I want to buy health insurance by myself Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

I want to buy health insurance by myself - Essay Example Thus, this factor underlines the case importance of medical cover, which comes in a variety of programs for an individual to make a choice. As students, we also need to plan for any misfortune, since we cannot tell of future occurrences. However, what happens when you cannot rely on a program meant to help you in case of a misfortune? Does such a program guarantee you a safe future? While acknowledging the Oklahoma Christian University Administration’s noble intentions in their medical cover program, this expose posit that the cover does not meet its intended purpose and hence the administration should allow students to arrange for their own cover. The initial purpose of any health insurance, or a medical cover, is to ensure that there was proper care of an individual’s body and health. In this regard, a medical cover should be a permanent arrangement that we can all rely on and avail at the appropriate time in case of a serious health disorder. In this regard, an individual’s health is at risk once the medical cover is not dependable. Case in point, our University’s medical cover is not one of the reliable. For instance, a colleague became sick, while in school, and we had to dig deep into our pockets and arrange for an ambulance, which took him to the hospital. This is despite the fact the colleague had paid for medical cover in the University. Thus, the failure of the University to meet such basic costs underlines the undependable nature of the medical cover. At this instance, we pause and ask the question of what would have been the consequence of us not raising money for the ambulance. This can only m ean that the investable would have happened. While medical cover should keep you insured against serious illnesses, our University cover does not cover even the most of basic illnesses like vision and teeth. We all know that

Room layout Essay Example for Free

Room layout Essay The room in which the presentation will take place must be organised specifically for my presentation as there are various factors that need to be taken into consideration, these are as follows: * Movement If there are certain times in the presentation that I need to move into or around the room then the positioning of chairs and tables needs to be considered thoroughly. * Barriers to communication The way in which the room is set out will also determine how certain mechanical barriers to communication can be controlled. For example if the chairs are placed too far away from my speaking point and they cannot hear, then this is a mechanical barrier. * Space There are certain combinations of room layout that may not be feasible because of a lack in physical space. Layout design ? Layout design ? Layout design ? The chosen design; why have I decided to use it? The chosen design takes into consideration all the possible mechanical barriers to communication that could potentially arise from bad planning. Mechanical barriers are a vital element to be considered when making a presentation. The Chairs have been arranged so that all the guests can see and hear all the relevant information I need to give and my visual aids have been placed in a position so that it will not be blocked by anything. I have decided against the use of a table in front of me for notes and slides as it may hinder some of the movement in my presentation. Possible clothing I might wear. There are various clothing types I could choose for the presentation each one is considered below: Smart I could choose to wear a suit for the presentation, the argument for this style of clothing is that it could be classified as a formal occasion and a suit would be the appropriate choice. However this may be too formal and as the criteria states the presentation is to entertain as well as inform, therefore I would like to keep my presentation fairly relaxed and so a suit may be the wrong choice in this situation. Tuxedo A tuxedo in the style of the fictional character James Bond may help to keep the atmosphere light but still have a formal approach; it is relevant to my presentation as it is of a military nature. This choice brings a more balanced approach to a mixture of both formal but relaxed at the same time. Military uniform Dressing in a military camouflage style uniform may help to keep the atmosphere on an entertainment basis and gives me scope to perform my presentation in a more unique and unusual way. I have chosen to present my findings in the military uniform and will be the theme for my presentation. It brings the right combination of humour and formality and at the same time brings a variation from a typical presentation style. Props/Equipment that I will need for the presentation. There are various pieces of equipment that I will need in order to present my findings appropriately. I have chosen to present it with various visual aids to help create my military theme. The equipment I will need is listed below: * Over head projector * Television screen with video capacity * Music system (for the opening sounds) * Military costume How will I remember what to say? Throughout the presentation I may need small prompts in order to keep my line of thought. This is vital to giving a good presentation as it helps to keep the talk smooth. If I stutter then it can cause problems with the information being passed, people will lose interest and so the presentation will not succeed, therefore careful planning must be made and small prompt cards produced with possibly one word or even a sentence, the reason they must be kept to a minimum ensures the I will not read from the cards. My body language must show I know the talk and eye contact must be held with the audience; if this does not happen and reading of the speech occurs people will again lose interest. Who will be at my presentation? I have decided to control who will be in the room while I am conducting my presentation; my reason for doing this is because of the room layout designs shown above. By controlling who is in the room I can organise where people are sitting which is fairly important in my presentation as I hope to include the audience as much as possible. I have pre-selected certain people in the audience to interact with, although these people are unaware of this it will help to create a light atmosphere. The list of people who will be at my presentation are listed below: * Frances Brown * Megan Rule * Rina Bhakta * Emily Finney * Bob Comb * Craig Brady * Alex Morey * Chrissie Ayrton * Benjamin Kelly * Ruari Lumsden These are the ten people I have decided to invite to my presentation. I must produce formal invitations to make sure who I invite is there. The invitations How will they look? There are certain things that must be included in the invitations; these things will ensure people arrive promptly to the right place therefore various pieces of information will be included, these are shown below: * Time of presentation * Place * Subject These things must be included in the invitation. To ensure people arrive on time I will also include a short sentence asking them to be prompt. My Theme As shown above in the What will I wear section I will be wearing a military Uniform. This ties in with my decided theme that I will continue throughout the presentation. I have chosen to include a theme for the entertainment of the audience. My theme is a military briefing style presentation and I will give it in the same form as shown in many military based television programmes and movies such as Independence day. The reason I will do this is to create a unique and out of the ordinary presentation; by doing this people may enjoy it more and stay focused on the presentation.

Development of Learning Objectives Through Reflection

Development of Learning Objectives Through Reflection The Williams report is based around educational best practice to enable young learners to acquire an understanding and appreciation of mathematics and its importance to their lives. The foremost concern, drawn from Ofsted and the Primary National Strategy findings is the need to strengthen teaching that challenges and enables children to use and apply mathematics more often, and more effectively (Williams: 2008 para.223) Reflecting on my practice will enable me to recognise my strengths, development needs and improve my practice to benefit all learners. Petty says: Effective teachers are always changing what they do; this is because they are continually learning how to teacher better. (2009: 520) Activating prior learning by constructing links, good planning and the conditions of the classroom can contribute to the effective opening of a lesson. Walker Tileston: Unless connections are made to their prior learning, comprehension and meaning may be dramatically lessened. (2004: 21). Therefore I ensured I revisited previous learning by looking at the way children approach word problems through reading the problem, highlighting the key words/numbers and choosing the appropriate operation before solving it. I then ensured they had chance to apply their skills to some word problems so I could assess their understanding and they could test their knowledge. When children gave correct answers during the mental/oral, I constantly praised them to build their self-esteem and confidence. Fontana says using praise and encouragement has a vital role to play in keeping children involved and interested in their work, and in helping them to build upon current achievements by raising their conf idence and their belief in their own abilities. (1985: 80) Giving children word problems to solve is an important aspect of mathematics because it is an opportunity for them to use their knowledge of operations/ mathematical vocabulary and apply it to real life problems. Bottle says: Giving children a real context for their problem solving gives them the best opportunity to become fluent in using mathematical skills and procedures. (2005: 33) After the mental/oral starter I ensured the learning objectives and success criteria were visible and shared with the children, so they could see what they were learning and what they had to do to be successful. I then asked questions on what methods the children used for addition and subtraction, which gave them a chance to actively participate and broaden their mathematical knowledge. The NNS says: Through a process of regular explanation and discussion of their own and other peoples methods they will begin to acquire a repertoire of mental calculation strategies. (1999: 7) I continued to ask questions throughout the lesson to enable me to assess childrens understanding, assessing common mistakes, analysing their methods and explore their language and vocabulary. Claxton says good learning starts with questions, not answers. (1990: 78) I ensured I was asking open ended questions in the main activity and plenary because I wanted to find out more about pupils understanding and to use their ideas to focus discussion about concepts. Kyriacou says that open and higher-order questions are more intellectually demanding and stimulating. (1995: 38) However during the mental/oral I tended to ask closed questions to keep the pace flowing. I tried to ensure I was giving the children thinking time after each question so they did not feel under pressure. Harries and Spooner say: Being asked to respond at speed is identified as a source of great anxiety. (2000: 36) This is why I decided to give the children number fans to show their answer, so they did not feel put on the spot. However I may have given them too long to answer as the rest of the class lost focus slightly. One strategy I could have used to avoid this was to ask a child a question, give them time to think about an answer, then ask other children in the class questions before returning to the pupil who had been given time for a response. This also would have enabled me to keep the pace flowing and help everyone reach their potential. I had to try and keep the pace of my whole class teaching at the correct level, as the class has a wide variety of learners with different abilities, therefore going too fast could cause the lower ability pupils to become lost and going too slow could mean the higher ability pupils are not being challenged. Wajnryb says: Students whose learning pace is faster than the pace of the lesson are prone to becoming bored, losing motivation and tuning out of the lesson. (1992: 118) When I introduced the new topic of adding or subtracting multiples of ten I could have given the children time to discuss the methods they might use in groups beforehand. This would have given them the confidence to participate more when I gave them questions to answer. Brown says: The opportunity for children to discuss ideas and express their own opinions is crucial. (1998, 43) Additionally during the questioning I only asked the children who had their hands up for the answers, rather than asking other children to see if they all understood. I could have provided more opportunities for student participation by getting them to write an answer and present it back to the class, which would encourage every child to use mental calculation. The NNS says An ability to calculate mentally lies at the heart of numeracy. (1999: 6) Giving the children mental calculations also contributes to the development of better problem-solving skills and gives them a sense of real life, as Thompson says: Most calculations in real life are done in the head rather than on paper. (2010: 163) The whole group teaching was beneficial as it enabled me to see the capabilities of all those in the class and adapt my practice accordingly. I organised the pupils on the carpet, to ensure everyone could see and so I could monitor behaviour, it also enabled me to notice changes in their posture and facial expressions, giving me clues about their understanding. Whole class teaching also meant I could interest the children in the subject they were covering rather than trying to stimulate their interest individually. Dean says: An important part of the teachers role is to stimulate and interest children in whatever is to be learned. This is a valuable part of working with the whole class (2001: 62) Before I sent the children to their tables to undertake their written activities, I ensured I explained and showed the children what I expected them to do, which aided their understanding. Teachers need to know the extent of their childrens mathematical abilities in order to set appropriate activities, so as this was my first maths session I had to ask the class teacher to help me with this. OBrien and Guiney believe planning towards differentiation is imperative and should be seen as integral to learningIt is a concept that has to be seen in an inclusive way, applying to everyone. (2001: ix) Therefore although children had the same learning objective, they recorded their answers in different ways. The lower ability pupils had to colour in the requested numbers on a number square, where as the other children had to write the numbers, which tested all children whilst allowing them to work at their own pace. When the children applied their mathematics on their tables I ensured myself a nd the LSA worked with different groups in different sessions, so all children did not become too reliant on support and have the opportunity to work independently. Ball agrees saying you have a choice between killing your pupils interest and giving them a taste for independent thinking. (2002: 17) The activities the children were completing all involved adding and subtracting multiples of ten, however children had completed addition problems first so assumed the whole activity contained addition problems. Briggs and Davis say: Here the child immediately sees something familiar within the task and assumptions about the level of attention needed to complete the task. (2008: 47) In future I will inform the children that there is a variety of symbols within their work so they need to read the number sentence before working out the answer. Giving children a number square to use, however, did assist them with their learning as they could visually picture the numbers and see what they had to do to get the answer. The higher ability pupils struggled with partitioning numbers, so they resorted back to the more familiar method of counting on or back to the required numbers. Although they did not use the required method, they still referred back to their previous knowledge and applied it to their work. Mooney et al say children tend to use those that they have confidence with, which are likely to be earlier strategies that pupils revert to if not clear about new ways of working. (2009: 15) Ofsted (2001) believe that the plenary session is the least successful part of the daily mathematics lesson. Therefore I wanted to ensure my plenary was not occupied by tidying up and that it did not become a reporting-back session for the children I had not worked with. This is why I set up a challenge of matching questions to the relevant answer, which would enable me to see what the children had learned or were struggling with. You have to demonstrate that you enjoy teaching, then challenge and assist children by engaging them with well-paced differentiation and thinking rationally about their needs, before being able to take positive action to increase their quality of learning. I am hoping that as they master information and skills, they not only learn more content, but will also become more able and motivated to take responsibility for their own learning. I am also hoping that I can develop a wider range of skills, and the knowledge of when to use them.

Us-Ukraine Relations :: essays research papers

US- Ukraine Relations   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Recently with the Ukrainian presidential elections, the relationship between the U.S. and the Ukraine has come to the forefront of International policy. Ukraine has been making strides in reformatting its government and culture in a change from communism to democracy. Already they have changed from a command to free market, to an ownership society, and the consolidation of powers should be coming along smoothly with the new president. Lastly, the Ukrainian government has shown its willingness to work with western countries by aligning some polices with the E.U., N.A.T.O., and the U.S. This willingness was also proven in their part in the signing of the START treaty and the signing of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Currently Ukraine has a plethora of natural resources, arable land, and a willing workforce. This combination, with the right economic stimulus can flourish creating a stable and extremely potent economy. In order limit the Russian influence in the area, we must send economic stimulus packages to revitalize the Ukrainian industries. This has already shown promise with the Gore- Kuchma commission and should be continued. Simultaneously it is important that we begin forming a strong trade relationship, focusing on limiting the Ukraine’s need for Russia, by providing an alternate means for goods.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It is important that the U.S. insures Ukrainian independence from Russia. If the Ukraine became part of Russia, not only would Russia obtain the worlds leading supplier of ICBMs, But other countries part of the former Soviet Union are at risk of losing their independence. Russia’s interest in the region has recently come to light during the election scandal of 2004. Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin strongly supported candidate Yanukovych in the election. Yanukovych’s main policies dealt with â€Å"Russifying the Ukraine†, and obviously the west did not support this. On the other hand, Yanukovych’s opponent Yushchenko supports more western based ideas. During the investigation into the voter fraud, it is important to point out the massive public protest to the outcome of the election, the so called Orange Revolution. This protest against the government shows the peoples’ want for a democratic government and willingness to fight the government using industry strikes and sit ins. Another important point was the poisoning of Yushchenko which was linked to the KGB and the Russian government. The results of this election shows the need for the United States to help wean the Ukrainian government off of Russian influence.

The Curious Ncident of the Dog in the Night Time

The Curious incident of the Dog in the Night-time demonstrates how challenging life is, not just for the disabled but for everyone. Discuss, making sure you support your ideas with detailed references to the text. Mark Haddon’s novel The Curious incident of the Dog in the Night-time which is written from the view of a fifteen year old boy Christopher who has Asperger’s syndrome, not only does this book demonstrate how challenging life is for the disabled, but also for everyone.Having the main character Christopher narrate the story gives you the chance to connect with him and also to experience and understand the challenges he faces in his everyday life because of the disability that he has. Christopher is not the only character in the novel to face challenges. His mother Judy and his father Ed both face challenges. For example, bringing up Christopher who has a disability and also maintaining a solid relationship with each other.While the reader is shown how challengin g life can be, the author also leaves the reader with a feeling of hope with what can happen in the future. Because Christopher has Asperger’s syndrome life is very challenging for him in more than one way. It is hard for Christopher because he can’t understand facial expressions, so he doesn’t know if someone is sad, happy or angry which can be hard because he has to try and guess their mood from the tone of voice they are using.Christopher tries to understand facial expressions because he ‘got Siobhan to draw lots of†¦faces and then write down next to them exactly what they meant’. Another way that life is challenging for Christopher is that he can’t deal with lies and does not like them. In some situations Christopher thinks that it is alright for him to tell white lies but others have to tell the full truth all the time. ‘I do not tell lies. Mother used to say that this was because I was a good person. But it's not because I am a good person.It is because I can't tell lies. ’ Christopher says that he can’t tell lies but what he does not realize, is that he is telling white lies which are lies. Christopher thinks that telling the truth is a way of life, not just something people choose because it is the right thing to do. Christopher has had many situations where he has been lied to and has not handled it well. He has been lied too about his mother being dead and also about his father killing Mrs Shears dog Wellington.Christopher does not react to this well, because when he found out he ran away and no longer felt safe around his father. Both Christopher’s parents Judy and Ed Boone find life challenging because they are trying to raise a child with a disability. Christopher’s mother finds life challenging because she has to live her life wondering if her only child is alright because she is sending him letters and she doesn’t know whether he is getting them, she also isnà ¢â‚¬â„¢t getting any replies from Christopher to ensure her that everything is alright.Even though she has been writing letters to him for a while she has not been getting any letters back because Christopher’s father, Ed, has been hiding them from Christopher because he hadn’t told him that his mother was not actually dead. Christopher’s mother never stopped loving him even though he made her life really hard sometimes and she still kept writing to him and never stopped. ‘You haven’t written to me yet, so I know you’re probably still angry with me. I’m sorry Christopher. But I still love you’.Another way life is challenging for Judy is that she finds that her only son gets on better with his father. As a mother this would be very heart breaking. She always found it difficult when she took him to the shops or the mall because he would end up crouched down on the floor with is hands over his ears and he would be in the way of eve ryone. If she tried to move him he would just start screaming. Judy didn’t believe that she had the patience like Ed to look after Christopher and then she was having lots of other problems and that is when she decided to leave.Judy is not the only person who is finding life challenging but Ed, Christopher’s father is also finding life challenging. Life is challenging for Ed because it is hard to raise a child with a disability especially when you are left to look after them all by yourself. Ed and Christopher’s relationship also struggles when Christopher found out that his own father killed the next door neighbour’s dog Wellington. Christopher started not to trust him anymore and did not feel safe in his company and did not want to be left alone with him.Life is challenging for Christopher as his Asperger’s syndrome makes if difficult to communicate and to understand others. Life is not only difficult for Christopher but also for his parents, bec ause coping with a child with a disability is not any easy thing to do, but not only that they have also put a strain on their relationship. Though life is challenging not just for the disabled but for everyone, Mark Haddon demonstrates how facing life’s challenges builds a person’s character and ability to cope. Word Count: 910

Essay on Secularization

Essay on Secularization Essay on Secularization Essay on Secularization1) After 10 years since the publication of â€Å"God is dead: secularization in the West†, Steve Bruce returned to the topic of secularization in order to response on the objections raised against his theory. In fact, polemic aspect of the work raises the most interest as theoretical part hardly differs from the one represented in the book â€Å"God is dead†. Here one may find the same scheme, which describes the movement from the protestant reformation through the industrial capitalism to the secular state and liberal democracy within the frameworks of which there goes â€Å"secularization in the West†. The whole process of secularization, if to describe it in a couple of words, is in the fact that individualism, diversity and egalitarianism in the context of liberal democracy undermine the authority of religion. Social meaning of religion declines and it becomes personal deal of the believer.Most of the arguments against the theory of sec ularization are based on not understanding or false interpretation of this theory. Bruce is required to explain that he is not inventing some immutable law of social development that is applicable to all societies. Paradigm of secularization is an attempt to explain some common treats of the recent past of the modern liberal democracies [Bruce S., 2011]. That is why it is impossible to refute the secularization theory by means of, for instance, reference on the Islamic Revolution in Iran. Even if the political regime was secular, the Iran community could have been whatever, but the industrial liberal democracy.One more argument against the secularization theory is that even in the most secularized countries despite the evident decline of traditional religions, most of the population still believes that there is some numen, God or etc. Secularization theory does not imply that all members of modernized secular society should be atheists. Bruce responses on the critiques according to which the more is religious â€Å"supply†, the more is religious â€Å"demand† and vice versa. He pays attention to the fact that in the western world the most homogeneous catholic and orthodox communities are more religious than the pluralistic protestant ones.Secularization theory says about the decline of social role of religion and about the decline of intensity of religious life at the level of individual believers. Bruce emphasizes that secularization while being irreversible process is still not uniform process. Some â€Å"slowing† of the secularization process still exists as while secularization becomes stronger, there appear stronger opposition in relation to it and different religious groups start attracting new followers and showing great activity as there appear more evident and clear threat for their traditional way of living.2) Combination of the fact that American culture was becoming more liberal and there was growth of self-conscience of conser vative Protestants has become the basis for rise of â€Å"the right Christians† [Bruce.S., 2011]. On the other hand, Bruce shows that mobilization of resources has not led to any more or less considerable victory on the legislative level and even more failure there has been when they tried to reverse all alterations in the life preferences of common Americans. Percent of women engaged in full working day out of home has increased; divorces became more common; â€Å"living in sin† became everyday practice and the phrase has fallen into disuse; women started to participate in the social life more actively, etc.In other words, trend for secularization remained irrespective to the attempts of the right Christians to reverse it. Bruce replies on critiques as for the secularization theory on behalf of the supporters of thesis about â€Å"exclusivity of America†. If the USA are exclusive in some way, it is just owing to the fact that secularization process takes place more slowly there (owing to the huge emigrant communities, absence of strict centralization, etc.). Of course, the United States remain more religious than Europe, but at the same time, they are less religious than 50 years ago. First of all, there are evidences that Christianity lose power, prestige and popularity in the USA. Secondly, Christianity becomes more and more secular. As for the third, despite definite influence of the â€Å"right Christians† on social life, they did not manage to achieve considerable success in attempt to reverse the tendency according to which religion could become more marginal in the role of social system functioning. According to Bruce, America is one of the most religious countries. Though, it can be explained as about 10% of the USA population is immigrants in the first generation. Such people came from religious countries such as Mexico, Asian countries, etc. Moreover, initially America was considered to be secularized country on the macro level as there was freedom of religion.3) The USA is one of the few countries where many faiths – denominations exist. Seeds of American religious freedom were sown at the end of the colonial period when growing hostility to the Church of England and understanding of the availability of many entrenched beliefs prompted politicians to find a solution that would exclude the privileged position of one religious group over another. As a result, there was a separation of church from the state that was realized in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and later in constitutions of all states. Freedom of religion became the basis of religious pluralism and high degree of religious tolerance.Macintosh and Alston tried to reproduce the original study of Lenski and found very little difference between Protestants and Catholics in respect of family devotion and participation in voluntary organizations. Protestants and Catholics who increasingly demonstrated commitment to their c hurch had a wide range of interests and matter outside the church. Though, sociologists strive to separate religion influence from other factors, some of them essentially influence the people’s views. Some people visit church because they deeply believe in God, some because of a habit and the third ones are attracted by the beauty and atmosphere of peace reigning in the church. On the other hand, there are deeply religious people who do not go to church. If to see religion from the other point of view and take into account personal beliefs, one may see that in the USA there are a number of citizens whose religious beliefs are higher than in any other industrialized country. There is a kind of civil religion according to which America is â€Å"the Promised Land† to which God led the oppressed people of Europe just as he helped the Jews to leave Egypt. Americans swear allegiance to one nation. Many ceremonies begin with a prayer and even the inscription on the U.S. dolla r claims that â€Å"we believe in God†. Recently fighters for freedom of religion call for the extension of civil religion. They seek to revive the reading of prayer in public schools.4) It is quite hard to tell whether secularization is a good or bad thing as it differently influences the life of each and every person. As it is known, religion has always had a great impact on the social life of people as a kind of way to control it. With appearance of new technologies, the role of religion started to decrease. But what if once people could stay without definite help of the state? Maybe then the return of religion would take place? Maybe if there were no factors causing secularization, there would be no such trend as itself. This is the question that is worth thinking.Hypothesis of secularization that appeared in the middle of XX century shows that with the time, religion would be forced out of life of the society by science and technologies. The softer version of this hypoth esis is that religion would not disappear totally, but it will lose its influence. According to this point of view, reticence or negative depiction of the religious figures and practices in the mass media are the external signatures of secularization. Many researchers who adhere to the secularization hypothesis point that it raises the whole range of social and psychological problems leading to apathy, cynicism, excessive desire for acquisition and consumption of material goods at the expense of spiritual values. Secularization contributes to wide spreading of atheism in its different forms.Till the end of XX century secularization hypothesis was rejected by the number of scientists as it contradicts to the following tendencies:There is still interest in religion and low level of atheism even in the countries with high level of the science and technologies development (e.g. the USA);Tendencies in the modern religion have not changed since the old times;Secularization in the regions with low level of religiosity is anomaly and caused by unusual social and cultural factors.In general, existential questions are eternal and their solution is always outside the rational definition. That is why there would always be place for religious answers in the human experience. As a result, it may be said that religion is still existing and developing and besides, secularization has its boundaries.

SNPs, Chips, and the essays

SNPs, Chips, and the essays Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are DNA sequence variations that occur when a single nucleotide is altered. A SNP might change the DNA sequence from AAGGCTAA ATGGCTAA. SNPs occur every 100 to 300 bases. SNPs can occur in both coding and noncoding regions of the genome. Some SNPs have no effect on cell function, but others can have a major impact on how humans respond to disease and drug therapies. This makes SNPs of great value for biomedical research and for developing pharmaceutical products. SNPs also do not change much through generations, making them easier to follow in population studies. Scientists believe SNP maps will help them identify the genes (there are many genes involved) associated with such diseases as cancer, diabetes, and some forms of mental illness. SNP maps are also expected to identify thousands of additional markers along the genome. Over the past several years, a new technology called DNA microarray has attracted enormous interest among scientists. A microarray is a tool for analyzing gene expression that consists of a small membrane or glass slide containing samples of many genes arranged in a regular pattern. This technology can monitor an entire genome on a single chip so that researchers can have a better picture of the interactions among thousands of genes. Microarrays may be used to assay gene expression within a single sample or to compare gene expression in two different cell types or tissue samples, such as in healthy and diseased tissue. Only a fraction of an organisms genes are turned on. It is the genes that are turned on, or expressed, that gives the distinctive properties to each cell type. A microarray works by allowing mRNA molecules to hybridize to the DNA template from which it originated. By using an array containing many DNA samples, scientists can determine the expression levels of hundred s or thousands of genes within a cell by measuring the a...

Lean management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

Lean management - Essay Example Procurement establishes a set of rules, strategies and plans to be followed when acquiring products and services that are added to the supply chain. Order management keeps track of the whole process; it determines where some changes can be made. Logistics cover for the complex systems that incorporate large organizations expanding rapidly and need to grow simultaneously (Blanchard, 2010). The managing of returns accelerates the process of realizing the company’s progress, loss or profit. Finally, the process of planning and forecasting is trivial on the future of the enterprise. All of the discussed features are adapted using an efficient or responsive supply chain. An effective supply chain is characterized by; long production times, large batch sizes and high set up costs. An example is the process of implementing upgrades in the company, the process has to be thoroughly researched, and the best options selected (Blanchard, 2010). Responsive chain supply is characterized by; short production lead times, small batch sizes and low setup costs. An example is the introduction of a new product in the company due to its demand. A food processing company, for example, will shift to developing a newly discovered flavor for its customers when it is on high

Texas vs. Hopwood Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Texas vs. Hopwood - Essay Example The essay "Hopwood vs. Texas" talks about the judicial activism and judicial activism by the example of the case Hopwood v. Texas which remains one of the most intensively litigated cases featuring the long battle over affirmative action in higher education and a good example of judicial activism. Judicial activism entails that the Court majority employed personal or political principles that surpass the intended boundary delineated by the legislation. The rise of judicial activism has sometimes been labeled as an â€Å"end of democracy and the judicial usurpation of politics. One of the drivers for the increased public concern has arisen from the tendency of the courts to utilize their power to decide cases as a mode of invalidating laws passed by legislatures, and even the people themselves via ballot initiatives, wherein judges in some circumstances enforce their own policy on a reluctant society. The Supreme Court plus other federal judicial bodies not only have surpassed their constitutional limits but have disputed the principle of federalism that ought to safeguard the balance of power between the national government and the governments of the states. In some instances, the judges appear to surpass their power with regard to deciding cases that are before the court. Judges are expected to exercise judgment with regard to interpreting the law as per the Constitution. Judges should utilize their power to rectify injustices, especially in instances in which other branches of the government fail to act to do so.... Hence, courts have a critical role to play in shaping social policy on issues such as civil rights, safeguard of individual rights, public morality, and political injustice (Cox, 2012). The core questions on judicial activism centers on whether courts should be awarded the power to annul legislation in the name of the constitution. Judicial activism could lead to some form of despotism (Vijayan, 2006). The courts claim that the power grounded in inferences obtained from the constitution’s credit as the supreme law, as well as from the nature of the judicial office. Discussion over judicial activism predictably comes back to issues regarding judicial supremacy: first, every section of the constitution’s letter and spirit is in principle deemed â€Å"enforceable† by the judiciary; second, every other public official, is bound by his oath to the constitution itself, to take the Supreme Court’s declarations on the Constitution as binding on himself. Based on t hese teachings on judicial power the Supreme Court possesses an effective authority to alter the meaning of the constitution among its ordinary powers (Stephens & Scheb, 2008). As such, judicial supremacy has attained some measures of legitimacy by virtue of popular acquiescence to its terms. It is not the absence of constitutional authority that makes judicial activism a serious problem since courts are not designed to render wide public policy. Activist courts have undermined virtually every aspect of the public policy in the arena of: permitting racial inclinations and quotas; establishing a â€Å"right† to public welfare assistance; obstructing criminal prosecution; upsetting state referenda; and, discerning a right to

Read part 4 to 6 from the attachment of Meditation on first Essay

Read part 4 to 6 from the attachment of Meditation on first philiosophy and follow the insturction in details - Essay Example The existence of God, although greatly doubted by many earthiest, exhibits itself in the mind and the soul as nobody ahs been able to explain the non-existence of God and whether the soul dies and the body dies (Rene, 2008). The author of the book is a strong catholic believer and had devoted his time in the demonstration of his belief, God exists and that the body and the mind are very distinct. He is very elaborate and does not fail to recognize the beliefs of other (although he and the others lack proof) about the existence of God and the distinct nature of the soul and the body (Rene, 2008). The writer, as a strong catholic, believed that his faith was real since he had been brought up as a catholic and because the world lacks clear facts about the non-existence of God. The reasoning he portray is greatly accepted in the world by a vast majority. Rene escartes (2008). Mediations on first philosophy in which the existence of God an the distinction of the soul and body are demonstrated. Hacket publishing company Indianapolis/Cambridge third

Modern Japan and Meiji Restoration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Modern Japan and Meiji Restoration - Essay Example The Charter Oath, which was promulgated made very democratic and great pledges that would see Japan people being involved in decision making regardless of their social status as well as embracing the natural law of nature. This was a very important step made by the Meiji in transforming Japan people and putting them ready for new improved Japan (Goto-Jones 42-46). Privileges introduced were absolutely different and were meant to propel Japan into a civilized system of governance. Meiji Restoration was driven by the need to create a very powerful nation with strong political structures that could not be humiliated by the Western powers simply because their system of governance was exotic compared to the Westerners’. The new administration wanted the Western powers to respect Japan and treat them as equal partners and as a way of reducing humiliation brought about by unequal treaties. Influence on demands of foreign powers was imminent in Japan and therefore it was significant for japan to institute strong legal and political system (Goto-Jones 42-46). Indeed, the new government fought tirelessly to stop cultural imperialism that was imposed by the Western powers and in the end, treaties were renegotiated after riots and protests in Japan. Japan now had a formal constitution that governed them and there was evidence of imperial power in Japan. They even managed to organize a civilized military power, which was used in defeating powerful China (Goto-Jones 42-46). Generally, the reforms in Japan during Meiji Restoration were as a result of both domestic and international pressures. The regime was pressurized to form their own state because of the powerful foreign forces, which they were not pleased with. Yes, there was need to remain an independent state and this was even part of the Tokugawa project. Traditional Japanese injustices and the

Which company is better to invest in, Coke or Pepsi Term Paper

Which company is better to invest in, Coke or Pepsi - Term Paper Example Although on the surface Coca-Cola and Pepsico appear to be quite similar there are some distinct differences between the two companies. Coca Cola is the world's largest non-alcoholic beverage company with a market capitalization of $147 billion. The company distributes over 500 non-alcoholic beverage brands Coca-Cola owns and markets four of the top five non-alcoholic sparkling beverage brands in the world including Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Fanta and Sprite. Unlike Coca-Cola which is concentrated almost exclusively on beverages, a considerable portion of PepsiCo's product portfolio is in their macro snack division. The company offers over 200 refreshment brands worldwide. Some of their strengths are their youth oriented â€Å"New Generation† brand image which helps develop a long term customer base and their strong franchise system helped Pepsi become one of the leaders in the industry. With a market capitalization of $101 billion and major brands such as Frito-Lay, the number on e snack product brand in the industry, and popular brands such as Gatorade, Quaker, Tropicana, and Pepsi their product portfolio is much more diversified. As a consequence growth opportunities are far superior for PepsiCo compared with Coca-Cola. Although excellent growth opportunities abound for Pepsi in their snack food business as a whole, the company is much more susceptible to rising commodity prices, therefore it is more exposed to commodity price fluctuations compared to Coca-Cola.

Fukushima Nuclear power in Japan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Fukushima Nuclear power in Japan - Essay Example The Japan government decided to close all nuclear power plant projects in Japan so as to prevent repetitions like that of Fukushima in future (Straight). Japan managed to get an alternative source of energy to supply the needs of the country through buying of liquefied natural gas from Russia. Following the nuclear disaster, many people working in the reactor plus the surrounding environ got exposed. In addition, the environment around the reactor also got contaminated posing considerable risk. In regard to human exposure, a number of children living in the environs of Fukushima became recently discovered to be developing abnormal thyroid lumps (Straight). Exposure to radiation posed a risk of development of poor health outcomes in the given population. The government of Japan in trying to come with the solution to that given problem, food stuffs like exported rice from that region got scrutinized for radiation exposure levels so as to limit the spread of radioactive contaminants to other countries (Straight). Also, faced with the problem of human exposure, the government somehow managed to have evacuation and resettlement plans in action. With the environ around the Fukushima becoming unsafe due to the high radiation levels, the Japan government opted to resettle individuals that lived around the reactor in another place fit for human settlement. In addition, some of the workforce that worked in the Fukushima nuclear reactor, became not allowed to work in other nuclear reactors following having radiation levels higher than required. Such a means by the government ought to protect humans from overexposure from radiation (Straight). After the Fukushima nuclear disaster, the problem of controlling leakage of radiation emanated. Environmental leakage could only be minimized through proper destruction of the nuclear station plus proper disposal of the radioactive substances. The wrecked

Modern Japan and Meiji Restoration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Modern Japan and Meiji Restoration - Essay Example The Charter Oath, which was promulgated made very democratic and great pledges that would see Japan people being involved in decision making regardless of their social status as well as embracing the natural law of nature. This was a very important step made by the Meiji in transforming Japan people and putting them ready for new improved Japan (Goto-Jones 42-46). Privileges introduced were absolutely different and were meant to propel Japan into a civilized system of governance. Meiji Restoration was driven by the need to create a very powerful nation with strong political structures that could not be humiliated by the Western powers simply because their system of governance was exotic compared to the Westerners’. The new administration wanted the Western powers to respect Japan and treat them as equal partners and as a way of reducing humiliation brought about by unequal treaties. Influence on demands of foreign powers was imminent in Japan and therefore it was significant for japan to institute strong legal and political system (Goto-Jones 42-46). Indeed, the new government fought tirelessly to stop cultural imperialism that was imposed by the Western powers and in the end, treaties were renegotiated after riots and protests in Japan. Japan now had a formal constitution that governed them and there was evidence of imperial power in Japan. They even managed to organize a civilized military power, which was used in defeating powerful China (Goto-Jones 42-46). Generally, the reforms in Japan during Meiji Restoration were as a result of both domestic and international pressures. The regime was pressurized to form their own state because of the powerful foreign forces, which they were not pleased with. Yes, there was need to remain an independent state and this was even part of the Tokugawa project. Traditional Japanese injustices and the

Fukushima Nuclear power in Japan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Fukushima Nuclear power in Japan - Essay Example The Japan government decided to close all nuclear power plant projects in Japan so as to prevent repetitions like that of Fukushima in future (Straight). Japan managed to get an alternative source of energy to supply the needs of the country through buying of liquefied natural gas from Russia. Following the nuclear disaster, many people working in the reactor plus the surrounding environ got exposed. In addition, the environment around the reactor also got contaminated posing considerable risk. In regard to human exposure, a number of children living in the environs of Fukushima became recently discovered to be developing abnormal thyroid lumps (Straight). Exposure to radiation posed a risk of development of poor health outcomes in the given population. The government of Japan in trying to come with the solution to that given problem, food stuffs like exported rice from that region got scrutinized for radiation exposure levels so as to limit the spread of radioactive contaminants to other countries (Straight). Also, faced with the problem of human exposure, the government somehow managed to have evacuation and resettlement plans in action. With the environ around the Fukushima becoming unsafe due to the high radiation levels, the Japan government opted to resettle individuals that lived around the reactor in another place fit for human settlement. In addition, some of the workforce that worked in the Fukushima nuclear reactor, became not allowed to work in other nuclear reactors following having radiation levels higher than required. Such a means by the government ought to protect humans from overexposure from radiation (Straight). After the Fukushima nuclear disaster, the problem of controlling leakage of radiation emanated. Environmental leakage could only be minimized through proper destruction of the nuclear station plus proper disposal of the radioactive substances. The wrecked

Paraphrasing and Summarizing Essay Example for Free

Paraphrasing and Summarizing Essay Paraphrasing is restating someone else’s ideas in your own words while providing proper in-text citations and references to acknowledge the original source, and let the readers know that the idea is not yours. It plays an important role in academic documents, legal documents, articles journals, etc. It requires crucial thinking, understanding and writing skills to rephrase a document in your own words.| paraphrasing reflects the understanding of a person rather than the writer who has presented the original work. Moreoever, a good quality paraphrased version of a work can be more concise and yet thorough than the original piece of writing. A summary is a concise version of a long detailed text while keeping the context clear. A summary can also be called an abstract, synopsis, executive summary or recap of the original. It highlights the main points of the original text, but it is smaller than the main article. Without summaries, a reader would have to read the entire text that definitely needs a lot of time. Instructions Summarizing 1. Read the original text straight through, quickly but thoroughly. 2. Reread the original material, highlight ideas that stand out to you as being important, and underline key terms. 3. Break the text into sections, with each conveying one of the authors main points. The goal of a summary is to express the central ideas of the original work, leaving out secondary material. 4. Write your summary in sentence form, using the main points and key terms as the muscle of your summary. Try to keep the ideas in your summary organized in the same sequence as in the original text. 5. Compare the original text to your summary to ensure you have covered the main ideas and havent left out any key terms. Paraphrasing 1. Read the original text straight through, quickly but thoroughly. 2. Reread the original material, taking note of the concept the author is trying to convey. 3. Express the text in your own words without changing the authors meaning. The goal of a paraphrase is to rewrite the original text without leaving out anything of substance. 4. Compare the original text to your paraphrase to ensure you have captured the essence of the authors ideas and have not quoted the text directly. The paraphrase must be written with language and sentence structure entirely your own.

Current business situation of H and M

Current business situation of H and M Hennes and Maurits was founded in first 1947 by Erling Persson and later acquired Mauritz Widfoss in 1968. It is a Stockholm- based fashion company. After the business success at home, in 1964, Hennes launched its first overseas store in Norway, and 3 years later HM entered the UK market and started her expansion strategies. By the mean time, HM has more than 1600 stores in 32 countries and had become the 3rd largest clothing retailer in the world. Hennes Mauritz (HM), the probably most legendary fashion retailing firm in recent years, has spared out branches all over the world. In Europe, North America, Asia and even Middle East you can find HMs stores. After achieved successful sales goal and fame, HM has entered a very challenging market, Japan, by launching its first shop in Ginza, Tokyo. Although at the beginning HM has seemed to get great response and do a good work, Japan has long been struggled with economic recession and continues sales drop. Could HM keep its unbeatable records in Japan? The followings should analyse and recommend the retail strategies in Japan market HM should take. Fashion and Quality at the best price is the model of hers. HM produces Women, men, youngster and children wear. Besides garments, HM also has its own line in accessories, footwear and cosmetics. The King of Fast Fashion has its own production offices in Asia and Europe in order to keep the price down. Business situation is always critical for a companys success or failure. Both the global situation and Japans market, there are factors that favor or discourage business sales. In the global level, the mode of fashion retailing has been changing in recent years. Firstly, the influences of new brand or store chain are growing in the international market. For examples, store chains like Zara and Gap, they make hugh profits and arouse publicity in international level. They gained reputations and captured high percentage of market shares. Despite the past fashion industry that mostly the high fashion retailers could gain their influences, nowadays chain stores that sell street fashion for middle or lower classes can get their plaes in the fashion market. And it shows different fashion firms can gain market shares and impacts in the fashion industry. Secondly, the changed life style of the customers of the fashion companies also gives opportunities. Nowadays fast fashion is prevailing and people are getting more conscious and paying more attention to fashion. The market for fashion industry is growing. More important is that customers want fashionable items with lower price rather than expensive high couture, as they would like to change their wardrobe less than one month. That is why fast fashion is getting popular. Thirdly, e-market is one of the fields that fashion retailing firms paying affords in. The sale in e-market is growing, as the sales in internet has no geographic boundaries. Also internet is a good media to promote its company and products. On the other hand, business of fashion companies also faces a very serious problem economic tsunami. The economics tsunami affects customers confidence in buying and purchasing. Also customers tend to save rather than spend. The sales volume of many firms dropped significantly within 1 or few months. More than that, the sales volume predicted to drop continuously in next 1 or few years. Facing the economic difficulties and negative information about the markets future, it further discourages the customers buying behavior also the business sales. In Japan, the business situation is beginning described as challenging and advent HM. Japan is a fashion capital in Asia and even the world. People especially youngster group paid much attention in trends and fashion. They tend to spend much on clothing and other relatives item to fashion. Due to the great fashion awareness, fashion firms and chains can get ideal sales in Japan usually. Besides, Japan is the model and trends for the neighboring in countries, for example Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea. Success in Japan means easier entry into the markets in these Asian markets. Moreover, statistics show that the mens wear market in Japan is great. In the past years, mens wear sales were comparable with womens wear. In 2007, mens wear sales were over the sales of womens wear. It shows that the mens wear market is in great potential for firms to enter and provides great opportunities. Although Japan seems ideal for fashion companies to get in, therere also shortcomings of Japan market. Japan faces economic downturns in recent years. In the past 10 years were the recessions of Japans economy. The sales volumes dropped and market for clothing and footwear declined. In the past 2 years things had been once better, however unfortunately there are global economic tsunami. International predicts that in future years Japans economy will remain in its downturn. Secondly the competition between firms in Japan is ardent. As mentioned above, Japans market is a paradise for old and new fashion brands. It attracts many international brands for examples the high brands like Marc Jacobs, Gucci, Hermes and also bringing like Zara, Gap that operates stores in modes that similar to HM. The competition between brands is keen. Also the local brands in Japan like Uniqlo abstract high market shares. For the entering of new brand, its important that one can stand for the harsh competiti ons. In additions, the aging problem is another concern for the market. As fashion is always viewed as the interest of younger people, the aging problems directly affect the sales of fashion firms. COMPETITOR ANALYSIS Company HM Zara Gap Uniqlo Start from Sweden, 1947 Spain, 1975 America,1969 Japan,1984 employees 68,000 150,000 Target market few middlemen buying in large numbers having in depth knowledge and understanding of textiles few middlemen buying in large numbers having in depth knowledge and understanding of textiles few middlemen buying in large numbers having in depth knowledge and understanding of textiles few middlemen buying in large numbers having in depth knowledge and understanding of textiles price Low middle low low Growth strategy Fashion and quality at the best price with own design increase the number of stores zero advertisement Increase the number of stores Design a new style every two week A lot of brand inside Low advertisement Fashion and quality at the best price with own design Cooperate with design and other brand Sponsor some ball game team Total stores 1,600 3,100 3,139 800 The number of Japan stores 4 30 130 750 (99in Tokyo) Start in Japan 9.2008 1998 1995 1984 Stores size 1,000 square meters 1,500 square meters 1,000 square meters Figure 1 Refer to Figure 1, analysis is below. As we know, HM is a huge brand in the world. It started at 1947 in Sweden. It has 1,600 stores in 32 countries HMs major competitors are Zara, Uniqlo, and GAP in Japan. They are the entire well-known brand in the world. Although HMs history is longer than them, it not mean HM is much better than them. Zara and Gap have more stores than HM, but their target market is very similar., They also target for a few middlemen, people who can buy in large numbers and having in depth knowledge and understanding of textiles, so that HM have a big challenge. Their price range also between middle to low, it can make more people afford it. HMs missing is that fashion and quality at the best price and increase the number of stores. However, Uniqlo also have the same missing, it want to provide a good customer service at the best price and own design. Moreover, Zara can design a new thing every two weeks. It can design 10,000 produce every year, it much fast than HM. Their stores also increase very fast. HM only have 4 shops in japan, but Zara, Gap and Uniqlo have much more stores in japan, especially Uniqlo. Moreover, they have a long history in Japan, but HM just enter Japan market in 2008. It is a big problem for HM, its competitor have more stores and stable customer. ANALYSIS ON HM EXISTING MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE HM has a clear hierarchy structure as shown in Figure 2 The Annual General Meeting (ACG) is the highest decision-making body where shareholders exercise their rights to make decisions for the company. Board of directors manages the company on behalf of the shareholders. The board gives directions and instructions to the managing director. Hence, the managing director performs daily management as directed by the board. Underneath, the executive managing team and country managers are responsible for central functions and sales countries respectively. Figure 2.1 In most cases, large organization generally has a complex structure. Here, HM has a matrix organization which is a mixed form of functional and divisional structure. Typically, matrix organization structure has two axes. On one axis of the matrix is a range of functional groups and on the other are the products or projects with a manager responsible for each. (Boddy, D., p246, 2005) In the case of HM, the project is organized by regions and each region has a number of stores. There is a manager in each country and he/she is responsible for profitability in their country and thereby has an overall responsibility for all the functions within the region. (refer to Figure 2.1) On the other hand, HM also organize and work on their tasks in project and team bases. By using these methods, managements not only organize their work more flexible with lower costs, but also giving out a faster response for their project or task. (Boddy, D., 2005) Here the executive management teams of HM responsible for each function are responsible for the results of work within their function in each country. What is more, specialists from various departments also brought together to form a project team and work on different projects. Figure 2.1 Regarding the matrix structure adopted by HM, some benefits are summarized as follows: simplifying the creation of appropriate routines and control systems, smaller units enable closer supervision, higher flexibility, faster response, enabling comparisons between the different companies within HM. However, this may lead to a significant drawback, which is low uniformity. Since there is high division of departments and regions, it is often hard for the central management to control the management and operation of different units. To enhance uniformity throughout the whole company, management documents like guidelines and manuals are delivered within the company. Moreover, the code of ethics permeated the entire company, describing the way employees should act in relation to the company and the outside world. For store operations, detailed instructions have also been given to store staffs in order to control daily work in the stores. Though guidelines and manuals are written by central departments, in 2006, inventory of the guidelines was carried out within each department so as to check any guidelines should be updated or created. This showed respect towards each units opinions. Evaluation and modification of guidelines and manuals result in better efficiency of work. To further explain HMs management structure, the degree of centralization could be examined. The code of ethics, internal policies, and manuals are created by central management. Important decisions that are strongly related to the companys profits are also made by the top management. Purchasing is centrally organized by the head office in Sweden as well. From the above, we could see high degree of centralization is exercised in HM. Nevertheless, HM has a decentralized system. There are 20 production offices dealing with 800 suppliers, and 20 country offices within 33 sales countries, handling all business affairs for the region it responsible for. Planning and organizing, such as store operation, advertising are carried out by managers. There are certain advantages and disadvantages of HMs decentralized system with centralized management. From the good side, uniformity can be enforced through clear and strict regulations and guidelines. Besides, this enables higher flexibility in tackling small problems in each department and region. On the contrary, higher risk of unsuitable merchandise for the sales countries may be resulted due to centralized buying decision in Sweden. In Japan, consumers are quite different and demanding on quality clothing which usual HM products may not satisfy them enough. To avoid such problems, more intense research and country-oriented approaches are needed. It is suggested that research or buying teams located in the respective sales regions could be set up to perform closer watch on trends and social affairs that could alter sales greatly and too quick before response come from the head office. ANALYSIS ON HM EXISTING RETAIL STRATEGIES HM is a very successful and expansive Swedish fashion group and also a famous company in Japan. HMs retail strategy has been developing in different aspects. The Best Price Strategy HM aims to give the customer unbeatable value by offering fashion and quality at the best price. It has been developing the Best Price Strategy. It maintains the best price by limiting the number of middlemen, buying in large volumes ,relying on our in-depth, extensive expertise within the design, fashion, and textile industries, buying the right merchandise from the right production markets, being cost-conscious at all levels and having efficient distribution systems. In Japan, the product price of HM is lower than others. Most foreign brands come to Japan and charge more than at home. HM is aiming to match global pricing. So now HM is one-half the price of Zara in Japan, thereby making most other Japanese retailers look relatively expensive. If Japanese consumer spending continues to decline, this will play into an even stronger position for HM. Main Collection Sub-Collection The buying function focuses on customers, fashion and composition of the range. HMs clothing collections are created in Sweden by around 100 internal designers, 50 pattern designers and around 100 buyers. It operates with two main collections per year, one in spring and one in autumn. Within each season, however, there are a number of sub-collections so that customers can always find new goods in stores. The aim of the company is to find the optimal time to order each item. Fashion For Everyone HM offers a wide range of fashion using many different concept, from updated classics and basics to clothes that reflect the very latest international trends. In addition, they sell clothes, accessories and cosmetics. The wearing range consists of everyday clothes to partywear. To make things clearer for the customers, it has divided up a range into a number of different concepts for women, men, teenagers and children. The clothes also have a high fashion content within each collection, so that customers can easily combine different garments and find their own personal style. Online Shopping Service HM have three sales channels, stores, the Internet and catalogues. In 1998, HM began its shopping online service which has since been continuously improved. A considerable expansion of mail order and online sales is being prepared to complement the stores in the existing markets. Stores continue, however, to be the main distribution channel. The strategy behind the owning of it is that HM can maintain control of the expansion strategy and of business locations. But Japan does not provide online shopping service, the sales channel is narrow. The Best Location Strategy The Best business location has been a firm principle of HM since 1947 and is less important nowadays. The HM store is now a well-established presence in most prominent shopping streets with considerable customer flows around Europe. In London, for example, they are located on Oxford Street. HM opened the store in Japan in Ginza, Shibuya and Harajuku. Before establishing stores in a new market they conduct a thorough analysis of demographics and purchasing behaviour. They also carry out a local survey of the shopping areas and shopping centres, document their size and where their competitors stores are located. Product Quality Control In order to maintain the fine quality of merchandise, they carry out quality controls. They strive to ensure that garments have been manufactured with the least possible impact on the environment and under satisfactory working conditions. HM is known as the king of fast fashion and spots emerging fashion trends, quickly creates knock-off designs and variation using 100 in-house designers. In Japan, the customers are nit-picking and require an extremely high quality fashion. HM may not satisfy their needs. OVERALL SWOT ANALYSIS OF HM The SWOT analysis is the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of a company. A SWOT analysis actually has two parts and both are equally significant. Strengths and weaknesses are the internal analysis; the opportunities and threats focus on the external environment. Internal is regarding the information about companys market segments, their competitors relative weaknesses and strengths as well as the industry as a whole. When conducting an external situational analysis, the business customers, market and competitors are analysed. The overall SWOT analysis included the global situation and Japan environment of HM. Firstly, strengths and weakness of HM is discussed as below. Strengths HM was established in Sweden in 1947; it has a long history and is around 62 years. The past 62 years, HM did a great expansion worldwide. In 2009, there are 1,700 stores spread over 33 different countries and markets, and employ over 73,000 people. HM offer each country exclusive preferences and needs. Also there is exclusive clothing designs for online stores, and this system is provided in some of the European countries, such as Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. Informational website is also one of the strengths of HM, everything about HM shown in the official website. It is convenient for customers to get the newest issues of HM, and also provides useful and updated information to all types of users. HM Magazine provides a good idea of how HM views fashion. It offers readers a mix of fashion, inspiration and the latest lifestyle trends. It is issued four times a year and is aimed equally at customers and staff. Like all HMs communication, the mag azine can be seen as an invitation to HM. It is important for building the brand in the long term and is also available on the HM website. Besides of the exclusive online shopping, HM also collaborated with fashion designers, designer labels, fashion models and celebrities to offer customers the exclusive collection, such as Karl Lagerfeld, Stella McCartney, Viktor Rolf, Kate Moss and Madonna. On 20 September 2005, HM announced they have dropped Moss for the advertising campaign of their autumn clothing collection, stating that her image was inconsistent with HMs clear dissociation of drugs in light of recent drug allegations. HM did concerned about the society. In November 2008, Comme Des Garà §ons, a significant figure in modern fashion Japanese designer, exclusive collection for HM sold in 200 stores worldwide, including Japan, Hong Kong, US and UK. One of the most significant figures in modern fashion, Kawakubo has created a full mens and womens collection for HM, complete with accessories and a unisex fragrance. HM provides variety in fashion, different kinds of clothing and accessories that could easy for customers to match up with. The stores are refreshed daily with new fashion items. As with HMs clothing heritage, the idea across the Home collection is that consumers mix and match items and add to their existing dà ©cor and colour schemes. The first home collection will be available from February 2009 in the markets: Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands. Cushion cover and bed linen sets are the key pieces. The materials are mostly cottons, linens, viscose-cotton mixes and organic cotton. The long-term investment in organic cotton is continuing at HM, aims to increase the use of organic cotton and the development of new green materials such as recycled cotton, wool and polyester. HM offering garments that are both fashionable and environmentally compatible. HM had a fantastic response to their eco-fashion, which shows that the customers care about both the environment and design. Weaknesses HM business concept is to give the customer unbeatable value by offering fashion and quality at the best price. When comparing with competitors, the garment quality of HM is doesnt at high level. Since all stock is displayed on floor, there is no backup stock for customers. The customer service is relatively low if the customer could not get any help from the salesperson. For the garment production, HM does not own any factories, but instead buys its goods from around 800 independent suppliers, primarily in Asia and Europe. The problem is that HM cannot get tightly controlled to the distribution network to get new product to the stores. The online shopping store is only provides in European countries, such as Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. The online store could not gain worldwide customers attention. In Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Germany and Austria HM offers fashion by Internet and catalogue sales. For the employees, ther e is not a fundamental respect for the individual, which applies to everything from fair pay, reasonable working hours and freedom of association to the opportunity to grow and develop within the company. Opportunities It is the positive towards future expansion of HM and the companys business opportunities. In the past few years HM has been experimenting with new fascias including market company, which it debuted on Londons Regent Street in March 2007. A second company store will open this week in Westfield and the retailer believes there are further opportunities for the offer in the UK. The 14th store in Europe will open next spring in Paris. Since HM has signed a contract for its first store in Japan in end of 2006. The store is opened in 2008 November. It has been HMs dream to open in Japan. says Rolf Eriksen, CEO HM. There will be more stores in Japan in the future. HM has entered into franchise agreement with Match Retail Ltd. for store openings in Israel. The first HM store is planned to open during 2010. HM provides online shopping in a few European countries, but still hasnt announced plans to do so in Asia, North America and Middle East. It is a large market for HM. There is an opportunity to set up online store in those countries. The designer cooperation is the most significant for HM. The crossover series with the famous designer have made a stir in fashion industry. Many designers are willing to cooperate with HM, see it as a stage for showing their new design. It brings the new concept to the HM product and enhances their product competitive. HM crossover with Matthew Williamson do a spring collection for 2009. As the Japanese has a strong interest in fashion and Japan is a big fashion market. Japan fashion market is maturing, with competition between global companies intensifying in the Japanese market and with consumers becoming more and more selective about merchandise that they purchased. There is growing presence of shopping centers and fashion malls in and around cities giving consumers increasing choices of locations for shopping. This is causing change in the structure of the Japanese fashion market as well as consumers buying patterns. Threats There will be a keen competition between the similar style competitors, such as Zara, Gap Inc., and Uniqlo in Japan. And, the changes in consumer behaviors are also the threat of fast fashion. End of fast fashion as shoppers allegedly switches to less throwaway items. Weak holiday sales, economic downpour sales will be conducted in HM stores. There also will be frantic battles over products, the poor quality compete with the luxury goods; fast fashion compete with high fashion. Exchange rate fluctuations are strongly related to the export quantities of firms. Since there are a lot of stores all over the world, the rate changes is a big issue of the company. Internationally, HM has experienced some sales declines in recent months and sales across the business were two per cent down year on year at established stores in September. However, refuses to admit any serious threat to HMs success, stressing again its solid offer. It is not about value, but value for money and HM think they are unique when it comes to combining price, quality and fashion. It is the feedback that HM get from customer and it is their success factor. 3 RECOMMENDATIONS In order to raise the competitiveness of HM in Japanese fashion market, some retail strategies are recommended. We provide some suggestions based on 4Ps. Place For place aspect, it is suggested that HM should offer various distribute channels for increase the sale and enhance its competitiveness. First, providing On-line-shop is a good way to sell HM products. According to Mark Hogan , GM Group vice president said, Japan is the Internet giant of Asia. There are 47.08 million Internet users. 62 percent of them use e-commerce. It can prove that online shopping is a popular shopping method in Japan. Besides, there are no limitations of online shops locations. It means that even there is only 1 HM shop in Tokyo, people who live outside Tokyo can still buy its products though the online shop. Thus, On-line-shop can help HM broaden its demographic market to boosting its sales. Second, providing Automatic Vending Machine (AVM) can help HM to be successful. Japanese demand for automation. According to the Japan Vending Machine Manufacturers Association report , there are 5.51 million machines in Japan in 2007, Japanese spend nearly 7 trillion yen (around US$ 58 billion) a year by shopping though AVM. It is a popular buying behavior in Japan. Third, it is suggested that HM should allocate AVM at Railway stations. According to a survey about Japanese Commuting conducted by japan-guide.com , train (JR) is the most commonly used of transportation for commuting in Japan. 53% of students and 48% of company workers indicated to commute to school/work by train or subway. Students and workers is the main target of HM. Thus, the suggestion is a fabulous idea for HM undoubtedly. Product For product aspect, release family-set outfit is a potential product for increase the sales. Most Japanese love wearing family-set outfit. Providing family-set outfit can attract those family targets. Besides, family-set outfit is complementary merchandise product. It means that if parents select and decide to buy an outfit, they should but another one to their child. The sale can increase doubly. Second, HM should improve its quality of products in order to succeed in Japan. The cloth of HM is not top notch quality. Japanese are known notoriously for rejecting products for minute reasons such as poor stitching, loose button, and inferior fabrics and the like. Moreover, manufacturing standards are so uniformly high in Japan that a business modal cannot succeed on design and bargain pricing alone. However, Uniqlo, one of the HM competitors, provide high quality products with a reasonable price. If HM thirst for success in Japan, it is important for it to improve the quality of its products. Promotion For promotion aspect, effective promotion is needed. Promotion can introduce merchandizes to customers and also attract them to come to the shop.There are so many ways to promote the merchandizes. Choosing suitable ways are very important because it affect the effectiveness of the promotion. First, mobile phone is a good media for promotion. Nowadays, nearly everyone have one mobile phone. Through mobile phone, messages can be easily and successfully transfer to many different people. SMS (Short Message Service) is one common method. In Japan, lots of people like to use SMS to communicate with each other, especially for the youngsters. Recently, Japan Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology surveyed over 10 thousand students. In 5 secondary school students, there is one sending at least 50 messages by mobile phone every day. 7% of them even said that they sent about 100 messages every day. This shows that most of the teenagers like using SMS. Therefore, SMS is really a good method to send messages in order to promote products. Another common method for promotion is using matrix code (2D barcode). 2D barcode is a two-dimensional way of representing information. It is similar to a linear (one-dimensional) barcode, but has more data representation capability. 2D barcodes are in patterns of squares, dots, hexagons and other geometric patterns. QR Code becomes the most popular type of 2D barcodes in Japan recently. The QR is derived from Quick Response. QR Codes are commonly found in the Internet and magazines. Most current Japanese mobile phones can read this code with their camera of the mobile phone conveniently. QR Code can encode Japanese Kanji and Kana characters, music, images, URLs, emails. Through this kind of barcode, information can be easily stored and attract people to get it. The QR Code Price Apart From using mobile phone, some programs can be launched in order to promote the merchandizes. Price deal is an example. Price deal is a temporary reduction in the price in a short period of time. It is very effective because low price can attract customer to go into the shop and pay more. Price deal is suitable for short period promotion. Another good example is loyal reward program. Consumers can collect points, miles, or credits for purchases and redeem them for rewards. In order to get the rewards, customers would like to come more frequently and buy more products. This program can last for longer period, usually a month. Launching different kinds of programs can increase sales effectively. Not only promotion, a good pricing is also very important to strengthen HM in Japanese fashion market. Low price should be maintained. HM have already set low price for the goods. Most of the products are affordable. This can attract customers, especially youngsters who cannot afford high price. The products are already at a best price and it is also one of the competitive advantages. Therefore, low price should be maintained. Another suggestion for pricing is that there should be a price cut for the last seasons fashion. Last seasons product have less attractiveness than the new products. In order to sell them more

The Effects of Affirmative Action on Law Students and Lawyers :: Lawyers African American Essays

The Effects of Affirmative Action on Law Students and Lawyers Given the opportunity, do African Americans with lower undergraduate test scores and grades succeed in law school? Does admitting African Americans with lower test scores and grades than other racial groups into law schools have a good or bad effect on American society? On one hand it can be argued these students grab the opportunity and use it. Making more African American lawyers is healthy for American society. The presence of more African American lawyers itself means the concerns of their community will be heard and represented in society. Seeing successful African American lawyers will prove to frustrated African American high school students that this really is the land of opportunity in which success is available to those who work hard. On the other hand it can be argued poorly qualified undergraduates drop out of law school or just learn just enough to pass the bar examinations after several tries. This process has a very bad effect on society. By giving prefere nce to less qualified African American students the result is lawyers of poor quality. Poor quality workers produce poor quality work, which in the long run is not good for society. People point to the 1980’s as an example where poor quality American automobiles were rejected by buyers who turned to higher quality Japanese cars. The article â€Å"The Scandal of the Law Schools† by Stephan Thernstrom in the December 1997 issue of Commentary presents both sides of this debate. This article takes information from a study by Linda Wightman favoring preferences and uses it to make the author’s points against preferences. Although this article clearly opposes racial preferences, it does include enough of Linda Wightman’s arguments that a reader is left at the end to make up his/her mind of what the truth is or what needs further study. Commentary is a magazine published by the American Jewish Association and has an objective of trying to unify by publishing a variety of articles of different views. The American Jewish intellectual community has the reputation of being liberal, but this magazine has a history of being conservative. As a historically oppressed minority itself, the American Civil Rights Movement and Dr.

1960s Counter Culture and its Saga Essay -- Sixties Culture USA Histo

1960's Counter Culture and its Saga After the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, America's hope for Camelot fades and life began to look a little more complicated. Congress deemed President Lyndon Johnson's "Great Society" implausible as Johnson backed the country into a war that was not ours. Then, while many Americans began to realize that the War in Vietnam could not be won, there was major public outcry about ending our involvement in a war for the first time in the country's history. The liberals in the country failed to reach the working class, and President Richard Nixon, a conservative, ascended to the Office as a champion of the "silent majority." While the government was slogging our country through devastating affairs, the culture of the times was reinventing itself. Due to various movements, such as the Civil Rights Movement in the South, the Feminist Movement, and the Anti-Vietnam War Movement, Americans, especially energetic young citizens, began to learn that there was ground to be gained f rom being pro-active. Out of this feeling of possibility and need of young adults to be recognized by the government came the 1960s counter culture. Too many factors figure into society to pinpoint one as the reason for the counter cultural revolution. Still, one of the major factors that contributed to the counter culture was the folk, rock, and "acid" music of the 1960s. The music also serves as a way to illustrate and explain the 1960's counter cultural phenomenon. Each variation of the music genre contributed to the way that Americans felt about themselves, their government and their society. As "mindless drivel," according to noted historian John McMillian, bombarded the airwaves and rose to number... ...al rebellion. Instead, they took the movement out of the counter culture and made the struggle about telling the government to basically leave them alone. If they wanted to do drugs, the government should let them since it is their own bodies. If Jim Morrison wanted to masturbate onstage, he is affecting nothing besides his body, counter culturalists would argue. Therefore, in contrast to descriptions of the counter culture as a movement, it was really an outpouring of emotions of a group of people who wanted to either have their rights recognized or left alone. The counter culture decided that if the government cared little enough about them to send their peers into the Vietnam War, they should not have a say in how each person treats their mind and body. Musicians of the time helped clarify their message and reflected the message in their lyrics and actions.

Votes For Women c1900-28

Question 1 From Source A – a poster produced in 1912 by the Suffragettes – it can tell us one of the reasons why the Suffragettes were demanding the vote for women. On the top row, it shows women in highly educated, well paid jobs like a mayor or a nurse, while below it a row of â€Å"low-level† men such as a convict and a drunkard. Already here we see a stark contrast in their class. It shows us that women of such quality were not allowed to vote, while men of such low integrity were. A reason why women were not enfranchised was because people deemed them to be inferior and less intelligent to men. However, what this posters shows us is that women can be more educated, and better respected, yet still not get the vote, unlike the men who didn't accomplish anything good in life, yet still got the vote. Also, people criticised the Suffragettes with their violent methods – which failed, and accused of being crazy lunatics. What the poster also shows is that men could be lunatics, and still gain the votes, but why can't women do so to. Question 2 Source B is an extract from a book written in 1907 called â€Å"Woman or Suffragette†. Its main view is that women should not be voting, but in fact were â€Å"destined to make voters†. It disagrees with the whole movement, both the Suffragists and the Suffragettes. It also has a reference to the Suffragettes movement, with its â€Å"shrill cry†. Source C on the other hand is a cartoon drawn in 1906 by Bernard Partridge. It shows two campaigners, one – portrayed as a calm, sensible, upper-class woman – a Suffragist, and the other – shown as a crazy and violet woman – a Suffragette. It also shows the Suffragette brandishing her fist, showing her violence and the basis if the Suffragette's movement. The cartoon criticises the Suffragette movement, with its â€Å"shrieking sister†, and shows the Suffragist saying to the Suffragette â€Å"YOU help our cause? Why, you're its worst enemy!† There is also a reference here, like Source B, to the Suffragettes movement, referring to their â€Å"shrieking†. This shows us that the artist doesn't support the Suffragette's violent movement, but does support the Suffragist's peaceful movement. This tells me that Source C doesn't support Source B fully about the disagreement of the women's movement, but rather that the women's movement was acceptable when it took a more peaceful approach. Question 3 Despite the Suffragette campaign, women still had not gained the vote by the outbreak of the war. Source D – an extract of a book written by Emmeline Pankhurst in 1912 – shows us that because of the failure to have woman enfranchised, the Suffragettes wanted the matter to be more widely noticed by the public. Emmeline said that it succeeded in this because the â€Å"newspapers are full of us†. This is like a reason for why the Suffragettes were ‘allowed' to be violent. Source E on the other hand is a speech given by a Member of the Parliament just a year after Emmeline Pankhurst's book was written. It is opposing the idea of women gaining the vote, saying that it will â€Å"ultimately put the control of the government of this country into female hands†. This shows us that some members of Parliament opposed the idea of having women in Parliament. Already the sources show us two of the different reasons why women were not given the vote. Another is that the Prime Minister at the time – Herbert Asquith – also opposed women's rights to the vote. This would have influenced Parliament. Another reason is the public and their opinion. With the Suffragists before, and their peaceful campaign, it got them the vote in local elections. With the Suffragettes, they got people to be scared of them and threatened the welfare of the others. This I think is the most important reason. To be enfranchised, they needed the public's support, because without this, no-one would support their campaign. Question 4 Both Sources F and G are useful to find out the contribution of women to the war, both in different ways. Source F is an example of propaganda, made at the time by the government, to try and get women to work in munitions factories, and consequently in the war effort. What this poster doesn't tell us is the number of women who were working in the munitions factories, but rather that the government allowed women to help in the war effort. In fact, this poster could be telling us that women were vital to the war, and that without women, the war could not have been won. With the women working in factories and doing the jobs that the men did enabled the men to go to war and fight. Also, the poster, with the words â€Å"Enrol At Once† is suggesting that women should do just that. At the forefront of the poster shows a very healthy looking woman, looking like she enjoyed working in the factories. Most women at the time would be working in poor conditions, with little pay and so a poor standard of life. The woman contradicts this, and so makes women want to join up. Also, it shows us that the government wanted to persuade women to work at the factories, and so needed them to be participating in the war. There's however, no way to know if the poster succeeded or not. Source F, on the other hand, is a table of statistics, written in the 1980s. This could mean that the data could have been compiled after years of research. Furthermore, as it is published in a school text book, it would mean that it should be an unbiased piece of evidence, unlike the government poster. Although it is a secondary piece of evidence, you can still find out about the contribution to the war done by women, but not fully. The table only shows us the number of women employed in certain industries in 1914 and 1918. There s no other information telling us about before, during, or after the war. We cannot tell if the number of women working in industries fell or rose during these times. Also, this positive trend may not have happened across all the industries. It also doesn't show us the facts, but, when compared to the start of the war, there was a significant increase in women working in industries, and so the war effort. Overall, I think that Source G is more useful. It provides actual statistics, which enables you to make a conclusion about the amount women did contribute to the war. Source F is merely a poster designed to enrol women into munitions factories and shows the government's need for female contribution to the war effort. It doesn't give any indication about the number of women working in munitions factories, let alone the industries. Question 5 ‘It was the work that women did during the war during the war that earned them the vote'. Personally I do not agree with this statement. I feel that it is a multiple of reasons, not just the war, which enabled women to be enfranchised. One of the reasons was due to their war effort. In helping out in the war, they earned people's respect, both the public and politicians. Also, they should people that there were not crazy, violent women as they were seen before, but in fact sane people. Source H partially agrees with this, as it says that â€Å"†¦women workers received a warm welcome† but not

Philippine agenda reaction paper Essay

When our teacher told us that we will be watching a video about political government in the Philippines, I thought that it would be about politics only. But as the videos are playing, I realize that it was more than politics. It is an eye-opener not only for the government officials but also to all Filipinos. They made a documentation to open the eyes of the candidates for the election. It was made to let the government know the current condition of the Philippines with regards to the concern of the Filipinos. PHILIPPINE AGENDA: EDUCATION (EDUKASYON) The video entitled â€Å"Edukasyon† was one of the documentaries presented by Jessica Soho. The film shows the problem on education in our country. Many students and teachers are having a hard time in studying and teaching because of the insufficient facilities in different public schools. This includes the lack of chairs, tables, classrooms, chalkboards, books, and many others. Most teachers also have not undergone a proper training. Well, what they have documented is very true because I too came from a public school. And our school was also facing that kind of problem before. Though in my time, our school has improved a little bit. All of us had been given the privilege to have a book in different subjects one by one. We also have chairs to sit and tables to write on. Our chalkboard also is big enough, though some of it has a hole already. But our neighboring school was facing almost the same fate as the schools in  Masbate, as what the film documented. They have broken chalkboards, not enough classrooms, chairs, tables and books. Their teacher would go to our school to borrow a couple of books for them to use. There were also some privilege schools in our place who was included in the feeding program of the government. Our elementary school was included. The selected students who were malnourished were being feed every afternoon by the teachers and some of the parents. And after the feeding program, there is another program which is the giving of rice, noodles, and canned goods for the students. Each students was given one kilo of rice, some noodles and canned goods. But the program did not last long. The film helps me realize the great problem that our country is facing today with regards to the education for every Filipinos. And I am thankful that I was given the opportunity to have a better education. I also felt pity on the students who are having a hard time in getting the education that they wanted and at the same encouraged to pursue more on my studies to help those who are in need. Just like the students who were showed in the film, even though their fate in acquiring education is not as good as mine, but they still pursue their goals to finish their education to have a better future. These problems in our education today can be solved by giving more funds for education to build enough classrooms, chairs, tables, chalkboards, and other facilities for the students, publish more books, and support the teachers for their training in order for them to enhance their skills in teaching and to help the students to be more productive in their studies. PHILIPPINE AGENDA: HEALTH (KALUSUGAN) â€Å"Health is wealth†. Indeed, health is the true wealth of our nation. But as I watched the film â€Å"kalusugan† reported by Arnold Clavio, I found out the reason why our country is at the bottom of the list when it comes to the richest country. Because even the citizens here in our own nation have suffered from malnutrition. And how can they call our country rich when they have not taken care of the citizen which is the inheritance of our country? Just like the citizens on one of the place in Mindanao. Each children have a disease and are malnourished because there are no one who can monitor their health. It would take four to five hours to walk just to get to a hospital. And what do they get when they arrived there? Only paracetamols good for ten people. How can that cure there diseases when that is the only medicine that is free? Every other medicine has high price which they cannot afford to buy. There are many other places in the Philippines which was not visited by a single doctor. The government must make a move on reaching those citizens who have not yet been checked on their health status. They must act so that there will no more citizen in the Philippines who will die because of lack of food and medical support. Also, there are many places here in our country who are lacking facilities and medicines for the hospitals. Just like here in Bacolod and in Manila. The family of the patient must be the one who will provide a bed for their patient because there are no more vacant room. And there are many patients who have not given any medical attention that’s why some of them just died in the corner of the hospital. And there are many places also who do not have any hospital or health centers at all. The residence on that place was the one who built a health center. And the medicines they are having are just the usual medicine for fever, cough, and other common diseases. They only have one nurse who also became a doctor and a midwife. How can the government take care of the citizens when they let the doctors and nurses flee to another country? They must take care also the needs of the doctors and nurses so that they will not flee from our country. There are budgets given for the health of the people but where did the money go? What do they spend the money for? If they would have spent it wisely for the specific purpose of that money, our country and the people would not be suffering from lack of food and medical support. Each citizen must have been given a good service, maybe not given all that they need, but given just enough to make them feel that the government was not abandoning them. The government officials are educated people who knows how to manage a money and to spend it wisely for the specific purpose of that money. They must stop their corruption because instead of them helping the problems of our country, they were the one making it worst. If only they hear they cries of the family who lost their loved ones because of lack of support from the government. And they must act so that situations like these would not repeat again and again. All I can do now is to take care of myself and my love ones. Eat the right kind of food to avoid being hospitalized. And help those who are in need of my service. PHILIPPINE AGENDA: CORRUPTION (KATIWALIAN) One of the major reasons why our country are suffering from different problems is because of corruption. Even the educated people, like the government officials, are blinded when it comes to money. Their knowledge and discipline were gone when money was in front of them. Thus leads to corruption. Our country is facing some serious problems today like lack of services for the citizens. And they said that they have given a solution by giving a budget to that particular problem. But the question is, where is the budget now? Do the budgets intended for that problem really made a change? Or they just say that there is a budget to calm the people down but not used all of it for the specific purpose intended in that budget? Even the professionals who are educated, have learned the proper attitude, and knows the right discipline can be like a dump person who knows nothing when money is in front of them. They can be bought by just one to three numbers with many zeros on it. And if you think that zero is nothing, well, of put it behind a certain number, then that would change its value. It would not be nothing anymore. It would be something that can bought a life, especially when there are many zeros that are involve in that particular  number. It can either give or save lives, get or bought lives and change lives. Money have that kind of power in our world nowadays. It can make the powerful man even more powerful and it can ruin life. It can make a simple man be a powerful man or a criminal. And people can be crazy when it comes to money. But it can also change the life of a single person and the status of a certain country. It can be an instrument to ruin things but it can also be used to save and change everything. If it is used in a proper and good way, then it can change our lives forever. If only the government would discipline not only the citizens but also themselves, our country would be a better place to stay. It would be harmonious and the citizens would not go to other countries to serve other people just to provide the needs of their families. They would just stay here and serve our fellow Filipinos who needed their service. And if they only use the money intended for that specific purpose and not for their own, there will be less problems that our country would be facing today. And the problems that we are facing will be slowly but effectively be solved. And if there will be less problem, then our country will be a prosperous and harmonious one. And it would be included on the list of the richest country in the world. PHILIPPINE AGENDA: HOUSING (PABAHAY) One of the basic needs of a person is shelter. A good, nice and warm shelter or house for him to be protected from any cold, rain and sunshine. It is also a private place where a man can spend an alone and bonding time for his family. But how can a man be protected from cold and have a family time if he is sleeping under a bridge, in the street or in a squatter’s area where he is sharing his house with four more families? That is what most of the people in the cities where suffering. Most of them left the country, sold their belongings, and transferring to the city to find work. But because of the overpopulation in the city and they did not found any good work, they end up living under a bridge, on the street, and in a squatter’s area, sharing their shelter with two or more families. And  because they cannot go back to the country because they have no more belongings there, some of them have begun a family in city. The government had implemented a housing program and relocation sites. Some of it were already been built. But there are quandaries in the given solution of the said problem. Some have no electricity, the water is not clean, the location is not very suitable and comfortable, and is far from the city because there are no more sites available near the city. And some also are not finished. The government must give more budget for the housing of the citizens who are living under a bridge and in a squatter’s area. There are also some citizen who lost their home because of the natural calamities that struck the country. And many families are still suffering until now because of the slow action of the government. And the one that they have built for the families who were the first victims of the natural disaster had been broken again by the following typhoon that pass the country. They were providing a shelter for the victims but it was not good and long lasting because of the lack of budget for that project. And the government’s point of view is that the shortcomings are not all their fault. There are also people who lacks discipline. They sold their lands in the country, which was given by the government, and migrated to the city thinking that they will find fortune and good life there. Well, I don’t blame the government for that because it is true. They think that by living their comfort zone in the country and moving to the city would be a better idea. Some of them had found luck in the city but luck is just luck. And most of them did not found good luck. They found misfortune and ended up living and having a family under a bridge, on the street and in a squatter’s area. Their luck had run out. And because they did not found any good job and they cannot plant vegetables and other nutritious foods in the place where they live, they end up picking some left overs in the garbage and looking and selling scrap for them to make money to buy food to put on their tummy. And because of this, malnutrition takes place. PHILIPPINE AGENDA: HUNGER (GUTOM) When I was watching the video entitled â€Å"gutom†, I realized that I am lucky I am eating nutritious foods three times a day. There are many people out there who are starving and having a hard time in getting food. They were just eating the left-overs that are found in the trash bins. And they felt contented if they can eat even just one meal a day. And the worst part is, they have so many children. I am always wondering why do they made many children when they themselves are having a hard time in finding food for their own. How can they find food that is enough for them to eat if they have so many kids? Just like one of the family that was shown in the film which had 12 kids. And the mother is still caring a life inside her tummy. She was still pregnant even if they already had many kids. And the result is malnutrition because the children have not eaten the right kind of food and the right amount of vitamins and minerals that are needed in their body. It was hard for them to get nutritious foods because the foods that are prepared on their table is not enough to make their tummy full. And the baby inside the mother’s womb is also malnourished because the food that the mother had eaten is not nutritious enough to make the baby inside of her become healthy. So, even if the baby have not yet been born, it was already malnourished. If only they have planned well in making a family, they would not having a hard time finding food to feed their children because they only have fewer mouths to feed. And they can also eat nutritious foods three times a day. It is heartbreaking to know that there are Filipinos who are starving and have not eaten foods with the right nutrition. While there are many officials who are just expanding their riches and wasting their money instead of helping the Filipinos who are in need and giving them the right service. They are just having a good time with their money, spending it for their own good, not thinking that there are many children who are dying because of hunger and thirst. They did not consider the fact that even the  small amount of their wealth is enough to save a person’s life from dying of hunger. But this concern is not for the officials but also for the Filipinos who have so much wealth. Some of them are not officials but they are business men who are making wealth but not helping their fellow Filipinos. They must open their hearts to share their wealth and help those who are in need. Even a small act of kindness can save a person’s life. I felt pity on the people who are starving and I cannot even help them on my own. All I can do for now is not to waste anything-food, money, time and many others, and helping others who are in need if I have anything that can help them. And most of all, open my heart and mind to my fellow Filipinos who are in need of my help. PHLIPPINE AGENDA: WORK (TRABAHO) Work is essential to every person to earn money and to buy things we need in our every life. Money is needed in every manner to survive. And we cannot have money without working, either in a simple way or a hard way, in a good or bad way. But it is better to earn money in either simple or hard way but in a good way. But here in our own country, most of the citizen don’t have a good job and some of them really did not found a job. How can they provide money for the needs of their family when they don’t have any job at all? Some of them are being kicked out from the company they are working and others are forced to leave because of some reasons, it could be that their performance is not good enough, the company is reducing some workers, the wages are not enough or the company is closing. Because of the technology in our time now, most of the work are being done by machines. Instead of manually doing the work, the company are hiring more machines than hiring actual human to do the job because machines can do the job two to three times faster than humans. That is why they are losing more workers even if their work is getting bigger and faster. The only one who will remain in that company is operator of the machines and other important people who are expert in that field of the  work. And I cannot blame the Filipinos for going out from our own country and work in other countries because the government cannot provide them a good salary that can provide the needs of their family. They have to look for another job in other countries in order for their family to survive and to have a better life. They have finished a professional course here in our country but the salary is the major reason why they leave the country. But not all who go out from our country have found good fortune. And that is not the fault of the government. The citizens are also to be blamed because of lack of discipline. They just wanted to go out of the Philippines and paid a lot of money to a company who are hiring Filipinos to work for abroad, not inquiring if that company is a legal company, thus end up in a work they were not expecting to have in that particular country. And instead of practicing their profession in the place, they end up being a domestic helper, laborer, babysitter, housemaid , and many other work that is not related to their profession. Some got lucky and had a good boss but some of them were being abused by their boss and the owner of the house because of several reasons. They are lacking good skills, their performance in that work was not good enough, their boss is just so strict and abusive, and they were being forced to do things not according to their will and their contract. And some ended up being imprisoned, bullied by the person they work at, and the worst of all is being sentenced to death. Some of them are being hanged and others are being executed through the way they execute a person in that particular country. Some Filipinos also did not go out of our country but did not found a descent work. Thus end up in finding an illegal job like stealing, selling illegal drugs and other illegal products. Others also have become a holdaper and a killer just to have money to provide for their family to survive. They are lacking skills that is why there are no company hires them. These events can be avoided if only the government will not let anyone who go out of the country without a proper training and have undergone a proper procedure to ensure the work they are working in that particular country. And the Filipinos will not go out from our country if the work here in our own country gives enough wages to keep their family from being hungry. If the wages here in our country is enough to let the tummy of the worker’s family be full every day, then we would not be having a problem in giving service to the citizens in places where  services are highly needed, just like in a hospital, schools and other public service company.