Eco/561pr †Economics Essay

In modern society people desire goods and services that provide a more comfortable or affluent standard of living. We want bottled water, soft drinks, and fruit juices, not just water from the creek. We want salads, burgers, and pizzas, not just berries and nuts. According to MC-Connell (2008) â€Å"Economics, which is the social science concerned with how individuals, institutions, and society make optimal choices under conditions of scarcity.† Scarce economic resources mean limited goods and services. Scarcity restricts options and demands choices. Because we â€Å"can’t have it all,† we must decide what we will have and what we must forgo. Consumers are purposeful in deciding what goods and services to buy. Business firms are purposeful in deciding what products to produce and how to produce them. Government entities are purposeful in deciding what public services to provide and how to finance them. Economist develops economic principles and models at two levels macroeconomics and microeconomics. Macroeconomics examines either the economy as a whole or its basic subdivisions, such as the government, household, and business sectors. Macroeconomics seek to obtain an overview or general outline of the structure of the economy relationship of its major aggregates. We can see it as an economic measure of total output, total employment, total income, aggregate expenditure, and the general level of prices in analyzing various economic problems. On the other hand microeconomics is the part of economics concerned with individual units such as a person, a firm, or industry. At this level economist observe the detail of an economic unit, or very small segment of the economy. Micro measures the price of a specific product, the number of employees in a small business, the revenue of a particular individual. These means individuals and society face economizing problem because their wants exceed their income and they must decide what to purchase and what to for go. Some of the tools we can use to measure this process is a graphically, budget line which is a line in a graph with the various  combinations of two products that a consumer can purchase with the specific income, giving the prices of the two products. Other tools for economist to measure and illustrate society’s economizing problem through production possibilities analysis. This use tables and curves that show the different combinations of good and services that can be produced in a fully-grown economy. Economists most often use graphs to illustrate their models. By understanding these â€Å"graphs† you can more readily comprehend economic relationships. Most of economic principles or models explain relationships between just two sets of economic facts, which can be conveniently represented with two-dimensional graphs. Since income is the determining factor, we represent it on the horizontal axis of the graph, as is customary. And because consumption depends on income, we represent it on the vertical axis of the graph, as is also customary. Actually, what we are doing is representing the independent variable on the horizontal axis and the dependent variable on the vertical axis. Also it’s very important to understand lines which can be described in terms of their slopes. The slope of a straight line is the ratio of the vertical change to the horizontal change between any two points of the line. We can concluded that Graphs and lines are a convenient and revealing way to represent economic relationships. Over time, technological advances and increases in the quantity and quality of resources enable the economy to produce more of all goods and services, that is, to experience economic growth. Society’s choice as to the mix of consumer goods and capital goods in current output is a major determinant of the future location of the production possibilities curve and thus of the extent of economic growth. References: Mc-Connell, B. (2008). Economics: Principles, Problems, and Policies, (16th ed.). : .

To What Extent Do Modern Versions of Virtue Ethics Address

To what extent do modern versions of Virtue Ethics address the weaknesses of Aristotle’s teachings on virtue? Aristotle’s idea of Virtue Ethics was influenced by his belief that all things and all humans have a purpose (a telos). For him a complete explanation of something has to include its final cause or purpose which essentially is to realise its potential. Virtue Ethics itself is concerned with the characteristics of a person rather than how a person behaves and it is this he outlined in his book Nicomachean Ethics. A ‘’virtue’’ are qualities that lead to a good life e. . courage and honesty. Aristotle explains for a person to adopt these qualities into their own lives is to maximise their potential to achieve a happy life and he goes on to explain Eudaimonia as being a quality of this happiness. However Aristotle then explains that a person should not act virtuously just to achieve a particular end because he believes this to be a subordi nate aim. A person that acts in a way to achieve goodness Aristotle explains is a superior aim and it is these people that act ‘’good’’ because it is the right way to act not because they ought to.Following on from this Aristotle goes on to explain the key to goodness and virtue is to follow the ‘’golden mean’’. This is when as a person we act between two extreme vices for example the midpoint between shamelessness and shyness is modesty, this therefore is the golden mean. Aristotle also distinguished between two types of virtue, moral virtues and intellectual virtues. The first being those cultivated through habit whilst intellectual virtues are those cultivated through instruction. In the later twentieth century Virtue Ethics suffered a revival.It was questioned whether Aristotle’s teachings on Virtue Ethics had any weaknesses and some modern perspectives on Virtue Theory can be seen to highlight these flaws. Although no t to a great extent, I do believe some modern versions of Virtue Ethics address the weaknesses of Aristotle’s teachings and my view is shared by many scholars who have criticised Aristotle’s Virtue Ethics for being too ‘’relative, vague and self-centred’’. Elizabeth Anscombe believed that ethical codes laying stress on moral absolute laws are outdated in a society where effectively a belief in God has been abandoned by the majority.She believed that we need to return to a morality which is based on human flourishing. However Anscombe did believe a return to achieving Eudaimonia was required and working from the basis of Aristotle’s work she believed morality is best based on a person (agent) rather than an act or outcome. Similarly Philippa Foot argued that although virtues cannot guarantee happiness, they can go some way to achieving it and she too uses Aristotle’s roots but updates them accordingly.She explains that virtues ca n only be virtuous when used in the correct way; she used the example of courage when applied to somebody robbing a bank, in this instance courage is therefore not a virtue and cannot be seen as virtuous. Alasdair MacIntyre encourages a return to the basis of Aristotle’s understanding of virtue and encourages the development of virtues that are relevant to contemporary times. He believed when compared to other ethical theories Virtue Ethics are more realistic and applicable to peoples everyday situations.I would agree with MacIntyre here that a virtue-approach is more suitable in our society. Naturalistic theories of ethics are time consuming and overly complexed and therefore difficult to apply, Virtue Ethics however is not. For MacIntyre morality should be focused on developing your telos, this echoing Aristotle’s teachings. When referring back to the question, to what extent do modern versions of virtue ethics address the weakness of Aristotle’s teachings, Ma cintyre’s work can be used to show that Modern versions of virtue ethics can do the exact opposite.Aristotle’s teachings are seen throughout Macintyre’s work so how therefore can Aristotle’s work be criticized for having weaknesses? However not all modern philosophers use Aristotle’s work in their own and many would argue against my view that it is without weakness. J. L Mackie, Louden and Sidgewick have criticized Aristotle’s teachings for being too vague for any application and Sidgewick went on to say it only indicates the whereabouts of a virtue. The belief that is doesn’t provide accurate guidance can also be seen in Rosalind Hursthouse’s work.She believes Aristotle’s work on Virtue Ethics doesn’t explain how a person would or should act but only how a virtuous person would think about the dilemma. However she like Foot and Anscombe is a supporter of Aristotle’s approach to morality using his work but adapting it to suit a modern society. When looking at Aristotle’s teachings, they can be seen as very cultural dependent. The change in culture in our society today can be seen as a barrier for reviving this ethical theory. During the time of Aristotle communities were consistent in what they believed and this made virtues applicable to all.However in relation to our own communities today is there this consistency? In my opinion I do not believe so. For this reason I would argue that Aristotle’s idea of Eudaimonia in today’s society would be interpreted differently by many and one virtue for somebody may be a vice for another. From modern scholars such as Anscombe, Foot and MacIntyre we can see that Aristotle’s ideas are still prevalent in their own and it is for this reason that I disagree modern versions of virtue ethics addresses the weaknesses of Aristotle’s teachings to a large extent.Whilst using his ‘roots’ but changing it to su it a modern society may be seen ,by some, to be a weakness in my opinion this is a strength. Aristotle’s teachings have stood the test of time and are still predominantly used in this century with only a few appropriate changes. The counter argument however would be that Aristotle’s teachings are outdated for the community we live in now. The difference in community now compared with that of Aristotle’s provide a weakness in his theory and I understand that to a small extent weaknesses can be found, using modern versions of Virtue Ethics, in Aristotle’s teachings.

Analyzing the Literary Features of “The Lottery” Essay Example for Free

Analyzing the Literary Features of â€Å"The Lottery† Essay In the story of Shirley Jackson’s â€Å"The Lottery†, many literary devices are used to convey messages, give clues and give the reader a better understanding on the story overall. Within the story, literary devices such as allegory, symbolism, and satire are used, which are for the moral that Jackson is trying to send to readers. Other devices used are foreshadowing, imagery and irony. Jackson uses imagery to give a good visualization of the setting. Foreshadowing helps give a clue as to what to happen next in the story, and Jackson uses irony for surprise effect to shock the reader in the end of the story. At the beginning of â€Å"The Lottery†, it opens with â€Å"The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green. † This description Jackson gave is a clear example of imagery as she uses phrases such as: â€Å"richly green† â€Å"blossoming profusely† and â€Å"fresh warmth†. After reading this, the reader gets a sense of pleasantness in the story. Furthermore, Jackson writes â€Å"The lottery was conducted–as were the square dances, the teen club, and the Halloween program–by Mr. Summers†. This excerpt meant the lottery is traditional, and is followed by other fun activities such as square dances, the teen club and the Halloween program. From knowing the ending, this is an example of irony because the lottery is thought to be a fun opportune activity, but in the end it is found that the winner receives the prize of death. On forward, the lottery is introduced with the arrival of Mr. Summers and his black box he brings for the drawing. In the story, Jackson states â€Å"The black box grew shabbier each year: by now it was no longer completely black but splintered badly along one side to show the original wood color, and in some places faded or stained†. The literary devices of symbolism and foreshadow are used here because the box color â€Å"black† is a symbol of death. With the box being in bad shape being faded and splintered badly, this adds to the symbol of death as fading means disappearing and wood splintering is signs of the wood’s breakdown. The names of these characters are also a form of symbolism and foreshadowing. Two characters, Mr. Graves and Mrs. Delacroix have names with deeper meaning. In the name â€Å"Graves†, grave means death as well, and within â€Å"Delacroix†, Croix is the French word for cross, which in the story of the bible, Jesus was sacrificed upon a cross and both are a form of Jackson’s symbolism to give a message. These objects of symbolism give off the literary device of foreshadow as the symbol of death means something bad may happen later within the story. Analyzing the Literary Features of â€Å"The Lottery†. (2016, Sep 13).

Communication Improvement Plan Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Communication Improvement Plan - Assignment Example The seconds-in-command will interact and pass information in unceremonious ways too. This form of communication disconnect is interfering with efficient operations and creating conflict at Alizeo Sheriff’s Office. For this reason, this requires and in-depth review of the situation. The formal communications will be made uniform devoid of any back or forth discussions to leave one subject either the supervisor or line offices only on a single side of an issue. The strategy will eliminate the blockage of flow of information between the office, judicial system or other security agencies (Verderber, Verderber & Sellnow, 2013). For urgent situations, informal communications will be accepted but later documented formally. The sole reason behind this is because at the instance a formal authorization is initiated and authorized, a criminal activity may be long overdue, time consuming. The process inhibits the line officers from actualizing their ideas and putting them on record. The office is failing in utilizing informal communication to assist in fostering understanding. The concept of back and forth communications, clear misunderstandings and resultantly explaining the purpose of the communication. For this office’s case of ineffective communication, there a re instances where supervisors hold their meetings concerning a matter at hand of which they are required to forward to their juniors. However, some supervisors fail to actualize the communication to all subjects or in full detail. Taking matters for granted is a major point of concern for the reason that it goes against the mission statement. Ineffective communication is also seen where supervisors and the line supervisors choose to make individualistic decisions rather than uphold teamwork and communicate among themselves on the best strategy out. A line supervisor may have an idea better than that proposed by the supervisor, but the

Criticizing Augustine's Account of Natural and Moral Evil Essay

Criticizing Augustine's Account of Natural and Moral Evil - Essay Example A number of mortals will be saved by the love and compassion of God, and others will be denounced to endless suffering. Ultimately, the justice and goodness of God are expressed. After reading the City of God, particularly Books XI-XIV, I came to oppose Augustine’s explanation of the roots and of the ultimate nature of moral evil. It is argued that the concept of temporarily faultless entities intentionally giving in to sin is meaningless and paradoxical. A genuinely faultless entity, albeit free to commit transgressions, would ideally or, in truth, never commit even one sin. To point the root of evil to the intentional wrongdoing of a faultless entity is hence to claim the ultimate irony that evil has shaped itself out of nothing. Moreover, there seems to be a dissonance between this theological account and the canon of predestination of Augustine, which effectively creates the root of moral evil within the liability and intention of God. The canon of Augustine talks about th e descending of angels. Augustine introduced the notion of Natural and Moral evil. The former are the occurrences that resemble evil, like war, flood, earthquakes, etc. They resemble evil because human beings are ruled by selfishness, have an imperfect consciousness and understanding and are not capable of discerning the ‘grand purpose’ of the unraveling play of God. Hence, when seen in the point of view of God’s grand purpose, natural evils cease to appear evil in any way. In contrast, moral evil is the outcome of human action and will. These are the blameworthy outcomes of a resolve that has become tied to mundane or inferior principles and activities, viewing them as though they were greater. Basically, moral evil is the deviation of the will from God and relating itself to lower principles as though they were greater. My purpose in this paper is to argue against Augustine’s account of the Natural evil and Moral evil or, more particularly, the problem o f evil. The Flaws of Augustine’s Natural Evil and Moral Evil I mostly disagree to the notion that God granted good being the liberty to commit sin. If a creature is faultless in its righteousness it would in no way commit any transgression even though it is free to do so. Evil would therefore have to form itself out of nothing, which is absurd. Nevertheless, it is not logical that moral faultlessness essentially involves indisputability. Moreover, Augustine’s dispute of the Manichean’s notion of the human soul as Light’s divided component would eradicate the vital difference between the maker and the created (Jones 1969). In addition, it would weaken the responsibility of human beings for the perpetration of sin. The argument of Augustine, by eliminating the essence of Satan as a contributory factor, makes all the arguments of the Manicheans illogical (Jones 1969). Similar to all excellent critiques Augustine prevails by eliminating the core principle tha t the argument of the Manicheans is rooted in: â€Å"God, being supremely real, is supremely good. God’s creatures, being in varying degrees less real than God, are in corresponding degrees less good. Their so-called evil is simply the absence of goodness and reality; it is the inevitable consequence of their status as creature† (Jones 1969, 95). Moreover, Natural evil is the outcome of human weaknesses, more particularly, human beings’

Call center problems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Call center problems - Essay Example This organization specializes in diversified fields therefore the personnel totals almost two thousand employees. Being the biggest employer in Glasgow, FCCC is dynamic company, which requires constant innovations and improvements of its performance and working conditions. Lately, Operations Director made investments for restructuring and rebuilding management approaches. With this new policy, Forsythe was counting to achieve improvements of company’s performance, employees’ satisfaction and economic indictors. Regrettably, invested money did not manage to give awaited results. On the contrary, the company has faced several serious problems, which require appropriate and immediate solutions. The most urgent problematic issues are the following: 1. High rate of turnover for staff The indicator of fluctuation movement of personnel is much higher among young employees of the company. This can be explained with the fact that more than one third of the staff is employees who se age is under twenty five. Moreover, for most of the workers, FCCC is their first or second place of work. That is why as every newcomer to the labour market, young employees randomly work for their first employer for a long time. Usually, when they pass an adaptation period and learn their responsibilities feeling confident in own strengths and knowledge, they are willing to switch to another employer for improving professional skills, gaining new experience, and developing own potential. In addition, despite the fact that FCCC offers compatible levels of salaries, employees easily leave the company because Glasgow is full of call centres that provide attractive working conditions. Thereby, employees always have a choice. They are not afraid to lose their job because there are a lot of other opportunities. Numerous call centres will be glad to hire them due to the low availability of spare unit of labour. High rate of turnover for staff negatively affects the balance indicators o f the company’s performance. It means that the company uses its assets ineffectively and spends much time and money on recruitment of the new staff and its training. This leads to extra expenditures. 2. Poor communication process between different sections Due to the survey, it has been concluded that interaction between departments, especially in critical and urgent cases, is ineffective. Employees are blocked and isolated from each other with computer screens that hamper not only to resolve professional issues but also to discuss day-to-day topics and improve social environment in the office. The lack of proper communication causes negative influence on customer service because taking into account that each section specializes on specific sphere, the provided information can be limited. However, in case there has been a specialist in the same office, it would have been easier to offer customer assistance with the help of professionalism of colleague’s support. Due to the fact that each department has been granted its own floor, employees are able to interact with each other only via phone, which drastically restraints widening of personnel’s knowledge base and improvement of social life at work. 3. Inability to personalise own working place Taking into account that significant part of the staff works by shifts, there is a principle of hot desk in the office. Therefore, it can be concluded that employee does not have own corner and thereby is not attached to a particular working place. Hence, this may be another explanation of frequent dismissals. If a person is not able to be accustomed to own desk and add some personal things there, then he or she can easily leave it without any nostalgia or aftertaste. Hot desk does not cause habit,

EEC discussion 2 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

EEC discussion 2 - Assignment Example Caring for a child with ability differences may put the primary caregiver and family at a certain level of strain. To avoid this, parents will be needing the support of early childhood professionals in order to address behavioral child problems and foster effective child guidance skills. It is essential that we discuss ways on how to give them communication and support, patience, understanding, and encouragement. Parents might be shocked at first to learn that their child has ability differences; thus, give parents an ample time to accept the situation and aid in the experience of overwhelming emotions. In addition, parents must also be advised for early identification and treatment. Miller suggested the following ways in dealing with parents of children with ability differences, namely: (1) â€Å"pushing† to carry out tasks as some of them cannot proceed on their own phase; (2) careful and regular observation; (3) positive, assertive guidance; (4) making them feel safe, supported, and valued; and (5) putting them in inclusiveness to develop a better understanding of the real world environment and to allow their peers to realize that children with ability differences are real people with real feelings whom are deserved to be treated well (135). Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) guarantees that persons aged 3-22 determined to have an ability difference fitting the IDEA definition of a "disability" will have an educational program best suited to their needs (Miller, 145). Individualized Education Program (IEP) and Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) assure the realization of the IDEA by designing different learning activities which are fit to meet the specific needs of the child and to nurture teamwork among family members, professionals, and government/private institutions. IEP is team composed of parents, teachers, other school staff, and the child. As a team, they will share their commitments in providing the child his/her unique needs.

Galactic Concert Cultural Event Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Galactic Concert Cultural Event - Essay Example Therefore, this paper intends to provide a comprehensive report on a cultural event that I attended recently; in terms of my experience, details of the event and my general reaction upon attending the occasion. Galactic Concert Last February, 23rd 2012 was a great day for me and most of the people in Washington DC. This is because of the great, live cultural concert that had been organized to entertain people on that day. Since I am passionate about such performances, I decided to attend the event so as to a firsthand experience of the performance. All along, I had heard and read about the concert from friends and the media, but it never made a lot of sense to me. Nevertheless, when I was walking on the streets last month, I had a glimpse of poster and got interested in it. That is when I developed a keen interest and curiosity, but the event, and decided to be part of the audience. Luckily, the poster had adequate information on the event including the date, time, venue, charges and the performers. The event was scheduled to take place on the February 23rd 2012, in 9:30 Club in Washington DC. The Club was the host of an amazing night performance of the New Orleans funk and soul. When I arrived at the club, I was astonished to find a hall full of individuals and fans that had come to witness the great talents and wonderful voices of the Orleans band. Some of the attendees included high school, university and college students, single men and women, and many old people. The attendees were widespread from foreigners, black and white Americans. I was shocked to see people from African, Asian, European, and Chinese descents. Besides, there were numerous dignitaries and other artists in the club, all eager to watch the performance. In fact, one of the guest singers that attended the concert is Corey Glover, a member of the Living Color band. Before I attended the concert, I was very curious about the concert; the kind of dances and music that would be performed to th e audience. At some point, I decided not brush away the idea of attending it since I thought it was one of those boring live performances in Washington DC. I had a totally different opinion about the performance; that is it was only enjoyed by the old people, particularly Americans. I also did not expect to see the club filled with people from different races, ages and professions. What is more, I had no slightest idea that people like culture and always celebrate it. When the performance started, the hall got into a frenzied dance and song that shocked more than it excited me. This is because I never expected such a marvelous performance from the New Orleans band. It is difficult to overstate the thrill and infectious energy and vigor of the Orleans’ live performance in the club that day. The New Orleans’ band led the audience on a brass-fueled and unforeseen march through funk, soul and hip-hop. The group is simply combined with rock and New Orleans jazz music and da nce. The fans got entertained as they sang and danced along with the artists, while some surged forward to get singers’ handshake and autographs after the show. Generally, the show was a significant eye-opener to me as regards my view on the whole issue of culture. Before this particular performance, I had taken culture as a backward thing, especially concerning soul, and jazz music. I also thought that kind

Strategic structure of regulatory legislative frameworks for Dissertation

Strategic structure of regulatory legislative frameworks for sustainable development of Iraqi and Kurdistan Region oil and gas r - Dissertation Example When this government was dissembled, new laws and regulatory processes had to be installed and the Constitution (2005) was the first put in place. All other laws and regulations would stem from this piece of legislative work as time went on.1 Currently, this thesis argues that Iraq’s legal system must be seen as a product of Iraq’s distinctive history and local circumstances. It analyses the current nature of Iraq’s regulatory infrastructure and notes that Iraq’s law builders have relied heavily upon the United States model which may not suit Iraq in its current state of rebuilding the country. Therefore, this thesis argues that Iraq’s approach to law reform and development in this area has not always produced a body of law that is appropriate to Iraq’s particular circumstances. Examples within the regulatory system are analysed in this chapter with proposals for better solutions made at the end of the chapter. As there are a number of ways t o conduct doctrinal research and analysis methods, this thesis follows the method of Australian higher degree research (HDR), utilizing the two part method of first locating the sources of the law and then interpreting and analysing the text accordingly, with a final presentation of solutions given at the end. As an overview of regulatory infrastructures, it is important to understand why they are in place first: to establish institutions that would provide incentives for sustainable development in long-term economic and legal commitments from all sides; and accordingly, to encourage and protect investment opportunities from both internal and external existing and potential customers.2 Regulation refers to government-instituted controls on business activity as defined by the Handbook for Evaluating Infrastructure Regulatory Systems.3 As such, regulatory infrastructures are perceived to benefit and protect both the clients and those providing the benefits of partnerships. Yet, in mos t cases, many believe that national regulatory systems have failed in Iraq to provide both commitments and protections as they were supposed to do.4 Since Iraq created its first Constitution in 2005, and while somewhat flawed in certain articles, it provides the first real sense of active regulatory infrastructure, geared to environmental and sustainable development for all its peoples. Chapter 4 Analysis This chapter reviews and analyses the regulatory infrastructure currently in place such as the Federal Iraqi Constitution and how any current regulatory systems also align with international regulations which concern oil and gas and sustainable development. The process for analysis shows that it is not enough to describe the laws, processes and institutions but that there is a two-part system of analysis through questions involved: 1) to find out if the formal governance elements have actually been implemented (who’s in charge and how) and 2) then to determine the real actio ns and decisions of the regulators because they affect the performance of all regulated enterprises through all the parts affected.5 This also aligns with working with international groups such as the Kyoto Protocol and the United Nations in its various commissions. As a final observation, the Federal Constitution

A Sense of Belonging Essay Example for Free

A Sense of Belonging Essay The novel Simple Gift is written in a verse form and presented by three different perspectives of the main characters- Billy, a 16 year old runaway, Caitlin, a girl from a wealthy family and Old Bill, a homeless alcoholic. This mix of gender, social status and age forms a sense of belonging which each character gains. The first person narrator allows the reader to directly engage with each of its characters. Billy Luckett does not have any connection with his dad because he is subjected to abuse both physically and verbally. He gives a negative description of his dad saying â€Å"the old bastard†. He uses colloquial language and sarcasm â€Å"see ya dad. I’ve taken the alcohol. Drink this instead to celebrate your son leaving home.† This sense of disconnection is illustrated in the poem ‘sport’ where his father â€Å"gives him a backhander across his face, so hard he fell down† and he â€Å"slams the door on his sporting childhood†. Herrick uses this metaphor to create a sense of isolation and alienation caused by an alcoholic father. Billy has no connection to his school either. He is shown to be a rebel by saying â€Å"Billy Luckett rhymes with†¦Ã¢â‚¬  the use of ellipse highlights the feeling of disconnection. He disrespects his teachers as well which is evident when he says â€Å"Let Cheetum chew on that†. All these instances show that he does not belong and has no connection with his family or community leading him to run away. He compares his dad to Ernie, the train driver in the poem â€Å"Men†. He says that they are both opposite. â€Å"There are men like Ernie and there are men like my dad†. He refers to his dad as someone who does not perform his fatherly role emphasising on the fact that he is completely disconnected from his father. Certain people can make a person belong and Billy’s case is no different. Billy and Caitlin have nothing in common but their relationship relay’s on internal love and bonds. They both feel disconnected from the world and their families. They catch each other â€Å"doing someth ing they didn’t want to do but had to† both Billy and Caitlin are attracted to each other physically too. Billy notices she has â€Å"bouncing, shiny, clean hair and her eyes were pale green†. Caitlin notices his attitude of self-admiration and the fact that he is â€Å"homeless and proud of it.† They develop a strong sense of connection both physically and emotionally. Making to love to Caitlin was the ultimate sense of belonging. It also contrasts Kate’s description of having sex. Billy describes it as â€Å"falling headlong into the clear water of the Benderat River and opening my eyes to the beautiful phosphorescent bubbles of light.† He uses this simile to convey a feeling of a magical world. This description also shows the beauty of the emotional bond making the experience special. Billy and Caitlin, create their own â€Å"special world† which is very important to them as it enhances their belonging and connections. In the end billy gives Caitlin a â€Å"beautiful green emerald ring† he had brought thinking about her eyes which indicates the value he places on their relationship which in turn enhances the sense of maturity they both attain. After the death of his wife and daughter Jessie, Old Bill disconnects himself entirely from the world. Old Bill relays on alcohol to forget about the world and his past. However, the gifts of cigarettes trigger his memory of his daughter. Old Bill is changed by Billy’s kindness of Billy bringing him wheatbix and tea every day. This symbolises that Billy helps Old Bill to belong again after many years of remoteness from the society. Old Bill starts to treat Billy differently which shows that he has changed his attitude towards Billy and they have developed a relationship. Old Bill ultimately becomes Billy’s father figure. Towards the end he provides Billy a place to live-his house. This shows that he is letting go of the past. He finally accepts the death of his family and starts a new life. In the end he decides to travel north as it is his daughter’s dream. Old Bill also needs a change from his old life and memories. Right from the beginning, Billy has a strong connection with nature and the land. This is evident in the poem ‘Westfield Creek’. Billy uses diction and positive adjectives to show a sense of belonging to â€Å"a place he loves†. This positive description contrasts with his house and school. Billy’s view on land is positive and liberating as it a place â€Å"where he can come to read and learn.† It is his â€Å"favourite classroom.† Billy also has a strong sense of connection with the train carriage his â€Å"Motel Benderat†. He â€Å"closes the door and make a home† showing that he has shut the world out.

Ethical Business In The Minds Of Its Customers Commerce Essay

Ethical Business In The Minds Of Its Customers Commerce Essay This paper aims to answer the question Has McDonalds PLC achieved its objective of being seen as an ethical business in the mind of its customers? I chose McDonalds because it is one of the biggest food outlets in the world. Over the years, it has been criticised by costumers for being unhealthy and not environmental conscious. My investigation is based on a comparison of what McDonald claims to change and to work on against the counterclaims posed by the public. In order to fortify my claim, typical case studies of how McDonald has achieved being an ethical business in the eyes of the consumer were presented and analysed. They are: Analysis of the McDonalds Beef Fries Controversy and the McDonalds Happy Meal Challenge. Other research and enquiry was done to further analyse my investigation and they include: a primary research and a secondary research .A primary research was carried out in order to seek the opinion of the people in my local community about the state MacDonalds has reached as an ethical business. To further investigate on this, a secondary research was conducted using the companys sustainable card for the year 2011 in order to determine if McDonalds is environmentally sustainable. Results gotten from this were analysed and it was observed that 60% of the people who answered the questionnaire were not satisfied with McDonald being an ethical company due to certain reasons. The remaining 40% of people wer in support of MacDonalds being ethical. In conclusion, I realised that McDonald is really not as ethical as most allegations claim. With regards to this, suggestions regarding marketing strategies, and organisational structure were given under my recommendations. With these suggestions, McDonald can indeed reach a commendable level as an ethical business someday in the future. Word count: 295 Table of content Abstractà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦..1 Introductionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦3 Research Questionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.3 Investigationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦7 Bodyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦8 What is ethics?8 Organisational Structure of McDonalds10 Case Studies on McDonalds as an unethical business and Counterclaims by the company as being ethical12 Result Analysis16 Conclusion18 Recommendation..19 Bibliographyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦20 Appendix21 Introduction In 1937, McDonalds was started as a drive-in restaurant by two brothers, Richard and Maurice McDonald in California. From the beginning, it was making about $200,000 per annum. However, in the 1940s the company began to implement self-service policies called the Speedee system where consumers serve themselves and this boosted their annual earnings. Initially, McDonalds was designed for mass production where people line up to collect their food. During this era, food prices were relatively low and the two brothers considered service and cleanliness as the paramount factors to the success of their business. With this growing in buisness, people started showing interest in this business and wanted to take it on as a franchise. A franchise is an agreement where a business (the franchisor) sells the right to other businesses (the franchisees) allowing them to sell products or to use them to sell products or use the companys name (Dave Hall, Rob Jones. 2004. P.50) This system failed because at this point the Donald brothers were very transparent in their business dealings. In addition, this franchises formed were not able to meet up with standards set by the parent organisation. This encouraged a lot of imitators that copied their business and the format it employed. However, in the early 1990s, McDonalds was facing problems due to changing customer preferences and increasing competition. Customers were becoming increasingly health conscious and they wanted to avoid red meat and fried food. They preferred to eat at other fast food outlets that offered discounts. (Anon. 2002) As at 21 may 2012,McDonalds was ranked by the Fortune magazine (Anon, 2012) as first company in the food services making him the worlds largest fast food chain, selling primarily hamburgers, chicken, French fries and carbonated drinks and more recently salads, fruit and carrot sticks. There are McDonalds restaurants in 120 countries and territories and they serve about 54 millions of customers each day. (Anon, 2006) Such a success implies a lot of responsibilities such as finding the right management style to keep the business running a good Human Resources management in order to have the best workforce to be able to deliver good services and to satisfy the consumers. The consumers are one of the most important elements for a businesss success so there opinion should be considered. Looking at McDonalds which operates in the food industry; it has to provide food that is in respect with consumers health, culture, taste, etcà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ This aspect of the business is called Ethics which is a system of moral principles, being in the business context we talk more of Business Ethics. Business ethics could be defined as the moral values that guide the way corporations or other business make decisions (Mark S. Putnam.2002). It is at this junction, my research question: Has McDonalds PLC achieved its objective of being seen as an ethical business in the mind of its customers? comes in. I might be a bit prejudiced in my judgement and answer to this question as I have been a big fan of McDonalds right from childhood. Consequently, I have employed other sources to aid my unbiased and objective analysis of this. Over the years, there have been a lot of cases and reports presenting McDonalds as an unethical business. The question here is; how true are all these allegations which are laid against this company? Are there other perspectives as to its credibility as an ethical business and what are preferable suggestions as to how McDonald can be more ethical, if indeed they are currently considered unethical in the minds of the consumers? All these are going to be analysed in my essay bringing to the limelight both sides of the coin and critically analysing various prominent case studies such as; The McDonalds Beef Fries Controversy, and McDonalds Happy Meal Challenge. With all this in mind, conclusions as to whether McDonalds has been an ethical business will be made and preferable suggestions given as to how to boost their image. McDonalds has to portray a good image to its customers and its employees; by offering a good quality of food. This essay aims to investigate the achievement of McDonald as an ethical business over the years as well as its loyalty lies i.e., its profit or the well-being of the community and the environment at large. The problem is that on various accounts, allegations have been laid against McDonalds as an unethical business. Many ethical issues are subjective and are difficult to enforce and easy to neglect that is why I have come up with the title of Has McDonalds PLC achieved its objective of being seen as an ethical business in the mind of its customers? Investigation With regards these allegations passed on McDonalds as to not achieving the standard as an ethical business, a primary research was conducted in the form if a questionaire This was done to find out peoples opinion on this subject matter i.e; whether they think they are ethical or not. I chose a stratified sample of public, because it makes the sample more representative of the whole group. The sample is divided into segments. I therefore chose a sample of 20 people aged from 17 and plus and all of them went to different locations in the world. The questionnaire was launched on Survey Monkey (Darrell, 2012), so that everybody could fill it, and I will make the results more general. As secondary research I looked at the McDonalds Sustainability scorecard and for the year 2010 and 2011 (refer appendix 1), to look at the goals that McDonalds has set to meet in terms of ethics. These goals could be included in the questionnaire for the customers to counter or to confirm their affirmation of being ethical. I also looked for different articles and point of view about McDonalds ethics which will be used to counter McDonalds opinion about its ethics. They are: Analysis of The McDonalds Beef Fries Controversy and the McDonalds Happy Meal Challenge. Body What is Ethics? The ethics of a business depends upon the values of its employees. The ethical stance of a business is likely to be determined by the values of senior managers, directors and other important stakeholders. It will also be influenced by codes of conduct which may operate in the industry. The term ethical is used to refer to businesses which explicitly recognise the importance of social responsibility and the need to consider its actions upon stakeholders. This has led to the rise of stakeholder concept. Some businesses now take into account the needs of employees, customers, suppliers and the local community as well as shareholders when making important business decisions. The benefits of this approach might include the following: If the needs of the McDonalds employees are taken into account which is usually a higher salary they may be more motivated, more productive, more loyal, more flexible and less likely to leave. However if McDonalds chooses to focus too much on shareholder needs might find it difficult to recruit high quality staff. If businesses have a higher regard for the local community they might win their support. For example, if the local community is consulted when expansions plans are announced, there may be less resistance to the construction of new buildings. Having their regard for the local community is also likely to improve the image of the company. In this case, McDonalds could consult the local communities about the food they serve and their origin, this will make less protestations and this will give McDonalds the image of an ethical business. If the needs of customers are satisfied more effectively there is likely to be an increase in business. For example, if McDonalds deal with complaints in a friendly and supportive manner, customers are more likely to return and spread the good word. One way of considering the impact of businesses upon society is to view all the groups affected by the behaviour of a business as a stakeholders. The stakeholders in the case of McDonalds are likely to include customers, employees, shareholders, suppliers, government and local communities. The following lines of my extended essay will mainly be the comparison and the analysis of some information collected from McDonalds which obviously would described itself to be an ethical against some articles found on the internet which contradicts the version of McDonalds of being ethical. While a business is considering its stakeholders, a problem could possible arise which is the ethical dilemma. Ethical dilemma is the moral decisions  that  have to be made when choices are equally unfavourable.  With McDonalds being so popular, they have to meet the demand of their patrons, but at the same time, think of ways to make more sales, cut costs, and basically maximize the profits of the firms.  During these processes, they face many ethical dilemmas concerning their consumers and competitors. Many Fast food restaurants serve foods that are unhealthy to a high fat content which is detrimental to the health of its loyal consumers. They are basic decisions that these fast-food restaurants like McDonalds have to make with regards to serving healthy food. Should they increase the cost of food served and provide healthy meals or serve deep-fries that can cause health hazards in the long run. Most fast-food restaurants tend to imitate menus of their competitors. For example, McDonalds started selling twisters also known as curly fries which was originally a product of AW. This food was very high in price at the expense of the consumers as it was unhealthy. This is unethical and these outlets should invest into Research and Development of new foods which would have the health of their consumers at heart rather than copying their competitors and exploiting their customers (Anon. 2008). In some cases, these Fast-food outlets tend to cut down the portions of food served. Many of McDonalds customers have noticed that the burgers are smaller (Anon,2008). Thus they are not satisfied after eating the food. The company increase the price of the food in order to meet the demands of the consumers. This will then make the consumers buy more in order to be satisfied. At this point, there is a question that comes in; Should McDonalds reduce the amount of food served at the same price in order to maintain their reputation of being honest or to increase the price to maintain their net profit and destroy the reputation as an unethical business? In order for these fast-food restaurants to be ethical, the decisions made could either be detrimental to them in terms of their profit margin although it would be to the benefit of the consumers. In this capitalist economy nowadays, which fast-food outlet is ready to suffer at the expense of their consumers? Organisational Structure of McDonalds To be able to answer if McDonalds is an ethical company in the mind of its customers I am going to look at the organisations structure of McDonalds. McDonalds Corporation franchises and operates McDonalds restaurants in the global restaurant industry. These restaurants serve menu at various price points providing value in 119 countries globally. This is due to the difference in currencies and of the consumer wealth due to the different GDP per capita of these countries as well as the varying exchange rate system. All restaurants are operated either by the Company or by franchisees, including conventional franchisees under franchise arrangements, and developmental licensees and foreign affiliated markets under license agreements (Anon, Unknown). McDonalds has a centralized organisational structure. It means that the decision making and the authority are in the hands of few persons in the McDonalds head office. The franchises around the world are dictated how to order, cook and prepare all the food from McDonalds headquarters. The headquarters also make decisions on the price at which the products have to be sold (Anon, 2012). Referring to their Global Sustainability Scorecard in the appendix 1, McDonalds claims to be an ethical business by giving back to the community and the environment by working with schools and local organisations, and by showing how it has improve his food and how it improved the working conditions at McDonalds. According to their scorecard, in the countries they operate they have been able to raise $ 170 million from all the countries through the McHappy Day (McDonald Corp. 2011) and $27 million from customer donations. I can actually say that McDonalds undertakes some actions for its community, but it does not actually say what they plan to do with the money they have raised and the reason why they raised money. McDonalds is undertaking actions to give itself an ethical image but it still uses the customers to collect funds instead of using a part of the huge profits it makes. However, it has included fruits and vegetables in its menu in their restaurants in North and South America and West Europe. This could probably mean that they are conscious that their food is healthy enough for their customers. But McDonalds could appear more ethical in the mind of its worldwide customers if it expands the new menu into the others restaurants in the world, since McDonalds has been accused by health campaigners in America and Europe of helping to cause an obesity epidemic. Case Studies on McDonalds as an unethical business as well as Counterclaims by the company as being ethical. While researching on the McDonalds ethics an article called McDonalds Beef Fries Controversy (Anon. 2002) was found where McDonalds was sued by Hindu activists in India because of the French fries that were falsely promoted to be 100% vegetarian, while there was some beef flavouring in it. This case could be classified as unethical, because McDonalds does not respect the religious values of Hindus, thus its social responsibility towards it customers is eluded. Social responsibility is the duty that a business owes those who are directly or indirectly affected by its activities. McDonalds headquarter makes most of decisions and the franchises follow the orders from the headquarters. This could lead to a problem as there might be bureaucracy and these franchises might not be honest. This affects the image of McDonald, since there is no control of what is being done in the others restaurant. Disadvantages such due to lack of centralised organisational structure could arise as there is no control of the subsidiaries. Thus, franchises have no power to make decisions without consulting the managers due to bureaucracy. McDonalds mission is to be the favourite family restaurant and it believes that this involves protecting the environment at a local and global level. McDonald strives to ensure that its operations today do not have a negative impact on the lives of the future generations. McDonalds goal is to achieve continuous environmental improvement so it complies with all current legislation and where possible, acts in anticipation of future environmental legislation McDonalds bases its environmental program around the hierarchy of Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle and are committed to continuous review, evaluation and improvement of its program. This includes targets and monitoring and reporting on progress towards meeting them. McDonalds business impacts on the environment through: -Sourcing agricultural products and other materials to serve and build its restaurants -The operation of its restaurants and administrative functions. McDonalds aim to address these impacts by: -Improving energy efficiency -Minimise impacts associated with odours, noise. Previously, there were most famous environmental issue. It was suggested that McDonalds had destroyed hundreds of acres of Brazilian rainforest to make way for large-scale cattle ranching. This not only removes a valuable natural resource, but also has an impact on global warming, as the rainforest is an essential mechanism for the absorption of Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere. McDonalds also annually produces over a million tons of packaging used for just a few minutes before being discarded. Traditionally a number of ozone depleting gasses were used in polystyrene foam packaging. In the 21st century, McDonalds uses almost all recycled packaging. However, the company still faces criticism due to the amount of waste it produces. Each of McDonalds US restaurants produces 238 pounds of waste per day and each of its U.S. regional distribution centres disposes of another 900 pounds of waste per day'(Kevin Thompson. 2006). This is not only expensive to dispose of, but also difficult when considering that similar quantities of waste are being produced around the world. Aside from the pollution from factories where the food is produced, the unusable waste from nearly all the food they sell, and the massive amounts of power and energy that are required to keep all branches up and running, this corporation is destroying natural rain forests. McDonalds like to purchase their meat from privatised farms, which is not a problem in itself. The conflicts arise when these privatised farmlands are built on the land where a lush rainforest once resided. So not only is McDonalds polluting the air, but they are destroying a large part of what would help to keep clean it out. McDonalds has also been accused for internal ethical issues related to the working conditions and treatment of employees. McDonalds employs over 1 and a half million people worldwide, over half of them are under 21 years old. McDonalds has adopted age differentials between adult and younger workers, meaning that they pay most of their employees less than the normal adult minimum wage. For example, McDonalds pays some 16-year olds as little as $6.80 an hour. McDonalds employees also experience poor working conditions with discrimination, illegal working hours, and poor safety conditions (Kevin Thompson.2006). There is little that can be done about this due to the absence of trade unions, within McDonalds, to represent staff. If Milton Freemans theory of stakeholders is adopted, the needs and expectations of staff are just as important as those of customers. McDonalds employees are frequently underpaid for the amount of time that they work which often extends into illegal amounts of labour hours. The farmers from which they get their food are also generally underpaid for the amount of produce and meat which they sell to the corporation, particularly considering the cost that many of these farms have regarding the environment and health of the workers, therefore the buyer power of McDonalds constraints. Over the past 30 years McDonald has been mainly criticised over one thing: its food which is claimed to contribute to the increased-level of obesity in US and in the other developed countries. 1 in 5 adults are dangerously overweighting in the UK, while it was reported that 300,000 deaths a year in the U.S related to obesity. McDonalds has also been criticised for exploiting children with advertising, with the Happy Meals where there are toys, as well as colourful advertising campaigns and promotions in schools. The unhealthy diet of many children is contributed with these marketing tactics. Results analysis I observed that most people dont have a concise idea of what an ethical business is, thus 60% of them as shown in Fig 1 see it as unethical because they think that the food is unhealthy as it has too much fatty and oily food served and healthy food like salad are not served. The chart in Fig 2 follows up this analysis, as 50 % of people who answered this questionnaire think there are now more fruits an vegetable and the other 50% think otherwise. Results from here show that many people think that McDonald has not made a big effort to make the foods healthy as they only focus on the profit rather than the health of their customers. On the other hand, 75% of the respondents agree that, McDonalds sells food that come from sure suppliers. This is because they have read about this information in the different outlets they have been to. The other 25% think the opposite because they have seen unfit items like; human hair in fries, among others which has made them unhappy and discontent. Being more specific, I have noted that people have differents point of view on the environmental aspects of McDonalds restaurants. Looking at the diagram above, 75% of people think that most McDonalds restaurants are not ecological, because of the amount of energy that is used for the lightning, the heating, and for the different machines that are used in the food processing. They believe that they do not recycle the paper used to serve take-away food. This 75% account for people who visited McDonalds restaurants in Europe. With this questionaire, the opinions of various people where taken into consideration. However, there might have been some bias in judgement as people might like other fast-food restaurants like :Pizza Hut, Burger King, SubWay. This could have in one way affected the response given to qestions in the questionnaire. On the other hand, people given this quesstionqire might not have bee knowlegable enough as regsrd the definition and the hidden aspects of ethics. This could have led to misjudgement of Mc.Donalds as an ethical buisness. In addition, people who responded to the questionnaire have visited different oultets of Mc.Donalds, this would greatly influence their judgemnet as McDonlads is a franchise .Thus different standards might exist as they are managed by different individuals. The McDonalds in America might be different from that in theU.K , although they sell the same type of food, the managerial structure is not necessarily the sam as it is a franchise. Conclusion Looking at the analysis, made and the results gotten from the questionnaire, it can be assumed that McDonalds has failed to achieve its objective of being seen as an ethical business in the minds of its customers. Resources from the internet, journals and questionnaire have helped in examination of this question and conclusion. Articles such as ; Analysis of The McDonalds Beef Fries Controversy have shown that MacDonalds is an unethical business. In this article, McDonalds falsely marketed its fries made with beef flavouring to its Hindu customers without letting them know about the presence of beef seeing as they are vegetarians. Although, McDonalds pays their workers according to age, this often discriminatory as the duties in this outfit is not necessarily assigned according to age. This practice goes against the concept of an ideal ethical business. Through this analysis made in this essay, there is another question that could arise, which will to a deeper discussion and consistent thinking about business of nowadays, should be more carry about their stakeholders, or they should be thinking of making more profits. Recommendation Marketing Strategy Marketing Strategy could be defined as an  organizations  strategy  that combines all of its  marketing  goals  into one  comprehensive  plan. A good marketing strategy should be drawn from  market research  and focus on the right  product mix  in order to  achieve  the maximum  profit potential  and sustain the  business. The marketing strategy is the  foundation  of a  marketing plan (Anon. 2012). While investigating we found out that McDonalds have claimed to make some changes which were not known by the customers because it has not been advertised, thus customers have kept seeing McDonalds as an unhealthy and unethical business. On this point we could recommend to McDonalds show to its customers that it has improved his menu for example. To be more efficient they should also undertake questionnaires to customers to find out what they think about them. Organisational structure Most McDonalds restaurants are franchisees and from my investigation we found that it is problem in terms of communication. When the head quarter emits new ideas or new strategy, franchisees might not apply the idea of McDonalds headquarters; therefore the franchises could give an unethical image to the customers which are probably not the aim of the head quarter. So what McDonalds could do it to ask for report from the different McDonalds restaurants in other countries of the different changes they could have decided to do. This will help McDonalds to be more concerned and involved in what is happening in these other outlets around than world. Bibliography Anon. (Unknown).  McDonalds Corp. Full description.  Available: http://in.reuters.com/finance/stocks/companyProfile?symbol=MCD. Last accessed 31/10/12. Anon. (2002).  The McDonalds Beef Fries Controversy. Available on: http://www.icmrindia.org/casestudies/catalogue/Business%20Ethics/McDonald%20Beef%20Fries%20Controversy.htm. Last accessed 03/12/12. Anon. (2006).  Write a brief history of Mc Donalds .  Available: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20061127061917AAo0yoo. Last accessed 04/12/12. Anon. (2006).  Who controls the decision making process in a franchise?.  Available: http://nz.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100325003603AAz89CY. Last accessed 04/12/12. Anon. (2008).  The Ethical Dilemmas of Fast Food Industries.  Available: http://www.darkztar.com/forum/showthread.php?52669-The-ethical-dilemmas-of-fast-food-industries. Last accessed 28/11/2012. Anon/2011/ 2011 McDonalds Global Sustainability Scorecard/Poster/ Available from:/ http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/sustainability/2011_sustainability_scorecard.html/ 14/08/2012 Anon. (2012).  Our annual ranking of Americas largest corporations.  Available: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2012/snapshots/2262.html. Last accessed 04/12/12 Darrell Passigue. 2012.  Questionnaire.  Available: http://fr.surveymonkey.com/MySurvey_EditorFull.aspx?sm=lfUVEfNQzdOk5wMYi2Y5467mI8nrZsagIwRrzTGL_2B2o_3D_0A. Last accessed 04/12/2012. Dave Hall, Rob Jones,CarloRaffo. (2004). Business Organisations in the Private Sector. In: Ian Chambers and Dave Gray  Business Studies. p50. Kevin Thompson. (2006).  Ethical Criticism of McDonalds.  Available: http://voices.yahoo.com/ethical-criticism-mcdonalds-147813.html?cat=3. Last accessed 04/12/12. Mark S. Putnam. (2002).  Ethical Values for Business Success.  Available: http://www.globalethicsuniversity.com/articles/valuesforsuccess.htm. Last accessed 21 Nov. 2012. Marketing strategy definition.  Available: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/marketing-strategy.html. Last accessed 02/12/2012.

Directing a Scene from Act 3 of the The Crucible by Arthur Miller :: Essay on The Crucible

I will be directing a scene from Act 3, of the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller. The Crucible - Hello, my name is ...................................., and today I will be directing a scene from Act 3, of the play 'The Crucible' by Arthur Miller. Act 3 is probably the most interesting and important acts of the play, and I'm looking forward to writing it in the way I perceive it. The scene I've chosen is from when the girls enter the court room, to when Proctor says he beleives Abigail a murderer. I feel this scene is full of tension, and many different twists which will make it fun to plan and direct. The scene starts with Cheever entering the court with Sussanna Walcott, Mercy Lewis, Betty Parris and Abigail Williams. They are wearing dark grey dresses, slightly worn, with white aprons and hats. This is to show how Puritan ways were, as they beleived in wearing dull colurs to show their loyalty to God, and to show that they will not 'party' as they did not like anything 'out of the ordinary' and didn't even celebrate Christmas. The girls look solemn, and look very much like 'children'. They will walk in with slight puzzlement on their faces to show they do not know why they have been summoned, but Abigails face will twitch slightly when she sees Proctor. Abigail loves Proctor, and wonders why he is here. She had once said to him 'John - I am waitin' for you every night' meaning she desires him, and wishes him no harm. The first line is said by Cheever. 'Ruth Putnam's not in the court, sir, nor the other children' he says as he wzlks up to Danforth, leaving the girls behind him. He doesn't want to be near the girls,as everyone, including him, fear them. They have power, and can accuse him of being involved in witchcraft if he does anything they do not like. Danforth then walks up to them, and instructs them to 'sit you down children.' He has a sense of authority in his voice and says 'children' because they are very precious and pure to him, but as we've seen in Act 1, Abigail is not a child. She resents it when people call her that, especially Proctor, and replies 'how do you call me a child' showing her anger and frustration of the label. However, Abigail will sit down as commanded and will not flinch because Danforth is of high superior, and holds her life in his hands. The girls sit on the left side of the room, furthest from the door, so

Crime decreases; student population increases in Mission Hill over the past decade :: Journalism Journalistic Essays

Crime decreases; student population increases in Mission Hill over the past decade "When I first started here, the area was so bad, that we had patrolling guard dogs. Now, the crime has gone down so much, and the neighborhood has become a better place," said Dave Welch, a 30-year resident of Mission Hill, member of the Mission Hill Crime Committee, and head of security for the New England Baptist Hospital, located on top of the neighborhood known as Mission Hill. Mission Hill is located in Roxbury, a part of Boston, and has been known in the past to have a bad reputation of being a tough area of crime and poverty. Many residents believe that the neighborhood's name was tainted after the murder of Carol Stuart in 1989. Her husband was found as the killer, but the media attention of the homicide brought negative connotations to the neighborhood, according to Mary Todd, a member of the Mission Hill Crime Committee and life long resident of Boston. "The Stuart murder a while back made the city focus on Mission Hill as an area that was overridden with crime, but they came from somewhere else to here. They weren't from here," says Todd. All crime in the neighborhood of Mission Hill has decreased over the past decade according to the analysis of 10 years worth of crime statistic reports from the Boston Police Department. The entire city is divided into 12 districts, and Mission Hill is part District B-2. Also included in District B-2 are parts of Fenway and parts of Roxbury. "Mission Hill is part of District B-2, the statistics are representative of that area, as well as others in the Fenway and parts of Roxbury. You can't use the data as strictly representative of Mission Hill, but it gives you a good reference," said Detective Barbara Bowie. Both property crime, and violent crime, which this article is focused on, has decreased in District B-2, of which Mission Hill is a part of, by 40% over the past decade. The greatest decline was in aggravated assault, a 67% change from 1993 through 2002. "Six or seven years ago, it was kind of bad," said Abi Panicker, a bartender at Pat Flanagan's, located at the foot of Mission Hill. "The biggest fight I have ever seen here was about two years ago. There were 30 people that spilled outside and across the T tracks.

Too Close For Comfort :: essays research papers

Too Close For Comfort   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In this case study, the ethical dilemma is â€Å"individual versus community.† Debra Borchert is bothered by Jerry who is a developmentally delayed. He is following her and bumping into her and making her feel uncomfortable. Debra’s difficult decision is whether or not to tell the manager Jerry is bothering her, risking getting him fired, and also risking the store not hiring anymore mentally challenged kids. Jerry also might not get hired anywhere else; the job at the grocery store was a good one for him. Debra’s brothers were very similar to Jerry, and she wished they could be able to have jobs just like Jerry so that is another reason why she didn’t want to complain. On the other hand it would be a good idea to tell the manager something because she feels uncomfortable, and she should think about herself before being concerned with what is going to happen to Jerry.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  An example in the case study where Debra feels like she wants to tell the manager that she is bothered by Jerry is when he is following her, stepping on her foot in line, and bumping in to her. She knows he is challenged and probably doesn’t mean any harm, but she feels she has no choice but to say something.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another example of when she feels like she should tell the manager is later on the case study when she feels like Jerry forgot about her; however he comes over from a different register just to help her with her bags. To keep away from him she used the cart as a border so she had something between her and him.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On the other hand, as an example of why she thought she shouldn’t complain is because as I said before in the thesis statement. She doesn’t want to make the mistake of ruining other developmentally challenged kids chances of getting jobs. She feels that she should probably just put up with it and go on with her life. Especially because her brother has a very similar disease.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In conclusion to my thoughts on this case study, I think that Debra choosing not to say anything was a good idea. I think she did the right thing by just trying to avoid Jerry because getting him in trouble would only make it worse for him and her.

Alzheimer’s Disease Research Paper Essay

Abstract: Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia in elderly individuals. Currently, 4.5 million people in the United States approximately have Alzheimer’s disease. (Burns) Alzheimer’s disease presents the victim with a sharp decline in memory, language, visuospatial perception, executive functioning and decision-making. Because this disease is so harsh on people’s personality, behavioral and psychiatric symptoms are frequently present in Alzheimer’s disease. The impact Alzheimer’s disease has on health care is significant and estimated to cost $100 billion dollars per year and predicted to rise as it is a demand to find new medication and the number of Alzheimer’s disease individual rise. (Burns) There is medication available, however there is currently no cure, the medications that are given have symptoms that do not alter the negative progression of the disease. Alzheimer’s disease is defined as progressive, degenerative disorder that attacks the brain’s nerve cells and neurons resulting in a loss of memory, thinking, language skills, and behavioral changes. (Burns) Alzheimer’s disease is characterized by cognitive dysfunction, psychiatric symptoms, behavioral disturbances, and difficulty performing daily activities. Alzheimer’s disease is currently the 6th leading cause of death in the United States and presently 4.5 million Americans are living with it. Alzheimer’s disease is the leading cause of dementia in elder individuals. (Burns) Even though there is no cure for Alzheimer’s disease, the health care costs are extremely high, being just over 100 billion dollars per year. The hopefulness of the development of a cure or new therapies becomes more desperate every year for new advances in the future. (Burns) The symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease in every individual vary; the disease can be extremely severe and other times slightly mild. Because Alzheimer’s disease is progressive it advances as time goes on, it starts off as the individual becomes forgetful and looses a small amount of memory and continues to severe dementia and loosing memory completely. The cognitive dysfunction of a person with Alzheimer’s disease includes memory loss, language difficulties, and executive dysfunction, which consists of a loss of higher level planning and intellectual coordination skills. (Burns) The psychiatric symptoms and behavioral disturbances can be anything from depression and agitation to hallucinations. The psychiatric symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease can also be collectively termed as non-cognitive symptoms. (Burns) The general symptoms of memory loss is always the first symptom of a majority of the cases of Alzheimer’s disease. The gradual onset of memory loss has the same symptoms as normal aging, because ageing shows symptoms of some dementia as well, this can understandably become confusing to diagnose, and however Alzheimer’s disease is not a normal part of aging. (Burns) The onset of Alzheimer’s disease is sly and emerges with a mild loss of memory and continues on with difficulty in finding the right word to go along with sentences. A diagnoses occurs only when the symptoms interfere significantly with everyday life such as social and work functions. Personal and emotional changes within the individual are very common for people who have Alzheimer’s disease. Major depressive disorder occurs in 20-35% of cases, while anxiety reaches 15-25% of people who have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. (Burns) Every 67 seconds someone in the United States develops Alzheimer’s disease. Women seem to get his the hardest with this disease. In a women’s 60’s, the estimated risk for developing Alzheimer’s is 1 in 6 and two thirds of Americans with Alzheimer’s disease are women. (Burns) Not only are women more likely to have Alzheimer’s, women are also more likely to be caregivers of those with Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s disease leads to nerve cell death and tissue loss throughout the brain. Over time, the brain shrinks dramatically because of this, affecting nearly all of its functions, especially the memory. The cortex of the brain  shrivels up and damages areas involved in thinking, planning, and remembering. (Fackelmann) Shrinkage is especially threatening in the hippocampus, which is the area that forms new memories. The ventricles, which are the fluid-filled spaces within the brain, grow larger to fill in the places that have shriveled up. The tissue within an Alzheimer’s patient has fewer nerve cells and synapses than a healthy brain. Nerve cells and synapses are what carry messages throughout the brain they are crucial to the biological computations that make up perception and thought. The dead nerve cells contain tangles, which are made up of twisted strands of another protein. The small clumps can clock the synapse and can activate the immune system to trigger inflammation. (Fackelmann) The plaques and tangles spread throughout the cortex in a predictable pattern as Alzheimer’s disease progresses. The rate of the progression of the tangles and plaques within the brain varies significantly. (Fackelmann) People with Alzheimer’s disease live an average of 8 years, but some individuals can survive up to 20 years. In a severely advanced Alzheimer’s disease most of the cortex is severely damaged. (Fackelmann) This is where the brain had shrunk dramatically because of widespread cell death. In this stage, individuals lose their ability to communicate, recognize their family and loved ones, and to care for themselves in their daily activities. The cause of Alzheimer’s disease is unknown, however researchers have linked several risk factors with Alzheimer’s disease such as an increasing age, family history, head injury (anti-inflammatory drugs have been associated as a reduction of risk), depression, hypertension, high cholesterol, low physical and cognitive activity, diabetes, diseases that cause mutations of chromosomes 1, 14, and 21, ApoE genotype, and individuals diagnosed with down syndrome eventually develops the neurological symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. (Fackelmann) The genetic contribution to Alzheimer’s disease is a risk. The risk for the first degree of relatives of people with the disease is estimated at 10-40% higher than unrelated people. (Whalley) The fact that monozygotic twins (twins who share 100% of their genetic material) have a higher concordance rate than dizygotic twins indicates that there is a significant genetic  component to Alzheimer’s disease. (Whalley) Because of the risks stated above, researches suggest that environmental factors are also a contribution to the diagnoses of Alzheimer’s disease. Environmental factors is confirmed by the fact that the strongest association is not true across all races; 50% of white patients with Alzheimer’s disease do not carry an e4 allele (ApoE genotype), which is a significant risk in getting Alzheimer’s disease. (Whalley) The cure for Alzheimer’s disease is uncertain and is mainly focused on therapeutic treatments that help some dementia and other symptoms associated with it. For clinical reasons, non-drug interventions should be used initially, especially if the symptoms are not causing stress or placing the individual at risk to themselves or to others. If non-drug remedial interventions have no effect, cholinesterase inhibitors are the conventional drug treatment of choice for Alzheimer’s disease. Cholinesterase inhibitors have a moderate beneficial symptoms associated with the drug. The drug modifies symptoms in the minority of people with Alzheimer’s disease because it is nicely tolerated in the majority of individuals. Memantine is a drug that is a glutamatergic antagonist that trials have found effective in individuals that have severe dementia, however it is restricted to those in clinical trials. Cholinesterare inhibitors and memantine are known to produce little identifiable improvements in the activities of daily life. Non-drug approaches are not effective in helping memory loss, even though there are therapeutic techniques that help retain memory and can offer support for people with mild dementia. Sources Burns, A. Alzheimer’s Disease. British Medical Journal, 338, 467-471. Retrieved June 2, 2014 Fackelmann, K. Forcasting Alzheimer’s Disease. Science News, 149, 312-313. Retrieved June 2, 2014 Whalley, L. Genetics of Alzheimer’s Disease. British Medical Journal (clinical research edition), 1556. Retrieved June 2, 2014

Does Gatsby love Daisy Essay

Does Gatsby love Daisy or the aura of wealth that she owns? The Great Gatsby is F. Scott Fitzgerald’s masterpiece about various themes such as class, love and wealth. One of the themes highlighted is romantic affair between two main characters: Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan. Gatsby is clearly obsessed with Daisy, however, it is doubtful that those strong feeling is a proof of love. This essay advocates that Gatsby does not love Daisy but the wealth she symbolizes. Firstly, wealth is the origin of Gatsby’s obsession with Daisy. Gatsby believes he is â€Å"the son of God† (Fitzgerald 105) and struggles to civilize himself into a wealthy man. When he is a poor soldier, he meets Daisy, â€Å"the first ‘nice’ girl† he has never met (Fitzgerald 158). Throughout the story, it is found that she is ‘nice’ because she is â€Å"the golden girl† with the voice â€Å"full of money† (Fitzgerald 128). Gatsby equates Daisy with luxurious things around her (1) and â€Å"[is] overwhelmingly aware of the youth and mystery that wealth imprisons and preserves, of the freshness of many clothes and of Daisy, gleaming like silver, safe and proud above the hot struggles of the poor† (Fitzgerald 160). He is attracted by her beauty but that beauty is also a gift of richness. From the beginning, the trigger of his love for Daisy is merely his worship of Daisy’s wealthy life. Moreover, Gatsby nurtures Daisy’s love for him by showering it only with his wealth and success. He throws lots of big parties to attract Daisy’s attention. Additionally, after five years being separated from Daisy, what Gatsby worries about when he meets her is not whether she misses him but whether his mansion looks well and the first place he wants her to visit is his splendid house (2). He keeps showing off his belongings and asking Daisy to check whether she is impressed. When â€Å"he [revalues] everything in his house according to the measure of response it [draws] from her well-loved eyes† (Fitzgerald 98), it is clear that Daisy’s recognition of his achievements concerns him the most and Gatsby overestimates the importance of material passion in his relationship with Daisy. In the end of the story, when Gatsby is willing to scarify his life-work and fame to save Daisy from being a murderer, this event is argued to be an evidence of love. However, as he desires her in the same way he is in pursuit of the glory of success and Daisy is only a supreme object helping him to strengthen his achievements, the act of protecting her is merely to protect the thing he longs for in his whole life. To conclude, passion Gatsby has with Daisy  cannot be called love. His emotional obsession with her results from his mental obsession with material life. Besides, in Gatsby’s belief, Daisy’s love is kept in existence by his giant property and what he does is just feed this love with money. Works Cited Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. Ebook.

Psychology as a Science Essay

According to Russell & Jarvis(2003: 469) â€Å"the word ‘science’ comes from the Latin word ‘scire’, meaning ‘to know'†; thus it is the knowledge of specific study. Psychology was defined by Atkinson et al. (2000: 3, cited by Mestre. et al. 2002: 811) as the â€Å"scientific study of behaviour and mental processes†. Psychology has been universally recognised as a science since the late 1800’s when James (1890, cited by Gross 1999: 3) stated that ‘Psychology is the Science of Mental Life†. Though many praise the study of psychology for it’s findings and achievements there will always be those who are sceptical of these findings and whether or not they can be seen as ‘solid’. Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920) is widely seen as the ‘founding father’ of ‘new psychology’, in which we mean psychology as a separate scientific discipline, rather than it had been previously; a part of philosophy. Wundt created ‘structuralism’, this is the study of the mind by breaking all chains of thought down in to such things as images, feelings and sensations, for example, if one were to think of chocolate, one may picture the bar, have a feeling of desire for the bar which may produce the sensation of hunger. By studying the conscious mind using introspection he would record the results of his studies, these would be performed under controlled conditions, by which we mean no outside interferences or influences. However, his methods were heavily criticised as it only studied conscious processes, he was also very select in whom he selected for these tests, children and the mentally disturbed for example, were not considered for his studies as he believed they could not use introspection to a successful degree. Thus, introspection cannot be considered a scientific study as it does not aim to discover the mental processes for all humans; it does not allow for generalisation as not all possible subjects have been tested. There are many arguments for and against psychology as a science, let us focus on the arguments for psychology first. Classical and operant conditioning are still widely used on various different subjects, classical (or ‘Pavlovian’) conditioning is the method of teaching a response when a conditional stimulus is in place, for example the study of Pavlov’s dog – the dog was trained to salivate at the sound of a bell, this study was performed under lab conditions and therefore in a controlled environment in which and influences could be eradicated, this was fully testable and as proposed by Popper(1969, cited by Russell & Jarvis 2003: 469) â€Å"a theory or hypothesis needs to be fully testable to be scientific†. This method of conditioning is used in every day society, for example, though when young, one is never told that during ‘play time’ if a teacher or someone of authority blows a whistle one is meant immediately to stop what he or she is doing, it is a natural reaction to pay attention to the person whom commanded the attention and, in a case of a teacher/student situation, follow their instructions. Operant conditioning also follows the proposal that Popper suggested as it is used every day, when teaching an animal or human, whether they be an adult or a child. For example, operant conditioning is used when teaching a pet a new trick such as sitting down or shaking hands, the pet is initially guided in what it is supposed to do by it’s owner, then treated after the act as been performed, over time the pet will ‘learn’ that if it obeys the command of â€Å"sit† then it will be rewarded, though it is no longer necessary to reward the animal after every completion of the command, instead rewarding it every now and then. This was also found in Skinner’s box, in which the rat learnt to press a lever in order to receive a food pellet, psychologists would therefore argue that both of these methods of conditioning are considered objective studies which provide clear findings. Popper also argued that in order for a hypothesis or theory to be considered scientific it must be falsifiable, in practise this means that for the study to be valid there must also be subjects which prove the study to be false. For example, to say that â€Å"all lions are mammals† would not be falsifiable, as it would be impossible to conduct the amount of study necessary to disprove this theory, however, to say â€Å"all lions have yellow fur†, it would only be necessary to find one lion with brown fur in order to prove this falsifiable, Popper(1959, cited by Hill 2009: 19) argued that â€Å"science advances through refutation rather than support†. Psychology, namely the biological approach, has been helped through the advancements in technology, for example, now it is possible to use medical equipments to see the functions of the brain via electrical pulses, though obviously this does not give us an image of what someone is thinking it does provide us with information as to which different triggers the varying reactions which until recently we have not been able to understand, obviously, this provides us with clear findings. Until the 1950s, Behaviourism dominated psychological experimentation as psychologists such as John Watson believed that only observable behaviour should be investigated if psychology wished to be considered an objective science. Thus, though psychology may not have directly effected the advances in technology the benefit it has seen from these advances are clear, it is now possible for psychologists to view the workings of the brain through the advances in other areas of science, therefore this can only inflate psychology’s status as a separate scientific discipline. Despite the arguments for psychology to be considered a science there are, of course, those that believe it should not. Those who are against the idea of psychology as a science believe there are many issues surrounding areas of psychology and the methods of investigation it carries out, one area of concern is that of sampling; random, stratified, opportunity, self-selecting/volunteer. The first in the above list, random sampling, is very rarely used, or at least it is very rare that it can be considered ‘true’; â€Å"true random sampling only occurs when every member of a target population has an equal chance of being selected† (Hill, 2009: 35), this is rarely the case as in a large target audience, in order for everyone to have an equal chance there would be a severe drain on the available resources so that the list could be compiled; many studies do not have the funding or resources available to them to waste on said list, so a truly random list of subjects is rarely achieved. Stratified sampling provides the same constraints on resources as random sampling; it is very time consuming and costly, this is due to the method that is used in order to perform stratified sampling – dividing the target population in to various subcategories then selecting members of these subcategories in to the proportion necessary to conduct the relevant research. Opportunity and self-selecting methods of sampling both provide problems in terms of bias, though from different perspectives. In terms of opportunity sampling not only does it give unrepresentative samples it is often biased on the part of the researcher, whom may pick people to take part in their study whom they believe will be more ‘helpful’ to his or her hypothesis.

Inclusion in education: a challenge to make rhetoric a reality Essay

During the last decade the efforts to provide a more equitable and all-embracing educational system aimed at meeting the needs of all children have mended their pace in the United Kingdom. The noble intention to ensure a more just societal environment which gives every growing person an opportunity to participate in full measure in all aspects of life of society has been a locomotive power behind most developments in the field of special education (Rose 2003, p.12). In particular, New Labour government has been actively promoting an agenda of inclusion and participation for pupils with special educational needs (SEN) in mainstream education (Atkinson et al. 2002, p. 4; Armstrong 2005, p. 135). This agenda of inclusion has not been limited to school placement but extends to the curriculum. Inclusion has been recognised by New Labour an important aspect of the call for high standards for all learners (Mittler 2000, p. 2). Although the process of steady development of the integration of children with physical and sensory disabilities from special to mainstream schools has been carried out in the UK since the early 1980s involving various spheres of social life and gaining extensive publicity, even to date for many lay observers of the educational context, the image of children in wheelchairs coming from the special school sector into the mainstream is what they imagine such integration to be (Corbett 2001, p. 16). Such interpretation of inclusion simplifies and emasculates its essence and purposes. At the same time, as Ainscow et al. (2006) so soundly remind us, the idea of inclusion cannot refer to just some students and not others. To be inclusive requires that society strives to identify and remove all barriers to learning for all children. This means that society must attend to increasing participation not just for disabled students but for all those experiencing disadvantage, whether this results from poverty, sexuality, minority ethnic status, or other characteristics assigned significance by the dominant culture in their society. To achieve this, as Booth and Ainscow (1998) argue, while working to understand inclusion society and responsible governmental bodies must give equal attention to understanding and removing the pressures for exclusion that exist within the cultures of both the schools and society. Thus, there is no surprising that recently policies of New Labour Government aimed at inclusive education have been subjected to sharp criticism as being superficial and inadequate to meet the real requirements of children with SEN (Corbett 2001, p. 39). In particular, Armstrong (2005, p. 149) argues that these policies â€Å"go no further than to redress the traditional deficit-driven discourse of special educational needs in the fashionable but illusionary language of inclusion†. Such criticism testifies that the issue of effectiveness of inclusion in education and in-depth substance of inclusive education is contentious and complicated one. The purpose of this study is to analyze the arguments by Armstrong and other critics of recent New Labour’s governmental policies, and to evaluate their relevance. Toward this end we will discuss existing legislative instruments and New Labour government’s initiatives on inclusive education, scrutinize the meaning of inclusion and its various interpretations, examine advantages and shortcomings of inclusive policies in force, and make the conclusion. A Concept of Inclusion in Education and Its Interpretations. Both among scholars and in society there are different views on what inclusion in education is, which suggest, as we mentioned above, that complex influences are at work in the development of this field (Armstrong 2005, p. 136). Some researchers view inclusive education as an ongoing development of special education (Farrell 2006, p. 24). Others believe that what is referred to as inclusion is, and should be, derived from mainstream approaches to instruction and school organization, creating an alternative to special education knowledge and practices (Skrtic 1995, p.194). From this latter perspective the idea of inclusion as a merger of special and regular education is seen as problematic because such an amalgamation appears likely to maintain a medical, curative model of education (which we will discuss in our study later) that excludes those labelled as children with SEN from the curriculum and from other experiences available to non-labelled students (Thomas & Loxley 2001, p.4). Mittler (2000, p. 2) in a very comprehensive manner defines inclusion in the field of education as the concept which involves: a process of reform and restructuring of the school as a whole, with the aim of ensuring that all pupils can have access to the whole range of educational and social opportunities offered by the school; [and which] [†¦ ] include the curriculum on offer, the assessment, recording and reporting of pupils’ achievements, the decisions that are taken on the grouping of pupils within schools or classrooms, pedagogy and classroom practice, sport and leisure and recreational opportunities. At the same time, application of the notion of inclusion to everything from school effectiveness to civil rights to political manifestos, which we witness recently, renders it vacuous and susceptible to those critiques which accuse it of masking inadequacies (Booth & Ainscow 1998). For example, Armstrong (2005, p. 136) admits that the statistics on academic achievements of children with SEN for the period, when New Labour government is in office actively promoting inclusion in every sphere of social life, do not demonstrate any â€Å"radical transformation of the social practices of inclusion/exclusion†. Besides, for the cynics, inclusive education means abandoning labelling and special resourcing for individual needs in order to cut costs in the name of equality. They emphatically ask the quality assurance questions of what it offers to enhance learning, how to measure its quality, and which strategies are selected as of proven value (Thomas & Vaughan 2004, p. 25). Addressing these types of questions is the current responsibility of any school which purports to be inclusive (Skrtic 1995, p. 206). The way in which inclusive education, or in its earlier incarnation – integration, has been researched over the last few years is an indicator of the political nature of research in any area in which ethical issues are paramount (Clough & Corbett 2000, p. 162). The shift of emphasis has been sequential albeit often complementary: from psychological and medical child-deficit models of integrating individual children; to a sociological critique of labelling and segregation; to inclusion being an integral element of school effectiveness; to a social model of disability, placing the onus on institutions to remove barriers which limit participation (Thomas & Loxley 2001). These tendencies demonstrate that inclusive education is an evolving and so to say ‘alive’ area influenced by prevailing educational trends, such as initiatives to reduce exclusions, and by the impact of external assessment measures and competition between schools (Clough & Corbett 2000, p. 152).