Analytical essay

According to the article, â€Å"Leaders: America and Guns,† it Is evident that gun control has proven Ineffective when It comes to dissolving the â€Å"love affair† that exists between Americans and their guns (â€Å"Leaders: America and Guns†). This article highlights the Issues that permeate throughout America regarding pro gun groups. Not only Is this article persuasive, it Infuses a degree of rhetorical strategies including logical, as well as emotional appeals to fortify the issue at hand.Various examples, statistics, and sound evidence is brought to the table, adequately arguing ND developing the position that, â€Å"Americans want to keep their guns, no matter how high the price,† (â€Å"Leaders: America and Guns†). Furthermore, the other article, â€Å"Support for Gun Control Legislation,† falls short in strengthening its argument and is not as convincing, in comparison to â€Å"Leaders: America and Guns. † These articles use a n array of rhetorical strategies to convey their arguments, however some strategies prove more successful or useful than others. Exemplification or defining appears in both articles.These rhetorical strategies seem necessary and perhaps essential monuments In each article. They serve to properly support and strengthen the statements of each author. Another rhetorical strategy that Is prominent throughout both articles Is the comparing and contrasting method. TLS strategy allows the reader to introduce the pros and cons concerning their argument while persuading the reader to take a stance or a step in the right direction. Once the comparing and contrasting have been presented and thoroughly examined, the author can then persuade the reader based on said favorable findings.Apart from these rhetorical strategies, classifying and dividing appear in both articles too. This type of strategy divides difficult or overwhelming topics in smaller comprehensible units. Readjusting a broad topi c into smaller subsections lets the writer gain control of the argument and allows the reader to comfortably analyze the material (â€Å"Rhetorical Strategies). This Is particularly true on a subject like gun control In America, a topic In desperate need of dissecting since there is so much history and discourse to address.The first article, â€Å"Leaders: America and Guns,† uses these rhetorical strategies most effectively, as oppose to the article, â€Å"Support for Gun Control Legislation. † The first article appeals to the reader on an emotional level, as well as on a logical level. The author starts off with; â€Å"The love affair goes on, whatever the price. The funerals are over,† (â€Å"Leaders: America and Guns†). This is a powerful and convincing statement because it gets the reader emotionally involved. It conjures up thoughts of death, guns, and their relation to one another. Followed by this emotionally charged tenement, is a series of examp les.This structure holds true to the rhetorical strategy of exemplification. Mentioned are descriptions of young boys as murders and shocking Incidents such as mass shootings and school massacres. These examples are so effective because they emphasize the Idea that Americans are still obsessed with guns regardless of all the harm they can cause. Moreover, the author also gets the reader convinced on a logical level by presenting rather startling but true evidence, like the anti-control slogan, â€Å"guns don't kill people, people kill cause at face value, it is true.With all these historical events and facts, this article becomes very credible and the author builds a very strong argument. The author also uses the rhetorical strategy of compare and contrast to further reinforce the idea that Americans are reluctant to give up their guns. The article mentions the stark contrasts in regards to deaths by handguns in America versus the world. Although the difference in numbers across th e board is shocking, the author follows these statements by, â€Å"most Americans remain unimpressed by such imprisons,† (â€Å"Leaders: America and Guns†). This article is incredibly persuasive and convincing.Such statements leave the reader in disbelief that Americans still â€Å"want to keep their guns, no matter how high the price,† (â€Å"Leaders: America and Guns†). From this article, even though the author introduces both sides of the story, one could presume that gun control may not gain popularity in America. After reading the first article, the second article becomes less convincing. â€Å"Support for Gun Control Legislation,† lacks emotion and depth. The article sets itself up for disaster, cause although it tries to stress how gun legislation is on the brink of undergoing tighter regulations, it fails miserably.The author places too much emphasis on the National Rifle Association (NEAR). The rhetorical strategy of exemplification is pre sent, but glorifies the NEAR, mentioning how â€Å"powerful† and how † successful† the anti-gun control lobby has been, â€Å"in helping to block any meaningful gun control legislation in Congress,†(â€Å"Support for Gun Control Legislation†). This example, followed by facts, is perhaps not the best one for this discussion because it reinforces the strength of the association in America and weakens the argument for better or more effective regulations.However, the article does include examples of small victories nationwide concerning tougher gun restrictions, but these statements would have been more effective if they were mentioned earlier. These successes lose their credibility as they are undermined when compared and contrasted to the NEAR. The author is very disorganized; his attempts at using classifying and dividing to strengthen his argument do not help him to properly compose his thoughts. The author Jumps from he NEAR, to a series of events, to politicians and lastly lawsuits.This overwhelms the reader because the flow is too Jumbled, for this reason this article becomes ineffective and too complicated to properly make sense of. Lastly, the article that gave me the best answer was â€Å"Leaders: America and Guns. † This article was emotionally charged and logically composed. The author included numerous rhetorical strategies to reinforce his rather shocking stance that Americans love their guns and that those guns are here to stay. The authors use of visual descriptions, incidents, and statistics were all appropriate examples used to establish and display the ideas effectively.The composition of the article flows really well, a lot of information is presented but also condensed, mentioning only what is vital to the argument. The author is direct and to the point and the author does not deviate from the main argument, constantly coming back and endorsing his/her opinion. The author mentions, â€Å"many Americans have already come to the remarkable conclusion that the best route to a safer America is a better-armed America,† (â€Å"Leaders: America and Guns†). The author is constantly on point with his/her information.

Pro-Forma Statements Essay

B1. Analyze Simulation Results A budget is a financial plan which is expressed in real numbers, typically in monetary units, which set the expectations for the expenses the company will incur to reach its goals, and management objectives. A good budget uses forecasts to determine what amounts should be used to reach desired efficiency and profitability. Budgets can be used to determine whether a not a process is working effectively, whether or not changes in operations need to be made in order to reach goals, and can help solve problems before they occur and help make changes when necessary. Budgets are important because they provide a quantitative measurement to establish goals, coordinate efforts and departments, and help to realize changes are needed before problems occur. Budgets should be broken down into fragments (short term, mid-term, and long term) which will allow for more precise measurement of the success of a project, allow for changes to be made before moving onto new projects, and to expand on goals when appropriate. By setting short term budget goals and reaching them it helps to ensure that the company is on pace to reach its long term objectives. Budgets need to be revised whenever they no longer useful for planning and control purposes. Anytime there are major changes in the processes or operations the budgets will also need to be revised. Budget figures should be measured frequently to ensure they are still reasonable and that the company is still on track to reach its goals. A Pro-Forma Statement is defined as â€Å"a financial statements prepared on the basis of some assumed events and transactions that have not yet occurred.† (Ralph Estes). Unlike Historical Financial Statements which use real scientific information and are based on facts, Pro-Forma Financial Statements use assumptions to help forecast the future and allow for the use of creativity and flexibility. Pro-Forma Financial Statements are similar to Historical Financial Statements in look and content, both use the same major financial statements including the income statement and the balance sheet, but the Pro-Forma Financial Statement allows for changes to be made in the volatile environment. Pro-Forma Statements are important because they provide the needed information to track progress towards goals. They are based on historic figures so they do provide realistic projections while still allowing for adjustments as needed. Typically a long collection of historic data is used to produce a Pro-Forma Income statement; since the company I created was a start up our information was limited there was even more of a reliance on projections to complete my statements. In the first quarter I had start up factory expenses of $430,000 and spent $120,000 on market research. I had gained $3,000 in interest from a small deposit into a short term CD. I had invested $1,100,000 for fixed plant capacity. Of the $2,000,000 of initial capital $547,000 was used for start-up expenses leaving the company with $1,453,000 in current assets. Important decisions had to be made during Quarter 1 in order to make my projections and set my budgets and expectations. First I had to choose what products to manufacture. I wanted to look for two segments which had some similar wants and needs. By developing two products for two segments with similar wants and needs the hope was that I would be pay off later in saving manufacturing costs by utilizing customization of parts, decrease training costs, cut down on salary expense by having a sales force that could be knowledgeable with both products, and would allow the company to provide better service after the sale. The decisions were all based upon the market research which had been done providing the wants and needs of the segments as well as the price willing to pay, the 12 month demand, and the demand per city. By performing some simple calculations (i.e. price willing to pay X Demand / cost to produce) I was able to make an informed decisions on the two products I wanted to deve lop, where I wanted to set up shop, the size of my sales force, as well as the amount of inventory to produce. I decided to manufacture two products which I felt met the needs of two specific groups. The first group was decided upon due to the quantity of the demand. I felt around this product I could better reach my goal of utilizing an employee empowerment strategy, being able to utilize work cells due to less technical processes and needs, be able to take advantage of customization of parts, and also be able to offer better service after the sales due to increased employee knowledge of the product and the service needed. I decided to focus my efforts on the Workhorse and the Traveler markets. Both markets had similar needs and the products would only need to differ in portability. The market was large and although the desired price would be lower, the higher demand would help generate profit. The hope was to build the distinction of being the low price leader while still providing a reliable product and providing excellent service after the sale. By setting proper starting budgets and being able to adjust accordingly by utilizing the pro-forma statements I was able to make sound financial decisions throughout the simulation. I never had to use emergency loans so I was able to avoid that penalty and cost. By using the statements was even able to make small investments and earn some interest off of those funds. Being a startup company I was very conservative with my investments so I could ensure I would not incur those costs. At the end of the 4th quarter my ending cash balance was over 4 million dollars. This allows for great expansion and higher sales as well as the ability to invest more funds and take advantage of additional interest income. Without the use of the statements and the budget it would not have been possible to monitor the spending and make informed decisions. The Pro-Forma statements and budgets were used to make decisions throughout the entire simulation. Each Quarter I began by examining the cash flow statement. This allowed me to make proper decisions based on the Firm’s solvency as well as my company’s potential for growth. At the beginning of Quarter 1 I had $0 in my beginning cash balance. Thus it was necessary to sell common stock. $2 million dollars were raised through the sale of common stock. It was very important to use my income statements, original budgets, and monitoring my balance sheet. $1.1 million of the funds would be used to invest in my fixed plant capacity in order to reach the needed production levels. With the funds on hand I was only able to open 2 sales offices. I chose the locations based on the projected sales demand, the allotted funds in the budget, and the money left in the cash flow. The two offices cost $430,000 to start up and would also cost a total of $220,000 per quarter for lease. After setting up the Plant capacity and the Sales Offices I had $470,000 dollars left. I still needed funds for Research and Development to ensure that I was making proper decisions and to help guide my decisions in future quarters. I decided to spend $120,000 on research and development. This left me $350,000 in excess cash. I decided to invest a portion of it but was careful using my Pro-Forma statements to ensure that I would not run into the cost of emergency cash loans. $200,000 was placed into a conservative short term C.D. which earned me $3,000 in interest income. The $3,000 and the excess $150,000 would be carried over into the next quarter. The same techniques were used every decision every quarter. Any time I made a decision it was based on my cash flow, income statements and demand projections. Lessons were learned from these decisions, more funding into research and development needed to be used early in the simulation. The result of the poor planning led to the expense of products needing to be redesigned. The carry over equipment had to be sold for salvage value and additional funding needed to be raised to develop the new products. With the proper products in place for the market demand the profits would have been much larger for my company. B2a. Just-in-time Just in Time operations is basically a system which helps force problem solving and drives down start-up costs and inventory costs by initiating a pull system driven by consumer demand and reducing inventory to meet the customer’s needs only when the customer has that need. If the product is not available at the time of demand a problem is found and improvements need to be made. This is very important to any company but especially for a start-up company who really need to watch their cash flow to avoid any emergency loans and the cost and fees associated with them. In my projections I had to take into account the demand of the segments in the cities decided to serve and make educated estimates on how much to produce based on those calculations. There were still questions which needed to be answered which led to less aggressive manufacturing; would my advertising efforts convey the right message to my target audience? Would my choices on where to advertise be successful on reaching my target audience? Would my product designs and branding fit the needs of my customers or would new products need to be developed? The answers to these questions could lead to major adjustments to our entire process and if not done well could lead to an excess of unused inventory which would only be able to recover a small part of the cost it took to develop them. Estimates were made based on the projected sales demands of the markets. Fixed capacity, sales force decisions, and of course inventory decisions were made based on these projections. The idea of course was to have the perfect amount of inventory available to my customers at the exact time they needed them, with very little cost from carrying over unused inventory. Proper use of a Just-in-time strategy could have saved me money and helped expand my company’s growth. During the manufacturing process a Just-in-time strategy would’ve have uncovered the need to increase production to meet my customers’ demand as the products were being â€Å"pulled through† the assembly process. The improper use of the JIT strategy resulted in a loss of 278 Venture II customers and 143 customers of Quest II. The result of these lost customers was $578,453 in profit. By properly utilizing the strategy profits could have been even higher and future growth could have increased. Going forward it will be important to utilize the performance of the past year and make better decisions to provide for a better customer experience. Fortunately after the losses occurred decisions were made to make sure it did not happen again throughout the simulation. A good Just-In-Time strategy would have allowed the mistakes to be caught prior to having to absorb the losses and the poor customer experiences. B2b. Lean Operations Lean operations work hand in hand with making J.I.T. effective. By definition lean operations are used to understand customer’s needs and then to stock and prepare appropriately based on said needs. In my project this was done by successful forecasting based on potential demand of the customers in the given areas and based on the chosen products. By basing our inventory on a lean operations focus the company will be able to decrease the costs of waste in it’s operations, both in unused inventory and the cost of storing excess inventory. B3. Applicability of Work Cells versus Traditional Straight Line Method An effective layout design strategy is important because the decision alone can help decide the efficiency of production as well as help to determine a firm’s competitive advantage. How will the firm be looking to set itself apart? Will it be through differentiation, low cost, or response? Will the company’s priorities focus on capacity, processes, flexibility, and/or cost, etc.? In its very basic form an effective layout design will improve efficiency by better utilizing space, people, and machinery, improving communication, improving inspection, and by allowing for flexibility. Work Cells are specially arranged groups of workers and workstations designed to make the production of a single product or group of related products more efficient by allowing workers to have more reach in the work area, allow for immediate inspection of complete product, fewer workers are needed, less work space, and prom otes better communication between workers. Workers often accept the responsibility of building the product from start to finish in a more positive light because of the empowerment it provides and the specialized training and expanded knowledge. Work Cells are often in the shape of a â€Å"U† allowing for better balance and division of work. The U-shape also will take up more space on the floor than the Traditional Straight Line process method. A Traditional Straight Line process method is the old assembly line assembly process. Each worker is responsible for a piece of a product. That piece is then put together with other pieces and the final product is put together in a series of pieces. The assembly line relies on workstations to be balanced in the share of the work to be effective however; the layout alone often leads to an unbalanced division of the workload. The pieces cannot be inspected until the finished product has been fully assembled by the varying teams, and communication and diverse learning is very limite d. The assembly line approach also leads to the possibility of a â€Å"bottleneck† effect where total production can be slowed by slow production from one of the work units. The advantages of the assembly lines are of course a less expensive and quicker training process, more standardization of parts, and lower handling costs. The decision on which method to use was a difficult one. One of the reasons I chose the two products that I did was because of their similarities and the ability to use customizable parts. However another key to the success was the ability to capitalize on efficient inventory management and processing. Another key was employee empowerment through knowledge which would lead to better service and the ability to recognize and fix problems as they occur during the assembly process. With this being said I would implement a work cell assembly approach. B4. Decisions Involving Inventory Management Understanding the relationship between inventory levels and customer needs is a critical part of any company’s success. Too much inventory can lead to extra costs for the company in the form of storage costs of unused inventory and the expense of selling off unused inventory at discount prices. Not having enough inventory can lead to poor customer experiences by not being able to meet the customer’s needs when needed. This leads to fewer repeat sales and poor relationships. In order for a company to have a low cost strategy they must master inventory levels. As discussed earlier I did not do a good job of inventory management and it cost me in the form of profits and customer satisfaction. The idea is to be perfect and I was far from it. I underestimated the increase in demand after improvements were made in product design and marketing. The result was having higher demand than inventory available. The miscalculations of potential demand cost my company through the simulation and it is very important to execute better inventory management decisions in the future to avoid such issues and losses in the future. My growth decisions were made properly in the form of additional markets, additional sales and service staff, and more fixed capacity capabilities. However, I did not make good inventory management decisions to match the growth demands. The idea of inventory management is of course to find the perfect balance of meeting my customers’ needs while limiting my costs in holding costs and excess capacity costs. It was again necessary to utilize my pro-forma statements to monitor these expenses. The inventory needs were based on demand projections, marketing efforts, and the number of sales people hired. Since my company was a start-up company with little or no brand recognition it was important to find a conservative figure which would still fit the customers’ wants and needs. In the initial Quarter I chose to project demand at 100 units per sales person. I had confidence in my product in the first quarter and decided to leave 43 units of Venture and 32 units of Quest as carryover. The hope was not to run into issues of Sales lost and a loss of customers due to poor experiences. The problem I ran into was due to poor research and development the target market did not find either of my products desirable to fit their needs as they were. My confidence quickly turned into an error in Inventory Management. The remaining units had to be sold at a Salvage price ($846.40 for Venture and $870.40 for Quest). The set price on Venture was $2500 and Quest was $3200, the cost to produce Venture was $1667 and Quest was $1698. This was an enormous loss in potential profits for my company and better use of inventory management and of course research and development could have prevented it. The new products were produced that met the customers’ wants and needs and I decided based on the research which was provided and the history of sales I would be more aggressive with my inventory levels. The sales force was increased to 16 people in Quarter 3 with a demand per sales person of 148, and based on the success in Quarter 4 the sales people were increased to 25 people with an estimate of 225 units per sales person. Due to the increase in demand caused by the additional production more inventory would left at the end of the quarter. The recommendation was that inventory levels should be left at a range of 25 to 50 units of each product, but based on the confidence of sales I increased those ranges and decided to have 86 Venture II units and 64 Quest II units in inventory left at the end of each quarter. I had no missed sales because of a lack of inventory and fortunately did not have to sell any unwanted inventory at salvage prices. Costs did increase in Quarter 4 both in holding costs and excess capacity costs but the cash increases were more than enough to justify the additional inventory. B5. Use of Specific Continuous Programs to Achieve Quality Assurance Goals. Having a culture which promotes quality from top to bottom affects the company in many positive ways; if it starts at the top it becomes a culture which then empowers employees and leads to better customer satisfaction. There are several different programs which help to measure quality; 1.) Continuous Improvement, 2.) Six Sigma, 3.) Employee Empowerment, 4.) Benchmarking, 5.) Just in Time (J.I.T.), 6. Taguchi Concepts and 7.) Knowledge of Total Quality Management (T.Q.M.) Tools. Every aspect of operations can be improved and of course the overall goal is perfection. The cost of defective parts and or systems can be dramatic for a company and difficult to recover. Therefore it is very important to have the proper programs in place to measure quality. I believe two Quality Inspection programs would have been beneficial for my company. It was very important to my company as well as my target customers for us to provide a quality reliable product and have the service in place after the sale for my customers. I believe by implementing an Employee Empowerment program I can help develop quality on both the production side as well as on the service side. Employee Empowerment involves expanding the employees’ roles and responsibilities so that empowerment and belief is spread throughout the company from the highest to the lowest level. By including such responsibilities to the lowest level there is a greater chance that defections or needed improvements will be both addressed as well as shared by the employees who are using the machinery and involved in the everyday operations of the company. With high morale and open communication lines the company should be able to reach the desired quality. The desired quality which the company will be seeking will be determined by using a quality program called Benchmarking. That desired quality will be what our products and services will look like at their very best. All other performances will be judged by comparing to this benchmark. A team will need to be assembled, benchmarking partnerships will need to be formed, data will need to be collected and compared, and improvements will need to be to try and reach our benchmarks. Our benchmarking efforts will analyze such important factors as percentage of defects, customer satisfaction rate, cost per unit, return on investment, customer retention, and response time. References 1. Ralph Estes Dictionary of Accounting (MIT, Cambridge, 1981, p. 105)

Wal-Mart Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Wal-Mart - Research Paper Example Among the biggest complaints about Wal-Mart that the average shopper has is the fact that even at the busiest times the store seems to open only a few of its banks of checkout registers. Ask almost any regular visitor to a Wal-Mart what their biggest beef is and you will get the same response: long lines. When I arrived in the store I was immediately reminded why I like shopping there instead of a regular grocery store. It's well lit, clean, and the aisles are bigger. In addition, if I'm shopping for food and happen to remember I need a non-food item I don't have to make another trip elsewhere. But as I walked past the long line of checkout lanes, I also remembered why I join the legion of frustration shoppers. Despite the fact it is just after 5:00 PM, a time when Wal-Mart is usually quite busy due to the influx of people stopping by on their way home after a weekday at the job, I noticed more checkout lane lights off than on. The Wal-Mart I visited was a SuperCenter, the kind of store that combines grocery shopping with food, toys and electronics. There are two entrances, one at the end with the food and the other where most of the non-food merchandise is located. I entered through the food entryway and notice right away that that there are five express lanes open. The express lane is ideally meant to speed up the process by which customers get in an out as only those who have less than 20 items are supposed to be allowed. I can't help but notice there are at least three shoppers who have noticeably more than 20 items in their basket. I also cannot fault them; besides the express lanes at grocery end of the aisle, I can count only seven other lanes open all way down to the other hand. I didn't actually count how many total checkout registers this particular Wal-Mart, but after I realized there were at least twice as many closed registers as open ones I got the point. I came across an article from 2005 that indicated that Wal-Mart was aware of the problem of people having to wait in line. According to the article, they were supposedly considering a technological approach called line rushing technology using a "mobile scanner that allows employees to check out merchandise while customers wait in line. Customers receive a print-out with a bar code, so cashiers only need to scan the paper and take payment" (Abelson). It sounds like a terrific idea. So why haven't I or anyone I know ever seen in action I decided to see if perhaps I'd just missed out on all the fun so I approached a woman who looked particularly disgusted to be waiting in line. Her name was Hakima and she was one of those who quite obviously had more than twenty items in her cart despite being in the express checkout lane. I explained that I was writing a paper Wal-Mart, specifically on the consumer complaints lodged against the company and without even bringing up the subject she launched into a tirade against the long lines. Hakima told me that she probably had been first in line before at Wal-Mart, but that she couldn't remember it. I asked her how long she perceived to be average wait in a line at Wal-Mart was and she responded, "It seems like a half hour every time, but probably is only ten minutes. That's still a long time, though, when you're standing here looking at all those empty lanes." Those

Why is bureaucracy's relationship to democracy so conflicted Essay - 1

Why is bureaucracy's relationship to democracy so conflicted - Essay Example There are several laws that are infringed upon by bureaucratic procedures that may be considered high-handed. Both democracy and bureaucracy present unethical properties in the political arrangement. Bureaucracy’s relationship to democracy is so conflicted because of the paradoxical relationship that involves satisfying both the emotional and societal interests. Structural modification has a considerable impact on human interaction and individuality. This is emphasized by George Ritzer, a renowned sociologist who explores the concept of McDonaldization in terms of the cultural context and rational thinking. In his book â€Å"The McDonaldization of society† Ritzer explores how the philosophies of fast-food restaurants define the American culture. In his opinion, McDonalds has a particular pattern of entry into any region that often results in an integrated consumer pattern and the westernization of the culture that is invaded (Ritzer, 1993, 9). The society does not change in a bureaucratic manner as previously suggested by another renowned social theorist, Max Webber. Instead, his theory mostly emphasizes on the repetitive nature of actions by both consumers and McDonald’s workforce. For instance, in terms of service, one is likely to receive the same service in any branch, and the employees are likely to use the same recipe an d perform the same tasks in the preparation of food. In essence, this means that rational systems may create an awkward environment based on bureaucracy. This means that democracy is significantly undermined because of the repetitiveness in actions. There are no alternatives presented to guarantee a bureaucratic environment. According to Ritzer, traditional means of thinking are undermined by the societal concerns promoted by bureaucracy based on social control and productivity. The bureaucracy associated with most decision-making processes mean that there will always be interests that are not satisfied and changes in ideology

HR Analisys Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

HR Analisys - Essay Example Similarly, it can affect the financial performance of this organization; however, this might vary from one state to the next depending on the HR practices that Organizations embraces in such states (Bauernberger, 2007). It is vital to recognize that the decisions that the company makes on who to hire, what to pay, what training to offer, how employees’ performance is appraised, and other credible HR provisions directly affect employees’ motivation and ability to provide goods and services that customers value. Consequently, Organizations, as an MNC, must consider such factors through the HR department so as to realize credible organizational performance. Generally, HR manager’s roles in this MNC might eventually affect its prosperity, market relevance, and financial aspects. The strategic HRM management practices chosen in this context incorporate recruitment, selection, training and development, compensation, employee relations, and performance management (Colli ns 5). However, three of them have been discerned in diverse ways so as to understand the novel HRM concepts that Organizations can establish and implement so as to remain relevant in the HR management arenas. They have been intertwined so as to emerge with a concrete management provisions that Organizations, through its newly managed HR department, should establish, implement and embrace to benefit the company. Organizations should implement various HRM management practices in order to remain relevant in the global market. Due to its production and marketing capacity, the organization demands novel HRM practices in the context of HR planning, recruitment of employees, selection criteria, training and development provisions, compensation plans, as well as performance management. Another credible provision is the establishment and ratification of diversity provisions within the Organizations’ workforce. Cultural diversity is increasingly being a

Issues in child development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Issues in child development - Essay Example Every childs development is judged by their intellectual function, their inventiveness, their ego strength, their relatedness to their peers and adults, and capacity to deal with new events that come across their like each day in their social life. Depression may be simply defined as a state of sadness. Many may feel depressed for a short time when things do not go their way, but when this feeling persists and interferes with daily activity a doctor may diagnose an individual with clinical depression and order medication. Genetic predisposition, personal problems, and seasonal hormonal changes are some of the many things that may trigger depression. A depressed individual may encounter feelings of despair and sadness, constant fatigue, constant headaches, among other things. If left untreated, depression may lead to suicide. (Mood Disorders, 2003) Most mothers aspire to provide a nurturing environment for their children. Depressed mothers generally want the best for their children, but their illness prevents them from achieving this goal. Depressed mothers have a much different opinion of themselves as mothers and of their childrens behaviour. They may see themselves as inadequate and think that they have little control over their childs development and they may perceive many aspects of their childs normal behaviour in a negative light. (Gurian, 2003) Many report feeling overwhelmed at the responsibilities of raising a child. Under so much stress, depressed mothers will face the normal frustrations of raising children much differently than normal mothers would. In many cases, the mother may criticize the child to the point of insulting him. Verbal abuse has been linked to lack of self esteem in children, especially when done at a young age. Some depressed mother will go even further and react violently to her childs petty

A Reflection on the Performance in a Professional Environment Essay

A Reflection on the Performance in a Professional Environment - Essay Example It profoundly presents my own and entailed. Professional development, comprehensive understanding of legal and entailed ethical foundations concerned with confidentiality and entailed reflection on attitude and behavior that recurrently impact on daily service delivery processes. The reflexive essay entails enormous consideration into UK laws attaching on the exposure of confidential information regarding the patients’ health conditions and how it has affected my role as a health worker in the UK. It also highlights on the touchy past issues entrenched in the confidentiality part (Great Britain & Amy, 2012, p75). According to UN Economic Commission for Europe, 2009, confidentiality is an entrenched obligation and mandatory to any provider of certain data or information to highly maintain the privacy of the information (Tranberg & Rashbass, 2004, p79). Thus in professional requirements, all the agencies entailed in a collection of information from different people or even organizations have an astounding role and entailed legal or consequent ethical liability to ensure that they timely respect the privacy or secrecy of the people providing the information (Clark & Mcghee, 2008, p73). In similar proportions, the entailed individuals or organizations are not identified in any disseminated dataset and also there is a concurrent and vivid difference in the connection between confidentiality and privacy. While undertaking my personal roles I have learned of the importance of confidentiality as a failure or breach of confidentiality or entailed disclosure of patients’ information which has th e potentials of intruding into his or her privacy as a person or even associated an organization (Anderson, 1997, p96).

Beer's VSM (Viable System Model) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Beer's VSM (Viable System Model) - Essay Example The Viable System Model is based on work of Stafford Beer, continuing from the 1950s until the present. The basic style of this work is systems approach and it grows out of Beer's operations research background. A systems approach assumes (or claims to show) that all systems (things) operate according to some common fundamental rules, that analysis is usually best done from the top down, that the most fundamental rules deal with the dynamic interaction of a system and its component parts and that systems should be viewed recursively, that is, that each part of a system can itself be studied as a complete system (and vice versa). "Viable systems are those that are able to maintain a separate existence. Such systems have their own problem solving capacity. If they are to survive, they need not only the capacity to respond to familiar events such as customer orders, but the potential to respond to unexpected events, to the emergence of new social behaviors and even to painful catastrophes. The latter capacity is the hallmark of viable systems; it gives them the capacity to evolve and adapt to changing environments. While a catastrophic event may at a particular instant throw the viable system off balance, the fundamental characteristic of viability lessens its vulnerability to the unexpected, making it more adaptive to change." For BeeNot Available. February 28, 2006. Retrieved http://www.syncho.com/pages/pdf/INTRODUCTION%20TO%20THE%20VIABLE%20SYSTEM%20MODEL3.pdf For Beer, a system is viable if it is capable of responding to environmental changes even if those changes could not have been foreseen at the time the system was designed. The system must be able to respond appropriately to the various threats and opportunities presented by its environment. Beer's studies of the human form, the muscles and organs and all the various nervous systems were the inspiration for the Viable Systems Model. It may be considered as a generalization of the way that we all manage ourselves in response to a changing environment. Beer's first insight was to consider the human organism as three main interacting parts: the muscles & organs, the nervous systems, and the external environment. Generalizing these three parts resulted to: 1. The Operation: The muscles and organs, the bits that do all the basic work that is the primary activities. 2. The Metasystem: The brain and nervous systems, the parts that ensure that the various Operational units work together in an integrated, harmonious fashion. The job of the Metasystem is to hold the whole thing together. 3. The Environment: All those parts of the outside world, which are of direct relevance to the system in focus. According to this model, the organization is viewed as two parts: the Operation, which does all the basic work (production, distribution, earning the money) and the bits which provide a service to the Operation by ensuring the whole organization works together in an integrated way (scheduling, accounts, strategic planning...) These bits are called the Metasystem. And the Environment refers to all the external factors that influence the organization, its activities and people in one way or the other. An arrangement of five functional elements, which Beer call Systems 1 - 5, constitutes the basic Viability System Model. A brief description of Systems 1 - 5 is now given. The

Pricing Structure- ABC Costing System Case Study

Pricing Structure- ABC Costing System - Case Study Example This strategy was mainly tied to distribution division and supply chain of the company and as the company noticed the profit of the firm declined they arose a serious business issue. The main issue here is that the company found out that there was problem in the cost listed in the clients account and hence it directed discrepancy in the accounting of distribution division which needed immediate attention. The current pricing structure employed by the company is competitive pricing structure. The competitive pricing structure is a phenomenon where the price of the product of the company is set keeping in mind the price set by industry competitors. In this kind of pricing structure the focus is on the attributes of the product, its quality and company’s customer service. In this case study, it can found that the â€Å"Formula Plus† service is imposed taking in to consideration the competitive potential of the company’s product. Calculating the cost of the transaction driver with the help of ordering and receiving material cost and number of purchase order.Ordering and receiving material cost obtained from page 4 where total of the costs of the Distribution division were mentioned. The number of purchase order was obtained from the page 6 where average total stock obtained was mentioned to be 350,000 boxes. In a company, the inventory or stock refers to the material the company holds currently in the premises in order to sell on a future date. Basically, the inventories of a company are associated with certain costs. These cost related to obsolescence of the inventory, the capital invested in the inventory, the cost of the space used and cost of monitoring the inventory. Inventory financing basically means the company get financing with the help of a secured loan from bank. The capital charge for a business is usually calculated by multiplying gross income by the denoted beta assigned to the business venture. Since Les Papeteries

Michael Smyth vs. Pillsbury Company. Essay Example for Free

Michael Smyth vs. Pillsbury Company. Essay STYLE: Michael Smyth vs. Pillsbury Company. COURT: United States District Court of Pennsylvania. CITATION: 914 F. Supp. 97; 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 776; 131 Lab. Cas. (CCH) P58, 104; 11 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 585. ISSUE: Can an employer be accused of violating public policy, tortuously invading privacy and subsequently be estopped from firing or discharging an at will employee, if for the purpose of company’s interest, it monitor an employee’s email communications over the company’s email system just to find them contrary to company’s interest? FACTS: Plaintiff, a manager at defendant’s company had work email account with access from home. Plaintiff was assured by defendant that email communication is private and confidential with no messages being intercepted and used employment termination. Plaintiff in reliance to promise to its detriment used work email system to make threatening email comments with supervisor was intercepted and employment was terminated. Court ruled in favor of Defendant as it was not evident if termination threatened or violated a clear mandate of public policy or Plaintiff’s common law right to privacy. HOLDING: An employer cannot be accused for violating public policy, privacy and/or discharging an employee according to restatement definition of tort of intrusion upon seclusion. LAW: Restatement (Second) of Torts  § 652B: Liability only attaches when the intrusion is substantial and would be highly offensive to the ordinary. Unless an employee identifies a specific expression of public policy violated by his discharge, it will not be labelled as wrongful and within the sphere of public policy†. EXPLANATION: The clear mandate of public policy must strike at the heart of a citizen’s social right, duties and responsibilities. Plaintiff was not fired for serving on jury duty, for prior conviction or for reporting violation of federal regulations to NRC. Plaintiff’s alleged unprofessional communication over email system utilized by entire company diminishes expectation of privacy. Plaintiff was not asked to disclose personal information by defendant. JUDGEMENT: The motion of the defendant to dismiss was granted. The complaint was dismissed with prejudice

The Origins Of Theatre And Playwrights English Literature Essay

The Origins Of Theatre And Playwrights English Literature Essay This essay aims to discuss the effectiveness of political theatre in causing social change, looking specifically at the practice of the contemporary political playwright Augusto Boal including the influence of social theorist Karl Marx on Boals work and how Marxism affected Boals style of theatre. This essay will begin by looking at the origins of theatre and how it has been used since then as a medium of promoting political thought. However, in order to understand political theatre we must first be able to understand what is mean by politics, the Oxford Reference Dictionary (1991:647) describes something political as affecting the State or its Government; of public affairs. From this definition we are able to deduce that political theatre is theatre that is produced in order to affect or influence the community and those in power with regard to public affairs. This type of theatre has been used and enjoyed since the very beginning of theatre as we know it today, which began in Ancie nt Greece in the celebration of the festival of Dionysos, the God of ecstasy. The festival included prayer and procession as well as singing and dancing, there may also have been groups of performers who would answer each other through the medium of song or dance. It is believed that it was Thespis who stood out and performed first without the chorus, and thus creating what we understand to be a protagonist. (GREEK THEATRE 1) Competitions then began to take place during the festivals in which playwrights would enter their plays to be performed, either a tragedy, or a comedy and satyr play. The Greek playwrights would present the audience with ideas to think about and reflect over; during the plays a Parabasis, or stepping aside would take place, this was an opportunity for the playwright to comment upon the state of city affairs or anything else that he so wished. Aristophanes thought that, the dramatist should not only offer pleasure but should, besides that, be a teacher of morali ty and a political advisor.(in Boal 2008:xiii) In his plays, Aristophanes would satirise the most important people of the day, in between the scenes the chorus would perform short, satirical pieces of song and dance always attacking well known individuals by name, for example he ridiculed the demagogue Kleon in his play Babylonians. However, a plays success depended on the funding from the wealthy aristocracy ay the time, the choragus therefore the plays produced may be seen to reflect the view of the choregus rather than that of the playwright, because without them a play would not have the funding to be performed. Greek society was much controlled by the economic minority, the Bourgeoisie, but nothing was done to change this. This state of affairs in Ancient Greece is very similar to the social situation that Karl Marx was fighting against when he introduced his communist manifesto; the alternative to capitalism. Marx believed that human beings have been conditioned throughout his tory to behave a certain way by economic institutions and that in order for an equal society without a social hierarchy then the proletariat must seize power from the bourgeoisie through a social revolution and place everything in collective ownership. In his book Theatre of the Oppressed Augusto Boal writes how Marx believed that art is a key way of offering knowledge, but this knowledge is conveyed from the perspective of the artist, social surroundings or whoever provides sponsorship or payment. Mainly, it is the part of society that maintains economic power that holds control over any means of communication. Bordwell and Thompson (in Woodson, no date) back this up: Each art form is controlled, not by the artists, but by larger social institutions. In a capitalist society, an artist may believe he or she is using the art form for personal expression, but he or she is actually producing merchandise of a kind acceptable to the society. It is only from the arrival of Karl Marx and his theories on socialism that playwrights and practitioners have begun to use theatre as a means for change. Bertolt Brecht was greatly influenced by the Marxist theory because he too wanted to create change, the major goal of the historical avant-garde was to challenge the institution of bourgeois art (Kistenberg 1995:29); Pescator described Brechts work as a Marxist-based analysis of social relations. Brecht agreed with Marx that it was the capitalists that created the bourgeois society, and that drama can be used as a medium of didacticism. It was from this belief that Brecht adopted Piscators form of avant-garde theatre known as epic theatre. Epic theatre has many parallels with Cartesian tradition in which people are encouraged into rational thought; it underlines the socio-political content of drama rather than trying to manipulate the emotions of the audience. Brecht stated that there must be a transformation of psychological confl ict into historic condition (in Basuki no date) in theatre in order to release the self and to create rational thought. This Cartesian belief is needed so that neither the audience nor the actor tries to empathise with the action and characters on stage and are able to view the action with a critical mind. In order to do this Brecht proposed that theatre needed to give to the audience a process of alienation because alienation is necessary to all understanding (Brecht in Basuki no date) so that they are able to form an opinion unfettered by empathy. The term Brecht used to describe this distancing of the audience is Verfremdungseffekt, which when translated, means alienation. In a description about epic theatre Brecht gives an explanation about the difference between a spectator watching dramatic theatre and one watching epic theatre: The dramatic theatres spectator says: Yes, I have felt like that too-Just like me-Its only natural-Itll never change-The suffering of this man appals me, because they are inescapable-Thats great art; it all seems the most obvious thing in the world-I weep when they weep, I laugh when they laugh. The epic theatres spectator says: Id never have thought it-thats not the way-Thats extraordinary, hardly believable-Its got to stop-The sufferings of this man appal me, because they are unnecessary-Thats great art: nothing obvious in it-I laugh when they weep, I weep when they laugh (Brecht in Basuki no date) This quote from Brecht shows us how he intended epic theatre to work and its popularity among playwrights and directors is a great example of how successful epic theatre is as a form of didacticism. However, in Brechts plays the separation between the stage and the audience is still present. The spectator is persuaded to think the thoughts and opinions that presented to them through the action on stage because it is the playwrights who condemns the characters or the events that have taken place; the audiences thoughts are merely pointed in the right direction by the dramatist (OPPRESSED xx) Augusto Boal, though highly influenced by the likes of Marx and Brecht took the format of epic theatre to a new level. He found ways of combining Marxist theory with new ways of writing and analysis. He believed that in order to liberate the audience from the constraints of stage and spectator, they themselves must be part of what is happening on stage To transform is to be transformed.(Boal 2008: xxi) and thus becoming spect-actors. From this belief Boal created the Theatre of the Oppressed in which the audience are asked to intercede, and suggest the next course of action for the actors to perform or actually perform themselves, whilst the actors assist and persuade the audience to take the role of a spect-actor. For example, in forum theatre, the actors perform a short play with which ends with unresolved oppression and then it is performed again but this time the spect-actor is able to become involved and suggest ways to fix the oppression. Boal saw the spectators invasion of the stage as a symbolic moment in their transformation, This invasion is a symbolic trespass. It symbolises all the acts of trespass we have to commit in order to free ourselves from what oppresses us. (Boal 2008:xxi) By doing this the spect-actor is made aware of what he needs to do in order to change the situation in his real social setting, and by breaking down the wall between spectator and acto r, Boal also breaks the wall between the oppressor and the oppressed. (BOAL ESSAY) English Theatre company Cardboard citizens is one of the leading producers of Forum Theatre in the UK, this company is made up of homeless people or those at risk of becoming homeless. Cardboard Citizens tour the UK, performing for other Homeless people, and as it states on their website, aiming to problem-solve together. (CARDBOARD WEBSITE) Although this is an excellent way of trying to create social change, it may be the case that the company perform to an audience who are already aware of the situation being presented to them, and are therefore preaching to the converted. In The Transparent Closet: Gay Theatre for Straight Audiences, Richard Hall (in Kistenberg 1995:76) suggests: Theatre is inefficient as an instrument for social change. It either speaks to those already in support of its views, or to those who are so secure in their power that they dont mind hearing themselves abused, as long as the abuse is entertaining. Although theatre is an excellent form of communication, it is unable to access the parts of society in which people do not watch theatre that is seen to be anything other than mainstream entertainment i.e. Musicals etc. This then stops the theatre from being its most effective. As well as this, political theatre may become an outlet for people to confirm their opinions, for example, David Hares play Stuff Happens was written as a reaction to the Iraq War, somebody who has negative beliefs about this event may watch the play just so their opinions are confirmed. This again may stop the theatre from being at its most effective. Although Cardboard Citizens use of forum theatre has helped many homeless peoples situations and is working to gain understanding of the struggles homeless people encounter, Elizabeth Burns states that the audience view themselves as part of a performance rather than performance as part of their lives (in Kistenberg 1995:32) She believes that the audience are me rely props for the actors and that because they are in a state of being neither fully part of the performance nor full separate then it isnt much different from their usual role as spectator. If this is the case then the spectators of Cardboard Citizens performances, even if they were able to present their theatre to a much wider and varied kind of audience, would not be much changed by what they have seen. Boals next step in creating social change could be seen to have a great impact on society, he generated a form of theatre named Legislative Theatre in which theatre is used to create an active and practical change in society. Boal ran for election and was voted in to be one of 42 vereadores  of Rio, (BOAL ESSAY) he used his new political position to create Legislative Theatre. In this type of theatre Boal attempted To use theatre within a political system to create a truer from of democracy (Boal 2008:i) This type of theatre uses all the techniques of the theatre of the oppressed in order to create new laws, Boal would take his theatre to the streets of Rio and asked the people what they thought of certain issues then proposed his findings to the council chamber. In this way he was able to put forward laws to be passed that had a significant impact on the people of Rio, for example, one law that was passed was one which protected the witnesses of crimes. (LEGISLATIVE THEATRE 104). Theatre is not just about entertaining the masses; it provides a means in which to get a message across. Although all of theatre could be said to be political in a broader sense, it is political theatre that has been established as designing a theatre that is left wing and that expresses the need for radical change. Political theatre has thrived under oppressive governments as a means of communicating political opinions; however this has not always been the case. In spite of how seemingly political Greek theatre appears the censorship of the plays provides evidence towards the fact that it was not and it did little to challenge and change the social hierarchy of the time because it was controlled by the people in power. Greek theatre started by being interactive and an open form of communication; however the right to speak was taken away when the citizens were split into chorus and audience. It is seemingly ironic then that it was someone speaking out of turn that first created this form of theatre but by being made to be the audience the rest were stifled. Looking back at how political theatre has developed over the years it is clear of the relevance of each individual practitioner at the respective times in which they were writing, for example, in the years of extreme censorship by the Bourgeoisie when Brecht was writing he was one of the first practitioners to use theatre to make people aware of their situation therefore enlightening them because it was the first time they had been shown the truth. However now, in the 21st Century when people are able to access, via the means of the internet for example, all types of imformation without censorship they are given the opportunity through practices such as Boals to actively change society. Boals Legislative Theatre encapsulates the aim of political theatre. As Brecht used Epic theatre in order to create social change, Boal took his format and physically created change through the placement of new laws. This is ultimately the aim of political theatre, to release the oppressed from the op pressor. Conclusion. Zortman (2) says that The avant-garde artists were denounced as breeders of the proletarian world revolution Quotes 356 / 1403words.

A Man and His Family in movies Air Force One and Patriot Games :: Air Force Patriot Games Family Essays

A Man and His Family in movies Air Force One and Patriot Games As soon as a man gets married and begins his family, a certain protective instinct takes over. No matter what situation presents itself, a man’s first thought is that of protecting his family from harm. The theme, although a man’s job may be very important, his main concern in life is to protect his family, is shown in both of the movies Air Force One and Patriot Games. In both movies, a man and his family encounter terrorist actions in which the man has to put his family’s lives before his own. The movie Air Force One begins with the President of the United States of America boarding the aircraft, Air Force One with his wife, daughter, and staff. Just after liftoff from Moscow, the plane is attacked and taken over by terrorists, who were smuggled onboard by a member of the president’s staff. As soon as this happened, the secret service put the president into a small pod, which was designed to get the president off of the plane in case of an emergency. As they forced him into the pod, his only concern was for his family. He yelled out â€Å"Where’s my family? What about my family?† (Air Force One). Secretly, the president got out of the pod to stay behind and save his family. The terrorists demanded that one of their former leaders be released from jail. If he was not released, they were going to start killing the presidential staff, including the first family. The president remained hidden and secretly plotted how to get to his family and defeat the terrorists. It finally came down to the president against the terrorists. The terrorists wanted the president to call the prison that their leader was in and have him released. If the president did not want to make the call, he had to choose to kill either his wife or his daughter. In the end, he decided to call the prison and release the terrorist over killing his family. This showed that the only thing that mattered to him was his family. This same theme holds true for the movie Patriot Games. In this movie the main character is CIA agent Jack Ryan who, while on vacation in England, stops terrorists from killing a member of the Royal Family.

Journalism Essay -- Media Journalists Journalism News Essays

Journalism Today the term journalism is applied to prestigious publications such as The New York Times, and to television news operations such as 60 Minutes and NBC Nightly News. â€Å" First amendment rights and the democratic political environment of the united states have contributed to the uninhibited growth of the news media in public and private communication.†1 the world of journalism has changed dramatically from the colonial days. When newspapers were just channels or devices of commercial and political information. SKILLS AND/OR APTITUDES With the new changes in technology, it has changed the nature of the journalism industry, making it vividly sophisticated and requiring a wide range of skills. There are four significant skills, to become an exquisite journalist; to be prepared, alert, persistent, there, and wary. v  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A prepared reporter educates her/himself. v  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  An alert reporter looks for intriguing facts. v  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A persistent reporter never quits. v  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A reporter who is there gets onto the scene where news happens. v  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A wary reporter trust nothing until she/ he is sure of it. A journalist must also know the difference between a source and a subject, because all reporting involves a source and a subject. A subject is whatever a journalist investigates, and a source is whatever answers the journalist’s questions. The most basic way to get answers is to ask questions, this process is called interviewing. â€Å"The single most important thing to do when interviewing anyone is to listen carefully,† said journalist Michael Kronenwetter in his book How to Write a News Article. A good journalist must learn how to study his subject and source. Journalist must know how to listen carefully and pick up if the interviewee left out any crucial facts, contradicts him or herself, or mentions newsworthy.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Journalist must also have good writing skills, and must learn how to take down copious notes. Must be able to record as much as possible, so that they are likely to forget anything of importance. Journalist must also be able to observe and report every little facts. Including tone of voice, facial expression, gesture, body characteristics, and the environment a subject creates at home or office. These little facts can reveal a lot about a subject, so it should be reported.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another skill significant to journalism is research, u... ...gy has changed so much there are even more jobs available that fall under journalism but it has also made the journalism industry very complex but sophisticated. Journalism has come a long way since the days of commercial printers who single handedly published news books and newsletters, and of radio stations that were one person operations from private homes. Well-defined jobs are decreasing in the world of journalism but there is stillroom for those who are innovative, creative, and aggressive. Reference Page 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Everette, E. Dennis and Ismach Arnold H., Reporting Processes and Practices: News Writing for Today’s Readers, Belmont CA, Wadsworth Publishing Co. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Fedler, Fred: Reporting for the Print Media, Harcourt, Brace and Jovanovich, 1984 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ferguson Publishing Company Staff: What can I do NOW? Preparing for a Career in Journalism, New York NY, USA, Ferguson Publishing Co. 1998 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  http://www.collegejournal.com/salarydata/journalism/20030807-nasaw.html 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Kronenwetter, Michael: How To Write a News Article, Danbury CT, USA, Scholastic Library Publishing Co. 6.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Seidman, David: Exploring Careers in Journalism, New York, Rosen Publishing Co. 2000

New Payment Methods in Health System and Quality of Care :: Argumentative Persuasive Government Papers

New Payment Methods in Health System and Quality of Care Introduction For the purpose of this article I will make some generalizations and I will define some words to facilitate the reading and understanding. These definitions are not intended to be exhaustive and must be understood only in the context of this article. In America health has had its own evolution, passing from the personal relationship between a physician and a patient to a complex system with many actors. As technology developed, on one hand, the costs increased and patients or their families weren’t able to pay by themselves. As a consequence, new payers, such as Government and employers appeared in the health industry. But once again, one treatment could be so expensive, that the resources of a small employer wouldn’t be enough to cover it, and his business could get in financial risk. Consequently, the typical insurers began to play their own role: The affiliation of large number of people paying a fixed premium per person and period of time, regardless the cost of the treatments needed by each of their affiliates. A patient could choose the provider, pay the treatment by itself, and later the insurer reimbursed him the cost of it. If the number of affiliates is high, the probability of a high cost treatment becom es more standard or predictable and the excess of money the insurer earns with people who pay and don’t get sick can absorb its costs. This is known as the â€Å"big numbers† law. On the other hand, physicians became more specialized, and needed more technology not affordable on an individual basis. Now we have physicians, nurses, hospices, clinics, hospitals and complex systems joining all them in order to provide the care needed by patients. For the purpose of this article I’ll call all of them providers. Cost continued increasing, the relations between these actors continued changing, and the characteristics of each of them too. In the side of the insurers, in the 1980’s, the Health Maintenance Organizations or HMO’s appeared. Despite their differences, in the beginning most had similar characteristics: they were non-profit organizations providing care to their affiliates with a selected net of providers and special rules and procedures that patients and providers should follow in order to accept the service and pay the provider. Recently, in the search to achieve the key objective of cost containment, the

Twilight 3. PHENOMENON

3. PHENOMENON When I opened my eyes in the morning, something was different. It was the light. It was still the gray-green light of a cloudy day in the forest, but it was clearer somehow. I realized there was no fog veiling my window. I jumped up to look outside, and then groaned in horror. A fine layer of snow covered the yard, dusted the top of my truck, and whitened the road. But that wasn't the worst part. All the rain from yesterday had frozen solid – coating the needles on the trees in fantastic, gorgeous patterns, and making the driveway a deadly ice slick. I had enough trouble not falling down when the ground was dry; it might be safer for me to go back to bed now. Charlie had left for work before I got downstairs. In a lot of ways, living with Charlie was like having my own place, and I found myself reveling in the aloneness instead of being lonely. I threw down a quick bowl of cereal and some orange juice from the carton. I felt excited to go to school, and that scared me. I knew it wasn't the stimulating learning environment I was anticipating, or seeing my new set of friends. If I was being honest with myself, I knew I was eager to get to school because I would see Edward Cullen. And that was very, very stupid. I should be avoiding him entirely after my brainless and embarrassing babbling yesterday. And I was suspicious of him; why should he lie about his eyes? I was still frightened of the hostility I sometimes felt emanating from him, and I was still tongue-tied whenever I pictured his perfect face. I was well aware that my league and his league were spheres that did not touch. So I shouldn't be at all anxious to see him today. It took every ounce of my concentration to make it down the icy brick driveway alive. I almost lost my balance when I finally got to the truck, but I managed to cling to the side mirror and save myself. Clearly, today was going to be nightmarish. Driving to school, I distracted myself from my fear of falling and my unwanted speculations about Edward Cullen by thinking about Mike and Eric, and the obvious difference in how teenage boys responded to me here. I was sure I looked exactly the same as I had in Phoenix. Maybe it was just that the boys back home had watched me pass slowly through all the awkward phases of adolescence and still thought of me that way. Perhaps it was because I was a novelty here, where novelties were few and far between. Possibly my crippling clumsiness was seen as endearing rather than pathetic, casting me as a damsel in distress. Whatever the reason, Mike's puppy dog behavior and Eric's apparent rivalry with him were disconcerting. I wasn't sure if I didn't prefer being ignored. My truck seemed to have no problem with the black ice that covered the roads. I drove very slowly, though, not wanting to carve a path of destruction through Main Street. When I got out of my truck at school, I saw why I'd had so little trouble. Something silver caught my eye, and I walked to the back of the truck – carefully holding the side for support – to examine my tires. There were thin chains crisscrossed in diamond shapes around them. Charlie had gotten up who knows how early to put snow chains on my truck. My throat suddenly felt tight. I wasn't used to being taken care of, and Charlie's unspoken concern caught me by surprise. I was standing by the back corner of the truck, struggling to fight back the sudden wave of emotion the snow chains had brought on, when I heard an odd sound. It was a high-pitched screech, and it was fast becoming painfully loud. I looked up, startled. I saw several things simultaneously. Nothing was moving in slow motion, the way it does in the movies. Instead, the adrenaline rush seemed to make my brain work much faster, and I was able to absorb in clear detail several things at once. Edward Cullen was standing four cars down from me, staring at me in horror. His face stood out from a sea of faces, all frozen in the same mask of shock. But of more immediate importance was the dark blue van that was skidding, tires locked and squealing against the brakes, spinning wildly across the ice of the parking lot. It was going to hit the back corner of my truck, and I was standing between them. I didn't even have time to close my eyes. Just before I heard the shattering crunch of the van folding around the truck bed, something hit me, hard, but not from the direction I was expecting. My head cracked against the icy blacktop, and I felt something solid and cold pinning me to the ground. I was lying on the pavement behind the tan car I'd parked next to. But I didn't have a chance to notice anything else, because the van was still coming. It had curled gratingly around the end of the truck and, still spinning and sliding, was about to collide with me again. A low oath made me aware that someone was with me, and the voice was impossible not to recognize. Two long, white hands shot out protectively in front of me, and the van shuddered to a stop a foot from my face, the large hands fitting providentially into a deep dent in the side of the van's body. Then his hands moved so fast they blurred. One was suddenly gripping under the body of the van, and something was dragging me, swinging my legs around like a rag doll's, till they hit the tire of the tan car. A groaning metallic thud hurt my ears, and the van settled, glass popping, onto the asphalt – exactly where, a second ago, my legs had been. It was absolutely silent for one long second before the screaming began. In the abrupt bedlam, I could hear more than one person shouting my name. But more clearly than all the yelling, I could hear Edward Cullen's low, frantic voice in my ear. â€Å"Bella? Are you all right?† â€Å"I'm fine.† My voice sounded strange. I tried to sit up, and realized he was holding me against the side of his body in an iron grasp. â€Å"Be careful,† he warned as I struggled. â€Å"I think you hit your head pretty hard.† I became aware of a throbbing ache centered above my left ear. â€Å"Ow,† I said, surprised. â€Å"That's what I thought.† His voice, amazingly, sounded like he was suppressing laughter. â€Å"How in the†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I trailed off, trying to clear my head, get my bearings. â€Å"How did you get over here so fast?† â€Å"I was standing right next to you, Bella,† he said, his tone serious again. I turned to sit up, and this time he let me, releasing his hold around my waist and sliding as far from me as he could in the limited space. I looked at his concerned, innocent expression and was disoriented again by the force of his gold-colored eyes. What was I asking him? And then they found us, a crowd of people with tears streaming down their faces, shouting at each other, shouting at us. â€Å"Don't move,† someone instructed. â€Å"Get Tyler out of the van!† someone else shouted. There was a flurry of activity around us. I tried to get up, but Edward's cold hand pushed my shoulder down. â€Å"Just stay put for now.† â€Å"But it's cold,† I complained. It surprised me when he chuckled under his breath. There was an edge to the sound. â€Å"You were over there,† I suddenly remembered, and his chuckle stopped short. â€Å"You were by your car.† His expression turned hard. â€Å"No, I wasn't.† â€Å"I saw you.† All around us was chaos. I could hear the gruffer voices of adults arriving on the scene. But I obstinately held on to our argument; I was right, and he was going to admit it. â€Å"Bella, I was standing with you, and I pulled you out of the way.† He unleashed the full, devastating power of his eyes on me, as if trying to communicate something crucial. â€Å"No.† I set my jaw. The gold in his eyes blazed. â€Å"Please, Bella.† â€Å"Why?† I demanded. â€Å"Trust me,† he pleaded, his soft voice overwhelming. I could hear the sirens now. â€Å"Will you promise to explain everything to me later?† â€Å"Fine,† he snapped, abruptly exasperated. â€Å"Fine,† I repeated angrily. It took six EMTs and two teachers – Mr. Varner and Coach Clapp – to shift the van far enough away from us to bring the stretchers in. Edward vehemently refused his, and I tried to do the same, but the traitor told them I'd hit my head and probably had a concussion. I almost died of humiliation when they put on the neck brace. It looked like the entire school was there, watching soberly as they loaded me in the back of the ambulance. Edward got to ride in the front. It was maddening. To make matters worse, Chief Swan arrived before they could get me safely away. â€Å"Bella!† he yelled in panic when he recognized me on the stretcher. â€Å"I'm completely fine, Char – Dad,† I sighed. â€Å"There's nothing wrong with me.† He turned to the closest EMT for a second opinion. I tuned him out to consider the jumble of inexplicable images churning chaotically in my head. When they'd lifted me away from the car, I had seen the deep dent in the tan car's bumper – a very distinct dent that fit the contours of Edward's shoulders†¦ as if he had braced himself against the car with enough force to damage the metal frame†¦ And then there was his family, looking on from the distance, with expressions that ranged from disapproval to fury but held no hint of concern for their brother's safety. I tried to think of a logical solution that could explain what I had just seen – a solution that excluded the assumption that I was insane. Naturally, the ambulance got a police escort to the county hospital. I felt ridiculous the whole time they were unloading me. What made it worse was that Edward simply glided through the hospital doors under his own power. I ground my teeth together. They put me in the emergency room, a long room with a line of beds separated by pastel-patterned curtains. A nurse put a pressure cuff on my arm and a thermometer under my tongue. Since no one bothered pulling the curtain around to give me some privacy, I decided I wasn't obligated to wear the stupid-looking neck brace anymore. When the nurse walked away, I quickly unfastened the Velcro and threw it under the bed. There was another flurry of hospital personnel, another stretcher brought to the bed next to me. I recognized Tyler Crowley from my Government class beneath the bloodstained bandages wrapped tightly around his head. Tyler looked a hundred times worse than I felt. But he was staring anxiously at me. â€Å"Bella, I'm so sorry!† â€Å"I'm fine, Tyler – you look awful, are you all right?† As we spoke, nurses began unwinding his soiled bandages, exposing a myriad of shallow slices all over his forehead and left cheek. He ignored me. â€Å"I thought I was going to kill you! I was going too fast, and I hit the ice wrong†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He winced as one nurse started dabbing at his face. â€Å"Don't worry about it; you missed me.† â€Å"How did you get out of the way so fast? You were there, and then you were gone†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Umm†¦ Edward pulled me out of the way.† He looked confused. â€Å"Who?† â€Å"Edward Cullen – he was standing next to me.† I'd always been a terrible liar; I didn't sound convincing at all. â€Å"Cullen? I didn't see him†¦ wow, it was all so fast, I guess. Is he okay?† â€Å"I think so. He's here somewhere, but they didn't make him use a stretcher.† I knew I wasn't crazy. What had happened? There was no way to explain away what I'd seen. They wheeled me away then, to X-ray my head. I told them there was nothing wrong, and I was right. Not even a concussion. I asked if I could leave, but the nurse said I had to talk to a doctor first. So I was trapped in the ER, waiting, harassed by Tyler's constant apologies and promises to make it up to me. No matter how many times I tried to convince him I was fine, he continued to torment himself. Finally, I closed my eyes and ignored him. He kept up a remorseful mumbling. â€Å"Is she sleeping?† a musical voice asked. My eyes flew open. Edward was standing at the foot of my bed, smirking. I glared at him. It wasn't easy – it would have been more natural to ogle. â€Å"Hey, Edward, I'm really sorry -† Tyler began. Edward lifted a hand to stop him. â€Å"No blood, no foul,† he said, flashing his brilliant teeth. He moved to sit on the edge of Tyler's bed, facing me. He smirked again. â€Å"So, what's the verdict?† he asked me. â€Å"There's nothing wrong with me at all, but they won't let me go,† I complained. â€Å"How come you aren't strapped to a gurney like the rest of us?† â€Å"It's all about who you know,† he answered. â€Å"But don't worry, I came to spring you.† Then a doctor walked around the corner, and my mouth fell open. He was young, he was blond†¦ and he was handsomer than any movie star I'd ever seen. He was pale, though, and tired-looking, with circles under his eyes. From Charlie's description, this had to be Edward's father. â€Å"So, Miss Swan,† Dr. Cullen said in a remarkably appealing voice, â€Å"how are you feeling?† â€Å"I'm fine,† I said, for the last time, I hoped. He walked to the lightboard on the wall over my head, and turned it on. â€Å"Your X-rays look good,† he said. â€Å"Does your head hurt? Edward said you hit it pretty hard.† â€Å"It's fine,† I repeated with a sigh, throwing a quick scowl toward Edward. The doctor's cool fingers probed lightly along my skull. He noticed when I winced. â€Å"Tender?† he asked. â€Å"Not really.† I'd had worse. I heard a chuckle, and looked over to see Edward's patronizing smile. My eyes narrowed. â€Å"Well, your father is in the waiting room – you can go home with him now. But come back if you feel dizzy or have trouble with your eyesight at all.† â€Å"Can't I go back to school?† I asked, imagining Charlie trying to be attentive. â€Å"Maybe you should take it easy today.† I glanced at Edward. â€Å"Does he get to go to school?† â€Å"Someone has to spread the good news that we survived,† Edward said smugly. â€Å"Actually,† Dr. Cullen corrected, â€Å"most of the school seems to be in the waiting room.† â€Å"Oh no,† I moaned, covering my face with my hands. Dr. Cullen raised his eyebrows. â€Å"Do you want to stay?† â€Å"No, no!† I insisted, throwing my legs over the side of the bed and hopping down quickly. Too quickly – I staggered, and Dr. Cullen caught me. He looked concerned. â€Å"I'm fine,† I assured him again. No need to tell him my balance problems had nothing to do with hitting my head. â€Å"Take some Tylenol for the pain,† he suggested as he steadied me. â€Å"It doesn't hurt that bad,† I insisted. â€Å"It sounds like you were extremely lucky,† Dr. Cullen said, smiling as he signed my chart with a flourish. â€Å"Lucky Edward happened to be standing next to me,† I amended with a hard glance at the subject of my statement. â€Å"Oh, well, yes,† Dr. Cullen agreed, suddenly occupied with the papers in front of him. Then he looked away, at Tyler, and walked to the next bed. My intuition flickered; the doctor was in on it. â€Å"I'm afraid that you'll have to stay with us just a little bit longer,† he said to Tyler, and began checking his cuts. As soon as the doctor's back was turned, I moved to Edward's side. â€Å"Can I talk to you for a minute?† I hissed under my breath. He took a step back from me, his jaw suddenly clenched. â€Å"Your father is waiting for you,† he said through his teeth. I glanced at Dr. Cullen and Tyler. â€Å"I'd like to speak with you alone, if you don't mind,† I pressed. He glared, and then turned his back and strode down the long room. I nearly had to run to keep up. As soon as we turned the corner into a short hallway, he spun around to face me. â€Å"What do you want?† he asked, sounding annoyed. His eyes were cold. His unfriendliness intimidated me. My words came out with less severity than I'd intended. â€Å"You owe me an explanation,† I reminded him. â€Å"I saved your life – I don't owe you anything.† I flinched back from the resentment in his voice. â€Å"You promised.† â€Å"Bella, you hit your head, you don't know what you're talking about.† His tone was cutting. My temper flared now, and I glared defiantly at him. â€Å"There's nothing wrong with my head.† He glared back. â€Å"What do you want from me, Bella?† â€Å"I want to know the truth,† I said. â€Å"I want to know why I'm lying for you.† â€Å"What do you think happened?† he snapped. It came out in a rush. â€Å"All I know is that you weren't anywhere near me – Tyler didn't see you, either, so don't tell me I hit my head too hard. That van was going to crush us both – and it didn't, and your hands left dents in the side of it – and you left a dent in the other car, and you're not hurt at all – and the van should have smashed my legs, but you were holding it up†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I could hear how crazy it sounded, and I couldn't continue. I was so mad I could feel the tears coming; I tried to force them back by grinding my teeth together. He was staring at me incredulously. But his face was tense, defensive. â€Å"You think I lifted a van off you?† His tone questioned my sanity, but it only made me more suspicious. It was like a perfectly delivered line by a skilled actor. I merely nodded once, jaw tight. â€Å"Nobody will believe that, you know.† His voice held an edge of derision now. â€Å"I'm not going to tell anybody.† I said each word slowly, carefully controlling my anger. Surprise flitted across his face. â€Å"Then why does it matter?† â€Å"It matters to me,† I insisted. â€Å"I don't like to lie – so there'd better be a good reason why I'm doing it.† â€Å"Can't you just thank me and get over it?† â€Å"Thank you.† I waited, fuming and expectant. â€Å"You're not going to let it go, are you?† â€Å"No.† â€Å"In that case†¦ I hope you enjoy disappointment.† We scowled at each other in silence. I was the first to speak, trying to keep myself focused. I was in danger of being distracted by his livid, glorious face. It was like trying to stare down a destroying angel. â€Å"Why did you even bother?† I asked frigidly. He paused, and for a brief moment his stunning face was unexpectedly vulnerable. â€Å"I don't know,† he whispered. And then he turned his back on me and walked away. I was so angry, it took me a few minutes until I could move. When I could walk, I made my way slowly to the exit at the end of the hallway. The waiting room was more unpleasant than I'd feared. It seemed like every face I knew in Forks was there, staring at me. Charlie rushed to my side; I put up my hands. â€Å"There's nothing wrong with me,† I assured him sullenly. I was still aggravated, not in the mood for chitchat. â€Å"What did the doctor say?† â€Å"Dr. Cullen saw me, and he said I was fine and I could go home.† I sighed. Mike and Jessica and Eric were all there, beginning to converge on us. â€Å"Let's go,† I urged. Charlie put one arm behind my back, not quite touching me, and led me to the glass doors of the exit. I waved sheepishly at my friends, hoping to convey that they didn't need to worry anymore. It was a huge relief- the first time I'd ever felt that way – to get into the cruiser. We drove in silence. I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I barely knew Charlie was there. I was positive that Edward's defensive behavior in the hall was a confirmation of the bizarre things I still could hardly believe I'd witnessed. When we got to the house, Charlie finally spoke. â€Å"Um†¦ you'll need to call Ren? ¦e.† He hung his head, guilty. I was appalled. â€Å"You told Mom!† â€Å"Sorry.† I slammed the cruiser's door a little harder than necessary on my way out. My mom was in hysterics, of course. I had to tell her I felt fine at least thirty times before she would calm down. She begged me to come home – forgetting the fact that home was empty at the moment – but her pleas were easier to resist than I would have thought. I was consumed by the mystery Edward presented. And more than a little obsessed by Edward himself. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I wasn't as eager to escape Forks as I should be, as any normal, sane person would be. I decided I might as well go to bed early that night. Charlie continued to watch me anxiously, and it was getting on my nerves. I stopped on my way to grab three Tylenol from the bathroom. They did help, and, as the pain eased, I drifted to sleep. That was the first night I dreamed of Edward Cullen.

Development in Language Learning Essay

Language educators in mono-linguistic societies world-wide face a commonly held myth: children are only able to handle one culture and one language at a time. No doubt this is due to the fact that these perceptions are largely formed by adults who have been brought up and conditioned to think in the modes of a one-language, one-culture society. Yet research has shown that children are much more flexible in these areas than most adults would give them credit for. Children world-wide learn two, three and more languages in their early years and while there may be some short-term developmental delay the long-term benefits from learning other languages is considerable. In the great majority of cases parents are the principle teachers of one or two of these languages and as the children’s main caregivers are ideally suited for the job. Parents, the most prestigious people from a child’s perspective, are the most important factor in molding a child in the pre-school years. The purpose of this paper is to take lessons learned from bilingual homes and apply them to second language learning at preschool. The core elements discussed will be the benefits of bilingualism and pre-literacy programs in the preschool years. There is no doubt that early literacy gives a marked advantage to children entering into primary school. It follows that the advantage would be double if literacy was promoted in two languages. What this paper seeks to show is that this can be done by using methods taken from successful bilingual households and mimicking them in second language education for preschoolers. Additionally, by providing early reading and listening activities linking the home and the second language, schools can make use of the one of the most powerful factors in the learning of a second language by preschoolers, parental support. Before these activities are outlined it is essential that we summarize the benefits of pre-reading skills in bilingual households. Discussion and Summary of Research 1. Benefits of Early Reading in Diverse Languages There is no doubt that given the environment and the proper motivational tools young children show an interest in reading and being read to. Parents who incorporate the reading of stories into a preschooler’s daily activities will see the increased chance of literacy at a young age. Theorists for years have been telling us about the benefits of reading to our child. Mackler (1997) claims that the more enjoyable a child’s experience with early reading the greater is the possibility that they will read with frequency in the future. She states that, â€Å"Young children’s self-initiated interactions with print at home are important behavioral indexes of emerging motivations for reading. Shared storybook reading plays an important role in promoting reading motivations; when the socioemotional climate is positive, children are more interested in reading and more likely to view it as enjoyable† (p. 69). Andersson (1977) concludes that â€Å"Parents who read, study, and discuss interesting or important subjects in the presence of their children and who answer their children’s questions create a close relationship with their children, a relationship which older children are quick to adopt with their younger siblings. † It only follows that if reading in one language to a child is profitable to the child’s future education reading in two languages is even more profitable. Andersson (1977) claims that early reading for children and their parents is an experience that brings joy and self-esteem to a child and that this is doubly so for children who have the opportunity to enjoy literature in two languages. In his study on family reading in two languages Andersson (1977) researched the early reading process of three families. He concludes that, â€Å"far from being a double burden, learning to read in two languages is a double joy, leading to a positive self-image. † Meier (2003) adds that children being read to in two different languages tend to learn about the distinctive cultures of the two languages. She claims that â€Å"From these book reading experiences, many children acquire an extensive book-based vocabulary and absorb important cultural lessons about things like gender roles, family relationships, and the nature of friendship† (p. 242). She also claims that these early reading experiences help children adapt to the school environment by teaching them to listen quietly and attentively, raising their hand when they wish to speak and remembering their questions until the end of the story (p. 243). One study done on low-income Spanish speaking immigrants and their children showed that reading done within the family helped considerably in expanding vocabulary of Spanish at home with a group of three-year-old children (Akers, Boyce, Cook, Innocenti, Jump & Roggman, 2004, p. 371). Forty-seven mothers and their three year old children were analyzed while they shared reading time. The conclusions were that their children’s attention was expanded and that conversation and interaction within the family were enhanced (Akers, Boyce, Cook, Innocenti, Jump & Roggman, 2004, p. 383). The most significant change was that the children’s vocabulary was significantly broadened (p. 384). Yet it is important to emphasize that investigation shows that while literacy can improve upon second language learning, bilingualism does not necessarily improve upon literacy. Bialystok (2002) contends that much of the literature surrounding literacy and bilingualism in fact argues that bilingualism promotes literacy and that this is not necessarily the case. She concludes that the relation between bilingualism and literacy depends to a large extent on certain skills developed by teachers and parents and that in this sense bilingualism at the time literacy begins can result in â€Å"an advantage and sometimes a disadvantage for bilingual children. Bilingualism clearly affects children’s development of literacy, but its effect is neither simple nor unitary† (p. 159). 2. Bilingual Families: What We Can Learn Although there is a great deal of literature on the benefits of learning a second language the deep grained fear in mono-linguistic cultures is that learning two languages at the same time is trying for that child. But some theorists claim that language learning for bilingual children is in fact quite the same for monolingual children (Paneque, 2006, p. 171). What is more important for authors such as Paneque (2006) are other factors such as â€Å"who provides the language input, or when the second language is introduced† (172). She adds that while some children may start the process of becoming bilingual at birth other start in their preschool years but that â€Å"Either way, both methods of becoming bilingual can be effective† (p. 172). Other studies claim that the fear of slow development caused by bilingualism causes children to know neither of the languages well. Mclaughlin (1995) claims that, in fact, it is uncommon that both languages be in balance. He claims that, â€Å"One language typically predominates in use and exposure. When this happens, elements of the other language can quickly be lost. The child can forget vocabulary and even rules of grammar† (p. 4). The author concludes that it is only a question of time before the other language catches up and evens out the results (p. 4). Genesee, Paradis and Cargo (2004) conclude that children are more than capable of learning more than one language, either at the same time or one after the other. While many people focus completely on teaching methodologies authors such as Walqui hold that the psychological side of second language learning is in fact just as important. Stresses and fears brought out in the home and school environment can result in problems for the bilingual child. Walqui claims that, â€Å"While many discussions about learning a second language focus on teaching methodologies, little emphasis is given to the contextual factors—individual, social, and societal—that affect students’ learning. There is no doubt that the success with which bilingual children develop both languages depends largely on two factors: school support and home support. While at home a child may speak one language at school they may speak another. In order for them to become proficient in the home language they must have the support of their family. Walqui (2000) claims that support from family is essential to second language learning. She states that â€Å"Some educators believe that parents of English language learners should speak only English in the home. However, far more important than speaking English is that parents value both the native language and English, [and] communicate with their children in whichever language is most comfortable. † There are a couple of important conclusions to make on the research done up until this time. The first is that the literature has shown us that the natural process of becoming bilingual can lead to inequalities in the learning of one language or the other at certain times. The second conclusion is that given the right support by the family and education institutions children can learn both languages to the satisfaction of both. The third is that communication through conversation and shared reading can greatly enhance a child’s vocabulary in either language. What we can take from these three points of bilingualism in preschoolers is that if the same circumstances of sharing and reading with bilingual children are applied to children learning a second language out of the home the possibilities of success would be enhanced. Application of Research Activities That Use the School and the Home to Promote a Second Language Playschool support, home support and shared reading are the three elements of the program this work will propose to use to develop the second language abilities of preschoolers at an age in which they may learn the basics of literacy in their second language at the same time they do so with their first language. Although there is debate on the language learning window and when it closes Paneque (2006) concludes that early childhood does seem to be the optimal time for language learning. She claims that it is â€Å"when the child’s mind is still open and flexible, and not cluttered with all sorts of other learning, not to mention the society’s views on which languages are ‘prestige’ languages, and which ones are regarded by the society as of little or no importance† (p. 171). Before we go into the particulars of the proposed program first we should mention that it works around the presumption that the first priority to the family of a second language learner is to push their maternal language and excellence in that language. Indeed, Fortune (2003) states of English speaking students in immersion programs that parents must provided an atmosphere which will enhance their development of the English language. She claims that principally they should read and play games with them that will develop their literacy and vocabulary in English. She concludes that â€Å"Research shows that the stronger the development of the native language, the greater the proficiency in the immersion language, so children who enter an immersion program with a strong base in English will succeed more easily than those whose English skills are not as strong. † What is proposed here is that parents simply use one of the tools of promoting that language, pre-reading skills, to incite their preschoolers to open their mind to another language. So how can pre-reading be incorporated into a family that may not even understand the basics of the language being learned by the preschooler? This can be done by organizing a pre-reading program which connects the home and the preschool. Throughout the year teachers will choose a variety of simple word books that incorporate vocabulary the children have already learned in class. The teacher will read the story to the children and attempt to encourage their participation on discussing its characters, ideas and plot. Over the course of time they will do various activities that will work with the stories vocabulary and plot. These types of activity will obviously be dependent on the age group the teachers are working with. When the teacher is finished working with the story they will send the project on to its second stage – home discussion. The story will go home with the preschooler where it will be incorporated into family reading but it will not be the parents reading the story but rather the preschooler. The preschooler will be required to re-tell the story or act out the story as they remember it but by translating it into the families language. The family will be encouraged by the school to ask the child to instruct them on new vocabulary in the outside language. It is through activities like this that parents can help to support the second language by showing pride and accomplishment in what their child has learned up until that moment. Preschoolers in particular will be pleased that they have the opportunity to â€Å"teach their family. Bilingual books may be used to further help the parents with the activity. Meier (2003) also provides an outline for choosing and presenting the chosen books that would help preschool and kindergarten teachers gain more interest from their students. She recommends that first and foremost a teacher choose a book that â€Å"relates to children’s lives† (p. 248). Secondly she recommends that teachers ask â€Å"creative and open ended questions† to stimulate interest in the story (p. 248). Lastly Meier believes that if a teacher makes a book come a live by using props it will garner a far greater interest in the story (p. 248). Summary It is through pre-reading programs like this that playschool teachers teaching a second language might harness the most powerful factor in a young child’s life, parental support, without disrupting the important mode of communication that is the maternal language. It is undeniable that both the reading and the acquisition of languages are of great educational importance. By combining the two and providing the right support at preschool and at home teachers and parents may be creating an atmosphere where these young children can take advantage of the flexibility their young minds allow them in language learning. References Akers, J. F. , Boyce, L. K. , Cook, G. A, Innocenti, M. S. , Jump, J. F. & Roggman, L. A. (2004). Sharing Books and Learning Language: What do Latina Mothers and Their Young Children Do? Early Education and Development, 15 (4), 371-386. Andersson, T. (1977). A Guide to Family Reading in Two Languages The University of Texas at Austin Evaluation, Dissemination and Assessment Center, California State University, Los Angeles, http://www. ncela. gwu. edu/pubs/classics/preschool/iii. htm Bialystok, E. (2002). Acquisition of Literacy in Bilingual Children: A Framework for Research Language Learning, 52 (1), 159–199.