Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Is it possible to distinguish between science and pseudo-science Is Essay

Is it possible to distinguish between science and pseudo-science Is there a satisfactory criterion of demarcation which can be employed to make such a distinction - Essay Example Pseudoscience is any body of knowledge, methodology, belief, or practice that claims to be scientific or is made to appear scientific, but does not adhere to the basic requirements of the scientific method (Wikipedia). The word ‘pseudo’ implies that the science is fake or false just because there are problems with the testability criterion (Thompson, 1980). Pseudoscience is supposed to lack supporting evidence and plausibility (Goldstein, 2000). According to Muralidharan (n.d.) one is an experimented science and the other is an experienced science. Simanek (2005) emphasizes that the practitioners of all that is termed as ‘pseudoscience’ do not recognize the validity of this term. The boundaries of science and pseudoscience continue to be debated. With the help of a therapy in alternative medicine, namely Reiki, this paper will demonstrate that it is not possible to distinguish between science and pseudoscience. According to Lakatos (1970), the demarcation between science and pseudoscience is through inductivism. According to this theory only those propositions can be accepted into the body of science that describe hard facts or are inductive generalizations from them. An inductivist accepts a proposition only if it is proven true, otherwise he rejects it. If a proposition remains unproven, it is called pseudoscientific. He firmly states that science is based on hard factual propositions and inductive generalizations. The experiments of physics and chemistry are associated with this concept. The draw back here is that inductivism does not explain why certain facts rather than others were selected in the first place. How do the scientists get the inspiration to select a hypothesis? When a drop of water falls on our hand, the realization of hot or cold is an experience. Science merely explains the phenomenon of hot or cold but the heat and cold have existed even before the scientist made an a ttempt to study

Monday, October 28, 2019

Employee development (ED) Essay Example for Free

Employee development (ED) Essay The purpose of ED can be defined as developing human potential to assist organizations and individuals to achieve their objectives. (Redman Wilkinson, 2001 p.129). Since the impact of the globalization, the new positioning and competitive competences of the company will bring the HR department new challenges of finding effective career paths for their global employees. A study conducted by the Global Leadership Institute shows a positive relationship between the level of employee internationalization and the organizations Return on Assets. (Black et al, 1999, p1). Thats why according to Black an international assignment is the single most powerful experience in shaping the perspective and capabilities of effective global leadersA global assignment play important roles in succession planning and leadership development; in coordination and control; and in technology, innovation, and information exchange and dissemination. According to a survey by the National Foreign Trade Council, the number of Americans working overseas, jumped 30% in 1995. Of the 74 companies the NFTC polled, 71% said they expect this growth to continue. (Hayes et al, 1996) However, somewhere between 25and 40 per cent of foreign assignments fail in US transnationals. (Stonehouse et al, 2000,p.210). In fact, 20% to 48% of expatriates leave their companies within the first year of returning from an international assignment In a Business Horizons survey of 135 repatriated employees, only 39% felt their firm used their newly acquired skills; a meager 29% claimed that the assignments helped their careers. (Hayes et al, 1996). Such a failure is partly due to the mismatch between the organizational goals and personal goals, which is the main purpose of ED. Other reasons are: * Lack of training, this includes language and cross culture training. A recent survey conducted by Runzheimer International, found that only 42% of the 54 multinational companies polled had any formal training program for acculturating expatriates with their host country. (Hayes et al, 1996). * Family-related problems are perhaps the most important cause of failure amongst expatriates (Harvey, 1985). Such family problems include relating to the adaptation of both spouse and children to a new cultural and social environment. (Stonehouse et al, 2000,p.210) * Inadequate compensation (Stonehouse et al, 2000,p.210) * Feeling of loss of status resulting from working at the periphery. (Stonehouse et al, 2000,p.210) * Expatriates are often staying within the circle of the emigrant community, (Hayes et al, 1996) which reduces the chances to communicate with local culture and create a barrier between local people and them. * With international assignments becoming more commonplace, few companies are implying that there is any career advancement on the horizon for taking oneMany of the who have been on overseas assignments come back and move right back where they were (Hayes et al, 1996) Thus, make the employees think that their career path is stopped or blurred. In order to provide the employees a smooth international career development path, as well as to create an internationalized employees pool, organizations thus have to design a more systematic ED plan. This plan will include a clear definition of the international assignment, full training of the language and culture, effective expatriate policies, etc. For those MNCs with various employees come from different backgrounds, because of the culture impact, employees will have different views of career path. For example, in achievement-oriented corporation in western countries, young, promising managers are often sent on challenging assignment to faraway countries, whereas in ascribing cultures, older people, males, highly qualified persons are sent for those independent tasks or specific functions. (Trompenaars et al, 1998) Thus, organizations have to fully understand the career meaning to all of its employees and develop different career themes. References Stonehouse, G., Hamill, J., Campell, D., and Purdie,T., (2000) Global and transnational business: strategy and management, John WileySons, Ltd., UK Black, J.S., Gregersen, H., Mendenhall, M and Stroh,.L. (1999) The Strategic Role of Global Assignment, in Globalizing People Through International Assignments. London: Addison-Wesley. Pp. 1-31 Redman, T. and Wilkinson, A., (2001) Contemporary Human Resource Management, Prentice Hall Cassandra, H. (1996) The intrigue of international assignments in Black Enterprise, 26(10), pg. 98, NY Harvey, M.C. (1985) the executive family: an overlooked variable in international assignments, Columbia journal of world business, Spring. Tromenaars, F. and Turner, C.H (1998) Riding the waves of culture: understanding cultural diversity in business, Nicholas Brealey Publishing Ltd.,London

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Hospice in the United States Essay -- Hospice Terminal Illnesses Cance

Hospice in the United States Hospice is a concept of caring borrowed from medieval times, where travelers, pilgrims and the sick, wounded or dying could find rest and comfort. The contemporary hospice offers a program of care to patients and families facing a life threatening illness encompassing medical, nursing, spiritual, and psychological care. It is more than a medical alternative, it is an attitude toward death and the process of dying. Terminal disease is managed so patients can live comfortably until they die. The hospice program in the United States has evolved in part as an attempt to compensate for the inadequacies of the present medical system, particularly in caring for patients with a terminal illness. Hospice care has grown from an alternative health care movement to an established component of the American health care system. The modern hospice movement began in 1967 when Cicely Saunders opened St. Christopher's Hospice in London England. In the late 1960’s, several Yale University student s invited Dr. Saunders to come speak at Yale. These students were inspired to create a similar service in the United States. They opened the Connecticut Hospice in Branford, Connecticut and pioneered the hospice movement in the United States. This became the nation’s first specially designed hospice care center. What is Hospice care? In an attempt to answer, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a statement in 1990 about the philosophy and techniques of hospice care. A.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hospice affirms life and regards dying as a normal process. B.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hospice neither hastens nor postpones death. C.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hospice provides relief from pain and other distressing symptoms associated with dying. D.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hospice combines aspects of psychosocial and spiritual care. E  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hospice offers a support system to help patients live as actively as possible until death. F.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hospice offers a support system to help the family cope during the patient’s illness and during the bereavement process. We can see that the hospice concept is a bio-psychosocial approach to the dying process, concerned with biological, psychological, and social health. Because of its proponents, Hospice is considered a more humane and sensible approach to terminal illness, combining care, comfort, and support of family and friends as the individual faces death. Their concern for dignity and fo... ...age dementia: A national survey of hospice programs. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 43(1), 56-59 Mesler, M. A., & Miller, P. J. (2000). Hospice and assisted suicide: The structure and process of an inherent dilemma Death Studies, 24(2), 135-155 Newsome, B. R., & Dickinson, G. E. (2000). Death experiences and hospice: Perceptions of college students. Death Studies, 24(4), 335-341 O’Connor, P. (1999). Hospice vs. palliative care. Hospice Journal, 14(3/4), 123-137 Paradis, L. F. (1984). Hospice program integration: An issue for policymakers. Death Education, 8(5-6), 383-398 Russell, G. M. (1985) Hospice programs and the hospice movement: An investigation based on general systems theory Dissertation Abstracts International, 45(9), 3082 Simson, S., & Wilson, L. B. (1986) Strategies for success: An examination of the organizational development of early hospice programs. Hospice Journal, 2(2), 19-39 World Health Organization. (1990). Hospice Facts [On-line] Available HTTP://www.cp-tel.net/pamnorth/facts.htm Zehnder, P. W., & Royse, D. (1999) Attitudes toward assisted suicide: A survey of hospice volunteers. Hospice Journal, 14(2), 49-63.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Ethical Theories Essay

A virtue is a trait of a certain person that is valued as being good from a particular point of view and answers the question of what actions are moral and what are not. Also, morality is the basis of being ethically correct and good. There had been several different ethical theories that exist in the society and each having different standards or basis for morality. One of the well known theories in the contemporary time in the field is virtue ethics which is one of the 3 major normative ethics approaches.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Virtue ethics originated in the ancient Greek times that takes inspiration from the works of the Greek philosopher, Aristotle while other theories in virtue ethics also incorporate elements from the works of Hume, Plato, Aquinas and as well as Nietzsche. Basically, virtue ethics gives importance on the character of a person.   Thus, it is the character of a person that is the key element and the basis of being good or morally correct rather than laws/rules or even the consequences or outcome brought about by a particular action.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   According to virtue ethics, we should look at the character of a person rather than his or her duties and actions. It is how one can be better person that is given emphasis rather than the right thing to do. It is easy to live a virtuous life according to Aristotle and that the main reason for those who do so is to be happy. Thus, a virtuous life gives happiness which is the main or ultimate goal of every human being according to virtue ethics.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In order to become a better person, virtue ethics suggest that one must practice virtuous acts on a regular basis. These acts will eventually become habitual and thus, making the habit of doing such acts as a natural day to day activity which in the long run, will make the person a better being. Thus, the ultimate aim of the particular person is to make people happy. Virtue ethics suggests that a person living a virtuous life will eventually do virtuous things not only to be happy but as well as to make people happy which in turn will be their main objective and goal in life of a virtues person.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Virtue ethics also assumes that all humans have capacities that are inherited and that, as stated earlier, actions that could improve these capacities are considered as ethical and those that hinder the improvement of these capacities are not, that is, if an action is able to develop the potential of the particular person, it is the morally right thing to do and otherwise, morally wrong. These, inherited potentials, according to ethical theories are wisdom and intelligence and so, in order to live a virtues life, we must be able to develop our wisdom and intelligence. Thus, rather than trying to define goodness or righteousness, improving one’s character is given the importance and is the basis of ethically good actions and is virtue ethics’ central theme.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     By giving emphasis on the person’s being rather than actions, virtue ethics aims to achieve something that is genuinely wanted by the person rather than focusing on the incoherent ideas about the after-life which are found to be arguable. It is said that virtue ethics is applicable to all, can easily be understood and fits into both dos and don’ts of philosophies and as well as religion. Therefore, it is like a combination of both religion and philosophy.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Every ethical theory suggests standards of morality and according to virtue ethics, right actions are the results of being a moral person. It is by becoming a moral person that we will eventually know what actions are righteous from what are wrong and thus, we flourished as human beings. Virtue ethics also suggests that virtue is an important and admirable human characteristic just as courage and kindness. Virtue ethics also suggests that a good society is a result and accomplishments of virtuous people in that particular community. Thus, it can be said the virtue ethics is far more different than other ethical theories present such as Consequentialism that focuses on the results of a certain actions or Deontology that focuses on certain rules and duties of every individual as set by the society. Consequentialism would ask what actions will bring the most benefit and the least harm to the persons that are involved and will be affected by the action. On the other hand, Deontology will ask what actions are approved by the society and that are accordance to the moral rules or laws as dictated by the society or culture. Still, as mentioned earlier, virtue ethics does not focus on the action itself or on the result of that action or even in the set of rules that are present in the society but rather, on the character of the person involved in making the decision. By evaluating the points of these ethical theories, it can be said that all have their own strength and as well as weak points when it comes to decision making and one cannot be considered as superior to the other. Still, taking either side will also be dependent on the points of view of the person making the decision.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One problem with virtue ethics is that it is mostly not applicable or of little help to persons who are facing dilemma. The same thing also goes for Consequentialism and Deontology.   If for example, you can save a friend by lying to a certain person or group, would lying be the action by a virtuous man or is it considered as a simple lie that a virtuous man should avoid? In this case, it can be said that virtue ethics cannot be applied and does not help the person in making a decision.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Another problem faced by virtue ethics is that it cannot justify a certain problem for doing so would require a basis of what is moral. In this case, the decision on which virtues are considered morally correct and which are not are has to be made which is definitely a hard thing to do. Thus justifying certain actions based on what virtues are moral and what are not are still a big question.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   On the other hand, it can also be said that the one of the distinct strength of virtue ethics is that it gives emphasis on the connection between our characters and our acts. It also views our character as whole and unified rather than treating each as isolated when it comes to making ethical decisions. Thus, a person’s virtue is considered as a totality and not as fragment of different aspects and that one character/trait is not isolated from the other. Thus, virtue ethics looks at the individual, something that most ethical theories fail to do.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There is no absolute theory that exists in which all will agree that it is definitely the right standard of living a virtuous life. Thus, every theory has its own critique and opponents. This is because of the difference in the experiences, knowledge and points of view of every individual, being unique in different ways. Thus, an ultimate theory can never really exist. The actions that must be taken by every individual defends on both his or her experiences and values together with the situation at hand and no theory will be able to solely suggest what ought to be and not be done. Therefore, decision making is not just a matter of theories and principles but of experiences, knowledge of the situation and of the people involved and the complete being of a person making the decision. Reference Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (2000). Virtue Ethics. Retrieved April 28, 2008   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ethics-virtue/#3

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Behaviors Related to the Use of Urban Facilities at Le Van Tam Park

Contentss Introduction: 1.Research inquiry 2.Hypothesis: 3.Purpose: 4.Methodology: Literature reappraisal: Consequence: Discussion Outline: Behaviors related to the usage of urban installations at Le Van Tam park ( strength countries )Introduction:Harmonizing WHO, physical inaction is a chief subscriber to decease and disablement from lifestyle-living diseases such as bosom disease, diabetes, high blood force per unit area worldwide. Promoting the degree of physical activities is one of the precedence undertakings. Making the built environment or installations in the park to promote the physical activity degree is more necessary in Ho qi minh metropolis due to there has been increasing in sedentary occupation and dependance on minibike. Recent surveies documented that the recreational installations give important parts to the physical activities degree by grownups [ 1 ] . Harmonizing to McKenzie [ 2 ] , community Parkss have possible scenes to advance the physical activities of people, irrespective to age, gender. Despite some type of Parks has been built to promote the physical activities degree near the abode in Ho qi minh metropolis such as Le Van Tam park, Gia Dinh park, †¦ However, no research on how features of these topographic points can impact PA degrees Vietnam in general, Ho Chi Minh in peculiar. Therefore, the intent of this survey to understand the relationship between built environments and physical activities degree.1.Research inquiryRaise inquiries:+ How are people able to entree the park in general, the strength country in peculiar? +Who are the users of strength country? + Do people socialise when they exercise? + How often are strength country used + What affect has built environments the usage of urban installations? + How does it impact the frequency of usage? , the effectual of usage, the satisfactory of the usageAims:to understand effects the reinforced environments on the usage of urban installations: instance survey in Le Van Tam park.Specific aim: + to determine the consequence of reinforced environments on the usage of urban facilitie + to find the ways in which reinforced environments affect the physical activitiesHypothesis: the improving of the reinforced environment, or diversion installations can better physical activities.Purpose: The intent of this survey to understand the relationship between built environments and physical activities degree. From this, whether this signifier of park can use more Parkss in Ho qi minh metropolis.4.Methodology:The methodological analysis provides an apprehension of how the research was carried out and organized in order to obtain information that could be utile for understanding the relationship †¦.in Le Van Tam park. The methodogy is based in interview with strength country, questionnaire, and obsevations. The undermentioned portion will supply the chracteristics of the research carried out, explicate the study methods used to obtain information from users, depict how the information was collected and processed, detail how participants were selected and approached, and depict how the information obtained was analyszed. The research involves a survey of strength country in which observation and some note pickings was applied to acquire information from different place users. A entire 3 little interviews and 24 users to make questionnaire were conducted indiscriminately in study country at different hours of the twenty-four hours among different age-group users. In this survey, . The research procedure consisted several stairss: Measure 1: Observation and little interview Measure 2: Preparation for study Measure 3: Survey through questionnaire Measure 4: Photograph analysis Observation of users:The initial observation was carried out on Thursday, 13 November 2014, followed by a 2nd visit on Friday, 14 November 2014 to acquire information related to country.The user study was conducted on Sunday in the forenoon and in the afternoon, 15 November 2014The activity audit was carried out after study on Sunday forenoon and afternoon, 23 November and on Monday forenoon, 24 November, from 6:45am to 8:00 am and 5:00 autopsy to 6h30 autopsy to number the figure of people take parting in the activity by gender.The secThe combination observation and study through questionnaire:TheIn field work, the fixed country was choosen through the observation in the first clip. Field-based observations were ab initio developed during the forenoon and afternoon hours in Thursday and Friday. Some important jobs that were observed in the survey country were the followers: + which country, installations people use the most + Observed physical qualities and measures + Gender and age + Social interaction + Security of the country + Counting the figure of people utilizing the recreational installations + TheQuestionnaire: The figure of particiapnts surveyed for this research was 25 users. Strength country users were approached while making their regular exercising. If they were exerting, permission was asked if interview could be conducted while making exercising, which they agreed. Peoples that were by and large sitting for resting besides asked. When attack, the academic intent of making questionnaire was explained: it was mentioned that the questionnaire were for assignments.Interview:Indicator, Variable:IndexVariableMethodFrequency of usage– How many times/week– How long day-to-day ( h/day )– When– Questionnaire–Handiness– By agencies of transit – How long? ( minuites?QuestionnaireSocialbility– The figure of people participate in activities – Group or entirelyUser’s penchantsSercurityInterview ObservationStudy population– Age ( old ages old – Gender ( male/female – OccupationAnalysis:The information from questionnaire was entered in Excel and analyzed utilizing that plan Study restriction: Due to restrictions on clip, there were some mistakes in my informations aggregationBehaviors related to the usage of urban installations at Le Van Tam parkLiterature reappraisal:Count, Mapping, Photographing, Keeping a journal, QuestionnaireWhat is known?i?what is unknownPublic infinite is defined as â€Å"all countries that are unfastened and accessible to all member of the populace in a society, in rule though non needfully in practice† ( Orum and Neal 2010: p.1 ) . The other definition of PPS, 2000 that public infinite screen out-of-doorss environments, which by and large give alleviation from urban feverish life. Harmonizing to Josph Rowntree foundation in â€Å" The societal value of public space† , include high streets, streets markets, shopping preincts, community Centres, Parkss, resort areas, and vicinity infinites in residential country.Physical activities in general, making exercising in privateThe definition of physical activities harmonizing to WHO organis ationPublic infinite drama an important function in community life. ( why is of import? ) ( the part of public infinites to community These topographic points are topographic points for people gather to run into, hear, listen exchange information. Many research show that the parts of the public infinite to physical activity, that means ( In this portion, I will compose every thing about the public infinite I know, the intent of publice topographic point, why every organic structure, or urban interior decorator have to concern aboutu the public infinite design ) Public infinite is a topographic point that people can accessibly easy with low or no cost, or make infinite for everybody to hold a lacing to sit, to listen, to see, to hear, to interchange information. In my experience, I ever choose a topographic point where I can see the big vision, may be the intent of alone state of affairs will be varied, but have to some standards to satisft the human’s need ) ( what is charact eristic of good public infinite ) There are many benefits from public topographic point generaly, particularly Parkss:Social benefit+ Creating stable vicinities with strong community. Park is an ideal environment / topographic points for everybody meet with others every bit good as encourage societal sustainability.All groups of society, irrespective to age, income, position, faith or cultural background, can participant in any activities which are offered in the park.In the park, everybody have in common somehow such as to cut down the emphasis, relax, or merely make exercising, †¦ Each person has alone intents when they go into the park, but really they want to fulfill their demand, their feeling ( what is human demand? ) People gather information though many sense such as visual perception, hearing, †¦ to roll up information, experience. In the park, one of the signifier of simple public infinite, by detecting or listening contact, people can hold theirself experience. Most of of import information can r oll up information about people and the society around us. . In human’s basic demand, In the park, people have more chances to run into each others, leads to the increasing face-to-face interaction, whichs is of import skills/ demand. Two sorts of societal contact: Passive and active. With inactive contact, with the status of the Parks, where many events are happening, single usage human sense of hear, sense of listen, sense of ticker, they can detect and garner information about people and society around us. With active contact, merely merely little negotiations or conversations, or more merely recognizing each others, they can oper more chances to run into the same subjects to discourse. Social capital, which is defined as the relationships among people that make productive activity more easy, may be related to wellness and physical activity. ( How can I understand this sentence ) ( what connexion between increasing societal benefit signifier park and societal capital )Public wellness benefits: [ 3 ]+ Physical activity makes people healthier + Access to park additions frequence of exercising. Strong cogent evidence shows that when people have entree to Parkss, they exercise more. In a survey published by the CDC, entree to topographic points for physical activity more easy led to a 25.6 per centum addition in the per centum of people exerting on three or more yearss per hebdomad. + Exposure to nature and verdure makes people healthier.From the survey in American, they found that contact with the natural universe improves physical and psychological wellness.Environment benefit+ Reducing Pollution + Making the atmosphere cool Parks may be play important function in cut downing environment pollution. Air pollution is one of serious jobs has caused many lasting or temprorary disease such as coughing, concerns, lung, pharynx, and respiratory and malignant neoplastic disease.Tree in the park somehow can cut down the degree of air pollution by absorbing soiled hatj. Furthermore, important figure of trees in the park will convent the ambiance which be cleaner, ice chest.What is diversion installationsWhat I will compose in literature reappraisal is that I have to happen out the instance survey has the same status in Ho qi minh park? The life status is the same? the park is in the cardinal metropolisHo Chi Minh nowadays has emerging developedConsequence: cong vien Gia A?a »Ã¢â‚¬ ¹nh, 23/9, Le VA?n Tam, Tao A?an la 4 cong vien A‘a? §u tien ap da »?ng loai hinh nay. DiscussionObservation determination: The first observation, I merely concentrate on what go oning in the strength country, I don’t do number the figure of people do to hold general information about survey country. The first observation during weekends, I recognized that among kids the frequence of park usage was higher during the weekends as compared with weekday. What I see when I observe 1.5 yearss, during 1 hours during in the forenoon and In the afternoon. The first observation, each forenoon at 7:00 am, I started numbering during 10 minuites, the consequence is that the figure of mal is more than female. But around 8:00 am, the figure of female is more than male. Possibly the figure of female from other activities happening in the park. Unfortunately, I observed one twenty-four hours with inclined limate, with somewhat raining, but surprisingly, the figure of people taking portion in the strength country is 19, including 3 female. The same with the consequences form â€Å" utilizing experimental methods to measure public unfastened spcaes and physical activity in brazi ; † . The figure of physically active persons vary significantly harmonizing to the periods of the twenty-four hours and the yearss of the weekend. Furthermore,Mc Kenzie et Al [ 4 ] have documented that work forces were more physically active than adult females.Mc Kenzie et Al found that the intent of utilizing park and the physical acitivty degrees vary following different clipMany research show that the important part of park installations to physical activities [ 5 ]

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

South Koreas Infatuation With Computer Gaming Culture

South Korea's Infatuation With Computer Gaming Culture South Korea is a country infatuated with video games. It is a place where professional gamers earn six-figure contracts, date supermodels, and are treated as A-list celebrities. Cyber competitions are nationally televised and they fill-up stadiums. In this country, gaming is not just a hobby; it’s a way of life. Video Game Culture in South Korea Although the per capita access to broadband internet is high, most Koreans actually conduct their gaming activities outside of the home in local gaming rooms called â€Å"PC bangs.† A bang is simply a LAN (local area network) gaming center where patrons pay an hourly fee to play multiplayer games. Most bangs are cheap, ranging from $1.00 to $1.50 USD an hour. There are currently over 20,000 active PC bangs in South Korea and they have become an integral part of the country’s social fabric and cultural landscape. In Korea, going to a bang is equivalent to going to the movies or the bar in the West. They are especially prevalent in big cities like Seoul, where heightened population density and the lack of space offers residents few options for recreational and social interaction. The video game industry makes up a large share of South Korea’s GDP. According to the Ministry of Culture, in 2008 the online-gaming industry earned $1.1 billion dollars in exports. Nexon and NCSOFT, South Korea’s two largest game development companies reported a combined net income of over $370 million in 2012. The entire game market is estimated at approximately $5 billion dollars annually, or about $100 per resident, which is more than three times what Americans spend. Games like StarCraft have sold over 4.5 million copies in South Korea, out of a worldwide total of 11 million. Video games also stimulate the country’s informal economy, as millions of dollars are traded yearly through illegal gambling and betting on game matches. In South Korea, cyber competition is considered a national sport and numerous television channels broadcast video game matches regularly. The country even has two full-time video game television networks: Ongamenet and MBC Game. According to the Federal Game Institute, 10 million South Koreans regularly follow eSports, as they are known. Depending on the matches, some video game tournaments may garner more ratings than pro baseball, soccer, and basketball combined. There are currently 10 professional gaming leagues in the country and they are all sponsored by big corporations such as SK Telecom and Samsung. The monetary rewards for winning a league tournament are colossal. Some of South Korea’s most famous players like the StarCraft legend, Yo Hwan-lim could earn more than $400,000 a year just from league matches and sponsorships. The popularity eSports has even led to the creation of the World Cyber Games. Gaming Addiction in South Korea Over the past decade, the Korean government has spent millions of dollars on clinics, campaigns, and programs to minimize this problem. There are now publicly funded treatment centers for game addicts. Hospitals and clinics have installed programs that specialize in treating the disease. Some Korean game companies such as NCsoft also finances private counseling centers and hotlines. In late 2011, the government took a stern step further by imposing a â€Å"Cinderella Law† (also called the Shutdown Law), which prevents anyone under the age of 16 from playing online games on their PCs, handheld device, or at a PC bang from midnight until 6 a.m. Minors are required to register their national identification cards online so that they can be monitored and regulated. This law has been highly controversial and is contested by the majority of the general public, video game companies, and game associations. Many people argue that this law infringes on their liberty and would yield no positive results. Minors could just register using someone else’s identification or completely circumvent the ban by connecting to Western servers instead. Although by doing so, it certainly affirms one’s addiction.

Monday, October 21, 2019

Essential Vocabulary for Air Travel in France

Essential Vocabulary for Air Travel in France Is travel in your future? Are you planning to fly to France or another French-speaking country? Study this airport vocabulary to help you make reservations, buy tickets, negotiate airports, and get on the plane. Bon  voyage! General Airport Terms airline: une compagnie aà ©rienneairplane: un avionairport: un aà ©roportArrivals: les arrivà ©esbaggage: les bagagesbaggage claim: la livraison des bagagesboarding pass: la carte dembarquementcarry-on luggage: les bagages maincart: un chariotchecked luggage: les bagages enregistrà ©scheck-in: lenregistrementcustoms:  la douaneDepartures: les dà ©partsduty-free: une boutique hors taxesearly: en avanceeconomy (coach) class: la classe à ©cologique, la classe à ©co (informal apocope), la classe touristein economy class: en classe à ©cologique / à ©co / touristefirst class, in first class: la premià ¨re classe, en premià ¨re classeflight: un volgate: une porteimmigration: limmigrationlate: en retardone-way ticket: un billet simplepassport: un passeportplane ticket: le billet davionround trip ticket: un billet aller-retoursecurity check: le contrà ´le de sà ©curità ©shuttle: une navettestopover: une escaleterminal: une aà ©rogarevisa: un visa People passenger: un passagerpilot: le pilotesteward: un stewardstewardess: une hà ´tesse de lair Travel Verbs to board: embarquerto buy a ticket: acheter un billetto check bags: enregistrer (les bagages)to declare: dà ©clarerto land: atterrirto make a reservation: faire une rà ©servationto take off: dà ©coller

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Can I Get an Accredited High School Diploma Online

Can I Get an Accredited High School Diploma Online SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Are you looking into online high schools and wondering if they’re legitimate?Have you come across the word â€Å"accredited† and want to know what it means?Online high schools have been exploding in popularity in recent years, and, as more are created, it can be difficult to tell which are legitimate schools and which are little more than diploma mills. Read this guide to learn more about online high schools, what it means for a school to be accredited, where to get an accredited high school diploma online, and how to ensure that you are choosing the best school for you. Note: If you're interested in getting your GED online rather than an accredited high school diploma, read this article instead. What Is an Online School? Asyou may have guessed, an online high school is a school or program where students can earn their high school diploma by taking classes online.Some of these classes arecompletely online, while others are mostly online but require students to visit a testing center or other location to take final exams. If you enroll in an online high school, you can either take a few classes to supplement your degree at your regular high school, or you can earn your entire high school diploma online.Some of these programs are affiliated with traditional brick and mortar schools while others are solely online.Online high schools can be public, private, charter, or university/college affiliated. To learn more about why people choose to attend online high school and how it can benefit you, check out our guide to online high school, and learn how to decide if it's a good choice for you. What Does Accreditation Mean? Accreditation is a process of evaluation that schools (both online and traditional) undergo in order to ensure they meet certain quality standards for education. Accreditation is evaluated regularly, and a school can lose accreditation if a large number of students don't meet educationalstandards for their grade level, there aren't enough teachers for the students, teachers don't have necessaryeducational backgrounds, or a different reason. Before a school becomes unaccredited, it is often given a warning and probationary period first to try and improve. A school can regain its accreditation if it has shown sustainable improvement, but becoming re-accredited can often take several months or even years. For high schools, accreditation requirements vary by state. Public schools must follow guidelines set by their state government in order to be accredited, while the requirements for private and charter schools often vary widely, depending on the state. Accreditors must be approved by the US Department of Education (USDE) in order to be considered legitimate.A school that is legitimately accredited will provideinformation about who it is accredited by (such as a regional accreditor), and who accepts that accreditation, such as "Fully accredited by the State Department of Illinois." A school that simply lists "accredited" without mentioning who it is accredited by or who accepts that accreditationmay not be officiallyaccredited, which is pretty much the same as not being accredited at all. Unfortunately, fake accreditors do exist. Accreditation is important because it lets students know they are attending a school that provides them with a quality education, and, when they graduate, it lets others know that their education met certain standards. Colleges want to accept students from accredited high schools because it gives them confidence that those students were taught what they need to know to be prepared for and succeed infuture classes. For students who are younger than16, accreditation becomes even more important because you will only be considered enrolled in school (which is required until you turn 16) if the online school you attend is accredited. Are There Non-Accredited Online High Schools? What Are the Dangers of Taking Classes Through Them? As online education continues to grow in popularity, more and more online high schools have been created in order to keep up with demand.Some of these online high schools have gone through rigorous development and reviews and can provide an education equal to that of a traditional high school;however,others are nothing more than diploma mills that take your money and give you a prettyuseless piece of paper in return. Accreditation is the best way to pick out the highest quality schools and prevent yourself from getting scammed.But what if you find a really great online high school that offers great classes, but it isn’t accredited? Is it really that bad to take classes at an unaccredited school? In short, yes.The first reason taking classes from a non-accredited school is bad is that you likely won’t get a good education. For a school to not be accredited, it either didn’t put in the effort to attempt accreditation (a bad sign, considering how important it is), or it failed the accreditation process because it didn’t meet certain education standards. Simply put, this means that you will be taking classes from a school that hasn’t been found to provide a quality education. Any person canset up a website and claim to run an online high school.Some online high schools will give you a â€Å"diploma† as long as you pay their fee and take a short multiple choice exam. While that’s an extreme case (and that company was eventually shut down), there are many other non-accredited programs that claim to offer you a high school education but don’t deliver. Getting a diploma from an unaccredited school could cause problems for you in the future. Image Source: Flickr/Enokson While getting a high school diploma so easily may seem nice, if you don’t learn much before getting it, you likely won’t be prepared for whatever the reason you’re attempting to finish high school, whether that’s college classes or a more advanced job. That can lead to you feeling confused and overwhelmed, and you may end updroppingout of schoolor quitting your job because you didn’t have the knowledge you needed to do well. Another important reason to not take classes from a non-accredited school is because most other schools and people won’t accept the classes you took. This means that, if you took classes at anon-accredited online school, they probably won'ttransfer to your regular high school, and if you receive a diploma from anon-accredited high school, mostcolleges and employers won’t accept it.Colleges want students from accredited high schools because it increases the likelihood that they received a rigorous education and are prepared for college classes. For almost alljobs and colleges, having a diploma from a non-accredited high school is just about the same as not having a high school diploma at all.Taking classes at a non-accredited online high school can leave you with a poor education and an expensive piece of paper that likely don'thelp you further your education or career. Is It Ever OK to Take Classes at a Non-Accredited Online High School? Now you know the risks of studying at an unaccredited online school, but would there ever be a good reason to take classes at anon-accredited school? For almost all high school students, it's a bad idea to classes at anon-accredited school.However, there area fewtimes whenit could be OKto take classes at anon-accredited online high school. The reasons are listed below; however, for each of them, remember that there is still some risk involved if you ever change your plans and would like those classes to transfer to a school that only accepts credits from an accredited school. Whenever possible, you should still choose an accredited school. One reason you may take classes at a non-accredited school is because you don't plan on pursuing additional education afterward,so you don't need to worry about other schools accepting the classes. This may be the case if you are attending a technical school or certificate programwhere your qualifications will be based on a specialized test you need to pass and not the accreditation of your school. Another reason you may take classes at a non-accredited online school is if you are only taking a few classes for your own personal use and not looking to receive academic credit for them. This could be the case if you want to take some online classes for fun, to brush up on a particular skill, or to prepare yourself for future classes where you will receive academic credit (such as taking an online calculus class before your actual calculus class begins). This may also be true forhome-schooledstudents who want to supplement their education with online classes. A third reason is that the traditional (i.e. not online) school you are attending or will attend has agreed to accept classes from a non-accredited school. Some high schools and colleges have partnershipswith certain online class providers, and they may give you academic credit for classes you take through them, even if those online schoolsaren't accredited because your schoolstudied their syllabi and knows theymeet their standards. However, you should absolutely check on thisbefore enrolling in an unaccredited online class, and you should get confirmation, preferably in writing, that the class will be accepted. If you're going to attend an unaccredited online school, be careful, and don't jump in right away. How Can You Find OutIf an Online High School Is Accredited? So now that you know how important accreditation is, how can you find out if the online high schools you’re interested in are accredited? There are several different steps, and each isoutlined below. Step 1: Check the School Website Typically, the easiest way to see if a particular school is accredited is to check its website.If the school is accredited, it will state that somewhere on its website, often on the first page or in the â€Å"about† section. Some schools have specificpages just to show their accreditation. Once you find this information,sure the schoolalso states whoit received its accreditation from and/or who that accreditationis recognized by (such as a regional accreditationor a department of education). A school will rarely come out and state that it’s not accredited, however.If you can’t find any accreditation information on the school’s website, move on to the next step. Step 2: Check Online Resources While the US Department of Education has created a database for people to check the accreditation of colleges and universities, there is currently no such resource to check for high schools, so it can be slightly more difficult to learn if a high school is accredited.First try doing an internet search for â€Å"accreditation + [School Name]†.You can also search for online reviews to see what past students are saying about the school. Step 3: Contact the School If you are unable to find information online, contact the school itself.Look on the school’s website to find its contact information, and either call or e-mail them.Ask if the school is accredited and, if so, by whom. Be aware that many schools do not like to admit outright that they aren’t accredited, so they may give you a roundabout answer. You should be extremely wary of any answer that isn’t a plainâ€Å"Yes.† This includes â€Å"We’re almost accredited†, â€Å"No, but we’re just as good as accredited schools,† and similar responses. This is often just a way to try and convince you to enroll in the school anyway. If they are accredited, ask for more information on who accredited them. It may be a regional accreditation, national accreditation, or a state accreditation. If a school isn’t accredited, move on to another one that is. There are many options for online high school now, and more and more of these schools are becomingaccredited. Summary Online high schools can be a great way for people who can’t attend traditional schools to obtain their high school diploma. However, as online education becomes more popular, some schools have been created solely as a way to make money for their owner, with no regard to quality of education. Accreditation is a way to easily find out which schools provide a good education. If a school is accredited, that means it met certain education standards. If you enroll in an online high school that isn't accredited, you will most likely not get a good education, and your diploma and coursework won’t be accepted by almost anycolleges or employers, making it pretty much useless. You should always check to see if a school is accredited before enrolling. You can do this by looking on the school’s website or contacting them directly. What's Next? Wondering if you should earn an accreditedhigh school diploma online? Check out our guide toonline high schools and learn how to decide if they are the best choice for you. Thinking about getting a GED instead? We discuss what a GED is, how to get your GED online and the best GED practice tests to help you prepare here. Want an in-depth look at an online high school? Read our reviewof the prestigious Stanford Online High School and see if it's something you're interested in. Why is your high school transcript so important? Learn about what information a transcript includes and why it's often the most important piece of information colleges look at. Do you even need a high school diploma to get a job? Find out what careers require a high school diploma and when you can get away without one in this article. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Saturday, October 19, 2019

The Decline of the Honeybees in North America Term Paper

The Decline of the Honeybees in North America - Term Paper Example It is characterized by Few or lack of dead bees in the hive; pollen and honey stores in the hive; the presence of live queen with few bees; and loss of adult worker bees among other factors. Historically, the tendency of honey bee colony loss through pathogens, pests, and parasites among other diseases was a common issue in America. It is an issue that the Americans were very familiar with and had its remedy because it was not very critical as the current phenomena of CCD. In fact, research by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has attributed this overwinter loss to other unknown factors other than CCD. Nevertheless, some vigorous scientific researchers have related the contemporary CCD in North America with a number of issues. In this case, diet and nutrition, pest and diseases, genetic factors and diversity, pesticides and other chemicals, environmental stress, and bee management are associated with CCD. Therefore, the contemporary research tries to view their effects on bee colony health into detail (Corn, 2014). Genetic diversity has been seen as one of the major issues that scholars have attributed to the current decline in the population of colony honeybees. In this case, some scholars tend to view inbreeding as a possible contributor to the current reduction in the population of the honeybees in North America. These researchers argue that inbreeding, if not properly handled, is one of the factors that may create weak species incapable of resisting even simple diseases.

Friday, October 18, 2019

Aboriginal studies Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Aboriginal studies - Research Paper Example Natives of the South -- southeast and southwest -- lived somewhat similar and different social environments and had their own unique means of using, controlling, and changing their inhabitation. Bonds of social set up were so strong that the Southern natives did not loose hold of their social and cultural identity while adapting to the ways of modern agriculture. In the matter of practicing refined ways of cultivation, the natives of southeast followed comparatively advanced methods of farming than their counterparts. The theme of religion in its purest form of following rituals and in the wider perspective of believing in the existence of God was pervasive in all functions of life. There were cultural differences as well as similarities as based on the geographical distribution of land that culminated in their choice of practicing different professions other than farming but natives of South believed in the oneness of all human beings on the spiritual grounds. Natives had a sharp se nse of the natural cycle and practiced different modes of livelihood to save themselves from the vagaries of nature. Before comparing the environmental and social organization of the natives of southeast and southwest, it is logical to know the physical boundaries that divided them. The Southeast culture area is the semi-tropical region that extends from the Atlantic Ocean Westward to way ahead of Trinity River in today’s Texas, and from the Gulf of Mexico towards north following different latitudes through the modern states of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky, West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina. The Southwest aboriginal culture has its expansion from the southern corners of modern times Utah and Colorado south via Arizona and New Mexico, including Texas, California, and Oklahoma, into Mexico. This physical division of both regions creates curiosity to compare the social and environment organization of both the regions. According to Charles Hudson,

Course work Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Course work - Essay Example How can managers guard against this kind of ‘relapse’? In order to get certification, companies work hard and spend lot of money and resources to meet the set standards. But this process always has the risk of being mistaken as an obligation only upto the moment when the company gets certification. It is often forgotten that quality has to be a constant concern. Once the company gets the certification, there is a tendency to relapse into the old pattern. To guard against this kind of relapse, managers have to always keep an alert atmosphere in the company. There should always be a thrust towards improvement. There should be routine reviews, documentation and updation. When the quality is continuously maintained through these measures, there will be no fear of relapse. Q3. If you have been employed in an organization that has gone through the Baldridge or ISO process, share your experiences. What challenges did you face? Was the payoff to the organization worth the effort? My company had gone through all important accreditation processes. The employees were also fine tuned to the needs of maintaining high quality. At middle manager level, there were routine review meetings. For the certification process, we were maintaining large amount of documents. The process of documentation was a continuous process. But these documents helped us to show case our organization in a candid way before our prospective partner organizations. The risks that my organization faces related to my area of responsibility are primarily lack of coordination because I am entrusted with channnelizing information up and down the middle manager level. If I am absent or fail to do my work properly, there will be lot of confusion both for the clients and the senior managers. Also I have to maintain a client profile so that at any point, every minute information is available regarding each client. My management is fully aware of these risks. They have provided me with all

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Modeling Evaluation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Modeling Evaluation - Essay Example , management, business, and applied psychology are often interested in multivariate relationships among some or all of the variables in a specified model. Incidentally, SEM provides a viable statistical tool for exploring all of these relationships. It should be noted, however, that SEM is largely a confirmatory tool rather than an exploratory procedure (Diomantopoulos, Riefler, & Roth, 2008). This means that SEM will most likely be used by researchers in cases when the validity of a certain model is to be established, rather than it being used to find the appropriate model. Typically, the models being investigated depict processes presumed to underlie values obtained with sample data, and these processes are assumed to result in measures of association, like correlation, among the variables in the model (Ringle, Gotz, Wetzels, & Wilson, 2009). By and large, SEM is largely a â€Å"glorified† regression procedure which, unlike ordinary regression, doesn’t assume that measurement error is zero and can simultaneously estimate parameters representing the whole model rather than just pieces of the model (Ringle, Gotz, Wetzels , & Wilson, 2009). In the model proposed by Williams, Vandenberg, & Edwards (2009), it is greatly emphasized that researchers must give due consideration into the validity of a theory embedded or implied in the proposed measurement since there are many cases when indicators could be viewed as causing rather than being caused by the latent variable measured by the indicators. A latent variable is a variable that cannot be directly observed and must be inferred from measured variables (Burnette & Williams, 2010). In many cases, researchers will not be able to detect all possible causes of error because there may be some which have neither been discussed in prior literature nor revealed by exploratory research (Grace & Bollen). Furthermore, Williams, Vandenberg and Edwards argue that some goodness-of-fit indexes, such as chi-square, are meaningless

OPERATION MANAGEMENT PRACTICE WEEK COURSE WORK Assignment

OPERATION MANAGEMENT PRACTICE WEEK COURSE WORK - Assignment Example ccording to the Office for National Statistics, Bedford Borough Council has a population of about 160,000 as at the year 2012 with about 65,500 households, which include 28.5% who are non-White British. The unemployment rate stands at 3.0 % or a number of about 3100 as at December 2013. In terms of the well-being and the health of the citizens of Bedford, the determinants of health is divided into different determinants such as starting well, developing well, living and working well, ageing well as well as population and place. This project work will look at different demographic that concern the improvement of Bedford Borough Council’s healthcare system and how it affects the general welfare of the community as a whole (Bedford Borough Council, 2014). It agrees now that health plays an important role in determining the well-being of individuals especially those with little or no means of earning. At Bedford, the number of people seeking out of work benefits currently stand at about eleven thousand which represents 10.5% of the working age population (Bisen & Srivastava, 2009).  There are also concerns that the healthcare benefits and services do not reach the most deserve or vulnerable members of the Bedford community especially those with caring responsibilities, illnesses that limit work as well as persons living with disability. Bedford Borough Council also has structural and institutional problems that prevent or hinder the promotion and provision of quality healthcare services to the citizens Bedford Borough Council, 2014). It is important that before any investment is made in the healthcare of Bedford Borough Council is made a robust and viable business case is made that outlines the costs, benefits and risks related to the provision of healthcare, and makes the case for investment in it. The level of detail required for the business case depends on the magnitude of investment required and the local organization policies regarding business cases, which

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Modeling Evaluation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Modeling Evaluation - Essay Example , management, business, and applied psychology are often interested in multivariate relationships among some or all of the variables in a specified model. Incidentally, SEM provides a viable statistical tool for exploring all of these relationships. It should be noted, however, that SEM is largely a confirmatory tool rather than an exploratory procedure (Diomantopoulos, Riefler, & Roth, 2008). This means that SEM will most likely be used by researchers in cases when the validity of a certain model is to be established, rather than it being used to find the appropriate model. Typically, the models being investigated depict processes presumed to underlie values obtained with sample data, and these processes are assumed to result in measures of association, like correlation, among the variables in the model (Ringle, Gotz, Wetzels, & Wilson, 2009). By and large, SEM is largely a â€Å"glorified† regression procedure which, unlike ordinary regression, doesn’t assume that measurement error is zero and can simultaneously estimate parameters representing the whole model rather than just pieces of the model (Ringle, Gotz, Wetzels , & Wilson, 2009). In the model proposed by Williams, Vandenberg, & Edwards (2009), it is greatly emphasized that researchers must give due consideration into the validity of a theory embedded or implied in the proposed measurement since there are many cases when indicators could be viewed as causing rather than being caused by the latent variable measured by the indicators. A latent variable is a variable that cannot be directly observed and must be inferred from measured variables (Burnette & Williams, 2010). In many cases, researchers will not be able to detect all possible causes of error because there may be some which have neither been discussed in prior literature nor revealed by exploratory research (Grace & Bollen). Furthermore, Williams, Vandenberg and Edwards argue that some goodness-of-fit indexes, such as chi-square, are meaningless

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

A personality profile of an individual whom you think is worthy of Essay

A personality profile of an individual whom you think is worthy of capturing - Essay Example It was two years since she’d retired at the early age of forty-nine years old, but these two habits she had kept hold of. It was something she worried about, the only two cracks in her otherwise perfect life. There were many other people at her church, of course, who smoked and drank coffee, but few did so as much as she did, and, while Wanda did not judge them she felt her own shortcomings were making her less of a Christian than she should be. She wanted to devote her retirement years to her community and her Lord, not cigarette companies and the jitters of caffeine addiction. And lately she had been tired so often, even with the coffee. So she had resolved to quit—the cigarettes, at least. It was the worst habit, and though it had given her the deep, husky voice that made her stand out so much in the choir, the one she worried about the most. What if it killed her? She was not worried for herself so much as her family. She had made her peace with this world long ago, and if the Lord called her up, she was ready to go. But she wanted to make things good for others, and wondered what her brother and sisters would do without her when she was gone. â€Å"Oh Lord,† she half-sang as the coffee brewed in the pale light of her morning kitchen, â€Å"Oh Lord, be kind to this old sinner!† Before driving to her doctor to get a prescription for a patch, she listened to the voice messages on her phone. One was from Donna, who was biologically her niece but whose mother had passed away when they were young, and whom Wanda had always treated as a true sister. The younger woman thanked her for the loan she had given her years ago, saying she had just gotten the money to pay it back, and that she hoped Wanda could come for dinner later in the week to celebrate. Wanda didn’t mind about the money, but it would be nice to see Donna again after so long. In the car she lit another cigarette and had smoked half of it before she realized what she was doing. Her fingers fidgeted with the cigarette but she couldn’t bring herself to put it down. Quitting was going to be hard. The doctor gave her a prescription for the patch, and ran some blood tests to see what was fatiguing her. She spent the next few days trying to cut down, but it was hard. The only time she was really free was at the piano, when her fingers could fly across the black-and-white keys and she could close her eyes and be both apart from and inside herself. She would listen to a piece on the radio—she had never had a teacher, and had taught herself by listening, in the breaks from her thankless job, and endless practice—and then sit still, breathe, and let her fingers go where they would. In these times she felt truly happy, and as if the peace would soon envelop her entire being. A month after she had gotten the patch, which had only been partially successful at curing her habit, she got a piece of mail from the doctor which contained the r esults of her test. She tried to focus on the charts and analyses, but in the end only one thing got through to her: the diagnosis which said: LUNG CANCER, TERMINAL. Alone at her kitchen table, with the coffee still brewing, Wanda Jones cried. She quit smoking right then, though it was useless. As the weeks stretched into months, her body faded, the ridged lip lines that were the sign of her long habit sinking in and becoming flat and smooth as the fat left her. Her ex-husband, who she hadn’t seen for years, and who had beat her on occasion, came

Monday, October 14, 2019

Never Ever Give Up on Life Essay Example for Free

Never Ever Give Up on Life Essay Never ever give up on life! No matter how hard life gets. Everyday one is faced with problems, some are worse than others. Just because one thing in life goes wrong doesnt mean you are to stop and just shut the book. One is supposed to use that as a lesson and keep flipping pages on the book. God put us all on this Earth for a reason. Everyone was made to do a little or major change in this world. Throughout those obstacles we face everyday is how people will insult us and try to bring our self-esteem down to the ground. But no dont let that happen, we are beautiful so dont let anyone tell you otherwise. Relationships! Thats another thing that can mess up a lot of peoples brain. Just because your boyfriend/girlfriend left you, doesnt give you the right to take your life away. You are worth much more than that. Trust me! God created a soulmate for all of us, but its on us to go out and search for it. Dont literally mean go flirt with a thousand people but talk to others get to know them better and determine what they really mean to you and where they stand at. But like I said giving up on life because your partner left you is not a great idea for he/she is happpily going on with their life. Dont you think if they actually felt a little remorse or something they wouldve maybe came back to you or even considered to apologize or something. So my only word of advice is never ever ever give up on life regardless of how bad the circumstance is.

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Unfair Dismissal Legislation

Unfair Dismissal Legislation In this paper we will examine the tension between unfair (employee) dismissal legislation and the autonomy of managers to run their departments as they see fit. Interestingly, the question refers to managers right to manage their employees: It should be stated at the outset, unlike the rights afforded to employees by legislation and the common law, which are enforceable rights per se; there is no such right enshrined in the law to protect the autonomy of managers. It is also interesting to note that the question does not ask us to d iscuss the degree to which unfair dismissal legislation takes away managers right to manage their employees effectively or well, or ask us to comment upon whether or not the suppression of managers autonomy is a good or a bad thing for the development of a healthy and effective commercial workplace. We will argue in this essay that such an assessment is central to the question of this paper. After all, for example, the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, which seeks (inter alia) to regulate the conduct of Police Officers, might well be seen to take away rights of the police to arrest citizens, but only does so to protect the citizen from unconstitutional and unacceptable authoritarian practices. Likewise, in the case of unfair dismissal legislation, if the effect is to prevent poor management practice, then this cannot be seen as a negative thing. The worry is that such legislation will interfere with good management, by creating expectations in the minds of employees regarding the standard acceptable processes which govern their employment and as such, might prevent managers from taking the initiative to be creative and progressive in their management approach. The question therefore boils down to whether or not the current unfair dismissal legislation in the UK is sufficiently flexible to allow management creativity to blossom to the advantage of all stakeholders in the employee-management-employer relationship. Unfair dismissal of employees is governed by Part X of the Employment Rights Act 1996, as amended by Part 3 of the Employment Act 2002. The right to not be unfairly dismissed is defined is s94 of the 1996 Act, and s95 of the same act outlines the circumstances which are capable of giving rise to a breach of this employment right. Hepple and Morris (2002) p255 comment upon the amendments to the unfair dismissal legislation introduced by the Employment Act 2002: â€Å"[T]he new statutory standard and modified disciplinary procedures, broad in conception but minimalist in their requirements, ‘are so rudimentary in nature that they afford little protection to employees[and] ‘fall significantly short of the requirements of the current ACAS Code and of the standards of reasonableness developed by tribunals†. This would seem to suggest that this legislation has had little impact upon curtailing the right of managers to manage their employees, especially in light of the fact that there is no significant deterrent effect arising from the remedy contained in s34(6) of the 2002 Act, which only entitles an unfairly dismissed employee to four weeks pay compensation. It also seems apparent that s34(2) of the Employment Act 2002 has reversed the case law decision of Polkey v A. E. Dayton Services [1988] in which it was decided that employers (and, more importantly, their managers) should be reasonable in their choice and use of employee dismissal procedures. S34(2) of the Employment Act 2002 introduced s98A into the Employment Act 1996, subsection 2 of which states: â€Å"[F]ailure by an employer to follow a procedure in relation to the dismissal of an employee shall not be regarded for the purposes of section 98(4)(a) as by itself making the employers action unreasonable if he shows that he would have decided to dismiss the employee if he had followed the procedure.† Again, there is nothing in this section which would suggest that managers rights to employ their own styles of disciplinary procedure have been curtailed: As long as the procedures employed lead to a decision identical to that which would have been generated through adherence to the standard dismissal procedures contained in the UK Employment Acts. It might be argued that that this procedural latitude will not be enforced to its full extent, and therefore that employers and their managers cannot rely upon its provisions to escape liability for nonprocedural conforman ce, but, as Collins (2004) reports: â€Å"The potential width of this exception should not be underestimated†. In regards to this amendment and also to the introduction of the ACAS code under the Employment Act 2002, Smith and Morton (2006) write: â€Å"In spite of government declarations, it is not clear how the ACAS Code and case law can impose a higher procedural standard than the statutory procedures in an unfair dismissal claim, although the test of a reasonable employer (whose action will fall within the range of reasonable responses) remains. Henceforth an employer defending a dismissal may argue that adherence to a procedure above the statutory minimum or the ACAS Code would not have led to a different outcome.† It would therefore seem that, under the new unfair dismissal regime, employers have even more latitude to escape liability for unfair dismissal by procedural unfairness and therefore, even less reason to reign in their managers by insisting on extra training or standard management practices. It should also be noted that under the Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2001, the maximum award available to an employer from an employee who unsuccessfully brings a claim in the employment tribunal has been substantially increased as it now, by virtue of the Employment Tribunal Regulations 2004, can also include non-legal preparation costs. This must serve as a deterrent to employees from making frivolous and/or poorly constructed claims for unfair dismissal. Ans so, our analysis of the UK legislative framework on unfair dismissal all point to a conclusion that this regime does not have any significant effect upon the right of managers to manage their employees, so long as the procedures utilized are synonymous by result. However, there is often a big difference between the legal impact of legislation and its cultural effect. Let us now perform a literature review of several key sources in the field of employee management to see if the practical and real effect of the amended unfair dismissal legislation has been to curtail the creativity of managers or otherwise interfere with their right to manage their employees, effectively or otherwise. The first point which can be identified from the literature is that the legislation on unfair dismissal has had different effects on different sized of business. Whilst the research is relatively out of date, it seems clear that the small business sector has been the least affected by the formal dismissal regime. As Harrison et al (1998) write: â€Å"The major studies (e.g. Dickens et al., 1985) are now dated and there have been few attempts to up-date earlier assessments of the impact of unfair dismissal legislation on small firms (e.g. Clifton and Tatton-Brown, 1979; Daniel and Stilgoe, 1978; Evans et al., 1985). This research and the periodic WIRS surveys (Millward et al., 1992) indicated that small businesses were less likely to have formal disciplinary procedures than larger businesses. This would suggest that small business managers autonomy to manage in their own way has not been significantly ‘taken away by the UKs unfair dismissal legislation and its enshrined standar d procedures. This is confirmed by the findings of a case study analysis by Harrison et al (1998) who found that: â€Å"The presence of a formal written disciplinary procedure does not, of itself, ensure that it is applied/observed by all managers, nor that common disciplinary standards will be applied to all employees, or even to all employees in the same occupation, grade, etc. For example, two instances were found where the senior site manager in multi-site companies in the catering sector was not familiar with the requirements of their companies written procedures. Harrison et al (1998) also found, from their interviews, that managers in this sector took a flexible approach to disciplinary action. The problem with this is that the approach is likely to differ from manager to manager with the result that the only way companies can maintain consistency is not to change, remove or replace senior managers: â€Å"[T]here was evidence from many of the interviews of a â€Å"flexible approach† being taken to disciplinary actionThis â€Å"flexibility† plainly has its strengths, but it inevitably also raises issues of perceived consistency or inconsistency among employees of actions taken by different managers [I]ts potential effect on both employee morale and on potential unfair dismissal claims and outcomes, was a principal reason why many organizations have restricted the right to dismiss to senior managers.† Interestingly however, the interviews conducted across multi-site organizations revealed that â€Å"managers were able to draw on the wider resources of their organizations, including the advice and expertise of HR/personnel specialists. In some cases these specialists became involved in helping line managers to handle disciplinary cases, usually with the effect of avoiding major discrepancies.† This would suggest that the UK unfair dismissal legislation has had a noticeable impact upon the rights of managers in larger organizations to manage their employees, the procedures clearly being taken seriously if outside help is being drafted in regularly. In pages 457-458, Harrison et al (1998) discuss the effect of unfair dismissal legislation on ‘management style. They confirm our earlier conclusion that Managers are still acting autonomously despite the unfair dismissal legislation: â€Å"There are acknowledged difficulties in attempting to categorise management styles in organisations, not least because they may vary from one manager to another, and from one situation to another.† McCabe and Rabil (2001) write convincingly on the rights of employees and the impact of these rights on employers and their managers. At page 34 they write: â€Å"‘[T]he most critical right of employees is the right to due process (Velasquez, 1982, p. 327)[D]ue process involves a system of checks and balances, it increases the objectivity of decisions‘the topic of due process in work organizations calls for much greater conceptual development, practical experimentation, and systematic research (Aram and Salipante, Jr., 1981, p. 198). Prima facie, these respective statements seem to conflict with one another: On the one hand, McCabe and Rabil talk of ‘objective decision making, and yet on the other, they talk of the need for ‘practical experimentation. However, I would argue that, rather than being mutually exclusive, these observations demonstrate the ability for fair management autonomy to co-exist with principles of due process, if not necessarily consisten cy. Managers can implement their own style of disciplinary procedures into a workplace as long as these implementations are perceived as subscribing to the princinple of due process and the end effects of these implementations are consistent with the outcomes which would have been reached under the statutory procedures. This confirms what we postulated earlier in this essay; namely, that the unfair dismissal legislation does not significantly impede effective and fair management autonomy, but simply prevents managers from managing their employees in ways which are inappropriate or do not follow the principle of ‘due process. As McCabe and Rabil (2001) write: â€Å"Not all managers know how to manage their work force effectively, nor do they all treat their employees fairly. A good due process system cannot make managers manage more fairly. It may provide a strong incentive for them to do that, but if they don t know how, the process itself will not teach them. In conclusion, I would argue that since the inception of the Employment Act 2002, which amended the unfair dismissal legislation contained in the Employment Rights Act 1996, the UKs legislation on the unfair dismissal of employees is sufficiently flexible to allow employers and their managers the autonomy to create and implement their own employee management procedures, so long as these procedures are capable of yielding fair and equitable decisions. Thus, in response to the specific question, to what degree has the unfair dismissal legislation taken away managers right to manage their employees? I would argue that it has significantly taken away this ‘right. However, in relation to the more important question, to what degree has the unfair dismissal legislation taken away managers right to manage their employees fairly and effectively? I would argue that it has not taken away this right significantly.

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Thomas Hardys Tess Of The Durbervilles Essay -- Thomas Hardy Tess Dur

Thomas Hardy's Tess Of The Durbervilles In this essay I will contrast and explain the description of Flintcomb Ash and Tolbothays Dairy. These two places are very important, because each place shows an important time in Tess' life. Hardy uses Tolbothays Dairy to represent the love and happiness she found and the chance for a new beginning after what happened with Alec. Alec raped her, he saw her as an object of desire. He took away her innocence. This was replaced with the burden of a child that dies. At this time, having a child out of wedlock was a form of public shame. In comparison, Flintcomb ash is where she was unhappy and shows us the audience a time of hard ship. Tess goes to Tolbothays because she cannot face any one in her own town, this is because Alec raped her. Then her baby dies her mother might have been partly to blame for the rape because she dressed her as an object of desire, because of all this happening Tess leaves and goes to Tolbothays Dairy there she hopes to start over again. Flintcomb Ash is a farm, She is forced to find work as a result of her husband (Angle) leaving her and going to Brazil. When Tess arrives at Talbothays she is feeling that there is great optimism and hope for the future. She has now recovered from her recent tragic experiences and feels stronger and healed. "Her hopes mingled with the Sunshine." This shows that she is happy and the colour yellow from the sun represents this. Hardy uses pathetic fallacy to represent the season and the greatness of the place in the narrate. It shows images of fertilely, a new start and a new life for Tess, this is a happy time for Tess. When Tess is at Tolbothays it is in the month of May, "thyme scented bird hatching mor... ...lec's appearance at the farm to represent this as she was also at a low point on her first meeting with Alec. In conclusion, Hardy has made these two different place (Talbothays and Flintcomb - Ash) very important parts in his novel because together with the use of colour, similes, metaphors, personification, pathetic fallacy and Hardy's good use of description, it helps us to create two different parts in Tess' life. One of which was full of love with Angle, happiness and sunny days spent at Talbothays. But in total opposite to this she also spent an equally important part of her life at Flintcomb - Ash. Where she felt nothing but pain and suffering in the long cold hard months she spent there, to give an image of her break up with Angel and the thought that she may be left with a future of suffering compared with what she could have had at Talbothays.

Friday, October 11, 2019

African American Cultural Assessment Essay

Abstract In order to provide culturally appropriate care, an examination of one’s personal views, beliefs, and prejudices must be examined. The first portion of this paper will examine my personal values, beliefs, biases, and prejudices. The remaining paper will analyze the African American culture relating to the Ginger and Davidhizar’s Transcultural Assessment Model cited in Hood (2010). This model uses six key cultural elements that include communication, space, social organization, time, environment, and biological variations. This model provides a systematic approach for assessing culturally diverse clients. I will also discuss an aspect of care that I would advocate a change in my clinical practice for the African American population. Cultural Self-Assessment Culture is one of the most basic elements that makes up the identity and personality of each individual. Every individual has their own culture rooted from the community they lived in and the family they grew up making up the personal identity people have in the general society Personal views, aspects of reasoning and judgment and the general logical thinking of an individual are affected significantly by the culture he or she has. In this aspect, the entire well-being of a person depends greatly on his or her culture. Becoming aware of how your actions and cultural beliefs affect the patients that you deal with is important. Thus, a person must regularly assess himself because an action or a mere word done or spoken by a nurse can be misunderstood by these patients coming from different cultures Being an American born and lived all my life in New Bedford, Massachusetts, culture has really affected me as a person. My mother and grandparents were born in Portugal and this gave me a variety of culture since we all know that New Bedford is a melting pot of cultures. Portugal possesses rich cultural inheritance from European, African, and North American cultures. Aside from that, mainly Portuguese and Hispanic people populate the community where I live in. These further made me grow as an individual that is rich in cultural inheritance. I am a person who has a Portuguese lineage, since my grandparents were natives of Portugal and a person who grew up in a community wherein Portuguese people mainly inhabits the land. Having an ethnic identity as a Portuguese American who acquiring the Portuguese cultures and practices surrounding me molded me as to who I am now. This ethnic affiliation will always be a part of me, my friends, and my family. Each cultural belief that I introjected within has already affected how my mentality works, and how my feelings reacts. Family and friends have always served as my fortress in time of trials and difficulty. They remain as my comfort zone whenever I feel so down. They are the main support people in my life from which I extract my energy from. Adopting this belief from my parents and from the community I live in is one of the proofs that the culture of the people around me had affected me well. Living with people who provide high regards to friends and families will make you have the similar perspective too. My culture does not affect much my preferences with medical treatments. In line with this, being an independent person, the decisions for my health mainly comes from me since I am the owner of this body. My family and friends will surely voice out their concerns, but it does not mean that I have to follow them, I might consider it but what would really matter will be my decision for my own health. As of what I have observed in my family, especially among my grandparents, the family is mainly a patriarch form of family. Decisions mainly depend on my grandfather since he is the father and the man in the family. Especially among Portuguese, it was noted that people in Portugal gives higher regards to male than to female. They still have this belief that a woman shall always be better than woman. However, in my case, growing as an American with a Portuguese lineage, things were far more different. I grew up having giving importance to democracy and equality. Voices of the female are now more heard, and I think male and female are both equal. This is because I think they have equal abilities, as well as, equal rights. Living in a community filled with Portuguese people made me learn English and Portuguese. Aside from that, my grandparents required me to learn those languages too, especially Portuguese which is their main language in their main land. However, the primary language that I utilize in everyday conversation is English and the secondary language that I know is Portuguese. However, most of the time, I am comfortable with non-verbal forms of communication, especially doing hand gestures. I am more expressive with this form of communication because I think it can bring many messages to the people that I interact with. With a mere wave of a hand, it can show joy, respect, accommodation, or even comfort to those people you interact with. Being a Roman Catholic is very importance to my daily life because this gives me support, comfort, and security whenever difficult situations occur. This belief helps me to cope with the trials I face by knowing that there is a supreme being up there that is in control of everything. That the God whom I know as my Father, my King, and my Savior loves me so much and will never forsake me whatever happens. Daily life gives us opportunities to grow with our spiritual relationship with God by walking each day with him, and applying his will and commandments in everything that we do. Foods are one of the things that I truly enjoy. I do not have any prohibitions whenever it comes to food. I know how to eat a variety of foods. I do not have any food allergies that might prohibit me from eating other foods. As long as it is clean and digestible, I can definitely give it a shot. Currently, I am in a relationship with my boyfriend of eight years who is interracial himself. My work provides me career growth and financial security that I definitely need to support myself. I have no issues with the job that I have right now, since it suffices the finances that I have. Nevertheless, of course, like anyone else, an opportunity for greener pastures will be much appreciated and entertained when it comes. Being a nurse, I am aware of all the possible medical treatments that can be done to each person experiencing illness. Even though I know how much these practices could help me survive various predicaments in health, I still prefer not to undergo through some of it in case I will encounter them in my life one day. I do not have problems taking medications and intravenous lines; however, I really do not want to be intubated at end of life decisions. I know how awful it seems, and how difficult is it having a tube being attached to me. I also do not want to live on life support because I think that such modalities only prolongs the agony that you feel. It has been my personal belief ever since that when the time comes that God wants to take the life He has given me, nothing can prevent that. As a Catholic, I believe that birth is a gift of life from God. Thus, I definitely go against with abortion, which kills an innocent child’s life. With regards to death, I believe that after death, the soul goes to purgatory, and God will judge you whether you will go to heaven or to hell. However, with regards to miracles and afterlife, I do not think that these are rational. As a person, I give high regard to a person’s hope. I believe that hope is essential for a person to live the life we have, and to fight the everyday battles that we face. Without hope in our lives, we lose the chance of living and enjoying the life we received from God. Instead, we become a living corpse, a person who is literally living physically yet the inside of the heart is as cold as a corpse, because he has no hope and no joy for anything. Cultural Assessment and Analysis Paper on African American Population The population that interested me to do additional research is African American population. The total population including all races and ethnicities in the United States is 308 million. After researching on the U. S. Census Bureau, I found 39 million African Americans live in the United States. One of the most glaring disparities is apparent in the African. American community, where 48% of adults suffer from a chronic disease compared to 39% of the general population (Health Reform, 2009). The CDC states that in 2004, African Americans had the highest age-adjusted all-causes death rate of all races/ethnicities (CDC, 2008). African Americans have become susceptible to many diseases and health problems throughout the last number of years. The male and female citizens of the African American population have been struggling with high rates of cardiovascular disease, hypertension, cancer rates, stroke, diabetes, asthma and HIV/AIDS just to name a few. African Americans have numerous health risks as well such as; higher incidence of homicide, lower physical activity levels, obesity, cigarette smoking, alcohol abuse, incarceration, unintended pregnancy, and untreated dental carries (Hood, 2010). Despite remarkable improvements in the overall health of our nation during the past couple of decades, compelling evidence suggests that our nation’s racial and ethical minority African Americans suffer increasing disparities in the incidence, prevalence, mortality, and burden of diseases and adverse health outcomes compared with white Americans (Copeland, 2005). The predominant barriers to accessible health care services for African Americans include inability to pay for services, lack of transportation and childcare, decrease understanding of treatment plans and inability to incorporate prescribed health plans into daily living patterns (Russell & Jewell, 1992). Furthermore, the African American population’s cultural beliefs and health practices have a significant impact upon their well-being regardless of their educational levels and income. Therefore, these health beliefs and practices affect utilization of contemporary health-care service delivery systems even when other barriers have been eliminated. Differences in health beliefs and practices can be observed among African Americans in varying age groups, socioeconomic levels, and geographic locales. The commonalities include religious orientation, social support networks, and inform health care systems (Russell & Jewell, 1992). Religion is a focal point within the lives of African Americans. Many African Americans characterize health as a continuum evolving around mind, body, and spirit. African Americans also have large support systems including nuclear and extended families. They would rather rely on someone who may not be related by blood or marriage than to receive help from community agencies. Informal health care systems within the African Americans community often are consulted. A study showed that African Americans used an informal social network rather than receiving professional health care. Instead of consulting appropriate personnel, they are consulting family members and friends in regards to their personal health problems. This could be a factor in why the health disparities in this particular population are greater than any other race or ethnicity. The Ginger and Davidhizar’s Transcultural Assessment Model focuses on cultural elements. The model includes six cultural phenomena: communication, time, space, social organization, environmental control, and biological variations. These provide a framework for patient assessment and from which culturally sensitive care can be designed. In the following paragraphs, I will begin to talk about each key element and how it corresponds to the African American population. Communication is meaningful because of the culture that frames it, and culture must be expressed to exist. Communication is seen as a problematic part of cultural affiliation and not as caused or predicted by affiliation. Miscommunication is a frequent problem in hospitals. The most obvious is when the patient and hospital staff does not speak the same language. Although the dominant language spoken among African Americans is English, there is a way of speaking among some African Americans that sociolinguists refer to as African American English (AAE) (Campinha-Bacote, 2009). These terms include Black English, Ebonics, Black Vernacular English (BEV), and African American Vernacular English (AAVE) (Campinha-Bacote, 2009). They also prefer the use of nonverbal communication. Therefore, as nurses we should be able to provide care to African Americans without there being a language barrier present. In addition, a head nod does not necessarily mean agreement and when asked personal questions on initial contact with a person it may be viewed in their eyes as intrusive. Space refers to the distance between individuals when they interact. All communication occurs in the context of space. There are four distinct zones of interpersonal space: intimate, personal, social and consultative, and public. Research on use of space among African Americans is mixed. Some studies indicate that, in race-matched pairs, black children will stand closer to each other during conversation than white children do. Other research has shown that African American adults employ a greater public distance from each other than compared when interacting with family and friends. They also prefer close personal space and touching another’s hair is considered improper. African Americans tend to be late for appointments because relationships and events may be deemed more important than being on time. Social organization refers to the manner in which a cultural group organizes itself around the family group. Family structure and organization, religious values and beliefs, and role assignments may all relate to ethnicity and culture. African American’s have many female single-parent families. They are also known for large extended families, in which elders are respected. There preferred religion is Protestant (Baptist), majority of African Americans have a strong church and social affiliations. In 2005, the National Institutes of Health urged African Americans to use family reunions as venues for discussions about diabetes and kidney disease—diseases that disproportionately affect this group (McCoy, 2011). Time is an important aspect of interpersonal communication. Time orientation varies according to age, socioeconomics, and subgroups and may include past, present, or future orientation. Preventive health care requires some future time orientation because preventive actions are motivated by a future reward. African Americans time orientation is present over future. Environmental control refers to the ability of the person to control nature and to plan and direct factors in the environment that affect them. African Americans have traditional health and illness beliefs. They also are known to use folk medicine; the folk healers are root workers. Some African Americans, particularly of Haitian background, may believe in sympathetic magic. Sympathetic magic assumes everything is interconnected and includes the practice of imitative and contagious magic. Contagious magic entails the belief that once an entity is physically connected to another, it can never be separated. This type of belief is seen in the practice of voodoo, when an individual will take a piece of the victim’s hair or fingernail and place a hex, which they believe will cause the person to become ill (Campinha-Bacote, 2009). To African Americans God is thought to be the spiritual healer. Biological differences, especially genetic variations, exist between individuals in different racial groups. Although there is as much diversity within cultural and racial groups as there is across and among cultural and racial groups, knowledge of general baseline data relative to the specific cultural group is an excellent starting point to provide culturally appropriate care. Nutritional preferences for African Americans include fried foods, and among pregnant women pica ingestion. African Americans are susceptible to many health conditions such as; keloid formation, lactose intolerance, sickle cell anemia, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency, thalassemia, sarcoidosis, hypertension, coccidioidomycosis, esophagus and stomach cancers. African Americans are at greater risk for many diseases, especially those associated with low income, stressful life conditions, lack of access to primary health care, and negating health behaviors (Campinha-Bacote, 2009). The greatest risk factor for cardiovascular disease and heart attacks amongst African Americans is hypertension. Compared with hypertension in other ethnic groups, hypertension among African Americans is more severe, more resistant to treatment, and begins at a younger age, and the consequence is significantly worse, including organ damage (Brewster, Van Montfrans, & Kleijnen, 2004). African Americans also have an overall higher cancer incidence and mortality rate than any other race African Americans suffer from certain genetic conditions. Sickle cell disease is the most common genetic disorder among the African-American population, affecting one in every 500 African Americans. In addition to sickle cell disease, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency, which interferes with glucose metabolism, is another genetic disease found among African Americans (Caminha-Bacote, 2009). African Americans also metabolized certain drugs differently such as immunosuppressants, antihypertensive, cardiovascular, antiretroviral, psychotropic drugs. After reading through several articles and journals regarding African Americans there are many areas that I would advocate for change but if I had to choose just one, I would pick HIV/AIDS. Many African-Americans are at high risk for HIV infection, not because of their race or ethnicity, but because of the behaviors, they may engage in. As with other ethnic/racial groups, HIV risk depends not on who you are, but on whether you engage in risk-taking behaviors with an HIV positive partner, and whether you have access to care, education and prevention services. The greater number of people living with HIV in African American communities and the fact that African Americans tend to have sex with partners of the same race/ethnicity means that they face greater risk of HIV infection with each new sexual encounter (CDC, 2011). Lack of awareness of HIV status can affect HIV rates in communities. Late diagnosis of HIV infection is common, which creates missed opportunities to obtain early medical care and prevention of transmission to others (CDC, 2011). This disease/illness can be prevented if maximizing the effectiveness of current HIV prevention methods. Implementing programs that teach individuals how to get tested for HIV and prevent the spread of the infection to others. The CDC has set up numerous activities within the communities to address prevention and spread of HIV. For example, The Act against AIDS campaign encourages African American women to get tested for HIV. In 2010, the CDC also began an Expanded Testing Initiative (ETI) for individuals to be tested for HIV. Even though there are multiple resources available to the African American population, I believe stigma, fear, and discrimination are a risk factor in which why they are afraid to be tested. Working in a hospital facility for almost over a year already, I have only been across two individuals who were tested for HIV/AIDS. After learning so much about African Americans and their numerous health disparities this particular infection, can be prevented. It amazes me that in 2009, black men accounted for 70% of the estimated new HIV infections among all blacks. By the end of 2008, an estimated 240,627 blacks with an AIDS diagnosis had died in the U. S. (CDC, 2011). After researching African Americans this particular race/ethnicity bares the most health disparities of all. A major aspect is the quality of the relationship with a health care provider, which is linked to patient satisfaction, adherence, and health outcomes. If African Americans feel that their provider has been, disrespectful they may not return for treatment, may try another provider, or may change their health care plans. This may be an enormous reason why the health disparities are the way they are in African Americans. Success in eliminating disparities in health care access and utilization requires all professionals to critically examine their own biases and to adopt the values and behaviors needed for social change. References Brewster, L. , Van Montfrans, G. , & Kleijnen, J. (2004). Systematic review: Antihypertensive drug therapy in Black patients. Annals of Internal Medicine, 14(18), 614-627. Campinha-Bacote, J. (2009). Culture and Diversity Issues: A Culturally Competent Model of Care for African Americans. Urologic Nursing, 29(1), 49-54. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2008). Highlights in Minority Health & Health Disparities. Retrieved from http://www. cdc. gov/omhd/Highlights/2008/HFeb08. htm Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2011). HIV among African Americans. Retrieved from http://www. cdc. gov/hiv/topics/aa/PDF/aa. pdf Copeland, V. C. (2005). African Americans: Disparities in Health Care Access and Utilization. National Association of Social Workers, 30(3), 265-270. Health Reform. (2009). Health Disparities: A Case for Closing the Gap. Retrieved from http://www. healthreform. gov/reports/healthdisparities/ Hood, L. , Leddy, S. (2010) Conceptual Bases of Professional Nursing (7ed. ) Philadelphia: Lippincott William & Wilkins. McCoy, R. (2011). African American Elders, Cultural Traditions, and the Family Reunion. Generations-Journal of the American Society on Aging, 35(3), 16-21. Russel, K. , Jewell, N. (1992). Cultural Impact of Health-Care Access: Challenges for Improving the Health of African Americans. Journal of Community Health Nursing, 9(3), 161-169. U. S. Census Bureau. (2010). County Business Patterns and Demographics. Retrieved from http://www. census. gov/cbdmap/.