Concept of Service Profit Chain for Apple

The Service-Profit Chain Today by by James L. Heskett, W. Earl Sasser, Joseph Wheeler Relevance Today The service-profit chain (SPC) is as relevant today as it was when we wrote about it in â€Å"Putting the Service-Profit Chain to Work,† in the March 1994 issue of Harvard Business Review. In fact, three of the co-authors of that article have since left the academy to apply SPC principles in the business world. Company Examples Highly successful companies like Bouygues Telecom in France (now the third largest in its markets in the ten years since its founding) and ING DIRECT (now the 17th largest bank in the U.S. after just seven years) have been created since then, based on service-profit chain (SPC) relationships. Others, such as Rackspace Hosting (engaged in Web site design and management), Westpac (one of Australia’s leading banks), CEMEX (one of the world’s largest cement companies, based in Mexico), Harrah’s Entertainment (a leader in branded casino entertainment, based in Reno, Nevada), and Baptist Health Care (a not-for-profit health care organization centered in northwest Florida and southern Alabama), have been revitalized through actions suggested by SPC relationships.Positive examples of SPC practice are commonly found in companies at the top of Fortune’s 100 Best Places to Work and the Wall Street Journal’s best-performing companies. Other companies, such as Circuit City, provide examples of what happens when organizations manage themselves into a â€Å"doom loop† of negative SPC relationships. In March 2007, Circuit City announced that it would replace 3,400 of its more experienced, higher-paid salespeople with new, lower-paid hires. In so doing, it damaged customer satisfaction and ultimately suffered the financial consequences. Service-Profit Chain AnalysisIn the past 14 years literally hundreds of academic studies have examined one or more of the seven links in the service-profit chain we describ ed in our 1994 article. (David Maister, author of Practice What You Preach: What Managers Must Do to Create a High Achievement Culture (New York: The Free Press, 2001), proved in an extensive study the cause-and-effect relationships that exist between various elements of the SPC. ) Of the studies that have been done, all but a handful have confirmed the relationships in all kinds of for-profit and not-for-profit service activities.Some researchers have taken issue with certain of our hypotheses. In particular, several have found weak or negative relationships between employee satisfaction and productivity and between customer satisfaction and financial measures. In part, this can be explained by sudden management actions that have not yet been fully felt throughout the SPC. For example, changes in such things as staffing policies and organizational structure produce effects that may temporarily disrupt relationships between measures of employee and customer satisfaction. The Importa nce of All the Links in the ChainAs we have continued our work, we have learned, among other things, that: * An organization and its leadership can’t â€Å"cherry pick† ideas or focus on single relationships in the SPC; for maximum effectiveness, all of them must be addressed. * Firms performing well on one SPC dimension are probably doing well on others, too. * It all begins with the first link between the quality of the workplace and employee satisfaction. This link includes such variables as employee selection and recognition, as well as amenities and benefits designed to help employees achieve results for customers and themselves.Companies such as SAS (a leader in business intelligence and predictive analytics software, headquartered in Cary, NC) and Wegmans supermarkets (a regional chain centered in the northeast U. S. ) that invest deeply in workplace quality are consistently found near the top of the list of best places to work in the US. * There are patterns of practice that lead to SPC success. For example, many best-practice organizations have been built on teams of employees with latitude to hire, develop, and, if necessary, fire team members and with responsibility for the growth and profitability of a piece of the business. Customers that we termed â€Å"apostles† in 1994 drive most or all of a firm’s profits through what we have more recently come to think of as the five Rs of customer or employee â€Å"ownership†: retention, related sales, referral, recruitment, and research and development. Wegmans Supermarkets Take the case of Wegmans supermarkets. The company’s mission is to â€Å"set our goal to be the very best at serving our customers. Every action we take should be made with our customers in mind. We also believe that we can achieve our goal only if we fulfill the needs of our own people. At Wegmans, these are more than just words. According to Fortune, Wegmans has ranked in the top five places t o work in the U. S. for several years. In part, this is because CEO Danny Wegman and his team seek to create exciting experiences — centered around food — for both their employees and their customers. This even involves sending selected employees to Europe to study the practices of chefs creating gourmet cuisine. After interacting with employees, a surprising number of the company’s customers apply for jobs, self-selecting into an organization they believe in.A substantial portion of the company’s marketing effort fosters word-of-mouth referrals from existing customers. Ideas for new food items, recipes, and presentations are regularly solicited from and provided by customers and employees. As a result, Wegmans delivers unmatched value in spite of prices that are sometimes higher than competitors’. This, in turn, leads to profitable performance and growth in a very competitive business. Customers and Employees as â€Å"Apostles†Following the publication of â€Å"Putting the Service-Profit Chain to Work,† the work of two of us (Heskett and Sasser, in cooperation with Joe Wheeler) has focused on the payoffs from applying service-profit chain concepts to groups of employees and customers that exhibit what we call â€Å"owner† behaviors. Findings from this work will comprise the contents of our new book, The Ownership Quotient, to be published by Harvard Business Press later in 2008. These employees and customers aren’t just satisfied, loyal, and willing to recommend a company or its products or services to others.They are â€Å"apostles† who actually recruit others to an organization–either as a place to work or to bring their business. And they recommend improvements in how a product is designed or a service delivered, often through constructive complaints that are noted, processed, and acted upon by companies that foster â€Å"owner† behaviors. Our attention to â€Å"ownersâ₠¬  was captured when we found that in the organizations we have studied so far, a customer/owner is worth more than a hundred price-sensitive, non-loyal customers.Organizations that understand this, such as Harrah’s Entertainment and Rackspace Hosting, have designed ways of identifying and catering to customer/owners, often by creating ownership attitudes among their employees. These organizations build ownership in a number of ways: * They organize around cross-functional teams of employees, each of which is responsible for managing itself and developing relationships with a group of dedicated customers. (For example, at Rackspace Hosting, teams of â€Å"Rackers† are responsible for building business relationships with assigned groups of customers seeking help in managing their Web sites. * They carefully select the customers they will serve. (For example, at ING DIRECT, desired customers for on-line banking are targeted and others are â€Å"fired. †) * They u se firm-wide databases that enable employees to share information in order to tailor products and services to customer needs. (For example, Harrah’s Entertainment has a Total Rewards customer database. ) * They understand and meet individual customer needs and interests. (For example, employees at Build-A-Bear Workshops are trained to look for and respond to needs of individual customers in the store itself, as well as those who visit the company’s Web site. * They often engage customers in the delivery of a product. (For example, IKEA customers are encouraged to transport and assemble their furniture purchases themselves. ) * They identify values, behaviors, measures, and actions necessary to build and maintain an ownership mentality. (For example, Baptist Health Care has identified the critical elements of its organizational culture: integrity, vision, innovation, superior service, stewardship, and teamwork. ) Concept of Service Profit Chain for Apple The Service-Profit Chain Today by by James L. Heskett, W. Earl Sasser, Joseph Wheeler Relevance Today The service-profit chain (SPC) is as relevant today as it was when we wrote about it in â€Å"Putting the Service-Profit Chain to Work,† in the March 1994 issue of Harvard Business Review. In fact, three of the co-authors of that article have since left the academy to apply SPC principles in the business world. Company Examples Highly successful companies like Bouygues Telecom in France (now the third largest in its markets in the ten years since its founding) and ING DIRECT (now the 17th largest bank in the U.S. after just seven years) have been created since then, based on service-profit chain (SPC) relationships. Others, such as Rackspace Hosting (engaged in Web site design and management), Westpac (one of Australia’s leading banks), CEMEX (one of the world’s largest cement companies, based in Mexico), Harrah’s Entertainment (a leader in branded casino entertainment, based in Reno, Nevada), and Baptist Health Care (a not-for-profit health care organization centered in northwest Florida and southern Alabama), have been revitalized through actions suggested by SPC relationships.Positive examples of SPC practice are commonly found in companies at the top of Fortune’s 100 Best Places to Work and the Wall Street Journal’s best-performing companies. Other companies, such as Circuit City, provide examples of what happens when organizations manage themselves into a â€Å"doom loop† of negative SPC relationships. In March 2007, Circuit City announced that it would replace 3,400 of its more experienced, higher-paid salespeople with new, lower-paid hires. In so doing, it damaged customer satisfaction and ultimately suffered the financial consequences. Service-Profit Chain AnalysisIn the past 14 years literally hundreds of academic studies have examined one or more of the seven links in the service-profit chain we describ ed in our 1994 article. (David Maister, author of Practice What You Preach: What Managers Must Do to Create a High Achievement Culture (New York: The Free Press, 2001), proved in an extensive study the cause-and-effect relationships that exist between various elements of the SPC. ) Of the studies that have been done, all but a handful have confirmed the relationships in all kinds of for-profit and not-for-profit service activities.Some researchers have taken issue with certain of our hypotheses. In particular, several have found weak or negative relationships between employee satisfaction and productivity and between customer satisfaction and financial measures. In part, this can be explained by sudden management actions that have not yet been fully felt throughout the SPC. For example, changes in such things as staffing policies and organizational structure produce effects that may temporarily disrupt relationships between measures of employee and customer satisfaction. The Importa nce of All the Links in the ChainAs we have continued our work, we have learned, among other things, that: * An organization and its leadership can’t â€Å"cherry pick† ideas or focus on single relationships in the SPC; for maximum effectiveness, all of them must be addressed. * Firms performing well on one SPC dimension are probably doing well on others, too. * It all begins with the first link between the quality of the workplace and employee satisfaction. This link includes such variables as employee selection and recognition, as well as amenities and benefits designed to help employees achieve results for customers and themselves.Companies such as SAS (a leader in business intelligence and predictive analytics software, headquartered in Cary, NC) and Wegmans supermarkets (a regional chain centered in the northeast U. S. ) that invest deeply in workplace quality are consistently found near the top of the list of best places to work in the US. * There are patterns of practice that lead to SPC success. For example, many best-practice organizations have been built on teams of employees with latitude to hire, develop, and, if necessary, fire team members and with responsibility for the growth and profitability of a piece of the business. Customers that we termed â€Å"apostles† in 1994 drive most or all of a firm’s profits through what we have more recently come to think of as the five Rs of customer or employee â€Å"ownership†: retention, related sales, referral, recruitment, and research and development. Wegmans Supermarkets Take the case of Wegmans supermarkets. The company’s mission is to â€Å"set our goal to be the very best at serving our customers. Every action we take should be made with our customers in mind. We also believe that we can achieve our goal only if we fulfill the needs of our own people. At Wegmans, these are more than just words. According to Fortune, Wegmans has ranked in the top five places t o work in the U. S. for several years. In part, this is because CEO Danny Wegman and his team seek to create exciting experiences — centered around food — for both their employees and their customers. This even involves sending selected employees to Europe to study the practices of chefs creating gourmet cuisine. After interacting with employees, a surprising number of the company’s customers apply for jobs, self-selecting into an organization they believe in.A substantial portion of the company’s marketing effort fosters word-of-mouth referrals from existing customers. Ideas for new food items, recipes, and presentations are regularly solicited from and provided by customers and employees. As a result, Wegmans delivers unmatched value in spite of prices that are sometimes higher than competitors’. This, in turn, leads to profitable performance and growth in a very competitive business. Customers and Employees as â€Å"Apostles†Following the publication of â€Å"Putting the Service-Profit Chain to Work,† the work of two of us (Heskett and Sasser, in cooperation with Joe Wheeler) has focused on the payoffs from applying service-profit chain concepts to groups of employees and customers that exhibit what we call â€Å"owner† behaviors. Findings from this work will comprise the contents of our new book, The Ownership Quotient, to be published by Harvard Business Press later in 2008. These employees and customers aren’t just satisfied, loyal, and willing to recommend a company or its products or services to others.They are â€Å"apostles† who actually recruit others to an organization–either as a place to work or to bring their business. And they recommend improvements in how a product is designed or a service delivered, often through constructive complaints that are noted, processed, and acted upon by companies that foster â€Å"owner† behaviors. Our attention to â€Å"ownersâ₠¬  was captured when we found that in the organizations we have studied so far, a customer/owner is worth more than a hundred price-sensitive, non-loyal customers.Organizations that understand this, such as Harrah’s Entertainment and Rackspace Hosting, have designed ways of identifying and catering to customer/owners, often by creating ownership attitudes among their employees. These organizations build ownership in a number of ways: * They organize around cross-functional teams of employees, each of which is responsible for managing itself and developing relationships with a group of dedicated customers. (For example, at Rackspace Hosting, teams of â€Å"Rackers† are responsible for building business relationships with assigned groups of customers seeking help in managing their Web sites. * They carefully select the customers they will serve. (For example, at ING DIRECT, desired customers for on-line banking are targeted and others are â€Å"fired. †) * They u se firm-wide databases that enable employees to share information in order to tailor products and services to customer needs. (For example, Harrah’s Entertainment has a Total Rewards customer database. ) * They understand and meet individual customer needs and interests. (For example, employees at Build-A-Bear Workshops are trained to look for and respond to needs of individual customers in the store itself, as well as those who visit the company’s Web site. * They often engage customers in the delivery of a product. (For example, IKEA customers are encouraged to transport and assemble their furniture purchases themselves. ) * They identify values, behaviors, measures, and actions necessary to build and maintain an ownership mentality. (For example, Baptist Health Care has identified the critical elements of its organizational culture: integrity, vision, innovation, superior service, stewardship, and teamwork. )

Great Gatsby and Socio-Economical World of America Essay

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is not just a novel; rather it is the representation of an era. The story is about the moral decay that arouses in the American society in 1920s. It also shows the picture of the American dream getting corrupted by lust, greed and empty pursuit of pleasure. In other words it was the collision of subcultures. The wealthy and elite class found pleasure by throwing decadent parties and playing wild jazz music. On the other hand, the member of middle class was seduced by the dabbler lifestyle of the rich. Jay Gatsby was somewhat a mysterious one as people knew very little about his personal life. We finally find that Gatsby was involved in criminal activities to win his beloved Daisy’s attention. On the surface, The Great Gatsby is a story of unrequited love. The novel is based on the themes of love, revenge, desire for money and the suicide. But a careful analysis of the novel reveals that its major theme encompasses a much larger, less romantic scope. Through this novel, Fitzgerald has tried to portray a real picture of American society of 1920s. The story is set in the neighborhood of Long Island, New York. In this novel, we also find a reflection of disintegration of American dream which was about moral values and pursuit of success. The idea of American dream emerged in the Colonial period and it was based on the perception that success can be achieved by any individual, no matter what social position he possesses. What matters is his personal skills, hard work and efforts. A prototypical 1920s’ man has been described by the author Roland Marchand in his book in the following words: â€Å"Not only did he flourish in the fast-paced, modern urban milieu of skyscrapers, taxicabs, and pleasure-seeking crowds, but he proclaimed himself an expert on the latest crazes in fashion, contemporary lingo, and popular pastimes. † We find that Marchand’s definition is quite similar to the characters of Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald has presented the era of 1920s as the one in which social and moral values were weak and a moral decay ensued in American society. It was, in fact, an era which was marked by reckless pursuit of pleasure, amoral quest for money and certain lustful desires. The protagonist of this novel, Jay Gatsby is a wealthy, mysterious man residing in a Gothic mansion in West Egg. He is fond of throwing lavish parties every Saturday night. The sole purpose behind these ostentatious parties was the gaudy display of wealth. Most of the people who joined those parties, even didn’t know anything about Gatsby. They just wanted to be the part of such lavish parties so they could enjoy expensive wines and loud jazz music along with delicious foods. It is important to mention here that the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment in 1919, which banned the sale of alcohol, created a booming underworld designed to satisfy the huge demand for bootleg liquor among rich and poor alike. In that period, people started to make fortunes through the illegal business of liquor. Such a business made people rich overnight and turned them into millionaires. Besides, the World War I ended in 1918, and the young Americans, who had fought in the war, became highly disillusioned as the butcheries and the brutalities which they had witnessed in the war made their ideas about Victorian morality quite vague and blurred. Another aspect of that particular era was the sudden rise of stock market that resulted in the increase in national wealth and thus the phenomenon of materialism emerged. People started spending their newfound money in getting luxuries of life and they felt satiated by the gaudy display of their wealth. The narrator of the novel, Nick Carraway is a young man who has studied in Yale and then moves to New York. He becomes the neighbor of Jay Gatsby, who is famous for his opulent parties and lives in a grand Gothic mansion as described by Nick, â€Å"It was the factual imitation of some Hotel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool and more than fifty acres of lawn and garden†. (pg 4) Gradually they became friends and later on, Nick finds out that Gatsby has gathered his wealth through criminal activities. Gatsby tries to become the part of established aristocracy by attaining material wealth including a grand mansion, several servants and many automobiles. But he still wants the reassurance that whether all his efforts of money making have the desired impression or not. As on one occasion, he says to Nick, â€Å"My house looks well, doesn’t it? He demanded. â€Å"See how the whole front of it catches the light. † (pg68). As Scott Donaldson mentions in his article, â€Å"The culture of consumption on exhibit in The Great Gatsby was made possible by the growth of a leisure class in early-twentieth-century America. As the ovel demonstrates, this development subverted the foundations of the Protestant ethic, replacing the values of hard work and thrifty abstinence with a show of luxury and idleness. † It means that the phenomenon of becoming rich overnight and acquiring sudden wealth made the Americans idle and thus the once appreciated values of hard work and self reliance were replaced by the newly emerged trends of leisure and the pursuit of pleasure. This is why, much emphasis has been laid on the corruption of American dream as it was about hard work and personal efforts but it vanished gradually with the newly found wealth. Jay Gatsby madly loves a pretty damsel, Daisy Buchanan who is an East Egger. She is Nick’s cousin too. Here, it is important to keep in mind that the West Egg, where Gatsby and Nick live is a home to newly rich people. On the other hand, East Egg represents the established aristocracy. Gatsby wanted to win Daisy’s love also because she belonged to the established aristocracy and having her at his side would make him acceptable to that particular part of society. As Ray E. Canterbery states in his article, â€Å"Jay Gatsby wants to live with Daisy Buchanan because she is a member of the established American aristocracy of wealth. Gatsby lacks the maturity to realize that Daisy cannot be obtained by money alone and in a vulgar display of conspicuous consumption, he flaunts his nouveau wealth. † While reading the novel, one clearly finds out that the particular era mentioned in the book was marked by boundless greed, self satisfaction, infidelity and selfishness. Daisy’s husband, Tom Buchanan has an affair with a woman named Myrtle, whose husband is very poor and owns a worn out garage. Tom claims that he is in love with Myrtle but it was in fact, anything but love. On one occasion, we see that he treats his mistress very inhumanely as is mentioned in the novel: Some time toward midnight Tom Buchanan and Mrs. Wilson stood face to face discussing, in impassioned voices, whether Mrs. Wilson had any right to mention Daisy’s name. â€Å"Daisy! Daisy! Daisy! † shouted Mrs. Wilson. â€Å"I’ll say it whenever I want to! Daisy! Daisy† â€Å"Making a short deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand†. (pg27) As it is mentioned earlier that East and West Egg were different from each other in terms of their habitants, their ways of living. Their architecture and their tastes were also quite different from each other as the East Eggers were more refined and cultured whereas West Egg was the home of somewhat pretentious, gaudy people. Gatsby, himself was fond of throwing lavish parties as described in the book: â€Å"On weekends his (Gatsby’s) Rolls-Royce became an omnibus, bearing parties to and from the city between nine in the morning and long past midnight. Every Friday crates of oranges and lemons arrived from a fruitier in New York every Monday these same oranges and lemons left his backdoor in a pyramid of pulp less halves. On buffet tables, garnished with glistening hors-d’oeuvre, spiced baked hams crowded against salads of harlequin designs and pastry pigs and turkeys bewitched to a dark gold†. (pg29) In order to become acceptable for the East Eggers or the established ones, Gatsby wears flamboyant dresses and has a collection of several big, huge cars. On one occasion, Tom makes fun of Gatsby’s car by calling it a â€Å"Circus Wagon†. But one thing was common among both (West and East Eggers) of them. They were lustful and pretentious. Jay Gatsby was, however, different in a sense that he truly loved Daisy. He waited for her five long years and didn’t forget her for even a single moment. He bought a mansion in West Egg so that Daisy could know about him as his opulent parties bore quite fame. When he met Daisy, he became very happy and contended but he also wanted her to leave Tom Buchanan for good. He waited whole night outside Daisy’s window, just to make sure that Tom wouldn’t hurt her. He loved her so deeply and profoundly that when Daisy mistakenly murdered Myrtle by crushing her under the car, Gatsby was ready to take this as his own mistake. As we see that when Nick inquires Gatsby about this incident he said, â€Å"Well, I tried to swing the wheel—† He broke off, and suddenly I (Nick) guessed the truth. â€Å"Was Daisy driving? † â€Å"Yes,† He said after a moment, â€Å"but of course I’ll say I was. † (pg110) On the other hand, we find that Daisy, despite Gatsby’s love and care, is still confused and double minded. She doesn’t want to leave Tom Buchanan, nor could she live without her new found -once -lost -love. She, before her husband, admits that she doesn’t love him but after sometime, changes her mind. Oh, you want too much! † she cried to Gatsby. â€Å"I love you now isn’t that enough? I can’t help what’s past. † She began to sob helplessly. â€Å"I did love him once but I loved you too. † (pg101) On the same occasion, she said, â€Å"Even alone I can’t say that I never loved Tom,† she admitted in a pitiful voice. â€Å"It wouldn’t be true. † (pg102) Thus it is clear that Daisy is absolutely indecisive as she couldn’t decide that whom she wants to live with. Besides, she cared very little about Gatsby’s feeling and didn’t give him the love he deserved. Daisy’s selfishness is also shown on another occasion when on Gatsby’s arrival, she treats her own daughter Pammy in such a manner that clearly lacks the love and warmth of a mother. As mentioned in the novel, â€Å"The child, relinquished by the nurse, rushed across the room and rooted shyly into her mother’s dress. † This shows that the little girl was reluctant to go to her mother as she was not aware of a mother’s affection. Gatsby had never really known of the existence of Daisy’s child, as Daisy was probably afraid to tell him about her. â€Å"Afterward he kept looking at the child in surprise. Daisy uses the child as a show item: â€Å"I got dressed before luncheon† said the child, turning eagerly towards Daisy. â€Å"That’s because your mother wanted to show you off† replies Daisy. When the child speaks to Daisy, Daisy never answers or replies to her. She always changes the subject as if she doesn’t even notice the child’s presence. For example, when the girl comments Jordan’s dress, Daisy ignores her and asks her what she thinks about her friends: â€Å"Aunt Jordan’s got on a white dress too†, said the child. â€Å"How do you like mother’s friends? † Daisy turned her around so that she faced Gatsby. Do you think they are pretty? † After this brief introduction, Daisy asks the nurse to take the child back. (pg89). This very careless nature of hers became the cause of her lover’s pitiful demise. Both Tom and Daisy were selfish, mean and careless as both of them became the cause of their lovers’ deaths. As mentioned in the novel, â€Å"They were careless people Tom and Daisy. They smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together and let other people clean up the mess they had made. (pg139). Interestingly, automobiles also have a significant part in the demise of many of the characters. The 1920s’ American culture was the one in which the phenomena of automobiles emerged. With the arrival of sudden wealth, people started to buy cars as they also became one of the status symbols. An American President said in 1925, â€Å"We will root out poverty and put two cars in every garage. † Jay Gatsby also had five cars, one of which hits Myrtle and results in her unfortunate death. Myrtle’s death then leads to the death of poor Gatsby and her own husband, George. It is what O’Meara calls as a â€Å"death car. † She writes, â€Å"The automobile is a symbol that Fitzgerald uses to accomplish several different ends. † After the death of Gatsby, Nick Carraway goes to Meyer Wolfsheim, the infamous gambler and swindler and tries to find out the actual origin of Gatsby’s wealth. He asks him, â€Å"Did you start him in business? † Wolfsheim replies â€Å"Start him! I made him,† and continues: â€Å"I raised him up out of nothing, right out of the gutter. I saw right away he was a fine appearing gentlemanly young man and when he told me he was at Oggsford, I knew I could use him good. We were so thick like that in everything, he held up two bulbous fingers – â€Å"always together. †(pg132) This conversation reveals that Gatsby was once a poor, unprivileged fellow and despite all his attempts, he couldn’t fit in with the old, established aristocracy. After the sad demise of Jay Gatsby, Nick tried to inform Gatsby’s friends about his death but it was ironic that no close friend or relative came to attend the funeral. The man, who was always surrounded by different people and whose parties’ people desperately wanted to attend, was now all alone. Since he was of no use now, everybody left him and never looked back at the time they had spent with that poor, unlucky chap. At the same occasion, Nick Carraway received a call from one of Gatsby’s friends. It was Mr. Klipspringer. When he told Nick, about himself, Nick felt a bit satisfied and thought that at least there is someone who cares about Gatsby. â€Å"The funeral’s tomorrow,† I (Nick) said. â€Å"Three o’clock, here at the house. I wish you’d tell anybody who’d be interested. † â€Å"Oh, I will,† he broke out hastily†. â€Å"Of course I’m not likely to see anybody, but if I do. His tone made me suspicious. â€Å"Of course you’ll be there yourself. † â€Å"Well, I’ll certainly try. What I called up about was a pair of shoes I left there. I wonder if it’d be too much trouble to have the butler send them on. You see, they are tennis shoes, and I’m sort of helpless without them. My address is care of B. F†. â€Å"I didn’t hear rest of the name, because I hung up the receiver†. (pg130, 131) This reveals that how selfish and mean those people were. They used to gather around Gatsby like the moths around a candle, but when that candle stopped spreading its light, all of them turned away. At funeral procession, Nick Carraway tries to remember the deceased man and thought about his life for a while. This scene is very skillfully portrayed by Fitzgerald in the following words: I tried to think about Gatsby then for a moment, but he was already too far away, and I could only remember, without resentment, that Daisy hadn’t sent a message or a flower. Dimly I heard someone murmur, â€Å"Blessed are the dead that the rain falls on,† and then the owl eyed man said â€Å"Amen to that,† in a brave voice. We straggled down quickly through the rain to the cars. Owl eyes spoke to me by the gate. â€Å"I couldn’t get to the house,† he remarked. â€Å"Neither could anybody else. † â€Å"Go on! † He started. â€Å"Why, my God! They used to go there by the hundreds. † He took off the glasses and wiped them again, outside and in. â€Å"The poor son- of -a -bitch,† he said. (pg135) The story of The Great Gatsby spirals into tragedy as the book progresses with a succession of events love, revenge, murder and then suicide. There is a moral judgment involved in the process of reading such a story. Besides, Fitzgerald’s work can be compared to that of the British author Thomas Hardy as he too dared to examine themes that Victorian society brushed under the carpet namely sexual desire and obsession. Eventually, the materialism, empty pursuit of pleasure, big cars and grand mansions along with the Prohibition movement resulted in the emergence of class struggle among the rich and poor. Both of them started finding means of making money and didn’t pay attention towards the fact that whether those means are justified or not. A new perception emerged, according to which money brings happiness. But this didn’t happen in the case of Gatsby. All of his money, earned through illegal means was fruitless as it couldn’t bring Daisy closer to him. We see that The Great Gatsby is the story of shattered dreams i. e. both American and Gatsby’s dream. In Fitzgerald’s point of view, the American dream was about individualism, discovery and the pursuit of happiness. Whereas, Gatsby’s dream was to get his long lost love back but unfortunately, both the dreams got shattered in the end. We can say that this novel is an account of possibilities that can be generated through wealth and the irresponsibility that can ultimately ruin them. The story gives us a strong lesson that accumulation of wealth doesn’t always mean the attainment of real happiness. Money and riches are necessary to live a good life, but they, of course, don’t guarantee joy and success in life. The picture of American society drawn in The Great Gatsby can be compared to the present day American society. We can see that today’s American society face the similar issues and suffers from the similar ailments e. g. materialism, desire of money and the hollow pursuit of pleasure.

The Biggest Archipelago In The Earth Environmental Sciences Essay

The Philippines is besides known as the democracy of the Philippines. It is fundamentally a south Asian state. It is an island located in the western Pacific ocean. The capital of Philippine is manila. The Philippines is fundamentally divided in to three parts geographically, viz. , Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. With all this islands combined the state ‘s coastline is 5th largest in the universe. It covers 36,289 kilometer. It is considered as largest Catholic state of Asia. Harmonizing to 2009, Philippines is 12th populated state about 92 million citizens. in history the Philippines have been an indispensable center for concern for its ethinc minority. In twenty-first century, the state is member in some planetary trade organisation include the APEC, ASEAN and WTO. The Philippine have opened their economic system to foreign market since 1980s. it besides set up a system of free of charge trade understanding with several state. The united provinces is one of the most trading spouse of the Philippines harmonizing to US section of commercialism, the trade between Philippine and US amounts US $ 15.4 billion in 2010. United States is besides largest investors of Philippines. The foreign direct investing was close to US $ 6 billion at the terminal of 2009. Under the new Aquino direction, the authorities programs to open more foreign investings in industries like touristry, excavation, concern processing operation.Philippines GeographyThe Philippines is the biggest archipelago in the Earth that is found in the south-eastern seashore of the Asia mainland. Philippines is bounded by H2O in which in the E by the Pacific sea, on the South by the Celebes Sea, and on the West and north by the South China Sea. The state consists of 7,107 island and islets. Merely 2000 of these islands are reserved. The populated and cragged islands are grouped into three: Luzon, the biggest island group, covers 141,395 square kilometres ; Visayas, 56,606 square kilometres ; and Mindanao, 102,000 square kilometres. Other chief islands are Samar, Negros, Palawan, Panay, Mindoro, Leyte, Cebu, Bohol and Masbate.The Philipine Archipelago is alienated into 15 parts. These parts are separated into state, and the state into metropoliss and municipality, and these into barangays. Barangay is the smallest political unit in the Philippines. The Philippines is a alone mixture of varied topography. Luzon and Mindanao is renowned by narrow vales, alluvial fields. turn overing hills and high mountains. The highest mountain are found in the larger islands which are Luzon and Mindanao that the mountain scopes are running north to south. The height of the mountains vary from 1,790 to 3,144 metres. These mountain scope are the natural barriers of the state. This saddle horse rang is the sierra Madre, the Cordillera, and the Cotabato scopes. The 4 major Lowlandss are set up in Eastern Cordillera, Central field of Luzon, Agusan every bit good as Zambales. The lesser islands of the Philippines are cragged in the inside and environment by narrow strips of discontinuous level Lowlandss which constitute the coastal rims. There are about 221 vents, 21 of which are active. Filipino has the finest havens in Southeast Asia the Manila Bay that has an country of 1,970 square kg metres and coastline of 192 kilo metres. Philippines has an estimated coastline of 18,411 kilo metres. There island of the Philippines has beautiful coral reefs which attracts tourer from all over the universe.APhilippines besides has a volcanic landscape for the ground that it sits in the unsteady pacifying â€Å" Ring of Fire † . Philippines had experience minor natural catastrophes in the past. Two mojor volcanic eruption that struck the state are from Mt. Pinatubo and Mt. Mayon Volcano. The roseola killed 100s and displaced thousand of people. Homes and footing of life were damaged that left non anything to the people.Philippines – TopographyThere are no major semisynthetic constructions impacting the geographics of the Philippines. The landscape is extremely assorted, with volcanic mountain multitudes organizing the nucleus of most of the large island. A Numberss of vents are dynamic, and the island has been capable to constructive temblor. Lowland are usually narrow coastal strips except for larger fields in Luzon ( Cagayan Valley and Central Plains ) , Mindanao ( Cotabato and Davao-Agusan vales ) , and others in Negros and Panay. River ‘s are little and normally seasonal in flow. Important 1s are the Cagayan, Agno, Abra, Bicol, and Pampanga in Luzon and the Cotabato and Agusan in Mindanao. Flooding is a frequent jeopardy. The shore of many of the island are embayed ( Manila Bay is one of the finest seaports in East Asia ) ; nevertheless, more than a few islands lack deficient seaport and demand offshore lightering for sea transit. The lone two inland H2O organic structures of undistinguished size are Laguna de Bay in Luzon and Lake Sultan Alonto in Mindanao.The major towns & A ; metropoliss of PhilippinesTopographic point Administrative Division Bacolod WesternA Visayas Cagayan NorthernA Mindanao Cebu CentralA Visayas Davao SouthernA Mindanao Manila NationalA CapitalA RegionClimate in the PhilippinesThe Philippines has a nautical temperate type of conditions conditions and has two distinct season raining and dry season. The high temperature mean scope from 23A ° to 32A ° Celsius ( 73A ° to 90A ° F ) in the uncomplete archipelago all through the twelvemonth. The waterlessness varies from 75 % to 85 % depending on the clip of the twelvemonth. The dry season is from November to April and the Wet season is from May to October. In Baguio ( The summer Capital of the Philippines ) , temperature norms 18.3A °C. The season differ throughout the islands because of the varying exposures to the two major air current belt, monsoon or nor'-east trades ( winter ) and southwest monsoon ( summer ) . Since of these air currents belt that have an consequence on our clime, the E seashore receive insignificant winter rainfall and the West coasts undistinguished summer rainfall. Rainfall steps from 5,000 millimeters in the cragged E seashore subdivision of the state, but less than 1,000 millimeters in some of the sheltered vale in the uncomplete twelvemonth. The Philippine archipelago is situated besides in the typhoon belt. That is why Philippines is hit by few typhoon and storm concluding in the month of July all the manner through October but sometimes it widen to December. The topographic points that the typhoon struck are the Northern and Eastern Luzon and the Bicol and Eastern Visayas Region. The strong point of the typhoon be different each twelvemonth. An norm of 25 typhoons visits the Philippines each year.A Not merely typhoon, Philippines is besides hit by copiousness called the El Nino. This happen from the dry period and expand to the moisture season. There is no rainfall in a long clip.Climate ChangeDry seasonDecember to June, 7 months are the dry season of Philippines. In this period trade air currents blows from north-east which by and large are dry. If it does rains in this dry season so it feels like afternoon shower to chill you down. This rain will non traveling to impact you more than that.In this dry season of Philippines, you will happen two differences. You will happen cool and dry conditions during the December to February. In Philippines the coolest month is January in the twelvemonth. Coolest means temperature around 25 grades Celsius, which is quite nice. We will happen hot and dry conditions in months of March to june. May is the hottest month of the twelvemonth. We can anticipate temperature more than 30 and low 40 grades.Rainy or moisture seasonAfter the heat of may and june, the season will interrupt in July. The period of July to November it rains. These rains calls monsoon. And this changeless winds brings rain. During the monsoon, the Philippines clime attracts typhoons which beat the aggressive eastern coastline of Luzon, samar, Leyte but about ne'er Mindanao. The typhoons blows from the way of the western Pacific in a north-western. In 2011, Philippines counted less typhoons per twelvemonth. But this clip they were more peaceable and made landfall more in the North.Natural Catastrophes:The Philippines is uneven to natural catastrophe, peculiarly typhoons, inundations, landslides, volcanic eruptions, temblor, and tsunamis, lying as it does across the typhoon belt, in the active volcanic part known as the â€Å" Pacific Ring of Fire, † and in the unnaturally imbalanced part between the aggressive and Eurasiatic tectonic home bases. The Philippines besides suffer major human-caused environmental debasement angry by a high one-year people growing rate, include loss of agricultural lands, deforestation, dirt abrasion, air and H2O pollution, unacceptable discarding of difficult and toxicant waste, loss of coral reefs, misconduct and maltreatment of coastal assets, and overfishing.The HazardscapeThe Philippine archipelago due to its location and natural properties is horizontal to natural jeopardies. It is situated in the Pacific Ring of Fire where two major tectonic home bases of the universe, i.e. the Pacific Plate and the Eurasiatic home base, the happening of temblors and tsunamis, and being of 220 vents of which 22 are classified as active because their eruptions have been found in historical records. It is located along the typhoon belt on the Western North Pacific Basin where 66 per centum of tropical cyclones enter or arise. Typhoons mean 20 events per twelvemonth ; five to seven of which can be instead destructive. Average one-year rainfall in the state varies from 965 millimeters to 4,064 millimeter. inordinate rainfall events activate landslides and lahar flows and are responsible for terrible and perennial inundation in low lying countries. steaming cyclones are accountable for an normal of 40 % of the one-year rainfall in the state. Decelerate moving or about inactive steaming cyclones study for extended periods of rainfall. Natural jeopardy are portion of the Philippine environment, but catastrophe happen because human being colony, substructure, people and their pecuniary actions are located where jeopardies occur. Costss of catastrophe impact are borne by authorities and single families, therefore endangering socio-economic expansion additions. Other menaces that warrant attending are complex exigency that are mostly semisynthetic, frequently with associated with armed struggle Natural Resources: A The major natural mineral income contain coal, Co, Cu, gold, gypsum, Fe, natural gas, nickel, fuel, salt, Ag, and S. There are lesser sedimentation of bauxite, quicksilver, and Zn. Other necessary capital are geothermic and hydroelectric power, fish, and lumber.Agribusinessscheme for farming in the Philippines comprise doing the universe ‘s largest rice client, which presently import the basic, self-sufficing. Multi-million dollar irrigation undertakings are presently underway to assist accomplish this end, while a National Irrigation Administration is seeking to learn husbandmans sustainable irrigation techniques. The authorities is besides forcing husbandmans to follow more commercial attacks to their concerns, organizing co-ops and specializing in high-value subsectors like organics. Finally, the sugar cane industry, face the chance of the sugar market place being flooded with inexpensive import when ASEAN liberalization boots in, is looking toward value-added green goodss like bio ethyl alcohol.harvest turning and workssagriculture, including piscary and forestry, plays a of import function in the Filipino market. At present, it provide employ to about 9.6 million Filipino who make up one semi of the entire work force. farming continue to account for the majority of entire service. The agrarian country registry a optimistic addition rate balance to other fabrication and fix. The export of farming merchandise carry on to travel up peculiarly now that wide assortment of undeveloped manufactured goods like veggies, fruits, and cosmetic harvests are dining in abroad trade. The established cropn exported by the Philippines are honey, coconut oil, banana, Ananas comosus in sirup, copra bar or repast, Mangifera indica, and other veggie. The Philippine has a broad assortment of flora from forestry to agricultural works life. The chief cardinal harvests grow in the Philippines are cereal, chief harvests ( Banana, coconut, Ananas comosus, sugar cane, java, Mangifera indica, baccy, Manila hemp, gum elastic, chocolate tree manioc, camote, peanut, onion, garlic, tomato, aubergine, chou and citrous fruit. ) and other harvest such as fibercrops, rootcrops, tubers, spices, fruits, bearing veggies, leafy/stem vegetable, other leguminous plants and other fruits.The Philippine veggie industryVegetable is a large and diverse merchandise in the Philippines. assortment of these workss can be set up in the state. This are educated intensively in concern farms and garden Plant. parts use as vegetable include anything from whole foliages, fruits, flower root, root tubers ( yam bean, murphy, sweet murphy ) and seeds storage roots and bulb ( onion, garlic and shallot ) . The most normally grown-up vegetable in moorland is white murphy, chou sweet Piper nigrum, Brassica oleracea italica, Brassica oleracea botrytis, boodle and tomato. For Lowlandss, vegetable such as solanaceous, cucurbits, roots, and leguminous plants.introduceFilipino import of both procedure and fresh veggie merchandises are lifting in last 3 old ages peculiarly on onion and Allium sativum. besides, institutional market are trusting on imports for there supply which is a job endangering the states vegetable industry. Bulk of the imports or 62 % are process vegetable merchandise of onion, garlic, tomato ( tomato paste ) and mushroom. The staying 38 % are imported as fresh like melons, Allium sativum, Brassica oleracea botrytis, Brassica oleracea italica, Apium graveolens dulce and others.ExportsState ‘s export depends on lone few harvest ( fresh or chilled ) 43 % of this are from Asparagus officinales, 28 % from shallots, 9 % on onion and the residuary 20 % are dispersed to other vegetable harvests.The Filipino Plantation Crops IndustryThe agricultural estate harvests industry is a turning fabrication in the Philippines. This is conveying approximately by the assortment of utilizations obtain from these harvests. Among the agriculture land harvests educated in the Philippines are coconut, rubber, chocolate tree, sugar cane, indispensable oils, and Manila hemp.Medicative Plants ProgramThere are about 15,000 species of works in the state. A figure of this species are curative vegetations and herb with distinguishable medicative value known for their healing belongingss. These workss are good beginnings of pharmacological ingredients able of bring arounding adult male ‘s complaint. Some of the ingredients are volatile oils, rosin, alkaloid, glycoside and intoxicant.location tendencySurveies have exposed that a big measure of people in the Philippines are awake of the potencies medical values of around 7000 works assortment. The sector of Science and cognition have conduct have found out that 80 species have been pr oven to be safe and effectual.Current Development in Horticultural Crop ProductionTurning SystemEven unreal mulching is non loosely use in the Philippines ; it is non new to agriculture production. Melon and strawberry agriculturists in Luzon are the most ascertained to be utilizing the engineering including plastic screen above the works life to support it from rain as such off-season crop is achieve. One kerb of such engineering is the stuff cost concerned and the proper disposal of the usage plastics. Tunnels with net screens or secluded cultivation are another engineerings in vegetable production, However, there are private houses persons and co-ops that are engaged in green house production of cut flowers and veggies utilizing mechanised nurseries. The nurseries are to the full with this with really all right cyberspaces that would forestall the entry of insects, therefore the works do n't hold to be spray with insect powder. The harvests were watered and fertilized through trickle irrigation ( fertigation ) this is wholly computerized, including the control of temperature and humidness. Plants are grown in soils medium consist of Cocos nucifera peat and clinkers. Other usage grow bags with turning medium that is fortified with some works food. Proliferation of nursery in the state is a welcome development because this is one manner of guaranting the supply of quality farm green goods needed by the upscale market. Tissue civilization researches were being conducted geared to develop rapid extension technique. Which will supply the agriculturists good quality seting stuffs for horticultural harvest production. Climate, the most of import environmental factor traveling works growing and advancement is the mean long-run clime of a situate, determined over a period of at least 30 old ages. In contrast, A climateA is the short-run atmospheric status of a topographic point. TheA climatic factorsA includeA rainwater, A visible radiation, A temperature, comparative humidness, A airA andA air current. Any difference in one of these climatic factors can hold of import belongings on the others and accommodate the assorted physiological procedure in workss numbering photosynthesis, respiration and transpiration. The Philippines ‘ rich volcanic dirt, bright sunlight and adequate rain history for the healthy growing of 1000s of works species in the archipelago. From refering 3000 category of monolithic foliages to 1000s more species of mosses and lichens, Philippine forests comprise diverseness of works life that non one of its neighbours.For most of the population, there are 3 types of housing.AThey are:-Nipa huts.-home made of bamboo, with nipa roof. Even foreigner will populate in a nipa hut as they are cool to populate in. normally, they use coco timber for the environment, have bamboo walls, roof made from banana foliages and cookery is on an unfastened fire. Better lower status places will hold bamboo floor or else the floor will be grime. There are no glass windows.– Plywood.-Homes made of plyboard with corrugated Fe roof. normally, they will utilize coco bunch for the frame, 3 ply plyboard for the walls. 5 or 7 ply plyboard for the floor. grooved degree for the roof. windo w will often be the slat type. Most often, these are unpainted and will worsen in a few old ages because of contact to the conditions.– Hollowblock.-Homes made of cement block call hollow blocks. They are a big long pillow brick with holes from side to side the center. for the period of edifice, the hole are filled with strengthen and steel bars for reinforce.. Hollow block places come in sizes runing from individual room to several floors. Some have tiled roofs and some have corrugated Fe roofs. bathroom are frequently indoors. Smaller hollow block places will most probably have slat type Windowss. Better quality places will hold aluminium window or imagine made of wood lineation window.Philippines Earthquake-2012A strong temblor of 7.9 magnitudes work stoppage off the eastern beach of the Philippines trigger tsunami warning across Asia. The temblor struck on August 31, 2012 at 20:47 local clip.DetailssDate and Time of Earthquake – 02:48 AM HST on August 31, 2012 co-ordinate – 10.9 NORTH 127.1 EAST site – Filipino Islands country scale – 7.6 on the Richter ScaleLocation of EarthquakeThe temblor was hit at a deepness of 21.7 stat mis and was centered 66 stat mis east of Samar Island and 91 stat mis off the town of Guiuan in Samar state.ImpactThe clang was felt at metropolis of Davao, approximately 250 stat mis south of Guiuan. One place was distorted in southern Cagayan de Oro metropolis. There was no electrical energy in several Philippines towns and metropoliss.Which authorities bureau do people turn to for in sequence during natural catastrophes?For conditions updates and typhoon signal qui vives:hypertext transfer protocol: //www.gov.ph/images/uploads/DOST-PAG-ASA-seal.png Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical Astronomical Services Administration ( PAGASA ) PAGASA is an bureau under the subdivision of Science and machinery. A It provides real-time update about the conditions and typhoon qui vives. Legend of PAGASA ‘s color-coded rainwater advisories, which may be issued through Twitter, the medium and coordination with the local authorities.For more information about the color-coded warning signalHow to do sense of PAGASA ‘s colour-coded warning signals: -A hypertext transfer protocol: //www.gov.ph/images/uploads/filler5-150Ãâ€"121.png hypertext transfer protocol: //www.gov.ph/images/uploads/weather9-copy-copy.pngProject NOAH The Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards ( NOAH ) is a plan Begin by the DOST to set in topographic point a receptive plan forA disasterA turning away and decrease, utilizing advanced information to heighten current geo-hazard susceptibleness maps..hypertext transfer protocol: //www.gov.ph/images/uploads/filler5-150Ãâ€"121.pngFor volcanic activities, temblors, and tsunami qui vives:hypertext transfer protocol: //www.gov.ph/images/uploads/Phivolcs-596Ãâ€"573.pngPhilippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology ( PHIVOLCS ) PHIVOLCS is a service institute of the DOST. The organisation is tasked to extenuate catastrophe that may originate from volcanic eruptions, temblors, tsunami and other related geotectonic phenomena. Web site: A phivolcs.dost.gov.phAFor harm appraisal and amalgamate studies on authorities action:hypertext transfer protocol: //www.gov.ph/images/uploads/weather14.png National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council ( NDRRMC ) The NDRRMC was established to follow catastrophe turning away and hazard decrease. ItA reports updates on the belongings and preparedness steps of catastrophe state of affairs such as typhoon, temblors, etc.For NCR inundation updates:hypertext transfer protocol: //www.gov.ph/images/uploads/MMDA.pngMetropolitan Manila Development Authority ( MMDA ) Provides real-time studies on traffic and flooded countries in Metro Manila ; AIDSs in inundation control in Metro Manila.Where do people direct contributions for those affected by catastrophes?hypertext transfer protocol: //www.gov.ph/images/uploads/DSWD-596Ãâ€"524.pngDepartment of Social Welfare and Development ( DSWD ) The DSWD is the organisation in charge for the distribute societal services to the Filipino people. It spearhead authorities alleviation operation for the period of incidents of catastrophes.SWOT of Philippines: –StrengthsFailingTheir economic development strength of agricultural merchandises include rice, maize, manioc, Mangifera indicas, Ananas comosuss, coconuts, sugar cane, porc and fish. Another chief contribution to their economic strength and development are industry such as: pharmaceuticals, chemical, fuel refinement, wood merchandises, nutrient processing, garments, footwear and fishing. Fishing industry The GDP and GNP rise comparing the other state. High degrees of corruptness High poorness incidence Agribusiness suffers from low productiveness Poor province of substructuresMenacesOpportunitiesA high population growing rate Laging rural economic growing and high rural underemployment. Widening disparity between the urban and rural hapless. Persistent exclusion of hapless and marginalized people from development procedures. Small entree for hapless people to productive assets and endeavor chances. Ineffective degeneration to drive local development. Unsustainable natural resource depletion. Hospital Infrastructure Wine concern Hotel concern Tourism Exporting flowers to India. Laundry concern Perfume concern Medicines

Debate Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 11

Debate - Essay Example If the issues of abortion are resolved at the legislature, a woman’s right to decide is more likely to be given much weight because of their right of privacy. However, it is worth noting that the concern of the fetus’ inability to decide whether to live or not. It is for this reason that I believe this issue should be resolved by the courts that are more likely to protect the interests of the meek which in this case are fetuses (Ginsberg, Theodore, Margaret, Caroline, & Robert 750). In addition to being resolved by the courts, this contentious issue should also be resolve at the federal level and not state level. The United States of America is comprised of a number of states and in the event that the issue of abortion is solved at the state level, it is most likely that all the states will not have a unanimous ruling on the matter. Therefore, women would easily travel to states with legislations that favor their interests. This implies that in the event that the issue of abortion is resolved at the state level, people would easily move from one state to another with the hope of finding a soft spot to carry out an abortion (Ginsberg, Theodore, Margaret, Caroline, & Robert

Extenuating circumstances - from Germany to the United States Essay

Extenuating circumstances - from Germany to the United States - Essay Example I knew much of the language, able to speak it but with a unique accent. I always imagined settling in United States, attending its colleges and participating in American sports activities, especially football, which is my passion. Upon arriving in Texas, I was lonely at first, lacking family, friends and any one to share my sorrows with. At school I was undetectable while at home, radio was my companion. Coming to Texas gave me sadness, at the loss of my friends in Germany and it gave me hope, at the prospects of making new friends. Building relationships was a problem; this was due to my English accent. Thoughts filled my mind every day, tormenting me on how to muster American accent and thus improve the conditions of my life. I come to realize I was in fantasy; I dreamt of how life could get better than trying to work on those improvements. Noticing this, I became an aggressive individual and focused on the current events and striving to turn ideas into achievements. I began communicating without minding any embarrassment arising from my accent. Once upon coming late to class, the student supervisor said hallo to me. Not wanting to humiliate myself, I gave a short answer, "Nothing." Immediately there was la ughter across the classroom; I also laughed. At the end of the studies, I gathered courage and asked the supervisor why the laughter. I was eager to learn though confusing or embarrassing. I stopped concentrating on the impacts of my accent on the surrounding and started communicating; as I realized this will remove feelings of remorse from my life. These ideas motivated my growth and helped me to gain confidence. In addition to this, I started writing poetry in my spare time, praising the wisdom of God and at night, I observed the stars, the moon and the clouds. This was meant to encourage me on the workings of God and view myself as a creation of God, made to perfection. I made an outline of my strengths and this gave me courage to make friends and

How the media portrayed Trayvon Martin Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

How the media portrayed Trayvon Martin - Essay Example Zimmerman reported that he shot him after Trayvon attacked him, and had done it in self defense. He was not charged for shooting Trayvon after the police concluded that there was no evidence demonstrating that the reports he had given were false. This paper will explore the portrayal of Trayvon by the media, explaining his case, and whether he deserved such portrayal. Mandel reports that immediately after the shooting of Trayvon, members of public and the media developed a narrative explaining why Zimmerman had killed the unarmed teenager, during the night of 26th February (1). The account reported that he had pursued the teenager and killed him in a brutal manner, due to Trayvon’s race. After the incidence, the media’s portrayal of Trayvon was that he was a young, innocent teenager who was victimized and killed in cold blood, for no good reason or cause. The media reported that the security guard had reported the questionable behavior of the teenager, which was supported by the audio of Zimmerman’s report to the police over 9-1-1. The audio report indicated that he suspected Trayvon, simply because he was an African American boy, which indicated that the case was largely one of racial violence. The audio recording of Zimmerman’s call, as given by NBC, reported, â€Å"Trayvon looked as if he was out to do something wr ong, and added that he looked black (Mandel).† The reports demonstrating Trayvon’s innocence were compounded by ABC’s release of video footage during the arrest of Zimmerman, claiming that, as he reported to the police – he did not have any injuries on his body. That report discredited the report that Trayvon had slammed Zimmerman’s head against the sidewalks. Later, ABC reported that they had edited the videos, eliminating the images showing Zimmerman walking to the police station, with fresh blood and wounds on his head. This time, different from earlier reports – like NBC and CNN – they reported that Trayvon attacked

International Marketing Environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

International Marketing Environment - Essay Example 19). In order favorable balance of payment to be achieved, governments do subsidize the exports and impose quotas and high tariffs on imports. Though different countries adopt different strategies to increase the inflow of foreign currency through exporting, most countries facilitate shipping through forwarding agents and provide loans and other facilities as well. Some countries impose navigation policies as well to maximize the inflow of foreign currency and to add up to favorable balance of payment. Trade bloc member countries often enjoy free-trade so that each country can export and import to each other without any barrier to trade like quota, tariff and embargoes. As economist viewed, there can be several levels of economic integration within the free-trade area such as least integrated to most integrated (Hill, 2004, p. 270). Some times, member countries in a free trade area are allowed to determine its own trade policies since all the barriers to trade of goods and services a re removed. The major four levels of economic integration are – 1) Free-trade area, 2) Customs Union, 3) Common market and 4) Complete economic integration. 1-Free trade area, Tariffs are fully removed from the members of the free-trade area and each member country maintains its own external tariffs. 2- Customs Union in which a member-country adds a common external tariff to the Free trade form. 3- Common Market, which is the custom union plus the abolition of restrictions on the mobility of services, people, and capital among member countries. 4- Complete economic integration, in which members nations surrender certain elements of their sovereignty and involves high degree of economic integration (Ball et al 2005, p. 128- 129). 2. Describe the economic and cultural elements of the international marketing environment and explain how these factors affect marketing operations. Socio-cultural and economic elements do normally impact the international business environment as is n ormally evident in the home trade as well. Culture is the sum total of beliefs, rules, techniques, institutions and artifacts that can characterize human populations (Ball, 2005, p. 176). When it comes to international marketing, the culture in different marketing landscape is a critical element that would largely influence the business and its success. While going global, it is highly important that the business should know well all the whereabouts of the culture and socio-cultural elements prevailing in the market in order to understand customer’s specific as well as common attitudes, requirements and approaches to a particular goods or service. In international trade arena, economic elements are perhaps most uncontrollable forces for businesses. Though businesses depend on economic forecasting and other indicators, economic forces have generally been found to be highly fluctuating and more often economic crisis may create greater challenges on the business. GDP, Income dis tribution, GNI, unit cost per labor and the general economic conditions do normally impact the international trade. A marketer going globally is required to assess the economic conditions in the country and structure his marketing operations accordingly. 3. Summarize the major political and financial risks associated with international marketing. Hill (2004, p79) defined political risk as the likelihood that political forces cause changes in a country’

Facebook Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 4

Facebook - Essay Example All these will be discussed in detail below. After expanding from Harvard, it moved to the other Ivy League universities before receiving an investment from PayPal to expand its base in California. They further received investments from partners and individual entrepreneurs to expand and spread further than the US. Its growth attracted companies to start advertising in it, promoting themselves and ultimately attracting customers and this became the main source of revenue for facebook. Their registrations also increased and include people from 13 years of age. It currently has over a billion registered users and over 700 million active users (Kirkpatrick, 2011). It grew faster because social media was a fairly new thing and provided better and faster ways to communicate and share that other modes of communication. The fact that it fitted people of all age groups as well as reunited long lost friends was another reason for its expanded growth. Its growth was also facilitated by the fact that businesses got to advertise their products and services which meant that people could conduct businesses online and not even require directories to trace business premises. The continued digitalization of the world as when as the world becoming a global village increased the expansion arena for facebook into other countries other than the US alone. All is not roses for facebook however. It has received its fair share of risk factors the first one being censorship in several countries temporarily and some permanently. The worst of these affected areas include China and Egypt. This result in not only loss of its users but loss of revenues generated from the advertisements. The other risk factor is competition from other social media sites. The greatest competition comes from Google + which has been growing at a very fast rate and is currently at 500 million active users. There is

The title must be interesting,attracted Assignment

The title must be interesting,attracted - Assignment Example The humans were treated as any other commodities of trade, for example, like glass and beads. Kathleen says â€Å"†¦ To sell, and truck with us, for glass, beads and other trifles†¦ †1 They exchanged the slaves for other commodities of trade. It was a kind of a friendly treatment among the business men since it was a form of wealth creation that all those who ventured would gain while the slaves would to suffer. Slave trade was also, on the other hand, viewed as an act of brutality where the slaves were mistreated and killed on the worst case scenario. Those who practice slave trade were in-human people who cared less about the lives of the others people. The dead bodies were treated without respect as they would be dragged with contempt. This mistreatment came as a form of revenge as reveal in the following quote; â€Å"†¦destroy them who sought to destroy us.†2 The recount of Edward Waterhouse gives the evidence that servants were beaten and killed. The same servants were forced to drag the bodies of the dead ones without any kind of respect to the dead. This recount ends by the Edward swearing of revenge that they will invade and take the Indians property as a way of revenge.3 The people in England viewed slave trade as a kind of venture where one would put at risk of their lives with an aim that after the struggle the benefits would be worth it. They view the venture in a manner that came with so much suffering in their part, since there was no food in the regions that they adventured such as Nigeria. This made them to invest much on the venture activities that included even debts with the aim that there would be huge product of the venture that would enable them settle their debts.4 The slaves were viewed as inferior beings that would not, at any time, be equated to their master. The people in England believed that the slavery activities not only benefited the masters, but

Death Changes Essay Example for Free

Death Changes Essay Changes in Death Management Practices One of the first noted changes in the book regarding attitudes towards death can be seen with the advances in mass media. As Technology has advanced, so have the ways in which news is reported to the world. Radio, Television, and the Internet have given the public many ways of receiving information. When situations portray a perceived threat, people turn to mass media for information. The ability to access information regarding worldwide disasters, terrorism, and other acts of brutality make us feel like survivors of death. Because we are able to see and hear about things that we have no firsthand knowledge of, we feel like we are experiencing it to some degree. (DeSpelder, Strickland pg. 6) During the Vietnam War, television gave people access to images of things that were happening half a world away. In no other time were daily doses of violence to this degree a part of everyday life. Media analyst George Gerbner observed that these depictions of death evoked a heightened sense of danger, insecurity, and mistrust which contributed to an â€Å"irrational dread of dying and thus to diminished vitality and self-direction in life† (DeSpelder, Strickland pg. 8) Life expectancy and Mortality Rates have been affected by technology as well. In 1900, the average life expectancy was 47 years of age in the United States. As of 2005, the average life expectancy rose to 78 years of age. This rise can be attributed to epidemiologic transition which moves the largest number of deaths from the young to the old. In the early days people died from infection due to lack of medication and knowledge on how to treat and prevent. As this knowledge was gained, deaths tended to be from chronic disease processes that are common in the older population rather than young. In 1900, over half of deaths that occurred were to children under the age of 14. That number has decreased to less than 2% and this fact influences how we feel and think about death. (DeSpelder, Strickland pg. 36) In the 1870’s, nine out of ten Americans over the age of 15 had lost a parent or a sibling. Because medicine and medical care was not advanced, mother’s died during child birth and/or babies were born still born due to lack of prenatal knowledge and care advancement. The family unit was very important and often people in this time period would display postmortem pictures of loved ones who had passed as a testament to this family unit and the common knowledge of their mortality. One other change that has taken place is death rituals. In the early 1900’s families were more likely to be multigenerational living in the same house. People tended to intermingle with other generations out of necessity. Families lived on large homesteads and it took everyone to make it work. Because of this, multiple generations were present at the death of older family members and rituals and traditions existed. In this day and age people are more mobile and on the move. It is harder to maintain close relationships with family when you don’t live in the same state, let alone city. People appear to be less affected by the death of an older relative when the closeness of the relationship has been lost due to sheer proximity. Several changes that can be discussed regarding children are their attitudes towards death, their functional ability to understand death, and their desensitization to violence regarding death. Children’s attitudes towards death are much different in this day and age from in the late 1800’s or early 1900’s. In that time, families tended to live together in extended family situations possibly on homesteads. There was less access to medical care and things were taken care of at home. Death was something that was seen as a natural part of the living process and happened more regularly because of the generations that cohabitated. In this day and age as generations tend to live separately, children are more sheltered from this and therefore tend to look at death as something that doesn’t directly affect them. Jean Piaget, a theorist in human development, did extensive study of children and divided them into approximate age groups and developmental periods. He theorized that we develop our knowledge based on things we already know. These stages are sensorimotor from birth to 2 years when children learn based on their senses and motor abilities and begin to develop the idea of object permanence where they understand an object is still present even when it can’t be seen. Preoperational from 2-7 years where they progress from egocentric thought where they look at things as if they are the center of the world to prelogical where they learn trial and error and can begin to understand other points of view. Concrete operational from 7-12 years where they are able to logically understand and organize information and begin to think forward and backward about experiences. And finally, Formal operational from 12 years and up where they can think hypothetically and abstractly about situations and begin to have an interest in ethical situations. . (DeSpelder, Strickland pg. 2-53) Before these types of theorists existed, death was considered a natural part of the living experience and children just dealt with it like the rest of the family. Also in early years when children talked about death, it tended to be in the context of disease processes and accidents. As the culture has, advanced children are routinely exposed to things they weren’t before. If you ask, a child now days what things are that can cause death you may hear things like gunshot wounds and other traumatic experiences that can be linked to crime, violence they see on TV or video games or inner city experiences. In a cultural or historical sense differences in how dying is perceived can be from a cultural standpoint. Different religious and ethnical cultures have different practices and beliefs regarding death but as we have become more culturally competent society, the varying beliefs have become better understood. The physical cause of dying has changed simply by historical differences in living conditions. For example, in the Stone Age people were more likely to have died from trauma and animal attacks, whereas today dying from frailty, organ failure and dementia are more common. One change in regards to mortality and society where death is concerned can be related to education and training. For example, an earthquake in Japan in 1923 caused the death of 100,000 people. Today, because of advances in technology and safety we have ways to warn people of dangerous weather situations and have developed better safety practices that if followed can save many lives. . (DeSpelder, Strickland pg. 135-136) Change has also been seen in the conventional signs of death. Most deaths are determined by the absence of heartbeat and breathing. With the advances in technology and medicine, though, it is possible for mechanical ventilation and medications to artificially maintain these functions while the brain is termed dead. For this reason, the concept of brain death was created. Another innovation that has changed death is organ transplantation. Before this was discovered and perfected people had no choice but to die if they fell victim to an irreversible organ failure. Now, through organ donation and transplantation people can live long and productive lives if they can receive these lifesaving procedures. The final three changes that will be discussed are in regards to patients, staff, and institutions in the field of Health care. In 1900, about 80% of deaths in the United States took place in the home. As the invention of hospitals and other institutions took place, this shifted to the institutional setting with more people dying in hospital or nursing home setting. There is beginning to be a shift again however as hospice care becomes an option available to more and more people that allow them to stay in their homes around familiar surroundings instead of the sterile, non-personal setting of a hospital or institution. Another change that has taken place with regards to dying could be the rationing of resources. This will undoubtedly be getting even worse under Obamacare. Physicians used to be considered the gate keepers of what services and treatments were reasonably appropriate to which patients. As managed care comes more and more into the picture, this will change. Physicians will be paid a certain amount of money per month by insurance companies to manage the patients’ health. The less procedures, tests, and resources that are used the more money the physician will get to keep. This leads to the fear that rationing of resources or withholding of resources is a real possibility in order to keep from bankrupting doctors and clinics. Finally, palliative care, and end of life decisions are changing as well. There have been many advances with the advent of hospice and what can be done to allow a natural and peaceful death for those that are not interested in prolonging it. Undoubtedly, we will all die one day. There has been a shift in recent years from death being an almost taboo topic to one where people are taking control of their decisions. This is an area I am passionate about. You can take control of your end of life decisions by an advanced directive and informing your family members of your wishes. There are people who know they want every intervention possible done to keep them alive and there are those that are accepting of their own mortality, comfortable with their idea of what happens after death, and know that they want nothing heroic done to try and keep them on this earth if they cannot be an active participant.

The Short Story The Necklace English Literature Essay

The Short Story The Necklace English Literature Essay Guy de Maupassants short story The Necklace was first published in the Paris newspaper Le Gaulois on February 17, 1884, and he was successfully incorporated into Tales of Night, his 1885 collection of short stories. Like most Maupassant short fiction, it was an instantaneous achievement, and it has become his most widely read and anthologized story (Smith Christopher). The Necklace describes Madame Loisel as beautiful and born into an average family. She is unsatisfied with her impoverished life and decides to borrow a diamond necklace from a former rich friend to fulfill her happiness. Maupassant presents the theme that one should be true to ones self trough his use of situational irony by which he tells the story of Madame Loisel. Maupassant describes Mathildes external conflicts in the story The Necklace. Though she is pretty and charming(1), she does not appreciate anything in life. She feels her life should have been blessed with wealth. Although her husband works at a ministry of education as a minor clerk, the money he is bringing to his wife is not enough for the kind of life Mathilde has always dreamed of. For instance, her vision is to live in a mansion, dinning in famous restaurants, and dance among the riches (1). She is embarrassed of her poor lifestyle, and decides not to invite any of her former friends who become rich to her home. Therefore, she suffers enormously because her whole life has been based on deficiency of luxury. The love of her husband Charles and the efforts he makes to keep his family healthy is not enough to please Mathilde. However, she happens to be a self-centered person who cares only about her appearance, instead of being thankful for the love of her husband. The author anal yzes Mathildes internal conflicts in the story. She is unhappy and miserable. She is disappointed in herself because she thinks she deserves more than she has. Mathilde appears to be a round person; although she is attractive and pretty, she also seems depressed because of the lack of money. She is a dynamic person; she is not content with herself because her husband is not well off financially. Otherwise, she would be a cheerful person if her husband was wealthy. Guy de Maupassant describes the characters verbal irony in the story; Monsieur Loisel makes an effort to invite his wife to a ball dance because he thinks she would be pleased to get out of the house. However, Mathilde chooses to reject her husbands invitation by saying, Give your invitation to some colleague whose wife has a more suitable gown than I(2). She concerned more about her look and what others might think of her. Still, she convinces her husband to take money out of their life savings to buy a lovely dress for the occasion. Mathildes irony in the story is discontentment because she does not have anything to wear with the dress; she realizes she needs a jewel to look her best, so she will not appear as poor as she is among the women at the ministry. Furthermore, Mathilde goes to her former friend to borrow one of her diamond necklaces, which she loses unexpectedly. In the story The Necklace, the situational irony occurs when Mathilda sacrifices her life for years to work tw ice as hard to repay the loan they take to return the necklace. She loses her beauty; she looks older, and there are traces of gray in her hair(4). She ruins her husband and her life by not making a smart choice, and her selfishness causes her familys pain. Nevertheless, the dramatic irony happens when she comes to learn the diamond necklace she loses is an imitation. The resolution of the story reveals that Mathilde realizes she made a fool of herself for not telling her friend exactly what had happened to the necklace. Therefore, she wastes her husbands and her time for nothing to replace something that was not even real. The writer points out the theme of the story as Malthilde cares only about her appearance, and her greed puts her through so much suffering in life. She should appreciate the sacrifice that her husband makes for her to buy the dress. Her attention is to dance joyfully with everyone, intoxicates with pleasure, and to be on a cloud of happiness(3). She does not worry too much about her husbands feeling toward his happiness. However, she comes to discover the diamond necklace she borrows from Madame Forestier is missing, her husband Monsieur Loisel sympathetically helps her look for the necklace. Moreover, he sacrifices everything he can in his life to help his wife replace the necklace. She confidently lies to Madame Loisel about the necklace. Possibly, if she has told the truth, all the pain and misery could have been avoided. Besides all the pain she puts Monsieur Loisel through, Mathilde wishes she married a wealthy man, but she is a poor girl with no dowry to offer (2). Money and m aterial things have stopped her to improve the living she desires. As a result, she loses her beauty and works harder to replace a necklace that is fake. In simpler terms, Mathilde and her husbands lives were touch in a bad way. She only cares about her happiness and does not even think how is her decision is going to affect others and her life later. In order for her to attend the occasion with her husband, she makes Monsieur Loisel go out of his way to purchase a new dress for her. After all, she is not gratified with the effort; she comes to a conclusion to borrow a diamond necklace to fulfill her happiness. At the end, she loses her charm. Not only does she have to pay for it, her husbands life also comes to devastation. In life, she should always be happy with the little she has. Hopefully, Mathilde learns her lesson and recognizes the value of what she has

Hellen Keller Essay -- Biography Biographies Hellen Keller Essays

Hellen Keller Helen Keller was born on 27 June 1880 in Alabama. Her father was a newspaper editor. She was a lively and healthy child with a friendly personality. She could walk and even say a few simple words. In 1882 she caught a fever that was so bad she almost died. When it was over she could no longer see or hear. Because she could not hear it was also very hard to speak. She was 18 months old when this happened. But Helen was not someone who gave up easily. Soon she began to explore the world by using her other senses. She followed her mother wherever she went, hanging onto her skirts. She touched and smelled everything she came across and felt other people's hands to see what they were doing. She copied their actions and could do some jobs herself, like milking the cows or kneading dough. She even learnt to recognise people by feeling their faces or their clothes. She could also tell where she was in the garden by the smell of the different plants and the feel of the ground under her feet. By the time she was seven she had invented over 60 different signs she could use to talk to her family. If she wanted bread for example she would pretend to cut a loaf and butter the slices. If she wanted ice cream she wrapped her arms around herself and pretended to shiver. At the age of five Helen began to realise she was different from other people. She noticed that her family did not use signs like she did but talked with their mouths. Sometimes she stood between two people and touched their lips. She could not understand what they said and she could not make any understandable sounds herself. She wanted to talk but no matter how she tried she could not make herself understood. This made her so angry that she used to throw herself around the room, kicking and screaming in frustration. The older she got the more frustrated she got and her rages got worse and worse. She became wild and hard to control. If she didn't get what she wanted she would throw tantrums until her family gave in. Her favourite tricks were grabbing other people's food from their plates and throwing breakable things on the floor. Once she even managed to lock her mother into the pantry. Eventually her family knew that something had to be done. So just before her seventh birthday the family hired a private tutor. Anne Sull... ...ations working with blind people overseas. Without the help of others Helen Keller would never have succeeded the way she did. She relied a lot on Anne Sullivan, who went everywhere with her for almost fifty years. But Helen Keller was very remarkable. She was very intelligent, sensitive and determined. She was the first deaf-blind person to make such a public success of her life. But she is not the only person with a hearing and sight impairment to succeed. She is only the best known. Maybe her biggest success was in convincing other people that disability is not the end of the world. One Japanese lady said about her, 'For many generations, more than we can count, we bowed our heads and submitted to blindness and beggary. This blind and deaf woman lifts her head high and teaches us to win our way by work and laughter. She brings light and hope to the heart'. I liked learning about Helen Keller because she worked hard and learned how to do things that most people thought blind and deaf people could not ever do. She found other ways to learn than the way most people do because she was handicapped, but she did not let it stop her.

Baby Sitting :: essays research papers

Four-year-olds can be a nightmare or a gold mine if you know what to do. Most of us have had encounters with a few of them whether they be our brother's and sisters or our neighbors' children. Next time you have an encounter with one you might want to consider the following tips. Toddlers have LOTS of energy, they might run you around the table for hours before they tire. I can honestly say that every child has some sort of favorite character from Batman to Barbie to tellietubbies they will always have one. It might help to find in advance what their favorite TV Show is and there favorite characters so you can plan to watch a video or play with some figures of there favorite character. To help the kids to get into their nightclothes you might want to bribe them into it. Like for example you might say "I'll let you have a pop-sickle or some popcorn if you can get ready for bed." But one thing you must ALWAYS remember is to never ever ever under any circumstance give them sugar before bedtime. Now that you understand how to get them calmed down you should relax by letting them watch a Disney movie or a TV show. Kids under five should be in bed by no later than eight thirty no matter what the kids say. I think parents and any experienced baby-sitter will agree this is the most difficult task of the night. Almost all kids will fight to the death to avoid going to sleep. Some methods can vary from child to child depending on the attitude of the kids. First things first to avoid some conflict you should tell them at least an hour in advance when they will be going to bed, this gets rid of the argument "you never told me I had to go to bed at eight o clock." Next as bedtime arrives you should make sure they are ready for bed, teeth brushed, is your bed ready do you have your nightclothes on? Now for the most dreaded thing "Okay Marco and Amy its time for bed," is the way it should sound in a nice calm soothing voice.

Standardized Testing Essay -- Standardized Testing Essays

Standardized Testing The purposes of standardized tests are to instruct decision making, establish program eligibility, evaluate course goals, evaluate program goals, and examine external curriculum. When a teacher gives and assesses a standardized test, they gain information about their students that helps them realize what concepts they have learned according to the agenda for the subject at hand. If the assessment is performed in a sensible amount of time and given according to the directions, this purpose should be fulfilled; however, it is a common belief that standardized tests do not work well in establishing where a student stands in a specific curriculum. The test uses a general curriculum that is the basis for the tests but the schools giving the tests may not have the same curriculum as the test itself assumes. (Costa and Kallick, 1995) The second purpose of standardized testing is to establish program eligibility. The standardized tests allow teachers to view the areas where students may need help or where they may excel. However, standardized tests which allow teachers to view this type of information are not performed each year. This has a great affect on whether or not the information is completely accurate. Many students may need assistance but do not receive any because of the scores of their tests. Many students who are behind continue to remain that way until they are far enough behind to receive this assistance while other students continue to excel and are potentially bored as they review information they already know and understand. (Costa and Kallick, 1995) Thirdly, the evaluation of course goals is important. Standardized tests should allow educators to be able to assess whether or not ... ...eb on April 25, 2003 from ERIC Database. Miller, M.D. & Linn, R.L. (2000). Validation of Performance-Based Tests. Applied Psychological Measurement. Vol. 24, Issue 4, p. 367, 12p. Retrieved from the web on April 25, 2003 from the Academic Search Premier Database. Tanner, D.E. (2001). Authentic Assessment: A Solution, or Part of the Problem? High School Journal. Vol. 85, Issue 1, p.24-30. Retrieved from the web on March 10, 2003, from EBSCOhost Research Database. Baker, E.L. (2001, February). Testing and Assessment: A Progress Report. Educational Assessment. p.1, 12p. Retrieved from the web on April 28, 2003 from the Academic Search Elite Database. Linn, R.L. (2001, January 1). A Century of Standardized Testing: Controversies and Pendulum Swings. Education Assessment. p.29-38. Retrieved from the web April 28, 2003 from the Academic Search Elite Database.

About Type 2 Diabetes Essay

Around 2.6 million people in the UK have been diagnosed with diabetes. About nine in 10 of these people have type 2 diabetes. It usually affects people over the age of 40, but can develop at any age. People of African-Caribbean or South Asian origin are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes. It usually affects them earlier in life, from about the age of 25. Type 2 diabetes is becoming more common, particularly in children. Type 2 diabetes develops when your body can’t produce enough insulin or if your body doesn’t respond to insulin as it should. Insulin regulates the level of glucose in your blood. Glucose is a simple form of sugar found in foods and sugary drinks. It’s absorbed by your body as a natural part of digestion and is carried around your body in your blood. When glucose reaches your body tissues, such as muscle cells, it’s absorbed and converted into energy. Insulin is secreted into your blood by your pancreas, which is a gland located behind your stomach. If your cells don’t respond properly to insulin, it can cause glucose to build up in your blood. This is called insulin resistance. If this happens, your pancreas needs to produce more and more insulin to overcome the resistance and control your blood glucose levels. Types of diabetes There are two main types of diabetes: type 1 and type 2. There are about two million people in the UK who have diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is the common form, affecting nine out of every 10 people with diabetes. Symptoms of type 2 diabetes Many people with type 2 diabetes have no obvious symptoms. It’s often discovered during a routine medical check-up with your GP.If you do have symptoms of type 2 diabetes, you may: †¢pass more urine than usual See more: My Writing Process Essay †¢be constantly thirsty †¢have unexplained weight loss †¢be extremely tired †¢have blurred vision †¢have itchy skin around your genitals or get regular infections, such as thrush †¢notice that wounds such as cuts heal slowly If you have any of these symptoms, see your GP. nitially, some people find they don’t have any symptoms. So if you think you may be at risk of type 2 diabetes, speak to your GP about having a screening blood test.  Complications of type 2 diabetes If type 2 diabetes isn’t diagnosed or controlled properly, you can develop blood glucose levels that are either too high (hyperglycaemia) or too low (hypoglycaemia). Hyperglycaemia If type 2 diabetes is poorly controlled or you get an infection, glucose can build up in your blood and rise to high levels. This can cause you to: †¢be thirsty †¢pass urine excessively †¢have blurred vision †¢feel tired Very rarely, if you become dehydrated and your blood glucose rises to very high levels, you can develop a condition called hyperosmolar hyperglycaemic state. This can cause you to become drowsy and potentially unconscious. Hyperosmolar hyperglycaemic state is a medical emergency and needs to be treated in hospital. In the long-term, uncontrolled high blood glucose levels can increase your risk of: †¢kidney failure †¢blindness †¢nerve damage †¢heart disease †¢stroke Hypoglycaemia Sometimes, if your medication is too strong or you miss a meal, your blood glucose levels can become too low (hypoglycaemia). This only happens if you’re taking certain medicines such as gliclazide (or others of the same type), repaglinide or insulin (of any type). If your blood glucose is low, you may go pale, feel sweaty and become confused. If you develop hypoglycaemia, it’s important to eat or drink something containing glucose, for example fruit juice or some sweets. Causes of type 2 diabetes There are several risk factors that make you more likely to develop type 2 diabetes, including if you: †¢are overweight or obese – in particular, if you’re an ‘apple shape’ with lots of fat around your abdomen (tummy) †¢have a close family member with the condition †¢are of African-Caribbean or South-Asian origin †¢are over 40 – your risk increases with age †¢have high blood pressure or have had a heart attack or stroke †¢don’t exercise regularly †¢have severe mental health problems †¢are a woman and have polycystic ovary syndrome and are overweight †¢are a woman and have had diabetes that developed during pregnancy (gestational diabetes) If you have a condition such as impaired glucose tolerance or impaired fasting glycaemia, this means the level of glucose in your blood is naturally higher than normal and you’re more likely to develop type 2 diabetes. Diagnosis of type 2 diabetes Your GP will ask about your symptoms and examine you. He or she may also ask about your medical history. You may need to have some of the following tests. †¢Urine test. You will need to give a sample to be tested for glucose. †¢Fasting blood glucose test. You will have a sample of blood taken from your arm to test for glucose. You will need to fast overnight before having this test. You may have this with a glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1C) test. HbA1C is a protein that is produced when you have high blood glucose levels over a long period of time. †¢Glucose tolerance test. This may be needed if your fasting blood glucose test is borderline. It measures how your blood glucose level changes over time after you have a sugary drink. You will need to fast overnight before having this test. Treatment of type 2 diabetes There isn’t a cure for type 2 diabetes but it can be controlled. Some people can control their condition with lifestyle changes alone. Others need to take medicines or use insulin injections. Self-help By making the following lifestyle changes, you can help control your blood glucose levels. †¢Eat a healthy balanced diet with regular meals, three times a day. Include carbohydrates, such as pasta or potatoes in each meal. †¢Aim to do 150 minutes of moderate exercise over a week in bouts of 10 minutes or more. This will help you to stay a healthy weight and control your blood glucose levels. †¢Only drink alcohol in moderation and stick within the recommended limits. †¢If you smoke, give up. Smoking is unhealthy for everyone, but it’s especially important to stop if you have diabetes because you already have an increased risk of developing circulatory problems and cardiovascular  disease. Oral medicines If lifestyle changes alone don’t keep your blood glucose levels under control, you may be prescribed medicines. Some examples are listed below. †¢Metformin works by reducing the amount of glucose that gets released into your bloodstream from your liver. It also improves the way glucose is used by your muscles. †¢Gliclazide, glipizide, glimepiride and tolbutamide help your pancreas to produce more insulin. †¢Repaglinide and nateglinide also help your pancreas to produce more insulin, but work more quickly and last for a shorter time. †¢Acarbose lowers your blood glucose by slowing down the rate at which some carbohydrates are absorbed by your body. †¢Pioglitazone reduces your body’s resistance to insulin. †¢Sitagliptin, saxagliptin and vildagliptin help your body to produce more insulin at mealtimes. These medicines are usually taken between one and three times a day. Injections You may be prescribed other medicines such as exenatide or liraglutide. These medicines are given by injection and work by helping your body to make more insulin when it’s needed. They can also reduce your appetite and help you lose weight. If lifestyle changes and medicines can’t keep your blood glucose levels under control, you may need to have insulin injections as well as, or instead of, tablets. You will usually inject yourself with insulin once or twice a day, using either a small needle or a pen-type syringe with replaceable cartridges. There are several different types of insulin that work at different rates and for different lengths of time. Ask your GP for advice on which type is best for you. If you have insulin injections, you will need to monitor your blood glucose levels with a home test kit. This involves taking a pinprick of blood from your finger and putting a drop on a testing strip. A meter will read the result automatically. Your GP or diabetes specialist nurse will show you how to monitor your blood glucose levels and tell you how often you need to check it. Monitoring your blood glucose level You may also need to have your levels of HbA1C tested at least twice a year. The test is done by taking blood from a vein in your arm or sometimes a drop of blood from a fingerprick. It’s used to see how well you’re controlling your blood sugar  levels.