Saturday, August 31, 2019

On Golden Pond Essay

Mark Rydell’s â€Å"On Golden Pond† is a drama that emphasizes the stages people of various ages endures. Utilizing Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages as learned in Dr. Malone’s class, each of the main characters can be placed within a stage and their age-related crises analyzed. As this film is a drama, it was relatable to the audience, prompting personal reactions as well as implementing life examples of some of the theories studied in Malone’s class. Perhaps the most significant character, Norman Thayer is a force to be reckoned with. A grumpy old miser, Norman may appear at times to not fully be capable of taking care of himself; however, he is still very sharp. Norman demonstrates Erikson’s last stage, termed Late Adulthood, which features the issue of integrity versus despair. A person in late adulthood is much more concerned with his long-term future, death, than someone in a younger life stage. Early in the film Ethel remarks that death is all Norman thinks about, to which Norman responds, death is the most fascinating thing he has to think about. Besides looking into the future and comprehending death, a person in late adulthood, looks back upon his life and if he is satisfied with his life, past and presently, he feels a sense of integrity. However, if the person is dissatisfied with his life he is in a crisis of despair. It is obvious Norman is not satisfied with his life when he begins to browse the newspapers in search of a job. Norman often appears mad at everyone around him, but this anger is really directed at himself. For example, in the fire scene, Norman yells at Billy but really Norman is mad at himself. Ethel points o ut to Billy that Norman yells to â€Å"remind himself he still can†. Norman feels powerless as his aged body betrays him. Although Norman was smart alek and grumpy throughout the movie, he was much more pleasant after bonding with Billy. Billy was a much needed remedy to Norman’s despair. Being around such a carefree yet, tenacious adolescent had a very positive influence on Norman. Instead of sitting around thinking about the inconveniences of being older, Norman is sharing hobbies and various things with Billy. This sharing completes the generativity versus stagnation crisis. Norman is giving back by connecting with Billy; therefore, Norman feels accomplished. Norman realizes there are still things he can do before he dies. The turning point in Norman’s crisis is when he and Billy release Walter the fish, explaining they figured â€Å"if he has lived this long, he deserves to keep living†. This comment says a lot  about how Norman is coping with getting older. Norman reminds me of several people combined, but there is someone in particular that Norman reminds me of. His grumpiness and smart remarks remind me of my own maternal grandfather. My grandfather actually just reached late adulthood s o I guess there is still a chance that he could face an issue of despair. He has not had to deal with the issue of despair I believe because he still works. He owns a dairy and he still runs it. My grandfather like Norman wants to keep working, and unlike Norman he still has the chance to. My grandfather is fourteen years younger than Norman and I believe that their physical differences are because of this. It will be interesting to see how capable my grandfather is at eighty years old. Norman also reminds me of my paternal grandmother because she like Norman can be pessimistic about the future. I realize now after this class that she is not trying to be negative. Rather, she is just trying to be realistic and remind herself and us that we should value this time we still have together. Lately she has been babysitting my younger cousins more often and this has had a very positive effect. No one likes to sit around and feel as if they do not have a purpose so tasks and hobbies appear to be important in late adulthood. Watching Norman suffer was also hard to bear because he reminds me of my grandfather and others. In high school, I worked as a waitress in a cafà © and several of my customer were people in late adulthood and these are the people Norman also reminds me of. As beautiful as life is, it can be hard to watch someone get older. When our bodies do not work the way they used to, people feel betrayed. I grew very close to some of my customers and when one of them was sent to a retirement home so he could be cared for it was very sad. However, now thinking about this was the best decision to make. Ethel Thayer also is in Erikson’s psychosocial stage Late Adulthood, dealing with the crisis of integrity versus despair. Unlike Norman, Ethel is very satisfied with her life and what the audience sees is a woman of integrity. For sometime I thought Ethel might still be in the stage of middle adulthood, but instead I think she is just a very well-adjusted older woman. Ethel likes nothing more to be outside collecting strawberries or watching the loons. Ethel makes strong attempts to ensure her loved ones are satisfied with their own lives. She has a hard time understanding why Norman and Chelsea cannot be as satisfied and reprimands both of them. In a  dramatic confrontation, Ethel points out to Chelsea that regretting childhood events â€Å"doesn’t have to ruin your life†. Although she may not be as grumpy as her husband, Ethel worries about death jut as he does. Following Norman’s heat att ack, both Norman and Ethel realize they have precious time left together. Ethel reminds me very much so of my maternal grandmother. Even Ethel and Norman’s relationship resembles my maternal grandparents’. After watching this movie, I feel that I appreciate my grandmother more, and I hope to make more time to visit with her. Similar to Ethel wanting to visit with Chelsea and Billy, my grandmother would love to see me more. Sometimes my grandmother tries to give me advice that I do not want. Now I realize I should at least give her the courtesy of listening because who knows, one day I might find her advice relevant. Billy demonstrates the stage of adolescence. He faces a crisis of identity versus confusion. As Billy nears adulthood, he is finding himself; being a child of divorce, he could possibly have a harder time doing so. In this stage, Billy is discovering his values and his place in society. Having strong role models like the Thayers can only have a positive influence. In the film Billy wants to learn from Ethel and Norman, but he also wants his independence. Billy expresses his independence when he takes the boat for a joy ride. Norman trusting Billy to navigate Purgatory Cove gives Billy the confidence boost that a person in the identity versus confusion crisis needs. Billy also seems to have issues with feeling wanted. When he realizes that his father is taken off to Europe, Billy feels abandoned and assumes the Thayers do not want to have him around. It surprises him to realize that they do want him around. This is another boost for his confidence. Billy reminds me of my younger brother who recently turned sixteen. My brother tries very hard to act like the men in my family, which consists of: my father, my uncles and my maternal grandfather. All of the men in my family are hard workers and self-reliant. As my brother finds his own identity I feel confident I will like who he becomes because he has such great role models. Chelsea, like many of the characters in the film is not satisfied with her life. Age wise, she is in the Mid Adulthood stage, but she is still dealing with the crises of adolescence. In a confession to Ethel, Chelsea says that being at Golden Pond is like being a teenager all over again. Since Chelsea did not have a good relationship with her father Norman, she  has a hard time knowing who she wanted to be. Chelsea resolves this by marrying Bill who is not confused about his identity and also by talking to Norman. Chelsea reminds me a lot of myself. When I’m away at college, I’m very sure of myself, but when I visit back home at times I have a difficult time getting along with my father. I often want to change my father and his actions. My grandmother who reminds me of Ethel tells me that part of growing up is realizing who people are and loving them anyways. This realization helps, but my and my father’s relationship is still a work in progress. Despite being filmed in 1981, watching â€Å"On Golden Pond† was an enjoyable experience. I loved Norman’s humor and the relationships reminded me of those in my own personal life. Each of the characters reminded me of at least one person significant in my life. The movie highlighted the fact that these theories covered in Malone’s class are indeed very much realistic. Also the film made these theories relatable, producing a greater understanding. The movie opened my eyes and helped me understand those people who I hold close. It also made me realize that I need to work on my relationship with my parents. Using this new-found understanding, I can work on how I interact with people therefore, strengthening my relationships.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Money in Politics

Politics Under the influence and lobbying I found that a lot interest groups in order to make themselves known they have to spend money to maintain their presence. During my research I noticed a couple effects of money in Politics. One was Health; to my understanding physicians and other health professionals are traditionally the largest sources of federal campaign contributions in this sector, which it has contributed a record $116. 8 million to federal candidates during the 2008 election cycle.I also noticed that pharmaceutical companies and HMO's are consistently generous givers. The health sector as a whole traditionally contributes to republican candidates and parties, certain industries, such as nurses, give more generously to democrats. The fact that the Democratic Party has held office in the past two terms, the health sector has been more giving towards them. I believe this is really smart, considering the fact that wealthier people, as far as doctors usually donate more tow ards the Republican Party.It seems as if they would like to donate their money where there is more control as of now. To my understanding that seems like that they are playing he field very well. Some of the top contributors in 2011-2012 were, Abelson Drug Clinic, donating an amount of 41 they were considered as an outside spending group, Cooperative of American Physicians, donating $2,965,980, also considered as an outside spending group. Another was the American Society of Anesthesiologists, $ 1,565,400, republicans.To me I viewed a lot of this information as, the more money that you have the more of an influence you able to make. Also it has been a change in money and politics due to the fact that big money has always dominated our government and elections. And it has gotten worse since the Supreme Courts, Citizens United ruling in 2010, which allowed corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money on our elections. But as we saw in the election between Mitt Romney and Barack Ob ama, all the private investors that Mitt had didn't win the election.Last year a lot of â€Å"Independent† groups spent about $1 billion on elections. A lot of the money came from anonymous individuals and corporations. I believe that the problem in America politics isn't the amount of money these investors or donators spend on campaigns, I think it is more so who is paying for them, or what re they getting in return for their large lump sums of money that they are donating. Another sector that I looked at was the Finance/ Insurance/ Real Estate.The financial sector is the largest source of campaign contributions to federal candidates and parties, with insurance company's securities and investment firms, real estate interests and commercial banks providing the bulk of the money. What I noticed is that unlike the Health sector, the financial sector contributes generous sums to both parties, but republicans are traditionally collecting more than democrats. It's weird that regar ding the mortgage and banking crises in 2008, the financial sector still managed to donate $468 8 million to tederal campaigns and candidates.To me it doesn't seem like the financial sector was going through that much of a crises considering the large amount of money that that was donated, which was a 80 percent increase during the two previous years. Second I found that recipients of campaign money was a very interesting stand point, considering that the political parties and candidates raise very large amounts of money but spend Just as much as hey raised. For instance the Democratic Party raised $1 with debts that add up to $64,614,629.And the Republican Party raised $1,023,169,751 and spent 59,875 with a debt of 24,337,181. The problem with money in politics is not so much the amount that is spent on campaigns as it is who pays for them, what they get in return, and how that affects public policy and spending priorities. Money that should be going to schools, education, infrastr ucture, and healthcare is redirected to the obscene military war machine socialism for the defense industries. Meanwhile, e are cutting teachers, lessons, and many items that make us a civilized nation.These are more effects that money and politics have on my life. I feel that a lot can be done in order to change what's going on within our government. I feel the causes of more money spent within government leaves with the effect of a poor democracy. John F. Kennedy once said â€Å"Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country. † But what is the country doing for average Americans? I hope one day things can change for the better not for the worse, because in the end the average poor American suffers the effects.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Case study The fashion channel

â€Å"TFC was a successful cable TV network- and the only network dedicated solely to fashion (Stahl,2007)†. It was one of the most widely available niche networks with an 80 million subscriber base (Stahl,2007). It has had a constant growth above the industry average until the emergence of new competitors such as CNN and Lifetime in 2006. One of the most important strengths of TFC is the fact that the channel is in the basic cable package. As opposed to CNN or Lifetime, TFC is not a pay channel and thus has a higher possibility to reach more viewers than its competitors.However, TFC is currently facing two major problems. These are an unclear targeting group and an increased power of competitors. These problems could be also seen as their weakness. Since their target group is unclear, unclear strategies might be formulated that could hinder the growth of the channel. Based on the customer and market data from the case, the largest current customer base of TFC are females betw een the age of 35 and 54 (representing 27. 45% of the viewers). While their ideal targeting groups is slightly younger females from the age of 18 to 34, they only make up for 20.13% of the viewers.Generally, this group likes to follow the way celebrities dress. Information about discounts in fashion stores and fashion recommendations are valued as well by this age range. However, it should be noted that their income might be lower compared to other age ranges. On the other hand, male viewers could also represent an interesting customer base for the channel. Males nevertheless, focus more on new designs, fashion trends and new brands. Different to young females, males can be less sensitive to price.Unfortunately, TFC has the lowest market share with only  1. 1M households (representing 1% of the market share). Besides, the biggest customer bases for Fashion Today are females ranging from 18 to 34 years old representing 27. 09% of their viewers. They represent a big threat for TFC a s the later might profit by targeting this age range in the future. On the other hand, Fashion Tonight from CNN especially targets male customers. Therefore not surprising, males represent 45% of their viewer’s base. Both Fashion Today and Fashion Tonight also have a larger customer base than TFC, which are 3. 3M and 4. 4M respectively.In order to change the current situation, Wheeler came up with three scenarios. The first one is maintain a multisegment of Fashionistas, Planners & Shoppers and Situationists. The advantage of this scenario is the increase in net income partially because no incremental costs would be incurred. At the same time, TCL could also target the 18-34 age group. However, the CPM will be $0. 2 lower than 2007. Also, in this scenario, no clear targeting group would yet arise. The second scenario is targeting the segment of Fashionistas.The narrower segmentation will put the company in a disadvantage situation with a 0.8% decrease of its market share (0. 88M). It also requires an incremental cost of $15 million. Finally, the risk exists that a large part of the current viewers wants might not be met by this differentiation as programs might be seen as to â€Å"professional† or â€Å"distinct†. However, buying power in this group is high and CPM will go up to $3. 5 resulting in the increase of both ad revenue ($322,882,560) and net income ($151,496,083). The third scenario entails focusing on two segments, Fashionistas and Shoppers & Planners. The average rating could increase to 1. 2% with a broader viewers pool (1.32M) and extract highest ad revenue and net income with $345,945,600 and $168,867,232 respectively.Meanwhile, younger aged females should especially be targeted if this segmentation is put into place. Nevertheless, a $20 million investment is required for this scenario and only targets around 50% of the females. There is a possibility to lose customer loyalty in this case and consequently part of its custome r base. Based on the analysis, it is wise to choose scenario 3 which entails the dual targeting of Fashionistas and Shoppers & Planners as a new implementation strategy since it generates highest ad revenue, net income and profit margin.50% of the entire female viewer base could be targeted by this dual targeting with passion for fashion and high income. In this case, females from 18-34 will be targeted as they represent their largest viewers base which takes 32. 5% of the entire female segment. In terms of positioning, 4Ps is appropriate to describe the strategic changes needed. It is advised to modify the program profile into one that is more novel and intriguing to the younger generation by improving product quality. For instance, it can invite celebrities more often to the program. Thus, it responds to the needs of the target group (females aged 18-34).With respect to price, it could decrease their ad price by 5% which would result in a CMP of 2. 375. It is predicted that with a lower price, more advertisers are willing to launch their ad on the fashion channel. Besides, TFC should boost promotion by opening a website with specific focus on fashion news and brands for youth, thereby rapidly establishing customer sensitivity and awareness to their product. Lastly, in terms of Place, TFC might find it in their interest to expand overseas through contracting with foreign TV channels, producing tailored programs based on local preferences on fashion.

To what extent and in what sense can we say that professional and Essay

To what extent and in what sense can we say that professional and managerial careers are gendered and radicalised - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that professional and managerial personnel include workers who have attained a higher level of education; therefore, they are skilled employees who have relevant experience in their areas of study such as, managers and technicians. For a long time, such careers were male-dominated, but today, women are moving to the hitherto male-dominated professionals, for instance, pilots, drivers, technicians, lawyers, and medical personnel among others. As a result, women are breaking the glass ceiling by beating all odds in order to fit in the once male-dominated society. In the 60s, the role of female, especially in America was changing, with more women having paid jobs, and an increase in their dissatisfaction on gender disparities. However, according to the International labour office, Geneva, the employment situation for women to date continues to show signs of inequality in terms of pay, market participation, and unemployment rates compared to th at of men. In addition, there is a notable slow rate of progress in women’s managerial positions compared to men; as a result, majority of men continue to occupy the top jobs, leaving women in lower categories. Majority of women and men have specific qualities that make them suitable in certain positions in both professional and managerial careers. Therefore, equal distribution of labor and employment opportunities should be in existence. Moreover, women continue to face the glass ceiling, and even as managers, the chances of advancements are limited compared to those of men. Needless to say, women are sometimes forced to work harder in order to prove themselves compared to men (International labour office, Geneva, 2004, p.2). In addition, the professional and managerial careers require extended working hours, which influence chances of promotion; however, it is difficult for women to take up the long working hours, because they have other responsibilities as mothers and wive s. As a result, men stand at an advantage in these careers, leaving women to cater for family alone, which is very unfair, as women are denied the chances of career advancement. According to Watts (2009, p.41), rejecting long-working hours is a catalyst for job loss, or lack of promotion opportunities. Therefore, creating a work-family balance is important for both the employer and the employees; indeed, family should not be a cause of inequality for women. According to Acker (2008, p.443), all organizations have some aspects of inequalities, especially gender-wise; however, organizations vary in the degree of the presence and severity of disparities. A survey conducted by ILM, on 3,000 employees revealed that barriers exist for women who seek senior positions in organizations in the United Kingdom. As a result, managerial career aspirations for women continue to lag behind compared to those of men (The Guardian, 2011). The study also revealed that 24% of women below the age of 30ye ars start their own business compared to 20% of men who do the same (The Guardian, 2011). Therefore, this study reveals that there is a high level of unemployment for women compared to men, which results to business ownership. As mentioned earlier, women are commonly under-represented in the managerial and professional careers; for instance in 1994, SAS

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

The changing nature of advertising from traditional print and Research Paper

The changing nature of advertising from traditional print and broadcast to interactive and web based - Research Paper Example This essay "The changing nature of advertising from traditional print and broadcast to interactive and web based" how advertisement is presented in various types of media, how it changed and how the advent of the Internet affected it. Traditional mass media involve advertising through the newspaper, books, magazines, radio and television. This type of advertising is one- to- many type of communication that does not allow direct feedback from the audiences. For instance when people read the magazines or turn on the television ,there is no way to directly respond to advertisements unless they write to or call the company themselves but this way they will be using another form of advertising. Radio advertising cost is very attractive advertising vehicle for many small business owners. Radio advertising has a wide scale appeal to consumers and it reaches thousand of target audience at the right time and right message. However, radio was primarily an entertainment medium and advertising is considered an interruption. This has resulted in an industry called satellite which provides entertainment without commercials because consumers are willing to pay for them. With the emergence of satellite radios the popularity of radio advertising is slowly decreasing. Radios have also evolved into entertainment source for background noise at work and for primarily driving. At homes, there has been a drop in radio use because people can play their CDs where they have the freedom to choose their music and programmes free of commercial interruption. This has led to low popularity in radio advertising. Television Advertising Television is a form of entertainment that brings the family together to enjoy public amusement without leaving home. Research has shown that an average person spends more time with the television than with newspaper and radio combined. This shows that television has a very huge audience making it the most powerful advertising choice for many manufacturers and retailers. This has been so for a very long time but all the same the television advertising is slowly dying. The television audience has been fragmented into few local channels where major companies would choose their advertiser but with the introduction of cable and satellite television the audience has further been fragmented into over 200 channels. This fragmentation has led to dramatic reduction of audience in the local channels. Television advertising has limited lifespan for any advertisement this makes the advertisers to not do their advertising on television because once the advertisement has aired its gone for good hence a viewer may not remember the advertisement after all. The television audience as well has a way of avoiding commercial interruption because there has been an introduction of TIVO, pay per view, public broadcasting stations and the multitude of satellite. This has seen a great number of audiences paying for those services because they are avoiding the commercial interruptions (Stafford, & Ronald, 2001,65). At homes, families are opting to watch a common movie as a form of entertainment since they are free of interruption. Although television advertising has decreased for the small business for the big businesses it is now possible to make world -wide advertisement this show that television advertisement has developed and has is yielding more benefits for

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 6

Education - Essay Example Therefore, it is imperative that clear standards and tenure be articulated and publicized (Dalager, 2011). Furthermore, the academic leaders who come up through faculty ranks sometimes develop close relationships with peers and often start viewing themselves as their advocates rather than their administrators. This creates biasness and nepotism, making employees not to believe on the process of evaluation, also affecting on the validity of data collection. Consequently, peer to peer evaluation is not considered as valid when it comes to students. There is no denying the fact that students play an integral role in the academic life of the university through their participation in the evaluation of the faculty by the Faculty Course Evaluation process, but in this case there is a fear of ‘grade inflation’. Students may also get biased in their decision. Other general problems in student evaluation of the faculty could be over interpretation about the instructor which only r eflects one aspect of teaching in the statistics. Students are sometimes unable to judge in an unbiased way or some unique aspects of teaching, therefore, the process concerns for reliability and validity (Diamond, 2011). While doing evaluation from faculty member, it is imperative that they should be all aware of terms and policies of the process. Lacking clear guidelines about the process and some specific legal situations causes ambiguity among faculty member and administrator. All such issues must be discussed with faculty and changes should be informed immediately to the staff. Coming towards tenure and promotion process, it has been noticed that for a successful institution, it is imperative that the policies described in tenure and promotion process should match the mission of an institution. If the priorities of an institution are not supported by the faculty reward system, it can create problems (Kelly, 2010). In general, the process usually involves an assembly of candidat es, in consultation with head of department. On this evaluation basis, high rank faculty department decides whether they should proceed with promotion or not. Other high rank officials do external evaluation. With all combine evaluations and recommendations, the decision is being made. If it is in favor of candidate’s promotion, then the head of department writes to dean of institution forwarding decision along with faculty votes. Further action is taken by dean who forwards the dossier to president of institute and which is then discussed in committee. Hence, the decision gets finalized after the board of trustees issues it. Difficulties with tenure process are not just an individual faculty concern that can be solved by minor adjustments; they are major institutional dilemma. Universities and colleges all over are working hard to find their place in rich mosaic of American higher education institution (Nebrasca, 2004). However, it is not impossible to improve the assessment process. It should be made satisfactory by involving more and more faculty members. Faculty should be examined by faculty administrators, legislators and senior faculty members not only through proper conversations but also through questionnaire filling and gathering statistical data. New faculty member are seen to be caught between the times. They are unable to show performance in accordance to the assessment

Monday, August 26, 2019

Contradictions in International Trade Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Contradictions in International Trade - Essay Example Market is a medium that allows trade. In the olden days trade was called barter, where people used to exchange mostly goods directly. But with the invention of money (and credit, non-physical money and paper money very much later on), trading has now become convenient and been made easier. There are many reasons why trade exists. People trade for other products because of specialization and division of labor, concentrating on small factors of production. Another, different regions have a relative advantage in terms of producing of some exchangeable products. Mass production is allowed owing to the regions' size. That's why both locations benefit from trading at market prices. Trading could also be applied to the action done by the traders and agents in the stock markets. (Bond, E. W., and Syropoulos C., 1996) In the prehistoric times, trade began with the advent of communication. People there bartered goods and services from each other. In the Egyptian times, materials used for making jewerly had been bartered since 3000 BCE. (Wikipedia contributors 2006) A financially lucrative commerce began in during the Greek civilization until the fall of the Roman Empire. It brought spice to Europe to the Far East. In the Roman Empire, commerce there flourished. Instability to Western Europe and a near downfall of the trade network brought about by the downfall of the Roman Empire and the following Dark Ages. The Vikings and the Varangians made trades as they sailed to and from Scandinavia. Vasco de Gama carried on the spice trade in 1498, which became a major economic importance. Holland became a hub of free trade during the 16th century, encouraging free flow of commodities and burdening with no exchange controls. In 1776, in his paper "An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of The Wealth of Nations", Adam Smith criticized Mercantilism, and debated that both country and firms could both benefit from economic specialisaton. Free trade was originated in the 19th century, and was based on national ascendancy and its self-interest to open its doors to imports. (Smith, A. 1776) John Stuart Mill argued that a nation could operate and manipulate the terms of trade (which are defined as "the ratio of the price of an export commodity/-ies to the price of an import commodity/-ies.") through keeping tariffs (Bagwell, K, Staiger R. W. 1998), and that the result to this might be repayment in trade policies. he so-called "infant industry" outlook by Mill came after and foretold the New Trade Theory which states that the state had a "responsibility" to protect young industries. This theory became the system in many countries trying to outdo English exporters. (Watson, P. 2006) The major economic recession was brought by the Great Depression throughout the 1920's-1930's, causing a great decline in trade, and others in the economic areas. The lack of free trade was viewed by many as the chief reason for the depression and the Second World War. During the war 44 nations signed the Bretton Woods Agreement, which was made to avoid national trade

Sunday, August 25, 2019

PR Strategy Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

PR Strategy - Case Study Example Continued advertising after a purchase gives the customer public acknowledgment of his wise choice, and tends to eliminate or reduce cognitive dissonance. The customer is reassured and resold. Repeat business is the avenue to continued success, and post sale financial services often the course to repeat business. The objective of PR is to guide consumption decisions in an objective manner, aggregate mass demand so that financial services can be stabilized and supported. It can foster interfirm coordination and linkages of investors and clients. The objective of PR is to perform the necessary functions of informing and persuading, which are both complementary and conflicting. The former includes media, appeal, advertiser, copy, theme, and layout. The latter, containing the individual differences of people and their psychological, social, and economic situations, intervenes between the sender and the receiver of marketing information. The organizations publics are diverse involving potential target clients and economists, financial institutions and banks. Thus, the PR campaign will concentrate on the professionals willing to buy primary and secondary residence. For this target audience, social learning also includes a well-structured set of interpersonal communication strategies that operate almost in tandem with mass media to give target audience members support for trying the recommended behavior and further reinforcement for maintaining the behavior. The second market segment will involve retirees purchasing a primary or secondary residence. This more focused emphasis on behavior change requires utilizing the mass media up to and including the modellng of recommended new behavior, whereas mass media were utilized in the persuasion/learning effects model to generate awareness and interest. The third group will involve families and individuals purchasing recreational properties. Also, the PR audience will involve financial professionals and brokers, investors and other financial institutions interested in this type of services. The aim is to attract international attention to the brand and inform the public about services and opportunities proposed by McBride. PR communications have meaning to the extent that an individual's predisposition or experience permits him to see, hear, or read them. The main geographical are of the activity are Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, and South Dakota states. The main attention will be paid to communications process concerned with the dissemination of stimuli and their perception, impact, use, and effectiveness (Hollensen, 2007). Media Release McBride Financial Advisors, LLC is one of the leading financial services providers proposing unique solutions and services to diver target audience. Out strength is low cost mortgage services based on the state-of-the-art technology. We treat every client as a friend and a part of out company helping to fulfill their dreams and life expectations. Recent years, international investment in financial assets is especially sensitive to changes in investors' expectations, including expected exchange rate devaluations that can spark massive outflows of funds. Indeed, during financial crises,

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Hyatt Regency Hotel Walkaway Collapse Assignment

Hyatt Regency Hotel Walkaway Collapse - Assignment Example When the walkaways reached the floor, they killed 114 people (Lewis, James, Ralston, Norb& Wheatly 2). The accident left 200 people injured (Banset & Parsons 273). The disaster is related to engineering disasters because of a flaw in the connection of the walkways and the support rods. The disaster led to a number of significant changes in engineering practice. For instance, the engineer who authorized its design lost his license. After restoration, the hotel is currently functioning normally. The Hyatt Regency collapse occurred on July 17, 1981 in Missouri (Banset & Parsons 273). The hotel is located in Kansas City. The accident led to the death of 114 people and caused the injuries of 200 others (Banset & Parsons 273). The disaster has been selected for this paper because it was the most tragic structural collapse in American history at that time. During that fateful night, many people had gathered in the atrium to attend the highly publicized tea party. A significant number of peo ple stood on the walkways. When the accident occurred, all the walkways were packed with many patrons. The design of the walkaways contributed to the extent of the disaster. The fourth-floor bridge was suspended over all the subsequent bridges. In addition, the third walkaway was set off a few meters from the other two. Investigations established a flawed design alteration that increased the load on the connection between the support beams of the fourth walk away and the tie rods that were used to carry the weight of the next walk away. The engineers had clearly failed to observe due diligence. For example, the new design could not handle the weight of the structure. In addition, it could not support the weight of the hundreds of spectators that were standing on it. Consequently, the bridge failed and both walkaways ended up crashing into the lobby. The accident led to the death and injury of many people.

Friday, August 23, 2019

Fed Ex Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Fed Ex - Case Study Example The key to the success of these policies is that FedEx focuses upon qualities such as speed, teamwork, and precision to expand the company’s global appeal. FedEx management encourages innovative thoughts from its everyday employees because it understands the value that they have to offer. This shows how FedEx is such a good example of management who lead their staff in the right way. FedEx also understands the importance of rewarding employees so that their motivation levels will stay high. This is a sign of good leadership because it rewards good behavior through extra incentives. Some of FedEx’s rewards and recognitions programs are the Humanitarian Award, Five Star Award, and the HR Award of Excellence. Instead of being a reactionary company, FedEx is a proactive company that is always looking for ways to improve working conditions for its employees. This is probably why FedEx is an industry leader, because it is always coming up with creative ways to motivate staff to perform to the best of their

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Discuss how Benedicts work developed Boas vision of anthropology and Essay

Discuss how Benedicts work developed Boas vision of anthropology and whether it also represented a new direction in American anthropology - Essay Example This paper will explore what culture could have given Benedict a true sense of all this cultures. The paper will explore Benedicts work and how it sought to spread the importance of culture in individual personality formation. The paper will summarize Benedict’s views on culture capturing the views of some of her best-selling anthropological books.   The influence is quite evident as Ruth was a student of boas and she had great passion for him. It was in Columbia University in 1919 where the two started working together one as a student (Ruth) while boas were a teacher (Benedict & Mead 1977). The influence cannot be undermined given that Ruth wrote in her work about the love she had for boas. It is true that love doesn’t just happen but often is a result of attraction towards style type or ideologies presented by an individual that leads to admiration and finally love. The love of Ruth on boas must have been as a result of his ideologies and way of thinking. The work developed by boas must have had great impact and influence on Ruth. Having rise to the position of president of American anthropological association in no doubt influence American anthropology. In her search for career she attends some classes in anthropology and at that time she attended classes lectured by Alexander Goldenweiser the student for boas (Moore 2009). And he must have influenced her to continue e pursuit in the same career. It could actually be the point where she decided to pursue career in anthropology that she shared a class with a student of boas. After that class with Alexander a student for boas she actually developed great love for sociology. It is amazing how a student of boas made her feel in love with anthropology and later on having great passion for boas and his work. Alexander sent her to boas at Colombia University for further pursuit in the career. Boas took the role of a father and to her boas was like a father; in extension contribute

Miracles provide great hope for a hurting world Essay Example for Free

Miracles provide great hope for a hurting world Essay Miracles can provide great hope for a hurting world because they can be a last resort when all else fails. If someone has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and doctors have given up on them, the hope for a miracle can be the only thing that keeps them from total despair. When nature seems insufferably cruel, believing that God can overcome nature is infinitely reassuring. Miracles also reaffirm the believer’s faith, thus providing hope. Miracles by their very nature are sign that reveal God’s great nature. For example, the Bible records that when Jesus was crucified a great darkness covered the land. This miracle has been historically verified by contemporary middle-Eastern historians Thallus and Africanus. Miracles such as this can be used to convert people to God and give them a sense that he cares for them, thus providing hope. Theologians such as Dr Michael Brown assert that miracles are proof of God’s continued presence in this world through the Holy Spirit, and if we pray earnestly we may be able to experience a miracle. Jesus himself said, â€Å"ask and it shall be given unto you. † Finally, miracles point to an eternal hope beyond this world. They suggest that this world is not all there is; there is another much greater world that we catch glimpses of through miracles. The miracle central to Christianity – Christ’s resurrection – can give a hurting person hope. Christ said that, â€Å"In my father’s house there are many rooms, I will go to prepare a place for you. † Even if they are not healed in this world, the miracle of the crucifixion gives them the hope that they can experience heaven. On the other hand, miracles may not provide hope and happiness because they are so sporadic and seemingly random. Wiles said that miracles were the work of, â€Å"a capricious and arbitrary God. † By this he was referring to the fact that God heals some and not others. Why doesn’t God heal all sick children, instead of a select few? This calls God’s traits into question. If he was omnibenevolent he would want to heal everyone, and if he was omnipotent he would have the power to do so. But he doesn’t, so this calls his very existence into question. Therefore miracles do not provide hope. Dawkins also disagrees with the premise that miracles could provide hope. He claimed that miracles were simply events that fell towards the end of the probability spectrum, and if they do occur they are immense luck. He believes that there is no point in raising people’s hopes for an event that statistically will never occur to them. Many believers, particularly more conservative ones, would believe that miracles and wonders have mostly ceased in our time and what the hurting world really needs for hope is faith. Scholars such as Dr James White believe that modern churches that place far too much emphasis on needing miracles for hope are pushing people away from true, saving faith in Christ. Jesus himself chastised the people for only wanting to see signs and wonders rather than having true faith. Furthermore, miracles are not what is needed to provide hope for a hurting world. Science is. Instead of wasting time praying for individual healings, we should pour out time and energy into discovering cures and vaccines instead. Atheists such as Hawking use smallpox as an example. The human race was able to eradicate this disease through effort, intelligence and science. There was no need for divine intervention to cause hope. Overall, even if miracles are not real, what is wrong with giving desperate people a bit of hope? Nearly all nations have their own accounts of miracles which bring their people hope, it is unlikely they are all wrong.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Ethical Dilemma Summary and Analysis

Ethical Dilemma Summary and Analysis Hardeep Kaur   Ã‚   An ethical dilemma is a situation in which often includes a clear mental clash between two things or decisions. In ethical dilemma if we obey one decision than it would bring about disobeying another. Ethical dilemma is also known as moral dilemma. Ethical dilemmas make the situations too difficult. A person has to choose only one way from two of them- a moral or an immoral way. Ethical dilemmas can be seen everywhere in our daily lives. However everybody has their own particular experience towards ethical dilemma. In reality, good values participate in everybodys life. We need to oversee and take a look after our moral values and in addition towards our desires also. There are three conditions that must be available for a circumstance to be viewed as a moral problem. The primary condition happens in circumstances when an individual, called the operator, must settle on a choice about which strategy is ideal. Circumstances that are awkward however that dont require a decision, are not ethical dilemmas. The second condition for moral situation is that there must be distinctive strategies to look over. Third, in a moral situation, regardless of what game-plan is taken, some moral guideline is traded off. As it were, there is no immaculate arrangement. In any case, the ethics of care focuses on the moral hugeness of tending to the necessities of the general population for whom we accept risk; it is in a general sense about associations. Beyond this, the ethics of care is shown as a record of significant quality that adversaries traditional approaches and hypothetical frameworks about consideration on rights, commitments, value, independence and sensible reason. By following good values, individuals make issues and disarray in their life. Everybody has distinctive purpose for the moral issue. For example, social issues, financial issues and emotional issues. In this document, I am going to talk about an ethical dilemma that I faced personally. Education is described as a moral enterprise and many of the professional dilemmas teachers encounter have an ethical aspect. (Ulvik, 2016) I am going to explain an ethical dilemma in my one year of teaching experience. After my IELTS exam, I started teaching in a school as an English teacher. I was a fresher teacher, so I did not knew much about the schools of my area. After few weeks of my job in school, I noticed that the management of the school was really bad. They did not appoint required staff. There were only few teachers in the staff. In Indian schools, students pay fees monthly, they increased the tuition fees after two-three months and did not gave any proper education to students. Parents expected a lot from the school. They expect a bright future of their children, but the future of students was dark in that school. The student- teacher relationship was not good. Teachers did not care about the students. Positive student-teacher relationships are related to students academic achievement and behavioral and emotional adjustment (Sointu, 2016)   I saw that some teachers ask children to do their personal tasks, such as bringing something from the market for them and some male teacher s also asked children to bring food for them from home. I know that schooling system in India is not so good and but it was worse. I tried my best to teach students everything very perfectly. I cannot help those students to get rid of this management because if I will raise my voice or take any action, I can lose my job and it was against my profession, I cannot go against that organization in which I work and if I will not take any action then I will let the future of those children going into dark. So, at that time I had two options, and I chose to keep quiet. But I think that I did wrong. I became selfish at that time. I should think for those children at that time instead of thinking about me. But I was helpless at that time. Ethical dilemmas affect our societal, professional and personal values. I think that the decision I made at that time was good but now I think that it was not good. Many values were affected. Taking the social values in account, teachers are the second person after parents on which a child believes the most. In India, it is said that teachers are the second parent of the children. Teachers are the member of society from which society expects a lot. They are professionally respected and are provided with high level of education. They teach them like the parents, they also protect them if they are in any problem. A student can share his problem with teacher if he hesitates from parents. It is said that teachers cannot cause harm to their students. I violated all these societal values. I became selfish and did not protect my students from that school management. I feel ashamed and guilty now. Beside this, my profession was teaching, a teacher is second parent of students. Education is d escribed as a moral enterprise and many of the professional dilemmas teachers encounter have an ethical aspect. Parents and students trust a lot on the teachers. But because I was in fear of losing my job and I cannot go against the organization in which I work, I violated some of my professional values also. I was unable to maintain that trustworthy band between parents, teachers and students. Even none of them know this at that time, but whenever they will know they will blame every teacher. Apart from this, I personally feel guilty. My personal values were spoiled. The values such as service of humanity, trust which my parents, my teachers taught me were violated. I violated the rules of my religion that we should help everyone regardless of our own selfishness. I cannot forgive myself thinking that I how did not I care for those kids. There are various ethical standards that are being challenged in this situation. Numerous professions all through the ages have set themselves moral rules that express the states of mind and awareness of others expectations that individuals are required to appear towards their work, articulating the basic qualities and rule that they ought to have regarding their calling. The teaching profession depends on the idea of instructors as specialists who have been appointed particular errands by society, which has likewise set them up for such undertakings by furnishing them with the vital state of training. The profession then requests that the delegates chose to play out these undertakings ought to exhibit high moral measures in all circumstances. An exclusive expectation of professional ethics is a standout amongst the most vital assets accessible to educators, controlling their work and their intelligent relations at the expert level. The work of educating ought to incorporate thought and assessment of the morals of ones own objectives and intentions. ln this sense the reason for the present record of an educators expert morals is to classify and advance the feeling of what is morally right that has dependably been a piece of practice a professional level of expert ability. I think that I have violated all these ethical standards of teaching profession. Now I am going to explain the theories and model that I will use to solve this dilemma which I think that I should use at that time. Utilitarianism is the theory that says that an act is right (moral) if it is useful in bringing about a desirable or good end (Thiroux, 2017). There are two types of utilitarianism: Act utilitarianism and Rule utilitarianism. Act utilitarianism says that everyone should perform that act which will bring about the greatest amount of good over bad for everyone affected by the act (Thiroux, 2017) whereas rule utilitarianism says that everyone should always establish and follow that rule or those rules that will bring about the greatest good for all concerned (Thiroux, 2017). In my situation, I should apply utilitarianism theory. To give a better future to students, I should act against the school to bring a desirable and good end. Acting according to act utilitarianism, I should had act against the school to improve the condition of school that will bring the greatest amount of good over bad for students and everyone (like parents and society) affected by that act. Personally, at that time, the decision that I made was good. But I regret afterwards. As rule utilitarianism says there should be some strict rules that should be followed to improve school standards. The ethical decision making model that I will use to solve my ethical dilemma is The Ethical Problem-Solving Model. The first step of this model is identifying the problem or dilemma. The dilemma was that the students were not given proper education in the school in which I used to teach. I was professionally appointed in school as a teacher and I see that students are not given their rights. I was unable to help them because I was in fear of losing my job. Also I cannot go against the organization I work. So this was the dilemma. Second step of this model is to identify potential issues involved in the problem in terms of rights responsibilities and welfare of all involved. The rights and responsibilities of teachers are to help students in every situation, regardless of their own selfishness. So I should help students to gain better education and raise voice against students. Students should be given proper and quality education as if they will be given proper education then the future of country will be secured. It is my responsibility towards the nation and society. I should create awareness among students. It should help them and the society also. The third step of this model is to review relevant code of ethics if they apply. According to me, on behalf of a social worker, a social worker shall respect the intrinsic worth of the persons served in professional relationships with them. So if I apply this to my situation, I should respect the peoples i.e. students, parents, society and nation as well and act on behalf of serving them as best as I can. The fourth step of the model is to review applicable law s and regulations regarding the dilemma. There was right to education act in India that every Indian has right to get education, so according to that they should be given proper education. The RTE Act says that there is the right and access to quality education to all children in India (Kothari, 2016). Although, there are not proper accurate laws relating exactly to the dilemma. But the students as a citizen of democratic nation, have the right to know that they are being discriminated. They are not given proper education. They have freedom to fight for their rights. They have freedom to speak against the school. On basis of humanity, every individual have the right to expose off a bad management or a bad activity harming the society. No organization have the right to spoil the future of the students. They management should be punished and closed. They are spoiling the future of the country not only the students. So, they government should act upon them. The fifth step of the proble m solving model is consulting to get other perspectives about the problem. When I observed the problem in the school, I discussed it with a few of my close teachers and asked about their views on the problem. Most of those said that just dont interfere in anything. Just let go on how it is going previously. The students which were studying from nine ten years in the same school were used to of the situation. They dont think that the system should be changed. A minority group agreed with my decision, but we alone cannot raise voice against such a big organization. The sixth step of the model is to consider courses of action. In this step, as a teacher the courses of action that I can take are, the first thing is that I should aware the students about the bad management and convince them to fight for their rights. I should help and support students in every situation of their fight for rights. Or the other side of this is that I should not speak anything and just watch the future of s tudents spoiled by the management which I did at that time. Despite this, the other course of action is that I should aware the society to protest and start a reform against the schooling managements that they are spoiling the future of the students. I could also go to the head of the organization and warn him or her to improve the situation of the school and the quality of education. The seventh step of the model is that enumerate consequences of various courses of actions. So in this step, is I consider the first course of action, the students will be aware of the problem and they can fight for themselves. If in their future life, they face the same problem they can fight for themselves and against the injustice. It will give students a power and strength to be independent for their rights and justice. The second course of action will protect my job as it already did because I applied it but it is not good to be selfish in any profession. The next course of action was that I shoul d create a feeling of protest in society. It will create awareness in public against bad management. But it will also create imbalance in society. The other course of action was to approach to head of organization and warn them. This will protect the organization from being disrepute. The problem will be solved politely and without any disputes. The last step of the model is decide on best course of action. According to me, awareness in students and helping them to fight for their rights is the best solution. The students will learn to fight for them. They will not accept injustice in their future life if they will be taught to fight against it in the school life. If students will be aware, then these kind of schooling management will fear and will not even think of doing discrimination with students by not giving them proper education. They will fear that the students can take an action against the management. So this action is best one. The other plans can be applied but I dont th ink so that they will be that much effective. In the textbook, chapter 3 values and professional ethics, it lists the core values of social service worker profession that were very helpful in developing the resolution for dilemma. The core values include respect for inherent dignity and worth of persons; pursuit of social justice; service to humanity; integrity of professional practice; and competence in professional practice (Miller, 2007). These are the values listed for social worker profession. But I think that every profession should follow these values. According to me, in this ethical dilemma situation, the teacher should act in accordance to respect the dignity and value of students and expectations of society. A teacher should act in regard to provide justice to students and he/ she should work for providing good service to humanity. A teacher should not tolerate this for his own child so he should not tolerate this for other students of the society. The code of ethics that implies to the situation is that a social worker shall not behave in a manner that discredits the profession of social work or diminishes the publics trust in the profession. So as a teacher, I should help the students and not be selfish. I should not act in a way that publics trust should be diminished. I should act against the school because that would be best for the society, regardless of thinking about the school. And another code of ethics is that a social worker should promote excellence in the profession. So in the situation, the teacher should help the students and create a good example in the profession. It should be a lesson for other teachers also. To conclude, I can say that the decision that I should aware students is the best and if I would had made this decision at that time it could save their future. But I was not this much aware of it at that time.   Students are aware of teachers actually caring about them; they are able to immediately sense hypocrisy and are aware of the differences between snobbish and authentic behavior. The moral impact on students is important with regard to what they can see and hear around them. (Gluchman, 2016) So if I will help students then it will make a good bond between teacher and students and they would respect the teachers. The students of that school thought that the teachers are cruel. But if I will create love and affection in their hearts and a feeling of getting rid of bad management then they will respect the teacher. At that time, I had a little idea to help students, but I never thought to prepare students to protest for their rights. At that time, I was a bit worried abou t students, and a lot about my job. But now I think that we should not be selfish. Student power can do anything. So, if this decision would be made at that time it would be much better. References Gluchman, V. . (2016). Ethical relationships in the teaching profession in Slovakia. Journal Of Educational Sciences Psychology, 01-20. Kothari, J. a. (2016). A battle of rights: the right to education of children versus rights of minority schools. Oxford University Commonwealth Law Journal , 195-218. Miller, P. (2007). Ethical Decision Making. Nelson Education. Sointu, E. T. (2016). Longitudinal associations of student-teacher relationships and behavioural and emotional strengths on academic achievement. Educational Psychology, 457-467. Thiroux, J. a. (2017). Ethics: Theory and Practice. Pearson Education. Ulvik, M. S. (2016). Ethical aspects of professional dilemmas in the first year of teaching. Professional Development In Education, 236-252.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Cryonics :: essays research papers

Cryonics   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  If you’ve ever seen the Austin Powers movie I’m sure you remember the part where they cryogenically freeze Austin and then thirty years later thaw him out to save the world. While we all know Austin Powers isn’t real, I’m sure you wondered if this freezing could be done in real life. Today we will look at what exactly cryonics is, what businesses claim to provide it, the procedure and its risks.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cryonics is the freezing of humans to preserve them for a later time. Yes, it is a possibility. In fact there are several businesses that offer these services. Two of these businesses are â€Å"The Cryonics Institute† and â€Å"The Alcor Life Extension Foundation.† Alcor Life Extension Foundation calls this process Cryotransport. The cryotransport process begins, according to their website, as soon as possible after legal death. The patient is prepared and cooled to a temperature where decay stops, and is then kept in this cooled state called cryostasis until medical science has advanced enough to bring the person back to life when life extension and anti-aging have become a reality. However, there is a lot of damage done to the body during this freezing, says Dr. Ralph Merkle, a professional in the field of cryonics. First there are fractures that form in the frozen tissues caused by thermal strain, if you were warmed up you’d fall into pieces as if cut by thousands of sharp knives. And Second, the Cryotransport is used as a last resort because legally the Cryotransport can’t even begin until the patient is legally dead. So when the patient comes out he is already sick and may have a hard time coming back from the injuries of being frozen. Even after knowing all this Dr. Merkle says Cryotransport will almost surely work. Why? He says because basically people are made up of molecules and if they are arranged right then the person is healthy, if not the person is either sick or dead. With technological advances he thinks we will be able to make and rearrange the molecular structure of the frozen tissue. In the future, we will be able to stack and uns tack these molecules like Lego blocks. Once the molecules are arranged correctly the person is healthy.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Death, once we have this technology, really won’t be the same. You couldn’t be truly dead unless cremated; torn apart or destroyed in some other way that there would be no way to tell where these molecules are supposed to go.

Monday, August 19, 2019

family culture Essay -- essays research, family values

Often times when we hear the word culture, we think of the differences of different countries. That statement may be true; however, there are different cultures within the same country, even within the same city. No matter what culture we call our own, there are distinct differences between that of other cultures around us. One of the major differences occurs in the realm of family; family affection to be more specific. When talking about family affection, we should consider many different aspects. It was my task and privilege to explore these aspects. I consider myself having a strong American culture. My family has been here for many years and has adopted the â€Å"American Way†. After being born and raised in Wisconsin, I now spend my summers in Hawaii with my relatives. Despite my being away from my family for the summers, my family and I are very close to all of our relatives, and family affection is a daily occurrence. I recently interviewed Teresa Tran, a student at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities. Teresa was born and raised in Minnesota â€Å"after [her] parents emigrated from Vietnam. When [her] parents came to the United States, they brought with them their Vietnamese culture. [She] grew up in a culture mixed with mainly Vietnamese and some American from [her] surroundings.† Even though we have different cultures, we have both differences and similarities in our family affection. The first aspect that I explored was by which medians affection is portrayed in the family. When looking at my own culture, my family and I show affection verbally, through gestures and through voice tones. For example, every night before I go to bed, I give both of my parents hugs, and occasionally kisses, and I always tell them that I love them. As far as tonal affection goes, by not raising our voices at one another we are showing affection in a small way. We still fight, but instead of yelling, we choose words carefully and try to show our point of view without putting down the other person. One last way that we show affection is simply by remembering important dates, like mothers’ day, fathers’ day, birthdays, and anniversaries. Teresa’s Culture differs very much from my own when comparing family affection. The differences come in all of the medians in which to show affection. â€Å"Affection towards my family members is rare,† says Teresa, which is t he biggest differ... ...through hugs and kisses and so on. I think as long as you know that you care about each other, it is enough. So I guess my family ‘affection’ does not fit in to society’s view of what affection should be.† Family affection is a big difference throughout cultures. The many aspects of affection, how it is shown, how people react, public versus private, face value, family versus friends, and family versus society, account for the many differences that are present. No matter what the differences are, I believe that each family member knows that they care about each other and are cared for themselves. I believe that my relationship with my family is excellent. I love them all very much and I let them know it time and time again. However, people do not have to be a part of my culture to feel as I do. Take Teresa for example. Our cultures are very different, but in the end, it comes down to how you feel about your family and how your family feels about you. As for Teresa, â€Å"My relationship with my family is very good. We have our own privacy yet know that we have each other. We make each other laugh, scream, sometimes swear, and even throw tantrums. However, in the end, we are happy.â₠¬ 

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Strikes of the 70s and 80s: The Invisible Role of Women Essay

Strikes of the 70's and 80's: The Invisible Role of Women Throughout history women have slowly moved from the role of mother and housewife into the labor force. In the middle of this rise in stature is a relatively unknown set of events that helped women gain the self-respect and individual attitude needed to move up in the work force. Women's participation in strikes during the 1970's and 80's is relatively unknown in U.S. history. Although the women involved in these strikes made a big impact on the strike and its outcome, they go widely unrecognized and uncredited for their roles. This paper will focus on three strikes: the Brookside Coal Strike, the Phelps-Dodge Copper Strike, and the Pittston Coal Strike. Each of these strikes has its own individual history and story, but they have many things in common as well. Most importantly, each strike had women participants who greatly impacted the strike and did a small part to help women move towards a place in the labor force. Each of the three strikes will be examined from the standpoint of five main factors. First, what were the roles of women in the strike? What kind of work were they involved in? Second, what interest did the women have in the strike? Third, what kind of relationship did the union have with the women? Did it impair their efforts or support them? Fourth, how did the women ultimately impact the strike? Were they seen as a positive influence? In addition, were they seen as positive by the media or ignored by them? And lastly, what happened after the strike? Did the women continue their new, politically active roles or did they go back to the lives they lived before the strike? Each of these questions will be addressed for each of the three strikes discussed... ...rt of something much bigger that would eventually lead to women as an integral part of the labor force. Works Cited Aulette, Judy and Mills, Trudy. "Something Old, Something New: Auxiliary Work in the 1983-1986 Copper Strike." Feminist Studies 14.2 (1988): 251-268. Beckwith, Karen. "Collective Identities of Class and Gender: Working-Class Women in the Pittston Coal Strike." Political Psychology 19.1 (1998): 147-167. Birecree, Adrienne M. "The Importance and Implications of Women's Participation in the 1989-90 Pittston Coal Strike." Journal of Economic Issues March 1996: 187-210. Lasky, Marjorie Penn. Women, Work and Protest: A Century of U.S. Women's Labor History. Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1985. Maggard, Sally Ward. "Women's Participation in the Brookside Coal Strike: Militance, Class, and Gender in Appalachia." Frontiers 3 (1987): 16-21.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

External and Internal Environment Essay

Walgreens in one of the largest drugstore chains in the United States. Walgreens has always maintained a simple strategy. Although the strategy changed over the years to mention newer innovations, the basic principles of the strategy have remained similar. It has become more than just your ordinary pharmacy it invest heavily in high tech store and distribution systems which drive service up and costs down, and offer an on-line drugstore web site totally integrated with other retail stores. Walgreens also have three Pharmacy Care Call Centers one in Alabama, Florida, and in Tuscan. Choose the two (2) segments of the general environment that would rank highest in their influence on the corporation you chose. Assess how these segments affect the corporation you chose and the industry in which it operates. I believe that the two segments of the general environment that would rank highest in influence for Walgreens are the two segments, demographic and technological. If I were to be honest, I believe that all of these segments are important to the success of a drugstore, but because the question asked for which ones I considered being the highest I chose these two. Let me go into details to explain my reasoning for choosing these two. The reason why I choose the demographic segment is because demographics play an important role in mostly every corporation. Marketers can use the variables that make up demographics to create a demo graphic profile, which helps provide them enough information to create a mental picture of who the typical members of society are. Once these profiles have been constructed, they can be used to develop a marketing plan and strategy. The five types of demographics that corporations focus on for their marketing are age, gender, income level, race, and ethnicity. As humans, our bodies are prone to get sick every now and then, and when it does we most likely have to rely on taking medicine to get over the illness. It does not matter if it is over the counter or prescription medicine, we just need something to rid us of the illness. That is when we most likely  turn to the drugstores to purchase our medication, such as Walgreens. However, while we are there to just go get our medicine, the store has much more merchandise to offer than just that. They have stuff that touch on almost every type of demographics, from: having merchandise for different ages, having products for each gender, cheaper brands of prescription medicine for their lower income customers, and much more. Considering the five (5) forces of competition, choose the two (2) that you estimate are the most significant for the corporation you chose. Evaluate how well the company has addressed these two (2) forces in the recent past. Of the five forces of competition, the intensity of existing rivals within the industry. The retail drug industry contains many companies, but the most notable are Wal-Mart, CVS, and Rite Aid. These are just a few of Walgreens’s competitors there are other stores like Kmart, Target, Publix and different grocery store pharmacy chains. Pharmaceuticals are a high demand industry, with fairly high margins. The margins are decreasing, and competition constantly adapts to changing approaches. Many competitors now choose to handle customer interaction on the web. Many people have started to do mail orders because it is cheaper for them. Also, insurance companies find it cheaper for the consumer to do mail orders then going into the actual store. The only thing is that some of the mail orders do not make it in time, which causes the consumer to still have to deal with an actual pharmacy. At Walgreens call center they have a mail order department that assist the consumer with mail orders. Walgreens have these call center to be able to assist more consumers then their compe titors. The second of the five forces that is the most significant for Walgreens would be the bargaining power of suppliers. The textbook states, â€Å"The bargaining power of suppliers refers to the ability of suppliers to raise input prices, or raise the costs of the industry in other ways-for example, by providing poor quality inputs or poor service.†(Hitt, Ireland, and Hoskisson p.54)The generic market has a lot more bargaining power. If a generic manufacturer decides not to sell to a particular retailer, then the stores could easily pick another generic supplier. Generic drugs have less exclusivity than prescriptions, so suppliers must give-in to the chains’ demands. There are so many medications that you once had to have a  prescription for that are over the counter drugs now will hurt the prices on the generic drugs. Walgreens and other pharmacies have come up with ways that customer can save money on prescriptions by offering prescriptions savings cards for people tha t do not have insurance. Wal-Mart, CVS, and Target offer certain medications at discounted prices. With the same two (2) forces in mind, predict what the company might do to improve its ability to address these forces in the near future. In the future Walgreen needs to be able to sell their medication at a cheaper price then all of its competitors. The only thing about this is that some customers have learned that some medication that are manufacturer by different companies do not work as well as others. Regardless if it is brand or generic customers will ask for medication by certain manufacturers. While trying to lower prices for consumers the pharmaceutical have to make sure that the medication is working for the consumer. Not having the most requested manufacturers could cause a business to lose business therefore you have to make sure the stock is complete with medication that people need on demand. Assess the external threats affecting this corporation and the opportunities available to the corporation. Give your opinions on how the corporation should deal with the most serious threat and the greatest opportunity. Justify your answer. In the highly competitive prescription drug market, Walgreen’s biggest threats come from its intertype competitors. With them no longer competing just against other drug stores and pharmacies, retailers such as grocery stores and discounters are starting to increasingly proving to be quite the formidable competitors. Discounters especially, are proving an to be quite a threat when it comes to prices. The emphasis on low cost and economies of scale possible through large companies such as Wal-Mart, mean that Walgreens cannot compete against discounters and their prices. Walgreens is also at a disadvantage compared to their retail competitors, such as Target and Wal-Mart, because retailers carry a much broader assortment with significantly more SKUs and that they also have more consumers who visit the store on a regular basis.† It is estimated that 138  million Americans shop at Wal-mart weekly and that they find it more tempting to go and fill their prescriptions there as well, so that they can meet all their needs in one place† (Lasnti, 2005). Although Walgreens itself does consist of more than just medicine, their assortment of products comes nowhere as close as Wal-Mart and other popular retailers, so they just cannot compete against them in that department. Furthermore, Walgreens’ reliance on prescription drugs, a highly regulated and controlled entity, makes it vulnerable to changes in laws and regulation. This is exemplified by recent changes to Medicare prescription drug plans which, while on one hand made the price of prescription drugs the same for consumers no matter where they chose to purchase it, also further regulated dispensing fees thereby decreasing profit margins for shops, like Walgreens. While Walgreens has not been impacted too adversely by these changes, the aging of the Baby Boomer generation and concerns over the future of Medicare mean that further reform will be a topic of continuous debate. Under these circumstances additional modifications and reforms which may potentially 12 reduce the profitability of prescription drugs are not unexpected. Walgreens relies heavily on prescription drug sales, and dependence on a category whose regulation is mainly beyond its control leaves it vulnerable. As for opportunities, it appears as if Walgreens greatest opportunities to increase their sales lie in changing composition of American population. With the Baby Boomer generation on the verge of hitting a significant demographic shift, they will surely impact the pharmaceutical industry more than any other. â€Å"In fact, Walgreens expected a 30% increase in demand from their senior customers’ prescriptions in years on down† (Merrick, 2006).† They had a good reason to think so since 30% of prescriptions and 42% of sales revenue from it came from seniors in 2002, and they were expected to expand up to 95 million by the time it was 2010 (â€Å"SIC 5912,† 2006). Increase for the demand of prescription drugs, which is Walgreens’ largest category and is most known for, potentially means an increase in sales and profit for the company. Further opportunities that Walgreen has is to benefit from lies in international markets. Currently in the United States, only domestic businesses in the market have become saturated, and Walgreens will be forced to look internationally for expansion. While cultural differences and government regulations will likely prove challenging given Walgreens’ nature of its business, international markets provide significant opportunities for expansion in the market. Furthermore, there other main competitors that falls into the same category as them, such as Rite Aid and CVS, have yet to enter the international markets. Beating these competitors to reaching and entering into international markets could ensure that Walgreens stays a step ahead and remain the market leader of the three. This would also help Walgreens stay competitive against the larger chains, such as the ever popular Wal-Mart, with many of them already having a significant presence in the international market. REFERENCE Merrick, A. (2006, June 21). Walgreens found way to profit drug plan. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved February 2, 2014 from LexisNexis Academic database on the World Wide Web:http:0web.lexisnexis.com.oasis.oregonstate.edu/universe/document?_m=402elf7d8438 â€Å"SIC 5912 Drug Stores and Proprietary Stores.† (2006). Referenceforbusiness.com.Retrieved February 2, 2014 from http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/industries/Retail- Trade/Drug-Stores-Proprietary-Store. Hitt, M., Ireland, R. D., & Hoskisson, R. (2013). Strategic Management – Concepts and Cases. Mason: Cengage Learning.

Friday, August 16, 2019

The Causes for the Popularity of Fast Food Restaurants

Amanda Smith Kimberly Boone English 1101 March 4, 2013 The Causes for the Popularity of Fast Food Restaurants Brainstorming ~Modernization has come a long way. Many things evolve with it. This evolutionary process causes people to remain busy all through the rest part of the day. ~ The busy schedule leaves not time for making food either for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. ~ Restaurants offering fast foods. ~This problem triggered the popularity and rise of fast food restaurants. ~Fast food has never been an issue in the past since people could take their time and prepare food, but nowadays this is not the case. ~ Cheap and affordable food Advertising and promotion Outline In looking at the causes for popularity of fast food restaurant, we are going to enumerate on: Introduction The need to satisfy human wants, people engage in activities that allow them provide for the basic needs. It is these motivational requirements that robe most of the time. Owing to this, people are seeking the m ost convenient way of utilizing this time. Fast food restaurant come into play an enormous role in being convenient to offer fast foods. In doing so, they go as far as offering fast food that is delicious, affordable, in a hygienic environment by the best services.On top of this, in order to let customers know about their products they advertise and promote it in radios, TV, magazines, and billboards. It is all this that causes for the popularity of fast food restaurants in the society. The explanation of are given below. 1. Convenience. 2. Numerous delicious recipes. 3. Affordable food. 4. Services. 5. Hygiene. 6. Advertising and promotion. Conclusion The popularity of fast food restaurant depends on the aggressiveness of the management and mostly the sales and marketing team. Also the employee’s competence on customer care handling.When all t work harmoniously, the restaurant will cut a competitive edge in the market since it will receive customers’ day in day out. F ast food restaurants play an important role in assisting the population in providing them with needed services. This in turn amounts to boosting the country’s economy indirectly. I therefore encourage entrepreneurs to venture into this type of enterprise because there is ready and available market. Amanda Smith Kimberly Boone English 1101 March 4, 2013 The causes for the popularity of fast food restaurantsIn the current industrialized and technologically developed global village, there is hardly any time between packed schedules for preparing food. The struggle for better living standards, batter health care, better education, and self actualization are the motivational needs. These are some of the Maslow motivation hypothesis. It is this hypothesis that has forced people to have an inner drive for better things in life. As a result of this, human beings are so occupied such that there is little or no time for preparing food either for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.People resor t to restaurants offering fast foods. As a result of the increased number of customers requiring the services of fast foods; a number of entrepreneurs are diverting their investments in this venture. There is growing popularity of fast food restaurants (Clutter, David and Edward). Owing to the busy schedule, people have no time to venture to prepare variety of dishes. Women cannot spare the time to learn how to make varied dishes for the family. The bigger role is played by restaurants. These restaurants prepare a variety of recipes to choose.These foods are delicious. It draws customers to continue frequenting because of the delicious foods. This makes the restaurant popular as a customer will invite other customers to the same place and hence the restaurant becomes popular. Therefore, the types of food that prepared boost the popularity. Nowadays, we see many restaurants striving to cook varied kinds of foods. They do so in order to increase the popularity. There cater for differe nt type segment of the market hence customers are diverse and able to get any food needed (Kuzop, John and Elizabeth).Fast food restaurant come into play an enormous role in being convenient to offer fast foods. In doing so, they go as far as offering fast food that is delicious, affordable, in a hygienic environment by the best services. Therefore, the standards of living are extremely rising up. This is as a result of the advancement in technology and modernisation. This is added by the economic instability facing most countries of the world. The hard economic times that are looming in the global economy people are resorting cheap and affordable food for their up keep.Owing to this, fast food restaurants are turning to being popular since they offer food that is cheap. With only a few dollars, one can get a snack that satisfying and serve the purpose of the day after all the stomach only needs tricking to sustain the day. The fast food restaurants offer a lot of diverse meals at e xtremely low cost, which cause many people to select these restaurants as their most excellent alternative (Clutter, David and Edward). In order to cope up with stiff competition, managers employ human resource strategies in selecting the best candidates to work in restaurants.It is because of this reason that there is excellent customer service. The employees working in fast food restaurant are customer friendly, respond quickly, and attend to any issue. They go a step further and inform the customer on the varieties of food available and their nutritional contents. It is from here that the customer chooses from the many options offered based on the price of that food. All these services available promote the popularity of that restaurant because customers will go spreading the good services offered there (Clutter, David and Edward).The most expensive human capital is the personal health. People follow the preventive measure than cure and as a result, they look for clean restaurant s to purchase food. The cleanliness condition in fast food restaurants is a factor that remains observing. Majority of these restaurants owing to aggressive competition and public health regulations maintain hygienic environments. Human being by nature attract to clean and attractive surroundings. Clean restaurants attract customers, and the positive consequences are that the popularity of the restaurant will increase.This is because more and more customers will flow to the clean and attractive place (Kuzop, John and Elizabeth). Market scrutiny and analysis is a strategy that most business entities or embracing. In order to enter into a market segment and remain at the top, advertising and promotion is one of techniques to adopt. Restaurants employ these techniques. They put adverts on radio, TV, magazine, and billboards. The effect of this is that persuading customers and in the long run may change their perception towards the restaurant.It is through here that food restaurants gai n popularity since customers know the food (Kuzop, John and Elizabeth). As a result, the popularity of fast food restaurant depends on the aggressiveness of the management and mostly the sales and marketing team. Also the employee’s competence on customer care handling. When all t work harmoniously, the restaurant will cut a competitive edge in the market since it will receive customers’ day in day out. Fast food restaurants play an important role in assisting the population in providing them with needed services.This in turn amounts to boosting the country’s economy indirectly. I therefore encourage entrepreneurs to venture into this type of enterprise because there is ready and available market. Works Cited Clutter, et al. â€Å"Why have Americans Become More Obese? â€Å". † Journal of Economic Perspective (2003): 17(3) 93-118. Kuzop, et al. â€Å"†Making Healthy food Choices: The Influence of Health Claims and Nutrition Information on Consumer s' Evaluation Packaged Food Products and Restaurant Menu Items. â€Å". † journal of Marketing (2003): 67(2) 19-34.

Accounting Information System and Special Journals

The principle of internal control violation is separation of duties. The person that records the incoming cash receipts should not be the same person that is posting the customer payments to their accounts. My recommendation to the business would be that they have one person recording the Incoming cash receipts, and they should assign another employee to take over posting the customer payments to the right accounts.This will ensure that payments will get posted to the right accounts, and reduce errors. 2. The principle of Internal control violation Is establishment of responsibility. Jeff is the custodian of the petty cash fund, and he should be the only one responsible for that petty cash fund. My recommendation for the company would be for another petty cash fund to be established for Jose when he Is needed to fill In as custodian. This will ensure that If something should happen with that petty cash fund, Jeff will not be held responsible for Joke's mistakes.Therefore, If Jose mak es a mistake as custodian of his own petty cash fund, he will be the one held responsible. 3. The principle of internal control violation is applying technological not a good for a company to store everything in the same place. My recommendation would be for the company to have all the records backed up at night as usual, and request Nadine to take the tape home with her every night. That way is something disastrous happened overnight she is able to recover all accounts with the backup tape she has taken home. The principle of internal control violation is performing regular and independent reviews. A regular and independent review should always be done whether an employee is or not meeting all Job requirements to satisfactory. My recommendation is for the manager's to immediately start regular and independent reviews. This will ensure that all employees will continue to do their Job effective and efficiently at all times. 5. The principle of internal control violation is to insure assets and bond key employees.

Thursday, August 15, 2019

Nurse Patient Communication

According to the article, â€Å"Nurse-Patient Communication Barriers in Iranian Nursing† (Anoosheh et al, 2009) communication is one of the basic social needs of human beings. This article is the description of a study done to better understand the barriers that inhibit nurse-patient communication. Communication is critical in the nursing profession and can be considered a main aspect of nursing care.Patients and families count on nurses to keep them informed, help them feel connected to their physicians and other caregivers, to listen to them, to ease their anxiety, and to protect and watch over them during their healthcare experience. However, many studies (Anoosheh et al. 2009) have shown poor results in the quality of nurse –patient communication. There is the risk that nurses can become focused on tasks, physiological needs of the patient and time management at the expense of psychological needs.I am a firm believer that the psychological aspect of human beings can directly influence our physical state. I agree with the statement in the article that communication can be, â€Å"an essential part of nursing care but also as a treatment by itself† (Anoosheh et al. 2009). As I give care in my nursing practice I can improve communication by confirming patient feelings by asking questions such as, â€Å"How are you feeling today? † or â€Å"How do you feel about your upcoming procedure? †.To help patients know what to expect I can explain what care I will be performing, how long it will take and what their role may be. Another aspect that is necessary for quality patient care is collaborating with the patient by asking questions like, â€Å"What can we do better? † and, â€Å"How is the treatment working? † These patient centered questions can get patients talking about their thoughts and feelings. With a positive nurse patient relationship, there can be patient and family satisfaction and an environment that supp orts healing.

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Comparative religion Essay

When classifying the world’s major religions they can easily be split up into two groups: Eastern religions and Western religions. The Eastern religions consist of Hinduism, Buddhism and Taoism. The Western religions consist of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Almost all of these religions have come about within existing religious frameworks. Eastern and Western religions share many qualities while differing in many as well. Hinduism, Buddhism and Taoism are monistic, meaning they see god in all things. The Eastern mind sees God everywhere, in all things, and sees everything as sacred. Their ultimate reality is an entity and not necessarily a god. â€Å"God† is not personal and not to be thought of as a brother or father, but as so much more. Eastern religions see one kind of reality. They view all beings as equal in value. The individual is not actually real and the separateness of humans from creation and from one another is an illusion to be overcome. Human nature is viewed as naturally ignorant and we better ourselves by being enlightened. Following dharma is the good life, which is being in harmony with universal order through personal duty. In Eastern religions, enlightenment is attained within the individual. In Buddhism, it is nirvana; In Hinduism, it is the yoga; In Taoism, it is wu wei. Reincarnation is a central belief; so some things are not that big of a deal, such as justice or injustice. They believe there is one true god and all religions speak of him. There are many paths to god. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are monotheistic faiths, which mean they believe in one god. The Western mind considers it heresy to believe that God pervades all things, and makes a strong difference between what is sacred and what is profane. The god of Judaism, Christianity and Islam is a god of history not of nature, the world reflects him but he isn’t to be found in it. God is personal and tended to be thought of in terms of what we know, such as a father figure, etc. Western religions are dualistic, meaning there are two kinds of reality, material and non-material. It is viewed as heaven and hell. Each of these western religions believes that humans are here to submit themselves to god. There are sharp distinctions made between humans and the rest of the natural world. The individual is the same throughout eternity, and the separateness of humans from creation and from one another  is real and permanent. Human nature is viewed as sinful and we become better by taking control of our sinful nature. The good life is obeying the laws of god. In Western religions, enlightenment is attained through significant people conveying god’s word to the ordinary people. This occurred through the prophets Adam, Abraham, Moses, Muhammad, Jesus. There is only one chance at life, and this is probably why Western religions seem to have more emphasis on justice. They believe there is only one true god and one true religion and all non-believers will spend eternity in â€Å"hell.† Eastern and Western religions also share many traits. Each of the groups has come about within other religions. Buddhism grew out of Hinduism, and Christianity and Islam grew out of Judaism. Each believes there is more to reality than what we experience with our senses. Eastern and Western religions alike have specific creeds, guidelines, doctrines or orderliness. Hinduism has the Bhagavad-Gita; Buddhism has the four noble truths; Christianity has the Bible; Judaism has the Hebrew Bible and the Torah; and Islam has the Koran. In the texts of these religions, many of the stories are moral stories meant to help us and not always factual. In these Eastern religions, they all meditate and reach a state of enlightenment. These Western religions all pray to god and have faith that god will help and have mercy on them. Each gains a better sense of self although by different means. They each teach to have compassion, love your fellow man, help those less fortunate, and live the best life you can. The most important similarities would be the thought and knowledge of existence outside of our realities. Morals are also where they balance with each other. Man’s destiny is viewed by both groups as lying in his own hands. Man can choose to enlighten himself or save himself, or choose not to. These are the most significant views shared. This is where they share the most common ground. The most important differences would be that eastern religions see truth in all religions and western religions see truth only in their religion. The way natural things are viewed set the groups apart significantly. Eastern religions see everything having value and western religions see only people  having value and nothing else. Western religions have had prophets to speak god’s word. Eastern religions say everyone can reach ultimate reality. These are the ideas that separate eastern religions and western religions so greatly. There are some common themes in all religions. All religious beliefs allow us to understand and categorize our world and our place in it. There is value in all religions that honor life and individuals potential. They are all concerned with ultimate reality, only seen from different angles. A common theme is charity. All religions emphasize charity and helping out those who need it. Happiness is a common theme, which is what is drawn together from religious experience. Wisdom is attained as a result of religion and its practice. The Eastern religions could teach the Western religions tolerance. Western religions only see themselves as â€Å"right† and dismiss all other views. This is not easily justified and just reaffirms eastern thought that humans are naturally ignorant. So that alone discredits the assumption on the western part that they are â€Å"right.† The Western religions could teach Eastern religions about dualism. One could say that although this reality is a certain way, who is to say that the next or continual one will be similar? They could see dualism within the reality. My approach to religion was greatly affected by my upbringing. I was raised as a Baptist. I blindly followed just as all children do. When I reached the â€Å"Age of Reason†, I took a serious look at the faith and came to my own conclusions. I figure that if the way I learned it is the way that it is, then there is no use in practicing it. If god is vengeful and could damn me to hell for eternity, then I don’t want anything to do with him. That certainly does not sound Supreme to me. I have a hard time believing the doctrine that we were created for the sole purpose of serving him and fighting down the human spirit. I would rather try to see life as being something to enjoy and make the most of it. I am considered â€Å"agnostic† and do not know where most men are sure. I feel that most organized religion has been around to control and limit people. Eastern religions appeal to me  because they are not necessarily based on doctrine. I view all beings as equal, t ry to live a good life, and don’t attempt to speak of things that I cannot conceive. Religion is definitely becoming more of a tolerable subject among those who are intolerable. The persecution of religious groups seems to be slowing down, very slowly. The future of religion is identical to the future of human existence. As long as human beings are around, they will use religion to place themselves in this world and understand themselves. As humans, we tend to be very self-important and make ourselves feel better about ourselves, and give ourselves meaning so we do not feel that we do not have a significant place in the world.