Pro choice among women essays

Pro choice among women essays An onlookers view of Pro Choice amongst women Many clinics provide abortion services for women with unplanned or uncontrollable pregnancies. Some women find themselves with an unplanned pregnancy rather than an uncontrollable one. Unplanned in fact that a contraceptive failed, or may not have been easily accessible: uncontrolled in the sense of factors being greater than limited contraception. Abortion has been performed in many clinics as a treatment for unfit or unhealthy women, and for women who may have been molested or raped. Abortion shouldnt be used as a form of contraception, nor should womens lives be sacrificed to bear an infant before morally ready to commit. If a woman is raped, and the outcome incurs pregnancy, then abortion is an alternate form of controlling the unwanted pregnancy. Abortion should stand as only the womans choice, never as a decision adverse to Pro-Life activists. Pro-Choice advocates seem to vindicate abortion, accepting that abortion is not considered a form of birth control, but me rely a method of controlling the woman and fetus future. Women are the sole determinate persons in stating if they are capable of withholding a full term pregnancy. As an advocate of womens rights to Pro choice, I am extending my viewpoints to you in this proposition. Many people have their opinions on abortion, usually being one extreme or the other. Advocates or Pro choice often finds themselves swaying their opinions of when abortion is morally ethical dependent upon the controlling factors. Advocates of Pro Life are consistently perusing abortion, stating that it is morally wrong, and unethical in all matters, even if the pregnancy is inadvertent. There are factors remaining in todays society that are very forthcoming and are unanticipated by women in the prevention of pregnancy. If medical doctors abolished the procedure, or if the government made it even mor...

Human and Technical Intelligence in Countering Terrorism

Human and Technical Intelligence in Countering Terrorism Introduction Both human and technological systems continue to become more complicated by the day. In some cases, technology has proven so complex that even experts involved in various fields may not amicably understand their areas of specialisations (Clutterbuck 2013, p. 271).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Human and Technical Intelligence in Countering Terrorism specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Too often, when we tackle this subject, we focus on a broad area of specialisation that involves computational ambience, machinery, the internet, and the wherewithal. However, many other factors continue shape this discourse in ways that transform humanity in its endeavours. How modern technology can be instrumental in counter terrorism continue to dominate debate with opinions split as to whether this might have negative or positive impacts on either side of the divide. Primakov (2004, p. 245) notes that the world currently relies on both human and technical intelligence to counter detect, deter, and thwart acts of terrorism before they strike. However, as much as human and technical intelligence is effective in combating terrorism, terror groups equally benefits from these opportunities to extend their hegemony. This paper seeks to explore the magnitude to which modern human and technical intelligence is instrumental in combating terrorism. Human and technical intelligence Technical or artificial intelligence refers to the brainpower exhibited by machines in dissimulation through action, thinking skills, reasoning, and behavior. As a study in an academic field, artificial intelligence developers’ attempts to equip objects with animate abilities to imitate humans and even execute some of the duties performed by man (Sandin 2003, p. 34). Mechanical engineers seek training in a wide range of technicalities that attempt to offer problem solving to which robot-like objects espouse such domineering intelligence to match human thinking skills (US Department of Mechanical Engineering 2013). It is still subject to debate as to whether these developments will ultimately culminate into a perfect art that can always take a place of the human mind. With increased technology, computational proficiency guarantees mechanical engineers with the rare capacity to design and offer an insight into principles of integration and control especially for machinery equipment. This knowledge seeks to give robotic objects some air of human intellect capable of executing human orders.Advertising Looking for essay on political sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More As Sandin (2003, p. 75) observes, this science delves much in feedback mechanism, signal sensing and processing to efficiently design and integrate human accuracy with automated systems such as robots. For many, robots are merely objects that imitate insects, animals, and human beings. However, in military science they could be effective gadgets for countering terrorism. While much these artificial animate objects capture our imagination, their designers dwell much on developing them to help intelligence authorities in executing some specific activities that could be risky for humans to undertake (Shi 2011, p. 56). Many developers are already contemplating giving these objects enough intelligence to enable them interact reliably with the dynamics that are in common practice. In most cases, these objects have the endowment of doing some of the things deemed as too dangerous, boring, difficult to execute, or just extra ordinary in some way such as fighting terrorism. Technical intelligence is common in most objects found in automotive, manufacturing industry, medical implements, and space exploration gadgets. Over a million different types of object-like robots exist within modern science with greater tendency to work with greater intelligence capable of detecting and fighting terror groups (US Department of Mechanical Engineering 2013). Some robotic objects such as the Mars Exploration Rover, the Caribou, and drones have been used to assist the intelligence personnel in learning about possibilities that are either too dangerous or practically unsafe to explore (US Department of Mechanical Engineering 2013). Fighting terrorism is a high calling that sometimes extend to areas where there is biological attack. Since robot-like gadgets do not breathe, it is easy for such gadgets to explore such regions and launch an attack or take photos. Objects with technical intelligence have features that enable them to perform their duties optimally. These characteristic consists of movement, energy, sensory, and intelligence analogous to that in human beings. For an object to have artificial intelligence, it has to exhibit some animate qualities. Whether propelled by thrust, walking on human-like legs, or rolling on wheels, these objects have been instrumental in aiding human capacity to fight terrorism. For these objects to function, they have in-built human capacities that put them at par with human intelligence.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Human and Technical Intelligence in Countering Terrorism specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Unlike human beings, that have innate body power, an object that displays technical intelligence needs to power itself effectively and perform its functions as desired. A robot for example, must derive its power from electric charges, solar power, or battery (Shi 2011, p. 145). Furthermore, the ways these objects get their energy always depend on their designated function. Unlike human beings, to function in the capacity desired, a robot for instance, needs a fair degree of smartness. In essence, a great deal of software design becomes a necessity in the assembly of robotic objects. Unlike human beings that have natural se nsory nerves, for robots to perform well, they must have the software to help them sense their immediate surroundings and act as programmed (Dick Kandel 2005, p. 56). While giving robotic objects sensory abilities such as chemical sensors (nose), light sensors to emulate the eyes, pressure, or touch sensors to emulate the hands), hearing sensors to emulate ears, and taste sensors (tongue) has the likelihood of giving robots human qualities. It must however, come out clearly that singularity with humanity as to take special parallelism with the human making is still far from reality. Contribution of human and technical intelligence to counter-terrorism operations The increased attention and use of drones, or perhaps aerial vehicles continue to spark debate about their widespread application and effectiveness in fighting terrorism (Stanford/NYU Report 2012). Much of the debate, according to Cavoukian (2012), centres on their state application for surveillance and warfare or at times by the media to grope raw photo footage of a particular event. The application of drones especially in military airstrike and photo surveillance have all been great feats in combating terrorism (Cavoukian 2012). Moreover, anti-terror agencies equally use them for surveillance to enable them detect and deter terrorism. However, the varying applications of drone technology necessitate the need for best practices to ensure the terror groups do not find use them for their advantage. The application of technical intelligence for the public good has to prioritise on several factors including human welfare in assisting the authorities in detecting and combating terrorism. Terrorism continues to evolve with increase in technology. Today, terror groups such as Al-Qaida, ISIS, Al-Shabaab, and Boko Haram continue to device various means of survival to stay relevant. Armed aerial gadgets with technical intelligence make camera technology to be useful in tracing terror networks around the globe (Finn Wright 2012).Advertising Looking for essay on political sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Technical intelligence come with enhance flexibility since these gadgets have are not limited in their ability to go places. This flexibility gives way to a new task for intelligence agencies to fight terrorism without being intercepted by the terror groups (Stanford/NYU Report 2012). As camera technology becomes more pronounced, the emergence of armed aerial gadgets suggest a wide range of concerns, ranging from relief supply, digital imaging, device development, to mobile airborne tracking (Finn Wright 2012). Drones particularly, have been instrumental in play board delivery, and a police crackdown on terror groups or monitoring their activities around the globe. Some drones have special uses with a radioactive monitoring device while others are effective in protecting wildlife or tracing lost games. As concerns public policy and human privileges watch, the contemporary debate on the recent uses of drone culminating in the military strikes on civilians have narrowed down the deba te to ethical and legal issues. As Cavoukian (2012) argues, the legality of using drones to deliver military weapons for air strikes has been an emergent factor that questions its use by ordinary surveillance group such as the fourth estate (Finn Wright 2012). It is no doubt that this issue has given rise to a critical debate giving way to tentative and unprecedented legality tussle. If used in ways that project technology in bad light such as infringing on the rights of citizens, or in attacking the armed civil populations, then drones will be less effective in delivering their potentials. Sophisticated policymaking as well as legal considerations is necessary in preventing the state from making military use of drones to be legitimate (Last 2005, p. 45). In addition, strict and firm measures regulating the commercial uses of drones are a necessity. Furthermore, restricting its use by the civil society will make drones to be an effective approach to embracing camera technology. Man y people, especially the civil society deem drones harmful, especially considering their recent uses in military air strikes, this notion is reversible if there is effective implementation if rules for its use. Moreover, its ability to take secret photos is nothing less than an infringement on the privacy of the citizens. The civil society groups consider the widespread use of drones as watering down the privacy right of citizens, and the authorities must come with strict regulations to curb this phenomenon. Combating terrorism in America Securing the United States’ borders including land, air, and sea from illegal entry by immigrants, and contraband such as weapons and drugs has been the face of America security structure especially in the wake of increased terror threat (Weintrit 2013, p. 5). The United States’ Patriot Act, was officially instituted in 2001 as the most sweeping enactment to counter terrorism following the 9/11 attack (Etzioni 2004, p. 75). At the beh est, the presumption of the act lies on its uniting and strengthening ability to provide among other things, appropriate tools necessary to intercept and thwart terrorism. As an effective homeland security commitment to ensure the safety of the American people, the Patriot Act instituted the use of technical intelligence for surveillance and rapid tracking response including seizures and detention of suspected terrorist agents. In the aftermath of the 9/11 attack, Hoffman (2015, p. 76) notes that President Bush together with the Attorney General John Ashcroft effectively rallied the Congress to increase police and military powers of search, seizures, surveillance to use relevant intelligence to detect, arrest and detain terror suspects. Among the key features of the Patriot Act included the Roving Wiretaps, which allowed the federal agency to use technical gadgets to wiretap any telephone conversations that terror suspects and agents might use to penetrate the security systems. In t he course of all these developments, Etzioni (2004, p. 125) notes that the federal agency became more consistent in the use of internet tracking as a means of fast tracking internet communication. The law enforcement authorities therefore had the capacity to interfere directly in the personal accounts of individuals using the internet without necessarily having to obtain warrants for such impersonations. The Patriot Act also guaranteed the federal authorities the right to order for business records for private and public companies for litigation scrutiny and auditing by the federal authorities. In so doing, federal investigators were able to access information and communications from consumer purchases, bank records, credit cards, libraries as well as schools, and colleges. Moreover, the Act instituted a special Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court with the capacity to issue search warrants at the request of an investigator to launch terrorist investigation on foreign visitation to America (Hoffman 2015, p. 76). In addition, the Aliens Reporting and Detention Act authorises the Federal authorities to obtain personal documentations by foreign persons vising America and those found to be in America illegally risked detention and arrest without warrant. Within the tenets of keeping with the traditions of the Patriotic Act, the federal authorities could seize the property or obstruct such logistics of suspected terrorists. Individuals whose property fall victim of the rule bear the duty of proof that the property in question was not for the purpose of terrorism and the provision also guaranteed no claim. The detention as Etzioni (2004, p. 215) observes laws allowed the federal authorities to detain suspected terrorists and agents for lengthy periods during which interrogation and effective investigation for such persons will take place. The federal authorities became effective in fast tracking the indigenous American citizens from terrorist connections. Patriot Act instituted prohibition against harbouring terrorists as a duty to thwart the emergent terrorist networks in America and other parts of the world. Harbouring individuals who have committed a felony amounting to terror and or are about to commit such acts of terrorism therefore became highly constrainable by the federal authorities. In retrospect, the Patriot Act unleashed a tall order for the various institutions charged with the security of the American populations. In achieving the objectives of the Patriot Act, the American citizens became more involved in ensuring the smooth passage of the Act by showing a commitment to thwart terrorism by any means necessary including technical intelligence. Terror suspects and agents by contrast carry the greatest responsibility for their crimes as provided for by the Patriot Act. Terrorism and counter terrorism When it comes to terrorism and counter terrorism, the intelligence becomes a powerful tool used in spreading information to a wid e and expansive audience. The web particularly acts as both important facets of both human and technical facets of countering terrorism. Intelligence could be useful for security agencies to relay messages effectively in their explicit forms. However, terror groups could as well use it to inspire a powerful revolution through dispensing information, disinformation, or misinformation to their affiliations to mount an insurgence (Johnson 2015, p. 5). Studies hold that when it comes to terrorism and counter terrorism, intelligence becomes a powerful medium to arouse the authorities to the occasion. In most parts of the world, Kahl and Lynch (2013, p. 43) note that security agencies have used both human and technical intelligence as their campaign medium to put terror groups on toes. The trend according to Fluri (2005, p. 261) has been that the security agencies that use both of these forms of intelligence to fight terrorism have received wide acclaim. In recent cases, the intelligence has been effective in denouncing governments seem inclined to support terrorist activities. Through intelligence, the web primarily fuelled revolutions such as those witnessed in the Arab spring. Opponents of these unpopular regimes used intelligence amicably to arouse the masses and call them to a duty of nationhood. However, while the intelligence is such an empowering tool, concerns about cyber-crime are on the rise as fraudsters continue to seek a lifeline by expediting clandestine activities through the web. The web therefore, hosts several things, some of which are beneficial to fighting terrorism while on the other hand aid their activities. Technical intelligence has become so much part of human intelligence, not only in America, but also in other parts of the world especially in the advent of fighting terrorism (Kahl Lynch 2013, p. 45). Because of its rare ability to transform humanity, it is always easy to imply that the intelligence will always form part of the society a nd remain an open medium for human empowerment. Most security systems as Dick and Kandel (2005, p. 245) note will always want it to remain an item to explore the world and bring great opportunities that technology offers. Away with the regulatory policy duties, through the intelligence, security agencies can always have the endowment to access any permissible content they want and this in turn has the capacity to help the security personnel to stay informed. While it is true that some form of technical intelligence might warrant censorship, the onus should be on the security detail to guard their contents jealously. Through this, the security personnel are likely to build a robust network capable of combating terror groupings. With increased terrorist activities taking place in most parts of the world, the society looks upon the security agencies to use any form of intelligence necessary to combat terrorism from all corners of the world. With the growth in technological inventions, information flow especially through the web continues to empower security agencies in their effort to combat terrorism. In the course of these progresses, Johnson (2015, p. 10) notes that the world continues to grow into a global society in combating terrorism. The increased use of technology to thwart terrorism has greatly influenced human resource capacity to make business blossom, while effectively aiding in the effective administration of and coordination of government operations (Kahl Lynch 2013, p. 48). Both human and artificial intelligence continue to be empowering tools that offer greater prospect to security personnel to share information with broader audiences who are almost, always invisible. In the present, humanity devotedly uses the web to get across their ideas to millions of audiences elsewhere in an effort to stay informed and put terror groups on notice. The application of intelligence by the security personnel according to Meara (2003, p. 67) continues to transf orm lives while extending an olive branch to technological advancements for human safety. Through technology, governments with different terrorism concerns interact and by so doing, they use technical intelligence to transform the social and cognitive skills of their personnel in the effort of fighting terrorism (Johnson 2015, p. 12). The foundation of the proposition for the efficacy of human and technical intelligence emanates from the fact that the intelligence is an empowering medium that is ordinary in essence and dear to human empowerment by fact. More than anything, intelligence is an intrinsic embodiment for technological expansion, and for that matter, its supremacy in fighting terrorism is unalterable. Terrorism compromises the security of the world With the security of the world under threat, humanity continues to live in peril and this reflects negatively on the socio-economic and political progress in areas subdued by the terror groups. Esfandiary and Tabatabai (2015, p . 8) suggest an urgent need for mobilisation between the security agencies in different countries and the international players to trace the foothold of terror groupings. Different security agencies across the world understand the enormity of tackling terrorism menace from its very foundations in various parts of the world. Moreover, most security agencies are optimistic that the solution to the threats posed by terrorism must begin with thorough realignments for both the human and technical intelligence to counter the possible threat posed by terror groups. Security agencies according to Kahl and Lynch (2013, p. 50) use both technical and human intelligence to volunteer a rich account of the strategies that these groups employ to survive counter terror attacks. Through intelligence, security agencies are optimistic that the very tricks that the terror groups employ to launch attacks could be useful in smothering them. Security agencies hold that the first step in seeking solutions to terrorism menace is to understand the actions of the groups’ from their very point of view, which essentially is all that intelligence seeks to exploit. Esfandiary and Tabatabai (2015, p. 12) absolve the Muslim world of blame and warn that generalisations might be imprudent approach in the effort to counter terrorism. Intelligence makes it easy to separate terrorists from ordinary civilisations that may be victims of the situation by either religious creed or ethnic orientations. However, Farwell (2014, p. 49) strongly suggest intelligence could be useful in expediting strong action on governments that perpetuate the terrorism activities. Different terror organisations such as Al-Qaeda and ISIS have a strong backing from several Islamic states that give them a lifeline in their operations. Intelligence offers an insight into the survival mechanisms of terror groups from using the Islamic state machineries to media fronts in perpetuating their propaganda and agenda. The med ia particularly, has been a formidable platform in the growth of ISIS and Al-Qaeda. According to Farwell (2014, p. 50), the groups’ public relations infrastructures seem more inclined in building their credibility while seeking to justify their legacy. Farwell (2014, p. 52) argues that while the media has been instrumental in promoting the ideals of these heinous groups, it can as well be effective in negating the gains they have achieved over time. The same sentiments are echoed by Klausen (2015, p. 5) in his article arguing that the Islamic extremist seem to have a well-coordinated IT experts and social media administrators that help in extrapolating the groups vendetta through social media platforms such as Facebook, twitter handle, Skype, and the You tube. While Farwell (2014) gives a detailed account of how social media has propelled the legacy of ISIS particularly, he warns of an impending danger in possible cyber terrorism that ISIS might soon deploy. Klausen (2015, p. 8) notes that to sensitise its following, ISIS uses great intelligence to inspire psychological warfare in propagating religious and political propaganda to recruit prospective members into the fighting squad. Notably, intelligence agencies opine that the first step in defeating terrorism is to extract the Muslim thinking that it has built around it. There is need to tell the world that ISIS is a terror squad that uses religious undertones to justify its crimes. Klausen (2015, p. 12) and Farwell (2014, p. 53) concur that governmental intelligence must be stepped up to track terror groups’ airwaves and destroy their networks in all parts of the world. Religious extremism is the baseline of the terror networks in all parts of the world today. Various intelligence agencies have sought to trace the origin of Jihad that seems to be the core of terrorism. In so doing, they find a rich link between the modern day Islamic religious Jihad and the rise of terror networks as having clo se links with religious extremism. Gerges (2014, p. 339) takes on this perspective and volunteers a glimpse into the historical context of Islamic extremism under the guise of Jihad. Islamic religious aggression is not something new to intelligence agencies across the world; it has its genesis from the Quran Jihad (Gerges 2014, p. 340). The same observation is presented by Hecan (2014), who traces the origin of Al-Qaeda to its rich ties with the ideological conflicts in Middle East and rise of the Cold War. Different intelligence groups give separate evidence of the atrocities already committed by the Al-Qaeda in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia as attributions for the group’s discontent with the current state of affairs in regions in which it operates. Al-Qaeda particularly has always been in existence for many years and it has evolved over time to give rise to other sub terror groups such as ISIS, Boko Haram, and Al-Shabaab. Having gone through an arduous metamorph osis, Gerges (2014, p. 342) opines that dealing with the terrorism is not an event but rather a process that must involve insightful human and technical intelligence. Terror groups have invested much time in seeking harmony with the Muslim faith to justify their Jihadist extremism, hence the need to use greater human and technical intelligence to diffuse such propaganda. Conclusion In today’s technological world, information and communication technology has created room for empowerment. Different groups and individuals use this noble cause in different ways including negative ones such as cyber-crimes and terrorism. Intelligence has been instrumental in fighting terrorism as well as in aiding the operations of terror groups around the world. Security agencies employ both human and technical intelligence to detect, intercept, and thwart terrorism while on the other hand terror groups use this enablement in reaching out to their audiences to carry out terror activities in targe t areas. However, both human and technical intelligence has handled security agencies around the world a powerful weapon in hacking the administration records of terror groups to seek information pertinent to their operations and counter their activities. References Cavoukian, A 2012, Privacy and drones: Unmanned aerial vehicles. ipc.on.ca/images/Resources/pbd-drones.pdf Clutterbuck, R 2013, Terrorism, Drugs Crime in Europe after 1992, Taylor and Francis, Hoboken. Dick, S., Kandel, A 2005, Computational intelligence in software quality assurance, World Scientific, New Jersey. Esfandiary, D., Tabatabai, A 2015, ‘Irans ISIS policy’, International Affairs, vol. 91, no. 1, pp. 1-15. Etzioni, A 2004, How patriotic is the Patriot Act? Freedom versus security in the age of terrorism, Routledge, New York. Farwell, J 2014, ‘The media strategy of ISIS’, Survival, vol. 56, no. 6, pp. 49-55. Finn, R. Wright, D 2012, ‘Unmanned aircraft systems: Surveillance, e thics and privacy in civil applications’, Computer Law Security Review, vol. 28, no. 2, pp. 184-194. Fluri, P 2005, The evolution of civil-military relations in South East Europe continuing democratic reform and adapting to the needs of fighting terrorism, Physica-Verlag, a Springer, Heidelberg. Gerges, F 2014, ‘ISIS and the third wave of Jihadism’, Current History, vol. 113, no. 767, pp. 339-343. Hecan, M 2014, Iraq steads against the deployment of foreign ground troops within its territories says Iraqi foreign minister at USAK, http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/99424135/iraq-steads-against-deployment-foreign-ground-troops-within-territories-says-iraqi-foreign-minister-usak Hoffman, B 2015, ‘A first draft of the history of America’s ongoing wars on terrorism’, Studies in Conflict Terrorism, vol. 38, no. 1, pp. 75-83. Johnson, L 2015, ‘A conversation with James R. Clapper, Jr., the director of National Intelligence in the Unit ed States’, Intelligence National Security, vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 1-25. Kahl, C. H., Lynch, M 2013, ‘U.S. Strategy after the Arab uprisings toward progressive engagement’, Washington Quarterly, vol. 36, no. 2, pp. 39-60. Klausen, J 2015, ‘Tweeting the Jihad: Social media networks of western foreign fighters in Syria and Iraq’, Studies in Conflict Terrorism, vol. 38, no. 1, pp. 1-22. Last, M 2005, Fighting Terror in cyberspace: Series in Machine Perception and Artificial Intelligence, World Scientific, New York. Meara, M 2003, History behind the headlines the origins of conflicts worldwide, Gale Group, Detroit. Primakov, E 2004, A world challenged fighting terrorism in the twenty-first century, Nixon Center and Brookings Institution Press, Washington, D.C. Sandin, P 2003, Robot mechanisms, and mechanical devices, McGraw-Hill Companies Inc., New York. Shi, Z 2011, Advanced artificial intelligence, World Scientific, Singapore. Stanford/NYU Report 2012, Living under drones: death, injury, and trauma to civilians from US drone practices in Pakistan, livingunderdrones.org/report/ US Department of Mechanical Engineering 2013, Trends in mechanical engineering careers, http://me.eng.sunysb.edu/index.php?option=com_contentview=articleid=60%3Atrends-in-mechanical-engineering-careers-Itemid=83 Weintrit, A 2013, Marine navigation and safety of sea transportation, CRC Press, Hoboken.

Medicaids eligibility rules Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Medicaids eligibility rules - Essay Example Tracing back to the adopted laws, the Medicaid program first provided medical coverage for low-income families and other categorically related individuals who meet eligibility requirements (Andersen et al., 2013). Candidates enrolling to the program included the blind, aged, disabled and pregnant women. In fact, Medicaid serves as the nation’s primary source of health insurance coverage for low-income populations. By the way, each state have always been administering its own Medicaid program, establishing their own eligibility standards, determining the scope and types of services they cover, and setting the rate of payment. Moreover, benefits vary from state to state (Andersen et al., 2013). Since 2013 due to the expansion of Affordable Care Act, the enrollment to the program has been eligible only for those with low income rate. Thus, states participating in the expanded Medicaid program are required to allow people with income up to 133% of the poverty line to qualify for coverage, including adults without dependent children (Andersen et al., 2013). That is to say the eligibility for the program depends purely on income level. It is quite doubtful whether managing a program this way and whether the amendments introduced to the law are efficient. In essence, there is a dramatic difference in needs that has a single adult who is paid insufficient, pregnant woman or an elderly or disabled person. For example, after retirement elderly people spend either the rest of life or some time in nursing homes, the cost of which is very expensive. Many people pay for these nursing homes with their own money, often depleting their life savings, and spend thousands on it. In this cas e Medicaid should help cut these costs at least. Another case is when an immigrant, who does not have a well-paid job and cannot afford traditional medical insurance, may qualify for Medicaid, due to financial needs. Of course, everybody applying for this

Conference Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Conference Report - Essay Example Despite this, it is clear that we require having efficient measures for teacher development to ensure attainable of positive results of well-prepared teachers for the new information age. Teachers in TC help in asynchronous online discussions. This kind of discussion has been perceived as an efficient way for learners to participate in high quality discussion and intrinsic cognitive collaboration. This is because asynchronous online discussion gives learners enough time to reflect on their friend’s findings and contribution and reason about their own contributions before sending them off to their friends. Mediators or teachers also provide cultural, individual, institutional, technical, and linguistic knowledge to students. In addition, they help in technical promotion of professional capital and collegial development across learning institutions. The teacher arranges for learning materials and makes them accessible by compute. In addition, the teacher must motivate and direct each student, through on-going interaction or socialization and a sense of social presence in the classroom will make learners have a desire to learn. While online education permits students from around the globe to engage or participate in online discussion and permits teachers to work from any place in the world with Internet connectivity. This in turn increases the teacher effort per student, which fosters effective learning Telecollaborative learning has incorporated the Virtual mobility and the VMCOLAB project, which helps in facilitating international collaborative learning and experiences in a context of learning and teaching. The emotional and psychological perspective in TC helps in understanding how students perceive other cultures. In turn, a face-to-face meeting is organized by institutions in order to evaluate how far the students have comprehended other cultures. However, it becomes difficult for some students to trust in other students from

The Hunt For Red October Essay Example for Free

The Hunt For Red October Essay A lot of people have seen the movie The Hunt For Red October , but before it was a film it was a great book that readers all over the world enjoyed a lot. While the story is pretty simple, it is still a great adventure tale of the old Cold War. I enjoyed this novel a great deal and enjoyed it so much that I became interested in reading the further adventures of the book’s hero Jack Ryan. The adventure is of the Soviet submarine The Red October. The captain of the submarine, Marko Ramius, has decided to hijack the sub with his crew and defect to the United States with it. Needless to say, the home base at the Soviet Union is unhappy with Ramius’ decision and send out a fleet with the idea of sinking the red October. In order to disguise the defection from the United States, the Soviets claim that their pursuit of the sub is actually a search and rescue mission. In the USA, CIA agent Jack Ryan slowly becomes suspicious of the Soviets true intentions and eventually discovers the real reason the Red October is in trouble. Ultimately, Ryan aids the sub and its crew and commander and helps it defect. The Hunt For Red October is a great novel because it remains believable and does not become like a James Bond novel where the reader is taking in a story that is too fantastic to take serious. Because of this, the book grabs the reader’s attention a lot stronger and becomes more enjoyable to read. Well, for me it was more enjoyable than a more silly spy story. Bottom line: this is a great book.

Reflective Account on Implementation of Change Process

Reflective Account on Implementation of Change Process This reflective account deals with implementation of a change management process at a workshop, where the author was employed for some years a few years ago. The workshop provides a range of electrical, mechanical and overhauling services to different departments of an industrial firm. It has separate departments for activities like electrical and mechanical work, fabrication, transmission and general repair and overhauling. The workshop was set up in the early 1980s and has its own accounting, administration and inventory functions. The conduct of an efficiency audit revealed numerous deficiencies in the working processes of the workshop and the emergent need to implement significant changes for enhancement of productivity and achievement of (a) swifter turnaround time, (b) reduction of labour and (c) cost savings in various areas. External consultants recommended the adoption of a sophisticated ERP system for coordination of various workshop activities and optimisation of its operations. The organisational management accepted these recommendations for the implementation of a modern ERP system and initiated processes for its introduction in the organisation. It was estimated that the adoption of the new system would lead to reduction of workshop strength by 30 employees, significant lowering of inventory levels, elimination of material shortages for workshop operations, and shrinking of turnaround time. The external consultants and the senior management of the company were convinced that the combined effect of these different advantages would result in substantial improvement in workshop productivity and profitability. The workshop manager was informed about the decision by the CEO and two board members and was asked to initiate and implement the change management process. He asked for some time to study the proposal and involved me and two other junior workshop managers in the exercise. We found in the course of our investigation of system features that whilst its introduction could certainly result in improvement of workshop productivity and efficiency, it would be very difficult for the existing workshop employees, many of whom had been with the department for years, to handle the complexities associated with operating the proposed system. It would be necessary to appoint some fresh individuals with expertise in handling such ERP systems and train other workshop employees in the operations and mechanisms of the new system. Concerns were also raised about the organisational implications of terminating 30 employees who had worked sincerely for the workshop for many years. The change management group, headed by the workshop manager and staffed by myself and two other members examined the various implications of introducing and implementing the system and came to the conclusion that it would be necessary to recruit at least 7 fresh employees with requisite knowledge to implement and operate the ERP system. We felt that in such circumstances it would be better to remove 37 departmental employees and induct 7 ERP specialists in order to meet organisational objectives, both in areas of system proficiency and in reduction of employee strength. The workshop manager and the rest of us in the change management team had some theoretical knowledge of Lewins and Kotters change management process. We decided to implement the change management process in specific phases comprising of (a) informing the workshop employees of the proposed change process and its implementation schedule, (b) the implications of the proposed change on the productivity and efficiency of the workshop, (c) the various inputs that would be provided by the company to facilitate the change, and finally (d) the imperative requirement to reduce existing employee strength by 37 people and induct 7 specialist employees (Gary, et al, 1995, p 114). Deliberating on the possible adverse repercussions of the decision to terminate employees, our group leader specifically sought a meeting with the CEO and asked him to accommodate the surplus employees in other areas of the company (Heller, 1998, p 37). The CEO understood our apprehensions and after discussions with the HR department was able to confirm alternative positions for 25 people on similar terms and conditions, but placed at different locations. Handsome severance packages were also worked out for the employees who would have to perforce be released (Heller, 1998, p 37). The first task of the change management team concerned dissemination of information about the proposed change to all workshop employees (Joseph, 2006, p 24). The announcement about the impending change and its implications were made at a general meeting where all employees were asked to be present (Joseph, 2006, p 24). The announcement at this meeting was followed up by detailed meetings with smaller groups where members of the change management team individually informed workshop employees about the need for the change process and the ensuing benefits (Joyce, 2000, p 73). It was decided by us that the existing system would continue for at least 3 months after the implementation of the ERP system (Joyce, 2000, p 73). The training of existing employees in the new system was delegated to external trainers and the change process was formally put into motion (Joyce, 2000, p 73). The proposed change however met with very severe resistance from a section of employees, most of whom had been shortlisted for termination of employment or transfer to other departments (Moss, et al, 1992, p 67). Whilst approximately 20% of the employees chosen for release were reasonably satisfied with the carefully formulated severance package, the other 30 employees became vocal in their opposition to the plan and asked to see the CEO in order to vent their concerns and apprehensions. With employee relations in the workshop being happy for many years, the internal workers union had been disbanded many years ago. The workers however began to feel betrayed and vulnerable and started discussing the idea of forming a new workshop union with national trade union organisations (Moss, et al, 1992, p 67). The CEO and the workshop manager had detailed discussions with the affected workshop employees but were unable to convince them to take up alternative postings, many of which were in distant places and required them to live separately from their families (Moss, et al, 1992, p 68). The breakdown in discussions between the workers and the management led to disruption in production schedules and made it very difficult for us to recruit new employees to operate the new ERP systems. Such difficulties led to significant delays in implementation and to disruption of workshop activity (Joyce, 2000, p 81). The organisational management was however firm in its decision and arranged for subcontractors to compensate for the drop in workshop productivity (Joyce, 2000, p 81). Many of the existing employees also started feeling demoralised and started looking elsewhere for alternative employment (Joyce, 2000, p 81). It finally took the organisation more than a year to complete the implementation of the new ERP system and stabilise workshop production (Joyce, 2000, p 81). Whilst the introduction of the system has resulted in significant improvement in workshop efficiencies, productivity and profitability, I do feel that the change management process could have been handled better (Buono Kerber, 2010, p 4). My theoretical knowledge of change management processes informs me that successful change management needs to be planned very carefully and is dependent upon the effectiveness of communication with the people most likely to be affected by the change process (Buono Kerber, 2010, p 4). I feel that the decision to introduce the system was pushed with too much haste and without allowing the employees to acclimatise to the change proposal (Frame, 2002, p 54). My colleagues in the change management team also agree with me that our communication of the various implications of the proposed change was possibly inadequate and did not instil feelings of the emergent need of bringing about the proposed change (Frame, 2002, p 54). Whilst the senior management of the company was committed to the change management process and extended all possible help, communication failures and hasty action at the operational level precipitated concern and crystallised resistance among employees, which eventually resulted in implementation delays, loss of productivity and incurrence of subcontracting costs (Doherty, 2002, p 89). I personally have learnt significantly from my experience and realise that theoretical knowledge of change management processes, whilst helpful for implementation of change, needs to be supported by strong management skills, clear and careful planning, preparation for contingencies and sound knowledge of employee behaviour for bringing about successful completion of change management initiatives. Situation 2: Reflective Account on Team Work and Leadership I have had the opportunity to participate in a diverse team, comprising of individuals from different ethnic and national backgrounds, which was given the specific tasks of preparing a promotional and marketing campaign for an NGO working in different areas of environmental conservation. The opportunity came about because of my interest in environmental issues and the acceptance of my request to volunteer with a well known international NGO. Teams comprise of groups of two or more individuals who work dynamically, adaptively and interdependently for the achievement of common goals and objectives (Arya, 1997, p 9). Members of such teams are usually provided with specific roles and responsibilities (Arya, 1997, p 9).Our team consisted of 7 members and we were given the task of working together for the creation of a marketing and promotional campaign for reduction of environmental pollution in and around airports in the UK. The significance of team work for achievement of specific outcomes is now widely accepted in modern day organisational behaviour theory (Buller Bell, 1986, p 305). Modern day organisations are increasingly making use of teams for improving organisational performance in increasingly complex and changing business environments (Buller Bell, 1986, p 305). Organisational experts however ironically argue that whilst team work is now widely accepted as an important instrument for enhancement of organisational productivity and efficiency, many organisations that have built their operations around teams have found that the use of such teams very often results in little positive effect on organisational productivity. In some cases their use actually results in loss of productivity (Rees, 2001, p 19). It has often been witnessed that teams with numerous high calibre individuals with demonstrated performance capabilities fail, even as teams of people with far more mediocre abilities often produce excellent results (Banker, et al, 1996, p 868). The modern day business environment is replete with examples of freshly started innovative and committed teams getting the better of large and established corporations with far greater resources (Banker, et al, 1996, p 868). My experience of participation in a diverse team of people in a not for profit NGO environment provided me with the opportunity of understanding and appreciating team work mechanisms. Our team was significantly diverse with regard to gender, nationality, academic training, work experience and personality. The team consisted of six members Larry, Martha, Nora, James, (myself), Peter and Sheila. Larry, the oldest member automatically assumed the role of leader. Organisational theory and literature specifies that diverse teams lead to the availability of a variety of skills and perspectives (Brett, et al, 2006, p 84). These, if utilised appropriately, can result in significantly greater creativity and flexibility in creation of concepts, ideas, options and solutions in comparison with more homogenous groups and thus result in significantly better performance (Brett, et al, 2006, p 84). Whilst teams with diverse members often have access to a wider range of skills, abilities and perspectives, they also face challenges on account of differences in attitudes, cultures, perceptions and languages of team participants (Brett, et al, 2006, p 86). Our team members came from the UK, Latin America, Africa and South East Asia. Their educational backgrounds varied from the performing arts to the liberal arts, sciences and management. Whilst three of the group, including myself had experience of organisational work, the other four were fresh from college. The leadership of the team devolved upon Larry, who was the oldest and most experienced team member (Olmstead, 2002, p 79). This development actually took place, without his actively seeking it, because other team members came to him on their own for advice and suggestion on the functioning of the group (Olmstead, 2002, p 79). Leadership is an extremely significant element of team work processes. Much of the credit for both successes and failures of teams is given to leaders and to their decisions (Olmstead, 2002, p 79). Leaders are required to communicate with clarity on the goals of the teams, provide team members with appropriate and specific roles, build environments of cooperation and collaboration, encourage communication between team members, generate commitment towards achievement of team objectives and create atmospheres of inclusiveness by involving team members in various discussions and asking them for comment, feedback and suggestions (Rees, 2001, p 42). Leaders often ap preciate the roles of team members in order to motivate them to perform better in their tasks (Rees, 2001, p 42). Whilst leadership devolved upon Larry without his asking for it, he certainly did not disregard his responsibilities and worked for the development of an efficient, cooperative and focused team that was committed to its objectives (Ephross Vassil, 2005, p 109). All of us were given specific responsibilities for the development of the marketing and promotional campaign on airport pollution. We were asked to meet on determined dates, provide updates on our progress and asked to contribute by way of suggestions on the work of other team members (Ephross Vassil, 2005, p 109). I was asked to research information on legal aspects of airport pollution, assess the work of other team members, and help them in achieving their objectives (Ephross Vassil, 2005, p 109). Our team activity required members to engage in extensive discussions and generate numerous ideas and concepts for the campaign. Some of these sessions led to disagreements and even quarrels, which resulted in some members refraining from talking to others for some time (Olmstead, 2002, p 92). Nora, who was otherwise very friendly and outgoing, could not stand being opposed and would become excessively argument if she was contradicted by others. Larry would on such occasions take her aside and explain to her the necessity of collaboration and pleasantness between team members for effective team effort (Olmstead, 2002, p 97). We were asked to prepare the campaign in a period of six weeks and were happy to find that the job was completed in time despite arguments and delays. The marketing campaign was presented to the board of the NGO on the predetermined date. Larry deliberately chose Nora to handle the presentation, even as all of us were present to answer questions on our areas of work. We were at the end of the exercise happy to know that we had succeeded in our team objectives despite our diversity and our different social and cultural backgrounds. The results of our team reiterated that teams with diverse members could excel in areas of creativity if they were led with sincerity, provided with transparent environments, and encouraged to communicate and collaborate with each other. Section 3: Reflective Account on Motivation and Reward This reflective narrative concerns my experiences of working with a HR consultancy organisation entrusted with the task of formulating a reward and remuneration programme for textile workers in Bangladesh. The client of the HR consultancy services operates a garment manufacturing factory that is situated on the outskirts of Jessore, a small town in western Bangladesh. The organisation creates garment designs in their London studio and produces the garments in Bangladesh in a subcontracted factory with local Bangladesh labour. The produced garments are subsequently sold to clothing retailers across the UK and in some towns in Germany. The recent stress on sustainability in business operations in the UK has resulted in substantial pressure from UK clothing retailers and consumers for ensuring of sustainable manufacturing practices at the workplaces of outsourced suppliers and manufacturers in developing countries (Marks, 2005, p 7). The organisation, in response to market demand, conducted an internal HR audit and found both working conditions and the remuneration of workers at the factory in Bangladesh to be significantly below acceptable norms. Workers, both male and female, were being paid salaries of approximately GBP 20 per month, which were 15% lesser than the minimum wages specified by the Bangladesh government. The factory operated in two shifts of 10 hours each, even as the maximum legal time of a shift was 8.5 hours. The HR audit also revealed deficiencies in working conditions in areas of sanitation, availability of water, separate washrooms for men and women and crà ¨che facilities for working mothers. The internal audit also revealed that some of the workers appeared to be a bit too young for taking up such strenuous work, even though HR records revealed that all workers were above 18 years in age. My organisation was given the brief of formulating suggestions for improvement of working conditions, rationalisation of remuneration and improvement of motivation of workers at the outsourced production centre in Bangladesh. I was a member of the small team of three that was entrusted with the responsibility for making a primary study on the issue and develop workable solutions that would serve sustainability objectives without placing undue financial pressure on the management of the company. Modern day HR theories are informed by the work and theories advanced by psychologists and behavioural experts like Maslow, Herzberg, Vroom and McGregor. Maslows well known theory of needs states that individuals essentially work to satisfy their needs, which progress from basic physiological needs like food, clothing and shelter to safety and security, love, status and esteem, and finally to self actualisation (Maslow, 1954, p 11). Herzbergs theory of motivation on the other hand states that individuals are influenced in their job choices by two distinct sets of conditions, namely hygiene factors and motivation factors. Hygiene factors represent issues like salary, security, workplace reputation and general working conditions (Herzberg, et al, 1993, p 21). Motivation factors on the other hand consist of issues like potential for learning and growth, scope for enhancement of responsibilities and official recognition for efforts of employees (Herzberg, et al, 1993, p 21). Our team found, whilst analysing the remuneration levels and working conditions at the clients factory in Bangladesh that the workers lived lives of basic subsistence and were just about able to meet their physiological needs with their existing salaries. Most of them lived in low quality slums and did not have the resources to buy liveable houses. The application of Maslows theory of needs in such circumstances led to the conclusion that the workers would be ready to put in significantly greater efforts in order to satisfy their physiological and security needs and work even harder to achieve their status and esteem needs. The application of Herzbergs theory revealed that the workers did not at the time of the study have access either to hygiene or to motivation factors. Their working conditions were poor, their salaries were low, and there was little scope for career progression, reward or recognition. Apart from such circumstances, it was also evident that the owners of the sub-contracted manufacturing facilities at Bangladesh were deliberately contravening governmental rules and regulations with regard to minimum wages, time of work and also possibly utilisation of underage labour. It did appear ironical to all of us that whilst people in the UK were concerned about the application of modern day HR theories and the work of Maslow, Herzberg and McGregor, people in the developing countries continued to work in extremely difficult conditions just to survive and meet the very basic needs of their families and their own selves. It was also very obvious that outsourcing by the client organisation to Bangladesh had been done primarily to exploit the low wages in the region. Any recommendation to improve the wages or the working conditions of the workers was bound to lead to greater costs, reduction of profitability and negation of the basic reasons for shipping the work abroad. Members of our team however understood that growing pressure from environmentally conscious buyers and final consumers was bound to create pressure on firms that shipped work to low wage regions to improve the working conditions of their workers (Latham, 2006, p 47). We thus formulated a detailed report recommending the improvement of wages to 20% higher than minimum wage levels and the construction of a scheme to reward sincere, efficient and productive workers. We recommended the establishment of washrooms, canteen facilities and crà ¨ches and the reduction of daily working hours to 8 hours a day, with overtime payments at established rates in case operations at the facilities had to be conducted for longer hours (Latham, 2006, p 47). We also recommended the establishment of a performance appraisal and management system for locating good performers who could be shortlisted for more responsible positions in future (Latham, 2006, p 47). We explained in detail in our report that the implementation of such measures would lead to significant organisational benefits, both in the market place and at the manufacturing facilities (Armstrong, 2006, p 5). Awareness of sustainable manufacturing practices among buyers and consumers would lead to improvement of reputation and increased demand for products (Armstrong, 2006, p 5). The implementation of the recommended measures at the workplace would also lead to improvement of productivity, reduction of wastage, lesser absenteeism and greater commitment among members of the workforce (Legge, 2004, p 16). Compliance with governmental regulations on the other hand would reduce the liability of prosecution and the levy of significant penalties (Legge, 2004, p 16). We were happy to find that the suggestions in our preliminary report were accepted with openness and appreciation by our clients. The clients called us for a detailed meeting wherein we explained of the likely benefits of adopting more worker-centric policies to organisations that shipped work to low wage regions. We provided the example of Nike and the extensive critical media reports on the company after the publication of exposes on the abysmal working conditions at its factories in South Asia (Dusen, 1998, p 1). The senior management of the company assured us that they would initiate plans to improve working conditions at their facilities in Bangladesh in line with our suggestions. I think of my experience in working on the project as one of the most rewarding and fulfilling episodes of my working career. It showed me how modern day HR theories can be used to good effect in different types of situations and workplaces. It not only gave me the opportunity to practically use my theoretical knowledge on motivation and reward but also gave me the chance to make a difference to the lives of people who work in difficult conditions for survival and subsistence.

Analysis of Superior Manufacturing

Table of Contents Introduction The objective of this report is to provide Mr.. Paul Harvey, president with the detailed reasoning for the decisions recommended and also to figure out which products are losing money. As the company is operating in an oligopoly and has somewhat medium market share, setting our own prices is not an option. The giant Samara announces the prices for the products annually, and the other eight companies in the industry follow the price. Problem The organization underwent management change in early 2004.The company lost $690,000 (Refer to appendix 1) in that year, which resulted in a low morale of the employees. They have lost faith in the management and have low motivation level. So, a decision has to be made regarding the production of three products I. E. 101, 102 and 103. Recently the giant in the industry Samara decided to lower the selling price for the product 101 and a final decision has to be made, if the organization should lower the selling price or not? Key Success Factors Looking at the share of industry sales rate, for product 101 its 12%, for 102 its 8% and for 103 its 10%.The company has to increase its market share to be able to generate positive income. The second most important aspect is costs. As all the products are manufactured in separate factories and they operate below capacity, it's hard to control the costs especially the fixed costs. Even though all the factories are horizontally integrated with shared production process facilities, it doesn't help keeping the costs in check. The employees seem to be disappointed with the new management and have a low morale. They are not exactly motivated to try harder to make a positive impact.Operating in an oligopoly, where prices are controlled by another firm, Superior has no control over the selling prices so, the company should Ochs on keeping costs minimum and increasing their industry sales rate. There is no compensation and reward system to Judge the performance o f employees. Situation Analysis I started off with analyzing income statement for 2004 to get a better understanding of the situation and to figure out which products are generating profit and which ones are responsible for the loss.After reviewing the data from 2004 it was found that only the product 101 is generating income and the other two products 102 and 103 are losing money (Refer to appendix 1 . 1). As I wanted to be ere that the information provided was accurate I took the liberty of following contribution margin income statement. Also I found a couple of additions errors in the 2004 and 2005 income statement. I have highlighted the mistakes in red in appendix 1. 1 and appendix 2.Decision Regarding Dropping Products After categorizing all the costs into fixed and variable costs based on the information provided by the accounting department, I came to find out the fixed costs for factory 101 ,102 and 103 are $1 and respectively (Refer to appendix 1 . 1). The respective facto ries will have to incur these costs even if they continue the production. The contribution margins for factories 101, 102 and 103 are and respectively. So, even if products 102 and 103 are losing money they are still contributing to fixed costs by the same amount as their contribution.This suggests that if the production is discontinued the company would be incurring an extra loss of Thus, I tend to agree with Mr.. Harvey decision of continuing production of product 103 and the other two products. For further details please refer to appendix 1. 1 . Appendix 1. 2 shows that if 113,766 additional units are sold for product 102 and 162,41 5 units of product 103. The company would of have made a profit of $2,999,000. The reason for not meeting the targets could be because of low morale of the employees. If we compare the predicted income statement for 2005 and the actual performance (Refer to appendixes 1. And 2). The Variances of rent, indirect labor and depreciation are $259,000 $213, 000 and $642,000 respectively are all favorable. It's safe to say that these three costs, which are all fixed costs, are the main factors for the improvement in profitability during the period January 1 to June 30, 2005. In a nutshell if fixed costs are controlled the company can do really well (Refer o appendix 1. 3 and appendix 2). Decision Regarding the Price for Product 101 The decision regarding the price of product 101 is based on the income statement of 2005 from January 1st to June 30th (Refer to appendix 3. ). The appendix has both income statement with selling price set as $24. 5 and $22. 5. It has been forecasted that if the price is dropped to $22. 5, the organization would be able to sell 1 million units. On the other hand if the organization decides to continue with the same that they are following at the moment, 750,000 units can be sold for first six months of year 2006. Here I would like to point out that these forecasts are not accurate and there may be a differenc e between what is predicted and the actual sales but for now I think that's an appropriate estimation as any.The forecasted income statements are based on the unit price per 100 lbs from first half of 2005 income statement. It is noted that the income statement with the price $22. 5 gives a higher contribution margin (10,468,490. 86) compared to the one with price $24. 5 (11,979,587. 82). These figures include the 5 percent reduction in the prices of materials and supplies and the discount on selling prices. The income statement shows that a higher operating income can be generated if the selling price set by Samara is followed (Refer to appendix 3. 2). The reason for that is the fixed costs will remain constant within the relevant range.So, I have decided to take the fixed costs from the 2005 Unary I-June 30) income statement. Since with the selling price $22. 5 gives a higher contribution margin, the company will lose less money (- $334,043. 07) to be exact (Refer to appendix 3. 2 ). Also if 31,803 additional units are sold, the company can breakable for product 101 . On the other hand 135,459 additional units would be required to breakable if the current price is kept. Also it doesn't seem a good idea keeping the prices higher than the rest of the seven firms, costumer might not appreciate and it's of utmost important the company maintains its market share if not improve.Conclusion & Recommendation Since it has been established that dropping any of the products doesn't benefit the company in any way, I would like to suggest keeping all the products. The company could do really well if the sales target are met and for that the motivation level of the employees needs to be high. So, my recommendation to motivate employees would be to set up a performance based reward and compensation system, which would keep the employees motivated, especially the sales force to do better.Another thing that can be done is rather than paying the sales force a fixed salary, they should be paid a commission based salary which would give rise to a sense of competition for sales people to do better and based on their sales they could be properly rewarded. For product 101, my analysis suggests that, the price set by Samara should be follow not Just because the organization will save itself from heavy losses but also its essential for the company to maintain its current industry sales share and having a higher price than the other firms could draw the customer away and then the organization would have bigger problems.Fixed costs need to be controlled and monitor strictly. All the factories are operating under capacity which doesn't help the organization in achieving its goals. One way to keep the costs in control in my opinion would be to assign specific tasks to specific factories so that they can operate efficiently rather than dedicating a whole factory to a product line. As the three reduces have somewhat similar manufacturing procedures. Analysis of Superior Manufacturing Table of Contents Introduction The objective of this report is to provide Mr.. Paul Harvey, president with the detailed reasoning for the decisions recommended and also to figure out which products are losing money. As the company is operating in an oligopoly and has somewhat medium market share, setting our own prices is not an option. The giant Samara announces the prices for the products annually, and the other eight companies in the industry follow the price. Problem The organization underwent management change in early 2004.The company lost $690,000 (Refer to appendix 1) in that year, which resulted in a low morale of the employees. They have lost faith in the management and have low motivation level. So, a decision has to be made regarding the production of three products I. E. 101, 102 and 103. Recently the giant in the industry Samara decided to lower the selling price for the product 101 and a final decision has to be made, if the organization should lower the selling price or not? Key Success Factors Looking at the share of industry sales rate, for product 101 its 12%, for 102 its 8% and for 103 its 10%.The company has to increase its market share to be able to generate positive income. The second most important aspect is costs. As all the products are manufactured in separate factories and they operate below capacity, it's hard to control the costs especially the fixed costs. Even though all the factories are horizontally integrated with shared production process facilities, it doesn't help keeping the costs in check. The employees seem to be disappointed with the new management and have a low morale. They are not exactly motivated to try harder to make a positive impact.Operating in an oligopoly, where prices are controlled by another firm, Superior has no control over the selling prices so, the company should Ochs on keeping costs minimum and increasing their industry sales rate. There is no compensation and reward system to Judge the performance o f employees. Situation Analysis I started off with analyzing income statement for 2004 to get a better understanding of the situation and to figure out which products are generating profit and which ones are responsible for the loss.After reviewing the data from 2004 it was found that only the product 101 is generating income and the other two products 102 and 103 are losing money (Refer to appendix 1 . 1). As I wanted to be ere that the information provided was accurate I took the liberty of following contribution margin income statement. Also I found a couple of additions errors in the 2004 and 2005 income statement. I have highlighted the mistakes in red in appendix 1. 1 and appendix 2.Decision Regarding Dropping Products After categorizing all the costs into fixed and variable costs based on the information provided by the accounting department, I came to find out the fixed costs for factory 101 ,102 and 103 are $1 and respectively (Refer to appendix 1 . 1). The respective facto ries will have to incur these costs even if they continue the production. The contribution margins for factories 101, 102 and 103 are and respectively. So, even if products 102 and 103 are losing money they are still contributing to fixed costs by the same amount as their contribution.This suggests that if the production is discontinued the company would be incurring an extra loss of Thus, I tend to agree with Mr.. Harvey decision of continuing production of product 103 and the other two products. For further details please refer to appendix 1. 1 . Appendix 1. 2 shows that if 113,766 additional units are sold for product 102 and 162,41 5 units of product 103. The company would of have made a profit of $2,999,000. The reason for not meeting the targets could be because of low morale of the employees. If we compare the predicted income statement for 2005 and the actual performance (Refer to appendixes 1. And 2). The Variances of rent, indirect labor and depreciation are $259,000 $213, 000 and $642,000 respectively are all favorable. It's safe to say that these three costs, which are all fixed costs, are the main factors for the improvement in profitability during the period January 1 to June 30, 2005. In a nutshell if fixed costs are controlled the company can do really well (Refer o appendix 1. 3 and appendix 2). Decision Regarding the Price for Product 101 The decision regarding the price of product 101 is based on the income statement of 2005 from January 1st to June 30th (Refer to appendix 3. ). The appendix has both income statement with selling price set as $24. 5 and $22. 5. It has been forecasted that if the price is dropped to $22. 5, the organization would be able to sell 1 million units. On the other hand if the organization decides to continue with the same that they are following at the moment, 750,000 units can be sold for first six months of year 2006. Here I would like to point out that these forecasts are not accurate and there may be a differenc e between what is predicted and the actual sales but for now I think that's an appropriate estimation as any.The forecasted income statements are based on the unit price per 100 lbs from first half of 2005 income statement. It is noted that the income statement with the price $22. 5 gives a higher contribution margin (10,468,490. 86) compared to the one with price $24. 5 (11,979,587. 82). These figures include the 5 percent reduction in the prices of materials and supplies and the discount on selling prices. The income statement shows that a higher operating income can be generated if the selling price set by Samara is followed (Refer to appendix 3. 2). The reason for that is the fixed costs will remain constant within the relevant range.So, I have decided to take the fixed costs from the 2005 Unary I-June 30) income statement. Since with the selling price $22. 5 gives a higher contribution margin, the company will lose less money (- $334,043. 07) to be exact (Refer to appendix 3. 2 ). Also if 31,803 additional units are sold, the company can breakable for product 101 . On the other hand 135,459 additional units would be required to breakable if the current price is kept. Also it doesn't seem a good idea keeping the prices higher than the rest of the seven firms, costumer might not appreciate and it's of utmost important the company maintains its market share if not improve.Conclusion & Recommendation Since it has been established that dropping any of the products doesn't benefit the company in any way, I would like to suggest keeping all the products. The company could do really well if the sales target are met and for that the motivation level of the employees needs to be high. So, my recommendation to motivate employees would be to set up a performance based reward and compensation system, which would keep the employees motivated, especially the sales force to do better.Another thing that can be done is rather than paying the sales force a fixed salary, they should be paid a commission based salary which would give rise to a sense of competition for sales people to do better and based on their sales they could be properly rewarded. For product 101, my analysis suggests that, the price set by Samara should be follow not Just because the organization will save itself from heavy losses but also its essential for the company to maintain its current industry sales share and having a higher price than the other firms could draw the customer away and then the organization would have bigger problems.Fixed costs need to be controlled and monitor strictly. All the factories are operating under capacity which doesn't help the organization in achieving its goals. One way to keep the costs in control in my opinion would be to assign specific tasks to specific factories so that they can operate efficiently rather than dedicating a whole factory to a product line. As the three reduces have somewhat similar manufacturing procedures.

Social Media: Positive or Negative?

Social Media: Positive or Negative? By: Michele Dean Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and You Tube have become the fashionable way of communicating with the masses. It seems that you are not somebody until everybody knows about you. Actors, athletes and reality television stars use social media to connect with fans. As society becomes more interested in gossip, social media will become more popular. But, is this a positive step forward or could this fascination have negative consequences? A couple of years ago a Bulgarian diplomat was fired from his job for playing FarmVille on Facebook during budget meetings.Dimitar Kerin had been warned about playing the game while at work but he failed to pay heed to his superiors. When he was let go from his position, Dimitar stated that he wasn’t the only member of the committee to play the game. Dimitar pointed out that he was only level 40 whereas other committee members were level 46. (Bosker, 2010) In 2009 an employee of the Philadelphia Eagles Football Team was fired because of a post he placed on his Facebook page. The employee, Dan Leone, was upset that the team traded a player he liked. Dan decided to take to his Facebook page and let his friends know how he felt.He used a curse word and called his employers retarded. A short time later, Dan decided that his post was not professional and he deleted it. But, it was too late. Someone from the office had seen the post. Dan was fired a few days later. He had worked for the company for six years and never had any issues. He apologized profusely but the words fell on deaf ears. (ESPN News Services, 2009) Aside from employers tracking your use of social networking while on the clock, they are starting to use these sites to assist in the selection of new employees.In January of 2012 the job search website Career Builder hired Harris Interactive to find out how many companies searched social networking sites for information on prospective employees. The study found that 37% of the companies polled currently looked at the social media pages of applicants while another 11% stated that they would be starting that practice soon. The companies polled stated that they looked mainly for references to substance abuse, posts of inappropriate pictures, bad grammar and negative comments about former employers.One third of the companies polled admitted that they had passed on hiring someone based on what information they’d found. (Richard, 2012) So, what does this mean for those of us seeking employment in a future where nearly fifty percent of the employers we give our resumes to will be scouring Facebook, Twitter and You Tube for dirt on us? It means that privacy is of the utmost importance. Make sure that the information you share is only available to your friends. Be sure to update your privacy settings on a regular basis.Let your friends know what is acceptable to post about you and what isn’t. Remember, they can snap a picture of you and po st it on their own accounts. Basically, you should look at anything and everything that you do or say on any social network and assume that you are shouting it to the entire world. Eventually, someone important will see that information. So be careful. The Internet is not as anonymous as it used to be. References Bosker, B. (2010, May 30). Politician Dimitar Kerin Fired For Playing Farmville On The Job.Retrieved November 24, 2012, from The Huffington Post: http://www. huffingtonpost. com/2010/03/30/dimitar-kerin-fired-over-_n_518635. html ESPN News Services. (2009, March 9). Facebook post gets worker firec. Retrieved November 24, 2012, from ESPN. com: http://sports. espn. go. com/nfl/news/story? id=3965039 Richard, J. (2012, April 20). 37 Percent Of Employers Use Facebook To Pre-Screen Applicants, New Study Says. Retrieved November 24, 2012, from The Huffington Post: http://www. huffingtonpost. com/2012/04/20/employers-use-facebook-to-pre-screen-applicants_n_1441289. html

Tips for Teaching Vocabulary to Students with Dyslexia

Tips for Teaching Vocabulary to Students with Dyslexia Building reading vocabulary is a challenge for students with dyslexia, who have a hard time learning new words in print and in word recognition. They often have a discrepancy between their spoken vocabulary, which may be strong, and their reading vocabulary. Typical vocabulary lessons may include writing a word sometimes 10 times, looking it up in a dictionary and writing a sentence with the word. All of these passive approaches to vocabulary will not by themselves help students with dyslexia very much. Multisensory approaches to learning have been found effective in teaching children with dyslexia and there are many ways this can be applied to teaching. The following list provides tips and suggestions for teaching vocabulary to students with dyslexia. Assign each student one or two vocabulary words. Depending on the number of students in the class and the number of vocabulary words, there may be several children with the same word. During class or for homework, students must come up with a way of presenting the word to the class. For example, a student could write a list of synonyms, draw a picture to represent the word, write a sentence using the word or the write the word in different colors on a large paper. Each student comes up with their own way to explain and present the word to the class. All the students with one word stand up and present their word, giving the class a multi-dimensional view of the word and its meaning. Begin with multisensory information on each vocabulary word. Use pictures or demonstrations to help the students see the meaning of a word as each word is presented. Later, as the students are reading, they can recall the illustration or the demonstration to help remember what the word means. Create a word bank where vocabulary words can have a permanent home in the classroom. When words are seen often, students are more likely to remember them and use them in their writing and speech. You can also create customized flash cards for each student to practice vocabulary words. Talk about synonyms and how these words are both the same and different than the vocabulary words. For example, if your vocabulary word is terrified, a synonym might be frightened. Explain how terrified and frightened both mean you are scared of something but that being terrified is being very frightened. Have students demonstrate the varying degrees of being scared to make the lesson more interactive. Play charades. This is a great way to review vocabulary words. Write each vocabulary word on a paper and place in a hat or jar. Each student draws one paper and acts out the word. Give points when a student uses a vocabulary word while talking. You can also give points if a student notices someone, in or out of school, use a vocabulary word. If outside of the class, the student must write down where and when they heard the word and who said it in their conversation. Include vocabulary words in your classroom discussions. If you keep a word bank in the classroom, continue to review it so you can use these words when teaching to the whole class or when speaking individually with a student. Create a classroom story with the vocabulary words. Write each word on a piece of paper and have each student pick out one word. Start a story off with one sentence and have students take turns adding a sentence to the story, using their vocabulary word. Have students choose vocabulary words. When beginning a new story or book, have students glance through the story to find words they are unfamiliar with and write them down. Once you have collected the lists, you can compare to see which words turned up most frequently to create a custom vocabulary lesson for your class. Students will have more motivation to learn words if they help to pick out the words.Use multisensory activities when learning new words. Have students write the word using sand, finger paint or pudding paint. Have them trace the word with their fingers, say the word out loud, listen as you say the word, draw a picture to represent the word and use it in a sentence. The more senses you include in your teaching and the more often you include and see vocabulary words, the more the students will remember the lesson.

Nepetalactone Cycloalkane in Catnip

Nepetalactone Cycloalkane in Catnip Catnip, Nepeta cataria, is a member of the mint or Labiatae family. This perennial herb is sometimes known as catnip, catrup, catwort, cataria, or catmint (although there are other plants that also go by these common names). Catnip is indigenous from the eastern Mediterranean region to the eastern Himalayas, but is naturalized over much of North America and is easily grown in most gardens. The generic name Nepeta is said to have been derived from the Italian town Nepete, where catnip was once cultivated. For centuries humans have grown catnip for humans, but the herb is best known for its action on cats. Nepetalactone Chemistry Nepetalactone is a terpene composed of two isoprene units, with a total of ten carbons. Its chemical structure is similar to that of the valepotriates derived from the herb valerian, which is a mild central nervous system sedative (or stimulant to some persons). Cats Domestic and many wild cats (including cougars, bobcats, lions, and lynx) respond to the nepetalactone in catnip. However, not all cats react to catnip. The behavior is inherited as an autosomal dominant gene; 10-30% of domestic cats in a population may be unresponsive to nepetalactone. Kittens will not show the behavior until they are at least 6-8 weeks old. In fact, catnip produces an avoidance response in young kittens. The catnip response usually develops by the time a kitten is 3 months old. When cats smell catnip they exhibit a range of behaviors that may include sniffing, licking and chewing the plant, head shaking, chin and cheek rubbing, head rolling, and body rubbing. This psychosexual reaction lasts for 5-15 minutes and cannot be evoked again for an hour or more after exposure. Cats that react to nepetalactone differ in their individual responses. The feline receptor for nepetalactone is the vomeronasal organ, located above the feline palate. The location of the vomeronasal organ may explain why cats do not react from eating gelatin-enclosed capsules of catnip. Nepetalactone must be inhaled for it to reach the receptors in the vomeronasal organ. In cats, the effects of nepetalactone can be moderated by several drugs acting upon the central and peripheral nervous system, and by several environmental, physiological, and psychological factors. The specific mechanism governing these behaviors has not been described. Humans Herbalists have used catnip for many centuries as a treatment for colic, headache, fever, toothache, colds, and spasms. Catnip is an excellent sleep-inducing agent (as with valerian, in certain individuals it acts as a stimulant). Both people and cats find catnip to be emetic in large doses. It exhibits antibacterial properties and may be useful as an anti-atherosclerotic agent. It is used as an adjunct in treated dysmenorrhea and is given in tincture form to aid amenorrhea. 15th century English cooks would rub catnip leaves on meats before cooking and add it to mixed green salads. Before Chinese tea became widely available, catnip tea was very popular. Cockroaches and other Insects There is scientific evidence that catnip and nepetalactone may be effective cockroach repellents. Iowa State University researchers found nepetalactone to be 100x more effective at repelling cockroaches than DEET, a common (and toxic) insect repellent. Purified nepetalactone has also been shown to kill flies. There is also evidence that nepetalactone may serve as an insect sex pheromone in Hemiptera Aphidae (aphids) and a defense substance in Orthoptera Phasmatidae (walking sticks).

Animal Rights versus Animal Welfare Research Paper

Animal Rights versus Animal Welfare - Research Paper Example This research will begin with the statement that animals are part of the environment and should be protected from the changes that human activities have caused on the environment. Animal protection can be done through animal rights and animal welfare. Animal rights refer to the concept of considering the interest of animals at the same level of concern as considering human interests. Animal welfare ensures that the physical and psychological health of the animals is observed. The terms used in animal protection show human concern over nature. Animals should be protected from suffering and unethical treatment. Animal rights reject the use of animals while animal welfare groups allow animal use but humane treatment should be accorded to  them. When human and animal rights conflict, animal rights activist prioritize the rights of animals, while animal welfare activists prioritize human life. Animal welfare promotes controlled use of animals for agricultural purposes such as farming an d protein production while animal rights activists avoid the use of animal products. The similarity between both groups is that the wellbeing of animals is promoted. Cases of abuse, negligence,  and abandonment of animals are prevented through this group. Endangered animals are also protected by both groups. Both groups of activists ensure that the relationship between animals and humans is mutually beneficial. Man obtains food from the animals in return the animals are protected from disease and danger.  

IRB Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

IRB - Essay Example The researcher is interested in carrying out the interviews of 50 females belonging to various ethnic groups, age-groups, socioeconomic status and areas of the city, though African American will dominate as the universe for the present study. The universe will be comprised of the women who have undergone any type of crime at least once in their life, out of which a sample of 50 women with the age range 25 to 50 will be selected. Interview schedule will be applied as a tool for data collection. Being the vast topic containing ethnic and gender discrimination elements, the researcher is interested in conducting the research in the culturally diversified city of New York, USA. 1- Universe: As the researcher is the student of the New York University, he aims to select the white, yellow, brown and black female population of New York. The researcher is interested in conducting the interviews of fifty females to find out the results and concluding the problem. 2- Sampling: The researcher intends to apply quota/non-probability sampling to represent different ethnic groups and socioeconomic classes of the society. The research will be comprised of females from middle and lower classes, who have undergone any type of criminal assault. Four ethnic groups will be the respondents, though the majority of them will consist of black female respondents. The study will be focused on two types of victims. The first category belongs to the females who are the victims of the crimes committed by the strangers. On the other hand, the second category will be comprised of the women affected and cheated by their own relations and kinsmen. 3- Tool for Data Collection: Interview-schedule will be applied as a research tool to gather the data from the respondents. Interview schedule will be consisted of twenty nine questions and will be divided into three parts. First part will be about the general enquiry including the questions related to age, socioeconomic