The roles of the Advance Practice Registered Nurse Essay

The roles of the Advance Practice Registered Nurse (APRN), Clinical Nurse Specialist(CNS), Nurse Practitioner(NP),Certified Registered Nurse Anesthesia(CRNA),Nurse Educator, and Nurse Administrator are not reflective of our current needs in healthcare. I disagree with this statement as I believe that APRN play a vital role in todays and in the future of our healthcare needs. In the hospital setting that I work in I have come across many APRN’s in different modalities such as nurse navigators (CNS), ARNP’s, CRNA’s and nurse administrators. Being able to work side by side with this individuals and specifically NP’s and CRNA’S when needed prescription at night or even when rounding with them to see patients they are there to listen to the concerns and take the time to educate them. They are highly appreciated and recognized by patients and their families. APN’s go to areas physicians will not go, they volunteer in clinics that have no other form of health care, delivery the babies in the rural areas and go into the shelters in the inner city. They teach the children in the schools how to be healthy and assist the parents with the health care system. In the hospitals they are the safety net that holds the practice together, with communication, collaboration and expertise within their clinical practice. Hamric, A. B., Spross, J. A., & Hanson, C. M. (2009). Advanced practice nursing: An integrative approach (4th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Advanced nursing practice refers to the work or what nurses do in the role and the concept of advancement further defines the multi-dimensional scope and distinguishes differences from other types of nursing roles. Advanced practice nursing refers to the whole field, involving a variety of such roles and the environments in which they exist. as the affordable care act has been implemented the APRN’s will be very useful in the realizing the full potential of these roles through better planning and efforts to address environmental factors, structures, and resources that are necessary for advanced nursing practice to take place.

Business Gross and Net Profit

Gross and Net profit Gross profit A company’s revenue, minus the business’ costs of goods For example: If I sold 5000 cheese sandwiches for ? 1 each my total revenue would be 50 x ? 1 = ? 5000 It costs 25p per sandwich to purchase bread, butter and cheese. My gross profit = Revenue – Costs of sales (25p x 5000= ? 1250. 00) = ? 3750. 00 Net profit The business’ gross profit minus expenses For example: My gross profit from my sandwiches is ? 3750. 00 to calculate my Net profit I need to minus the rest of my expenses †¢ ? 385 on rent †¢ ? 80 on advertising †¢ ? 950 on staff salaries My total expenses are ? 1,415 My net profit= Gross profit (? ,750) – Expenses (1,415) = ? 2,335 The difference between gross and net profit The difference between gross and net profit is that gross profit is merely a stepping stone to work out the net profit. Say at the end of a month a business has ? 5000 in the bank, we need to work out the gross profit to know exactly how much we have to pay to the manufacturer and to cover the costs of materials. The same goes for net profit. Say after the business had worked out the gross profit and we had ? 4250 left in the bank, we still wouldn’t know exactly how much money we had made that month until we had worked out the net profit. Cost of salesCost of sales is the cost of the materials used to produce a product. This includes any costs included in making the product, this includes: †¢ Shipping costs †¢ Cost of containers †¢ Overhead costs linked directly to the manufacture, like rent for the manufacturing facilities Costs vary dependant on the industry. For example a retail business buys products to resell them at a higher price, but a manufacturer either buys raw materials and turn them into finished products, or buy parts and just assemble them, ready for sale. Expenses Expenses are all the costs that a business or organization has to pay out, this includes †¢ Fi xed costs Variable cost †¢ Taxes †¢ All other operating costs How to maximise profits There are several different ways a business or organization can maximise profits, these include: †¢ Lowering the costs of sales by using cheaper materials †¢ Lowering the costs of sales by minimizing manufacturing costs Nike Sports wear and Primark got a lot of bad press by moving their manufacturing factories abroad. They did this to lower their manufacturing costs as the workers have no minimum wage, or even minimum age so they can have their goods made at a very low price. †¢ Increasing the price of sales, (making your product more expensive)

Gender Roles in Bless Me, Ultima

In Bless Me, Ultima Antonio understands gender as a very black and white issue. Just as he struggles with the ideas of religion, good and evil, death, and nature. Antonio struggles with how gender affects his life, and how he eventually must become a man. The most obvious example of Antonio’s perspective on gender roles comes with his view of the Virgin and God. â€Å"God was not always forgiving. He made laws to follow and if you broke them you were punished. The Virgin always forgave†¦The Virgin was full of a quiet, peaceful love†¦she was a woman†¦Her voice was sweet and gentle†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (44). Antonio believes firmly that The Virgin is the most pure form of woman. He prays at her feet every night in his living room. At one point, he notices that the paint on the statue is chipping, revealing a layer of white underneath. He uses this to indicate that she is pure in every form. Whenever Antonio thinks about religion, he thinks about the Virgin, and how forgiving she is, and how kind she is. Later on in the book, as he is considering if there can be other types of Gods, Antonia wonders if The Virgin is her own kind of God, and that is better because she is a woman and will understand more easily. Antonio is constantly reminded of the fact that he must become a man. His mother is worried, and his father is counting down the days. But no one seems to be giving him much of a choice. He will be educated, he will be a priest, he will be a farmer, he will be a Luna, he will be a Marez†¦ â€Å"My man of learning!†¦ My baby will be gone today,† she sobbed. â€Å"He will be all right,† Ultima said. â€Å"The sons must leave the sides of their mothers,† she said almost sternly and pulled my mother gently. † (53). Antonio is never allowed to be anything but a man of learning. Even in his times of struggle with the issue of becoming a man, Ultima is there to help him. She has no doubt that he will become a good man in time. At one point in the book, Antonio’s mother tells him it is a sin that he become a man, and yet she is also telling him that he must become a man. Her contradicting statements do not help Antonio with this struggle at all. His older brothers are also a bad influence. All they value is booze, money, and women, and they choose to go wander through foreign cities. Antonio sees the effect this has on everyone, and decides early on that he won’t be like them. The most important woman in Antonio’s life is Ultima. He holds her to the same standard as he does the Virgin; that she is forgiving, wise and full of love. â€Å"Ultima has sympathy for people, and it is so complete that with is she can touch their souls and cure them. † (248). To Antonio, Ultima’s pure form of sympathy is equivalent to the pure forgiveness of The Virgin. â€Å"There isn’t a family she did not help,† she continued, â€Å"no road was too long for her to walk to its end to snatch somebody from the jaws of death, and not even the blizzards of the llano could keep her from the appointed place where a baby was to be delivered†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (3). This is the first time Antonio hears of Ultima, so when he meets her, he is already full of expectations. He is expecting a miracle worker, and he gets one. Antonio learns that his other struggles; religion, life, and death are not so simple. They are more than just black and white. However, he never seems to move beyond the idea of gender role strictness. Women are soft and forgiving, and men are strong. But maybe in his future, he will lean that the roles of men and women are not as black and white as they seem.

Financial Statment Analyasys Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Financial Statment Analyasys - Case Study Example was established in the year 1980 for retail sale of â€Å"natural and organic foods† (Edgar Online 1). It became the first grocer enterprise to receive national organic certification among grocers. The organization’s history has been based on its mission of quality products towards high health standards and supports national movements for natural and organic foods. The organization floated its initial public offer in the year 1992 and currently operates more than 300 stores globally. Most of its stores have many years of existence in the market, with an average of ten years in their respective locations. Most of the stores are in the United States but subsidiaries exist in Canada and the United Kingdom. Retail in natural and organic foods is the organization’s core operation. Focus on social responsibility such as environmental consciousness and the need to improve health through quality product, despite nature of competition, are the most interesting features of the organization. I preferred the company to others because of its prominence in the industry. 2. The purpose of the ‘management discussion and analysis section’ is to offer the management’s position on its organization’s financial features on a times series scale. ... The section also explains existence of competition, describes the entity’s products, and offers a summary of financial data over the past three accounting periods. Its clear and outlined organization is the most interesting thing and it communicates high prospects and stability of the entity. 3. Ernst & Young LLP is the organization’s independent auditor. 4. The auditor’s opinion validates reported information by the management. The auditor’s opinion, in the form, approved the company’s statement to be a fair representation of the company’s financial position. The opinion is unqualified because it offers no reservation on reliability of the financial statements. 5. The company did not change its auditors. 6. The 10-K includes certification statement required by Sarbanes-Oxley and John Mackey signed the certification. The certification qualifies the report’s compliance with sections 13(a) and 15(d) of the Security Exchange Act and that the report is a fair representation of the organization’s financial position and operational outcomes and means the management’s adoption of the financial statements. 7. The lowest stock price for the last financial year was $ 60.39 while the highest price was $ 100.5. The following table summarized trend in data for the period ended 2012. Graph 1: Stock daily closing stock prices 8. The stock prices had a generally decreasing trend with a level of volatility, politics is a major factor as the nation headed for presidential elections in November 2012, and the management did not associate the decline with economic factors. 9. The industry identifies positive prospects based on accounting rations such as revenue growth, return on equity, and long-term

Urban Growth Policy within your Community Research Paper

Urban Growth Policy within your Community - Research Paper Example Development of good policies to govern cities would ensure a strategic and conducive business environment, better infrastructural services to the residence and better standards of living to the residents. The relationship between the policy makers and the residence of different cities fluctuates depending on the policies, government development and behavior. The urban policies in the cities are aimed at ensuring job creation and housing to the residence, this is achieved through an urban based development policy from the federal government. Policies are made in such a way that employers in the urban areas do not suffer (Gottlieb, 2007). This done by ensuring that they benefit from the incentives based on their places of business. The urban policies have ensured that important facilities such as the places for markets, cultural centers and other important facilities are integrated in specific locations so as to maximize the use of space and ensure creativity within the cities. Though development advancement as well as the management of public properties in the cities has proved to be crucial to its economic prosperity, the vulnerable groups in the society face a stiff challenge in copi ng with these policies. This is basically attributed by the urban policies that privatized public properties thus criminating them when these policies are applied. Sprawl growth The urban Sprawl is attracted by the opportunities in the markets, therefore making it difficult it difficult to be controlled by a single city policy. Control of the Sprawl growth is both a responsibility of the local and the federal government. The coordination between the rural and the urban authorities should be enhanced to ensure that pressure on land use meant for development of industries does not encourage development of Sprawls. Los Angeles is one of the cities that have embraced smart growth at the expense of Sprawl growth with the aim of a future sustainability (Gottlieb, 2007). Los Angeles Land Use Policy The strategic position of Los Angeles city makes it one of the most important international trade centers. The market forces and the policies governing land are some of challenges that the indus trial development in the city face. The market trends and policies governing the public properties are regionally and nationally influenced. Some policies and business activities in the port of Los Angeles may not be handled by the city. However continuous conversion of industrial land to residential places has prompted the city’s policy makers to develop policies that would protect industrial Land from being depleted. Citing from the city policy on land use, the city would be able to handle the trend of unemployment and low standards of living by developing industries that would sustain the residents. The policy is aimed at developing criteria of limiting the construction of residential areas at the expense of industrialization. The policy also aims at preserving and increasing the number of jobs in the city by attracting and increasing investments in the industrial sector through the land use policy. From statistics, the city added over a million new residents and in a span of twenty five years, contrary to this over 50, 000 jobs were lost (Estolano, 2008). Development of real estates was the major driving force towards the high population increase with less concern in job creation.

Risk Assessment report on an organization (Toyota USA) Research Paper

Risk Assessment report on an organization (Toyota USA) - Research Paper Example It is one of the highest ranked car companies in the entire world in terms of global brands. Even when sales are low Toyota in the United States sold almost 1.8 million vehicles, thus the company is able to make 16.7% share in the market. Toyota Being the third largest car manufacturer in the world, it has been known as the most efficient. The main business segments include automotive and financial services. The automotive segment can account for at least 90% of the revenue in Toyota and almost 96 percent of Toyota’s operating income. The manufacturing, product development and vendor management practices of Toyota Company are known to be the best. This risk assessment was carried out on Toyota Company in the USA to find out on the risks that face the company during production, selling and distribution. Toyota USA is faced with major risks that can affect the profitability of the operations. Factors such as vehicle sales volume, marketing costs, sales incentives, and price discounts, the vehicle models and the options that are sold, customer warranty claims or customer satisfaction actions, cost of research and other costs, production capacity, changes in the value of currencies used in Toyota business, intensified competition, and regulation issues. In Toyota company product development can be highly capital intensive. In any automobile industry, this has been experienced. The automakers are faced with the challenge of making new models from time to time to stay up to standards. The automakers are supposed to standardize the core product through creating a platform on which, they can build feature. Toyota can be said to be the pioneer in product development that is lean. A philosophy where a company is supposed to come up with a development process that comes up with new products using minimum resources. According to Toyota Motor Corporation SWOT Analysis 10, the automotive market worldwide is very competitive. Thus, Toyota faces high

Should the government impose stricter guidelines on how much students Annotated Bibliography

Should the government impose stricter guidelines on how much students can borrow in student loans - Annotated Bibliography Example Therefore, it will be significant in enabling us to come up with an in-depth conclusion. Giving loans to students play a significant role in enabling them to finance their education. However, there must be strict rules in order to avoid overspending. This book will be significant in understanding the specific needs that are required. In addition, it will enhance the understanding of benefits of loans to the students. Students’ loans increase equality in the society. It enables the government to distribute funds equitably to the student. This book analyzes the costs of sustaining student loans. Therefore, it will be important in understanding the necessary measures that the government should take in order to help the students. Many students are burdened by loans after finishing school. This is because the government has not put the necessary measures to curb overspending. This book will be important in understanding how the gaps in laws are making it hard for the student and the government to recover from the loans. In addition, it will highlight the challenges that come with the issuance of the loans. Students’ loan has increased inequality. This is because there lacks effective laws to govern its distribution. This book will enable me understand how the loan has increased inequality in the society. In addition, it will be significant in understanding different gaps that need to be closed in order to increase its

Discussion 4 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Discussion 4 - Assignment Example This also involves identifying gender’s role whose mainstream consideration is attributed to sexuality factors. The human sexual behavior is composed of diverse motivations, ranging from sexually-generated interests to behavioral classifications. For instance, the gender factor involves sexual drives and preferences, and the unique cultural interventions have explored advances in cultural range, which hence create substantial amount of sexual orientations (Johnson, 2004). The school of thought fostered by Suzanne LaFont (2003) illustrates that variations among sexual classes have diversely created sub category for minority sexual groups. Lack of moral obligations and the sheer interest for defining sexual orientations that provide a different biological taste has been incorporated into the human sexuality potentials. The rate and range of sexual preference has changed with time and this focus provider a critical reflection of gender connectedness between changing behaviors and changing societal values. The US interpretation of gender provides a conclusive approach or reproach to emerging sexual categories which are then incorporated into new social process (Zhou et al., 1995). The critical variation of sexual and gender factors including gays, transgender and intersex have been viewed as the new constituents of gender and the interpretation hence outweighs the traditional perception of gender. However, other cultures outside the U.S. underline the traditional classification of

Principles of Banking and Finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Principles of Banking and Finance - Essay Example The attractive mortgage lending was based on a faulty premise that the house prices would continue rising, thus over-lending by the banks, in total disregard of the likelihood of repayment. When the false bubble in the mortgage lending finally burst, the financial crisis began taking its toll, many loans were unrecovered by the banks and the banks become bankrupt. The third force behind the credit crisis was global imbalances; the developing Asian exporting countries had large current account surpluses, a situation that has been defined as â€Å"global savings glut†. This situation led to an inevitable influx of capital into the US thus leading to the bubble in share prices in the late 1990s, and the bubble in house prices accordingly; however, the US current account deficits kept going up from the 1990s due to offsetting inflows of capital to the US. In addition, another influential force that was behind the credit crisis was deregulation policies, which had left the exchange rates to be influenced by foreign exchange markets (Evans17); deregulation of the financial sector in response to neo-liberal government policies led to the expansion of the US’s financial sector. In line with the expansions were the emergence of new and riskier financial instruments and accumulated credit; this is what led to the stock market bubble and the housing bubble accordingly. Finally, the credit crisis can be attributed to excess capital in terms of huge sums of capital that had been stashed in the US and Europe at the time (Evans19); this led to stagnation in household incomes, thus constrained purchasing power of the population. This condition led to increased borrowing in households so as to sustain consumption and a built up of debt securities; extensive borrowing to finance consumption spending in turn led to a rise in asset value, but when the rise could not be sustained any further, the growth of consumption stopped suddenly and recession began. Q2 It has be en proven beyond any reasonable doubt that indeed, the US government treated some financial institutions differently during the credit crisis. For instance, when the Wall Street Investment bank Lehman Brothers crumpled in response to the crisis, there was a dramatic fall in the global economy; this was a great blow to the financial sector and many people lost faith in the banking system. However, exactly one month after the bank had collapsed and caused a global outcry, the US congress passed a bank bailout scheme that was labeled Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) (Fareed). The Troubled Asset Relief Program entailed taking billions of taxpayer money and using it to bail out financial institutions from the deep pits of the credit crisis; ironically, the same financial institutions that were now being bailed out by TARP had caused the credit crisis in question. Questions have been raised with respect to the way the US government reacted at the onset of the credit crisis; one of the most serious questions that arose is with regards to whether the Lehman Brothers could be saved or not. Thus exactly, why

The Consumer Behaviour of Latvian outbound tourists towards the online Dissertation

The Consumer Behaviour of Latvian outbound tourists towards the online and offline travel booking method - Dissertation Example Regardless of the advantages associated with the traditional methods of travel booking, from our findings, consumers still prefer online travel bookings and offers. This puts into consideration those consumers who are not in a position to exclusively make use of the services provided by travel agencies and are profiled to; take responsibility when it comes to their own planning and travelling, young tourists who in most cases use traditional means to travel and go for low prices, the economic situation forcing consumers to opt for services where they can find bargains and those who shy off from complex trips thus go for online booking addresses.   A detailed summary of this study gives out very vital information about tourists characters online and the risk incurred. The findings of this study conclude that the hospitality and tourism products are at a greater risk of being purchased, so the products should be well evaluated and this will play a big role in the decision making aspe ct of the consumers . From our findings we have discovered that this two aspects determine largely the specific online booking website to be selected by a tourist. However this two aspects can in one way or another affect the original price or quality of a product. When it comes to the distribution system, the type of booking methods as well as the preferable locations and sites were strongly associated with the nature of their visit.   From the respondents, it was evident that those consumers whose nature for touring happens to be the conference were observed to have their accommodation arrangements mostly done through their own companies and travel agencies. The number of such type of tourists who chose to have their booking done over the internet was minimal.   Tourists who were in the country for regular business trip were observed to have their booking done mostly in two ways; trough their own companies or through travel agencies.   The tourists that mostly did their book ing using the Internet were those who in the country mostly for leisure as they prefer their reservations to be done online. Demographic characteristics were also observed to impact the choice of the booking methods preferred by the visitors. When it comes to gender, there were no significant difference between the men and women booking behaviors. However, the online share reservation amongst women was observed to be slightly bigger than the case in men. Looking at the age factor with respect to online booking, the difference among the age groups was that big. The age group that had the minimal share of the online travel booking belonged to the age group 50 and above while the age group that enjoyed the biggest share was that from 30 to 40 years old v (Janda, Trocchia, & Gwinner, 2002).   Despite the difference, no age group can be regarded as having extremely high share of the online travel booking. The difference witnessed between the share of online travel booking by countries of origin of the tourists was to some level

Trends in Workplace Essay Example for Free

Trends in Workplace Essay The ancient Chinese saying May you live in interesting times has perhaps never been more relevant. As the 1990s draw to a close and the new millennium fast approaches, life is phenomenally interestingand demanding. Professionals who are responsible for workplace learning and performance improvement are squarely in the center of the swirl of exciting possibilitiesand requirementsthat are emerging. The inextricable link between rapid technological change and the emergence of the global economy has created the necessity for profound change in the way people and organizations work. As a result, workplace learning is arguably more strategic to the competitive advantage of both individuals and employers than at any point in all of recorded history. So its a great time to be in this profession. But along with the tremendous opportunity that this period of economic history has brought come unprecedented requirements and responsibilities. The same technological advances that are behind the rapid emergence of a truly global economy are forever changing both the demand for and supply of workplace learning opportunities. This article is the third of ASTDs annual reports that identify major trends that are affecting the field of workplace learning and performance improvement. The underlying trends that were identified in the first two of these articles (see the November 1996 and 1997 issues of Training Development) are longstanding and not likely to change in the near term. Four particularly noteworthy demand-side developments are the growing effort given to managing knowledge, the integration of learning and communication functions, a resurgence of interest in leadership development and executive coaching, and the intensifying requirement among employees that career development become an integral part of their employment relationship. The supply-side developments to follow are those that hold the potential for revolutionizing the way in which work and learning occur: the Internet, intelligent tutoring systems, learning objects, and voice recognition. Two important developments in the marketplace for workplace learning, where supply meets demand, are the ongoing consolidation within the supplier community and the creation of an electronic marketplace where buyers and sellers of learning products and tools can meet virtually. Demand and supplypowerful, global forces that  cannot be escaped but that can be harnessed to your advantage. So read on for a glimpse of what the world holds in store for you as the new year and the new millennium unfold. And as you read, keep in mind another old sayingforewarned is forearmed. The demand for workplace learning and performance improvement Periods of rapid change create a premium on learningfor both individuals and organizations. Prosperity and growth are the rewards for those who are the fastest at learning and putting their learning into action; stagnation and decline are the penalties for delay. In an era when it is knowledge rather than physical assets that increasingly defines competitive advantage, the process of managing knowledge becomes a central part of the learning process. Knowledge management. According to some observers, the industrial eras successorthe information age, in which white-collar jobs exceeded blue-collar jobs and entire industries arose just to help companies manage and process informationis already at or past the midpoint of its life cycle. The ever-declining cost of processing information has made it universally available. Indeed, information has become a commodity that is readily bought and sold. As a result, it is no longer enough to define competitive advantage. Gone are the days, for example, when banks could compete exclusively on the basis of which had the fastest information technology or which could slice and dice their account information in more ways than anyone else. Hence, the rapidly growing interest in knowledge as the new source of competitive advantage and the realization that we have now entered a new erathe knowledge era. In many ways, this is nothing new at all. A firms knowledgethe brains of its employees, their know-how, the processes a nd customer knowledge that they createhas always been a source of competitive advantage. And by extension, so too has been knowledge managementthe processes by which a firm creates and leverages knowledge. Whatis unique about the knowledge era is that knowledge is becoming the primary source of competitive advantage within a growing number of industries. Organizations from industrial-era industries, such as automobile manufacturing, to information-age industries such as consulting are recognizing that they each have a unique storehouse  of knowledge, and that the future belongs to those that can grow their knowledge fastest and then apply and use it best. With the benefit of hindsight, it is apparent that in the knowledge era, creating and leveraging knowledge is the business of business. By all available measures, the stock market is already providing handsome rewards to companies that successfully leverage their knowledgea phenomenon that will almost surely grow in significance as knowledge-based organizations increase in size and number. A number of firms are anticipating this and looking to knowledge management to enhance, measure, and manage the knowledge of their employees and organizations more effectively. Why manage knowledge? There are a variety of reasons for the emergence of knowledge management as a real business concern. Among them is the messy transition from industrial-based production and work systems to information-based systems, which rendered many functions and people obsolete. Though downsizing seemed to be the answer of the 1980s, this butchers knife approach often resulted in the loss of valuable knowledge rather than the financial gains that firms expected. Knowledge management offers, instead, a surgeons scalpel that sharpens and refines the value of people and what they know. Certainly, the exponential growth of information technology and the plummeting cost of information processing also helped by laying the technological foundation for the emergence of knowledge management. A necessary, but in no way sufficient, part of most knowledge management efforts is a set of technologies for capturing and synthesizing information from which knowledge can be created and sharedtechnologies such as intranets, Lotus Notes, electronic performance support systems, and specialized software. These technologies provide not only wide and instantaneous access to information by people inside and outside firms who previously lacked such access, but also to the contextual cues that transform information into knowledge. Results from one of the first benchmarking studies on knowledge management, by the American Productivity and Quality Center, suggest several other reasons for its rise, including †¢ the need to capture what employees learn through customer contact. Empowered employees who had no way of sharing new solutions or innovations. †¢ internal and external benchmarking as a way of finding best practices  Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ increasingly global and geographically dispersed operations †¢ customers seeking firms who leverage knowledge to meet their needs †¢ the rise of knowledge work and increased need for collaboration †¢ the need for increased responsiveness and shorter cycle times. What exactly is knowledge management? Like the fable of the blind men and the elephant, what knowledge management means to people depends on which part they are touching. For many, knowledge management is simply a more contemporary label for what they have already been doing under the rubric of information management, total quality management, training, the learning organization, electronic libraries, and so on. Adding further confusion is that some cast the knowledge management net more widely than others. Karl Erik Sveiby, an early advocate of knowledge management, views it as the art of creating value from an organizations intangible assets. For others, knowledge management is confined to the management of the codified, formalized, explicit forms of knowledge such as repositories of lessons learned, documents, databases, and company yellow pages, rather than all intangible assets. In their book Creating the Knowledge-Based Business, David Skyrme and Debra Amidon define knowledge management as the explicit and systematic management of vital knowledge and its associated processes of creating, gathering, organizing, diffusion, use, and exploitation. Perhaps the best way to understand knowledge management is to take a closer look at some examples of what companies actually do when they make knowledge management a priority. In a now classic study, Tom Davenport, along with Mike Beers and Dave DeLong, of Ernst Young found that knowledge management initiatives tend to fall into one of several categories, including †¢ creating and storing knowledge in repositories †¢ measuring the financial value of knowledge †¢ facilitating the transfer of knowledge †¢ creating a knowledge-sharing environment. The most common initiativebuilding knowledge repositoriesis intended to take some form of knowledge that has been extracted from peoples heads and store it in an information system for later access. For example, Hewlett Packard and Sequent Computer both have systems that store sales-oriented documentswhite papers, presentations, marketing collateralfor access by  their field salesforces in selling computers. Other knowledge repositories are less structured, consisting of the insights and observations of employees, sometimes called discussion databases or lessons-learned systems. Some repositories do not hold the knowledge itself, but point to those who have knowledge. Hewlett Packard, for instance, has expert repositories for researchers in its HP Laboratories and Corporate Education groups. A number of firms have undertaken initiatives to measure and manage the economic value of their knowledge. Two of the most widely known firms that have focused on value are Skandia and Dow Chemical. Skandia, the Swedish insurance company whose focus on intellectual capital is perhaps the most widely known, primarily addresses the measurement of value. Dow focuses more on the management of value by harvesting little-used patent and license assets. Many firms have knowledge transfer, the third type of initiative, as their primary objectiveeither through technology or human means. BP Exploration has built a desktop videoconferencing system to enable workers at remote exploration sites to exchange their knowledge with each other. UNISYS relies upon virtual team rooms to allow members of a particular project team to share files and communicate on a regular basis. Yet, other initiatives do not address any specific knowledge domain, but rather try to improve the overall knowledge environment by fostering an appreciation for knowledge and a culture of sharing. These projects may focus specifically on the reward systems for evaluating knowledge generation, sharing, or use. Given the fact that much of the interest in knowledge management has come about because of advances in information technology, it should come as no surprise that most of the initiatives falling into the just-described categories are centered around the introduction or use of information technology. A survey by the Ernst Young Center for Business Innovation found, for instance, that technology-centered efforts dominated the specific knowledge management projects of the 431 U.S. and European organizations that participated (see the table). The same survey found that information technology (IT) departments were twice as likely to lead knowledge management projects as any other pa rt of the organization. Knowledge management roles. Companies going down the knowledge management road, even after just a few timid steps, find that it wont happen on its own. Sure, knowledge has been gathered and shared as long as people have been able to communicate, but leveraging knowledge for business success requires that someone have explicit responsibility for making sure it happens and happens well. Hence the rise of the chief knowledge officer (CKO), director of intellectual capital, and chief learning officer (CLO). Though responsibilities may vary from firm to firm, this new executive-level position is typically charged with organizing, capturing, and distributing the organizations knowledge. Some of the most widely known people with titles such as these include CLO Steve Kerr of General Electric (GE), CKOs John Peetz of Ernst Young and Judith Rosenblum of Coca-Cola, and Leif Edvinsson, director of intellectual capital for Skandia. One estimate suggests there may be more than 250 firms in the United States with positions such as these. However, the jury is still out on the value of CKOs, CLOs, and the like. Though slightly more than half of the participants in Ernst Youngs survey said that a CKO could be valuable for their organization, only about 28 percent said that establishing new knowledge roles would make sense for their organization. Regardless of whether knowledge management is given a seat of its own in the boardroom, large firms especially discover quickly a need for a host of knowledge managers. The knowledge management roles for managing Pricewaterhouse Cooperss intranet KnowledgeCurve and its 150 Lotus Notes servers in the United States is an excellent example. More than 100 people in the firms knowledge management organization report to Ellen Knapp, its CKO. This number does not include the owner, moderator, and administrator of each discussion group or her power user council of more than 200 KnowledgeCurve champions in PricewaterhouseCoopers. These positions are critical for capturing the best knowledge in the organization, ensuring the quality of knowledge, and supporting the smooth operation of the entire system. No one said it would be easy No matter what knowledge management projects organizations undertake or how they support them, we already know that road is paved with obstacles and  fraught with complexity. Ernst Youngs survey reveals that the top four difficulties most organizations are likely to face fall into the areas of culture, measurement, quality, and money (see the table below). Overcoming technological limitations, by contrast, came in nearly last (15 percent). Larry Prusak of the IBM Consulting Group warns, When it comes to successfully managing knowledge, culture trumps all other factors. Some organizations are fortunate to have had a knowledge-sharing culture before beginning to formalize their knowledge management. These firms, typically high-tech or knowledge-driven organizations, according to Davenport and Prusak in their book Working Knowledge, have the advantage that they already attract and hire employees who sought and applied knowledge while in school. Other organizations, however, must cultivate such a culture by providing an  environment that encourages and rewards the sharing and use of knowledge. People must be given the time and opportunity to share and then be reassured that their contributions will be recognized. Perhaps the most critical condition for overcoming a culture in which knowledge is seen as power is senior management support for knowledge management. Robert Buckman, CEO of Buckman Laboratories, puts it moresuccinctly: Frankly, I do not think you can have a successful knowledge project without that proactive entrepreneurial support from the top. Other firms find success by building their knowledge management efforts off of groups or parts of the organization that already share knowledge. Is knowledge management a passing fad? Today, it does seem that there is more talk than action. Thomas Stewart, the Fortune magazine writer who first called the business worlds attention to the importance of peoples brainpower, warns that knowledge management has the potential for becoming a fad solely because of the money to be made from the information technology tools that frequently support it. But the forces behind its emergence are real and fundamental, and likely to continue. One thing is certain: Managing knowledge is not a well-defined process. There are many questions that remain unanswered. What knowledge should you keep and what should you toss away? How do you capture the knowledge of chance hallway conversations? How do you avoid the perception that having the latest, best hardware or software equates to managing knowledge? How do you make tacit knowledge explicit? On the other hand, the potential benefits are enormous. Those firms who answer those questions will benefit from knowledge management by †¢ increasing the amount of learning that takes place †¢ making work less frustrating and onerous †¢ making the promise of the learning organization a reality †¢ creating knowledge, insight, and understanding that can help people in their lives outside of work. All of which will be essential to competing in the knowledge era. Learning and employee communications The business imperative to accelerate organizational learning has created new functions within organizations to speed up the process of creating, capturing, and disseminating information and knowledge. The same forces that are creating a focus on knowledge management are causing firms to combine their learning and communications strategies. As training moves to learning, more and more organizations are looking to foster a learning environment to piggyback on training or to create an architecture in which learning, both formal and informal, is ongoing and consistent. As a relatively young company, Qualcomm (founded in 1985), a San Diego-based wireless communications company, did not have an internal communications department. So when the director of the learning department, Tamar Elkeles, decided she needed to better communicate Qualcomms learning and training initiatives to employees, she created a subdepartment within the learning department, called employee communications. Different from corporate communications, which is located at the headquarters facility and focuses on external public  relations, employee communications informs employees about more than just training events; this group has assumed responsibility for communicating the companys training and learning philosophy, as well as its culture and values. The use of the companys intranet Website for information exchange, as well as for more formal distance learning, has been an essential tool in Qualcomms employee communications efforts. Employee communications has been a part of Silicon Graphicss learning and development department for some time. Drew Banks, manager of integrated performance support at SGI, believes that intranet-based distribution of information was the catalyst that made combining learning and development with employee communications work. But he thinks that the underpinning philosophy that drives it is the view that organizational communication and learning are both on t he same continuum. Lars Thykier, director of training at Scandinavian Airlines System, agrees: The border between training/learning and internal communications is increasingly difficult to draw. And, he continues, There is increasing awareness that internal communications are also learning activities, meaning that there is a need for closer ties between the two strategies. If a corporate learning department is set up for broad-based corporate learning (not just skill-based training), says Banks, then this combination can make sense. In fact, he says, it is one of the four logical placements of an employee communications department (as shown in table). The placement of employee communications within an organization should depend on which goal is more difficult to achieve without an organizational linkage. For example, in a command-and-control culture, the first option in the table is best. Additionally, says Banks, any one of these goals could be more critical than the others depending on where the comp any is in its life cycle. This would mean that the organizational placement of employee communications could change over time. The increasing overlap of learning and employee communications within organizations originates from the need of an organization to link its functional silos, says Michele Miller, director of knowledge, strategy, and facilitation at Arthur Andersen. Much like the trend toward combining learning and performance consulting, organizations are melding learning and internal employee communications. Although many organizations have recognized this need, says Miller, they are taking different approaches to address it. Some organizations, for instance, have  located the employee communications department under the training department umbrella. Other organizations, like Arthur Andersen, are looking at creating stronger partnerships with broad-based groups that may have organizational responsibility for the knowledge and communications areas. This has resulted from the blurring of distinctions among communications, knowledge, and learning and from the increased importance of a holistic approach to address their different dimensions. The desire to move learning from discrete interventions to a complete learning environment appears to be pushing the integration of the learning and employee communications departments. Knowledge management, formal and informal learning, performance improvement, and intellectual capital enhancement appear to form the basis for this push, as well as a desire to help employees better understand their organizations vision, mission, culture, and values. No longer content to work within the constraints of functional silos, learning directors have begun to take a more systemic view of informing and developing employees through the creation of their own, or integration with existing, employee communications departments.

Currency and Thai Baht Essay Example for Free

Currency and Thai Baht Essay Assessing Future Exchange Rate Movements 1. How are percentage changes in a currency’s value measured? Illustrate your answer numerically by assuming a change in the Thai baht’s value from a value of $0.022 to $0.026. ANSWER: The percentage change in a currency’s value is measured as follows: where S denotes the spot rate, and St −1 denotes the spot rate as of the earlier date. A positive percentage change represents appreciation of the foreign currency, while a negative percentage change represents depreciation. In the example provided, the percentage change in the Thai baht would be: That is, the baht would be expected to appreciate by 18.18%. 2. What are the basic factors that determine the value of a currency? In equilibrium, what is the relationship between these factors? ANSWER: The basic factors that determine the value of a currency are the supply of the currency for sale and the demand for the currency. A high level of supply of a currency generally decreases the currency’s value, while a high level of demand for a currency increases its value. In equilibrium, the supply of the currency equals the demand for the currency. 3. How might the relatively high levels of inflation and interest rates have affected the baht’s value? (Assume a constant level of U.S. inflation and interest rates.) ANSWER: The baht would be affected both by inflation levels and interest rates in Thailand relative to levels of these variables in the U.S. A high level of inflation tends to result in currency depreciation, as it would increase the Thai demand for U.S. goods , causing an increase in the Thai demand for dollars. Furthermore, a relatively high level of Thai inflation would reduce the U.S. demand for Thai goods, causing an increase in the supply of baht for sale. Conversely, the high level of interest rates in Thailand may cause appreciation of the baht relative to the dollar. A relatively high level of interest rates in Thailand would have rendered investments there more attractive for U.S. investors, causing an increase in the demand for baht. Furthermore, U.S. securities would have been less attractive to Thai investors, causing an increase in the supply of dollars for sale. However, investors might be unwilling to invest in baht-denominated securities if they are concerned about the potential depreciation of the baht that could result from Thailand’s inflation. 4. How do you think the loss of confidence in the Thai baht, evidenced by the withdrawal of funds from Thailand, affected the baht’s value? Would Blades be affected by the change in value, given the primary Thai customer’s commitment? ANSWER: In general, a depreciation in the foreign currency results when investors liquidate their investments in the foreign currency, increasing the supply of its currency for sale. Blades would probably be affected by the change in value even though its Thai customer’s commitment, as the sales are denominated in baht. Thus, the depreciation in the baht would have caused a conversion of the baht revenue into fewer U.S. dollars. 5. Assume that Thailand’s central bank wishes to prevent a withdrawal of funds from its country in order to prevent further changes in the currency’s value. How could it accomplish this objective using interest rates? ANSWER: If Thailand’s central bank wishes to prevent further depreciation in the baht’s value, it would attempt to increase the level of interest rates in Thailand. In turn, this would increase the demand for Thai baht by U.S. investors, as Thai securities would now seem more attractive. This would place upward pressure on the currency’s value. However, the high interest rates could reduce local borrowing and spending. 6. Construct a spreadsheet illustrating the steps Blades’ treasurer would need to follow in order to speculate on expected movements in the baht’s value over the next 30 days. Also show the speculative profit (in dollars) resulting from each scenario. Use both of Ben Holt’s examples to illustrate possible speculation. Assume that Blades can borrow either $10 million or the baht equivalent of this amount. Furthermore, assume that the following short-term interest rates (annualized) are available to Blades: Currency Dollars Thai baht Lending Rate 8.10% 14.80% Borrowing Rate 8.20% 15.40% ANSWER: Depreciation of the Baht from $0.022 to $0.020 1. Borrow Thai baht ($10,000,000/0.022) 2. Convert the Thai baht to dollars ($454,545,454.50 million Ãâ€" $0.022). 3. Lend the dollars at 8.10% annualized, which represents a 0.68% return over the 30-day period [computed as 8.10% Ãâ€"(30/360)]. After 30 days, Blades would receive ($10,000,000 Ãâ€" (1 + .0068)) 4. Use the proceeds of the dollar loan repayment (on Day 30) to repay the baht borrowed. The annual interest on the baht borrowed is 15.40%, or 1.28% over the 30-day period [computed as 15.40% Ãâ€"(30/360)]. The total baht amount necessary to repay the loan is therefore (454,545,454.50 Ãâ€"(1 + .0128)) 454,545,454.50 10,000,000.00 10,068,000.00 460,363,636.40 5. Number of dollars necessary to repay baht loan ($THB460,363,636.40 Ãâ€" $0.02) 6. Speculative profit ($10,068,000 – $9,207,272.73) 9,207,272.73 860,727.27 Appreciation of the Baht from $0.022 to $0.025 1. Borrow dollars. 2. Convert the dollars to Thai baht ($10 million/$0.022). 3. Lend the baht at 14.80% annualized, which represents a 1.23% return over the 30-day period [computed as 14.80% Ãâ€"(30/360)]. After 30 days, Blades would receive (THB454,545,454.50 Ãâ€" (1 + .0123)) 4. Use the proceeds of the baht loan repayment (on Day 30) to repay the dollars borrowed. The annual interest on the dollars borrowed is 8.20%, or 0.68% over the 30-day period [computed as 8.20% Ãâ€" (30/360)]. The total dollar amount necessary to repay the loan is therefore ($10,000,000 Ãâ€"(1 + .0068)) 5. Number of baht necessary to repay dollar loan ($10,068,000.00/$0.025) 6. Speculative profit (THB460,136,363.60 – THB402,720,000.00) 7. Dollar equivalent of speculative profit (THB57,416,363.60 Ãâ€"$0.025) 10,000,000.00 454,545,454.50 460,136,363.60 10,068,000.00 402,720,000.00 57,416,363.60 1,435,409.09

Influence of Stigma in Healthcare

Influence of Stigma in Healthcare Step 1: Discuss the ways stigma can influence healthcare delivery for marginalised people and groups in Australian society. People from the following groups may be stigmatised. Explore this question from one of the following marginalised groups: refugees, indigenous Australians, mentally ill or homeless people, older adults or the disabled. Step 2: My definition of stigma is when someone is discriminated against and stereotyped by their mental health illness causing them to be treated unequal to others. I have made many observations in relation to stigma and mental healthcare delivery while working as an assistant nurse in a mental health hospital. In my experience, I observed staff stigmatise and discriminate against certain mentally ill patients due to the staff’s values and expectations of mental health illnesses. This caused a lower standard of care as the staff neglected certain patients if they believed mental health was not a valid health issue. When related to the sociological imagination template (Germov, 2014, p. 7, 8) this issue relates to the historical factor as in the past mental health was not valued as highly as biomedicine and there was a higher rate of stigma in mental health. It also relates to the cultural factor as the cultural values of the staff I observed impacted on the delivery of healthcare. In addition to my observations in the workplace, I also experienced stigma first hand during my adolescent years as I experienced depression. I found I was less likely to seek help and healthcare when others within my society such as peers had a lack of understanding or had specific cultural and historical views that caused them to stigmatise me. This impacted on the delivery of healthcare as health professionals were unable to help me unless I presented to them with my issues, causing a lack of healthcare in this situation. The stigma I received from my peers was due to the way the education system is structured as it doesn’t include education about mental health from an early age. It is my experience with depression followed by my observations of stigma that has helped me understand that stigma is such a universal concept affecting many people and their healthcare. Germov (2014, pg. 3) explains health sociology is based on the concept that health issues come about from the social world. Germov also explains (2014, pg. 3) the treatment and causes for health problems are within the social context of the individual. Therefore, if stigma and discrimination are within society, it can not only cause mental health issues, through self-stigmatizing, but also prevent them from improving, by causing individuals to not seek healthcare. Now that I have an understanding of Willis’ sociological imagination template (Germov, 2014, p. 7, 8), I am able to reflect on my experiences with a deeper understanding of the implications stigma has on the delivery of healthcare and the ability of a mentally ill person to seek help. Step 3: Cockerham Cockerham’s (2010, pg. 24-41) reading has deepened my initial observations of how stigma impacted on my own experience of mental illness as they explain the impact globalisation has on the structure of the healthcare system and advancement in medicine, and also the cultural values and expectations of mental illness. The article (Cockerham et al. 2010, pg. 24-41) explains globalisation and the advancement of western medicine is a means to scientifically understand the body in order to improve diagnosis and treatment options. This has had an effect on all aspects of healthcare; however Cockerham et al. (2010) explain the historical neglect of mental health research, due to supernatural and religious beliefs of the past and the view that the study of the mind was the role of the church. This reading has allowed me to understand the development of the structure of mental healthcare as historically mental health was seen as mysterious and religious (Cockerham et al., 2010, pg. 24-41). The article explains that the study of the mind was eventually thought of as medical science, but due to the past perceptions, medical science in physical health was valued higher than mental health knowledge (Cockerham et al., 2010, pg. 24-41). This perception is found within Australian society as Germov (2012, pg. 165) states biomedicine is an important model of health and illness. This may have caused the cultural values of the staff I observed in my workplace, causing them to put biomedicine above mental healthcare, often devaluing the need for mental health care. The high value for biomedicine and the high value for medical science of physical health before mental health has allowed me to understand the historical cause of stigma. I have since realized I was a victim of stigma durin g my adolescent years which affected my ability to seek healthcare. Healthcare needs to develop further to treat the mentally ill with the respect and dignity they deserve. Step 4: By reflecting on my experiences within mental health it is clear stigma influences healthcare delivery in two main ways 1) through the values and expectations of healthcare professionals and 2) whether or not individuals seek healthcare treatment due to stigma impacting on their perception of their mental health issue. As stated in step 2, health sociology is based on the concept that health problems are created from the social world of the individual, and both the treatment and cause of health issues can be identified in the individual’s social context (Germov, 2014, pg. 3). This topic is very broad, so I will base my reflection on the three main factors from the sociological imagination template (Germov, 2012, pg. 7-8) that present the link between a person and their society/environment i.e. the cultural values and opinions of Australian society and the way the education system is structured and how it can be improved from a critical standpoint. These factors link closely an d impede heavily on the delivery of healthcare in Australia. Such implications include a lower standard of healthcare due to the values of healthcare professionals, and the inability to live up to societys’ expectations causing self-stigmatizing attitudes, leading to a lower chance of the individual seeking out healthcare. There is the inability or decision not to seek help early due to a lack of knowledge given from the education system; however the healthcare system has advanced to create positive outcomes for someone with mental problems within Australian society. It is important to remember that cultural values and structural systems do not just affect the individual, but the society as a whole. The cultural perception of being responsible for our healthcare (Germov, 2014, pg. 8) within Australia has profound implications for people with mental illness as they are often unable to take responsibility of their healthcare. Their inability take charge clashes with views of society and in turn stigma develops. Angel and Thoits (1987) explain that culture mandates the behaviors, response and help-seeking attitudes of individuals’ to their illness, and Chacon (2009) states cultural factors play a large role in help-seeking. Hence the value of being responsible for our healthcare juxtaposed with the failure of the individual to do so, causes the mentally ill person to steer away from seeking treatment, as they are made to believe they have failed their society. Weiss (2010) has given me insight into this value from the doctor’s point of view and that is doctors cannot help us if we won’t help ourselves. This is true to some extent, however in the case of someone with a debilitating mental illness, they are often unable to help themselves. During my experience, I also felt as though I could not help myself as my illness caused a lack of self-confidence and respect to help myself. This ultimately causes a lack of healthcare and a failure of the healthcare system to deliver care due to the values and expectations of society and healthcare professionals. Cappelen Norheim (2005) have given me insight into another viewpoint of being responsible for our own health. It is explained that lifestyle choices have a huge impact on our health and hence why some believe putting responsibility on the individual is fair (Cappelen Norheim, 2005). However, if a person has chosen to take illegal substances for example, that have ultimately caused a mental illness, who should decide whether or not they are discriminated against for doing so? And should the extent to which a disease is a result of individual choices be allowed to affect the degree to which it is given priority? This brings up the cultural values of the health professionals that I observed who had a high value for biomedicine and little understanding of how their views were being imposed on their patients, causing discrimination against them. From a critical perspective (Germov, 2013, pg. 7), healthcare delivery can be improved through the structure of the education system. If more education about mental health is provided within the curriculum for young students, stigma among the mentally ill will be reduced due to a greater understanding and acceptance of mental illness among the younger generation. Programs such as headspace, as well as mental health resources, guidelines, and support will help improve the mental health and wellbeing of individuals (State Government Victoria, 2014). This is turn will improve healthcare delivery as the mentally ill will feel less like they have failed their society and more likely to seek treatment. Looking back on my experience, the delivery of healthcare is strongly impacted by the values, expectations and stigma of Australian society towards mental illness. By improving education in Australia we may be able to reduce stigma providing better healthcare outcomes to patients. Step 5: By answering this eModule question, I have developed the graduate attribute of demonstrating respect for the dignity of each individual and for human diversity. I have expanded my knowledge on the impact of stigma on both myself and the individuals within my care, giving me a better respect for the dignity of the individual. Germov (2014) has given me a deeper knowledge that individual problems can be faced by the majority of society at one point or another, giving me the understanding that others, like me, often feel a sense of devalued dignity due to the values and expectations of society as a whole. I have a wider knowledge of the impact my experience had on myself as an adolescent, and would not allow others to feel the same way or experience the same issues. This has allowed me to better care for others keeping in mind the impact of stigma on healthcare delivery, ultimately giving me the skills to become a better nurse. References Angel, T., Thoits, P. (1987). The impact of culture on the cognitive structure of illness. Culture, Medicine and psychiatry, 11(4), 465-494. Doi: 10.1007/BF00048494 Cappelen, A.W., Norheim, O.F. (2004). Responsibility in healthcare: a liberal egalitarian approach. Journal Med Ethics, 31, 476-480. doi:10.1136/jme.2004.010421 Chacon, C. (2009). Depression: the tole of cultural factors and perception of treatment. Retrieved from http://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4998context=etd_theses Cockerham, G.B., Cockerham, W.C. (2010). Globalization: Health benefits and risks. In Health and globalization (pp. 24-41). Cambridge, UK: Polity Press. Germov, J. (2014). Ethnicity, health, and multiculturalism. In J. Germov, Second opinion: An introduction to health sociology (5th ed.). (pp. 163-183). South Melbourne, Vic: Oxford University Press. State Government Victoria. (2014). Student mental health and suicide response/planning. Retrieved from http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/principals/health/pages/studenthealth.aspx Weiss, P.J. (2010). Take responsibility for your own health. Retrieved from http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2010/12/responsibility-health.html

Aggressive Driving Can Lead To Road Rage Essay -- essays research pape

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It starts with just a moment of tailgating, or maybe the guy in front of you cut you off or wouldn’t let you into the fast lane. In some cases it appears that incidents of road rage are caused by simple misunderstandings between drivers. A driver may make a momentary error of judgment but the perception of another driver is that he or she is driving aggressively. Then suddenly it turns into World War III on the highway. It matters little what causes it; a bad day at the office, a love affair going bad, credit cards maxed to the credit limit. All it takes is a sudden movement of someone else’s wheels, and within seconds a normally mild mannered motorist is consumed with a red-eyed, mouth-foaming surge of anger that grabs more of us every day. Road Rage, something that has always simmered on the back burner of motoring America, is now going off like fireworks.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Motorists who have snapped and committed incredible violence are mostly men and women with no known histories of crime, violence, or alcohol and drug abuse. They are the people typically described by neighbors â€Å"the nicest woman or man† or â€Å"a wonderful mother or father.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Father, mother, son, daughter, they all have their own ways of getting mad. Some slam on the brakes, jump out of their cars, open the trunks and grab anything that they get their hands on. Others use baseball bats, knives, mace, pepper spray, fists, or some simply pull out a pistol and start firing away. Why are these drivers turning their anger and frustrations into road rage and what solutions can we propose to stop this road rage?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Some say that one of the main causes of aggressive driving which usually leads to road rage is highway congestion. The road construction on the major interstates adds to   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   lane closures and distractions to motorists. A motorist is driving the speed limit and then immediately has to slam on their brakes because another motorist sees the lane closures and decides to cut in front of them. This type of driving makes motorists mad because they know tha... ...sp;  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  We can attack and reduce the dangers of aggressive driving. Each of us should take a look at our own driving habits and those of our friends and loved ones. The government can help with road improvements and law enforcement, but solving this problem will require people to change their behavior. Working together, we can make our roads safer and prevent deaths and injuries. Works Cited Bowles, Scott and Overberg, Paul. â€Å"Aggressive driving: A road well-traveled.† USA   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  TODAY 12 July 1999. USA TODAY on America Online. America Online. 27 September 2000. Ledford, Joey. â€Å"Women taking their rage to the road.† Post-Dispatch 19 Sept. 2000.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Post-Dispatch on America Online. America Online. 21 Sept. 2000. Leiser, Ken. â€Å"ROAD RAGE: COMMUTER COMBAT IN AMERICA.† Post-Dispatch   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  19 June 2000. Post-Dispatch on America Online. America Online. 19 September 2000.

time management Essay -- essays research papers

Time Management   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The way a person manages time effects the efficiency of their life. There are many ways that will help in time management. College students for example have many responsibilities. The top priority being school. Students must have time to go to class and show their best of their abilities to finish all work that needed to be done. Some students may have to fit work into their daily schedule. As Rock-Richardson describes,  ¡Ã‚ §As an undergrad, I put my self through two solid years of full-tuition college by working as a daycare provider [ ¡K] ¡Ã‚ ¨ (Rock-Richardson 12). In order to be successful at the tasks the student must eat properly and get enough sleep. The one thing that should be learned is motivation and the famous saying  ¡Ã‚ §Never give up. ¡Ã‚ ¨ If a task must be done and it is felt that there is no time, that is just the misunderstanding of time. The first step in beginning better time management is to write it into an organizer. An organizer is the most helpful notebook a student can purchase. Carol Kanar says,  ¡Ã‚ §Your schedule is the result of the inward decision you make to control events instead of letting events control you ¡Ã‚ ¨ (Kanar 93). For a student to remember important dates such as test dates they must be written down and observed. Major dates to remember are exam dates. There will be numerous tests and assignments during one quarter, which cannot be memorized. This organizing will help in figuring out how much study time the...

Subjective Intelligence :: Technology Technological Essays

Subjective Intelligence The human aspiration to create intelligent machines has appeared in myth and literature for thousands of years, from stories of Pygmalion to the tales of the Jewish Golem. After thousands of years of fantasy, the appearance of the digital computer, with its native, human-like ability to process symbols, made it seem that the myth of man-made intelligence could become reality. However, when will we know when we have reached that critical point when a machine becomes a mind? What is it that distinguishes real intelligence from the mere processing of symbols and interpretation of stimuli? When is intelligence achieved? To answer these questions one needs a concrete definition of intelligence in order to formulate the criteria necessary to evaluate the intellectual capability of machines and men. Webster’s dictionary defines intelligence as, â€Å"The ability to learn and understand.†[1] This is a very broad definition and allows for as much interpretation as the concept we are trying to define. Furthermore, this definition fails to account for the full range of cognition that the human brain is capable of. Webster’s definition does not account for the critical aspects of emotion, free will and personality. A second definition given by the Encarta encyclopedia is the â€Å"general mental capability to reason, solve problems, think abstractly, learn and understand new material and profit from past experience.†[2] All of these are traits of the human mind. Therefore it would follow that if a machine does not possess one of these human characteristics it cannot be considered intelligent. Furthermore, it necessitates that an intelligent machine must be human-like. If this is so, a machine could then be described with the same qualifying words we use to describe a human. Is a machine then bright, smart, stupid or clever? If we define intelligence as â€Å"â€Å"a likeness to the human mind,†Ã¢â‚¬  the human characteristics that Webster failed to capture in its definition, are encompassed in a separate humanistic definition of intelligence. However, where Webster and Encarta are too broad, the humanistic definition may be too tight. It is commonly agreed that humans are all intelligent beings, however it does not necessarily follow that humans are the only intelligent beings. Therefore by defining intelligence in such a way one could be ruling out different forms of intelligence that are intelligent by nature, but then not by definition.

Does Economic Wealth Lead to Well-Being

Does Economic Wealth Lead To Well-being? In 1974, USC Professor Easterlin put forward that within a country the rich have higher average subjective well-being (SWB) than the poor. Nevertheless, the average SWB is uncorrelated with income between rich countries and poor countries. For example, the Gallup poll of 2012 well-being from Livescience website (2011) shows that Panama has 61% of people who said they are thriving, which had a greater score than the USA. The modern economy based on the opinion that the growth in the economy can lead to SWB increases.Surprisingly, economic growth does not bring more happiness. Therefore, this is the Easterlin Paradox. One explanation is ignoring variables, in the first part of this essay, noneconomic factors such as health, environment or family will be discussed, and these factors will counteract the positives of wealth. Then the second part will account for why economic wealth cannot measure happiness. There is also a certain amount of opinion to support economic wealth give rise to happiness. It will be presented by discussing GDP issues in part three.Well-being does not only depend on economic factors, but it also be influenced by work, environment, health or family relations etc. The Weighted Index of Social Progress sees Sweden, Denmark and Norway on top, while the Happy Planet Index sees Colombia and Costa Rica among the leaders (Measures of Well-being, 2006). And a few South American countries’ SWB is as high as developed countries such as Puerto Rico, or Guatemala. The above cases show that economy is one of the elements in estimating SWB. It is evidence that economic wealth results in the working burden raising dramatically.Working pressure disrupts the staff’s life balance and thousands of work makes staff feel anxious every day. As the economy grows rapidly, the environment is polluted heavily. It is evident that the quality of environment decreasing gives rise to individuals’ SWB fall. Ano ther contributing factor is health which is regarded as the most important aspect by the majority of people. Better health conditions give people confidence as well as well-being. Sometimes, individuals are entangled with family issues, and the negative effects from family cancel out the positive effects from economic income.If a government considers increasing SWB, it should make more in policies that promote good governance, liberties, democracy, trust and public safety (Why Money Doesn’t Buy Happiness, 2011). Personal satisfaction lies in diverse factors, and earning does not play a major role. Section 2 will be devoted to the two explanations why GDP cannot measure the real SWB, especially in developed countries. A United Nations reported that the UK is only the 18th happiest place to live (British people are more miserable than Costa Ricans and Israelis, UN finds, 2012). Firstly, take case of a rabbit eats carrot.A rabbit finds a room filled with a large quantity of carr ots while the rabbit is going to starve to dying. Apparently the rabbit will gobble down the carrots, but the carrots will be become less attractive when the rabbit is almost full. According to the story, in rich countries the SWB rises up to a particular point, but it will never go beyond point. That is the reason why advanced countries (for example, USA, UK, France and Germany) SWB was not ranked in the top position. In reality, money is the carrot. The meaning of 100 dollars is significantly dissimilar between beggars and billionaires.When economy develops to a certain extent, economic factors cannot measure happiness because there are several variables to act on the SWB simultaneously. An amount of factors were introduced at the last paragraph. The second explanation is more psychological. The major determinant of SWB is the relative life condition (comparing with people in the same level) rather than the real life condition. Being more specific, if one individual has better liv ing condition than the other people who live in the same area, the one is more satisfied. This psychological comparison is called keep up with the Joneses.For this reason, the SWB will not change even if economic growth brings about rising incomes. For instance, on the one hand, country people live in the countryside and local residents lead the similar country life. On the other hand, people who live in urban areas lead completely diverse lives. Their social circles usually have a great number of affluent individuals, so the psychological pressure which is caused by the wealth comparison is greater than the happiness of high income. There are also positive views to support economic growth leads to SWB.To be empirical, countries with a lower GDP typically have more problems. Taking an example of Africa, according to the graph of geography of happiness from the Economist website (2010), countries at the bottom (mostly African) had lower score (The rich, the poor and Bulgaria, 2010). Most areas of Africa are rural. Africans now distinctly desire a better life. Although rich countries are clearly happier, the correlation is not perfect (The rich, the poor and Bulgaria, 2010). In the research of assistant professor Stevenson, they take a 0 to 10 life satisfaction scale to survey the work.People who live in the rich countries place themselves around 7 and 8. At the same time, people in the poor countries consider themselves at about 3. As the matter of fact, increasing GDP can raise average satisfaction. For instance, nations with booming GDP imply government can spend more capital on health care, education or environmental protection. It is not apparent that a lager GDP measures citizen’s health, education or intelligence directly, but it does continue to contribute to citizen’s life. This paragraph provides a summary and a discussion of some extensions of this paper.Firstly, basic needs are meet differences in well-being are less frequently due to i ncome, and more frequently due to factors such as social relationships and enjoyment at work (Why money doesn’t buy happiness, 2007), different variables influence SWB jointly. Secondly, two explanations were presented to interpret that GDP cannot measure the real SWB. The saturating point exists in the process of economic development promotes SWB, and then the economic factors will not be crucial. What is more, the psychological comparison is a vital determinant in SWB, though the income rising expressively brings plentiful happiness.Thirdly, GDP can increase national SWB authentically. To individuals, large income raises SWB in the short term. There are a number of separable components of SWB (Diener, 2000). Thus, money does not buy happiness. SWB is difficult to be calculated and can be measured in different ways. Happiness, as the ultimate goal, requires the most encompassing measure (measuring of well-being, 2006). Bibliography 1. Deutsche Bank Research, 2006, Measures o f Well-being. Available from http://www. dbresearch. com/PROD/DBR_INTERNET_EN-PROD/PROD0000000000202587. PDF [Accessed 19 April 2012] 2.Dinener, E. 2000. Subjective Well-being: The Science of Happiness and Proposal for a National Index. American Psychologist, vol. 55, No. 1, 34-43. 3. Livesciene, 2011, Top 19 Happiest Countries (and the 20 saddest). Available from http://www. livescience. com/13790-19-happiest-countries-20-saddest. html [Accessed 16 April 2012] 4. The Daily Beast, 2007, Why Money Doesn’t Buy Happiness. Available from http://www. thedailybeast. com/newsweek/2007/10/14/why-money-doesn-t-buy-happiness. html [Accessed 19 April 2012] 5. The Economist, 2010, Comparing Countries. The rich, the poor and Bulgaria.Money really can buy you happiness. Available from http://www. economist. com/node/17722557. html [Accessed 26 April 2012] 6. The Telegraph, 2012, British people are more miserable than Costa Ricans and Israelis, UN finds. Available from http://www. thetelegr aph. co. uk/lifestyle/9184916/British-people-are-more-miserable-than-Costa-Ricans-and-Isrealis-UN-finds. html [Accessed 4 May 2012] 7. Yale School of management, What Are the Economics of Happiness? Available from http://bpp. wharton. upenn. edu/betseys/press%20reaction/Easterlin%20Paradox/YaleSOMInterview. pdf [Accessed 26 April 2012]

Airborne Express case Analysis Essay

1 Company Background: Airborne express is an express delivery company and cargo airline, which by1997 had 16% of the domestic express mail market share. They operate in a niche by targeting business clients located in the United States. Their main service is next morning delivery which is also the flagship of the industry. Airborne are Target Business clients  able to differentiate by holding a position as  primarly with next morning  delivery services  cost leaders while providing high quality  services, equal to that of their competitors. In addition, Airborne Express is perceived  as the flexible, solution orientated express  Provide  carrier. They possess the ability of adapting  Able to offer the  Flexible- solution  lowest price on  needs of business customers, without it  orientated  the market  express service  affecting the price structure of their services. Figure 1 Airborne’s wheel of success Competitive advantage: The mail express industry is characterized by a cost structure with high variable costs and relatively low fixed costs. Firms’ competitive advantage lies mainly in providing their service at the lowest possible cost. Airborn Express’ Infrastructure Marketing  and sales and  offer Inbound  logistics Sorting  operations Package Shipping Delivery services Figure 2: Airborne’s express value chain Marketing, sales and technology: ï‚ · Low advertising costs; sales mainly through a strong sales-force that establishes personal relationships with their clients. ï‚ · No research and developments costs in research and development. Ability to copy and integrate quickly when competitors’ adopt new successful innovations. Inbound logistics: ï‚ · Airborne express own its main hub (purchased at a very low price because of rural location) on which it collects its parcels. ï‚ · No landing fees, because of ownership, which substantially reduce their costs. Sorting operations: ï‚ · Sorting operation rely mostly on labor than machines, compared to competitors. As labor is none-unionized labor, it provides Airborne with cheaper labor force. ï‚ · Operations mainly situated in one location (sorting facility and warehouses), allowing a lower cost structure in addition to some economies of scale. 2 Package shipment: ï‚ · Fleet of 175 aircrafts, mostly McDonnell Douglas type, purchased used at low price. ï‚ · Deliveries mostly concentrated in top 50 US metropolitan areas, as most businesses are located in such areas, allowing high utilization rate of aircrafts (80%), and therefore some economies of scale. Delivery services ï‚ · Pickup and delivery services mostly operated by independent contractors (paid by the mile or parcel), 10% cheaper than company owned pickup and delivery services. ï‚ · More parcels per stop because clients are situated in mostly metropolitan areas. ï‚ · No retail service centers (little need as most clients are business clients), compared to competitors who are dependent on such service centers. Industry Analysis: Exhibit 1 gives an overview of attractiveness of industry. Positive for companies operating in this sector is: market for express deliveries is difficult to access. Capital requirements are high; market is saturated with established companies operating the industry. (To FeDex for example, has become synonym to overnight shipping). In addition there is little supplier power. Main suppliers are pickup and delivery service companies, and these are exposed to high competition which contributes to low bargaining power. On the other hand, it is a very saturated market. The market leaders, FedEx and UPS operate in most of the parcel markets (international, domestic, businesses, private †¦). The remaining companies target niche markets and are either direct competitors of either FedEx or UPS. What differentiates them is usually price and image. In general, the industry is characterized by strong competition between firms, as firms provide similar services, with a high degree of substitu tability. With a sector exposed to such competition, profit margins outsights are relatively low. Generic strategies: 100% 80% Market share 60% Airplane utilization rate Operating margins Price/ Performance – Next morning delivery 40% 20% 0% Fedex UPS Airborne Delivery quality Price/ Performance Next afternoon delivery Figure 3: graphs based on numbers from Exhibit 2 3 Operating Margin 10% 10% 9% 9% 8% Average price (all parcel types) $35 8% 7% $34 7% 6% $33 6% 5% $32 5% $31 4% $30 4% 3% $29 3% Average price (all Operating 2% $28 2% parcel types) – next 97% 98% 99% 100% 1% 96% morning Market deliveries 1% 0% Share 0% $25,00 0% 10% $30,00 20% 30% $35,00 40% 50% Both FedEx and UPS are currently looking for marginal revenue opportunities. History of industry has showed importance of innovation .Currently, UPS has adopted a new pricing strategy that has been followed by FedEx. The question is whether Airborne should adapt same pricing strategy as their competitors. Cost/ Benefit analysis Advantages of adopting new pricing system – Maintain pace of competitors, – Not to lose profitability and market share as a result of competitors’ overtaking shorter distance mail market due to lower pricing. – Market sensible to market innovation. Illustrated by the innovation war between FEDEX and UPS in the 90’s. – Brand known as flexible, so why not adopt a flexible pricing system? Disadvantages of adopting new pricing system – Imposing a new costly system – Increase costs and decrease profits if prices are  still lower than competitors in the overnight  morning delivery and in the lower weight  products. – Businesses are the clients, and services are  probably set by contracts and negotiations on volumes and not per unit. – Distance based pricing mostly influence  decisions of consumers rather than businesses. Maintaining the status quo – lose profitability and markets share; competitors’ overtaking short distance mail market due to lower pricing. – Long term effects: Airborne risks operating only on longer more costly transportation routes, and will largely influence profitability if only operating in specific markets. Airborne Express Adotping Not adopting Competitors Little worse This chart chose us the probable effects  of not adapting new pricing system  given that we already know they have  implemented the changes. Much worse Adopting Much better Same Much worse Not adopting Little worse Much better Same Figure 4: Game theory Recommendation The real risk of not following in competitors footsteps is that Airborne express might lose clients, especially smaller business clients. The effects would be the risk of operating in only long distance deliveries, which are also the most expensive. In addition, Airborne has an image of being flexible and solution orientated. Not implementing distance based pricing can dilute their brand image, especially in an industry where innovation is important. Given the risks, recommendations for Airborne Express (in order not to lose paste to competitors), is to implement distance based pricing. 4 Exhibit 1: Porter’s five forces analysis Threat of new Entrants (low) – Saturated markets – High capital requirements – Established brands – Some economies of scale – Low product differentiation Determinants of Supplier Power (Low) -Input, little dependent on suppliers: * aircraft carriers bought used *Pickup and delivery services companies are exposed to high competition, and therefore have little bargaining power. Rivalry among firms (high) – 3 big competitors and 6 second players: * Ups operate in all markets, * Remaining operate in niche markets. – Provide similar services. Fedex Determinants of buyer power (high) – Many suppliers – Low product differentiation – Low switching cost – High variable costs – Some brand loyalty – Low buyer switching costs – Competitive advantage through innovation – Discounts with volume – Price sensitive Threat of substitute products (High) – Low switching costs, unless contracts have been negotiated. – Similar product quality,(99% of package on time with UPS, FED and 97% with Airborne – Prices are similar, except Airborne has lower price for the industries flagship product – Other products such as electronic mail Exhibit 2: Numbers for radar Graph Companies Utilization rate Avg price overnight morning delivery, 1-10 lbs Avg price overnight next afternoon delivery 1-10 lbs Delivery quality Operating Margins (19961997) Domestic market share Fedex 65-70% 20,53 UPS 65-70% 21,54 Airborne 80% 18,55 21,65 18,52 16,63 99% 6.1% 99% 9.1% 97% 7.9% 45% 25% 16% 5

Euthanasia Essay

Countless debates have been conducted in recent years regarding euthanasia. It is a topic of great significance and sensitivity, because in the simplest terms, it is a debate about someone’s right to take his/her own life. Ultimately the legalization of euthanasia is a matter of human rights, and therefore the outcome of its debate has great implications on how humans define those inalienable rights. The arguments against euthanasia are numerous, and many of them are valid, good, humanitarian points. After all, euthanasia has been used to justify some of history’s most horrific and terrible genocides and injustices throughout the world. However, the debate of euthanasia, like life, is very complicated. It is very opaque, not black and white. By and large, euthanasia should be illegal. However, to outlaw it universally no matter the circumstance, forces suffering upon certain people and deprives them of their only relief. Legalizing euthanasia is a very controversial topic, however it should be legal in very limited and exact, fiercely regulated situations. Respect for patient autonomy is a standard for human rights within the medical practice, and the choice of euthanasia is an essential part of these rights. The concept of patient autonomy is a fairly recent standard in medical ethics. After World War II, all the despicable Nazi medical experiments became known to the world. After much litigation and evaluation, the current concept of patient autonomy became very important. The result was that no one may force another to be the subject of research against his/her will. The patient has the option to choose how he/she should be treated. This standard is now all but universally accepted in democratic countries. Currently, the right not to suffer is an indispensible part of patient autonomy and of human rights the world over (Annas 1992). The choice of euthanasia should be available to patients who are physically incapable of taking their own lives. There are people who are paralyzed in a tragic accident or dying a slow miserable death for years. These people don’t have the choice to decide about their own life. Some of them are alive only by some elaborate medications or machinery without which their bodies will stop living. It used to be the law of natural selection that decided the fate of an injured human being. These days we have machines and committees to â€Å"choose† life to continue, though it is more like forcing life without consent. According to nature, our bodies would die far earlier than we sometimes allow. However, it is considered an offense when somebody is helping another person to take his/her own life. There is no law against suicide. Paralyzed or physically inept people have already been robbed of enough: their physical faculties. Is it really the right of another person, a politician, to force their suffering and ensure the inferiority of their liberty by denying them a right a non handicapped person has: suicide? There is a main difference between euthanasia and suicide. Euthanasia is the last choice for people who are suffering and dying, incapable of taking their own lives. In countries where euthanasia is illegal, patients who are mortally ill or wounded, don’t have the option to choose when death will meet them. Healthy, non-handicapped people who decide to commit suicide have the option to choose when they will meet their death (Leavitt 1996). To deny these people the only escape from their suffering and misery, through suicide, is to prolong their suffering and in effect to sustain it. Euthanasia can be legal in limited, patient chosen scenarios without running the risk of being abused to justify the systematic murder of people. Many opponents of euthanasia agree that to deny a person incapable of choosing suicide is to â€Å"force† that person to continue to suffer. Such people oppose the legalization of euthanasia, based on the â€Å"slippery slope† argument. That is, if euthanasia is legal at all, eventually an evil person will be able to justify murder as legal (Dees). These possibilities are very important for lawmakers to take into consideration. However, the slippery slope arguments are not inevitable. The physical evidence does not support opponents. As Leavitt reports, there is no support for the â€Å"slippery slope† arguments. Legislators were scared that euthanasia will be overused, but the number of people who accessed euthanasia increased only in small amounts (p. 48). Because pain is subjective, and can be caused by a very complex number of things, it becomes difficult to create legal boundaries to define and quantify it (Dees,Vernooij-Dassen, Dekkers, & van Weel p. 339-352). Though this is true, it does not mean it is absolutely inevitable that all people suffering and wanting to die should be denied that privlege. Approaches to euthanasia vary from country to country, and even within the same country opinions are divided. Euthanasia is legal in Netherlands (2000), Switzerland, Belgium (2002), Luxemburg (2009), and Albania (1999). In the USA, Oregon became the first state to pass The Death With Dignity Act (2005), which â€Å"allows terminally ill Oregon residents to obtain and use prescriptions from their physicians for self-administered, lethal medications. Under the Act, providing these medications to end one’s life does not constitute illegal assisted suicide. Of course, the individual has to meet certain requirements, such as being over age of 18 years old and diagnosed with a terminal illness and capable to make conscious decisions. The â€Å"Death with Dignity Act† doesn’t include patients who are in a vegetable state and not able to make decision, but this is a big step in right direction (Law and Medicine 1995). Another important argument for legalizing euthanasia is the cost of keeping patients alive. It is common for a terminally ill patient to lose all their savings while sitting helplessly in the hospital, against their will, with no hope of recovery. This is especially true for people without health insurance. A patient in this situation must sit passively, as they suffer in helpless pain, while the money of their families and loved ones is drained for a hopeless cause, for the maintaining of the misery and terror that life is for them. They take up time, resources of the hospital and its staff, and taxpayer dollars. All a patient in this circumstance wants is to end it all. Yet somehow, by denying them their wish to end it all, the suffering of that individual is spread like a virus, and becomes a collective suffering, shared by all and alleviated by nothing but that which the government and â€Å"law† denies them. As Taylor (2005) reported that â€Å"Some 28 percent of this year’s Medicare budget of $290 billion (projected to grow to $649 billion by 2015) will be spent on people in their last year of life. In many cases, the main effect will be to prolong the pain of impending death† (p. 58). Not only does this money go to a â€Å"lost cause† whereby the beneficiary of the law and resources is only made to suffer by those same offerings, others who want to choose life are further denied in their options because of how those government funds are allocated. As Taylor points out again, â€Å"If the right-to-lifers put our money where their mouths are, we may spend more tax dollars to postpone the expiration of post-sentient Alzheimer’s patients than we spend to educate poor children† (p. 959). Illness has a great impact patients, family, and friends. The results of studies showed that caregivers of patients with cancer and dementia have increased health problems and psychosocial stress. We should be very careful to make the legal limits of euthanasia very strict. So racial or prejudiced euthanasia will never possible in justifying murder for a cause other than a patient’s individual will and choice. Citizens should ensure that the government or private sector can never end the lives of innocent people who hinder their agendas. This said, it’s a person’s right to end his or her own life. Should we rob someone who is too weak or otherwise physically unable to choose this liberty by her/his own power? To force suffering upon someone whose only available relief is death is a gross injustice. Every life deserves equal liberty, and we should grant the same choices and freedoms for all humankind. Clipboard Edits: †¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ (Apted 1996). †¢ There is big debate over legalization of euthanasia. This is topic there is controversial among politician, religious organization and citizens. Everyone wants to make decision about the fate of a ¬Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ ¬nother human being. However, rarely do the policy makers ask the opinion of the patient, the subject of all the debate in making their decisions about that patient’s fate, his/her rights. â€Å"There is no law†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Using new technologies the human population is continually trying to prolong individual life. One negative consequence is that by extending the length of a person’s life, the process of dying and suffering can also be extended The economic effect of keeping patients alive against their own will or without their consent, has significant consequences on these patients’ families. For example, The Study to Understand Prognoses and Preferences for Outcomes and Risks of Treatment (SUPPORT) reports that â€Å"families of seriously ill patients experienced substantial economic losses, in 20% of families, a family member had to stop working; 31% of families lost most of their savings† (Emanuel, E. , Fairclough, Slutsman, ; Emanuel, L. , 2000, p. 451-459). It makes very little (Starrs, 2006, p. 13-16).