from any of its member states. There are 5 selected member countries of the UN that can disagree on any decision that the majority of the States had agreed upon. These countries are China, USA, Russia, United Kingdom and France because they founded the UN that came up with the rules of UN after the Second World War. This has resulted in a lot of problems in the UN because these countries with the veto power were not elected democratically and therefore there is reason to believe that the decisions that the countries take are truly biased. This is a problem that has greatly caused people in this world to lose lives and it is not aimed to come to an end any time soon because the countries with the veto power are not willing to give up this power and allow for fair selection. The other failure of the UN is that most of its members are not countries geared towards peace and have questionable voting practices. The only solution to solve this problem would be to deny such nations the power to voting during any meetings of the UN. This is not easy to implement because countries debate in the UN forum only if they have the right to vote in the UN Security Council. UN considers itself a humanitarian body while on the other hand it continues allowing non-humanitarian countries like China to vote on humanitarian issues. The other area where the UN has failed to take action on terrorism is by the fact that UN does not formally recognize any State as a terrorist. Terrorists on the other hand would not debate in a public forum like the UN or seek help from the UN to sort out their issues and this clearly shows that the UN does not get involved in any way with the terrorists. Due to this the UN has been seen to be completely blind to terrorists and it has no intentions of addressing the terrorists and this is not likely to change soon. UN being the largest organization in the world that promotes peace should not be completely unable to address terrorism and therefore this has been seen as a complete failure to the UN in fighting terrorism. The United Nations has also been seen to fail in the action against terrorism because it has for a long time been unable to clearly define terrorism without putting policies that would annoy some of its strongest member states. UN has found itself in a state of confusion as Islamic states argue that the fight against occupation should be exempted from the definition of terrorism as this is well stipulated by the UN in the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) of 1998 which clearly states that the struggle of the people either peaceful or armed struggle against any foreign occupation shall not be termed as an act of violence. The issue of terrorism as been complicated more by the fact that the struggle of the people to free themselves from any foreign occupation and/or colonialism does not in any way constitute an act of terrorism. Some of the Islam clerics have also considered the presence of the US and other foreign forces in Afghanistan and Iraq as occupation and therefore they do not term any act of the citizens of this country to free themselves from foreign occupation as an act of terrorism. Due to lack of a definition of terrorism there has been failure of the UN to come up with a complete detailed convention on international terrorism but instead it has adopted a document it calls Global Counter Terrorism Strategy which is based on an unknown definition of terrorism. In conclusion the UN has failed in many areas in the fight against terrorism. For the UN to fight terrorism globally it should be in a position to address terrorists and come up with ways of preventing anymore loss of lives. The UN should also understand that the terrorists are people who can be negotiated with and therefore coming with a democratic solution for both sides. UN should also stop involving member states that are not humanitarian in any humanitarian issues. In general the World requires a stronger peace international police who will be free to act without getting orders from any of the UN state members. REFERENCES LIST Giuseppe Nesi, Contributor Giuseppe Nesi (2006) International cooperation in counter terrorism: the United Nations and regional organizations in the fight against terrorism (Published by Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. ,), 2006 P. 47-48 Leel Pathirana, Failure to understand the conflict by UN and the West has created a humanitarian Crisis, Asian Tribune, pp. 1-3, 18-4-2009, Available at Asiantribune. com M. Sassoli (2004), use and abuse of laws of war in the war on terrorism law and equality, A journal of theory and practice, vol. 22,2004, pp. 195-213 Maogoto, Jackson Nyamuya, Walking an International Tightrope: Use of Military Force to Counter Terrorism Willing the End. Brooklyn Journal of International Law, Vol. 31, No. 2, 2006. Patrick Goodenough, International Editor, UN Anti-Terror Effort Bogged Down Over Terrorism Definition, Tuesday, September 02, 2008, (CNSNews. com) Phil for humanity, A guide for the survival of humankind, and improving the world, society and yourself, why the United Nations is a useless failure, available online athttp://www. philforhumanity. com

Corrections and Treatment Essay Example for Free

Corrections and Treatment Essay Community-based treatment The three community-based treatment efforts which I would like to focus attention on are Intensive Outpatient Counseling Services, abbreviated as (IOP) next, a community based program known as: Child Mental Health and lastly Emergency Crisis Response. Community-based treatment efforts vary between states however, the purpose and importance of these treatment efforts are identical. Larry J. Siegel, Brandon C. Welsh authors of: Juvenile Delinquency: Theory, Practice, and Law quote the purpose: â€Å"Provide care, protection, and treatment for juveniles in need†. Institutionalization Issues affecting institutionalized juveniles reflects possible detrimental successful compliance with respect: to community-based efforts. Likewise, institutionalized juveniles are faced with the reality of prison life and a concern is introduced to wither or not juveniles will learn criminal behaviors. Lastly, the opportunity to provide individualized and/or group counseling even more so education is a separate affecting issue of institutionalized juveniles. The juvenile justice system should be concerned with those issues, because it clearly represents foreseeable safety issues for incarcerated juveniles and staff. Separately, the potential for reoccurrence: entry or criminal charges to the justice system leading to overcrowding. With that a final concern to the justice system might reflect mental health issues that are not able to be diagnosed in incarcerated juveniles, this would impact cost or funding within the justice system. Two of the three Intensive Aftercare Programs discussed in Juvenile Delinquency. The Core that I would like to focus attention on are Juvenile Boot Camps and Wilderness Programs, the importance of aftercare programs  offer the opportunity for juveniles to have a safe place to go. Another aspect that can be considered aftercare programs, redirect negative attitudes in juveniles and: potential for reoccurrence criminal behavior. In the reading materials, The Core the following statement is provided â€Å"exposure to a wholesome environment; where the  concepts of education and the work ethic are taught and embodied in adult role models, troubled  youth can regain a measure of self-worth.†

Comparison Characters In The Scarlet Letter Literature Essay

Comparison Characters In The Scarlet Letter Literature Essay The Scarlet Letter is a classic, American novel written by renowned author, Nathaniel Hawthorne. The Scarlet Letter follows three characters, Hester Prynn, Reverend Dimmesdale, and Pearl. Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote the novel in 1850. The Scarlet Letter includes in his novel the infamous Christian view of sin and the knowledge that follows it. There are four dynamic characters that are featured in the The Scarlet Letter, Hester, her daughter, Pearl; her husband, Chillingworth; and the Reverend Dimmesdale. The Scarlet Letter is characteristic of the story of Adam and Eve because of the sin that was committed and desecrated the lives of those who were involved, as well as what would lead to the demise of their souls. The Scarlet Letter also has many of the symbolic details that are contained within the tale of Cain and Abel because of the sin that was committed, and how the A on the bosom of Hesters gown symbolized the mark of Cain. When we first meet Hester Prynn, she is a prisoner in a jail in the Boston, Massachusetts area during a time when puritans were the main population. The character of Hester is rather flat and non-dynamic. The reader is more aware of the sins that Hester committed, rather than who she is as one of the main characters in the book and what her place is. After her affair with the Reverend Dimmesdale, Hester is shamed by the community for her acts that are spread across the township. Hester is married to a man that she claims that she does not love, his name is Chillingworth. Hester is a very strong-willed woman and this is seen primarily through the first few chapters before she meets Chillingworth. After the alienation of Hester by society, Hester becomes more of an open-minded thinker. The happenings that happen to Prynn shape her into a more motherly figure for her daughter, Pearl, who is born after the tryst. Pearl is first introduced as the baby that is pressed against Hester when she emerges from the doorway. Pearl is an adolescent for most of the novel. The imperative fact about Pearl is her ability to instigate the mature figures of the story. She is able to capture the attention of her elders through means of bringing questions about, ones that are particularly direct and piercing. Pearl is always making the reader aware of the fact that her mother, Hester, has the letter that is embroidered on her gown and the fact that the people of the community and the market are emphasizing it. Ironically, in the latter part of the book, Pearl is the one that states the disappointment of Dimmesdale to admit his portion of the situation that caused the shame to be placed on Hester. Hawthornes characters names all have certain meaning to them. One of the best examples is that of Chillingworth, Roger Chillingworth. Roger is the husband of Hester, but as his name suggest, he is a very cold person that is void of warmth and comfort. For most of the time he is not affectionate towards his wife like a husband should be; although his wife was expected by him to be affectionate towards him. Chillingworth would be considered the antagonist of the novel. He is representative of forms of unacceptable knowledge. The last of the important characters is the Reverend Dimmesdale. Dimmesdale is the man that is involved in the tryst between him and Hester. The book states that the reverend was a very intelligent and educated man that had received his education from the prestigious Oxford University. After the affair that takes place, Hester takes all of the blame for the sin that they share. This is characteristic of the type of person that he his, and the highlight of his conscious of his soul. Being that the Reverend Dimmesdale is an important authority figure in the community, it isnt ever thought that someone in his position would commit such an act. In church, the crowds find his great speeches to be more of a metaphor or allegorical, rather than him expressing his discontent of the sin that he committed. The framework of his order inevitably hemmed him. As a man who had once sinned, but who kept his conscious all alive and painfully sensitive by the fretting, [.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] but this had been a sin of passion, not of principle, nor even purpose (Hawthorne 180). Dimmesdale death is taken into many different directions by the people of the town. His confession before his death is seen as a form of one last sermon, although some believe that the death was a type of divine intervention. When Hester emerged from the prison, she had a beautifully embroidered letter A on the breast of her gown. This letter was the talk of the town when Ester made her way to market. Many people in the village and at the market were at shock and awed by this display that was centered on the bosom of Hesters gown. One thing that was most unusual of what happened at the market was the fact that people were more distracted at the attention to detail of the embroidering in her gown of the particular letter that was being displayed. Adam and Eve are part of the first story in The Bible, Genesis. Adam is created by god to be cast upon the Earth. Once Adam is on Earth, he is placed into a very deep sleep where God takes one of Adams ribs and created a woman with that particular rib. The woman was created and named Eve. Adam and Eve are one; they are created from one another, are part of one another, and are one flesh. Adam and Eve live in the Garden of Eden, a paradise on Earth. God created this place for Adam and Eve and said that it is theirs. The only thing that they were not allowed was to eat the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The one rule that Adam and Eve had promised God that they would obey was that one rule. It was the rule that would test their desires, and show their faith in God. God did, however, allow Satan to roam freely within this Garden of Eden. In the story of Adam and Eve, Satan takes the form of a snake and entices them to eat the fruit that has been forbidde n by God. Once they ate the fruit, the original sin had been committed. This is the part where they lose their innocence and obtain fig leaves to cover their genitals. This sin leads to the banishment of Adam and Eve, by God, from the Garden of Eden [1]. Hawthornes word choice that is used to symbolize the sin between Hester and Dimmesdale, also symbolizes the sin that took place between Adam and Eve. But there is a fatality, a feeling so irresistible and inevitable that it has the force of doom, which [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] the spot where some great and marked event has given the color to their lifetime; and [ the darker the tinge that saddens it (Hawthorne 83). The fatality could be seen as Satan, who was in the form of a snake in The Garden of Eden, snakes are poisonous which is another word for fatal. It could also be seen as symbolizing one of the deadly sins, lust. He then continues on to state that sins that are committed are not without the conscious knowing. That even when a sin is committed, and the sinner is the only one that is aware, the conscious will still know what happened, and a feeling of guilt will ensue. Hawthorne makes reference of the fig leaves that are in the story of Adam and Eve by using a metaphor in the form of a glove. Satan dropped it there; I take it intending a scurrilous jest against your reference. But, indeed he was blind and foolish, as he ever and always is. A pure hand needs no glove to cover it (Hawthorne 143). As previously stated, after the sin of Adam and Eve was committed, their genitals were then covered by fig leaves to signify that their innocence had been lost. By stating that a pure hand doesnt need a glove is referencing the fact of the nature between Hester, Dimmesdale, Adam and Eve were very similar in nature. By stating that something was placed by Satan, he is making a reference to the Garden of Eden and the fruit, because of the fact that God allowed Satan to roam freely in and around the Garden of Eden to tempt the couple that was staying there at the time. Hawthorne was a man of god, not as a preacher or a reverend, but rather a follower of Jesus Christ. One of the most infamous stories in The Bible is the story of Cain and Abel. Cain and Abel were brothers and the offspring of Adam and Eve. Cain and Abel were the first two humans to be born via conception and delivery, rather than being created by God as their parents were. They were born after Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden. Cain was a gardener who worked the ground, and Abel was a shepherd. Later on, the time came for Cain and Able to present their offering to God. Both brothers brought their contribution to God. Abel, being a shepherd brought some of the finest creatures in his flock. Cain, on the other hand, brought something that was very average and barely satisfactory. Cain had every option to present something that was of much better quality than what he chose to do, but it is speculated that he assumed that God would not know the difference and be obliviou s to his offerings. However, God did notice the difference and accepted Abels offering and rejected Cains offering. As with any siblings that are not granted the same thing, jealousy developed. Cain let his rage become anger and let it grow out of control. This led Cain to eventually murder his brother Abel. God was furious with Cain for the deed in which he had done. God made Cain aware that for the death of his brother, he was going to bestow a mark on him that was going to make the people aware of the deed that he had done. This was forever known as the mark of Cain. It is unknown what the mark of Cain was, specifically, but it has been speculated that the mark was placed on Cains forehead [2]. Many of Hawthornes works have many meanings that can be debated to the point where there are many possibilities. It was explained that the embroidered A on Hesters bosom stood for adulterer, however there is more meaning behind it. Hester had had an affair with the reverend. The affair took place before Hester was married. Therefore, it by definition was not an act of adultery on her part, but it was however a sin. They would have not placed an A for adultery on a person who wasnt an adulterer, but rather as a form of symbolism. As mentioned above, the mark of Cain was a way to symbolize that a sin had been committed. Although the sins were not the same in severity, they were however sins. Ah, but let her cover the mark as she will, the pang of it will be always in her heart [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.] What do we talk of marks and brands whether on the bodice of her gown, or the flesh of her forehead (Hawthorne 49). The A of Hesters gown was Hawthornes way of placing emphasis on the mark of Cain and that A rather than standing for Adultery, could have stood for something relevant to the mark, such as that of Abel. It has been speculated and debated by religious and Christian scholars that the mark, given to Cain by God, was located on Cains forehead. If you will note the reference above, there is a direct statement that mentions branding a persons forehead. Hawthornes literature collection can be taken many ways by many different people that read his stories. This particular book bares reference to the strict by laws that governed the puritanical society that controlled and undermined the citizens of a particular region within a young United States. With this book being based off of a puritanical platform of belief, there are going to be many references to The Bible, which is the greatest book that has ever been published. Puritans were extremely grounded on the foundations of that particular book. One of the most well known stories that come forth from The Bible is the story of Adam and Eve and the original sin that they committed. Also, you will find many references to the story of Cain and Abel, the sons of Adam and Eve, which are conflicted by jealousy, and Cain is given a mark by God for sinning on his brother. Hawthornes characters that are featured in this particular literary work mirror those infamous characters that are feature d in The Bible; characters that were well known in the community of that particular time and place in history. Work Cited Hawthorne, Nathaniel.  The Scarlet Letter. New York, New York: Bantam Books, 2003. Print.

Discuss Some Of The Main Ideas Essay -- essays research papers fc

Sigmund Freud considered himself a scientist whose intention was to find a physiological and materialist basis for his theories of the psyche. Freud revolutionised the way in which we think about ourselves. From its beginnings as a theory of neurosis, Freud founded and developed psychoanalysis into a general psychology, which became widely accepted as the predominant mode of discussing personality, behaviour and interpersonal relationships. Freud, who had been studying neuropathology, left Vienna in 1885 to continue his studies in Paris under the guidance of Jean Martin Charcot. This proved to be the turning point in his career, for Charcot’s work with patients classified as â€Å"hysterics† introduced Freud to the possibility that psychological disorders might have their source in the mind rather than the brain. Charcot’s hypnotic experiments demonstrated the link between hysterical symptoms such as paralysis of a limb and hypnotic suggestions to cure the paralysis. Although Freud later abandoned his faith in hypnosis, hypnotic experiments taught Freud that mental processes that took place unconsciously could have a powerful effect on behaviour. It was Freud who drew our attention to the unconscious mind. If we liken the mind to an iceberg, the nine tenths below the surface is the unconscious in which there are many mental processes going on that we have little control of. Our conscious mind is above the surface; it is what we are fully aware of and contains our perception, thought and memory. Freud also spoke of the preconscious which might include material put out of our conscious mind but which may be retrievable. Freudian psychoanalytical theory states that there are three agencies of the human personality. Below the surface is our â€Å"id†, these are our social and biological instincts such as hunger, thirst and self-preservation. The id seeks outlet in the pleasure principal with no regard to reality. It is our awareness of the outside world, our memory, perception and learning. The â€Å"Ego† develops to harmonise the impulses of the id with the demands of reality. It is our awareness of the outside world, our memory, perception and learning. The â€Å"super ego† develops later in varying degrees. It is like a conscience and brings in values and morals from parents and society and enables us to feel guilt. Freud grouped together ego and sexual instincts calling ... ...iar to most of us today. Psychoanalysis is a term that Freud coined in 1896. As a therapist he used mental rather than physical means to achieve behavioural or attitudinal change. One of Freud’s greatest achievements was his capacity to stimulate the creativity of others and his ideas have been developed by his many followers. Where Freud was perhaps wrong was in making psychosexual development so central that all other forms of social and emotional development were conceived as being derived from it. However, despite repeated criticism and attempted refutations of Freud’s work, his ideas remained powerful well after his death and the general way in which psychoanalysis and other forms of psychotherapy are conducted is still based on Freud’s procedure, and remains one of his most enduring legacies. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Storr A  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1996  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Freud†Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Oxford University Press Stevens R  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1994  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Freud and Psychoanalysis†Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Open University Press

The Holocaust Essay -- essays research papers

The Holocaust Experience   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The world that people lived in during the Holocaust is described by the personal experiences of the oppressed throughout the story Jack and Rochelle, written by Jack and Rochelle Sutin, and the memoir by Alexander Donat titled The Holocaust Kingdom. The horrifying mindset of the oppressors, particularly the Nazi`s, is illustrated in both books. The vicious and relentless emotional, physical, and psychological abuse the Nazi`s targeted at their victims is depicted in detail. The unspeakable cruelty received by the Jews dramatically altered their state of mind and how they lived their lives. The emotions of despair, distress, depression, hopelessness, helplessness felt by the Jews eventually turn to hate, anger, hopefulness, faith, and ultimately revenge against all oppressors.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Holocaust was a traumatic and tragic time in history to say the least. Those who were victims of the mistreatment were forced to respond. In Jack and Rochelle, both families were used to some form of oppression. Growing up in Poland, Rochelle and her family were used to feeling hated. Here is an example through dialogue of how some of the Poles felt about the Jews and the Germans: â€Å"Just wait! Hitler is coming and he`ll off the heads of all you Jews.† Rochelle: â€Å"What are you so happy about? The Germans might cut off my head, but your independence will be gone. Poland won`t be Poland anymore!† â€Å"They would tell me that it was worth losing their independence just to get rid of the Jews (page 8, Jack and Rochelle).†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Jack also experienced mistreatment even before the Germans came. In the town of Mir, he attended a grade school where he was singled out by the teachers: â€Å"As for school work, if we failed to complete an assignment or to pass a test, we were singled out for special criticism, well beyond what a Polish student would receive. â€Å"What`s the matter Jew?† the teacher would ask us. â€Å"Can`t keep up? (page 14, Jack and Rochelle).† They knew that they could not stay in Poland: â€Å"†¦there was no freedom, no future for us in Poland (page 16, Jack and Rochelle).† The Jews in Poland knew that they were not welcome. Here is an example of how Jack felt from early childhood growing up in Poland: â€Å"Did I have a sense that Jews were hated in Poland? You didn`t need to have a ... ...l, educated people. Finally, in April of 1945 the camps were liberated. After the liberation of the Jews, many of the Jewish inmates of the camps were too weak to move. Many of the Jews being liberated were so delusional from the continuous negligence, torture, unspeakable acts, mass killings, (basically an unrealistic experience), that they were not aware of what was happening. The Jewish prisoners were not restored to health simply by liberation. More painful than their captivity was the awakening from nightmares. When the prisoners began to improve physically, they were then able to feel and think and realize what had really happened to them. Many of the Jewish survivors described themselves as incapable of living their lives to the fullest. They often caught themselves unable to perform tasks that are considered very basic. Some felt that the war and the imprisonment had such a dramatic affect on their life that they had their spark to life that they once had. The traumatic experience of these camps has deeply scarred many of the unfortunate prisoners during the Holocaust. Let us all pray that a time like the Holocaust never comes about again.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

Guns in the home :: essays research papers fc

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Statistics on the National Safe Kids Campaign Website reveals that â€Å"Americans possess nearly 200 million firearms, including 65 million handguns. Approximately one-third of families with children (representing more than 22 million children in 11 million homes) keep at least one gun in the home. Gun owners keep firearms in the home for hunting and recreation (60 percent) or for protection and crime prevention (40 percent)†. Although 40 percent seems to be on the minority, households with guns are at higher risk of homicide, and there are few beneficial effects of gun ownership; as a result, alternative methods for crime prevention and protection should be adopted.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The most startling examples of these risks usually involve children. Children are very curious and will stop at nothing to discover new ideas. When they play, it is normal for them to move about and find bits and pieces around the house. This innocent, normal behavior becomes dangerous when children start finding guns hidden or lying around. A typical story was told by the Physicians for Social Responsibility, an organization working together for nuclear disarmament, (PSR) when â€Å"three-year-old Billy Higgins sat in the corner of his parent’s bedroom, trembling and confused, a gun having just gone off in his hand. His 2 year old sister, Anne Marie, lay motionless on her back, a small hole in her chest. While playing with his sister, Billy had found his father’s loaded handgun in a bedroom drawer. The father, John Higgins, never dreamed his small children were capable of finding or using his gun. He was wrong. And his daughter died†. ( "Billy Higgins†) Obviously, John Higgins thought that he had his gun only accessible to himself, and even if his kids found it, they would not be able to shoot it. However, the National Safe Kids Campaign website shows that â€Å"Children as young as age 3 are strong enough to pull the trigger of many of the handguns available in the United States†.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Not only are children at risk but also adults. A study by Arthur Kellerman shows that â€Å"the risk of homicide in the home is three times greater in households with guns.†(2) He implies that guns stored in the home are more often used to kill a familiar person than an intruder. Gun owners do not always know who they’re shooting when they pull the trigger, often the victim of this shooting is a family member.

HR Management Roles

The Human Resources Department an important system to any organization and is a key component in the healthcare industry. It is the HR department that is built on skills, performance, and knowledge of the organization and is responsible for hiring and training the new employee’s healthcare services. â€Å"Human resources, when pertaining to health care, can be defined as the different kinds of clinical and non-clinical staff responsible for public and individual health intervention† (WHO, 2000). The roles and functions of the Human Resources Department (HR) management in the health care industry is to work closely with all staff to ensure each employee recognizes the needs and standards of the organization. Management is about planning, performance and team work. Planning is a vital in any organization and in healthcare it is pertinent for proper flow and function of the organization. â€Å"High- performance organization show a greater commitment and skill development† (Gomez-Mejia, 2010). This is the prime element in HR management roles the organization has opening positions, new programs for employees and creating a plan is essential for success. As a representative of management HR a plan to promote employees who show exceptional ability to lead. Management must look at these employees who show skill and focus on how to move them into positions that need their talent. Hiring new personnel for an organization includes providing extensive training for employee development. A program from management would include building proficiency requirements, develop mental skills of potential new employees. The functional roles of the HR department is to provide assistance to all managers who execute responsibilities of the health care organization. The department monitors daily functions of the healthcare organization to ensure the organization is running smoothly. It is their duty to oversee the organization success in practice. The HR department responsibility is to confirm that each employee has the proper skills and training required for the position. This guarantees that the organization is operated effectively day-to-day. The methods used in the HR department creates a team effort atmosphere for the organization. This set clear goals, standards and success in a healthcare organization this gives each employee something to accomplish. The HR department’s role in the healthcare industry is very important, and the functions of the department’s plans, skills, and programs help achieve the organizations goal success in the healthcare industry. Management is the center of the organizations achievements. Proper management in HR is crucial in delivering quality health care. Management in HR is needed to develop new programs and policies. Effective management keeps the healthcare industry in a position to provide quality care to patients.

Consumer Retail Electronics Industry Analysis

Industry Analysis The US retail consumer electronics (CE) market had reported revenues of $180 billion in 2010. The different revenue streams that make up the reported annual revenue in 2010 for the CE market can be divided into five key areas: Consumer Electronics (CE), which consist of video and audio products; Home Office which consist of PC’s, notebooks, netbooks, tablets, and mobile phones; Appliances; Entertainment Hardware and Software; and Services (see Figure 1).Total sales from the Top 10 electronics retailers grew by 6% in 2011 to reach $110 billion. The past two business cycles, have been marked by slow growth, the fall of an CE empire, Circuit City, and complete flat line growth of key product areas such as TV’s. The market showed minor gains after the fall of Circuit City, but the growth can be attributable to the redistribution of Circuit City’s customer base. The major players in this market such as Best Buy, Target, Wal-Mart, RadioShack, ect†¦, only grew by 4. 5% in 2011.This is primarily due to the release of tablets, and netbooks, and not from existing product lines, already in place. It is definitely apparent that redistribution in consumer buying patterns like the shift to online shopping on retailers like Amazon. com has definitely impacted the nature of CE retailers. Cognizant Technology Solutions conducted a market study on the Retail CE market, in which they have identified 3 key areas which will continue to spur changes within the Retail CE market over the next few years.These 3 key areas as identified by Cognizant are Consumer sophistication and frugality, cut-throat competition, and millennial consumer behavior. Consumer Sophistication and Frugality The shift from moving to a commodity centered market, with the advent of online CE retailers like Amazon, the affect is in the efforts of the sales staff, which has been highly reduced, shoppers know exactly what they are looking for, for the most part, and use t hese retail brick and mortar shops as showrooms, where they go to touch and feel the merchandise, before they actually decide to purchase these item.These customers then usually retreat to the comforts of their home, or the nearest Starbucks, where they usually purchase the same exact item online usually through an online retailer like Amazon. In addition to this sophistication consumers have also become very frugal due to depressed economic conditions, and the high unemployment rate that is constantly rising. Consumers are looking for the best deal possible and if it means waiting few days for the item to be shipped then that is what they will do.From a business standpoint this new ideal poses certain operational challenges, Profit Margins (PM), and Distribution. Prices of high ticket items such as large flat screens and high priced PC’s have consistently declined, the sales that have occurred for this submarket have strictly been for replacement or extension sales & service s. These items usually have the highest margins of all CE products.To curb this retailers have revised their revenue mix, by including more lower margin items such as notebook PC’s and TV’s, and higher margin products which are sure fire sales such as smartphones, and tablets. Retailers that have focused on single channel distribution strategies such as the retail store model have had to invest in multichannel distribution strategies to compete with the shift in consumer buying behaviors. This method of buying has forced retailers to offer more options in addition to maintain their brick and mortar establishments.Cut Throat Competition Today’s CE retailers have always been confronted with difficult issues, but the pressures to produce a profit are even greater than ever before. Modern CE retailers face significant market competition from the likes of discounters such as Wal-Mart, and online retailers such as Amazon. An even more interesting dichotomy that has oc curred in the CE market is the inability to determine supplier from competitor. This has occurred with Apple products, which designs and sells the most demanded consumer electronics.Apple has strict controls as to who distributes their products, any retailer outside of this Apple sphere is at a severe disadvantage and missing out on an entire market of customers they could have had engaging in commerce. Generation Y and Consumer Behavior The multitasking, always electronically connected group of people we call Generation Y or better known as the millennia’s continue to drive the innovation that is occurring in the notebook/ tablet, and smartphone product lifecycles, which have consistently drove the need for companies like Apple, and the like to have product releases every 6 months.This has created submarkets for the sales of accessories for the new products as well as service plans from Telecommunications Service providers for data plans to access the internet, and other med ia such as streaming music, and video via services like YouTube, and Netflix. This push for the access of media has forced retailers to get into the content provider business.With the advent of the internet and mobile devices generation Y’ers have instant access to price differentials across different channels enabling them to compare, and price shop while in the actual store standing in front of a product. This has decreased the need for sales staff, and these groups of consumers have relied on prices shopping, and social media, looking at reviews products, as well as what their friends have purchased via Facebook, ect†¦ to assist them in their CE purchases, this form of purchase has become known as â€Å"social purchasing†.

How Do I Spend My Free Time Essay

Nowadays, some people consider that children have too much leisure time and in spite of wasting it, they should use it to do more school work. In my opinion, I think children should use their free time wisely to develop their skills not only in school work but also in their life. Firstly, we all know that people cannot keep on working all the time. We need to stop and relax ourselves. And after a long day in school, children also need to relax. In their free time, they can play games, have a small party or even talk to each other to refresh their mind and keep themselves away from the stressful atmosphere of the school. The games or sports that I play make me more reflexive, faster, and stronger both physically and mentally. For example in tennis, the player has to run, focus on the ball and swing the bat accurately at the same time. Children can improve their body, their reflections and their brain at the same time. Another thing that I do in my free time is pottering around in the garden with my mother. She plants a fair bit of flowers and I enjoy helping her take care of them. It is a pleasure to feel the soil, prune the plants, remove the weeds and do the little things that help the plants grow better. It always fills me with wonder to watch seedlings germinate, leaves sprout and eventually grow to produce beautiful flowers. Social skills play an important part in me daily life. People do not need to be good at their knowledge but they also need know how deal with people. With a large amount of free time, I have joined some social activities which can give me a lot of ideas about the right manners and attitudes for my future life. At night, I usually do a bit of reading before going to bed. Books are like little treasure chests. A lot of information and knowledge are to be found in them and all it takes is a bit of time spent reading them. This is certainly a very beneficial way to spend my free time. After a spot of reading, it is time for bed and on to another day.

Boys will be boys Essay

Boys need care and support also when they are growing up, but it seems their behavior is required more rigidly. When boys come to the age of 10 or 11, they are required to behavior like a man. A boy who is scared in the dark or left alone at such a young age will be laughed, he will be said sissy. The traditional way asked boys mislead them to be pretend to be man-like. They have to be independent exactly when they need love and support from parents, they get no comfort or care when they get hurt. All of which at last lead to a pathological for the boy who can’t handle it well. Boys suffer from the way people rewire them, they are emotionally expressive, but a long time to repress their real feelings lead to a higher rate of crime or suicide, smoking and alcoholics in boys than girls. If boys go against their heart for a long time, they can’t act who they are for a long time, they get no help or guide, psychological problems will come into being instead. For example, a boy who lost his father in an early age, in his heart he desires the love from his father or from a man. But he should behave like a man to avoid being laughed by others while he is so weak, he has no one to talk this desire, so that as the desire become stronger and stronger, most cases, he becomes a gay. At last, boys should be taken care of in a different way from girls. The rigid idea that boys should behave like a â€Å"big boy† every moment should be considered carefully. Maybe when the boys really get the opportunity to be themselves, there will be less crime and suicide. No matter how he behaves, just follow the voice from the heart. Let the boys be who they are, more acceptance and love is need for who they are.

Biceps Tendon Rupture With Post-operative Complications

Biceps Tendon Rupture With Post-operative Complications Locomotor PBL Experiment Writeup Introduction In this PBL, we observe a case of biceps tendon rupture with post-operative complication of heterotopic ossification. We will first go through the anatomy of the upper limb followed by a discussion of the ruptured biceps tendon, heterotopic ossification and finally mode of action of indomethacin. Learning Objectives 1. Osteology of the upper limb with emphasis on the elbow and wrist 2. The neurovascular supply to the upper limb 3. Movements possible at joints of upper limb and the range of movements possible with regards to the elbow and wrist and the muscles that bring about these actions. 4. Rupture of distal biceps tendon 5. Heterotopic ossification 6. Mode of action of Indomethacin 1. Osteology of the upper limb with emphasis on the elbow and wrist Arm The humerus is the largest and longest bone of the arm region connecting the shoulder to the forearm. Proximally, the head of the humerus articulates with the glenoid cavity of the sca pula forming the glenohumeral joint. Distally the humerus articulates with the two bones of the forearm, the ulna and radius. The humerus is shown in more detail in figure 1 below. Figure 1 Humerus (1) For Anil’s case we will focus several prominent features on the distal region of the humerus which forms part of the elbow. There are two projections on either side of the distal end of the humerus which are the medial and lateral epicondyle. The medial epicondyle protects the ulnar nerve which passes just posteriorly and also serves as the attachment site for the forearm superficial flexor muscles. The lateral epicondyle conversely is the attachment site for the forearm extensor muscles. Anteriorly in between these two epicondyles are two articular surfaces: the round surfaced lateral capitulum which articulates with the radius and the spool shaped medial trochlea which articulates with the ulna. Also anteriorly, the radial fossa directly above the capitulum accommodates the h ead of the radius during flexion of the elbow whereas the coronoid fossa directly above the trochlea accommodates the coronoid process of the ulna during flexion of the elbow. Both the radial and coronoid fossa limit flexion of the elbow. Posteriorly, the olecranon fossa accommodates the olecranon process of the ulna during extension of the elbow. The olecranon fossa prevents hyperextension of the elbow. Forearm The forearm is made up of two bones: ulna and radius. Proximally both of these bones articulate with the humerus whereas distally only the radius directly articulates with the carpals of the wrist thus connecting the arm to the wrist. The ulna and radius are shown in figure 2 below. Figure 2 Radius and Ulna (1) The ulna The ulna is the stabilizing bone of the forearm and is medial and longer of the two bones. There is a projection anteriorly at the proximal end called the coronoid process which fits into the coronoid fossa during elbow extension. Posteriorly on the proximal end of the ulna is the olecranon process (which forms the prominence of the elbow) which fits into the olecranon fossa during elbow extension. The articular surface between the olecranon and the coronoid articulates with the trochlear of the humerus and gives the movements of elbow extension and flexion.

Our Event Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Our Event - Essay Example The decision to make the subject matter of the occasion to be global was reached upon putting into consideration political, social and economic factors. This was mainly because were from diverse backgrounds and regions of the globe. Our duty was to enhance the success of the occasion and as a result get rid of more or less 80 tickets. Nearly each day of the week, we had meeting with the members which was aimed at deciding the whole thing in an orderly manner and certainly for sure this was to form the most significant portion of organizing a fruitful happening which was how to sale extra tickets. The whole plan was to have a kind of advertising in areas around that place including shopping centers and municipality centers where it is most convenient to get connected to new people from different social classes, values and ethnic groups who might be in a position to pay attention to that occurrence. Each day of the week information was placed on social networks including face book and communication was done through mail to people we had never met before detailing them on the happening and if fascinated they could purchase the tickets. We positioned a piece of writing on the home daily paper. In an effort to ensure the success of the event, we had two promotions within our shopping center. For the first point in time when we arrived at the shopping center, a lottery was organized giving anyone an opportunity to participate with two tickets for our global daylight tea. This was a chance to create a center of attention for extra individuals to place their names, e-mails and telephone numbers. At the end of that day, we had succeeded in attracting 60 people in our lottery. It was one of our victorious days of the week as we had caught the attention of roughly 60 people who were extremely paying attention to our occasion, we had a

An Analysis of employee involvement on American Water Company Essay

An Analysis of employee involvement on American Water Company - Essay Example An Analysis of employee involvement on American Water Company Staw & Ross stated that employees know better what is expected of them, and they commit better on the organization’s decision (1978). [Employee]Participation may lower the disutility of effort, by providing intrinsic motivation (Staw, 1980). Also, participation may suit non-financial needs such as achievement, creativity and the longing for respect. This may also develop cooperation and communication; employees discuss with each other instead of allowing all discussions only to the management, saving management time. When employees are participative, they tend to supervise themselves, therefore reducing the need for a lot of managerial positions and lessening costs of labor. Involvement teaches employees new skills and helps identify and train leaders. Strauss emphasized that â€Å"participation increases loyalty and identification with the organization†. He also argued that â€Å"If participation and rewards take place in a group setting, the group may pressure indivi duals to conform to decisions† (1977).When management leaders and union participate cooperatively to resolve problems on a non adversarial basis; it improves union management relationship. Involvement often results in the setting of goals and according to Latham, Gary â€Å"goal setting is often an effective motivational technique, particularly when workers set their own goals (1988). Disadvantages of Employee Involvement However, employee involvement had been evaluated as disadvantageous in some ways. Among the disadvantages cited are: Employees may be less knowledgeable than managers, and the understanding upon the decisions they made may be different. Aside from this, Jensen and William stated that "the rewards motivating workers to share their ideas may be larger than the value of the ideas themselves" (1979). Employees may be unenthusiastic to change, once they commit to a decision. Employee Involvement is time consuming, and if the groups decided, response to changing environments may be mainly slow. Another concern is the possibility that when a precedent of employee involvement is established, it is difficult to withdraw this right to participate. Organized, participative groups may unite against the management to limit production and avoid change. Sharing information with unions raises their bargaining power, so companies may lose. If the management and union are unified, working together wit h management may lower unions' legitimacy with members. Goals employees set for themselves may be low. In order to better understand employee involvement, it is better if we take a closer look on an organization that allows/promotes employee involvement. One of these organizations is "American Water". Employee Involvement in American Water Company As cited in the World Wide Web American Water Works & Guarantee Company was founded in 1886 and was restructured in 1947 as American Water Works Company, Inc., and locally operates in New Jersey. Its major mission is to become a trusted water resource company dedicated to

Prison in the US justice system Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Prison in the US justice system - Research Paper Example The current conditions of prisons will be considered, as well as the presence and implementation of recidivism programs, rehabilitative programs, introductory back into society programs, and steps taken to ensure the safety of the public after a prisoner has been released. When most people think of prisons, cold, rundown jail cells for the purpose of punishing hardened criminals is what usually comes to mind. While punishment is one of the primary reasons that prisons exist, there are two other reasons that often go overlooked: to protect and to rehabilitate. Prisons are used to protect both society and the criminal. Society needs protection against harmful individuals and groups, and the criminal needs protection from those in society wishing to seek revenge for any wrongdoings (for example, the father of a murdered child might feel tempted to go after the murderer). Prisons also help to rehabilitate to prisoners so that they can learn to handle their anger in healthy and beneficial ways, and will also be less likely to commit crimes once they have been released. In recent years, many state and federal prisons have been under fire due to the physical conditions that prisoners are being forced to live. The majority of these issues have stemmed from the two greatest ordeals that prisons are facing, which are overcrowding and underfunding. As early as 1991, prisons throughout the United States have faced a significant increase of inmates, and thus an increase in prison overcrowding (Weschler, 1991). The number of prisoners being released back onto the streets is shrinking while the number of prisoners being brought into prisons is continuing to grow. The demand to maintain prisoners is too great and cannot be kept up with. To make the overcrowding even worse is the underfunding of our state and federal prisons. Due to nationwide budget cuts and our current economic recession, our prisons are among the institutions that are being given the cold shoulder

Should drivers of automobiles be prohibited from using cellular phones Essay - 4

Should drivers of automobiles be prohibited from using cellular phones - Essay Example Most of the countries have banned the use of cellular phones during drive in order to curtail accidents. Purpose now is to analyse the advantages and disadvantages of using cellular while driving, with a view to reach at a common understanding of phone usage by automobile drivers during drive. Cell phone is the best available mean of communication especially in case of emergency or when some urgent decisions related to business, social gathering and community are desired. At the same time use of cell phone is major reason of distraction while driving. While driving, driver is supposed to be vigilant about traffic, signals, pedestrians and road conditions (Strayer & William 462). Concentration is the most difficult thing to achieve while driving if driver is using cell phone. This tendency has caused numerous accidents in the past. Therefore, use of cell phone while driving should be prohibited in order to safeguard the lives of innocent people. It is obvious that one cannot be vigilant about surroundings while talking on the cell phone. Cell phone conversation attracts more attention than driving. Diversion of attention during drive is simply unaffordable even for a second (Strayer & William 465). If, driver is little inattentive than he may face the dire circumstances in the shape of an accident. This is what has happened to people in the recent past and same is happening at present also. University of Utah psychology department carried out study in 2003 for determination of risks posed by cell phone usage during driving. Different teams of people were made for analyzing their performances in different situations. One team drove simulator while taking on the cell phone. Another team got drunk for the reasons of comparison between drunk drivers and drivers taking on cell phones. Another team comprised of people who were fully focused on the driving. It was found that people who were talking on the cell phone were more dangerous than drunk drivers at few

Community Emergency Preparedness and Response Oral Presentation Research Paper

Community Emergency Preparedness and Response Oral Presentation - Research Paper Example The five boroughs make up the counties. The Staten Island is in Richmond County, Brooklyn is in the King County, the Bronx is in the Bronx County. The Queens is found in Queens County and Manahattan, New York County. In 1898, the five boroughs were merged to form a single city. In area,Queens is the largest County, because it holds 108 square miles,while Brooklyn has the highest population containing 2.3 million residents as estimated by the census conducted in 1990. The 2012 census in New York estimated the population to be 8,33697 within an area of 783.8 square kilo meters. New York City is referred to the most diverse city in terms of linguistics because residents there speak over 800 different languages. The Metropolitan Area, in New York City is the most populated in The United States, with 18.9 million residents occupying an area of 17,1400 square kilo meters (Carroll, 2012). See the illustration below Retrieved on March 26, 2013, from, http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ances try.com/~genealogylinks/dmst/%20-dmstgfx/NY/NYC-5B.gif Population New York is the third greatest state in population. California and Texas take first and second place respectively. As portrayed by the 2010 census, the population of New York residents was at 19,378,102, an aggrandizement of more than 400,000 people. The 2000-2006 transition in population was as a result of natural causes such as birth and death. During that period, the total population was 601,779 persons in that; the number of births which was 1,576,125 deduct the number of deaths which was 974,346 less the residents migrating who added up to 422,481 persons. Retrieved on March 26, 2013, from, http://climatechange.thinkaboutit.eu/scripts/tinymce/jscripts/tiny_mce/plugins/imagemanager/files/nyc_population.png Geographic New York City is situated at the meeting point of the Atlantic Ocean and River Hudson, South East of The State Of New York. The city is surrounded by three islands, Staten Island, Manhattan And Wester n Long Island. This is the reason why the city is densely populated due to the scarcity of land. River Hudson flows the Hudson Valley and enters New York Bay, resulting to a tidal bay, demarcating Northern New Jersey from Manahattan and Bronx. Harlem River, is another tidal anchorage, separating the Bronx from Manhattan. The New York City counties sprawl between two Eastern North American provinces bordering each other. Long Island, the location of Queens and Brooklyn are constituted in the plains of East Coast. Long Island, a huge ridge was formed at the Southern Borderline of the Laurentide Ice Sheet in the last glacial period. Newark Basin is an incrustation of the earth that subsided during the decomposition of the Supercontinent Pangaea in the Triassic period. The area which New York City occupies is approximated to be 831.4 square kilometers. Be that as it may, an estimation done more recently states that the area is now at 784.4 square kilometers. Todt Hill is said to be the most apical natural point situated on Staten Island at 124.9 meters above sea level. Retrieved on March 26, 2013, from, http://www.ny.com/images/nycmap-s.gif Physical Features The City Of New York has many physical features including The Broklyn Bridge, a historical landmark which has an earth bound footer and a bicycle alley set above the avenues of traffic. The bridge is used by residents and tourists to cross from one view point on the river to the other.

Budgeting Memo Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Budgeting Memo - Assignment Example Upon questioning, I learned that people in charge of budgeting and procurement have to spend all of their budgets for fear of losing it the next year. Perhaps you got that idea from government spending which has a totally different setting with a non-government agency such as ours. It is widely known that most government agencies are under pressure to fully expend budgets that are set to expire (Boris Angelov, 2014) I am not happy with this situation because you have the wrong notion of budgeting. The rush of spending at the end of the fiscal year is only costing the organization unnecessary expenditures and wasteful. Budget is supposed to be an allocation to ensure that there are enough resources to accomplish set of goals. It is defined as an estimation of revenue and expenses over a period of specified time (Investopedia). For instance, if you have budgeted, $30,000 for training of personnel, and at close of the fiscal year, you have spent only $20,000 for the actual training; this does not mean you have to think of ways to spend the balance of the budget. Necessarily, it should be treated as a savings and be returned to the Treasury. An approved budget does not mean that you have to spend it to zero. We should form the practice of returning balances because as you contribute to our fund balances, you are adding to the health of our company. From now on, the practice of spend all will not be tolerated. Each manager has to explain why there are balances/deficits from the budgeted amount, and if there is a balance, the need to spend it should be rightly justified. Please be informed that I will not approve expenses not tied up with our goals but will commend managers who are efficient in their surpluses. If you fear of losing your budget for next year, I will propose to our Board of Directors to use Zero budgeting wherein every expenditure is justified, or each spending starts with an assumed value of 0 (Accounting Tools, 2014).

Sales Operations & Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Sales Operations & Management - Assignment Example Sales manager can assist the sales people to overcome rejection by teaching them to rejoice in nos since if they occur at the beginning of a transaction they save on time that would have been spent on the prospect client. Communicating with individual sales people enables the manager to understand them making it easy to motivate and inspire them individually. The managers should also couch their sales representative to ensure they are well equipped before they embark on their duties (Vaynerchuk, 2013). EMAIL mail marketing is an effective marketing strategy. Giving of email address to prospective customers is a lower barrier and it provides an opportunity to interact with the customers. It is important for a company to create a list of emails since this enables the creation of a relationship with the customers; this may result to continued sales. If well used, emails will help in building a business (Kottler & Keller,

Description of a Response Journal Essay Example for Free

Description of a Response Journal Essay Journals provide learners with an opportunity to record their personal thoughts, emotions, ideas, questions, reflections, connections, and new learning on what they hear, view, read, write, discuss and think. â€Å"What we as educators want is that their writing enable students to personalize a story and gain insights about the character, to help them reflect, and to help them see the world in a different way.† (Brownlie, 2005) â€Å"Our reflections are the making of deeper meaning and richer understandings. Our reflections are our dreams, our ideas, our questions, our initiatives, our visions – our journeys of lifelong learning and teaching. † (Schwartz Bone, 1995) Why are Response Journals an effective reading strategy? Response journals allow the students to â€Å"remember to hold on to their thinking† about what they are reading. (Zimmermann, 1997) Response journals are easily implemented at all levels. They can be used to target specific outcomes of the Provincial ELA Curriculum. Response journals can be used with any genre of literature (poetry, short stories, media text, novel studies) and in different content areas that use expository text. When should Response Journals be introduced? Response journals should be introduced as soon as possible using scaffolding such as sentence frames or prompts to start. The goal should be to have students enter the middle years feeling comfortable with recording their responses to reading with little or no scaffolding. How can I ensure student success? Choose poetry, stories or books with enough depth to elicit responses. Students should have the opportunity to discuss the reading before ever being asked to write a response. Use of the â€Å"Say Something† strategy (Brownlie, 2005) creates an atmosphere of acceptance and trust. Modeling, scaffolding, building criteria with students and practice with feedback are the most important tools for improving the quality of responses. Scaffolding is the use of a variety of starters, frames and graphic organizers to allow students to develop thoughtful responses. If needed, open ended prompts may be used for some students. (See Appendix) Modeling is critical to the success of student journal writing. Teachers need to model their thinking about a selected piece of text and how that thinking can be used to form a written response. This needs to be done regularly throughout the year with a variety of texts and responses. Students require frequent practice in the various forms of journal writing. The teacher must provide feedback based on criteria that has been developed with the students. This practice with feedback allows students to monitor their growth and set goals for future journal responses. What are the different formats for Response Journals? (See Appendix for examples) 1. Double Entry Journal This is the most common response journal. The page is divided in half lengthwise. One side refers to a specific piece of text in the form of a quote or a summary. The specific text may target a literary strategy, technique or element of the author’s craft. It may also elicit a personal response such as a connection, feeling or opinion. The other side targets the students’ thoughts regarding the selected piece of text. 2. Diary Entry In this style, the student writes from the point of view of one of the characters. It should include what the character might be thinking or feeling. 3. Illustration Students draw or illustrate a specific scene using thought bubbles or captions to show the character’s thoughts and feelings or demonstrate the scene’s importance. (Brownlie, 2005) 4. Interview The student makes up questions they would ask one of the main characters. The questions are answered in the characters â€Å"voice†. 5. Letter There are many options in this response. Students may write a letter to a character, to the author, to the teacher, to a friend, to another student. In the letter they are asking questions or sharing ideas about what they have read. At times, certain letter types could be responded to in the same fashion as a Dialogue Journal. 6. Dialogue Journal Students reading the same novel work in pairs. They write a reflection to their partner in response to the novel. The following day, they exchange journals and write back to their partner. (Brownlie, 2005) 7.Graphic Organizers Graphic organizers such as KWL Charts, Mind Maps, Venn Diagrams, Timelines, Bar Line Graphs are used to assist students in constructing meaning from text. 8.Coding the Text There are a variety of coding techniques including the use of stickies or highlighting to target specific elements of text such as vocabulary, figurative language, and confusing parts of text, questions and memorable quotes. If specific letter/symbol codes are being used, they should be developed in collaboration with your students and clearly posted in your room. How do I assess my students’ journal responses? Teachers assess for content not conventions. Students must be part of the criteria setting process. This will enable students to set clear and realistic goals. Teachers may choose to examine journal entries as evidence of student writing at the draft stage. However, this does not mean that students cannot choose one of their responses to take through the writing process and publish at a later date. How do I build and use criteria with my students? Criteria are the standards by which something can be judged or valued. When we determine these criteria, we are deciding what counts. Teachers set criteria with their students. When students are involved in developing criteria, they are much more likely to understand what is expected of them, â€Å"buy in†, and then accomplish the task successfully. A four step process for setting criteria with students encourages student participation, understanding and ownership. The first three steps should be carried out before or as students are beginning their project or assignment. †¢Brainstorm †¢Sort and Categorize †¢Make and Post a T-Chart †¢Add, Reuse, Refine For further information on setting criteria, refer to Setting and Using Criteria. Copyright 1997. Kathleen Gregory, Caren Cameron, Anne Davies, Connections Publishing. How do I tie the Reading Continuum descriptors to my students’ journal responses? At every level of the continuum, there are descriptors that can be assessed by some type of journal response. For example, at the Expanding Level students should be able to â€Å"express opinions with evidence from the text†. In the journal response, the teacher should be looking for opinions supported with evidence from the text. The teacher should see evidence of this at least three times before noting this skill on the reading continuum.