Over the next 30 years, what are the risks to National Security posed Essay - 5

Over the next 30 years, what are the risks to National Security posed by increased competition for energy and food resources; and what initiatives might Qatar pursue to reduce these risks - Essay Example having numerous deposits of oil and natural gas, Qatar and other countries in the GCC face a lot of challenges that are likely to threaten theory national security in the future(Bailey, 2013). In the next thirty years for instance, the competition for energy resources in Qatar is likely to be challenging to the extent of threatening national security (UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, 2011). Current issues that Qatar faces are likely to sabotage progress of the energy sector thereby affecting national security. Among the issues Qatar faces include the inadequacy of energy production to meet the requirements of the population while consuming a lot of water resources are being use in the production process. A huge chunk of the countries food security is vested in international trade thus exposing the country to price risks. The political crisis in a few countries in the GCC and the Arab spring is also likely to affect competition for natural resources in Qatar thereby threatening national security for the next thirty years (Sharma, 2011). Qatar can however avoid this challenges that are likely to threaten the future of the state by diversifying its production process and the whole economy to incorporate different forms of commodities (Bailey,

The Role Of Alfieri in A View From A Bridge Essay Example for Free

The Role Of Alfieri in A View From A Bridge Essay This essay that I have written about is from the book A View from the Bridge. And I am going to discuss how Arthur Miller (the Author of this play) has achieved such dramatic impact by using Alfieri. In this play Alfieris role is very important. He tells us more about the characters like a narrator; he sets the scene and the environment. He is an engaged narrator, helping the audience in every way to understand the story. Arthur miller has used the characteristics in Alfieri to divide the play in different ways. The character helps us to understand the background information, which we might have missed. Alfieris role is to unfold the play to the audience. He makes the audience get involved and plays with their emotions and helps them understand the story. The audience, including me, believe Alfieri because he is a lawyer and knows the most. He creates tension and emotion for the audience and the characters. I think he has so much pressure from being told the background information about the characters. I think he is drowned in stress and needs to talk to someone. I think thats why he talks to the audience. Alfieri also gives the feeling that he is retelling the story, because he mostly speaks in the past tense. The community in this play respect Alfieri because he is a lawyer and helps the rest of the characters out. Alfieris role is like a chorus, always reminding its tragedy. He creates suspense in the audience and gets them hooked to the play. The author must have thought very hard about this. The author makes the play feel like its a cliffhanger and makes them addicted to the play and makes them want to watch more. When Rodolpho wins Catherine, Eddie feels left out and jealous. He feels betrayed by Catherine and that she has ran off and lives her own life. This could also be the reason for his fear of Catherine growing up, and that she is not a little baby anymore. Eddie thinks Rodolpho is gay because he has blond hair and does cooking and sewing. Eddie feels justice must be served. Eddie goes to Alfieri (the lawyer) and tells him about Rodolpho. Alfieri is an educated lawyer, this contrast with the characters like Eddie. Alfieris language is very high standards. His role is to be an expert adviser and represents the American law. He is Eddies advisor. Sometimes he uses imagery to describe something. He uses similes and metaphors. He is giving the audience a clearer view and to convey to the audience that this story will end tragically. He keeps the audience thinking and helps them concentrate towards the play. He also uses imagery to tell the audience about his characters. For example: He walked in the room, and his eyes were like tunnels. This is a simile, this could mean Eddie was thinking deeply and like he committed a crime or he had some passion or he was stressed, obsessed or he had a deep desire or he was not aware of whats going on. In most of Alfieris scenes he develops tension, action, he also helps us like a guide. He moves the scene on to the next one. In the first scene in Alfieris office is where the main message of the play comes to light. That is love, morality, law come to life. The way the Arthur Miller done this is very clever. At the start of each scene Alfieri introduces who is in the scene and the setting, plus he creates the time and atmosphere.

What Happens When Machines Become Conscious? :: The Age of Spiritual Machines Technology Essays

What Happens When Machines Become Conscious? Some leading techno-pundits like Ray Kurzweil believe that machines will become conscious within our lifetimes. In his book, The Age of Spiritual Machines, Kurzweil writes that computers will, â€Å"increasingly appear to have their own personalities, evidencing reactions that we can only label as emotions and articulating their own goals and purposes.† He goes even further to say that the computers will â€Å"appear to have their own free will†, and â€Å"have spiritual experiences† (Kurzweil 6). This is an astounding prediction, but one that is echoed by many of today’s artificial intelligence (AI) theorists. In this brief discussion, I will bring into focus some of the questions surrounding the topic of intelligent computers and consciousness. Whether or not computers will be conscious or spiritual in the future, the fact remains that they are increasingly able to accomplish tasks which were thought only achievable by humans, such as playing chess, or even reading printed text aloud to assist the blind. Stanford computer scientist John McCarthy believes that the only reason computers cannot do some tasks as well as humans is that we do not have an actual understanding of how we solve the problems ourselves. He writes that, â€Å"whenever people do better than computers on some task or computers use a lot of computation to do as well as people, this demonstrates that the program designers lack understanding of the intellectual mechanisms required to do the task efficiently† (McCarthy 2004). This lack of understanding of underlying mechanisms is apparent in the situation when experts in a field cannot fully explain how they accomplish a complex task, such as playing the saxophone or swinging a golf club, which they ma y only fully understand on a subconscious level. As brain researcher Fred Genesee (2000) writes, even the human learning process can be seen as a kind of â€Å"programming†: We now think that the young brain is like a computer with incredibly sophisticated hardwiring, but no software. The software of the brain, like the software of desktop computers, harnesses the exceptional processing capacity of the brain in the service of specialized functions, like vision, smell, and language. All individuals have to acquire or develop their own software in order to harness the processing power of the brain with which they are born. Alas, if only we could find a better way to teach the computer how to solve problems, rather than the current programming methods! Kurzweil suggests that in the future we will be able to use detailed, non-invasive scanning of the human brain to replicate a brain’s structure inside a computer (53).

The Hispanic Community

Based on the United States (U. S. ) Census Bureau in 2011, there were roughly 52 million Hispanics living in the nation, which represented about 16. 7% of the total population (Zepeda, 2011). People of Hispanic origin are the nation's largest ethnic minority group (Zepeda, 2011). Arizona's Hispanic population grew faster than other groups over the past decade (Zepeda, 2011). Arizona had nearly 1. 9 million Hispanic residents as of April 2010, an increase of 46% over the previous decade (Zepeda, 2011). By tradition, the Hispanic family is dependent on one another and possesses the most important social unit (Zepeda, 2011).In the Hispanic culture, it is customary to be morally responsible for other family members and help them in their time of need when they are experiencing financial problems, unemployment, poor health conditions, and other life issues (Zedpeda, 2011). Respect for the elderly and authority is a major point of teaching as well as preserving the Spanish language within the family (Zepeda, 2011). The Hispanic population have low rates of educational attainment, family income, insurance coverage, and a higher rate of poverty compared to non-Hispanic Whites (â€Å"Summary health statistics†, 2012).Value/Belief Pattern The Hispanic community is predominately Catholic (â€Å"Transcultural nursing†, n. d. ). Hispanics consider health to be â€Å"a gift from God and should not be taken for granted† (â€Å"Transcultural nursing†, n. d. , para. 1). Illness prevention is practiced through prayer, wearing religious medals or amulets, and by keeping certain home artifacts (â€Å"Transcultural nursing†, n. d. ). They are present-oriented and thus may fail to seek preventive care (â€Å"Transcultural nursing†, n. d. ). They may arrive late or not go to appointments (â€Å"Transcultural nursing†, n. d. ).Their culture emphasizes family interdependence over independence (â€Å"Transcultural nursing†, n. d. ) . In times of illness, they depend on family and friends for assistance as opposed to social workers. (â€Å"Transcultural nursing†, n. d). Health Perception/Management Pattern The Hispanic culture emphasizes wellness rather than illness and holistic ideologies pertaining to health (Young, 2001). Decisions to seek medical assistance and treatment are often based upon cost, which frequently results in utilizing a licensed physician as a last resort (Young, 2001). They mostly rely on home treatments and community healers (Young, 2001).Many barriers exist for Hispanics to obtain high quality healthcare, including lack of insurance, socioeconomic status, language, and communication challenges. The most frequent minority health issues in Tucson, Arizona are heart disease, diabetes, obesity, hypertension, and HIV/AIDS. The top three leading causes of Hispanic deaths in Arizona are from cardiovascular disease, heart disease, and cancer (ADHS, 2009). Nutrition/Metabolic Pattern The H ispanic population has a low intake of vitamins A, D, E, B2, B6, folic acid, and minerals (Ortega, Lopez, & Serra, 2004).According to a 2009 report on emergency food distribution in the U. S. , Hispanic children had a higher rate of food assistance (29%) compared to Whites (11%) (Feeding America, 2010). The obesity rate among Hispanics in Arizona (33. 1%) is disproportionately high and exceeds the national Hispanic obesity average of 30. 6%. The three sources of water supply in Tucson are groundwater, Colorado River water, and recycled water . Specific foods and drinks like beverages, caffeine/energy drinks, carbonated beverages, whole fat milk, sport drinks, fried food and fruit/vegetable drinks are prohibited in school campuses.Elimination Pattern (Environmental Health Concerns) Hispanics are environmentally friendly. According to research, Latino Americans (Hispanics) â€Å"are the greenest population in the U. S. † (Arsian, 2011, para. 1) as they tend to look for greener products for their daily use. Many environmental issues affect Hispanics. Research shows that Hispanic children of low-income families are â€Å"more likely to live in unsafe areas with poor street environments† (Zhu & Lee, 2008, p. 282). In 2009, Hispanics had the second highest percentage of those residing in inadequate housing (CDC, 2011).In 2006, about 25% of Hispanics resided in counties that exceeded fine particulate matter standards for air – representing the highest percentage of any ethnic group (CDC, 2011). Activity/Exercise Pattern Hispanics have a low physical activity level which has contributed to their elevated obesity rate (Lee & Laffrey, 2008). In a survey, over 67% of Hispanics did not exercise at least 150 minutes per week as national guidelines recommend (Bautista, Reininger, Gay, Barroso, & McCormick, 2011). More men than women and more single individuals than married individuals exercise (Lee & Laffrey, 2008).The three most preferred methods of ex ercise are walking/running, stretching and resistance activities, and aerobics (Lee & Laffrey, 2008). Sleep/Rest Pattern Research shows that Hispanics are at greater risk for reduced sleep hours and sleep disorders like apnea (Loredo et al. , 2010). Tucson’s Children’s Assessment of Sleep Apnea Study compared Hispanic and Caucasian children residing in Tucson, Arizona. Hispanics were found to have a 3% increase of sleep disorders compared to Caucasians of the same age group residing within the same geopolitical area (Quan, Goodwin, Babar, Kaemingk, & Morgan, 2003).A hypothesis for differences is unclear; it is possible that socioeconomic variables with the ability to speak limited English may have had a reflection on this study (Quan, Goodwin, Babar, Kaemingk, & Morgan, 2003). Cognitive/Perceptual Pattern Disparity exists among the Hispanic population in Tucson, which is growing into a majority status while lagging in educational attainment (Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, n. d. ). Low educational attainment is linked to low earning power and poverty.Educational and social deficits in perception/cognition may be based on the inability for many Hispanic residents to effectively assimilate to Western society. This is a border community in which many residents continue to reside in Mexico while maintaining a home in Tucson. This appears to decrease acculturation, education, and communication by minimizing the use of English as a second language. Self-Perception/Self-Concept Pattern Hispanics usually place a great importance on their look and appearance as it is viewed as a sense of honor, dignity, and pride (Zepeda, 2011).They prefer to dress formally for church attendance, parties, and other social gatherings, but recently jeans and tennis shoes are becoming more popular among the women (Zepeda, 2011). Another cultural habit is that they are flexible about time when attending social events – they tend to be less punctual than other popu lations in the nation (Zepeda, 2011). Lastly, Hispanics are shy about public speaking because of their heavy accent (Zepeda, 2011). Role/Relationship Pattern The Hispanic family usually lives as an extended family, playing an important role in the life of each family member (â€Å"Understanding the Hispanic/Latino†, n.  d. ).They place family needs ahead of their own (â€Å"Understanding the Hispanic/Latino†, n. d. ). Children are taught to be respectful of authority, the elderly, and of members of the extended family (â€Å"Understanding the Hispanic/Latino†, n. d. ). Most often the father is the head of the family and the mother has responsibilities for the home (Zepeda, 2011). They also believe in order to succeed and advance in life, a child or individual needs the whole family’s support (â€Å"Understanding the Hispanic/Latino†, n. d).Sexuality/Reproductive Pattern Hispanics have one of the highest birth rates in the United States – y et they face prenatal health care disparities that predispose them to pregnancy related complications (Jarvis, 2012). Hispanic women are not as likely to receive family planning services (Martinez, Chandra, Febo-Vazquez, & Mosher, 2013). In Southern Arizona, they have the highest birth, teen pregnancy, abortion, and birth to unwed mother rates (â€Å"Abortions†, 2013; AZDHS, 2011). They were also the highest user of the state’s Medicaid program to pay for births (AZDHS, 2011).Coping/Stress Pattern Violent crime is up 16. 6% compared to 2011 and crime over all is up 15. 6% compared to the previous year. Tucson’s poverty rates remained among the nation’s highest last year, with 1 in 5 living below the poverty threshold. Between October 1, 2012 and March 31, 2013 there were 22,161 incoming communications to the Child Abuse Hotline that met the criteria for a report of abuse or neglect. Compared to one year ago there has been an 8. 3 % increase in reports rec eived by the CPS Hotline.Statistics have shown that there are approximately 25,043 marijuana users, 10,967 prescription drug and 4,103 cocaine addicts, 1,862 abusing hallucinogens, 1,046 people that use inhalants, and 232 heroin addicts. About 145 people will die from alcohol and 29 lives will be lost to illicit drug use. Conclusion The Hispanic population of Southwestern Arizona has increased exponentially in the last decade. Hispanics in the Tucson area take great pride in their cultural heritage. They are family and spiritually oriented.They take pride in their appearance and honor family by caring for one another in time of need. Several factors facilitating unhealthy lifestyle habits were identified for this community. One hypothesis is relative to the geographical area of Tucson, Arizona. Being a border community could cause resistance to acculturation and assimilation of mainstream society. â€Å"Hispanics residing in U. S border communities tend to be less acculturated and have higher poverty rates† (Ghaddar, Brown, Paggan, & Diaz, 2010, p. 191). Poverty rates in the Tucson area remained among the highest in the nation for 2012.Socioeconomic disparities, lack of educational attainment, and communication challenges compounded by lack of access to affordable health care have left this community with many opportunities for community intervention and health care promotion. Specific areas of concern are unplanned pregnancies, nutritional deficiencies with a disproportionately high rate of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. Additional health care preventative programs assimilated to the unique needs of this population will assist to provide improved health outcomes for a community in need.

The Host Chapter 58: Finished

I was so tightly wound that I shrieked in terror; I was so terrified that my shriek was only a breathless little squeal. â€Å"Sorry!† Jared's arm went around my shoulders, comforting. â€Å"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you.† â€Å"What are you doing here?† I demanded, still breathless. â€Å"Following you. I've been following you all night.† â€Å"Well, stop it now.† There was a hesitation in the dark, and his arm didn't move. I shrugged out from under it, but he caught my wrist. His grip was firm; I wouldn't be able to shake free easily. â€Å"You're going to see Doc?† he asked, and there was no confusion in the question. It was obvious that he wasn't talking about a social visit. â€Å"Of course I am.† I hissed the words so that he wouldn't hear the panic in my voice. â€Å"What else can I do after today? It's not going to get any better. And this isn't Jeb's decision to make.† â€Å"I know. I'm on your side.† It made me angry that these words still had the power to hurt me, to bring tears stinging into my eyes. I tried to hold on to the thought of Ian-he was the anchor, as Kyle somehow had been for Sunny-but it was hard with Jared's hand touching me, with the smell of him in my nose. Like trying to make out the song of one violin when the entire percussion section was bashing away†¦ â€Å"Then let me go, Jared. Go away. I want to be alone.† The words came out fierce and fast and hard. It was easy to hear that they weren't lies. â€Å"I should come with you.† â€Å"You'll have Melanie back soon enough,† I snapped. â€Å"I'm only asking for a few minutes, Jared. Give me that much.† Another pause; his hand didn't loosen. â€Å"Wanda, I would come to be with you.† The tears spilled over. I was grateful for the darkness. â€Å"It wouldn't feel that way,† I whispered. â€Å"So there's no point.† Of course Jared could not be allowed to be there. Only Doc could be trusted. Only he had promised me. And I wasn't leaving this planet. I wasn't going to go live as a Dolphin or a Flower, always grieving for the loves I'd left behind me, all dead by the time I opened my eyes again-if I even had eyes. This was my planet, and they wouldn't make me leave. I would stay in the dirt, in the dark grotto with my friends. A human grave for the human I had become. â€Å"But Wanda, I†¦ There's so much that I need to say to you.† â€Å"I don't want your gratitude, Jared. Trust me on that.† â€Å"What do you want?† he whispered, his voice strained and choked. â€Å"I would give you anything.† â€Å"Take care of my family. Don't let the others kill them.† â€Å"Of course I'll take care of them.† He dismissed my request brusquely. â€Å"I meant you. What can I give you?† â€Å"I can't take anything with me, Jared.† â€Å"Not even a memory, Wanda? What do you want?† I brushed the tears away with my free hand, but others took their place too quickly for it to matter. No, I couldn't take even a memory. â€Å"What can I give you, Wanda?† he insisted. I took a deep breath and tried to keep my voice steady. â€Å"Give me a lie, Jared. Tell me you want me to stay.† There was no hesitation this time. His arms wound around me in the dark, held me securely against his chest. He pressed his lips against my forehead, and I felt his breath move my hair when he spoke. Melanie was holding her breath in my head. She was trying to bury herself again, trying to give me my freedom for these last minutes. Maybe she was afraid to listen to these lies. She wouldn't want this memory when I was gone. â€Å"Stay here, Wanda. With us. With me. I don't want you to go. Please. I can't imagine having you gone. I can't see that. I don't know how to†¦ how to†¦Ã¢â‚¬  His voice broke. He was a very good liar. And he must have been very, very sure of me to say those things. I rested against him for a moment, but I could feel the time pulling me away. Time was up. Time was up. â€Å"Thank you,† I whispered, and I tried to extricate myself. His arms tightened. â€Å"I'm not done.† Our faces were only inches apart. He closed the distance, and even here, on the edge of my last breath on this planet, I couldn't help responding. Gasoline and an open flame-we exploded again. It wasn't the same, though. I could feel that. This was for me. It was my name that he gasped when he held this body-and he thought of it as my body, thought of it as me. I could feel the difference. For one moment, it was just us, just Wanderer and Jared, both of us burning. No one had ever lied better than Jared lied with his body in my last minutes, and for that I was grateful. I couldn't take it with me, because I wasn't going anywhere, but it eased some of the pain of leaving. I could believe the lie. I could believe that he would miss me so much that it might even mar some of his joy. I shouldn't want that, but it felt good to believe it anyway. I couldn't ignore the time, the seconds ticking like a countdown. Even on fire, I could feel them dragging at me, sucking me down the dark corridor. Taking me away from all this heat and feeling. I managed to pull my lips away from his. We panted in the dark, our breath warm on each other's faces. â€Å"Thank you,† I said again. â€Å"Wait†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"I can't. I can't†¦ bear any more. Okay?† â€Å"Okay,† he whispered. â€Å"I just want one more thing. Let me do this alone. Please?† â€Å"If†¦ if you're sure that's what you want†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He trailed off, unsure. â€Å"It's what I need, Jared.† â€Å"Then I'll stay here,† he said hoarsely. â€Å"I'll send Doc to get you when it's over.† His arms were still locked around me. â€Å"You know that Ian is going to try to kill me for letting you do this? Maybe I should let him. And Jamie. He'll never forgive either of us.† â€Å"I can't think about them right now. Please. Let me go.† Slowly, with a palpable reluctance that warmed some of the cold emptiness in the center of my body, Jared let his arms slide away. â€Å"I love you, Wanda.† I sighed. â€Å"Thanks, Jared. You know how much I love you. With my whole heart.† Heart and soul. Not the same thing, in my case. I'd been divided too long. It was time to make something whole again, make a whole person. Even if that excluded me. The ticking seconds pulled me toward the end. It was cold when he no longer held me. It got colder every step I took away from him. Just my imagination, of course. It was still summer here. It would always be summer here for me. â€Å"What happens here when it rains, Jared?† I whispered. â€Å"Where do people sleep?† It took him a moment to answer, and I could hear tears in his voice. â€Å"We†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He swallowed. â€Å"We all move into the game room. Everyone sleeps in there together.† I nodded to myself. I wondered what the atmosphere would be like. Awkward, with all the conflicting personalities? Or was it fun? A change? Like a slumber party? â€Å"Why?† he whispered. â€Å"I just wanted to†¦ imagine. How it will be.† Life and love would go on. Even though it would happen without me, the idea brought me joy. â€Å"Goodbye, Jared. Mel says she'll see you soon.† Liar. â€Å"Wait†¦ Wanda†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I hurried down the tunnel, hurried away from any chance that he might, with his grateful lies, convince me not to go. There was only silence behind me. His pain did not hurt me the way Ian's had. For Jared, pain would be over soon. Joy was only minutes away. The happy ending. The southern tunnel felt only a few yards long. I could see the bright lantern burning ahead, and I knew Doc was waiting for me. I walked into the room that had always frightened me with my shoulders squared. Doc had everything prepared. In the dimmest corner, I could see two cots pushed together, Kyle snoring with his arm around Jodi's motionless form. His other arm was still curled around Sunny's tank. She would have liked that. I wished there was some way to tell her. â€Å"Hey, Doc,† I whispered. He looked up from the table where he was setting out the medicine. There were already tears streaming down his face. And suddenly, I was brave. My heart slowed to an even pace. My breath deepened and relaxed. The hardest parts were over. I had done this before. Many times. I had closed my eyes and gone away. Always knowing new eyes would open again, but still. This was familiar. Nothing to fear. I went to the cot and hopped up so that I was sitting on it. I reached for the No Pain with steady hands and screwed the lid off. I put the little tissue square on my tongue, let it dissolve. There was no change. I wasn't in any pain this time. No physical pain. â€Å"Tell me something, Doc. What's your real name?† I wanted to answer all the little puzzles before the end. Doc sniffed and wiped the back of his hand under his eyes. â€Å"Eustace. It's a family name, and my parents were cruel people.† I laughed once. Then I sighed. â€Å"Jared's waiting, back by the big cave. I promised him you'd tell him when it was over. Just wait until I-until I†¦ stop moving, okay? It will be too late for him to do anything about my decision then.† â€Å"I don't want to do this, Wanda.† â€Å"I know. Thanks for that, Doc. But I'm holding you to your promise.† â€Å"Please?† â€Å"No. You gave me your word. I did my part, didn't I?† â€Å"You did.† â€Å"Then do yours. Let me stay with Walt and Wes.† His thin face worked as he tried to keep back a sob. â€Å"Will you be†¦ in pain?† â€Å"No, Doc,† I lied. â€Å"I won't feel anything.† I waited for the euphoria to come, for the No Pain to set everything glowing the way it had the last time. I still didn't feel any difference. It must not have been the No Pain after all-it had just been being loved. I sighed again. I stretched out on the cot, on my stomach, and turned my face toward him. â€Å"Put me under, Doc.† The bottle opened. I heard him shake it onto the cloth in his hand. â€Å"You are the noblest, purest creature I've ever met. The universe will be a darker place without you,† he whispered. These were his words over my grave, my epitaph, and I was glad that I got to hear them. Thank you, Wanda. My sister. I will never forget you. Be happy, Mel. Enjoy it all. Appreciate it for me. I will, she promised. Bye, we thought together. Doc's hand pressed the cloth gently over my face. I breathed in deeply, ignoring the thick, uncomfortable scent. As I took another breath, I saw the three stars again. They were not calling to me; they were letting me go, leaving me to the black universe I had wandered for so many lifetimes. I drifted into the black, and it got brighter and brighter. It wasn't black at all-it was blue. Warm, vibrant, brilliant blue†¦ I floated into it with no fear at all.

Pain essays

Pain essays Vaccine Could Protect Against Stroke And Epilepsy Damage A new oral vaccine has offered new hope because of its effectiveness in protecting laboratory rats against brain damage from epilepsy and stroke, and might one day be used to help humans with the same conditions. The vaccine blocks a protein in the brain called NMDA, but does so only when epilepsy or stroke occur. The vaccine is released in the brain as needed and is protected from any side effects. During and colleagues immunized another group of rats and after five months induced stroke in them by blocking an artery in the brain. The rats still experienced strokes, but the size of the brain damage was 70 percent less in immunized rats compared with animals that didn't receive the treatment. This concept could be useful in treating other neurological disorders as well. NMDA is a receptor that responds to the chemical glutamate in the brain, the glutamate/NMDA complex is responsible for many normal brain functions like the development of neurons, learning and memory. Blocking the NMDA receptor in general could have damaging effects. However, the NMDA receptor is also involved in a chain of events that contribute to neurological damage from epilepsy, stroke and head injuries. To create the vaccine, the researchers added the gene that codes for the NMDA receptor to a virus. When this gene and virus combination enter the animal's bloodstream, the immune system creates antibodies to both the virus and NMDA. These antibodies circulate in the blood, but are prevented from entering the brain by the blood brain barrier, a tightly packed group of cells that line blood vessels in the brain. The blood brain barrier is a protective mechanism that prevents many large molecules, such as these antibodies, from entering the brain. Yet during times of neurological insult, like epilepsy and stroke, the blood brain barrier is compromised, and the antibodies do enter the brain. They then s...

Knowledge About Ionising Radiation Among Dentists The WritePass Journal

Knowledge About Ionising Radiation Among Dentists Introduction: Knowledge About Ionising Radiation Among Dentists Introduction:Literature ReviewOBJECTIVES METHODSThe objectives of the study will be to:METHODS:HYPOTHESISReferencesRelated Introduction: Dental radiography has evolved over the last decade. The evolution began with the introduction of new changes to the operations of dental radiology. Some examples of these changes include new machines, smaller beam sizes, increased filtration, advanced techniques, faster film speeds and large increases in utilization (White, 1992, 118-26). However, concerns do remain about the possible adverse effects of dental radiography on humans for several reasons: firstly, these procedures remain the only common type of diagnostic radiography capable of being   performed without intensifying screens, requiring concomitantly higher doses. Secondly, the targets to film distance are short. The third reason is the emitted rays are in near   to sensitive organs in the head and neck region. These examinations are among the most common diagnostic radiographic procedures performed today. Based on these examinations, previous studies have concluded   an increased risk for salivary gland, thyroid, and brain tumors (UN Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation, 2000, Vol.1). Literature Review According to UNSCEAR 2000 Report (European Union, 1997, 22), dental radiography is one of the most frequent types of radiological procedures. Although the exposure associated with dental radiography is relatively low, any radiological procedure should be justiï ¬ ed and optimized in order to keep the radiation risk as low as reasonably achievable (Radiation Protection 136). Dose assessment is recommended to be performed on a regular basis to ensure that patient exposure is always kept within the recommended levels and to identify possible equipment malfunction or inadequate technique (Alme’n, Mattsson, 1996, 81-89). With comparison to adults, children have been found to be more radiosensitive (International Commission on Radiological Protection, 1991, Publication 60). Therefore, increased attention is recommended in supervising children to minimize the medical radiation exposure to children. All radiological procedures carried out on children must adapt to special radiation protection measures, which aims at recognizing and implementing possible dose reduction strategies in order to eliminate unnecessary and therefore un-justiï ¬ ed radiation exposure.It is the   responsibility of the health care professional to provide firsthand knowledge to the patients undergoing all radiological procedures and processes. The dentist can answer queries of any patient with regard to radiation hazards, which can be reliable provided their knowledge is adequate and up-to-date. The knowledge related to radiation is taught during undergraduate training in medical colleges.   However, dentists grossly underestimated the proper risk regarding proper use of medical imaging tools and their associated radiation risks (International Commission on Radiological Protetion, 1991, Publication 60).   On the other hand, the incorrect information about its safety and effectiveness, is made and promoted by some dentists who are paid and sponsored by the manufacturers of these d evices to lecture and give seminars promoting their products.   The conflict of interest does add extra concern about the safety of these products. OBJECTIVES METHODS The objectives of the study will be to: Assesses dentist’s knowledge about ionizing radiations and their hazard on the patient. Identify the level of understanding regarding use of ionizing equipment’s among dentist. METHODS: The research will assess  the ionizing radiations knowledge, risk and awareness among dentists in Australia  and  Jordan. The approach to this assessment will use a survey that will be distributed to 300 dentists. These are some of the questions that I will be asking the dentists: 1-Name (optional) 2- Sex 3- Age 4- Dental school 5- Year graduated 6- Residency 7- Experience 8- Risks associated with ionizing radiation on human tissue 9- Methods of mitigating or preventing ionization radiation during practice 10- Best practices associated with ionizing radiation HYPOTHESIS The null hypothesis or my expected outcome of the survey results is that of the better hospitals, or the institution of allied health care that provide ionization radiation during practice to have dentists that understand the risks better than other doctors.   The other doctors are understood to be in practice in less stellar institutions of allied healthcare.   The alternative hypothesis is that doctors at the stellar institutions as well as doctors at the lesser institutions are unaware of the risks associated with ionizing radiation. References White SC.   assessment of radiation risk from dental radiography.  Dentomaxillofac Radiol.  1992;21(3):118-26. United Nations Scientiï ¬ c Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation. Sources and effect of ionizing radiation. Report Vol. 1 UNSCEAR publications (2000). European Union. Council Directive 97/43 Euratom, on health protection of individuals against the dangers of ionizing radiation in relation to medical exposures, and repealing Directive 84/466 Euratom. Off. J. Eur. Commun. L180, 22 (1997). Radiation protection 136. European Guidelines on radiation protection in dental radiology: The safe use of radiographs in dental radiology. European Commission publications. Alme ´n, A. and Mattsson, S. On the calculation of effective dose to children and adolescents. J. Radiol. Prot. 16(2), 81–89 (1996). International Commission on Radiological Protection. 1990 Recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection. ICRP Publication 60. (Oxford: Pergamon Press) (1991).

Geography of the Worlds Largest Oil Spills

Geography of the World's Largest Oil Spills On April 20, 2010, a large oil spill began in the Gulf of Mexico after an explosion on a British Petroleum (BP) oil drilling rig there called Deepwater Horizon. In the weeks following the oil spill, the news was dominated by depictions of the spill and its growing size as oil continued to leak from an underwater well and pollute the Gulf of Mexicos waters. The spill harmed wildlife, damaged fisheries and severely hurt the overall economy of the Gulf region. The Gulf of Mexico oil spill was not fully contained until late July 2010 and throughout the duration of the spill it was estimated that 53,000 barrels of oil per day were leaked into the Gulf of Mexico. In total almost 5 million barrels of oil were released which makes it the largest accidental oil spill in the worlds history.Oil spills like the one in the Gulf of Mexico are not uncommon and many other oil spills have occurred in the worlds oceans and other waterways in the past. The following is a list of fifteen major oil spills (Gulf of Mexico included) that have taken place around the world. The list is organized by the final amount of oil that entered waterways. 1) Gulf of Mexico/BP Oil Spill Location: Gulf of Mexico Year: 2010 Amount of Oil Spilled in Gallons and Liters: 205 million gallons (776 million liters) 2) Ixtoc I Oil Well Location: Gulf of Mexico Year: 1979 Amount of Oil Spilled in Gallons and Liters: 140 million gallons (530 million liters) 3) Atlantic Empress Location: Trinidad and Tobago Year: 1979 Amount of Oil Spilled in Gallons and Liters: 90 million gallons (340 million liters)4) Fergana Valley Location: Uzbekistan Year: 1992 Amount of Oil Spilled in Gallons and Liters: 88 million gallons (333 million liters)5) ABT Summer Location: 700 nautical miles from Angola (3,900 km) Year: 1991 Amount of Oil Spilled in Gallons and Liters: 82 million gallons (310 million liters)6) Nowruz Field Platform Location: Persian Gulf Year: 1983 Amount of Oil Spilled in Gallons and Liters: 80 million gallons (303 million liters)7) Castillo de Bellver Location: Saldanha Bay, South Africa Year: 1983 Amount of Oil Spilled in Gallons and Liters: 79 million gallons (300 million liters)8) Amoco Cadiz Location: Brittany, France Year: 1978 Amount of Oil Spilled in Gallons and Liters: 69 million gallons (261 million liters)9) MT Haven Location: Mediterranean Sea near Italy Year: 1991 Amount of Oil Spilled in Gallons and Liters: 45 million gallo ns (170 million liters)10) Odyssey Location: 700 nautical miles (3,900 km) off of Nova Scotia, Canada Year: 1988 Amount of Oil Spilled in Gallons and Liters: 42 million gallons (159 million liters)11) Sea Star Location: Gulf of Oman Year: 1972 Amount of Oil Spilled in Gallons and Liters: 37 million gallons (140 million liters)12) Morris J. Berman Location: Puerto Rico Year: 1994 Amount of Oil Spilled in Gallons and Liters: 34 million gallons (129 million liters)13) Irenes Serenade Location: Navarino Bay, Greece Year: 1980 Amount of Oil Spilled in Gallons and Liters: 32 million gallons (121 million liters)14) Urquiola Location: A Coruà ±a, Spain Year: 1976 Amount of Oil Spilled in Gallons and Liters: 32 million gallons (121 million liters)15) Torrey Canyon Location: Isles of Scilly, United Kingdom Year: 1967 Amount of Oil Spilled in Gallons and Liters: 31 million gallons (117 million liters)These were some of the largest oil spills to take place around the world. Smaller oil spills that have been equally as damaging have also taken place throughout the late 20th century. For example, the Exxon-Valdez oil spill in 1989 was the largest spill in United States history. It occurred in Prince William Sound, Alaska and spilled around 10.8 million gallons (40.8 million liters) and impacted 1,100 miles (1,609 km) of coast. To learn more about large oil spills visit NOAAs Office of Response and Restoration.References Hoch, Maureen. (2 August 2010). New Estimate Puts Gulf Oil Leak at 205 Million Gallons - The Rundown News Blog - PBS News Hour - PBS. Retrieved from: https://web.archive.org/web/20100805030457/pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2010/08/new-estimate-puts-oil-leak-at-49-million-barrels.html National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (n.d.). Incident News: 10 Famous Spills. Retrieved from: incidentnews.gov/famousNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (2004, September 1). Major Oil Spills - NOAAs Ocean Service Office of Response and Restoration. Retrieved from: http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/index.phpTelegraph. (2010, April 29). Major Oil Spills: The Worst Ecological Disasters - Telegraph. Retrieved from: telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/7654043/Major-oil-spills-the-worst-ecological-disasters.htmlWikipedia. (2010, May 10). List of Oil Spills- Wikipedia the Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oil_spills

Experience of the group assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Experience of the group - Assignment Example No other occurrence can be as overwhelming to a given group’s efficiency and operation as conflict. At the same time, conflict can also be of benefit in assisting group members face reality and establish new answers to serious challenges (Hjertà ¸, 2006, p.7). Conflict within groups may be considered as inevitable in high achieving firms. Several studies have brought an invaluable insight into the extent of the relationships between conflict and group operations. Since the 1950s, there have been three decades of major contributions in the study of group conflicts. In the early ‘90s, studies on various perspectives of intragroup conflicts and their links with group performance increased. The causality between the two conflict dimensions, which are cognitive and emotional, and group performance, has attracted a lot of inquiries. This has constantly accelerated to a significant amount of researches from then on (Hjertà ¸, 2006, p.7). For a long time, the general impression has been that the link between E/R dynamics of group conflicts and group performance is positive is negative, while the causality between C/T dimensions of conflict and group performance is positive. Later, researchers, however, showed that most of the scientific researches carried out in the last decade, in fact, showed that also the C/T dimensions of group conflict are not positively, but negatively correlated to group performance and efficiency. One of the major weaknesses of previous group conflict studies is that they always put much emphasis on the supposition that all members of a given group view the same amount of conflict, overlooking the assumption that group members possess differing perceptions concerning the extent of conflict existing within a given group(Hjertà ¸, 2006, p.7). Most of the studies conducted on group conflict focus on shared team properties, or the common experiences and perceptions that the team members share. Thus, they often ignore the presence of

Is your model the best model why and why not Essay

Is your model the best model why and why not - Essay Example Based on that information, the organization structure model that has been designed is the best; reason being that, first, the model is a hybrid structure. A hybrid organization structure model is one that seeks to implement both the divisional and functional organization structures. Such a combination enables the organization to reap a number of benefits within the organization itself and also on the business arena. As such, there are a number of benefits that a hybrid model brings. These include: Efficiency: Due to the fact that the hybrid model combines the functional and divisional structures, the organization tends to increase work and processes efficiency. For example, Kind Saud University has a functional unit that seeks to cater fully to female students. As a functional unit, they report directly to the Dean of the College. With that, this functional unit also provides a disciplinary panel to female students. Based on the designed model, it is without doubt that there is work efficiency in the University since the functional unit â€Å"Vice Dean for Female Student Affairs† seeks to cater fully to female students with regard to matters such as: Graduate studies; educational and academic affairs; finance and administration matters; development and quality unit. As such, all female students get their needs handled with this department. Based on that, the designed model has fully aligned with the needs of their market – both female and male students. Increased flexibility: A hybrid structure is more flexible than an independent functional structure or an independent divisional structure. Hybrid organizations have a number of product categories which tend to offer a competitive strategy in the business arena. In the case of King Saud University, the product and/ or services categories include the different Schools/ Colleges that the University has. That is,

Ernst and Young Tax Guide Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Ernst and Young Tax Guide - Essay Example It was also expected that the new institutions provided a better environment for integrity in revenue administration. Tax reform can therefore be seen as an attempt to achieve the larger goals of an accountable and transparent government through improved revenue collection and tax policies. Mr. Waweru said that the adoption of the revenue agency model has generally been successful in improving tax administration. Under the general direction of the East African Revenue Authorities Commissioners General Forum and the East African Revenue Authorities Technical Committee, the revenue authorities have managed to keep the regional tax administration reform agenda on track. The reforms focused on building integrated institutions for better synergies between the legacy revenue departments, rationalizing and lowering tax rates, introduction of VAT as a replacement of Sales Tax, automation of functions, meeting targets by enhancing revenue mainly from existing taxpayers, and adoption of a corporate planning approach to revenue administration. ACCA is the largest and fastest growing international accountancy body with over 345,000 students and members in 160 countries. ACCA has been active in East Africa for many years, and has offices in Nairobi, Kampala and Addis Ababa, and active student branches in Dar es Salaam, Kigali and Khartoum. The first ever ACCA East African Accountants Convention brought together members and other accountants from the Eastern, Central and Horn of Africa region. (Cheryl D. Block, Pub. Date: October2004) "The Convention is also part of ACCA East Africa's overall strategy to provide appropriate platforms for ACCA members to share professional knowledge and best practice, as well as to engage business, political and civil society leaders, as part of the wider community in which they live and work," says John Nyakahuma, the Head of Corporate Development, and ACCA East Africa. Mr. Chas Roy-Chowdhury, the Secretary of the ACCA Taxation Committee at the organization's London Headquarters spoke on the European perspective on tax reform, while Mr. Francis Kamulegeya, Tax Partner in the Kenya branch of international accounting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC), spoke on Tax Reform: Issues and Challenges in East Africa. Mr. Kamulegeya works primarily with PWC Kenya's multinational and regional clients in the manufacturing and services sector, some of whom are the largest taxpayers in East Africa. In addition to his current role as the leader of the PWC indirect tax services group in East Africa, he helps clients in the areas of tax planning and compliance, and in particular advising companies wishing to invest in East Africa on aspects such as corporate structuring and financing in order to take advantage of the available investment incentives in the region. Lord Marshall concluded that a number of options should be considered. He stated that it was unclear

Networking Technologies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Networking Technologies - Essay Example Fiber Cable: This is a generic term used for both plastic and glass fiber-optic cables. There are numerous types of fiber cables with varying characteristics. Fiber-optic cabling is used for high-speed communications in many areas with very high-speed communications requirements. Some cables can handle Gbps over long distances. Microwaves: A communications satellite is really a microwave relay station 22,300 miles in space. It orbits the Earth at that altitude because thats the altitude that an orbiting object circles the Earth every 24 hours, the same time it takes Earth to make one revolution. Before satellites were used for communications, all signals had to be carried over land, via microwave repeater stations, spaced about the 30 miles apart on mountains, requiring hundreds of such towers. They had to be "in line of sight" of one another, because microwaves cant travel through trees, mountains or buildings. LAN: (Local Area Network) a group of computers linked together in close proximity such as a building, a suite of offices, or even a single room. Due to the limited size of the network, data is usually transferred rapidly. This arrangement is useful in business for the sharing of information. Ethernet is a local area network (LAN) first developed by Dr. Robert M. Metcalfe and D.R. Boggs while working for Xerox in the 1970s. WAN: a computer network that encompasses a large geographical area and is made up of two or more LANs. The network may be connected by telephone wire, cable or satellite. The Internet is the largest WAN known. Home & Small Business: This is usually an application of LAN which is commonly used by home users. People connect computers at close proximity within their homes or businesses with a relatively small setup through cheap media like twisted pair or coaxial cabling. International Networks: These networks connect different countries and can span over the entire globe like the Internet.

Prescription Drug Monitoring and Drug Abuse Article

Prescription Drug Monitoring and Drug Abuse - Article Example With high rates of abuse of opiate analgesics among teenagers in the United States, a particularly urgent priority is the investigation of best practices for treating pain in adolescents as well as the development of prevention strategies to reduce diversion and abuse." This addresses the issue of the abuse and misuse of prescription drugs. Determining whether or not a person is abusing or is addicted to a prescription medication can be a daunting task for officials. This is particularly true for patients receiving chronic pain relievers such as opioids (Compton, Darakjian, and Miotto, 1998). Prescription drugs that are commonly prescribed for this purpose include fentanyl, hydromorphone, meperidine, morphine, and oxycodone. Opioid analgesics appear to be the prescription drugs most commonly abused (Weaver and Schnoll, 2002 and Zachny, et al, 2003). "In 2002, opioid analgesics accounted for 9.85% of all drug a... identifying the causes and sources of diversion, without interfering with legitimate medical practice and patient care" (Gilson, Ryan, Joranson, and Dahl, 2004, pg. 1). Search Strategies Since this manuscript is academic in nature, only academic journals were used as reference material. An Internet search was conducted utilizing a keyword search of 'prescription drug monitoring and drug abuse.' When the results were returned via the Google search engine, 'scholarly resources' for the keyword string was chosen and the resources were carefully picked from that subcategory according to content and relevance. Background/Significance According to Bedell (2000, pg. 2129), "Misuse of medications is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Few studies have examined the frequency of, and factors associated with, discrepancies between what doctors prescribe and what patients take in actual practice. Discrepancies among recorded and reported medications were common and involved all classes of medications, including cardiac and prescription drugs. Older age and polypharmacy were the most significant correlates of discrepancy. The pervasiveness of discrepancies can have significant health care implications, and action is urgently needed to address their causes. Such action would likely have a positive impact on patient care." Chronic, nonmalignant pain is often treated with opiate drugs. Due to the addictive nature of opiates, this practice is quite controversial. One study on the problem took place at Seattle's VA Medical Center. It was designed to "create opiate abuse criteria, test inter-rater reliability of the criteria, apply the criteria to a group of chronic pain patients, and correlate the risk of opiate abuse with the results of alcohol and drug testing" (Chabal,

Case Scenario Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Case Scenario - Assignment Example er or siblings but only his mother and the criminal gangs, is sufficient evidence to say that his social environment compromised his rational thinking to opt joining the criminal gangs hence making this case scenario being in tandem and well explained by the Social Disorganization Theory’. Virginia’s case can be well explained by the theories of Biology, genetics & Evolution, which articulate that the behavior of individuals can be genetical, biologically or evolutionary influenced to make individuals commit crime. Given that either Virginia’s mother or her twin sister have been accused or convicted of a crime, it implies that Virginia’s crime behavior of shoplifting is genetically inherited, hence influencing the choices she makes. Therefore, I can authoritatively say that Virginia was born criminal since this can be identified through her identification or stigmata characteristics. Further, we can say that the processes of natural selection, which result in tendencies of criminal genetics that are passed from generation to generation were inherited by Virginia from her mother, hence giving a good explanation of her twin sister and her criminal behavior. Police have no legal right to storm into your home, house or apartment and start ransacking it without probable cause or warrant unless it an emergency. The criminal defense law 407-894-0055 allows you not to allow police enter into your house without a warrant. However, there are some instances when police do not need a warrant to search your house e.g. in case of plain view or when they want to stop a crime in progress. Therefore, given that the police officers are trained narcotic and drug officers, it is probable that the plant they have recognized would indeed be marijuana. Thus, since they have sufficiently determined beyond reasonable doubt that Lucy is a trafficker, they can, therefore, storm at Lucy’s apartment and search for the incriminating evidence without a warrant. Under the Federal

Prescription Drug Monitoring and Drug Abuse Article

Prescription Drug Monitoring and Drug Abuse - Article Example With high rates of abuse of opiate analgesics among teenagers in the United States, a particularly urgent priority is the investigation of best practices for treating pain in adolescents as well as the development of prevention strategies to reduce diversion and abuse." This addresses the issue of the abuse and misuse of prescription drugs. Determining whether or not a person is abusing or is addicted to a prescription medication can be a daunting task for officials. This is particularly true for patients receiving chronic pain relievers such as opioids (Compton, Darakjian, and Miotto, 1998). Prescription drugs that are commonly prescribed for this purpose include fentanyl, hydromorphone, meperidine, morphine, and oxycodone. Opioid analgesics appear to be the prescription drugs most commonly abused (Weaver and Schnoll, 2002 and Zachny, et al, 2003). "In 2002, opioid analgesics accounted for 9.85% of all drug a... identifying the causes and sources of diversion, without interfering with legitimate medical practice and patient care" (Gilson, Ryan, Joranson, and Dahl, 2004, pg. 1). Search Strategies Since this manuscript is academic in nature, only academic journals were used as reference material. An Internet search was conducted utilizing a keyword search of 'prescription drug monitoring and drug abuse.' When the results were returned via the Google search engine, 'scholarly resources' for the keyword string was chosen and the resources were carefully picked from that subcategory according to content and relevance. Background/Significance According to Bedell (2000, pg. 2129), "Misuse of medications is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Few studies have examined the frequency of, and factors associated with, discrepancies between what doctors prescribe and what patients take in actual practice. Discrepancies among recorded and reported medications were common and involved all classes of medications, including cardiac and prescription drugs. Older age and polypharmacy were the most significant correlates of discrepancy. The pervasiveness of discrepancies can have significant health care implications, and action is urgently needed to address their causes. Such action would likely have a positive impact on patient care." Chronic, nonmalignant pain is often treated with opiate drugs. Due to the addictive nature of opiates, this practice is quite controversial. One study on the problem took place at Seattle's VA Medical Center. It was designed to "create opiate abuse criteria, test inter-rater reliability of the criteria, apply the criteria to a group of chronic pain patients, and correlate the risk of opiate abuse with the results of alcohol and drug testing" (Chabal,

Marijuana Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Marijuana - Research Paper Example The drug can be smoked just like cigarette or smoked through a long pipe (bong). It can also be placed in cigars emptied of tobacco (blunts) and sometimes mixed with other drugs (Bovasso, 2001). While two states have legalized its use and 20 other states accept its use for certain medical purposes, the federal government still holds on to its consideration of marijuana as schedule 1 drug, which is a drug with higher potential of abuse and no acceptable medicinal use or no prescribed safety use of the substance (Rey & Tennant, 2002). Marijuana is an addictive drug and the user will always tend to desire more and more of it, in the event that the users stops using the drug after a long term, the person shows signs that exhibited by any other drug. They include lack of sleep, irritability, decreased appetite, frequent anxiety and craving for more drugs. The physiological responses makes it difficult for the person to stop smoking (Pope & Yurelun, 1996). Problems associated with marijuana dependency includes motivational syndrome, memory impairment, weight gain, increased risk for cancer, lower sperm counts and lower testosterone levels for men, increased risk of infertility for women, psychological dependence requiring more of the drug to get the same effect. Marijuana serves as a barrier against self-awareness, and users may not be able to learn key developmental skills (Block & Ghoneim, 1993). Since 2008, primary admission of youth rehabilitation centers have registered steady increase of 20 percent out of which 68% are marijuana addicts. Even though there is no prescribed dosage for treating marijuana addiction, behavioral initiatives have been used effectively in almost all the situation to handle the problem, these includes cognitive behavioral therapy and motivational initiatives such as giving reward to victims who have managed

I Stand Here Ironing Essay Example for Free

I Stand Here Ironing Essay When reading the short story ? I Stand Here Ironing? written by Tillie Olsen I analyzed the story by using both feminist criticism and the formalist strategy. The author uses a iron as a metaphor for how the woman in the story tells the life of her daughter and why her daughter is the way that she is. In a way the woman lays everything out on the table and irons it out straight. Many single mothers can relate to this story because it tells about the hardships that some unfortunate mothers? have to face. In this story Emily was born during the depression. Her mother had to work because she was a young single parent, as read in the story Emily?s father could ? no longer endure?. I believe that the mother cared for Emily she hated to leave her with her fathers relatives. Olsen wrote that the character did everything by the book she breast fed by the clock like they said. At that time ?they? were the male doctors who thought they knew all about motherhood. As a woman I would think Redmond2 that a woman would know what is best for both the mother and her child. By the end of the story the mother and daughter relationship grew a little closer Emily who lacked meaning found a talent . Emily also gained a sense a sense of responsibility by taking care of her siblings. Olsen uses the iron as a metaphor a number of times through out the story. In the first paragraph the mother says, ?and what you asked me moves back and forth with the iron?. I think that the mother is trying to sort out the good and the bad through out Emily?s life. She tells of what had to be done not what should have been done. The woman realizes that her daughter lacks meaning in life. The mother questions herself on the upbringing of her oldest daughter Emily compared to the other children. In the last sentence of the story it reads ?help make it so that there is cause for her to know that she she is more than this dress on the ironing board, helpless before the iron? What the mother is trying to say is Emily is like she is because that?s how she brought her up it could be un helped at the time the mother is also reassuring herself by thinking she could be worse don?t we all have our faults?

Examples Of Some Best Leaders And Managers Commerce Essay

Examples Of Some Best Leaders And Managers Commerce Essay Leadership and management are one of the most discussed topics in business corporates and organizations. It is highly unlikely to switch on any media (radio, internet, etc.) and not run into a number of topics that do not link back to leaders and managers. By definition, the two systems are not the same; however, they need to be utilized complementarily to achieve one common goal and any effort to separate the two will cause more problematic issues than it will solve. In attempt to point out the difference, this report will address different areas of both leadership and management, such as; different characteristics of a leader, theories of leadership, management and its skills, and some examples of effective managers. There may be some intersections, but the essential difference between the two systems is that leaders are born and managers are made. Though leadership comes as a natural talent this is not enough to make a fully qualified leader as there must be a constant improvement at every step of their career by investing tons of efforts and energy into their work to truly accomplish the definitions of leadership qualities. On the other hand, in a nutshell managers are problem solvers depending on the reasonableness and control and they administer what has been innovated by leaders. Leadership and Management It has become quite a common practice to differentiate between leadership and management. The most significant part off all these differentiations is that they are all orientated towards change. This idea is well outlined by John Kotter in his book who came to a conclusion that management is about coping with complexity whilst leadership, by contrast, is about coping with change (John Kotter, 1990, p104). He stated that good management brings about a degree of order and consistency to organizational processes and goals, whilst leadership is required for rapid change. The differentiation of leadership from management as outlined by Kotter evidently inspires a change in emphasis from the moderately inflexible, administrative processes characterized as management to the more rapid and strategic processes categorized as leadership, yet even he concludes that both are of equal importance for the effective running of an organization:, Leadership is different from management, but not for the reason most people think. Leadership isnt mystical and mysterious. It has nothing to do with having charisma or other exotic personality traits. Its not the province of a chosen few. Nor is leadership necessarily better than management or a replacement for it: rather, leadership and management are two distinctive and complementary activities. Both are necessary for success in an increasingly complex and volatile business environment. (Kotter, 1990, p103). Even though there are a quite number of business writers such as John Kotter and his contemporaries who argue that there is a difference between leadership and management, however, these arguments cannot prove beyond reasonable doubt, especially when we put practice into consideration, therefore some people doubt as to whether they are really quite as separate as this in practice. Firstly, there has been an increment in the rejection to the way in which studies tend to disparage management as a system that is tedious and uninspiring. Gosling and Murphy (2004) propose that upholding a sense of steadiness during times of rapid change is a key to successful leadership. Thus the leader must safeguard that systems and structures remain in place whose purpose is to give workers a sense of security and a sense of balance, without which it would be hard to maintain levels of motivation, commitment, trust and psychological wellbeing. Secondly, research has shown that the two systems are far from being separate thus the practices labeled as management and leadership are an essential fragment of the same task. From the exhaustive interpretations of what managers really do, Mintzberg (1973, 1975) identified 10 key roles, and among the roles leadership is one of them. He further came to a conclusion that far from being separate and different from management, leadership is just one dimension of a multidimensional management role. The most difficult thing and which causes confusion that are derived from comparing leadership and management is the method in which they are often charted to different individuals. Therefore, we often refer to managers and leaders as if they were different and incompatible people we look at leaders as individuals who respond to rapid changes quite easily thus dynamic, charismatic individuals with the capacity to inspire others, whilst managers are seen as administrators who just focus on th e current task. Such an interpretation, however, does not concur well with an individual who is experienced as a manager. People are generally employed into management, instead of leadership positions, and are expected to complete a pile of tasks extending from everyday planning and implementation, to longer-term strategic planning. None of these are done in isolation, and throughout, it is essential to work alongside other people to motivate and inspire them, but also to know when to relinquish the lead and take a back seat. Most of us have become so enamored of leadership that management has been pushed into the background. Nobody aspires to being a good manager anymore; everybody wants to be a great leader. But the separation of management from leadership is dangerous. Just as management without leadership encourages an uninspired style, which deadens activities, leadership without management encourages a disconnected style, which promotes hubris. And we all know the destructive power of hubris in organizations. (Gosling and Mintzberg, 2003). Leadership Theories Even though individuals who are practically involved hands-on within the leadership field, they see practice being different from theories, but they are inseparably related. Traditional leadership theories were more fixated on what qualities differentiate between leaders and followers, while contemporary theories looked at other variables such as situational factors and skill levels.  Both of these types of theories of leadership have an impact the current practice, education and policy and offer a useful guideline for the selection and development of leaders in other words: theories are too good to be practical. I will discuss some of the most prominent leadership theories, which offer a valuable context for the consideration of wider issues about defining leadership capabilities and development approaches. Leadership Traits For a long time it was presumed that it would be feasible to recognize and separate a limited set of traits, which can then be used to employ individuals in the positions of leadership. These qualities include but not limited to; -strong drive for responsibility, -focus on completing the task, -vigor and persistence in pursuit of goals, -originality in problem-solving, -drive to exercise initiative in social settings, -self-confidence, -sense of personal identity, -willingness to accept consequences of decisions and actions, -readiness to adsorb interpersonal stress, -willingness to tolerate frustration and delay, -ability to influence the behavior of others, and -capacity to structure social systems to the purpose in hand. This method was strongly based on the great man theory that concentrated on how many records occupy and maintained positions where they have the capacity to influence. The hypothesis was that these individuals were born to be leaders and would grow by quality of t heir personality alone. Ralph Stogdill (1974) carried out a study to extensively revise the traits, and concluded that some qualities appeared more often than others. Other studies were carried out as well (e.g. Bird, 1940; Stewart, 1963) but did not identify the same set of traits. Since then the list has been growing, therefore it is now widely accepted that no such decisive set of traits will ever be identified. Leadership styles and behavior An approach which is an alternative to the traits approach was to look at what leaders actually do instead of just looking at their fundamental characteristics. Attention in this approach came about by the work of Douglas McGregor (1960), who suggested that leadership and management style is affected by the each individuals views about human nature. He briefly contrasted two theories of managers which he called Theory X and Theory Y. Theory X managers fairly look at human nature negatively, thus trusting that the average employee has an in-born dislike of and will not do the job at hand if it is possible. Managers who perceive in this view believe that employees need to be closely supervised and controlled to make sure that tasks are successfully completed. Theory Y managers assumes employees may be striving and self-motivated and exercise self-control. Expenditure of physical and mental effort in work is as natural as play or rest, and that the average human being, under proper cond itions, learns not only to accept but to seek responsibility. Such leaders will endeavor to enhance their employees capacity to exercise a high level of imagination, cleverness, and creativity in the answer to organizational problems. It can be understood that leaders holding diverse assumptions will show different methods to leadership: Theory X leaders preferring an autocratic style and Theory Y leaders preferring a participative style. Contingency Theories These theories concentrates on particular factors associated to a specific environment that might govern which particular leadership style will most suitably be fit for a particular situation. The theory states that there is no one leadership style that is suitable in all situations, thus making success to be dependent on a number of factors including the style of leadership chosen, qualities of the followers and features that defines that particular situation. Situational Theories At the same time as behavioral theories presented the idea of different leadership styles, they provided little direction as to what is needed for effective leadership behaviors in diverse situations. Researchers have proven that there is no one leadership style is best suited for every manager under all situations. Therefore, the concept of situational theories was developed to give direction that the style to be used is dependent upon such environmental variables factor. Fiedler (1964, 1967) suggested that there is no single best way to lead; instead the leaders style should be selected according to the situation. He differentiated between managers who are task or relationship oriented. Task oriented managers concentrate on the task at hand have a tendency to do better in situations that have good leader-member relationships, organized tasks, and either weak or strong position power. Such leaders have a tendency to show a more indicative leadership style. Managers who are relations hip oriented do better in all other situations and show a more participative style of leadership. Transformational Leadership This concept of transforming leadership was first developed by James MacGregor Burns. According to him, transforming leadership is a process by which leaders and followers help each other elevate to higher morality and motivation (Burns, 1978). At the center point of this concept is the importance of the leaders ability to motivate and empower his/her followers and also the moral dimension of leadership. Burns notions were then developed into the idea of transformational leadership where the leader transforms followers: The goal of transformational leadership is to transform people and organizations in a literal sense to change them in mind and heart; enlarge vision, insight, and understanding; clarify purposes; make behavior congruent with beliefs, principles, or values; and bring about changes that are permanent, self-perpetuating, and momentum building. (Bass and Avolio, 1994). In closing, leadership styles depend on the situation of the business or organization, there is no single style that is suitable. Also, blending leadership with team building, a leader can create an ideal team thus team members may become more involved and ask questions like; who does this? Who did that? How am I helping to achieve a common goal? Characteristics of a Leader Every individual is inspired or motivated in a different way; it is for this reason that being a leader will require a cautious combination of different leadership characteristics and skills. Personality traits and characteristics will determine the kind of leader one is. These characteristics that make up a leader are vast and they are all influenced by the followers, meaning depending on who he/she is leading, a leader will have different characteristics; ranging from being self-confident to being initiative. The United States Marine Corps teaches more than ten leadership traits, such as being dependable and enthusiastic. Below is a full list that is taught by the US Marine Corps: Justice Judgment Dependability Initiative Decisiveness Tact Integrity Enthusiasm Bearing Unselfishness Courage Knowledge Loyalty Endurance Retired General Colin Powell believes a good leader has the quality to make decisions that everyone can understand. In his own words, lesson number 14 teaches that Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate and doubt, to offer a solution everybody can understand. Effective leaders understand the KISS principle, Keep It Simple, Stupid. They articulate vivid, over-arching goals and values, which they use to drive daily behaviors and choices among competing alternatives. Their visions and priorities are lean and compelling, not cluttered and buzzword-laden. Their decisions are crisp and clear, not tentative and ambiguous. They convey an unwavering firmness and consistency in their actions, aligned with the picture of the future they paint. The result: clarity of purpose, credibility of leadership, and integrity in organization. Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart, marks another great leadership quote and amongst those quotes is Outstanding leaders go out of their way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel. If people believe in themselves, its amazing what they can accomplish. In the following paragraphs I am going to bold some of the key skills a leader is required to have. Emotional Intelligence is another concept that serves as a quality a leader should possess and was introduced by Daniel Goleman. Its the ability to perceive, control and then evaluate emotions (Daniel Gloeman, 1998). The people who have researched about emotional intelligence say that it can be learnt and some say that it can be produced also. In 1990, Peter Salovey and John D. Mayer defined emotional intelligence as the subset of social intelligence that involves the ability to monitor ones own and others feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide ones thinking and actions. There are four branches of emotional intelligence: Perceiving Emotions, Reasoning with emotions, Understanding Emotions, and Managing Emotions. According to Nitin Nohria, a professor at Harvard Business School, communication is really what a leader does most of the time. He proposes that great leaders follow or should follow oratory communication fundamentals. He believes that a leader can communicate any type of message no matter how complex it is. Aristotle said that people can be reached in by means of different methods; people can be treated in a way that it will charm their emotions and we can make arguments on their sense of value but the great leaders spend a lot of their time communicating. According to Joe Badaracco, another professor at HBS, Simplicity is very essential at every step of communication, that no matter how complex the message, a great leader can convey a message as simple as possible and in fewer words. Communication can however be more efficiently and effectively be conveyed if the correspondent knows the audience. Great leaders always understand the worth and position of their audience. They know th eir audience well and in this way they can communicate with their audience in a far better way. He further states that being a good communicator is not enough to be a good leader; since it will be a two way communication the leader must also be a good listener to avoid misinterpretation from the audience. Jeff Bezos, the CEO and founder of Amazon.com says that one of the key elements of being a good leader is the ability to tell the hard truths and realities. All these examples come under better communication. As I have mentioned before, organizations are rapidly changing, thus making them dynamic. Great leaders are those who can manage and cope with these organizational rapid changes and all its employees or members. They know and comprehend the value of change and accept the common vision of desired results. Empowerment is also important in managing the change process. Managing the change successfully makes ordinary humans the great and effective leaders. People often resist change for reasons that make good sense to them, even if those reasons dont correspond to organizational goals. So it is crucial to recognize, reward, and celebrate accomplishments. (Kanter). In this current age, technology is one of the things travelling on the fast lane. It is reported that a technological of most things such as information systems evolve every six months. It is for this reason that a great leader must keep him informed and aware of such evolutions. Knowledge is the key to success and they key element of effective leadership. Great and effective leader must have knowledge about everything that he is interacting with. Joe Badaracco says that in the previous days, the leaders had to rely on their subordinates for collecting and implementing the knowledge but now a days, the leaders must be good enough in knowledge so that they can cope with different situations well. Another consequence of fast changing technology is that managers are required to be creative. Creativity is becoming one of the key elements and quality of a great and effective leader. This is one quality that can distinct a leader from a great and effective leader. Examples of some best leaders and managers It is not easy to find a great leader, especially when the organization plays great game of blaming each other on anything that goes wrong within itself. Few companies have good, solid leadership from people who are willing to stick to their word. Glen Stansberry a writer, in his online article he has identified the following 5 of 10 leaders considered to be good examples in our society. James Parker Southwest Airlines Southwest is recognized for their great customer service in an industry considered to be bad at customer service. Southwest stands out from other airlines by putting the customer first, regardless of the situation at hand. After 9/11 terrorist attack, airlines were not operational for number of days. As a result, all airline passengers, flight attendants and pilots were stuck with the planes across the country unable to travel to their destinations. Instead of merely sitting and waiting, Southwest employees were encouraged to take passengers bowling or to the movies to pass the time. Also, other airlines were retrenching their employees by 20%, but James Parker decided to keep all the employees and even announced a profit sharing payment of US$179.8 million. Jim Lentz Toyota In the year 2009, circa Toyotas 2.3 million vehicles were recalled for faulty brakes. Outrage ran rampant across the media and public. Instead of letting a Public Relations team deal with the problem with only press statements and interviews, Toyota offered a live conversation on one of the most aggressive and popular communities on the web known as Digg. They were all caught by a surprise when the Toyota CEO Jim Lentz appeared on Digg Dialog to be questioned all sorts of queries about the company and the recall. Over a thousand hard questions were submitted from consumers and even past employees, and Mr Lentz answered as many as possible in the given time. The questions were asked in order of votes, and none were filtered therefore making it a totally transparent interview. Even though the number of recalled vehicles skyrocketed, Toyotas honesty and transparency will help with lessening the damage to the companys reputation. Glenn Kelman Redfin Redfin is an online real estate brokerage firm that gives back two-thirds of the commission that traditional agents charge. Real estate agents hated it, and started blacklisting anyone who used the service. So, instead of keeping the problem quiet, Kelman started a company blog that focused on many of the awful aspects of the real estate business. He also posted about internal struggles within the company, and even criticized himself on many occasions. The blog was raw and authentic. Customers loved the transparency. They appreciated the fact that a CEO could make fun of himself and the dirty parts of his industry. Since starting the Redfin blog in 2006, business has grown dramatically. (Glen Stansberry, 2010). Costco Jim Sinegal Costco net worth value is ranked at U$2 billion, but the CEO Jim Sinegal only gets US$350,000.00 per annum. In general, most employees tend to get de-motivated by the fact that their bosses earn a lot of money and do not really care about them. It even gets worse when an employee does not see the head of the company. In Jims case, he has a simple office, on the same floor with his employees and without any walls and decorations, and answers his own telephone. His employee turnover rate is the lowest in the retail industry, over five times less than rival Wal-Mart. In an age where CEOs are paid in the millions and would never be seen in the trenches, Jim Sinegal is an anomaly. And his workers love him for it. Howard Schultz Starbucks Starbucks is known for its exceptional treatment of employees, offering things like insurance to even part-time workers. In 1997 three employees were killed in a bumbled robbery of one of their Washington D.C. stores. Instead of issuing a press release or calling legal counsel, CEO Howard Schultz flew straight to D.C. and spent the entire week with the employees and their families in the area. Schultzs compassion and incredible leadership helped heal those closest to the tragedy. Conclusion Regardless of the extensive research about the importance of management and leadership in terms of individuals, organizational performance, and national performance there is still a lack of realistic evidence. According to the economic analyses, even though management and leadership are the integral part in influencing national competitiveness, their influence is just another factor of many others. Strictly at organizational levels, it may seem like leadership and management are the only factors that have a direct influence on results, however they are just part of Human Resource Management activities. The influence of Management and Leadership development (MLD) at an individual level, it seems to be affected by the type of intervention and the wish and the chance of individuals to take on leadership responsibilities. These however may not reflect positively on the influences of management and leadership with regard to performance. This report may show how important it is to consider leadership in the broader context of any organization. Separately, there is no assurance that leadership development will improve the individuals performance, however, if we look at leadership development as the main thing within and organization and human resource management (HRM) processes its influence becomes obvious. Similarly, the availability of effective leadership and management processes inside an organization raises the probability of additional training and development becoming a success. Regardless of the lack of conclusive evidence indicating the relationship between management, leadership and performance it has been widely accepted that this are the key elements of effective performance of groups, individuals, organizations, etc. The fact that this relationship cannot be linearly measured indicates that there is a need for more research to be done. The way in which enhanced management and leadership leads to improved performance is complex and thus when looking at the benefits that are raised from the interventions a much wider idea of performance needs to included instead of just looking at improved productivity/profit.

Four Noble Truths :: essays research papers

I. Life is filled with suffering due to our desires to want things to be different. II. Self-centered craving causes the of suffering of imbalance. III. In order to bring an end to suffering one must bring an end to self-centered craving. IV. The way to cease craving is to follow the Eight Fold Path. 1. Right View See things as they truly are without delusions or distortions for all things change. Develop wisdom by knowing how things work, knowing oneself and others. 2. Right Intention Wholehearted resolution and dedication to overcoming the dislocation of self-centered craving through the development of loving kindness, empathy and compassion. 3. Right Speech Abstinence from lies and deceptions, backbiting, idle babble and abusive speech. Cultivate honesty and truthfulness; practice speech that is kind and benevolent. Let your words reflect your desire to help, not harm others. 4.Right Action Practice self-less conduct that reflects the highest statement of the life you want to live. Express conduct that is peaceful, honest and pure showing compassion for all beings. 5. Right Livelihood Avoidance of work that causes suffering to others or that makes a decent, virtuous life impossible. Do not engage in any occupation that opposes or distracts one from the path. Love and serve our world through your work. 6. Right Effort Seek to make the balance between the exertion of following the spiritual path and a moderate life that is not over-zealous. Work to develop more wholesome mind states, while gently striving to go deeper and live more fully. 7. Right Mindfulness Through constant vigilance in thought, speech and action seek to rid the mind of self-centered thoughts that separate and replace them with those that bind all beings together.

Financial Crisis Is a Man Made Catastrophe

What is Financial Crisis? The term financial crisis is applied broadly to a variety of situations in which some financial institutions or assets suddenly lose a large part of their value. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, many financial crises were associated with banking panics, and many recessions coincided with these panics. Other situations that are often called financial crises include stock market crashes and the bursting of other financial bubbles, currency crises, and sovereign defaults. Financial crises directly result in a loss of paper wealth; they do not directly result in changes in the real economy unless a recession or depression follows. TYPES Is financial crisis really a man-made disaster? Let’s take example of Late 2000’s financial crisis also known as Global Financial Crisis. The financial crisis was triggered by a complex interplay of valuation and liquidity problems in the United States banking system in 2008. The bursting of the U. S. housing bubble, which peaked in 2007, caused the values of securities tied to U. S. real estate pricing to plummet, damaging financial institutions globally. Questions regarding bank solvency, declines in credit availability and damaged investor confidence had an impact on global stock markets, where securities suffered large losses during 2008 and early 2009. Many causes for the financial crisis have been suggested, with varying weight assigned by experts. The United States Senate issued the Levin–Coburn Report, which found â€Å"that the crisis was not a natural disaster, but the result of high risk, complex financial products; undisclosed conflicts of interest; and the failure of regulators, the credit rating agencies, and the market itself to rein in the excesses of Wall Street. Causes of Financial Crisis Macroeconomic conditions: Low interest rates made bank lending more profitable, while trade deficits resulted in large capital inflows to the U. S. Both made funds for borrowing plentiful and relatively inexpensive. The U. S. housing bubble: The falling prices of houses and low interest rates to finance or refinance the house s were easily available. As such home loans were very easily available. But when time came to pay back the loan many defaulted which led to bursting of housing bubble and its impact led to financial crisis. Relaxation in rules led to large banks to increase their financial leverage and expansion of issuance of mortgage backed securities. Inaccurate credit ratings: Credit ratings were awarded inaccurately which led to an inflated balloon and when it busted it led to financial crisis. Technological factors: The cause of the crisis can be seen also in principles of technological development and in long economic waves based on technological revolutions. Crisis and stagnation were a result of the end of the long economic cycle originally initiated by the Information and telecommunications technological revolution in 1985-2000. The market had been already saturated by new â€Å"technical wonders† (e. g. everybody has his own mobile phone) and – what is more important – in the developed countries the economy reached limits of productivity in conditions of existing technologies. Boom and collapse of the shadow banking system (SBS): The shadow banking system is the collection of financial entities, infrastructure and practices which support financial transactions that occur beyond the reach of existing state sanctioned monitoring and regulation. The core activities of investment banks are subject to regulation and monitoring by central banks and other government institutions – but it has been common practice for investment banks to conduct many of their transactions in ways that don't show up on their conventional balance sheet accounting and so are not visible to regulators or unsophisticated investors. The shadow banking system saw a boom but once investors started losing interest and no more wanted their funds to be used in SBS and changes in business policies led to its collapse which ultimately led to financial crisis.

Reebok Pursuing Generation X

Reebok: Pursuing Generation X Reebok is a global, American inspired brand, in a highly competitive athletic and sportswear industry, committed to creating products and marketing programs that reflect the brand’s unlimited creative potential (Reebok). The 2003 rankings place Reebok in third place of U. S. athletic shoe market share with 13%; Nike dominates at 36% while other athletic brands make up 26% of the U. S. market (Sporting Goods Intelligence). In 1982, Reebok was a main component in introducing a women’s athletic shoe designed specifically for the latest trend in exercise known as aerobic dance.This, as we all know, was not a trend but rather an athletic revolution towards women’s fitness and increase entrance into sports, which expanded the target market for the athletic and the sportswear industry. The acceptance of sneakers as an adult casual wear evolved in the 1980’s as well as a market prediction that was a catalyst to the early success of Re ebok as an athletic brand leader. Since the 1980’s, the market environment has changed dramatically and has proven to be a complex and highly competitive advertising arena. Print and TV ads of the past are no longer the premier marketing platforms as they once were.The athletic and sporting goods companies of today must bring to the consumers a compelling and gripping advertising campaign to earn the attention and revenue of today’s technology driven consumer. Target markets are evolving from the baby boomer era to the Gen Xers and with that shift, comes a new consumer ideology and therefore new marketing strategies. The advertising mediums that companies utilize are challenged to reach an elusive target audience guarded by TiVo technology, mobile internet as well as personal philosophies seeking purpose and added value, even in product selection.This case outlined advertising challenges, as well as opportunities Reebok faced in an expanding digital media world and its players; Generation X. Question 1: How would the team explain viral marketing to the class? Viral marketing wasn’t made up out of thin air; it started before the birth of the Internet under another name known as word-of-mouth. There are many differences between the two strategies but the principle is identical: exchange information about an event, place, person or idea from one outlet to another. So, to understand how viral marketing works one must understand word-of-mouth.Word-of mouth marketing is when a company provides consumers, a reason to bring up their company in normal conversation. This could be from an ad on the television, a flyer that you saw downtown in a deli, or maybe an advertisement that you heard on a radio station that caught your attention while you were driving. That sounds a lot like viral marketing, but a person only has so many hours in the day; so why would they ever think of calling all of their friends/family up to tell them about something they s aw, previous to their conversation?Unless it was a catastrophic event or something that was deeply related to them personally, that’s just not likely to happen. With viral marketing, there are two main components that are needed: a large audience, and a way to spread information exponentially, also known as the Internet. The first traces of Internet viral marketing were, according to â€Å"The Virus of Marketing†, in 1997 when Hotmail attached ads to outgoing messages. It was rather astonishing the reaction that the public had after forwarding the ads to other email addresses, allowing users to reach thousands of potential clients in the matter of a few easy clicks.These were only the primitive years of viral marketing, and it has become one of the most valued marketing strategies of the 21st century. The term ‘viral marketing’ is one that is used, both, on a regular and large scale. This is mostly due to the highly populated areas, such as YouTube and oth er social media outlets where video, music, photographs, ideas and other forms of entertainment, can be passed from one individual to another easily. Social media sources and YouTube allow users to be interconnected with millions of people in the matter of seconds.Over 500 million people around the world, have an account with Facebook, which not only makes marketing researchers drool, but also makes up a huge population of word-of-mouth users that are able to upload and send information to their ‘friends’. Within the past decade, viral marketing has taken exponential leaps thanks to the increased use of the Internet. A successful viral marketing campaign works when an individual views information online and passes it on to another; the individuals whom were showed the information to will also share it to their list of friends via the Internet.This creates a snowball effect and the subject in discussion becomes extremely popular in an impressive amount of time through ma ss word-of-mouth aka viral marketing. Question 2: How did Mickey Pant introduce viral-marketing to Reebok’s promotional strategy? To what extent does viral-marketing replace traditional media such as TV, radio, direct mail, etc.? Mickey Pant, the chief marketing officer at Reebok, understood the increasingly changing culture of consumers today.Gone are the days where TV advertisements and radio spots were enough to capture the mass audience of target consumers, waiting idly by to be swayed into purchasing the latest and greatest products. Evolved, is a new generation of consumers, known as Generation X; not easily penetrated by brand loyalty and logo suaveness, but are rather driven by a sense of worthiness and greater purpose. Gen Xers are characterized as skeptical of advertising and are active users of digital media, especially the Internet and are compelled to lead a life filled with meaning rather than monetary gains alone.According to OnPoint Marketing, Gen Xers make up 17% of the population and spend $125 billion annually on consumer goods in the U. S. With a growing target audience that thrives on digital media, Mickey Pant understood that Reebok would have to pursue a new direction in advertising that would resonate with the Gen Xers. This concept would have to connect and appeal to what drives the consumers and outshine the competition in an already saturated market dominated by Nike and Adidas.Pant chose the 2003 Super Bowl XXXVII as the platform, launching â€Å"one of the most popular viral marketing campaigns ever to be aired in history: the infamous Terry Tate Office Linebacker ad. † The commercial was a largely successful campaign that reached a market of consumers that were heavy users of the Internet and TiVo, which earned Reebok. com the ninth largest content provider on the internet. The Tate commercial became an instant hit with its office humor of politically correct antics and depiction of cubicle mishaps, which appealed to the undervalued Gen Xers and caused the ad to go viral across the Internet.After the Tate commercial aired, the Reebok website underwent 20 commercial downloads per second and the Reebok online store traffic increased seven-fold, creating a viral phenomenon. Ultimately, Mickey Pant understood the cultural changes that characterized the life of Gen Xers and relied upon the Internet to carry the campaign. Even though the ads weren’t aired on TV again, they will forever live on, on the Internet. With the undoubtedly increasing digital age, a shift from the more traditional media platforms such as newspaper and TV, to online and mobile advertising is inevitable. 003 was the year Reebok launched the first digital media campaign, and since then, numerous digital campaigns have followed. The growing need for companies to create a more interactive and transactional experience with its customers is expansive, allowing for such outlets as the Internet and mobile advertising to become more attractive. In the case, Reebok notes a shift in investments away from magazines and newspapers, to online and mobile platforms. The advertising breakdowns, according to an outside source, the Yankee Group, reports that TV advertising dropped 21. % during 2008-2009 and fell an additional 12% in 2010. The trend fairs similar for the newspaper industry, reporting that in 2005 the industry had revenue around $47 billion while today it is only half that amount. The report lists the 2009 statistics for U. S. consumer’s average time spent watching TV as three hours 17 minutes, while the average time spent online is four hours and 13 minutes and mobile phone usage average per day is one hour and 18 minutes. Due to consumers spending less time viewing television and extended time on the internet, online advertisements revenues grew 8. % between 2008 and 2009. While traditional TV advertising still has a large role in sportswear marketing strategies, viral marketing, digital adve rtising and mobile marketing are the platforms to focus in on to reach the largest consumer base. Question 3: What’s the Team’s assessment of the Terry Tate campaign? Did it increase Reebok’s brand equity? Was the central message effective? Memorable? In 2003, Terry Tate and Reebok teamed up to produce a series of 60 second T. V. ads, at a cost of $4 million, which aired during the Super Bowl; these commercials were an instant hit.Reeboks website, soon after the ad’s aired, was clocking 20 downloads per second. While the ads were an instant classic, having more than 20 million views to date, they did not produce an increase in sales or market share. How could an ad so popular and funny not create the brand equity Reebok was hoping for? Our team, after reviewing the Terry Tate spots, decided that was because the ads did not tie Reebok sufficiently into the ads. During the videos, Terry Tate wore a gold Reebok chain and the Reebok logo was shown at the end of the spot; this was not enough.One of the consequences of Reebok not showing its brand enough in the commercial was that people would not be able to tie Terry Tate to Reebok. The commercials were memorable, yes, but in order to have brand equity, the viewer needs to remember Reebok and Terry Tate, not just Terry Tate. Reebok’s marketing team believed that the Tate commercial brought a â€Å"new cool dimension† to the brand, even though Reebok’s brand perception and awareness had not changed. Overall, we think the central message was not entirely effective. While the ads were memorable and funny, they were not memorable and funny in a way that helped Reebok’s Brand Equity.Even though there main goal with the ads were not met, Reebok did create something that generated a massive â€Å"buzz† and hype around Terry Tate. Question 4: To what extent should traditional advertising effectiveness measures be relied upon in the Terry—Tate/Reebok case ? In this Reebok case, the traditional advertising method was the â€Å"Terry Tate Office Linebacker† television advertisements. The campaign was extremely successful on television and the Internet. The Gen Xers and the public related to the commercials because they were office based and because a large linebacker would tackle employees that everyone hates.We believed that Reebok understood that their target markets would see the commercial on television, like it, and then seek other ways to view or learn more about the commercials and the brand. Because Gen Xers were technology savvy and used the Internet on a regular basis, even after the commercials had stopped airing on television, the public would watch the commercials and advertisements on Reebok. com. Reebok decided to make longer Terry Tate films, and after that marketing move, Reebok’s website became the ninth largest content provider on the Internet, streaming 1 terabyte of data per day and using 16 servers.R eebok. com was averaging 20 downloads per second and 20 million downloads to date. The Reebok online store increased and even began to sell Terry Tate bobble head dolls and shirts. We believe that traditional advertising was relied on heavily to launch the Terry Tate advertisements, but once the commercials became popular, the Internet was the predominant method of exposure. The Internet gave Reebok more freedom and versatility to really push the limits and make their audiences fall in love with the brand. Mickey Pant was able to air longer films of Terry Tate and sell Terry Tate merchandise from the online Reebok store.Not only did the Internet help Reebok develop the Terry Tate character, it also increased Reebok sales and brand awareness to the world. Question 5: Is this type of campaign capable of capturing the attention of the Gen. X consumer? Why, why not? We felt like this type of campaign was very capable of gaining the attention and respect from members of Generation X, bec ause of one general thought: it was something that they could easily identify with. This series of commercials showed instances that Gen Xers were familiar with and had some sort of emotional connection to.In many office cultures, it is considered very rude to do such things as, drink the last pot of coffee and not refill the coffee pot, or to fart when in a small elevator when there are other people in there; those were the norms that the Reebok ads sought to use. According to Rawson Thurber, the man who played Terry Tate, â€Å"(the popularity) has very little to do with football and a lot to do with how much people hate office culture† (Thurber, 10). To us, that meant that Gen Xers enjoyed the commercials so much, not because they were dedicated to the Reebok band, but because the commercials depicted things that they could easily identify with.Even though there were so many different things that could have gone wrong with this campaign, it went off without a hitch. Gen Xe rs were drawn into this series of commercials because they enjoyed Terry Tate so much: he was the person who punished those who didn’t obey the unspoken etiquette rules that office life comes with. When looking back on this campaign and its success, Mickey Pant, the chief marketing officer of Reebok, mused that the success of the campaign was, â€Å"that the campaign was hysterically funny and immediately generated a massive â€Å"buzz† and hype around Terry Tate and, by extension, Reebok† (Pant, 10).In essence, the campaign worked because Gen Xers loved the spokesperson of Reebok, and not because they had some sort of brand loyalty to Reebok as a whole. Overall, we believe that the digital revolution played a major role in getting Reebok’s name out there. Even though the ads never really had any major ties to Reebok, as a brand, it still helped generate revenue to Reebok, through their website.As a team, we feel like the Terry Tate ads wouldn’t ha ve been as successful if they were just present in print or even if they were destined to remain on TV. TV ads are vastly different than Internet ads because of the simple fact that TV ads cost a lot more to produce. As mentioned before, Reebok spent $4 million to show the Terry Tate commercials on TV; having commercials on the Internet cost much less. The digital revolution has made cheaper, more widespread advertising possible and more available to everyone.