AED WK4 DQ 1 Reponses Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

AED WK4 DQ 1 Reponses - Coursework Example They can also be helped by utilizing a psycho-educational method to improve communication, cognitive, and social skills and at the same time reducing issue behavior. Since no single intersession works for all such students need individual tailored methods but the most used is in such situation is the applied behavior analysis (ABA). A mean student need to be explained the effects of being mean and benefits of one who is generous. By doing that, we shall be trying to change the behavior to make him adopt positive thinking towards others. While working with such a student use various stories on people who were mean and what life they faced afterwards. The story should have a theme of avoiding being mean. Ensure you are just as generous as possible so that when they compare they see some value helping others(Volkmar et al., 2004). Shy students need to be introduced to various situations to ensure they reduce their shyness. Working in groups is the best method where each person is given a topic to discuss. By doing that, they will develop confidence in themselves for delivering their topic; afterwards they will now start making friends. Afterwards the group discussions will then be taken to class presentation; this will reduce cases of shyness as one realizes he or she can present anything audibly to others(Volkmar et al., 2004). Such a student needs intensive behavioral intervention by ABA. Always while communicating tell them to look at you and ensure you attract her attention as much as possible. Error correction process should also be applied with various trials that will enable her remain focused. There is also need for constructive partnership with the siblings, parents, and co-therapists. Interaction also should be intensified to lower her restricted and communication issue(Volkmar et al., 2004). 3. It is crucial for all children, especially those with ASD, to have immediate feedback. Why is it important to have immediate feedback? How do you feel

Mergers and Acquisitions †The life of Hewlett †Packard Essay Example for Free

Mergers and Acquisitions – The life of Hewlett – Packard Essay The first big customer of HP was Walt Disney Studios. The company purchased eight oscillators from HP for their movie Fantasia. These oscillators were purchased in order to develop an innovative sound system for the movie. HP has incorporated profit sharing and social commitment in the company through its values and corporate objectives that have been with the company since 1957, these principles guide them to be focused and committed to the company and were founded by the co founders and are being followed to this day. Through trust, team work, innovation and integrity the company has been successful in making enough profits to finance their growth as well as keep all the stakeholders satisfied. They respect customer loyalty and the role of employees and there fore their contribution in the company. They look for opportunities and grow but not at the stake of society, they serve as an asset to the society and country where ever they are doing business. Dave Packard used a management technique that was incorporated into HP’s corporate culture. He called it â€Å"managing by walking around† which later came to be known as â€Å"management by Objectives† which had employee involvement, recognition and communication for better management and achievement of organizational goals. The company went public in the year 1957 and Bill and Dave have always given respect and appreciation for the employee’s efforts. Therefore after going public they gave the stock grants to the employees automatically who have been serving for at least six months in the company. This meant that the employees were given shares of the company, which will give them some form of ownership in the company and motivate them more for the performance and growth. The first acquisition of the company took place in the year 1958 of a high quality graphic producer company. The name of the company was F.L. Moseley Company of Pasadena, California. This acquisition was not seen as a threat to its flexibility because this gave opportunity to HP to enter into plotters market which was a needed for the company’s printer business. And to counter the problem of growing business the company had practiced decentralization of business divisions which will be responsible for their own products. Bill was looking for opportunities internationally for Hp to enter foreign markets and he found some in Europe after the Treaty of Rome and also the European Common market in the year 1957. These paved way for starting operation of Hp in the European markets and as Bill visited Europe he found it a viable decision and the company became global in the year 1959. The first joint venture of the company was in Asia with a Japanese company named Yokogawa Hewlett-Packard (YHP) in the year 1963. The CEO identified the factors that lead to major acquisitions by HP till the year 2005. HP was performing well in the industry. Its revenue and profits were rising and which made it attractive for the investor’s point of view as the company’s stock value also rose. The company was able to achieve cost control and pay bonuses to the employees at the same time. The company had a strong financial position with an impressive figure of $6.8 billion as an increase in revenue growth. The company wanted to achieve cost competitiveness. The company made some changes in the number of workers and their retirement programmes. The company consists of a team of dedicated workforce which is willing to put in their maximum efforts to enhance the value and performance. Moreover the company wanted to evolve in the bigger markets. The company had cash and potential to prosper in sales, they had no burden of operational debt. They have a strong customer base with a brand loyalty from them. All these led to the successful acquisitions of the company. The merger and acquisitions that took place between HP and other companies around the globe made HP a much stronger company in terms of market share as well as sales growth and innovation and created value for the company. The deal with Compaq was seen as an opportunity to grow into the IT sector in the world.   One of the long term goals of the company is to become the world’s largest computer company. All these mergers and takeovers were taken in order to reduce the competition, increase market share, share expertise which can be used to produce further products. The deal between Compaq and HP was seen as a success in the industry after five years of the deal. Compaq was its strong competitive at the same time one of the largest PC makers. The two companies by integrating have took forward the company’s profits and sales to another level altogether. The merger took place at the right time when both the companies were lacking the production of key products. But after the deal both the companies were able to fill in the gap that they had while operating independently. They were committed to the infrastructure software which helped the company go into the management layer from the commodity hardware. The company was at a stronger position to compete with the global service providers. The deal was able to increase the revenue and profits for the company being in the competitive environment of the industry.

Essay --

Introduction Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is refers to the enterprise to create profits, bear legal responsibility to shareholders, while also taking into account the impact on the result of the various stakeholders. Corporate social responsibility is an important way towards sustainable development, it is consistent with the reasonable expectations of the business community as a whole, not only will not divert energy companies, but also improve the competitiveness of enterprises and reputation. As a supplier of energy to approximately 5% of Americans and more than 40% of Californians, PG&E is the investor-owned utilities company, which provide natural gas and electricity and focus on Hydroelectric, Nuclear, Fossil fuels and Solar power. (PG&E, 2014) PG&E has a long-term strategy in environmental sustainability to addressing the climate change issue. Their economic vitality sustainability programmes focus on bringing economic benefits to the communities as part of corporate social respo nsibility. Like the PG&E company channelled $2.5 million to economic development charitable commitment in 2013.( PG&E, 2013) Economic benefit and social impact PG&E Company seeks to exceed the current standard of environmental protection. They decided to improve the standard of management system, which can help them to innovate some environmental protection programs. Moreover, PG&E train all the employees on sense of environmental protection. Facing with long-term sustainability environmental strategy, lots of investor will be willing to invest some new clean power that can both protect environment and raise the profit. Therefore, PG&E improve efficiency at the power like solar, bio energy and hydro energy. The ripple effect, which PG&... ...successfully achieved CSR in many ways. In order to meet a satisfactory CO2 output, such utility enterprise needed to create a strategy that can adapt different situation in climate change, PG&E is a responsible enterprise that obeying CSR development as well as any social impact while making profit. Win-win strategy is a really good example for pre planning the company strategy to face up coming challenge and also gives you a overview about the performance of the company itself. In the Win-win strategy, PG&E seek to find out some ways to create some renewable and clean energy like Hydro energy and solar power. This will be a huge step for PG&E to become more environmental friendly. In this action, investor, researcher, customer and environmentalist, all of them think that PG&E performing well. The position of PG&E in FT Global 500 will be rising in the future.

Design Education in the Middle East Essay

The Middle East is a part of the world that has been left behind in terms of design discourse and education. This is the result of years of struggle from political, economical, and cultural setbacks. The first part of the thesis offers a general description of the region through a brief history of events that have contributed to its current state, concentrating on Qatar, Lebanon, Egypt, and Iran. Furthermore, the existing design schools in Doha, Beirut, Cairo and Tehran are examined by their curricula and teaching methodologies with interviews from professors and students as well as project samples from various design courses offered in the schools. Consequently, a general analysis among them is deduced, examining some challenges and opportunities found in the culture and design education system. Then a selection of three of the most famous and progressive design schools in the world (Koeln International School of Design, Parsons New School for Design, and Design Academy Eindhoven) are taken into account, providing a basis for comparison as well as some direction regarding design education on global standards. As an initial venture to attempt to understand the standards of design education in Middle Eastern design students; Beirut is taken as a case study where the project ‘Public Design Intervention: Beirut’ is initiated in May 2010. Students as well as some young professionals were asked to design public interventions that are concerned with cultural, social, political and environmental issues in their country. As design is still in its primitive stages that deal mostly with commercial purpose, the participants were given the opportunity to use design as a tool for awareness and change. The results of this project provided collective motivation for the much needed improvement of the design education system. The final part of the thesis deals with design education and culture, explaining the need for a sustainable and self-generative relationship between the two. The crucial importance in understanding cultural behavior provides keys to the establishment of a design education curriculum. Moreover, the lack of cultural sensitivity is one of the main problems in Middle Eastern design education; this is largely due to the implementation of Western curricula which serve different cultural needs. Hence, a set of Middle Eastern cultural aspects are discussed, and opportunities in their implementation in design discourse are inspected. Finally, the outcome of the thesis, which initially aimed at redefining the existing design education curricula in the Middle East, is the proposal of a design research center. This center would act as a hub for the entire Middle East, creating links between Middle Eastern design schools and the industry. A crucial area of research would be to further investigate the cultural, social, and economical aspects of the region and provide more detailed and scientific knowledge that would eventually lead to the improvement of design education in the Middle East. The Middle Eastern Design Research Center is to be established in Beirut with an interdisciplinary team of designers, social scientists, and educators dedicated to understanding vital aspects of Middle Eastern culture and adopting them as core influences on a new design education program for the region. The center should also act as a link between academic projects and the manufacturing industry.

Database Enviroment Essay

THE DATABASE ENVIRONMENT: A database defines a structure for storing information and it collects information that is organized in such a way that a computer program can quickly select desired pieces of data. A database can also be thought of as an electronic filing system. Data and information are extracted from a database by creating a query and then submitting it to the query database management system (DBMS) and it is posed in a language that only the DBMS can understand. PROBLEMS AND CONSTRAINTS: The museum’s current system is efficient but there seems to be some problems with the rights and privileges to the current users. For example, all users currently have the rights to input registration dates for certain events. The current system in not tracking the dates therefor there is no log of how many people are attending or the dates that they are supposed to attend. There seems to be lost inventory because the inventory does not match the reports that are generated. Some other problems that may exist is if artwork is removed and it is not enter into the database location it will not be updated. The reports also take too long to generate and scan the inventory. This requires the help of a user who has better access to the system rights. The administrator will have the rights to go in, access information and change and fix issues that occur. The basic employees will have limited rights to access certain information such as certain artist and artwork in the museum as well as dates that the artist will be in the museum. There is also a need for an explicit backup and recovery implementation. The administrator also needs to track openings for new artwork in the museum. Security The administrative support can use the systems database along with other authorized personal as long as he or she has a username and a password to access it. The system is password protected and is a secure system. Security is a plus when using a database where many users will be accessing the system. There will be a set standard to what a user can and cannot do based on what their position is on the databases. OBJECTIVES: The Museum of Fine Arts needs to install an updated database to track the new and existing art work along with the location of the art and artist as well as new artist. It needs to store all of the artists information as far as phone numbers, how many pieces of art they have in the museum, as well as clients that have purchased artwork or that is interested in certain pieces of art. The database also needs to store the quantity of art pieces sold and its current inventory at the museum along with the prices. They also need to log the attendance of the people that come to the museum. This system is maintained so that personnel have the ability to check the artist details, updated artwork as well as the entire museum notices, if any should be in the database. SCOPE AND BOUNDARIES: The scope is to design a database that holds the museums information in a secure environment. The database design will encompass one or more functions in a single environment or department. One of the boundaries is working with the existing hardware. Since the new database system will use standard reusable components, such as standard date routines or file access routines that will be modified. We will improve service by providing an information system to respond to customer inquiries which is all screen based. Cost of implementing the database, training and training materials for the employees might be another boundary. We will also, be implementing a disaster recovery plan for the system. Data Specifications List- Purpose- The purpose is to store information about the artists as well as current and new artwork in the museum. The database will also store information about the entire inventory that is currently in the museum along with the sale prices. A list of the major entities and the attributes about which information will be captured. Entities Attributes 1. ArtworkYear and Date Made, size, name 2. ArtistName, Artist ID number, Phone number, 3. PriceHow many   SaleDate of purchase, Item Purchases, Cost of Item Functionality- The data will be used to generate reports and track the inventory that is in the museum as well as facilitate searching and matching of the artist and artwork. Data Quality- The art museums manager and assistant manager will work to keep the data up to date. The data quality of the art museum is very important to the operation of the business. Without data quality for the museum it could lead to the loss of cliental, artist, revenue and potential closing of the art museum. Business Rules- There is many business rules that apply to the database. To determine whether a client is considered â€Å"active† or â€Å"inactive† they should have some type of communication and or contribute artwork to the museum every six months. Certain client’s information is mandatory such as address but we need to have at least their name and two contact numbers. The art museums manager is the only one who has the authority to authorize particular transactions. Classifications –The classification schemes that might be used by the database is alphabetical order or last names first. Data, which is categorized in a meaningful way, is much easier to search, sort and report on. User Interface-The user interface should look and behave in a simple manor for the user to navigate between different parts of the database. Specific functionality should be implemented and easy to use for such things as searching, adding new records and updating existing records. Reports- There are many reports that are required. There needs to be an inventory report done weakly to track the inventory. There needs to be an expense report generated as well as a loss and gain report. Security- The access to certain data needs to be restricted by user name and password because some information in the database contains sensitive information. The manager will be the only one that can add, edit or delete information. The types of art, prices and the artist information will be accessible to people outside of the museum via the internet. Scale- The museum needs a large database considering the amount of work it is required to do for example, the records the database will contain and the fact that it is available 24 hours a day. Operating Environment- The museum will need a system that can be added to in the future. References: Management-Hub.Com. (2013). Understanding the Objectives of Database Management in an Organization. Retrieved February 2, 2013, from URL http://www.management-hub.com/database-management-objectives.html Benda, S. (2011).Constraints and the Test-Driven Database Retrieved January 30, 2013, from URL http://www.simple-talk.com Peter, R. and Coronel, C. (2009). Database Systems: Design, Implementation, and Management –Computers, Scope and Boundaries. Retrieved February 1, 2013 from URL http://books.google.com University of Phoenix. (2004).Week Two overview. Retrieved February 1, 2013, from University of Phoenix, Week Two, Resource. DBM/380-Database Designs Web site: www.ecampus.phoenix.edu

Fun-Packed Thanksgiving on a Budget

Fun-Packed Thanksgiving on a Budget Are you staying on campus over Thanksgiving break? Whatever the reason, you dont have to feel like a misfit – just throw your own fun-packed â€Å"friendsgiving† party and invite everyone else whos not going home for the weekend. If money is an issue, you should know that having a bigger budget does not mean having more fun! In fact, the low-budget DIY atmosphere of it all might bring you closer together. If youre sneering, remember that this holiday is about being grateful for what you have. Invite Everyone You Know – and Dont Know If all the people you regularly hang out with are away, turn to social media! Use the Facebook group for your campus to find others who are staying at school for the holiday, and message them to see if theyre down to spend the evening with other â€Å"orphans†. Use that number to approximate how many people are coming, and, hey, maybe you can get away with hosting this thing at your dorm room. Whats Your Budget? If it turns out that more people are interested than you think you can accommodate, consider asking them for some money – not literally charging at the door, but a small donation, whatever they can, to help out with the cost of food and refreshments. Add that to the money youre putting up yourself, and you have your budget! Heres how you should distribute the money: 70% on food, drinks and all the paraphernalia like cups, paper plates and utensils. The rest is for entertainment purposes. Decide on the Menu Whats Thanksgiving without stuffing your face? If you have access to a proper kitchen, youre in luck and can plan to cook all the Thanksgiving staples youre used to having at home – mashed potatoes, turkey with cranberry sauce, and all the rest. Contact the other â€Å"orphans†, and see if theyd be able to volunteer to help you cook the food. If you dont have the resources to cook your own food, make use of your local supermarkets catering. Its going to be more expensive than cooking your own food, but you need to eat something, right? You also have the option of only buying the essentials on your own, and making the dinner a potluck affair. If youre going to throw a potluck, though, you might have to reconsider asking them for money in the first place – both is going to be a bit much. If potluck is the way youre going to go, it might also make sense to make the party BYOB. Buy some small amount of refreshments on your own and dont forget the ice. The rest is up to your guests. If youre planning to have turkey, youre going to have to buy one on your own. Its very large and will probably end up being the most expensive thing on the table, so dont count on anyone else to bring it, unless, of course, they say they will. Games and Activities If you have access to a television, youd better set it up wherever youre having the party ahead of time. Thanksgivings nothing to the football fans if not a chance to watch some TV while eating traditional foods. For those who dont want to just sit and stare into a screen, get some games set up. The football fans might like to play a quick friendly match after theyve watched the game. For the rest, think of something you can do sitting down, since, if everythings gone according to plan, everyone will be too stuffed to move anyway. If your first thought is board games, reconsider. Board games are wholesome fun for the whole family, sure, but youre college students, for goodness sakes! Choose your favorite drinking game, and leave Scrabble for the kids. Dont Forget to Have Fun After all this planning and budgeting and preparing, you should let yourself relax. Dont designate yourself the role of being the one to tell everyone to use coasters. Let go and have some fun yourself. Make some friends, make some jokes, do something embarrassing youre going to remember with horror for the next five years, and then remember fondly as a part of your college life.

Jurassic Park

Jurassic Park Jurassic Park: the Lost World Characters There are many characters in this book. Only one of these characters is from the origional. He is Ian Malcom. There are many people, though who take the place of the previos book's characters. There are Kelly and Arby instead of Timmy and his sister for example. There are many main and minor characters in this novel which are all very important to the story line.Ian Malcom is one of the main characters in the novel. The book starts with him giving a lecture Berkley University. He talks about Chaos Theory and how it implies to the extiction of animals. He is a Mathematition who specializes in Chaos Theory. He searches for the elleged "Site B" of Jurassic Park. He is probably the most important of the main characters.Richard Levine plays a important role in this novel. In the begining of the novel he is at Malcom's lecture.The Mercedes-Benz W163 used in the film

DLL and ActiveX Controls From a Delphi Application

DLL and ActiveX Controls From a Delphi Application A popular feature of Delphi  is the project deployment of an application with an executable file (exe).   However, if the DLL or ActiveX controls in your project are not registered on the users’ machines, an â€Å"EOleSysError† will be displayed in response to running the exe file.  To avoid this, use the regsvr32.exe command-line tool. RegSvr32.exe Command Manually using regsvr32.exe (Windows.Start - Run) will register and unregister self-registerable   DLL and ActiveX controls on a system. Regsvr32.exe instructs the system to attempt to load the component and call its DLLSelfRegister function. If this attempt is successful, Regsvr32.exe displays a dialog indicating success. RegSvr32.exe has the following command-line options:   Regsvr32 [/u] [/s] [/n] [/i[:cmdline]] dllname /s - Silent; display no message boxes /u - Unregister server /i - Call DllInstall passing it an optional [cmdline]; when used with /u calls dll uninstall /n - do not call DllRegisterServer; this option must  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   be used with /i   Call RegSvr32.exe Within Delphi code To call the regsvr32 tool within Delphi code, use the â€Å"RegisterOCX† function to execute a file and wait for the execution to finish. This is how the RegisterOCX procedure could look: procedure RegisterOCX; type TRegFunc function : HResult; stdcall; var ARegFunc : TRegFunc; aHandle : THandle; ocxPath : string; begin try ocxPath : ExtractFilePath(Application.ExeName) Flash.ocx; aHandle : LoadLibrary(PChar(ocxPath)); if aHandle 0 then begin ARegFunc : GetProcAddress(aHandle,DllRegisterServer); if Assigned(ARegFunc) then begin ExecAndWait(regsvr32,/s ocxPath); end; FreeLibrary(aHandle); end; except ShowMessage(Format(Unable to register %s, [ocxPath])); end; end; Note: the ocxPath variable points to the Flash.ocx Macromedia OCX. To be able to register itself, an OCX must implement the DllRegisterServer function to create registry entries for all the classes inside the control. Do not worry about the DllRegisterServer function, just make sure it is there. For the sake of simplicity, it is presumed that the OCX is located in the same folder as where the application is. The ExecAndWait line in the above code calls the regsvr32 tool by passing the /s switch along with the full path to the OCX. The function is ExecAndWait. uses shellapi; ... function ExecAndWait(const ExecuteFile, ParamString : string): boolean; var SEInfo: TShellExecuteInfo; ExitCode: DWORD; begin FillChar(SEInfo, SizeOf(SEInfo), 0); SEInfo.cbSize : SizeOf(TShellExecuteInfo); with SEInfo do begin fMask : SEE_MASK_NOCLOSEPROCESS; Wnd : Application.Handle; lpFile : PChar(ExecuteFile); lpParameters : PChar(ParamString); nShow : SW_HIDE; end; if ShellExecuteEx(SEInfo) then begin repeat Application.ProcessMessages; GetExitCodeProcess(SEInfo.hProcess, ExitCode); until (ExitCode STILL_ACTIVE) or Application.Terminated; Result:True; end else Result:False; end; The ExecAndWait function uses the ShellExecuteEx API call to execute a file on a system. For more examples of executing any file from Delphi, check out how to execute and run applications and files from Delphi code. Flash.ocx Inside Delphi Exe If there is a need to register an ActiveX control on ​the user’s machine, then make sure the user has the OCX the program requires by placing the entire ActiveX (or DLL) inside the application’s exe as a resource. When the OCX is stored inside the exe, it is easy to extract, save to disk, and call the RegisterOCX procedure.

Understanding strategic management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 1

Understanding strategic management - Essay Example Decision makers and managers must apply their strategic skills in the process of managing an organisation. Increasing competition and changing nature of demand are the two prime reasons behind the increasing demand of strategic management process in the contemporary world. This paper will attempt to assess a company by using strategic management tools and models. The models and tools will be used for two proposes i.e. for environmental scanning and for strategy formulation. Environmental scanning will include internal and external analysis. The next section will show the company’s strategic position in the market. Based on the analysis and findings, relevant strategies will be recommended. Tesco Plc has been selected for the purpose of strategic management analysis. Tesco is a UK based company and is operating in the global retail industry. However, in this paper, the primary focus will be on the UK retail industry. Tesco Plc is a UK based leading retailer. The company was founded by Jack Cohen in 1919. The company was first listed in London Stock Exchange in 1947 and it launched its corporate website (Tesco.com) in 2000 (Tesco Plc-a, 2010). The company offers a wide range of product and retailing service through its numerous superstores. Tesco offers homes products, fast moving consumer products, clothing, consumer durable, electronics etc (Tesco-a, 2010). The latest annual report of Tesco disclosed that it owns 4810 stores in the global market and nearly 472000 employees are working with Tesco (Tesco Plc-b, 2010). It experienced very fast growth and after its global expansion, the company became the third largest retailer in the world after Wal-Mart and Carrefour. The company has developed its reputed brand image in the market. Specially, in UK, the company has gained a large share of the market (Silverthorne, 2010). Tesco has developed an effective and efficient strategic management procedure in

Abraham Lincoln' Political Religion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Abraham Lincoln' Political Religion - Essay Example Even though Lincoln never proved himself to be an ardent abolitionist he strongly protested against the extension of slavery to other territories. He emphasized the concept of self-government and strongly believed that the Founders of the Constitution foresaw the abolition of slavery in America in the long run. Lincoln makes it clear that even though the Declaration of Independence was formed by the representatives of thirteen States of the confederacy out of which twelve were slaveholding communities they made provisions in the Constitution to the abolition of slave trade in the long run. However, unlike the abolitionists Lincoln sought to address the issue of slavery within the limits of the Constitution and later his speeches and presidential debates explicitly reinforce his anti-slavery sentiments. This paper seeks to explore Guelzo’s argument that the Declaration of Independence formed the Scripture of Lincoln’s political religion and in doing so the paper also sho ws how Lincoln has accommodated his political ideologies with the Constitution that binds the Union together. In his 1854 campaign one can find Lincoln upholding the constitution, the Union and the good will of the Founders. He makes it clear that the Founders were always against slavery and they took special efforts to stop the spread of slavery into the Old Northwest Territory. For him, the Founders â€Å"could not avoid the unpleasant fact that slavery already existed in the Southern states of the Union, but they had regarded its existence as an anomaly and they tolerated its continuation there as an â€Å"argument of necessity† for establishing the national Union† (Guelzo 185-86). Lincoln also goes on to purport that even Missouri winning the administration as a slave state in 1820 and its slave status was only a concession aimed at further spreading slavery into the West. One can also find Lincoln repudiating Douglas’s arguments in favor of the doctrine of self-government and popular sovereignty. While Douglas justified the Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854 that allowed settlers in the territories to determine through Popular Sovereignty whether they would allow slavery within each territory, Lincoln was well aware of the dangers of Kansas-Nebraska. Douglas was of the opinion that â€Å"slavery had to be given its chance in the territories because it was the right of free settlers to exercise their popular sovereignty in choosing their own kind of government† (Guelzo 186) whereas Lincoln argued that popular sovereignty would subvert the principle of self-government as this would offer a choice for slavery. During his 1859 campaign speeches in the Ohio, Indiana, and Wisconsin Lincoln repeatedly asserted that the even though the Founders sought to restrain the spread of slavery in the territories Douglas and Kansas-Nebraska had wrecked that bargain by trying to extend slavery across the nation. While Douglas argued that popular sovereignty would enable territories to refuse slavery Lincoln held that slavery could never cease to exist unless and until it is prohibited by law. He also observed that in such territories and states where â€Å"slavery was not prohibited, it was established† and the Northerners were kept free due to the â€Å"explicit congressional legislation embodied in the Northwest Ordinance, banning the extension of slavery† rather than by the logic of popular sovereignty (Guelzo 230). Similarly, Lincoln regarded slavery as a total destruction of self-government. For him, the white man not only governs himself in self-government but also displays despotism by governing the blacks. Thus, Lincoln made

Marketing report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Marketing report - Essay Example This strategy, attributed mostly to Ford Chairman Alan Mullaly, provided the firm the necessary resources to develop a very conscious and deliberate branding strategy. The continuous marketing and development of Ford Focus- one of the leading international brands of the firm shall therefore be viewed from the perspective of this new change in focus and the approach. (Daye & VanAuken, 2010). The current brand management program for the car is mostly focused on exploring the brand name of the Ford itself as well as the new and renewed strategy of managing only those brands which can be successfully marketed. The new paradigm in Ford therefore is based upon successfully managing the existing brands by cutting down those brands which cannot be successfully marketed. This report will discuss critically the current brand management techniques adapted for this brand besides performing the external environment assessment and how the firm can actually improve its CRM as well as MKIS for this brand. Ford Focus- a brief Review Ford Focus is one of the most successful brands of Ford which is being successfully marketed all over the world under the same name. ... It is also important to note that the Focus is priced reasonably however, it is still considered as one of the luxury brands aimed at consumers who are willing to afford high priced luxury cars. Due to this market segmentation strategy, Ford has been able to consistently market this product across the different markets with relative success. One of the key aspects of the overall brand strategy for this brand is the deliberate strategy for not rolling out the different brand extensions. It is generally believed that the brand extensions in automobile industry tend to weaken the existing brands and it is therefore critical that the automobile firms must engage into the practice of brand consolidation in order to ensure that the existing brands continue to perform and develop into leading market brands.(Lambin, Chumpitaz, & Schuiling, 2007). Current Brand Management Program As discussed above that the Ford has adapted a deliberate strategy of managing its current brands by discarding th ose brands which are hard to sell and manage. Due to financial crisis, most of the automobile firms faced significant financial constraints and reverted to further rationalize their product lines in order to become more efficient and effective in managing only those brands which can be successfully marketed. An effective branding strategy requires the successful leveraging of the power of the brand in order to cover the market more effectively. (Aaker, 2002) In order to effectively understand and critically analyse the current branding strategy for the Ford Focus will suggest that it is a sub-brand of the Ford itself. Given the market power of Ford as well as its overall market reputation, Ford Focus therefore tends to thrive on the strong brand image of Ford itself.

Growing Managers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Growing Managers - Essay Example As for employees who are now her team members, Richardson thinks they need to be constantly motivated and appreciated in order to improve performance. This is reflected by her thoughts on sharing ice-cream and pizza with her team members on a Saturday afternoon while celebrating their success (Booth and Karen 3). She also has the idea of having an open communication channel with them when team building and even during office hours’ time to remove animosity. What is the difference between an account or sales representative and a sales manager? A sales manager is the overall head in charge of the sales team which may comprise of even account or sales representative. The sales manager oversees all the sales operations of the area she or he is managing including even the communication with customers and the greenhouse and acting as their liaison. An account or sales representative on the other hand is the one who looks for customers and persuades them to buy their products. They i n turn report to the sales manager with their sales for accountability purposes and to get further instructions, clarifications among other guidance tips from the sales manager. What did Richardson do right when she started new job? Richardson was right to make early preparations and arrangement of her office and even getting acquainted with the files on her team early enough even before meeting the team in person. This made her avoid wasting time to start on her new responsibility. Reporting to work on her first day (Monday) early and before the others in order to personally welcome them and make them feel comfortable with her (Booth and Karen 5). The other thing was to hold a meeting with her team immediately and letting them know her goals for them and for the office in general. Finally, she made a tour of the greenhouse hence getting to know what to expect and meeting with the rest of the workers in that flower farm and even the other managers. What mistakes did she make? She ma de the mistake of copying her predecessor’s figures of the previous month which had been falsified (although she did not know that) and hence her report was not an indication of what had actually taken place in that period she was writing the report on. The other mistake was not addressing Peterson’s desire to become an accounts representative which led to her lawyer complaining about gender disparity (which may lead to a lawsuit if not properly addressed). What might have helped Richardson get off to a better start? Richardson landed a big client and other clients (Lowes and grocery chain customers) and this helped increase the sales of the month (Booth and Karen 10). She was also determined to make it work despite the lack of cooperation from her team members and this determination is what made her persevere and hence making it to a good start. Critique Richardson's first meeting. How could she have made a stronger impact on her team that first day? Richardson confro nted her team and called for a meeting without even letting them get acquainted with her first. She did not seek their opinion or way forward on how they expected her to work or even about their schedule which made them form an opinion about her leadership authority and power and this made it difficult to get along with her. Richardson should have sought the opinion of the team members and even asked them about how they related or worked with her predecessor in ensuring the organization moves forward. Describe some ways Richardson might effectively build her team. One of the ways is by identifying the strengths and weaknesses of each of the team member and capitalizing on that. The other is to look for different motivating techniques that can match the

Chief Information Security Officer Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Chief Information Security Officer - Term Paper Example The repercussions of these breaches are felt by multiple parties including the administrative staff, the university itself, the IT department and the student body. It is therefore, imperative for higher education institutions to familiarize themselves with the constantly changing threats besides the high cost associated with leaving data and systems unprotected. Introduction Computer system hacks and data breaches with higher education institutions as the main target are constantly dominating the headlines. The higher education institutions are increasingly at high risk having their information and data compromised by malicious activities and hackers beside insider mistakes. The considerable number of system hacks and data breaches experienced by higher educational institutions can be attributed to such factors as resource plague issues experienced by IT department within the institutions, budgetary constraints and desperate database systems among other factors (Gahm, 2010). Higher e ducational institutions posses a considerable amount of data and distinct data type which make them a potential target by malicious attackers and hackers. A wealth of personally identifiable information is mostly stored by these institutions thus the high risk of data breaches and system hacks. A health record of students, employees and parents together with their names, social security numbers and credit card numbers are among the sensitive information that subject these institutions to potential threats and makes them a valuable target to the hackers. (Gahm, 2010) According to Gahm, Higher educational institutions should learn to take actions besides implementing proactive security to their database infrastructure in order to protect the critical information contained in their database systems. These database systems house a variety of information that can be exploited for financial gain. Given that the institution’s databases are the most critical repository of confidentia l and sensitive information at these institutions, safeguarding the database is of the essence (2010). Recent hack attacks against higher educational institutions Some of the top and best universities around the world had recently been reported to have fallen victim of computer system hack and data breaches. Team GhostShell, a hacking group claimed to have hacked into the servers of close to a hundred universities across the globe including Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, Stanford and University of Michigan. Close to 120,000 records were accessed from the breached universities’ servers and publicly posted. Critical and confidential information such as the names, phone numbers, log in details and email addresses were among the records exposed in the event of the breaches. The reports further showed that the hackers used malware injection into the servers in order to compromise their security and gain access to the records. The log-in credentials exposed were further used to improperly access some of the universities’ websites including Stanford University. Another data breach incident involving Western Connecticut State University was reported and blamed on the vulnerabilities existing on their computer systems. The breach utilized the existing vulnerabilities in the system and inappropriately accessed and exposed confidential inf

Construction Dispute Boards Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Construction Dispute Boards - Essay Example that, an examination of traditional alternatives to the construction dispute boards will be highlighted before giving a comparative analysis of the two. Each construction project is distinct and unique from the other in its own right. This is because employers or project owners seek for customized services. Because of potential disputes that are bound to arise, each party nominates one impartial and independent person to form the dispute resolution board. Thereafter, the two nominated parties nominate a chairman with similar qualities to regulate the dispute board. The fundamental obligation of each member of the board is to get independent and original facts from the sites by regular visits and resolve the matter amicably. Through this, verdicts are easier to determine whenever conflicts or issues arise from the situation according to Donald (2009, p1). In unison, the board provides regular communication to their clients when there is a potential area of conflict that they detect. This effort is aim at resolving disputes before they arise and take negative directions. The composition of a dispute board may determine whether the boa rd takes the name of a Dispute Resolution Board (DRB) or Dispute Adjudication Board. The former name is strictly meant to give resolutions and a way forward and the latter provides adjudication positions. The following segments will look at the compositions of the DRBs. In most cases, the members of the DR boards do not exceed five. Unless the project is very large or too controversial such as the Hong Kong Airport project where seven members were used, three members are often the optimum figure. An odd number is chosen because of a need of a majority vote when a controversial standoff may have arisen. For a person to be named as a member, there are four qualities that they must posses and demonstrate. They must have an in depth knowledge with relevant design and construction issues. This means that they must understand areas where

Chief Information Security Officer Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Chief Information Security Officer - Term Paper Example The repercussions of these breaches are felt by multiple parties including the administrative staff, the university itself, the IT department and the student body. It is therefore, imperative for higher education institutions to familiarize themselves with the constantly changing threats besides the high cost associated with leaving data and systems unprotected. Introduction Computer system hacks and data breaches with higher education institutions as the main target are constantly dominating the headlines. The higher education institutions are increasingly at high risk having their information and data compromised by malicious activities and hackers beside insider mistakes. The considerable number of system hacks and data breaches experienced by higher educational institutions can be attributed to such factors as resource plague issues experienced by IT department within the institutions, budgetary constraints and desperate database systems among other factors (Gahm, 2010). Higher e ducational institutions posses a considerable amount of data and distinct data type which make them a potential target by malicious attackers and hackers. A wealth of personally identifiable information is mostly stored by these institutions thus the high risk of data breaches and system hacks. A health record of students, employees and parents together with their names, social security numbers and credit card numbers are among the sensitive information that subject these institutions to potential threats and makes them a valuable target to the hackers. (Gahm, 2010) According to Gahm, Higher educational institutions should learn to take actions besides implementing proactive security to their database infrastructure in order to protect the critical information contained in their database systems. These database systems house a variety of information that can be exploited for financial gain. Given that the institution’s databases are the most critical repository of confidentia l and sensitive information at these institutions, safeguarding the database is of the essence (2010). Recent hack attacks against higher educational institutions Some of the top and best universities around the world had recently been reported to have fallen victim of computer system hack and data breaches. Team GhostShell, a hacking group claimed to have hacked into the servers of close to a hundred universities across the globe including Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, Stanford and University of Michigan. Close to 120,000 records were accessed from the breached universities’ servers and publicly posted. Critical and confidential information such as the names, phone numbers, log in details and email addresses were among the records exposed in the event of the breaches. The reports further showed that the hackers used malware injection into the servers in order to compromise their security and gain access to the records. The log-in credentials exposed were further used to improperly access some of the universities’ websites including Stanford University. Another data breach incident involving Western Connecticut State University was reported and blamed on the vulnerabilities existing on their computer systems. The breach utilized the existing vulnerabilities in the system and inappropriately accessed and exposed confidential inf

Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 7

Case Study - Essay Example Basement and much of first floor occupying the administrative office, emergency room, operations, and cafeteria were flooded to about six feet. When we inspected the premises to put up a temporary office along with surgical suites and clinical laboratory on the second floor, which was not affected by flood water, we noticed heaps of trash and debris. The task I was assigned, to guide Incident Commander on the safe entry, cleanup procedure, appropriate PPE for all recovery works, and hazard assessment for the most critical items or operations that can cause acute or chronic health effects, illness or disease, was most challenging. We recognized that without organizational skills and knowledge of time tested processes we will achieve little with manpower, massive resources, and technical expertise. Only through a definite written plan, adequate training and basic safety knowledge of the workers engaged in cleaning, and a centralized control and coordination such a herculian activity could be materialized. To achieve the goal, following broad overview of the duties and recommendations has been chartered, according to priority, and submitted to the Incident Commander: â€Å"Industrial hygienists recognize that engineering, work practice, and administrative controls are the primary means of reducing employee exposure to occupational hazards. Engineering controls minimize employee exposure by either reducing or removing the hazard at the source or isolating the worker from the hazards.† (NOSH interim recommendations for the cleaning and remediation of flood-contaminated HVAC system: A guide for building owner and managers, 2004). Being a hospital, the main Industrial Hygiene concerns for our team and the clean-up recovery workers were exposure to skin and respiratory disorders. It is possible that during flooding the systems for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) could

The Knot Essay Example for Free

The Knot Essay According to Sahlman, the success of entrepreneurial ventures, such as The Knot, is dependent on four critical success factors, namely the people, the opportunity, the deal and the context. Each of these factors is dynamic and the entrepreneur must constantly reevaluate and adjust the four factors to create value. People The category people include the key players of the entrepreneurial venture. Within this category, the strengths and weaknesses and the experience of the people involved is critical. The entrepreneur has to determine if something is missing in the team, thus if people should be added or replaced. The Knot’s management team consists of four ex New York University’s Film School students. All of them are experienced entrepreneurs. First, Liu and Roney are co-founders of the CD-ROM development company RunTime Inc. Pervious, Liu was an experienced manager and Roney spent six years as creative director and editor. Second, Wolfson and Fassino are founders of the Digital Media Division for Margeotes Fertitta + Partners. Before, Wolfson was founder of a creative production company and Fassino has experience in the advertising industry. The two different companies successfully collaborated at the Sotheby’s project. The four partners emphasize the potential of their collective experience and know-how, including management, advertising, the creative industry and production. They found Element Studios in 1995 to capitalize their abilities. After the acquisition of Bridal Search, Russ and Becky Casenhiser were added to the management team. Both of them were successful entrepreneurs as well. Russ developed the industry’s largest, searchable database and Becky procured and maintained relationships with all the manufacturers. Especially their experience in retail was valuable when the business model developed further. After all, the team of The Knot consists of capable people with experience in multiple disciplines who complement each other. However, when entering the gift registry business, in which inventory management and delivery arrangements would be crucial, there is a need for people with experience in logistics. Experienced people could be recruited as employees or entrepreneurs in this industry could be added to the management team. The opportunity The characteristics of the opportunity are critical for the success of the venture as well as for the way the entrepreneur should respond to a certain opportunity. Characteristics of the opportunity include the nature and the possibility to replicate by competitors. The task of the entrepreneur is to determine if the opportunity should be exploited immediately and to set eventually milestones to assess the success of the project. Element was founded with the aim to realize a successful media business, however, there was no focus on a certain opportunity before the company was founded. The management team started looking for an opportunity and was attracted by the high advertising revenue in the wedding industry. They found an opportunity in the lack of a fresh competitor and the possibility to differentiate by building an online business foundation. Besides the possibility to differentiate, the online business foundation required a lower investment. Thus, the initial business model consisted of creating an online medium that attracts visitors and generates advertising revenue. The Knot’s team formulated their initial goals as ‘becoming a full-service online wedding resource and a recognizable brand in the industry’. The initial investment is relatively low compared to the potential revenue with an advertising market of $168 million and a limited number of competitors. Since the idea is easy to copy by potential competitors, it was important to exploit the idea immediately to gain first mover advantage. The initial business model was complemented in stages. With the launch of The Knot’s own web site in May 1997, they entered the retail market via The Knot Gift Shop. Their first venture in retail started with the sale of cameras, but other products were quickly added. In June 2007, after the acquisition of Bridal Search, The Knot could offer the only comprehensive online database of wedding dresses to its customers. As a result, advertising revenue increased. After successful development of The Knot’s current business activities, Liu focused on the bridal registry business. This business has enormous potential since it represents half of all wedding-related revenue. The process of the development of a comprehensive list of gifts by soon-to-be-weds that had to be purchased by wedding guests was ready for an online solution. Moreover, characteristics of the registry business encompassed the opportunity to efficiently organize delivery arrangements with manufacturers. In turn, this would allow The Knot to maintain more control over its brand, pricing and merchandising. Since the listing of products and services did not require inventory to be held, this would enable effective management of The Knot’s balance sheet. Although the model for gift registry is already in a later stage of development, it is important to exploit immediately since competitors have had capital investments already. Deals The opportunity has to be structured by different deals. These deals include considerations such as incentives and contingencies and the choice between financing instruments and financers. The entrepreneur should aim to motivate all players according to their input and create stakeholders that increase the probability of success. By joining the Greenhouse program of American Online (AOL), The Knot aimed to garner a substantial proportion of the online wedding consumer market. Besides initial investments, AOL could be seen as a strategic partner with a developing online consumer base. AOL invested in return for warrants up to 45% of The Knot’s equity, 20% of the revenue from advertising on the AOL property and a percentage of advertising revenue from The Knot’s own web site. In addition, Bridal Search was acquired for 10. 000 shares of common stock, while they had the opportunity to earn up to an additional 32. 857 shares. This potential bonus could be referred to as an extra motivation to perform. The context Contextual issues can change the nature of the opportunity. Issues include current and potential competitors, the government and economic conditions and trends. The entrepreneur should attempt to forecast contextual movements and benefit from these changes. The competitive context of The Knot before the exploitation of the opportunity was characterized by three magazines, with an average of 40 years of experience in the industry and strong relationships with advertiser. There was a change that the deeply entrenched magazines would renounce moving to the internet since they feared cannibalization of their existing businesses. This changed the nature of the opportunity in a way that it was an extra motivation to launch an online business. The Knot’s performance To reach their goals, The Knot put effort to optimize their services and build brand awareness. First, the provision of value-added services to users, such as information about travelling, wedding planning and fashion, resulted in development of a strong user community. Further, from the early beginning, The Knot targeted potential partners to build awareness of the brand, resulting in The Knot’s Registry Partner Program with nationwide key players. The first offline brand building effort was implemented in August 2007 by signing a three-book deal with Bantam Doubleday. In addition, they agreed to co-produce a television program entitled Wedding for the Real World to promote online services and books. The usefulness of performance metrics significantly differs for startups in comparison with established companies. Although startups are diverse, they share some common characteristics that affect the use of financial metrics. To illustrate, revenues are small or non-existing and the establishment of a business generally result in significant operating losses. Therefore, financial metrics such as the income statement, balance sheet, and the statement of cash flows provide little usable information. However, the information in these financial metrics regarding predicted years could be used to calculated performance measures, such as return on investment (ROI) and return on assets (ROA). Instead, to gauge the performance of a startup company like The Knot’s, other financial and non-financial metrics are used. First, it is important to measure the ability of the company to generate revenue at an early stage. The Knot managed to generate significant revenue at an early stage. After their initial appearance on AOL, The Knot generated over $ 25. 000 of advertising revenue. Later, after the acquisition of Bridal Search, three deals representing $ 750. 000 in advertising revenue were signed. Second, the period that a company can survive without raising additional capital is an useful measure for startups. The ‘burn rate’ is referred to as the money spend by a company each month. The number of months that a company has to raise additional capital is calculated by dividing the amount of cash reserves by the burn rate. Since The Knot only has enough money to coffer its operation for three months by November 1997, the need to raise capital is very urgent. This can be explained by their initial focus on gaining market share instead of becoming profitable. This strategy is particularly common for ‘dot-com’ companies. Besides financial metrics, non-financial metrics are important to measure the performance of startups. Non-financial metrics for e-commerce companies include for instance retained customers. However, for the wedding industry, this metrics are not applicable since customers are not expected to return after their first number of product and service purchases. Other measures that are applicable to The Knot are web metrics such as total page views and total unique visitors. Concerning this measures, The Knot performed above expectance with an increase in unique visitors of their AOL page from 65. 000 to 260. 000 in seven months. In addition, after launching their own Web site, they realized 2. 7 million page views. To conclude, The Knot has managed to gain attention at an early stage from potential customers, this resulted in advertising income. The company has a relatively high burn rate as compared with their current liabilities; this leads to an urgent need for additional capital investors since they can coffer their operating expenses for just three months. The need for additional funding As predicted by the life-cycle of a VC fund, which predicts focus on investment in the first four to five years, The Knot needs further funding in their current phase. First, there is a need for cash to invest in the development of The Knot brand and build out the technological infrastructure to capitalize Knot’s current momentum in the race for scale economies. On a more practical level, capital is needed to fund the payroll and pay for day-to-day operating expenses. Second, The Knot needs funding to develop the gift registry business. The need for quick funding rose due to developments on the competitive front. The Knot’s current business activities were targeted by competition form online businesses that had recently launched web sites. Furthermore, Internet Gift Registries, which would be a competitor of The Knot after entering the gift registry business, had recently received funding from a private investor. Financial advisors agreed that The Knot is an attractive investment and recommended The Knot’s management team to raise as much capital as possible. After all, the management team and its financial advisors agreed that The Knot would seek $10 million in exchange for Series B Convertible Preferred Stock. This proceeds will be used to develop its registry service and to accelerate marketing and promotion of its online services. Valuation of the company In order to give a fair estimate of the value of The Knot, a combination of both the NPV method and the Market approach method is used. The use of the NPV method is possible because this is not a completely new company and it has a track record to evaluate. Also, in the business plan The Knot presented, they give extensive predictions for future performance and cash flows. The NPV method alone would not be enough since these numbers are still only a prediction. Even though these predictions were made by an external company, helping to make them more reliable and independent than when The Knot had made them, they are still not hard numbers. Combining the results of the NPV with a comprehensive Market analysis, in which both market potential will be measured and comparable companies, the multiples, will be analyzed, will give an accurate estimate of the value of The Knot. Using only the market approach would also not suffice since the relatively new nature of the business (registry online) makes it hard to find other companies to effectively compare with The Knot. The asset valuation approach is not used because, given the nature of internet companies, there would be little tangible assets to value. Since intangible assets are a lot harder to value this would not give an accurate value for The Knot (2). The multiplication method is not used because The Knot is currently still not at break-even, which makes it near impossible to calculate. Also, since the prediction show a very sharp estimated increase in revenues after the capital injection, the multiplication method could be very far off the true value of the firm and ergo not be a reliable method to determine the value (2). To conclude, the average between the NPV method and the market approach will give the most reliable value estimate for The Knot. Potential investors The Knot is looking for an investment of $10 million to develop brand image and develop their registry business. However, the urgent need for investment due to the forecasted ‘fume’ in January 1998 needs to be taken into account. This leads to disqualification of the strategic partnership option because The Knot would be in a very week place at the negotiation table because of time pressure. Besides this, a partner for a new business venture would probably not be hard to find, but finding a partner who is willing to pay for the operational cost for the other activities of The Knot as well, would seem much more unlikely. Finally, forming partnership takes time and time is something The Knot does not have. Choosing between angel investors and VC’s comes down to the nature of these investment entities. Angel investors are usually less risk averse but they tend to focus on invest in new start-ups and their investments are relatively lower compared to a VC (1). A VC usually invests in a later point of the start up and invests larger sums of money (1). Looking at these characteristics of both these entities, it seems clear that going for a VC would be the best option. If the valuation of The Knot comes out favorably, it would cover the more risk averse nature of the VC and justify a sizable investment of 10 million. There are drawbacks of using a VC, namely they most likely will want to exercise a lot of control over The Knot’s business, more so than angel investors. However, engagement of the VC can have a positive affect on the development of capabilities as well. Looking at the time constraints and the amount of needed cash this seems unavoidable. Therefore, capital investment by a VC would be the best option to meet the needs on The Knot.

Alone With Nature :: essays research papers

Alone with Nature Arriving at the lusciously dense forest at daybreak, you gaze at the fresh dew delicately dangling on the foliage. You stroll through the winding dirt trails towards the steady flowing water while the birds proudly recite their early morning songs. Reaching the free flowing stream you bend down and see your clear reflection in front of the orange-yellow sky. Goosebumps rise along your arms as the streams icy depths run through your fingers. The cleansing water quickly refreshes your face, quickly washing away your anxieties and frustrations of a usual hectic life. Beyond the stream is a meadow filled with a variety of flowers. Taking a stroll through the meadow is like walking through a rainbow. The shades of the velvety ornamented flower petals vary from scarlet, to baby blue. Despite the similarities in color, nothing else seems to be the same- they all tower 2 or 3 feet above the dark, rich soil. They sway playfully in unison with the warm caressing breeze, carefully merging the two scents into one fresh, clean fragrance.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  You pry yourself away from the immense meadow, still filled with many unexplored treasures and turn back into the foliage covered depths of the forest. The sun is comfortably placed in front of the cotton candy clouds, in the midst of the soft blue sky. The occasional bird soars through in a last minuet attempt to catch a worm so it may feed the yearning mouths of it's young. The rough dirt trail ends and you are brought to the base of a rock. Your feet reach for the unfamiliar footholds of the high rocky promontory, anxiously scrambling up the streaky pinkish rock ready to explore any new treasures that lie beyond you. Once on top, you gaze down and see it all- the crystal clear stream brilliantly

Capital Punishment :: Death Penalty Essays

The death penalty has been around for centuries. It dates back to when Hammurabi had his laws codified; it was â€Å"an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth†. Capital punishment in America started when spies were caught, put on trial and hung. In the past and still today people argue that, the death penalty is cruel, unusual punishment and should be illegal. Yet many people argue that it is in fact justifiable and it is not cruel and unusual. Capital punishment is not cruel and unusual; the death penalty is fair and there is evidence that the death penalty deters crime. A big part of abolitionist’s argument is that the death penalty is not humane. They pull in Amendment 8, â€Å"†¦nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.† What the victim went though was indeed â€Å"cruel and unusual punishments’.† The murderers’ death is not cruel. The people will demand justice for what he or she has done (Bidinotto 19). Hanging and the electric chair are topics more reasonable to argue, but now because of lethal injection capital punishment has become more humane. The death penalty is not barbaric, the pain and agony that the victim went through is barbaric. Abolitionists were very upset in 1996 when rapist and murderer John Albert Taylor was executed by firing squad; they said his death was barbaric (Feder 32). Charla King, the poor 11-year-old girl he raped and strangled with a telephone cord, her death was barbaric! It makes no sense to think that John Taylor’s’ death was barbaric or inhumane. He would not even hear the bullets shoot out; his victim went through more pain than what any court system could have inflicted on him (Feder 32). In the past people have challenged the death penalty, it has always been denied, lethal injection is fair enough (Johnson 43). There have been inhumane ways in the past; people should be thankful that we use lethal injection instead of using electrocution as first choice (Johnson 43). Honestly, the death penalty is roughly enough pain that can be legally inflicted, they get what they deserve (Bidinotto 19). We will not use the death penalty to get revenge; the legal systems would not tolerate victims’ family using it for revenge. It is to seek justice, not to get even (Bidinotto 20). Second, the death penalty does in fact deter crime. New York, 1990, the murder rate was up to about 2,650 people, every year it has dropped, in 2009 there were only 778 murders.

Peoples and Civilizations of the Americas

Name: John Kindley| Class: GH AP Y (Even)| Date: November 3rd, 2012| Chapter 12, Peoples and Civilizations of the Americas, 200 – 1500| Pages 306 – 331| | Classic-Era Culture and Society in Mesoamerica, 200 – 900:| | * Remarkable civilization created| | * Different language + politics, but unified by material culture, religious beliefs + practices, and social structure| Classic Period| * Classic period (built upon Olmec and other civilizations)| | * Social classes with distinct roles| * Hereditary politics + religious elites controlled towns + villages| | Teotihuacan:| | * Powerful city-state in central Mexico (100 B. C. E. – 750 C. E. )| Religion| * Religion = worshipped many gods + lesser spirits, Sun + Moon| | * Human sacrifice = viewed as sacred duty to the gods and essential| | to the well-being of society| Farming| * Chinampas = raised fields along lakeshores to increase agriculture| Politics| * No evidence for single ruler; alliances between elite f amilies| | The Maya:|Location| * Maya = civilization concentrated in the Yucatan Peninsula, | | Guatemala, and Honduras, but never unified| | * Contributed mainly in math, astronomy, and the calendar| | * High pyramids + palaces = meant to awe the masses that came| Decoration| * Maya = loved decoration| | * Infused warfare with religious meaning| | * Society = patrilineal| Contributions| * Devised elaborate calendar system, concept of 0, and writing| End of Classic Era| * Maya cities declined due to struggle for resources, which lead to| | class conflict and warfare| | | | | | | | | | * Connection with the Mesoamerican societies due to learning about the Aztecs in grade 8| * Have visited Mayan cities in Mexico, and have seen temples in real life| * Question: didn’t the Arabs develop the concept of 0? | | | | The Postclassic Period in Mesoamerica, 900 – 1500:| | * No single explanation for fall of Teotihuacan and Mayan centers| | The Toltecs:| | * Powerful postclassic e mpire in central Mexico (900 – 1175 C. E. )| Origins| * Origins = unknown (either satellite or migrant populations)| | * Used military conquest to create powerful empire|Reason for decline| * Fell by internal power struggles and military threat from the north| | The Aztecs:| | * Altepetl = ethnic state in ancient Mesoamerica that was the | | common political building block of that region| Society + Politics| * Calpolli = group of up to hundred families that served as a building| | block of an altepetl (controlled land allocation + taxes + local religious life)| | * Tenochtitlan = capital of Aztec Empire; in an island in lake Texcoco| | Mexico City created on ruins of Tenochtitlan| * Aztecs = AKA Mexica, created empire (1325 – 1521 C. E. )| | * Aztecs forced defeated peoples to provide goods + labor as tax| Aztec Women| * Women = held lots of power; held in high esteem; held positions| | like teachers and priestesses; seen as founders of lineages, including| | the royal line| | * Merchants become rich, but cannot become high nobility| Economic systems| * Tribute system = system in which defeated peoples were forced to| | pay tax in forms of goods and labor; help development of large ities | | * Did not use money; used barter instead| | * Aztec religion = demanded increasing numbers of human sacrifice| * Connection to Aztecs as I learned about them in grade 8| * Noted the familiarities between the Mesoamerican societies, which also had distinct| differences as well| | | | Northern Peoples:| | * Classic period ends around 900 C. E. | | * Transfer of irrigation and corn agriculture -> stimulated development in Hohokam and Anasazi society| | Southwestern Desert Cultures:| | * Anasazi = important culture in southwest US (700 – 1300 C.E. )| | * Anasazi built multistory residences, and worshipped in | | subterranean buildings (called kivas)| Anasazi women| * Women = shared agricultural tasks, specialists in many crafts, | | responsible for food preparation and childcare| Anasazi region| * Anasazi = concentrate in Four Corners region| | Mound Builders: The Hopewell and Mississippian Cultures:| Political structure| * Chiefdom = form of political organization; ruled by hereditary leader| (Chiefdom)| who had control over collection of villages + towns; based on gift giving | | and commercial links| * Political organization + trade + mound building continued by the| | Mississippian culture (largest city = Cahokia)| Ansazi +| * Environmental changes caused destruction of Anasazi +| Mississippian| Mississippian cultures| Decline| | | | | Andean Civilizations, 200 – 1500| | * Environment = sucks for creating civilization| | * Amerindian peoples of Andean = produced some of the most| | socially complex + politically advanced societies in Western Hemisphere | | Cultural Response to Environmental Challenge|How they adapted| * Domestication of llamas and alpacas| | * Farmed at different altitudes to reduce risks from frosts| S ocial + political | * Ayllu = Andean lineage group or kin-based community| groups| * Ayllu = foundation for Andean achievement; members = obligated| | to help fellow members (thought as brothers and sisters)| | * Mit’a = Andean labor system based on shared obligations to help| | kinsmen and work on behalf of the ruler and religious organizations | Gender distinction| * Men = hunting, military service, government| | * Women = textile production, agriculture, home| Harsh climates of Andean civilizations = similar to harsh environment of North American| settlers | * Anasazi + Mississippian culture = one of few civilizations that did not fall due to outside| pressures| | | Moche:| | * Moche = civilization of north coast of Peru (200 – 700 C. E. )| | * Built extensive irrigation networks + impressive urban centers| | dominated by brick temples| Political + social| * Did not establish formal empire nor unified political structure| structure| * Moche society = theocratic + st ratified; priests + military leaders | | had concentrated wealth + power|Decline of Moche| * Moche centers declined due to long-term climate changes| | * Wari = new military power, culturally linked to Tiwanaku| | * Wari contributed to the disappearance of the Moche| | Tiwanaku and Wari:| | * Tiwanaku = name of capital city and empire centered on the region| | near Lake Titicaca in modern Bolivia (375 – 1000 C. E. )| | * Llamas = crucial for maintenance of long-distance trade relations| | * High quality of stone masonry| * Stratified society ruled by a hereditary elite| | * Used military to extend their power over large religions | | The Inca:| | * Largest and most powerful Andean empire (Cuzco = capital)| | * Initially a chiefdom -> turned in to military expansion in 1430s| | * Inca prosperity depended on vast herds of llamas + alpacas| | * Hereditary chiefs of ayllus included women| | * Had hostage taking system for politics| * Each new ruler began his reign with conques t (legitimize authority)| | * Khipus = system of knotted colored cords used by preliterate| | Andean peoples to transmit information| | * Did not produce new technologies; increased economic output| | * Civil war weakened the Inca on the eve of European arrival| | | | | | | | | | | | | * Noticed that primary gods for many societies were Sun gods and agricultural gods| * Pressures from inside took out the Inca society; similar to other societies| * Khipus = similar to the one that Aztecs used| | |

Interview people about the economy Essay

The people of the Orange County are an optimistic bunch. Yet, one can see this optimism slowly fading away into the darkness. For a country which is so close to perhaps world’s biggest entertainment hub, this is not a pretty picture. It would be wrong to blame the people. Little has gone right for the county since the economic recession of 2008, the effects of which are still quite visible. For a county which was already suffering from one of the more serious unemployment problems than compared to the average figures of the United States of America, the recession of 2008 has spelt doom, and its repercussions can still be felt. Take the case of the 34-year old Mr. Matthews who had a small shop selling electronic goods. However, with most people who gave him patronage, out of jobs or saving up for the bleak future, there are no takers for his once steadily selling shop of television sets and radios. His only hope is a government bailout, so that his customers have more money in their hands, or in other words greater purchasing power so as to indirectly get him out of this mess. Mr. Matthews situation is in complete contrast with Mrs. Mosby who is a secretary with the local government authority. She has been affected very little by the 2008 economic recession but maintains that she is concerned about a lot of her friends, whose businesses have shut or who have been shown the door in their jobs. The only consequence of this recession on her is that while her pay has not increased, prices of many commodities of even general use have gone by which makes it difficult for her to make the ends of her household meet. She is for the moment thankful that she has a government job, but strongly advocates that it is the state’s responsibility to find her fellow citizens a job which at the very least promises them adequate means of survival. Recession and the deteriorating economic situation is a concern not only to those who are currently affected by it, but also those who may be affected by it in the future. Take the case of 24-year old Mike, who is a final year student at the local university. He agrees that the heat in the air can be felt by all, and even though his university manages to put together a small career fair every year, it seems a difficult proposition this year. Although in the top half of his class, Mike admits that getting a job which helps him repay his educational loans he took for college, at least currently, seems to be a daunting task. He is hopeful that by the time he graduates, the situation would improve. He doesn’t make a case for out and out state intervention, but hopes that the state would help big economic powerhouses by giving them incentives and subsidies. Things have turned sour for those who are self-employed as well. Take the instance of a lawyer who has his own practice, Miss Timberlake. Litigation has become suddenly too expensive, and people seem to prefer to hold up matters for now. Even matters of home foreclosure have got delayed for now. People are looking at otherwise normal litigation procedures as a luxury service, which they are unable to afford at the moment, and are not as big a priority as say medical and health expenditure. Health insurance companies are facing the heat as no other according to Jeff, who works at one of the biggest insurance companies. The health and medical costs have spiraled over the last few years. The fact that people have very little disposal income, and are defaulting on their regular premium payments is making the matters worse for the insurance companies. Their being no solution in sight, people are turning to each other and urging them to perform acts of gratitude. For instance, appeals are being made to doctors and other hospital staff to give up a day’s pay. People are becoming much more cautious and conservative in spending their money. For instance, the younger siblings are getting their older siblings clothes. The insurance companies don’t have enough cash flowing in so as to be able to cope up with the increasing medical costs. This spells a disaster not just for one or two companies, but for two industries which are vital to the US economy – health and insurance. Whether there is a way out of this mess is the million dollar question facing everyone right now. The companies in both sectors, however, are optimistic and hope to see things improving with the Obama administration. Obama’s success in being able to pass the health insurance bill is being seen as a huge positive and people seem to be oddly comforted by his words of promise. Job creation is what people are currently looking forward to. Perhaps, the only sections of the society who have nothing to lose right now are the school going children. However, it is amazing how the economic crisis has made way into their everyday conversations as well. David who is only 14 is angry at the whole situation. He maintains that the whole crisis is the fault of the government, which allowed risky investments to be made. He is also unhappy about the liberal policies which have allowed a bulk of the work to be outsourced to other destinations where labour is much cheaper. Stricter laws are needed, he argues emphatically. Those who are retired have been hit badly as well. Their pension schemes and other insurance amounts are simply not enough for them to be able to make their ends meet. Home foreclosures are likely and in the offing, and this has most of them worried. Take the case of Mr. Andrews, who is 66 years old and survives on a small pension scheme. Recently the prices of even basic consumables have risen so sharply risen that he is finding it difficult to make the ends meet. His old age means that it is much more difficult for him to find a job as compared to other freshers just out of college. He is worried that if the State fails to take some concrete steps soon, many Americans could be tinkering on the verge of starving poverty. Take the case of Mr. Murdoch who is a stock market analyst and broker. In the economic recession of 2008, he lost close to $100,000. He says that he is devastated and doesn’t know if there is any hope remaining for his business, and whether he will be able to revive it in the near future. He is currently torn between the idea of continuing his business, or taking up a small job somewhere. However, he himself laughs at the irony of it all, given that it would be near impossible to find a job anywhere. He also feels responsible to many of his clients, who he was acting for, and have lost a considerable amount of money in the stock market. At the same time, however, he is quick to point out that investment in the market is subject to market risks, and therefore, one is understood to have assumed the same.

New Jersey’s Proposals to Cut Health Care Spending

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