Gender Studies: Mocking Jay

John J January 20, 2012 Gender Studies Mockingjay â€Å"Katniss will pick whoever she thinks she can’t survive without† (Collins 329). In this passage Gale and Peeta are talking to each other while Katniss over hears them. They are in the middle of their mission on capturing president Snow. They think that Katniss is asleep, while Gale says Katniss will pick whoever she thinks she can’t survive without. Katniss conforms to gender stereotypes by being confusing, indecisive, flirty and playing two different people.Katniss shows affection for both Gale and Peeta and confuses both of them throughout the novel on which one she actually loves. Stereotypically, women are confusing people that males can’t understand. This is mostly the case for Peeta getting sent many mixed messages which I think can be common IRL (In real life). Katniss is indecisive and plays both Gale and Peeta. Although judging by this quote Gale is basically saying she will choose Peeta, beca use Katniss says she can’t live without Peeta. Katniss follows gender stereotypes.Also I find that katniss is not really trying to be manipulative she is just indecisive she can both seem similar, just Katniss has no bad pretentions. Although I think both are stereotypes. Katniss is unsure throughout most of the series until it comes it to question saving someone or killing someone. Katniss never really knows what to do until for example, saving Prim or killing Snow. She never knows whether to fall for Gale or fall for Peeta. She does not know what to do in District Thirteen and does not know what to do in the games or choosing teammates for the games.

A Streetcar Named Desired

The Character of Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire Blanche, Stella's is by far the most complex character of the play. An intelligent and sensitive woman who values literature and the creativity of the human imagination, she is also emotionally traumatised and repressed. This gives license for her own imagination to become a haven for her pain. One senses that Blanches own view of her real self as opposed to her ideal self has been increasingly blurred over the years until it is sometimes difficult for her to tell the difference.It is a challenge to find the key to Blanche's melancholy but perhaps the roots of her trauma lie in her early marriage. She was haunted by her inability to help or understand her young, troubled husband and that she has tortured herself for it ever since. Her drive to lose herself in the â€Å"kindness of strangers† might also be understood from this period in that her sense of confidence in her own feminine attraction was shaken by the knowledge of her husband's homosexuality and she is driven to use her sexual charms to attract men over and over. Yet, beneath all this, there is a desire to find a companion, to find fulfilment in love.She is not successful because of her refusal or inability to face reality, in her circumstances and in herself. Blanche has a hard time confronting her mixed desires and therefore is never able to sort them out and deal with them. She wants a cultured man but is often subconsciously attracted to strong, basic male characters, perhaps a response to her marriage with a cultured, sensitive man which ended in disaster. So although Blanche dislikes Stanley as a person, she is drawn to him as a type of man who is resoundingly heterosexual and who is strong enough to protect her from an increasingly harsh world.This seems to be the reason for her brief relationship with Mitch, but it becomes clear to Blanche that Stanley is the dominant male here and she begins to acknowledge that fact. When Blanche te lls the operator in Scene Ten that she is caught in a trap, part of her realises she has set herself up via her desires. Stanley is the embodiment of what she needs, yet detests, and, because of her sister, can never have. After Stanley has stripped her of her self-respect in this scene, she becomes desperate, unable to retreat to her fantasies and so this deeper layer of her desires is revealed. You can read also  Similarities and Conflicts in † a Streetcar Named Desire†Yet, Blanche does not know how to face these feelings and she senses to give into them could be disastrous for her. As Stanley advances towards her, she tells him, â€Å"I warn you, don't, I'm in danger! † but Stanley has made sure that this time there is no where for her to hide. In her final act, she silently acknowledges that her own desires have also led to this date. It is interesting that neither Blanche nor Stanley seriously seem to consider Stella as Scene Ten reaches a climax. They both recognise that somehow they are drawn together and also repelled by forces that are directly between them and that have little to do with Stella.Things come to a head so quickly that it is as if tensions have been bubblingore emotionally and mentally crippled than before. Yet, Stanley and by extension Stella, are not clear victors. Like Blanche, Stanley is also revealed to be capable of deceit, he does not admit the truth of what happened between him and Blanche to his friends, to Stella, and maybe not even to himself. Stella makes a conscious decision to believe Stanley instead of her sister because to do otherwise would be both emotionally and economically difficult with a new baby so she, too, is engaging in a measure of self-deception.Stanley survives because of sheer physical presence, not because of any innate superiority. Blanche suffers overall on many fronts in her new environment, but in conclusion although one does feel pity for Blanche she has to a large extent with her own weaknesses brought her own downfall. Blanche can not compete in the new household she is placed in Stella has already claimed her territory and ultimately will choose her marriage over her sister.Blanches past erupts into the present and without at the forefront is the contradiction to the facade Blanche has put up over her sexual needs and desires. So confused is Blanche over sex the one weap on she has to gain a husband her sexuality she can no longer use. In the end Blanche is living in a era which was smashed a hundred years before this moment of time in the play. This era Blanche lameness in is the gentile society of Southern America with wealthy European colonials engaging politely in society. For Blanche this refusal to let go of the past and adjust to her new surroundings and the

Bedside Shift Report Essay

Policies and procedures are review, revamp and implement constantly in health care facilities to ensure safe patient care is being deliver. Effective communication is a critical part in providing safe patient care. Usefulness communication is essential during shift report in order to provide safe care and meet goals for the patient. There is a trend where hospitals are bringing shift report to the bedside in order to improve the effectiveness of communication between the nurses. At Kaiser Santa Clara, the facility I currently work at, has a standard policy and procedure regarding the handoff communication during shift change, according to the policy the two nurses are to review information that is standardized to the following: †¢Diagnoses and current condition of the patient †¢Medications given or due †¢Isolation status †¢Recent changes in condition or treatment †¢Anticipated changes in condition for treatment †¢What to watch for in the next interval of care The purpose of the policy is to provide an interactive dialogue that allows for up-to-date information on the patient’s care. The policy is referenced to the Joint Commission-mandated focus on improving patient safety through effective caregiver communication. According to the Joint Commission, as estimated 80% of serious medical errors are attributable to miscommunication between caregivers when transferring responsibly for patients (Wakefield, Ragan, Brandt & Tregnago, 2012). Shift report happens two, three, or more times in a day, but nurses receive little formal training in this vital responsibility. Nurses may be found legally liable for failing to report necessary information during handoffs (Riesenberg, Leitzsch, & Cunningham, 2010). Therefore, it is imperative for a handoff procedure incorporate an effective way to communicate in order to provide safe patient care. Review of the Literature Traditionally, shift report has been performed away from the bedside either at the nurse’s station or outside of the patient’s room where patient  information is exchanged in an informal way varying from nurse-to-nurse. According to Laws and Amato, information provided, and the actual status of the patient were two different stories when the on-coming nurse came into the room to assess the patient after shift report (2010). Shift report often lack care planning and goals for the shift; these issues often leave the nurses with incomplete data to provide patients with the best possible care (Baker, 2010). Numerous studies and articles have been written in how to improve shift report to coincide with the Joint Commission national patient safety goals, there seems to be an array of information on facilities transition to bedside report, as in giving shift report right next to the patient’s bed. At the University of Michigan Hospital and Health Center, a quantitative study was conducted to improve the practice of nursing shift-to-shift report by taking it to the bedside. Over a six month period, a group of nurses were observed during shift change to determine how the implementation of bedside reporting was being received by the nurses and patients. The results collected between the observation and a brief questionnaire filled out by the nurses, showed that there was a decrease in report time from 45 minutes to 29 minutes due to that nurses that did not have the privacy of socializing at the nurses station, which decreases crucial time to give a report on a patient. Nurse satisfaction with report process increased from 37% to 78% when moved to the bedside because nurses could give and receive much more accurate handoff without distractions. An intervention to relocate shift report to the patient bedside resulted in improved satisfaction for nurses and increased direct care ti me to patients (Evans, Grunawalt, McClish, Wood, & Friese, 2012). A critical care quality committee at Regions Hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota, was concerned with an audit that showed 39% of medication errors were found after shift report. This evidence supported the development and strength for bedside report. A qualitative study was conducted by surveying the 69 nurses on two different critical care units. The report’s finding indicated improved communication at the bedside along with allowing the nurses to double check on the intravenous medications that were being  administered to the patient. 84.2% of the nurses felt they were more confident about their report when giving it at the bedside because it gave them an opportunity to provide objective information versus subjected information on the patient (Triplett & Schuveiller, 2011). However, through-out the article there was no information regarding if the 39% of medication errors decrease after the implementation of bedside report. There was a mentioned that 55% surveyed did find errors at the bedside during report; however it was not discussed how these errors were addressed. Overall, bedside report has significantly affected nursing practice in a beneficiary way by nursing staff (Triplett & Schuveiller, 2011). In an effort to improve patient satisfaction, an inpatient nursing unit in a Midwest academic health center made a decision to bring shift report at the bedside. A quantitative was conducted by surveying inpatients and 32 nurses on a step-down unit. A yes or no survey was given to the inpatients regarding the quality of the report that was given at the bedside, and 72% were satisfied with the information that was exchanged between the nurses (Wakefield, Ragan, Brandt & Tregnago, 2012). Following the implementation of bedside report there was a significant increase in patient satisfaction scores. While scores improved, transition to the bedside was not well received by nurses. Data collected showed that nurses were not following the new process of bedside report. 60% of the nurses did not do report at the bedside, however decrease by extensive planning, training and gradual implementation (Wakefield, Ragan, Brandt & Tregnago, 2012). The studies strikingly prove that effective communication at the bedside provides safe patient care that has been well received by patients and nurses in most cases. The research proved that bedside report offered several benefits such as an increase in the following: †¢Nurse-to-nurse accountability †¢Patient satisfaction scores †¢Quality of care ratings †¢Patient safety scores (Wakefield, Ragan, Brandt & Tregnago, 2012). Description of the Process There is a considerable amount of information and studies that support bedside reporting. Bedside reporting has shown to increase patient participation and satisfaction, increase nursing teamwork and accountability, and most importantly improve communication between nurses. Kaiser Permanente prides themselves as being innovated in the health-care industry and keeping patients satisfaction scores high. Based on evidence, Kaiser could continue reach their goals by modifying their shift report policy to incorporate bedside report. In order to modify or implement a new policy, the process seems straight forward with Kaiser; there is a protocol that allows the policy to be handled by the appropriate committee group. For changes in handoff communications, I would have to approach the director of patient safety with my recommendations based on evidence, and then this information is turned over to the nursing policy and procedure committee for review, which then is approved by Chief of Nursing or Services. Why bedside report? Sounds simple, but many nurses are set in their ways and may be resistant to this new technique for number reasons. Let it be known, not only does evidence show that bedside report brings patient safety, it always brings ownership and accountably among the staff. Bedside report allows an opportunity for real-time conversations and transfer of trust of patient care in front of the patient. A clinical nurse leader (CNL) would play in a vital role in seeing the implementation goes smoothly among the nurses. A CNL can help the process by making sure the staff is engaged by providing the appropriate knowledge on how the system is going to be implementing, along with the evidence that supports this new change. The key to successfully implementing bedside report is clearly defining the role of the nurses, standardize what is communicated, and allow for time for the patient’s input. A CNL can follow up on the success of the implementation by rounding on the patients and nurses for feedback and  reporting back to nurses with opportunities or wins, which allows the nurses know how they are doing. In conclusion, it has been provided by evidence based information to show that bedside report is a win-win situation for both the nurses and patients and meets the patient safety goals for Joint Commissions.

Leadership and Power of Politics in Organizations Essay

Leadership and Power of Politics in Organizations - Essay Example The power of politics plays out in the organization and is often seen through the countless issues. These ranges from; struggle for control of information and resources, tactical influence, stature, and competition for power. This paper will examine how leadership and political actions work in organizations, and how these lessons can be applied in an organization. Top management in multinational corporations have a daunting task of ensuring that everything they carry out is for the organization’s interests. They have to ensure that the organization’s goals and objectives are laid out for everyone in the firm. This then guarantees workplace efficacy and understanding among all those working in that environment. Organizational politics ensures that employees are loyal to the organization’s cause. Leaders in the workplace often ensure that employees are willing to get involved in the growth and development of the organization. Leadership and the power of politics ensure that everything in the organization is running smoothly. This is from employee relations, to the decision-making process, which ensures that the organization has its priorities straight. In the provided cases, it is clear that power in the workplace is a tool that exists, but may not necessarily be used. Elizabeth Parker is promoted to a position of power after the resignation of a senior person in the organization (Skinner and Burst 1). To her, this new position is the backbone of the organization. She feels like it is her responsibility to ensure that the organization performs based on her department’s performance. She takes on the challenge trying to ensure that everything is done right and through proper means. However, as she is soon to find out, being in a position of power does not mean that everything will run smoothly. Her opposition and challenges come in the form of senior directors in the department through some of the operations

European Union Law Master Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

European Union Law Master - Case Study Example The qualification or condition is therefore null and void. It is universally basic in the construction and interpretation of laws that what is not excluded must be included, especially in the present case where the issue is that which pertains to labor benefits. Even presuming for the sake of argument that there is that qualification requiring gross negligence to be present on the part of the employer, both Ruth and David are still entitled to the compensation because the choice, installation or utilization of the harvesters is a matter being decided and acted upon by the employer and any error in the judgment of the latter concerning the said choice, installation and/or utilization of the harvesting machine is attributable as one of gross negligence. Consequently, when Ruth and David sustained injuries resultant of the use of the harvester, it has to be interpreted that the causal origin was the gross negligence of the employers. It was incumbent upon the latter to see to it that any machine to be used or is In view of all the foregoing, it is evidently clear that Ruth and David are entitled to separation or termination benefits as provided for in the afore-cited Directive 999/98 without any condition or qualification. Accordingly, they have to be paid by their respective employers of the mandated compensation upon permanent disability which was caused by the harvester. The guidelines set forth in the European Union Treaty It is no overstatement to say that the rights of laborers are among the leading concerns underpinned in the provisions of the European Union Treaty. Labor right is a human right. As a matter of fact, it may be considered the paramount of all rights. As embodied in Article 136 (ex Article 117) of the consolidated version of the European Union Treaty, the rights of laborers have been delineated with special attention. These include such privileges as embraced in the general objectives that will promote employment and augment the conditions of workers for their living and working circumstances. The approved declaration of the union has also outlined the appropriate social protection of the laborers. Necessarily, the latter stipulation includes severance or post-employment needs such as pension and retirement benefits and compensations. (CONSOLIDATED VERSION OF THE TREATY ESTABLISHING THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY. Dilogo social y formacin professional. Organizacion Internacional del Trabajo. [internet]). At this juncture, it is equally significant to note that Article 137 of the afore-mentioned consolidated version of the treaty further expresses that the community of nations complements and supports the activities of all member states in the fields of labor rights and privileges including those that will improve the working environment in order to protect the health and safety of the workers. Along that line, if the issue of compensation due to permanent disability is removed from the case at bar, the employers of both Ruth and David are yet nevertheless fundamentally under legal obligation to protect their safety from the dangers and hazards

Thunderbird College on global mindset Assignment

Thunderbird College on global mindset - Assignment Example Naylor (1986), Thunderbird has a unique advantage over other institutions since it focuses on producing global business leaders who can successfully manage business organizations within the global market. In addition, Lovett (1971) states that the corporate solutions and professional development opportunities that the college offers aim at facilitating the organizations and individuals with basic skill sets to thrive in the global business market. In reference to the writings by Deresky (2010), Thunderbird’s first position in the international business education sector is because of its focus on a niche that not many learning institutions have exploited, thus, enabling Thunderbird to gain a competitive advantage within the industry. Through the global mindset, Thunderbird graduates learn about business management from the global perspective and this involves learning on how to work and manage a multicultural or multinational organizations. Secondly, graduates as well as organizations learn about international accounting standards and business ethics that applicable in the international business arena. According to Hill (2010), the graduates of Thunderbird have competitive advantage in the labour market since they have skills and competency to work anywhere in the world and in all multicultural

TOPIC NO 9 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

TOPIC NO 9 - Essay Example Factors such as culture and history are not included in the Porter’s five forces industry analysis. Because of this, the model is seen as inadequate as an environmental assessment tool. Moreover, the forces behind the model are grounded on the premise of constant returns to scale by Alfred Marshall in his ‘theory of production.’ This paper aims to discuss the changes, such as increasing returns to scale and their effect on the intensity of the forces. Factors such as culture and history and their effect on the forces are also explored. When constant returns to scale is a vital premise where Michael Porter has derived his Five Forces of the industry model, it mainly based on Alfred Marshall’s theory of production. According to Marshall’s theory of production, for a certain increase in the level of all inputs, the output will increase by the same proportion (ILSTU.edu 2009). This has been identified as the constant returns to scale. The concept of constant returns to scale has been the traditional assumption as regards the theory of production. However, changes in our times state that the concept of constant returns to scale is not always the case for production. As firms strive to build production competitive advantage in order to lead the competition, they strive to produce more outputs for a given increase in the level of the inputs, hence increasing returns to scale. As stated in Porter’s five forces: â€Å"In the traditional economic model, competition among rival firms drives profits to zero. But competition is not perfect and firms are not unsophisticated passive price takers. Rather, firms strive for a competitive advantage over their rivals. The intensity of rivalry among firms varies across industries, and strategic analysts are interested in these differences (AUEB.gr).† â€Å"[†¦] unique industry characteristics that define the industry.

Touched by a Vampire Named Angel by Lynn Schofield - The Appropriatene Personal Statement

Touched by a Vampire Named Angel by Lynn Schofield - The Appropriateness of the Science Fiction Genre to the Target Audience - Personal Statement Example The above-named program targets the teenagers and young adults rather than the blanket population. Historically, the westerns type of movies could only appeal to the older generation of the audience because they were the only group that had an idea about the culture that was depicted in the films. However, the science fiction likes the one under this discussion appeals to the teenagers and the young adult group because this group is highly liberal. The use of vampires in films has especially every now and then been criticized by the older generations specifically due to the strong connection that the older generation attaches between vampires and the end times as prescribed by most religions (Clark 3). The older generations often tend to be very religious and are also guided by various religious principles in their daily lives. The teenage and young adult group is however different. First of all, this group is liberal. Majority of teenagers and young adults hold liberal religious beliefs and therefore do not find science fiction films to conflict with their religious beliefs. Secondly, even among the very religious persons among the target group, they treat science fiction as just entertainment. This is important because they can, therefore, watch films with strong religious connotations without being offended or questioning the motives of the producers because they take films as meant for entertainment purposes. Hence, this ta rget group can watch films that have vampires as the heroes without taking it as being an abomination. Looking at the second question posed in the introduction regarding the significance of the vampire named â€Å"Angel†, one has to keenly follow the actions, the thoughts and words of the character. Although being a vampire, Angel is not wicked and his actions, thoughts and words are consistent with a being that is caring especially to the human beings who easily may be harmed by the vampire population.  Ã‚  

Philosophers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Philosophers - Essay Example His life is so blended with myths that today nobody can actually say what is true and what is legend about him (according to some legends, he was born at 62, after growing in his mother womb until that age). Some place his existence during the same period with that of Confucius', others centuries later, while others just argue the fact that he ever existed. Due to the major impact on people's life, Lao-Tzu is sometimes considered a divinity, or, at least a messenger of a Divine force. His constant efforts to teach the others how to respect order and harmony at all levels have materialized into the work that is presently known as Laozi. These writings have numerous interpretations, from various points of view, and are still arising philosophical debates. The Daoistic influences on Chinese culture, literature, philosophy and religion are incontestable. This ancient humanistic move hasn't only influenced the Chinese; Daoism is practically the support of many religions and cultures throughout Asia (Hong Kong, Taiwan and parts of Southeast Asia), an undeniable fact that clearly makes its founders remarkable people. With Bertrand Russell, mathematical logic and analytic philosophy meet, blend and create one revolutionist perception over words, language and implication. Our verbal mechanisms are studied and explained in a work that will become the foundation of the analytic philosophy of our times. ... His early studies in the field of mathematics had a surprisingly prolific result in the field of philosophy; he explored the uncertain, but fascinating fields of logical and philosophical mixture, aiming to answer that one, impossible and tormenting question about knowledge: is it really possible for humans to really know anything Maybe the motto of his quest should be precisely his question: "there is one great question [...] Can human beings know anything, and if so, what and how This question is really the most essentially philosophical of all questions." Russell's social and political philosophy has also had a great impact on the society of his times: he was a fierce opponent of nuclear weapons, and, generally, of any kind of forced attempt to disturb the natural social and cultural balance. Although his activism has brought him a great deal of trouble (beginning with his anti-war protests during the First World War and continuing through all his life), he never ceased to influence, educate and inform generations of readers through his inspiring writings on the social and political and philosophical issues of his day. Maybe no other quote could speak more about Andy Clark's work: "As our worlds become smarter, and get to know us better and better it becomes harder and harder to say where the world stops and the person begins. The Professor of Philosophy and at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, thus expresses one of our days most pregnant anxieties: are we becoming the robots that we have dreamed to build Are we so influenced by the reality of the virtual world that we ourselves are becoming more machine-like than human-like creatures The contemporary cognitive scientist explores the

Reparation Law & Evidence Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Reparation Law & Evidence - Assignment Example Introduction When a claimant seeks compensation to harm incurred from a situation or individual, the most desirable means of settling the dispute would be by incorporation of alternative dispute resolution tactics without necessarily going to a court trial.3 Such techniques may include use of arbitrators, or regulators to deliver resolved the dispute or by offering an opinion on the matter that may assist the parties in dispute to resolve the dispute. Before claim, other key areas to note include the economic status of the defendant. If the defendant is bankrupt and has no property of value or in debt, it may be unwise to seek payment since it would only cost the plaintiff legal fees which they may never be able to recover.4 In such a case, if still necessary to make a claim, it would be wise to state an amount and the time of payment, as well. United Kingdom laws require that compensation claims against a wrongdoing have adequate evidence that explicitly shows the actual instance of wrongdoing. This may be in the form of witnesses or a document footage, which must all be presented to the court handling the case. Without proper evidence, it is quite impossible to follow up a successful claim against a defendant.5 There are claims involving companies, well noted in company law. Such cases include breach of contracts, whether by a company or an individual. Such cases, usually seek compensation for the required service or product stated in the contract, where one party did not meet the end of their bargain, or acted against provisions in the contract.6 Cheryl acquires injuries on her face, after being hit by a pedal from Lizzie’s bike after it was run over by Donnas’ car to the point that she could not see through her right eye. She cannot be able drive for at least a week. This inconveniences her from attending a concert, hence losing money used to purchase tickets to that concert. Cheryl earns her living as a model, and because of the injuries incu rred, she cannot attend an audition as well as a photo shoot for an advert for a company. Cheryl has several claims that she could be able to pursue in the case of her situation. The UK law provides that she can make a whiplash personal injury claim. She could direct the claim to either Lizzie, the bike’s owner, to Donna, who smashed Lizzie’s bike and finally to Donald, the car owner who initially hit Lizzie. The claim against Lizzie would have a basis on the aspect that Lizzie did not wait for the lights to turn green before she started crossing the road, and in the event, she is at the centre of an accident involving Lizzie and Donald’s car. The basis on such a claim would be that Lizzie was careless and that she did not follow traffic regulations that require her to wait until the lights are green before she crosses the road. She could use either Donald or Donna as her witnesses since both of them were present at the time of the accident.7 Donald would be a b etter witness, since he would also be trying to ward of blame on hitting Lizzie. He would, therefore, make a strong support for Cheryl’s claim against Lizzie. Towards Donna, Cheryl can make a personal injury claim based on the aspect that she was the one who runs over Lizzie’s bike, and in the event, a pedal comes off, only to hit Cheryl on the face.8

MOVEO folding electric scooter Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

MOVEO folding electric scooter - Assignment Example Their mission is to establish an environmentally friendly quality mode of transport that offers a cheap and comfortable alternative to the existing transport means. The market target for the MOVEO foldable electric scooter is individuals mainly residing in urban areas. The foldable electric scooter was created with the intention of regulating commuting by car which in turn reduces the emissions that pollute the environment. This follows the growth of awareness among the consumers who are now beginning to welcome two wheeled vehicles as a new mode of transport (Hurst & Gartner 2012). The market for electric scooters has also been boosted by the introduction of electric cars since there are charging spots that are easily accessible within the city which is attracting the interest of both new and existing consumers (Pinson, Jinnett & Pinson 1996). The major primary market for the MOVEO foldable scooter is the Asia Pacific region. This is because there is a high rate of urbanisation which continues to grow every day. Due to this, it leads to congestion in traffic coupled with emissions that pollute the environment. Following these reasons, the governments in the region have all come together to promote the use of electric scooters in order to manage pollution. The electric scooter market is expected to grow tremendously in countries like china and India which also happen to lack the foldable scooter models. The secondary target markets include the North American and the Western Europe markets where electric scooters are currently gaining popularity. The North American emerging market has consumers who buy the electric scooters for luxury purposes who will not hesitate to spend on anything that is stylish in order to match their lifestyles. This is because the clients in the region view two wheeled vehicles as a form of luxury rather than a

Social class Essay Example for Free

Social class Essay Social class indeed does make a distinction in the lives and future lives of American children. In his works, Lareau draws on a comprehensive and carefully observations of white and black middle-class and working and poor families offering a dramatic portrait of childhood in the modern world. The social class that a child finds him/her in decides whether he/she will achieve the desirable American vision. Parenting and childhood differ with social class; a social class discrepancy influences the speed and rhythm of daily life. The social class in which the parent belongs to impact significantly on the way the parent will bring up his/her children. Social class creates a unique parenting style. Parents differ by class in the way they describe their own task in their children’s lives as well as how they understand the environment of upbringing. The middle class parents tend to conform to a cultural logic of childbearing which we call concerted cultivation. They attempt to promote their children’s talents by use of planned free time activities and general reasoning. They also support their children to get involved in various age-specific planned activities that govern family life and generate huge labor, especially for mothers. The parents portray these activities as a way of conveying essential life skills to their children (Lareau 20). Middle class parents lay emphasis on the use of language and development of reasoning and use of conversation as they favored form of discipline. Middle class parents discuss with their children at length seeking their opinions and encouraging their ideas. Their strategy involves direct expenses like the cost of buying equipment for plating with their children and indirect expenses for example the expenses involved in taking off leave to spend with their children. They get involved in sports, music and educational activities. This kind of nurturing creates diversity of experiences for children and generates an anxious pace for parents, leads to individualism amidst the family and emphasizes on children’s performance. Working class and poor parents engage in a cultural logic of achievement of natural growth, providing the conditions under which children can develop while leaving the children free to select the kind of activities to engage in during their free time. The childrearing approaches for employed class and unemployed emphasize on the importance of natural growth. These parents believe their children will grow and succeed provided they are given food, love and safety. They do not center on building up their children’s particular talents (Lareau 32). Working parents make use orders rather than logic. There is no much talking in lives of employed parents. Parents to children discussion in working class is so minimal.. Parents tend to use stiff commands and expect quick positive answers. Children who disobey parent’s orders expect to be punished. Working parents are inclined to issue more orders to their children and put more stress on physical discipline as compared to middle class parents. Working–class children engage in few planned play activities as compared to children whose parents are in the middle class. Working parents do not monitor their children’s free time and activities; they only intervene in specific areas such as dressing, meal times and chores They also have more free time and hence more profound and stronger ties with their extended families (Hart and Todd 19). On the other side children in middle class have weaker social ties due to the fact that they get engaged in adult-organized activities. The busy and strict children’s schedules found among middle class families make it hard to arrange and attend regular extended family get together. Their parents also tend to form weak rather than strong ties by having social networks that include professionals only. Working parents not likely to include professionals in their social networks but are more likely to speak with their kin on a daily routine than their friend. Their children interact with different age groups which include their cousins and children in their neighborhood. Despites differences in values between the two classes, there are disparities amongst parents and children behavior. A difference in cultural logic gives parents and their children differential resources in their interactions with professionals and other adults away from home. Working parents are more skeptical to professionals such as doctors and teachers than middle class guardians. They also display fear of the powerful individuals in the society as opposed to their counterpart. Middle class parents are better armed to exercise power over other teanagers compared to working parents (Lareau 41). Working class parents teach their children to keep themselves away from those occupying high places in the society, to be distrustful of institutions and to some extend to oppose official authority. These make the children to absorb the adult’s feeling of subjection in their society relationships (Hochschild 17). The middle class children enjoy fortunate lives; they live in large houses, some have swimming pool, most children have their own bedrooms with some with computers and varied kinds of toys. They also tend to enjoy their holidays as they flew out of the country in airplanes and travel by sports car one or two hours from home to participate in their activities (Hofferth and John 33). The employed class children display a sense of restraint in their relations with powerful figures in society. They are not likely to try to tailor interactions to favor their own choices. They blindly conform to accept actions of persons in authority. Employed parents appear not to be aware of their children’s school circumstances for example when they children are not doing assignments. They believe that the academic issues should be handled only by the teachers. Due to fear of intimidation by authority figures, they fear teaching their children the wrong things. They perceive school and home as separate worlds. They also dismiss school rules as irrational. Middle-class working parents consider themselves equal or at times superior to their children teachers. They walk in and out of classrooms comfortably as though they have the right and freely ask for their children to be included in certain school programs and more specifically try to modify the school experience to favor their children. The fact that school use specific linguistic structure, authority models and form of syllabus which the children from middle/upper children are familiar with gives them a ‘home advantage’. School official themselves acknowledge the use of concerted cultivation being members of the middle-class themselves; they believe that concerted cultivation is the right way to bring up children. Lareau never praise one parenting style as opposed to the other. Both taking care of children have their own demerits and merits. For example, Middle class children are only taught the rules superseding relations with official figures but are not taught on important social skills such as planning their free time hours during weekends or holidays or even on how to associate with adults in a subordinate manner. Middle class children have also learned from their parents to make things work in their own advantage at the expense of others. For example, they make special request to teachers to change time-tables to house their desires (Lareau 47). Each strategy of childrearing makes sense in its own setting. All these disparities in parenting style have some long term consequences. It has been observed that the approaches utilized by parents and children are not uniformly successful across classes. However, our society emphasizes on the importance of skills learned from the concerted cultivation than those learned through the achievement of natural growth. When working-class children move from childhood to adulthood, they find that the ability to be organized and to be eloquent are appreciated more than the skills to operate outside formal organization, placing them at a lesser competitive advantage. Parent’s economic resources play a major role in determining the kind of parenting style the parent adapts. Middle-class parents are advantaged to have access to resources as opposed to their counterparts. For example the middle class parents sees the enrollment fees charged in school as small while for the working class it is really expensive. Middle class parents are able to pay for expensive clothes for their children, buy them equipment to play with, pay for their hotel accommodations when far from home during vacations, afford to buy them fast food and summer camps. Middle-class parents have dependable private means of transportation and flexible working schedules which enable them to spend more time with their children. Educational resources also play an important role in parenting styles. Middle class high level of education gave them an upper hand when it comes to facilitating concerted cultivation and especially in institutional involvement. This also bestow in them assurance of criticizing educational professionals and prevailing in school issues. Where as employed parents view teachers as their social superiors. Works Cited Hart, B. and Todd, R.Significant Disparities in the Daily Practices of Young Children. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes, 1996. Hochschild, J. Looking Into the American Reality: Race, Class and the Spirit of the Country. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995. Hofferth, S. and John, S. â€Å"How American Family Use Their Free Time†. Journal of Marriage and the Family Relations 63(4), 2001. 295-308 Lareau, Annette. Invisible Disparity: Social Class and Child nurturing in Black Families and White Families. American Sociological Evaluation, 67(2002): 747-776. Lareau, Annette. Unequal Upbringing: Class, Race, and Family Life. Berkeley: California Press, 2003.

The Importance Of Tourism In Mauritius Tourism Essay

The Importance Of Tourism In Mauritius Tourism Essay Chapter 2 This chapter deals with the importance of Tourism in Mauritius along with its socio-cultural impacts. The government too encourages tourism for its ability to spread economic development along with reducing inequalities in income distribution by providing jobs. In other words, it raises the standard of living of the local people. As mentioned by Glasson et al., 1995, the government views tourism as a catalyst for national and regional development. Moreover, it brings employment, exchange of currency, balance of payments advantages and important development such as infrastructure benefiting locals and visitors alike. Tourism industry has been the largest as well the fastest industry of the world. Along with the benefits, it must be noted that the negative impacts should not be ignored. Therefore, here, emphasis will be laid mostly on socio-cultural impacts of Tourism in Mauritius. What is Sustainable Tourism? Sustainable tourism is a kind of approach to tourism meant to support the development of ecological tourism in the long term. If tourism is to become part of a more sustainable lifestyle, changes are needed to the patterns of behaviour adopted by the public. Being a core pillar of the economy, the sustainable tourism industry, therefore plays a significant role by contributing to development of goals set for 2015 and alleviating poverty, creating jobs and providing livelihoods to the people of all works of life. Moreover, sustainable tourism is known as tourism development that avoids damage to the environment economy and cultures of the locations where it takes place. Therefore, it deals with the serious issues such as conserving the resources, valuing the local culture and tradition and contributing largely in the economy. The aim of sustainable tourism is to ensure that development is a positive experience for local people, tourism companies as well as the tourists themselves. Characteristics of Sustainable Tourism Sustainable Tourism tries its utmost to maintain the importance of local culture and tradition. Sustainable Tourism is informatory, as it doesnt only let tourist know about the destinations but also it helps locals knowing about the culture and civilisation of tourists. This kind of tourism is aimed to conserve the resources of destinations where one is visiting to Sustainable Tourism seeks deeper involvement of locals, which provide local people an opportunity and make their living. Above all, Sustainable Tourism stresses pointedly upon integrity of the tourist places. Moreover, educating locals about sustainability can help in training people to preserve the product that actually offers them a living. In the tourism literature, another major theme linked to culture is that of the impact of tourism development on host cultures (Cole, 2004). Contribution of Tourism in the Economy Tourism contributes much in the economy in a way that the economic policy and planning will revolve mainly around certain fundamental objectives. For example in Mauritius, the potential contribution of tourism is noted under each of these. -Achieving economic growth -Achieving the equitable distribution of economic activities by region of the country -Tourism is a good source of government revenues. -Ensuring adequate maintenance and expansion of the countrys physical infrastructure and public utilities roads, harbours, airports, and transportation systems, telecommunications -Providing an adequate public health system -Providing an adequate educational and vocational training system Relationship between Ecotourism and Sustainable tourism When we talk about sustainable tourism, it deals mostly with the principles of sustainable tourism which are widely accepted, with the idea of prevailing sustainable tourism. Hence, ecotourism, which basically deals with nature tourism, aiming to conserve the environment and improving the well-being of local people, is considered as a speciality product of achieving sustainable tourism, also attracting a considerable amount of interests among both tourist researchers and governors. Ecotourism is seen as a form of tourism that is highly visible and growing rapidly. However, though the goals of ecotourism and sustainable tourism are much similar, the latter is broader and conceals within itself very many aspects and categories of tourism. Relationship between host community and guest Tourist-host encounters occur in three main contexts: -Where the tourist is buying some good or service from the host, -Where they are in the same place at the same time, -And when they meet and share ideas and information (de Kadt 1979). Referring to the last type of encounter is far less common than the first two, tourism often fails in promoting mutual understanding among different nations and stereotypes prevail (Nettekoven 1979; Krippendorf 1987; OGrady 1990). As we can see, this might be create troubles in different nations and may divide them too. Society Coming from the Latin word societas, which means as friendly association with others, a society a can be described as a group of people related to each other through persisted relations such as social status, roles and social networks. It is a group that shares the same geographical territory and have the same political authority and cultural expectations. In other words, society is the members sharing some mutual concern or interest aiming to a common goal. However, related to tourism, we do have some socio-cultural impacts which can be both positive and negative, some form of socio-cultural impact is an inevitable part of the host-visitor relationship as tourism brings together regions and societies that are normally characterised by varying degrees of difference. This is so, because the visitors are from different origin and they carry them their own beliefs, values and expectations. What is culture? Culture comes from the Latin word cultura which means to cultivate, the term culture refers to the cultivation of the soul or mind. Therefore, culture can be described as a social construct which characterizes the behaviour and attitude of social groups. As said by (wolfram, 2002), culture can be an operating mechanism of genetic unfolding which is the basic of the concept. Culture is also described as the sum of ideas, beliefs, values, knowledge and behaviour forming the shared basis for all social action. According to Enzensberger, culture may be defined simply as everything that humans do and do not do (Enzensberger, 1994). A countrys culture consists of its way of life, the way people dress and look, its institutions, its street scenes, its market and buses and its rhythms and patterns, the whole character and appearance of its cities and its countryside. However, it is difficult to see a countrys culture in its totality, because there are so many factors and variables involved. Moreover, it has been noted that no group of people keeps on living in exactly the same way and the culture of a country changes in some way about every five minutes. Social impacts of tourism Tourism directly affects the lives of people living in the tourist areas and this something inevitable. The following are some of the effects which the development of tourism will bring to a new destination. -It brings new jobs. -Many women may be given opportunities to work for the very first time in their lives. -Housing will improve and a variety of new housing projects will develop. -As noted, tourists are customers willing to pay for craft items, works of art, and live performances. The traditional cultural pursuits will undergo a process of commercialization. However, along with the positive contribution of Tourism, the society is also affected by its negative impacts which are known as the ills of the society and causes much harm in terms of prostitutions, drug addictions, gambling, crimes, thefts, night life, western culture being adopted ignoring the local one specially amongst youngsters. It also gives rise to sex tourism, with aged foreigners flocking to some of the countries seeking young women as partners. Others come to indulge in pedophile activities. Cultural Impacts of Tourism Cultural tourism is one of the largest and fastest-growing global tourism markets. This is so because culture and creative industries are being used increasingly to promote destinations and enhance their attractiveness and competitiveness. Developing their tangible and intangible cultural assets has become a means for many locations to develop comparative advantages in an increasingly competitive tourism marketplace and to create local distinctiveness in the face of globalisation. The impact of tourism on culture examines the relationship between tourism and culture which keeps on growing and shows how tourism and culture share a strong link to help places become more attractive to tourists. However, most if the time, while catering for the perceived needs of tourists, tourism development leads to destinations losing their cultural identity. The local people tend to forget that the tourists are short-stay visitors who carry with them their own cultural norms and behavioural patterns. It tends to become a source for commercialisation of traditional cultural events and customs leading to fake folklore for tourists with no cultural value for the local population or the visitors. This becomes an issue as culture is being sacrificed for reasons of promoting tourism. In other words, creating an additional economic value at the price of losing a cultural value. The Socio-cultural impacts of tourism on the host communities The socio-cultural effects of Tourism are divided into three aspects: 1. On the destination -That is, how well a destination is able to assimilate given numbers of visitors 2. On the way of life -That is, the impact that visitors have on peoples values, and the local way of life. 3. On the arts -That is, the influence of the visitors on the arts; music, dance, painting, sculpture, theatre, architecture, handicrafts and so on. These three types of impacts have the following positive effects: Firstly, the numbers of visitors boost the local economy creating wealth, generate jobs, produce improvements in the local infrastructure, trigger a range of new facilities and services, and stimulate other types of investment. Secondly, tourism gives the opportunity to get into contact with the outside world, stimulates two-way flows of information, leads to the import of more goods and services, promotes cultural exchange, fosters a process of internationalization, and generally acts to develop the whole field of trade and communications. Finally, it creates an audience and patronage for the local arts mostly for handicrafts, theatre, music, and dance. It also has an indirect impact on all other artistic expressions including architecture, painting and literature. Impacts can also act in a negative way: First, as already noted, tourism competes for space, thus, there can be some local resentment to sharing amenities with a large number of visitors. Secondly, not only tourism but by development brought in general, there may be some resistance to the changes in the way of life and values and. Lastly, there can be some resentment of the impact of the new market forces on both the contemporary arts and traditional. As we know, all cultures differ from each other. However, while talking about the socio-cultural impacts of tourism, some concepts can be taken into consideration and these can influence one cultures view with another and they are: Norms and rules Here, the way which the people and the society behave and the rules which they follow are noted. People are limited to some legal framework as well as are restricted through social norms-the etiquette and the codes of conduct which governs the ways in which people behave. Emotionally Emotions can be hidden or expressed and is likely to change from country to country. It may change over time also. For example, in many countries, anger is permitted only if the cause is justifiable. In other societies, showing anger in any circumstances is unacceptable. Orientalism Orientalism both creates and perpetuates false ideas about the behaviour of others, particularly as they relate to western views of the East and culture and. The mysteries of the East are due mainly to the Wests incomprehension of eastern cultures. These myths are not only frequently repeated but may also influence contacts and relations. Primitivism Primitive society is living in a natural state with full goodness and simplicity. It can also be said that humans who live in primitive societies are not as intelligent as those who live in advanced societies. They live on honesty and not an attacking egocentrically on another culture to legitimize their enslavement or destruction. They harvest what is naturally provided. However, tourism is often viewed as having disrupted the primitive societies as it has been influenced by the medial, consumerism, politics, economics, education, health, family structure, travel, migration and other social changes. This can further be elaborated as tourism stimulates much interest in and conserve aspects of, the cultural heritage of the host (Cooper et al., 1998). It is noted that once the tourists appreciated the cultural heritage of a particular destination, that appreciation can increase the hosts pride in their heritage and foster local crafts, traditions and customs. In some countries, resources such as museum, national monuments, historical sites and ruins, rock paintings, cultural events, sports and recreational activities too are related to heritage and contribute much to the tourism sector (Government of Botswana, 1997). Tourism has been contributing a lot positively on the society but however, the negative aspects also should be taken into consideration. While talking about the negative aspects, we cannot ignore the fact that the spread of disease through travel and tourism continues to cause a problem though it has largely been responsive to vaccination and control. Among these diseases, the transmission of AIDS on a world wide basis has become a very serious issue and remains one of the major socio-cultural concerns of Tourism. It is noted that in Tourism AIDS is spread principally through sexual contacts. These consists either heterosexual or homosexual and may involve prostitutes, other tourists and ordinary members of the host population. Prostitutions is said to be the most common initial vehicle concerning the spread of the disease. Though tourism does not tend to create prostitution, it existed already and it is impossible to eliminate it too as it creates a certain type of tourism. However, another problem is that it tends to produce young prostitutes as there is a belief that younger girls are less likely to be infected. It is also noted that night clubs become more marketable if prostitution is available there. This has become a means of commerce and entertainment whereby a countrys culture is much affected without forgetting the other sources such as advertising, fashion and media by which culture is much influence. These bring much idea about values and lifestyles. For example, Coca Cola denotes more than a soft drink, Levis more than a pair of blue jeans, McDonalds more than a hamburger and Christian Dior more than a fashion house. Films are released on a worldwide basis. Everybody listens to the same pop music. People are influenced by these and thus, much of modem culture has become universal. GRI The global Reporting Initiative is a well-known network based organization used to report sustainability framework. The reporting framework sets out the Performance Indicators and principles that can be used by organizations in order to measure and report their economic, environmental and social performance publicly. There they use may techniques and some of them are: -Ecological Footprint reporting. -Environmental social governance reporting -Triple Bottom-line reporting -Corporate social Responsibility. Based on these, Accountability of socio-cultural Impacts too forms part of these. Accountability When we talk about accountability, we talk about a concept used in ethics and governance with several warnings. It can be used synonymously with concepts such as responsibility, answerability, blame worthiness, liability and other terms associated with the expectation of account-giving. Responsibility also deals with responsible tourism which is about taking responsibility individually and collectively for triple bottom line sustainability, economic, social and environmental. In travel and tourism, much emphasis has been laid on environmental responsibility. However, we should not ignore the fact that tourism is about taking individual and corporate responsibility to implement the principles of sustainable development. Each one of the society has got his own duty to respect it in all actions they perform. Accountability is thus, the acknowledgement and assumption of responsibility for actions, products, decisions and policies including the administration, governance and implementation within the scope of the roles or employment position and encompassing the obligation to report explaining and answering the resulting consequences. Types of accountability Political accountability Political accountability is the accountability of the government, politicians and civil servants to the public and to legislative bodies such as a congress or a parliament. In a few cases, recall elections can be used to revoke the office of an elected official. However, voters do not have any direct way of holding elected representatives to account during the term for which they have been elected. In addition, some legislators and officials may be appointed rather than elected. Constitution, or statute, can empower a legislative body to hold their own members, the government, and government bodies to account. This can be through holding an internal or independent inquiry. Inquiries are usually held in response to an allegation of misconduct or corruption. The procedures, powers, and sanctions vary from country to country. The legislature may have the power to remove the individual, to impeach them, or suspend them from office for a period of time. The accused person might also decide to resign before trial. Ethical accountability Ethical accountability is the practice of improving overall personal and organizational performance by promoting and developing professional expertise and responsible tools, and by advocating an effective enabling environment for people and organizations to embrace a culture of sustainable development. Ethical accountability may include the individual, along with large and small businesses, research institutions and academics, not-for-profit organizations and government. One scholarly paper has posited that it is unethical to plan an action for social change without excavating the wisdom and knowledge of the people who are responsible for implementing the plans of action and the people whose lives will be affected. Administrative accountability Internal rules and norms as well as some independent commission are mechanisms to hold civil servant within the administration of government accountable. Within ministry or department, firstly, behavior is bounded by rules and regulations; secondly, civil servants are subordinates in a hierarchy and accountable to superiors. Nonetheless, there are independent watchdog units hold departments accountable to scrutinize and to scrutinize and; legitimacy of these commissions is built upon their independence, as it avoids any conflicts of interest. Apart from internal checks, some watchdog units accept complaints from citizens, bridging society and government to hold civil servants accountable to citizens. Market accountability Under voices for privatization and decentralization of the government, services provided are nowadays more customer-driven and should aim to provide various choices and convenience to citizens; with this perspective, there are competition and comparisons between public and private services and this, ideally, improves quality of service. As mentioned by Bruce Stone, the standard of assessment for accountability is therefore responsiveness of service providers to a body of sovereign customers and produce quality service. Outsourcing service is one means to adopt market accountability. Government can choose among a shortlist of companies for outsourced service; within the contracting period, government can hold the company by rewriting contracts or by choosing another company. Accountability in education Virtually all schools today that deny it but in opposition, Sudbury schools choose to recognize that students are personally responsible for their acts. The denial is threefold: schools do not permit students to choose their course of action fully; they do not permit students to embark on the course, once chosen; and they do not permit students to suffer the consequences of the course, once taken. Freedom of choice, freedom of action, freedom to bear the results of action-these are the three great freedoms that constitute personal responsibility. Sudbury schools claim that Ethics is a course taught by life experience. They adduce that the absolutely essential ingredient for acquiring values-and for moral action is personal responsibility, that schools will become involved in the teaching of morals when they become communities of people who fully respect each others right to make choices, and that the only way the schools can become meaningful purveyors of ethical values is if they pr ovide adults and students with real-life experiences that are bearers of moral import. Students are given complete responsibility for their own education and the school is run by a direct democracy in which staff and students are equals. Constituency relations Within this perspective, a particular agency or the government is accountable if voices from groups or institutions, agencies, which is outside the public sector and representing citizens interests in a particular field or constituency, are heard. Moreover, the government is obliged to empower members of agencies with political rights to run for elections and be elected; or, appoint them into the public sector as a way to hold the government representative and ensure voices from all constituencies are included in policy-making process. Public/private overlap With the increase over the last several decades in public service provision by private entities, especially in the United States and Britain, some have called for increased political accountability mechanisms to be applied to otherwise non-political entities. Legal scholar Anne Davies, for instance, argues that the line between public institutions and private entities like corporations is becoming blurred in certain areas of public service provision in the United Kingdom and that this can compromise political accountability in those areas. She and others argue that some administrative law reforms are necessary to address this accountability gap. Socio Cultural Impacts Accountability This is a measure used to measure an organizations state of being mindful of the emerging social concerns and priorities of internal and external stakeholders involving the community, governmental, employees and nongovernmental organizations, management, and owners. It can be reflected in the organizations verifiable commitment to certain factors (which may or may not be tied directly to its processes) such as: (1) willing compliance with health and hygiene, employment, safety, and environment laws. (2) respect for human basic and civil rights. (3) betterment of community and surrounding. Social Foot Print Many people in the sustainable business world have long awaited the release of the Social Footprint, a measurement and reporting tool that appears destined to become as common as carbon foot printing within the next five years or so which now available to help you quantify your businesss social sustainability. In other words, it can help you determine the impact your company has on society. Moreover, the Social Footprint Method is a measurement and reporting tool that quantifies the social sustainability performance of an organization. In this regard, the Social Footprint is similar to the Ecological Footprint, which is a method for measuring and reporting the ecological impact of a human population. Unlike the Ecological Footprint, however, which measures a populations use of, and impact on, natural resources (i.e., natural capital), the Social Footprint deals with impacts on what we call anthro capital (comprised of human, social and constructed capital). The Social Footprint Method differs from the Ecological Footprint in another very important way. Unlike natural or ecological capital, which is limited and which humans do not create, most forms of anthro capital are exclusively produced by people and can be created virtually at will. When confronted with shortages of anthro capital, we can almost always create more of it if we want to. Thus, the gaps that must be closed in the case of anthro capital are not sustainability gaps between fixed resources we have and fixed resources we need; rather, they are gaps between non-fixed resources we have and non-fixed resources we could have more of if only we chose to produce them. The extent to which an organization contributes to either causing or closing such gaps is what the Social Footprint Method measures, be they positive contributions or negative ones. What further differentiates the Social Footprint Method from other sustainability reporting tools is the manner in which it measures performance against standards of performance. Top-line, trend-oriented tools are a step in the right direction, but only the Social Footprint Method provides a means of producing true bottom-line measures of corporate social sustainability using standards of performance as a guide. No other CSR method does this. Tourism in Mauritius In the past thirty years, Mauritius has developed from a low-income economy based on agriculture to a middle-income diversified economy. Much of this economic growth has been the result of the expansion of the luxury tourism sector. Mauritius is one of Africas wealthier countries, and its economy is mainly dependent on the sugar, textiles, and tourism industries. As world sugar prices have declined and the production of textiles has become economically unfeasible, the tourist industry is being concentrated on. Tourist policy in Mauritius promotes elite and specialist tourism because of the limited space available for tourism and the need to maximise income while minimizing environmental impact. Low budget tourism in not encouraged. Preferring high-end tourism, the Mauritian government promotes boutique luxury hotels, 4 and 5 stars beach resorts, golf courses, and spas and beauty centres. Tourism is directed primarily at the high-spending European market. Mauritius had about 18,000 visitors in 1970. Between 1985 and 2000 the size of its tourism sector, measured by the increase in tourist arrivals, grew by approximately 340%.Tourist arrivals in 2004 were almost 720,000. Tourism created 30,000 full time job equivalents in 2000. Recently, for the first eight months of 2010, tourist arrivals are forecasted at around 915, 000 for 2010 compared to a decline of 5.3% in 2009. tourist earnings are expected to be around R 37, 935 million in 2010 compared to R 35, 700 million in 2009. We expecting about 2million tourists by 2015. Tourists are primarily European, mainly French and British. Mauritius tends to be a high cost tourist destination. Air travel and accommodation are relatively expensive. Most tourists are on package holidays; there is very little independent travel or backpacking. To promote up-market tourism, charter flights have been banned, the resort hotels have been built to high standards and there are high standards of cuisine and service. There are direct flights from Britain and South Africa. The amount of resorts clustered in parts of the coastline is increasing, despite concerns about pollution and damage to coral reefs. Policy in the country has generally been to regulate contact between Mauritians society and tourists because of concerns about cultural and social problems.

Social Work Analysis

Social Work Analysis My setting is a small rural Church of England Voluntary Controlled primary school with approximately 75 children and approximately 12 teaching staff including the head and teaching assistants. The staff work, on a part and full time basis. There are 3 mixed ability and mixed age classes. Class 1 consists of reception, year 1 and half of year 2 children. It is interesting to note that the half of year 2 children are all boys. Class 2 is the other half of year 2, year 3 and half of year 4, again mainly boys. Class 3 consists of the rest of year 4, 5 and 6. This is an old village school with modern additions. There are two separate play areas including hard surface and grass areas and play equipment. In 2009 education league tables my setting was in the top third. The setting performed below national average in 2008 for year 6 Standard Attainment Tests (SATS) however in 2009 we were slightly above the national average. In 2009 30.8% of year 6 children were identified as having special needs, from a class of 13. (bbc.co.uk. Accessed 22 Id April 2010) In the last OFSTED report 2007 the setting achieved an overall score of 2- Good. The major feeder for the setting is the local pre-school. I view my own role in the setting is to enable and support each child. It is of key importance that I, as it is for all practitioners to I view my own role in the setting is to enable and support each child. It is key importance that I, as it is for all practitioners to identify any need of a child be it physical or emotional or in way affects the holistic well being of the child. All early years staff are committed to putting children first: the welfare of the child is paramount (Children Act 1989). (Hobart and Frankel 2003:123) All barriers to a childs growth and life chances must be addressed. If a child has a need that may not be fully met by the practitioners alone within the setting the lead practitioner must be informed to alert and call in the team of outside agencies to meet with the parents and practitioners in the setting to provide the best service to meet the needs of that child. This is in line with the Governments vision of integrated front-line delivery of services to improve future outcomes of children and their families. (It is crucial for practitioners to act as facilitators. To meet the needs of a child the role of a practitioner is to first identify the need and if necessary share the information with other specialists and other outside agencies to aid the process of better outcomes for that child. Individual Learning Plans and Common Assessment Forms are useful tools for collaborative working. Communication is the key to executing strategies and building positive working relationships. It is a vital role of my practice to develop and maintain relations to the other organisations. Relationships develop and change over time. It is through critical reflection and analysis that practitioners can think and improve their practice. There are many different ways that the Setting communicates with the different groups. There are different levels of formality and speed required. For example in a child safeguarding situation, urgent action may need to be taken. Action could be initiated by a means of a telephone call followed by written statements. Other forms of communication include minuted meetings, for example parents and a Local Educational Authority and Practitioner meet to discuss an Action Plan for an individual child. Written reports form the core of an Individual Learning Plan for a child with additional needs. Other reports include OFSTED Action Plans agreed with the Head Practitioner and the Governors. For example member A of the Behavioural Support Team called a meeting with the Head Practitioner and the two named Practitioner supporting a child with challenging behaviour. The reason for the meeting was to discuss the effectiveness of the latest action plan that they had created for a child in class 1. The Head Practitioner had received the plan of new strategies but had not shared the information with the other practitioners therefore the new methods of dealing with certain behaviour had not been implemented due to the lack of communication between members at the Setting. On reflection of this critical incident, I wonder why the childs parents were had not invited to the meeting to share their views on how best to support their child in the Setting. This is an example of top-down management. In my role as an Early Years Works I need full access to the information necessary for individually supporting each child otherwise Every Child Matters will not work. The power is most definitely with the specialist to instruct the setting to carry out a plan of action with different support mechanisms. This is as a direct result for government inclusion policy, but the practitioner cannot implement the plan if the setting does not have an open or transparent communication policy. It is probably a weakness in management skills and a lack of democratic leadership skills that the lead practitioner does not share information. Alternatively this could be as a result of an overloading of responsibilities on one Head Practitioner. Thirdly the Head Practitioner may not trust the confidentiality of the staff. In his book, The Reflective Practitioner, Donald Schon talks about the benefits of reflection. (infed.org Last Accessed 16th April 2010) This allows practitioners to explore the interactive processes which have impact on practice and outcomes of children, their families and their community. Through reflection practitioners may gauge the effectiveness of action taken at the Setting. Through reflection practitioners may focus and think about their own values and beliefs. Reflection is an important tool to evaluate and improve ones practice. The process allows a deeper understanding of the impact of practice on a childs development. Knowledge gained from the whole procedure should shape practice and the sharing of information and experiences with other practitioner will raise issues for discussion which will ultimately benefit both practitioners and children. This method should lead to improved practice and greater understanding of issues in the setting. I have critically reflected on improving the communication links between the practitioner and behavioral unit. One way round this, could be for the behavioural team to feel sufficiently confident to send the information directly to the Early Years Practitioner who is working directly with the child. There may be an issue of power or positioning. Possibly the behavioral team perceive themselves as professional elite and recognise the Head Practitioner as equal in professional status Another member of the behavioural support team, older, wiser and more experienced, took a different approach regarding the same child. Met with behavioural support worker B regarding child possibly on the Autistic Spectrum. He asked for feedback on the childs behaviour and well being. He specifically asked if the child was happy and engaging with the other children. He asked my opinion on what I thought would be the best strategy in supporting learning as he said you have built up a relationship with the child and he understood that I worked closely with the child on a day to day basis. (Reflective Journal November 2009) On reflection the practitioners including myself, would have been in a better position to comment if more information had been made available to me, in preparation to the meeting. I would like to have been fully informed and kept up to date with the latest information as I was one of the named persons for that child. This made the meeting a waste of time as I was unable to comment on how the child had responded to the new board and methods as I had not created the new teaching resources. The Head Practitioner had received the previous report and recommendation from the behavioural unit but this information was not shared with any of the other practitioners. Consequently no action had been taken by the practitioners supporting the child. (Reflective Journal October 2009) My ability to reflect on failures and successes in the use of different communication styles between professionals will enable me to ask for information in order to do my job. So reflection is an important process which aids professional development and practice. The aim is to include and enable all children using specific plans for inclusion. A practitioner professional duty is to use critical thinking and critical action as a tool to improve life chances and promote a healthy quality of life for individual children. This will bring the government policy of Every Child Matters into reality within my Setting. The Government recognises the crucial role of parents, carers and families in improving outcomes for children and young people and the need to provide support for parents, carers and families in order for them to do so. The Government also recognises the important role of the local community. (Last Accessed 30-04-10 at bbc. co. uk) Through joined up working and positive partnerships, the needs and holistic wellbeing of every child should be met to realise the Governments vision of Every Child Matters. The issues involving power and position of practitioner are complex. The flow of power has a direct effect on how a child and their family are supported. Power itself is a very tricky idea. Finding out where the power is involves at least two manoeuvres. First, we ask ourselves: who is in a position to influence or control the lives of whom? Secondly, we ask ourselves: in whose interests is this influence or control exerted? (Walmsley et al 1997:131-132) The question of power and status has a direct effect on relationships. Those who are at a similar level of position may be more inclined to share information, than with a person that they perceive to have a lower social status. Unequal power in relationships and partnerships may have an immense impact on the processes needed for joined up working and could directly affect the outcome for children. It is important to understand the relationship between personal and social construction. The flow of power is a two-directional process. Each persons actions are influenced by their values and beliefs. These actions effect children, families and the wider community. Their values and beliefs are affected by the community in which they live, so these values are shaped by social structure. Our social identity may change depending on experiences, relationships and social interactions. (Wabsley 1997:235-237) Different practitioners have different views on their role. Beliefs of others may differ from the beliefs of self. For example other peer practitioners do not believe that it is also their responsibility to support and interact heavily with parents and family. They are happy to deal with other education professionals but they see parents as an obstacle to their work. There are also parents who do not wish to engage with practitioner. There are numerous reasons as to why parents and carers may not work effectively with the Setting. The barriers may be physical or concerning difficulties in communication. (Hobert and Frankel 2003:136) For example a lack of time for developing relationships or if they have the opinion that the practitioners are interfering or making judgements on the way they live; or had a poor educational experience and may feel intimidated by the educational environment. They may also not understand the value of engaging with the Setting. The Government policy aims to bring about change with emphasis on empowerment and community development. This needs good partnerships between families, practitioners and the groups in the wider community. This is not possible if all the practitioners do not share the same vision or if parents do not want to participate in partnerships with the Setting. Some parents are hard to reach and it can be problematic in deciding the best course of action. A practitioner needs to attempt to engage with parents whilst maintaining a professional distance. Parents and family are crucial members of the team around the child. For all of a childs needs to be met all groups that can provide a service to benefit the child must participate and work together towards a common goal. 13Values are therefore linked to wider ideas which are woven into the social fabric and are often mixed and contradictory. We therefore need to expose and examine our own assumptions as professional workers. (Lea 2010 Including and Enabling professional practice and inclusion notes) The Government provide the Schools, National Health Service, Police and other agencies to support the family. The Government also conduct research to develop social policies to regulate and shape childrens lives to ultimately improve each childs social outcome. Policies and frameworks for example, the Early Years Foundation stage and Every Child Matters are designed to guide Setting, Social Workers and other Health Professional to give every child a fairer chance in life. Communication is an important step to try to improve the chances and opportunities of all children. If a setting fails to communicate effectively with an agency there have been extreme consequences for the child and family. Three children a week are dying of abuse or neglect at the hands of parents or guardians,. including some already on the child protection register. Last Accessed 2nd May 2010 at dailymail.co.uk There may be an impact on the child due to domestic violence. Practitioners need to be vigilant and in tune with the childs usual behaviour to notice differences in the attitude, health and well being of the child. 15 The Setting is the core of the diagram. Setting practitioners spend the most time with children and families and in a position to have the closest relationships. The next group have less time in contact with the child, but have regular input for the support of the children in the setting. They are a part of the local community as well as the setting. The third including OFSTED and LEA professionals are called in by the school specialists may have intensive time with a limited number of children on a 1:1 basis. The fourth include Emergency services and the wider community groups. The motivation for community contact is to be proud and social cohesion. Finally the Government has overarching policies and how they resource and affect children families and the Setting. The long-term outcomes may include children engaged with their community and this may lead to a sense of belonging and an increase in health, positive behaviour and well being. inter-professional and inter-agency working has a huge positive impact on the welfare of children. Government funding, resources and how practitioners support children impact on their self-esteem, progression and multiple issues concerning their life chances. It is the practitioners responsibility to ensure that the resources always get through to the individual child Early Year practitioners are agents of change. They have the responsibility to ensure high quality early year provision. Their duty to meet the Early Year Foundation Stage involves the aim to constantly improve practice and work in partnership with parents and the wider community. The building of supportive relationships with children requires listening effectively to their voice and all the voices of other groups and organisations that interact with the Setting and can influence the childs life chances Through reflection in action and reflection on action a practitioner may use experiences to aid professional development and meet the expectations of the Government. The EYFS process is designed to take down the barriers between professions. The team around the child should have shared values and aims in terms of the outcome of the child and family and consequently the community bought together by the government initiative. The EYPS will allow a better understanding of how the different groups collaborate and this should improve every childs life chances. (ECM para) This builds on the core aims of Every Child Matters which was designed to give a fairer chance to all children. Be Healthy, economic independence. The long-term Government vision is to narrow the gap between the children who achieve and those who do not by providing services to children and their families which is focused on the following five outcomes. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Being healthy à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Staying safe à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Enjoying and achieving à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Making a positive contribution à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Economic well-being (Pugh and Duffy 2006:10) The children from certain groups such as looked after children, traveller children, children with disability and the Gifted and Talented are often considered to be vulnerable to not having all their needs met. The development of Childrens services aims to integrate health, social and educational teams. For true integration to a team and take collective responsibility of the child. The sharing of information is often crucial to position resources to best meet the needs of children. This encourages the development of good quality partnerships should lead to improved services for the child and their family. This is politically driven, and if the government changed will there be the priority on the funding and focus of EYFS and ECM. Political opinions It is the governments aim to have EYPs in all Childrens Centres offering early years provision by 2010 and in every full day care setting by 2015. (Childrens Workforce Development Council Introduction and information guide:5) The Labour government has focussed on child poverty using many initiatives. These include Family Tax Credits and Sure Start provision. These are part of a concerted programme created because it was identified that your start in the early years is directly related to your life chances. It has been recognised that the quality of parental skills is of importance. Research suggests that the level of education of practitioners has a direct effect on the outcome of the children in their care. This is why the Government is up skilling the Early Years Workforce and promoting good parenting skills. There is research evidence of the benefits of good attachment for a childs whole development. The process of critical self reflection allows for the improvement of my own performance and the performance of my Setting. Every team member needs to jointly reflect on the ways that we can improve out communication and management of our links with the multiple agencies and the wider community. As a team this should be a part of our continual professional development. Word Count 3131

Changing roles of women :: essays research papers

Honey, I’m Home   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Honey, I’m Home† now doesn’t even have a gender orientation to it, but only 30 years ago it referred to the â€Å"bread-winner† (the man of the house) coming home after a long day of work greeting his wife. This idea of male dominance is shown in the text Mirror on America, in the picture where the groom is holding his wife who is drastically smaller than him, showing some sort of dominance a male has over a female (63). It is also shown in the picture where the man looks like he came home from a long day of work and waiting for his wife to serve him dinner (62). Nowadays it’s a little different most women are employed full-time and have to come home to clean and cook for their families. Unfortunately, things are almost exactly the same the if not harder for women because now they not only have to cook and clean, but they also have to work.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dave Barry, the author of the essay â€Å"The Ugly Truth about Beauty†, in the text Mirror on America believes women are too concerned with the way they look. He implies that women are never satisfied with their look, while all men â€Å"think of themselves as average looking† (35) . Women feel they have to strive to enhance their looks because the image society portrays of â€Å"beauty† is far from the average woman’s features. The author relays this message when he talks about supermodel Cindy Crawford giving out makeup tips:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cindy had all these middle-aged women applying beauty products to their faces;   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  she stressed how important it was to apply them in a certain way, using the tips of   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  their fingers. All the women dutifully did this, even though it was obvious to any   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  sane observer that, no matter how carefully they applied these products, they   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  would never look remotely like Cindy Crawford, who is some kind of genetic   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  mutation. (35) Unfortunately, everyone even me has been affected by society’s view on beauty. I believe my view on â€Å"beauty† is very similar to that of most men. I believe a person’s beauty is easily enhanced by their personality.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The character and personality of a person is determined by their experience, background and childhood. Children are influenced greatly by their surroundings as well as their role models whether they are good or bad role models to have. The insecurities women have about their looks are due to their upbringing.

Platinum (Pt) analogues Essay -- Health, Diseases, Tumors, Cancer

Platinum (Pt) analogues are now among the clinically used most efficacious metal-based drugs in the treatment of a variety of tumors/cancers including lung cancer (both non-small cell and small cell), head and neck cancer, bladder cancer, ovarian cancer, germ cell tumors and, to a lesser extent, breast cancer and gastric cancer [1,2]. However, here the drug action is less- / non-selective, and normal cells, in addition to transformed cells, are also affected, which leads to substantial dose-limiting acute and chronic toxicities [3, 4]. It is generally believed that non-Pt metal-based drugs offer potential to overcome these shortcomings [5]. Complexes of metals such as palladium, ruthenium, rhodium, copper and lanthanum, with aromatic N-containing ligands (pyridine, imidazole and 1,10-phenanthroline, and their derivatives), have shown promising cytotoxic properties in in vitro and in vivo models [6-10]. Among non-Pt compounds, copper complexes are potentially attractive as anticancer agents. Actually, since many years a lot of researches have actively investigated copper compounds b...

Market Research CCResort Essay

Market Research CCResort May 14, 2013 Kelvin Ting (z3438739) Table of Contents I. Executive Summary †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 2 II. Introdution †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 3 III. Methodology †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 4 IV. Key Performance Indicator †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 5 V. Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 7 Executive Summary ï€   The customers with 2 or 4 family members, 69% of the customers have an income greater than $100,000 and the customers from 40 years old to 54 years old ( middle age) are more attracted by CCResorts Forster. The total expenditure for all the customers is $234772, the average is $1173.86. CCResorts succeed to achieve their first Key Performance Indicator: More than 40% of customers stay for a full week but fail to achieve the second Key Performance  Indicator : the average customer spends less than $255 per day in excess of accommodation costs. . Introduction The aim of this report is to analyze the data has been collected from customers in order to investigate what type of customer has been attracted to CCResort , how much they spending at the resort over and above their accommodation costs. In addition the question of whether CCResort being successful in meeting their key performance indicators (KPI’s) stated as the business plan: 1. 2. More than 40% of their customers stay for a full week(i.e. seven night); The average customers stay spends more than $255 per day in excess of accommodation costs. 200 customers sample were collected randomly and they refer to a separating booking at CCResort over the last 12 months. Each example included 6 variables: ï‚ · Number of people in the booking party ï‚ · Length of stay (represented by the number of night) ï‚ · Age in years of person making the booking ï‚ · Total amount in dollars spent per booking over and above accommodation costs ï‚ · Income MARKET RESEARCH CCRESORT – MAY 14, 2013 2 No. of customer Methodology and result 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Frequency 0 zÃŽ ± The value of test statistic is z = 3.175 > zÃŽ ±, Thus we do reject the null hypothesis and conclude that there is enough evidence to infer that at more than 40% of bookings in CPResorts would be staying for full week. The average customers stay spends more than $255 per day in excess of accommodation costs. To test if the average customer spends more than $260 per day. We performance a hypothesis test again. Null hypothesis, H0: p= 255 Alternative Hypothesis, H1: p=: ÃŽ ¼>255 The test statistic is = 242 − 260 49.2/ 200 =-5.714 Let the significant level be 5%, namely, ÃŽ ±=0.05, thus Z0.05 =1.645, the rejection region isz > zÃŽ ± The rejection region should be Z> Z0.05 =1.645 We reject H0 if Z>1.645 Z =-5.174 So, there is not enough statistical evidence to infer that the alternative hypothesis is true which the average customer is spend more $255 per day in excess of accommodation costs. MARKET RESEARCH CCRESORT – MAY 14, 2013 6 Conclusion With the help of statistical data provided, the greater $100,000 income group could be identified as the prospective customers of CCResorts. Both average daily spending level and length of stay of this group are predicted to be greater than the below $60,000 income group. In addition, the analysis has also raised some concerns about CCResorts business performance in the first year of operation. Although there is  enough evidence to infer that more than 40% are full week customers, the expenditure analysis has indicated that their spending level could fall below $255 per day, with sufficient evidence to support. The analysis has provided two important implications. First, with at more than 40% are full week customers, this indicates that type and quality of service offered by CCResorts have met customer expectations. This also means that the marketing department has successfully identified customer needs to deliver the right services and add value to its customers. Second, these results also suggest that pricing issue could cause the failure to meet revenue expectation. As income alone cannot fully explain the variation in spending behavior, high price of services could cause customers to decrease their spending level. MARKET RESEARCH CCRESORT – MAY 14, 2013