Cyborgs Are They Human Essay - 1996 Words

Cyborgs are a very common recurring motif within science fiction works such as books, movies, television, and so on. We see these cyborgs everywhere in this genre, but we only somewhat grasp the concept of humanity within cyborgs. A cyborg is an organism that consists of both artificial and natural components hence the full name â€Å"cybernetic organism.† For clarification, when I speak about cyborgs, I am referring to the organisms or beings that are artificially created rather than humans with cybernetic modifications. One key trait in cyborgs is their uncanny ability to replicate the thought processes and emotions of human being even though they aren’t human. My argument is that cyborgs, (more specifically the ones created artificially†¦show more content†¦From a Christian perspective, I believe our moral conscience is one way God speaks to us and keeps us from going astray. Cyborgs may appear to have a conscience too, but their conscience is a false o ne. It is more like a series of protocols that are followed rather than a true conscience, due to the nature of their construction. They appear to follow a strict set of commands laid out for them by whoever programmed the protocol, which makes the cyborg’s â€Å"conscience† not their own. This leads me to the most important distinction between humans and cyborgs, according to a Christian perspective: the soul. Humans are created by God in his image as described in the account of Creation in Genesis. This means that we are eternal, in some aspect, even after death. This eternal aspect I speak of is the soul which only can be freely given by God himself; man cannot imbue a soul onto their own creation, which is where cyborgs come in. Since cyborgs are created by man, who is unable to create ex nihilo (â€Å"out of nothing†) like God can. Man cannot imbue, let alone create souls. This is one fact we should keep in mind when exploring some popular movies where the central plot devices consist of cyborgs and their ability to resemble human behavior. The first movie I will mention is the movie Blade Runner starring Harrison Ford as the main character. In this movie, the Replicants (the given name of the cyborgs created by the fictionalShow MoreRelatedEssay about The Future of Cyborgs744 Words   |  3 PagesThe Future of Cyborgs Terminator and Bladerunner, portrayed cyborgs or cybernetic organisms as creatures of destruction. Are they really as horrible as the movies make them out to be? They can be more useful than perceived; it is necessary to first perfect the technology involved in creating and operating them. In this paper, I will describe how these cyborgs work and how they are portrayed in the movies. Furthermore, I will explain the helpful ways that they are expected to perform in the futureRead MoreEssay Relationship of Women and Technology in Cyborg Manifesto1181 Words   |  5 PagesHaraway’s Cyborg Manifesto discusses the relationship of women and technology. Summary Critique of ‘A Cyborg Manifesto’ Donna Haraway’s essay, ‘A Cyborg Manifesto’ is an analysis of women and advanced technology in a postmodern world. Haraway uses various illustrations to focus on women’s relation to the technologically scientific world, she uses the metaphor of a cyborg to challenge feminists and engage in a politics beyond naturalism and essentialisms. She also uses the idea of the cyborg toRead MoreMankinds Fear of Artificial Intelligence Essay604 Words   |  3 PagesMankinds Fear of Artificial Intelligence Fear is created not by the world around us, but in the mind, by what we think is going to happen. Why is it that in almost all of the movies starring cyborgs, the cyborgs are either inherently evil or the cause of trouble? We human beings seem to have a problem with the idea of a person enhanced with technology, or a robot enhanced with Artificial Intelligence (AI). Norbert Wiener, a mathematician, coined the term cybernetics . Although many of hisRead MoreAnalysis of the Film Chost in the Shell Essays806 Words   |  4 Pagesspecies of humans known as cyborgs. Cyborgs are genetically enhanced humans with mechanical and biological technology. In other words, they are biological humans with mechanical parts implanted in their system. In this Film, cyborgs were most commonly used by the government but were also seen around the streets. The protagonist in the film, Motoko Kusanagi is more often referred to as Major. She seems to be dealing with the conflict of self-identification. She is not just a robot but also a human beingRead MoreThe Man That Was Used Up By Edgar Allan Poe1261 Words   |  6 Pagesbefore World War II. As early as 1843, Edgar Allan Poe described a man with extensive prostheses in the short story The Man That Was Used Up. In 1911, Jean de la Hire introduced the Nyctalope, a science fiction hero who was perhaps the first literary cyborg, in Le Mystà ¨re des XV (later translated as The Nyctalope on Mars).[7][8][9] Edmond Hamilton presented space explorers with a mixture of organic and machine parts in his novel The Comet Doom in 1928. He later featured the talking, living brain of anRead More`` A Cyborg Manifesto `` By Donna Haraway1129 Words   |  5 Pagesour fear and curiosity that tricked us? Well, we now cannot live without machines. Human and machine are bonded together tightly that we can ’t identify who we really are. We become cyborg which is a more accurate term to describe who we are now. The reading â€Å"A Cyborg Manifesto† by Donna Haraway points out that we are cyborgs. There is no difference between human and machine and this boundary has been breached. Cyborgs are a hybrid of machine and organism. They often appear in the science fiction.Read MoreEssay about Cyborgs: a Twisted Double Standard1654 Words   |  7 Pagesfuture, as Chislenko suggests. While people have been playing with the images of cyborg future of their bodies, they have overlooked the ongoing process of functional cyborgization they were already taking part in. And this functional cyborgization is on a global scale. Every person on the planet is in someway reliant on technology to perform their daily, necessary functions, from showering to eating. Being a cyborg isnt all bad though: You become more efficient, more capable, and physically superiorRead More Haraway’s A Cyborg Manifesto Essay1097 Words   |  5 PagesDonna J. Haraway’s A Cyborg Manifesto Haraway’s provocative proposal of envisioning the cyborg as a myth of political identity embodies the search for a code of displacement of the hierarchical dualisms of naturalized identities (CM, 175), and thus for the breakdown of the logic of phallogocentrism and of the unity of the Western idealized self. Haraway defines the cyborg as a cybernetic organism, a hybrid of machine and organism, a creature of social reality as well as a creature ofRead MoreSocial Media And Its Effects On Society1266 Words   |  6 Pageshrough social media many people can connect and come together. It is a form of communication that humans have become adapted to. A popular type of social media is Facebook. Facebook not only gives the ability to find old friends, but new ones as well. It creates a whole new image of a person, regardless if it is true. It allows all races and genders to express their true selves through posts of images and texts, including women. From the beginning of society women have been perceived as weak andRead MoreMachines Overcoming Humans732 Words   |  3 PagesAs one would begin to think, about how much technology we humans use daily, they realize just how much we are in need of it. As people, look back in time over the generations to where we no technology to whereas now almost everything you come across you can find on the internet or on a system. When reading â€Å"The Machine Stops,† it shows the reader just how naà ¯ve people are to how much technology they use. People are so use to just having it that they do not even think about how much it consumes their

Civilization and Its Discontents, by Sigmeund Freud Essay...

â€Å"Civilization and Its Discontents† is a book written by Sigmund Freud in 1929 (originally titled â€Å"Das Unbehagen in der Kultur† or The Uneasiness in Culture.) This is considered to be one of Freud’s most important and widely read works. In this book, Freud explains his perspective by enumerating what he sees as fundamental tensions between civilization and the individual. He asserts that this tension stems from the individual’s quest for freedom and non-conformity and civilization’s quest for uniformity and instinctual repression. Most of humankind’s primitive instincts are clearly destructive to the health and well-being of a human community (such as the desire to kill.) As a direct result, civilization creates laws designed to prohibit†¦show more content†¦Freud theorizes that this oceanic feeling is a regression into an earlier state of consciousness before the ego had differentiated itself from the world of objects. Freu d also theorizes that the religious oceanic feeling arises from â€Å"the infants helplessness and the longing for the father† and â€Å"imagine[s] that the oceanic feeling became connected with religion later on.† In other words, the oceanic feeling is not a genuine religious experience, though people experience it that way. Throughout the rest of the book, Freud addresses the conflict between civilization and the individual. He starts with the fundamental paradox of civilization: we created civilization as a tool to protect ourselves from unhappiness; however it is our largest source of unhappiness. He also points out that contemporary technological advances have been a mixed blessing for human happiness. He also asks what the purpose of civilization is if it is not to satisfy the pleasure principal. He later concedes that civilization has to make compromises of happiness to fulfill its primary goal of bringing people into peaceful relationships with each other, by m aking them subject to a higher, communal authority. Freud included a cornucopia of various themes in this book. The first of these is the recurring theme of the primal father and his psychological heritage. This is one of Freud’s most controversial cultural speculations. Freud proposes that human societies were

Why the Maglev (Magnetic Levitation) Train Free Essays

Levitating Trains The Maglev trains â€Å"A train is a connected series of rail vehicles propelled along a track to transport cargo or passengers. † -Wikipedia Trains now days are most commonly used for the transport of passengers across long distances, they are fast enough to reach a constant speed between 65 km/h to around 120km/h, although the record speed of a conventional train is of 575 km/h, held by the French TGV. It needed some modifications (shorter and higher voltage) and had passengers in it. We will write a custom essay sample on Why the Maglev (Magnetic Levitation) Train or any similar topic only for you Order Now Although, the record for non-conventional train is held by the JR-Maglev, a Japanese experimental train reaching the 581km/h without passengers (precaution) on a Magnetic-Levitation track. Answering how a train works is a very hard question, assuming we are talking about locomotives; they all have a generator behind the crews cab about half the size of a Volkswagen Beetle that powers the train with electricity by spinning, but the electrical output requires a lot of energy, that’s why there is a huge and powerful diesel engine that provides this power. Ignoring what the possible price of putting down a rail could be, I am going to calculate the price of having to get wheels and how long they last. A single axle 2 wheels costs $33, on the average commercial train there is about 636 wheels, so there is 318 axles, which adds up to total of $10,494 . There isn’t an exact schedule on how often they change train wheels, it all depends on the rail and how much braking the train does, for example, if it’s a very curvy â€Å"road†, more braking is applied and the more the wheels get wasted, and eventually, this slows down the entire vehicle. Regular trains also suffer from bumps and weather can play a difference in the performance of the train, the fact that the train is connected to the rail and to the floor deteriorates the materials and can make a huge sound, and if it’s a train that goes by a big town, there might be noise complaints. Since friction seems to be the root of all problems, why not remove it? Friction is a natural force that occurs when an object or more encounter moving over each other or two objects rubbing against each other. How can a train overcome this? If only it could levitate†¦ well, needless to say, as I have mentioned a few paragraphs back, there is such a train, one that levitates with magnetism, the Maglev train, which by the name might sound Russian, but the mastermind behind it is Alfred Zehden (German), although he gave it a name in English: Maglev (MAGnetic LEVitation). The train levitates with electromagnetic (the interaction of electric currents with magnetic fields) C-shaped arms, with the top part of the arms connected to the train and the inside part holding the magnets, so the rail is situated in the space within the C. Since friction was the factor that was creating the problem, now that there is a clear (15mm) space between the rail and the train â€Å"wheels† there is no friction involved, so now the train speeds up faster to its average speed of 430km/h and it also slows down easier without any sound, and it goes unaffected by non-extreme weather, if the town has a power there is no problem because it has its own generator and also let’s not forget it is super cool because it is a LEVITATING TRAIN! Another feature it has is that regular locomotives can only run at a minimum speed of about 30km/h, with electromagnets there is no such problem, the train can cruise around at whatever it’s chosen speed is. The price of a regular (and might I add, boring) locomotive is around $2,300,000 with an added $35,000 for fuel and repairs, whereas the maglev has a more expensive staring price of 1. 2 billion, although it is expected for the price to fall to 1,800,000 in the next 30 years. In the long run and in this case a very long run because trains are one of the vehicles that last the longest, the maglev is more profitable than regular locomotives Cultural: As far as I am aware, culturally there shouldn’t be any problem with the maglev unless there is some cult out there that I’m not aware of that hate electromagnetism. Political: If anything, on the long run the government profit from this investment, considering it’s the fastest commercial train in the world, it gets a lot of attention. On the other hand, only 4 countries have patented the idea and of those only 2 (Aichi, Japan and Shanghai, China) have constructed the rains and 2 other under construction in Seoul, South Korea and a second one in China, which leads to think that other governments are afraid of bringing these ideas to their country and then end up being an absolute failure. Environmental: The maglev train actually does benefit the environment since there is less friction and therefore less fuel is used, and also less resources to replace train and rail parts since they won’t deteriorate because there is no friction involved. Social: Everyone is going to want to ride the super cool levitating train because it’s a SUPER COOL LEVITATING TRAIN! In conclusion, I think I have stated my point very clearly and we have solved the friction problem thanks to our friend electromagnetism. -August Paloluoma P. S please ignore Social, I still don’t know why I wrote that down†¦ Bibliography: URL: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Maglev#Technology Title: Maglev Latest date modified (LDM): 3 November 2012 at 18:01. URL: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Shanghai_Maglev_Train Title: Shanghai Maglev train LDM: 31 October 2012 at 14:51. URL: http://science. howstuffworks. com/transport/engines/maglev-train. htm Title: How the Maglev train works LDM: 26 January 2012 How to cite Why the Maglev (Magnetic Levitation) Train, Essay examples

Motion Picture Marketing free essay sample

Product life cycle, manufacture distribution, marketing mix, executive decision-making, chains independent theaters, promotion, marketing planning. Marketing activities are a critical part of a companys strategic plan. A company may have an outstanding product, but if it is unable to communicate that to the market, it is not likely to be successful. While the common interpretation of marketing is advertising, additional components, including the product itself, pricing strategy and distribution, are also a critical part of the marketing mix. When developing a marketing plan, companies must take into account their target market and the best way to reach that market as well as the characteristics that will make the product appeal to the market. This is a difficult activity for companies engaged in traditional manufacturing, but such companies generally have similar target markets across their product lines. The motion picture industry is unique in that each new

Arming Pilots Essay Example

Arming Pilots Essay Protect Our People Please What do you do if someone is holding a gun in your face, and you have nothing to defend yourself with? Well that is the exact circumstance that we all have the chance of facing on a plane. Americans are expected to get on an airplane and feel safe and protected, but all that has happened on airplanes in the past ten years has left us fearful. We need to do something to make sure that we are safe on an airplane and that an American plane can never be hijacked again. We need to train and arm our pilots to ensure our safety on an airplane. Airplanes are massive and very complex pieces of machinery, and they help us get to places more efficiently and cheaper than traditional ways. Although we have seen that if airplanes are not handled properly in the sky, it will have detrimental effects on human lives on a massive scale. Hijacking or terrorism is one of the major causes of planes being made into death machines. Americans safety aboard airplanes should be of the upmost importance. There are numerous acts of terrorism that has occurred on commercial airlines, and there needs to be a stop to that. Although most terrorist attacks where a result of people wanting money or something to change in their country, but on September 11th 2001 the only goal that the terrorists had was to murder as many people as they could. Thousands of human lives were lost in the World Trade Center and Pentagon, millions of dollars, too. At any cost, we must never allow the high-jacking of September 11 to be repeated. This tragedy has made airline security the number one issue. Numerous measures such as baggage checks, identity checks, the presence of Sky Marshals on board and so on were proposed by airline companies, pilots, and security experts. We will write a custom essay sample on Arming Pilots specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Arming Pilots specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Arming Pilots specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Many of these measures are being implemented. But what if a terrorist gets by the security checks points, it is not like it has not happened before. One thing that did happen after the September 11th attack was that (West,1) â€Å"Congress did authorize the Department of Transportation to consider arming pilots†¦pilots unions have endorsed keeping weapons in cockpits, and the public has signified approval. Nearly two-thirds of those whom we trust to operate huge jets safely are former military aviators with firearms training, and skills-testing would not be a problem. Before September 11 many people had never had any fear of terrorism assuming that â€Å"something like that can only happen in a movie†. These days, most people would think twice before boarding a plane. In my opinion arming pilots would increase people’s confidence in airline security if they carried a gun and not just a weapon. As an alternative to firearms some experts propose arming pilots with s tun guns or guns equipped with specialized bullets. The projectiles would â€Å"disintegrate on impact† to ensure the safety of the aircraft. But they could do serious damage to the human body, which is fine in the case of hijackers. The planes cockpits already come equipped with crash axes, which could be used as weapons. (Scott, 3) A survey was given on October ninth asking how many people would agree to letting pilots be armed, and seventy five percent said arm our pilots. † The argument whether or not pilots should carry guns isn’t based upon facts and statistics, but on beliefs and assumptions. Obviously, a pilot carrying a gun reduces the possibility that hijackers could succeed in their task. Also, the majority of the American public feels safer just knowing that many pilots are beginning to carry weapons. For those passengers who don’t like the idea of pilots carrying guns, they should realize that they trust pilots every time they fly and that giving those pilots a gun is just showing a greater trust in them. Some people opposed to pilots carrying guns fear for the safety of the passengers; they fear that a stray bullet may strike a passenger. What if the pilot shot numerous times at the hijacker and accidentally shot a passenger? Honestly, this is a very legitimate point. However, given the choice, most would choose a stray bullet to one passenger over the tragic deaths of thousands. People think that (Donnelly, 1) a few bullet holes in the plane will make something happen and cause the plane to go down. These people have no clue what they are talking about. Airlines have experienced explosions on planes without it crashing what will a few bullet holes do? Most pilots have a very strong opinion about this either for or against (Ko, 1) one pilot had argued that If we fail in security screening, profiling, baggage searches, security checks, and have a terrorist get on an airplane, which is very possible, what is our defense? he asks. All I am asking for is a fighting chance to save my passengers, crew, aircraft and people on the ground from a psycho or terrorist. Some people oppose having guns on board for numerous reasons. If a potential terrorist knows that a gun is on board, they could craft a plan to utilize it as part of a larger plan. The use of a locked cabin door and on-board air marshals seems like enough security. With tight airport security, it is almo st impossible for a hijacker to bring a gun or a knife on a plane. The most they would probably be able to get through would be a pair of box cutters. They would not be able to bring down the entire plane, or be able to bust open the pilots cockpit doors with a pair of box cutters. If the pilots had a gun, the hijackers could ambush the pilots when they came out of the cockpit and the hijackers would end up having the guns and the passengers would be defenseless. (Scott, 3) But what the pilots are trying to let people know is that you would have to go through rigorous testing and skills training to be considered, and that is to prevent another tragic even like September 11th. I do believe airline pilots should be armed because if the plane is being hijacked, that may be the only way to save lives if the plane has been overtaken by hostiles. I believe airline pilots should be armed to protect themselves and the passengers from hostiles. There are many U. S. Marshalls which are placed on airplanes to keep a hijacked plane from occurring, but I still believe it is a good idea for the pilots to be armed. The hijackers could get past the Marshall and make their way to the cockpit which would be a very dangerous scenario. If the pilot was armed, this could save hundreds of lives as the hostiles would not expect the pilot to have a weapon. I dont think we should take any chances after the attacks of September 11th. There should be a method, policy, procedure and training for the handling of the weapon. An action plan should be attached to the possibility of having to use the weapon. But, yes, pilots should be armed. The pilot should have to pass a psychological assessment, as they already have to. But, a pilot with a gun is no more dangerous than a pilot with a plane full of passengers, flying through the air. There are no police in the sky. Theres nowhere to run and hide up there. And, the pilot already has the responsibility of everyones life in his hands. So, he should be as equipped as possible to deal with that responsibility. Work Cited Donnelly, Sally B. Pilots Packing Heat. Time 160. 10 (2002): 31. Academic Search Complete. Web. 2 Dec. 2011. Ko, Marnie. Arm The Pilots. Report / Newsmagazine (Alberta Edition) 28. 1 (2001): 22. Academic Search Complete. Web. 2 Dec. 2011. West, Woody. Arming Airline Pilots Is A Risk Worth Taking. Insight On The News 18. 23 (2002): 48. Academic Search Complete. Web. 2 Dec. 2011. Scott, William B. Airline Pilots: Arm Us And They Will Come. . Aviation Week Space Technology 155. 20 (2001): 47. Academic Search Complete. Web. 2 Dec. 2011. Scott, William B. Battle Lines Drawn Over Arming Airline Pilots. Aviation Week Space Technology 156. 7 (2002): 45. Academic Search Complete. Web. 2 Dec. 2011.

Johnathan Edwards And Benjamin Franklin Essays - Benjamin Franklin

Johnathan Edwards And Benjamin Franklin Essays - Benjamin Franklin Johnathan Edwards And Benjamin Franklin Jonathan Edwards and Benjamin Franklin Jonathan Edwards and Benjamin Franklin both wrote simply, directly and without aristocratic pretense. They felt writing was not an end in itself, but a work done in the service of something greater whether it be God or mankind. In his Personal Narrative, Edwards focuses on the ecclesiastical whereas Franklin, in The Way to Wealth appeals to the individual. Edwards wrote to understand what was happening around him and admits, I made seeking my salvation the main business of my life,. Franklin, rather, wrote on self improvement, similarly to an author of a modern day self-help book. He wrote to inform and would represent himself attractively with numerous aphorisms such as Lost time is never found and The sleeping fox catches no poultry. Edwards, in Personal Narrative, crystallized into language of permanent beauty one of the great mystical experiences of the race. His conversion at age 17, demonstrates his awareness of a meaningful world: I often used to sit and view the Moon, for a long time; and so in the daytime spent much time in viewing the clouds and sky, to behold glory of God in these things. . . Franklin would not sit quietly and view the moon for he reminds his audience that there will be sleeping enough in the grave. He encourages independence saying God helps them that help themselves. Franklin tried that strategy: I used to be continually examining myself, and studying and contriving for likely ways and means, how I should live holily, with far greater diligence and earnestness, than ever I pursued any thing in my life and he writes of his failure: but yet with too great a dependence on my own strength; which afterwards proved a great damage to me. To undue the damage, Edward later viewed that God shoul d govern the world, and order all things according to his own pleasure; and I rejoiced in it, that God reigned, and that his will was done. Bibliography The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 5th ed. Vol. 1. Eds Bayme, et al. New York: W.W. Norton. 1998

FINANCIAL ANALYSIS REPORT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

FINANCIAL ANALYSIS REPORT - Essay Example And they have acknowledged that their success is indebted to the talent, creativity, and dedication of their employees. They did not only compete to gain prestige and power but they are also searching and attracting talented people to work for them. Overall, the group’s vision is to â€Å"map out a specific plan of reaching $400 billion in revenue and becoming one of the world’s top five brands by 2020† (â€Å"Samsung,† n.d.). Samsung (UK) is popular in the areas of telecommunication and digital media as they have developed and distributed several products of mobile phones and consumer entertainment devices. Despite of the company’s overwhelming success, Samsung (UK) did not stop to aim for higher goals because the global market is constantly changing, and more importantly, they did not give their competitors a chance to overhaul. For them, nothing is impossible, as long as they have the needed financial resources, talented people, and loyal custome rs. This is the kind of spirit a true company must have. The main thrust of this paper is to analyze the performance of Samsung Electronics (UK) Ltd. By using the company’s financial statements and by applying financial ratios, Samsung’s (UK) performance and financial situation will be determined. For the past three years, Samsung (UK) has proven its success and growth. The company has received several recognitions in terms of producing innovative and advanced technologies. Most of the company’s recent development has been accepted by the people. For 2009, they managed to release new mobile phones like Giorgio Armani smartphones, Galaxy Tab, and Windows Phone 7 (Altoft, 2010). They had also released the world’s thinnest Blu-ray player, TV (6.5mm), and watch phone. Another important event for Samsung (UK) is the restructuring of their organizational leaders and announced their new general managers in UK print and display division (â€Å"Channel Pro,† 2010). Part

Communication analysis on gender equality in the work place Research Paper

Communication analysis on gender equality in the work place - Research Paper Example At the same time, many contemporary cases of women who have developed prosperous corporate entities beg the question of gender equality at the work place (Eikhof, 2012). For example, Oprah Winfrey created a business empire virtually on her own. From a communications standpoint, the following paper analyzes gender equality at the workplace in different sectors. Sectors dominated by women ought to experienced equality in pay, decreased sex discrimination, and have a more or less higher number of managing women than sectors dominated by men. This is because women have better chances in service, investment, property, wholesale, and retail sectors. In addition, Women have better communications skills than men. Women have better communication skills than men do because they bear a more relationship-based attitude towards work than men do. Men often choose to be objective when it comes to work, which makes it hard for them to appeal to others personally. In addition, women process knowledge aloud while men process within their minds. Processing knowledge aloud means there is a form of interaction. The more women process knowledge aloud, the better their communication skills. The relationship-based attitude of women further led to a consensus-type of leadership while men’s rational thinking often leads to a hierarchical-type of leadership. The consensus-type of leadership requires better communication skills than hierarchical because it involves less commands or orders and more personal interaction or engagement. However, this is not the case since managing women keep on lagging behind their male peers in terms of income and workplace dominance and opportunities in virtually all sectors. Author Simma Lieberman argues that men and women differ in a number of ways. These ways determine gender equality at the place of work.

Sociology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 6

Sociology - Essay Example ciologists tend to come up with theories that picture the society as a whole, or traditionally concentrate on private issues, but failed to analyze the individual’s tie-up with the society which Mills argued as totally important. With Mills’ ideas, he relates how important it is for an individual to understand the greater sociological patterns that is relevant to their private situations. Many people as he said failed to understand it because of their inclination to their personal family, neighbors or job which in turn makes them trapped in a situation wherein they will not be able to comprehend the greater sociological reason that drove them to their present social status and private problems. He establishes the linkage between the person and the society, the phenomenal interaction that exists to both, and the importance of developing a quality of mind that can grasp history and biography and the relationship that links society and an individual. The highlight of his understanding, (which can not be found in other sociologist ideas) describes that the relationship of the public issues and persons’ private troubles are closely connected, therefore arriving to an analysis that points out relativ e changes to private troubles as the society wherein an individual belongs changes too. Criticisms about symbolic interactionism appeared only when quantitative approaches to sociology have been applied. However, it could not be concluded that it does not have viable notion to social structure. Evidently, this kind of approach does not violate any quantitative sociological approaches, but on the other hand is a helpful in the broader understanding of the society. The pragmatic approach or the qualitative research method does not mean that it is removing its link to the social structure, but in the other hand it links to the social structure as the society itself produces realities that can be observed. In symbolic interactionism perspective, Blumer said that,

Personal Income Tax Administration In Nigeria Economics Essay

Personal Income Tax Administration In Nigeria Economics Essay The success achieved by Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) in meeting the targets set for its integrated tax offices nationwide is no doubt a challenge to its state counterparts (SBIRS). Personal income tax that is supposed to be paid by self employed individuals in Nigeria constitutes a major source of revenue accruable to various state government of the nation. Unfortunately, the correct assessment and collection of taxes from these groups of taxpayers remains a mirage due to myriad of factors. Prominent among these factors is the failure of majority to register with revenue authority as revealed in this study. This paper therefore recommends various strategies that can be adopted by government to bring into the tax net of the government numerous self employed persons in the society which can impact positively on increased revenue generation and the attendant quantity and quality of infrastructural facilities that can be provided by the government. Introduction Tax is defined as money that has to be paid to the government by the people according to their profits on goods and services provided. Chris and Elizabeth (2001) also defined taxes as a forced proportional contribution from persons and property levied by the state by virtue of its sovereignty for the support of government and for all public needs. Other definitions can also be gleaned from judicial precedents. In Matthew V. Chikory Marketing Board of Victoria Australia, Latham, C. J. defined tax as a compulsory exaction of money by a public authority for public purposes. Tax in this regard is seen as a means of raising money from the public by the government by means of contributions from individual persons. In the American case of United States V. Butler, Justice Robert defined tax in the general understanding of the term as exaction money from members of the society for the support of the government expenditure (Chris and Elizabeth 2001). In summation therefore, according to Chris and Elizabeth (2001) tax has three basic features namely; a compulsory levy imposed by government, or local authority, for public purpose and to encourage social justice. A tax according to Ayua (1996) is not a voluntary payment but a compulsory pecuniary burden placed on taxpayers for the benefit of the society. Generally, taxation can be described as a form of levy imposed on all residents living and non-residents doing business within a tax jurisdiction. It is a civic and patriotic responsibility of citizens to pay taxes imposed which also come to the government as income or revenue yielding device to finance the provisions of socio-economic and infrastructural amenities and also to enhance industrial efficiency. The aim of this paper is to look into various constraints faced by tax authorities in assessing and collecting taxes from self-employed taxpayers and proffering solutions as regards strategies to be adopted by revenue authorities for expanding the Nigerian tax net to improve tax collection drive covering the self-employed. Review of related literature Under the review of literature the history of taxation in Nigeria, the objectives of taxation and the use of taxation as an instrument of economic regulation or control have been treated. 2.1 The history of taxation in Nigeria The history of taxation in Nigeria dates back to the pre-colonial period. According to Lekan and Sunday (2006) before the colonization of the different entities which were later amalgamated under the name Nigeria, there were different systems of taxation existing in the form of compulsory services, contribution of goods, money, labour and so on amongst the various kingdoms, groups and tribes controlled by the Obas, Emirs, Ezes, Attah of Igala, Tor Tiv, Ohinoyi of Ebira and so on in order to sustain the monarchs. The various taxes levied by the different ethnic groups by the kings according to Ola (2004) took several forms such as Zakkat levied on Moslems for educational, charitable and religious purposes, kudin-kasa, a form of an agricultural tax levied on utilization of land, shuka-shuka levied on the ownership of cattle based on the member of cattle, Ishakiloe- contribution of farm products as a form of land tax in exchange for the use of land for agricultural purposes payable to Obas, chiefs and family community heads, community tax payable by all adults in order to execute projects beneficial to the community; Oko-ane payable to Attah Igala for hunting in a particular forest, Osusu Imachi-Nkwu payable to Ezes in Igbo land by those who harvest palm fruits and are expected to contribute proportion of the harvested palm oil. In Tivland in Benue state certain taxes are paid by couples during marriage ceremonies which are used for various community development projects. The present form of taxation in Nigeria could be traced to the establishment of a British colony in Lagos on August 6, 1861 and subsequent amalgamation of the Southern and Northern protectorates of Nigeria in 1914. During the colonial era according to Yerokun (1997), the imposition of any type of tax on citizens (individuals and corporate) took the form of promulgation of laws by the colonial authority. Examples of such law include Native Law ordinance cap 74 of 1917 applicable to Western Nigeria. The re-enactment of the same law in 1929 according to Ola (2004) which for the first time imposed taxes on women resulted in the Aba women riot of 1929. Another law was that of non-natives protectorates tax ordinance of 1931. The ordinance was later repealed and incorporated into the taxation ordinance No. 4 of 1940 and subsequently re-enacted as the Income Tax Ordinance (ITO) 1943. The above tax laws according to Yerokun (1997) were administered on individuals and corporate entities by various tax and revenue officers in the different provinces and regions. In order to promote uniformity in the incidence of taxation throughout the geographical entity called Nigeria according to Lekan and Sunday (2006), the colonial government in 1958 set up the Raisman Commission. The commission at the end of its work recommended the introduction of uniform basic income tax principles for application in all regions of Nigeria. This recommendation was accepted by the government which incorporated the same into the 1960 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This led to the promulgation of the Income Tax Management Act (ITMA) 1961 and Companies Income Tax Act (CITA) 1961. The taxation of individuals as opposed to companies is governed by the ITMA 1961, the main purpose according to Ariwodola (2000) is to regulate the imposition of personal income tax throughout the Federation so that internal double taxation of incomes by the Federal Government and State Government will be avoided. The Act sets up a Joint Tax Board (JTB) which is charged with the responsibility of determining technical and other issues in which interests of those Government might otherwise be in conflict. Each government has sole Jurisdiction to impose personal income tax on individuals resident or deemed to be resident in its territory and the 1961 Act does not seek to encroach upon the right of each government to decide upon the appropriate level of taxation of those individual who under the provisions of the Act, fall within its jurisdiction. The ITMA determines such questions as to what is taxable income, what deductions may be allowed against gross income to arrive at the taxable income and the period over which assessable income is to be determined. The above legislations (ITMA and CITA) 1961 were later repealed and re-enacted as the Personal Income Tax Act (PITA) 1993, and the Companies Income Tax Act CAP 60 LFN, 1990 respectively. As a result of the work of the Tax Laws Review Commission, these laws have been reviewed and updated and are included in the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 2004. The current law that governs the administering of Personal Income Tax (PIT) is the Personal Income Tax Act Cap. P8 LFN 204 which imposes tax on incomes of individuals and corporations. 2.2 Objectives of Taxation Tax is generally regarded as a pecuniary burden laid upon individuals or persons or property to support the government and it is a payment exacted by legislative authority. Tax according to Nightingale (2000) under any jurisdiction is discriminatory in the sense that it is assessed on persons or property based on profits/incomes or gain, the benefit derived by citizens from tax payment is without reference to the contribution of individual tax payers. In line with this therefore, according to Ariwodola (2005) it is accurate to say that the primary objective and purpose of taxation in most nations of the world is essentially to generate revenue for government expenditure on social welfare such as provision of defense, law and order, health services and education. Revenue from taxation can also be spent on capital projects otherwise called consumer expenditure, creating social and economic infrastructure which will improve the social life of the people. Quite apart from this primary purpose, taxation as the most potential source of revenue to government of any nation has played very prominent roles as an instrument of governments economic, social and fiscal policy. Other major objective of taxation in any economy of a nation are as follows: The use of taxation as an instrument of economic regulation or control: For the purpose of discouraging certain forms of anti-social behaviour in the society. Taxation according to Musgrave and Musgrave (1984) can be extensively used in regulating the consumption pattern resulting in economic stabilization. Anti-social behaviour such as drinking of alcohol, smoking and pool betting can be controlled by imposition of higher taxes on production of such goods. Investment promotion: The resource allocation dimension of taxation policy is its role in promoting investment as a critical measure of ensuring a healthy economy through creation of new wealth. In Nigeria, government sometimes introduces tax incentives and attractive tax exemptions as an instrument to woo and induce local and foreign investors in areas such as manufacturing of goods, export processing, oil and gas and utilities, which are critical and necessary for the economic development and growth of the nation. Income and wealth distribution: The use of transfer payments and benefits to those members of the society who are less well off according to Musgrave and Musgrave (1980) is to promote social equality. Taxation as a mechanism for income and wealth distribution holds that the burden of taxation should be heavier for the rich in the society than for the poor so that taxes collected are used to pay for social services for the less fortunate. Harmonization: Harmonization according to Lekan and Sunday (2006) is said to be the modern objective of Economic community of West African States (ECOWAS). The idea of a single market in ECOWAS member nations is to provide for the free movement of goods/services, capital and people between member states. The philosophy behind this single market therefore suggests that these tax systems of member states should be harmonized. Generally, according to Ola (2004) taxation is a powerful and potential fiscal stabilizer employed by government of nations to plan development policies. It is a device according to Nightingale (2004) to induce economic development and favourable balance of payments. 3. Method The study employed a survey design and data was collected from the Adamawa State Board of Internal Revenue and using convenient sampling, 90 self employed persons in Jimeta-Yola metropolis in Adamawa State were interviewed. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics made up of simple percentages. 4. Discussion Self-employed tax payers are unincorporated individuals or body of individuals engaged in their own businesses either as sole traders or in partnerships. Such persons include individual contractors, traders, professionals, consultants, market women, artisans and all other entities that are not liable to tax under the Companies Income Tax Act (CITA), but under the Personal Income Tax Act (PITA). This means such persons are taxable on income accruing to them personally. In the study conducted among the self-employed in Jimeta-Yola metropolis in Adamawa State, it was discovered that just very few individuals registered with the state Board of Internal Revenue (SBIR) for 2010 and 2011 tax year as indicated in the table below. Table 1: Rate of Registration of Self-Employed Persons with Tax Authority (Adamawa State Board of Internal Revenue) 2010 2011 2010 2011 Self-Employed Group Registered Unregistered Total Registered Unregistered Total 1 14 15 2 13 15 Electricians 15 15 15 15 Mechanics 2 13 15 4 11 15 Painters 3 12 15 5 10 15 Vulcanizers 1 14 15 15 15 Welders 15 15 15 15 07 83 90 11 79 90 Source: Field Survey, 2011. Out of 90 self-employed groups interviewed in Jimeta-Yola metropolis regarding whether they have registered with Adamawa State Board of internal revenue for the purpose of paying tax on their income for 2010 and 2012 Assessment year, only 7 of them in 2010 indicated that they have registered representing about 12.2% registered with the State Board of Internal Revenue (SBIR) while the remaining 87.8% failed to register. The above scenario is likely to be a total reflection of what is happening through out the entire country, where there is wide trend of tax aversion by the self-employed group in the country. Given a whole gamut of self-employed persons in the society as enumerated above, a huge amount of revenue can be generated by various state tax authorities if self-employed individuals are properly brought into the tax net of the government. It is the requirement of the law PITA Cap P8 LFN 2004 that all self-employed tax payers are required to file self-assessment tax returns with their respective relevant state tax authorities every year within 90 days of the commencement of a new tax year. Such tax return is expected to disclose transactions relating to the individuals income for the year. Unfortunately according to Ariwodola (2000) a large sum of money by way of revenue that suppose to have been generated from these group of tax payers (self-employed) by the government remain uncollected year in year out due to the following factors. Lack of Taxpayers Data/Information: There is no detailed information on or database for the self-employed in Nigeria, thus bringing them into the tax net is different. This is a very serious problem in personal taxation as it often difficult most a times to determine the residence of individuals which is vital for the purpose of identifying the relevant tax authority of a tax payer. A lot of time is often spent in residence determination especially where there is dispute between two or more tax authorities leading to loss of revenue that would have accrued. Inefficient Utilization Tax Revenue: There is a general apathy to voluntary compliance with the provisions of the tax laws because of the level of decay in basic infrastructure such as light, water and good roads. This problem has always called to question the need for continued payment of tax in Nigeria. Lack of Experienced and Qualified Personnel: Most tax officers lack the requisite experience and knowledge of the tax laws required to appropriately assess the self-employed to tax. Inadequate Penalties/Absence of Enforcement: In Nigeria, the penalties for non-compliance with relevant tax provisions are too lenient to compel the self-employed to pay tax. There is also a general lack of enforcement of existing penalties. Inadequate Records: Most self-employed persons do not maintain adequate records of their income and expenditure. In most cases, they mix their business activities with their private affairs thus making it difficult to determine the income taxable. Lack of Public Enlightenment: Most of the self-employed tax payers do not know what tax to pay, when to pay, who to pay to, where to pay and what relief and allowance they are entitled to. Government is faulted here because a good tax system should be certain and easy to administer. It is the responsibility of government at all levels to educate the public on their responsibility with respect to tax at all times. Level of Corruption: Some tax officials collude with would be tax payers to defraud the government of her taxes. A large chunk of revenue that is suppose to come into government coffers ended up in private pockets compounding problems of governments inability to provide the basic infrastructure needed for the orderly development of the society. Level of Poverty: This is directly linked to the problem highlighted above. Several self-employed persons are struggling to survive due to the unconducive operating environment. The society according to Ariwodola (2000) has been impoverished by the elite so much that paying tax will further deepen the level of poverty among the low income earners. Over-Dependence on Oil Revenue: For a very long time now, Nigeria has been depending on revenue from oil. The discovery of oil and very huge revenue accruing from it according to Yerokun (1997) has led to the neglect of all other non-oil revenue yielding sources to the government. Having enumerated the constraints/challenges facing the tax authorities in assessing and collection of taxes from self-employed tax payers in our society, there is however prospects for improved revenue generation from these group of persons if certain strategies are evolved. Strategies for Expanding the Nigerian Tax Net to Improve Tax Collections Drive Covering the Self-Employed: Public Enlightenment and Education: Revenue authority should embark on aggressive public enlightenment and education of tax payers on the various taxes payable by all self-employed individuals in the society. Revenue authority in various states should endeavour to equip their staff to enable them carry out this duty. Requirement for Presentation of Tax Clearance Certificate (TCC): By providing and insisting the TCC be produced by individuals for any form of transaction with government, more self-employed persons will be compelled to pay their taxes. Stiffer Penalties for Non-Compliance: If the consequences of failure to comply with any of the provisions of the tax laws are made stiffer, more tax payers will be willing to comply with little or no stress on the part of the revenue authorities. Encouragement of Cooperative Unions: By encouraging artisans in particular to form associations through which government can reach their members, improvement in tax generation from this category of self-employed persons can be achieved. Similarly, all other category of self-employed individuals are encouraged to form unions in their respective localities. They can always hold government accountable for non provision of infrastructure necessary for their operation through their respective unions and they will be heard only and if only they can live up to their own civic responsibility by paying their taxes promptly. Effective Utilization of Tax Revenue: Improvement in the level of basic infrastructural facilities will encourage voluntary compliance with the provisions of the tax laws as they will show that the Revenue is being utilized effectively. In Nigeria today, it is no news that the level of decay in basic infrastructure is alarming. If government effectively utilizes tax revenue for the provision of infrastructure, the citizenry will be motivated to pay taxes . Promulgation of Anti-Avoidance Provision: Making provisions to block the several loopholes in the tax laws will enhance further compliance with the tax laws and increase tax revenue. The two possible forms of anti-avoidance legislation are specific legislation to block voluntary avoidance device and general anti-avoidance legislation which vests the revenue authority with power to disregard all transactions entered into that could be proved to have been entered into solely for tax avoidance purposes. Empowerment of Investigation and Intelligence Unit: The investigation and intelligence unit of the Revenue authorities should be empowered and made vibrant and effective. It is the responsibility of this unit to trace self-employed persons in the society who have not been paying their taxes. This can be done by going through the Land Registry and Vehicle licensing offices. Information about the self employed can also be obtained from banks by requiring banks to file returns of all their new customers with the Revenue authorities. Engagement of Experienced and Qualified Personnel: Employing qualified personnel and paying competitive remuneration will further enhance dedication to duty which will impact positively on increased revenue generation especially from the self-employed personal where the rate of tax evasion is high. Regular Amendment to the Tax/Laws: The tax laws should be regularly up-dated and provision should be such that are reasonable and easy to comply with. It is known according to Yerokun (1997) that the existence of wide spread tax avoidance and evasion is in any society is an evidence that the tax system requires a radical reform. 5. Conclusion Generally, taxation is a monetary charge imposed by government on her citizens to yield revenue for her numerous statutory responsibilities to the people. It is also civic and patriotic responsibility of the citizens to pay taxes as at when due which is a means by which government can finance the provisions of socio-economic and infrastructural amenities for the orderly development and growth of the society. Reduction of the high rate of tax evasion by the self-employed individual in Nigeria and the resultant high revenue that can be generated there from requires a conscious efforts and definite roles to be played by both the government and the governed.

Cato the Elder and Julius Caesar Essay -- Roman History

The Roman Republic's most memorable men are Cato the Elder and Julius Caesar. Each man gained unfathomable power over the greatest nation of the world for its time. Our world today continues to feel the affects of Caesar, who developed the modern day calendar system (Suet. Caesar, 40). Both men changed Rome and added to its rich and nobel history. Ancient biographers, Plutarch and Suetonius, give insightful glimpses into to the lives of Cato and Caesar, and what formed them into history makers. Through careful analysis of Cato and Caesar's biographies, it becomes apparent that they shared similar skills and values that vaulted them to the top of Roman society. However, they were strikingly different in how they used their skills and lived their lives. Although the lives of Cato and Caesar are similar in many respects, the biographies of Plutarch and Suetonius reveal that personality and family background are the main causes for their differences. Commonalities between Cato and Caesar abound in Suetonius and Plutarch's biographies. The most apparent similarity is physical appearance and ability. Cato followed a sober mode of living and trained hard to attain â€Å" a tough constitution and a body which was as strong as it was healthy† (P1). In battle Cato was a â€Å"formidable fighter, who stood his ground resolutely and and confronted his opponents with a ferocious expression â€Å" (P1). Caesar was also strong in body and battle. He was â€Å"tall fair and well built,† and he was â€Å"a most skillful swordsman and horseman, and showed surprising powers of endurance† (s45,57). The enormous number of victories left by Caesar are testimony to his skill as general and fighter. Similarity in strength is only one part of dom... ...ter, Julia, like a game piece and married her to pompey to form an alliance. Caesar's personality has clearly shown through in these examples of marriage and offspring. On the other hand, Cato views his offspring and marriage in a much different light.. Due to his sense of hard work and care for family, Cato believes strongly that if he puts effort into his son's education he will be rewarded with a son to be proud of. This turns out to be true because Cato receives a letter from his son's commander, in which his son is praised â€Å"in the highest terms for his gallantry† (plu. 20). Also, Cato only had one wife at a time, and only remarried after his first wife died (plu. 24). Compared to Caesar, Cato's moral nature is clearly shining through. Personality and character traits clearly show the how difference arise within the context of marriage and offspring.

How Law Is Passed in Maldives Essay

How law is passed in Maldives. In Maldives laws are made in People’s MaJlis. It’s the supreme authority for law- making by the Article 70 of the constitution. Article 70. â€Å"(a) The legislative authority of the Maldives shall be vested in the People’s Mall’s. † In the Maldives there are 2 types of legislation considered by Parliament. These are: 1- Government Bills (Bills that are introduced by the Government) 2- Private Member Bills (Bills that are introduced by the Members whether individual or from a political party ) Government Bills Government Bills symbolize government policy and a Minister presents them. The bulk of Parliament’s stage is taken up with these types of bills. As the present government does not hold such a large parliamentary majority, it is almost uncertain that all Government Bills will be passed into law (though some may be passed along the way). Private Member Bills Individual Member of Parliaments (MPs) from any political party (or a peer) can introduce a Private Members Bill. These hardly have any chance of becoming law as too much of Parliament’s time is occupied up with Government bills. As a consequence of this, Parliament gets little chance to discuss Private Members Bills, et alone vote on them. Each legislative year, the Cabinet has to decide on what it needs to do regarding lawmaking that year. As such it has to arrange what it needs – though it has to be cautious of assurances made to the public at large. A lawmaking session does not last for one calendar year. With extended adjournments, Parliament actually sits for a lot less than twelve months. Lawmaking in Parliament is driven by what is said in the President Speech that usually opens Assembly in February. The government to introduce whatever form of legislation it needs, a possibly difficult process takes lace before the bill becomes law. The first process is one of origination. This is actually deciding what is going to be contained in that bill. Both ministers and civil servants are responsible for actually drafting the government bill. First the bills are sent to the parliament secretariat for getting scheduled to parliament agenda. The secretariat then will do a primary legal review regarding the text; purpose and the content are in accordance with the constitution and laid down parliament rules. After the preliminary review the secretariat will schedule the bill in the parliament agenda ith the approval of the Speaker. Then the bill will be introduced by the sponsored member and he shall explain the need and the contents of the bill. This stage is called â€Å"first reading† of the bill. Then members of the parliament discuss the bill and then vote on it. The First Reading is the first time that a bill goes before the MaJlis itself. The First Reading is, really nothing actually happens other than the fact a bill goes before Assembly. Then the bill goes for a Second Reading. By the time of the Reading that MPs have the chance for a wide-ranging discussion on a bill’s advantages or otherwise. Usually, though not exclusively, a parliamentary day is given over to a Second Reading, which usually corresponds to about three hours of discussion. Usually, a government minister opens a Second Reading. The debate in the MaJlis is controlled by either the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker. From the Second Reading, the bill moves onto to the Committee Stage. The Committee Stage is the most thorough scrutiny of the bill. This scrutiny is done by a Standing Committee that is made up of 12 to 25 MPs. The Committee evaluates and supports each clause ofa bill. It does not discuss the overall purpose of a bill. Each member of a Standing Committee is allowed to propose an amendment to clauses in the bill. The whole committee stage is meant to be a thorough examination of a bill and it is the longest part of the process. Once it has ended, the process moves on to the Report Stage. Report Stage can last from 30 minutes to several days. From here, the bill returns for its Third Reading. The Third Reading is the final part of the debate regarding the bill within the MaJlis. MPs discuss the overall content of the amended bill. After the third reading, the Speaker opens the floor to take vote for the bill. Then he MPs give their vote through electronic machines fixed infront of MPs Table. Then if MPs vote represents the majority of that session the bill will be passed and will be sent to the President for scrutinizing the Assent. And if it is doesnot get the majority it will be disqualified to become a law. Finally when the President receives the bill he has the discretion to give Assent in the first time. So, if he gives the Assent it will be published on the gazette and it will become a law. But, if he does not give Assent he shall sent the bill to MaJlis for review. Then again that bill is scheduled and MPs ebate on the reservations of the President, and if they still need to pass the law as it is, they shall pass that bill with big majority and sent to President for Assent. Then the President must give Assent and shall publish the new law in Gazzette. An act usually has a date or dates in its text as to when it will be implemented (or when parts of it will be implemented if it is a multi-layered act). Some acts have a Commencement Order in them to activate it, or parts of it. The implementation of that act means that it is part of the law of the land from that date. [ 1 ]. Constitution of Maldives 2008. page 48.

Gendered Messages essays

Gendered Messages essays Women and Weight: Gendered Messages on Magazine Covers The purpose of this article was to compare and contrast the covers of popular men and womens magazines. The authors hypothesized that womens magazines were much more likely to have key messages or articles about enhancing bodily appearance than that of mens magazines. Further, they felt that the discovered messages on womens covers would be more conflicting or hypocritical than those of mens magazine covers. The researchers gathered their research material through analyses of twenty-one magazines. Six monthly issues dedicated to varying seasons were used for each magazine title. The total amount of magazines examined was 69 covers of womens magazines and 54 covers of mens magazines. The authors then used a checklist that had the following headings: presence of a diet message, exercise message, cosmetic surgery message, and general weight loss message and if there was existence of a conflicting message beside one another. The percentage for each specific magazine was determined by dividing the number of magazine issues that contained each checklist item by the total number of magazine issues examined. The results of the authors research revealed that, Although the majority of the most popular womens magazines focused on changing and improving ones self, most of the popular mens magazines focused on the outside world, news, politics, hobbies and activities (Malkin, Wornian, Chrisler 649). Additionally, several of the womens magazine covers were found to have conflicting messages, For example, a magazine might show a picture of an ice-cream cake with a message that says Ice-Cream Extravaganza! next to an exercise message that says Trim Your Thighs in 3 weeks! (Malkin, Wornian, Chrisler 652). Furthermore, the research discovered that a m ...

The True Devils in Salem Essays - Salem Witch Trials, The Crucible

The True Devils in Salem Essays - Salem Witch Trials, The Crucible The True Devils in Salem English - The Crucible by Arthur Miller The True Devils in Salem In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the madness of the Salem witch trials is explored in great detail. There are many theories as to why the witch trials came about, the most popular of which is the girls' suppressed childhoods. However, there were other factors as well, such as Abigail Williams' affair with John Proctor, the secret grudges that neighbors held against each other, and the physical and economic differences between the citizens of Salem Village. From a historical viewpoint, it is known that young girls in colonial Massachusetts were given little or no freedom to act like children. They were expected to walk straight, arms by their sides, eyes slightly downcast, and their mouths were to be shut unless otherwise asked to speak. It is not surprising that the girls would find this type of lifestyle very constricting. To rebel against it, they played pranks, such as dancing in the woods, listening to slaves' magic stories and pretending that other villagers were bewitching them. The Crucible starts after the girls in the village have been caught dancing in the woods. As one of them falls sick, rumors start to fly that there is witchcraft going on in the woods, and that the sick girl is bewitched. Once the girls talk to each other, they become more and more frightened of being accused as witches, so Abigail starts accusing others of practicing witchcraft. The other girls all join in so that the blame will not be placed on them. In The Crucible, Abigail starts the accusations by saying, "I go back to Jesus; I kiss his hand. I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!" Another girl, Betty, continues the cry with, "I saw George Jacobs with the Devil! I saw Goody Howe with the Devil!" >From here on, the accusations grow and grow until the jails overflow with accused witches. It must have given them an incredible sense of power when the whole town of Salem listened to their words and believed each and every accusation. After all, children were to be seen and not heard in Puritan society, and the newfound attention was probably overwhelming. In Act Three of The Crucible, the girls were called before the judges to defend themselves against the claims that they were only acting. To prove their innocence, Abigail led the other girls in a chilling scene. Abby acted as if Mary Warren sent her spirit up to the rafters and began to talk to the spirit. "Oh Mary, this is a black art to change your shape. No, I cannot, I cannot stop my mouth; it's God's work I do." The other girls all stared at the rafters in horror and began to repeat everything they heard. Finally, the girls' hysterics caused Mary Warren to accuse John Proctor of witchcraft. Once the scam started, it was too late to stop, and the snowballing effect of wild accusations soon resulted in the hanging of many innocents. After the wave of accusations began, grudges began to surface in the community. Small slights were made out to be witchcraft, and bad business deals were blamed on witchery. Two characters in The Crucible, Giles Corey and Thomas Putnam, argue early on about a plot of land. Corey claims that he bought it from Goody Nurse but Putnam says he owns it, and Goody Nurse had no right to sell it. Later, when Putnam's daughter accuses George Jacobs of witchery, Corey claims that Putnam only wants Jacobs' land. Giles says, "If Jacobs hangs for a witch he forfeit up his property - that's law! And there is none but Putnam with the coin to buy so great a piece. This man is killing his neighbors for their land!" Others also had hidden motives for accusing their neighbors. Once the accusations began, everyone had a reason to accuse someone else which is why the hangings got so out of hand. The wave of accusations can be likened to mass hysteria, in which the people involved are so caught up that they start having delusions of neighbors out to do them harm. One of the main accusers, Abigail Williams, had an ulterior motive for accusing Elizabeth Proctor. In The Crucible, Abigail believed that if she got rid of Goody Proctor, then John Proctor, her husband, would turn to Abby. John Proctor had an affair with Abigail, but for

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Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Assignment - Essay Example The country is vulnerable to various natural calamities that upset the people’s lives in the nation following calamities like floods, cyclone and landslides that affect the entire environment and human beings together with their livelihoods. The country’s location makes the nation vulnerable to natural calamities since three quarters of the nation and the Bay of Bengal make the nation the center of life-giving monsoon rains, making the nation prone to catastrophic destruction of natural disasters. The worst catastrophes in the globe tend to arise between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, a region which coincidentally contains the poor nations, which is the case with Bangladesh (Natural Disasters 94). Q.3 The fundamental reason is that the region contributes 3% of earth’s surface while it is population contributes to 47.9% of the world population moreover the region lacks deserts, permanent ice and other conservation landscapes; therefore the protection of enda ngered wildlife is less feasible in the region. The region also has high rate of deforestation compared to other regions of the world like sub-Saharan Africa and the heavy hunting in the region make it difficult to protect endangered wildlife. Moreover, the region faces the problematic issue of wildlife trade like the rest of the world; however certain factors make it especially problematic in region like the high economic growth and improvement of transport infrastructure that improve access to wildlife areas. Some of the endangered species include three species of Asian pangolins that include Malayan of Sunda pangolin, Indian pangolin and Palawan pangolin. Q.4 Between 40% and 60% of the population in South Asian cities do not have access to piped water moreover, nearly 60% of urban households lack sanitary facilities with 42.9% of urban population in the region living in slums. Slum dwellers in various countries in the region differ for instance in Bangladesh (69%), Nepal (69%) an d Pakistan (47%) reporting significant proportion of urban inhabitants living in slums. Q.5 Green revolution began in 1960’s and 70’s and involved the introduction of high yielding varieties of food products with the aim of increasing food production and promoting self-sufficiency. After the introduction of high yielding seeds for food crops there have been clear significant benefits like increased food production in developing nations. However, since the program began some farmers have recently begun disregarding the use of modified seeds and pesticides in favor of organic farming propelled by the rising cost of fertilizer and pesticides. Q.6 Various factors influence the decline of fertility in India like the government policy for reducing to 2.1 from the previous 5.1 in early 1970s. Other factors include rising levels of education and the rising levels of aspirations for well being in the society. Even though India has had family planning programs for a long period of time; however, the average fertility has declined slowly. The relative slow decline of fertility has led a built up of large population in India that will enter reproductive age in the near future thus, the country’ population growth will continue in next few decade despite the decline of f

The Pros and Cons and Military Draft Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Pros and Cons and Military Draft - Essay Example The pros and cons and military draft – within different political and social conditions – are presented and analyzed in this paper. Emphasis is given on the identification of the characteristics of the relevant decision – i.e. whether it promotes freedom or not. The examination of the existing literature led to the assumption that military draft is not necessarily an indication of freedom; it is rather related with the political framework of each country reflecting the thoughts of the governors rather than the willingness of the citizens to participate in military initiatives. In other words, it has been proved that freedom can cost; moreover, it is made clear that citizens are not free to decide on their participation in initiatives that aim to protect the freedom of their nation. This fact does not necessarily indicate the lack of their willingness for participating in the relevant schemes. In any case, the terms under which the military draft is currently deve loped lead to a series of positive and negative effects – as analytically explained below. The Military Draft has been developed in order to serve specific needs: the number of the citizens participating in the military corps had to be estimated and evaluated – taking into consideration the military needs of each country – at least this is the initial role of the Military Draft as part of a country’s political framework. At the next level, the Military Draft can serve a series of additional needs, for instance, the need of a country to improve its position in the international community – by showing a well structured and highly populated army.  

Port of Rotterdam Essay Example for Free

Port of Rotterdam Essay Particularly, our intention is to focus in the way the Port Authority manages all the issues that come up and how they could improve the functionality of the port. We are greatly aware that the world of freight transport is growing rapidly and to grow with it, a port needs to be in continuous development. The Port of Rotterdam is one of the most important ports all over the world. It is situated on the Dutch coast and its main channel extends along 40 km offshore. Its a huge infrastructure that handles more than 400 million tons per year. Thus, every year more than 4 million containers go through this port, this means 400 per hour and more than 3000 daily. 1 The economic importance of the Port of Rotterdam becomes apparent from quantitative indicators such as the direct and indirect value added and employment. Its industrial character is reflected by the number and range of industries located in the Port of Rotterdam related to logistics (transport, storage and distribution), production (such as maritime and transport equipment, petroleum, chemicals and food) and (commercial) services. All these activities are taking place in a relatively limited area2: Despite of this figures, currently the PoR is losing a big market share, especially in the container market, on behalf mainly of the ports of Antwerp and Hamburg. Hamburg’s port has very good rail connections and also it is really well located to distribute Eastern Europe. Besides, the port of Antwerp enjoys a strategic central position with immediate access to Europes road, rail, and water transportation networks and direct connections to Europes major consumption and production centers. Therefore, our aim is to implement solutions to the problems that currently exist in the PoR. We want to make this port the most competitive, innovative and sustainable in the world and to do that we will focus in three main goals: 1CM55 – Port of Rotterdam Authority Handle the lack of capacity until Maasvlakte 2 is finished. If we want this port to grow, we should manage this issue correctly. Manage the congestion of the highway infrastructure. Solve the problem of the loss of market share due to the growth of ports like Hamburg or Antwerp. 3 First of all, we would like to analyze the current situation of the port. We think that the most important way to do so is with a SWOT analysis, so we are able to identify both the internal and the external factors which are favorable or unfavorable to achieve our goals. 2. SWOT Analysis Strengths ? Geographical Location ? Vast Knowledge of the market ? Great Experience ? Large Influence ? Intermodal Network ? Competitive pricing ? Width and large draft ? Cheap Transport possibilities Opportunities ? Growth expected with Maasvlakte 2 ? Automation of several processes ? Possibility of implement biofuels flow Weaknesses ? Capacity Shortage ? Saturation of the port ? Both rail and roadways connections are not enough ? Environmental problems ? Delays due to failures in the distribution management ? Susceptible to storm surges Threats ? Constant growth of the containers ? Administrative regulations due to pollution ? Competition in the Le Havre-Hamburg range Strengths: We could subdivide the strengths into two groups: Characteristics of the Port: Its privileged situation allows the best distribution through the hinterland. Reaching the major industrial and economic centre’s of Western Europe within 24 hours is feasible due to this fact. Besides, its great width and large draft allows the biggest ships to load and unload in it. 1CM55 – Port of Rotterdam Authority Experience: The Port Authority has a wide knowledge in ports management: handling of shipping in the port of Rotterdam and the offshore approaches to the port. Opportunities: The future expansion of the PoR is extremely needed in the future. It is known that the container market is growing exponentially and the current terminals of the port (Maasvlakte and Eem/Waalhaven) are about to saturate. With Maasvlakte 2 they will be able to handle a bigger amount of ships and therefore obtain a bigger profit. Weaknesses: The problem of being one of the most important ports worldwide is that you need to have the best distribution channels in order to be able to make the shipping as efficient as possible. The PoR needs new ways of shipping because railways and highways are already congested. Threats: To overcome the recent growth of its neighbors’ market share, the PoR should try to fortify its strengths and to take advantage of its opportunities. Otherwise they will keep losing benefits because of them. The port should also be aware of the regulations, because nowadays the â€Å"green mind† is getting more and more important. 3. Alternatives 3. 1 Rail Transport Rail transport consists of long merchandise train with a lot of wagons circulating on dedicated way or on common way with the civil transport trains. This mean of transport is the cheapest one for a relatively fast, reliable and frequent transport of huge quantity on long distance. That is why it is used to transport bulky product, container and raw materials on distances higher than 200km. The typical capacity of a train is actually about 120 TEU, equivalent to 60 trucks. The network of railroad is already well installed but this mode of transport meet some limits. Indeed, the passenger trains are priority on the railroad and when a section of the way is not reserved for the freight, the train has to make way for passenger trains. This problem is growing up 1CM55 – Port of Rotterdam Authority with the passenger traffic figures. The best solution is to create special railroad only for the freight transport in order to avoid sharing the passenger railroad. This solution has already started to be implemented in the Netherlands with the creation of the Betuweroute. This railway is design to allow freight train to go straight to Germany through the country. We think this route should be used more than it is nowadays. We are greatly aware of its importance due to the fact that it makes possible the just in time delivery between the PoR and any point connected with it. Results of using this route could be seen: One of the most important problems of the port, the capacity shortage, is reduced thanks to the reduction of freight stock due to this route. . 2 Intermodal Transport This way of transport aims to avoid the transfer of the merchandise from on transport mode to another. For example, if a container needs to be first charged on a truck, then continue on a train to finish on again on a truck, the intermodal transport gives solution to avoid the lost of time during the transfers. Thus, the container is lay once on a truck and then the truck itself goes on the train till the destination. At the end, still the same truck finishes the transport by road. This technique is called piggyback and reduces a lot the roblem of congestion due to the charging time. This also permits to reduce the road congestion by moving the trucks on the railroads when it’s possible. This method reduces cargo handling; therefore security is improved by reducing both damages and losses. Besides, with this way of transport the time of delivering is significantly decreased. A reduced cost versus over road trucking is the key benefit for intra-continental use. Actually, we are not going to focus that much on this part, because we think the other ones are more interesting than t his one and more benefit could be obtained. 3. 3 Barge Transport Barge transport was traditionally used for bulk cargo (this means ore, coal or oil products). Nowadays, however, barges carry a wide range of finished products including chemicals, palletised goods and bigbags. Barge transport is suitable for carrying all types of freight, in dry or liquid form. 1CM55 – Port of Rotterdam Authority Even containers are highly suitable for transport by inland waterway. The barge transport sector is well equipped to meet the trend for more and more goods to be sent by container: container barges have a capacity of 20 to 500 TEU, while pusher convoys can take even more. The importance of large, modern container barges cannot be over-emphasised. 5 Although it is a really cheap transport, the main problem it has is that it is slow and therefore the delivery times are higher than with other ways of transport. Currently, the concentration in barge operations is low due to this issue. However it is increasing not only because highways are getting congested, but also because people are looking forward to cleaner ways of transport and everybody knows that trucks and trains are note efficient ways of transport at all. Thus, we have come up with an idea that we think could be very profitable if implemented. Nowadays, the existing way in which the freight is delivered using barge transport is with small vessels. It would be better if instead of small vessels the PoR, through the barge companies, uses larger barges so they can carry more containers. Furthermore, this larger barges could be used to replace some trucks so the number of them is reduced and with it the congestion of the highways. Hence, using this enhancement, we reduce both the barge and road traffic. 4. Conclusion It is known that hinterland transport could improve its productivity if the number if terminal visits in the port is reduced. To do this that it could be useful to re-organize small containers which come from different terminals with some kind of specific distribution services. Cost improvement could be obtained depending always on the distances and other significant factors. The most promising solution for such a reduction can be found in the transhipment costs of containers. If transhipment between the trunk line section and the collection distribution section can be achieved by one move (i. . board-to-board transhipment) this would substantially improve the competitiveness of these split services. 6 From our point of view it would be very interesting if larger vessels are used, as we explained above, in order to make every single trip more efficient and therefore save some costs.

Challenges And Opportunities During Handover Nursing Essay

Challenges And Opportunities During Handover Nursing Essay Variations in communication during staff handover cause a significant number of errors and near misses to occur, leading to adverse outcome In medical care, a hand over (also known as hand off, sign-out or end of shift report in the USA) refers to information about a patient that is transferred by one professional or a team to another. The primary objective of a hand over is to provide accurate information about a patients care, treatment and services, current condition and any recent or anticipated changes. The number and types of handovers for any given hospital patient can vary and may involve physicians, nurses, pharmacists, transport and other services Handovers are not simply a mechanical means for transmitting and receiving information. In medical care, a hand over requires that the sender consider a patients present condition and his/her likely future over the next 8-12 hours. Likewise the receiver must comprehend what is being transmitted and feel confident about the clarity and reliability of the message. In addition handover also involves the transfer of rights, duties and obligations as they relate to the meaning and interpretation of communication between one professional and another. Interest in handovers has grown steadily over the past decade and researchers, hospital administrators, educators and policy makers have learned that variations in communication during handovers cause a significant number of errors and near misses to occur leading to adverse outcome According to the Institute of Medicine (IOM) USA, up to 98000 patients die and another 15 million are harmed in US hospitals annually due to medical errors, and two-thirds of these errors are due to communication failure. Question 1 Read the case study 1, and based on the information given; write an essay to include the answers to the following questions Analyse the methods of internal communication you would recommend to ensure that hand over process in hospital wards is made efficiently A patient can be cared for by five different units during one hospital stay the operating room, postanesthesia care unit, critical care unit, step-down unit and medical/surgical unit which makes effective communication between the units all the more important. Hand offs help staff members process information, plan care and build the health care team. The five strategies for effective hand-off communication include (a) the usage of clear language healthcare professionals should avoid and refrain from using unclear or potentially confusing terms ( such as she is a little unstable, he is doing fine, she is lethargic). Define the terms being used and never use abbreviations or jargons that could be misinterpreted. (b) Healthcare professionals should incorporate effective communication techniques such as limit interruptions, focus on the information being exchanged, and allocate sufficient time to this important task. There is a need to implement read-back or check back techniques to make sure there is a common understanding about expectations. There is a need to encourage interactive questioning to allow for better information absorption. Keep the report patient centered and avoid irrelevant details, (c) there is a need for standardized shift-to-shift and unit-to-unit reporting. Using a consistent format increases the amount of info rmation staff members accurately record and recall and improves their ability to plan patient care. Organize the data with a sign-out checklist, a script or an at a glance status display. Make sure you can provide cues of important information to pass on that is otherwise likely to be forgotten in the chaos of shift or unit changes. Keep the report concise and accurate. What is included in hand-off communication varies by setting and discipline but can also include a summary of the patients current medical status, resuscitation status, recent lab values, allergies, a problem list and a to-do list for the covering physician or nurse. Get input from frontline staff to identify what should be included in the report. Smooth hand offs between settings is possible through the transition between the settings of care such as from the hospital to home, community or long term care can be undependable. To prevent problems, communicate with the physician when a patient is admitted and update him or her whenever the patients status changes significant. On discharge, provide the patient with information about discharge medications, discharge diagnoses and results of procedures and labs. A simple follow up call to the patient by a physician, nurse or pharmacist can prevent many postdischarge errors. Assess the impacts of barriers of internal communication within the hospital to achieve effective handover Hand off communication provides a forum for the exchange of ideas, opportunities to express concerns and a pace for offering peer support. Hand off can be a time when health care workers may find it permissible to express and communicate emotions such as grief, anxiety, loathing or amusement that must be suppressed outside the health care arena and can be particularly important for hospital staff members who are caring for terminal patients in hospital acute medical wards. Communications among care providers, responsibility for the patient, shift-change handovers, coordination among providers and different areas of the hospital and physician- nurse interaction are just some of the problems evident in the case. According to Anderson and Helms (1995), continuity of care is a series of interconnected patient care events within a health care institution and among multiple settings that requires coordination across time, settings and providers of health care. In the health care setting, hand offs include nursing shift changes, temporary relief or coverage, nursing and physician hand offs from an emergency department, various transfers of information in inpatient settings and transfers to different hospitals, nursing homes and home care or community health care. In addition to causing emotional harm such as anxiety and confusion to patients and their family members during already stressful situations, poor transition can cause physical harm to patients in which poor hand off communication lead to patient harm. Proper communication between nurses at all points during a patients hospital stay can be difficult because of high patient turnover, lack of overlap between shifts and time constrains. Adding to the problem is the increasing use of agency nurses and the large number of nurses involved in each patient care4. For a number of other reason, there may be gaps in information that is handed from one nurse to the other like new admissions just prior to shift change, fragmentation of communication between physicians and nurses, time available to conduct hand offs and the lack of knowledge about an individual patients condition as well. Due to these barriers to effective hands off there are certain things to improve communication, (a) increase consistency in assigning nurses to the same patients over a number of shifts, (b) structure hand offs to focus on patient progress rather than on tasks (c) include physicians in the hand-off process when feasible and (d) combine the strengths from the di fferent styles of hand-off communications strategy that meets the needs of the individual patient and the organization or unit. Identify how to create an effective communication structure which is standardised within the hospital to improve compliance with effective handover As part of the transition in care, hand offs transfer knowledge as well as responsibility and authority. Failures in adequate hand-off communication may result from the inability of staff members to construct a shared picture of what is going on with the patient at the time of transition, as well as expectations and plans. Standardizing hands off communication can help health care workers avoid common causes for communication failures during hand offs such as the following : (a) physicians and nurses consistently perform their rounds separately, (b) no formal tools are used to support the transition, (c) hand off communications vary greatly, with some occurring one-on-one and some in groups, (d) some sites have standard orders for handling off patients, (e) exchanges are more transactional than interactional, (f) interruptions are frequent during hand offs. There are multiple venues on how to create an effective communication structure which is standardised can be done through the following steps: (a) physician hand offs including resident-to-resident hand off should include information about code status for all patients, ( b) effective implementation of information technology can improve the availability of advance directive information, (c) health care organizations should have a procedure for reporting critical tests and critical results in a timely manner to the responsible licensed caregiver who ordered the test or an authorized agent of the responsible licensed caregiver, (d) physicians are responsible for tracking the results on laboratory tests they order. Checklists and other interventions aimed at decreasing lapses in concentration can prevent forgetting about ordered tests, (e) hospitals should strive for a communication environment where care team members are free to question each others knowledge. Actively engage patients and their families about their care. Use effective and active communication with members of a surgical team when planning procedures based on contingencies. Healthcare worker should engage in formal mechanisms for communicating changes in patient plans such as orders, checklists and briefings including notification of relevant providers. Using checklists, hand off cards and computerized hand offs can increase the quality, reliability and accuracy of information obtained. Verbal techniques such as read-backs where listeners repeats back salient issues, should be instituted as a standard part of the hand off process. Standard information transfer protocols, such as reminder systems to cue providers to check tests, mandates that laboratories or radiology departments contact providers about critical lab values and read -backs of key verbal information, should be adopted by health care organization to prevent transitional errors. ( Word count :1200 ) Case study 2 Redevelopment of the Kings College Hospital Emergency Department Kings College Hospital Foundation Trust was investing significant resources to completely redesign its Emergency Department. The aim was to improve facilities for all its patients, in particular mental health service users, following the closure of the local mental health emergency mental health facility A formal consultation process was necessary to gather the view of local people on its proposals. Despite this being a redevelopment which affected the whole local community, there was a risk that not all voices would be heard and that only those who had been campaigning against the closure of the dedicated mental health facility would engage. There was a need to give all sections of the community the opportunity to contribute Question 2 Read the case study 2, and based on the information given write an essay to include the answers to the following questions Analyze the methods of external communication you would use for the most effective dissemination of the information about the redevelopment at the Kings College Hospital, to all section of the community The improvements needed for the Emergency Department by the Kings College Hospital Foundation Trust relies so much on the contribution and support of the community. Since the entire hospital would require a full gear shift in order to accommodate the influx of mental patients since a mental health facility has been brought to a closure. There is a need to gather the consensus and consult the community since it will affect the entire population with the changes in the hospital itself. There will be changes in the allocation of budget, staffing and availability of healthcare professionals. Thus, there is a need to solicit the opinion and support of the local community. Sources of information outside the organization can provide an understanding of opportunities and challenges that the organization needs to anticipate or that it has encountered in the past. Important types of external information includes publics who come in contact with the organization, information networks linking individuals inside and outside of the healthcare organization, portrayals of the organization by key individuals and the media and information about social, economic and environmental issues related to the redevelopment of the entire Emergency Room of the hospital. It should be the goal of the entire hospital administration to ensure the effective and full redevelopment of the Emergency department to be responsive to the dynamic local needs. There is a need to conduct a thorough consultation process in order to facilitate the proper solicitation of the opinion from the entire community. This will allow consultation initiatives which will allow the local community to air out their sentiments and opinions with regards to site analysis, opportunities and constraints related to the building form, landscape and heritage. The attitude of the community towards the redevelopment of the health facility can be examined through consultation initiatives. The hospital should ensure that the community feedback was solicited at key project milestones and can be done through the utilization of newsletters, websites, site open day, community walks or even open forums. Further consultation will facilitate the understanding of the community regarding the final plans with the redesigning of the Emergency department. There should be a report related to the environmental assessment for public scrutiny and exhibition. This will allow the local community to have informed decisions about the proposal for the redesigning of the Emergency department. In this way, it will ensure the support from the various sectors of the community. It will facilitate the smooth operations of the hospital in its aim to cater the needs of mentally inflicted patients within the community. Assess the impact of external communication barriers on relationships with various community groups Since there is a need for the redevelopment of the Emergency Department of the Kings College Hospital, a thorough community consultation should be done. Effective engagement and relationship with the local community can lead to better assessment and effective planning. It will ensure better and sensible decisions and more excellent outcomes which can help in the avoidance of delay in the planning and implementation of the redevelopment of the emergency room. Through the consultation with the community, it will lead to an improvement of the confidence in the fairness and credibility of the plan to redesign and develop the Emergency room into a facility which can cater the needs of the clients suffering from mental affliction. The hospital administration expects the consultation and external communication with various community groups to be effective in order to find meaning from the planning process to enable the various groups to be reflected in the development of the proposal to redevelop the facility. There should be a consensus from various community groups to eliminate resistance and foster acceptance of the project. Early engagement with the community groups will ensure that the views and interests of the entire group into the proposed redevelopment. Barriers to effective external communication would be the failure of involvement in the identification and involvement of the people and the organization who are interested to focus on the engagement to further consult each other. Failure of the healthcare facility to fulfil the requirements of the statutory community consultation. The submission of a proposal to various community groups and stakeholders will provide an avenue for the community to contribute regarding the development of the project and its planning phase. The stakeholders are those with some stake or opinion in the decisions to be made in the entire community. These community groups provide the voice in behalf of the people who are affected by the decisions made. Various community groups which can be affected by the change in health care facility are the local government, families and support groups of mentally challenged individuals, healthcare professional alliances, environmental groups and even the neighbourhood where the facility is supposed to be built. The involvement of these stakeholders should include direct access to facilitate consultative process. The involvement of many stakeholders as possible is very important to make sure that there is effective communication to prevent resistance among the locals. Through the face-to-face dialogue there will be an increase in the likelihood that all opinions and views are taken into consideration. This is very important since the silent majority is fully involved in the process of consulting with the entire community. Identify how to create an effective external communication structure in the hospital based on the experience of the above case study The redevelopment of the Emergency room of the Kings College Hospital will definitely involved the entire community. Since this reorganization of the physical arrangement of the hospital is caused by the closure of a mental health institution located within the vicinity of the community. Consulting with the community will truly evoke the sentiments and opinions of the entire population. In order to thoroughly and completely gather the insights of various community groups, information dissemination regarding the proposed organizational redevelopment. This is to make sure that the public has been informed of the plans to reorganize the hospital to further accommodate the mental health needs of the entire community. These can be done through publication of newsletters in local community papers in circulation. Local television programs and radio stations can help in informing the public for such plans related to an existing health facility. This will allow the entire community to get a birds eye view of what to expect and how the redevelopment of the Emergency Room should affect them. A community dialogue can be organized by the external affairs department of the hospital in order to provide a venue for the community and the hospital administration to discuss the significance, the importance and the plans on how to make such changes in the healthcare institution. Walk in and open house events can be done to allow community members to personally witness and assess the necessity of a redevelopment. It should include the necessary information and facts for the need to accommodate mental health patients. In this way, it will magnify the positive responses from the community itself. There is a need for the hospital administration to ensure that they make the most comprehensive information regarding the need for such redevelopment. It will ensure a favourable response and an informed decision from the entire community. After the first touch base with the community, the hospital administration can start planning out a proposal on how to carry out the plans for the redevelopment of the emergency room. The hospital administration should provide a proposal involving the finances to support, the needed manpower, funds and machineries for the plans to be executed. There should be proper coordination with the various departments of the hospitals to thoroughly cover staffing needs of various areas of the hospital that would be affected by the changes, budget allocations and the resettlement area for the emergency department while the redevelopment is ongoing. ( Word count :1200 ) Case study 3 Reputation audit and communication support for NHS Milton Keynes Issue NHS Milton Keynes wanted to improve its communication with all stake holders (GPs, patients, voluntary groups, partner organisations and politicians), and raise its profile in the local media to enable it to deliver on challenging issues such as the national 18 weeks wait and public health objectives and priorities. A strategic plan need to be implemented to achieve this objective Read the case study 3, and based on the information given write an essay to include the answers to the following questions Question 3 Plan an effective communications strategy to communicate with the stakeholders of the NHS Milton Keynes to raise its profile and communicate its strategic objectives Although the benefits of having a good reputation are many and varied, they come down to one thing: a strong reputation creates a strategic advantage. Since companies are constantly competing for the support of the stakeholders, clients, local communities and employees. A good reputation creates an intangible obstacle that lesser rivals will have a tough time overcoming. A good reputation enhances profitability because it attracts customers to the companys product, clients and employees to its jobs. In turn, esteem inflates the price at which a public companys securities trade. The economic value of corporate reputation can therefore be gauged by the excess market value of its securities. To successfully manage reputation, a company must establish the programs necessary for actively relating and communicating to the stakeholders of a hospital or healthcare institution. The company must regularly audit or check into its reputational profile. There is a need to fully execute reputational auditing which would allow thorough diagnostic review of the hospitals current identity. Images and reputation. A reputation audit can help manage and analyse the gaps between the desired reputation, aims, roles and values of the healthcare institute. A research or survey can be conducted to effectively communicate what the stakeholders, community members regarding their priorities and perceptions in the impact and significance of the institution itself. At the end of the reputation audit, the hospital will know which are working and what organizational changes should be done to further reach out to its target population. There should be a leadership consensus about the significant issues as well as collective dialogue. There should be thorough evaluation of the internal capabilities and available resources to support the necessary changes to improve image and reputation. Media monitoring can be one of the ways to effectively identify the essential understanding of the concurrent reputation of the hospital. It will give a warning on the development of issues and will give you the ability to determine if news coverage is negative or positive. There should be a positive relationship with media through media training for the key players of the organization who have credibility on the issues on hand. Measuring the reputation of a company is a dynamic and complex process. A range of issues can be assessed and evaluated. Good reputation management is about developing high sensitivity to the concerns and expectations of all stakeholders and establishing a mature dialogue with them so that actions taken that principally affect one stakeholder group recognize the concerns and expectations of all the others. Reputation management is synonymous to risk management which involves anticipating the downside risks to the companys reputation from losing support from any stakeholder whose personal interest might diverge from those of the institution. Communications among organizations should be monitored in order to ensure marketing and branding activities will align with other efforts to build a better reputation for the hospital. The key point to maintain the alignment of a reputation audit. In this way, it can help the organization to determine the effectiveness in a driving engagement and achieving favourable results with external stakeholders such as the media, clients, customers and various community groups. Discuss how you would implement your communication strategy. Corporate communication has in recent times evolved into a full field of study, both in practice and in scientific theory. Grant (1996) has in my opinion tackled the most important issues in the area of coordination of all forms of communication. He argues that there are four mechanisms within an organization that integrate specialist knowledge (such as communication knowledge). These are: (a) rules and instructions, procedures, rules, standardized information and communication systems, (b) sequencing the organization of the primary process in a sequential can be improved is the extent to which the story can be characterized as sustainable. Consistency in communication is one of the crucial factors in increasing success with corporate communication. This implies the necessity of ensuring the clarity about who is responsible for what and especially about what. Reputation acts like a resource to the company- one that is difficult to gain and difficult to imitate, and that enables the company to achieve superior levels of performance. Companies with better corporate reputations are better able to improve their operating performance over time. The higher levels of operating performance that result from a good reputation virtually guarantee that a company will receive favourable endorsements from stakeholders and the media. Charles Fombrun and Mark Shanley showed that reputations measured by Fortunes most admired company ratings were heavily influenced by a health institutions performance, media visibility and significance to the community, strategic behaviour heavily intertwined.(C. J. Fombrun V. Rindova 2001). Organizations are increasingly aware of the fact that the joint communication efforts by all specialists in this field in an organization are not always effective. Communication is sometimes fragmented or even contradictory. The magic phrase by which solutions to this problem are often looked for seems to be integration of communication. The hospital should be able to identify which organizational activities related to external stakeholders should be analyzed. The perspectives of higher-level functional categories within the organizations communication strategy. There should be an analysis on the branding, advertising, public relations and even maintaining online presence through a website or webpage, community management or social media strategy through facebook or twitter. Afterwards, you can start rating your current level of effectiveness for the various categories of communicating with external stakeholders. A target audience should be consulted for each of the areas of external communication strategy, determine what you want to accomplish and if you have achieved the goals you have to improve the reputation of the health institution. The ratings will help you identify the areas by which you are supposed to concentrate and improve and develop strategies to realign them with the goals of the healthcare institution. Corporate reputation is the entire expectations and perceptions of the stakeholders about the hospital in reference to the personal ideals of the stakeholders. Reputation of the hospital is not necessarily informed by any form of actual knowledge, form of communication or mere interaction within the company which can be communicated by various stakeholders outside the institution. Management of reputation must include managing and monitoring perceptions in order to achieve favourable response from the community, patients and other members of the community. How would you evaluate the effectiveness of your communications strategy? A communication strategy is a model or guide of which you can follow to help create effective messages for specific purposes. Health care communication strategies offer advice or suggestions about gaining insights into a patients background and health care beliefs. Strategies are also valuable in helping overcome barriers to effective communication between hospital, stakeholders, caregivers and patients. Communicating effectively and often during a reputation improvement process is essential. Crises create unsettling ambiguities. Companies facing crisis are usually under siege from the media, the financial community, disgruntled employee, online and offline critics and in some cases the hospital administrators. Rescuing reputation and taking the first steps on the path to long term recovery require a greater level of communications than is typical in less stressful times. Communications from the top are needed in heave doses to steady the employees who may e reeling from bad news or uncertainty. It is the leaders job to choose the most effective channels and the right words, and then give communications their most meaning during challenging times. In professional organizations, developing external communication strategies that emphasize consistency and stability is very important. Internally, induction and training procedures can be usefully employed to encourage professionals to behave in standardized ways when dealing with clients. However, the need to be carefully monitored to ensure that a balance between individual creativity and firm goals is struck. The study by Covaleski et al. (1998) highlighted the problems with two such induction strategies: MBO (management by objectives) and mentoring. Opinions research rely on polls to gauge public opinion. We may well want to construct reputational profiles and rankings of companies in quite similar ways. To determine the effectiveness of the communication strategy by the healthcare institution, there should be careful identification of each members of the constituent groups. The effectiveness of the communication strategy can be measured with the proper solicitation of feedbacks and ratings from relevant areas of the institution to specific target audience. The better represented are all of the companys constituents in the reputational audit, the more valid is the reputational profiles that it can generate. The main concern is with the constructing samples of constituents that will not have bias results. To achieve a representation of the population at large, political pollsters advocate random sampling- respondents are not selected because of their typicality or of their representatives. Insofar as corporate ratings accurately reflect the multiple images of a company that are being disseminated, they provide a useful tool for assessing the companys overall performance. For some companies, the fragmented images will converge, producing strong reputations. Communication is used to determine who needs to know something, what they need to know and how best to interact with them. A strategic public relations program will address the audience that is relevant to the public relations and reputation improvement campaign. Research initiatives should link this understanding to the reputation improvement endeavours of the hospital. In the process, it must provide a benchmark from which to judge the impact and effectiveness of the public relations strategy utilized by the healthcare institution. Word count :1500 )