Choose two or three research studies in an area of interest to you Essay

Choose two or three research studies in an area of interest to you describe the research methods used and critically discuss the - Essay Example The paper critically evaluates three research papers on inclusion of special needs students in classrooms and reflects research methods used in these studies. In addition, the paper evaluates document review and observation as data collection methods used in the studies. Introduction Research adopts two key approaches that include qualitative and quantitative methods that have different data collection ways according to each technique. Qualitative research is often considered exploratory and is useful in getting a deeper understanding of issues of interest as well as exploring nuances associated with the current problem. On the other hand, quantitative research is definite in its point because it tries to compute problems and comprehend the way to prevent them by looking for the scheme of results in a large population. Quantitative research involves collection and conversion of data into numerical form in order to make statistical calculation and draw conclusions. Qualitative researc h is associated with social constructivism paradigm that emphasises socially constructed reality since it involves inductive and deductive means that develop theory for a pattern of meaning based on collected data. Qualitative data collection and analysis allows great flexibility compared to quantitative research since data is collected in textual form based on observation and interaction with participants. Moreover, data collection in qualitative research can be carried in several stages as opposed to one stage collection of data in quantitative research. Qualitative research uses methods that give participants a degree of freedom instead of forcing the participants to select pre-determined responses because this technique allows them the atmosphere to express themselves. This indicates that qualitative research technique adopts a less formal and less rigid approach compared to the approach used in quantitative research. Although, qualitative research involves a small number of par ticipants and high degree of flexibility, the approach is not â€Å"less scientific â€Å"compared to quantitative research that involves more subjects and is often carried in a rigid manner. Pragmatic or mixed methods approach to science involves the use of methods that appear suited for research problem since they have the freedom to use any techniques associated with qualitative or quantitative research. Any single approach regardless of whether it is qualitative or quantitative, has its limitations hence the different approaches complement one another. Mixing different approaches has advantages since it allows use of various sources of data from different researchers and different perspectives for enabling interpretation of results, as well as multiple techniques for studying research problem because qualitative and quantitative methods are utilised simultaneously (Alzheimer Europe, 2012). This paper evaluates three research articles that demonstrate their findings through res earch strategies, even though they use different data collection methods. One of the study articles uses observation, while another one uses document reviews and the last one uses a rating scale. Background of the articles’ critique begins by evaluating the various data collection m

The History and Current Situation of Rotary Kiln Essay Example for Free

The History and Current Situation of Rotary Kiln Essay Rotary kiln belongs to building material equipment, and it can be divided into cement kiln, metallurgy chemical kiln and lime kiln according to different materials. Cement kiln is used for making of cement clinker and there are dry and wet methods to make cement. Metallurgy chemical kiln is used in metallurgy industry and ironworks for lean iron ore, chromium ore and ferronickel ore calcimine. The application of rotary kiln originated from the cement production. British cementer J.  Asp invented soil shaft kiln of intermittent operation in 1824; A German invented multilayer shaft kiln of continuous operation in1883; British E Ransome invented the rotary kiln in 1885 which was put into production after obtaining the patent in England and America and gained considerable economic benefits. The invention of rotary kiln makes the cement industry develop rapidly and promotes the study on application of rotary kiln. The rotary kiln is used in many industrial fields and takes a more important role in these productions. The rotary kiln becomes the core equipment in enterprise production. The technical characteristic and service behavior of rotary kiln are essential to the quality, output and cost of the product. As long as the big kiln is running, the money is coming. This ballad is a vivid description on the importance of rotary kiln in production. The rotary kiln is most often used in cement industry. The whole production technology of cement is summarized as two grinding and one burning. One burning means the technological process of burning the ground and prepared raw material into clinker by the high temperature of rotary kiln. So the rotary kiln is the main engine in cement production, and is commonly referred to as heart of cement factory. In building material industry, besides roasting cement clinker, the rotary kiln is also used for roasting clay, limestone and drying slag, etc. Rotary kiln is used for calcimine of high aluminum vandal oche in refractory material industry; for calcimine of calotte and aluminum hydroxide in aluminum manufacturer; for claiming of chrome sand ore and chrome powder ore in chemical plant. Lime kiln is used for baking active lime and dolomite in the steel factory and ferroalloy factory.

Robinson Crusoe: A Mans Discovery of Himself, Civilization, and God. E

Robinson Crusoe: A Man's Discovery of Himself, Civilization, and God.   Just about everyone can recite the highlights of Robinson's adventures: A man is shipwrecked without resources on a desert island, survives for years by his own wits, undergoes immeasurable anguish as a result of his isolation, discovers a footprint in the sand that belongs to Friday, and is finally rescued from his exile. Unfortunately, all of this is wrong.   But more significant than any of these details is that our overall perception of Robinson Crusoe is wrong. The single most important fact about this boy's adventure book is that it is not a boy's adventure book at all. It is, rather, a grown-up tale of a man's discovery of himself, civilization, and God.   As Defoe's book begins, Robinson Crusoe of York commits what he calls his "Original Sin†Ã¢â‚¬â€he spurns his father's advice to join the family business and instead heads out to sea. Robinson is self-willed, arrogant, and hungry for exploits. Catastrophes ensue—storms, shipwrecks, and slavery—but the lad continues in his follies. "I was," he confesses, "to be the willful Agent of all my own Miseries."   Then providence gives him a second chance, shipwrecking him on an Atlantic island, whose features roughly match those of the Juan Fernandez group in the Pacific Ocean where Robinson's real-life prototype, Alexander Selkirk, passed seven years in solitude. Robinson's island is a pristine land of surpassing beauty. To its forlorn first inhabitant, it seems nothing short of Eden: "the Country appear'd so fresh, so green, so flourishing, every thing being in a constant Verdure, or Flourish of Spring, that it looked like a planted Garden."   In this paradise Robinson builds a new home—without Eve... ...ledge the enormity of our task; for when before has a secular culture rebuilt itself on sacred foundations? We need solutions as ingenious as any devised by our industrious hero. Like Robinson, we must never despair; like Robinson, we must find strength in prayer. It helps to bear in mind that it is we who have uprooted God from our homes, schools, books, arts; we have cast ourselves adrift. God, the master mariner, never abandons his children. We do well to remember, too, that Robinson found salvation in a plight more desperate than ours. Then, perhaps, we can relish the truth in Walter de la Mare's heartfelt remark about Defoe's finest creation: "Even to think of his admirable hermit is to be cheerful and to take heart of grace."   Bibliography Zaleski, Philip. â€Å"The Strange Shipwreck of Robinson Crusoe.† First Things 53 (May 1995): 38-44.           

Organizing Function of Management Essay

The purpose of this paper will be to evaluate the organizing function of management. The organizing function of management develops internal organizational structure. A key role of the organizing function is to address how people interact in various business environments. Management uses organizing activities to allocate resources, define responsibility, establish expectations, and group employees. â€Å"At high-tech firms such as Google that rely on employee skills, knowledge, and creativity to remain competitive, the importance of people is evident as well† (Bate & Snell, 1, 2009). Human Resources Management at Google Human resources management is a formal system used to manage people in a business environment (Bate & Snell, 2009). Human capital is a source of competitive advantage that is irreplaceable. According to Bate & Snell, â€Å"human resource planning occurs in three stages: planning, programming, and evaluating† (2009). Perfecting the art of human resources management can provide strategic value to organizational performance. The Google Company has secured its place as one of the world’s leading employers. Goggles strategy for effective human resources management is providing employees with unparalleled benefits, perks, and opportunities. Lazlo Bock, Google’s vice president of people operations states freedom, curiosity and highly trained employees has forged Google’s success (HR Focus, 2008). Planning requires Google to forecast future job trends based market fluctuations and company growth. In 2005, Google was hiring about â€Å"10 people a day, adding to a workforce of more than 5,000† (Lohr, 2005). Currently, Google employs approximately 20, 000 people with various backgrounds and skills. Closely monitoring economic trends and labor supply forecast allows the company to manage all available resources. The following rules of engagement with employees, outline by Lazlo Bock, have contributed to Goggles effective human resources management. * Hire learners. They are inquisitive, and when they fail, they will ask how they can do better. * Give people the tools and resources to succeed; then let them. * Work on small projects in small teams. * Keep structures flat. Especially as the company gets big, information needs to flow up. * Discuss everything you can publicly. * Give performance-driven raises. This is helpful in controlling turnover and enhancing retention. * Reward success, don’t penalize failure. â€Å"If you don’t fail, you’re not doing your job well.† Quarterly goals are set and performance evaluations are based on these; the company aims for a 70% success rate. Technology at Google Google was founded on the principle of â€Å"organizing the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful† (Google, 2009). The company original began as a search engine provider. The company quickly expanded products and services to include software, e-mail service, advertising platforms, desktop products, mobile devices, and mapping tools. Google’s list of services and products are too extensive and increasingly expanding. Google’s success can be attribute to the company’s’ expansion of technological services. Google recent advancement has been the development of a new operating system, Chrome, designed to rival its biggest competitors. â€Å"Unlike Windows, Chrome OS is an open-source project like the Linux operating system that’s popular with techies, which means outside software developers are welcome to work on it† (Graham, 7, 2009). The release of Chrome OS as a free open source operating system creates competition with Microsoft’s Windows. Google Assets Google’s ability to control the search engine markets has allowed the company to prosper from advertising campaigns. According to Schonfeld, â€Å"of the 137 billion estimated total searches performed in the U.S. last year, 85 billion were done on Google; nearly 90 percent of all the growth in search volume was also captured by Google (2008). Google’s profits should spike as the country climbs out of recession â€Å"because the company has weeded out a lot of frivolous expenses during the recession† (Liedtke & Girard, 2009). Google went public at $85 dollars a share 2004; current estimates place Google shares at $430 a share (Liedtke & Girard, 2009). The statistics indicated that Google has effectively organized companies assets during difficult economic time. Conclusion  Human resources management and technology play a crucial in business success. Google has perfected work environments that keep employees happy and provides the necessary resources to remain competitive as a company. â€Å"David MacDonald, who joined Google as an account manager in October 2001, says, It wasn’t groundbreaking – search engines had been around for years – but it had a different approach and was all about the people† (Smith, 6, 2008). Google remains one of the world’s leading companies engrossed in the technological revolution. Much of the organizations success arises from Google’s ability to venture into multiple applications. Google refuses to rely on the company’s search engine capabilities to sustain growth. The ability to adapt to economic demands and competition has facilitated Google’s organizational structure.

Deception Point Page 25

Sexton hung up, looking pleased with himself. â€Å"New Sexton fan?† Gabrielle asked. â€Å"They're multiplying,† he said. â€Å"This guy's a heavy hitter.† â€Å"Must be. Meeting him in your apartment?† Sexton usually defended the sanctified privacy of his apartment like a lion protecting its only remaining hiding place. Sexton shrugged. â€Å"Yeah. Thought I'd give him the personal touch. This guy might have some pull in the home stretch. Got to keep making those personal connections, you know. It's all about trust.† Gabrielle nodded, pulling out Sexton's daily planner. â€Å"You want me to put him in your calendar?† â€Å"No need. I'd planned to take a night at home anyway.† Gabrielle found tonight's page and noticed it was already shaded out in Sexton's handwriting with the bold letters â€Å"P.E.†-Sexton shorthand for either personal event, private evening, or piss-off everyone; nobody was quite sure which. From time to time, the senator scheduled himself a â€Å"P.E.† night so he could hole up in his apartment, take his phones off the hook, and do what he enjoyed most-sip brandy with old cronies and pretend he'd forgotten about politics for the evening. Gabrielle gave him a surprised look. â€Å"So you're actually letting business intrude on prescheduled P.E. time? I'm impressed.† â€Å"This guy happened to catch me on a night when I've got some time. I'll talk to him for a little while. See what he has to say.† Gabrielle wanted to ask who this mystery caller was, but Sexton clearly was being intentionally vague. Gabrielle had learned when not to pry. As they turned off the beltway and headed back toward Sexton's office building, Gabrielle glanced down again at the P.E. time blocked out in Sexton's planner and had the strange sensation Sexton knew this call was coming. 27 The ice at the center of the NASA habisphere was dominated by an eighteen-foot tripod structure of composite scaffolding, which looked like a cross between an oil rig and an awkward model of the Eiffel Tower. Rachel studied the device, unable to fathom how it could be used to extract the enormous meteorite. Beneath the tower, several winches had been screwed into steel plates affixed to the ice with heavy bolts. Threaded through the winches, iron cables banked upward over a series of pulleys atop the tower. From there, the cables plunged vertically downward into narrow bore holes drilled in the ice. Several large NASA men took turns tightening the winches. With each new tightening, the cables slithered a few inches upward through the bore holes, as if the men were raising an anchor. I'm clearly missing something, Rachel thought, as she and the others moved closer to the extraction site. The men seemed to be hoisting the meteorite directly through the ice. â€Å"EVEN TENSION! DAMN IT!† a woman's voice screamed nearby, with all the grace of a chain saw. Rachel looked over to see a small woman in a bright yellow snowsuit smeared with grease. She had her back to Rachel, but even so, Rachel had no trouble guessing that she was in charge of this operation. Making notations on a clipboard, the woman stalked back and forth like a disgusted drillmaster. â€Å"Don't tell me you ladies are tired!† Corky called out, â€Å"Hey, Norah, quit bossing those poor NASA boys and come flirt with me.† The woman did not even turn around. â€Å"Is that you, Marlinson? I'd know that weenie little voice anywhere. Come back when you reach puberty.† Corky turned to Rachel. â€Å"Norah keeps us warm with her charm.† â€Å"I heard that, space boy,† Dr. Mangor fired back, still making notes. â€Å"And if you're checking out my ass, these snow pants add thirty pounds.† â€Å"No worries,† Corky called. â€Å"It's not your woolly-mammoth butt that drives me wild, it's your winning personality.† â€Å"Bite me.† Corky laughed again. â€Å"I have great news, Norah. Looks like you're not the only woman the President recruited.† â€Å"No shit. He recruited you.† Tolland took over. â€Å"Norah? Have you got a minute to meet someone?† At the sound of Tolland's voice, Norah immediately stopped what she was doing and turned around. Her hardened demeanor dissolved instantly. â€Å"Mike!† She rushed over, beaming. â€Å"Haven't seen you in a few hours.† â€Å"I've been editing the documentary.† â€Å"How's my segment?† â€Å"You look brilliant and lovely.† â€Å"He used special effects,† Corky said. Norah ignored the remark, glancing now at Rachel with a polite but standoffish smile. She looked back at Tolland. â€Å"I hope you're not cheating on me, Mike.† Tolland's rugged face flushed slightly as he made introductions. â€Å"Norah, I'd like you to meet Rachel Sexton. Ms. Sexton works in the intelligence community and is here at the request of the President. Her father is Senator Sedgewick Sexton.† The introduction brought a confused look to Norah's face. â€Å"I won't even pretend to understand that one.† Norah did not remove her gloves as she gave Rachel's hand a half-hearted shake. â€Å"Welcome to the top of the world.† Rachel smiled. â€Å"Thanks.† She was surprised to see that Norah Mangor, despite the toughness of her voice, had a pleasant and impish countenance. Her pixie haircut was brown with streaks of gray, and her eyes were keen and sharp-two ice crystals. There was a steely confidence about her that Rachel liked. â€Å"Norah,† Tolland said. â€Å"Have you got a minute to share what you're doing with Rachel?† Norah arched her eyebrows. â€Å"You two on a first-name basis already? My, my.† Corky groaned. â€Å"I told you, Mike.† Norah Mangor showed Rachel around the base of the tower while Tolland and the others trailed behind, talking among themselves. â€Å"See those boreholes in the ice under the tripod?† Norah asked, pointing, her initial put-out tone softening now to one of rapt fervor for her work. Rachel nodded, gazing down at the holes in the ice. Each was about a foot in diameter and had a steel cable inserted into it. â€Å"Those holes are left over from when we drilled core samples and took X rays of the meteorite. Now we're using them as entry points to lower heavy-duty screw eyes down the empty shafts and screw them into the meteorite. After that, we dropped a couple hundred feet of braided cable down each hole, snagged the screw eyes with industrial hooks, and now we're simply winching it up. It's taking these ladies several hours to get it to the surface, but it's coming.† â€Å"I'm not sure I follow,† Rachel said. â€Å"The meteorite is under thousands of tons of ice. How are you lifting it?† Norah pointed to the top of the scaffolding where a narrow beam of pristine red light shone vertically downward toward the ice beneath the tripod. Rachel had seen it earlier and assumed it was simply some sort of visual indicator-a pointer demarking the spot where the object was buried. â€Å"That's a gallium arsenide semiconductor laser,† Norah said. Rachel looked more closely at the beam of light and now saw that it had actually melted a tiny hole in the ice and shone down into the depths. â€Å"Very hot beam,† Norah said. â€Å"We're heating the meteorite as we lift.† When Rachel grasped the simple brilliance of the woman's plan, she was impressed. Norah had simply aimed the laser beam downward, melting through the ice until the beam hit the meteorite. The stone, being too dense to be melted by a laser, began absorbing the laser's heat, eventually getting warm enough to melt the ice around it. As the NASA men hoisted the hot meteorite, the heated rock, combined with the upward pressure, melted the surrounding ice, clearing a pathway to raise it to the surface. The melt water accumulating over the meteorite simply seeped back down around the edges of the stone to refill the shaft.

Corruption and Poor Leadership in Ancient Mesopotamia. Essays

Corruption and Poor Leadership in Ancient Mesopotamia. Essays Corruption and Poor Leadership in Ancient Mesopotamia. Paper Corruption and Poor Leadership in Ancient Mesopotamia. Paper Jargon being an example of good leadership and Naira-Sin being a good example of poor leadership. Comparison of the two kings will be done with respect to their actions and reasons for their successes or failures, and also with respect to the concept of Me. Finally, a conclusion of what constitutes corruption In Ancient Sumerian will be made. Introduction The Me were a set of rules designed by the gods to preserve harmony and order of the universe. Examine the myth of Ink and Inane where Ink gives Inane efferent duties that comprise Me, as well as the proper aspects of collocation. If Me was adhered to, civilization would prosper, but If they were not followed, collocation would collapse. Primary sources: Ink and Inane Secondary sources: Kramer, Samuel Noah. 1963. The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character. The university of Chicago Press: Chicago. Topic 1 Principles of Good Leadership Examine the Legend of Jargon (Birth Legend and Jargon, King of Ba ttle) Successes and reasons contributing to success. Primary sources: Birth Legend of Jargon, Jargon, King of Battle Secondary sources: Kramer, Samuel Noah. 1963. The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character. The University of Chicago Press; Chickpea. Lick, Secondly. 2001. Mesopotamia: The Invention of the City. Penguin Books; New York TOPIC 2 Reasons for and examples of poor leadership Examine the Legend of Naira-sin and how he was a disastrous leader and caused the downfall of his civilization. Look at his steal that shows him portraying himself as a divine being. Pay closer attention to the Curse of Aged, which give specific examples of how Naira-Sin caused the destruction of an entire city. Primary sources; Legend of Naira-Sin, The Curse of Aged Secondary sources: Elect, Secondly. 2001. Mesopotamia: The Invention of the City. Penguin Books; New York Cooper, Jerome S. 1983. The Curse of Aged. The John Hopkins university Press; Baltimore. Jacobsen, Thrill. 1987. The Harps That Once Sumerian Poetry In Translation. Yale univers ity Press; New Haven Conclusion Kings should follow Me to prevent the downfall of collocation. Corruption In ancient times could be classified as not obeying Me (I. E. Ignoring omens/gods), as was the case of Naira-SSL. Corruption and Poor Leadership in Ancient Mesopotamia. By iguana Me. Finally, a conclusion of what constitutes corruption in Ancient Sumerian will be different duties that comprise Me, as well as the proper aspects of civilization. If Me was adhered to, civilization would prosper, but if they were not followed, civilization would collapse. Primary sources: Ink and Inane Culture, and Character. The University of Chicago Press; Chicago. Topic 1 Examine the Legend of Jargon (Birth Legend and Jargon, King of Battle) Lick, Secondly. 2001. Mesopotamia: The Invention of the City. Penguin Books; New York Cooper, Jerome S. 1983. The Curse of Aged. The John Hopkins University Press; Baltimore. Jacobsen, Thrill. 1987. The Harps That Once Sumerian Poetry in Translation. Yale University Press; New Haven Kings should follow Me to prevent the downfall of civilization. Corruption in ancient times could be classified as not obeying Me (I. E. Ignoring omens/gods), as was the case of Naira-Sin.

Nike Company Marketing Communication

Nike Company Marketing Communication Introduction Marketing communication has become an integral part of product and services. The process of incoming current consumers and prospective consumers is among the key competencies’ of any company, a successful marketing communication mix will most likely contribute in boosting sales and revenues (Yeshin,1998. 1-16)Advertising We will write a custom coursework sample on Nike Company Marketing Communication specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More A company’s communication mix may have a lot of elements that all gear effort towards delivering messages to consumers it is therefore important that different elements of the marketing mix work together and produce the same net effect that is in line with overall marketing and corporate objectives and therefore for this to happen the marketing department of any organization must work together and develop these messages carefully. Nevertheless, it is vital that management of any company comes up with a comprehensive plan that will enable the company communicate product attributes effectively to the consumers (Kotler 2003, 88). It is important that once a company comes up with a product it goes ahead to define its target market and consequently set marketing objectives, communication objectives, creative strategy and media strategy which are relevant tactics that will go into making the strategy a success and an overall control mechanism that will correct any shortcomings as far as marketing communication is concerned (Hummer 1997, 45). Therefore when a company conducts its research and gathers all practical and theoretical data pertaining to the creation of an integrated marketing model then the company can go forward to form channels of communicating better with its clients. Ambiguous results from advertisement campaigns have led marketers to consider adopting other facets of promotion in order to realize marketing communication objectives (Kitchen 2005, 1 3). Integrated marketing communication model A good integrated marketing communication program should therefore aim to: identifying target audiences, analyzing the situation, setting marketing communications objectives, developing strategies and tactics, setting a budget and finally evaluating the effectiveness of the campaign (Claudia 2009 4-15)Advertising Looking for coursework on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More From the above diagram it is clear that the message sent must be customized specifically to reach the target audience and therefore bring desired results for the sender. Therefore the aim of the message is it to inform, remind, persuade, instill loyalty, improve on image, or encourage a trial purchase hence, it should be made in such a way that it will identify with the specific target market that includes consumers of the service or product. (Baumol Alan 2007 46). A situation analysis in marketing communications goes ahead to take a look at the current position that the company is in as far as promotion and marketing communication is concerned by looking at key performance indicators which include sales, brand switching, revenues (Smith, Berry Pulford 2002, 98). Marketing communication strategy is a comprehensive plan that contains the specific elements that intend to address a company’s intended marketing communication mix and how they will be used to achieve the set goals. Tactics are the specific details of the strategies and actions are the specific details of tactics (Kourdi 2009 45-60). When a company creates the overall promotion strategy it should address the, tactics, incremental actions that will be used to fulfill the tactics so that when evaluation and measurement occurs than the company can go ahead and pin point the weak links of strategy, tactics and actions and therefore enable the process of control become more simple (Kotler 2003, 108) Fig 1: Adopted from Smith Berry Pulford 2002, p 168.Strategic marketing communications: new ways to build and integrate communication.Advertising We will write a custom coursework sample on Nike Company Marketing Communication specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The benefits accruing from integrated marketing are numerous and they include the transmission of more consistent, relevant and useful messages that don’t clatter and confuse the mind and perceptions of consumers, thereby promoting the likely hood of loyalty of long consumer relationships (Balmer Greyser 2006, 730-741). Furthermore the messages become more consistent and consequently more believable since they are not diluted as they ensure that a unified message comes from within the organization and therefore at the end of the day this may lead to more profits, sales and a better image and reputation. If an organization decides the final elements that are to be inclu ded in their marketing mix t they should keep in mind the overall state of the company in terms of resources competition and overall industry performance, the overall company objectives, marketing objectives (Kotler 2003 p.74). Nike.  Introduction and situational analysis External Nike is a publicly listed American company with its headquarters in Oregon. it is the largest supplier of athletic shoes in the world with revenues which are in excess of $18 billion and over 30,000 employees worldwide. Nike is known to market its products under the brand Nike. Some of its known athletic shoe brands include Nike+. Air Jordan, Nike’s athletic shoe brands target track and field athletes in areas of basketball, football, soccer, baseball and cricket as well as many other sporting activities. Nike’s customers consist of both armature and pro athletes who use the shoes in sporting activities. Nike uses product differentiation, product design, marketing, production efficiency, hi gh quality and supreme air sole technology as the main key competency. Therefore Nike tries to portray a brand image of quality and performance. It is these qualities that attract consumers to them. Nike is associated with the world’s most successful athletes such as Rafael Nadal and teams such as Brazil whom and which are known to be excellent performers and winners. (Heding et al 2007 45)Advertising Looking for coursework on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More According to Wikinvest 2010 Nikes competitors especially Reebok, Puma, Adidas, Converse and K Swiss are not left behind and always offer stiff competition to Nike. In the last financial cycle Adidas AG made revenues of $ 13 billion, a difference of $ 5 billion hence showing the tight competition existing within the industry. Adidas is said to spend about 200 million to boost the growth of athletic shoe products. Current statistics as suggested by Bloomberg Business weekly magazine shows that Nike enjoys a 38% lead on the entire global market share as compared to Adidas’s which enjoys an impressive 34%. Statistics indicate that the amount of global growth rate experienced by Adidas is much higher than that experience by Nike especially in the Asian markets. The level of competition in this market puts marketing expert to task so that they can create and come up within strategies that will end up expanding growth and market share Internal An internal analysis of Nike gives the public the kind of structure, culture and resource capabilities the company posses (Wheelen and Hunger 2002, 81-90). Nike is said to never own any factories and equipment and therefore it does not have its capital tied up in capital. Furthermore it has a culture of innovation and therefore the company invests a lot in research and design and a highly skilled workforce. The top management have natured a culture of innovativeness and superior performance together with ethics that enables the workforce accept and respect Nikes view of business and appreciate it. Nike also invests in technology that is durable and hard to imitate by its competitors furthermore, the company dedicates over 11% of its revenue towards marketing activities such as promotion (Wikinvest 2010). The value of chains and distributions are vital to the movement and availability of goods and services into the market in time thus, Nike encourages retailers to stock its products by offering benefits such as trade disc ounts and display assistance therefore encouraging channel members to stock products. Objectives Every business entity has its own objectives as far as marketing communication is concerned Nike on its part has put in place a vigorous and extensive marketing campaign that aims to stimulate sales and boost revenues, furthermore another objective is to increase on shelf and off shelf stocking among channel members, besides Nike’s communication objective also aims to counter neutralize and competition resulting from rival advertisement, encourage loyalty, obtain trial purchases and encourage increased product usage among consumers( Yeshin, 2008. 208-210). It is by meeting these objectives that Nike can realize growth in sales, revenues and market share and maintain its position as the leading global shoe manufacturing company. Nike has reported revenues of over $ 18 billion in its last business cycle and therefore the top management aims to surpass these levels in the next financ ial year this can therefore be achieved by reviewing and stepping up its marketing programs. Nike also occupies a total of 38% of the total global athletic shoe market but its long term aim is to occupy a total of 50% ( Wikinvest 2010). Nike aims to do this by initiating a switch among consumers by coming up with unique marketing campaigns that will persuade consumers that Nike is the best athletic performance shoe brand. (Drucker 2006 45) Target Nike sells highly differentiated products that are considered premium. Such companies are therefore considered to serve a specific target market and have products targeting this market highly customized to meet the needs, desires and wants of the various consumers within this market (Stewart 2010. 147-174).Nikes main target is athletes who are in need of high performance athletic footwear. Although initially Nike did not consider serving the needs of youth who wear Nike as a symbol of fashion they have found themselves also targeting this m arket to boost their sales and revenues in order to sustain their market dominance. Nike therefore considers itself the world leading manufacturer of high performance athletic footwear and therefore targets consumers within its market who demand highly differentiated products which give Nike a competitive edge among athletic shoe producers (Porter 1990, 56) Marketing communication Strategy A company’s marketing communication strategy may include using different proportions of advertising, personal selling, sponsorships, celebrity endorsements, direct selling and direct marketing. Nikes main objective is to get the message of superiority and premium performance footwear with an aim of initiating switching and encouraging repeated purchase among targeted users. Nike dedicates around 11% of its total revenue towards ensuring that a perfect marketing mix that will enable it emerge as a top industry performer. The 11% roughly translates to about $1.7 billion dollars annually. (Chr istensen et al ,2009 73). Nike has recently entered into as partnership with Wieden+Kennedy (W K) which is an advertising agency. Nike is known for its superior advertisement campaigns that use the best celebrities in society to transmit the message to its consumers. Nike spends a total of around $ 600 million to advertise in North America and a further approximated $ 200 million to pay celebrities who endorse their products. Nike’s advertisements are the only company whose advertisement has won The Cannes Advertising Festival award twice moreover, Nike’s advertisement has won an Emmy. Nike customizes its advertisements to send the message of superior high performance among athletes who participate in any type of sports. Nike goes further to address both athletes of female and male gender in its advertisements by using celebrities like Rafael Nadal, Tiger woods’, LeBron James, Serena Williams Picabo Street and Gabby Reece. In these advertisements the subliminal message is that all the most successful athletes in the world must be associated with Nike (Howard 2007).Nike is famously known for it’s â€Å"swoosh† and â€Å"just do it† slogan which is part of its marketing communication. The swoosh sign is used in many marketing communication events because it is highly associated with Nike. (Kourdi 2009 46). Furthermore Nike also uses world sporting teams such as Brazil to endorse their products many people therefore, end up purchasing their products because they associate success with Nike. Nike has gone a step further as far as to form a social website for all football fanatics called joga.com which is in over 140 countries and available in over 13 languages. Nike has known the importance of expanding its internet marketing mix in order to further its message of superior athletic performance to a wider section of its target market. By forming such a site where consumers of Nike, football celebrities like Ronaldinho and fans can communicate and exchange information relating to Nike products then Nike hopes to further its position as the number one high performance athletic shoe provider. Furthermore Nike has its on pages in the famous Facebook and Twitter where it can communicate about its products and gather research data that can go into improving its marketing mix and especially its product mix which is known for superiority in design and performance (Irwin, Sutton McCarthy 2008, 74-99). Apart from using social sites in its marketing mix Nike also uses internet advertisements that are available in its own website Nike dot.com and other websites whereby, Nike pays advertisers to make their advertisements pop up to consumers all over the world. (Lancaster Withey 2006 47). Furthermore Nike uses public relation exercises to announce the launch of its latest products and to fight any negative publicity for example, when Nike was accused of operating sweat shops in 2005 that allegedly claimed that N ike had exploited children and therefore used child labor to manufacture soccer balls in Pakistan. The Nike corporate leaders came out clearly through its public relations department and stated that that was clearly not the decision of their company, but instead it was the manufacturer who was subcontracted who had broken the ethics code. Nike therefore said that they would personally terminate the contract of that manufacturer and will not tolerate any manufacturer who produces their product without following the stipulated ethics. This concept of marketing is known as viral marketing that involves the use of internet, social sites and famous internet sites to communicate with consumers. (Wheelen Hunger 2002 75) Due to Nike being a very large company serving possibly millions of consumers it rarely uses personal selling as a part of its communications when dealing with end consumers. Instead the company uses personal selling in its wholesale business transactions that involve sell ing directly to its biggest distributers. However, Nike has tried recently to introduce a price catalogue that tries to personally speak to female clients by sending them emails encouraging them to purchase from the company high performance athletic shoes. Personal selling is a high contact type of service delivery which can be expensive to companies besides, personal selling can result to long queues and consequently customer dissatisfaction (Holm 2006, 22-31). Nike offers its biggest distributors discounts and in-house displays together with relevant literature that will be used to assist in selling its products. (Eckbo, 2007 85). Therefore Nike has successfully used different marketing communication fronts to successfully drive its message to the public with aim of meeting its overall marketing and corporate objectives which are high sales revenues and dominance in the athletic shoe market. These different elements of promotion together, deliver a strong and credible message conc erning issues that are related to the company Nike (Kitchen, 2005 64). Evaluation Evaluation is the process of measuring results and applying controls in order to rectify any unwanted deviations. Proper evaluation control should be timely, both long -term and short- term, furthermore controls should be able to pinpoint areas that are exceptional. Nike has since 2003 dedicated between 11-13 percent of its total revenues towards marketing and specifically, promotion. Nike’s revenues in 2006 were $14.95 billion, in 2007 the revenues increase by14% to $15.99 billion in the year 2008 Nike experienced a growth of 14% which saw their revenues increase to $18.6 billion, Nike success and growth in revenues is considered remarkable and this is because of a superior research and design department and also their supreme marketing promotion mix which form part of their core company competencies, in 2009 fiscal year Nikes growth slowed down from 14% to a miniature 3% totaling to $ 19.2 bil lion the reduced growth rate was partly blamed on the recession and a less active marketing communication campaign ( bNET 2008/09 1-4) In the previous year Nike had spent 11% of the total revenue on marketing activities therefore it went ahead to announce that it will use 13% of the total revenues obtained in the 2009 fiscal year in order to try and go back to the previous growth path (Wikinvest 2010) The act of reviewing the total marketing budget can be considered as a result of evaluation and control. Nike is said to have lost its grip in the EMEA (consisting of Europe, the Middle East and Africa) declined 23.9 percent market whereby Adidas AG is assumed to enjoy more growth. Nike intends to re-evaluate and step up its promotion activities in EMEA (which includes Europe, the Middle East and Africa) in order to further its place as the global market leader in athletic shoe wear. Reference list Balmer, J.T.M., Greyser, A.S., 2006. Corporate Marketing; Integrating Corporate Identit y, Corporate Branding, Corporate Communications, Corporate Image And Corporate Reputation. European journal of marketing, vol 40 issue: 7/8 pp. 730-741. Baumol, W., J. Alan S. 2007. Economics: Principles and Policy (142). New York, NY: Cengage Learning. bNET: Wireless news Nike Releases Fiscal 2008/09 and Full Year Results. Web. Christensen T.L., Firat, A.F. Cornelisen, J.,2009. New tensions and challenges in integrated communications: corporate communications. An international journal, vol.14.iss; 2, pp.207-219. Emerald Publishing Limited. Claudia, M., 2009. Anthropology and ethology contribution to intergraded marketing communications marketing intelligence and planning, vol 27, iss: 5, pp. 633-648.Emerald Publishing Group. Drucker F., 2006. Innovation and Entrepreneurship. New York: Harper Business. Eckbo, B., 2007., Handbook of corporate finance: empirical corporate finance. Maryland: Elsevier. Howard, T. USA TODAY. (2007). Nike serves up new ads supporting women. Web. Heding, W., et al 2007. Brand management: research, theory and practice (27-88). New York, NY: CengageHolm, O., 2006. Intergraded marketing communication: from tactics to strategy corporate communication objectives, An international journal, vol11, iss 1 pp. 22-33, emerald publishing group. Irwin, R.I., Sutton W.A. McCarthy L.M., 2008.Sports promotion and sales management. Illinois: Human Kinetics. Kitchen, P.J.,.2005. A reader in marketing communication. London: Routledge. Kourdi, J., 2009.Business Strategy: A Guide to Effective Decision Making, 2 edn. New York: Economist books. Kotler, P., 2003. Marketing Insights from A to Z: 80 concepts every manager needs to know, New Jersey: John Wiley Sons Inc. Lancaster, G. Withey, F., 2006. Marketing Fundamentals: CIM Course book, London: Butterworth-Heimann. Porter, M.E., 1990. Competitive advantage, illustrated edn, Northampton, MA: Free Press. Smith, P., Berry C. Pulford, A., 2002.Strategic Marketing Communication: ways to build and integra ted communication. London: Kogan Page Limited. Stewart A., 2010.Fashion practice: The journal of design, creative process and fashion. Vol 2, pp. 147-174. Wheelen, T.L., Hunger J.D., 2002. Strategic Management and Business Policy. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Wikinvest: Nike (NKE) Web. Yeshin, T., 1998. Intergrated marketing communication the holistic approach CIM students’ series. London: Butterman-Heiman.

How to Create Your Elevator Pitch and Get Hired

How to Create Your Elevator Pitch and Get Hired Okay, hotshot. You’ve got 30 seconds to make the impression that’s going to get you the job. And†¦go! What, you stopped to think about it? Bzzzzzt. The moment is gone, and you can sense your opportunity window closing while the interviewer awkwardly shifts and looks at the clock. If only you’d had an elevator pitch ready to go.What is an Elevator Pitch?The â€Å"elevator pitch† is just a buzzword-y way of saying â€Å"snapshot of important points, stated briefly and to the point.† An elevator ride is typically short, so that’s why it makes a good namesake. In a career context, it means a quick overview your best points and your goals. But in general, it can really be about anything you’re trying to sell to the listener. For example, here are elevator pitches you could use to convince someone to watch a TV show:Game of Thrones is a fantasy-sci-fi drama that follows several different political factions jockeying for power in the kin gdom of Westeros. In addition to the political machinations, there are ice zombies threatening from the North. Oh, and there are dragons! It has something for everybody.Basically, the elevator pitch is a brief, snappy couple of sentences that tell the listener what they need to know- or, more specifically, what you want them to know. The goal isn’t to be a dry source of facts, but rather offer a few curated points that show the highlights.When Will You Need an Elevator Pitch?Although the elevator pitch is a perfect fit for our 140-characters-or-fewer society, you may not be asked to give your spiel in every job interview. However, it’s a great resource to have when you’re unexpectedly on the spot- like at a job fair, a networking event, or a social event where you just happen to be making small talk with a hiring manager at a company where you’d love to get your foot in the door. Though if you are at a social event, pick your timing wisely. Your new acqua intance may just want to talk about last night’s game or that hilarious viral video making the rounds, instead of talking shop.The elevator pitch is also an excellent answer to have on hand for the dreaded â€Å"tell me a little about yourself† question in an interview. Because you’ll already have some of your brightest talking points ready to go (more on that in a bit), you won’t have to spend precious interview time thinking about how to distill your professional self down to the essence. That question often comes at the beginning of the interview, so having your elevator pitch at the ready can help set a smooth, prepared, and confident tone for the rest of the interview.10 Tips for Your Elevator PitchIf you don’t know where to start, we have you covered- use the following 10 tips as a guide on crafting an ideal pitch that gets results.1. Keep it short.Remember, the elevator pitch is so named because it’s meant to last about as long as an elevator ride- about 30 seconds, and definitely less than 60 seconds. (We’re not talking about the Empire State Building elevator here.) That means you should have a few go-to sentences you can use. And while you’re writing, time yourself. If you find yourself creeping up on the minute mark, it’s time to revise and simplify.2. Be persuasive.That means being direct about your accomplishments and qualities, and leaving out qualifiers like â€Å"I guess,† â€Å"I think.† No time for modesty- make bold, declarative statements.3. Be concise.There are times when you will have a chance to expound on your resume, your experience, or your point of view. When asked for an elevator pitch, make sure you’re including only a few main points, and keep the sentences short and straightforward.4. Know your audience.It really depends on who you’re talking to, and what the context is. If you’re at a professional mixer with people who know your ind ustry inside and out, feel free to use a little jargon. If you’re talking to a recruiter or someone who may not know your professional world as well, keep your wording more general.5. Keep the tone professional.An elevator pitch is a confidence thing- you’re making a straightforward statement about yourself. However, it’s important not to be overconfident or too braggy. You want your accomplishments and goals to speak for themselves. You don’t want to turn off your listener just as you’re getting started. Similarly, using wit and humor is fine too- but always keep jokes fairly mild and professional.6. Mention your top skills.Your resume is where you can really break down your skill set, but in your elevator pitch, that is the time to mention that you’re a great communicator, or that you’ve got amazing organizational skills. Focus on the kinds of skills that add value to an organization, like leadership, teamwork, or attention to detai l. Here’s your chance to brag a little about your top skills, but again, be careful of using a boastful tone.7. Include (some of) your goals.This doesn’t need to be a detailed life plan, or your five-year professional plan. Remember, this is a highlight reel, so you’ll want to focus on your main professional goal, or what you’re seeking in this interview/conversation/etc. If you’re talking to an interviewer or recruiter, you don’t need to say something like â€Å"seeking a job as an accountant†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦they already know that. Instead, go with something like, â€Å"looking to take my financial skills and experience to the next level.†8. Answer big questions.When writing your elevator pitch, think about some overarching questions like:What’s the most important aspect of my background?What accomplishments do I have?What are my best skills?What do I want to get out of this pitch?What’s my biggest strength?What drives me the most?What would I like to achieve?Why did I choose my career?What do I like best about my job/career?What do I value the most?You don’t need to cram all of those Big Ideas into your elevator pitch, but you can mix and match them depending on the setting, and to whom you’re speaking.9. Be ready to follow up.If you’re giving your pitch to someone you’ve never met before and may not be talking to five minutes from now, have a business card on hand that you can pass along. If you’re in an interview, be ready to answer follow-up questions about anything you just said- examples that show your skills, or anecdotes about why you love your career.10. Practice like crazy.Do this in front of the mirror, your cat, or a trusted loved one. In the moment, you don’t want to appear stumbling or unprepared, but you also don’t want it to come off like a bored, rehearsed monologue. You want your elevator pitch to sound smooth and confident. This can help you modify things like speed (many of us talk too fast, especially when we’re trying to get through a set of lines), eye contact, and timing.Example Elevator PitchesLet’s look at some samples you can use while thinking about your own elevator pitch.I’m a graduate student in Communications, with a passion for working with special needs students. After completing my thesis in advanced language strategies for children with cognitive impairments, my goal is to work for an agency that specializes in implementing everyday educational programs that help students improve their reading and writing outcomes.After five years of working in corporate marketing and social media, I’ve decided to embrace my inner entrepreneur and start my own company. My company’s mission is providing no-nonsense, data-driven metrics that our clients can take and use right away in their day-to-day business. I want to provide big company expertise for small business owners. M y passion is â€Å"design with a conscience.† I design products that have a minimal impact on the environment, while maximizing sustainability. My background is in both design and environmental science, and I believe that we can make consumer products that combine convenience and responsibility.I’m the data guy. I look at complex metrics, and turn them into a big picture plan. And I love working as part of a team, where diverse ideas and perspectives can lead to better ways of doing things. I firmly believe that the status quo can always be improved.I’m a nurse-practitioner with more than 15 years of experience in patient care. With the challenges of working in healthcare, I know that patients often feel ignored or hustled through, so I’ve made it a priority in my career to make sure that every patient is heard, and gets the highest standards of care. I’m a recent grad, and although I don’t yet have years of experience in the field, I do hav e the organizational and people skills to take my career to the next level. I was just named the Volunteer of the Year, and I bring a high level of care and focus to everything I do.So what do you think? Are you ready to go forth and make a bold statement about who you are, in 30 seconds or less?

The Second Amendment and the Right to Bare Arms Research Proposal

The Second Amendment and the Right to Bare Arms - Research Proposal Example Prior to the ruling, it was not lawful to carry an unlicensed firearm, specifically a handgun. The ruling in favor of legalizing handguns was groundbreaking and served to challenge the hopes of many that America would soon embrace national gun control. The core of the debate on gun control and the second amendment has to do with interpretations of the second amendment as well as America’s gun epidemic. Individuals who support the right to bare arms, feel that the right to own a gun is fundamental such as the right to freedom of speech or the right to vote. The problem however, is that gun violence is one of the leading causes of death in America and has only increased over the past few decades. The case of the District of Columbia versus Heller brought light to the fact that this particular area of the country held the strictest of gun regulations, â€Å"The landmark ruling overturned the District of Columbia’s ban on handguns, the strictest gun-control law in the country, and appeared certain to usher in a fresh round of litigation over gun rights throughout the country†(Greenhouse, 2008). Ultimately, the decision of the court stated that it was not the responsibility or within the jurisdiction of the court t o reject or ignore the second amendment. On this basis, the decision to strike down the District of Columbia’s ban on handguns was made. In the case of the District of columbia versus Heller, a special police officer is forbidden to keep a handgun in his home and therefore contends the rigid D.C. gun laws which feasibly contradict the allowances made by the second amendment, â€Å"Respondent Dick Heller is a D. C. special police officer authorized to carry a handgun while on duty at the Federal Judicial Center. He applied for a registration certificate for a handgun that he wished to keep at home, but the District refused.

Macro Economic's questions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Macro Economic's questions - Assignment Example Canada has experienced a decreasing interest rates and a relative increase in the GDP over the last decades. This has led to increase in the consumption expenditure and a rise in the investments as shown by the statistics by growth in the economy (Roberts, 2005).The adjustments have contributed positively to the economy as it resulted in the expansion of various sectors hence high GDP. Introducing insurance will reduce the employees’ salaries that will eventually lower their income. This will reduce the level of consumption and investments in the economy under the business cycle leading to a recession. As a result, there is decrease in the production of goods and services in the economy reducing the GDP (Roberts, 2005). This will affects the economy in the long run as majority of the population may be rendered jobless leading to a rise in the unemployment’s rates due to the decreased output levels of the industries. Low interest rates have been maintained over the past but have only resulted in low economic growths. This has been attributed by the decrease in the domestic demands by individual countries as a result of the low activities by the private sectors as low rates discourages investments (Roberts, 2005).Various countries also experience high depts. hence despite the expansionary measures most of their resources are allocated to settling deficits as a result of the world economic recession leading to low growths. Free trade is opposed since it results into the collapse of the local industries and less producing nations becoming dumpsites resulting in increase in the unemployment rate. However free trade leads to competition that results into quality and relatively cheaper commodities for the population, corporation of the countries, removes trade barriers that leads to more disposable income for the consumers while

Buddhism Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Buddhism - Research Paper Example Although its spread was initially slow, it was aided by Ashoka, who was the emperor of Maurya and the religion’s ardent supporter. He, together with his descendants, promoted the construction of religious memorials of Buddhism known as stupas, and their efforts spread the religion beyond the inflated Maurya Empire into adjacent territories. They brought Buddhism into Central Asia and Afghanistan’s regions that spoke Iranian, as well as Sri Lanka. This paper will research on the history of Buddhism and its reflection on the culture of Southern India including Arts, Epics and architecture such as temples and tombs. There is general consensus among most historians that the origins of Buddhism are in north India’s era of the fifth century BCE. Its traditions can be traced to the birth of Siddhartha Gautama, popularly known as Buddha and denoting the Enlightened or Awakened one, who was born in Nepal’s Lumbini area. Buddha observed the world’s suffering and committed himself to find its remedy. He achieved a state of enlightenment through analysis and mediation, which characterized the end of suffering caused by attachments and liberty from the sequence of rebirth upon death. Buddhism’s earliest phase, the Pre-sectarian Buddhism, had the Vinaya Pitaka as its main scriptures and Nakayas’ four principles, also known as the Agamas (Takakusu 134). The Early Buddhist Schools opine that the Buddhist council was conducted after the death of Buddha (or parinirvana), where teachings were orally transmitted. The council was primarily to recite teachings collectively so as to ensure there were no errors in the oral transmissions. The monastic code, also known as Vinaya, was recited by Upali, and Buddha’s favorite disciple and cousin Ananda recited his lessons known s the Sutras. The Early Mahayana Buddhism was formed around 100 BCE and fully established in 100 AD on the assumption that its existence was separate from the competition of the Hinayana schools. The Late Mahayana Buddhism saw the development of four key thoughts which were Madhyamaka, Tathagatagarba, Yogacara and the most recent Buddhist Logic (Takakusu 114). Hinduism greatly influenced Esoteric Buddhism. The era of Ashoka is greatly credited with the spread of the religion outside India as emissaries were deployed to other countries, especially the eastern provinces that neighbored the Seleucid Empire and further on to the Hellenistic kingdoms. That spread ensured that Buddhism interacted with other diverse ethnic groups, exposing it to various influences that came from the Greek and Persian civilization. Buddhism’s originality started fragmenting in subsequent centuries, with the most noticeable split occurring after conducting the second council which came a century after the first was held. Following debates between traditionalists and liberal groups, the liberal groups termed themselves s the Mahasangha and left, eventually e volving into North Asia’s Mahayana tradition. On their part, the traditionalists labeled themselves as Sthaviranda, which meant the way of the elders, came up with a set of complex philosophical concepts collectively known as Abhidharma, which went beyond the ones that Buddha had revealed. However, the Abhidharma soon gave rise to disagreements, encouraging more splinter groups to leave the fold, eventually developing 18 different schools that had different interpretations of

Medicare Reimbursement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Medicare Reimbursement - Essay Example Part A will cover the inpatient expenditures of Mrs. Zwick since she was in SNF a whole of 40 days. Part A covers full expenses for SNF for the first 20 days and after that it requires the policy holder to pay $148/ day up to 100 days. Part B will cover the equipment charges for the patient. Under the DME (Durable Medical Equipment), the walker that has been prescribed for Mrs. Zwick, will be paid for by Medicare. Mrs. Zwick will have to pay 20% of the amount that has been approved by Medicare, whether she chooses to rent it or purchase it. Part D will cover the drugs that have been prescribed by the doctor under the Medicare Prescription Drug Plan (PDPs). Mrs. Zwick has authorization that these drugs are medically necessary for her, but she will need to ascertain the quantity of the drugs. Step therapy will be applied to see if similar low cost drugs will be effective in the treatment, only then will Plan D cover the prescription drugs. The actual cost will depend n the type of drug used. Since Mrs. Zwick developed a Catheter Associated Urinary Tract Infection which was an HAI (Hospital Acquired Infection), and which could have been avoided by following infection control steps recommended by the CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Medicare, 2013), thus the hospital will have to cover all the inpatient and SNF costs that have occurred after the acquired condition. In 2008, Medicare centres started to adopt a â€Å"no pay† policy for infections and complications acquired from the hospitals (O’Rielly, 2012). These hospital acquired conditions can be prevented and should be paid more attention to. CAUTI is one of the 10 conditions that are targeted by the CMS (Centres for Medicare & Medicaid Services) policy. CAUTI is the most preventable hospital acquired infection, a research â€Å"Estimating the proportion of healthcare-associated infections that are reasonably preventable and the related mortality and costs†, revealed that 65% - 70% cases of CAUTI are preventable by adopting certain practices (Umscheid, Mitchell, Doshi, Agarwal, Williams & Brennan, 2011). 80% of Infection control professionals are of the opinion that such a policy from CMS has led to a greater focus on healthy practices and prevention of such acquired conditions (O’Rielly, 2012). Under the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA), hospitals will have to report secondary diagnosis, which will not be subjected to payment by Medicare unless they were present on admission of the patient (Paddock, 2007). But the medication and walker prescribed by the doctor will be covered by Medicare. After being admitted to the hospital, Mrs. Zwick developed an HAI, which could have been prevented by following control steps by the hospital. Ethical implications of such hospital acquired infections can be great. Mrs. Zwick suffered from pain tremendously due to the infection and had to stay in the SNF for an extra 19 days. Due to the carelessness of the hospital, the infection was caused, which led to taking of HIV antibiotics for Mrs. Zwick. Taking so many high potency medications at the age of 77 can be extremely harmful for the patient, as it can lead to further complications. The new rule may force the hospital or centre to compensate for the financial aspect but by all means the implications of such infection in terms of pain, time and extra high potency medication have to be borne by the patient him/herself. Scenario 2 COBRA (Consolidated

Resp. Aircraft Operator Security Threats Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Resp. Aircraft Operator Security Threats - Essay Example It is also the role of the airline baggage handler to scan all packages in a destination and allocate them to the suitable aircraft. Among these responsibilities, the airline baggage handlers are not expected to make any physical contact with the passengers, but in case they have anything to hand to them, they should first hand it to the staff in that aircraft, who are then allowed to hand it to the passengers. In this case, therefore, it was unethical for the airline baggage handler to give the phone directly to the passenger, and he should have handed it to the relevant authorities who include security officials, so that they would hand it to the passenger. This involves the transportation of prisoners by law enforcement officers in an aircraft. The law enforcement officer had not made prior knowledge of the transport to the authorities. This becomes an issue because prisoners and detainees are not treated the same in a flight. The difference requires some advance preparation by the authorities, so that the passengers do not feel threatened while in their flight. Normally, prisoners are the first to board the flight, and once they are settled, the other passengers can board the flight. In this case, the officers ought to have informed the authorities, and their credentials should not act as a way to allow the prisoners in the flight. For this reason, they are entitled to catch the next flight according to the clearly laid rules. The airline is privy to information regarding the prisoners, and the nature of the crimes that they have committed so that the airline decides on the treatment they will be accorded. This concerns the commotion caused by a drunken unruly passenger who is trying to open an emergency exit in flight. It is clear that such a passenger has a possibility of causing harm to himself and the airline will be responsible. The most ethical action to take in this

Medicare Reimbursement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Medicare Reimbursement - Essay Example Part A will cover the inpatient expenditures of Mrs. Zwick since she was in SNF a whole of 40 days. Part A covers full expenses for SNF for the first 20 days and after that it requires the policy holder to pay $148/ day up to 100 days. Part B will cover the equipment charges for the patient. Under the DME (Durable Medical Equipment), the walker that has been prescribed for Mrs. Zwick, will be paid for by Medicare. Mrs. Zwick will have to pay 20% of the amount that has been approved by Medicare, whether she chooses to rent it or purchase it. Part D will cover the drugs that have been prescribed by the doctor under the Medicare Prescription Drug Plan (PDPs). Mrs. Zwick has authorization that these drugs are medically necessary for her, but she will need to ascertain the quantity of the drugs. Step therapy will be applied to see if similar low cost drugs will be effective in the treatment, only then will Plan D cover the prescription drugs. The actual cost will depend n the type of drug used. Since Mrs. Zwick developed a Catheter Associated Urinary Tract Infection which was an HAI (Hospital Acquired Infection), and which could have been avoided by following infection control steps recommended by the CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Medicare, 2013), thus the hospital will have to cover all the inpatient and SNF costs that have occurred after the acquired condition. In 2008, Medicare centres started to adopt a â€Å"no pay† policy for infections and complications acquired from the hospitals (O’Rielly, 2012). These hospital acquired conditions can be prevented and should be paid more attention to. CAUTI is one of the 10 conditions that are targeted by the CMS (Centres for Medicare & Medicaid Services) policy. CAUTI is the most preventable hospital acquired infection, a research â€Å"Estimating the proportion of healthcare-associated infections that are reasonably preventable and the related mortality and costs†, revealed that 65% - 70% cases of CAUTI are preventable by adopting certain practices (Umscheid, Mitchell, Doshi, Agarwal, Williams & Brennan, 2011). 80% of Infection control professionals are of the opinion that such a policy from CMS has led to a greater focus on healthy practices and prevention of such acquired conditions (O’Rielly, 2012). Under the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA), hospitals will have to report secondary diagnosis, which will not be subjected to payment by Medicare unless they were present on admission of the patient (Paddock, 2007). But the medication and walker prescribed by the doctor will be covered by Medicare. After being admitted to the hospital, Mrs. Zwick developed an HAI, which could have been prevented by following control steps by the hospital. Ethical implications of such hospital acquired infections can be great. Mrs. Zwick suffered from pain tremendously due to the infection and had to stay in the SNF for an extra 19 days. Due to the carelessness of the hospital, the infection was caused, which led to taking of HIV antibiotics for Mrs. Zwick. Taking so many high potency medications at the age of 77 can be extremely harmful for the patient, as it can lead to further complications. The new rule may force the hospital or centre to compensate for the financial aspect but by all means the implications of such infection in terms of pain, time and extra high potency medication have to be borne by the patient him/herself. Scenario 2 COBRA (Consolidated

Two variables Speech or Presentation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Two variables - Speech or Presentation Example Thus, we expect that our inequality will have the symbol ≠¤ or ≠¥ If our boundary line would be a dashed line instead, then we would have used the symbols After obtaining the equation of the boundary line, we will choose a test pint that will be true when substituted in the equation. This test point must exist within the required region for the values to be true. We chose the origin (0, 0) In order to find the maximum number of TVs that will also be carried, we substitute 60 in the inequality to find the maximum number possible that will satisfy the inequality. hence,substituting 60 for x, In order to find the maximum number of refrigerators that will also be carried, we substitute 200 in the inequality to find the maximum number possible that will satisfy the inequality. Hence, substituting 200 for y, Since 130 is not divisible by 3, we have to get a number closest to 130 that is divisible by 3. The number is 126. In order to obtain 126 on the left hand side of the inequality, we must adjust the number of TVs. We thus introduce a linear

Race Determining Music Preference Essay Example for Free

Race Determining Music Preference Essay Music in the United States is a reflection of the nation’s multi-ethnic population with regard to its diverse array of styles. The most famous of these genres include; rock n roll, country, rhythm blues, jazz, hip-hop. The developments of most of the genres of music began during the civil war period. During this time the roots of such popular forms like blues, gospel, jazz, as well as country took shape. In the early 20th century there forms of music emerged as the core of American popular music and later underwent evolution to such styles as rhythm and blues, rock and roll and hip-hop (Daniel Gilbert Perret, (2005). Music integrates South American social and cultural identity, entailing social class, race and ethnicity among many others. The link and co relationship between is perhaps the to potent of all the factors within the United States than any other. Race seems to the most potent determiner of musical mean within America. The evolution of the Afro American musical identity as a result of disparate sources form Africa as well as Europe has consistently been the main theme within the music domain and history in the United States. During the mid 1800s, the Afro American had developed a district folk tradition that was well-recognized and very wide spread. African American techniques, their instrumentation as well as images were integrated and became part of what was then known mainstream music. Via spirituals, slave songs as well as minstrel shows. Through jazz, rhythm and blues, and blues and later on through rock n roll, soul a swell as hip-hop. Even through all these genres were accepted and adapted by all races within the United States they were developed from an afro American styles as well as idioms before eventually setting to become very common in consumption as well as performance that had no racial boundary. Differently, country music was driven from the European and an African context as well as Hawaiian and Native American. The untied states due to her diverse culture and her propensity to taking in influences form across the globe and building characteristically new methods through which artists can culturally express themselves. Even though many aspects of the American aspects of the American music is traceable back to certain specific origins it is usually inherently difficult to put claim on any respective original culture as the source of any musical element, because of the even evolving American music through transplanting as well as techniques of hybridizations, instruments and genres (Blush, Steven (2001). Very distinctly American music stems form the cross-cultural hybridization through a very close interaction. For instance, during slavery mixed persons form various tribes in very closely enclosed living quarter resulted in a shared musical tradition that was done through an extended hybridization. The process which music was being transplanted between various cultures within the United States brought with it various implications. For example, the revival of folk during the mid 1900s appropriated the music of different village person, partially to enhance particular political causes. The use of Afro American techniques as well as images, instruments during performances by white Americans have been on the rise since the mid 1800s. The music industry in the United States has been very active with her attempts to make popular white performers of African American music due to their palatability to mainstream as well as middle class American. From this process such many stars like Benny Goodman, Eminem as well as Elvis Presley have emerged in various genres of music. The nature of folk music within the united is as varied as the nature of her multi-ethical culture. Generally, the Native Americans have each played their variety of folk music, which has basically been spiritual. In its development stage spirituals was basically expressions of religious faith, and was a common song by slaves on southern plantations. It however, spread out of the south in the late 1800s. Its diversification increased with emergence of fekleg in the early 1900s as well as the rise of the singing preachers from which the gospel type of music originated (Chase, Gilbert (2000). Blues on the other hand is conglomeration of African folk songs, shouts as well as field hollers. It emerged form the rural south during 1900-1910. It was characterized in its use of the blue scale with a flatted/in determinate third. The various ethnic communities that have migrated to the untied have managed to keep alive the folk traditions of the culture and usually providing a characteristically American styles with foreign flair. The European musical tradition was imported to the United States with the advent of the first colonialists. This classical traditional music is deeply rooted within the traditions of the European art, as well as concern music. Majorly of American tried to work entirely with their music centered on the European models until the 1800s. By early 1900s, many American composers started incorporating such disparate elements into their musical art, from the jazz and blues to the Native American music. Big corporations that produce in both small and large scale largely dominate the music industry in the untied states. Often, these companies do not appeal to large audiences, as such small companies have sprung up to fill the void left. They produce in various styles with ranging variety that appeal to very large audiences. These small firms are normally built on the foundation of a core fun base that may happen to be strategically located in one region. The largest make music industry is that centered on Latin music. This kind of music has greatly impacted on the popular American music and was a very essential component in the development of jazz music. In view of this it is sufficient to conclude that to a greater extent race has a bearing on the preference of the type of music one performs or listens to this is born out of the fact that part of a child’s development stage, the cognitive part begins to encode the mothers language from the womb until he or she reaches the external environment (Daniel G. 2005). Thus, even if there are many Americans who have crossed the racial lines as has music still the culture is a determinant the choice of music.

Drug Induced Schizophrenia: Causation Analysis

Drug Induced Schizophrenia: Causation Analysis Drug Induced Schizophrenia Often, when people associate schizophrenia with individuals most people very seldom understand that this mental illness disorder can be associated with the abuse of illegal drug use. The impact that drug induced schizophrenia has on the user and the repercussions from the extension of the emotional hardships brought upon the user’s family are staggering. This paper will set in place an understanding of the risks associated with illegal, recreational drugs, which can be a caustic combinations of poisonous chemicals introduced into the body causing serious and sometimes irreversible damage to the human brain and psyche. Drugs like cocaine, cannabis, and hallucinogens can cause mental health problems and, when paired with a pre-existing mental illness, can exacerbate the symptoms of such illnesses. Some drugs, when taken frequently for long periods of time, can actually manifest as psychotic symptoms indicative of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, according to the Australian Government’s National Drug Strategy (dualdiagnosis.org/drug-addiction/psychosis). Symptoms of drug-induced psychosis and schizophrenia may occur when a drug user has a mental illness prior to drug use. It may be hard to identify symptoms that are exclusively due to the drug use itself. Most symptoms, if the condition is unrelated to drugs, will continue after abstinence from the drug. The opposite is true for drug-induced psychosis; the schizophrenic-like effects will more or less subside after the drug wears off. However, this is not true for all drug users as frequent and prolonged use can cause side effects that last up to years after use discontinues (dualdiagnosis.org/drug-addiction/psychosis). Because drugs cause interruptions in the absorption and release of brain chemicals like serotonin or dopamine, the internal structure and function of the brain changes as use continues (Rosenthal, 1997). Essentially re-mapping the chemical functions of the brain, much in the same way as a police officer re-routing traffic on a roadway or completely blocking access to t he roadway altogether. With heavy, long-term use, nearly any drug can cause symptoms of psychosis in the user. A few, however, tend to be more closely correlated with drug-induced psychosis than others. Stimulants such as cocaine and amphetamines can contribute to psychotic symptoms that can last days, months, and years after the drug use stops. Long-term use is attributed to loss of memory and problems with concentration. In a study noted in the Journal of Psychiatric Practice, about one-half of cocaine users showed psychotic symptoms after use. When freebased or used with a needle (intravenously), the risk for these experiences increase dramatically (dualdiagnosis.org/drug-addiction/psychosis). Delusions attributed to alcohol can cause disorientation, disorganized speech and mental confusion. In most cases, these effects go into remission when sobriety occurs. Alcohol is also one of the most widely abused substances, along with marijuana and cocaine. Psychedelic drugs like phencyclidine (PCP) and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) affect the user in a way that mimics actual psychosis, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine. These hallucinogen drugs, however, are not shown to induce psychosis with the first use. The symptoms are more prevalent after repeated use of the drug over a period of time. Schizophrenia is often difficult to identify in most individuals. Addiction and mental illness mimicking schizophrenic episodes can be difficult to diagnose with the incredible diversity and breadth of tolerances individuals have relating to the reaction their bodies and cognitive brain function have to the absorption through tissues, metabolic rates and other physiologica l factors to foreign chemicals when introduces into the body. Those individuals that show symptoms or clear cognitive dysfunction are sometimes referred to by lay people as having a scrambled or short-circuited brain. That description is indicative of schizophrenic behavior. There are also clear signs of recognition to the condition that correlate with drug abuse and schizophrenic behaviors such as problems with law enforcement or legal problems, sporadic homelessness, reoccurring use of the emergency room or a chronic need for hospitalization (Kosten, 1997). Psychotic symptoms present themselves among individuals who are enthralled in heavy illicit drug use. The good news with these psychotic users who reach treatment, over half are consistently documented as positively responding to treatment with the use of ant-psychotic drugs coupled with individual and group counseling within one to six months. The bad news is for success with abstinence to continue with a drug induced schizophrenic patient requires them to conform to counseling and a consistent regiment with no deviation of the prescribed ant-psychotic medications (Rosenthal, 1997). This is the downside of this particular mental decease, when a patient begins something similar to normalcy a great majority of them discontinue all treatment including counseling and prescribed medication believing they no longer need the intervention because of their confidence and belief they are functioning well and do not attribute their continued improvement of their mental health to the medical in tervention (Rosenthal, 1997). Amongst one of the most dangerous and damaging drug to the function of the brain is the abuse of amphetamines. Amphetamines permanently damage neurological routing with no ability to repair brain function loss in the frontal lobe that controls personality and emotional behavior of amphetamine users, the scariest part of this particular drug is the user does not have to have an extended history of illicit use; the neurological damage begins to occur with the first use of amphetamines (Kokkinidis, 1980). Psychosis or schizophrenia can set in with these users almost immediately based on their physiological ability or inability to tolerate hard narcotic use. It is believed that the over activity of dopamine in the brain is a leading cause of schizophrenia and the use of un-prescribed illicit drugs exacerbates psychotic behaviors. While it is true those individuals under the influence of alcohol can exhibit psychotic or schizophrenic behavior it is rarely long lasting and if observed over a long period of time would probably move out of the realm of actually being schizophrenic. Alcohol is a depressant and lowers brain chemical functioning within an individual causing a loss of inhibition, an inability to be rationale, and decreased emotional ability that can appear childlike to the opposite end of the spectrum of violence with their behavior due to alcohol blocking dopamine production. Studies are leaning that the opposite might be true with narcotic use that drive the production of dopamine causing euphoria, anxiousness, and paranoia (Bowers, 1980). An interesting study shows that a large segment of schizophrenic illness lies within the minority community and the illness combined with illegal drug use and illegal activity has certainly blinded law enforcement professionals with the problem of this particular mental illness and the damaging affects it is having on the minority population that in large goes unrecognized do to the disparity of race between law enforcement and the offender (Ruiz, 1982). When users with mental illness and certainly predisposed minorities to drug induced metal illness such as schizophrenia are labeled offenders in the criminal justice system those patients are being mislabeled and find themselves amongst the incarcerated, instead of hospitalization as appropriately needed (Ruiz, 1982). Once these users or patients are incarcerated the chance of receiving services that are needed are almost non-existent within U.S. prisons. Funding is not available for these types of inmates to be properly supervised a nd medically treated. Staff within most prison facilities are not equipped or provided training to address schizophrenia or psychosis on a meaningful basis of supervision other than to supervise the schizophrenic inmates living existence (Ruiz, 1982). On the opposite side of the incarcerated offender is the user on the street that is left to function in a world he/she is not equipped to function in. There is almost no city in the United States equipped with resources to handle the overwhelming influx of uninsured mental health patients. Most people who are inflicted with this disease do not have the ability to maintain employment and have often exhausted or alienated themselves from family members and all other support that is needed (Ruiz, 1982). Contributing to the cycle of drug induced schizophrenia is the lack of stability in individuals from the increase levels of dopamine being produced in their brain. When abnormally high levels of dopamine are present it can contribute to manic episodes, loss of sleep and long periods of duration that an individual is awake without R.E.M. sleep can have immediate negative effects on the psychological well-being of the user. Lack of sleep and over a period of time lack of consistent sleep due to drug use can lead to psychosis amongst drug users who are in a high state of dopamine arousal (Roman, 1972). Also contributing to the sleep loss psychosis is the inability to recognize diminished physical and mental abilities and there affects due to the combined mental illness and drug use. Often these are the circumstances that create the perfect recipe for a drug induced schizophrenic subject to become irritable, confused and then becomes violent because they irrationally believe they are in danger, thus acting out in a manner in which the schizophrenic subject is convinced they are appropriately reacting to an event when in reality the event is not real. Conclusion While researchers agree that drug induced schizophrenia is difficult to understand in the realm of the causation coming from predisposed physiological mental conditions or physical destruction from chemical drug abuse. There is an overwhelming agreement that the subject that is in battled with psychotic or schizophrenic disease coupled with drug addiction is immersed in a very difficult fight for proper diagnosis, access to care and avoiding the labels of being criminally culpable for a condition that is no longer in the subjects control. The difficulty not only lies with the mentally ill, but with their families and the helplessness that accompanies these individuals disease. The cost of revolving incarceration is a high factor with no positive result for the addicted user and for society. The reevaluation of schizophrenic and psychotic subjects from drug use as an area of criminal and social justice that continues to be ignored by no doubt the incredibly high cost of treating these individuals and the very low rate of compliance that data has so far shown for success is a primary cause of denial for proper treatment.

Mothers & Daughters Essays -- essays research papers

Mothers and daughters have been written about, criticized, publicized, condemned, and praised for a long time. As more and more material becomes available on mother-daughter relationships, it becomes apparent that being a mother and being a daughter means different things to different people depending on race, economics, social status and blood type. This paper will explore the meaning of being a mother and being a daughter by combining all of these independent variables. A definition of motherhood and daughterhood will be clearer, however, as experience will tell us, not everyone can be categorized, or even explained. In "Choosing Consciousness", Elizabeth Minnich describes mothers as: ".The people who take day-by-day care of children, the ones whose lives are intricately involved with their children, the ones who keep the children safe, who wrestle with their souls and fight with them and love them and try to heal them and give up on them and give in to them" (Minnich, 195). In her opinion, as well as many other authors we have read, a mother does not need to be blood related. She only needs to care for her child, be there for her child, and love her child. She is the dominant woman force in her child's life, influencing, teaching and setting an example for her child. This idea is reflected in other cultures as well. In black communities, especially, a mother is not necessarily one who gave birth to her daughter. She is the person who sets examples for the daughter and is there to help coach the daughter through the trials and tribulations of life. "Biological mothers or bloodmothers are expected to care for their children. But African and African-American communities have also recognized that vesting one person with full responsibility for mothering a child may not be wise if possible" (Collins, 47). Collins believes that in order to be a mother, you only need to care for a child, and this idea has been central to African and African-American motherhood. Community outreach and the caring of adjacent women have been very important to the raising of daughters in black communities. Although being a caring and nurturing force in a daughter's life is central to becoming a mother, other pieces we have read have supported the idea that a mother needs to teach her child to grow, and then let her go to off to find her... ...g, ethical, etc." (Flax, 68). Our "eurocentric" perspectives on black mothers have debilitated society from seeing what motherhood really is in African-American communities. As Collins put it, "Adhering to these standards brings the danger of the lowered self-esteem of internalized oppression, one that, if passed on from mother to daughter, provides a powerful mechanism for controlling African-American Communities" (Collins, 45). In all that we have read, I have expanded my knowledge about the mother/daughter relationship into realms that I never knew existed. Considering my close relationship with my mother, I was unaware that other relationships like mine existed and that relationships so different from mine were possible. I have enjoyed to opportunity to research into the lives and minds of so many scholars. Viewing these relationships from other perspectives, other cultures and other races has shown me what a mother means to different people with different experiences. The only thing that remains central is the idea that mothers and daughters should nurture each other, comfort each other and, most importantly, learn and grow with each other.

An Exploration of Individualism as Described by Alexis de Tocqueville in Democracy in America Essay

The classic work Democracy In America by Alexis de Tocqueville has been the reason for scholarly pursuit as well as strife within that same community. Through a brief examination of this text, several of Tocqueville’s arguments helped to define many of the constructs that made America what it was as well as those that have led to what it has become today. Of the many themes and ideas presented by Tocqueville, his thoughts on individualism struck the loudest chord with me. Tocqueville describes America as a society of joiners because of the fact that it is a country almost entirely composed of immigrants. This, in addition to the pursuit and promise of â€Å"equality of conditions† that Americas touted as an unofficial theme, brought citizens from many classes together in closer proximity and relation. Although this sounds like a good thing, Tocqueville argued that with this blending of social classes and increased opportunity people would isolate themselves, â€Å"bond of human affections is extended and loosened† (p. 483). As people gained wealth and left behind the daily struggle to survive many sought out education and as a result of this enlightenment developed the â€Å"habit of always considering themselves in isolation† (p. 484). This individualism is likened to selfishness by Tocqueville but he is careful to point out that he does not believe that it is the same thing. He does this by describing selfishness as â€Å"a passionate and exaggerated love of self that causes man to relate everything to himself alone,† and individualism as â€Å"a reflective and peaceable sentiment that disposes each citizen to . . . withdraw to one side with his family and friends† (p. 482). The way in which individualism caused people to separate from society with only their friends and family caused a problem, in that, by doing so a public conscience can not be established. Individualism leads to a slowdown of democratic culture and the results in such â€Å"fabric of time is torn at every moment and the trace of generations is effaced† (p. 483). If people are not careful equality of conditions can, over time, make â€Å"each man forget his ancestors . . . and threatens finally to confine him wholly in the solitude of his own heart† (p. 484). Tocqueville goes on to say, â€Å"all the passions that equality gives birth to or favors, there is one . . . that it sets in the hearts of all men at the same time: the love of well-being† (p. 422). Unfortunately this kind of passion usually manifests itself as an uncontrollable desire to acquire wealth and material things. â€Å"The taste for material enjoyments, must be considered the first source of this secret restiveness revealed in the actions of Americans and of the inconstancy of which they give daily examples† (p. 512). Although this kind of materialistic pursuit of wealth may appear to be true freedom for some, Tocqueville argues that it is in fact the manifestation of the middle class American’s overwhelming fear of death. â€Å"He who has confined his heart solely to the search for the goods of this world,† Tocqueville observes, â€Å"is always in a hurry. . . . In addition to the goods that he possesses, at each instant he imagines a thousan d others that death will prevent him from enjoying if he does not hasten† (p. 512). Equality of conditions awakens the inner feeling of hope and happiness in all people, but unchecked theses feelings can lead to an all consuming obsession with one’s own mortality that ignites and hinders passion which leads to â€Å"unceasing trepidation† compelling a person to â€Å"change his designs and his place at every moment† (p. 512). Tocqueville then goes on to describe an America where the individualism described above leads to a desire for materialistic wealth that â€Å"disposes men to believe that all is nothing but matter† (p. 519). He talks about how this can lead to an American society that emphasizes development of â€Å"the goods of the body† (p. 521) and disregards the development of the mind and care of the soul. Tocqueville qualifies these statements by making the claim that there is no other country that is â€Å"less occupied with philosophy than the United States† (p. 403). It is both profound and interesting that Tocqueville saw this happening in his time as it has certainly continued and grown since then. The epidemic of people, like the Kardashians, becoming celebrities for doing nothing perfectly illustrates what he describes as â€Å"minds so disposed, every new method that leads to wealth by a shorter path . . . every discovery that facilitates pleasures and augments the m seems to be the most magnificent effort of human intelligence† (p. 436). These observations lead to another important point of Tocqueville’s, the lack of understanding and allowance for the â€Å"profound, slow work† (p. 435) of ones own mind. During his travels Tocqueville found few people that would take the time to develop a true passion and desire for introspection and contemplation. It is because of this that America eventually gave birth to philosophy and the practice of pragmatism only serves to illustrate what Tocqueville described as America’s â€Å"unparalleled energy toward application† (p. 437). This â€Å"unparalleled energy† is what led to the practice of planned obsolescence and why it is an ever increasing part of day to day life in America. With the rapid advancement of technology it is not unheard of for a computer or other device to be obsolete within weeks. Although the device was different, Tocqueville observed this phenomenon when speaking with a sailor, â€Å"art of navigation makes such rapid pro gress daily that the most beautiful ship would soon become almost useless if its existence were prolonged beyond a few years† (p. 428). Rapid advancement, in addition to the population’s desire for the â€Å"latest and greatest† forced craftsman â€Å"to make many imperfect things very rapidly† (p. 441) just to satisfy demand. Even language in America changed and began to mirror this â€Å"industrial taste†(p. 435) With the ever increasing emphasis that was placed on progress and application it is not surprising that the purity of the arts were affected as well. Tocqueville described the way in which art and artists in America could not escape the desire to be relevant when he talked about how the work turned from depicting â€Å"sentiments and ideas† to â€Å"emotions and sensations† (p. 442). The embodiment of this, according to Tocqueville, is best illustrated by America’s obsession with theatre, which he regarded as â€Å"most natural to democratic peoples† (p. 467). He goes on to say â€Å"Most of those who attend the acting on the stage do not seek pleasures of the mind, but lively emotions of the heart. They do not expect to find a work of literature but a spectacle† (p. 467 / 468). This is the direct consequence to and result of the â€Å"practical, contested, and monotonous† (p. 448) lives that were created due to the emphasis that was placed o n the materialistic growth we discussed earlier. Through television and film, this kind of spectacle, which Tocqueville criticized and ascribed to democratic societies, has reached a level of cultural relevance and depravity that he could have never predicted. Tocqueville believed that a strong and flourishing democratic society could cultivate, in the spirit of its people, a consciousness of the delicate balance between the finite amount of material goods this world has to offer and the overwhelming affect of an â€Å"exalted and almost fierce spiritualism† (p. 510). Throughout the examination of Tocqueville’s words it became clear that biggest threat to America is not foreign enemies or the government, the greatest threat to America are it’s citizens. Only through understanding and the abandonment of the selfish practice of individualism will America survive.