Liberty for the High School Student

Competition is becoming a key part of high school academics. It seems as if everyday it becomes harder to be accepted into the college of your dreams. This is causing high stress levels for teenagers. what with worrying about looking good, keeping friends, doing well in school, and the growing pressure to plan your life by the time you're 16, it's amazing that we all haven't gone crazy. Due to high stress caused by homework, and lack of sleep, high school students should receive lighter loads from schools. The students of today are stressed, not from the assumed bullying or peer pressure, but from homework and tests.â€Å"Most of the stress is from academics as opposed to the typical assumption of bullying or social issues. † States an article from Mind Shift. Parents assume that things like that are the cause of the stress, but the real problem is homework. Then there is the case of Nora. A normal high school student, pressured with doing perfectly in school. When she receive d her grade card and saw that she did not have a perfect 4. 0, she lost it. Her mother found her in tears, and realized that it was time to Logan 2 intervene. Nora had been increasingly irritable and tired, and she also suffered from headaches. She is not the only one.Students everywhere, including myself and friends of mine, are tired, frustrated and sick. While stress can be healthy for our body, too much can severely harm us. According to an article on the website WebMd, reviewed by Doctor Joseph Goldberg, large amounts of stress cause headaches, higher blood pressure, heart and skin issues and conditions, and depression- the list goes on. These symptoms are not just found in adults, they are also found in teenagers. High stress levels early on in life will only lead to physical and mental problems in the future. The mental state of teenagers justifies that our load is too heavy.It is not an unknown fact that students these days do not have a lot of free time. We wake up at six, go to school, spend all day working, have extra curriculars after school, and all in all, most students do not end up returning home until around seven o’clock at night. We are then expected to help with dinner, help clean up dinner, and take care of other chores before we spend two to three hours working on homework assigned during the day. At this rate, the typical high school student is not getting to bed until close to 11 o’clock. Thus, forcing them to cope with six hours of sleep per night; far from what is needed.Sleep is extremely important for teenagers. It affects our growth, our mental health, and our safety behind the wheel- it is food for our brain. The National Sleep Foundation suggests that teenagers sleep for about 9 ? hours per night; saying that 8 ? works for some. But in all reality, this is far from the amount of sleep teenagers are actually getting. The NSF found Logan 3 that only %15 of teenagers are getting that 8 ? hours. So, how does this lack o f sleep affect our behavior, and success in school? It is shown that lack of sleep causes aggressive behaviors and a reduced immune system.Therefore, we are sick more often causing us to miss school. It is also shown that it becomes harder to focus, and listen. therefore, we do not learn. How do teachers expect us to complete tasking assignments if we are unable to focus, learn, and listen? Our lack of sleep, and increasingly reduced amounts of free time indicates the need for less time-consuming work. Parents and teachers, somehow, have come to believe that all of this is â€Å"shaping us for the real world†. Please explain to me how raising our stress levels and, ultimately, harming our physical and mental health is helping us?Today, we are expected to be able to manage an almost adult life by the time we are sixteen, but we need to spend more time learning and exploring all of our options. If it has become the norm to change majors three time before you graduate college, t hen something is severely wrong with current society. Teenagers who are over loaded with after school work are becoming less and less mentally and physically stable. High schools can approach a new style of teaching, and issue curriculums that include less after school work. Issuing new types of curriculums including less after school work would most effectively help resolve the problems.I highly doubt that the cost of this solution would be very high at all. I believe that states could afford this. The general public will find the solution acceptable. When parents and teachers see how bad the situation is becoming, they will be able to convince policy makers to initiate Logan 4 the change. The parents of the students are the ones who really need to change. They are responsible for realizing the severity of the situation. As the writer of this piece I hope to show the public that times are changing; and not necessarily for the better. It is my responsibility to show this.

Thea Astley’s It’s raining in mango

A literary text often acts as a reflection of the society of the time in which it was written. The particular value systems or ideologies of the characters and character groups represented in the text inform the reader of those characters' cultural identities. In Thea Astley's it's raining in mango, the author offers many representations of cultural identity. Through the story of the Laffey's, Astley provides an alternative to the mainstream society's representation of cultural identity and challenges traditional beliefs regarding Australia. It's raining in mango is set in Australia, and follows the story of the Laffey family from 1860 to 1980. The characters endure some of the major events in Australia's history, such as the gold rush of the 1860s, the depression, both World Wars, and the horrific treatment of the Aboriginal population. From these events came the ‘Australian identity'; what mainstream society believed to be the traits and characteristics unique to the ‘typical' Australian. From the First World War sprung the legend of the heroic ANZAC, and Australians were regarded as the resilient ‘battler' with a strong sense of humour and laid-back attitude. Camaraderie and mateship were highly valued. The patriarchal ideologies of the society meant that women were expected to be submissive, and function solely in the domestic sphere, while men were the providers and â€Å"bread-winners†. Aboriginals and other minority groups were marginalised or silenced. The value systems and ideologies that inform the representation of mainstream Australian society's cultural identity are represented in Astley's text by characters such as the diggers, who believe that the Aboriginal people are â€Å"not human† and the pub owner â€Å"who hated blacks, but loved their pay checks†. Other characters who represent the patriarchal values of the society are the priests with whom Jessica Olive and Connie conflict with. However, the strongest representation of the values and ideologies of this society are reflected through the police, the figures of authority who find it â€Å"in order to blame a blackskin. The easy way out†. All these characters, along with the men looking for work during the Depression, reflect the values and ideologies of mainstream society, which inform representations of the cultural identity of Australians. However, through the Laffey family and other character groups, Astley offers an alternative representation of cultural identity. The women in Astley's text offer an alternative to the cultural identity of women in mainstream society. Unlike the women represented in the ideologies of this patriarchal society, the female characters in mango display strength and independence. Jessica Olive begins as the passive, submissive wife and mother idealised by mainstream society, however moves to challenge this notion after Cornelius leaves and she is left to become the â€Å"manageress extraordinaire†. She shows strength, passion and determination when facing hardships, or challenges to her values from characters such as the boarder at her hotel, and Father Madigan. Connie also proves her independence and strength of character throughout the text. As a child in a convent, Connie has difficulty suppressing her sexuality â€Å"and for one silly week she flattened her gently erupting breasts with a broad ribbon band†, and then as an adult she goes on to become a strong, self-reliant single mother. Connie, like Jessica Olive, displays passion and determination when she conflicts with another priest, Father Rassini. Mag is another character whose values and beliefs give an alternative to the mainstream notion of cultural identity. When she hides Nelly and her baby from the authorities, Mag displays courage and defiance, and the fact that she speaks for George, her husband, reflects power and strength of character. The prostitutes in the text also show very strong independence and courage, and their value systems and ideologies inform a representation of cultural identity that challenges the identity ascribed to prostitutes by mainstream society. The value systems and beliefs of the female characters in this text create a very different representation of women's cultural identity in Australia than that ascribed to women by the mainstream patriarchal society of the novel. They create a new cultural identity for women, that of the strong, independent woman. These women have a very strong connection to the land, and place family at the centre of their value system, as do most of the main characters in the text. The centralisation of family in the story of the Laffey's is very important in the construction of an alternative cultural identity. Unlike the characters that represent mainstream society, whose families are not mentioned, the Laffey's have a strong, profound bond. They represent values and attitudes similar to those found in Aboriginal culture, those of respect for, and reliance on, the family. Connie recognises that â€Å"only the family as she knows it has cohesion, provides a core†. She understands the unbreakable bond between her family throughout the centuries, and the fact that they are inextricably linked to each other by the knowledge that they are Laffey's. The bond between Connie and Will reminds the reader of the importance of family in a time when many families were being ripped apart by the tragedy of the Second World War. For the main characters, the family home in Mango is their place of return, a place to come back to for sanctuary and security. This emphasis on strong family values informs the reader of a cultural identity that is very different to the one offered by mainstream society, in the text. Along with a strong family connection, the main characters also have a strong connection to the land. While the settlers in the text saw the land as something to be battled with, the Laffey's learnt to harmonise with the land, and see it as something to be protected. Reever represents the values of the Laffey family through his acting out as a conservationist, and Clytie and Harry's struggle to save their farm during the Depression displays their concern for the land. It is this connection to the family and the land, similar to Aboriginal values, that sets the Laffey family's representation of cultural identity apart from that of mainstream society. The value system and ideologies of the Aboriginal characters, and other characters, inform the reader of the cultural identity of the Aboriginal people. The mainstream society of the text views Aborigines as savage, â€Å"no-hoper(s), river-tribe layabout(s)†. This view is clearly expressed throughout the text; by the diggers who callously slaughter the â€Å"blackskins†, the pub owner, the police, and especially by the gang in the bar who beat Billy and his family. The Aboriginal population is marginalised by mainstream society. However, Astley, by privileging the point of view of some of the Aboriginal characters, and creating main characters who sympathise with, and share some beliefs and values with the Aboriginal people, has created a cultural identity that is different from that of mainstream's society's beliefs. Aboriginal culture places great emphasis on the unity of the family, and this value is evident in Astley's text. Nelly is willing to run, and risk being hunted down, to keep her child, and Billy's first concern is his father when they are attacked in a bar. The very strong Aboriginal connection to the land is also evident in it's raining in mango. The way the land is described by the Aboriginal characters is beautiful and serene, with it's â€Å"hill(s), grey scrub against blue, the long grasses dry before the big rains†, and shows an understanding of the nature of the earth. Bidiggi automatically reaches for the earth to comfort him when his tribe is slaughtered, hiding in the water grass and falling asleep under a paperbark. These Aboriginal notions of family, and their connection to the land, provide a representation of cultural identity. The attitudes of other characters also affect the representation of Aboriginal cultural identity in this text. The Laffey family, who are centralised in the text, sympathise with the plight of the Aboriginal people. Cornelius is fired because he writes an article exposing the shocking treatment of Aboriginal people, the child George believes that Aborigines are just the same as white people, Mag and George protect Nelly and her baby, and Will tries to help Billy in the bar brawl. Because these characters are all centralised, and the reader is encouraged to agree with their values and attitudes, the reader is positioned to see the Aboriginal people as humanised, which provides an alternative representation of cultural identity to that offered by mainstream society. Other character groups are also represented in it's raining in mango, and their value systems and ideologies inform the reader of their cultural identity. These groups are the soldiers, the hippies, and the cult members. The myth of the resilient, laid-back Australian soldier is destroyed in Astley's text, and replaced instead with the image of a shattered, broken man, plagued by what he has seen. Will's experience of the war, and how he deals with it, are not the same as the romanticised identity created by main stream society. Will is instead constantly disturbed by the horrific images of his experiences at the front, and though awarded for bravery, he throws the medal in the rubbish because he does not believe that he deserved it. Thus, through Will's reaction to the war, Astley again offers an alternative to the cultural identity created by mainstream society. The hippies are represented as lazy, careless, and free. They believe in love, peace, and freedom, and regularly smoke marijuana. The hippies don't have real names, and they are constructed as drifters, travelling and moving whenever the mood seizes them. The values and ideologies of the hippies create their cultural identity, however their attitudes and actions are hypocritical, and position the reader to question the validity of the hippies' cultural identity. The members of the cult are constructed as surreal, surrounded by a blue haze. The reader sees them through the point of view of Connie, and the odd characters are almost satirised. Astley uses the cult to make another attack on institutionalised religion, suggesting that they are no better than the Father Madigans or Father Rassinis of the world, as they place their absolute faith in the intangible. Their inability to act in an emergency, such as when Connie saves the drowned man, highlights the ineffectiveness of their beliefs. The cult members' representation of cultural identity is informed through their value systems and ideologies, and is used by Astley to comment on the ineffectiveness of having faith solely in the divine, and no faith in self. In Thea Astley's it's raining in mango, the author has revealed several representations of cultural identity. She has revealed the cultural identities created by the mainstream society of the text, and then offered alternatives to these assumptions through the story of the Laffey family and other surrounding characters. The value systems and ideologies of these characters are what create the cultural identities for these groups.

Discussion on NSA Security Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Discussion on NSA Security - Essay Example According to Hypponen, basically, each international internet user is under US surveillance. Hypponen is worried about our future communication and data which he fears will be stored in the US data center in Utah; the world’s largest. Hypponen laments how the US government is infringing on individual privacy and making everything insecure by infiltrating standardization bodies to purposely sabotage encryption algorithms. The NSA by use of PRISM which is a particular NSA database and an aspect of the entire NSA surveillance endeavor, details collection program for data collection from various service providers. Thus clearly, the world is no longer a safe place to communicate freely and the US has completely infiltrated people’s privacy under the guise of fighting terrorism. Although the US is legally obligated to monitor foreigners as well as foreigners’ data connections when they end up or pass through United States, you realize that 96% of people in the planet are foreigners. This means that almost virtually everybody is being watched by the US. This i s not only morally wrong, but also rude and should make everybody angry. Hypponen proposes that the world unite together through either political pressure or by seeking alternative services, so as to build together open, free as well as secure

Impact of Technology Socially on Healthcare Essay

Impact of Technology Socially on Healthcare - Essay Example Through this, the impact made of healthcare institutions on the society is all about trust and confidence. Lane (2008) argues that technology has â€Å"opened the way for improvements in the variety of areas.† She stressed that even the most feared diseases such as cancer and heart failure was given a relief through technology. Information is very important in the healthcare industry. However, according to Nelson (2003), patients were â€Å"generally unhappy† because it takes a while for the doctors to diagnose the disease and discussing with them the information about it takes time. In this note, it can be said that the general impression about medical information would be stressing and a waste of time. Technology plays an important role in giving information in the lightest way. The internet is readily available in most cases if one wants to know a background about a certain disease. In the areas of pathology and surgery, technology’s benefit is outstanding. Whether it is for reconstructive or aesthetic surgery, technology would serve as a tool for easier medical p rocess. In Weiss Memorial Hospital, robotics surgery is used to â€Å"minimize the physical and emotional impact of surgery on patients.† This is just one of the many advantages brought by modern technology to health services. The impact by technology on health care is massive; delivering the area of medicine into a broader light. There are countless benefits if a medical institution adapts technology but the most important part lies in the better performance for the lives of the patients and thus, creating a healthy

Business to business marketing final exam questions Term Paper

Business to business marketing final exam questions - Term Paper Example (B) Business marketing is also known as business to business marketing. The characteristics of business marketing have been described below. Organizations in business marketing target fewer customers who are geographically concentrated and have limited accounting for the majority of the sales of the organizations. The organizations in business marketing adopt longer decision cycle as the organizations always try to maintain strong relationship with their potential business clients for a longer period of time. In this type of marketing, the business organizations strongly depend upon the personal selling process comparing to several mass media advertising or promotional strategy. The promotional cost in this business marketing process is quite lower comparing to the traditional consumer marketing process. The organizations in business marketing process used to focus on more rigid product standards for the potential business clients as it is important for the organizations to maintain an effective long term relationship with the business clients. ... at are used by the managers of a firm to monitor and control the execution of several activities by the employees within the organizations and the consequence of the execution. (B) Financial, internal business process, customer, and learning and growth are the four perspectives of application of the balance scorecard. It is always important for the organizations to identify several relevant high level financial measures in the business marketing strategy development6 model. Application of balance scorecard will help the organization to influence the shareholders of the organization and improve the financial stability. Customers or clients are the key growth drivers for an organization. It is highly important for the organization to develop effective relationship with business clients in order to enhance the developed business marketing strategy. Considering the perspective of internal business process can help the organizations to improve their business marketing strategies. It will help them to develop more unique business operation process and develop strong relationship with several external and internal stakeholders. Considering the perspective of learning and growth under the balance scorecard will help the organization to develop more unique business marketing strategies in near future to foster the growth rate. Several leading organizations used to review and monitor the executed strategy. It is true that the organizations need to develop effective internal business operation process in order to maintain the sustainability in business operation processes. Effective and valuable strategies will help the organizations to gain potential competitive advantages. On the other hand, monitoring the performance of developed strategies can help the organizations to

Data Collection2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Data Collection2 - Essay Example ministration and bush family members such as the former first lady, Barbara Bush, Olberman has named a host of Republican senators and numerous Conservatives and pro-Bush reporters and media personalities, such as Ann Coulter, Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh. He has, furthermore, repeatedly included Fox New Channel, which he dubs, Fox Nothing Channel and Fox Noise Channel, in his worst person of the world list, as well as conservative pro-Bush preachers, such as Pat Robertson. The above-stated, which was concluded after thorough review of Countdown transcripts at MSNBC, is indicative of an overt bias against the Bush Administration, Republicans and neoconservatives. Further solidifying this claim of bias is that rarely, if ever, is a Democrat included in that list, unless they have voted in support of the Iraq War, or who have expressed any type of support for Bush’s policies, such as Hilary Clinton. The fact that the number of Republicans, Conservatives and Bush Administration members included in the Worst Person in the World spot overwhelms the number of Democrats and Iraq war opponents included, may reflect bias but it does not reflect the extent of the bias involved. Bias is best determined through quotes: 1. Anne Coulter (Conservative, Pro-War Activist, Republican, Bush supporter); When awarding Coulter the Worst Person in the World Award just last week, for having called John Edwards feminine, Olberman said: â€Å"Calling John Edwards that name, I mean, Annie, just because you’re more mannish looking, hell, you’re more mannish looking than every man on the planet† (Olberman, 2007, â€Å"Ann Coulter†). What should be emphasised about this quote is that it descends into personal and subjective attacks; it is not an objective and critical response to Coulter’s statements, or her political position but, an attack upon her own person. In so doing, Olberman does not just reveal his own personal bias but, seems to suggest that

Answer The 5 Questions Provided Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Answer The 5 Questions Provided - Essay Example For instance, in more mature markets, values such as prestige hold more sway than in less mature markets, where such things as fuel efficiency and overall cost of ownership are more important product values. So again the marketing has to be somewhat targeted to different markets rather than general or standardized for all markets. There are country arrangements such as those that exist between North and South Korea that involve the latter limiting imports of fresh produce and other farm products from the former. This hurts South Korea too, given that in general the country benefits from having more ample food sources from more places, in the same way that it hurts North Korea’s ability to make profits from its agricultural work. The idea too is that North Korea may be in a position to supply farm produce at lower prices, introducing some competition to improve farming methods and yields at home for South Korea (Yonhap News Agency). Between American and France there is a world of cultural differences and attitudes surrounding feminine values, especially with regard to what they wear, and the same applies to certain apparel, such as blue jeans. In France there is a sensitivity to blue jeans being an American product, and there may be some fashion resistance springing from France’s proud culture to the adoption of blue jeans among women. On the other hand in America there is no adoption and acceptance problem of the kind that may be present in France. Therefore in magazine advertising in particular these cultural influences, of jaded attitudes towards garments that have heavy American connotations, there has to be sensitivity to crafting messages that tone down the American elements of blue jeans in France. Recent moves by government in Colombia point toward the further strengthening of the government institutions in the country, which augur well for the

Development of The Constitution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Development of The Constitution - Essay Example The English legal system denied provisions granting necessary resources and protection to the people accused of crimes; unless the allegations were proven true. It was the American law which initially offered legal asylum to the accused groups (Paul, 2006). The legal asylum does not imply special and lenient treatment, rather the defendants were provided with minimum services to defend their position. The intent of such measures has been to bring credibility to the judicial system of the United States. Before 1960s, the courts were reluctant to offer counsel services to the accused groups. The services for the counsel were either limited or rejected; the provisions for counsels were provided based upon the financial standing of the accused groups. It was in the case entitled Powell v. Alabama 1963, when the court favoured the counselling services for the accused groups; the ruling encouraged the states to offer judicial protection to the accused groups through counselling. This was considered to be the first ruling which blatantly refused and challenged the interpretation of the British law; the law which discouraged any such counselling provisions for the accused groups. The court ruling considered it to be the legitimate demand of the defence for provisions of legal counselling services; however the court involved the states to determine the extent and nature of counselling to the accused groups. In 1942 during the hearing of Bett v. Brady, the court ruled it necessary to provid e adequate legal protection to the accused group through counselling; however the requirement of legal counselling through lawyer to the accused group shall be evaluated on the basis of necessity. Such rulings confirmed that American law was adopting distinct approach, and in some cases challenged the interpretation of the English law. In 1960 the American law confirmed and reiterated its resolution to provide

How to write a essay Essay Example for Free

How to write a essay Essay Getting into college could be as easy as memorizing the alphabet just like a preschooler. But, getting into college with a scholarship is a whole different thing. From the thousands of college applicants aiming for a scholarship, how will you make your essay application stand out? There are millions of essay examples over the internet but, you need to come up with an essay that will get you that scholarship. Tips on How to Write a Good Scholarship Essay: 1. Read instructions carefully College application can become a common thing for you. You might actually get the feeling of doing the same thing over and over like answering the same question for the nth number of times. No matter how similar college applications are, you have to read and understand the instructions well. If you want to land on a good school for college with a scholarship, everything starts with reading and comprehending the instructions. 2. Organize your thoughts After reading the instructions, it’s time to line up your thoughts to make an effective essay that will get you that scholarship. Look for essay samples on the internet or in books. Have a sort of survey from resources that will help you fill in the contents of your essay. It is difficult to start writing an essay, but with organized ideas, you can do it efficiently and effectively. 3. Make an outline When you get a general idea of the essay contents, you can now make an outline of specific details that will be included in your composition. Essay examples usually present general ideas down to the specific. Having an outline is very helpful to keep your essay consistent and focused on a particular topic. 4. Discuss every topic based on the instruction Paying attention to details or instructions is actually part of writing the essay for a scholarship application. Make sure that every topic asked in the essay questions is discussed in the whole composition. Remember that you only have one chance of writing an essay that will make a lasting impression on your college application. 5. Use simple language format and make sure your grammar is perfect Do not try to impress readers of your essay. Even if you are in college, you are not expected to use highfaluting words, but rather make your sentences simple and clear. No matter how technical your vocabulary is but poor grammar is an indication of a lousy essay. 6. Avoid bragging about your achievements Although it is important that you include your achievements as this will help your scholarship application, however you only need to do this if you are asked to do so. Avoid bragging, instead, talk about your achievements simply. It is also good to include the lessons you have learned in gaining such success. 7. Have someone edit and check your work To ensure that you are submitting an essay that will get you the scholarship, have an expert check your work. An editor or a previous professor can help you improve and validate how excellent or poor your essay is. Essay Writing First paragraph — Introduction The first paragraph is essential in capturing the attention of your readers. It is called an introduction as it gives an overview of what your essay is all about. The first paragraph should be similar to an â€Å"About Me† part of a reading material. Make it as simple as possible and dynamically connected to your next point. Second Paragraph – Important Details The second paragraph should support your introduction. This section includes more detail and usually the start of elaboration for every point or question. Say for example, state reasons why you should qualify for the scholarship; state your accomplishments; why are you choosing a particular course and the like. Third paragraph – Future Goals The third paragraph should speak of your future goals and your vision after pursuing a college degree. Goals have to be specific, and should reflect an action plan after your college graduation. Fourth paragraph – The Best Candidate End your essay by stating reasons why you are the best candidate to be chosen for the scholarship. State two to three main points from the previous paragraphs. Do not forget to note your appreciation for the readers of your essay for taking the time to read your essay. Composing your ideas and putting them in writing is never easy. It can be stressful and puts on a lot of pressure, especially when your future depends on this essay for a scholarship grant. There are many essay examples you can find on the web today.

Soap Operas Essay Example for Free

Soap Operas Essay The following piece of writing is based on the history and background of Soap Operas. Commencing with where, when and why they were started. Who was the target audience. Finishing with the key conventions of the genre giving examples. Soaps first burst on the scene in America in the 1920s to the 1930s. This was when Radio stations sprang up all over the U. S. A. At that time they solely relied on advertising revenue to stay on air. Companies would sponsor whole programmes as well as using short burst adverts during breaks. This practice would also be used by television companies later on when the first Soap Opera was shown on T. V in 1964. This method of advertising has continued to be used to this day by both forms of media. The main target audience for these up and coming radio programmes was identified as being housewives. The reason for this is that back in the 1920s very few women once married, ever went out to work. Instead they were expected to stay at home raise families and look after the house and all the responsibilities that went along with it. One of these responsibilities was shopping. This audience was classed as the ideal one and companies took advantage of this in an attempt to supply household goods such as soap and detergents. Basically, the companies used the radio for commercial and consumer uses. The companies selling the goods needed the radio stations to produce a specific type of programme, which would attract a large amount of listeners from their ideal target audience. This was so that they could get as many housewives as possible to buy their product, enabling them to make vast profits. They succeeded by making the programme a drama serial based on the home and various domestic situations within it. The serials were made to be melodramatic with touches of romance, tragedy and also with a touch of comedy thrown in for good measure. The title Soap Opera came about because of the fact that a Soap company sponsored the programmes. Opera was used because the programmes were very dramatic and larger than life. They became very popular in a short space of time. Two popular radio soap operas in the early years were Ma Perkins and One Man Family. The success continued for quite a while. Then after the war in the 1950s radio soaps lost their appeal. Television had arrived and people turned their attention to this form of media for entertainment and information. As the soaps had been so popular on the radio, it was decided that they should be transferred to the television screen. The first television soap was aired on screen in 1964, the title Peyton Place. The audience yet again was housewives. It became so popular it ran until 1969, which was well beyond its life expectancy. Britains first Soap was on radio which went on air just after the, 2nd World. It was called The Robinsons. However the most famous radio soap in England, which is still on air today is the Archers an every day tale of Farming Folk. It started in 1950 and has been listened to by generations. Reservations by companies about the cost of setting up the first T. V. Soaps were soon allayed because they were very cheap to run. There have been several T. V. Soaps of different genres come and go over time, some more successful than others. Emergency Ward Ten a Medical soap lasted only three years. United, was about a football club, which lasted two years. And, everyone will remember the disastrous Eldorado! This was about the lives of ex-patriots who lived in Spain. This was one of the B. B. Cs shortest run soaps ever. The most famous and longest running soaps are Coronation Street made by Granada television company, Eastenders made by the B. B. C. and Emmerdale which made the transfer from its original early daytime slot to its current 7pm peak viewing slot. Good decision by the Yorkshire T. V Company who makes the soap. There are various key conventions used in the common Soap Opera, for example the very successful Eastenders, Emmerdale, Brooksideand Coronation Street. The first major convention is that there is a continuous storyline. This enables the viewer who regularly watchs the soap to miss a couple of episodes, then, easily rejoin whilst still knowing what is going on. This rule also applies with the characters; there should be a regular cast. One of the old favorites characters in Coronation Street was Ena Sharples who was in The Street for 20 years. The continuous storylines are usually helped to last by having Cliffhangers at the end of every episode. A Cliffhanger is a final moment that leaves the audience in suspense, wondering what will happen next? Current affairs are reflected in many of the Soaps story lines some more controversial than others, for example Brookside (a soap based in Liverpool) showed the first lesbian kiss years ago. But, it took Coronation Street until the year 2003 to show a kiss between two men. In reality The Soaps deal with realist issues. Issues, dealt with on a day- to- day basis by normal people. For example people celebrating the birth of a child, birthday celebrations, marriages even deaths. Other storylines sometime aim specifically at the younger generation by dealing with drugs, alcohol and teenage pregnancies. Also major storylines, which involve climatic events and deal with the aftermath. Spectacular events used are things like shootings, robberies, falls, car or train crashes, these events were added when soaps were transferred to the evening time. Thus pulling in the male viewers at the same time because this added action. Writers of Soaps often create conflicts between characters. A good example of this was between Little Mo and her ex- husband, who used to verbally and physically abuse her. This storyline lasted for several months with lots of cliffhangers and the nation was gripped with its finale and his death in a fire. It was filmed in one small room with just those two characters amongst the flames, screaming and crying at the same time, wondering how it all came to this. After all they had loved each other at one time! Soaps are still the lifeblood of regionally based independent television stations as well as the commercial television stations such as Granada, Tyne Tees and Yorkshire. They need to make profits to stay in business and pay their shareholders. Because after all that is what they are, businesss. So they continue to use advertising breaks during the good quality Soaps to keep the revenue coming in. This does not affect the B. B. C because it is a Public Service Channel and receives their money via the television License. What about the future? Who knows when the bubble might burst? But for now, the viewers, television stations and the companies who advertise are all winners.

Modernity And The Holocaust Sociology Essay

Modernity And The Holocaust Sociology Essay The Enlightenment was an intellectual and cultural movement of the 18th century which desired to replace the obsolete, irrational ways of thinking by the rational, the sensible and the progressive. The immediate stimulus of the enlightenment movement was arguably the scientific revolution of the 16th and 19th century. Through the application of science and reason to the study of the natural world, men like Galileo and Isaac Newton made leaping advances and discoveries which exposed many scientific truths. These new found truths usually contradicted the conventional, religious beliefs and explanations for the natural world, held and propagated by the church. It was thus a tremendously exciting and controversial time. A time, where the truth about the world and the heavens could be discovered by the application of reason based on study. The modern thinker of the 18th century Europe thus believed that anything and everything could be subjected to the study of reason. Art, customs, morals, traditions etc. hence could all be submitted to the study and rational understanding. It was felt that the truth of these reveled discoveries could be applied in political and social spheres to fix the problems of society and improve upon the general conditions of mankind. However the era of Enlightenment and its resulting outcomes did hold an arguably central failure. The Enlightenment in great part, failed to hold the capacity to deal with general human differences and diversity in terms of culture, tradition and ethnicities. The grave consequence of this failure can clearly be seen in Europes relationship with non-European peoples and cultures in the period that came during and after the Enlightenment era. This period was the epoch of cultural in-sensitivity, colonization and racism etc. And these can attributed in great part, to the universalist frameworks of inquiry of that time. The intellectual thought of 18th century Europe was arguably steeped in abstract conceptions of a standardized and inflexible human nature and majestic narratives of a progressive history of human civilization. The legacy of Enlightenment thus is plagued by an epistemological inadequacy of presumptions which fostered a manner of thinking that would for two centuries, serve to legitimize European global domination, racism and destruction. Modernity The birth of modernity, took place in roughly the same time frame of that of the Enlightenment movement. In general terms, modernity refers to an historical era which is characterized by a move from feudalism towards modern day capitalism, secularization, rationalization and industrialization. Modernity means the cultural schemata and mechanisms of social action stemming from the Enlightenment and the modernization process. It is a set of new and man-made rationalized mechanisms and rules for human societies. The interrelated dimensions of modernity may be roughly grouped into intellectual and institutional categories including subjectivity and individual self-consciousness, a spirit of rationalized public culture, rationalization of economic operations, bureaucracy in administrative management, self-discipline of public sphere and democratization etc. Modernity remains the major support and dynamic in keeping human society running today. Characteristics of modernity are based on hig hly industrialized societies, which have regular patterns of everyday life. Some of the main characteristics of these modern societies include have already been mentioned; however are some central ones, described in more detail: Bureaucracy: Impersonal, social hierarchies that are based on the general division of labor coupled with regularity of systems, methods and procedures. Rationalization: A way of looking at the world and managing it through the use of logic, objectivity and impartial theories and data. Disenchantment: A move away from understanding the natural world, the heavens and general life through metaphysical ideas. Secularization: A move away from religious influence at a societal level Commodification: The decline of all facets and aspects of life to the items of monetary exchange, utilization and consumption. Alienation: Isolation of individuals from institutions of meaning and emotions i.e. religion, family, tradition, meaningful work etc. Modernity and the Holocaust A number of postmodern theorists have attacked modernity for causing racism. Far from seeing the Enlightenment belief in rationality as likely to undermine racist beliefs, they have argued that modernity has actually encouraged racism. Postmodern theorists have also argued that racism arises out of a modern tendency to see the world in terms of binary oppositions, or pair of opposites. Western modernity has contrasted itself with others who are taken to be very different. Out of this process racism develops. In Modernity and the Holocaust (1989) Zygmunt Bauman argues that the Holocaust was a product of modernity. The mass extermination of Jews (and others in Nazi Germany) was not simply a result of anti-Semitism, an illogical racism directed against Jews. Rather, the Holocaust was a product of the central features of modernity. Bauman says: The truth is that every ingredient of the Holocaust-all those many things that rendered it possible -was normalà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦in the sense of being fully in keeping with everything we know about our civilizations, its guiding spirit, its prioritiesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦of the proper ways to pursue human happiness together with a perfect society. (Bauman 1989) The links between the Holocaust and modernity take a number of forms: The Holocaust was a product of modern, bureaucratic rationality. The German bureaucracy (particularly the notorious SS) were charged with the task of removing Jews from Germany. In keeping with the principles of modern bureaucracy, the people involved did not question the aims given to them by their political masters. They simply sought the technically efficient means to achieve the objective. Moving the Jews to Poland caused administrative problems for those Germans who had to govern the annexed territories. Another proposal at that time was to send the Jews to Madagascar, a colony of defeated France. However this proved impractical as well. The distances involved and the British naval capabilities meant that millions of Jews could not be sent there. Mass extermination was chosen because it was simply the most technically efficient means with which to rid Germany of Jewish presence. The Final Solution did not clash at any stage with the rational pursuits of efficient, optimal goal i mplementation. On the contrary it arose out of a genuinely rational concern, and it was generated by bureaucracy true to its form and purpose. Thus bureaucratic organization can be used to serve any end, and the modern ethos that bureaucrats should not question the purpose of their organization, precludes them from taking steps to prevent events such as those of the Holocaust. Evidence from the Holocaust survivors suggests that most of the members of the SS responsible for carrying out the Holocaust did not appear to be psychologically disturbed sadists. They in fact, appeared to be relatively normal individuals. However, they were able to participate in such inhuman acts because they were authorized to do so by their superiors and because the killing was routinized. They subjected themselves to the discipline of the organization to which they belonged. Accepting organizational discipline is another feature of rational organization in modernity. The honor of civil servants depends upon their ability to follow the orders of their political masters, even if they personally disagree with those orders. Furthermore, modern, rational organization tends to make the consequence of individual actions less obvious. The part played by each member of a bureaucratic system may seem distant from the final consequence. Thus an official who designated people as non-Aryan in Nazi Germany would be unlikely to think of himself or herself as being responsible for mass murder. Even the actual killing in the Holocaust was sanitized by the use of gas chambers. Earlier methods had included machine gunning victims. However, this was both inefficient and made the inhumanity if what was going on, markedly more obvious. Gas chambers minimized such difficulties. Modernity is based upon the existence of nation-states with clear cut boundaries. Jews were regarded as foreigners within in European states. According to Bauman, in pre-modern Europe the presence of Jewish otherness did not on the whole prevent their accommodation into the general social order. Pre-modern societies were divided by castes and Jews were a different group. Modern nation states emphasize the homogeneity of a nation in order to foster nationalist sentiment. Their desire to maintain boundaries involves excluding the alien other. This produces a condition within which racism can thrive. From the Enlightenment onwards, modern thinking has maintained that human societies can progress through the application of rational, scientific knowledge in planning society. The anti-Semitism that was expressed in extreme form in the Holocaust was backed by German scientists who could supposedly prove the inferiority of the Jewish race. The mass extermination of the Jewish population was based on the grounds that doing so, would improve the fabric of German society as a whole. Such projects to transform society are typically modern and would not be considered in pre-modern societies, which lacked such a sense of progress. The claims made by Bauman, are controversial to the say the least and thus have been met with much criticism. Critics like sociologist, Karen Malik denies that modernity can be seen as responsible for racism and is highly critical of the postmodern approach to race. He does not deny that racism has been a powerful and corrosive force in modern societies but he does not view racism as a product of modernity itself. He does not believe that the celebration of difference, which he sees as a key feature of postmodern thinking, is the way to undermine racism. Instead, he argues that racism can best be tackled by reviving some of the principles upon which modernity is based. In particular he believes that the application of universal principles is preferable to acknowledging and celebrating variety in human groups. Karen Malik is also critical of the claim that the Holocaust can be blamed on modernity simply because modernity provides the technological means to accomplish mass extermination. Modern technology has also been used to alleviate problems such as famine and material poverty. The existence of advanced technology in itself cannot be held responsible for the political decision to use technology to exterminate people by gassing. I find it odious that scholars can in all seriousness equate mass extermination with the production of McDonalds hamburgersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦or make a comparison between technology aimed at improving the material abundance of society and political decisions which annihilate whole peoples and destroy entire societies. (Malik 1996) Other criticisms have attacked Baumans claim that the Holocaust was a product of modernity. They argue instead, that the Holocaust arose in specific historical circumstances rather than being a product of modernity in general. If blame for the holocaust can be attributed to anything, it should be to capitalism rather than reason. Modernity involves a belief in reason and the application of science, while capitalism involves economic relationships based on the pursuit of profit. The two are not the same, indeed capitalism may make it difficult to achieve the equality that was the objective of many modern thinkers. The inequalities produced by capitalism may encourage people to think of other races as inferior, but this is not the same as saying that racism is produced by science and reason. Michael Hviid Jacobsen is another critic, who criticizes the claim that racism can be understood in terms of the concept of the other. He does not believe that modernity causes people to automatically compare themselves to other people, and that as a result racism develops. He suggests that such claims are so sweeping as to be seriously misleading. In his view, it cannot be assumed that, over many centuries Westerners have seen all non-Westerners as the Other in the same way. Western views of other people have been related to specific contexts and circumstances. For example, different meanings have been given to the possession of black skin at different times and at different places in modern history. At one time, most westerners thought it was acceptable to enslave people with black skins however; this is no longer the case. The meaning of otherness is often disputed and contentious, and not all modern, post-Enlightenment thinkers have been persuaded of the truth of racist beliefs. Conclusion Bauman claims that the possibility of the Holocaust was created by modernity. He does not deny that modernity has had its benefits, but he does believe that it created the conditions in which racism can thrive. This is particularly because modernity detaches morality from rationality and technical efficiency. In later works, Bauman goes onto discuses post-modernity and argues, that in post-modernity authority becomes dispersed amongst different groups of experts and is not centralized in the hands of the state. This returns more moral responsibility to the hands of the individual, who can now choose at least which authority to take notice of. Bauman therefore believes that post-modernity reduces the chances of events such as those of the Holocaust occurring. It opens up more opportunity for challenges to racism and more likelihood of the tolerance of diversity. Bauman associates post-modernism with the acceptance of pluralism and the rejection of harmful attempts to direct the develo pment of society.

Essay --

â€Å"No one comes home from war unchanged. But with early screening and adequate access to counseling, the psychological and neurological effects of combat are treatable.† (Williamson & Mulhall). Deployments to war zones change service members and their families. Some of the changes are positive and some combat experiences can be traumatic and leave a long-lasting emotional wound. Exposure to traumatic combat and operational experiences affects service members and veterans spiritually, psychologically, biologically, and socially. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), and major depression are increasingly recognized and potentially preventable conditions. Certain factors, especially the severity of the trauma, obvious lack of social support and disconnection have been associated with its development. A recent study found U.S. veteran suicide rates are as high as 5,000 a year. Nearly 20 percent of military service members who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan, have reported symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder or major depression, yet only slight more than half have sought out treatment, according to a new RAND Corporation study. In addition, researchers found about 19 percent of returning service members report that they experienced a possible traumatic brain injury while deployed. (Williamson & Mulhall) In military veterans and service members, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and suicidal thoughts are a problematic and common issue that has become closely linked to one another. If these illnesses are causing a mental issue with our military personnel, why are they less likely to seek out care? Many service members do not seek treatment for psychological illnesses bec... ...when it came to the topics that were being discussed, such as the injures they experience, the process and what the service members undergo in the home front that may be some potential triggers. The article is very detailed and it is a good recommendation for my fellow classmates to read, as it provides knowledge and awareness on this topic. Our military personnel and veteran clients remind us every day that extensive resources are needed to provide an equal playing field in the mental health care system, that we have much more to learn, and that the more we understand the illness in veterans and personnel, the more we can do to reduce their suffering. References Williamson, V., & Mulhall, E. (n.d.). Invisible Wounds: Psychological and Neurological Injuries Confront a New Generation of Veterans. Retrieved from http://iava.org/files/IAVA_invisible_wounds_0.pdf

Injustice by the Chinese Government :: Politics

Injustice by the Chinese Government The right to a fair trial has been and will continue to be one of the fundamental human rights regardless of geographic location. Fifty years ago the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations in order to establish, for the first time, a worldwide standard for the just treatment of human beings {{16 United Nations}}. Today, this declaration is nearly universally accepted without regard for race, religion or political ideology, reinforcing the ideal that all humans worldwide are deserving of the same human rights and liberties. The declaration purports that â€Å"recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world† {{16 United Nations}}. Tenzin Delek Rinpoche has been denied these fundamental and inalienable rights by the Chinese Government. In April 2002, Tenzin Delek and Lobsang Dondrup, a relative of Delek’s, were arrested in Lithang on charges of bombings and other separatist activities {{1 Action Network}}. In December 2002, both men were convicted of the bombings, without plausible evidence provided against them. Furthermore, both men were denied adequate legal counsel and an open trial. Lobsang Dondrup was sentenced to immediate death and was killed without being allowed to appeal the decision. Tenzin Delek was given a suspended death sentence, and his execution is set for this December {{2 Students for a Free Tibet}}. It appears that Tenzin Delek was arrested and convicted not for supposed criminal action, but the benevolence he displayed in rebuilding schools and monasteries, and his unwavering support of the Dalai Lama. As a member of the United Nations, China is bound to â€Å"the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms† {{17 United Nations}} ; which they have clearly disregarded in their prosecution of Tenzin Delek, as well as the execution of Lobsang Dondrup. In articles six through twelve the declaration clearly outlines the judiciary rights of every individual, each of which was violated by the Chinese in the arrest and ensuing prosecution of Tenzin Delek. As explicitly stated by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Tenzin Delek Rinpoche has the right to a thorough and just investigation of his involvement in the bombings and separatist activity, which occurred in Chengdu, capital of the Sichuan Province, on April 3, 2002. Injustice by the Chinese Government :: Politics Injustice by the Chinese Government The right to a fair trial has been and will continue to be one of the fundamental human rights regardless of geographic location. Fifty years ago the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations in order to establish, for the first time, a worldwide standard for the just treatment of human beings {{16 United Nations}}. Today, this declaration is nearly universally accepted without regard for race, religion or political ideology, reinforcing the ideal that all humans worldwide are deserving of the same human rights and liberties. The declaration purports that â€Å"recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world† {{16 United Nations}}. Tenzin Delek Rinpoche has been denied these fundamental and inalienable rights by the Chinese Government. In April 2002, Tenzin Delek and Lobsang Dondrup, a relative of Delek’s, were arrested in Lithang on charges of bombings and other separatist activities {{1 Action Network}}. In December 2002, both men were convicted of the bombings, without plausible evidence provided against them. Furthermore, both men were denied adequate legal counsel and an open trial. Lobsang Dondrup was sentenced to immediate death and was killed without being allowed to appeal the decision. Tenzin Delek was given a suspended death sentence, and his execution is set for this December {{2 Students for a Free Tibet}}. It appears that Tenzin Delek was arrested and convicted not for supposed criminal action, but the benevolence he displayed in rebuilding schools and monasteries, and his unwavering support of the Dalai Lama. As a member of the United Nations, China is bound to â€Å"the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms† {{17 United Nations}} ; which they have clearly disregarded in their prosecution of Tenzin Delek, as well as the execution of Lobsang Dondrup. In articles six through twelve the declaration clearly outlines the judiciary rights of every individual, each of which was violated by the Chinese in the arrest and ensuing prosecution of Tenzin Delek. As explicitly stated by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Tenzin Delek Rinpoche has the right to a thorough and just investigation of his involvement in the bombings and separatist activity, which occurred in Chengdu, capital of the Sichuan Province, on April 3, 2002.

Does management affect coastal processes at Walton-on-the-Naze?

Walton-on-the-Naze is a small retirement town, located near Colchester via the A133 with a population of 40,000. Run by tendering local authority it relies mostly on tourism economically, which is one of the reasons they have a coastal management scheme which has recently been extended to the north to protect the luxurious houses situated there. In the course of this project I will be investigating the ways in which management has been used in Walton-on-the-Naze to prevent and encourage different coastal processes in order to stop the cliff retreating and then comparing this to the unprotected cliffs and beaches in Walton to find out if management truly does affect the coastal processes present there. Coastal processes affect our lives. Our families pay taxes to go towards coastal protection etc. which is essential for the whole town to function and benefit the whole community. I have decided to study Walton-on-the-Naze for a number of reasons. Firstly it is the nearest place along the coast to Southend which has unprotected cliffs as well as protected ones. At Walton the geology is the same and the processes are very similar along with the protection. Also Walton is subjected to much more energy from the sea than Southend. There are various ways the coast can be managed, firstly I will explain how the cliffs can be protected. Cliffs are protected in two places, the cliff face and the cliff foot. Energy from the sea in the form of destructive waves can undercut the cliff over time, this causes a cliff collapse because the weight cannot be supported now undercutting has taken place. To combat this, at the cliff foot a sea wall may be built to act like a natural barrier against the sea, along with a revetment to further decrease the energy of the waves. Or groynes could be put in place to encourage a build up of sand and create a â€Å"beach.† This is why beaches are usually sloping towards the sea to make the waves break and decreases the energy they have. The incoming destructive waves break on the sand and cause a weak swash up the beach followed by a strong backwash which has more energy than the swash and ‘drags' sand back down the beach, although this is partly complicated by prevailing winds and LSD which I will go on to explain further later on in this project. Also as waves undercut the cliff rubble collects at the foot of the cliff and acts like a natural barrier in some places, this can also be recreated by man by placing massive rocks and boulders at the foot of the cliffs to protect them, this is usually called rip-rap and is the cheapest and easiest method of management. On the cliff face Gabions can be put on which are basically mesh boxes to keep the rock in place and catch any loose rocks. Cliff ‘pinning' is another way the rock can be kept in place. Vegetation may also be planted there to hold together the rock and prevent erosion, along with sculpturing and draining of the cliff face. It is very important that these two areas are integrated, for you cannot only protect the cliff face and not the cliff foot and you cannot only protect the cliff foot and not the cliff face! These types of management are put into two categories – hard engineering and soft engineering. Hard engineering is physically building something e.g. a Sea wall. Whereas soft engineering e.g. planting is a far more natural management process. We as humans can only militate the worst effects of flooding, that is to say that floods are always going to happen, we cannot stop them. Instead sea walls and tidal barriers are put in place to reduce the energy of the destructive waves produced crashing against the cliffs. If this management was not put in place coasts would be forever retreating causing chaos and destruction that would not be tolerable in today's society. Now I will go on to describe the coastal processes involved. There are 4 main types of coastal processes that affect the cliffs and coast at Walton-on-the-Naze, these are: 1. Destructive Waves (erosion) 2. Long shore Drift 3. Slumping 4. Deposition Some of these processes must be encouraged and some must be discouraged in order for management to be successful. Destructive waves and erosion along with long shore drift and slumping must be discouraged whereas deposition must be encouraged, next I will go on to explain what each of these processes is, does to the coast and why they must be either encouraged or discouraged. The coast is a narrow contact zone between land and sea. The effects of land, air and marine processes are constantly changing it. But on most coastlines the dominant process results from the action of waves. Although destructive waves are usually resultant from storms out at sea and have much more energy than ‘common' constructive waves and usually do a lot more damage. Waves are usually created by the transfer of energy from wind blowing over the surface of the sea. It is true to say that the larger the wave the more energy it contains and the largest waves are formed when very strong winds blow for lengthy periods and cross large expanses of water. The maximum distance of water over which winds can blow is called the fetch. ‘In the case of South-West England the fetch is from the South-West. This also coincides with the direction of the prevailing, or most frequent, wind. In Eastern England the fetch is generally from the East.' As you can see from the diagram on the previous page water particles move in a circular orbit. Each single particle, or a floating object, tends to move vertically up and down, it is only the shape of the wave and its energy that is transferred horizontally towards the coast. But as a wave reaches shallow water the velocity at its base is slowed due to friction with the sea bed, and the once circular orbit changes to that of an elliptical orbit as shown in the diagram. The top of the wave, unaffected by this friction, becomes taller and steeper until it finally breaks. Only at this point does the remnant of the wave, called the swash, actually move forwards. The swash transfers energy up the beach. The backwash returns energy down the beach. Constructive Waves have limited energy. Most of this is used by the swash to transport material up the beach. Destructive waves have much more energy. Most of this is used by the backwash to transport material back down the beach. Erosion Waves, like rivers, can erode the land by a number of different processes, these are: Corrasion (abrasion) – is caused when large waves hurl beach material against a cliff. Attrition – is when waves cause rocks and boulders to break up by bumping into each other on a beach, into small particles. Corrosion (solution) – is when salts and acids in the seawater slowly dissolve the cliff. Hydraulic Action – is the force of waves compressing air in cracks in the cliff. Longshore Drift Although waves do carry material up and down the beach they do not necessarily carry it up and down vertically, the major movement is along the coast by a process called longshore drift. Waves rarely approach a beach at right angles, instead they tend to approach the beach from a direction similar to that of which the wind is blowing. When a wave breaks, the swash carries material up the beach at the same angle at which the wave approached the shore; then the backwash returns material straight down the beach at right-angles to the water, by gravity. The outcome is that material is slowly moved along the beach in a zigzag course. The effect of longshore drift or LSD can be best seen where groynes have been built to prevent this material from being moved along the beach and so there is a build up of sand on one side of the groyne in each case. There are many examples of this in Walton-on-the-Naze (see photos section.) Slumping Slumping is the movement of unconsolidated material (moraine) under gravity. The rock particles in the cliff are held together by frictional forces which are overcome by a build up of ‘pore water pressure' owing to saturation by prolonged rain. That is to say that when water infiltrates the cliff it causes the rock to ‘slump' or slide over each other. Of course a wave-cut notch will have already formed at the rock foot, causing the immense pressure above, see diagram overleaf. Deposition Shingle and sand being transported along the coast by longshore drift will, in time, reach an area where the water is sheltered and the waves have no energy, e.g. a bay. The material may be temporarily deposited because there is no longer any energy left to carry them, this could then form a beach.

Evans Heather Hbs

What are the key factors for the success of this business? Answer No 1: Heather Evans, a Harvard Business School graduate, had major interest in the fashion industry; as she had some background in the same industry, where she worked as a financial analyst at â€Å"Morgan Stanley' and as an assistant to a designer clothing firm. Because of the experience gained, she was sure and truly convinced that she could run a dress company.The main aim of heather Evans was to create a company that design clothing line for professional women who better fits their life-style, Its focus was to ell high-priced, high-quality dress-and- Jacket combinations for women, ages 27 to 45. Heather Evans has accomplished what she dreamt of, heather Evans label Is now serving accessories, leisure clothing, and office-wear for a different, wider customer group, and all at low-price. Few factors were very Important that lead Heather towards accomplishment. When she started her business It was an unmet and fast g rowing market. He recognized the need for a new look for professional women. She knew very well, the needs of those business women which she was targeting. She had an understanding of the appropriate limits in the formal office environments. She used her experience to encourage her customers. Another eve important factor was the increasing number of professional women who contributed to both, their own growth and to the growth of the market. She gave her customer choices depending upon their requirements in clothing. Social trends had also changed; more women had inclined towards working in offices.She conceived a style of clothing, based primarily on dresses, which better fitted the life style of professional women. Heather Evans collection contained clothes appropriate for the conservative workplace, unlike other designers. She also gained confidence of the target market through identifying her own background with their lives. She also worked as a model at fords, so she had the ex perience to project herself through the media. Last but not the least competition was also considerably beneficial to Heather Evans.Question No 2: What are the possible risks that you can foresee for Heather Evans? Answer No 2: The possible risks that I can foresee for Heather Even are: 1. Design risk: The risk associated with the design process was that, the design process took 9 months, which was a long period. Which might delay the production process and it might also stuck all the further stages required for the manufacturing of other lines 2. Financial risk: To start a business, it is very necessary to get loans, and getting loans Isn't an easy lob.Arranging loan for a new business Is quite a tough Job. 3. Sales risk: Ms. Evans cannot accurately predict future sales growth further than the Introductory period because people might not Like the design or the quality of the outfit. 4. Inflation risk: With the Increase in inflation, the prices of all the other things associated wit h her business will also rise. Inflation risk Is a major risk for her business that can affect her pricing strategy. 5. Liquidity Risk: The risk of ululation of the company Is also present, where she can lose more than what she has Invested. 6.Environment uncertainty risk: Changes In the general trend and reduction In the number of business women can affect the company's revenue. 7. Seasonal risk: Because of the season collection, seen NAS nylon rills escalated Walt near Dustless, Owe to ten season hang, she has less time to sell her clothes and when the season is about to end she would have to start the clearance sale which will reduce her profit. 8. Market risk: Any change in trend cab cause problems for the business of heather Evans, as her business is based on fashion industry, and she designs clothes keeping in mind the current trends.And the presence of competitors following the same strategy can also cause trouble for her. Strengths. W. O. T. Passion – a prerequisite f or any successful entrepreneur. Education – strong Harvard education as well as experience in industry. Successful first year – nothing better for an investor than a product that is already successful and already has orders for the next season. Investors have reinvested the profits, showing support of the company S. Weaknesses. O. T. Business plan – simply doubling the numbers is not sufficient. Bank financing and personally guaranteeing loans may cause desperate situation.Rushing the design process may cause quality of clothes to deteriorate. By not sharing work load, causes doubt as to whether company is scalable. S. W. Opportunities. T. Much market attention and future sales. High demand offers possibility of expansion With all the cash flow from sales/reinvestment, opportunity to grow. Investors pushing for new hires, opportunity to ask for more investment. S. W. O. Threat. Fashion industry is fickle, what is â€Å"in† one year may not be the next. Lo w entry barriers to enter the fashion industry. Would you be on her board and what advice would you give her?Team Platy would choose not to be on Heather Evans' board. Before accepting her offer, we would ask her to please let go some control of the company. Her micromanagement may make ere comfortable with the quality of the product but would hinder the scalability of it. If she feels is comfortable with delegating some work, she can focus on growing the company. Will the second line be as successful or more successful than the first? It is impossible to tell with certainty whether the second line will be as/more/less successful than the first because the nature of the fashion industry.However, it can be inferred that because of the hastened design planning, the product may not be as fashionable as the first line. Even with a successful first line in the department store, he clothes will not sell as well if they are not fashionable. What is section 1244 stock and why have it? Secti on 1244 stock allows losses from the sale of shares of small domestic corporations to be deducted as ordinary losses instead of as capital losses to a maximum of 50,000 for individual tax returns and 100,000 for Joint returns. This would be useful as it could reduce the tax liabilities of the company.How important is networking and why? In business, networking is infinitely important. Nothing is out of your reach if you nave developed a strong network AT Eternal, colleagues, Ana Dustless partners. Everyone has their own network they have built up over the years that you cannot even imagine. Then by what many call â€Å"chance† or â€Å"luck† you get connected to someone you have been looking for or a Job offer or recommendation you have been trying to get. In this case specifically, it would benefit Heather because she does not have any of the top As.Networking will give her a support system of allies as well as grow her knowledge of the industry. She will soon find ou t that fashion is about headlines and if you don't have the capital to buy the headlines, you have to know somebody who does. How important was the business plan? The business plan is important when used in appropriate situations, such as fleshing out the idea. More important is the feasible study done in order to complete a high quality business plan. In Heather's case, it is important she not feel tied down to her original business plan.Was Heather successful? Depending on how â€Å"successful† is defined, Team Platy would say that Heather was not yet successful. Although she proved she can handle the industry with a profitable year, it depends on what she does with her accomplishment before she can be defined as successful Ninny Eyeless ) Heather Evans is a smart, hard-working individual with a great business sense, and she has a keen understanding of the fashion industry from working as a model and as an assistant to the president of a woman's clothing company.Combining t hese talents, Heather Evans was able to spot an undeserved market estimated at $5 billion annually with significant growth prospects. Subsequently, Heather Evans is hoping to raise enough capital to launch a line of clothing to serve the 4. 3 million women in a professional environments who would be primes candidates for a fashion label that is both functional and stylish. While Heather Evans has a great idea, there is a significant amount of work to be done before she can get her company off the ground.Heather Evans has been bootstrapping the business so far but desperately wants to take the company to the next level. In order to get the first collection out of the door, she needs to find investors to finance her operations. Subsequently the most important task she is faced with is reviewing the various financing options that are available and deciding on an option that is suitable for her specific company at its current stage. Concurrently, Heather Evans needs to assemble he key m embers of the management team to assist in guiding the company through its infancy.Fortunately, Heather Evans has a strong network from business school and colleagues from the investment banking and fashion industry which should serve to provide a pool of individuals whom she can select from that share the same vision and passion for her business. The overall concept of the business is straight forward. Heather Evans' company plans to offer a â€Å"designer† line to fit the life-style of professional women. However, accomplishing a successful launch of this type of venture Is dependent upon several Key Doctors. Hrs an

Nvq Err Task B

Task B – Your Work Role Bi-Describe Terms Conditions of Contract of Employment Job Description, Defining my Role, Responsibilities as well as the roles of others such as Managers & Supervisors. Entitlement, Such as Rate of Pay, Holidays, Sickness Benefit, Pensions & Expenses. Responsibilities, Working Hours, Illness, Absence, Complaints Procedures, Notice Periods (leaving & dismissal), Company Dress Code, Changes in Circumstances, Assessments & Training. General,Correct Use of Company Equipment (telephones & computers), Codes of Behaviour, Health & Safety. Bii-Describe Information on Payslip Company Name, My Name, Payment Number, Payment Period, Employee Number, Tax Code National Insurance Number, Payment Date, Rate of Pay (holiday, sickness, overtime), Contributions (tax & national insurance, pension), Gross & Net Pay. Biii-Identify 2 Changes in Personal Info Any change in circumstances such as my name, address & contact information. Bv-Explain Agreed Ways of Working Data Pro tectionBy agreeing that no data is disclosed without the consent of clients and ensuring that all sensitive information is stored in a secure manner (filing cabinets locked, computers password protected). Grievance By agreeing a solution with the employer in order to resolve any disputes or differences in opinion which can be recorded in writing in order to avoid Legal or Trade Representations. Conflict Management It is essential that good lines of communication exist between the employer & employee so that the employer is confident that the employee`s time in the workplace is both constructive & productive.Anti-discriminatory Practice In order to maintain no person is discriminated against in the workplace employers should offer guidance with the Company Discrimination Policy & employee`s should participate in training. Health & Safety The employer needs to outline the employee`s role & responsibilities within company in order for the employee to work in a safe & secure manner when making practical decisions in the workplace. ConfidentialityIt is essential that this is maintained at all times in order to promote professionalism, trust, value, understanding & confidence in the employee`s ability when dealing with clients & their needs. Whistleblowing Unethical behaviour by staff & management is unacceptable and cannot be tolerated in any circumstance. Employers should have strict guidelines in order for the employee to make an informed decision on possible breaches & report accordingly without the fear of repercussion. Bvi-Explain How Role Contributes to Service ProvidedMy role is provide clients with support, attention & understanding in order to provide them with the best possible care I can provide. Bvii-Explain How to Influence Quality of Service Best Practice Customer service is priority, I must be kind, considerate & polite at all times in order to promote client confidence which can be done easily with constructive comments & positive feedback. Requirem ents By not carrying out the requirements of my role the basic care & attention required by my clients would suffer & this would have a destructive and negative impact on their recovery.Bviii-Describe How Own Work is Influenced by Codes of Practice etc. These National factors & Codes of Practice give me guidance, standards & guidelines to follow whilst Legislation advises me of what is considered safe & acceptable behaviour within the workplace. Bix-Influential Representative Bodies Social Services Providing a wide range practical & emotional support services which offer awareness & security in order to manage the welfare of vulnerable people within the community. Human Rights Offering a secure & safe standard of life without prejudice or discrimination.

Personal Health Records Essay

Abstract A personal health record (PHR) is a universal tool that consists of a comprehensive database of an individuals health documents. Personal health records are available in a variety of platforms, such as paper, the internet, personal computers, and portable devices. This paper describes the contents included in a personal health record as well as the steps to putting together a personal heath record. The advantages of having a personal health record can be a life saver. Patients can control their own health records and play a proactive role in better managing their personal health care information. Several concerns remain an issue with personal health records, issues such as security and privacy, costs, and lack of standardization. Have you ever wondered what to do with all your immunization records or old medical records you collected over the years and have stuffed away in a multiple places throughout your home? That is because until recently, individuals didn’t have a place to properly store their personal medical records. Everyone has a different system of how they maintain their personal health records, from an old shoe box, to â€Å"the special drawer† or the over stuffed file folder. There are several problems associated with these kind of record keeping practices. First of all, they are not safe or secure in the event of theft or fire. Secondly, it is difficult to manage your health from a file folder. Papers documents collected over a persons lifetime can be enormous, especially in the event of a long term illness. It is a daunting task to gather up all your paper documents saved over the past several years and present them in one big disorganized pile to a health care worker and expect them to sort it out. Because of the demands in healthcare and on healthcare workers, there has been an recent surge in the area of personal health records development. Several companies and researchers have developed simple and creative ways for individuals to maintain their personal health records, in addition to easily integrating their records into clinical healthcare systems. A personal health record is a way that individuals can gather all there medical information and place it into one safe and secure place. Personal health records are a gathering of an individuals medical data from several different sources and making them readily accessible in one or another format when needed. Sources where one might collect medical information are: clinics, multiple doctors offices, laboratories, pharmacies, radiology departments, hospitals, insurance companies, and the military, etc. Not to confuse anyone, but a personal health record or a electronic personal health record is not the same as a electronic health record. A personal health record is used by an individual and they control who can see or use the information in it. Other people, such as their doctor, may be able to add information to it. An electronic health record is used and controlled by health care providers. Electronic health records may be stored at a doctor’s office, a hospital, an insurance company, or an employer. (â€Å"NIH Medicine Plus,† pgs. 16-17) Electronic health records are legally mandated notes on the care provided by clinicians to patients. There is no legal mandate on personal health records.(Wikipedia, n.d) Creating an comprehensive personal health record can be life saving for several reasons. One reason being, in the case of an emergency, medical personal need accurate up to date data in order to provide an individual with the most proficient care available. For example, for the first time in history at any mass gathering, many of the people’s personal electronic health records were instantly, securely available to medical personnel at the world-famous Indy 500 motor race. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s Clarian Emergency Medical Center ha d access to those records, thanks to the Indiana Network for Patient Care (INPC). The data include admission and discharge notes, lab test results, and other critical information. A personal electronic health record is medical information about an individual that is stored in secure digital form on a computer or a network of computers. The goal of many in the health-care field is to have that information available instantly to health professionals wherever you are—even at The 500. (â€Å"NIH Medicine Plus,† pgs. 16-17) Putting together a personal health record is a great way to take control of your health. A Personal health record is initiated and maintained by an individual. From using something as simple as a notebook, a file folder, or buying a program or using a password protected website, creating a personal health record is becoming more readily available than ever before. Web sites such a Google Health or Microsoft Health Vault are just a few of the many web based companies cashing in on the personal health record market. Most of these web sites provide secure password protected access to some health insurers, pharmacies, and providers so you can request and upload your records, saving yourself some work. Some of the tools found on these web sites can help track and record your progress towards your health goals, such as weight loss and nutrition. Keeps track of doctor visits and information to share with your doctor, such as blood sugars, cholesterol, and blood pressure since your last appo intment. Electronic personal heath record websites help to diminish the hassle of scheduling appointments, submitting insurance claims, ordering prescriptions or refills by automatically doing it for you. Additional tools include monitoring devices such as a pacemaker check or blood sugar/insulin calculator to ordering prescriptions. Flags recent medication or discharge instructions from your last visit. Costs may vary depending on the type of personal health record being used. Using a computer based personal health record can be as easy as checking your e-mail. Personal health records are offered by a variety of sources—employers, insurers, healthcare organizations, and companies that aren’t in the healthcare arena. Kaiser Permanente said in April that more than 3 million of its 8.6 million members use its My Health Manager system to access their records, make appointments, look at lab results, and order prescriptions.(Hobson, 2009) PHRs can contain a diverse range of data and may include information such as: 1.Name, birth date, blood type 2.Emergency contact(s) 3.Primary caregiver(s)/phone number 4.Medicines, dosages, and how long taken, including over the counter and herbal remedies 5.Allergies/adverse drug reactions 6.Date of last physical 7.Dates/results of tests and screenings 8.Major illnesses/surgeries/procedures and their dates/hospitalizations 9.Chronic diseases 10.Family illness history 11.vaccinations/immunization records 12.laboratory test results 13.imaging reports 14.Activities of daily living 15.Health insurance information 16.Spiritual or Religious Preferences 17.Advance Directives What not to include in your personal health record: 1. your social security number 2. home address 3. telephone number Use caution when placing your personal information on the internet. Using information that identifies you too closely can lead to identity theft, even medical identity theft. Medical identity theft is when someone steals your insurance information and makes medical appointments in your name and orders prescription medications. Reports cite 200,000 cases of medical identity theft each year. (Torrey, 2010) One advantage to using a web-site for posting your PHR is having the ability to access your medical records from almost anywhere, anytime, as well as helping keep your records updated and current. Using a PHR helps to eliminate duplicate tests, which saves both time and money. In addition, instead of waiting for the usual 7-10 days for lab results to be mailed to you, systems can automatically upload the information to the PHR once they become available. Not only does this help with patient satisfaction, but is an enormous savings on mailing and handling costs. One of the obstacles and concerns of creating a personal health record is security and privacy of individuals records. Many consumers wonder whether their health information is kept private and secure in an electronic health record system. There are several PHR web providers that would love nothing better than to sell your information to advertisers. Although there are several good programs, consumers need to use caution when selecting an online program. Most companies use encrypted programs to protect unwanted and unauthorized access to an individuals personal health records. Many individuals continue to use paper records for their personal health records. However, with the invention of modern computer record keeping programs, paper records may not be as effective for the care of individuals with chronic illnesses. Some individuals have a long history of medical problems and have accumulated volumes of paper medical records. Paper records are not readily available at multiple locations at once and often present with an inconsistently of information. An individual with a chronic illness may benefit from transferring their paper records into an electronic personal health records program, which will aid in improving their continuity of care and efficiency. Many personal health care programs offer services that will help guide individuals on the how to of scanning and uploading their paper records into the program. Another benefit to using an electronic program is having your personal information formatted into a standard reporting structures for charting and sharing information and making it easier and faster for healthcare workers to review medical history and treat an individual. For example, a doctor can order a test for a patient and have the results transmitted to a their PDA and in turn can review the patients medical information and order further tests, medications and treatments at their convenience. This not only saves time for the patient, but frees the doctor from making frequent trips to the various locations to see patients or review results of tests. The results are then immediately uploaded into the patients personal health records. (Mohammod, 2009) For example, a newly diagnosed insulin dependent diabetic may have concerns with the dosages of their insulin and sliding scales plus managing their diet. Tools included in some of the personal health record programs will smooth the progress of mapping out a diabetics progress as well as offering a plethora of educational sites and suggestions and feedback, including alerts being sent to the physician or nurse if their blood sugar enters into a dangerous zone.(SentinelNewsService, 2009) Nursing related issues and Personal health records are becoming more challenging then ever before. As progress towards digitizing healthcare evolves, nurses are caught in between the paper documentation to electronic documentation chaos. Nurses must play an proactive role in educating themselves to the variety of personal health record information that is readily available for their patients. Many patients are unaware of the services available to them and a healthcare provider must often help inspire their patients along their personal journey of creating a personal health record. Moreover, a nurse that is proactive with helping patients with their personal health records, will also encourage a patient to healthy behaviors, by teaching patients how to use tools to keep track of their health progress, such as weight loss and diet control. Encouraging a patient to keep better track of their healthcare records will be invaluable for patients with chronic illnesses. Providing up to date information in one document to a health care provider not only saves time and money, but assists the health care provider in providing safer and improved quality of care as well as a better way of communicating with their providers. As a nurse, it can be very frustrating taking a health history on a patient with a chronic illness with a long list of medications. Often, patients are poor historians or don’t remember the name of a drug or dosage. Nurses can spend well over an hour just gathering information about the patients history before they can begin to treat the patients problem. It is always a welcoming sign of relief when a patient produces an itemized list of all their medications and dosages as well as their past medical history. The time spent gathering all the patients information could be better spent on giving more personal care to the patient as well as the other patients in the nurses care.(Sensmeier, 2010, p. 47-50) Physicians have their own issues and concerns related to personal health records. First of all, most physicians are mostly interested in providing safe, resourceful and revenue producing care. Physicians are slow to adapt to change and it is difficult to convince a physician to use a service for something that may not produce results for many years. Personal health records are in their infancy stages and are only a hand full of individuals are utilizing the services. Physicians as well other medical personal may not be educated on personal health records and are not obligated to review or edit or manage these type of records. However, once a document from a patients personal health record is imported into an Electronic medical record, the physician is then responsible for reviewing such data. Physicians are then responsible for maintaining the accuracy of the data exported to the patients personal health record. Another concern is the issue of compensation. How are physicians going t o be compensated for their time spent on training, implementation, updating and creating documents for PHR? Also, covering the costs associated with the hiring of new staff that will be needed to head such a plan, as well as purchasing the required equipment and software that will be used to interface with larger networks?(â€Å"American College for Physicians,† 2006, p. 1-2) Personal health records have a direct impact on the role of the nursing informatics specialist. One of the roles of a nursing informatics specialist is reviewing, analyzing and coordinating new applications across departments and determine how the new applications will best fit into a healthcare system effectively. One of the biggest concerns of any healthcare system is cost, the cost of a new program or application must be carefully scrutinized by the nursing informatics specialist as well as other personal within the healthcare system before being accepted into the system. Several questions that arise from the nursing informatics specialist may include: 1.Revenue enhancement 2.Cost containment 3.Broad-spectrum cohesiveness throughout the system 4.Better workflow processes 5.Government regulations 6.Patient safety/satisfaction 7.Implementation and Development 8.Data interfaces 9.Troubleshooting and training 10.Software/equipment issues 11.Standardization development A key concern to most healthcare systems is the inevitability of employing such systems. Healthcare systems will eventually be forced into implementing such programs. The future of healthcare is rapidly becoming more digitalized and will be dictated by the consumers demands and systems that can better accommodate such demands. The next generation of computer savvy consumers and evolving healthcare technologies is on the forefront of nursing informatics specialists agendas. Nursing informatics specialists are scrambling to keep up with technology and developing savvy ways of keeping up with current trends in healthcare. Currently, there is very little data related to the purchasing costs of commercial PHR applications which presents a problem to the NIS. Not only is PHR a cost concern problem, but anytime a new product as enormous as PHR applications are lingering over a health care systems head, it becomes a system wide concern because the future is so unpredictable and health care systems can’t afford to spend millions of dollars on the implementation of such systems and then the system becomes obsolete within a year after implementation. A nursing information specialist’s input is critical in healthcare systems decision making process. Every day you hear of a new process or a new policy related to healthcare. Nursing information specialists are fairly new to the healthcare scene and are instantaneously being propelled into unfamiliar and never heard of areas of healthcare. A NIS must hold on tight to their game hat and be prepared to handle the roller coaster ride of the unpredicted future of healthcare technology. (Shah, Kaelber, Adam, Pan, Middleton & Johnston, 2008) The standardization of personal health records is an ongoing concern among consumers and the healthcare industry. There are many standards, open specifications, and efforts toward standardization of PHR information, and services. Many organizations are actively working to improve and support the exchange of medical record information.(â€Å"Records for Living,† 2010) Because there is not set standard among PHR vendors and health care organizations, the present recommendation is to adopt data content and exchange standards that are based upon standards accepted for EHRs, as a way of improving the interoperability of the systems. In addition, it is important for consumers to understand the privacy policies and practices of PHR vendors and health care organizations and who may have secondary access to their personal information. Also, these agencies should address any language barrier issues preventing the consumer from fully understanding the agencies practices related to security and privacy. Since HIPPA does not cover all PHR systems, consumers should be provided a complete outline of the uses of their PHR data and not covered entities should voluntarily adopt to strict privacy policies and practices. No health information provided to a PHR agency should be used without the expressed consent or authorization of the consumer. (US dept. of Health a nd Human Services, 2010) President Bush and Secretary Leavitt have put forward a vision that, in the Secretary’s words, â€Å"would create a personal health record that patients, doctors and other health care providers could securely access through the Internet no matter where a patient is seeking medical care.† (US dept. of Health and Human Services, 2010) Before those famous words can be put into effect, there first, must be a global standardization and recognized language. Currently, there is no uniform definition of â€Å"personal health records†, therefore making collaboration and policy-making difficult. The following aspects of PHRs can vary: 1.what information is allowed on a PHR 2.secure and reliable sources of the information 3.features and functions offered 4.custodian of the record 5.storage location of the contents 6.authorized access to records and security standards Additionally, organizations will continue to discover gaps during the development phases of PHR, by collecting data and information, agencies can make recommendations and respond with appropriate action. Providing readily accessible, safe and reliable data through secure systems of communication will help to better serve consumers, patients, healthcare workers and federal and public agencies, and others far more effectively. However, there is a general concern for the underserved populations. There are several areas of the country that do not have access to such systems or have the resources or funds to purchase such systems. Also, there are educational barriers to consider in relation to health literacy issues which could limit the use of PHR systems in these underserved populations. With so many people out of work and living on welfare, there are far greater concerns than having a PHR. Many people are only concerned with their basic survival and having enough resources to provide a meal or heat to their families. The government would need to provide assistance to the underserved if this was required of them. In conclusion, as a nurse and a potential consumer, I am in favor of a electronic personal heath record and do think the pros of such systems outweigh the cons, especially in the case of the chronically ill. I do, however have many concerns with PHRs. As a nurse, it would be difficult to rely on data presented in a electronic personal health record unless I was able to verify the information with a physician treating the individual or a family member. I can see how easily an individual may inadvertently enter the wrong medication into their personal health record. A simple slip of the key may change a medication entered as a diabetes drug Amaryl instead of an Alzheimer’s medication called Reminyl. Pharmaceutical companies are working hard to prevent medications from being named something similar to other drugs currently on the market, but there have been several reported deaths due to medication errors. It should be required that a government monitoring agency be in charge of overseeing the content being entered into PHRs as well as protecting consumers from becoming the victim of targeted marketing scams or identity theft. Too often we hear of these things happening to unknowing victims and unfortunately most of these victims are the elderly, which will more than likely be one of the biggest consumers of this kind of service. The government will also need to set standards for protecting consumers, otherwise, if consumers are being victimized on these kind of systems, PHR could potentially suffer harm and loose the trust of consumers. The widespread adoption of PHRs will not happen until consumers are confident with their personal records being adequately protected. I think it is important to get consumers and patients more involved in their own healthcare. And one of the first steps is learning how to create their own personal health record. Not only can they learn to create their own PHR, but they could get there family and friends involved as well. Using an Internet-based PHR system allows for multiple individuals, such as family members and caregivers to contribute patient information from multiple locations. For example, a sibling that lives out of town may have the access to update their parents health information and also share the information with another sibling who lives out of town and both collaborate on the information provided. This allows for continuity of care in the event of an illness and the sibling is not directly available to be at their parents bedside. The personal health record will play a key role in motivating the consumer or patient to a safer, more efficient form of healthcare. Because personal health records are still in their infancy stages, there remains a great deal of concern for the safety and security for the users personal information. Once these concerns are addressed and â€Å"idiot- proofed†, consumers and health care facilities may buy into it. Personal health care records are designed to help individuals better organize their health care records by placing all their documents into one easily accessible format. This kind of application can be a life saver. Having all of a patients up to date information available for healthcare personal to review in one easy to read format may make the difference between life and death in some cases. Quickly identifying drug allergies, medications, health history is all a part of the vital information needed in the case of any emergency. There is a myth among most consumers, most consumers believe that emergency rooms should have access to their medical records in the event of a crisis and the truth is, they don’t. Many patients see several doctors from a variety of locations and emergency rooms don’t have immediate access to all of a patients medical information. A personal health record not only allows you to share information with health care providers at multiple locations , it also empowers the consumer or patient to better manage their own health goals. Building a health record takes a considerable amount of time and effort. You have to collect all your past medical documents and manually enter them into a PHR platform of your choice. After that, it is as simple as scanning or faxing in a document or entering the information manually into a system after each visit to the doctor, or test, which keeps your medical records current and updated. Term Paper References EHR/PHR Basics. (pgs. 16-17). Retrieved March 12th, 2011, from www.nlm.nih.gov Hobson, K. (2009). Time to switch to an online personal health record? Retrieved March 11th, 2011, from www.usanews.com Mohammod (2009). Encyclopedia of Personal Health Records – Paper Records. Retrieved March 12th, 2011, from wiki.patientsknowbest.com Personal Health Records Policy Statements Adopted by the American College of Physicians. (2006). Retrieved March 10th, 2011, from www.acponline.org Personal Health Records Standards. (2010). Retrieved March 13th, 2011, from www.recordsforliving.com Sensmeier, J. E. (2010). Tech update:the journey toward a personal health record. Retrieved March 11th, 2011, from www.nursingcenter.com SentinelNewsService. (2009). Nurses Engineer lead efforts to radically change personal health records. Retrieved March 11th, 2011, from www.lasentinel.net Shah, S., Kaelber, D., Adam, V., Pan, E., & Johnston, D. (2008). A Cost Model for Personal Health Records. Retrieved March 13th, 2011, from www.ncbi.nlm.hin.gov Torrey, T. (2010). Avoiding the consequences of medical identity theft. Retrieved March 11th, 2011, from www.patients.about.com US dept. of Health and Human Services. (2010). Personal Health Records and Personal Health Records Systems. Retrieved March 13th, 2011, from www.nchs.hhs.gov Wikipedia. (n.d). Personal Health Records. Retrieved March 12th, 2011, from www.wikipedia.org