Breaking Rules

Jack Inzerillo Eng 101 Professor Meadow 6, march 2013 Breaking rules, me personally I’ve done it multiple times in my past, no I don’t agree it’s a good thing but every time I have broken one I always knew what the consequences for my actions were. I certainly agree that breaking the rules and regulations of life (laws) is absolutely wrong, but I also agree that some laws are absurd and aren’t lenient towards us citizens. I believe if I was in the position where I needed to break a law or else something could possibly happen to me I would most definitely do it and disregard the consequences.For instance, around a month ago I was driving home on the long island express way when I encountered a problem. The problem being was some random guy whom I did not know through something that looked like a rock out of his car and into mine. At first I had now idea what had happen until I looked to my right and I saw him about to throw a cup filled with soda at my car, therefore at that point I sped up away from him. While I was speeding I assume a cop was hiding of the side of the high way and got me on the radar going 90 mph.Soon enough I got pulled over, after explaining to the officer what had happen he didn’t buy my story, and gave me a ticket and told me to be on my way. Moral of my story was to tell you that I do not regret getting that speeding ticket because what if I had stayed there and continuously let the guy throw stuff at my vehicle, something could have happened to me. I still to this day believe if something went wrong and I needed to break the rules again in life I would do it.

Early Intervention for Special Needs Children Essay

The development and implementation of early intervention activities for young children who have a delay or who are at risk for future delays are relatively recent phenomena in the United States. Early intervention as an applied and academic field has developed primarily within the specialty area of early childhood special education (ECSE), a field comprised of professionals from many disciplines. The genesis of ECSE in the United States may be traced to the formation, in 1968, of the Handicapped Children’s Early Education Program (HCEEP) branch within the United States Department of Education. Although other work had occurred in early intervention prior to this time, the establishment of HCEEP provided national recognition and federal funds to address early intervention issues. Since 1968, rapid changes have occurred in the field of early intervention. The most significant event impacting on early intervention was the passage of Public Law 99-457 (P. L. hereafter) in 1986. This law mandates education for handicapped children aged three to five years and provides both impetus and funding for early intervention for children younger than age three. From the viewpoint of an outside observer, the passage of only eighteen years from the establishment of a specialty area to that specialty area demonstrating efficacy such that its tenets become law is admirable. However, these tenets, and the practices derived from them, are based on research that has recently received negative reviews. It is clear that ECSE has done well, but many challenges remain to be met. Failure to conquer these challenges could result in a loss of valuable ground that many have worked hard to achieve. Early Evidence for Early Intervention As the fields of special education and early childhood education evolved, evidence were accumulating that early intervention could be effective. In a classic study, Skeels (1966) examined the effects of environmental stimulation on two comparable groups of infants. Mentally retarded females acted as surrogate mothers for one group (n = 13), providing these children with attention and stimulation. Twelve infants with average IQs remained in a nonstimulating orphanage environment. Eighteen months later, the stimulated infants gained an average 27. 5 IQ points while the control group dropped 26. 2 points. Twenty-one years later, Skeels (1966) continued to find differences between those who were placed in the enriched environment and those who were not. Of those in the experimental group, all were found to be self-supporting as adults. Four of these adults had completed college and, as a group, had a median high-school education. Of those in the control group, four adults had been institutionalized. The median education for these adults was at the third-grade level. Additional evidence came from the work of Kirk (1965), who studied handicapped preschoolers. He compared institutionalized mentally handicapped preschoolers who received a preschool program with a comparable group who remained on the wards and received no intervention services. Children in the experimental program showed significant gains on intellectual measures. Six of the fifteen-experimental group children were able to leave the institution by age eight, while none of the children in the control group left the institution. Works researched provided additional evidence for the value of early intervention. Based upon these studies, the consensus emerged that children’s cognitive skills develop early in life and very rapidly, and that early enrichment can have profound influences on a child’s future functioning. Although this consensus is no longer accepted without question, this philosophy, nevertheless, played a major role in the acceptance of early intervention and helped to create a social climate for legislation favoring handicapped children. Legislative Activities Both research and societal factors converged to provide momentum for the early intervention movement in the 1960s. The changing social climate in the United States in the 1960s led to the passage of favorable legislation for several groups. Litigative and legislative activities occurred in the areas of civil rights, rights for the disadvantaged, and rights for the handicapped. A breakthrough for early intervention, focusing on disadvantaged children, was the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. Part of this act was directed at the establishment of Project Head Start. This program was designed to provide early intervention for disadvantaged preschool children in the research found that these IQ gains disappeared after the children entered school. Based on societal and political pressures, Head Start continued despite the negative research findings. Arguments by researchers who questioned the findings and suggested that unmeasurable gains were being made bolstered the pro-Head Start forces. The results of a nineteen-year longitudinal study on children who participated in Head Start (the Perry Pre-school Project) found a number of positive results. These benefits included: (a) less need for special education, (b) more positive school attitudes, (c) less arrests, (d) less teen pregnancy, and (e) better employment histories. Other research has supported these findings. As an early intervention program, Head Start is the most well-known in the United States and has served over eight million preschoolers. Additionally, Head Start has had a major impact on early intervention for children with handicaps. The Economic Opportunity Acts Amendments of 1972 mandated that at least 10% of the total population served by Head Start be children with handicaps, giving Head Start the status of the first mandated, mainstreamed early intervention program in the United States. This occurred well before the concept of mainstreaming became popular in special education. One of the most important pieces of legislation regarding young children with handicaps was the Handicapped Children’s Early Education Assistance Act of 1968. This act established the Handicapped Children’s Early Education Program of the Department of Education, which has been responsible for funding the majority of innovative service projects in early intervention that occurred in the United States. This legislation may be viewed as the formal beginning of the field of early intervention for the handicapped. HCEEP programs will be discussed more fully later in this chapter in the section on current practices. The next major legislation to affect early intervention activities was an act that impacted significantly on educational practices for all handicapped children–the Education of All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 (P. L. 94-142). P. L. 94-142 provided for a free, appropriate public education with related services to all children with handicaps between the ages of three and twenty-one years. This act has been called the â€Å"Bill of Rights† for children with handicaps. The overall impact of this act on educational practice has been discussed in other places. While this act documented acceptance of the need for early intervention by the federal government, it also provided individual states with the option not to serve these young children. Unfortunately, this was an option many states adopted. In 1985, only twenty-four of the fifty states had mandated services for handicapped children under age five and only eight states had mandated services for handicapped children under age three. Although P. L. 94-142 had a major impact on such intervention, supporters of early intervention were aware of the implementation problems involved in serving young children. As a result of successes with preschool early intervention, the need for services for even younger children was being heralded. Congress responded to these calls for early intervention in 1983 by passing the Amendments to the Education of the Handicapped Act (P. L. 98-199). These amendments provided financial incentives for states to extend early intervention service levels down to birth. Unfortunately, funding remained dependent upon the number of children served between the ages of three and five, and the act, in effect, diluted the funding available for the three- to five-year-old children. Also, incentives built into these amendments to encourage individual state participation were weak and ineffectual. Lobbying groups for early intervention continued their activities to push through a law mandating early intervention for all young children with handicaps. In 1986, Congress responded by passing P. L. 99-457, (Amendments to the Education of the Handicapped Act). P. L. 99-457 mandated that all preschool-aged children with handicaps receive a free and appropriate education by 1991. This law provided penalties for states that did not conform to the law. In addition, P. L. 99-457 created a new state grant program for infants and toddlers with handicaps. The passage of P. L. 99-457 has signaled a new era for early intervention. The federal government has recognized the need for early intervention (at least at the preschool level) and has provided funds to support it. P. L. 99-457 is also significant in other ways. Children need not be classified into narrowly defined categories to receive services. The importance of the family in development has been heavily emphasized, especially for those children under age three years. For infants and toddlers, the definition of what constitutes intervention services has been broadened. For all children, a wide variety of possible intervention options has been acknowledged. It is clear that the passage of P. L. 99-457 is not the final stop for advocates of early intervention. Concerns regarding how states will implement preschool services and how service policies will be defined remain. Questions regarding services for infants and toddlers are just beginning to be addressed. Many problems still exist, but Public Law 99-457 represents a major accomplishment for advocates of early intervention and a benefit for the children and families who will receive services. Problems in the Present Currently, early intervention activities regarding the development of and research on â€Å"best practices† are occurring. However, there is a growing tendency to question some of what has been accomplished by early intervention. Questions have arisen concerning the research on which early intervention activities are based and on the data from which costs have been obtained. These particular areas–research and costs–have traditionally provided a foundation for early intervention. This report briefly reviews concerns regarding knowledge of costs and the research base of early intervention. Early Intervention Research In a â€Å"review of reviews,† White, Bush, and Casto (1985-86) found overwhelming agreement that early intervention is effective (94% of fifty-two studies). Unfortunately, they also found that a number of these reviews based this assertion primarily or solely on studies done with disadvantaged children. The benefits of early intervention for disadvantaged children are not a major issue of contention. Controversy ensues when these findings are over generalized to children with handicaps. A number of well-conducted reviews of early intervention for handicapped children has been completed. These reviews have been cautious with their conclusions, but overall the findings have been quite negative, particularly regarding the validity of the studies. Dunst, Snyder, and Mankinen (1987) found that 71% of the forty-nine studies they reviewed used methods that made the results scientifically uninterpretable. Other researchers essentially agreed with the Dunst, Snyder, and Mankinen findings. They then attempted to argue that the lack of effectiveness found for early intervention programs was a result of the nature of studies in early intervention. Researchers used meta-analytic techniques to examine a number of common assumptions made regarding early intervention programs and found little empirical support for those assumptions. An extremely comprehensive review by Dunst, Snyder, and Mankinen ( 1987), which examined 105 studies by degree of causality and by type of child served, was no more positive for the early intervention movement. These authors stated that any conclusions regarding the efficacy of early intervention must be considered tentative and conditional. They noted that â€Å"there is insufficient evidence at this time to conclude that there are cause-effect relationships between the interventions and outcomes observed†. Dunst and associates further stated, in agreement with Casto and Mastropieri (1986), that children in early intervention programs do make positive developmental and behavioral changes across time but that â€Å"the extent to which the interventions are responsible for observed effects is difficult to ascertain† (p. 285 ). Some researchers have been critical of reviews of early intervention because they tend to exclude single-subject methodology research. Many of the problems in reviewing this literature base are related to the subjective nature of comparing this research, as no standard metric is employed across studies. Reviews of the single-subject literature in early intervention have been conducted and are favorable but have not significantly refuted other reviews. Single-subject studies do show strong evidence for a functional relationship between dependent and independent variables. These single-subject studies usually focus on a narrow, well-defined objective. Although this is useful for demonstrating functional relationships, it represents only parts of the whole of an early intervention program. Also, these studies are usually conducted under rigorous investigative control, a feature not available in most early intervention programs. Successful programs frequently have problems when disseminated for use by a wider audience. Also, many single-subject studies do not sufficiently address generalization and maintenance issues. Researchers provide suggestions for single-subject research in early intervention, many of which are identical to those that need to be addressed by group research.

Cooling Drinks

1) What is the specific latent heat of fusion of water?Specific latent heat of fusion is the amount of heat absorbed or released by a substance when changing states. This could be boiling or melting. Latent heat of fusion is the amount of energy needed to melt a substance, while latent heat of vaporisation is the amount of energy needed to boil a substance. The specific latent heat of fusion of water is 334 j/g In the graph, you can see that as the temperature increases more energy is needed to heat the water. When the temperature hits the latent heat of fusion, the temperature stops rising as the energy is being used to change the state of water. This also happens when the latent heat of vaporisation2) What is the specific heat capacity of water?The specific heat capacity is the amount of heat that is needed to raise the temperature of a substance. The specific heat capacity water is 4181 j/kg. This is higher than most metals. Here are some other substances with their specific heat capacity; SubstanceC (J/g oC) Air 1.01 Aluminium 0.902 Copper 0.385 Gold 0.129 Iron 0.450 Mercury 0.140 Sodium Chloride 0.864 Ice 2.03 Water 4.183) Why energy is needed to melt ice and how this is explained by the structures of ice and water The molecules of H20 behave differently in water than in ice. In water they are floating around freely and in ice they are â€Å"stationary†, they only vibrate slowly. This is because they don’t have enough energy to break their intermolecular bonds. So in order to melt ice you need to add energy to give the molecules kinetic energy to move around, becoming less stationary. If enough energy is given to the molecules they break the intermolecular bonds and the ice melts to ice. 4) Why is ice more effective for cooling a drink than cold water The cooling of a drink with a cube of ice is more effective than using cold water because ice can absorbs a lot more heat. This is because it has a higher specific latent heat of fusion.Hypothes isThe greater the amount of ice that melts the bigger the temperature drop of the water This is because when more ice melts more energy is taken from the waterApparatus5 identical beakers which are made of the same materials Thermometers with a suitable range; -10oC to 100oC Measuring with volume above 200cm3 Top-pan balance reading with up to 35g Ice (crushed), not straight form the freezer Suitable insulating material Means of removing water e.g. paper towels Stopwatch to measure time in minutes and secondsMethod1) Pour 200cm3 of water into 4 same sized beakers of the same materials. This is so the materials does not affect the in temperature 2) I’m going to measure the temperature of the water. I’m going to make sure the temperature is the same to make it a fair test. I’m going to leave the water to become room temperature for about 5 minutes 3) I’m going to add 15g of ice to Beaker 1, 25g to Beaker 2, 25g to Beaker 3 and the fourth Beaker will have no ice.The fourth beaker will set the benchmarks. The amount of ice is the independent variable. I will measure the ices mass by using the top-pan balance. I used these certain amount of mass so I have a big range of data and will make a better comparison. 4) I will then measure the temperature of the beakers every minute for three minutes. 5) Then I will put all my results into a table and then into a line graph so I can make easy comparisons Hazards, the risks and how to reduce the risksResults Table1. Describe any patterns or trends in your results. Comment on any unexpected results. After analysing my result I have found some trends in the data. I also saw some anomalies that came up in the experiment. The most obvious trend is in the line graph and the temperature drop. The more mass of ice I put into the beaker to cool the drink, the faster the temperature dropped. For example, in beaker one 2. Compare results of your own investigation (Part 2) with the data from other groups wi thin your class and any data collected in Part 1. Comment on any similarities and differences.Suggest  and explain possible reasons for any differences. 3. Evaluate your results, the method you used and how well you managed the risks. 4. Do your results from Part 2 support the hypothesis suggested by Charlie’s friend? Explain your answer. 5. It is possible to use the equations below to predict the temperature drop of the water when a chosen amount of ice is added to it. Will the actual temperature drop, measured in your experiment, be equal to the predicted value? Use relevant scientific explanations in your answer. Use the results of your experiment, appropriate calculations and your research (Part 1) to provide evidence to support your answer. 1 cm3 of water has a mass of 1 gEnergy = mass Ãâ€" specific heat capacity Ãâ€" temperature change Energy = mass Ãâ€" specific latent heat

Quality Management (2) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Quality Management (2) - Essay Example In the gradual process that led to its eventual improvement and landmark accomplishments, AS had to address the following challenges to its operations: In finding solutions to the above problems, AS made effective use of quality strategic planning in linking its corporate objectives with customers’ needs. Guided by its long-term strategic goals, AS then modified its organizational structure, relying on teams to fuel productivity. Managerial support, sound incentive programs, and an over-all corporation culture of information sharing and integration has made AS succeed as a model in TQM application. Total Quality Management was formally introduced in the post-war era by W. Edwards Deming, Joseph M .Juran and Philip B. Crosby, with the theories they established on management for quality in manufacturing systems. Since then the tenets of TQM have been adopted for application in services and commercial operations. Companies have met with either success or failure, depending on the manner they have incorporated these principles in their processes. For the purposes of this study, focus will be drawn on Boeing Aerospace Support, a large multinational organization which, despite its size, complexity, and product technicality, has continued to serve its customers well, maintain excellent employee motivation, and enjoy a progressively robust performance. Boeing Aerospace Support (also known as AS) is a subsidiary of the Boeing Company, which in turn is the largest aerospace company in the world. Boeing Aerospace provides products and services, among them aircraft maintenance, modification and repair. It also undertakes training for aircrews and maintenance staff, in a bid to reduce life-cycle costs and improve the effectiveness and safety of their aircraft. A huge part – ninety-seven percent – of Aerospace’s business is for military customers. The company has a workforce of 13,000 employees; it has its headquarters in St. Louis,

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

Buddha - Essay Example Daily meditations for example when practiced with sincerity impacts on the life and outlook. The attributes are various texts that are recognized by different sects within the Buddhists. Some of the last cannon attributes contain largely the eight-fold path, which starts from the right view of things, right intention, right speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and concentration. The beliefs can be categorized largely into three, which is wisdom, ethical conduct, and mental discipline, therefore, the eight attributes above fall under the three main subjects accordingly. In the formulation of Buddha for the national identity reveals itself though due to the series of changes in the forms of Buddha it may be hard to see a national image. From the beginning, the Buddhists would be identified by the meditation and observance of the moral precepts as a foundation for their practice. As a nationality, they observed and could be identified by the five basic moral precepts; which were largely undertaken by monastic older and the laity. They were to refrain from taking out someone’s life, stealing and acting in the weirdest manner. As a nation and members of Monastic, they were advised not to eat at an inappropriate time, they were not to view secular entertainment and still they had to stay away from using garlands, perfumes, and other bodily ointments. This practices and doctrines strengthened the form of the Buddha and made them one nation. This has though changed, as the society tends to adopt a lot of liberty. (Sullivan 278). The images of the Buddha for example in most of the cases will mean the awakened one and this is not represented in one image. The images seen in the west for example represents a fat and happy Buddha. This symbolizes Buddha’s latest life, as he was happy and travelling throughout the northern India and instructing disciples to act in the same manner and spread the same gospel across the divide. In southeast India, Bud dha’

Project Risk Management Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Project Risk Management - Coursework Example Operations management deals with decision making related to productive processes to ensure that the resulting goods or services are produced according to specifications. Effective project management means getting the right things done according to the planned schedule. (Larson and Drexler, 2009, p. 1) Project management begins with planning. There should be an open communication among the members of the team and the aims and objectives must be clearly stated ensuring that they should be related to the objectives of the organization. The project life cycle begins when the project is started until it is declared completed. The key players include the customer who wants to buy the project; the contractor who works on the project up to completion; and the project manager who plans and manages the project activities until it is finished. Teamwork is an effective method in project management. Projects are initiated by recruitment and staffing and the selected team’s individual quali fications should correspond with the required skill for project success. While the group has to work as a team, there must be division of labor. For example, in engineering projects groups rely on individual members who work independently but are responsible to the group. Knowledge, teamwork and management, if studied carefully can provide aid for an effective project management. ... 310) In a project life cycle, we have a project manager, the customer, and the contractor. Moreover, before making decisions, we have to establish calendars. This has to be constantly consulted to see if the team is working as scheduled. This essay is about project management of an information technology application. There are many risks involved in information technology of an organization. The problem is IT security. The aim of this project management is to find a solution to the risks and threats in an information system of a particular organization. Main Body In the early 1900s, rapid industrialization brought in new perspectives to the growth of companies and organizations. Management scientists provided studies and introduced innovations in the workplace and how workers can be productive and relate their work with life. (Lock, 2007) Henry Ford introduced mass production which was also known as the Model T. Most important to project managers is the style of Henry Gantt who estab lished the Gantt Chart. Gantt worked for Taylor and popularized his style which is still used until today. Computers came in and finally the Internet. Manufacturing and construction industries took hold of the opportunity and recognized the many benefits of technology. In the 1970s, there was increase in the usage of information technology. Industrial project management continued as before but now this was added with project management software. With the emergence of the information revolution, project managers brought in a new face. They have to be well-versed in information technology, including how to manage computers and their security. (Lock, 2007, p. 3) There were different methods introduced at that time, particularly in the design and implementation, but some were put

Leadership Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

Leadership - Case Study Example Historical leadership possesses some important attributes that are useful in the development of desirable modern leadership. According to the author, past leaders such as biblical leaders provide important insights in modern leadership despite differences in modern leadership such as accumulation of wealth in the long run. Therefore, leadership requires incorporation of charisma to build strong relationships suitable for devotion to organizations’ mission. Leadership should also transform organizations to adapt to the changing world while maintaining ethics. Additionally, leadership entails personal responsibility and commitment both during organizational successes and failures. Leadership also ought to pursue new strategies essential to organizational success. Furthermore, leadership is about service rather than self-advancement hence keenness in honoring all duties. Moreover, leadership should be within the confines of universal principles of leadership. Incorporation of suc h attributes is bound to improve leadership quality significantly. The success of modern organizations requires effective leadership able to incorporate and maintain trust hence commitment. Additionally, modern leadership requires attainment of set goals through moral and ethical strategies. As such, the perspectives stipulated in this article are essential in modern leadership cutting across all organizations either business oriented or

History week 7 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

History week 7 - Assignment Example At this time, individual liberty and responsible government was evident. His administration combated party tension and slavery most. Madison faced problems with conflicts with Britain, especially the interception of American merchant ships and impressing sailors, believed to be British, for service in the British Navy. He also had to face economic problems that resulted from the War of 1812. He also faced a divided cabinet and a militia that refused to fight outside their state. There was a serious problem in national and administration unity. During the American Revolution, the fight for independence brought a rebellion fighting against Britain. However, since there was lack of a professional army and navy, it has become a challenge for the Americans. During the Revolution, to face the problem against the Barbary pirates, the United States entered and alliance with France to protect their merchant ships and other American vessels from all violence and attacks. However, eventually the United States also faced a quasi-war or an undeclared war against France when it started to seize American ships trading with Britain, when America and Britain declared a neutrality of conflict. With this, a more diplomatic stance was taken to lessen the war

Boomers may be inventing aging Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Boomers may be inventing aging - Essay Example Volunteering is a common aspect in both cohorts. However, boomers have more opportunities to render service to their families or community. Many youths are either in college or not attached to any visible opportunity to deliver service. Moreover, unlike boomers, millennial don’t get families at their 20s. The current technological advancements opportunities and potential crises provoke boomers to totally change aging in America. As matter of fact, boomer population is relatively higher than the previous generation. With life expectancy rising, boomers will definitely remain active past their 65th birthday to reduce dependency levels. Notably, boomers have impacted a significant change in every level of their growth. At their forties, this generation could be found in class trying to catch their young counterparts. Additionally retirement no longer depends on age and most boomers are willing and able to volunteer upon their retirement. Its time America reaps from other cultures and learns to accept the opinions of the experienced generation, given that boomers tend to actively contribute to political and managerial decision making. Moreover, following the saving schemes introduced during their middle ages, boomers are capable of purchasing their Medicare hence expected life span. Rema rkably, their savings and old age activeness positively impacts on economic growth. In a nutshell, boomers resemble the millennial in many ways, portraying activeness in their old age. In the next few decades, aging would no longer be associated with dependency but increased socio-economic

Why Healthcare Practitioners are Unwilling to Change Practice Patterns Assignment

Why Healthcare Practitioners are Unwilling to Change Practice Patterns - Assignment Example However, despite the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) rules being approved by the American Medical Association in 2008 and this logistical development subsequently making it easier for the reception and transfer of payments, healthcare services providers have not yet come to significantly use them. Conversely, healthcare practitioners may find it hard to change their practicing patterns because of the unfavorable balance between inadequate healthcare resources and the unreasonable demand for the same services. Doctors and nurses may, for instance, want to make their practice more patient-friendly by elongating consultation hours, but the queue in the waiting room may not allow this. One can take a compassionate approach when dealing with physicians who loathe evidence-based systems. In this effect, it will be gainful to facilitate dialogue with physicians, so as to understand their point of view, in lieu of singling out individual physicians for professional malpractice. For a hospital leader, it will also be important to make an initiative of presenting solid evidence. The corollary to this is that upon seeing pieces of relevant information that bring about a significant difference, healthcare practitioners will gradually come to appreciate evidence-based systems. Integrating these efforts with information Electronic Health Records (EHR) systems and clinical decision support will also help solve this problem. This statement is indeed legitimate since the odds of dying in a healthcare center are greater than the risk of an air crash. Particularly, chances of dying in a healthcare institution because of human error are 33,000 times higher than the danger of dying in an airplane crash (Hammond, 2008). Although it is indeed true that the danger of dying in a hospital is more imminent than that of an airline accident, yet, this should not be construed to mean that healthcare practitioners are more careless, compared to pilots  and the flight crew.  

Murderball Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Murderball - Movie Review Example They can live independently and enjoy all the normal activities, like driving, cooking and having sex. The movie takes you on an emotional ride that stirs some deep sentiments but manages to shatter many misconceptions we have about disabled. The story is not about people confided to wheelchairs but people who never thought their lives would come to this, of people who were fiercely competitive, people who believed in smashing, crashing, hitting and just feeling the extreme adrenalin rush on a daily basis. When these people had to come to terms with reality, one can imagine what a bleak reality that must have been. But then they discovered quad Rugby and their lives changed for the better. The story revolves around Joe Soares, Zupan and Keith. Keith was a Rugby player who had just had a serious accident that smashed his motorbike and left him a quadriplegic. Soares was a former member of Team USA and captain of Team Canada. These teams participate in quad Rugby championships. Zupan was not a quad from birth. He was sleeping in his friend's truck when a sharp turning threw him off the truck and close to a ditch. The ordeal that lasted 13 hours left him a quad but Zupan turned his life around when he became the best quad Rugby player ever. He is also the spokesman for the game in the US. Murd

An argument in favor of pro choice abortion for women with unwanted pregnancy Essay Example for Free

An argument in favor of pro choice abortion for women with unwanted pregnancy Essay Abortion Abortion is the ending of a pregnancy by the removal of a fetus or embryo before it is able to survive on its own. An individuals position on abortion is their own value system, most often there are two sides. Pro-life, which believe that a fetus should never be extracted and it is considered murder, and pro-choice. Pro-choice is the view that a woman should be able to choose for her own body and her own personal views. A woman should be able to choose herself if to get an abortion, someones religion should never change this. Also, an abortion can stop an unwanted birth, and are better legally done and regulated than done illegally. Religion is what most peoples reason for not believing in pro-choice. People believe that an embryo is considered a baby in the Bible, and that would be murder. But at what point is a fertilized egg considered a baby? In the bible, they continually state that no matter what stage, a woman who has a fertilized egg is pregnant with a child. Most medical websites state that after 8 weeks, the main organs begin to develop and work. Still, the abortion is required to be done in about 12 weeks. At this time, reflexes havent been developed and most tissues and organs havent finished development. This is not a child, these are living cells inside a human body.   People dont protest about exfoliating cells, so why cant women abort theirs? Abortion stops unwanted birth. Nowadays, people are stupid. Everyone makes terrible mistakes, like getting pregnant when they cant afford another mouth to feed, or havent graduated high school.   In extreme conditions, abortion can stop a woman giving birth to a child she didnt consent to. Abortion can be the best answer, even if it is hard to choose over other resolutions. Rape culture is a thing, there is one sexual assault every 107 seconds. A person who is in this poor situation may not want to have their child. But, it is up to the woman involved. If abortion is illegal, unsafe and unregulated ones will happen. A person doing this lacks the skills and safety that a trained professional has.   For example, an unsafe abortion may refer to an extremely dangerous life-threatening procedure that is in unhygienic conditions. The WHO states that there were 42 million pregnancies were voluntarily terminated in 2012. Of which, 20 million were unsafe. About 68,000 women die annually. Abortion is the ending of a pregnancy by voluntary means. Pro-Choice is what should be allowed, and accepted everywhere. A womans body is her own, and she should be able to use her own value system to make her decision. Pro-Choice should not be discouraged because of religious beliefs. An abortion can stop an unwanted birth and is better legally done than illegally. Her body her choice.

Effects Of Kyoto Protocol Economics Essay

Effects Of Kyoto Protocol Economics Essay the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is the apex body, under whose supervision Kyoto protocol was developed. It is an agreement between many countries, which signed it and committed for reduction in green house gas. The process started with negotiations between many countries in the early December of 1997 in  Kyoto, Japan and with Russias ratification, it came in to force on the 16th February of 2005. The delay was because of Kyoto required at least 55 parties to ratify it and the total of those counties emissions to be at least 55% of global greenhouse gas emission. Some of the highlights of the Kyoto protocol are: A total of 191 states have signed and ratified  the protocol as on September 2011 The United States of America has signed the protocol but has not ratified it. Developed countries have binding target on emission reduction. Developing countries do not have binding target for emission targets. The protocol allows the member counties of emissions trading to meet their target. Economic Impacts of the  Protocol One of the key issues with the Protocol is its economic impact on member nations. Some critics emphasize that Developed nations are the one who will be affected negatively most. One of the major speculations is that developed nations who have ratified the treaty, will have to invest more in newer technologies and procedures to reduce their emissions. It is also more obvious that developed countries need to incur more cost in enforcing stricter emission norms. There is also possibility of an increase in the consumer price index because the companies will pass one the extra cost incurred in clean mechanism technology to consumer. As the base year for fixing target is 1990, the countries, which have developed most after 1990, will suffer most and the countries that have slump after 1990 are at advantage. This effect can be evident on the fact that US has not ratified the treaty as it has grown considerably after 1990 and if it ratifies the treaty then it has to cut almost 30% emission costing around $100 per ton The European union at large is at advantage because there was slump in western Europe and Russia after 1990. It is evident from the fact that it needs only $5 per ton for emission reduction target to be met. The provisions of emission trading provided the developing countries a way to cash in on their reduced emission credits. Kyoto Protocol in the context of India A Macroeconomic Overview The impact of kyoto protocol may be direct in case of developed countries but has it has indirect impact on developing countries The protocol does not make it binding on the developing countries to reduce their emission and it does not provide any reduction targets for them till. India coming under the scope of developing country has been affected by the indirect impact. The protocol has played a significant role in the reshaping overall Indian economy. The protocol has its effect on many macroeconomic parameters of India. If we take in to account the GDP of India, some of the major factors linked to kyoto protocol that have affected the GDP of India are Investment Impact Trade Impact Flexibility Mechanisms Impact Emissions Trading Joint Implementation Clean Development Mechanism Fig-1 (Factors affecting the GDP of India in the context of Kyoto Protocol) We will be limiting our discussion to the impact of 2 major factors arising out of kyoto protocol that is investment and trade on the Indian GDP. Investment Trade Impact on GDP Fig-2 (Investment Impact and GDP of India) The Investment impact can be summarised by the chart below. Kyoto protocol induces emission restrictions on the developed nations. The manufacturing industry especially the emission insensitive industries in the developed nations are the worst sufferers. Because of this restriction, these industries need to invest more capital in technology and other aspect to reduce the emission. This in turn increases the cost of production, which makes the ROI low. The low ROI (return on investment) in these developed nations makes the investment to shift to developing countries, which affects the GDP to rise. India as an important developing country has benefited from this effect. SL NO YEAR FDI-US$ (MILLION) EXPORTS IN CRORES GDP US$(BILLION) 1 2000-01 2,463 278126 492.4 2 2001-02 4,065 290757 522.8 3 2002-03 2,705 355556 617.6 4 2003-04 2,188 417425 721.6 5 2004-05 3,219 569051 834.2 6 2005-06 5,540 712087 949.1 7 2006-07 12,492 904872 1238.7 8 2007-08 24,575 1018907 1224.1 9 2008-09 31,396 1328765 1361.1 10 2009-10 25,834 1300034 1684.3 11 2010-11 19,427 1747500 1848.0 12 2011-12 26,192 Table: 1- (DIPPS Financial Year-Wise FDI Equity Inflows GDP date from World bank) With a close look at the Table -1 we can see that from the year 2005 onwards there was a sudden increase in the foreign direct investment. In the year 2005, it stood at $3129 million and from the year 2006 onwards, there was high growth in the foreign direct investment on an yoy basis. The FDI reached a peak in the year 2009 at $31396 million. The decrease in the FDI in 2011 was due to other economic factors. One of the major factors affecting the increase in FDI was kyoto protocol. As the FDI started to increase from the year 2005 onwards the GDP of india also saw a tremendous growth, it increased from $834.2 billion in the year 2005 to $1848 billion in the year 2011. Fig-3 (Trade Impact and GDP of India) As can be seen in the Fig-3 the other major impact was the trade impact, when the cost production has increased in developing countries, the import of goods from developing countries becomes less competitive. This in contrast increases the competitiveness of the exporter in the developing countries. When the export form developing countries increase, giving appositive push to the trade it creates a demand surge. Because of this, increases in demand of good, producers of goods increase the production. Moreover, increase in the production of goods increase the GDP. This can be also deduced from the Table-1, where it is evident that from 2005 onwards there was a stiff increase in the Indian export from 712087 crores to 1747500 crores in 2011. As the Export has increased this gave rise to an increase in the demand, which in turn made the supply to increase. With an increase in the supply, the GDP of India has rose from $834.2 billion in 2005 to $ 1848.0 billion in the year 2011. Conclusion Despite having no emission targets under the kyoto protocol India will benefit from the emission reduction compulsion of developed nations. The effect is because of trade and investment linkage with the Developed nations. India has immensely benefited from this due to a surge in its exports and increase in the FDI. The cumulative effect of these two factors has been positive on the GDP of india, which rose steeply from 2005 onwards. India played and major role in the extension of the kyoto after Jan 1 2013, before the new commitment period comes in to effect from 2020. Although the new extended kyoto does not impose any binding emission reduction targets on india, it has decided to reduce the emission intensity by 20 to 25% of the 2005 level within the year 2020.

Celebrity Endorsements

Celebrity Endorsements In the Beauty sector industry, LOreal ranks on the top amongst the other brands, and has also undertaken many celebrity endorsements (Wang W.S, 2006). To comprehend the influence of celebrity endorsement on LOreal Paris a methodical study is required. This chapter has been divided into two sections, the first begins with a brief description about celebrity endorsements, in addition the previous and the current scenario of celebrity endorsements, whereas the second section talks about the brand LOreal, its performance in the industry, the celebrity endorsements it has undergone, furthermore any risks it has faced while endorsing and lastly how has it been influenced by celebrity endorsements   A key challenge that marketing agencies face today to get noticed in the highly competitive market is that of designing an advertising execution. There are many ways through which agencies can secure consumers, amongst them one form is celebrity endorsement (Robert van Der Veen analysis of celebrity endorsement as an effective destination marketing tool, 2004).The concept of celebrity endorsement has been increasing over the decades and now is a widespread advertising strategy. Celebrity endorsement since ages has been used as an effective source of marketing to promote products and services. (Nathan Klaus, and Ainsworth Anthony Bailey, Celebrity endorsement: an examination of gender and consumer attitudes, American Journal of Business, 2008 vol.23 no.2). At present, one will find almost every advertisement involving a celebrity, these celebrities act as spokespersons so as to advertise and promote products, services and ideas. (Cited in Kambitsis et. al 2002, Rajakaski JJ, Simonsson R.2006). Now Celebrity endorsement is a well established form of advertising strategy, especially in the U.S where approximately twenty percent of all the television commercials present a celebrity or a famous person and in addition, approx ten percent of dollars spent on television advertising are consumed in celebrity endorsement. (Cited in advertising age Sherman 1985, Agrawal Kamakura, 1995). The celebrities when are endorsed for a product they are expected to accomplish a number of objectives such as increasing the brand image, brand name, product creditability, and also the likability of the advertisement.(Brunett et all 1993 cited in Marin 1996). Firms use celebrity endorsement not just for increasing revenues but also its importance lies in the f act that how celebrity endorsement add value to company, brand and product.(Clinton Amos, Gary Holmes, David Strutton, Exploring the relationship between celebrity endorser effect and advertising effectiveness, International Journal of advertising , 27(2), 209-234, world advertising research center) Using celebrities for advertising helps the brand by acquiring better and more attention from the consumers, they add glamour to the product/brand and make it more credible, desirable and trustworthy. (Spielman, 1981 cited in Renton , 2006).According to Friedman and Friedman (1979) a celebrity is an individual who is known by the public for his achievements in area other than that of the product class he is endorsing. Famous people achieve a high degree of attention from the public and media. As a result of their celebrity status they create a positive image of the product they endorse. Murdoch argues that Belch and Belch has written   Marketers recognize that people are more likely to be influenced by   a message coming from someone with whom they feel a sense of similarity, and that advertisers recognise the value of using spokes person who are admired: TV and movie stars, athletes, musicians, and other popular figure (Murdoch, Creativity in advertising).There are a variety of reasons why a firm might go for celebrity endorsement some reasons may be the experiences that the celebrity faced in his life may be similar to the message to be conveyed in the advertisement and if you are a fan of the celebrity you might trust them..(Kulkarni and Gaulkar,   2007). Hence, Choosing a celebrity should be done with at most care and importance since it is more than a marketing strategy as it is a decision that has an impact on the prospect of the brand. Choice of celebrity should be on the basis of factors like appeal, popularity, etc.(Naveen Blazey and Shashi Kanth Gan ti, Goa institute of management Goa, Impact of celebrity endorsement on overall brand) Celebrities endorsement are sometimes very expensive for the firm,   based upon the reputation and the status of the celebrity, their remuneration could run into millions of dollars depending on   the contract, overall it is an huge investment made by the brands for advertising(Agrawal Kamakura,1995).In today dynamic market conditions, there is huge risk associated along with the celebrity endorsement, what if celebrity advertising does not affect the consumer purchasing decision, furthermore endorsement does not give economic returns after a high cost of celebrity advertising involved and does not affect the profitability of the brand, and in addition there are situation where the celebrity himself is in a controversy, and its effects on the firm. LOreal Paris: LOreal was established in 1909, previously known as LAureale (Latin meaning: Golden crown). It began producing hair dye products in Paris and due to its success it quickly started branching out in other countries along with diversifying the product range whilst including soaps, shampoos and hair preparations. In 1974, LOreal undertook many dermatological and pharmaceutical activities, For instance a joint auxiliary undertaking between LOreal and Nestle which concentrates on medication of diseases and infections. In December 2003, an research and development centre was established. In 2004 acquisition of Mininurse and Yue-Sai, two Chinese brands had taken place, furthermore LOreal group had been ranked by Interbrand, as the 49th global brand for leading international branding consultancy. In 2005 LOreal had set up its first research centre in Shanghai, which mainly dealt with the issue on the texture of Chinese skin hair and other varied needs of the Chinese. Today LOreal has over 50, 000 employees, a research team of 3,000 employees, 30,000 active patents and 130 branches all around the world (Datamonitor, LOreal Paris). LOreal Group has divided its products under a) Luxury goods which includes brands like Giorgio Armani, Ralph Lauren, Cashrel, Lancà ´me exacta b) Consumer goods- Brands that come under this group are LOreal Paris, Maybelline New York etc. c) Professional products and d) Active cosmetics. LOreal Paris characterizes professionalism, and due to research and development technology it has always maintained its high quality. This brand has targeted those consumers which are willing to pay higher prices for good quality products. The most important strategy that LOreal Paris has adopted to diversify its operations is by undertaking tactics such as expanding its distribution and advertisements, especially in countries like India, where the current brand ambassador is the Hindi film actress Sonam Kapoor. On the other hand, in other international countries during the mid May, 2009 LOreal Paris has increased it celebrity endorsements by endorsing three new celebrities Elizabeth Banks, Freida Pinto and Evangeline Lily. These new Hollywood celebrities were announced as the ambassadors during the Cannes film festival, and now they will join the LOreal Paris hall of fame with the previous LOreal Paris ambassadors such as Penelope Cruz, Jennifer Aniston, Beyonce, and Scarlett Johansson (Datamonitor, Loreal paris). According to Cesar Zamudio, 2008 Currently LOreal Paris has 14 ambassadors of different ethnicities and professions (Zamudio, 2008) 1.2 Purpose of the study This research is undertaken to realise and comprehend the appealing concept of brand endorsement and also its influence on the LOreal Paris and the consumer purchasing decision. The purpose is also to reach a conclusion whether celebrity endorsement which is a huge investment does actually give a positive return to LOreal Paris 1.3 Aims and objectives An Aim is set up in order to achieve the goals and to solve the purpose of the study undertaken. The aim of this Study would be to examine the vivid concept of celebrity endorsement, and how does it affect the brand and the consumer purchasing behaviour, furthermore how brands handle the risk factor. Objectives: To identify, analyse and discuss relevant literature, about the use of celebrity endorsement and its effects on the consumer purchasing behaviour To indentify some theoretical framework able to model the influence that celebrity endorsement plays on the brand itself To Design a methodological approach that would enable the collection analysis of primary and secondary data. To show the findings of this research within the context of the state of the art literature. To critically reflect the influence of celebrity endorsement on consumer purchasing behaviour and also on the LOreal Paris. 1.4 Research Methodology Collection of primary data will be done through questionnaires, in order to reach the aims and goals of the research. Secondary data will be collected through reading various journals and books related to the concept of celebrity endorsement Furthermore, data will be collected through reading newspaper articles, magazines, advertisements, magazines and articles from the database The conclusion will be depicted from the findings gathered from the primary and secondary data. 1.5 STRUCTURE:   CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION: Introduction of this study has stated the research aims and objective, and the purpose of this study. CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW: The literature review explains the aims and objectives of the previous researches and defends their view point from the research. CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY: The methodology explains how the research will be carried out. In this study from qualitative and quantitative research methods, quantitative research method will be made use of. CHAPTER 4: DATA ANAYSIS: The data collected through the research method, will be analysed through various computer programming techniques in order to arrive to a result. CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION: The findings and suggestions to readers will be stated which is on the basis of the result of the study. CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1. INTRODUCTION This section of literature review will deal with the synopsis of pertinent theories, models, subject matter and also illustrate previous findings. To start with introduction of the topic will be done followed by a detailed explanation of celebrity endorsement and sponsorship furthermore explanation of consumer behaviour and the factors or attributes affecting the consumer attitudes and the intension to purchase and lastly how celebrity adds value to the endorsed products. In the process of celebrity endorsement there are some risks and failures also involved, so such factors will also be discussed in brief. The literature review will comprise of: The illustration of celebrity endorsement process Factors that influence the consumer purchase intentions Differentiating the varied marketing tools. 2.2 CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENTS: The Celebrity endorsement issue gained apt importance after the Second World War, previously in 1666 where the sellers use to aggressively exhibit there endorsers. From the beginning of the twentieth century, people used to find celebrities in newspaper and magazines. (Segrave.2005).The endorsement process is time consuming and is worth a million dollar and is constituted by three important participants: Firms, celebrities, and the middle men. Busler (2002) states that in 2001, celebrities received around $800 million as their endorsement fees. Fees are still rising in this industry for instance in the sports industry, during 1997, Michael Jordan used to earn $47 million in a year which made him the h8ighest paid athlete , following ten years Le Bron James signed a contract worth $90 million with Nike additionally, he also discontinued using middlemen and commenced his own firm.(Arango 2007). Therefore the role of all the three participants can be understood, as the firms carry out c elebrity endorsements so as to increase their profits, celebrities accept it on order to earn and increase their popularity, while the middlemen take some commission for coordinating the celebrity and the firm (Agrawal and Kamakura 1995). The continuous development in this industry led FTC regulating it, where the FTC worked out a set of guidelines, which has to be followed whilst undertaking celebrity endorsements (Atkin and Block 1983). Since 1980s the contract fees have sky- rocketed (Segrave 2005). In 1986, Sylvester Stallone and Paul Newman were paid approx $1 million a year( Segrave 2005).   In 2007 the athlete Tiger woods was highest paid which amounted to a total of $100 million (Arango 2007). A celebrity has a distinct personality and reputation. Along with appearing in an advertisement, they are very talented and have exceptional skills in performing an undertaking, which makes them famous amongst the public besides gaining more respect and adoration. According to Pringle H and Binet L, Celebrities are those, who are famous and familiar amongst the regular people and are used by brands to add value to their advertisements by considering their image and reputation (Pringle H, Binet L, 2005). There are many studies carried out on the concept of celebrity endorsements, to begin with there are researches relating to who can be the best spokesperson for an endorsement amongst celebrities, the CEO, consumers or should it be an expert of the particular brand, the results were sketchy as not much research has been carried out on this particular issue so a vague and a blend of results were found, according to Atkin and Block (1983) and Frieden (1984) the celebrities are right choice but are not always found to be effective, but Martin et. al (2008) states that consumers can be found most suitable, in addition Harper 2007 and Simpson 2007 ends saying that the celebrities possibly may not be the best suited endorser furthermore Kamins,1989 undertook a two sided study the results were that celebrity were found to be more congenial and authentic over non-celebrity spokesperson.(Kamins 1989)   Agrawal and Kamakura (1995) and Mathur et al. (1997) argued on the effect of celebrity endorsement contracts on the profitability of a firm, Agrawal and Kamakura analyzed 110 celebrity endorsements contracts using event study analysis and found out that on an average the firms experience a 44% increase in their market value this will have a positive stock   return leading to increased   profits and furthermore   are considered as a worthwhile investment (Agrawal Kamakura,1995).Whereas Mathur (1997), emphasized on the issue relating to comeback Michael Jordan to NBA in 1995, which brought McDonalds (endorsed by Michael Jordan at that time) an approximate gain of $192 million, this figure is nearly equal to the price of 64 million McDonalds meals (Mathur et al. 1997). Another research was on the basis of how celebritys persona influences the consumers attitudes and product evaluations, According Friedman and Friedman (1979) and Roa et. al (1999) states that if the product is socially or psychologically risky then the celebrity endorsements will increase the chance of believing in the advertisement. Kalhe and Homer(1985) says when the celebrities image is equivalent to the product endorsed then only the celebrities physical attractiveness augment to product evaluations(Kalhe and Homer. 1985). Amos, Holmes, Strutton (2008) dealt with a relationship between the effects of celebrity endorser and the effectiveness of advertising using the Kruskal-Wallis non parametric test, they found that any off putting information or events concerning the celebrity can have an adverse effect on the brand, these researchers also used the source credibility model for evaluating consumer perceptions of a celebrity endorser, which consists of three important constituents- celebrity trustworthiness, celebrity expertise and celebrity attractiveness, the findings were that if there is advertisement clutter the effectiveness of celebrity endorsement might condense, in addition l arger influence of celebrity endorsement is found amongst the collage students.(Amos, Holmes, Strutton 2008). Endorsement effectiveness: According to Friedman and Friedman (1979) celebrities are more effective than an expert or a consumer, as they help in easily remembering and recollecting the band name of the product as the ad. (Friedman and Friedman 1979) . They also contribute to effectiveness of an endorsement by bringing in more depth, accuracy and polish to the meanings to be delivered and also to the advertisements, furthermore when celebrities deliver they do it with extra care along with offering a series of lifestyle and personality. (McCracken, 1989). Choi et al.(2005) states that domestic celebrities result in more effectiveness as they are constantly in touch with the existing cultural values compared to the international ones who might possibly more expensive and difficult to find to suit the brand (Choi et al 2005). For effectual use of celebrities and for successful endorsements, following guidelines have been mentioned by Till (1998). If the celebrity is utilised constantly or consistently, to reinforce the relation between the brand and celebrity, the celebrity endorsement will be more effective. The ad should contain relevant and true facts about the product, additionally it should be straightforward and uncomplicated. Those celebrities are recommended who are not allied with any other brand and are precisely appropriate for the endorsed brand. This marketing tool will be more accurate for those products for which the user has incomplete information. According to Shimp (2003), Creditability and attractiveness are the determinants of effectiveness of endorsers, Creditability consists of celebritys believability and dependability, while attractiveness involves physical attractiveness, respect and similarity between the endorser and publics age, gender, ethinicity. For instance Omega (Swiss watch) endorsed by Anna kournikova as they found her attractive Let us discuss celebrity performance, celebrity trustworthiness,celebrity expertise and celebrity attractiveness: Celebrity performance: According to Amos, Holmes, Strutton. 2008, celebrity performance (acting success, athlete success, music success etc.) refers to any given point of time of the celebrities profession where they accomplish achievement.(Amos, Holmes, Strutton. 2008) There is an direct impact of the celebrities performance on their popularity which might fall or even rise in their in the entire profession (Agrawal and Kamakura 1995). If their performance fall short it is likely that a celebrity endorsers effectiveness will deteriorate (Agrawal and Kamakura 1995).   Celebrity Trustworthiness: Trustworthiness refers to the amount of confidence that the consumers put on the celebrity for the message delivered by them which is believed to be most convincing (Ohanian 1990). According to Griffin (1967) Favourable disposition, acceptance, psychological safety and perceived supportive climate are favourable consequences of trust (cited in Chao et.al.2005). It is always found that a message coming from someone whom you trust, you tend to believe in the message more and bring about an effectual attitudinal change; on the other hand non trusted spokesperson influence tends to be lower. (Mc Ginnes and Ward 1980). The trustworthiness factor is an important element that constitutes the effectiveness of a celebrity endorsement. Celebrity Expertise: According to Erdogen (1999) celebrity expertise is the extent to which the spokesperson is observed to be an informant of valid assertations (Erdogen, 1999).   Ohanian 1990, states that investigating source creditability in settings involving persuasive communication generally indicates that a receivers perception of the sources expertises positively influences source effectiveness furthermore, a respondents actions in response to the sources perceived level of expertise and the target persons level of agreement with those recommendations and lastly subjects exposed to a source perceived as highy expert exhibit more agreement with the sources recommendations than did those exposed to a source with low expertise ( Ohanian 1990). Celebrity Attractiveness: It is multi-dimensional in nature, along with just the physical attractiveness it consists of other factors such as personality and ability (Erdogen 1999). This factor constitutes an important part in the effectiveness of an endorserment. The physically more attractive celebrities are normally seen as more approving on different personality attributes then non attractive corresponding person (Kalhe and Homer 1985, Eagly et. al. 1991). Joseph (1982) found out from his study that attractive spokesperson has more optimistic influence on the product then the non attractive ones. Baker and Churchill in 1977 concluded that even though attractive spokesperson had resulted in advertisement effectiveness but attractiveness did not have an impact on the purchase intentions of the consumer (Baker and Churchill, 1977). Negative effects/ Potential risks:   Even though celebrity endorsement is said to bring in many advantages and profits not only to the firm but also to the celebrities, there are many risks and negative effects associated with celebrity endorsement. The persona of the celebrity itself endures the customers to purchase the product, what if the celebrity gets caught in any controversy, criminal activities or is undergoing a personal problem The requirements or the must for a successful execution of celebrity endorsements starts with knowing where the brand is positioned currently which also includes where it wants to be in the future and how is it going to get there, then followed by developing a creative idea. After considering that celebrity endorsement is best and effective method for marketing communication, next critical thing to be thought about is selecting the appropriate celebrity. Furthermore the fame of the celebrity hastens up the message and in gain substantial return on investment is expected. (Pringle H, Binet L, 2005). CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT PROCESS: MEANING MOVEMENT AND THE ENDORSEMENT PROCESS   McCrackens meaning transfer process, has been divided in to three different stages, In stage ONE, he states that celebrities as compared to models and actors plays an extremely important role as they deliver a   variety of influential personality and lifestyle meaning which are extracted from the character they play in the movies, sports, military and other careers , Lastly the endorser comes in associate with the objects , persons and contexts, then the meaning is brought into the advertisement by the celebrity. In stage TWO, after the celebrity is finalised, the source of promotion should be identified and the product to be promoted should be furnished with meanings, in addition to this all the seize only those meanings related to the product which are to be acquired from the celebrity i.e. through campaigns, representative properties related to the product are conveyed by means of celebrity. Lastly the link between the celebrity and product is highlighted.   In the THRID stage, the representations of the celebrity are transferred to the product and also the meanings from objects, people and events surrounding them. With the use of products, celebrities create a self image before the audience that make these meanings accessible to the consumers, then the consumers understand the meaning and purchase accordingly (Mc Cracken Grant, 1989) 3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 INTRODUCTION The literature review chapter discusses the literature in celebrity endorsement and its impact on the brand as well as the consumers. The next chapter of research methodology, is where a suitable method of research would be selected before carrying out the research. In this chapter description regarding the accomplishment of the research will be stated, furthermore the method selected, the approach, sample, and data collection will be depicted. 3.2 RESEARCH APPROACH: This research is both a quantitative and qualitative research, according to Bryman and bell quantitative research is a distinctive research strategy and in broad terms it can be said that it is collection of numerical data and as exhibiting a view of relationship between theory and research as deductive and as having a objectivist conception of social reality.( Bryman and bell,2007).. In the research along with primary data, secondary data will also be given importance where all the journals, text books, press articles and the internet where all the topic related websites including the companys website will be considered.   Primary research will be conducted using questionnaires and also interview. Qualitative research tends to be more concerned with words rather than numbers and a feature of qualitative research is inductive view where there is a relationship between theory and research and the theory is extracted out of the latter (Bryman and Bell,2007) an inductive view approach will help in completion of the literature review. From the literature review a number of research questions were formed. To start the research, the secondary data on celebrity endorsement and also its influence of this concept on brand and consumer behaviour was reassessed. The collection of secondary data involved journals, magazines, text books, press articles and the internet. In accordance to secondary data this research was found creditable for further investigation. Inductive approach has been chosen along with primary research and secondary data will help in completion of this research. Primary data will be collected with the help of questionnaire to obtain accurate results and contemporary data. 3.4 DATA COLLECTION SECONDARY DATA Secondary research helps in collection of data and understanding what has already been undertaken under this field. Examining the present and the past researches or studies will help in appropriate understanding of the concept under research. Collection of secondary data is comprised mainly from journals, press articles from news paper and magazine articles, books and reliable websites. Secondary data offers pertinent theories, models and concept based through which further research can be undertaken. PRIMARY DATA There are many ways through which primary data can be collected, for instance interview method, questionnaire etc. In this study questionnaire method is chosen. The questionnaire consists of both open-ended as well as close end questions References: Nathan Klaus, and Ainsworth Anthony Bailey, Celebrity endorsement :an examination of gender and consumer attitudes, American Journal of Business, 2008 vol.23 no.2 Agrawal J, Kamakura WA, July1995. The economic worth of celebrity endorsers: an event study analysis, journal of marketing Vol.59, pp.56-62 Rajakaski JJ, Simonsson R.2006, The subject of celebrity endorsement :what it was and what it has become.ISSN:1402-1773-ISRN:LTU-CUPP-06/137-SE. Clinton Amos, Gary Holmes, David Strutton, Exploring the relationship between celebrity endorser effect and advertising effectiveness, International Journal fo advaertising , 27(2), 209-234, world advertising research center. Naveen Blazey and Shashi Kanth Ganti, Goa institute of management Goa, Impact of celebrity endorsement on overall brand) Mc Cracken Grant, who is celebrity endorser? Cultural foundation of endorsement process, journal of consumer research, December 1989, vol. 16. Pringle H, Binet L, How marketers can use celebrities to sell more effectively, journal of consumer behaviour, 2005, vol.4,3, 201-214, Published by John Wiley and Sons, ltd. Wang .W.S., How culture influences the brand association in the United Kingdom and Taiwan: a case study of LOreal Paris. Segrave, Kerry. 2005. Endorsement in advertising. A social history. Mc Farland and company, Inc., USA. Busler, Micheal. 2002. Product differentiation, celebrity endorsement and the consumers perception of quality. Dissertation Drexel university. Arango, Tim. 2007. Lebron, Inc- the building of a billion- dollar athlete. Fortune Atkin, Charles , Martin Block. 1983. Effectiveness of celebrity endorsers. Journal of Advertising Research 23(1) 57-61. Frieden, Jon B. 1984. Advertising spokesperson effects: An examination of endorser type and gender on two audiences. Journal of advertising research 24(October/November) 33-41. Zamudio Cesar. 2008. Matching with the stars: the case of celebrity endorsements. The university of Texas at Dallas. Martin, Brett A.S., Daniel Wentzel, Torsten Tomczak. 2008. Effects of suspectibilty to normative influence and the type of testimonial on the attitudes towards print advertising. Journal of Advertising research 37(1) 27-43. Mathur, Lynette Knowles, Ilk Mathur, Nanda Rangan. 1997. The wealth effects associated with a celebrity endorser: The Micheal Jordan Phenomenon. Journal of advertising research 37 67-73 Kahle, Lynn R., Pamela M. Homer. 1985. Physical attractiveness of the celebrity endorser; A social Adaptation perspective. Journal of consumer research 11(4) 954-961 Amos Clinton, Holmes Gary and Strutton David. 2008. Exploring the relationship between celebrity endorser effects and advertising effectiveness, International journal of Advertising, 27(2).209-234. Friedman, Harshey, Linda Friedman. 1979. Endorser effectiveness by product type. Journal of advertising research 19(October/ November) 63-71. Rao, Akshay R., Lu QU, Robert W. Ruekert. 1999. Singaling unobservable quality through a brand ally.   Journal of Marketing research 36(2) 258-268. Erdogan, B.Z. 1999.Celebrityendorsement: a literature review. Journal of marketing management, 15(3), pp.291-314. Ohanian , R. 1990. Construction and validation of a scale to measure celebrity endorsers perceived expertise, trustworthiness and attractiveness. Journal of advertising, 19(3), pp. 29-52. Giffin, K. 1967. The contribution of studies of source credibility to a theory of interpersonal trust in the communication process. Psychological bulletin, 68(2). pp. 104- 119. Chao, P., Wuhrer, G. and Werani, T(2005) Celebrity and foreign brand name as moderators of the country-of-origin effects, International journal of advertising, 24(2)pp. 173-192. McGinnes, E and Ward, C.1980. Better liked than right: trustworthiness and expertise as a factors in credibility. Personality and Social Psychology bulleti

My Classroom Management Plan Essay -- Classroom Management 2014

Many of us tend to equate classroom management with discipline (and for that matter, to equate discipline with punishment, but that's another story). I see classroom management as the processes and procedures that are in place to mitigate the need for punishment, leaving discipline to cleave to its roots of "to follow." Anything else is not classroom management. It’s damage control. Classroom management starts, for me, with very clear expectations, and firmly established procedures.  I begin the year (or semester) with a more formal, regulated tone, and have so far been able to end each year and semester with an atmosphere of relaxed mutual respect. I value students’ self-control over my being in control. Room Arrangement One of the goals of my room set-up is to minimize non-instructional interaction.  This sounds a bit impersonal and harsh, but its intent is to keep students on task, give them consistency in behavioral expectations, and to minimize their attempts to derail my teaching. Everyone benefits. There are clear procedures written on the whiteboard behind my desk for absentees, make up work, and getting extra help. There areFAQ  signs about work being for a grade, the temperature, whatever all around the room.  I try to maintain a predictable schedule so students know what's expected of them during each part of the 98 minutes we spend together each day -- and don't have to ask.  The agenda and objectives are on the board behind my desk. (I balked at this requirement during summer school, but have found that it allows students to know what's expected of them. They do look at it, and are quick to ask questions about the items I post that are intentionally ambiguous.)   I have a peninsula table at the entry where ... ...Toddlers and teens have more in common than not: They're at a transitional stage in which they are testing limits, learning boundaries, and trying on personalities. Once they learn the specific boundaries and consequences of my classroom, most are grateful for the atmosphere of safety and respect in my classroom. It’s still a daily struggle, but the amount of time I’ve spent focusing on damage control has been minimal during the school term. Does all this mean my room is a sweat shop where students feel repressed, dragged down and not able to express themselves?  No. It means that the students who are there to learn have an environment where they feel safe and able to be themselves. We have running inside jokes. And peach cobbler. I do loads of group work, peer teaching, and self-guided activities that can only be effective in a class with seamless management. My Classroom Management Plan Essay -- Classroom Management 2014 Many of us tend to equate classroom management with discipline (and for that matter, to equate discipline with punishment, but that's another story). I see classroom management as the processes and procedures that are in place to mitigate the need for punishment, leaving discipline to cleave to its roots of "to follow." Anything else is not classroom management. It’s damage control. Classroom management starts, for me, with very clear expectations, and firmly established procedures.  I begin the year (or semester) with a more formal, regulated tone, and have so far been able to end each year and semester with an atmosphere of relaxed mutual respect. I value students’ self-control over my being in control. Room Arrangement One of the goals of my room set-up is to minimize non-instructional interaction.  This sounds a bit impersonal and harsh, but its intent is to keep students on task, give them consistency in behavioral expectations, and to minimize their attempts to derail my teaching. Everyone benefits. There are clear procedures written on the whiteboard behind my desk for absentees, make up work, and getting extra help. There areFAQ  signs about work being for a grade, the temperature, whatever all around the room.  I try to maintain a predictable schedule so students know what's expected of them during each part of the 98 minutes we spend together each day -- and don't have to ask.  The agenda and objectives are on the board behind my desk. (I balked at this requirement during summer school, but have found that it allows students to know what's expected of them. They do look at it, and are quick to ask questions about the items I post that are intentionally ambiguous.)   I have a peninsula table at the entry where ... ...Toddlers and teens have more in common than not: They're at a transitional stage in which they are testing limits, learning boundaries, and trying on personalities. Once they learn the specific boundaries and consequences of my classroom, most are grateful for the atmosphere of safety and respect in my classroom. It’s still a daily struggle, but the amount of time I’ve spent focusing on damage control has been minimal during the school term. Does all this mean my room is a sweat shop where students feel repressed, dragged down and not able to express themselves?  No. It means that the students who are there to learn have an environment where they feel safe and able to be themselves. We have running inside jokes. And peach cobbler. I do loads of group work, peer teaching, and self-guided activities that can only be effective in a class with seamless management.

Poverty in Everyday Use, Sonnys Blues, and The Cathedral Essay

Poverty in Everyday Use, Sonny's Blues, and The Cathedral Works Cited Not Included Comparing ?Everyday Use?, ?Sonny?s Blues? and ?The Cathedral?, one can conclude that they share a common meaning. Although all three stories consider poverty as their theme, each chooses to elaborate it in a different manner. In fact, ?Everyday Use? emphasizes on the state of extreme poverty in which certain people live. On the other hand, ?Sonny?s Blues? contributes to the theme by describing the poverty of spirit of Harlem?s ?inner kids?. Carver?s ?The Cathedral?, however, prefers to explore the notion of poverty as a state of one?s mind rather than the environment in which one lives. In ?Everyday Use?, Alice Walker chooses to develop the idea of poverty by focusing exclusively on the environment in which her protagonists live. Setting attributes, such as the ones used to describe the house in which the protagonists reside, enables us to better understand the theme. In fact, the dwelling does not even have any real windows. Instead, it has holes cut in the sides, like the portholes of a ship, but not round and not square, with rawhide holding the shutters up on the outside. Then, Walker proceeds with inside description of the house as she points out that the protagonists use benches for their table instead of chairs because they cannot financially afford any. Further, the author supports the theme by providing us with some physical description of specific objects. The use of quilts that ?Grandma Dee? sewed from the scraps of her dress and the churn that Uncle Henry whittled from the wood is not derived from the protagonists? intention to preserve ?family values? but rather from a necessity to ?survive?. In ?Sonny?s Blues?, the theme of... ...nt from the happiness that he has with his own wife. The notion of poverty has a very expanded meaning. Although all three stories use poverty as their theme, each interprets it differently. Consequently, it does not necessarily mean the state of extreme misery that has been described in ?Everyday Use?. As Carver points out, poverty may refer to poverty of one?s mind, which is caused primarily by the lack of education and stereotyped personality. Finally, poverty may reflect the hopelessness of one?s mind. Realizing that no bright future awaits them, Harlem kids find no sense in their lives. Unfortunately, the satisfaction of realizing their full potential does not derive from achieving standards that are unachievable by others. Instead, it arises uniquely from denigrating others, as the only way to be higher than someone is to put this person lower than you.

Community Assessment Essay

Lake County, Illinois is located on the shore of Lake Michigan and borders the state of Wisconsin, sitting in the northeast corner of the state of Illinois. Established March 1, 1839, Lake County consists of fifty-three villages, cities and townships. I have lived in Vernon Hills, one of the villages located in Lake County since 2005. Lake County is considered part of the Chicago, Illinois metropolitan area also referred to as the Chicagoland Area. Lake County is located north of and adjacent to Cook County, Illinois. According to the 2000 census, Lake County was the 31st richest county by per capita income. (Wikipedia, 2013) There are many affluent communities that are located in Lake County, including Lake Forrest, Lake Bluff and Highland Park which are all on the shore of Lake Michigan and referred to as the North Shore. According to 2012 census data, the population of Lake County was 703,462, which is an increase of 9. 2% compared to the 2000 census data. (Wikipedia, 2013) Headquartered in Lake County are many major medical device and pharmaceutical manufacturers such as Abbot Healthcare, Baxter Healthcare, Medline Industries, Astellas Pharmaceuticals and Takeda Pharmaceuticals which attributes to the growth and diversity of this county. Additionally, the Naval Station Great Lakes which is the Navy’s only training center for recruits is located in Lake County in the town of North Chicago. Additional major revenue sources for Lake County are the Six Flags Great America amusement park which is open approximately eight months per year and the many indoor water parks that are open year round. While a significant portion of the population that reside in Lake County also work in Lake County, a sizeable percent of Lake County’s population commute to Chicago for work. Conversely, due to the businesses located in Lake County, there are many people who reside in Cook County who commutes for work in Lake County. This is very evident based upon the number of people both riding trains and driving daily from Lake County to Cook County for work and vice versa. Population/Economic Assessment The demographics of Lake County show a significant increase in population and change from 2000 to 2010. While the Caucasian (White) population is only up by 2% it is still the predominate population of Lake County. The Asian and Latino populations have both increased 77% and 51% respectively. The Latino population accounts for 20. 5% of Lake County’s population. (Quick Facts, 2013) The African American population has increased 10% from 2000 to 2010. Lake County demographics are reflective of the changes occurring nationwide as diversity continues to change the landscape of American. (LakeCounty. gov, 2013) There is an equivalent proportion of male to female living in Lake County with 50. 1% of the population being female and 49. 9% of the population being male. County Demographic Profile form the US Census Bureau Decennial Census and American Community Survey 1990 Census 2000 Census 2010 Census Change 2000 to 2010 Percent Change 2000 to 2010 Total Population 516,418 644,599 703,462 58,863 9% White Population* 450,666 516,189 528,204 12,015 2% African American Population* 34,771 44,741 49,033 4,292 10% Asian Population* 12,363 25,103 44,358 19,255 77% Latino Population (any race) 38,570 92,716 139,987 47,271 51% Median Age 31. 6 33. 8 36. 7 2. 9 9% Number of Households 173,966 216,297 241,712 25,415 12% Average Household Size 2. 88 2. 85 2. 82 -0. 03 -1% Median Household Income (not adjusted to current dollars) $46,047 $66,973 $78,423^ NA NA Number of Housing Units 183,283 226,012 260,310 34,298 15% Source: US Census Bureau – 1990, 2000 and 2010 Decennial Census *Reporting only one race ^2005-2009 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates The median household income in Lake County is $78,423 according to the 2010 census data which is $27,406 higher than the median household income nationally which fell slightly to $51,017 per year in 2012. (Hargreaves, 2013) The percent of persons in Lake County who are below the poverty level from 2007 to 2011 was 8. 2%, compared to 13. 1% for the state of Illinois and more than 16% nationwide. (Hargreaves, 2013) In July 2013, the unemployment rate was 8. 5% as compared to 7. 4% nationally. This is concerning due to a personal observation of the number of large businesses which are hiring in Lake County, as compared to the increase in the number of small businesses who are closing in the county. Of note, the number of housing units is up 15% from 2000 to 2010 which correlates to the increase in census. The last count of the homeless population in Lake County that is found is from 2010 where 474 persons were found to meet the federal definition of homeless on January 28, 2010. (Castellanos, 2010) There are 42,012 individuals who receive food stamps which equates to 6% of the population receiving federal food assistance. (Frac. org, 2013). There are 11,942 recipients in Lake County receiving some form of public assistance. Of that 1,324 are considered aged, 6,053 are blind and disabled, 4,039 are age 18 to 64 and 1,850 are age 65 or older. $3,943 is the average amount of payments in thousands of dollars per recipient. (SSA, 2013). Cultural Assessment The median age of Lake County residents in 2010 is 37. 6 years of age. Below is a listing of population by age, as well as may other cultural statistics according to the 2000 U. S. Census Bureau. (FactFinder2, 2013) Subject Lake County, Illinois Number Percent SCHOOL ENROLLMENT Population 3 years and over enrolled in school 185,035 100. 0 Nursery school, preschool 16,850 9. 1 Kindergarten 11,513 6. 2 Elementary school (grades 1-8) 86,422 46. 7 High school (grades 9-12) 37,591 20. 3 College or graduate school 32,659 17. 7 EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT Population 25 years and over 398,265 100. 0 Less than 9th grade 23,819 6. 0 9th to 12th grade, no diploma 29,640 7. 4 High school graduate (includes equivalency) 85,056 21. 4 Some college, no degree 84,499 21. 2 Associate degree 21,525 5. 4 Bachelor’s degree 95,750 24. 0 Graduate or professional degree 57,976 14. 6 Percent high school graduate or higher 86. 6 (X) Percent bachelor’s degree or higher 38. 6 (X) MARITAL STATUS Population 15 years and over 483,528 100. 0 Never married 118,850 24. 6 Now married, except separated 300,474 62. 1 Separated 5,947 1. 2 Widowed 20,956 4. 3 Female 17,001 3. 5 Divorced 37,301 7. 7 Female 22,290 4. 6 GRANDPARENTS AS CAREGIVERS Grandparent living in household with one or more own grandchildren under 18 years 10,127 100. 0 Grandparent responsible for grandchildren 3,292 32. 5 VETERAN STATUS Civilian population 18 years and over 442,570 100. 0 Civilian veterans 48,101 10. 9 DISABILITY STATUS OF THE CIVILIAN NONINSTITUTIONALIZED POPULATION Population 5 to 20 years 156,934 100. 0 With a disability 10,484 6. 7 Population 21 to 64 years 364,479 100. 0 With a disability 48,296 13. 3 Percent employed 65. 6 (X) No disability 316,183 86. 7 Percent employed 78. 9 (X) Population 65 years and over 51,714 100. 0 With a disability 17,878 34. 6 RESIDENCE IN 1995 Population 5 years and over 591,519 100. 0 Same house in 1995 308,970 52. 2 Different house in the U. S. in 1995 260,127 44. 0 Same county 130,584 22. 1 Different county 129,543 21. 9 Same state 70,156 11. 9 Different state 59,387 10. 0 Elsewhere in 1995 22,422 3. 8 NATIVITY AND PLACE OF BIRTH Total population 644,356 100. 0 Native 548,820 85. 2 Born in United States 541,781 84. 1 State of residence 379,444 58. 9 Different state 162,337 25. 2 Born outside United States 7,039 1. 1 Foreign born 95,536 14. 8 Entered 1990 to March 2000 45,092 7. 0 Naturalized citizen 35,300 5. 5 Not a citizen 60,236 9. 3 REGION OF BIRTH OF FOREIGN BORN Total (excluding born at sea) 95,536 100. 0 Europe 21,674 22. 7 Asia 19,849 20. 8 Africa 902 0. 9 Oceania 266 0. 3 Latin America 51,064 53. 5 Northern America 1,781 1. 9 LANGUAGE SPOKEN AT HOME Population 5 years and over 591,519 100. 0 English only 464,971 78. 6 Language other than English 126,548 21. 4 Speak English less than ‘very well 58,966 10. 0 Spanish 76,049 12. 9 Speak English less than â€Å"very well† 42,631 7. 2 Other Indo-European languages 32,238 5. 5 Speak English less than â€Å"very well† 9,467 1. 6 Asian and Pacific Island languages 15,710 2. 7 Speak English less than â€Å"very well† 6,282 1. 1 ANCESTRY (single or multiple) Total population 644,356 100. 0 Total ancestries reported 747,907 116. 1 Arab 1,635 0. 3 Czech[1] 7,840 1. 2 Danish 5,348 0. 8 Dutch 8,724 1. 4 English 47,469 7. 4 French (except Basque)[1] 15,261 2. 4 French Canadian[1] 3,746 0. 6 German 138,880 21. 6 Greek 6,267 1. 0 Hungarian 4,561 0. 7 Irish[1] 82,286 12. 8 Italian 45,060 7. 0 Lithuanian 4,725 0. 7 Norwegian 14,612 2. 3 Polish 57,249 8. 9 Portuguese 477 0. 1 Russian 21,109 3. 3 Scotch-Irish 6,688 1. 0 Scottish 10,116 1. 6 Slovak 2,235 0. 3 Subsaharan African 2,356 0. 4 Swedish 21,202 3. 3 Swiss 2,154 0. 3 Ukrainian 4,026 0. 6 United States or American 27,800 4. 3 Welsh 2,809 0. 4 West Indian (excluding Hispanic groups) 1,884 0. 3 Other ancestries 201,388 31. 3 Source: U. S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 3, Matrices P18, P19, P21, P22, P24, P36, P37, P39, P42, PCT8, PCT16, PCT17, and PCT19 The percentage of Lake County that is affiliated with a religious congregation is 59. 18%. (City-data, 2013) There are 288 congregations in the county with 66% adhering to the Catholic Church, 7% to the Jewish faith and 27% to other denominations including both protestant and non-protestant religions. Parks and recreation. Parks and recreation in Lake County are abundant. The total area of the county is1,368. 48 square miles of which 443. 67 square miles or 32. 42% is land and 924. 81 square miles 67. 58% is water. (Wikipedia, 2013). There are a total of five (5) parks and ninety-one (91) lakes in addition to Lake Michigan which is border to a very large part of the county. There are several forest preserves and natural areas located within Lake County, including a long string that runs from north to south and healthincludes Half Day Woods, Old School Forest Preserve, Independence Grove and Van Patten Woods. These all form the Des Plaines River Greenway, which contains the Des Plaines River Trail where many in the community walk, run or bike. There are the traditional nature preserves, such as the Ryerson Conservation Area. Additionally, there are many golf courses and historic homes, such as the Adlai Stevenson historic home. Outdoor and indoor sports and activities are plentiful and do not forget Six Flags Great America and the indoor water parks. Health of Lake County. Lake County has created a Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP) which included a health assessment of the community. The MAPP is a strategic planning approach to community health improvement developed through the cooperative effort of the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), the Public Health Practice Program Office of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, local health officials, community representatives and academicians. (MAPP, 2013). The strategic effort consists of the following components: Helping the community to take responsibility for its own health through a grass roots approach. Using the 10 Essential Public Health Services to define public health activities to create a strategic plan. Conducting four comprehensive assessments to identify what needs to be included in the plan and what needs to be worked on. The local public health systems are included in development of the plan. Ensuring that diverse voices and perspectives are including in constructing the plan. Ensuring a shared vision. Data is used to make decisions. Partnerships and collaborative are made. Successes are always celebrated. The community health assessment report created by MAPP has twelve sections as listed below. 1. Some General Attributes of Lake County’s Population and their Health-Related Characteristics 2. An Evaluation of Progress Toward the Community Health Improvement Goals from the 2006 Illinois Project for Local Assessment of Needs (IPLAN) 3. Births and Birth Outcomes / Maternal, Fetal, and Infant Health 4. Youth Health Behaviors 5. Environmental Health 6. Built Environment 7. Community Safety 8. Behavioral Health 9. Infectious Diseases 10. Mortality Rates and Stratified Incidence Rates 11. Age-Stratified Hospital/ER and Other Local Data 12. Chronic Conditions, Ambulatory Care Sensitive Conditions, and Hospital Usage Data In this report that total life expectancy for Lake County’s population is 79. 3 years. For males it is 77. 5 years and for females it is 81 years. Additionally, Caucasians and African Americans are listed with life expectancies of 80. 4 years and 79. 8 years respectively. No other population sectors are listed separately. All of these statistics are higher than national statistics from 2008 which was overall 78. 12. Approximately 11% of residents in Lake County do not have health insurance. It is estimated that approximately 65% of Lake County residents are actively engaged in improving their health status based upon the accessibility and health care effort and education within the community. Overall, Lake County is very actively engaged in improving the health of the community. The community has the normal health concerns as most communities in the United States. The top five causes of death in Lake County from 2003 to 2007 were all cancers, followed by heart disease, dementia, cerebrovascular disease and chronic lower respiratory disease. (Health Department, 2013). There are ample number of community health resources with eighteen (18) community health departments, seven (7) hospitals and over a hundred of health clinics and offices located within easy access throughout the county. Mental health issues and substance abuse. There are two major growing concerns within Lake County according to the MAPP health assessment. Mental health issues and substance abuse are rising expeditiously and are attributed to stress and economic concerns that are facing many Americans. The existing behavioral health and substance abuse programs available to meet these rising needs are not adequate to handle the demand. This lack of services is based upon fiscal challenges, including the economic downturn, problems with Medicaid reimbursement at the state level, and political feuds at the state government level. (MAPP, 2013). Also according to the report, there has never been adequate supply of services and over the past four years, there have been state funding cuts that have either significantly limited or delayed access to care. Domestic violence and homelessness are both on the rise in the community and both are a result of the mental health and substance abuse growth. It is believed that all of these issues are rising in Lake County because there is lack of funding for prevention and treatment programs. Further, what is lacking is awareness in general by the public and policy makers of the prevalence and growth patterns in these conditions and the extent of the impact they have on families and the community. There is not a short term or long term plan that has been developed to address these issues. The lack of knowledge may be partly due to the demographics’ of this community with its history of affluence and growth where financial issues have not been as concerning in the past and/or because the private sector could afford private treatment and keeping such issues behind closed doors and thus politicians have historically not been made to care about these issues. Neighborhood/Community Safety The Lake County Health Department and Community Health Center among all of the data already expressed regarding the health of Lake County, monitors the air quality in Lake County. They monitor both indoor and outdoor air quality and have an on-line alert system to Lake County residents. They monitor ozone and ozone action days, they offer radon testing kits, they provide information about the Clean Air Act, they investigate inquiries about leaf and, or open burning, they help students with service projects related to the environment and offer advice regarding mold or mildew, asthma and flood or sewer cleanups. (LakeCounty. gov, 2013). The air quality index for Lake County is reported as good by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. Every year Lake County produces a water quality report. It is found on the lakecounty. gov web site and easily accessible by any one as is all vital information needed statistic for the county. Lake County is a strong supporter of the Safe Drinking Water Act. Because of the support of this act, they are required to publish an annual Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) describing the sources, treatment and chemical analysis of each water distribution system. (LakeCounty. gov, 2013). In Lake County, Lake Michigan supplies most of the water source for Lake County. More than 750 million gallon of water is supplied to the village where I live in Lake County. Lake Michigan water is disinfected by using the ozone, which has been proven to be highly effective in removing contaminants and in deactivating disease-causing pathogens. After the water is treated, it passes through filters of granular activated carbon which removes any remaining contaminants and particles from the water. This also takes out bad tastes and odors. (LakeCounty. gov, 2013). To prevent the spread of disease from wildlife, the Lake County government monitors animal care and the control of the animal care populations with the goal of preventing the spread of rabies through their Animal Care and Control division. They enforce county ordinances and state laws related to any animal complaints. They investigate nuisance complaints, complaints of animal cruelty or neglect, as well as reports of stray, roaming, injured, dangerous, vicious or biting animals. They also provide spay and neuter assistance to low-income families in Lake County. Because of all of the lakes in Lake County there is a high potential for water related injuries. These potentials include injuries from boating, swimming and drowning. In addition, water quality is at risk because of all of the development along the water fronts, inappropriate sewage disposal, storm water runoff that becomes polluted. The lakes are monitored by Lake County’s Lakes Management Unit which is part of the Health Department. The Lakes Management Unit monitors the quality of the county’s surface water in order to: – Maintain or improve water quality and alleviate nuisance conditions – Promote healthy and safe lake conditions – Protect and improve ecological diversity (LakeCounty. gov, 2013). Lake County also has a food safety division to protect its food supply. Community services division. The Community Services Division which is also part of Lake County government is responsible for educating the public in ways individuals can help prevent crime and cooperate with law enforcement. They make programs available to help reduce criminal victimization and improve the quality of life of residents in Lake County. These programs include the following: 1. Community Policing Contact Program 2. Neighborhood Watch Program 3. Home Security Program 4. Home Security Survey 5. Traveling Alone Program 6. Safety on Call Program 7. McGruff the Crime Dog 8. Bicycle Safety Program 9. Career Shadow Day 10. Personal Safety and Security Program 11. Illinois Sherriff’s Association Scholarship Program 12. Child Fingerprinting Program 13. R. U. O. K Program 14. DUI Awareness Program 15. Volunteer Senior Advocates Program The Crime Prevention Division within the Sherriff’s Department is responsible for handling many of the community services and provides public safety education and information along with the Community Services Division. The Lake County MAPP also addresses community safety and prescribes following the World Health Organizations (WHO) Collaborating Center on Community Safety’s six indicators for safe communities. 1. â€Å"An infrastructure based on partnerships and collaborations, governed by a cross-sectoral group that is responsible for safety promotion in their community; 2. Long-term, sustainable programs covering both genders and all ages, environments, and situations; 3. Programs that target high-risk groups and environments, and programs that promotes safety for vulnerable groups; 4. Programs that document the frequency and causes of injuries; 5. Evaluation measures to assess their programs, processes, and effects for change; 6. Ongoing participation in national and international Safe Communities Networks† Each community within Lake County has their own police and fire departments. No deficiencies in service or in quality are found. In 2008 crime rate was 2132 and in 2009 it was 2160. While crimes among juveniles are declining, the crime rates for adults are increasing. The most frequent crime is theft, followed by burglary, aggravated assault/battery and motor vehicle theft. The rate of aggravated assault/battery has increased by 18. 3% and is primarily due to increased in domestic violence. There are 52,756 total law enforcement employees in Lake County dedicated to enforcing the law preventing crime but there appears to be a need for prevention programs to address the increase in domestic violence. Disaster Assessment and Planning Lake County’s Emergency Management Agency (LCEMA) requests that they be called for all types of emergencies including train derailments to hazardous materials spills. The LCEMA has a well-trained HAZMAT team as well as other specialized training that can deal with natural disasters and even biochemical events. LCEMA coordinates the primary response for everything non-medical. Lake County is located in an area where there can be extreme weather related events from tornado’s to flooding to extreme cold weather and snow events. LCEMA will establish alerts and provide educational information when Lake County experiences extreme weather and during extreme weather seasons. They also coordinate with shelter sites mass evacuations if needed. Should the type of disaster require a specific expertise, LCEMA will call in appropriate county organizations as needed. For example, in the case of a medical emergency, such as a bio-weapon attack or a pandemic outbreak, Lake County’s Health Department’s Emergency Management Agency (LCHDEMA) would take the primary role is responding to this type of event. The most resent event such as this was in 2009 when the H1N1 flu pandemic hit and LCHDEMA set up fifteen (15) mass vaccination clinics and vaccinated over 27,000 residents. LCEMA prescribes to the theory that disaster preparedness starts with the individuals within the community. They see their role as education, coordination and alert notification. Because they believe that is true disasters, there will not be enough available employed first responders to address the needs of the community, they have organized community they have organized Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) which are made up of members of the community with specific talents and training who have committed to be available during an emergency. LCEMA functions are summarized in five (5) categories: Prevention Preparedness Response Recovery Mitigation Lake County has an all-natural disaster mitigation plan that is found on the Lake County government website. Communities that adopt the plan are eligible for pre- and post-disaster funding from three (3) FEMA mitigation grant programs. The committee responsible for this plan meets annually to review and update the plan to comply with FEMA’s required five (5) year plan process. The state of Illinois has developed a state-wide emergency preparedness plan that includes Lake County titled the Illinois Emergency Operations Plan (IEOP). While the local government is charged with dealing with emergencies and disasters, the state plan is there to take over when the local plan is not sufficient to meet the needs of the local community(s). A specific emergency operations plan for Lake County was not found. There is a link on their home page that when accessed goes to FEMA’s Comprehensive Preparedness Guide 101. Also located on the link is a plan analysis tool which is like a checklist to evaluate a plan, as well as many other links to local, state, federal and national emergency and disaster management resources. Also, there are links to several volunteer agencies on the website that can assist in the event of a disaster or emergency. Alert Lake County is another resource that provides information to residents of Lake County to prepare for disasters. If residents follow them on Twitter, they provide minute by minute information regarding impending or immediate disasters. On their website there are checklists, risk assessments, emergency plans and contacts for medical and other emergency resources that are very beneficial when disaster strikes. LCEMA refers residents of Lake County to Alert Lake County to become prepared for emergencies and disasters. On the Lake County Emergency Management Agency website are located the following five (5) videos intended to prepare and educate residents: Lake County Flooding Response Tips To Get Your Vehicle Ready For Winter Weather Conditions Stormy Weather Safety Tips Lake County Blizzard Response Cold Weather Preps When residents of Lake County were questioned about emergency and disaster management, I did not find anyone who was aware of the specific provisions that Lake County Emergency Management Agency provides to this community. Most assumed they existed, but no one had visited the website or accessed any information on this topic. I could not find anyone who knew about Alert Lake County and their services. I checked with my daughter who went to high school in Lake County and she vaguely remembers some information being distributed in school regarding disaster preparedness, but only as it elated to what they were to do in the event of an emergency while they were at school. The apparent lack of concern among Lake County residents who were questioned may be due to the long history of Lake County and the Chicagoland area for that matter providing alerts and information in a very timely manner and adequately addressing all emergencies and disasters that have historically happened in recent history. There appears to be a lot of confidence in the systems and processes in place. In fact, many older residents will refer to an event that happened around 1979 when a great blizzard occurred in Chicago and then mayor, Michael Bilandic was accused of not removing the snow in a timely and appropriate manner and therefore was not re-elected to a new term. Since that event, all of the government agencies in the Chicagoland area go above and beyond to respond to all impending or immediate emergencies in an appropriate manner. Genogram of Lake County How to gnifican Interpretation of Genogram The Genogram presents a summary of a thorough assessment of the Lake County, Illinois community and has been very enlightening and provides a copious amount of information. Getting to know the community better has shown light on needs for this community that should be addressed. This is analogous to performing a thorough assessment on a patient. The health indicators in this Genogram points to a need to address substance abuse and mental health issues in Lake County with both conditions on the rise resulting in an increase in crime statistics for the community, specifically violent behavior and domestic abuse. While that are ample hospitals health care facilities to treat the population, there is a shortage of prevention and treatment resources to address both substance abuse and mental illness. Further assessment of the disaster preparedness plan needs to occur to assure that having only a plan for natural disasters while relying on other state and volunteer resources are sufficient to address future needs of the community. Community diagnosis. The community diagnosis is that of an affluent community with excellent access to hospitals, clinics healthcare facilities but with a shortage of access to mental health and substance abuse prevention and care. The community assessment performed by MAPP suggests that this is due to a lack of knowledge by politicians that the problem exists and therefore a lack of funding to provide such services. Further the diagnosis shows that this lack of prevention programs and treatment for these health issues has resulted in an increase in crime, domestic violence and homelessness. This diagnosis supports the need for additional funding to provide the necessary prevention and treatment programs.