Health care challenges Essay

Our country is set to face a new way of managing health which could potentially change the environment on how nurses deliver care. As our nation prepares for the implementation of Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, nursing as a healing profession has to be open to what the future of health management holds. The goal is to have all registered nurses reach a high level of understanding and acquire tools necessary to provide the best possible way at a low cost. It is both moral and professional obligation of our leaders to ensure that highly competent and well trained nurses are available throughout this transition. To achieve this goal, nurse educators are the key players to train both novice and seasoned nurses to the change based on the new policies and evidence-based research. However, our Nurse Educators are overwhelmed with their current workload hence causing faculty shortage in the country. A recent study published on 2011 aimed to explore the relation of nursing faculty shortage to their workload, determine if there are evidences that the faculty workload is not equitable and the implication/effect to the nursing research and nursing academic. According to this study, there are multiple factors that influence the nursing faculty shortage such as lack of interest from the nurses to try academic careers, time spends to clinical practice defers pursuance into academic positions, low salaries, high educational costs, nursing education dissatisfaction and most importantly low institutional funding for additional nurse educator positions. Nancy Falk stated in her article that â€Å"despite current critical shortage and growing demand for nurses and nurse educators, federal funding falls far short of addressing these healthcare workforce challenges. Workforce projections suggest that the US will face a shortage of 285,000 nurses by 2015 and 500, 000 by 2025.† (Mason, Leavitt & Chaffee, 2012, p 58). Also, American Association Colleges of Nursing reported on 2011-2012, that nursing schools turned away 75,587 applicants who are qualified for baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs because of inadequate nursing faculty including clinical preceptors. These challenges ultimately impact the future of patient care if not addressed. Faculty leaders must work in partnership to create a strategy that will help prevent further faculty shortage by focusing on balanced faculty workload to avoid burnout. This article emphasized on the continuous support by government officials especially adequate funding to nursing education. AACN is allocating its resources to protect federal funding for academic development programs, identify strategies to prevent nursing educator shortage. Additional solution is to create a mentorship program for nurse faculty. This strategy was confirmed by various literature and studies to promote nursing faculty recruitment and retention. Mentorship brings encouragement and direction to clinical educators who are new to the role and prevent burnout. Health care system will be lost without nurses in our society. Statistic shows that there are currently 2.9 million nurses in the United States but nurses with special skills such as in education is extremely needed. Nurse Educators, in some ways, affect the lives of everyone. It is through this role where highly competent, compassionate healers such as nurses are produced. â€Å"The future of the nursing profession depends on a steady supply of nurses to provide the quality care to patients† (Cowen & Moorhead, 2011, p. 60)

Higher Pleasures: Unique to Human Beings

John Stuart Mill argues In utilitarianism that higher pleasures are unique to human beings. Higher pleasures are those pleasures that require some minimum of cognitive capacities to enjoy. More specifically, higher pleasures are intellectual pleasures while lower pleasures are sensual pleasures. Mill argues that animals are not capable of experiencing higher pleasures because animals are not aware of their higher facilities; animals lack the conscious ability to be curious, to achieve a sense of self-worth from volunteering. or to hold a deep and intellectual conversation.Mill successfully argues in utilitarianism that higher pleasures are not only distinct and unique to human beings, but are also more desirable and valuable than lower pleasures because human beings have higher facilities for happiness. â€Å"It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig dissatisfied,† (pg 18. ) Mill uses this example because human beings have experienced both higher and lower pleas ures, and would not willingly switch from a life of hgher pleasures toa life of lower pleasures. Through controlled experiences, Griffen and Speck argue in New Evidence of AnimalConsciousness that animals do possess some torm ot primary consciousness enabling them to experience these lower pleasures that Mill describes. Intellectual pleasures may be unique to humans, but sensual pleasures are now being examined and documented in animals. How do we, as humans, know with certainty that higher pleasures are more desirable and valuable than lower pleasures? Mill argues that higher pleasures are superior to lower pleasures with the following example, human beings know both sides of the question, while pigs only know their side of the question.Human beings nd animals have two very different ideas of happiness and content â€Å"It is indisputable that the being whose capacities of enjoyment are low, has the greatest chance of having them fully satisfied†¦ and they will not make him e nw the being who is indeed unconscious of the imperfections, but only because he feels not at all the good which those Imperfections qualify† (page 18. ) Mill argues that no human being, who knows both sides of the question, would voluntarily go from a Ife of higher pleasures to a life of lower pleasures.Mill states that once a human being is ade aware of their higher pleasures, they would never be happy to leave a life of higher pleasures for a life of lower pleasures. Higher pleasures are therefore superior in kind to lower pleasures. We can think of levels of pleasure on a continuum, with lower pleasures, such as sex, food, and sleep on the lower end of the continuum, and higher pleasures, such as reading a book, volunteering, or seeing a good play on the higher end of the continuum.Human beings have experience both kinds of pleasure, higher and lower, and are therefore are qualified with the knowledge to distinguish that higher pleasures are more valuable and desirable tha n ower pleasures. In tne artlcle New Evidence 0T Animal consciousness, GrlTTen ana speck present evidence that support the idea that animals are capable of experiencing at least some level of consciousness. In the article, consciousness is described as â€Å"the subjective state of feeling or thinking about objects and events† (pg 6. The authors encourage us to think of consciousness also along a continuum, with basic consciousness on one end, and a â€Å"higher† form on consciousness on the other. The authors agree with Natsoula's evidence that animals have some form of basic onsciousness, â€Å"Animals are sometimes aware of objects and events, including social relationships, memories, and simple short-term anticipation of likely happenings in the near future† (page 6. However, animals do not experience a form of advanced or â€Å"higher† consciousness that is unique to humans. The chapter states that if animals are conscious, their conscious level prob ably varies from the simplest feelings to thinking about the common problems they can face, and ways to avoid it. As stated above, consciousness requires some form minimum of cognitive capacities, animals lack any form of cognitive capacities, leaving higher pleasures istinctively unique to human beings.The central question in the article is whether or not animals experience a form of basic consciousness, and if so, what is the content of their awareness, a question that can help us better understand them, their way of life, and what type of pleasures they experience. Referring back to Mill's Utilitarianism, Mill argues that higher pleasures are more desirable and more valuable than lower pleasures. Utilitarian writers, in general, agree that higher pleasures are superior to lower pleasures because they place an emphasize on mental pleasures over bodily pleasures.And in general, Utilitarian writers agree that although you can enjoy more lower pleasures, you cannot consider quality a longside quantity; the level of your happiness should depend on the quantity of your pleasures. At this point, I think it would be fair to say that animals posses some form of primary or basic consciousness, perhaps the most simple evidence to support this claim can be found in Frith et al. ‘s study. â€Å"Gestures and movements can be made with a deliberate communicative intent†¦This realization of the significance of communication as a source of evidence about conscious feelings and thoughts ntails a simple transfer to animals of the basic methods by which we infer what our human companions are thinking or feeling† (pg 12. ) Animals communicate a variety of thoughts and feelings, proving that they possess some form of primary or basic consciousness. And because animals possess some form of primary consciousness, it would be fair to say that animals experience some for of sensual experiences, or what Mill would define as lower pleasures.Another piece of evidence t hat supports the claim that animals posses some form of primary or basic consciousness, can be seen in Weir et al's experiment. In this experiment, it is shown how birds communicate through their own distinct behavior; it is shown how birds are able to adapt to an experimentally given environment. Two birds were presented with a bucket full of food, the bucket was placed at the bottom of a transparent vertical tube that could not be reached without their beak's alone. The birds were then presented with two wires, one with a straight end, and the other with a bent end that formed a hook.The food was much easier to obtain with the nook endea wire. I ne Temale Dlra was always presented wltn tne stralgnt end, ana he male bird was always presented with the hooked end; however, the female bird was able to adapt to her environment and bend the end of her wire so that her wire was also hooked at the end. When only two straight wires were presented to the birds, the female bird was able to a dapt and bend the wire to better reach her food, without any example or lead from the male bird's wire.Through this experiment, it is clear that the female bird was able to adapt to her given environment. Her primary consciousness accompanied her form of perception, and influenced her action. â€Å"She had no model to imitate and, to our knowledge, no pportunity for hook making to emerge by chance shaping or reinforcement of randomly generated behavior† (pg 12. ) It is clear to see that the female bird perceived her goals as desirable; she saw that she needed food, and she made conscious adjustments in order to attain her goal.Her primary consciousness influenced her form of action. Linking back to Mill's Utilitarianism, lower pleasures only require a simple, primary form a consciousness. New Evidence of Animal Consciousness argues that primary consciousness is, â€Å"The state or facility of being mentally conscious or aware of anything† (pg 6. The article argues thro ugh controlled experiments that animals can possess a primary form of consciousness. And because animals possess a form of simple, basic consciousness, they also possess the ability to experience lower pleasures.Animal's possess the full mental capacity to live their lives to facilitate the highest level of their lower pleasures. Higher pleasures are unique to human beings. Human beings possess the inapt mental capacity to experience a form of pleasure derived from our intellect. Higher pleasures require some minimum of cognitive capacities to enjoy; because human eings have high cognitive capacities, we are capable of reaching higher levels of pleasure than animals.In the book Utilitarianism by John Stuart Mill, Mill argues that higher pleasures can only be experienced by human beings because we possess some minimum of cognitive capacities; and that lower pleasures, such as sex, food, and sleep, can be experienced by any living that has a primary or basic conscious. Through control led experiences, it is argued in New Evidence of Animal Consciousness that animals do possess some form of primary consciousness enabling them to experience these lower pleasures that Mill describes.

High Cost of Poverty in the United States Essay

Poverty can be defined in many different ways. In certain attempts, it can be used in numbers, while other definitions can be more vague, and used to define a life style. The defined term of poverty is â€Å"the state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions†. (Mirriam Webster, 2011) According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 37 million people live below the poverty line. â€Å"The ranks of America’s poor swelled to almost 1 in 6 people last year, reaching a new high as long-term unemployment left millions of Americans struggling and out of work. The number of uninsured edged up to 49.9 million, the biggest in more than two decades.† (Yen, 2011) Poverty is obviously very common in our country, and all over the world. Even with the United States being the wealthiest country in the world, we still have many Americans who struggle everyday to survive. The topic I chose to focus on is the high cost of poverty, and ho w it actually costs more to be poor. Although it seems like an oxymoron, it is a very realistic topic. I chose this topic because I have personally been involved in both sides of economic statuses. Although I do not live in extreme poverty, I technically have an income that falls within the line of poverty, but I do not have a family to support and have student loans to live off of. I wanted to know further detail of how those who only experience poverty, have limited choices, and how their disadvantages actually cost them more money. My personal life experience is one from an upper middle class family, and was raised in a wealthy suburb in a predominately white community. My family never had financial struggles, so I had no experience with battling bills. I worked in high school and had my own money, but I had nothing to pay for. I thought I made a decent amount of money making $7 an hour, and only working 15-20 hours a week. For a person with no bills or rents to pay for, $150-200 a week was a lot to me. Recently, I moved out of my parent’s suburban home and into the city to be closer to school and gain some independence as an adult. I make about $250-400 a week, depending on the activity of the restaurant I waitress at. I soon realized that I am very dependent on my two roommates to split bills and rent, because I could never afford to live on my own. Although we live in a low income neighborhood, the cost of food, rent, electric, heat and cable bills stack up, and I struggle to pay them. I also only pay one third of the full cost. I have a car I need to put gas in, a gym membership I pay monthly and credit card bills every month. I now see how people that make just as much, or less than I do, struggle even more to make ends meet when their income is at the head of the household. I wanted to show to people that it is more expensive to be poor, because of the lack of resources, income and credit, and also what their options become for survival due to these circumstances. I also did a quantitative study on renting versus owning an item, to show that it actually costs more to rent something than to purchase it upfront. I chose to sample the same three items from two different stores, and recording the prices to see the differences of renting and owning it. I am aware that most individuals in poverty, usually do not have enough money to purchase items or homes upfront so they often rent them, thinking they can afford weekly or monthly payments to stretch out their income to afford other life necessities. My first concept I chose to focus was access to food. I thought about how much I spend on the food I enjoy for just for me personally, and I think it is expensive. I enjoy fruits and fresh vegetables, brand name cereals and expensive breads. Since I grew up eating the certain brands, I continue to try and afford the things I like. Being an individual with a low income, I cannot imagine supporting not only myself, but a family solely on my income. In this research paper, I will explain the hardships of getting to and from the grocery store, and if you cannot, you need to shop elsewhere, such as corner stores.† Prices in urban corner stores are almost always higher, economists say. And sometimes, prices in supermarkets in poorer neighborhoods are higher. Many of these stores charge more because the cost of doing business in some neighborhoods is higher.† [ (Brown, 2009) ] This can lead to spending extra time, danger, stress, and in the end, costing the individual more money. It also forces those with less money to spend, higher risk for obesity. â€Å"Inequitable access to healthy foods is one mechanism by which socioeconomic factors influence the diet and health of a population†. (Drewnowski, 2009) Since they do not have the money to afford healthy choices, they must choose foods that they can stretch out in order to feed their families, even if it is not healthy. My next concept I chose to study was the price of minimum wage, and how it isn’t really the minimum coverage of standard living. In New York State, the minimum wage is $7.25. â€Å"About 20% of American adults who have jobs are earning less than $10.65 an hour. Even at 40 hours a week, that amounts to less than $22,314, which is the poverty level for a family of four†. [ (Isidore, 2011) ]. This simply states that a monthly income of about $1,000-$2,000 is almost impossible to survive on. This may lead to bad credit, forced into renting, and having people do dangerous or criminal activity to get money or items for their families. The poverty rate for all people disguises substantial variation between racial and ethnic subgroups. Poverty rates for blacks and Hispanics greatly exceed the national average. According to the United States Census Bureau, â€Å"In 2010, 27.4 percent of blacks and 26.6 percent of Hispanics were poor, compared to 9.9 percent of non-Hispanic whites and 12.1 percent of Asians.† (Bureau of the Census, 2011) Poverty rates are most often the highest for families headed by single women, particularly if they are black or Hispanic. â€Å"In 2010, 31.6 percent of households headed by single women were poor, while 15.8 percent of households headed by single men and 6.2 percent of married-couple households lived in poverty.† (Bureau of the Census, 2011). â€Å"The official poverty level is an annual income of $22,314 for a family of four â€Å". (Yen, 2011) On average, depending on the size of a household, a family living in poverty has an average income of less than $20,000. This can include couples with children, single parents with one or more children. Needless to say, this is not a lot of money to support a family on, and thus they have to take extra steps to survive, which results in higher costs, and contributing to the statement of the high cost of poverty. You have to be rich to be poor. This is what some people, who have never lived below the poverty line, don’t understand. The poorer you are, the more things cost. Additional steps in money, time, hassle, exhaustion, and danger. This is a fact of life that television, magazines and media, do not often explain. Take for example, food. First, if you do not have a car, getting to the supermarket can take anywhere from one to three hours of public transportation, and costing a price to use the bus or a taxi. To use the method of public transportation, it is necessary to hav e to load all of your groceries into the bus, or taxi. This is limiting to space and capability of carrying all of the groceries. A simpler version of this would be to walk to the corner store, for free, but where the grocery selection is limited and prices are doubled. â€Å"Prices in urban corner stores are almost always higher, economists say. And sometimes, prices in supermarkets in poorer neighborhoods are higher. Many of these stores charge more because the cost of doing business in some neighborhoods is higher.† (Brown, 2009) Also, if you are living in poverty, you will most likely not be making enough money to buy $100 or more worth of groceries for your family. This results in the person or family spending more money, to either get to the grocery store, or paying more for the food to save money traveling to and from. In the end, it is a losing situation, and the poor are paying more in the end than someone who is wealthy and has access to the necessary resources. Spending more money than middle class, or wealthy class to buy groceries is one example of how high the cost of poverty is. If the poor is spending money in the corner stores, they are most likely not getting nutritious foods or healthy choices that most corner stores do not carry. Obesity is a direct result from that, seeing that unhealthy foods cost way less than healthy eating does.† Obesity and type 2 diabetes follow a socioeconomic gradient. Highest rates are observed among groups with the lowest levels of education and income and in the most deprived areas. Inequitable access to healthy foods is one mechanism by which socioeconomic factors influence the diet and health of a population†. (Drewnowski, 2009) Low income levels leave people no choice but to choose foods that are nutrient poor, because it is a price that can afford and something they can stretch out among their whole family to feed them. It is also the best way to provide daily calories at an affordable c ost. Those who are struggling financially are clearly the most disadvantaged when it comes to healthy eating habits. In our grocery stores today we have so many artificial sweeteners, preservatives, fats and sweets that are sure to taste good, but not good for our health. Fats and sweets tend to cost way less, where as healthy foods cost more. It makes no sense to have unhealthy foods cost less than healthy foods, but it is the manufacturing and production that determines the cost of foods. Therefore, those who do not have the money to purchase healthy options have to choose foods that fit in their budget. These are usually unhealthy, packaged, canned or frozen options that have little to no nutritional value. Even those families that have government support, welfare checks and food stamps are still on a restricted budget. The foods they are allowed to get for free or reduced price are items such as fruit juices, canned fruits, cereal, grits, and corn tortillas. These items are all packed with sugar and calories which is not aiding in healthy lifestyles. â€Å"Researchers have shown that low-income neighborhoods attract more fast-food outlets and convenience stores as opposed to full-service supermarkets and grocery stores† (Drewnowski, 2009). This also relates back to travel costs, transportation and affording food. Since it is easier to get to the corner stores, it is a disadvantage to the customers because the corner stores are usually just packed with unhealthy options. It is economic deprivation that is a key factor in obesity, and one key factor of weight gain may be low diet cost. Another example of how the high cost of poverty is, is the price of minimum wage and if it really acceptable to be the minimum wage you can survive on. Most people and experts agree that to get out of an economic slump, we need more jobs. But another problem is that millions of Americans already have jobs that don’t pay very much. â€Å"About 20% of American adults who have jobs are earning less than $10.65 an hour. Even at 40 hours a week, that amounts to less than $22,314, which is the poverty level for a family of four†. (Isidore, 2011) In New York State, the federal minimum wage is $7.25. Minimum wage is supposed to be the wage in which it is the bare minimum amount of money that one can survive on. Even at 40 hours a week, that equals to be $290 without taxes taken out. This would be a paycheck of about $250 for one week, and this equals about $1000 a month. Taking into consideration that those who are the working poor, they need to spend more money getting to and from work, which also costs extra time. They also need to pay bills, feed themselves and their families. For an individual making $1,000 a month, this is almost impossible to survive on even in minimal conditions. An average cost of rent in Buffalo NY is fairly inexpensive, and taking into consideration that Buffalo on of the poorest cities in the United States, we have to be aware that there is many people in the city below the poverty line. According to Rentjungle.com, An average one bedroom apartment in Buffalo is $679 a month and two bedroom apartment rents average $750. To see this in comparison to another large city, one bedroom apartments in New York City rent for $2356 a month on average and two bedroom apartment rents average $2767. Minimum wage is clearly not enough to survive on if your average monthly income is $1000. Out of $1000 income, you have to set aside an average of $600 for rent, leaving you $400 for car fees, if you have one, or transportation fees if you depend on them. If your apartment does not include utilities, you need money for electric bill, gas bills, which can skyrocket in our area when it is winter, cable or internet if possible, and food budget. Another example of a disadvantage the poor have is the actual process of cashing their check to get their money. The rich or middle class usually have the option of direct deposit for their paychecks. The poor have check-cashing and payday loan joints, which cost time and money. The poor pay more for financial services, and many people who cannot be capable to have a bank account may have to pay extra money for a money order to pay their bills and cash their checks. â€Å"They may pay a 2 percent check-cashing fee because they don’t have bank services.† (Brown, 2009) Many people in poverty literally live paycheck to paycheck. If they have a bill that’s due, they do not have a luxury of online payments, because they cannot afford computers or internet, so they have to mail it. If they do not have the money in time for a bill, they have to wait for their next paycheck. This can cost late fees, and in an end result, spending more money than a person with those luxuries. While many people are surviving in this manner, people will look for any way to get by without spending their money. Many people in poverty may depend on credit cards to help them afford things they cannot. Credit cards can help out for temporary reasons, but if not paid off, this can cause more problems. People who are struggling to pay their bills will most likely have bad credit, and have no other option but to rent homes, items, and many other things they cannot afford, due to their credit and income. Bad credit also costs more money than those with good credit. If a person does not have enough money to pay off bills in full, they will get extra interest charges and fees that stack up and end up costing more for them. Since I did not have the option of going into homes of the people in poverty, I decided to do research on items, rather than homes, to compare the costs of rent to own. Poor people do not have the option of owning homes, because of their credit and/or income, so they have no choice but to rent. I wanted to see if the price you pay for being a low income individual actually costs you more, than to own something. This is to show that poverty does in fact cost more to live I chose to look at a refrigerator, a range and a television from two different department stores to compare prices on a rent versus owning the item. My first item, the refrigerator, a 25.3 cubic foot, Side-by-Side with thru-the Door Ice and Water, Black color, was $799.99 to own immediately from Best Buy. At Rent- A-Center, the same exact refrigerator was $37.99 to rent per week, for 91 weeks. At first, it seems like a cheap deal and a realistic price for those who do not have the $799.99 upfront to spend. When you do the math, $37.99 per week for 91 weeks is $3457 total to own after renting at the $37.99 per week. This is over four times the price it would cost to buy at Best Buy and own immediately. I also learned that consumers can get a â€Å"discounted† price by purchasing the item after 90 days, which seemed a little better to me. When I did the math again, it would equal out to be $1728 total to own after renting for 90 days. This is still about double the price of buying it immediately. My next item I compared was the range. A GE-30† Freestanding Electric Range, Black-on-Black Quickset III oven. At Best Buy this was $429.99 to own immediately. Rent-A-Center had the same oven for $24.99 to rent per week for 74 weeks. The total to own after renting for 74 weeks at $24.99 was $ 1849. After 90 days of renting, the total price to own would be $924.63. The prices are clearly different, but yet it seems manageable when you are there. Looking at a price of $25 a week for a nice, brand new stove seems pretty manageable if you have a low income. When you look at the math and how much it will actually cost to rent rather than own, it is actually over four times the original price to own the oven upfront. The last item I compared was a television, an Insignia © Advanced 42† Class/1080p/ 120Hz/ LCD. This item from Best Buy was $749.99 to own immediately. Rent-A-Center had the same television for $39.99 to rent per week, for 74 weeks. It seems like a reasonable, affordable price until you calculate it and realize that it would cost $2959 total to own after 74 weeks of renting. This is about four times the original price. After 90 days of renting, the â€Å"discount† price to own, at Rent-A-Center is $1479, still double the original price. All three of the items I chose to compare are most needed in homes, with the exception of the television. Although it is not a necessity, almost all homes have at least one television. When those who are living in poverty want to own these items, they will have struggles to afford paying them. They turn to the option of renting because they see the low price and it appeals that it is affordable to them. The small payments they think they can afford weekly add up and end up costing them quadruple of original prices. In conclusion, being poor is a struggle. It costs much more money and time to be poor. Working lots of hours and making little money takes a toll on many people here in the United States. I wanted to show readers that this is a very realistic topic to study, and that the cost of poverty is high. The obstacles and disadvantages those in poverty have to deal with are frustrating, stressful ,and in need of change. Poverty is a very difficult thing to understand and take control over because lifestyles cannot be forced upon. People choose their own paths of life, and lack of education, jobs, motivation, children and many other situations are uncontrollable. In our society, I think it is important to know the struggles of those in poverty stricken situations and to understand their hardships. This can be motivation to those in it, or headed towards it in their future. Learning about the costs and disadvantages poverty comes with can be a motivating factor for people to go to college and get an education to receive a well paying job, get a job in general, educate themselves about saving money, and learning that renting is not cheaper than owning. Hopefully my research will be beneficial to those in college, living on low income, to do well in school to gain better jobs, educate those in poverty about the costs they are spending and figuring new alternatives, and to open eyes to those that think it is cheap to be poor. Being in poverty costs time and the cost of poverty is certainly high. In the end, the high cost of poverty will be a never ending cycle of time and money and I hope this research paper opens the eyes of all individuals to help make this problem change. Bibliography Brown, D. L. (2009). The High Cost of Poverty: Why the Poor Pay More. Lexis Nexis Academic , A-4. Bureau of the Census. (2011). Income Alternative Poverty Estimates in the United States. Washington D.C: U.S Census Bureau. Drewnowski, A. (2009). Nutrition Reviews: Obesity, diets, and social inequalities. Seattle: University of Washington. Isidore, C. (2011, September 27). CNN Money. Retrieved November 15, 2011, from Not getting by on minimum wage: http://money.cnn.com/2011/09/27/news/economy/minimum_wage_jobs/index.htm Jason M. Sutherland, E. S. (2009). Getting Past Denial — The High Cost of Health Care in the United States. The New England Journal of Medicine , 1227-30. Mirriam Webster. (2011). Mirriam Webster Dictonary. Dictionary . Brittanica Company. Yen, H. (2011, September 13). Yahoo News. (A. Press, Ed.) Retrieved November 15, 2011, from Census: US poverty rate swells to nearly 1 in 6: http://news.yahoo.com/census-us-poverty-rate-swells-nearly-1-6-142639972.html

Community Marketing Through Social Media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Community Marketing Through Social Media - Essay Example This is a strategy to actively engage an audience in a non-intrusive manner usually in a public forum. Unlike traditional marketing strategies, community market has its focus on the needs of existing customers. In a nutshell community marketing seeks to establish a permanent connection between existing customers, prospects, companies, and products. By so doing it will be in a position to improve a products adoption into the wider community and also satisfy the same market while strengthening customer loyalty (Unger 2008). In the recent past social media has increasingly been commercialised. It has become a complex community which has been drawn from a wide cross-section of the community all with different backgrounds. It is this large community that has been a major target to marketing, and has made social media marketing to be considered by marketing executives. Incorporation of social media into e-commerce has changed the game of marketing and indeed drawn a lot of benefit to busin esses that are involved. The most obvious benefit would be capturing the diverse and ever growing audience that constitutes the social media. Click on display ads can be linked up with e-commerce websites that would allow customers to make required purchase at their convenience (Schneider 2011). Much as social media and community marketing cannot be measured through direct sales, such efforts usually go a long way in raising awareness of an organisation and creating a good image. Facebook fans It is very evident and clearly spelled out the returns any e store gains in terms of customer interaction and even recruiting new fans. However, it has always been an enigma how to take the momentum created by these fans and convert it to sales. The solution of creating these Facebook fans to paying customers is to create a platform that will move the fans from Facebook to the e store. This can be achieved through the following steps: Engage the fans with content they can relate to and share. Facebook is a powerful community hub, and its fans offer a rich marketing opportunity. Secondly, share content that invites the fans to the e-store. This can be through a link that offers a valuable option, such as a contest entry that will entice the fans. Finally, once the fans attention and contacts have been captured the e-store can introduce sales opportunities via email. Facebook Ads and display branding The most common way of incorporating community marketing in Facebook is through display Ads. Influential branding and strategically placed display advertisement tops the list of factors that increase sales and product awareness. Facebook display Ads can be tailored for specific audience, and be made to offer a lot more than just plain advertisement. Their dynamic nature also allows them to easily fit to any site without interfering with the main content. The only downside to this however, is that it tends to create a clustered landscape which can very easily be managed through careful targeting and selection of markets. Similarly, building brand awareness can be employed as a strategy to capture the rich market found in social media. Beyond marketing, Facebook presents a platform for organisations to directly engage with potential customers, and display their expertise in a given field. Tweeter account Another skilful way is incorporating Tweeter into e-commerce through the development of a user community. A Tweeter account of the e-store can push further the notion of spreading a positive word about the products offered to the larger market. This account can include special features such as group forums of a particular brand, and

Hiphop -- My Music and Identity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Hiphop -- My Music and Identity - Essay Example This similarly applies for the other compositions which the artist has been able to deliver with more accountability for the youth than for the money-oriented industry. On the other hand, I believe that the late Tupac Shakur ought to be equivalently credited a lifelong endeavour of appreciation for meaningful pieces as â€Å"Lord Knows†, â€Å"When Thugz Cry†, and â€Å"Until the End of Time†. I can very well identify with these songs to the extent that, sometimes, I wish I were such man for being capable of making the audience understand and value the spirit of the civil rights movement which Tupac appears to communicate with his creative sound of rage in response to the evils of color discrimination. With the chorus portion playing â€Å"Oh why, children send your child off to die / In the streets of chalk where they lie / Let no wrongs cry out when thugs cry / Dear God ..†, Tupac exhibits serious concern for the future particularly of the black youth wh ose lame poverty and lack of education serve as grounds to take drugs, steal, and commit other horrible crimes. It could take a while to embrace the whole lyrics but what honestly sticks to mind is the powerful instrumentation and rap approach that settles the haunting theme in place. Like the stuffs demonstrated by Kells to amaze the public at depth, those of Tupac are themselves alive to present a great cause as they aim to preserve a ‘thug’ culture of fighting for liberty yet with the desire to act and achieve ends in the absence of violence and mischief. Despite certain differences in the hiphop styles of Machine Gun Kelly and Tupac Shakur, I am disposed to establish my music and identity on both as sharp influences who possess the...To me, it occurs that the subject of the song is most effectively conveyed via hiphop as it reminds me of the essence of classic poetry revolutionized by the age of Harlem Renaissance. Hiphop is a genre that takes me to the rhythm of my heart as it allows me to observe its journey down the time when artists like Tupac Shakur and Machine Gun Kelly matter in a society that has since time of racial and class division yearned for social justice and equality. Through the piece â€Å"Invincible†, for instance, Machine Gun Kelly raps the lines â€Å"As my world turns, the heart beats / Not only in my chest, but the heart in the streets / So when they feel this, they feel me / But I can’t feel nothin’, outside these Dre Beats† in an angst-filled tone. In that manner, rapper Kells wears hiphop so as to express a battle raw deep within which seeks release and resolution. Despite certain differences in the hiphop styles of Machine Gun Kelly and Tupac Shakur, I am disposed to establish my music and identity on both as sharp influences who possess the capacity to illumine the significance of immaterial verses. Their way with melodies and content, I suppose, is something that authentic musicians do i n the process of engineering and performing quality hiphop music.

International Political Economy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

International Political Economy - Essay Example (Ttreault and Abel, 1998: p. 3). With reference to the material reality individual actors are expected to be pursuing their self-interest through bargaining and the interplay of the market. (Ttreault and Abel, 1998: p. 3). Similarly considering the ideological reality one would expect to see a multi-faceted order and its potential for improving overall production and wealth skewed in various ways to provide different sorts of short-term advantages for those who can manipulate the system to conform to specific goals. (Ttreault and Abel, 1998: p. 3). For instance the flow of resources, the availability of money as well as the cost of doing business can be manipulated, even by weak countries if they seize the right moment. While the material reality may be evolving toward a complex interactive system, such an outcome serves to justify and describe one way or another to rig the system to a particular advantage rather than to structure a mutually beneficial international economic order likely to raise overall global wea lth but unlikely to generate individual distinction or preeminence for particular countries. (Ttreault and Abel, 1998: p. 3). Dependency theory refer to a set of theories, which maintained that third world countries fail to attain adequate and sustainable levels of development as a result of their dependence on the advanced capitalist economies. (Scott and Marshall, 2005). Built upon Lenin's theories of imperialism, the theory focused upon the economic penetration of the third world particularly Latin America by the large capitalist economies. (Lievesley, 2003). Dependency theory was developed in 1960 and called into question the structural developmentalism associated with Raul Presbish as well as the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLA), which emerged in 1948 in Santiago, Chile. (Lievesley, 2003). According to the ECLA, the world was regarded as divided into center (the developed, industrialized North) and the periphery (the underdeveloped agricultural South) and the relationship between them was determined by the structure of the world economy. (Lievesley, 2003). The economy of Latin America concentrated on the production of primary inputs for export to the developed industrialized North. Presbish later discovered that instead of a mutually advantageous relationship between North and South, there was an unequal exchange with Latin American economies facing a long-term secular decline in their terms of trade thereby resulting in a chronic balance of payment deficits with the periphery having to export more and more in order to maintain the same levels of manufactured imports. (Lievesley, 2003). The figure in the following page represents the relationship between the developed industrialized North and the underdeveloped agricultural south. Figure 1. Dependency Theory Core/Metropolitan Centre Power Development Unequal Exchange Periphery Under development Marginal = Dependency Theory Source: Lecture Notes. Frank, a German Economist of development was the major contributor to dependency theory who in his book Capitalism and Underdevelopment in Latin America (1967), concentrated upon the external mechanisms of control exerted by the centre (or metropole) upon the periphery (or satellite). (Lievesley, 2003; Scott and Marshal, 2005). The centre maintained the periphery in a state of underdevelopment for

Credo essay Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Credo essay - Coursework Example Although we might not always be able be in a position to see the foundations of grand skyscrapers, we know that there has to be one because without it, the tall skyscraper would collapse when faced with the smallest gust of wind. For me, my family is essentially this foundation, it is my biggest supporter when I need to be encouraged and assured, and it is where I run to when things do not work out and I feel insecure. Family is of great importance and has an influence on the individuals we turn out to be, we cannot hide our true feelings from our families as they can always see right through us. My family has been instrumental in teaching me how to relate and interact with others. From my family, I have managed to gain a number of strong role models, ranging from my father who is always strong in the face of any calamity and never runs away from bravely confronting any challenges in life, to my grandmother whose special brand of affection is truly one of life’s greatest treas ures, my small sister whose openness and vivacity is quite infectious to my mother endless love that we constantly draw upon. There is nothing as good as the joy that is shared all round when a family sits down to enjoy each other’s company and laugh together. At times families do tend to experience difficulties that cause them to close ranks and cry, but this is ultimately overshadowed by the certain morning that is sure to eventually breakout as the family overcomes the challenges in their paths and are able to once again able to enjoy the joy of sunshine after a dark moment and laugh together. My family comforts and helps me to deal with life’s challenges; whether it is something as relatively small as not finding a favorite pair of shoes to wear when I want to go out, or something as monumental as the cold touch of death. I go through life with the quite assurance that in the face of calamities and challenging situations, I can always look up to my family for support and

LAB8 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

LAB8 - Essay Example Take a walk of approximately one mile along a country road or walk at least 30 minutes in a city or town and record the trash that was improperly disposed of in the natural environment. (It’s a good way to get some extra exercise this week too). Use the same categories as in question #1 above, but be more specific (i.e., how many glass or metal cans, how many old tires, etc.) were found along your walk. Keep your eyes open for all sorts of waste, which could be defined as anything that is not natural in the environment. If you try to help the environment by picking up the refuse, please wear protective gloves. Recondition tires are retread tires; they are able to be repaired and can once again be used safely on a vehicle. Reprocessed tires are those tires that at are too damaged to be reconditioned or repaired are often reprocessed tires, can reappear and be repurposed for application as in asphalt and road ways. Firstly, coffee grounds can be added to compost when saved, they can purchase local fresh fruits and vegetables to serve at their cafà ©, they can use real cups, as opposed to paper or plastic, selling used and donated books is also a very helpful contribution that many coffee houses could make. Recycling the packaging and reusing shipping boxes can be both money saving and environmentally friendlier. Companies can also switch from traditional packing popcorn and switch to a new packing material that can be disintegrate with water when no longer needed, unlike Styrofoam. Motor Oil can be recycles and is very detrimental when simply dumped in the environment. CFCs, or Chlorofluorocarbons, found in cooling systems are environmentally damaging and should be collected. Finally, all of the cleaning solvents mechanics use to clean the working parts of vehicles, these should be collected. The Savemor’s reduce waste by maintaining household appliances and when they need replacing always invest in energy efficient

Islamic and Western Civilizations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Islamic and Western Civilizations - Essay Example However, there is a section of the academic community that has opposed the clash theory from the start and continues to attack it as having proceeded on the wrong premise. This paper assessed the rationale and validity of Huntington's thesis and evaluated the logic of the arguments lined up by critics against it. The new world order seen by Huntington (1996) after the Cold War, in which the bloodiest clashes will occur between Islam and the West, is actually prefigured by events in early history that included the European forays of Islamic forces in Europe. Troops carrying the Islamic flag supposedly attacked the Ottoman Turks in Vienna and parts of Eastern Europe and conquered but were later repulsed from Iberia. In effect, there had always been an ideological conflict between Islam and Christianity, on which Western civilization is based, because of the universal belief that one's religion is always better than the others. For this reason, followers of one religion seek to convert others and this becomes the source of conflicts. Huntington in his book Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order indicated that through the years, as Western countries prospered and outpaced other regions that practice non-Christian religions, the concept of universalism acquired more than religious meaning in the West, which began to believe that all civilizations should adopt Western values. This is perceived to be the underlying reason behind the US invasion of Iraq and its continued presence in that Muslim country. This becomes a source of great resentment for Muslims, especially the Islamic fundamentalists. All these historical and modern factors combined have led and would farther lead to bloody clashes between the Islamic and Western civilizations. Among the more recent expressions of such anti-Western resentment were 9/11, the Afghanistan-Iraq conflict, and the Israeli-Hizbollah-Lebanese wars in 2006. Fault Line Wars In Huntington's view, conflicts between different civilizations manifest itself in two forms - fault line conflicts and core state conflicts. Fault line conflicts are those that occur between neighboring states belonging to different civilizations or within states that are home to populations from different civiliz

Giving Advice on How Actors Should Play Their Role in Act 3 Scene 1 of Romeo and Juliet Essay Example for Free

Giving Advice on How Actors Should Play Their Role in Act 3 Scene 1 of Romeo and Juliet Essay You are going to write in role as Gregory Doran, the new artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company. You are going to give a lecture to the actors you have chosen to plsy Romeo, Benvolio and Mercutio. What advice would you give them about how and why they should act in Act 3 Scene 1? In Act 3 Scene 1 of Romeo Juliet, Shakespeare raises the excitement and the tension throughout the scene by using dramatic tension between the characters, provocative and threatening dialogue, strong language effects, and sharp vital violence. The sudden, fatal violence in the first scene of Act 3, as well as the buildup to the fighting, serves as a reminder that, for all its emphasis on love, beauty, and romance, Romeo and Juliet still takes place in a masculine world in which notions of honor, pride, and status are prone to erupt in a fury of conflict. The viciousness and dangers of the play’s social environment are dramatic tools that Shakespeare employs to make the lovers’ romance seem even more precious and fragile—their relationship is the audience’s only respite from the brutal world pressing against their love. The scene begins with Mercutio continuously brushing off Benvolios advice as a peacekeeper to keep calm and he instead accuses Benvolio of being a hypocrite. This implies that Mercutio is very obstinate and is quick to cast suspicions and false accusations on others without much thinking. Mercutio accuses that Benvolio is just as violent and hot headed as him, Come, come, thou art as hot a Jack in thy mood as any in Italy, without any proof. This implies that Mercutio is the type of character to jump in head first and rarely listens to others advice. Later on in the scene, Benvolio exclaims By my head here come the Capulets upon Tybalts arrival, and to this Mercutio replies By my heel I care not. The phrase I care not notions that Mercutio does not see any problem in Tybalts arrival, which in turn means that he is intending on provoking a fight which accentuates that Clearly Mercutio is in an aggressive mood. Tybalt addresses Mercutio and Benvolio. â€Å" ‘Gentlemen, good den, a word with one of you’ † Up to this point, Tybalt is courteous – his quarrel is with Romeo, not with Benvolio or Mercutio. However Mercutio is extremely provocatice and he responds to Tybalt, asking a word with one of them with, â€Å"Make it a word and a blow.† The audience feels there is a fight in prospect. Which achieves Shakespeares purpose and intended effect. Mercutio is clearly being very confrontational in this scene, therefore, the actor should deliver his lines imposingly, loud and clear in a tone of anger. When Tybalt appears, he should spit his words and when provoking Tybalt, the actor should increase their volume and have a very irritated and aggressive facial expression by grinding his teeth. However, when imitating Tybalt and making a mockery out of him, his actions should be over the top. His movements at the beginning of the scene should reflect his provocative behaviour and therefore he should walk with big strides and a fast pace. As he is ignoring Benvolios advice, eye contact should be avoided up until the point that Mercutio accuses him. When this happens, the actor playing Mercution should suddenly stop to build up tension then turn around and point at Benvolio. Mercutios costume should be a red sleeveless shirt as r ed reflects aggression , with tattered and ripped pants if possible to emphasis his wild nature. Another option for the top is a leather jacket and piercings and metal studs as accessories to clearly showcase his obstinate and hot-headed personality. Romeo, by contrast, is as passionate about love as Tybalt and Mercutio are about hostility. Romeo appears, cheerful and contented with having wed Juliet only hours before, and unaware that hes even been challenged to a duel. Until Mercutio dies, Romeo remains emotionally distinct from the other characters in the scene. Romeo walks atop his euphoric cloud buoyed by blissful thoughts of marriage to Juliet, peace, unity, and harmony. In response to Tybalts attempts to initiate a fight, Romeo tells Tybalt that he loves thee better than thou canst devise. Ironically, Romeos refusal to duel with Tybalt brings about the very acceleration of violence he sought to prevent. When Romeo enters the scene, Tybalt and Mercutio are in the middle of a scuffle, he immediately tries to not be drawn into the fiery atmosphere and tries to keep calm. Doth much excuses the appertaining rage to such a greeting. The word excuse; was deliberately used by Shakespeare to convince the audience that Romeo is not interested in violence but rather peace and wellbeing of all are his best interests. While talking, Romeo should be very soft-spoken and not provocative in anyway. Eye contact should be avoided and eyes should be averted to the feet to show timidness and reluctance to fight. When Mercutio and Tybalt are about to fight, he even tries to persuade Mercutio to put thy rapier up. The fact that he asks his best friend to stop fighting instead of the opposing side shows that he is completely passive in violence and displays his desperation for peace. During the conflict, the actor playing Romeo should never retaliate but instead tolerate all hits or simply avoid them to depict his passive and peaceful nature. However, after Mercutio is injured and dies, his attitude should change completely and resemble that of Mercutios. Romeos behaviour should then be similar to Mercutios. While challenging Tybalt and fighting with him, the actor playing Romeo should show no hint compassion, a stern face and and clenched fists with a to reflect his change demeanor as stated in the book, A nd fire-eyed fury be my conduct now. After Tybalts death by his hands, Romeo should then retreat into confusion, reflecting on what he has done. Oh I am fortunes fool! The word fool suggests that Romeo admits that he was overwhelmed by anger and blind fury at that point in time and regrets being unable to control himself. Romeos costume should be very sophisticated after returning from his wedding with Juliet and therefore he should be well-groomed. During his battle with Tybalt, his clothes should then be torned and messy to symbolise his transition from a peaceful person into a murderer full of vengeance. Benvolio still maintains his status as a peacekeeper throughout the entire play, however, unlike romeo he totally does not involves himself in any conflict and always prefers to just watch form the side, and this can be interpreted in theatrical set-up to advice the actor playing Benvolio to never be the centre of attention on stage and to position himself either downstage, or centre stage right, but never centre sta ge. At the beginning of the scene he advices Mercutio to stop wandering around as to avoid a conflict, The day is hot and the Capels are abroad, And if we meet, we shall not scape a brawl. The phrase not scape conveys the impression that Benvolio does not like to attract much attention and be drawn into violent combat. This characteristic can be interpreted as cowardice, but also wisdom. Benvolio knows that if another brawl occurs between the two families, someone will be killed and therefore tries to plan in advance, trying to omit all possibilities of a fight happening. Benvolio is also not offended when Mercutio makes advances on him and accuses him of being a hypocrite which portrays him as a matured character. Benvolio replies with And what to? to Mercutios statement and this presupposes that he pays no heed to Mercutio because he thinks of him as a child but is only worried that he will start a fight which explains his concern on Mercutios hot-headed behaviour. While trying to convince Mercutio to stop with his combative and warlike behaviour, the Benvolios actor should be very insistent that Mercutio calm down but indifferent towards his insults to reflect his maturity. When Tybalt enters the stage, Benvolio plays a smaller part and should move away from the center-stage in the moments that lead up to the fight to indicate his cowardice and reluctance to participate in combat. Once he starts explaining to the Prince what had happened, Benvolio should still maintain his composure and calmly explain the situation because in Shakespeares original version of Romeo and Juliet, his explanation is long, but still contains the key details of the event, Tybalt, here slain, whose Romeos hand did slay†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Benvolio should wear a green shirt, as green resembles peace and is the colour of nature, hence life which is an accurate symbol of Benvolios tendency to avoid brawls and conflicts. I have picked out and analysed single words from Act 3 Scene 1, I have commented on how Shakespeare gets his message across and have started to develop an appreciation for the techniques that he uses. I have also given out advice on how the actors should deliver their lines, their facial expressions as well as physical gestures and their costumes.

Aegon Group International: Change Management Strategies

Aegon Group International: Change Management Strategies INTRODUCTION TO THE CHOOSEN ORGANIZATION: AEGON Group (AEGON N.V.), an international provider of life insurance, pensions and other long-term investment products. Based in The Hague, the Netherlands, AEGON has around 40 million policyholders and approximately 28,000 employees around the world. It has assets, including all revenue-generating investments, of à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬405 billion ( £348 billion).* AEGONs mission is to help customers secure their long-term financial futures. AEGON has three main established markets: the United States, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Recently, AEGON has expanded its international presence, pushing into new growth markets in the Americas, Asia and Central and Eastern Europe. At present, AEGON has businesses in more than 20 markets across the globe. AEGON has a clear, well-defined strategy, aimed at creating long-term value for all the companys stakeholders. Committed to its core businesses (life insurance and pensions), AEGON seeks profitable, sustainable growth and pursues a multi-channel approach to distribution to give customers access to products and services in the way that best suits them. AEGON was created in 1983 the result of a merger between two Dutch insurance companies AGO and Ennia. And many of the companies who form AEGON have a long history. For example, in the United States, Monumental Life based in Baltimore has been insuring people since 1858, while in the United Kingdom, AEGON (a brand name of Scottish Equitable plc) has been in existence since the early 1830s. *Source: AEGON N.V. quarterly results, 30 September 2010 TASK 1; EXPLORE THE BACKGROUND TO CHANGE AFFECTING THE ORGANIZATION. (A) IDENTIFY A RANGE OF MODELS OF CHANGE MANAGEMENT AND EXPLAIN THE ANY THREE OF THESE MODELS IN DETAIL. McKINSEY 7-S MODEL: The McKinsey 7-S Model was created by Tom Peters and Robert Waterman whilst they were working for McKinsey Company in 1978 (12Manager, 2007. According to this model there are seven different factors that are a part of the model: Shared values Strategy Structure Systems Style Staff Skills Shared values are the centre of the model because it is what the organization believes in and stands for, such as the mission of the company. Strategy represents what the company plans to do react to any changes of its external surroundings (Recklies, 2007). The structure refers to the organizational structure of the company. Systems are the portion of the model that represents the procedures, processes and routines that characterize how the work should be done. Staff is quite obvious in the fact that it is a proper representation of who is employed by the organization and what they do within the organization (12Manage, 2007). Style signifies the organizational culture and management styles that are utilized within the organization (12Manage, 2007). Skills indicate the abilities and competencies of either the employees or the organization holistically. LEWINNS CHANGE MANAGEMENT MODEL: This model was developed in early 1950s by Kurt Lewin a psychologiest. Lewin recognized following three stages of change (Syque, 2007), Unfreeze Ttransition Refreeze The majority of people tends to stay within certain safe zones and is hesitant of change (Syque, 2007). These people tend to become comfortable in this unchanging environment and become uncomfortable when any change occurs, even if it is a minor one. In order to overcome this frozen state, we must initiate an unfreeze period, which is done through motivation (Mind Tools, 2007). Motivation is important in any organization, even when it is not changing. The transition period is when the change is occurring, which is a voyage and not a step.. The transition period takes time because people do not like change. At the end of the transitional voyage, comes the next stage: refreeze. This is the stage where the company once again becomes stable. Kotters Eight Step Change Model; According to this model there are eight steps that must be followed for successful change. Step One: Increase urgency for change Step Two: Build a team for the change Step Three: Construct the vision Step Four: Communicate Step Five: Empower Step Six: Create short term goals Step Seven: Be persistent Step Eight: Make the change permanent The first step is to create urgency for change. This means that we have to convince the employees that this change is necessary for the company to survive. This also means that we must communicate that the change is achievable without any detrimental effects on their jobs. The next step is to build a team for the change, which has to be of some respected employees within the company. The third step is to construct the vision, which will show clear direction to how the change will better the future of the company and their jobs (Rose, 2002). The fourth step is to communicate this vision. In order for the vision to work it must be fully understand by the employees, which means that it is necessary for the leaders of the change group to follow this vision. The fifth step it to empower the employees to execute the change. It is still important that the management follow the same guidelines as the employees are too. By creating short term goals, we assist the employees to accept the chang e by showing them progress. Rewards are very important at this step also. The seventh step is about persistence because we should influence more change even after the short term goals are met or the original plan for change will cease and die (Rose, 2002). The final step is to make the change permanent by moving fitting it into the companys culture and practices, such as promotion (Chapman, 2006). (B) IDENTIFY AND LIST THE FACTORS THAT ARE DRIVING YOUR CHOSEN ORGANIZATION TO CHANGE, AND SUGGEST AN APPROPRIATE MODEL OF CHANGE FOR YOUR CHOSEN ORGANIZAITON WITH REASONS FOR SUGGESTING THE MODEL. In case of AEGON UK following are the deriving forces for organizational change. Financial restructuring in the United Kingdom. Growth in population and changes in demographic attributes. Cultural diversification in the UK. Changes in social dimensions of the United Kingdom. Evolution of political orientation and policies. Increase in the domestic purchasing power. Institutional and policies neglect regarding the financial products. High competitiveness and consequent challenges. Deficient Management practices. Inefficiency in processes. In the personal opinion of the researcher the best choice of change model that should be applicable in case of AEGON UK is Kotters Eight Step Change Model. The researcher believes this is the best choice because it is simple mode. Researcher thinks in this way because it fully prepares the employees of the company before the vision is even created, which means that the actual transition will be much easier in the long run. There are fewer disadvantages to this model than others. Overall it is the best fit for most companies because substantial change is needed for the divisions because its history. This will also help ease the transition because the division has quite a history compared to the rest of the company, so people are not as set in the ways, as they would be if the division had been around longer. (C) IDENTIFY THE VALUE OF STRATEGIC INTERVENTION TECHNIQUES AND WHAT INTERVENTION TECHNIQUES WOULD YOU APPLY IN INTRODUCING CHANGE INTO YOUR CHOSEN ORGANIZATION; There is no question that some form of strategic planning is key to an organizations future performance. However, there are several challenges to implementing this type of planning in an organization. Large group interventions are one set of methods for addressing these challenges. In case of AEGON UK strategic planning implies planning for the long-term. The time frame associated with this type of planning is from three to five years into the future. Due to this timeframe, there are several challenges associated with long-range planning. These include: creating a plan that is breakthrough in its orientation rather than more of the same, getting all stakeholders to commit to the organizations strategies and to follow through on implementation of critical activities, and decreasing cycle time in the planning process. In todays world, organizations cannot afford these challenges. To survive, they must be able to quickly create, deploy, and implement breakthrough strategies that help them to continually anticipate and meet current and future customer requirements. In doing so, they must be able to align all internal and external resources around the plan. This sort of orientation necessitates approaches to strategic planning that involve all employees and stakeholders in the planning process and a planning process that can occur within a shortened time frame. The researcher will prefer to adopt Large Group Interventions Technique to address the proposed change in the chosen organization AEGON. LARGE GROUP INTERVENTIONS: Over the past 20 years, a number of large group intervention techniques have emerged that more quickly effect large-scale change. As such, they have been effective tools in dealing with some of the issues associated with strategic planning. These intervention techniques include: Design, Participative Design, Simu-Real, Work-outs, and Open Space Technology. As summarized in the book, Large Group Interventions, by Barbara Benedict Bunker and Billie Alban, these approaches allow organizations to involve anywhere from 30 to hundreds, if not a few thousand, individuals in working together to accomplish a common outcome. They may come together for a single day or multiple days or events. In the process of working collaboratively, the organization can more quickly achieve what Kathleen Dannemiller has coined one heart and one mind-a key factor in organizational alignment. These approaches have several defining characteristics. They are best used when: Time is of the essence. The issue is complex. The purpose of the intervention is clear. There is committed and involved leadership. Benefits can be reaped from stakeholder involvement and ownership. A design team that is representative of the whole is engaged to develop the content and process pieces of the intervention as well as its follow-up, support, and communications plan. Real work occurs during the event. Large group interventions have been used successfully in diverse industries hence the researcher believes this type of strategic intervention technique will be effective for AEGON UK. TASK 2 UNDERSTAND ISSUSES RELATING TO STRATEGIC CHANGE IN THE ORGANIZATION (A) DISCUSS THE GENERIC BACKGROUND TO CHANGE THAT EXISTS IN TODAYS ECONOMY, AND THE SPECIFIC DRIVES THAT MOTIVATED YOUR CHOSEN ORGANIZATION TO CONSIDER CHANGE. World appears to be integrating economically, politically and culturally. Irrespective of the national boundaries huge developments in information, communication and technology has taken place. Ownership patters of corporate sector all over the world have become more complex like joint ventures, cross-border acquisitions etc. Global strategies have emerged in the production of goods and services, distribution and management of labour. These have had an immense impact on business activities. The world economy is now more closely interlinked and the finance has become a global resource. In the current economic circumstances organizations are facing both external and internal forces that ultimately make change unavoidable. External forces such as new work force demographics; changing expectations about quality, productivity, and customer satisfaction; and new technologies are dramatically affecting the operating environment in organizations globe wise. Internally, financial limitations, the condition to do more with less, cross-functional groups, mergers and acquisitions and empowered employees all influences organizations position to compete in the global marketplace. Outsourcing, automation, best practices, downsizing, globalization, repositioning, re-engineering, and all other such terms refer towards change to your work force. It does not matter how do you define this change the fact is that challenge to the organization is inevitable; balancing the demands and hopes among the stakeholders including customer, employees, management and shareholders. Without balance, an organization risks an anxious work force that may yield declining output. The magnitude of the success of the organization depends how an organization decides to motive, correspond and incorporate change into the work force. So we can say that change is a process not an event. In the corporate world, when any or all of the factors such as; environment, technology, task, structure or people are altered fully or partially, the phenomenon is called as change. Whenever in the corporate environment deriving forces and restraining forces are not in equilibrium, there is a need for the change. In case of the AEGON UK there were many deriving forces that caused the background of change in AEGON UK. AEGON UK was although was bearing international repute but still it didnt had band awareness by the name of AEGON in the United Kingdom. The philosophy of the financial services products that were being sold by AEGON UK or its competitors were quite difficult to understand by the potential customers. Life expectancy in the United Kingdom has increased in the recent years so people can expect to be retired for longer age and similarly many individual never think it worthy to plan about their retirement properly, on the other hand there was a derive from the government to reduce dependency on the state in old age so there was a need to make a social awareness among the people for the benefits of having the financial products sold by the AEGON UK to secure there future because benefit of these investments usually realised in later years. AEGON was not well recognised in the areas ot her than pensions. Above stated reasons are the few of those that lead management to introduce change in the corporate structure and strategy of the AEGON UK Limited. (B) CONSIDER THE IMPLICAITONS IN TERMS OF RESOURCES, FOR YOUR CHOSEN ORGANIZATION IF IT FAILED TO RESPOND TO THE NEED FOR STRATEGIC CHANGE. Human and other Capacity Requirements The human capacity and skills required to implement the strategy, current and potential sources of these resources. Also, other capacity needs required such as internal systems, management structures, engaged partners and Network NOs and POs, and a supportive legal framework etc. Financial Requirements The funding required implementing the proposed management strategy, current and potential sources of these funds, and the most critical resource and funding gaps. Risk Assessment and Mitigation Strategy What risks exist and how they can be addressed. Estimate of Project Lifespan, Sustainability, and Exit Strategy How long the strategy will stand implemented, after how long and why strategy will require modifications (if feasible to do so), and how it will ensure sustainability of the corporate objective achievements. Strategic Change Management Plan may only be considered complete when these components have been defined, at least in broad terms. As the project moves into change implementation, several of these components are then defined in more detail and tested in reality. TASK 3 DEVELOP SYSTEMS FOR UNDERSTANDING AND INVOLVING OTHERS IN THE PROCESS OF CHANGE (A) IDENTIFY THE KEY STAKEHOLDERS IN YOUR CHOSEN ORGANIZATION AND PROPOSE SYSTEMS TO INVOLVE THOSE STAKEHOLDERS IN THE PLANNING OF CHANGE. Stake holders are the people who are directly affected by the decisions of an entity. Stake holder may be internal (management, employees etc.) or external (government, suppliers, banks, media, shareholders etc). Different stake holders have different expectations from the organization. In the process of change, stake holders can be involved in a number of ways suck as; Involve them in problem solving. Keep them up to date of standing towards corporate objectives? Take actions on feedback received by them? Mobilize the correct resources at the right moment to recognize the implementation plan? In order to involve the stake holders to the process of change the new chief executive officer of AEGON carried out the following actions; Simplification of Financial Services; for the purpose of involving the customers to the process of change the Chief Executive Officer of AEGON adopted a customer focused approach. The CEO simplified the ever complex financial services in terms of their understanding and it was now made very simple to understand. Now the customers know that what they are investing into and what return their investment is expected to yield at the end of the contract. Earlier customers have always been confused between the complex calculations. Now the customers are happy because they dont need any financial interpreter to understand the ins and outs of the products offered by the AEGON. Workforce Development; An-other very important stake holder of the organization is the employees. These are actually the people who are practically responsible for to make the change process successful or not. Before implementing the change the new CEO took the employees in confidence and brief them about the fact that what AEGON stands today and what AEGON wants to stand in the future and he also address the forces reasoning this change. Next step is to develop the new skilled required to implement the change, the CEO introduced job rotation which involves progression from one job to the other job. Hence it provided individual employees with a coherent career path. CEO also arranged a Management Development Programme in collaboration with a leading management college for the training of the workforce. Creating Distinct Market Place; To refresh the brand identity of AEGON into the minds of the people the CEO carried out an external promotional campaign to highlight the relationship between the locally famous Scottish Equitable and AEGON. Also the CEO spoke to the media stating the reasons for the change and how the change will be useful for the stakeholders. (B) ANALYSE AND EVALUATE THE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF THESE SYSTEMS. The systems stated above in part (A) were used to involve the different people into the process of change. The need for this change was actually those external and internal forces that were affecting the performance of the AEGON. The AEGON business was not going well due to a number of key issues. Due to those issues the Chief Executive Officer had to bring some changes into the line of operation and the way of operations by AEGON. The Chief Executive Officer related this change programme being fully customer focused and associated this whole change project with certain behaviours which are; think customer; embrace change, encourage excellence, act with integrity, decisive action, work together, learn and grow relate and communicate. The employees were trained about these behaviours by a leading management institute. Another reason for this system of change relating to the problem that AEGON was facing was that the consumers were not aware about the products and services provided by AEGON. The customers had always been confused about understanding their investment policy. They had never been able to make comparison among the services provided by AEGON neither about the possible outcome if they invest into them. As to the reaction of the fact the Chief Executive Officer simplified the description of the product to the extent that every person could understand and calculate the financial flows regarding the products offered by AEGON. This strategy really worked and AEGON have a very positive response from its customers. The other system that the Chief Executive Officer developed was to train the workforce. First the employees were addressed about the need for the change and the possible proposed changes and before implementing the change it is very essential that the workforce is capable enough to perform their duties into the new environment. For the purpose workforce was developed with rotating job descriptions and Management Development Programme was conducted by a leading management college to train the employees about how to respond to the change. Finally the Chief Executive Officer had to respond to the most vital reason for the change that is the fact that AEGON was trading under many different trade names into the same geographical location. This was the greatest reason because of which AEGON had not taken a distinct market place despite of such a historical background and multinational presence. The CEO for the purpose spoke to the media and addressed the whole situation, besides that many others measures were taken to establish a brand position, for instance Scottish Equitable was changed to AEGON Scottish-Equitable representing the repute of the local company and the brand of AEGON similarly external promotional campaign was incorporated into the system. (C) EXPLAIN HOW WOULD YOU DEVELOP A CHANGE MANAGEMENT STRATEGY WITH THE KEY STAKEHOLDERS. Stakeholder management is critical to the success of introducing change in the organization .The more people are being affected by change, the more likely it is that your actions will impact people who have power and influence over your projects. These people could be strong supporters of your work or they could block it. Stakeholder Management Strategy is an important discipline that successful people use to win support from others. It helps them ensure that their projects succeed where others fail. Stakeholder Analysis is the technique used to identify the key people who have to be won over. You then use Stakeholder Planning to build the support that helps you succeed. The benefits of using a stakeholder-based approach are that: The opinions of the most powerful stakeholders to shape change implementation at an early stage. Not only does this make it more likely that they will support you, their input can also improve the quality of your project Gaining support from powerful stakeholders can help you to win more resources this makes it more likely that your projects will be successful By communicating with stakeholders early and frequently, you can ensure that they fully understand what you are doing and understand the benefits of your project this means they can support you actively when necessary By anticipating what peoples reaction to your project may be, and build into your plan the actions that will win peoples support. (D) WHAT WOULD BE YOUR STRATEGY FOR MANAGING RESISTANCE TO CHANGE IN THIS ORGANIZATION? The researcher has developed following strategy for managing resistance to change in the AEGON. There will be a workflow process in order to achieve results for mutual benefits for employees and organization. There will be an Authority Process in order to direct behaviour in the interests of the organization and its participants. There would be a Reward and Penalty Process to induce people to behave in a way required by the interests of the organization and its participants and / or to behave in a way making associated activity possible. There will be a Perpetuation Process to maintain, replenish, and make adequate the quantity and quality of social and natural resources utilized by the organization and its participants. There must be an Identification Process to develop a concept of the wholeness, uniqueness and significance of the organization. This is usually accompanied by efforts to select and define clearly understood emotionally toned symbols, concepts, or other such factors which will help individual participants identify the uniqueness of the organization as a whole, which in turn automatically helps to define the uniqueness of the organization in the larger environment in which it is embedded. There will be a communication process to provide for the exchange of information, ideas, feelings and values etc utilized in all activities to the stake holders. There must be an evaluation process which establishes criteria for and defines levels of utility and value for people, materials, ideas, and activities and which rates them and allocates them to these levels. TASK 4 PLAN TO IMPLEMENT MODELS FOR ENSURING ONGOING CHANGE (A) IDENTIFY APPROPRIATE MODELS FOR IMPLEMENTING CHANGE THAT SUITE YOUR CHOSEN ORGANIZAITON. Model for change refers towards the overall strategy to incorporate change into the organizational environment. A model of change is usually implemented into the following steps; Access the necessity of change Forming a powerful alliance Creating an idea for change Communicate the vision Remove barriers Incorporate the change into organization The Chief Executive Officer implemented the same model to incorporate change into the organization. The CEO realised the need for the changed and he came to know that company is not doing well as compared to its competitors, the legislative restriction of price has decreased the profitability lack of brand awareness getting worst and difficulty of the customers understanding the soul of the services offered by the AEGON were the factors that required an immediate change into the organization at a large scale. It was what AEGON was at the moment. The CEO conducted a SWOT analysis of the firm. After getting the situation the CEO decided to develop a new behavioural framework for the staff which was known as 8 behaviours framework and also arranged managerial training for the workforce. The CEO further addressed to the stakeholders of the organization to communicate his vision to them by simplifying the financial services, developing a workforce and arranging a brand awareness campaign. The CEO also spoke to the media about this change process and the reasons for the change. Hence model implemented by the CEO of AEGON UK brought about considerable positive change to the organization and gave it a new line of direction towards the desired goals and objectives. (B) HOW WOULD YOU IMPLEMENT THIS MODEL IN CHOSEN ORGANIZATION WHAT IMPROVEMENTS DO YOU EXPECT TO ACHIEVE BY IMPLEMENTING YOUR CHOSEN MODEL AND HOW WOULD YOU MEASURE THESE? The plan for the change was implemented into the various steps such as discovery phase to analyze where the AEGON is right now, where it wants to be and what actions are required to meet the objectives set by the Chief Executive Officer to become the best long term saving and protection business into the United Kingdom. Discovery phase revealed the reasons for changes and weaknesses and strengths of the organization. After the discovery phase the next step was to involve the appropriate stake holders into the process of change. The chief executive officer involved various stakeholders in different effective manner as discussed previously. The CEO further redeveloped the organizational behavioural framework and arranged the training of the staff members. The outcomes of the efforts made by the CEO were extremely encouraging and rewarding for the company. Before the change there was confusion among the people about the recognition of AEGON but after the heavy promotion of the brand AEGON with Scottish-Equitable created a more reliable image of the AEGON into the minds of the people. Further to that the brand carried a new more powerful and prestigious look as AEGON Scottish-Equitable. The behaviour of the employees changed altogether, now they behave with more customer focused approach. Now the employees are concern to provide useful and relevant services to their existing and potential customers and the organization is always doing its level best to do what is really important to their customers. By the change into the structure of AEGON now the customers are being offered more choices of services. AEGON launched new and ground-breaking products like the 5 for Life annuity has facilitated to change the way in which consumers can look at their retirement income. AEGON providing the levels of return promised and being responsible for any risks associated with doing so it provides more certainty about levels of income for the consumer. In short as the result of the change implement by the CEO of AEGON the company rebuilt its brand reputation, became more customer focused, started to provide more innovative products and became more popular among the consumers and ultimately the business has grown to a gigantic extent. In order to become more customers focused the new Chief Executive Officer decided to develop a new organizational behaviour framework to support the brand values of AEGON. Behavioural framework is the structured pre-defined codes of behaviour how the individuals working within the organization are suppose to behave among themselves and to the people outside the organization. Presence of the behavioural framework gives rise to the similar behavioural and ethical values of all the individuals at all levels with in the organizational. Behavioural framework developed by the AEGON was mainly focusing 8 behavioural values which are; THINK CUSTOMER; EMBRACE CHANGE; ENCOURAGE EXCELLENCE; ACT WITH INTEGRITY; DECISIVE ACTIONS; WORK TOGETHER; LEARN GROW; RELATE COMMUNICATE As the part of their strategy AEGON also undertook an audit to look at the two aspects which were the internal position of the company and how AEGON was positioned internally into the market respectively. The audit revealed that AEGON was firmly positioned within the market. Its workforce was known for their considerable expertise, innovation and clarity of communication. The external audit also helped to determine where AEGON was placed in relation to its competitors. This audit provided a very important vision to the decisions that were needed to initiate the change process.

The Monsters in My Head, Frank Langellas Essay

The Monsters in My Head, Frank Langellas Essay The Monsters of Life In Frank Langellas essay â€Å"The Monsters in My Head,† Langella describes fear as a monster our imagination that changes as we get older, Langella also describes how one should confront and control the â€Å"monsters† that are in our heads. I agree with Langella, that one should not fear the â€Å"Monsters† of life that one should confront or overcome fear itself because, if one does not overcome these monsters, these monsters will end up eating us or hunting us for the rest of our lives. In Langellas essay â€Å"The Monsters in My Head,† Langella describes that when he was a young kid, a mummy would come into his room every night to hunt him down, but then one night the mummy did not show up for its nightly routine, it had disappeared. Years and years passed till, one night when Langella already had a son, a four year old. Another monster showed up to eat up his sons sleep. Langella went into action with his macho strategy of fighting his sons monster with a pillow. So, from that night on he would always do his heroic achievement, fighting his sons monster off. After weeks of this continuing battle, Langella realized that the monster would return every time his son wanted it to return. Langella then reflected on his mummys disappearance and realized that his own monster had never gone away, it was always there next him, but it had changed shapes and sizes as rapidly as he grew older. As he grew older, Langellas monster went from a mummy to a flying object. The n it changed to a first date, a first rejection and then to marriage and now fatherhood. Then Langella told his son that he was not going to fight the monster anymore because it was his sons monster and he had to fight it himself since the monster was in his sons head, and only his son could control it. The monster never returned to hunt and eat up his sons slumber. It actually changed its form. The monster became his sons new favorite playmate. So, Langella attempts to suggest strategies to overcome and control the â€Å"monsters† or the fears of life. Langellas arguments of controlling and overcoming ones fears are true because I have experienced these â€Å"monsters† or these fears myself through my lifetime. When I was about ten, I used to dread watching horror films because after watching these gruesome-massacring films, I would always relive those scary-horrid scenes in my own dreams or as we well known them as nightmares. So, every time when my family wanted to watch these crimson-thrillers, I would just go to my room and watch cartoons to invade these things we call nightmares or monsters, that will come in the pitch-black night to eat us or hunt us down. One night, my uncle Rodolfo came over to watch the Boogeyman. My uncle told me not to be afraid of fictional-monsters that only existed in my head. So, I stayed that night to watch this terrifying -cliffhanger movie. As I anxiously watched the movie, I realized that the main character, Tim, was also afraid of this monster, the boogeyman, which Tim believed that it li ved in his closet, and would come out at night to terrify Tims sleep away. The point is that one day Tim decided that he wanted to confront this monster, so in other words he wanted to be brave and take control. As I watched the movie, I reflected and realized that I could also control and overcome my fear for screaming-suspense moving pictures or in other words horror movies. Then I told myself everything is in my head these monsters do not exist, they are imaginary. So, from that night on, I always enjoy the thrilling sensation of getting my hairs spike up after seeing a great scary movie without having any monsters invading my wondrous dreams. Like Langella said, we should overcome, control, and fight our own monsters, just like how I had to learn to fight and control my fear of having nightmares hunting me down after watching a horror movie. One has to always remember that these â€Å"monsters† or â€Å"fears† are just in our heads. Langellas argues that these â€Å"monsters† still stand next to us side by side every day, every hour, every minute that the clocks runs, these monsters never go away. They just change shapes and sizes. My monsters are always with me. They are my favorite companions with whom I go to school, my classes, and my every day activities. My monsters are my challenges and fears, my ups and downs; they are what keep me going. The â€Å"monsters† that only exist in our heads are what makes us better persons. Some of the many monsters that have accompanied me through my long journey of life range from high school to adulthood and now to UCR. High school was like that long double twisted rollercoaster that never ends but irony it went by in a flash. High school was like the â€Å"IT† of the wondrous carnival of life. The â€Å"monsters† of high school and adulthood were very judging and responsible for hunting me down but, I was able to conquer them by changing their appearances. High school became my stepping stone to high education and adulthood became my sense of responsible and maturity. Now UCR will become my dearest best friend and one of my new companions in this long journey. Like Langella said, we should not let the monsters in our heads control us we should take control of our fears of losing or failing. Therefore, Langellas suggestions on how the â€Å"monsters† in our heads are just fictional characters of our imaginations going wild. That change as we grow older in maturity and responsible. Lastly we should not let the â€Å"monsters† of life control us, we should actually take gear, control, and override them or else they will run us over.

The Schoolmaster in Albert Camuss The Guest Essay example -- The Gues

In Albert Camus's "The Guest," an idealistic schoolmaster, Daru, is forced to make many unsettling decisions when ordered to deliver an Arab prisoner to higher authorities in Tinguit. From the beginning, after the prisoner is transferred into his custody, Daru chooses to treat him as a guest rather than a prisoner. Also, Daru decides not to cast judgment on the Arab for the crime of killing his cousin. Lastly, Daru chooses not to play God and assume the awesome responsibility of deciding another man's fate. Thus, when Daru is faced with a series of confusing and complicated situations he chooses to be himself and make his own decisions rather than be influenced by others. The mere thought of keeping a prisoner in one's home is quite troubling, but when Daru is forced to keep the Arab as his "guest," he is compelled to act as a good host. From the beginning, Daru demonstrates compassion, sensitivity, and humanely acts in many different ways. Daru insists that the prisoner should be untied. "Once his hands were free... he held out a glass of tea." Daru also feeds, cooks for, a...

The Chemistry of Natural Waters Essay -- Science Papers

Defined in Chemtrek as â€Å"The presence of the dissolved divalent cations Ca2+ and Mg2+. . . (which) gives natural waters chemical properties†, hard water has always been a curse to both animals and man 1 . It promotes scale, the buildup of magnesium and calcium to the point where a rock-like substance forms in household and industrial pipes, disrupts natural habitats and reproductive cycles of fresh water fish, and causes many health-related problems in humans 2 . To avoid such problems, it is important to understand ways that commercial businesses and homeowners can test for hard water. This experiment examines two possible methods of testing water hardness. They include: AA spectroscopy, which measures a water sample's absorption of Ca 2+ and Mg 2+ , and EDTA titration, which uses a titration's end-point to determine the concentration of Ca 2+ and Mg 2+ present in a water source 1 . It is also important to learn about water softening, a process that removes calc ium and magnesium from water sources 3 . For this experiment, I explored water softening techniques such as divalent cation removal ion exchange and water softening with a commercial water-conditioning agent 4 . My group decided to test AA spectroscopy, EDTA titration, and water softening techniques on four natural water samples from Little Chickies Creek in Mount Joy,PA; Allegheny River in Warren, PA; Stone Valley Lake in State College, PA; and a pond on Orr Avenue in Apollo, PA because it is imperative to know about the quality of Pennsylvania's waterways. My hypothesis stated that the water from Little Chickies Creek would be the hardest because it is located by several limestone quarries, which deposit calcium and magnesium into creeks and streams 5 ... ... Prentice Hall, 2003. 5 McClintok , Michael. â€Å"A Hard Look at Soft Water.† The Washington Post 28 August 2003 : H.02. 6 â€Å"Threats to Western Pennsylvania Waterways.† Creek Connections . 13 October 2003 . 7 Van der Leeden , Frits; Troise , Fred L.; Todd, David K. The Water Encyclopedia . 2nd ed . New York : Lewis Publishers, 1990. 8 Krogman, Nick. Chemistry 14- AA Spectroscopy Calibration Data Charts. 9 Anderson , Troy . Chemistry 14-Lab Notebook, Experiment 10. p. 54-59. 10 Angiulli , Alayna . Chemistry 14-Lab Notebook, Experiment 10. p. 41-45. 11 Toms, Jarrett. Chemistry 14-Lab Notebook, Experiment 10. p. 49-54. 12 Robb, Gordon A. and James D.F. Robinson . â€Å"Acid Drainage from Mines.† The Geographical Journal March 1995: 47.

Drama Translation Essay

However, the mission of a translator of a dramatic work is slightly different from any other literary piece. A dramatic text is written in order to be performed on stage. The translator of such a text has therefore to bear in mind that the readers (i. e. the audience in this case) shall not only follow the written form of the script but also and primarily its spoken version. This fact influences the work of a translator to a great extent. He has to chose words that are easily pronounceable by actors and comprehensible to the audience. At the same time he ought to aspire to maintain the meaning and form of the original as much as possible so that the translation represents the goal and effort of the original author. Each translator aims at a maximal realistic authenticity, including both the inner (author’s and director’s notes) and outer language of the drama. â€Å"Translation, the surmounting of the obstacle, is made possible by an equivalence of thought which lies behind the different verbal expressions of a thought. No doubt this equivalence is traceable to the fact that men of all nations belong to the same species. When an Englishman is thinking of the woman whom he describes as ‘my mother’, a Frenchman is thinking of ma mere and a German of meine Mutter. Among normal people the three thoughts will be very similar and will recall the same memories of tenderness, loving care and maternal pride. In consequence ‘my mother’ can be perfectly translated by ma mere or meine Mutter. † (Savory 1957, p. 11) Savory (Savory 1957, p. 49) furthermore states twelve rules of a proper translation: 1. A translation must give the words of the original 3. A translation should read like an original work. 2. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. A translation must give the ideas of the original. A translation should read like a translation. A translation should reflect the style of the original. A translation should possess the style of the translator. A translation should read as a contemporary of the original. A translation should read as a contemporary of the translator. A translation may add to or omit from the original. A translation may never add to or omit from the original. A translation of verse should be in prose. 13 12. A translation of verse should be in verse. There is a close relationship between the author and the translator of a literary work. Both of them have their own style of writing and expressing their thoughts. Nevertheless, the translator shall always be subordinate to the author whose text is considered the base of a dramatic text and its further stage production. â€Å"A translation may include any of the idiomatic expressions which are peculiar to its language and which the translator sees fit to adopt; but it needs not, because of this, possess the style which the reader may expect. Style is the essential characteristic of every piece of writing, the outcome of the writer’s personality and his emotions at the moment, and no single paragraph can be put together without revealing in some degree the nature of its author. But what is true of the author is true also of the translator. The author’s style, natural or adopted, determines his choice of a word, and, as has been seen, the translator is often compelled to make a choice between alternatives. The choice he makes cannot be reflect, though dimly, his own style. What does the reader expect; what does the critic demand? One of the reasons for a preference for a literal translation is that it is likely to come nearer to the style of the original. It ought to be more accurate; and any copy, whether of a picture or a poem, is likely to be judged by its accuracy. Yet it is a fact in making the attempt to reproduce the effect of the original, too literal a rendering is a mistake, and it may be necessary to alter even the construction of the author’s sentences in order to transfer their effects to another tongue. † (Savory 1957, p. 54) 3. 1 THE INTENTION OF THE TRANSLATOR The sense of purpose of translator’s work is to maintain, depict and impart the  original text; not to create a new piece of work that has no precursor. Translation aims to reproduce. The art of translation is founded on replacement of one piece of language material by another and thus on an independent creation of all artistic means proceeding from the language. â€Å"Translation as a work is an artistic reproduction, translation as a process is an original creation, translation as a type of art is a case on the boundary of art of reproduction and originally creative art. † (Levy 1963, p. 49) In the development of the art of reproduction two norms have been applied according to Levy (Levy 1963, p.52): the norm of reproduction (i. e. requirement on authenticity and accurateness) and the norm of â€Å"art† (requirement on beauty). This basic aesthetic contrast proves contrapositive to translational authenticity and freedom. The authentic 14 method (i. e. the literal) represents a procedure of work of such translators who aspire to reproduce the original precisely, whereas the free method (adaptative) aims at beauty, i. e. the aesthetics and thought proximity to the reader, and creation of an original work in a target native language. For a realistic translation both  norms are necessary: the translation has to be as exact reproduction of the original as possible but above all it should be a valuable literary piece of work. Newmark depicts the intention of a translator as follows: â€Å"Usually, the translator’s intention is identical with that of the author of the source language text. But he may be translating an advertisement, a notice, or a set of instructions to show his client how such matters are formulated and written in the source language, rather than how to adapt them in order to persuade or instruct a new target language readership. And again, he may be translating a manual of instructions for a less educated readership, so that the explanation in his translation may be much larger than the ‘reproduction. ’† (Newmark 1988, p. 12) The translator is supposed to be creative although his creativity is limited by the field of language. He can enlarge his native literature by creating new expressions (neologisms) or by incorporating foreign expressions into the native background (exotic expressions). Borrowing foreign language means or creating Czech equivalents is not only restricted to the lexical units but also to the stylistic values. Levy (Levy 1963, p. 69) mentions blank verse, sonnet, ghazal, haiku, and blues in this context. 3. 2 THE TRANSLATION OF A DRAMATIC TEXT The translator of a dramatic text has to respect the speciality of a spoken word. Dialogues do not narrate and depict actions or situations as in prose but they form them. They do not narrate how people meet and make relationships but perform the people acting and communicating with each other. The structure of a sentence of a dialogue is simple as could be, the sentences are usually paratactically connected, often without conjunctions. Many unfinished sentences and ellipsis may appear. So-called contact words are very important as well. Various modal particles and expressions that might have multifarious context meanings are characteristic of language of a dialogue. In this case dictionaries shall not be that useful for the translator for the language of drama is very specific and often peculiar. 15 In the frame of the artistic translation we further distinguish translations of poetry, prose and drama, which corresponds to the traditional division of artistic genres  into lyric, epic and dramatic genres. What is the quintessence of a dramatic text? Prose narrates events but drama transfers them via speech. Generally, the entire content has to be transposed into dialogues (monologues, polylogues), being accompanied by facial gestures, gesticulation, stagy space and props. The language requirements are higher here than in prose: the direct speech that essentially addresses the spectator has to be able to express – even though indicatively – far more than a dialogue of a novel. Except for the function of characterization of the protagonists the direct speech substitutes the other items of prosaic text (narrating the past, author’s reflexion, lyric digression etc. ), and at the same time it should sound naturally, for it is intended for a direct audio-visual impact. Kufnerova and Skoumalova (Kufnerova, Skoumalova 1994, p. 140) mention two kinds of a dramatic translation: 1 A piece of drama is translated as a literary text, and is originally intended more or less to be published for readers. That would be the case of most of the classical texts from Ancient times till 19th and 20th century. The translator proceeds from the original text and attempts to keep the most of its specificity. He is the only responsible and independent creator of the target text. The translator forms the final version of the translation regardless of the potential stage realization. 2 The director asks the translator for translation of a particular play for the setting with original and sophisticated poetics. The target text is exclusively written in cooperation with the particular theatre company. The original text is not that important any more, production features and a complete director intention predominate. The directors and often the actors themselves consider the text (and often even the original work) a kind of half- ready text, which they adapt during rehearsing the play, not always with a positive result. They create a dramatic text, transform the drama situations and adapt the language. Newmark comes with another theory of translating a dramatic work. According to him, the main purpose of translating a play is to have it performed successfully. 16  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Therefore a translator of drama inevitably has to bear the potential spectator in mind though, here again, the better written and more significant the text, the fewer compromises he can make in favour of the reader. Further, he works under certain constraints: unlike the translator of fiction, he cannot gloss, explain puns or ambiguities or cultural references, not transcribe words for the sake of local colour: his text is dramatic, with emphasis on verbs, rather than descriptive and explanatory. Michael Meyer, in a little noticed article in Twentieth Century Studies , quoting T.Rattigan, states that the spoken word is five times as potent as the written word – what a novelist would say in 30 lines, the playwright must say in five. The arithmetic is faulty and so, I believe, is the sentiment, but it shows that a translation of a play must be concise – it must not be an over-translation. † (Newmark 1988, p. 172) Newmark furthermore mentions Meyer who makes a distinction between dramatic text and sub-text, the literal meaning and the ‘real point’: i. e. what is implied but not said, the meaning between the lines. Meyer believes that if a person is questioned on a subject about which he has complex feelings, he will reply evasively (and in a circumlocutory manner). Ibsen’s characters say one thing and mean another. The translator must word the sentences in such a way that this, the sub-text, is equally clear in English. Normally one would expect a semantic translation of a line, which may be close to a literal translation, to reveal its implications more clearly than a communicative translation, that simply makes the dialogue easy to speak. Whilst a great play must be translated for the reading public’s enjoyment and for scholarly study as well as for performance on stage, the translator should always assume the latter as his main purpose – there should be no difference between an acting and a reading version – and he should look after readers and scholars only in his notes. Nevertheless, he should where possible amplify cultural metaphors, allusions, proper names, in the text itself, rather than replace the allusion with the sense. When a play is transferred from the source language to the target language culture it is usually no longer a translation, but an adaptation. Newmark concludes his thought by suggesting that â€Å"some kind of accuracy must be the only criterion of a good translation in the future – what kind of accuracy depending first on the type and then the particular text that has been translated – and what the word ‘sub-text’ with its Grician implications and implicatures can be made to cover a multitude of inaccuracies. † (Newmark 1988, p. 172) Jan Ferencik (Ferencik 1982, p. 72) was one of Slovak linguistic theoreticians dealing with the field of translating, among others. He also analyses the translation of a 17 dramatic text and mentions that unlike translation of other genres the translation of drama is characterized by: 1) written character of the text and non-written form of its social realization 2) collective and multistage character of an interpretation of the original in the process of creating the final translation text, on the contrary from the other genres, where the interpretation of the translator is unique and final. 3) dissimilarity of each new social realization, especially on stage, not only in case of  various translators and stage producers but also in case of coincident text and coincident stage producers within repeated communication (Stanislavskij – theatre, emotions, improvisation, momentary psychical and biological dispositions of actors, etc. ) excluding the technique of reproduced performances such as television recording, film, sound recording, etc. A live spectator, who himself becomes one of the interpreters of the performed text, is the participant of communication during a stagy realization. 4) subordination of all the involved to the interpretation of the main concept, which  usually means a weaker creative participation of the translator in the resultant communication than while translating other pieces of text Furthermore, Ferencik mentions the chain of communication that relates author, translator, director and finally the audience of a dramatic work. â€Å"The communicative successiveness of translation of a drama, unlike another translational texts, is following: Author – Translator (Interpreter 1) – Dramatic adviser and Director (Interpreters 2) – another involved originators: Scenographer, Composer, Actor (Interpreters 3) – Spectator, Listener (Interpreter 4). This chain of communication represents the time sequence of creation of a text and its social realization. † (Ferencik 1982, p. 72) As I have already said, translator’s interpretation of a text is only a base of a scenic interpretation which is, in connection with the presentation of a play, sometimes called director-dramaturgical concept. Naturally, there are differences in the approach to a translational dramatic piece of work, depending on the kind of its scenic realization (professional theatre, amateur theatre, TV dramatization, adopted performance, film adaptation, radio play..) and on subjective characteristics of particular interpreters. I would like to conclude this sub-chapter by another feature of a dramatic work, which is a dialogue cohesion. Cohesion as one of the linguistic means is to be found in 18 most of text styles and represents a connecting feature. Newmark (Newmark 1988, p. 58) sees a mistake in neglecting the spoken language as part of a separate theory of interpretation. Translators are concerned with recordings of many kinds, particularly surveys, as well as the dialogue of drama and fiction. Moreover, cohesion is closer in  the give and take of dialogue and speech than in any other form of text. Here the main cohesive factor is the question, which may be a command, request, plea, invitation (i. e. grammatically a statement or a command or a question) and where the forms of address are determined by factors of kinship and intimacy, and, regrettably, class, sex and age. Apart from transposing the structure of the sentence (e. g. ‘Could you come? ’ might become Tu peux venir? or Bitte komm), each language has opening gambits semantically reserved for this exchange. Similarly, each language has marking words that signal a break or end of a subject, such as ‘Right’, ‘Well’, ‘Good’, ‘Fine’, ‘Now’, ‘I see’ (Ach so, Parfait, C’est vrai) and the internationalism ‘O. K. ’ Lastly, there are the tags that are used to keep a flagging conversation going: ‘isn’t it, ‘see’, ‘you know’, which require a standard response. The translator has to bear in mind the main differences between speech and dialogue: speech has virtually no punctuation (‘The sentence is virtually irrelevant in speech’: Sinclair et al. , 1975), is diffuse, and leaves  semantic gaps filled by gesture and paralingual features. As I was working on the translation of Butterflies are free, it has been especially challenging to find an adequate equivalent to various cohesive means. In English it is more natural to use such introductory cohesive links as â€Å"you know† and â€Å"I mean† whereas in Czech it sounds rather disturbing and that is why I attempted to omit or replace those by more accurate expressions of the Czech language background. 3. 3 THE TRANSLATION OF THE TITLE OF A LITERARY WORK Naturally, the title of any literary work is an essential part and that is why  translating the title represents a challenging process for the translator. We, as readers, may find out many important clues out of the title. I have been working with a dramatic text that was already translated by Ivo T. Havlu in 1972. He translated the title Butterflies are free as â€Å"Motyli†. Nevertheless, the title of this play by Leonard Gershe (1969) is based on a quotation by Charles Dickens and on a song sung by Don, one of the protagonists. Havlu leaves the song out but I attempted to 19 maintain the original version and therefore translated the song, with help of a lyricist, in  the rhymed form of Czech. We have finally translated the phrase Butterflies are free as â€Å"Motyli leti na oblohuâ€Å". Concerning the theoretical background of translating the title of a literary work, Newmark (Newmark 1988, p. 57) distinguishes between â€Å"descriptive† titles, which describe the topic of the text, and â€Å"allusive titles†, which have some kind of referential or figurative relationship to the topic. For serious imaginative literature, Newmarks thinks a descriptive title should be ‘literally’ kept (Madame Bovary could only be Madame Bovary), and an allusive title literally or where necessary, imaginatively  preserved. Kufnerova and Skoumalova (Kufnerova, Skoumalova 1994, p. 149) grant that the title, being a description, abbreviation or metaphor, is essential part of the translation. According to them every translator pays attention to the title and rarely makes a mistake there, knowing the whole piece of work. Translation of a literary title is often influenced by the period conception or fashion. In 1920’ there was an effort to naturalize the title, introduce it into the local background, especially in the field of proper names. The  influence of a cultural system of Czech language is displayed even in period habits, that is why it is sometimes necessary to adapt the syntactic structure of the title to the common native forms. Czech language prefers connections of action to nominal linkages. Differences in social mind, knowledge of life and institutions and other extralinguistic means represent a frequent reason for an adaptation of the original version of a literary work. Contemporary literary translation relatively respects the original version of the title of the work in correspondence with the principles of modern science of translation  and we can rarely encounter the shifts, alterations or changes. Literary translations occupy a better position than film works translations that often include mistakes and frequent interventions in the original version and thus substantiate the insufficient competence of young translators and their insufficient responsibility. 3. 4 THE SHIFTS OF MEANING WITHIN THE TRANSLATION OF A DRAMATIC TEXT Within the translation of any piece of text a space for shifts of meaning, stylistic, etc. develops between the source and target language. The shifts might be unconscious,  20 or intentional and conception. In the second case we speak about a renovation of a translation. The term renovation therefore does not only represent an adaptation of outdated or archaic language, but it also a conscious conception adaptation of a text in a diachronic way and an adaptation to a different cultural and social background as well as to a particular directorial interpretation. Temporal and spatial distance causes that some features of the original text stop being comprehensible in another society, they are not transmittable via common means and  that is why even the realistic translation often requires an explanation instead of a literal translation or only an indication clue. The explanation is necessary if the reader cannot understand a word, idiom etc. that was present in the original version. Levy (Levy 1963, p. 82) implies that it is not correct to explain an indication, continue and complete a pause, or to sketch in the situation that has not been intentionally made clear in the original. Usage of indication is hereafter appropriate if we cannot use a full expression because the language material has become the artistic means and thus can be preserved. Slovak linguist Popovic mentions the shifts of a translation within his theory of expression: â€Å"An elaboration of the theory of expression becomes a starting point for a systematic evaluation of shifts in the translation, forms a basis of objective classification of the differences between the original and the translation. The demand to identify in the text every stylistic means from the structural point of view helps us to estimate in theory of translation that which represents an equivalent. A system of means of expression enables us to evaluate linguistic means in the stylistic analysis in the context, i.e. not isolated, but in their relation to the system of qualities of expression. This must be assumed if we wish to undertake a theoretical investigation of conformities and differences that arise when an original work is translated. Such generalizing evaluation of means in the frame of the single categories an expression and of the qualities of expression makes it possible for us to qualify explicitly, more precisely and systematically, the shift of expression, the relation between the language of the original and that of the translation. † (Popovic 1968, p. 238) Within my translating I have encountered several shifts of meaning. As the play was written in the 1960’ it was very demanding to concentrate on renovating the language and at the same time on preserving the original features to a certain extent so that the shifts could not represent such an interference of the original (Jill, for example, is mentioning Beatles, Jimmy Hendrix and Rolling Stones as her contemporaries and I therefore could not transfer the whole script into the present time. ). 21 3. 5 THE  RENOVATION OF A TRANSLATION Every translation, not depending on the genre, gets outdated after a period of time. As the language develops, new words arise and are borrowed from other languages and it is therefore necessary to replace, renovate or adapt the original expressions. Renovation of a translation constitutes the total of the shifts – of time, place, semantics, composition etc. Depending on the extent of the shifts the final text might even lose its original character of a translation and become a text of different, new qualities. As I have already mentioned, the renovation is not a prerogative of dramatic texts only. No type of artistic translation can do without any level of renovation, especially without time-language shift. Every translation of a literary work which has not originated simultaneously with the original, which happens very often, requires a certain level of such shifts that may be called renovation. Renovation is a usual creative procedure which is not understood as a deconstruction of the semantic identity of the original. In case the translator extends the amount of shifts for a time – language reasons, such a procedure is perceived as deconstruction of subject composition and is thus called â€Å"modification†, â€Å"free translation†, â€Å"free processing†, etc. Is it conceivable to qualify the limits of renovation of a translation? Is it possible to say the extent of renovation shifts that are considered to be an acceptable translational procedure arising from a rationale concept? What are the limits of an arbitrariness of the translator and groundless deformation of a text? It is therefore necessary to approach the quality, legitimacy and artistic adequacy of each translation individually. Concerning the dramatic texts, it is essential to examine the interest of all interpreters in the final version of a text. Ferencik (Ferencik 1982, p. 79) suggests that the â€Å"artistic† time flies differently than the absolute â€Å"cosmic† time and the absolute time is not every time corresponding with the â€Å"social† time. That is why it might be useful to shift the time frame of the action forward and reach the physical time via the artistic and social time means after a  relatively short period since the composition of dramatic texts. It may also be necessary to shift the localization of the action and change the names of some characters, especially those that are conditioned by means of time renovation or real existence. 22 Finally, the critique has thus to judge the extent of translator’s and producers’ preservation, refinement or declension of the original intention of the author. It might happen that a dramatic work gets deformed because of ill-conceived renovation to such an extent that it becomes more an awkward parody of a comedy than a socially  impressive piece of work. Consequently it is essential to be very careful when choosing the appropriate renovation means, to maintain their level and choose such means that correspond to author’s poetics. Savory describes the renovation of a translation as follows: â€Å"Art, proverbially, is long, so that translation, in so far as it is an art, should be in like manner timeless, persistently reappearing as an inevitable response to the stimuli felt by succeeding generations. An artist in oils or water-colour does not refrain from making a picture of Mapledurham Mill because it has been drawn and painted so many times already; he regards this fact as one more reason for his, the latest, attempt. In the same way writers have always been ready to express in their own language the passages, from epigrams and couplets to epics and long books, originally written in other tongues. Of subsidiary importance is the fact that a fresh translation of any work of literary merit is welcomed because the existing translations sound antiquated, or are obsolescent; and this is a factor which cannot be neglected or forgotten. There are fashions in literature and changes in literary taste, so that a rendering of Virgil which satisfied the Elizabethans of the sixteenth century will not necessarily appeal to the Elizabethans of the twentieth. There should be small need for hesitation on the part of anyone who considers embarking on a worthwhile translation, and one of the most unmistakable signs of the literary interests and activities of the present day is the popularity and the plentifulness of new translations. † (Savory 1957, p. 28) Newmark (Newmark 1988, p.172) suggests that a translator of drama in particular must translate into the modern target language if he wants his characters to ‘live’, bearing in mind that the modern language covers a span of, say, 70 years. If one character speaks in a bookish or old-fashioned way in the original, written 500 years ago, he must speak in an equally bookish and old-fashioned way in the translation, but as he would today, therefore with a corresponding time-gap – differences of register, social class, education, temperament in particular must be preserved between one character and another. Thus the dialogue remains dramatic, and though the translator cannot forget the potential spectators, he does not make concessions to them. 23 3. 6 LANGUAGE AND STYLE As Newmark (Newmark 1995, p. 123) implies, for the translator, language is a code which he is well aware he will never break, a system he cannot wholly grasp, because it is lexically infinite. All he can do is make assumptions about it, in accordance with the benefits he derives from it, depending on the yield that suits the users at the time; the assumptions, like the sense of the words, will change continuously. â€Å"The translator is frequently faced with too little extralinguistic reality and too much linguistic ambiguity – words either too far out of their usual collocations or so frequently in them that they become meaningless cliche, fitting as loosely as yale keys in the huge locks of their context. † (Newmark 1995, p. 123) Concerning the Czech background, Kufnerova and Skoumalova (Kufnerova, Skoumalova 1994, p. 72) describe the Czech language as significantly different from other European languages that exist also outside Europe (Russian, English) in which we  cannot find general colloquial form of the language as in Czech. On the other hand, there are many informal expressions, dialects, slang and social dialects. Czech and partly German create a special area in Europe where general colloquial informal language is often used. In artistic translations this general colloquial Czech language does not appear without the stylization. That can be achieved via various techniques, but all of them tend to keep the appearance of such features in the text, so that they would fulfill their function and would not disturb the reader, or spectator. In my translation I have let Jill and finally also Don use such general colloquial Czech expressions although the original version had not always clearly stated those. I have done so in order to keep the unity and originality of the text. Slang represents a specific language field within each language and a specific problem of translators to be solved. It often includes emotional elements and thus characterizes the speaker. According to Knittlova (Knittlova 2000, p. 111) the collation of slang words that have various system relations in different languages is very difficult. In slang (especially of young people) we can notice an effort to be outlandish and to exaggerate expressive gestures. Slang wants to shock, provoke, it is a sign of revolt or disobedience. It is presented via overexposing some categories of expressions, hyperbole, metaphorical phraseology, colloquial metaphors, irony, comicality, folk expressions and above all playfulness with the language. Several studies have been written about English standard and sub-standard slang. The term â€Å"slang† denotes partly 24 a special diction, partly highly colloquial language or jargon of a particular social class,  a group or a period. In dictionaries the stylistic categorization of words or phrases that do not belong to a formal language is denoted by â€Å"slang†. However, the boundary between slang and colloquial English is rather movable and indistinct. Slang is an extract of colloquial language, it is not tied in with the rules of standard English, but it is rated as vivid, colourful, more full-bodied as for the diction and more flexible. It arises by a natural need of creation of new words that emotionally affect the utterance and express a subjective evaluation of the reality. Nevertheless, slang is not a secret code, an English speaker understands it easily but does not consider it something quite correct. Knittlova concludes that it is therefore a distortion of style if a translator replaces the English slang by offensive words or even by vulgarism. A style of any written piece of work is affected both by the personality of the writer and by the period of history he lives in. Translation includes the bridging of time as well as the bridging of space.