People With Disabilities

The nature, causality, assessment, prevention, accommodation, and my personal reflection of the hearing loss will be discussed in my paper. I. Nature of the Exceptionally: According to Gallaudet University, approximately 1 of every 1,000 infants is born deaf while 6 of every 1,000 are born with some degree of hearing loss. Permanent hearing loss at birth annually affects 24,000 infants in the USA. In other words, 6 infants per 1,000 will have a hearing loss in a least one ear that will affect communication, cognition, and educational development. Twenty to thirty percent of hearing loss in children occurs during infancy and early childhood. Some will suffer hearing loss in one ear or possibly both. There are different types of hearing loss. A conductive hearing loss occurs in the middle ear. This is where three small bones involved in hearing are located. A hearing loss that occurs in this part of the ear is usually temporary. A chronic or recurrent ear infections may cause a hearing loss in the middle ear. There are cases where there is a malformation in this area that can be improved or corrected through surgery. There are occasions when a problem in the middle ear can not be corrected. A sensori-neural hearing loss occurs in the middle ear and indicates that there is nerve damage. This type of loss is not reversible. In summary, there are different natures of hearing loss some that can be corrected or others that are irreversible. II. Etiology/Causality: Parents sometimes ask Why did this happen to my child In some cases, the cause of a childs hearing loss may be easy to trace. There may be a family history of deafness, a congenital condition, an illness, an accident, a prescribed edication, etc. that may obviously be cause of the hearing loss. In many cases, there may be no obvious reason for the hearing loss. Parents must come to understand that they may likely never know the cause of this hearing loss. In my case, Meningitis was the cause of my hearing loss. When I was one year old, I was not responding to my parents calls. They took me to the hospital to get tested and found that I had Meningitis. III. Assessment Many birthing facilities in our country have currently adopted the Universal Testing of all infants for hearing loss. The two most frequently used measures for testing infants are the ABR (Auditory Brainstem Response) and Otoacoustic Emissions (OAEs). Both measures can be made on an infant while he or she is sleeping and requires no response from the child. The ABR monitors brain activity. It looks specifically, however, the activity that happens in response to sound. OAEs are a quick, non-invasive probe measure that determines cochlear, or inner ear, function. The importance of early childhood development is critical for a child with a hearing loss. Early diagnosis and intervention of hearing loss can mean the difference etween toddlers entering school with severe language and concept delays versus children with age appropriate language and concept development. Early hearing screening paves the way for children to be able to begin life on an equal footing with their hearing peers. Recent research at Gallaudet University indicates that children whose hearing losses are identified in the first 6 months of life, and who receive intervention services, developed language within the normal range. IV. Prevention/Remediation/Accommodation: The law mandates that public schools are responsible for providing an appropriate education ithin the childs neighborhood school. School districts are required to educate students the least restrictive environment with the related services necessary to allow for their success. Some counties/states will have what is called cluster programs. This is when classes for the deaf or hard of hearing are located in specific schools. Students can be in an environment with a teacher of the deaf and hard of hearing and deaf and hard of hearing peers but also be in a regular school setting. Another options for family is a school for the deaf. Most schools for the deaf now offer different communication options rom which a family can choose. Schools must take language and communication needs, opportunities for direct communications with peers and professional personnel in the childs language and communication mode, academic level, and full range of needs, including opportunities for direct instruction in the childs language and communication mode into consideration. This does not mean that the peer will also have a hearing loss but should be able to communicate in the deaf or hard of hearing childs mode of communication. Many parents choose to have their children in a setting where other deaf and hard of earing students are also in attendance thereby allowing for friendships with other deaf and hard of hearing students to develop naturally. Teacher may need to adjust their classroom to meet the students needs. The teacher must focus on reducing background noises as much as possible. To reduce background noises the classroom can have carpeting, area rugs, or drapes. If the classroom do not have drapes, tennis balls can be attached to the bottom of chair legs to stop chairs from scraping on the floor. Noise absorbing material such as a corkboard can be added to the classroom as well. The teacher should consider background noise when choosing the childs seating placement. The school should adjust their teaching strategies to accommodate their students needs. When teaching in the classroom, the teacher needs to remember that a hearing aide do not correct hearing in the same way that eyeglasses correct vision. When speaking to the class, the teacher needs to be in a distance where the child will be able to understand speech and speak at a normal tone. They need to remember that the deaf or hard or hearing child may have fluctuating hearing oss as a result of colds or ear infections changing what we can hear from day to day. There are communication options that teachers can use in the classroom. American Sign Language (ASL) is a manual language that is distinct from spoken English. Extensively used within and among deaf community. English is, however, taught as a second language. Closed Captioning is way of communication used on the television set. Words appear on the bottom of the screen to communicate to a deaf or hard of hearing student. Another form of communication is an interpreter. Interpreters are used for deaf and hard of hearing students to communicate in ASL what the teacher is discussing. Total Communication is the philosophy of using every to communicate with deaf and hard of hearing students. The child is exposed to a formal sign-language system, finger spelling, natural gestures, speech reading, body language, oral speech, and use of amplification. The idea is to communicate and teach vocabulary and language in any manner that works in the classroom. V. Personal Reflections: When I wrote this paper, I have never given my culture background any thought. Deaf culture is part of my ife. I have basically been raised in more of a hearing culture setting then a deaf culture setting. I went to school with my hearing peers but yet had many deaf friends. I went through the nature, causality, assessment, and the accommodation discussed in this paper. I have experienced this first hand and am lucky to have this support. Deaf and hard of hearing has their advantages. We have a right to sit up front at a concert or event. We can also shut people out by just switching off our hearing aides. Being part of the Deaf community is a great experience and I would not change that for the world.

Plot and Precis of the Lumber Room Essay

The text under analysis â€Å"The Lumber-room† written by Hector Munro is the problem psychological story which revolves around a little orphan Nicholas and his tyrannical and dull-witted aunt, who because of the cruel methods of education couldn’t not only find approach to children, but also understand their soul. The conflict between the aunt and the nephew as if the conflict between prose and poetry. But softness, purity and tenderness of soul of the boy could resist to staleness, misunderstanding and callousness of his aunt. The story is narrated in the 3rd person. This allows the reader to access the situation and the characters in an objective manner, because the characters are having both positive and negative viewpoints. The third person point of view is impersonal which fits the impersonal atmosphere of the household. In this text the author colorfully describes interesting childhood of the little boy whose name is Nicholas. The story begins with the exposition when the author describes one morning, when at breakfast Nicolas make a joke as a result of which he is punished. So his cousins are to be taken to Jagborough sands that afternoon and he stays at home. Nicholas’s aunt goes to work in the garden and commands him to stay out of the gooseberry garden. The Aunt is absolutely sure that the boy is determined to get into the gooseberry garden because she has told him he is not to. But despite her punishment Nicolas decides to gain his objective, and from this very moment the complication takes place. Nicholas takes the key from a shelf in the library and sneaks into the lumber room, where he is never allowed to go. He has lots of fun in the lumber room. The lumber-room is described as a storehouse of unimagined treasure. He sees lots of beautiful and strange objects, such as old ornaments, tapestries, and a teapot shaped like a duck. He finds a large square book full of colored pictures of birds. And such birds! They allow Nicholas to learn in a fun and exciting way. The conflict in the story gradually grows and flows into the climax of the text. While he is looking at a picture of a duck, the voice of his aunt came from the gooseberry garden. Nicholas finds that she has fallen into a tank of water, and refuses to help her out on the grounds that she is an alien-impostor. You may be the Evil One tempting me to be disobedient. Justice must be done. The Aunt tasted the fruit of her own punishment on the children and feels what it is like to be condemned. The denouncement reveals the author’s social comment about the differences between the world of the child and adult. Though the Aunt is furious, Nicholas is happy because he is thinking of a tapestry depicting hounds and a stag. And for all life he remembered those amazing things from the lumber-room. The plot of the story seems to me not complicated, even in spite of the fact that many events are crossed with each other. It is ordered chronologically, each episode is given with more and more emphasis. The story is full of colorful descriptions and deep feelings which the reader experiences while reading the text. To sum up, the author’s style is remarkable for its powerful sweep, brilliant illustrations and deep psychological analysis. The story reveals the author’s great knowledge of man’s inner world. He penetrates into the subtlest windings of the child heart. Character The major character of this psychological story, represented as the protagonist is an extraordinary boy Nicholas, who being an orphan is forced to live with his cousins and imperious aunt in the family which in appearance is noble and well-to-do, but as a matter of fact, the family, which frankly speaking lives much to be desired. So from the very beginning a little boy, established the reputation of an incorrigible naughty, frolicsome and absolutely disobedient child, appears in our sight. And the role of his opponent plays the antagonist, a flat character without tendency to develop, in this case, a very proud and oppressive woman, who being Nicholas’s aunt and the guardian at the same time, prevails over the boy, hankering only for one thing, namely for a total control. And suddenly we see Nicholas, the pool boy, being at the mercy of his aunt in another light. Without her tations we can say that Nicholas is a round, multidimensional character, containing a number of qualities and traits, appearing through an indirect method of characterization, so skillfully used by the Author. Into position of a lively prankster, playing practical jokes, which are nothing more, than innocent childish escapades in an attempt to have just an air of independence and fun, comes a resourceful boy with quick imagination, struggling against the great dullness and outrageous injustice. And even in very tense and hopeless situations Nicholas, having a sense of adventure and inexhaustible desire for breaking loose from wearisome reality, shows his genuine originality, proving in my opinion one of the most fantastic and fabulous ability for taking cover in our own imagination in cases, when you really free out of a place and there’s nothing to be done. We remember, that we’re obviously impressed by this clever boy, manages to evade a watchful eye of his aunt, who being a woman of impatience, great indignation and going beset only from the thought of disobedience, punishes him. To be more precise, Nicholas having no fear about resisting such a dictatorial woman, never having a nay with children and constantly being of fine with dissatisfaction, breaks her just another ridiculous prohibition and proving a little bit of sophistication finds himself in a forbidden, but so alluring room, serving for stoning milliard of ancient things, which are most likely meant for an investigative child’s mind than for everlasting vegetation in trour right for life. And exactly this truly gorgeous place bares candidly the boy’s immeasurable soul.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection Health And Social Care Essay

What is HIV/AIDS. Full name of HIV is Human immunodeficiency virus infection, which is virus, can destruct the human immune system, besides HIV was explored by Professor Luc Montagnier from Pasteur Institute, Germany. Full name of AIDS is Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndro, which is one of disease caused by HIV. Virus will destruct the organic structure ‘s unsusceptibility, lat patients become weak, and unable to defy the varied infection and malignant neoplastic disease invasion.If I have HIV will hold AIDS?The AIDS virus can lie dormant in the organic structure for several old ages, until caused by some unknown ground to trip AIDS. Incubation period of grownups differ from individual to individual, some of them can incubate up to 10 old ages. Most of people, who have HIV during the incubation period, their organic structure is unhurt, it seems healthy. When the organic structure is infected by the virus, the white blood cells in the organic structure will of course make antibodies to contend off the virus. HIV blood trial to look for HIV antibodies. If the HIV antibody trial consequences confirmed that the organic structure, it means that this individual has been infected with the HIV. Until this minute, there is no dependable vaccinum to forestall HIV.Biopsychosocial ModelThe chief paths of HIV transmittal are sexual behavior, contaminated blood transfusions and subcutaneous acerate leafs, from female parent to child during gestation and blood and blood merchandises ( including unreal insemination, skin transplants and organ grafts ) .A ) Biological causes1. The sexual organ of Human is cover by a thin mucose membrane, seeds and vaginal secernments, which are contain the virus will reach these topographic point straight through sexual behavior, so that the virus will direct to other people in this minute. 2. In this society, we can non vouch 100 % no medical intervention mistake, patient transfuse the blood, which contain HIV or instill blood merchandises ( including unreal insemination, skin transplants and organ grafts ) 3. Individual wound contact the blood of HIV patient. 4. Any fishy to HIV-infected people should non utilize the Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service for proving the HIV antibody, as the first three months of HIV-infected, the organic structure is unable to bring forth adequate antibodies, therefore failed the testing, but blood it contains the virus, if this clip donate blood, the virus may go through to others. 5. HIV-Infected adult females during gestation, the give birth procedure, or postpartum breastfeeding, there are 15-40 % female parent will convey the virus to their babes.B ) Psychological causesSexual transmittal Nowadays, most of immature people are funny on sex, they want to hold sexual behavior, so that they will seek to travel to wench and sex without rubber. Besides some of immature misss, who want to gain fast money, they will whoredom, therefore increases the hazard of infect HIV. Transmission through blood Besides teenager behavior is base on their equal, if their friends drugs, they will follow. If they use the HIV-infected acerate leafs may infect HIV.C ) Social causes1. Sharing HIV-infected acerate leafs for drug injection. 2. Use of HIV-infected medical equipment without right disinfection processs.ImpactsUnfortunately, if single confirmed to be infected with HIV, both of psychological and physiological they may get down to confront different of troubles.A ) Physiological degreePatient demand to accept the fact of disease and face of the decease all of a sudden, but it is easier said than done. Besides by and large, hospitalization required isolation, therefore increases patient solitariness, so may do to depression and squinch.B ) Psychological degreeMost of people, who got HIV/AIDS disease ever label by others as a sapphic, homosexual, bisexual and drug nuts, it will easy to bring forth feelings of guilt and lead to self-respect to be foiled.C ) Social degreePatient does non cognize how to inform and confront their household and friends, they afraid that the relationship between their household, friends and them will breakdown. Besides societal life will break up or insulate. Furthermore they may confront many force per unit area from household, friends and society, the followers are some force per unit areas that may confront.A ) The disease adaptation force per unit areaAs patients is damage to the immune system, ever infect by virus, after they start the medicine of drug treated, the side effects will allow them alterations of their face or organic structure, or caused to malignant neoplastic disease, etc. Disease ever impact on patient endurance beliefs straight.B ) Life adaptation force per unit areaAfter they got HIV/AIDS disease, they may experience that losing the significance of life, life ends and valuesaˆâ€ ¹aˆâ€ ¹ , deficiency of motive for the hereafter and lose of decision-making power. In add-on, place disposal, environmental version and etc, besides let patients increase their force per unit area.C ) Social version force per unit areaThey may afraid that if their disease goes public, they will be face to favoritism, label by others, therefore theyA feel inferior and stray themselves, besides bad relationship between household and patient, so that life will lessening.D ) Emotional jobPatient may experience multiple senses of loss, A isolated, A fright, defeat, A compunction andA choler.Tocopherol ) The version of economic force per unit areaFrequently medical intervention whether the work can go on? Physical transmutation whether the work can execute?Health publicityWe believe that wellness is non merely we got no diseases, including province of mental, societal, economic wellness & A ; well-being, physical and religious. Besides wellness is a demand of life, non the end of life. Furthermore, wellness publicity is the procedure of enabling people to raise control over their wellness and its determiners, and therefore better their wellness. Finally, all people have a right to fulfill their life ( including sexual life ) , avoid stigma and favoritism on the footing of age, sexual orientation, cultural, gender/HIV province, ability, national beginning, cultural individuality. The followers are some wellness publicity. 1. Develop personal cognition and accomplishment Run workshop for community members Create HIV bar resources and runs Post wellness information on the wellness section web site 2. Enhance community actions Provide extended voluntary chance Administer the healthy Lesbian, homosexual, bisexual and transgender communities fund Keep the Lesbian, homosexual, bisexual and transgender resource Centre Participate in Lesbian, homosexual, bisexual and transgender community enterprises and events 3. Build supportive environment Challenge of stigma and favoritism Help the sex on premises venue forum Strengthen the safe sex civilization 4. Re-educate wellness service Provide Lesbian, homosexual, bisexual and transgender consciousness preparation Provide civilization consciousness preparation Talk about the barriers to Lesbian, homosexual, bisexual and transgender wellness Produce information on Lesbian, homosexual, bisexual and transgender wellness issues to serve 5. Put up healthy populace policy Are a voice on sexual wellness and HIV issues Are a voice on Lesbian, homosexual, bisexual and transgender wellness issues Are a voice on autochthonal Lesbian, homosexual, bisexual and transgender and sexual wellness issuesMotivational schemesPrevention1. Ensure both of them have Negative Result of HIV antibody testing, if your sex spouse unable to supply safety sex, and unwilling to make the bar of AIDS, should be reject the sexual behavior. 2. Keep a individual and fixed of sex spouse, trueness of sex spouse, correct to utilize of rubber, avoid sexual promiscuousness because sex spouse addition, hazard of infect AIDS are besides addition. 3. Absolutely can non non sharing acerate leafs and panpipes with others, to the bar of HIV infection. 4. When transfusion of blood or blood merchandise and organ graft, must be rigorous of proving and testing. Nowadays, some of people discuss with physician that storage ain blood for autologous blood transfusion before surgical operation. 5. Avoid unneeded transfusion of blood or organ graft. 6. Use disposable panpipes, acerate leafs. Before abandon panpipes, acerate leafs should be insert into a thorn non broken container to avoid stabbed others. 7. Ensure that provide organic structure piercing or tattooing services topographic point, the instrument is usage of right disinfection processs. 8. Make non portion shavers, razors, toothbrushes, nail limiters and other personal points with others. 9. Make non drug maltreatment. 10. Pregnant adult females should have HIV antibody proving to forestall mother-to-child transmittal of HIV

Just what is that makes America culture so wrong-yet so appealing How Essay

Just what is that makes America culture so wrong-yet so appealing How have cultural theorists viewed America mass culture and why, for so many people, is America culture still a 'promblem' - Essay Example From a historical standpoint, what made this possible and is this a positive thing for the rest of the world? Just what is it that makes the American culture so wrong yet so appealing? Why for many people is American culture still a problem? Seeking to address these questions and many more with respect to American cultural hegemony and the world today, this essay will provide an in-depth exploration of American culture today. Addressing charges of cultural imperialism and the role of the United States in cultivating a mass market â€Å"world culture†, the following will begin with a concise overview of the history of American cultural imperialism looking at its roots in the social revolution of the 1960s. We then turn to an analysis of the commercialization and later globalization of the world through the spread of American economic culture. Finally, we turn to American military might and the unilateralist turn in US foreign relations. This is an important cultural component of the United States of America as its military is both emulated, envied and feared the world over. By looking at American cultural imperialism through a social, economic and political/military lens, this essay aims to provide a three-pronged approach to exploring an issue which remains incredibly timely and topical. The globalization of American values began in the post-World War II period following the near universal physical, economic and social devastation of the European continent. A social revolution paved the way for the export of American values and ideas across the world. For the United States, the social revolution of the 1960s was also a cultural revolution. In fact, the â€Å"rise of a specific, and extraordinarily powerful youth culture indicated a profound change in the relation between generations† (Hobsbawm 1994). Leading this Cultural Revolution were the young: teenagers started wearing jeans – prior to that

Inamo restaurant in London Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Inamo restaurant in London - Essay Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that modern world pace has now started to dictate every walk of life that even includes the time we are not working. Work has taken primarily the majority of our time in the week. Therefore the cooling time of the human machinery has been taken up by business individuals calling it the restaurant and catering industry. Many high rise and catchy building surface everyday offering food and entertainment for the consumers which are deprived of a cool off time at home due to their busy schedules. Therefore, generating an air of competition among rivals and between rival food joints. Each and every food providing facility incorporates methods to stand aloof of the rest of the bunch which is a major factor contributing towards the success and profit of the business. Technology as it stands in the present time is the lone factor which can propel any business to the stars or to the ground, from the lack of it. Similarly new fashion modern eat-out pla ces are integrating technology with their restaurants to enable an environment for the consumer that is self pulling in its own manner. The hospitality industry inspired by the James Bond’s technology stunts have entered into the technology race, just like the Russian American space race in the early 60’s. The only difference, there are many moons that can be conquered. The inamo restaurant website gives a very interactive look while selecting of the dishes and table reservation. According to a recent survey, a larger percentage of new entrepreneurs employ internet to enhance their business appeal (McKendric,1999). These internet applications, like the e-ordering system has great interest for researchers and developers as the information sharing is the core part of the business operation. Given the competition from old-school businesses and their firm hold on the market, an e-business can only survive if it provides the following facility to the customer: reduced price s, broader selection bracket, better options and better services (Vassos, 1996). All these mentioned qualities are available in the form of e-ordering system of the â€Å"inamo† restaurant. The wide variety can also be seen in a pictorial view, making it far easier for the customers to choose their food from their comfort of their homes before reaching the place itself. Some services like the actual delivery of food cannot be controlled online; therefore physical presence of the customer is needed in this case in the restaurant. The restaurant implies an interactive menu table for the pleasure of the customer to avoid the fuss of waiter interaction once he

Design principles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5500 words

Design principles - Essay Example The establishment of perception of Practical systems was also a task the learning of which was an enormous milestone that we achieved in this course. I thank my instructor and friends for their guidance and for the knowledge that I gained during this course that, of course, immensely assisted me in the formulation of this final report to the project. In the end I also thank the Anglia Ruskin University for providing me with a platform for learning and implementation of the required skills. PROJECT INITIATION DOCUMENTS The purpose of the new system The reasons why the current information system was required to be prepared can be narrated as follows: The problems faced by the management and other personnel at educational institute regarding the institute’s transport facility were numerous. The basic problem lay in the fact that no computerized record of the personnel availing the institute’s transport system existed. Whenever any transport related decision was required to be made at runtime it was solely dependent on human skills. Very few records relating to the passengers were stored in different files. The entire system being manual was very difficult to maintain. Performance wise this system was very poor and would take very long time in providing the results. Anyone who wanted to have information about any transport management related issue would have to go through many files before getting the desired information. Though this system was very cheap economically but the time factor and lack in efficiency was over shadowing its advantages. This situation became the root cause of all the problems eventually resulting in the arousal of a dire need to construct an efficient system that would cater to the vehicle management related issues. This was absolutely necessary as due to the lack of such a proposed system it was absolutely impossible to make complicated management related decisions at runtime especially when new students were enrolled into th e institute and each one of them wanted to start availing the transport facility right away. For the proposed vehicle management system to function efficiently it was absolutely necessary to maintain a constantly updated database at its backend that enabled interaction of users with it via a user friendly interface. Objectives of the new system The objectives of the system were thus the making of an information system that would be linked to the student record database. It would separately store the students that would be opting for the vehicle management system that is run under the supervision of the educational institute itself. The objective it would thus achieve would be as follows: The computerized record keeping of all students/ staff availing the transport facility. The allotment of vehicle number to each student with respect to the desired pick up point and drop off point specified by him. The computerized collection of monthly fee. The assigning of specific routes to vehic les. The assigning of specific routes and vehicles to drivers. The registration and record keeping of vehicles running in the system. The record of revenue being used in maintenance of the vehicles and for fuel consumption. Stakeholders The stakeholders of the system include: Students and staff members availing the facility of transport provided by the educational i

SOCIOLOGICAL Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5250 words

SOCIOLOGICAL - Essay Example These social topics are studied through complex theoretical and methodological frameworks that address the broad range of concepts like positivism and anti-positivism, social structure, individual agency, materialism, globalization, modernity, post-modernity etc. The social theories aid back to the ancient Greek civilizations. Social theorizing aided the Greeks in making sense of their lives, and in questioning the value and meaning of things around them. However, in the 20th century, social theories appeared as a distinct discipline and involved critical thinking in order to gain knowledge of social behaviours through posterior methods of discovery rather than apriority methods of tradition. In order to explain social phenomena, sociologists developed several theories. Sociological theories range from grand theories to middle range and highly specific micro range theories. It is extremely difficult to cover the aspects of these broad range theories, therefore in the later sections of this report; I will broadly give an outline of the dominant sociological theories and critically discuss two sociological theories in detail. i. Functionalism: functionalism is the oldest and the most dominant approach which has served as a building block in the development of sociology as a distinct decipline. Functionalist movement was most popular from 1940’s-1950 but reached its decline in 1960’s. Overall, this theory talks about two main aspects: Scientific methods should be applied to understand the â€Å"objectivity† of the social world. It says that social sciences can be learned in the same manner as natural sciences. Functionalists view this world as â€Å"objective real†. Therefore, they emphasized that scientific methods and statistical techniques can be applied to research social phenomena. However, the research should be value-free. It should not be affected by the values, principles and perceptions of the

Wedding Trends and Financing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Wedding Trends and Financing - Essay Example In sum, for many young people today, formal weddings are ill-advised from a financial point of view. Weddings have not changed that much in recent times. Young couples still buy rings, arrange formal receptions, and arrange for bridal clothing and accessories. There are cakes and food to prepare. What has changed, however, is the cost associated with formal weddings. Indeed, there are a number of worrisome trends associated with wedding planning and finances. As an initial matter, weddings are becoming more cost-prohibitive for young couples with modest incomes. A recent Conde Naste study demonstrates that more couples in this demographic group are choosing, both out of pride and out of necessity, to finance their weddings without direct assistance from parents (Hefty Price: 13). For young couples with modest savings, this has resulted in an additional trend. Many modern weddings are being financed on credit; that is, couples are using their credit cards and their personal credit lines to finance an event which is very brief and which has no return on investment. As stated in a recent investigative study, "Consolidated Credit, one of the country's five largest accredited agencies, reports that so far this year 5.2 percent of its 6,000 new customers have cited wedding debt as a reason for seeking credit counseling, double the rate of wedding-related cases the company took on in 2000, just before the last recession began" (Bayot: 1.1). It can be seen, therefore, that an additional trend is for wedding financing to cause young couples to turn to credit counselors and other external advisors. Significantly, there is no corresponding trend to seek professional financial advice earlier in the wedding planning process; instead, the trend is for the couples to recognize after-the-fact that they may have overextended themselves financially. Even when couples recognize beforehand the importance of creating a reasonable budget, there are other pressures which encourage extravagant spending. Some people have justified excessive spending as a matter of pride or as a matter of tradition. This gives rise to another trend, which is the desire of young couples to have a formal wedding in order to please older family members and friends. In sum, it can be seen that these trends, increasing costs and risky financing methods, can have several negative impacts. How the marriage handles these pressures and burdens is increasingly relevant. 1.2 Impact on Subsequent Marriage One study has stated that, "There has been no data collected on whether wedding debt is a factor in the increase in personal bankruptcies. But in some cases, such counseling is a step on the road toward bankruptcy" (Bayot: 1.1). Clearly, however, the new marriage is burdened with higher levels of debt. This makes the couple more vulnerable to downturns in the economy, more vulnerable to minor changes in interest rates, and less able to begin investing in productive assets. These debts may take from between five and ten years to pay off in their entirety. In the meantime, the subsequent marriage is characterized by sacrifice rather than growth. Disposable income is allocated to credit card interest and principal. It may become more difficult to have a child in the short-run. It may be impossible to purchase a house or to attain additional credit on favorable terms. In addition to these financial consequences, there may also be significant impacts on the emotional health of the spouses and the durability of the marriage itself. The financial strains may result in feelings of insecurity,

Health Administarion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Health Administarion - Essay Example ze and remember the mission, goals and objectives of this organization and ensure that whatever changes will be suggested about the quality improvement are in line with this mission and aim to achieve it. A mentioned earlier, the quality improvement goal of this health care organization is to focus solely on terminally ill patients by offering them several services that are not offered in a regular hospital and at the same time ensure that this health facility will be more like a second home to them than a hospital hence the relaxation atmosphere and freedom will be guaranteed as well as taking care of their health conditions in a comfortable manner. Some of the services in the quality improvement plan include counseling services, follow up on their drug administration and finally the most important of all is recreational facilities and services. This research will focus more on recreational services since it is not only unique from the other services mentioned above that are offered in a hospice but it takes the minds of these patients from their conditions and they focus their energy and time on more happy things that will be in the facility. Implementation of the above mentioned facilities will make this organization unique and hence famous. Fame will ensure that the quality of the health care organization will not in any way be compromised, more patients will be booked in the facilities , the facility will have more profits, hire more staff and hence create jobs and finally and most important is the fact that it will have fulfilled and achieved its goals, objectives and mission. This organization is solely a health care organization focusing on terminally ill patients and whose mission is to ensure that the terminally ill patients booked in this facility get to lead their sick days in comfort and peace. In order to fulfill the above stated mission, the organization will provide several services that will ensure that not only are the patients happy but so

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

Qustions - Essay Example Franchising can also generate high financial returns for relatively little risk since little money is put into each location. Franchise business model leads to lesser control over managers since the franchisees cannot be controlled as employees. Franchisees are independent businesses with different goals from the owner that may eventually lead into legal troubles. It is also not easy to get franchisees compared to hired store managers to work together and the franchisees obtain incentives to profit from each other’s efforts to generate business. There are also innovation challenges associated with franchising since when an individual comes up with an idea, there must be a negotiation with other franchisees to accept the innovation. Porter’s Five Forces technique is a very significant tool, which attempts to point out at some of the significant strength in every business situation. These forces help in identifying some of the competitive intensity as well as overall industry profitability. The Porter’s tool highlights competition from both external and internal sources. The strengths identified by the Porter’s tool may help a business to understand her strength in the competitive position as well as the strength of a place or step that the business wants to make. It is therefore clear that by identifying strength position, business can take fair advantage, eliminate wrong situations and eventually creating sustainable advantage. Supplier power is one of the important forces, which help business to determine ease of driving up prices by the suppliers. Business may counterbalance this force by standardizing specifications in parts for it to change among suppliers easily. Business may decide to add more vendors or even change technology to eliminate coming together of strong suppliers. By standardizing specifications, adding more vendors, and

Medical school application essay statements Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Medical school application statements - Essay Example My job was to advocate for the organization at government hearings to increase education-related funding for neighborhoods. I also volunteered as an advisor for one of its subgroups, Entre Nuestras Familias, which is geared towards educating high school students in sexual-education and unplanned pregnancy prevention. Finally, my thesis compelled extensive reading research under the supervision of Dr.Ptak of Harvard medical school. It was founded on existing research where I proposed an alternative medication to patients who underwent Mitral valve replacement by inhibiting harmful side effects. By labeling ferromagnetic nano-particles with medication such as anti-coagulants and injecting them in to the blood stream, the drugs can be isolated within the heart by magnetic targeting and drug levels can be maintained at low levels throughout the body.  My volunteer experiences provided me the opportunity to make a difference in a few small communities and hopefully the right direction t o my future as a physician.  And my thesis equipped me with the technical and mental diligence imperative of a medical student. I chose to discuss these elements of my CV because I believe they best demonstrate my zeal for medicine, devotion to help people and dedication to improve

The Palestinian Question Essay Example for Free

The Palestinian Question Essay Introduction Moses, one time prince of Egypt turned escaped murderer, was tending his flock when one day he saw a ‘Burning Bush.’ The burning bush boomed with the voice of God and told him to â€Å"Lead my people out of Egypt, and deliver them to the land of Milk and Honey[1]† the land of Cannan. These famous anecdotes from the books of Exodus and Genesis are possibly two of the oldest and most definitive claims Israelites have to their lands. Ever since their independence in 1948 the state of Israel has weathered conflict after conflict against its Arab neighbor who would like nothing better than to see them driven into the sea. For instance, in the Yom Kippur War of 1973 a multi-national host from Egypt, Syria, Libya, Iraq, Jordan and many other Arab nations banded together to crush the fledgling state. The failure of these efforts to destroy Israel and the mutual hatred it has inspired has led to a severe refugee problem for the displaced Palestinian Muslims. To this day there are tens of thousands of Palestinians who hold themselves to have been driven from their homes and will not rest until they take it back. But to do so they must contend with an Israel that holds a thousands year-old claim on the realm. History of Palestine   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The land of Israel is located along the eastern shores of the Mediterranean. The land has changes names many times but since biblical times it have been a contentious territory. The Pharaoh’s armies passed through from Egypt to make war further west. Assyrian, Babylonian and Persian armies marched over Israel to make it to Egypt and beyond. Alexander’s Macedonians, and Caesar’s Romans also took Israel as just another part of their campaigns of world conquest. The Crusader braved thousands of leagues of hostile lands to make it to the land of Christ’s birth. War and bloodshed has been the fate of the land where three of the world’s major religions were born. The Land of Cannan Abraham, Isaac and Israel When Abram, a nomad from Ur, was asked by God to abandon his father’s lands and go east he began the migration that would eventually end with Abraham and Sarah living with honor among the Cannanites. God promised him that he would be his children would be as numerous as the stars and as plentiful as the sands in the beach. Yet he only had two sons Isaac  and Ishmael. Muslims, claim descent from Ishmael, while the Jews are the heirs of Isaac’s son Jacob who would later be known as Israel. Israel had twelve sons from whom the twelve tribes of Israel claimed descent. One of the youngest was sold to Egypt as slave. Joseph would soon be high in the favor of the Egyptian Pharaoh and would welcome his brothers to Egypt following a terrible famine that he had predicted. Since then the Hebrews and the Sons of Israel left Cannan and lived in Egypt. Moses and the book of Exodus After some time the Hebrews prospered in Egypt and soon became a worrying minority for the Pharaoh. He began one of the first pogroms against the Hebrews by oppressing them with more work and less rations. He murdered their children and ordered all male babies killed. However his persecution was to be his own bane, Moses was saved by his mother and eventually found his way to the gates of Pharaoh’s palace where he would be adopted by the Pharaoh’s daughter. Moses would later kill an Egyptian he saw oppressing a Hebrew slave. The shock of the murder would force him into exile in the Sinai  where he had his fateful encounter with the burning bush. As mentioned earlier it was there that God gave him his mission to free the Hebrews from their oppression and bring them back to Cannan where Israel and his sons abided before they came to Egypt.  After more than 40 years of wandering in the desert the Hebrews finally returned to Cannan under the leadership of Joshua. There they found the Cannanites, the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and the Jebusites already living in relative peace for centuries. Ironically, when the Zionist Jews returned in the 20th Century they found Cannan in similar circumstances. Except that instead of biblical, possibly mythological tribes occupying it they found the grandfathers of the present day Palestinians. Jesus, the false Messiah and the Diaspora Jesus of Nazareth, the messiah of the Christian faith warned the people of Israel that a false messiah would come and lead them astray. He would show such signs as to make the people believe that he is indeed the messiah. This occurred in around 70AD when the Jews rose up in revolt. It was hopeless cause, we Nero finally found about the revolt he sent ordered several legions to suppress it. By the time of the fall of Jerusalem some 60,000 professional legionaries were in the Palestine suppressing the desperate Zealots. A later revolt in 135AD led to the complete annihilation of the Jewish state in Judea. The reign of Hadrian was especially tragic for the Jews because all Jews were exiled from Jerusalem and the other Palestinian cities. Many Jews were sold as slaves or transported as prisoners to other regions to joint other previously exiled Jews. Although most were accepted in the communities they were sent too, the Jewish people had ceased to exist as a political entity. Henceforth, they were merely small minority groups where ever they lived. Their lot was certainly better than the Christian Gentiles who often found themselves in the coliseum facing hungry lions. The Holy Land   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   With the rise of Christianity and Islam Palestine gained fresh importance. For the Christians this was the land where Jesus lived and began his ministry while the Muslims believed that the Mohammad ascended into heaven on the very same rock where Abraham tried to sacrifice his son Isaac. It was known as the Holy Land. Much blood would be shed by the Cross and the Crescent in the trials for its possession. The Crusades In1095 it was held by Muslims. Outraged Christian Europe under the leadership of Pope Urban II send a vast army against the Turkish Muslims. As an added incentive Poper Urban II promised that whoever died in the Crusades would receive immediate remission of their sins. The crusader army was successful. However, in their zeal against the Muslims they performed a large number of atrocities that are remembered to this day. For example, when Jerusalem was taken the Crusaders slaughtered the entire population.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Crusaders were successful in establishing several small Christian Kingdoms. However, these were tiny islands trapped in a sea of foes. Almost as soon as they were established, the Christian Kingdoms were attacked continuously by Muslim Jihadis leading to the fall of quite a few of them in rapid succession. The movie Kingdom of Heaven was about Saldin’s retaking Jerusalem and the dramatic extremes men of both faiths would go for the sake of possessing the Holy Land.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Ultimately Three Major Crusades and several smaller ones were launched for the conquest of the Holy Land. For over a century Christian Europe bled itself white sending the flower of its chivalry to war in a hostile land with little hope of success. Yet just as the cause seemed hopeless thousands of young knights and noblemen gladly came forth in hopes of gaining glory in the name of their God. Saladin   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Saladin a Kurdish born Muslim noble  who ruled Egypt and later Syria  was like most Muslim ruler could not accept that infidel Christians were now lording over some of the holiest places of the Muslim faith. At first he was not strong enough to oppose the Crusaders because his hold on Egypt was still fragile and he was often at odds with neighboring Muslim states.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   After he had finally consolidated his hold on the Muslim world, Saladin would launch a bloody and often atrocious Jihad against the Christian Kingdoms. Atrocity was met with Atrocity, as the two faiths strove with each other for master of the Holy Land. For example, after the Battle of Hattin Saladin ordered all members of the Military orders such as Teutonic Knights and the Knights Templar beheaded on the spot  the Crusaders were no less cruel against Muslim prisoners. One example of their own cruelty was the practice of blinding Muslim prisoners allowing only every fifth man the use of one eye to lead the rest.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Ultimately, the bloodshed ended with the terrible battles of the Third Crusade. There Richard Couer De Leon of England, Philip II of France and Conrad of the Holy Roman Empire led the vast armies of the Third crusade against Saladin. After many battles Richard and Saladin agreed to the Treaty of Ramala where Jerusalem would remain in Muslim hands but Christians would be free to go there on pilgrimages. The founding of Israel   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   After the Saladin, the Holy Land remained in Muslim hands for centuries. Saladin’s realm ended almost immediately after his death. Within a few short decades the Ottoman Turks were the new owners of Palestine. It was not until Lawrence of Arabia led his army of Arabian nomads to victory in World War I that the Ottoman’s were overthrown. However, instead of independence for the Arabs, the British took over Palestine and established their authority over them. Palestine in the early 20th century was a British territory populated by Arab Muslims. However an increasing trickle of Jews were arriving from all over the British Empire and the rest of the world. The Zionists were coming home. Zionist movement   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Named after Mt Zion were Jerusalem was built, Zionism is an international political movement for the creation of a homeland for the Jewish people in the Land of Israel. Also known as diaspora nationalism  It was formally established by Jewish Journalist Theodor Herzl in the late nineteenth century. The movement is highly successful having created the first and only modern jewish state in the world. These ultra-nationalistic Jews are the result of centuries of frustration of not having a home land and the discrimination they suffer all over the world at the hands of Christians, Muslims and others simply because they are a minority that has a different faith. Ironically, despites its origins as a movement to oppose racism and racial discrimination against Jews the U.N. has branded Zionism as a form of racism and racial discrimination    As mentioned earlier Zionism as a nationalist ideology arose as a response to anti-Semitism which was a form of heavy handed discrimination against Jews. For centuries, especially in the 19th and 20th Centuries the Jews had been victims of racial and religious discrimination. Christians persecuted them as the murders of Christ and forced them to convert. In fact, one of the prayers of the old Latin mass is a missive for the conversion of Jews. Communists also persecuted them for being true to their faith in when a communist state was supposed to be one that was free from religion which was the opiate of the masses.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   At heart the Zionists justified themselves as being one distinct nationality unified by their faith. Seeing other minorities in Europe struggle for self-determination emboldened them to seek for a home land of their own. After all, if the European minorities were entitled to a free country of their own why not the Jews?.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The first congress of Basel in 1897  was the meeting where the major agitators behind Zionism met for the first time and formally established the World Zionist Organization. At that congress the Basel Program was completed and its manifesto provided that; Zionism seeks to establish a home for the Jewish people in Israel secure under public law. To attain this goal they set about on four programs; first, the promotion by appropriate means of the settlement in Israel of Jewish farmers, artisans and manufacturers. Second, the organization and uniting of the whole of Jewry by means of appropriate institutions, both local and international, in compliance with the laws of each country, third the strengthening and fostering of Jewish national sentiment and national consciousness, foruth, preparatory steps towards obtaining the consent of governments, where necessary in order to reach the goals of Zionism.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   However, there was little interest in the rest of the world for the sake of the Jews. The world simply did not care. It was not until Hitler unleashed the Holocaust upon the helpless Jews that international sympathy for Zionism catalyzed into actual action. After World War Two’s horrors more and more Jews came to Palestine in fulfillment of Zionism’s goals. There they found the land much as Joshua’s Hebrew found it. Full of Palestinians who were occupying land that, they felt, rightfully belong to the Jews. 1948 War   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   By 1947 the tension between the Jews and Arabs had reached fever pitch. The Jews were naturally interested in self-propagation and often held themselves apart from the Arabs when they could. They did not hire Arab workers if they could find help among other Jews. Their settlers were increasing in number and quite soon were a significant bloc of the population. The UN mandated that separate enclaves for Jews and Arabs would be created within Palestine in order to lessen the friction between the two groups. The Zionist leadership accepted the partition plan as the indispensable minimum, glad as they were with the international recognition, but sorry that they didnt get more. Unfortunately the arbitrary partition was the spark for an already explosive situation. Thousands of Jews and Palestinians were displaced by the mandatory and arbitrary partition.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Stage was set for war. The Zionists were ready, they had trained both under British rule and in underground camps for the day when they would have to fight for independence. Despite the tiny population of the fledgling Jewish state thousands of Jewish men and women formed a committed fighting force under the aegis of the Yishuv, all told some 35,000 Jews took up the cudgels for independence although only about 10,000 of these were actually fit for frontline duty. They also had the elite Palamch commandos to spearhead their attacks. The Palamach and its wartime exploits   After the defeat of the Arabs in Palestine, the entire Arab World was stirred to wrath. Quoting the ancient victories of Saladin against the marauding Crusaders, the Arabs united to crush these new usurpers of their Holy Land. Like the Crusaders of old the young state of Israel was faced with a tide of foes many times their number and driven to fanaticism by their common faith. It went down to a test of wills, on who wanted the Holy Land more. The Arabs, driven with Jihadi fanaticism were determined to overthrow the Jews from the Holy Land. The Jews, had nowhere else to go. Ultimately, with a combination of superior tactics and training, not to mention the internal squabbling between the Arab leaders, the Jews prevailed. For the first time since the days of Rehoboam son of Solomon son of David, the Children of Israel had a land of their own independent and free.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Unfortunately it would not be the end of its struggles. Israel would face wave after wave of invaders from its Neighbors who simply refused to accept their existence in Palestine. Nevertheless, they stood their ground and have staunchly defended their territories ever since.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   They were also not above launching preemptive strikes, In 1967 After much saber rattling by their enemies, especially Egypt the Israeli government became convinced that war was eminent. Rather then be attacked again the Israeli’s struck first. Led by the formidable Hel HaAvir, the Israeli air force, The Israelites began the Six-Day war. The Egyptian, Syrian and Jordanian forces were utterly defeated. By the end of the fighting Israel stretched from Suez Canal in the East to the Golan Heights in the west effectively trebling their land area. One of the most significant results of the war was that Israel now controlled all of Jerusalem.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Simply, put after centuries of frustration and discrimination, the Zionist movement had come of age. Despite many trials and set backs they succeed in bringing the Jews home. Verily, every Jewish family in Israel can look to its past and claim that a relative fought heroically in defense of Israel in one of the many wars of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Invested with generations of blood and suffering, and mandated by God himself. The Israelis are loath to concede so much as an inch of their territory to those who would take it from them. In fact, every Israeli soldier, whether elite commando, foot solider or simply citizen reservist, takes an oath â€Å"Masada (the ancient fortress where the last Jewish freedom fighters died resisting the Romans) shall not fall†. By their vigilance it has not fallen. The Palestinian Dilemma   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The story of the Israeli struggle for self-determination spans centuries. It makes for dramatic reading. However, the events have left a certain group of people in a lurch. The Palestinians who originally held the territory before the Israelites arrived. Dispossession of Palestinian settlers after 1948 Al Nakba (The Catastrophe) The years following the 1948 conflict are known as the lost years. Disorganized Palestinian militias were no match for the determined and well trained Yishuv forces. Many former Palestinian enclaves fell under the power of the Jews. The few that remained free of Jewish domination were taken over by Syria, Lebanon and Egypt. Having just fought a blood civil war with their Jewish neighbors the Palestinians were bitter and resentful. There was little love between the two people. Many chose to flee or were driven away by the Israelis as both were unwilling to abide with each other. However, by the 1950s a new generation of Palestinians formed nationalist groups that were organized clandestinely gathering strength before revealing themselves in the 1960s. The original Palestinian elite who had negotiated with the British and the Zionists during the mandate years were held accountable of Palestine and were replaced by these groups. Many members of these groups came from the middle-class who recently graduated from universities in Cairo or Damascus and imbibed in the ideals of Pan-Arabism put forth by Nasser.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The humiliation of Nasser and his movement during the Six Day war further dimmed the hopes of the Palestinians. Not only had the Arab armies failed to liberate Palestine from the Jews but they lost even more territories and the Palestinians were further displaced. With many of their organizations in ruins and the people once again exiled from their homes, the Palestinians pinned their hopes of on the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Palestinian people are a point of consternation for the Israeli because before the arrival of the Jews and their independence in 1948 there really was, in their opinion, no Palestinian state or Palestinian people just a group of settlers from various other Arab regions Golda Meir herself said; It was not as though there was a Palestinian people in Palestine considering itself as a Palestinian people and we came and threw them out and took their country away from them. They did not exist.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   With such an attitude from a former head of state it is no wonder that Israel is loath to deal with the Palestinians as anything more than a refugee problem. Simply, put the Israelis believe that the only reason the Palestinians banded together was in opposition to the Zionists. Even their text books are written in such a way as to disavow a unique Palestinian identity. The books describe them as Arabs in the land of Israel instead of calling them Palestinians.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The refugee problem is aggravated by the refusal of other Arab countries to accept the Palestinian refugees. Rather than welcome their fellow Muslims the Arabs have forced the Palestinians to remain marginalized and desperate for a land to call their own. In summary the heart of the problem is a refusal of the Israeli state to grant the same right to self-determination that they claimed for themselves in 1948. Worsened by a refusal of the Arabs to grant asylum to the Palestinians. As a result the Palestinians are increasingly desperate and with national governments unwilling to offer help they have turned to terrorist groups like Al-Quaeda. Palestine Today   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The United Relief Works Agency estimates that there are just under 4.5 Million  Palestinian refugees. They are defined as those â€Å"whose normal place of residence was Palestine between June 1946 and May 1948, who lost both their homes and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict†. Given that many of these are dead by now the number is made larger by the inclusion of those who were born to people in such circumstances.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Many Palestinians live in abject poverty, they are discriminated by the Israelis who will often hire them at below mandated wages. The numerous terrorist organizations who recruit from Palestinians have created a heavy suspicion on all of them. Virtually every Palestinian is seen as a potential terrorist or suicide bomber. Two major rebellions and the failure of the Palestinian Authority to address problems ranging from Peace and Order to wages of PA employees have made the people even more frustrated and desperate. Is it then any wonder that many young Palestinians would rather strap on bombs on their bodies and blow themselves up to kill a few Jews instead of living lives of drudgery and disenchantment? III. Analysis â€Å"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.† Begins the Universal Declaration of Human rights. The International Covenant for Civil and Political rights offers this rejoinder â€Å"All peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.† It is regrettable that these rights are denied to The Palestinian people. Unfortunately, these rights are extreme difficult to implement given the geo-political structure of Israel today. As late as 2006 the Palestinian Terror group known as Hezzbollah was firing rockets into Israel causing random destruction of property and lives. They also kidnapped several Israeli solider and killed others in surprise attacks and raids. The Israelis reacted by attacking Lebanon. Palestinians are treated with suspicion where ever they go within Israel’s borders. The Palestinian Authority, already questionable to the Israeli was completely discredited by the death of Yasser Arafat and the lack of a worthwhile successor. Worse, the conflict has since spread to far beyond the border’s of Palestine. Part of Bin-Laden usually inflammatory spiels is to remind the Muslim world that the U.S. has been sponsoring the Zionist state of Israel and that without their aid the Israeli state would long be gone. Harkening to the mass airlift of supplies the U.S. made to Israel during the Yom Kippur. As a result the Israeli affair has become a cassus belli for Muslims to legitimize their attacks on those who seek to support Israeli. An older example of this was the Oil embargo that OPEC pulled back in 1973 when it was obvious that the Arabs were losing the Yom Kippur War. However, this support of Israel is not the only grief the Arab world has against the U.S. they are called the Greater Satan for more reasons. Among them are the invasion of Afghanistan, Somalia and more recently Iraq all in pursuit of their self-proclaimed mandate as protectors of the free world. Sovereignty, International perspective One of the most critical arguments about the Israeli – Palestinian conflict is the issue of Sovereignty over Palestine. Naturally, the two sides have almost completely diametrically opposed interpretations of events with respect to this. The 1920 San Remo conference was held between the British, the Zionists and the Arab settlers of Palestine and was done mostly to ease rising tensions with respect to the Jews mass immigration. The Jews hold the the San Remo conference explicitly granted them the mandate for a Jewish homeland in Palestine. As a result, their claims are valid not only by de facto, since by the end of 1948 they controlled the land by force of arms, but also de jure by virtue of the treaty. Jewish legal experts also believe that Israel had the right to sovereignty over the territories since Jordan and Egypt had no clear legal sovereignty over those areas and the Israel, acting in self defence, was entitled to enter those regions to fill the vacuum.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Naturally, the Arabs hold that the San Remo conference conferred no such right to the Jews. Not only did it not offer them sovereignty but it also did not identify which parts of Palestine were going to be subject to this alleged Jewish Home land. To further their point they also insist on the right to self-determination of national groups which has long been recognized under international law. The same right enshrined in Art 1 of the ICCPR   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In addition, most Arabs and Israelis agree that the armistice line of 1949 is not a valid international border. Both groups also agree that a two state solution is best to end the conflict between the Israli and Palestinian people. The two states will be demarcated by the 1949-1967 armistice lines. This would provide the best solution because the Palestinian authority has been an abject failure. It was never strong enough to assert itself over the average Palestinian citizen and was plagued with problem from the beginning. The fact that its civilian authority was often over shadowed by Israeli military garrisons did not help its credibility.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The international consensus it that the Annexation of the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem is illegal and should not be recognized under international law. The occupation of the West Bank and Gaza strip has the status of an illegal occupation because they were conquered via force of arms and against the will of the populations Also, the people were rendered stateless by the attacks and the Israeli’s put the territory under military rather than civilian administration.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   After the Six-Day war the UN stepped in with UN resolution 242. Adopted unanimously, it called for the Establishment of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East which was to be achieved by following two principles; First, the Withdrawal of Isreali forces territories occupied in the conflict and second, termination of all claims or states of belligerency. Also included were respect for the of every state in the region to live in peace within secure and recognized borders. All state parties in the Six day war agreed, in principle,   to UN Res 242 with the exception of Syria which granted it conditional acceptance in 1972   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   However, the state of belligerency remained deeply rooted amongst the Arabs. The heads of Arab states adopted their own resolution in a conference held at Khartoum, in September 1967. The famous three Nos; no recognition of the Israeli conquests, and no negotiations and most importantly no recognition of the Israeli state. Conclusion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Israel fought long and hard to achieve independence. For centuries they were a down trodden minority oppressed and discriminated upon by their neighbors. However, it would appear that they are doing to the Palestinians exactly the same thing they endured. By forcing the Palestinians to remain stateless and poor they are driving them to desperate ends.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A war for to conquer Israel is out of the question, time and time again the IDF has shown itself a competent army. The oath â€Å"Masada shall not fall† burns in the heart of every Israeli tanker and reservist, they are determined never again to be conquered by force of arms. Short of nuclear weapons no Arab army will defeat the Jews in battle. The Yom Kippur war is the best expression of this, despite the element of surprise the Arabs were ultimately defeated by an Israel surrounded and with little more than moral support from the outside world. The best solution to the problem would be simply to allow the Palestinians true autonomy under Palestinian leaders. After all the right to self determination is guaranteed by the UDHR and the ICCPR. The cost of securing the Palestinian enclaves is a drain on Israeli manpower and finances. Letting them live their lives on their own is going to be best course of action. By granting them true independence the Palestinians would only have themselves to blame if they failed and this would take the wind of the â€Å"Freedom!† slogan being sold them by terror groups. With out the justification of, allegedly, liberating the Palestinians from the Oppressive Jews Islamic extremists would lose much of their popular support in Palestine for their terror attacks   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Israel has been recognized by her neighbors only recently, although her armies are competent, this does not mean she can run roughshod over her neighbors. By ridding itself of the legal monkey known as the Palestinian Question it would unburden itself of unneeded pain. The Palestinians enclaves are enclaves precisely because they are territories that Israel and her neighbors care little for. With the possible exception of the Gaza Strip, losing the territories the Palestinians hold would be a small loss. There is plenty of room in Israel for her Seven Million citizens. After all, did not Israel make the desert bloom?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   For the Arabs, they must match their talk with action. They bleed for the Palestinians yet more aid comes to them from working illegal jobs in Israel than from humanitarian aid from their Arab brothers. Arab countries rich with oil could certainly provide subsidies to help the Palestinians get back on their feet if they are granted independence. If Bin Laden can afford to spend millions to fund his terror initiatives why can’t the Arab states spare a little of its petrol money to help their Muslim brothers? Is not Charity part of the Muslim commandments? References The book of Exodus 3:7-8 in Holy Bible The Good News Bible in Today’s English Version 1978 Book of Genesis in Holy Bible The Good News Bible in Today’s English Version 1978 http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/urban2-5vers.html#Fulcher (Last accessed 14 Dec 07) Fulcher of Chartres, Medieval Sourcebook. Available at http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/urban2-5vers.html#Fulcher (Last accessed 14 Dec 07) Vladimir Minorsky, The Prehistory of Saladin, Studies in Caucasian History, Cambridge University Press, 1957, Malcolm Lyons and D.E.P. Jackson, Saladin: The Politics of the Holy War United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3379 session 30 on 10 November 1975 Arjun, Sethi Zionism The British in Palestine January 2007, available at http://fusion.dalmatech.com/%7Eadmin24/files/zionism_in-britishpalestine.pdf (Last accessed 12 Dec 07 The Basle Program. Resolutions of the First Zionist Congress available at http://www.mideastweb.org/basleprogram.htm (last accessed 10 Dec 07) Morris, Benny (2001). Righteous Victims: A History of the Zionist-Arab Conflict, 1881-2001. El-Nawawy, Mohammed (2002), The Israeli-Egyptian Peace Process in the Reporting of Western Journalists, Ablex/Greenwood, Gelber, Yoav. Palestine 1948. WAr, Escape and the Emergnece of the Palestinian Refugee Problem. Sussex Academic Press. (2006) Karsh, Efraim. The Arab-Israeli Conflict. The Palestine War 1948. Osprey Publishing. (2006) Khalidi, Rashid (1997). Identity:The Construction of Modern National Consciousness. New York, NY: Columbia University Press p 190 Cooley, John K Green March, Black September, Frank Cass, London 1973 pp.196f Zionist Aspirations: Dr Weizmann on the Future of Palestine, The Times, Saturday, 8 May, 1920 Weizmann â€Å"The missing Revisoner: reflections on the Status of Judea and Samaria† 3 Israel law review (1968) Blum, Yehuda, â€Å"The Juridical Status of Jerusalem† (1974) United Nations Security Council Resolution 497 (December 17, 1981), about the Golan Heights. United Nations Security Council Resolution 478 (August 20, 1980), about East Jerusalem. United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 (S/RES/242) Hinnebusch, Raymond A.; Drysdale, Alasdair. Syria and the Middle East Peace Process. New York: Council on Foreign Relations Press, (1991)   See Exodus 3:7-8 in Holy Bible The Good News Bible in Today’s English Version 1978 See Genesis 12:1-2 in Holy Bible The Good News Bible in Today’s English Version 1978 See Genesis 21:1-8 in Holy Bible The Good News Bible in Today’s English Version 1978 See Genesis 16:1-114 in Holy Bible The Good News Bible in Today’s English Version 1978 Genesis 46:1-33 in Holy Bible The Good News Bible in Today’s English Version 1978 Exodus 1:8-16 in Holy Bible The Good News Bible in Today’s English Version 1978   Exodus 2:1-8 in Holy Bible The Good News Bible in Today’s English Version 1978 Exodus 2:11-16 in Holy Bible The Good News Bible in Today’s English Version 1978   Exodus 3:7-8 in Holy Bible The Good News Bible in Today’s English Version 1978   Fulcher of Chartres, Medieval Sourcebook. Available at http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/urban2-5vers.html#Fulcher (Last accessed 14 Dec 07)   Vladimir Minorsky, The Prehistory of Saladin, Studies in Caucasian History, Cambridge University Press, 1957, pp. 124-132. Malcolm Lyons and D.E.P. Jackson, Saladin: The Politics of the Holy War p 2   Beha ad-Din, The Life of Saladin, pages 278-281   Gellner, Ernest. Nations and Nationalism (First edition), p 107-108.   United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3379 session 30 on 10 November 1975   Arjun, Sethi Zionism The British in Palestine January 2007, available at http://fusion.dalmatech.com/%7Eadmin24/files/zionism_in-britishpalestine.pdf (Last accessed 12 Dec 07 The Basle Program. Resolutions of the First Zionist Congress available at http://www.mideastweb.org/basleprogram.htm (last accessed 10 Dec 07) l-Nawawy, Mohammed (2002), The Israeli-Egyptian Peace Process in the Reporting of Western Journalists, Ablex/Greenwood, p 1-2   Morris, Benny (2001). Righteous Victims: A History of the Zionist-Arab Conflict, 1881-2001. p 190   Gelber, Yoav. Palestine 1948. WAr, Escape and the Emergnece of the Palestinian Refugee Problem. Sussex Academic Press p. 73, also; Karsh, Efraim. The Arab-Israeli Conflict. The Palestine War 1948. Osprey Publishing. (2006) , p. 25.   Khalidi, Rashid (1997). Identity:The Construction of Modern National Consciousness. New York, NY: Columbia University Press p 190 Cooley, John K Green March, Black September, Frank Cass, London 1973 pp.196f Art 1 UDHR ICCPR Art 1 Zionist Aspirations: Dr Weizmann on the Future of Palestine, The Times, Saturday, 8 May, 1920; p. 15.   3 Israel Law Review p190 All peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development United Nations Security Council Resolution 497 (December 17, 1981), about the Golan Heights. United Nations Security Council Resolution 478 (August 20, 1980), about East Jerusalem.   Hinnebusch, Raymond A.; Drysdale, Alasdair. Syria and the Middle East Peace Process. New York: Council on Foreign Relations Press, (1991) p 105

Public Relations In Non Profit Organisations Marketing Essay

Public Relations In Non Profit Organisations Marketing Essay First this essay will explain the role of public relations in non-profit organisations and provide a brief description of our campaign; second the campaigns strengths and weaknesses will be discussed; third the campaign will be discussed in relation to public relations theory; and finally a conclusion summarising the main points discussed in this essay Public Relations and Non-Profit Organisations: Public relations can play an important role for non-profit organisations, providing the support to create new, and maintain existing relationships necessary to meet organisational goals, meet fundraising targets, and develop organisational awareness. As Broom, Center, and Cutlip state, there are five functions the practitioner aims to carry out within non-profit organisations, these are to: Define or brand the organisation, gain acceptance of its mission, and protect its reputation. Develop channels of communication with those an organization serves. Create and maintain a favourable climate for fundraising. Support the development and maintenance of public policy that is favourable to an organizations mission. Inform and motivate key organizational constituents (such as employees, volunteers, and trustees) to dedicate themselves and work productively in support of an organizations mission, goal, and objectives. (Broom, Center, Cutlip, 2006, p. 449) Campaign Description: Intentio PR designed a campaign to achieve two goals; first to increase the amount of funding Parent to Parent receives through creating relationships with the business community; and second to increase awareness of Parent to Parent through the relationships and campaigns developed with the business community. Therefore, Intentio PRs key campaign goal was to increase the amount of funding Parent to Parent receives, while simultaneously increasing awareness of Parent to Parent and their services to key audiences. Intentio PR proposed three projects to achieve these goals: A redevelopment of Parent to Parents website to be more interactive, and to allow for a better donation function. A cause related marketing campaign with Huggies, where a certain amount of each Huggies product purchased was donated to the organisation A relationship with TradeMe, in which users can donate the auction success fee or entire proceeds for an auctioned item to Parent to Parent. Campaign Strength and Weaknesses: Prior to the development of Intentio PRs three campaigns, Parent to Parents current situation was researched, more specifically research concentrated on their purpose and mission, their current financial situation, and their sources of funding. The information gathered from this influenced our next stage of research as we found that there was a problem with funding, and that businesses were not approached for funding, focussing efforts on grants and applications instead. Stemming from our organisational information, we then conducted research that looked into what motivates businesses to provide sponsorship to non-profit organisations, what they see as essential to this relationship, and their level of awareness for organisations providing services to the disabled. Research also looked into the funding and sponsorship situations of the regional Parent to Parent offices. We encountered difficulties in relation to this research in regards to response rates, from both business, and the regional offices contacted to participate. Although not sufficient to produce any significant generalisations to either of the communities surveyed, the information gathered did produce enough relevant data to help in the formation of our campaign goals and objectives. The goals for this campaign fit in to two management situations that Smith describes, a task management goal focused on obtaining more funding, and reputation management goal which is focussed on Parent to Parents awareness and perception (Smith, 2002, p. 69). Although our campaign had a goal derived from our previous research and worked, as Smith states, to provide the direction while objectives pinpoint the destination (Smith, 2002, p. 67) I believe we could have developed more specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely (SMART) objectives for the three campaigns developed. Consequently, this would have allowed for us to develop more specific and detailed campaign evaluations, which lacked any specific criteria to measure success against. The reputation or awareness objective that was listed could have been improved by specifically stating who the community mentioned is, for example amongst all parents of disabled children; and by providing measurable targets for the objective, for example an increase of awareness by 60%, although previous awareness levels of the organisation amongst the target audience for the objective would be needed as the standard to be measured against. Public Relations Theory: Although we attempted to use the four step process, that is research, planning, action, and evaluation, our campaign was lacking in areas such as planning and evaluation that would have brought it together. Five theories I would use to describe and evaluate aspects of Intentio PRs campaign would be systems theory, the two-way asymmetrical model, social exchange theory, social learning theory, and situational theory. Systems theory can be used to examine both the internal and external relationships an organisation has with its employees and customers. Baskin, Heiman, Lattimore, and Toth describe organisations as made up of interrelated parts, adapting and adjusting to changes in theenvironments in which they operate. Organisations have recognisable boundaries, within which there must be a communication structure that guides the parts of the organisation to achieve organisational goals. (Baskin, Heiman, Lattimore, Toth, 2007, pp. 44-45) These organisations can be considered either open or closed systems; open systems allowing the flow of information from outside stakeholders, and how these relationships with outside stakeholders might affect the organisation; closed systems choosing to focus on past decisions and how these have performed when making decisions, preferring not to seek new information from outside of the organisation. Our campaign would be based on an open systems theory, with research in to outside organisations and how these relationships are established, and maintained being conducted, as previously discussed; also, we seek to establish new relationships with Huggies, and TradeMe to increase funding and awareness. As surveys were mainly used to explore relationships with businesses, and the information found used to develop or influence our campaign design, the two-way asymmetrical best describes our research and development model, as Tench and Yeomans state Feedback from audiences is important in this model of communication, but it is used to adapt communication strategies to be more persuasive, not to alter the organisations position. (Tench Yeomans, 2006, p. 147) Intentio PRs cause related marketing campaign with Huggies establishes an exchange with the consumer of the Huggies product; for every product the consumer purchases, $2.00 will be donated towards Parent to Parent. Therefore, the act of buying this product (the cost), results in them helping out a charitable organisation (the reward). I believe this is an example of the social exchange theory, which uses the economic metaphor of costs and benefits to predict behaviour. It assumes that individuals and groups choose strategies based on perceived rewards and costs. (Baskin, Heiman, Lattimore, Toth, 2007, p. 48) I believe the social learning theory, which states that we can learn new behaviours merely by observing others (Baskin, Heiman, Lattimore, Toth, 2007, p. 50), is applicable to our TradeMe Team Up campaign. Although there will be a media release and other promotional material in relation to this campaign, the main method in which TradeMe members are going to learn about these donation features are through observing and adapting this behaviour from another member who has used these features on their auction(s). Both VanLeuven; and Baskin, Heiman, Lattimore Toth state that the more positive and rewarding the consequences, the more likely the behaviour will occur. (VanLeuven, 1989, p. 196) Therefore the probability of the observing TradeMe member adopting this behaviour (the donation feature) is more likely if they believe the reward (donating money to a charitable cause) is a sufficient or positive reward for performing the task; the goal of the promotional effort for this campaign should consequently be to align TradeMe Team Up campaign as so. Situational theory, according to Tench, and Yeomans; and Baskin, Heiman, Lattimore Toth (2007, p.46-47), divides an organisations publics according to those publics who actively seek and process information about an organisation or an issue of interest, and those publics that passively receive informationas the situation, problem, opportunity, or issue changes, the publics, with which the organisation must communicate, change. The redevelopment of Parent to Parents website is aimed towards the active information seekers of their publics; the new website design allows for easier navigation of the site, and easier access to relevant information, such as events, regional information, and organisational information. It would be the active users of this website, who are also TradeMe members, who would be the early adopters of the donation feature of TradeMe Team Up. Conclusion: Theory establishes a framework through which common phenomena can be described and analysed. This essay has described the public relations campaign designed by Intentio PR, and has worked to relate the various components that it comprises to relevant public relations theory. I believe the campaign we produced could have been improved if we had used or referred back to the theory discussed previously, and if we had designated SMART goals to each of the campaigns.

Case study of General Electric Co

Case study of General Electric Co General Electric can trace its roots to the founding of the Edison Electric Light Company in 1878. By 1890, Edison had organized his various businesses into the Edison General Electric Company. The Thomson-Houston Company and the various companies that had merged to form it were led by Charles A. Coffin. In 1892, these two major companies combined to form the General Electric Company. GE is a global manufacturing, technology, and services conglomerate, formed in 1892. Today, GE is made up of six businesses, each of which includes a number of units: GE Commercial Finance provides loans, operating leases, financing programs, commercial insurance, and an array of other products and services aimed at enabling business worldwide to grow. GE Healthcare is a leader in the development of a new paradigm of patient care dedicated to detecting disease earlier and helping physicians tailor treatment for individual patients. GE Industrial provides a broad range of products and services throughout the world, including appliances and lighting; plastics and silicones products; and equipment services. GE Infrastructure is one of the worlds leading providers of fundamental technologies to developing countries, including aviation, energy, oil and gas, rail and water process technologies. GE Money, formerly known as GE Consumer Finance, is a leading provider of credit services to consumers, retailers and automotive dealers around the world. NBC Universal is one of the worlds leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production and marketing of entertainment, news and information to a global audience. As per their last annual report at the end of 2008,at the end of the year they employed in total globally 323000 employees. $797,769 millions in assets 182,515 millions in revenues. Stakeholder Relations GE is a public company listed on the New York Stock Exchange and incorporated in the State of New York. The company is managed by a 16 member Board of Directors, of which 13 of the directors are independent. Directors are chosen annually at the annual meeting of shareholders. Four committees assist the Board: the Audit Committee, Management Development and Compensation Committee, Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, and the Public Responsibilities Committee. The Public Responsibilities Committee oversees the companys position on corporate social responsibility. GE also has a team of Corporate and Business Executives who lead GEs many corporate functions and businesses. GE has very strong equitable shareholder control. Each share of the common stock is entitled to one vote. Shareholders are able to nominate and elect candidates for the Board of Directors through a majority. Also, GEs code of conduct, The Spirit and The Letter enables shareholders to initiate a process of dis missal of Directors. Within Organisation External Employees Customers Senior Management Shareholders Board Of Directors Suppliers Shareholders Government Representatives Audit Committee Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Management Development And Compensation Committee Industry And Financial Analysts Nominating And Corporate Governance Committee Environmental Advocacy Groups Public Responsibilities Committee Media Environmental, Health And Safety Committee Community Leaders Citizenship Executive Advisory (CEA) Council Ecomagination Advisory Council Investors Investors Table Key Stakeholders GEs Board of Directors and GEs Risk Committee play vital roles in the oversight and management of the Company. From this senior leadership they are held with great accountability. The primary role of GEs Board of Directors is to oversee how management serves the interests of shareowners and other stakeholders. To do this, GEs Directors have adopted corporate governance principles aimed at ensuring that the Board is independent and fully informed on the key risks and strategic issues facing GE. This is dictated by two-thirds of its Board be independent under a strict definition of independence. The GE Board held 13 meetings in 2007 and outside Board members visited at least two GE businesses each in 2007 without senior management present in order to develop their own view of the Company. The Board also meets periodically without management. The Board and its Committees focus on the areas that are important to shareowners strategy, risk management, and people and in 2007 received brief ings on a variety of issues, including: controllership and risk management, compliance and litigation trends, U.S. and global tax policy, environmental risk management, social cost trends, acquisitions and dispositions, intellectual property and copyright protection, global trends, the reshaping and broadening of GEs businesses, and productivity. At the end of the year, the Board and each of its committees conduct a thorough self-evaluation as part of their normal governance cycle. Table Power v Influence MatrixKeep Satisfied Employees CEA Environmental, Health and Safety Committee Public Responsibilities Committee Ecomagination Advisory Council Manage Closely Senior Management Board of Directors Management Development and Compensation Committee Audit Committee Monitor Media Government Representatives Non-Governmental Organizations Community Leaders Keep Informed Investors Shareholders Industry and Financial Analysts Environmental Advocacy Groups Suppliers Power Influence Low High High Low Senior GE officers, including the Citizenship Executive Advisory (CEA) council, are regularly involved in reviewing stakeholder feedback. This group meets at least quarterly and reviews summary stakeholder feedback and issues important to the Companys citizenship efforts to ensure that the appropriate actions and resources are in place. The CEA is comprised of five senior GE executives. GE makes a commitment to transparency in its citizenship reports where the Vice President of Corporate Citizenship and the General Counsel ensure transparency of non-financial information. GE provides training on transparency to all employees as part of induction training as well as e-learning training that deals with compliance to policies and integrity. The citizenship reports are widely disseminated and translated to further encourage participation of its stakeholders. GE makes commitments to engaging with external stakeholders in its citizenship reports, which outline the types of engagements the company undertakes. They started the reports in 2005 and are now into their fourth. GE is currently developing a company-wide approach to stakeholder engagement called, materiality. Stakeholder engagement depends on the functionality of a department, for example, with citizenship-related engagements (i.e. NGOs or public policy groups) the Vice President of Corporate Citizenship over sees external stakeholder engagement. GE provides training to managers and executives on how to interact with stakeholders as part of the business Management and leadership classes. They have formalised engagement where they have institutionalized external stakeholders involvement in corporate decision making on environmental and social issues. GE has an Ecomagination Advisory Council comprised of a Board of 6 to 8 industry thought leaders with expertise in energy and environment. The Council guides the company on technology research and investments, provides new ideas on its environment strategy, helps generate or review white papers, and participates in GE sponsored events. GEs Ecomagination business strategy guides the companys evaluation of its environmental impact. The strategy aims to achieve energy-efficient, less emissive products, and achieves this through the use of the Ecomagination Product Review score card. The score card quantifies a products environmental impact relative to other products. Ecomagination product revenues increased from $12 billion in 2006 to $14 billion in 2007, which as a percent of overall company-wide revenue is 23% in 2007. In the current discussion global climate change, the environment is a hot topic now and will for the forseeable future for stakeholders. The main stakeholders that can be linked with this are the ecoimagination, environmental organizations, EHS. They will increasingly expect policies and strategies with real results and commitment to reduce detrimental environment impacts. They will therefore have a great deal of influence currently and will do for some time. They can increasingly apply pressure on the company to materialize its efforts. No doubt he GE is already tackling these issues but with these external stakeholders great power will arise as they influence employees to take responsibility and increased products on the ecomagination scheme. GE already state they have increasing product line in the pipe line. This is also a media frenzy topic which is reported on daily, environmental issues can see a hole host on stakeholders mainly external influence the the senior management and BOD, these include the media, government representatives, which will influence the community and thus individual shareholders and investors. Not only will they influence the internal operations of the company but in tern the GE will guide its suppliers so no conflict of interest if they are not doing all they can to alleviate environmental issues and are seen to be responsible. GE also has the Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) Policy, which ensures consistent global standards for evaluation methods. GE provides training to operations leaders on the overview on EHS policy through Plant Manager Training. Of the Ecomagination and EHS policy are both widely circulated, but Only Ecomagination material is translated. However of the mechanisms to facilitate the sharing of lessons learnt from evaluations is not in place and thus contradicts the approach of external stakeholders to lead the environmental issues. GE has the Statement on Principles of Human Rights, which commits the company to monitoring its suppliers adherence to EHS standards in emerging markets, prohibitions against forced and child labor, local wage and hour laws; evaluating human rights issues; and assessing the impact of major infrastructure project financing on local communities. The Vice President of Corporate Citizenship oversees the reporting and evaluation of GEs social impact while different leaders have varying responsibilities depending on the issue. For example, the General Counsel has the responsibility for compliance, governance, and ombudsperson. GE does not provide training to staff on evaluation of social impacts of their activities. Companies like GE with global supply chains face significant challenges in order to ensure that their suppliers make safe and quality products, and that they are produced on time and at competitive prices. In addition, stakeholders increasingly expect companies and their busine ss partners to respect and implement national and international labour and environmental standards in their workplaces. This challenge becomes even greater when companies source suppliers from countries without adequate government enforcement. While the policing model of the past has made some positive improvements, it has been relatively unsuccessful at identifying the core issues. This has created a duplication of efforts, contributed to a proliferation of codes of conduct that create confusion, and has largely been an ineffective use of resources. Adding to the dilemmas are some unanswered questions, including: How will competing companies in the growing economies of Brazil, Russia, India, and China manage their supply chains in relation to international labour standards? Do consumers see the value of investing in supply chains and, if so, are they willing to potentially pay more? Todays leading companies and multi-stakeholder initiatives are changing tack and beginning to focus their efforts on five areas: Improving management systems Developing effective complaint mechanisms and workplace remediation platforms Evaluating internal purchasing to determine how their own actions may negatively impact the workplace Increase supply chain transparency Creating incentives for their buyers and suppliers based on social and environmental performance criteria This shift in approach requires collaboration from a broad set of stakeholders because no one sector can effectively achieve this alone. Companies should learn from the hard lessons of the past, avoid the pitfalls that others have experienced, and consider targeting resources on building internal capacity to work in partnership with NGOs, trade unions, multilaterals, peer companies, and industry and trade associations to tackle these complex issues together. Moreover, companies and their stakeholders should collectively engage governments and encourage them to enforce their laws in order to make decent work a reality and to create a level playing field for multinational companies and for those suppliers competing for their business. GE has the code of conduct called The Spirit and The Letter, which guides the handling of internal complaints. GE also has a Global Ombudsperson system where ombudspersons are placed in every business and country where GE operates to facilitate compliance and the complaints process. The Spirit and The Letter have the commitment to ensure mandatory discipline for anyone found to have retaliated against a whistleblower. The Corporate Ombudsperson has the overall responsibility to oversee compliance with the code. GE provides all ombudspersons with training on receiving concerns, initiating investigations, and monitoring case progress and closure. Employees receive compliance training through the intranet. This also encompasses complaint and response procedure for external complaints. GEs 2007 proxy statement highlights a mechanism that exists for external stakeholders to lodge complaints directly to the Board of Directors. The Corporate Ombudsman also oversees compliance with commitmen ts made in the proxy statement, and will pass any concerns to the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors. Ombudspersons are trained on receiving and handling concerns from external stakeholders. GEs code enables any stakeholder to report concerns of corporate policies and strategies directly to the Board of Directors. With the many commitments and programs and committees in place GE keep their stakeholders mainly employees informed with reports. They have proxy statements, citizen reports, annual reports which are widely disseminated and translated. They also have key policies that are made easier accessible such as human rights statements. Not all endeavours are translated and circulated but the majority are. Environmental and social aspects are reported on and also compensation of the senior management and executive directores, CEOs are all transparent. If this was not the case this could easily alienate lower level employees and other stakeholders. With the information available stakeholder board have also been issued the task of evaluating report writing on annual and citizenship reports. They concluded in the 2008 citezen report that GE utilized a Stakeholder Review Panel to assess and comment on report quality. Ongoing stakeholder engagements have enabled the Company to determine the impact and influence of its corporate citizenship efforts. The Panels commentary is intended to inform and guide report readers, as well as GE. Six people were invited by GE to join the Panel, identified in discussion with AccountAbility, the latter acting as the Panel Convener. Panel members were selected for their interests and concerns, their expertise and their knowledge of GE. Panel members were asked to participate as individuals, not as representatives of their organizations, Environment Social Development Department at the International Finance Corporation, HSBC Climate Change Centre of Excellence. The Panel provided feedback to GE based on a draft report, and the commentary based on its view of the final report. The Panel focused on the quality of the report, although members raised some performance issues in discussion with GE. The Panels commentary, presented here, is intended to inform and guide the report readers, as well as GE. Use was made of the AA1000 Assurance Standard, but the Panels work is not a formal assurance exercise. Background to the 2008 Convenings This year we sought to reflect on our progress concerning the implementation of our Statement of Principles on Human Rights as well as our broader ecomagination and development efforts, and further explore the links between GEs operations and the broader human rights agenda. In particular, we convened experts and stakeholders in three regions to discuss: à ´Ã¢â€š ¬Ã†â€™Ã… ¾ How can GE further advance the implementation of the Companys global Human Rights Policy, and in particular in relation to our role as a global Olympics sponsor at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games; in other words, What does it mean to be a good global citizen? (Geneva) à ´Ã¢â€š ¬Ã†â€™Ã… ¾ How can GE further embed its environmental stewardship work within the core of its strategy and practice, expanding its efforts outside the United States and also connecting its efforts to the broader development agenda? (Washington, D.C.) à ´Ã¢â€š ¬Ã†â€™Ã… ¾ How can GE advance an effective approach to serving communities in the developing world in light of the Companys unique position in providing infrastructure solutions to the private and public sectors? (Delhi) To learn more about GE and stakeholder participants for these convenings, please visit www.ge.com/citizenship/processes. Insights from the 2008 convenings GE greatly appreciated the honest and open discussions at the three convenings. Valuing the counsel and advice we received, we would like to share a summary of the key opportunities and challenges the convenings helped us identify and explore. We discuss many of these opportunities and challenges within this years report and are looking forward to further engagement over the coming year to help us inform and guide our citizenship approach and efforts. To provide the reader with a flavor of the discussions at the convenings, this report also features a number of (unedited) expert perspectives authored by participants of the convenings. Insights include: Climate change public policy Clear and consistent communication, including recommendation and clarification of effective and credible global policy frameworks, engaging in national and local debates on trade policies, and customer engagement on clean technology (Washington, D.C.). Company-to-country investment Leveraging innovation and product adaptation driven by local culture and context (Delhi). Customer product-use issues Clarification of GEs approach to client responsibility of GE products, including increased engagement with society on key concerns such as dual-use technology and post-sale management (Geneva, Delhi, Washington, D.C.). Expanding boundaries Engaging experts as GE continues to operationalize its Statement of Principles on Human Rights and consider a life-cycle approach for GEs products as GE applies its efforts to help reduce CO2 emissions within its supply chain (Geneva, Washington, D.C.). Human rights Increased public positioning on business issues associated with the emerging and ongoing human rights discussions and proactive engagement as they arise, e.g., 2008 Beijing Olympic Games (Geneva). Localizing engagement Greater understanding of the implications arising from GEs unique position as a business-to-business company providing infrastructure solutions to countries (from technology development to local implementation) (Delhi, Washington, D.C.). Strategic collaborations and partnerships Leveraging of GEs core competencies and strengths (commitment to innovation and ability to scale projects and programs) in strategic collaborations and partnerships to ensure acceptance and sustainability (Delhi). The Panel encourages GE to continue innovating in its reporting, and we challenge it to strive for leadership in promoting meaningful transparency across the global business community. à ´Ã¢â€š ¬Ã†â€™Ã… ¾ Injecting sustainability into financial reporting: This years Citizenship Report has demonstrated the strategic relevance of GEs programs for its long-term business performance. These material aspects of sustainability management and innovation should be incorporated into regular investor disclosure, including quarterly and annual reports as well as in proxy statements. à ´Ã¢â€š ¬Ã†â€™Ã… ¾ Embedding citizenship within operations: We would welcome transparency on how sustainability performance is brought to life for individual GE employees through performance evaluation and compensation. à ´Ã¢â€š ¬Ã†â€™Ã… ¾ Matching global reporting with national level data: Utilize GEs Web site to provide country-level performance data and information for global stakeholders, including insights and outcomes from key stakeholder and business engagements, especially in high growth regions such as Asia. à ´Ã¢â€š ¬Ã†â€™Ã… ¾ Discussing public policy engagement: Further strengthening of disclosure on GEs public policy activity and lobbying on key citizenship issues at the global and national level, including membership organizations that represent GE. Consider making all submissions to governments available on the Web site. à ´Ã¢â€š ¬Ã†â€™Ã… ¾ Exploring human rights: Shine a brighter spotlight on GEs human rights approach and practice, and illustrate its thoughtfulness in approaching challenging dilemmas. As operationalizing GEs human rights policy around the globe is particularly complex, this area does not lend itself to quantitative goals, but to case studies and an active discussion of the dilemmas and nuances central to the human rights challenges the Company faces. For example, the illegal use of GEs ultrasound equipment for sex-selection by practitioners in India or application of GEs global labour rights standards within its supply chain in challenging environments like China. Further information on steps the Company has taken to align its performance with its human rights policies would enrich the Report. à ´Ã¢â€š ¬Ã†â€™Ã… ¾ Progressing the Energy and Climate Change Agenda: Deepening of reporting on the Companys contribution to the U.S. Climate Action Partnerships commitment to 60-80% reduction in U.S. emissions by 2050 how, on a practical level, GE plans to help achieve these goals via technology adaptation or expansion of ecomagination. à ´Ã¢â€š ¬Ã†â€™Ã… ¾ User-focused reporting: Experiment and explore how best to reach and communicate with the companys diverse range of stakeholders, especially those with particular, set interests or those who may have limited access to the Web. ge Public responsibilities Companies confront many dilemmas when conducting business, in rich or poor countries alike, when defining their role in communities: understanding the proper role of governments and the right level and quality of influence from companies that are sometimes larger than governments themselves; the need to respect different cultures but still make sure that the same values are applied all around the world; the need to have an educated workforce that fits in the companys processes while trying not to change local cultures; expectations that companies will provide for all; and disappointment when companies need to close plants or leave communities. Much has been written and discussed about the impact of multinationals on communities. Stakeholders have many different views and perceptions, and there is little agreement about how to measure impacts, both positive and negative. I think, however, that there are two basic questions that companies need to answer: 1. Are we really listening to the stakeholders who are actually impacted at every step of the value chain of our business? 2. What are communities going to be like when our company leaves? Many stakeholder dialogues are going on around the world, and it is certainly a remarkable and great step to have companies like GE whose sheer size allows them to have significant positive impacts when defining their course of work listening to diverse views and exchanging ideas with non-business partners. They are, however, mostly focused on stakeholders who speak English or belong to organized groups with some international affiliation. Maybe it could be good to actually exchange ideas with the impacted communities themselves to form a more complete picture. Companies should come into communities planning for the time when they leave, be it two years or 70. Hopefully, that way one can avoid creating dependency and promote ownership from day one. It is probably more complex to start and carry business with this view, but it is surely better to prevent risks than to manage crises. Public Policy GE has increasingly focused on deepening and improving its ability to work effectively with governments throughout the world. We firmly believe that a better understanding of GEs vision and business activities and governments impact on those pursuits will serve both parties well. Moreover, we have made a concerted effort to enhance our working relationships with government officials. The rules governing governmental transactions and advocacy activities differ from country to country, and can be varied and complex. Our total commitment to integrity has led us to continuously educate GE leaders on changes in the rules and regulations governing interactions with government officials. The Public Responsibilities and Audit Committees of the Board are briefed regularly on our government relations and compliance activities. I spend much of my time travelling internationally and meeting people at every level within and outside GE. Our strong commitment to corporate citizenship makes GE a very attractive place for lawyers to work. My ability to attract the best lawyers and maintain the legal teams strong internal sense of community is greatly assisted by the fact that the Company is committed to promoting the Rule of Law and is actively working with governments and communities to promote ethical behaviour. GE lawyers are inspired and motivated knowing that such a strong commitment runs through the veins of the Company. Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism In 2006, the U.S. and Russian governments launched the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism. As a global citizen, GE is deeply concerned that every safeguard be taken to ensure that legitimate commerce in nuclear materials is not exploited by terrorist organizations. As a global producer of nuclear power plants, nuclear fuels, radioactive isotopes for healthcare applications, and radiation detection equipment, GE has the experience and expertise to make a substantial contribution to this goal. In 2007, GE worked with the U.S. Department of State to express support for the Global Initiative, and in 2008, we will participate actively in several projects, including the development of a model national nuclear detection architecture document; international cooperation in developing technical approaches to remotely detect radiological materials; and minimizing the use of highly enriched uranium in the production of medical radioisotopes. Countries of concern GE devotes significant resources to ensuring that business activities are in compliance with all applicable laws, that they are conducted with integrity and achieve value for our shareholders worldwide. While our policy has always required that our businesses follow U.S. sanctions and other applicable laws, in 2008 we adopted a policy that goes beyond what current laws require. In light of reputational and business risks associated with doing business with countries designated as State Sponsors of Terrorism by the U.S. Department of State (Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria), the Company will not accept business in these countries except activity that is authorized by the U.S. Government for humanitarian or public policy purposes. This approach augments a policy adopted in 2005, when GE and its board decided it would no longer do business in Iran because of developing conditions in that country. The exceptions were to run down existing commitments and humanitarian activity authorized by U.S. Government licenses. Since then, GE has done everything it said it would do in 2005. As of the end of June 2008, the preexisting commitments with Iran have been completed. At all times GEs policy was fully compliant with U.S. and all applicable laws. In fact, GEs policies have been more restrictive than U.S. law. Recent sales to Syria have been very small, involving healthcare products as well as non-U.S. origin power, oil and gas, and lighting. In recent years, GE has had very little activity in the Sudan, almost all involving the sale of healthcare products. GE has not had any sales to North Korea in the past three years. Since 1996, GE has not accepted business in Myanmar (Burma). Recommendations GE is