Health Care Administration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Health Care Administration - Essay Example The current reform efforts in health professions education also focus on instructing members of the health care profession to work in interdisciplinary teams. This entails collaboration and integration of services and expertise in order â€Å"to ensure that care is continuous and reliable† (Peterson, 2003). Employing evidence-based practice, according to IOM, involves integration of best evidence and researches with clinical practice in order achieve optimum care for the patient. This encourages various health care students and professionals â€Å"to participate in learning and research activities to the extent feasible† (Peterson, 2003). The IOM also discussed that health professions education integrate quality improvement practices into health care practice. This involves having to identify the different errors and dangers in care, understanding safety design principles, â€Å"continually understand[ing] and measure[ing] quality of care in terms of structure, process , and outcomes in relation to patient and community needs†(Peterson, 2003). Finally, according to the IOM, members of the health care profession should be instructed on the use of informatics. This will help ease communication, easily manage data and information, and mitigate errors in the practice. The past 50 years in American history have yielded various changes in the health care practice. The cost of healthcare and the increase in health care allocation by the government and various investors have given birth to various improvements and innovations in the rehabilitation and care of patients. These new technology and new medical practices however have yielded various issues on quality and effectiveness of health care. The 1990s have produced various studies and reports revealing that advances in medical practice have not improved the quality of health care services for Americans. Medical errors

Oral Script About Titanic Essay Example for Free

Oral Script About Titanic Essay Good morning to my teacher and fellow friends. Today I want to talk about the sinking of Titanic. RMS Titanic was a passenger liner that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after colliding with an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City. The sinking of Titanic caused the deaths of 1,514 people in history. She was the largest ship afloat at the time of her maiden voyage. One of three liners operated by the White Star Line, she was built between 1909-11 by the Harland and Wolff Shipyard in Belfast. Her passengers included some of the wealthiest people in the world, as well as over a thousand emigrants from Britain,  Ireland,  Scandinavia  and elsewhere seeking a new life in North America. The ship was designed to be the last word in comfort and luxury, with an on-board gymnasium, swimming pool, libraries, high-class restaurants and opulent cabins. She also had a powerful wireless telegraph provided for the convenience of passengers as well as for operational use. Though she had advanced safety features such as watertight compartments and remotely activated watertight doors, she lacked enough lifeboats to accommodate all of those aboard. Due to outdated maritime safety regulations, she carried only enough lifeboats for 1,178  people – a third of her total passenger and crew capacity. After leaving Southampton, England on 10  April 1912,  Titanic  called at  France  and Ireland before heading westwards towards New York. On 14 April 1912, four days into the crossing and about 375 miles south of Newfoundland, she hit an iceberg at 11:40  pm. The glancing collision caused  Titanics hull plates to buckle inwards in a number of locations on her  starboard  side and opened five of her sixteen watertight compartments to the sea. Over the next two and a half hours, the ship gradually filled with water and sank. Passengers and some crew members were evacuated in lifeboats, many of which were launched only partly filled. Just before 2:20  am  Titanic  broke up and sank bow-first with over a thousand people still on board. Those in the water died within minutes from  hypothermia  caused by immersion in the freezing ocean. The 710 survivors were taken aboard from the lifeboats by the  RMS Carpathia  a few hours later. The disaster was greeted with worldwide shock and outrage at the huge loss of life and the regulatory and operational failures that had led to it. Many of the survivors lost all of their money and possessions and were left destitute; many families, particularly those of crew members from Southampton, lost their primary bread-winners. They were helped by an outpouring of public sympathy and charitable donations. Some of the male survivors, notably the White Star Lines chairman,  J.Bruce Ismay, were accused of cowardice for leaving the ship while people were still on board, and they faced social ostracism. The  wreck of the  Titanic  remains on the seabed, gradually disintegrating at a depth of 12,415 feet (3,784  m). Since its rediscovery in 1985, thousands of artifacts have been recovered from the sea bed and put on display at museums around the world. Titanic  has become one of the most famous ships in history, her memory kept alive by numerous  books, films, exhibits and memorials. That’s all. Thank you.

Pathophysiology of sepsis | Case Study

Pathophysiology of sepsis | Case Study Thomas, a 70-year-old man, admitted to hospital with a five-day history of coughing with yellow-green sputum, pyrexia, rigors, poor appetite, mild chest pain and increasing difficulty of breathing. The initial observations are: Neurological: Altered neurological status, GCS 11/15. Agitated and confused. Cardiovascular: Sinus tachycardia, HR 135bpm. Hypotension, 90/45 mmHg. Respiratory: Tachypnoeic, RR 35bpm. Decreased saturation while receiving 6L O2 through Hudson mask. Metabolic: Febrile, 39 degree Renal: Oliguric with 20ml/hr urine output. Indwelling catheter (IDC) was inserted. The blood test revealed that the patient was suffering from hypernatremia, hyperkalaemia, hyperglycaemia, elevated urea, poor creatinine, increased WCC and low platelet count. The ABG indicated that Thomas was experiencing combined respiratory and metabolic acidosis. Thomas was finally diagnosed as sepsis complicated by the right middle lobe streptococcus pneumonia. He required intubation and invasive ventilation support. In this case study, the pathophysiology of sepsis will be discussed and the mechanism of synchronised intermittent mandatory ventilation (SIMV) volume control ventilation mode will be explained. Sepsis is defined as the dysregulated inflammatory response caused by severe infection (Neviere 2015). It has the interchangeable definition as Systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) while the SIRS is resulted by a suspected or confirmed infectious source (Neviere 2015). The concept of SIRS was first introduced by the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) and Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) in 1992 (Kaplan 2014). It is characterised by two or more following symptoms. They are fever of high than 38 degree or hypothermia; tachycardia; tachypnoea or partial pressure of arterial carbon dioxide (PaCO2) less than 32 mmHg; deranged white cell count of more than 12,000/Â µL or less than 4,000/Â µL (O’brien et al. 2007). Associated with Thomas’s symptoms, it is clear to see that he was definitely experiencing sepsis. It is because that he was febrile up to 39 degree, tachycardic with heart rate of 135 bpm, and had increased respiratory rate of 35bpm as w ell as the elevated leucocytes count of 14,000 per microliter. The clinical signs are related to the inflammation process which is activated by the body immune system. Due to the severe infection, a large number of proinflammatory mediators are released which in turn result in the serial inflammatory reaction and extensive tissue damage (Neivere 2015). It is reported that SIRS can lead to high mortality rate because of high occurrence of SIRS induced multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) (Singh et al. 2009). In the following paragraphs, the pathophysiology of sepsis/SIRS will be more comprehensively examined. The pathophysiology of SIRS is complex. There are a few elements that need to be emphasised. They are acute stress response, inflammatory process and cytokine storm. Firstly, stress response is the acute phrase reaction when the body tries to defence against the threatening triggers. Those triggers are also known as ‘stress’. Stress can be caused by daily life events, environmental factors or physical illness (Better Health Channel 2012). In Thomas’s case, the stress response is initiated by infection. Under the influence of stress, the body steady state is disrupted. To maintain the homeostasis, the stress response is activated to reverse the body balance and redistribute the oxygen and energy to maintain the function of vital organs (Kyrou et al. 2012). Hypothalamus plays a vital role in processing the distress signals (Seaward 2015). Once it senses the stress, it triggers the activation of sympathetic nervous system. The sympathetic nervous system then stimulates the adrenal gland to produce epinephrine. It is also known as adrenaline. The adrenaline can lead to increased heart rate and myocardial contractility; dilated pupils and bronchi; peripheral vasoconstriction; accelerated respiratory rate; decreased digestive activity and increased production of glucose from liver (Seaward 2015). In addition, stress can also activate another pathway of stress response. That is the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis (Seaward 2015). It means the stress triggers the release of corticotrophin-releasing factor (CRF) from anterior hypothalamus. The CRF then promotes the pituitary gland to produce adrenocorticoid trophic hormone (ACTH). The ACTH stimulates the production of cortisol and aldosterone through the adrenal cortex. Those corticosteroids can result in increased metabolism, sodium and water retention (Seaward 2015). Therefore, it is obvious that Thomas was under the effect of stress. He was tachycardic, tachypnoeic and slightly hyperglycaemic due to the effect of sympathetic nervous response. He was oliguric because of the acute kidney injury secondary to the vasoconstriction. His hypernatremia status can be contributed by the impact of aldosterone. He had poor oral intake can be cause by the suppressed digestion function. Secondly, the inflammatory cascade plays an essential role in the pathophysiology of systemic inflammatory response syndrome. Sagy et al. (2013) summarised the inflammation mediator related mechanisms in the systemic inflammatory response. It is indicated that the excessive release of pro-inflammatory mediators result in the inflammation, inhibit the function of compensatory anti-inflammatory response, and compromise the immune system eventually (Sagy et al. 2013). Cytokines are the essential components of immune system. Bone et al. (1992) explained that the local cytokines are activated immediately after an insult in order to repair the wound and initiate the innate immune system. Because of the release of local cytokines, a small amount of cytokines go into the circulation. This promotes the production of growth factor and adhesion of macrophages and platelets to help with the recovery of the local damage. However, when the infection is severe and the homeostasis is unable to be restored, cytokine storm occurs. More specifically, cytokine storm is formed from a complex progression. Cytokines are made up by macrophages, monocytes, mast cells, platelets and endothelial cells, which are the initial immune defensive components (Plevkova 2011). The multitude of cytokines can soon induce the cytokine tissue necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-a) and interleukin-1 (IL-1). Those two elements result in the removal of nuclear factor-KB (NF-KB) inhibitor. This in turn prompts the production of more proinflammatory mediators, such as IL-6, IL8 and interferon gamma (Plevkova 2011). In other words, cytokines stimulate the production of immune cells, which in turn induce more cytokines in the circulation. The cytokines have a great impact on the body, including direct or indirect contribution of mortality in SIRS. TNFa is discovered causing fever, abnormal haemodynamic values, low white cell count, increased liver enzymes and clotting problems (Jaffer et al. 2010). IL-1 is reported having connection with fever, haemodynamic abnormality, loss of appetite, general weakness, headache and neutrophilia (Jaffer et al. 2010). IL-6 is found having strong relationship with fever and impaired lung function as well as acting a determinant of severity of SIRS and mortality rate (Jaffer et al. 2010). The massive accumulation of cytokines can cause widespreading vasodilatory effect. It is because the cytokines stimulate the release of vasodilators such as nitric oxide (Sprague and Khalil 2009). Additionally, cytokines promotes adhesion of the immune cells and the endothelial cells, which in turn leads to leaky endothelium and loss of fluid from intercellular space to extracellular space (Sprague an d Khalil 2009). Moreover, the cytokines cascade can also lead to the clotting disorder. It is because of the high concentration of fibrinogen in the inflammation process (Esmon 2005). The fibrinogen is converted from thrombin, which is generated by tissue factor. Tissue factor is a substance that is expressed by the surface of white cell. It can also be induced by TNFa and endotoxin from the infection (Esmon 2005). The fibrinogen can be transferred into fibrin which in turn forms clots. As the excessive amount of fibrin in the inflammation status, it can result in extensive clotting disorder. To sum it up, it can be concluded that Thomas’s fever is highly likely related to the release of TNFa, IL-1 and IL-6. IL-1 could be one of the contributors of his poor appetite and elevated white cell count. IL-6 could worsen Thomas’s existing affected lung function. Thomas had increased white cell count can be contributed by the immune response and IL-1. The hypotension is related to the vasodilation effect. Due to the hypotensive, the kidney perfusion dropped and then led to the acute kidney failure and poor urine output. The acute kidney injury may affect the elimination of potassium so that Thomas was found having high potassium level. The low platelet count could be related to the massive production of cytokines and damaged endothelium. In the next section, the synchronised intermittent mandatory ventilation volume control will be explained as Thomas’s mechanical ventilation management. The synchronised intermittent mandatory ventilation (SIMV) is commonly used in ICU. With the volume control mode, the patient is given the ventilation support with a set tidal volume during the mandatory breaths (Deden 2010). To provide the effective ventilation support, there are a few specific values that need to be set up for the SIMV volume controlled mode. They are tidal volume and respiratory rate. The tidal volume refers to the amount of oxygen delivered by the ventilator or the amount of oxygen the patient breathes voluntarily. The respiratory rate is set up for mandatory breaths. In the SIMV volume controlled mode, the ventilation is trigger by the ventilator or patient self. It means the actual respiratory rate can be upon the preset rate (Goldsworthy and Graham 2014). There is a window of time for the ventilator to sense the patient’s inspiratory effort. This trigger window helps avoid the ventilator deliver the oxygen when the patient exhales (Deden 2010). If the p atient is able to trigger the ventilation within the time frame, the patient-triggered mandatory breath is induced. After reaching the demand tidal volume, the inspiratory phrase ends and expiratory starts. Between each mandatory breaths, the patient is able to initial own spontaneous breath, the breathing volume and length depend on the patient’s respiratory effort (Pierce 2007). If the patient is heavily sedated and unable to initiate the spontaneous breath within the trigger window, the machine-triggered mandatory breath will be activated to provide constant ventilation support according to the set respiratory rate and tidal volume (Deden 2010). Once the ventilator delivers the demand tidal volume, the inspiratory cycle ends and expiratory phrase starts until the next scheduled inspiratory cycle. If the patient’s attempt of breathing is not strong enough to trigger the patient-triggered mandatory breath, the assisted synchronised breath will be provided to achieve t he desired the tidal volume. Like the other mode, the inspiratory cycle ends once the set tidal volume is delivered (Deden 2010). It is believed that Thomas would be beneficial from the SIMV volume controlled mode. It is because that SIMV mode could help him reduce the work of breathing, especially when he was in the high energy-consuming septic status. In addition, due to the SIMV mode, the ventilator allows him to have extra breath to blow off the accumulative carbon dioxide. This can improve his acidosis. Moreover, because of the systemic inflammatory response syndrome and severe pneumonia, his lungs could be stiff and fragile secondary to the inflammation effect and accumulation of cytokines. The volume controlled ventilation acts as a protective strategy to avoid the ventilator related complications, such as volutrauma. It is recommended not to set the tidal volume more than 8-10ml/kg (Deden 2010). In conclusion, sepsis is a systemic inflammatory response syndrome resulted by the infection. The stress response, inflammation reaction and cytokines play essential roles in the progression of SIRS. As SIRS can cause high mortality rate, it is vital to control the infection and manage the widespreading inflammation as well as providing appropriate support to treat the symptoms. In Thomas’s case, the volume controlled synchronised intermittent mandatory ventilation would be the better option of managing his severe pneumonia and respiratory distress. Reference Better Health Channel 2012, Stress, viewed 12th March 2015, http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/stress Bone, RC, Balk, RA, Cerra, FB, Dellinger, RP, Fein, AM, Knaus, WA, Schein, RM Sibbald, WJ 1992, ‘Definitions for sepsis and organ failure and guidelines for the use of innovative therapies in sepsis. The ACCP/SCCM Consensus Conference Committee. American College of Chest Physicians/Society of Critical Care Medicine’, Chest, vol. 101, no. 6, pp. 1644-1655. Deden, K, 2010, Ventilation modes in intensive care, Dragerwerk AG C0. KGaA, Germany Esmon, CT 2005, ‘The interactions between inflammation and coaulation’, British Journal of Haematology, vol. 131, no. 4, pp. 417-430. Goldsworthy, S Graham, L 2014, Compact Clinical Guide To Mechanical Ventilation : Foundations Of Practice For Critical Care Nurses, New York, NY Jaffer, U, Wade, RG Gourlay, T 2010, ‘Cytokine in the systemic inflammatory response syndrome: a review’, HSR Proceedings in Intensive Care Cardiovascular Anaesthesia, vol. 2, no.3, pp. 161-175. Kaplan, LJ 2014, Systemic inflammatory response syndrome, viewed 19th March 2015, http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/168943-overview#a0101 Kyrou, I, Chrousos, Kassi, E Tsigos, C 2012, Stress, Endocrine physiology and pathophysiology, viewed 12th March 2015, http://www.endotext.org/chapter/stress-endocrine-physiology-and-pathophysiology/#h23 Neviere, R 2015, Sepsis and the systemic inflammatory response syndrome: Definition, epidemiology and prognosis, viewed 19th March 2015, http://www.uptodate.com/contents/sepsis-and-the-systemic-inflammatory-response-syndrome-definitions-epidemiology-and-prognosis O’brien, JM, Ali, NA, Aberegg, SK Abraham, E 2007, ‘Sepsis’, The American Journal of Medicine, vol.120, no.12, 1012-1022. Pierce, LNB 2007, Management of Mechanically Ventilated Patient, 2nd edn, Saunders Elsevier, London Plevkova, J 2011, Systemic inflammatory response syndrome, viewed 24th March 2015, http://eng.jfmed.uniba.sk/fileadmin/user_upload/editors/PatFyz_Files/Handouty/angl/Systemic_inflammatory_response_syndrome_2011.pdf Sagy, M, Al-Qaqaa, Y Kim, P 2013, ‘Definitions and pathophysiology of sepsis, Current Problems in Paediatric and Adolescent Health Care, vol. 43, no. 10, pp. 260-263. Seaward, BL 2015, ‘Physiology of stress’, Managing Stress, Jones Bartlett Learning, Burlington, MA. Singh, S, Singh, P Singh, G 2009, ‘Systemic inflammatory response syndrome outcome in surgical patients’, Indian Journal of Surgery, vol.71, no.4, pp. 206-209. Sprague, AH Khalil RA 2009, ‘Inflammatory cytokines in vascular dysfunction and vascular disease’, Biochemical Pharmacology, vol. 78, no. 6, pp. 539-552. 1 Ying Hu 76898

Classical Theory: Cesane Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham Essay -- feudalis

Crime have existed over many centuries, different eras affect the flow of crime and within those eras. Furthermore amongst individuals, there was different way of thinking into how to reduce and eliminate occurred. The act of crime cannot be eliminated, as different individuals have different perspectives of crime and for theses reasons, have different methods of advocating and eliminating crime. This essay will firstly explore the views of Classical Theory, by looking at Cesane Beccaria, the father of Classical theory and Jeremy Bentham, the founder of Utilitarian and explore how there influences are incorporated into laws and regulations, around the world. Secondly, Positivism theory explores the biological, psychological and environment understanding of what causes the crime, thus having a different understand and method into solving and eliminating crime. By looking at these overarching theories, we can come to understand how they both are beneficial and incorporated into the law s within our society, however does now have the power to rid it of crime. Classical theory explores the idea that crime is the intent to commit, rather than a reaction to an unfavorable situation. This theory believes that a committed crime was intended to gain ‘self-seeking and self interest’ and because of this belief this theory believe that the criminals have to take full responsibility of there actions. Two known advocates of Classical theories are Cesane Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham. Their ideologies revolve around classical theory and have greatly influenced, through the creation of laws, rules and regulations, which have impacted society today. The development and influence of Classical theory happened during the transition from the feudalism... ...conferences/criminality/benier.pdf http://www.justice.govt.nz/justice-sector/drivers-of-crime/publications-and-background-information/documents/spb-theories-on-the-causes-of-crime http://www.criminology.fsu.edu/crimtheory/beccaria.htm http://www.iep.utm.edu/beccaria/ http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/19631_Section_8___Biosocial_Approaches.pdf http://www.bunker8.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/history/panopticon.htm https://sentencingcouncil.vic.gov.au/sites/sentencingcouncil.vic.gov.au/files/how_much_does_imprisonment_protect_the_community_through_incapacitation_0.pdf http://www.jstor.org/stable/2709127?__redirected http://www.sagepub.com/hanserintro/study/materials/reference/ref8.1.pdf http://www.ashgate.com/pdf/SamplePages/Ashgate_Research_Companion_to_Biosocial_Theories_of_Crime_Intro.pdf http://whatworks.uwex.edu/attachment/FamilyBasedPreventionProgramschapterdraft6-10-10.pdf

John Stuart Mill And Liberalism Essay

John Stuart Mill (May 20, 1806, Pentonville, England – May 8, 1873, Avignon, France) was one of the greatest and most influential liberal thinkers of the XIX century and also a famous political economist and a Liberal Member of Parliament from 1865 to 1868 (Plank). As a prominent thinker, Mill introduced a new doctrine of liberty and can be considered as a first-rate liberal and a second-rate utilitarian (Reeves). John Stuart Mill (Source: httpwww. liberalinternational. orgeditorial. aspia_id=685) Conceived for the first time as a short essay in 1854, Mill’s famous and enormously influential book On Liberty that he published in 1859 is considered one of the founding philosophical works of classical liberalism and also one of the most fundamental texts on the concept of liberty. In the book which concerns social and civil liberty, the philosopher explores the nature of the power that society can legitimately exercise over individuals, and advocates their moral and economic freedom from the state (John Stuart Mill; John Stuart Mill: Political Philosopher). The most important point and basis for liberty made by Mill in his book is that â€Å"Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign†. Individuals exercise their sovereignty both through their judgment and actions. The main ideas that Mill explains in his On Liberty could be grouped into the following sections. 1. Mill opens his treatise by pointing out that the government is a â€Å"dangerous weapon† if it is not appropriately controlled and if its authority is not limited by the liberty of the citizens. In this way, Mill suggests, citizens will be ruled by a government whose rule is guaranteed against oppression and tyranny. However, at a given stage society develops into democracy â€Å"Page # 2† which does not fear tyranny any longer but where the majority can easily criminalize or marginalize a minority group of society and encroach on their rights or liberty. Mill calls it the â€Å"tyranny of the majority† and believes it is much worse than the tyranny of government because it is easier for individuals to be protected from a tyrant than â€Å"against the tyranny of the prevailing opinion and feeling†. He saw a danger of the old repression of despotic rulers being replaced by â€Å"despotism of custom†. Rules of conduct, thus, would be based on the majority opinion and there would be no protection in law against its tyranny (John Stuart Mill). He emphasizes that social tyranny is the greater danger than political tyranny for modern nations such as Britain (Heydt). As in Mill’s view the prevailing opinions within society are not necessarily the correct opinions on the one hand, and an individual has the right to choose whatever preference for his moral beliefs on the other hand, Mill concludes that this situation is wrong and unjust. In this case, individuals will be harmed, then their sovereignty over themselves will be impaired (John Stuart Mill). 2. Mill argues for a need of rational principle that would govern individuals within society, and thus introduces and explains his so-called harm principle which is supposed to regulate the limits of intervention in an individual’s actions. Individuals can act as they wish as long as their actions do not harm other individuals. Society should not intervene if the action affects only the individuals that undertake it even though these individuals are harming themselves. In Mill’s view, in a civilized community society has the right to legitimately exercise power over any individual against his will only in order to prevent harm to others. However, Mill distinguishes two categories of â€Å"harms†. If an individual fails to pay taxes, rescue another drowning individual, or appear in court to give evidence, then these acts (which he calls acts of omission) should be qualified as harmful and may be regulated. But if individuals give their consent to take risks without fraud or force, for example, by accepting unsafe employment offered by others, this is not considered as harming them (acts of commission). â€Å"Page # 3† In this case, society is not allowed to intervene except when individuals sell themselves into slavery (John Stuart Mill). 3. Children can’t take care of themselves and may instead harm themselves unintentionally. That is why, Mill explains, they do not have sovereignty over themselves, the harm principle can’t be applicable in this case and society is allowed to interfere with them against their will. Barbarians fall into this category, too. Mill states that barbarians can’t be sovereign over themselves and that despotism over them may be justified in cases when the end result is the improvement of their life. But as soon as they become more civilized and have the capability to decide for themselves, they must be given liberty from the government and its tyranny. Good examples of this, Mill illustrates, are Charlemagne and Akbar the Great who compassionately controlled and â€Å"helped† barbarian nations better manage their lives (John Stuart Mill). 4. According to Mill, human liberty includes several components without which individuals can’t be truly free: †¢ Individuals are free to think as they wish, and to feel as they do (the freedom to opinion and of speech). Mills argues that the freedom of speech is necessary for social progress because allowing people to freely express their opinions and ideas, even if they are false, is useful for two reasons. First, in an open exchange of ideas individuals are likely to understand that some of their beliefs may be erroneous and will thus abandon them. Second, in the process of debate individuals reaffirm their beliefs and prevent them from turning into mere dogma. Mill believes that it is important for individuals to understand why their beliefs are true (John Stuart Mill). †¢ Individuals are free to pursue tastes however â€Å"immoral† they may be considered by others so long as they are not harmful to others (John Stuart Mill). â€Å"Page # 4† †¢ Individuals are free to meet with other individuals (the freedom of assembly) (John Stuart Mill). 5. Mill believes that religion should be criticized in the same way as are other systems of thought regardless of the offence that such criticism may cause. One of main purposes which governed Mill’s philosophical endeavours all his life was his commitment to replace Christianity with a Religion of Humanity (Carey). 6. Mill’s liberal ideas made him an advocate of the development of efficient local government and associations and he fiercely opposed central control. He argued for the parents’ obligation to educate their children but disapproved of a central education system run by the state (John Stuart Mill). In what concerns individual freedoms, it is quite important to understand that Mill gives the specific justifications for them because he believes they will promote the progress of civilization and will be good for society. Mill does not regard liberty as a standard of value and does not mention any natural rights of individuals in his discussions. Instead he is mainly concerned with the utility of rights and freedoms of individuals for the social progress (John Stuart Mill; John Stuart Mill: Political Philosopher). Many critics point out that Mill underestimated the important role of social order and custom as a source of security or freedom. His liberalism is also weakened in the eyes of other critics who do not share his extremely optimistic view of human nature. They are particularly pessimistic about his rosy belief that it is humans’ conditioned engagement in a continuous attempt to achieve personal development that results in the existence of diverse personalities and viewpoints (Reeves). Mill is also often criticised for justifying the right of one developed nation to exercise despotism over other underdeveloped nations (or â€Å"barbarians† as he calls them) on the grounds that it brings them the benefits and advantages of higher civilization (John Stuart Mill and Liberal â€Å"Page # 5† Imperialism). Despite criticism, the remarkable greatness of Mill lies in his readiness and willingness to combine both his thoughts and actions. He was a progressive philosopher who was ready to go to jail for his beliefs. It is not surprising then that six years after he published his great book On Liberty, he decided to stand for parliament in order to better implement his beliefs. His most known initiatives include the introduction of an amendment to the Reform bill in a successful attempt to give women equal voting rights; his relentless pursuit of Governor Edward Eyre for having brutally suppressing an uprising in Jamaica; his fierce opposition to the suspension of habeas corpus in Ireland; his successful campaign against an attempt to prohibit demonstrations or meetings in public parks, and many others (Reeves). By and large, Mill’s career as a liberal politician could be regarded as a relative failure. His performance was usually acclaimed, but he often found himself in opposition to the aims and wishes of his electors. He was quite reluctant to compromise with his own principles just to get support of his electorate, and this resulted in his failure to be re-elected in 1868 (John Stuart Mill: Political Philosopher). 200 years after his birth, Mill’s liberalism is still relevant(Source: http://www. prospect-magazine. co. uk/article_details. php? id=7439) Mills was aware that On Liberty as well as many others of his philosophical works raised several important problems, such as the tyranny of â€Å"uniformity in opinion and practice† which would be more faced future generations than were by his own and that some critics believed that these problems were exaggerated because they were looking more at contemporary facts than at existing tendencies (Reeves). It may be argued that the issues that Mill was interested in and consistently dealt with in his time are without a doubt still relevant and important today (Plank). BIBLIOGRAPHY: 1. Carey, G. W. The Authoritarian Secularism of John Stuart Mill. Retrieved March 14, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://www. nhinet. org/carey15-1. pdf 2. Heydt, C. John Stuart Mill: Overview. Retrieved March 14, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://www. iep. utm. edu/m/milljs. htm 3. John Stuart Mill. Retrieved March 14, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/John_Stuart_Mill 4. John Stuart Mill and Liberal Imperialism. Retrieved March 14, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://www. antiwar. com/stromberg/s051802. html 5. John Stuart Mill: Political Philosopher. Retrieved March 14, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://www. john-mill. com/ 6. Plank, B. John Stuart Mill. Retrieved March 14, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://www. liberal-international. org/editorial. asp? ia_id=685 7. Reeves, R. John Stuart Mill. Retrieved March 14, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://www. prospect-magazine. co. uk/article_details. php? id=7439

Communication Theory essays

Communication Theory essays Nelson, K.E. Process of facilitating progress by language-delayed children in special language-centered school units. International Journal of Language This article was about children in Englands educational system. The study was textual analysis. Researchers studied 214 language-delayed, or specific language impairment (SLI) children from 6-7 and 7-8 years of age in two different groups. The study placed the children into either mainstream classes, or mainstream classes with some continued special education after the study ended. The study showed that 1-2 years in a language unit should provide sufficient progression for placement into mainstream classes. The study also showed that most students that were placed into mainstream classes by a teachers recommendation had a parent or guardian at home with more than average education. This is thought to be the reason language development occurred so quickly in these students. A strong parent-child relationship was also found in students that progressed quickly. ...29% of the children, over a 2-year period, did enter more extensive mainstreaming participation than they were judged able to handle at about 6 years of age. I think that this article is not only informative and interesting but also important in the understanding of language development in children. I am a strong believer that parenting has everything to do with a childs success or failure in life. For this reason, I am excited to see proof that a strong parent-child relationship as well as support at home causes children to progress faster in school, especially children with language disorders. Donlan, C. The importance of educational transitions. International Journal of Language This article was about children with SLI as well. This article seemed to lean more ...

Social observation and analysis of Alcohol drinking

Social observation and analysis of Alcohol drinking Introduction Social interaction forms are very important aspect of the human life. For a very long time, sociologists have been carrying out investigations to try and explain how the society functions. Some of their views are depicted in the theoretical perspectives which are used to guide sociologists in understanding the society and its members.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Social observation and analysis of Alcohol drinking specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This paper seeks to use the alcohol drinking experience as a mirror to view how the different theoretical perspectives are applied in the society. Thus the paper will analyze the social role played by alcohol drinking and the social significance of the places where the drinking takes place. This observational analysis will be benchmarked on the different sociology theories that have been accomplished in class. Alcohol drinking Alcohol drinking has been has be en around for a very long time. To this date there are several types of alcoholic drinks available in many different societies. Different types of drinks have a different social meaning. The drinks are thus used to divide the society into social strata. The type of alcoholic drink that is taken by an individual can be linked to his/her values, norms, behavior and how he/she interacts with other people in the society. In some societies the choice of drink is a strong indicator of behavior. However, this description does not include to the situational drinking such as celebrations that might be characterized by one type of drink such as the champagne. Status indicator The type of alcohol beverage that is consumed by an individual can be used as a major indicator of his/her status in the society. In most societies, alcoholic beverages that are not produced locally have a higher social status. For instance, the polish population regards wine as a drink of high to middle class status. Th e beers and vodkas produced locally in that country or often considered as drinks of an ordinary person. It’s usual to see university students in Poland taking wine to reinforce their importance in the society. In France, as opposed to Poland, the drinking of wine is the order of the day and thus the young elite always turn to imported beers to show their higher status. However, in the cases of the young ‘elites’ been drinking does not actually reflect their status in the society, it is more of a reflection of what they aspire to be in the future. Furthermore, a particular drink such as wine may not be in itself the definer of the social status. As it has been observed there are different types of wine with different calibers. The type of wine caliber consumed by an individual defines his status in the high and mighty of the society.Advertising Looking for essay on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Le arn More Affiliation and loyalty As it has been observed, the choice of drink may also be used to link an individual to a certain group or to predict his affiliation to an organization. Certain brand of alcohol are usually identified with certain groups, for instance, whisky is usually identified with the Scots, Guinness with the Irish and Tequila with the people of Mexico. Thus the in the social context, a drink can be a significant indicator of the nationality or a person’s loyalty and cultural background Gender differentiator In a rather sort of conflict perspective, the alcoholic beverages are not only used to differentiate between the aspirations, class, or status in the society. A more common social classification arises from the gender differentiation role played by alcoholic beverages. The function of alcohol as a differentiator between masculinity and feminine attributes is always seen even in the absence of other differentiating factors. This is often seen e ven in the countries or societies where there is only one type of alcoholic beverage. In such a case the drink to be consumed by the females is often made sweeter with a less alcohol content while the male take a strong bitter form of the same. In many societies drinking by females is considered as ‘not drinking’ by the males. Thus males always shun female brands as this may make them appear feminine. Drinking places In the second part of this paper we describe the role of the places where the alcoholic beverages are consumed. Most societies across the globe have distinct areas where alcohol is consumed. These places provide a dedicated surrounding that is often separated from the outside world. The drinking places are often defined with their separate customs, laws and values. It’s common for one person to be surprised by how a friend or colleague behaves while in a bar or night club. This is due to the fact that the values and norms that one adheres to while in the club environment are completely different from those of normal life. Social interaction function The social distinction role that is played by drinking places is in one way or another completely different from that of the outside world. People with diverse professional backgrounds in the society can be found mingling in the drinking places. As such the drinking provides an important avenue for social bonding and interaction between individuals who have no other place to meet. In most societies that practice communal drinking, alcohol is often considered as a leveler. Communal drinking provides a significant means of interaction between individuals of different status in the community or society. The drinking places therefore perform a more important function of challenging the established social order.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Social observation and analysis of Alcohol drinking specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More An observation made in societies that are ethnically diverse indicate that drinking places often provide norms that enable individuals to feel more equal than in other spheres of life. For instance, observation studies on the American people show that there is a higher chance of individuals from different races to interact in drinking places. In Los Angeles, Americans of Mexican decent and the Anglos usually mix freely in clubs and it’s common to see a dance partner being chosen from other races. Social bonding In the earlier observation of the social role played by alcohol it was identified that social bonding, besides social interaction is one of the most important functions of drinking. An important part of the drinking is the generalized feeling of relaxation that comes with it. Thus as it may not be clear but its true that the places where alcohol is taken are very important for bonding to take place between individuals of diverse backgrounds. Conclusion This pape r sought to analyze the social role played by alcohol drinking and the social significance of the places where the drinking takes place. This observational analysis was to be benchmarked on the different sociology learning objectives. The paper has been able to reveal how alcohol drinking and the places where it is drunk from play an important role in the social lives of human beings.

Interacting Galaxies - Galaxy Mergers and Collisions

Interacting Galaxies - Galaxy Mergers and Collisions Galaxies are the largest single objects in the universe. Each one contains upwards of trillions of stars in a single gravitationally bound system. While the universe is extremely large, and many galaxies are very far apart, it is actually quite common for galaxies to group together in clusters. Its also common for them to collide with each other. The result is the creation of new galaxies. Astronomers can trace the construction of galaxies as they collided throughout history, and now know that this is the main way galaxies are built.  Ã‚   Theres a whole area of astronomy devoted to the study of colliding galaxies. The process not only affects the galaxies themselves, but astronomers also observe that starbirth is often triggered when galaxies merge together.   Galaxy Interactions Large galaxies, like the Milky Way and Andromeda Galaxy, came together as smaller objects collided and merged. Today, astronomers see smaller satellites orbiting nearby both the Milky Way and Andromeda. These dwarf galaxies have some of the characteristics of larger galaxies, but are on a much smaller scale and can be irregularly shaped.  Some of the companions are being cannibalized by our galaxy.   The Milky Ways largest satellites are called the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. They seem to be orbiting our galaxy in a billions-of-years-long orbit, and may not actually ever merge with the Milky Way. However, they are affected by its gravitational pull, and may only be approaching the galaxy for the first time. If so, there still could be a merger in the distant future. The shapes of Magellanic clouds have been distorted by that, causing them to appear irregular. Theres also evidence of large streams of gas being pulled from them into our own galaxy.   Galaxy Mergers Large-galaxy collisions do occur, which create huge new galaxies in the process. Often what happens is that two large spiral galaxies will merge, and due to the gravitational warping that precedes the collision, the galaxies will lose their spiral structure. Once the galaxies are merged, astronomers suspect that they form a new structure known as an elliptical galaxy. Occasionally, depending on the relative sizes of the merging galaxies, an irregular or peculiar galaxy  is a result of the merger. Interestingly, while galaxies themselves may merge, the process doesnt always hurt the stars they contain. This is because while galaxies do have stars and planets, theres a LOT of empty space, as well as giant clouds of gas and dust. However, colliding galaxies that do contain a large amount of gas enter a period of rapid star formation. Its usually much greater than the average rate of star formation in a non-colliding galaxy. Such a merged system is known as a starburst galaxy; aptly named for a large number of stars that are created in a short amount of time as a result of the collision. Merger of the Milky Way With the Andromeda Galaxy A close to home example of a large galaxy merger is the one that will occur between the Andromeda galaxy with our very own Milky Way. The result, which will take millions of years to unfold, will be a new galaxy.   Currently, Andromeda is about 2.5 million light-years away from the Milky Way. Thats about 25 times as far away as the Milky Way is wide. This is, obviously quite a distance, but is quite small considering the scale of the universe.  Hubble Space Telescope data suggests that the Andromeda galaxy is on a collision course with the Milky Way, and the two will begin to merge in about 4 billion years. Heres how it will play out. In about 3.75 billion years, the Andromeda galaxy will virtually fill the night sky. At the same time, it and the Milky Way will start warping due to the immense gravitational pull each will have on the other. Ultimately the two will combine to form a single, large elliptical galaxy. It is also possible that another galaxy, called the Triangulum galaxy, which currently orbits Andromeda, will also participate in the merger.  The resulting galaxy might be named Milkdromeda, if anybody is still around to be naming objects in the sky.   What Will Happen to Earth? Chances are that the merger will have little effect on our solar system. Since most of Andromeda is empty space, gas, and dust, much like the Milky Way, many of the stars should find new orbits around the combined galactic center. That center may have as many as three supermassive black holes until they, too, merge.   The greater danger to our solar system is the increasing brightness of our Sun, which will eventually exhaust its hydrogen fuel and evolve into a red giant. That will start to happen in about four billion years. At that point, it will engulf Earth as it expands. Life, it seems, will have died out long before any kind of galaxy merger takes place. Or, if were lucky, our descendants will have figured out a way to escape the solar system and find a world with a younger star.   Edited and updated by Carolyn Collins Petersen.

Supply chain management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Supply chain management - Essay Example Businesses make plans based on the time it takes to ship or airfreight goods from one place to the next. The time it takes from order to delivery is factored into the lead time and in arriving at a re-order level for inventory supplies. Some firms do not have enough warehouse space to store goods and so they depend on the goods to come when they are needed by the customer. Tang (2006) indicates that systems such as reducing the supply base, just-in-time (JIT) and vendor managed inventory, and outsourced manufacturing are some of the supply chain initiatives that have been used to increase revenue and reduce assets. However, Tang (2006) also indicates that although these are great initiatives in a stable environment they have created longer and more complex global supply chains which increase their vulnerability to disruptions. Although, the implementation of such systems are represents measures that firms employ in their attempt to become cost effective and therefore competitive. How ever, Lee (2004) indicates that there is generally a very large hidden cost which accompanies cost efficiency measures when disruptions occur. Therefore, cost efficiency needs to be balanced with agility, adaptability, and alignment. Lee (2004) also indicates that the objective of agility is to respond to changes in demand and supply that occur in the short term expeditiously; in the case of adaptability it is to make the necessary adjustment to the design of supply chains in order to accommodate changes in the market; and in terms of alignment, seek to improve the performance of supply chains by establishing incentives in order to motivate partners. Lee (2004) also suggests methods that can be used to achieve these objectives. When these disruptions take place there is loss of revenue as firms often run out of supplies. In the case where the supplies are finished goods it means that customers will be inconvenienced. This inconvenience is even greater when there is no other source o f supply. If the goods are raw materials it means that production may have to be halted until a new supplier is found or until the supplies of goods arrive. Therefore, customers will also have to wait longer before their demands can be satisfied. Firms also face increasing costs because of the fact that when supplies have to be sourced temporarily to fill demand it usually comes at a higher price than normal. While this is taking place permanent employees have to be paid even if they have nothing to work with. In most cases workers who are employed temporarily are laid off until things return to normal. Though the firm may be able to charge the customer based on the increased price, it is not normally possible especially when the price was already quoted. Additionally, increasing the price may result in the loss of customers. There may also be issues relating to reliability as customers do not expect firms to run out of stock without giving due notice. If the customer is dependent o n only one supplier then this will definitely have a negative impact resulting in a total loss of business from specific customers or a partial loss of business. This partial loss or reduction in demand from specific customers may result from their (the customers) application of various strategies to prevent any reoccurrence of this type of scenario. Therefore, instead of using one supplier the

Antitrust Practices and Market Power Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Antitrust Practices and Market Power - Essay Example Standard oil firm counts among one of the firms that was investigated on the antitrust act. The firm has an oligopoly structure dominated by small number of sellers. The main reason that seeked to investigate the firm was to establish whether it posed a barrier for other companies’ entry into the market. With the expansion of oil across the globe, the oil factories were involved in poor disposal of waste products into the water system and adoption of poor methods of oil distribution. For instance, it was observed that oil could be passed through leaked pipes which posed a great danger to the society. The establishment of the oil company firm was to see an improvement in the field of oil and refinery. As a natural monopoly company, it developed proper infrastructure within the American region which could see proper distribution and proper disposal of oil without causing any damage to the environment. This saw it rise above other companies in a quest to benefit the economy (Utto n, 2003). In the case of the oil company, the court adopted Sherman Antitrust act so as to regulate the monopoly. This act was coined by John Sherman viewed to be an appropriate for prevention of abusive monopolies from exploiting the consumers. The standard oil firm was estimated to be in control of about 90 percent of oil facilities in America. The oil firm faces imperfect competition as a result of existence in low number of people as prospective sellers. Through government monopoly, power was vested in the American Congress to regulate the economy through tax collection. The main provision of this act was that any person responsible for monopolizing will be held guilty and so be subjected to punishment. The year 1911, the Supreme Court in America established that standard oil company was structural monopoly that was responsible for taking part in unfair practices in the field of business (Utton, 2003). Monopolies are believed to have originated during the colonial period of admi nistration. This case saw huge companies and firms in the United States endowed with the responsibility of receiving huge contracts deals. Monopolies can be seen in form of capitalism characterized by lack of competition; this eventually leads to high fluctuation of products prices and poor quality products. For instance, monopoly is known to supply at a very low output and charging higher prices for its products which may eventually lead to a dead weight loss in the society. In this regard, it will seek to maximize its economic profits and take control of the market demand curve. Monopolies are also at a very better place of enjoying the economies of scale which comes as a result of production of goods in large quantities. In this essence, there are tendencies to be a decline in cost of production resulting to increase in monopolies profits. It has been cited that the loss in economic welfare that arises from exploitation of monopoly power has made the government to take upon some measures in order to regulate some monopolies (Wall et al 1988). In other cases some firms that practiced monopoly were able to rise to power since they had positive effect on the economy of the American government. It was estimated that some of the profits gained through monopolists were used to conduct a research viewed to be beneficial to the society. Through research, consumers were able to learn more about the products that were being sold in the monopoly market and the benefits

Political Participation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Political Participation - Essay Example Elections will reinforce the political stability and legitimacy of democracy in the country through allowing the citizens to exercise their fundamental rights of selecting their own representatives in several political offices. Accordingly, political elections contribute to self-actualization through confirmation of the basic rights of citizens and reinforcement of self-esteem among the population (Waters 119). Political elections entrench accountability in the management of public affairs and resources across the country. In addition, electoral process forces the candidates to outline their leadership capabilities including past records and future intentions thus acting as a forum for citizens to discuss their political needs and express their public opinion. Elections will provide public education to citizens and safeguard the democratic principles that aim at ensuring proper management of public affairs and full public participation ( Boehmke 234). Types of elections Referendums R eferendum is a electoral process whereby voters express their wishes in regards to proposed legislation or government policy. Obligatory referendums involves statutes or legislation action that seeks approval of the citizens while optional referendum involves popular vote on laws that have been petitioned by a section of the citizens (Boehmke 79). Referendums are useful in advancing legislation in the country since the legislature refers public policy matters to the voters for approval such as tax law changes, changes to the state constitution and other less controversial matters that require the public opinion. Popular referendum is also used to repeal acts of the legislature and statutes through a petition that entails collecting sufficient signatures that require a popular vote for the law to be enacted. Lastly, advisory referendums are used by the legislature or governor in order to determine the public opinion, but the outcome of the vote is not binding. For instance, Rhode Isl and State governor used the advisory referendum in 2002 by asking the citizens to vote on whether or not they wanted to make the three branches of government co-equal, but the outcome of the results were not binding since the governor or legislature did not take any further action (Waters 213). Proponents of referendum assert that it represents a real form of democracy and enhances the political participation of the citizens in legislation process. Referendum will check the excesses of the government before the expiry of term of office and provides the solutions to controversial legislation and statutes. Accordingly, referendums are used to legitimize devolution of political power and unite divided political parties (Tierney 256). Initiatives An initiative is a proposal for a new law or constitutional amendment that entails petition through collection of signatures of certain percentage of citizens in the country. Initiatives to the people requires sufficient signatures that are sub mitted for a vote by the people at the ballot while initiatives to the legislature requires the legislatures to adopt an initiative as proposed without a vote by the people, reject, or refuse to act on the proposed initiative and place it on the ballot for citizens to vote. In addition, the legislature may approve an alternative to the proposed initiative (Boehmke 98). In the USA, 34 states have provided for initiative process with 18

Strategic Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 8

Strategic Management - Essay Example Another advantage was that one of the largest book wholesalers was located in nearby Rosenberg, Oregon. Amazon.com began with an initial collection of 200,000 titles, which no other online bookstore could claim to have at that time. The company’s shares were offered at an IPO price of $18.00 on NASDAQ (Symbol AMZN), after going public in May, 1977. Amazon grew steadily but slowly in the late 1990s, and comparisons with the faster growth of similar dotcom companies of the period created initial resentment among investors. Amazon was implementing a unique strategy of not expecting profits for five years, which paid off when the dotcom bubble burst and Amazon came out as one of the few survivors. The company recorded profits for the first time in the last quarter of 2002, a meager but symbolically crucial $5 million or 1 cent per share. Amazon diversified its product lines and expanded overseas, making profits of $35 million in 2003, $558 million in 2004 and $359 million in 2005. Shareholders received reasonable returns on investment, and following the merger with SBC Communications, the company’s shares entered the S&P 500 index in the place of AT&T on 21st November, 2005. â€Å"In the most basic sense, a business model is the method of doing business by which a company can sustain itself -- that is, generate revenue. The business model spells-out how a company makes money by specifying where it is positioned in the value chain.† (digitalenterprise.org). Amazon.com began its business at a time when the internet has just started to entrench its roots into the economy by capitalizing on the enormous opportunity it provided to remove the twin obstacles of time and distance. Amazon’s business model is based on pampering the customer to the status of a king by tracking their tastes and using this information to create a unique customer experience. Thus they have succeeded in cultivating a relationship

Supreme Court Justice Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Supreme Court Justice - Term Paper Example Records of the Supreme Court lists her as the fourth female justice to have served in that capacity and one hundred and twelfth overall judge among all the judges that have served in the supreme court since its establishment (O’Connor, 2004). Kagan was appointed to the position to succeed an outgoing justice Paul Stevens. Sworn in by the leader of the court, Chief justice John Roberts, Kagan officially began her term on the seventh day of August in the year 2010 after confirmation by the Senate. In reference to her earlier academic and legal career, she has served as a legal clerk for justice Thurgood of the American Supreme Court and also for Judge Abner formerly of the United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia circuit in the Year 1987. In the year 1991, she worked as an assistant Professor in the department of Legal studies at the University of Chicago. She graduated to the level of an associate professor of law in the year 1995. Her first publication on law was a n article review on law titled† The first Amendment hate speech†. This article mainly analyzed the consequences of the motive in government regulation of speech. She also reviewed Stephens Carter’s book in relation to judicial confirmation process (O’Connor, 2004). ... She replaced James Buckley in the United States court of appeal district Of Columbia circuit after being nominated by President Clinton to the position (Holzer, 2012). After her stint at the white house, Kagan went back to academic roles once again serving as the dean in the department of law at the University of New Mexico. She is also credited to having transformed Harvard law school from a hostile student environment to student centered environment. At the beginning of President Obama’s regime, he made an announcement that he was going to nominate Kagan to the position of the solicitor general despite the fact that she had no prior records of having argued any case before the court. In the year 2009, the senate confirmed her nomination making her the first woman to hold that position in the history of the United States. In September the same year she made her first ever appearance before the Supreme Court. However, contentions arose in regard to the arguments she advanced i n her capacity as the solicitor general. Cato institute and the first amendment centre disputed her arguments. Her nomination to the Supreme Court was a subject of great interest even before the election of President Obama to office. The media was rife with speculation of her potential nomination if a democrat president carried the day in the elections. This was because of her position as the Solicitor general which was seen to serve as a great leverage (Toobin, 2008). However, this was not to be as Obama had nominated Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. Following the announcement of Justice Paul Stevens on his intentions to retire, speculations emerged once again on the possibility of Kagan nomination to the Supreme Court. Kagan’s

Managerial Final Exam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Managerial Final Exam - Essay Example If the interest rate is increased from 5% to 7%, and the interest is paid annually, the amount that will be earned after 5 years will be more than the amount that was earned at the rate of 5%. This is because there are more proceeds from the increased interest rate as compared to when the interest rate is reduced. Therefore the amount realized after 5 years will be $14,025.52 and $19,671.51 after 10 years as explained above. 21. For this bond, at 5% interest, the value will be $813.53. this value will keep increasing as the interest rate decreases, this is because, during the calculations, increase in the interest rate tries to minimize the total value that is achieved at the end of the calculation. Therefore, at 4% interest, the value will increase to 4851.927 and $935.731 at 2% interest rate. 22. One would definitely go for an investment that pays 30% after 5 years than go for one that costs 0.5% per month after 5 years. This is because the it is better foe an interest rate to that matures after a long period of time since the cumulated earnings to be paid will be more than if the interest were small and is only paid

Strategic Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 8

Strategic Management - Essay Example Another advantage was that one of the largest book wholesalers was located in nearby Rosenberg, Oregon. Amazon.com began with an initial collection of 200,000 titles, which no other online bookstore could claim to have at that time. The company’s shares were offered at an IPO price of $18.00 on NASDAQ (Symbol AMZN), after going public in May, 1977. Amazon grew steadily but slowly in the late 1990s, and comparisons with the faster growth of similar dotcom companies of the period created initial resentment among investors. Amazon was implementing a unique strategy of not expecting profits for five years, which paid off when the dotcom bubble burst and Amazon came out as one of the few survivors. The company recorded profits for the first time in the last quarter of 2002, a meager but symbolically crucial $5 million or 1 cent per share. Amazon diversified its product lines and expanded overseas, making profits of $35 million in 2003, $558 million in 2004 and $359 million in 2005. Shareholders received reasonable returns on investment, and following the merger with SBC Communications, the company’s shares entered the S&P 500 index in the place of AT&T on 21st November, 2005. â€Å"In the most basic sense, a business model is the method of doing business by which a company can sustain itself -- that is, generate revenue. The business model spells-out how a company makes money by specifying where it is positioned in the value chain.† (digitalenterprise.org). Amazon.com began its business at a time when the internet has just started to entrench its roots into the economy by capitalizing on the enormous opportunity it provided to remove the twin obstacles of time and distance. Amazon’s business model is based on pampering the customer to the status of a king by tracking their tastes and using this information to create a unique customer experience. Thus they have succeeded in cultivating a relationship

Managerial Final Exam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Managerial Final Exam - Essay Example If the interest rate is increased from 5% to 7%, and the interest is paid annually, the amount that will be earned after 5 years will be more than the amount that was earned at the rate of 5%. This is because there are more proceeds from the increased interest rate as compared to when the interest rate is reduced. Therefore the amount realized after 5 years will be $14,025.52 and $19,671.51 after 10 years as explained above. 21. For this bond, at 5% interest, the value will be $813.53. this value will keep increasing as the interest rate decreases, this is because, during the calculations, increase in the interest rate tries to minimize the total value that is achieved at the end of the calculation. Therefore, at 4% interest, the value will increase to 4851.927 and $935.731 at 2% interest rate. 22. One would definitely go for an investment that pays 30% after 5 years than go for one that costs 0.5% per month after 5 years. This is because the it is better foe an interest rate to that matures after a long period of time since the cumulated earnings to be paid will be more than if the interest were small and is only paid

Phuket Beach Analysis Essay Example for Free

Phuket Beach Analysis Essay Statement of the Problem Should the management of Phuket Beach Resort accept the offer made by PlanetKaraoke Pub to set up an outlet inside the hotel or should the managementoperate a pub, Beach Karaoke Pub, by itself? II. Case Background Mike Campbell, General Manager of Phuket Beach Hotel is considering an offermade by Planet Karaoke Pub, a fast expanding company, which is looking for avenue in Patong beach area for setting up another outlet. The Board of Directorsof the establishment had previously rejected several old offers because it offerslow return on investment. The space was located on the second floor of the main building and was verymuch under-utilised. Planat Karaoke Pub offered to sign a four-year leaseagreement with the hotel for rending part of the unused space. It proposed topay:a. a monthly rental fee of 170,000 baht for the first two years; andb. thereafter, a 5% increment for the next two years. Planet Karaoke Pub required only 70% of the unused space measuring 3,000 sq. feet. This would allow the hotel to keep the remaining space for the creation of analley two years later. Mike Campbell is contemplating on creating a pub operated by the managementof the hotel itself since such establishments attract a lot of customers andtourists. Mike Campbell sought the assistance of Kornkrit Manming, the hotel’s FinancialController to review the offer from Planet Karaoke Pub and estimating revenuesand costs associated with an alternative project, Beach Karaoke Pub. III. Objectives With the given two alternatives on hand, this case aims to:a. ome up with a concrete recommendation to the board of directorsof Phuket Beach Resort of which of the two alternatives will offer a higherreturn on investmentb. determine if operating a pub in the hotel, whether by a third party orby management, will be a good investment on the part of the hotel. c. compute for the relevant cashflows associated with each projects? The 25% fear factor is applied on the projected annual net room revenuerepresenting 50% of the pub revenue – 50% from hotel guests. . Overhead expenses allocated to the Planet Karaoke Pub project amountingto 55,000 baht and 16% of sales representing salaries for the Beach KaraokePub project are considered irrelevant costs since these costs will not differbetween alternatives. Both are allocated costs. 5. The weighted average cost of capital is 10. 75% computed using 10%interest rate and 12% hotel owners’ cost of equity on its capital structureconsisting of 25% debt and 75% equity respectively. The cost of equity isassumed to be after tax. 6. All payments and inflows assumed to have been made at the end of theyear. The two projects have unequal lives: Planet Karaoke Pub to run for 4 yearswhile Beach Karaoke Pub to run for 6 years. 8. It was envisaged that the proposed pub would not affect the hotel’s futureexpansion plans. 9. The existing system ranked projects according to their average return oninvestment and payback period, regardless to the time value of money. 10. Similar development proposals had been rejected by the board because itrequired a long payback period. Other proposals were also discarded due toits low return on investment.

Timed Efficient Stream Loss-Tolerant Authentication (TESLA)

Timed Efficient Stream Loss-Tolerant Authentication (TESLA) When considered as a security solution for ADS-B, asymmetric-key encryption has two major drawbacks. The first issue is that current asymmetric-key schemes have no compact encryption implementations, and would result in an increase of the transmitted ADS-B message length. The second problem is that unique encrypted ADS-B messages would be required for each recipient. To maintain a fully-connected network of n nodes would necessitate (n2 à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ n) unique broadcasts rather than n in the current system [15], which obviously does not scale well as the size of the network increases. As a possible answer to these two drawbacks, Costin et al. [3] have suggested what they term a lightweight PKI solution. In the lightweight PKI approach, node A transmits its digital signature over n messages, so that after every n messages, the surrounding nodes have received As digital signature. The recipients keep the messages until the entire digital signature has been transmitted and they can authenticate the buffered messages. The authors suggest that the PKI key distribution necessary for this scheme could be done during an aircrafts scheduled maintenance cycle [13]. A security scheme called Timed Efficient Stream Loss-Tolerant Authentication (TESLA) is a variation on traditional asymmetric cryptography that has been proposed for use on broadcast networks [19], [20]. With TESLA, senders retroactively publish their keys which are then used by receivers to authenticate the broadcast messages. A broadcasting node produces an encrypted message authentication code (MAC) which is included with every message. After a designated time interval or number of messages, the key to decrypt the senders MAC is published. Listening receivers who have buffered the senders previous messages can then decrypt the messages that were broadcast. When applied to ADS-B, this technique imposes a time delay on the broadcast due to the need to buffer messages, but it provides integrity and continuity of messages sent over the network. TESLA is an adaption of the TESLA protocol designed for use on wireless sensor networks. The TESLA protocol requires nodes in the network to be loosely time synchronized, with each node having an upper bound on the maximum clock synchronization error. As discussed earlier, asymmetric encryption schemes have high computation and communication overhead, which limit their usefulness as security approaches on the bandwidth-constrained ADS-B network. The TESLA protocol overcomes this problem by employing asymmetric-key encryption through a delayed disclosure of symmetric keys, which results in an efficient broadcast authentication scheme. When one considers the bandwidth and interference limitations on the ADS-B frequency channel, the TESLA design adaptations identify this protocol as a viable scheme for providing security in ADS-B. However, there are two obstacles to applying TESLA to ADS-B. The primary issue is that, while sufficiently good time synchronization could be provided via GPS, it would require modification to the protocol to accommodate the GPS timestamp field. The second problem is that in order for TESLA to be used for verifying the identity of a network node, it needs to be reinitialized which leaves it susceptible to memory- based DoS attacks. In spite of these drawbacks, TESLA is a promising security scheme for integrating into ADS-B. B. Aircraft Address Message Authentication Code The cryptographic solutions PKI and TESLA both have shortcomings in that they require modifications to the current ADS-B protocol. The Aircraft Address Message Authentication Code (AA-MAC) security solution utilizes a standard hash algorithm such as MD5 or SHA and a secret authentication key to perform message integrity [21]. The AA-MAC message source integrity scheme would require a slight modification to the existing protocol in that it would replace the current Aircraft Address (AA) field with the MAC, but the ADS-B message is otherwise unchanged. The AA-MAC approach proposes a different aircraft identification strategy, assigning a unique identifier to each aircraft that is good for the duration of a particular flight. As with PKI cryptographic approaches, the distribution of the secret key presents challenges for AA-MAC. Since MAC requires just one key which is used to uniquely identify a sender on the network, the simplest approach would be to distribute the secret key only whe n an aircraft intends to enter the air traffic control system and ADS-B network. The purpose here is to demonstrate a compatible security scheme that will mitigate threats posed by message injection and modification attacks, which are among the most critical vulnerabilities in the current ADS-B implementation. While AA-MAC does not provide data integrity, it is highly compatible with the existing 1090ES protocol and can be implemented at low cost relative to other security proposals, offering a feasible partial security solution for ADS-B. 4.1.2. Non-Cryptographic Schemes As we have seen, cryptographic security schemes are difficult to implement in a way that are not compatible with the existing infrastructure, primarily due to the problem of key distribution and management. Non-cryptographic approaches to network security avoid the challenge of key management and instead involve either some form of fingerprinting on the physical layer, or a frequency modulation scheme such as spread spectrum. A. Fingerprinting Schemes such as fingerprinting encompass various methods for authentication and identification, either based on hardware or software imperfections or characteristics of the frequency channel which are hard to replicate. Identifying signatures for legitimate nodes on the network provides data useful for the implementation of systems to detect network intrusions [22]. Software-Based Fingerprinting schemes attempt to isolate distinct characteristics of the software operating on network equipment. The development teams for different network equipment manufacturers often take widely varied paths when implementing software on a given device. These differences can be cataloged and later exploited to tell apart dissimilar network devices, and can be used to verify their continuity up to a certain degree. Hardware-Based Fingerprinting approaches seek to identify and catalog unique network hardware differences. Some of these differences can be used for radiometric fingerprinting, which takes advantage of differences in the modulation of a radio signal to catalog unique device signatures. Clock skew is another identifiable hardware feature that can be used to establish uniqueness between wireless devices. Since no two clocks are perfectly synchronized, time difference can be used to create signatures and enable identification. A third category of fingerprinting is Channel/Location-Based Fingerprinting. This fingerprinting method tries to exploit natural characteristics of the communications channel. Various approaches utilizing received signal strength (RSS), channel impulse response (CIR) and the carrier phase have shown that this can be a viable alternative to more traditional authentication and verification measures.

Introduction Essay :: essays research papers

Who Am I? My name is xxxxx xxxxx. I am XX years old, married, and have three sons. I was born in Greensboro, NC and lived there until I was 19. I attended XXXX with the intention of getting an Associate's Degree in Commercial Art and Advertising Design. I was gifted in and loved drawing and painting. It never occurred to me that I would have a career in anything else. The summer after my first semester at XXXX, my parents saw an advertisement in the newspaper for those interested in a career as a flight attendant. My parents pressured me to go to the airline's open house. I flat out refused. After all, I was 19 and madly in love with my unemployed 30 year old boyfriend who still lived with his parents. I went to the airline's open house and there were hundreds of women there. Some of us, including myself, were chosen to speak in front of the mass audience of candidates. The next day, an airline representative called me and asked me to fly to Chicago the following day for a formal interview. I did not want to go at all! I was petrified of getting on an airplane. My boyfriend didn't want me to go. Most of all, I was going to be a graphic artist and had never even considered this job in my life. Through many interviews, six weeks of training away from home, several bouts of tearfully begging my mom to let me come home, I became one of the first 19 year olds to become a flight attendant. I absolutely loved my job and the freedom it gave me. I was able to travel to places I never had dreamed of going. I did my job well and was enamored and confident with the different people I met. I planned to retire as a flight attendant. But things change when husbands and babies come along. When I had my first baby and had to leave him for the first time, I cried uncontrollably the entire trip. My feelings of missing him only grew. Several times, I broke down in the middle of a service when I saw a child. When my second baby came along, I decided that I could no longer have both this career and a family. Introduction Essay :: essays research papers Who Am I? My name is xxxxx xxxxx. I am XX years old, married, and have three sons. I was born in Greensboro, NC and lived there until I was 19. I attended XXXX with the intention of getting an Associate's Degree in Commercial Art and Advertising Design. I was gifted in and loved drawing and painting. It never occurred to me that I would have a career in anything else. The summer after my first semester at XXXX, my parents saw an advertisement in the newspaper for those interested in a career as a flight attendant. My parents pressured me to go to the airline's open house. I flat out refused. After all, I was 19 and madly in love with my unemployed 30 year old boyfriend who still lived with his parents. I went to the airline's open house and there were hundreds of women there. Some of us, including myself, were chosen to speak in front of the mass audience of candidates. The next day, an airline representative called me and asked me to fly to Chicago the following day for a formal interview. I did not want to go at all! I was petrified of getting on an airplane. My boyfriend didn't want me to go. Most of all, I was going to be a graphic artist and had never even considered this job in my life. Through many interviews, six weeks of training away from home, several bouts of tearfully begging my mom to let me come home, I became one of the first 19 year olds to become a flight attendant. I absolutely loved my job and the freedom it gave me. I was able to travel to places I never had dreamed of going. I did my job well and was enamored and confident with the different people I met. I planned to retire as a flight attendant. But things change when husbands and babies come along. When I had my first baby and had to leave him for the first time, I cried uncontrollably the entire trip. My feelings of missing him only grew. Several times, I broke down in the middle of a service when I saw a child. When my second baby came along, I decided that I could no longer have both this career and a family.

Impact of Excessive Government Regulation :: Over-regulated America

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Some believe the government regulates business too much others feel that the government does not do enough. I believe the government is regulating business far too much and furthermore putting businesses out of business and causing many workers to lose jobs. In this paper I will point out the common problems dealing with government regulation. I will also focus on three major aspects of government regulation which include: 1) regulation interferes with production by halting innovation and discouraging risk taking, resulting in declining employment, 2) government over regulates by setting standards for every aspect of manufacture when it could allow businesses to set overall objectives for their business, 3) regulation cost too much in business compliance, which is passed on to the consumer and finally forces the company out of business. The objectives of safety and health will better be achieved in the absence of government regulation. Government regulatory agencies have spent billions of dollars and there is little evidence that the world is any better off than it was without the agencies and costly reforms. When reading further ask yourself the question, does the costs or regulation outweigh the benefits, I believe they do not.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Regulatory programs normally are started by a group of people with a single interest and pressure the government and people to believe that there is a major crisis, creating panic to an alleged problem. When this happens it pressures Congress to pass a reform law in fear of not being reelected. Media groups also aid in creating panic by focusing on the bad and not the possible solutions to fix the problem. What happens is Congress passes a reform that they have little thought over and create costly new standards that could make little difference in the world. A good example of this happened during the adoption of the auto emission standards of 1970. When Congress passed a bill with little debate and few people having any idea on what the bill was about, creating costly reforms and forcing cut backs on business expenses. In all of the cases of 1970 the Congress chose to regulate instead of the alternatives; court penalties for polluters, tax penalties for employers with poor safety records, or government-funded information programs. The health and safety regulators were created in response to a nonexistent crises, therefore it is not surprising they have made little impact.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Sam Peltzman, University of Chicago economist, did a cost-benefit analysis of the drug regulations that followed the thalidomide tragedy in Europe. In his analysis he focused on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) which is alike the older single-industry regulators and some of its problems are typical

Moving to the Foreign Contry

Abdurashid Abdukhamidov ENG-095 Gina Love Cause/Effect Paragraph 30th October, 2012 Moving to the Foreign Contry Nowadays, as a result of looking for better conditions of life many people have been moving from their own city to another cities or countries. People in all over the world are developing the necessity to find their happiness, education, and a better work. Changing the place of environment or basically just moving to another country can affect people in many different ways.The very first and one of the most common reasons is an education. Since, people are looking to a better education, they move to a country that can give them the possibility to be a good professional in the specific sphere of major/science. Also, the educational facilities and competencies of the schools in other countries may be better than the ones available in the hometown countries. There are some countries that have most developed and very famous universities in the world. Also read: Disadvantages of Foreign WorkersAlso, in some of the specific countries of the world, education is better improved and developed than the other ones. Younger generation nowadays, is mostly looking for the better and tougher way of gaining knowledge. Obviously, the qualified university is being the better choice for any student. Statistic shows that most of the immigrants made their immigration with the purpose of studying abroad. Also, the diploma of the foreign countries are more acceptable than the ones with lower rating and feedbacks.Foreign diploma gives students opportunity to get a better job, and make a way much better salary. Other most important advantages are self-development and learning the foreign language. Living away from hometown, makes people more confident and independent. People who moved to another country need to take care of every single thing by themselves. They are all responsible how to organize their lives, how to make a plans to achieve their goa l of immigrating from their hometown into another. Also, people should be able to communicate with others.In order to build the communication with others, immigrants should learn the language of that country, and be able to use that language in the correct way. Apart from that, the language has different grammar or pronunciation, so immigrants should study a lot of things. Thirdly, it’s important for immigrants to be adapted to the foreign culture and traditions. No one should ignore or stereotype the other’s culture and traditions, and showing respect and greeting are the most important responsibilities of every single immigrant. Immigrants need to develop themselves to an unknown condition of life.Making new friends, respecting other’s opinions, developing their own point of views, accepting cons and pros of the living condition in another country can be a key to achieve their goals and make their causes of immigrating realized. These all can also count as an example of a knowledge of the life in general. Living far from hometown, even for a short period of time, can be really hard at the beginning. From general point of view, all changes make difficulties, but most of the time, changes give people opportunity to understand the value of everything and be appreciated.

Michael Jackson Research Essay

An Icon Never Forgotten The world of pop culture would never be the same. His voice was harmonious, his moves earth shattering and his actions unequivocally eccentric. The whole world could only watch in astonishment as the â€Å"King of Pop† altered lives and established himself as the juggernaut of the music industry. Having been born in 1993, did not give me the opportunity to anxiously stay up until midnight, December 2, 1983 and witness the world premiere of Michael Jackson’s pinnacle, the hit, Thriller.Though my life began as the height of his career began to taper off, his music, actions and appeal is as much a part of my generation as it was then. Michael Jackson is the world's greatest entertainer. His body of work, likeness and story has had a profound influence on popular music today, and will continue to have a resounding impact for generations to come. It was the early morning of August 29, 1958, in the blue-collar town, Gary, Indiana, when Katherine and Jo seph Jackson welcomed their eighth child, Michael Joseph Jackson into the world he would forever change.Joseph Jackson was quick to realize his children had an unnatural talent, a divine gift of song and dance. He became eager, if not obsessive to profit from these talents. Michael was pushed towards stardom at a very early age. In 1962, his father formed the group The Jackson Five, consisting of Michael and his brothers. Every aspect of their domestic and now professional lives where micromanaged by Joe. He parented and managed them with a strong, often cruel unyielding hand. The wrong dance step could easily result in a beating one day and a barrage of verbal battery the next, â€Å"There is a lot of sadness in my past life.My father beat me. It was difficult to take being beaten and then going on stage. He was strict; very hard and stern† (Jackson. Oprah Winfrey). Their childhoods were pretty much taken away due to the rigorous work schedule, † I remember going to th e record studio and there was a park across the street and I'd see all the children playing and I would cry because it would make me sad that I would have to work instead† (Jackson. Oprah Winfrey). When this was discovered, he was one of the first to be shown as a product of abuse by parents to further their own selfish ventures.His story would be related to various young entertainers of today. Questions will be asked such as, â€Å"Are parents pushing their children to hard? † In terms of his musicality, Michael was the lead singer and his immense talent was already evident at this young age. His voice is like an angel, a sound so seducing and his myriad of effortless gravity defying dance moves, he was a natural. By 1969 The Jackson Five were the first group to appeal to black and white audiences. The crossover success was evident by the record breaking, four number one singles in 1970.The Jackson Five had become worldwide superstars, constantly performing to sell out concerts in global venues. The Jackson five was universally popular on all broadcasting networking appealing to all audiences black and white. Hits such as â€Å"ABC†, and â€Å"I'll Be There† are instantly recognized even today. In 1971, they were named one of the most influential groups and were given an animated series based on the lives of the Jackson Family. It was a drastically fictional portrayal of their true reality. Even through the young Jackson’s success, the torment from their father was constant.Joseph would continue his physical abuse of Michael throughout his adolescence and the mental cruelty would last throughout his life. Yet somehow, Michael kept singing and the hits kept coming. Michael Jackson had become a star, one that could not be contained by the Jackson 5. It was the first time the world had seen young black child reach that level of success. The world would become in tune with his life. They would share his pain upon news of his abus e. They too would revel in all his success as his talents consumed the world over.Michael’s early life helped pave the way for his influential career. The Jackson Five were a big influence on future boy bands including New Edition, New Kids on the Block, and The Jonas Brothers. When the group New Edition met with their manager and creator, Travis Gresham, he suggested to name the group New Edition to signify that they were the ‘new edition' of the Jackson Five. When producer Maurice Starr created the group, New Kids on the Block, he was in search for a new version of Michael Jackson to take on the lead vocals.Starr came across the high note hitter and dancing machine, Joey McIntyre. The more current version of an all brother group, The Jonas Brothers, were also significantly influenced by the Jackson Five, â€Å"The first time we heard Michael's voice was when our dad played the Jackson Five's hit, I'll Be There. We were amazed by the way that he and his brothers came together to entertain the world has been an obvious influence on us. Michael Jackson influenced every listener and every future performer with a talent the world had never seen before† (Joe Jonas. MTV Awards).Furthermore, various R&B groups like Boyz 2 Men and All 4 One have sampled their songs countless times. Even today’s big stars like Chris Brown copied a track from Michael in his song â€Å"She Aint You†. The fact of the matter is the Jackson 5, a product of Michael’s talent, was bigger than most groups could ever hope to be and is universally recognized as one of the biggest groups of all time. In Michael’s young adulthood, he made the decision to break away from his brothers, as his talent could not be limited to his family. A decision fueled by his desire to further explore his talent and be in charge of his own career.Michael influenced many other artists, including Beyonce and Justin Timberlake, to take the chance and break away from the g roup that they were engaged in. When most artists leave an extremely prosperous and established band to start their own solo career, the odds of success are dismal. Michael Jackson defied that statistic, far surpassing anything the Jackson Five had previously accomplished. Michael's major breakthrough as a solo artist came when he released his first album, â€Å"Off The Wall†, which was co-produced by the legendary Quincy Jones. The album was released in 1979, and its success was exceptional.The album produced four United States top hits on the charts, a first for any US album, and won Michael Jackson three Billboard Music Awards: Top Black Artist, Top Black Album, and Best Male R&B Vocal Performance. Imagine that dance from his song â€Å" I Want to Rock with You† is known by anyone who has sat in front of a TV. These awards and self-advertisement practically made the name Michael Jackson a household name and helped his career flourish in the 1980s. Even with the grea t success of his first single, Michael was still not satisfied, â€Å"I'm never pleased with anything, I'm a perfectionist, it's part of who I am† (Jackson.Oprah Winfrey). Again, Michael and Quincy collaborated and created three-hundred songs for his new album, Thriller. Hard to decide, they cut it down to their nine favorite songs and the album was released in 1982. Thriller had an astonishing seven hit singles and it was selling one million albums per week. There was no one in the United States who did not hear the song. The music video is so popular that there are events around the world to re-enact the dance. It spent 80 consecutive weeks in the top ten albums, and 37 weeks of those in the number one spot. Don’t think for a moment that it was a one hit album though.His hit Billie Jean features an even more memorable dance featuring a move at a concert that shook the world in which he effortlessly glided across the dance floor. That dance is often imitated and that â€Å"Moonwalk† is a term that permeates pop culture. At the Grammy Awards, Thriller won Michael Jackson a record-breaking seven Grammy awards and, what he wanted the most, Album of the Year. Blending pop, R&B, soul, dance, and disco, Michael brought a new sound to the population. All Grammy hopefuls compare their success to Michael Jacksons sweeping of the awardsThe Thriller album not only created history, it also become a milestone for racial equality in music. Music Television, MTV, was against playing African American R&B music video; however, eventually, they agreed to air Michael Jackson's hit video, Billie Jean. MTV had been previously dominated by rock music videos and denied videos from black artists like Rick James, but once they recognized the popularity of Michael Jackson’s songs, they evolved more towards pop and R;B, which helped future black artists like Prince. Before Michael Jackson's video aired, MTV was struggling to become a top television channel.W hen they aired Michael's videos, MTV became the hottest channel to watch. When the video for Thriller debuted, the demand to play it was so high that MTV had to play it twice an hour to meet demand for it. Thriller was said to be the best and most prominent music video ever created. MTV owes it's over one hundred million viewers to Michael Jackson. In fact a video that insulted him was removed at his requests. His songs are still asked for to this day. Michael Jackson's videos were not popular just because of the catchy, upbeat rhythms, but, because they were different. He was all substance.He is the definition of a true performer. As mentioned before, the video Billie Jean was first debuted on MTV, viewers watched something they have never seen before. Dressed in a glittering black jacket and wearing one white glove, Michael jumped, spun, and slid all over the video's surrealistic city street set. Viewers could not take their eyes off of him. Michael Jackson made music videos an ar t form instead of having the singer stand there in front of a band lip synching the song. He incorporated special effects, storylines, dance routines, and cameo appearances into them.This started the epidemic of music videos. Every music dance video played today, has Michael Jackson to thank for that. Recording artist Ne-Yo remembers that when when Michael Jackson, â€Å"dropped a video, it was an event. † (Ne-Yo. MTV). He was one of the first to spend a million on a music video. A model that is copied today buy the biggest stars. Michael Jackson is not only a brilliant singer/songwriter, but also a skilled dancer. In 1983, on the TV special, Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever, Michael Jackson debuted his iconic dance move, the moonwalk.Unlike anything that had ever been seen before, the moonwalk proved Michael Jackson’s staying power and influence on popular culture. Everyone was trying to master the dance moves they had seen Michael do in his videos and on stage. W ho didn't want to glide across the stage in a perfect floating moonwalk? Besides the moonwalk, his other famous dance was the choreographed routine in the video Thriller. Michael knew that he wanted the video to, â€Å"take [dance] to another level†(Michael Jackson. Barbra Walters).The dance has been used in many Hollywood movies including the 2004 Blockbuster hit, 13 Going on 30. If you ask people to do the Thriller dance, nine out of ten will be able to demonstrate it. Michael Jackson's dance moves has inspired many current artists today including Justin Timberlake and Usher. A former teen sensation himself, Usher is probably the closest current performer to Michael Jackson in terms of singing style and album anticipation. Usher is the primary reason for the return of the popularity of choreographed dancing with current R&B acts.Usher states that ,†[Michael Jackson] influenced me in so many ways, more than just music †¦ as a humanitarian, as a philanthropist, as an artist, as an individual who transcended culture. I wouldn't be who I am today without Michael Jackson† (Usher Raymond. MTV). With his outstanding talent as a dancer and a high-range vocals, Justin Timberlake has been honored in being compared to Michael Jackson ever since his former N*Sync days. 2006, at the Video Music Awards, the curtain rises as seven time Grammy winner, Justin Timberlake, stands, silhouetted with the stages lights.With his neck tilted down, hand on head, and spinning around, the crowd goes wild. Not because it is Justin Timberlake about to perform, but because he has just immortalized the one and only Michael Jackson. Timberlake expresses that, â€Å"No one presented a song onstage like Michael. To create the things that he created with his music, it's really untouchable† (Justin Timberlake. MTV). Being one of the most influential artists, if not the most, is not always as exhilarating as it seems. With fame and fortune comes pain and despair.Fr om skin bleaching to the dangling of his child off the balcony, there has always controversy surrounding his life. In 2002 Michael was in a hotel with his family and wanted to show off his new born baby to the paparazzi. He dangled the child over a fourth floor balcony. Michael stated that, â€Å"I love my children. I was holding my son tight. Why would I throw a baby off the balcony? That`s the dumbest, stupidest story I ever heard† (Michael Jackson. Oprah Winfrey). A lot of rumors got around that Michael Jackson was bleaching his skin because he wanted to become Caucasian.Michael Jackson said that he had a skin pigmentation; however, a lot of people did not believe this. There were many hurtful comments about him bleaching his skin and he was very offended by them, â€Å"I have a skin disorder that destroys the pigmentation of my skin, it's something that I cannot help, OK? † (Michael Jackson. Oprah Winfrey). With all these controversies, Michael was given a nickname , â€Å"Yeah, Wacko Jacko, where did that come from? Some English tabloid. I have a heart and I have feelings. I feel that when you do that to me. It's not nice† (Michael Jackson.Barbra Walters). With all of these controversies, Michael was still a charitable man with a big heart, † I've helped many, many, many children, thousands of children, cancer kids, leukemia kids† (Michael Jackson). In 1984, Jackson bought all new equipment for a unit at Mount Senai New York Medical Center, which is part of the T. J. Martell-Foundation for leukemia and cancer research. Later that year, he visited the Brotman Memorial Hospital, and donated all the money he received from a Pepsi commercial that he was in, $1. 5 million, to the Michael Jackson Burn Center for Children.Michael also created one of the largest charity events, the recording of â€Å"We are the World†, to help raise money for kids in Africa in 1985. Artists like Diana Ross, Lionel Richie, Bruce Springstein, Cyndi Lauper, Tina Turner and many more, helped with this recording. This charity was so influential that in 2010, over one hundred of today’s biggest artist including Justin Bieber, Fergie, Lil Wayne, Adam Levine and Pink re-sang the song for Haiti, raising an immense amount of money. Even with the rumors going on, Michael was said to have donated over three-hundred million dollars to different charities throughout his life.With Michael Jackson being big on charities and helping kids in need, he created an amusement park in his backyard for kids who are disadvantaged or have medical conditions. Michael named the park Neverland, same as the fantasy island in the story Peter Pan, which is about boy that never grows older, â€Å"I'll always be Peter Pan in my heart† (Michael Jackson. Oprah Winfrey). The 3000 acre land is filled with rides, animals, a train and many more attractions, â€Å"We have elephants, and giraffes, and crocodiles, and every kind of tigers and lion s.And – and we have bus loads of kids, who don't get to see those things. They come up, sick children, and enjoy it† (Michael Jackson. Ed Bradley). Neverland was intended to bring happiness to everyone; however, it brought a horrific result to Michael. In 1993, Michael Jackson was accused of molesting a thirteen year old boy at his Neverland Ranch. Michael had met the boy in 1992 and they soon became friends. The child had become a regular guest and started staying the night at the residence, which was not uncommon.Michael gave the boy gifts and paid for several family vacation trips around the world. The father of the boy, Evan Chandler, stated that, â€Å"[Michael Jackson] was part of our family† (Chandler. Vindicating Michael). According to the allegations, for four months, Michael had been kissing and fondling with the boy when they were alone. These allegations became the main topic on all news stations. While Michael said he was innocent, many believed the news articles that stated he was a child molester, â€Å"It's a complete lie, why do people buy these papers? It's not the truth I'm here to say.You know, don't judge a person, do not pass judgment, unless you have talked to them one on one. I don't care what the story is, do not judge them because it is a lie† (Michael Jackson). In 1994, Michael Jackson settled the civil lawsuit paying an undisclosed amount to the boy’s family. Many believe that he paid between 15 and 20 million dollars. After receiving the money, the boy refused to testify in any criminal matters. Therefore, the prosecution was not able to pursue a criminal case. Michael was accused again of child molestation in 2005, but was also found not guilty.These accusations did not fully ruin Michael's career, but they did impact it. The media began to impair the career of Michael Jackson with ridiculous tabloid stories and false allegations, using wrong information to convince them. Society started to see hi m in a different light, giving him a poor reputation, â€Å"The press has made up so much†¦ God†¦ awful, horrifying stories†¦ it has made me realize the more often you hear a lie, I mean, you begin to believe it† (Michael Jackson. Oprah Winfrey). Sadly, his fans began to separate Michael from his music.The music was still prodigious; however, Michael, was seen as a predator. Artist Lil Wayne is going through the same thing with fans, but he went to jail for drugs. Lil Wayne’s music is still heard on the radio; however, the media on him is not respectable. After the allegations, the majority of people did not consider Michael as the influential pop star he once was, nor gave him recognition for his notable charity work and contributions in society; however, Michael tried to better his career; however is was never at the same magnitude as his â€Å"Thriller† album.From experiencing fame at such a young age, fighting lawsuits, paparazzi scandals, con tinuous plastic surgery, extreme tabloid stories, and false allegations, Michael Jackson never fully recovered. These struggles lead Michael into a deep depression, which subsequently resulted in an accidental overdose that cost him his life. People around the world were taken back by his sudden death in 2009. Through the comments all over the Internet, persistent updates on the television, the massive increase of albums sold on ITunes, and the misinterpretations of the way his death occurred, it was vident that the death of the King of Pop had a large impact on the nation. Rarely does any album get a 25th anniversary celebration, but Thriller did. Without a doubt, Thriller was a milestone for an entire generation. With singles at the top of the charts, changing MTV, and credit for breaking the color barrier and making way for a new generation of black artists, Michael Jackson truly exceeded what anyone could have expected. His unprecedented success is still resounding in popular cu lture today.Televison shows such as X Factor, Glee, America’s Next Top Model and American Idol have all had â€Å"Let’s give thanks to Michael Jackson† episodes. There is even a dance game called â€Å"The Michael Jackson Experience† that lets people learn his dance moves and perform with him. Michael Jackson’s iconic dances, vocals, and blending of genres continue to inspire new artists and captivate audiences worldwide. There is no doubt in my mind that twenty years from now, everyone will still know who the â€Å"King of Pop† was and how he has influenced almost every artist today. Works CitedGoh, Dion Hoe-Lian, and Chei Sian Lee. â€Å"An Analysis Of Tweets In Response To The Death Of Michael Jackson. † Aslib Proceedings 63. 5 (2011): 432-444. Academic Search Premier. Web. 8 Dec. 2011. Fast, Susan. â€Å"Difference That Exceeded Understanding: Remembering Michael Jackson (1958-2009). † Popular Music ; Society 33. 2 (2010): 259-266. Academic Search Premier. Web. 8 Dec. 2011. Jackson, Michael. Moonwalk. New York: Doubleday, 1988. Print. Krohn, Katherine. Michael Jackson. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications Company, 2010. Print. Halperin, Ian. Unmasked: The Final Years.New York: Pocket Books, 2009. Print. Taraborrelli, Randy. Michael Jackson: The Magic, The Madness, The Whole Story, 1958-2009. New York: Hachette Digital, Inc, 2009. Print. â€Å"Vindicating Michael. † HIStory vs EVANstory: The 1993 Allegations Part 1. 20 Apr. 2011. Web. 10 Nov. 2011. ;http://vindicatemj. wordpress. com/2011/04/20/history-vs-evanstory-the-1993-allegations-part-1/;. Interview by Barbra Walters. 20/20. ABC. 12 Sept. 1997. Television. Interview by Oprah Winfrey. Oprah Winfrey Show. KFMB. 1993. Television. Interview by Ed Bradley. 60 Minutes. CBS. 1993.