Political Corruption Essay

Greetings and good morning to all of you. My speech today will address the topic on corruption and mainly the corrupted political system of India. After many years of ceaseless struggle for freedom, India gained it’s independence in the year 1947 at the cost of some brave and noble lives whom we still remember and pay our tributes to on the memorable days of India’s fight to freedom. Our dignified leaders with a team of members over a series of studies and meetings drafted, the Indian Constitution, in which every citizen has an equal standing before the law and this came into effect on January 26th 1950. After having come so far where does India stand today with relevance to equality for citizens. Everything in this era revolves around the decisions made by powerful people in society, particularly politicians resorting to misuse power for their personal gain and today’s India does not reflect the same spirit of our faithful leaders. The influence of money has crept into our society and corruption has become so common a thing that people have come in terms with this social evil. Be it politics, sports, media, or court, anything seems to be achievable in India if you have fame and money while the less privileged experience the hard hand of law thus depriving citizens of their rights to equality. This kind of fraudulency over a period of time thwarts a person’s morals and ethics, consequently leading to the nation’s intolerance against its leaders and outbursts of mass protests dragging a nation to agitation, confusion, social disorder and on top of these, innocent lives being sacrificed for the wrong deeds of a despotic leader. As we all know Egypt and other countries like Libya and Yemen had witnessed this kind of tumultuous protests and as we all know gruesome fights against the corrupted government are still ongoing in Syria. It’s time that the citizens of India wake up and join hands with anti-corruption crusaders like the 72 year old Gandhian, Anna Hazare, an Indian social activist who led movements to promote rural development, increase government transparency, and investigate and punish official corruption and he pressed to pass the ‘Jan Lokpal Bill’. This is a bill that aims to change the way India tackles corruption. We should be determined not to allow corruption cripple our resourceful nation and tamper the economic growth of our country anymore. We children who are India’s future need to strongly value the good morals taught in homes and schools and strongly abide by them and fight towards a clean system and strive in every small way to bring about a change in this social evil. It is not an easy road and we as individuals can participate in this struggle by beginning to say NO to bribes. Dear friends, finally let me encourage you all to live by our motto â€Å"Lead kindly light† and radiate the values of life by our education and who knows we could probably be the future bearers of these offices that will pave way to be an exemplar of an ideal leader.

Fiction essay thesis and outline Essay

â€Å"The Lottery,† written by Shirley Jackson and â€Å"The Rocking Horse Winner,† written by D.H. Lawrence both use the stories settings in contradicting ways in order to present the seriousness of the stories. Jackson used the setting as a way to sidetrack the readers while Lawrence used the setting to  construct the story. Setting is an important piece in any story and is extremely true in the two short stories that are about to be shared. In â€Å"The Lottery†, the setting is used by Jackson in an effort to distract that reader. By distracting the reader by using beautiful memory visuals, the author is able to formulate an ironic ending to the story. The setting is illustrated to be warm, bright, happy and peaceful. Some readers may suggest that the scene is pleasant and in a certain way, suspenseful. The author described the day to be â€Å"clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day.† (Jackson p.250) Jackson used the specific description in hopes to create a harmonious, calm and amiable scene for the readers. This calming mental picture of the atmosphere made the readers believe that the story will have a happy ending. The characters also played a role in throwing off the horrific ending. Throughout the story, the character all remained calm and happy. As the readers continue to read the story, they soon realize the truth about what is truly about to happen. This deceives the idea of a perfect ending. The portrayal of the buildings, town and the lottery box all added to the setting that throws readers off track of the gruesome reality of what is going to happen. In â€Å"The Rocking Horse Winner†, written by Lawrence, the setting is the center of the short story. Lawrence also used real life places throughout the world and London to help create the setting in short story. The author also used real life events and hobbies to help the reader really feel involved in the story and not feel the need to try very hard to mentally visualize the setting. Lawrence outlines the characters struggles to constantly be competing with the neighbors. The in-depth description that Lawrence uses of the house and gardens paint a picture of the conflicts of income and actual lifestyle. The mood and environment fit well with this story setting. There is not a lot needed from the author to paint the scenery. Since a lot of readers have personal experiences with horses, the readers are able to read and understand without much thought. As soon as a reader can relate to an event, the little details are not needed to pull the reader into the story. There is one similarity and a few differences in these two short stories. The one and only similarity of these two short stories is that in both of these short stories, the settings are reasonable, realistic and convincing. The settings in both stories are either real locations or places that have a huge possibility of existing. In difference, Jackson used the setting to distract the audience from the gruesome, shocking and horrific ritual of stoning that was about to take place. The readers were all swayed from this reality until the end of the story. Contradicting, Lawrence incorporated the setting into the story and used vivid descriptions to allow the readers to add their own memories. Lawrence created the setting in an effort to draw the readers in as the story unfolded. In conclusion, although both stories had a similarity, they both used the setting in different ways. Shirley used the setting to distract the readers while Lawrence used the setting as the main focal point in the story. Both stories surely provided the readers with firsthand examples on how important the setting can be in a story and how it can have a huge impact on the readers perception. â€Å"The Lottery,† written by Shirley Jackson and â€Å"The Rocking Horse Winner,† written by D.H. Lawrence both use the stories settings in contradicting ways in order to present the seriousness of the stories. Jackson used the setting as a way to sidetrack the readers while Lawrence used the setting to construct the story. Works Cited: → Kennedy, X. J, and Gioia, Dana,eds.. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing, Compact Interactive Edition. 7th ed. New Jersey: Upper Saddle River, 2013 →Jackson, Shirley. â€Å"The Lottery†. 250-256. →Lawrence, D.H. â€Å"The Rocking-Horse Winner†. 234-244

Dollar General Essay

Dollar General is the leading dollar store retailer in the United States with 2011sales revenues of $13 billion. It evolved since 1939 from a family (Turner) owned business to a publicly-traded company to a de-listed private investor-owned company in 2007. In 2008 Mr. Rick Dreiling, the current CEO and Chairman of the Board, began to steer the company in new directions.  The operating priorities were to drive productive sales growth, increase gross margin, improve processes and information technology to reduce costs, and strengthen the Dollar General culture of serving others. Dollar General began to experience a decline in sales and store expansion as early as 2005, prior to the recession of 2007. As a leader in the industry, with its primary products being lower-priced consumables, Dollar General turned around under the new leadership and ownership structure to again begin increasing store expansion, sales and prospects for increased revenues and profits. At the present time Doll ar General make strategic use of its core competencies – leadership under the CEO, product selection expertise in merchandise sales, their organizational style and structure, the power of the retail store chain and distribution centers and a quality shopping experience to move forward towards achieving their operational priorities. However, Dollar General faces challenges that are both internal and external. They have strong leadership but with 10,000 stores leadership, culture, and values are hard to effectively trickle down through the whole organization. Improving the customer experience includes having highly motivate employees with a corporate culture of service. Dollar General has succeeded, in part, because they have sought out markets that the big box companies like Wal-Mart do not target, at least by a smaller scale easily accessible store in close proximity to consumer homes. This means, however, that the primary market of the company has tradtionally been in lower income neighbourhoods: it suits the price consciousness of consumers and aligns with lower priced commercial real estate. It is an irony that Dollar General has prospered during the recent recession. They must strategically align their core competencies with the external competitive environment, and this will include a need to possibly shut down poorly performing stores at the same time as they seek new store expansi ons. These priorities will be best served with a strategy of expansion of higher concentration of stores in existing successful markets, and setting up stores in new areas — new markets within existing states and new states with low or no current presence of Dollar General Stores. Introduction Dollar General Corporation is the largest discount retailer in the United  States, the company offers consumer staples merchandise in four categories: consumables, home products, seasonal, and apparel. As of February 25, 2011, Dollar General operated 9414 stores located in 35 states. Dollar General was founded in 1939 by J.L. Turner and his son as a whole-sale business. The first Dollar General store which is also the first dollar store in the States was opened in 1955 in Springfield, Kentucky. In the rest of this report, we will look at what happened to the Dollar General these years and have a comprehensive analysis of the company, which include the external, internal and SWOT analysis. Also we will provide several strategies recommendations to keep the company in the good path. Analysis of the External Environment In order to analyse the external environment of the discount retail industry, we conducted PEST analysis (see exhibit 1) and Porter’s Five Forces analysis (see exhibit 2) of the industry and these methods of analysis have allowed us to identify several most important opportunities as well as threats of the discount retail industry. First, there are several opportunities within the discount retailer industry. With the uncertainty of economy within the U.S., discount stores are getting more popular as consumers are facing the situation of lower purchasing power. Lower income neighbourhood would really be the ideal place for discount retailers to demonstrate their marketing strategies and to locate their stores. Also the use of technology can really improve their operational efficiencies. At the same time, there are several threats that the industry is facing. From the political aspect, there are trading issues between U.S. and countries where the retailers are importing merchand ises, higher tariff brings down the profits for companies. Also, the rapid growth of online-stores raised the competition within the discount retailing industry. Intensive competition within the industry resulted companies constantly reducing prices and profit margins. Analysis of the Internal Environment Value Chain: Primary Activities Dollar General (DG)’s inbound logistics consist of offering consumable, home products, seasonal and apparel merchandise from various suppliers. They also have stores located in many different states to take advantage of attracting  more customers. DG’s stores are either in freestanding building or in strip shopping centers to save on building costs. For outbound logistics, Dollar General hires third-party trucking companies to complete deliveries. The trucking companies transport the merchandise to a store from their nearest distribution center. DG also installed a voice pick system in the distribution centre, which allows employees to communicate with warehouse software systems by speech recognition. This would make the distribution costs go down for DG when the fuel cost increased. Dollar General operates its stores in leased space and also in their owned stores. This allows them to lowers their limited maintenance capital, low occupancy and operating costs. DG keeps building new stores and remodels its stores to make them easier to shop and increase store’s sale productivity. DG also tried to make its store’s look standardized across the chain. Dollar General has its own marketing which focuses on four variables: Price, Place, Promotion and Product to allow the company to attract existing and new customers. They create value through various products by increasing private labels products in consumables and non-consumables and through many stores across different regions to bring their reputation to their market. Having newspaper inserts and a web site allow DG to increase their brand image nationally. Dollar General’s service is done efficient and effectively by staff-scheduling model. This system would help to ensure the staff available at different times to the level of sales volumes during the week. DG provides training to their employees and focus on how to recruit and retain their high-performance employees. Value Chain: Support Activities Dollar General’s firm infrastructure has Richard Dreiling as CEO and chairman of the board. He previously was the CEO and board chairman of the largest drugstore chain in New York City. He is experience and knowledgeable in the food and drug retailer industry. Under his leadership, there are four important priorities identified by the managers, which are: driving productive sales growth, increasing gross margin, improving processes and information technology to reduce costs and strengthening the DG culture of serving others. Each typical store has one store manager, one assistant manager and three of more sales clerks. Dollar General has great human resource management. They employed more than 85,000 full-time and part-time employees. They have focus on how to improve recruiting, training and retained their employees. Dollar General has great technology and development. They installed a voice pick system in the distribution centre to decrease the distribution cost due to high fuel cost. They also installed new analytical and monitoring tools to assist with inventory shrinkage reduction efforts. This would avoid them from the loss of merchandise due to shoplifting, employee theft, damage and obsolescence and allow them to increase gross margin. Moreover, having a web site to allow customer to place orders online is another technology for DG to bring customer to store. Dollar General’s procurement is by purchasing merchandise through various suppliers, importers, agents, and other third parties. DG offers brand name, consumable merchandise and private label brands. DG also uses direct sourcing to get products to their store in order to control costs and increase its gross profit. They also held licenses to provide various trademarks and brands to the stores. Core competencies (Appendix C page Based on VRIS framework, we have identified five core competencies of Dollar General. These core competencies are Richard Dreiling (CEO), consumable merchandise, benchmark organizational styles and their retail stores chain. The separate evaluation of each of these competencies can be view in Appendix A. SWOT Analysis Strengths Dollar General is considered to be the largest retailed stores for selling merchandise mix priced at $1 or less in the US with more than 9400 stores in 35 states as of February in 2011. They sell consumable products at a very low price which attract more discount shoppers during recession. Their marketing strategy on 4Ps allows them to attract more and new customers. DG has the ability to catch market trends and adjust their product mix accordingly. They also create a fast and convenience shopping experience for consumer. They also have a very strong financial since they leased most of their stores and purchased leased stores during weak estate market period. Therefore, they have very low cost on capital expenditure. Their staff scheduling model allows them to make sure employees available during peak time. Also, the voice pick system in the distribution centres helps them to reduce distribution costs dramatically due to increasing in fuel cost. Moreover, the standard design in each of the retail store has helped them to increase sale productivity and easy to shop for customers. Weaknesses Dollar General has many weaknesses in its operations. They have to hire third party truck to deliver most of their merchandise, which could lead to delay in delivering merchandise to stores since they do not have control over the trucking company’s operation. DG has initiative to remodel and renovate their existing stores which could dramatically increase their debt because they have over 9000 stores. Also they are late on introducing online orders in 2007. As a result, they could lose on bringing more customers to know about their brand image. Their human resource management is problematic because they did not have clear policy on overtime pay and inequality salary due to gender. This could cause their reputation badly and financially hurt as there were cases where employees sued them over those issues. SWOT MATRIX: For the SWOT matrix, we have determined several things to be of importance in the following table: SWOT Matrix Strength 1. Low operating cost model 2. Large scale in term of retail stores 3. Strong finance Weakness 1. High cost on capital structure due to renovation 2. Late on introducing online order program 3. HR management is inefficient Opportunity 1. Economic uncertainty helps dollar stores 2. Low income Neighborhood 3. Use of technology 1. Entering global market(S3,O1) 2. Attracting more customers from different income groups(S2,O2) 3. Improvement on operational structures(S1,O3) 1. Opening new stores during economic downturns(W1,O1) 2. Upgrading online-order program(W2,O3) Threat 1. National trading issues 2. Rise of online-stores 3. Intensive Competition 1. Increased market share reduces the competition(S2,T3) 2. Financially healthy helps supporting online operations(S3,T2) 1. Redesigning online-store for better shopping experience(W2,T2) 2. Transferring cost on capital structure for merchandise mix(W1,T3) Assessments: (Appendix D page The mission statement at Dollar General is, â€Å"Serving Others. ‘For Customers: Convenience, Quality, and Great Prices. For Employees: Respect and Opportunity. For Shareholders: A Superior Return. For Communities: A Better Life’.† Based on our evaluation of this mission statement, we came up with a total quality score of 71% (Appendix B page †¦We felt in the mission statement that the purpose of Dollar General, services/ products offered, their competitive advantage, how they do to survived, how they treat  customers and positive public image to stakeholders are clearly outlined in the mission statement. Dollar General does not establish what their scope of operations is, does not create a shared sense of value among employees and does not explain the technology or innovation in their operations. Dollar General definitely has a strong mission statement, but could improve on a few aspects to make it better. Objectives of Dollar General are to increase mark et share in product and services, achieving high technology in operational processes and boosting company’s reputation by serving others. The company managers under CEO’s leadership drafted firm’s corporate governance principles. Dollar General has a board of directors and CEO is the chairman of the boards. Rick Dreiling, CEO, has extensive knowledge and experience in food and drug retailer. DG’s Top Managers are made up of local stores managers who allow firm to identify directions for the whole company. This helps for tighter unity among the upper and lower level managers within the firm. Strategic Alternatives 1. Uniform Branding and Functional/Facility Design Description: Create consistent signage, logo, brand uniformity, including greater internet presence. Apply across advertising and promotion mediums. Standardized store (floor & shelf) layout, and build private store products under improved branding efforts. Pro: Increase the square footage of sales (e.g. 10,000 sq ft building; 60,000 sq ft sales area) Pro: Create uniform, time-saving shopping experience Pro: Improve and standardize surveillance to reduce shrinkage from theft (large part of theft from employees) Pro: Increase sales per selling space Pro: Increase profitability through higher margin building of private store brand Pro: Store brands manufactured through low-cost East Asia manufacturers under private label Con: Most stores are leased – hard to find uniform size, shape, etc. Con: National brands still a consumer preference in many groups (such as higher income) Con: Private ‘branding’ or brand building may not be as important to value-conscious price-driven consumers 2. Human Resource Development – More Managers, Assistant Managers, Performance Bonuses Description: One of the goals of the company is to offer higher living standards to employees. More managers and assistant managers allows for non-hourly monthly wage, with base salary plus profit bonus potential. Pro: Reduces high staff turn-over Pro: Reduces shrinkage from staff theft Pro: Increases productivity and customer service (e.g. Staff more willing to rotate stock and presentation such as for seasonal goods or lowering and strategically placing stock that is shelved Con: May be perceived as offering a job title without wage increases Con: Increases expectations of staff Con: Could lead to higher wage costs, reduced net profits (if profit sharing), need to offer benefits (health insurance) Con: Less flexibility with part-time employees and cyclical/seasonal trends 3. Expansion to New States/More Stores Description: Plans are underway for expansion to states such as Connecticut, New Hampshire, Nevada. Presently they are in 35 states; states like Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Minnesota and Maryland all have less than 100 stores. A major business and population state like New Jersey only has 44 stores. New stores can be added to existing states because of local market (3 to 5 mile radius of stores) in all areas: city center, suburbs, rural areas. Pro: Resumes a past successful approach to expanded sales revenues and profits Pro: Shutting down of unprofitable stores, and new strategies, better suited to expand Pro: Recession has created many low-cost retail lease opportunities Pro: Many of the highest density states with most stores in ‘poor’ southern areas; major markets like New York state, Colorado and others are greatly under-served. Good opportunities. Pro: Regional distribution centers gain economies of scale and other efficiencies with enough stores; target areas wit h less-stores-per-distribution ratio Pro: Company has built high capability and advantage in low-cost store openings Con: Leases, even at lower prices, generally involve 10- to 15-year commitments Con: Recession still may be affecting employment, incomes and  sales patterns Con: Very low brand familiarity in new states Con: Threat, although small, of taking business away from other Dollar General stores if in higher per-city concentration 4. Target Higher Income Consumers Description: Higher income consumers have been shopping more at stores like Dollar General. This does not have to be solely for increasing purchasing power during recession. Many people of all incomes enjoy ‘value’ shopping. Increased focus on higher income consumers can be by increasing traffic to existing stores or new stores in more affluent areas. Higher income consumers may also have greater access to home computer, internet and preference for internet shopping. Pro: Increase per-customer total spending per visit, a main goal of current strategy Pro: Higher income consumers have means and ability to travel further – higher opportunity cost for their time though Pro: Allows for greater chance to sell national brands and higher price (closer to $10 range) goods Pro: Increased revenues and profits Con: Costs more to advertise/promotion to this new target audience Con: External advertising is more expensive and difficult to measure directly Con: Setting up stores in more affluent areas will have higher land, taxes, lease costs Recommendation: Alternative 3 — Expansion to New States/More Stores Implementation Plan The first step in the expansion plan is to identify the two paths of increased store numbers: (1) more stores per established markets and (2) new stores in new markets. (1) More stores in established markets Established markets have the advantage of useful sales statistics. Each area can be analyzed in terms of the total number of stores in an area, stores and sales revenue per population in the city/region, and total number of   stores, including competitors. These areas have already experienced within or intra-area exapansion. Impacts of higher concentration can be estimated. These patterns should be duplicated where possible seeking an optimum level of stores in a market. One of the great advantages the company enjoys is that most sales come from within 5 miles of an outlet. Even in cities with a high number of Dollar General stores, there remains a great deal of available market zones. (2) New Stores in New Markets Selecting new states to expand to and create new market presence can be guided by existing and planned distribution centers. Distribution centers are key to streamlining a uniform system of inventory and logistics. For example, relatively ‘new’ states with a lower density of Dollar General stores but with an existing under-utilized distribution center, with profitable stores, is the key criteria for new market selection. Other market analysis for new city/state markets can follow the patterns that have proven most successful in recent (past decade) expansions. Not all of the alternatives are mutually exclusive. The expansion to new stores and new markets more easily facilitates other goals such as improving store design and layout improving shopping speed, access to goods and higher density shelving use. These are tactics easier to achieve when selecting new properties than in remodelling existing buildings. Setting up new stores in new states may also be an opportunity to try out new labor-relations, including altering the mix between management (salary) positions and wage positions. However, to assure the most flexibility new stores and markets should begin with experienced store managers with wage employees. When new stores are in or near existing stores and markets it offers the chance for promotion of existing employees. The strategy is not simple expansion in terms solely of increased added store numbers. The strategic goal is to expand to new profitable markets and this includes the ancillary actions such as monitoring and closing poor performing existing stores. This blends opportunities while overcoming weaknesses towards higher profitability and sustainability. Implementation pace and schedule. With nearly 10,000 stores, and average expansion in the years between 2004-2009 inclusive being 354 stores, there are no simple decision criteria for selecting the best number for expansion. At the early part of the six year period (2004-5) expansion was by more than 600 stores per year. After a dip and slower growth in 2006-8, new store expansion grew to 466 stores in 2009. The bulk of this is higher concentration in existing state markets. Expansion to new areas should be in areas such as New Jersey, New York (state more than city due to high real estate costs in city) and other Northeast states which may be served by distribution centers. There is no current northeast distribution centers at all. Nearest regional centers are in Ohio (1229 stores) and perhaps Indiana (1000) stores. Over the next three years the pace and location of new stores in new markets should be 200 stores per year in the Northeast Atlantic coast area. Evaluation Criteria Through all stages the evaluative measure will be the extent to which performance matches the operating priorities: driving productive sales growth, increasing gross margin, improving processes and information technology to reduce costs, and strengthening the Dollar General culture of serving others. Conclusion Dollar General was the first mover in the discount consumer merchandise stores – an industry that has become mature, though continuing to find new ways to reshape itself or be influenced by world trends or forces. With a primary focus on low prices (many items in the $1 range and more established name brand products value priced with competitors like Wal-Mart) Dollar General has responded well to the low-cost production from countries like China and other emerging South-East Asia manufacturers. It has a high percentage of total products in national brands, but the majority of its products are private brands, including their own store brands. The strategic choices of Dollar General largely involves duplicating the sources  of their per-store success at a level encompassing nearly 10,000 stores in the United States. Dollar General has followed a strategy of rapid expansion of stores which has been successful except for a net closing of stores in 2007, and a slower pace of grow th in the years 2006 and 2008. Through the expansions, and restructured, and improved information systems and logistics, Dollar General is poised to achieve both increased number of sales and greater net profits. References: â€Å"Dollar General- Today’s Neighborhood Store† by Sue Cullers, Buene Vista University and S. Stephen Vitucci, Texas A&M University-Central Texas. â€Å"Dollar General 2013 Annual Report† by Dollar General. Exhibit 1 PEST Analysis Political – The level of political stability of the country is important to the consumer staples industry. Changes in government can lead to changes in taxation and legislation. The American elections may have an effect on the retailing industry as new legislation or new or existing government may bring in taxes. Also, trading issues between the US and other countries will affect retail companies when they are importing merchandises, higher tariff would resulted in decreasing profit margins for discount stores. Economic – The consumer staples industry is unique as it considered non-cyclical, which means it does not affected by traditional business cycles or economic downturns. The demand for consumer staples is always consistent as it has a low price elasticity of demand. Furthermore, discount stores often have recorded increased sales and income during recession. While their usual customers suffered from unemployment and lower purchasing power, people from higher income brackets found their way to dollar stores, looking for bargains. Social – Where income is distributed is an important factor that companies should look at as this also demonstrates the ideal place to aim their marketing or to locate their stores. Discount stores always targeted their merchandises assortment and store locations to meet the shopping needs of value-conscious customers. With the economy still remains weak and  uncertain, major dollar stores sought to keep their traditional customers and attract new customers. Technology – Use of upgraded technology of cashing machines can improve operational efficiencies. Also, integrated and sophisticated IT system would provide managements to manage their inventories efficiently and keep costs low. The rapid growth of on line-stores raised the competition within the discount retailing industry. Exhibit 2 Porter’s 5 Forces Analysis Threat of New Entrants (Low) The overall threat of new entrants in the discount retail industry is low. New entrants are facing many barriers in this industry. Top companies control the major portion of market share. Economies of scale play an important role in this industry as large companies have their cost advantage and offer their customers with lower prices products. New companies do not have much capital and resources to compete with them. Bargaining Power of Suppliers (Low) There is not much bargaining power for the suppliers include manufacturers and distributers. Large discount retailers purchase merchandises from many different suppliers so they are not relying on a sole supplier. Also most of the supplies are not rare or valuable. So the suppliers’ power in this industry is low. Bargaining Power of Buyers (High) The bargaining power of buyers is high within this industry, and this is due to customers are highly price sensitive, with low brand loyalty; customers are just seeking for products with the best values. Also, in the discount retail industry, the switching costs are very low, customers can easily switch between stores depending on which store has the cheapest products. Threat of Substitutes (Low) The threat of substitutes is low in the discount retail industry and this is due to products are already on the low end of pricing scale and the products offered by different dollar stores are almost the same, and the essential products are difficult to find substitutes. Rivalry among Existing Competitors (High) The competition within the discount retail merchandise industry is really high between several big players such as Dollar General, Family Dollar and Dollar Tree. Other than that, these companies are also competing with some giant retailers like Wal-Mart. Since the low-cost leadership is essentially the only competitive advantage within this industry, retailers are constantly reducing prices and profit margins to try to drive traffic to their stores and increase sales. Appendix C: Core competencies We have determined that Richard Dreiling is valuable, rare, costly to imitate, and non-substitutable. Richard Dreiling is valuable and rare because not many CEO’s have the leadership abilities to take Dollar General as far as he did. Further, Dreiling is costly to imitate and non-substitutable because a CEO of his caliber is very hard to find among CEO’s in the same industry. Consumable merchandise is very valuable because of the four categories that Dollar General offered, sales in consumable increased most rapidly during recession. This merchandise is not rare, costly to imitate and non-substitute because competitors can copy your merchandise by observing what your stores offer to consumers. Further, benchmark organizational style is another core competency. Benchmark organizational styles are valuable and costly to imitate because they represent an organizational structure that your competitors have difficulty mimicking. This organization style is not rare and is sub stitutable because competitors can copy your business model by observing how you operate as a firm. Retail stores chain is valuable and costly to imitate because Dollar has numerous of stores chain across the state, each store has been redesigned to specific standards to make it easier to shop and increase sale productivity. They also owned some of the leased store during the weak real-estate market, which is difficult for competitors nowadays to own its retail stores. These retailed stores chain are not rare and non-substitutable because competitors can copy their design and build their stores as same as DG did. Shopping experience is valuable, rare, costly to imitate and non-substitutable because Dollar General’s stores has provided  the marketing strategy 4Ps which allows them to differentiate from competitors on how consumers buy their products, how the stores designed and how the services they has to offered in such a fast and convenient way for consumer to shop. This experience is something that competitor cannot obtain by using money and copy from DG stores.

Course reflective learning evaluation Assignment

Course reflective learning evaluation - Assignment Example This is because police work involves critical social, legal, and political practices, all of which must promote the welfare of the public (Cordner 21). Managing police, therefore, becomes an undertaking that not only focuses on police power and authority, but also on the interests of the people served by the police. This unique feature of police departments isolates them from the usual organizational administration, where client segmentation is evident. This course highlights key lessons that begin with police work but end up accounting for every member in the society. As earlier mentioned, social, legal, and political factors influence police related practice. At the community level, the police have to establish functional relations with the public. The idea is to foster loyalty, trust, and reliability. On the same, the course presents a scenario where members of the society are defiant or lawbreakers. This puts police at the center of law-abiding citizens and lawbreakers. Ultimately, the police and police administrations must strategize on how to approach such situations. Legal factors further influence police operations in many different ways. The course highlights that legal provisions vary from one situation to another. This requires police and their administrators to be at par with all legal provisions and/or processes that affect their duties and responsibilities. It is important to remember that the course emphasizes on the benefits of law and police administration in the context of crime reduction and enhanced community welfare (Moore 122-123). Insights from the course also reveal that police and their administrators ought to be leaders and strategic managers. Effective and efficient policing is not an easy task. Successful police-community communication, community policing, intelligence operations, and problem solving is extremely difficult to realize in the absence of servant leadership, strategic management, and tactic

Outsourcing Information Technology Department Term Paper

Outsourcing Information Technology Department - Term Paper Example One concern that companies face today when deciding to outsource their entire IT departments is the amount of security needed to protect their product, their financial records, and their customers. Ken Wheatley, vice president of corporate security, Sony Electronics states, â€Å"People are so focused on saving money and shifting operations that they don't think about the safeguards that need to be put in place† (May 2005). Not all companies’ need the same type of security levels, which is a decision made based on the nature of the business. Wheatley also goes on to say, â€Å"U.S. based companies routinely underestimate the extra elements of risk introduced into the offshoring equation by issues such as poor infrastructure, political instability and legal systems that don't line up with Western practices.† Wheatley continues to say that American companies are so set on saving money that they do not realize other countries do not have the same mindset and safegua rds as we do†. While reviewing the aspects of outsourcing portions of the information technology (IT) department, task force managers measured the cost risk benefits of keeping its better run IT operations in-house. The IT department was divided into five sections, application development and maintenance, operations, database and systems administration, voice and data networking infrastructure, and technical training. A study was performed against each of these organizations regarding how they measured against industry leading outsource consulting companies. A baseline of criteria was established for measurement purposes that included the number of full-time salaried employees and annual salaries, number of years experience, employee educational achievements and certifications, and efficiency of the departmental workflow process. In addition, the business management teams consulted with several IT consulting companies to gather as much information as possible for the considere d outsource IT organizations.

Describe three important reforms that occurred during the Progressive Essay - 2

Describe three important reforms that occurred during the Progressive Era in American history. Describe what each one of them was, and why each one was an important reform - Essay Example Government reform encompasses one of the major changes that occurred in the reform era. Robert LaFollette who was a republican governor in Wisconsin (Mintz 2014) championed reforms in this sector. It was termed as the â€Å"Wisconsin idea† and it included changes such as a development of a railroad commission to control taxes, direct primaries to choose party nominees for public offices, as well as initiative and recall opportunities for the public (Fishback 289). These reforms were important since they increased the efficiency of the government (Fishback 289). The direct primaries gave the public an opportunity to participate in the political process and also limited the influence of city bosses in selecting there favourable personnel. The initiative device enabled the public participate in passing proposed laws through voting and recall device gave the public the power to remove elected officials from their position. These reforms put government officials on their toes and e nsured they did their work with efficiency and transparency. Civil rights reforms in the progressive era are very critical and their benefits curently felt. These reforms occurred following the publication of W.E.B. Du Bois. His publication highlighted the plight of African Americans and the disparaging racism effects. Du Bois condemned the belief that African Americans could not work as manual laborers and nothing more. This publication led to the establishment of the first national civil rights movement known as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) (Mintz, 2014). This organization boasted of 6,000 members by 1914 whereby it extended to establishing offices in fifty cities. These reforms in civil rights were very important since they ensured that the rights of the colored minority were protected. Initially, the minority endured hard and forced labor, coupled with low wages as well as denial of certain necessities.

Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Research Paper Example From the geographic perspective, Utah is identified to be quite mountainous. The state is also occupied with few great valleys, such as the Virgin River Valley in its southwestern region. There are also many rivers which flow by the heart of the state making it an incredible tourism spot. With all these factors, the Salt Lake City was also referred as one of the greenest cities in the USA. The weather conditions are generally dry in the Utah region which results in light rainfall on the cities of Utah, including Salt Lake City. The temperature is perceived to be quite favorable for the cultural heritage to prosper. Due to the wide and tall mountain ranges, which act as a protection wall to the state, it enjoys a cooler weather with a higher temperature of 8 degrees and the lowest of 6 degree Celsius on an average. However, during the winter season, the temperature is hardly recorded to dip negative with a prolonged period of freezing weather (Western Regional Climate Centre, â€Å"C limate of Utah†). To be summarized, four different seasons are identified in the Salt Lake City region, i.e. summer, fall, winter, and spring. ... Notably, the days are witnessed to be warmer than the nights in the winter season. In spring the city enjoys sunny weather with cold breeze (Salt Lake Tourist & Visitor Center, â€Å"Salt Lake City Utah†). It is worth mentioning in this context, that the weather and climate conditions of Salt Lake City depend largely on few unique variables, i.e. its location on the earth in terms of longitude and latitude and its distance from water bodies, such as oceans and/or seas (Weber, â€Å"Weather, Climate and the Climate System†). However, in the recent context, the climatic conditions of Salt Lake City have been recorded to be hampered due to continuous environmental hazards, such as air pollution, water pollution, and others. According to the environmental reports of Salt Lake City, the air quality has been remarked to diminish with its main causing factor identified as the increasing number of motor vehicles (Salt Lake City Corporation, â€Å"Air Quality†). As a cons equence, the temperature of the city is increasing persistently due to which the county people are witnessing heavy clouds in the present days along with snowfall which is quite rare during the mid of a year, i.e. the spring time in the county. The survey reports also depict that the warmth of the weather has increased almost 3 ° F. To be illustrated, according to the reports, the average maximum temperature in the period of 1971 to 2000 was recorded to be around 37 ° F and the lowest of 21 ° F. But in the current statistical analysis it was recognised that the maximum temperature of the city scores around 39 ° F and a minimum temperature of 27 ° F during the period of 1874 to 2011 (Weber, â€Å"Weather, Climate And The Climate System†). In a nutshell, the changes in the climatic

INDIVIDUAL REPORT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

INDIVIDUAL REPORT - Essay Example 6 Cultural relation and community cohesion†¦.. 7 Low wage keeps inflation low†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 7 Dynamism in economic activities †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 8 Business relation †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 8 Treats of migration†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 9 Low wages keep other workers wages low†¦.. 9 Increase in criminal acts:†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 9 Use of government subsidized services without paying taxes†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 9 Sending money to home country:†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 9 Increased cost on society in terms of larger population †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 10 Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â ‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 10 References†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 11 Introduction Economic migration and its impact on the economy has scarcely been out of public debates over the past few months, with many controversies to the extent of social and economic gain to the developed, developing and under developed countries from immigration. However, economic migration has presented greater opportunities for the same countries, particularly in economic term (Marangozov, 2007). Today’s economic world is witnessing economic or labor migration rapidly mainly due to the increased demand for low-wage workers in developed countries and lack of employment opportunities in developing countries. Both men and women are pursuing to work in other countries in order to support themselves and their families back home. This piece of research presents a brief rep ort on economic migration and its impact on developed countries. This paper analyzes various benefits and threats of economic migration to an economy. Key trends and characteristics: Immigrants are classified into two distinct groups, economic migrants , who are individuals searching for high standard jobs and economic security and refugees, who are individuals fleeing persecution in their home country (Cortes 2001, p,41). These two categories do of course overlap. Higher numbers of migrant workers are from the EU accession states that is the most leading trends of recent economic migration. Immigration levels to the developed countries have increased in recent years, mainly driven by on going economic growth in the UK and by the opening of the labor market to the new EU accession states since recently (Marangozov, 2007). For example, between three months in 2007, the number of applications from the A8 countries (Czech Republic, Estonia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Latvia, Slovakia, and Slovenia) has been dropped to 50,000 from 52,000. The numbers thus have been coming to decline overall- during the above mentioned three months of the previous year, 56,000 workers registered (workpermit.com, 2007). The UK was one of the few EU nations opening its labor market to the ‘A8’ countries when they joined in 2004, causing a heavy inflow of immigration to the country. In response, the UK placed restrictions on some developing nationals when their countries joined the EU on January 2007 (workpermit.com) Worldwide Immigrants Statistics: Worldwide, there is around 191 million immigrants and the last 50 years have seen an almost doubling of immigration, out of them around 115 million migrants are living in developed countries; 38 million immigrants that account to be 20% are living in the US alone. According to some estimates, around 33% of all immigrants are living in Europe and a major portion of it lives in around 28 countries. Women immigrants

Religious Freedom and Human Rights Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Religious Freedom and Human Rights - Essay Example e of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which guarantees and protects fundamental human freedoms, there are a lot of cases of their brutal violation. According to the International Religious Freedom Report for 2013, around 400 Shiite and 80 Christians were murdered during the attack of sectarians in Pakistan and are exposed to serious danger in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Iran. Different religious minorities, including Hindus, are subjected to oppression and physical abuse in Bangladesh due to political instability in the country. Buddhist groups demolished churches and mosques in Shri Lanka. Falun Gong followers and Catholic clergymen were incarcerated and tormented in China (â€Å"International Religious Freedom Report,† 2013, p. 2). So, several questions arise: do people really have the freedom of faith and where lies the difference between religious liberty and religious extremism? The purpose of the paper is to define the concept of â€Å"religious freedom†. Further, it will analyze the impact of this notion on human rights. Also, it will evaluate the importance of religious freedom for the functioning of international system. Though it is popularly believed that religious freedom originated in Western culture, there is persuasive evidence indicating that this concept came from ancient Persia, Sumeria, Africa and China. In conformity with Persian Documentation and Hebrew Scriptures, around 2,600 years ago Cyrus the Great implemented the policy of adopting tolerant attitude towards people of different religions. This regime restored Jewish outcast’s right of returning to their fatherland. Other holy texts pointed out that there must not be any coercion in religious beliefs (Hertzke, 2012, p. 109). Freedom of religion is universally acknowledged to be one of the fundamental human rights. It is stated in different declarations of the United Nations Organization, international agreements and national legislation. Article 18 of the

Literature Review Saudi Stock Market Research Paper - 1

Literature Review Saudi Stock Market - Research Paper Example In most cases, this volatility is caused by unavoidable risks. It is therefore not surprising that any investor would want to anticipate the amount of unavoidable risks they are exposed to. As such, the Saudi Arabian stock market has been of great interest to economic researchers. Factors that affect volatility will also be referred to as market influencers in this paper. Studying market influencers will promote the market as a viable opportunity to external investors and globalize the securities for better market performance. This means market stability (Ibp Usa & USA International Business Publications, 2005). Despite being exposed to major turbulent and market-moving events, the Saudi Arabian stock market has shown tremendous improvements. A reflection of this can be seen in the share price movements and the flourishing economy. The peak of this performance was in February 2006, but this was affected by the severe global and economic downturn in the late 2008. Another factor that fuelled this backdrop was the unprecedented unrest in the Middle East during almost the same period. The market has however shown improvements in the past several years to become one of the best in the region. In an attempt to study the market stability and progression of the Saudi Arabian stock market, several researches were done. While some research has focused on the quantitative and qualitative data, others have focused on external influences and comparisons made against stock markets in a bid to explain the performance of the Saudi Arabian stock market. Stock market indexes of specific companies in that country are used for purposes of this study. Consequential studies have unearthed that the Saudi Arabian stock market has distinct and clear cut differences with other markets. Firstly, the shares are traded through commercial banks. Secondly is the absence of bourse makers and thirdly is the liquid characteristic of the market (Mohamed, 2010). Both

The Purchase of Alaska Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Purchase of Alaska - Research Paper Example The sales price was $7.2 million or approximately two cents per acre, a small sum even by 1867 standards. Alaska was the last major land-holdings of any non-American nation in the Western Hemisphere. U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward initiated, promoted and brokered the deal. Opponents in the U.S. referred to the sale as ‘Seward’s Folly’ unaware of the riches contained in this massive region. Much of the public thought this region to be nothing but a frozen wasteland and a waste of money that could be used to reconstruct the South following the Civil War. Under Russian control, Alaska reflected the pioneer, adventurous spirit commonly characterized and romanticized in stories of the American West. Russian-American, as it was called, attracted explorers, merchants, adventurers, sinners and saints of all descriptions, most of which was attracted to the region by the lucrative fur trade. Few remnants of Russian control exist today outside of the influence of the Russian Orthodox Church which to this day has a strong tradition in Alaskan society (â€Å"Russian Colonization† 2005). In short, Russia sold Alaska for two reasons, the Russian American Company was no longer profiting in the fur trade as it had for over a century and the region was too far away to be adequately defended. Russia believed that eventually, either the U.S. or Britain would forcedly take its Eastern-most colony with relative ease. Continuing to hold Alaska had become less and less important to the Russians because of other, more pressing, geopolitical and economic concerns and by 1850 interest was all but non-existent. The sea otter fur market was in decline for various reasons therefore decreasing the value to Russian commercial interests and the government was busy acquiring other, more lucrative and useful lands at that time. Britain was a new enemy. It had allied with France and the Ottoman Empire during the Crimean War (1853-56) against Russia which lost great amounts of territory in the region north of Turkey. During the war, Britain had also attacked Russia in Eastern Siberia. Though Britain would have been more than interested in purchasing Alaska, the Russians were not going to sell it to an enemy. They reasoned that if the U.S. owned it, this would provide a degree of protection for Russia from Canada, much of it a under the control of Britain at that time. â€Å"Russia determined to seek a friendly Western power as purchaser of the Russian holdings in America; and yet, anxious to create a buffer zone between British North America and Siberia† (Rasche). The Hudson Bay Company, of British origin, had made it no secret it desired more access to Alaska so as to harvest its riches. Immediately following the sale of Alaska to the U.S., Britain formerly colonized all of western Canada to the Alaskan border. Russia had sold Alaska just in time. It prevented another certain defeat against Britain resulting in further loss of te rritory and resources. More importantly, the already low level of public confidence in the Russian government following the fresh defeat in the Crimean War would have been further diminished thus enhancing the possibility of rebellion (Tompkins, 1945). Russia had little choice but to sell Alaska to the U.S. The selling price of two cents per acre is ample evidence that the U.S. was well aware of Russia’s poor negotiating position. The two countries were on friendly terms and shared a common disdain of Britain. Just 50 years earlier, British troops

Homonyms and antonyms Essay Example for Free

Homonyms and antonyms Essay â€Å"Words identical in form but quite different in their meaning and distribution are called homonyms† [1, 74]. â€Å"Homonym is a word that is spelt like another word (or pronounced like it) but which has a different meaning† [2, 464]. The term is derided from Greek â€Å"homonymous† (homos – â€Å"the same† and onoma – â€Å"name†) and thus expresses very well the sameness of name combined with the difference in meaning The traditional formal classification of homonyms is as follows: 1. Homonyms proper which are identical both in sound and spelling, e. g. ball (Ð ¼Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Ã' Ã'‡) ball (Ð ±Ã °Ã »), hail (Ð ³Ã'€Ð °Ã ´) – hail (Ð ¾Ã ºÃ »Ã ¸Ã ºÃ °Ã'‚Ð ¸). 2. Partial homonyms are subdivided into: 1) Homographs which are identical in spelling but different in sound, e.g. bow/bou/(Ð »Ã'Æ'Ð º)-bow/bau/(Ð ½Ã'â€"Ã'  Ð ºÃ ¾Ã'€Ð °Ã ±Ã »Ã' ), lead /led/ (Ã' Ã ²Ã ¸Ã ½Ã µÃ'†Ã'Å') – lead/li:d/ (Ð ²Ã µÃ' Ã'‚Ð ¸). 2) Homophones which are identical in sound but different in spelling, e.g. key (Ð ºÃ »Ã'ŽÃ'‡) – quay (Ð ½Ã °Ã ±Ã µÃ'€Ð µÃ ¶Ã ½Ã °), sow (Ã' Ã'â€"Ã' Ã'‚Ð ¸) – sew (Ã'ˆÐ ¸Ã'‚Ð ¸) [1, 74]. Homonyms may be classified by the type of their meaning. In this case one should distinguish between: 1. Lexical homonyms which belong to the same part of speech, e.g. plane n. (Ð »Ã'â€"Ã'‚Ð °Ã º) – plain n. (Ã'€Ã'â€"Ð ²Ã ½Ã ¸Ã ½Ã °), light a. (Ã' Ã ²Ã'â€"Ã'‚Ð »Ã ¸Ã ¹) – light a. (Ð »Ã µÃ ³Ã ºÃ ¸Ã ¹). 2. Grammatical homonyms which belong to different parts of speech, e.g. row v. (Ð ³Ã'€Ð µÃ ±Ã'‚Ð ¸) – row n.(Ã'€Ã' Ã ´), weather n. (Ð ¿Ã ¾Ã ³Ã ¾Ã ´Ã °) – whe ther conj. (Ã'‡Ð ¸). 3. Homoforms which are identical only in some paradigm constituents, e.g. scent n. – sent (Past Ind. and Past Part. of send), seize v. – sees (Pr.Ind., 3d p.sing. of see) [1, 74]. Professor A.I. Smirnitsky classified homonyms into two large classes: 1)Full homonyms are words, which represent the same category of parts of speech and have the same paradigm, e.g. wren n. (a member of the Women’s Royal Naval Service) – wren n. (a bird). 2)Partial homonyms are subdivided into three subgroups: a) Simple lexico-grammatical partial homonyms are words, which belong to the same category of parts of speech. Their paradigms have only one identical form, but it is never the same form, e.g. (to) found v. found v. (past indef., past part. of to find), (to) lay .v lay .v (past indef. of to lie). b) Complex lexico-grammatical partial homonyms are words of different categories of parts of speech, which have identical form in their paradigms, e.g. rose n. rose v. (past indef. of to rise), maid n made v (past indef., past part. of to make). c) Partial lexical homonyms are words of the same category of parts of speech which are identical only in their correspondi ng forms, e.g. to lie (lay, lain) v. to lie (lied, lied) v., to hang (hung, hung) v. to hang (hanged, hanged) v [1,74]. Examples: 1) â€Å"It’s made out of wood. The skaters would normally perform their stunts and tricks there,† May explains (5, 12). 2) â€Å"A half – pipe can be dangerous. Skateboarders wear protective gear,† May points out. â€Å"Staying safe is important,† Buzz agrees. â€Å"Now where is my notebook?†(5, 13). 3) â€Å"Good luck!† Buzz tells May. â€Å"Go take the lead in this competition!† â€Å"I feel nervous†, May says. â€Å"My legs feel as if they are made of lead† (5, 24). 4) â€Å"May I sail with you in May?† (9, 31). 5) Mouse: Deer, I’m very glad to have such dear friends (6, 12). 6) But he’s unable to see that Oscar prefer his presence to his presents once in a while†¦(11). 7) â€Å"It’s my birthday present to him.† â€Å"I can fill in,† Ollie says. â€Å"I’d be happy to present the Big Air Jam, with Buzz† (5, 18). 8) â€Å"Dad, buy me a ball!† â€Å"Bye, Osc, I’m in a hurry,† answered Mark and hung on (11, 135). 9) â€Å"What a nice scent, Nicky! Hilary Duff â€Å"With love?† asked Ally. â€Å"Ughmn. My father sent it to me last Christmas,† said Nicky climbing the ladder (11, 66). (10)â€Å"I’d like to go to the sea. I think it’s amazing to see the autumn sunset,† said Carolyn a bit enigmatically (12, 45). Antonyms â€Å"Words that have directly opposite meanings are called antonyms† [1, 73]. â€Å"Antonym is a word with a meaning that is opposite to the meaning of another word† [3, 58]. Antonyms fall into two main groups: 1. Root antonyms (those which are different root), e.g. long – short, up – down, to start – to finish, etc. 2. Affixal antonyms (in which special affixes or their absence express semantic opposition), e.g. hopeful – hopeless, happy – unhappy, appear – disappear, etc. [1, 73]. Polysemantic words usually have antonyms for each of their lexico-semantic variants: a dull knife – a sharp knife, a dull boy – a bright boy, etc. Examples: 1) â€Å"Flash Wiggins makes scoring look easy,† Harold tells Cassy. â€Å"But beating the goalie is difficult† (8, 210). 2) â€Å"Krupp and Smythe worked together to even the score,† Harold adds. â€Å"Nothing can tear them apart!† (8, 77). 3) â€Å"You can help me make this rough ice smooth again!† says the driver (8, 93). 4) Father Bear â€Å"I’m Father Bear, and I sit in this great big chair.† Baby Bear â€Å"I’m Baby Bear and I sit in that little chair† (10, 23). 5) â€Å"Ah, but sometimes it is more courageous to do the right thing, than rebel and do the wrong thing, you know,† she said softly, meeting my eye (11, 119). 6) He blushed and suddenly paled from nerves at the situation he was in (11, 25). 7) â€Å"Oh, no, Nicky!! For you it’s hard, but for me†¦it’s very easy. I have known him for ages† (11, 81). 8) â€Å"And then we couldn’t sleep in the spacious room after being promised. But I suppose, it will be better to sleep in narrow rooms† (4, 211). 9) Anne had a young, brighter face and more delicate features than the others; Marilla saw at her and felt herself old enough to change her life (4, 267). 10) â€Å"I can; and A-n-n looks dreadful, but A – n – n e looks so much more distinguished, but call me Cordelia! It looks wonderful!† (4, 43). List of literature 1. КÐ ²Ã µÃ' Ã µÃ »Ã µÃ ²Ã ¸Ã'‡ Д.І., Ð ¡Ã °Ã' Ã'â€"Ð ½Ã ° Ð’.П. ПÃ'€Ð °Ã ºÃ'‚Ð ¸Ã ºÃ'Æ'Ð ¼ Ð · Ð »Ã µÃ ºÃ' Ã ¸Ã ºÃ ¾Ã »Ã ¾Ã ³Ã'â€"Ã'â€" Ã' Ã'Æ'Ã'‡Ð °Ã' Ã ½Ã ¾Ã'â€" Ð °Ã ½Ã ³Ã »Ã'â€"Ð ¹Ã' Ã'Å'Ð ºÃ ¾Ã'â€" Ð ¼Ã ¾Ã ²Ã ¸: Ð Ã °Ã ²Ã'‡. ПÐ ¾Ã' Ã'â€"Ð ±Ã ½Ã ¸Ã º. – Ð’Ã'â€"Ð ½Ã ½Ã ¸Ã'†Ã' : Ð’Ð ¸Ã ´Ã °Ã ²Ã ½Ã ¸Ã'†Ã'‚Ð ²Ã ¾  «Ã Ã ¾Ã ²Ã ° Ð ºÃ ½Ã ¸Ã ³Ã °Ã‚ », 2001. – 117 Ã' . 2. Agnes M. Webster’s New World College Dictionary / M. Agnes, D. B.Guralnik. – Cleveland : IDG Books Worldwide Ink., 2000. – 1716 p. 3. Oxford Paperback Thesaurus / Maurice Waite. – Oxford – New York: Oxford University Press, 2006. – 930 p. 4. Л.ÐÅ". ÐÅ"Ð ¾Ã ½Ã'‚Ð ³Ã ¾Ã ¼Ã µÃ'€Ã'â€", Ð Ã ½Ã ½Ã ° Ð · ГÃ'€Ã'â€"Ð ½ ГÐ µÃ ¹Ã ±Ã »Ã ·: КÐ ½Ã ¸Ã ³Ã ° Ð ´Ã »Ã'  Ã'‡Ð ¸Ã'‚Ð °Ã ½Ã ½Ã'  Ð °Ã ½Ã ³ Ð »Ã'â€"Ð ¹Ã' Ã'Å'Ð ºÃ ¾Ã'Ž Ð ¼Ã ¾Ã ²Ã ¾Ã'Ž Ð ´Ã »Ã'  Ã' Ã'‚Ã'Æ'Ð ´Ã µÃ ½Ã'‚Ã'â€"Ð ² Ã'„Ð °Ã ºÃ'Æ'Ð »Ã'Å'Ã'‚Ð µÃ'‚Ã'â€"Ð ² Ã'â€"Ð ½Ã ¾Ã ·Ã µÃ ¼Ã ½Ã ¸Ã'… Ð ¼Ã ¾Ã ² Ã'â€" Ã'„Ã'â€"Ð »Ã ¾Ã »Ã ¾Ã ³Ã'â€"Ã'‡Ð ½Ã ¸Ã'… Ã'„Ð °Ã ºÃ'Æ'Ð »Ã'Å'Ã'‚Ð µÃ'‚Ã'â€"Ð ²/Ð ¾Ã ±Ã'€Ð ¾Ã ±Ã ºÃ ° Ã'‚Ð µÃ ºÃ' Ã'‚Ã'Æ', Ð ºÃ ¾Ã ¼Ã ¿Ã »Ã µÃ ºÃ'  Ð ²Ã ¿Ã'€Ð °Ã ², Ã'‚Ð µÃ' Ã'‚Ã'â€"Ð ² Ã'â€" Ð ·Ã °Ã ²Ã ´Ã °Ã ½Ã'Å', Ð ´Ã ¾Ã ²Ã'â€"Ð ´Ã ºÃ ¾Ã ²Ã'â€" Ð ¼Ã °Ã'‚Ð µÃ'€Ã'â€"Ð °Ã »Ã ¸ Ã'â€" Ã'„Ã'â€"Ð »Ã ¾Ã »Ã ¾Ã ³Ã'â€"Ã'‡Ð ½Ã ¸Ã ¹ Ð ºÃ ¾Ã ¼Ã µÃ ½Ã'‚Ð °Ã'€ Ð’.Ð’. ЄÐ ²Ã'‡Ð µÃ ½Ã ºÃ ¾, Ð ¡.І. Ð ¡Ã ¸Ã ´Ã ¾Ã'€Ð µÃ ½Ã ºÃ ¾. – Ð’Ã'â€"Ð ½Ã ½Ã ¸Ã'†Ã' : Ð Ã ¾Ã ²Ã ° КÐ ½Ã ¸Ã ³Ã °, 2008. – 440 Ã' . 5. Anna Prokos. Half-Pipe Homonyms / Prokos Anna. – Gareth Stevens, 2009. – 27 p. 6. Any Talbot. Deer and His De ar Friends: a tale from India / Talbot Any. – Benchmark Education Company, 2006. – 16 p. 7. Catherine Alliot. The Real Thing / Alliot Catherine. – Headline Book Publishing, 1996. – 471 p. 8. Claudia Pattison. Wow! / Pattison Claudia. – Pan Books, 2001. – 374 p. 9. Judy Goodard. Fun with homonyms / Goodard Judy. – Industry Way Westminster, 2005. – 43 p. 10. Karma Wilson. Bear stays up for Christmas / Wilson Karma. – Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2011. – 40 p. 11. Melissa Nathan. Learning Curve / Nathan Melissa. – Arrow Books, 2006. – 549 p. 12. Robert Waller. The Bridges of Madison County / Waller Robert. – Great Britain: Mandarin Paperbacks, 1995. – 171 p.

Current ethical issue of abortion

Current ethical issue of abortion Abortion in relation to Natural Moral Law and Utilitarian Ethics Aran Cauchi The current ethical issue of abortion is a broad and complex ethical issue which can be approached from many moral and ethical directions. Two such directions can be the deontological Natural Moral Law and the teleological or consequentialist Utilitarian ethics. Abortion, from the Latin aborior, to pass away, is an induced termination of a pregnancy. Historically, as today, an abortion is the focal point of much controversy. The laws governing abortion have changed considerably in the last fifty years to accommodate abortion as an option for a pregnant woman. A landmark US case giving a mother right to wilful abortion occurred in 1973 set in motion by a woman called Jane Roe in Dallas, Texas. Roe wished to terminate her pregnancy, but in Texas at the time, only victims of rape or incest could procure a legal abortion. The case reached the Supreme Court where the judges ruled that abortion was a constitutional right to women, overturning laws in every state which denied abortion to women through medically qualified doctors. Abortion is now legally allowed in many western countries for women. Since the legality of abortions came into effect, much debate has occurred from opposite so called pro-choice and pro-life groups, gathering many argumen ts from both deontological and teleological ethics. Utilitarianismis the idea that themoral worthof an action is determined solely by its contribution to overallutility: that is, its contribution to happiness or pleasure as summed among all people.[1] Utilitarianism places no emphasis on whether an action is right or wrong, right is only so once the pleasure has been decided to outweigh the pain in the circumstances resulting from the decision. Pleasure, in early Utilitarian thinking, was only concerned with the physical, e.g. being well fed. John Stuart Mill later argued that pleasure was also quantifiable in intellectual and spiritual terms. These higher pleasures he argued outweighed the lower pleasures. Mill proposed, for example being well fed, at the expense of a mans spirituality was a lesser pleasure, and in effect, not as right as a spiritually enlightened man who was hungry. The hungry man experiences higher pleasure, as spiritual enlightenment lasts significantly longer than the feeling of being well fed. Consequentialist Utilitarians would argue that abortion is an entirely neutral act. The consequences resulting from the abortion determine the rightness. A specific system of measuring the pleasure against pain can be utilised called Hedonic Calculus. Hedonic Calculus first proposed by Jeremy Bentham, measures pleasure/pain through eight categories: Certainty Duration Extent Intensity Remoteness Richness Purity[2] This calculus subjectively determines if the pain outweighs the pleasure in a scenario of a potential abortion. A mother may need an abortion to save her own life if it is in peril due to her pregnancy, she cannot afford to leave her children motherless. This scenario, shown through Hedonic Calculus allows abortion to be the right choice as 1. There is a high certainty the mother will die, 2. The duration of mourning for the family would be very long as would the duration of risk to her other children, 3. The pain and suffering for her surviving family would be very great and so on. A different scenario in which the mother seeks an abortion so she can go on a holiday would be morally wrong as from categories: 2. the pleasure of a child will last years compared to that of a comparatively short holiday, 4. The intensity of the pleasure of a child is much greater and higher significance as it is emotional and spiritual than a physical and emotional holiday. The taking of a life can be justified in Utilitarianism as there are no standing rules of what is right or wrong for a general scenario, i.e. abortion. Every circumstance is different and warrants a separate evaluation to determine the correct action. Natural law is a branch of deontological ethics, deon meaning duty in Latin. Natural lawor thelaw of natureis a theory that posits the existence of a law whose content is set bynatureand that therefore has validity everywhere.[3] These laws, created by God, are discernible to all peoples and are thought of as moral absolutes, natural moral law theory implies that wediscovermorality we do notinventit,'(J.P. Moreland, What Is Natural Moral Law). It is mans duty to be rational, and as God is rational too, it is rational that humans must love God. Thomas Aquinas, a figurehead for natural moral law proposed five primary precepts and other secondary precepts. The primary precepts proposed where: The continuation of the species through procreation The education of children The desire to live in society The worship of God The preservation of the self These precepts are considered in natural moral law to be the most basic aspirations of all humans. Aquinas believed that all humans wished to do good and follow the precepts but through ignorance to the Natural Moral Law, some could do wrong. Aquinas argued that good ethical decisions could be arrived at by reason alone. Humans have the power of deducing what is good and what is wrong through application of their conscience. Natural Law, being deontological, imposes inalienable rules that cannot be broken. Natural Law can be seen as order provided by nature which exists for a purpose. A common criticism of Utilitarianism would be the difficulty of its real world application. The theory of a decision may be morally sound, but the limitless unexpected permutations prevent proper ethical conduct from occurring once theory is put to practice. The Tribunal of the Holy Office, a catholic authority was once queried on the 4th of May, 1898 as to whether a foetus was allowed to be removed from its womb before natural course did so. The tribunal resolved that there was no exception to natural birth, even inducing premature labour with the intention of saving the babys life. However, if life saving surgery were to be performed on the mother, which would have consequences on the growing foetus, it should not be maintained that the fetal(sic)lifeis thereby directly attacked. Theevilis not made a means to obtain thegoodeffect; for this would be to doevilthatgoodmight come of it.'[4] This fulfils the Natural Law requirement of the act of being good as separate from the concept of doing good. To be morally correct, one must not embark on a course of action which is right purely to obtain an evil or vain end. The right must be to cause neutral or correct consequences. This certainty of rules and moral action allows the system of Natural Law to be an unquestionable authority if placed alongside Utilitarian ethics which are in permanent flux. The Catholic Church supports the notion of ensoulment, where at conception a foetus is given a soul by God. A soul is viewed as a separate form to the physical body, but is linked inextricably until death. The act of abortion goes against the first precept of Natural Law, denying the continuation of the species through abortion. Even if that abortion would lead to saving a life, the authority to kill a foetus does not rest in humans hands. It is inhumane to end the life of a baby, as natural law theory holds;one may never directly intend to kill an innocent human being[5]. After conception, Natural Law argues that the foetus is human so is equal in right to life as its mother. There is no greater worth placed on the mother living than the child as both are considered equal. Utilitarianism would argue against the inflexibility of the rules of Natural Law regarding to the preservation of a childs life. Utilitarians would argue that greater suffering may be caused by the preservation of a foetus life. The mother of the child may be a chronic drug addict, and the chances of the baby growing up disadvantaged are high. It could be argued that the mother may not be fit to care for a child and the child would suffer a hard life, through mal-parenting and possible separation from the mother in later years. A possible course of action would be a wilful abortion by the mother to prevent suffering of a child. The rigidity of Natural Law allows no exceptions to be made, even if the pleasure resulting from an abortion vastly outweighs the pain. This rigidity of laws could cause unnecessary harm to many people. Correct decision making can stem from both deontological and consequentialist ethics. While Natural Moral Law argues that the laws of nature are absolute, Utilitarianism argues that no laws constantly serve the greatest good, and only through flexibility can good be achieved. The primary precepts of Natural Law indicate clearly that abortion is wrong so far as the taking of an innocent life, and interrupting the natural result of procreation. Utilitarianism states that abortion, like all actions is an entirely neutral act until the consequences are evaluated. Both ethical systems allow an opportunity for an individual to formulate an understanding of, and ethically right decision on abortion. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utilitarianism http://tutor2u.net/blog/index.php/religious-studies/comments/abortion-and-ethical-theory/ Natural Law,International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01046b.htm http://www.lifeissues.net/writers/irv/irv_08natlaw.html

Application Of Theory In Pediatric Epilepsy Nursing Essay

Application Of Theory In Pediatric Epilepsy Nursing Essay Theories of nursing can be directly applied to nursing practice.   Middle range theories are especially important in caring for patients.   Recognizing that the theory of chronic sorrow is applicable to pediatric epilepsy patients is essential to the care of the child as well as their family.   The theory of chronic sorrow is related to periodic feelings of sadness that a person experiences due to a loss or chronic life dilemma.   The pertinence of chronic sorrow will be evaluated related to the nursing practice of pediatric epilepsy patients.   Pediatric epilepsy patients and their families face many ongoing problems which can trigger chronic sorrow at any given point in their lives.   A scenario surrounding the care of a pediatric epilepsy patient and their family will be discussed associated with the theory of chronic sorrow.   The nurse will learn from this paper the rationale behind applying nursing theories to their everyday nursing care. A Clinical Scenario in Pediatric Epilepsy   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The middle range nursing theory of chronic sorrow is apparent in many patients and families affected by epilepsy.   Epilepsy is a relatively common diagnosis in the pediatric population.   Chronic sorrow can be triggered over and over again with new seizures, delay in development, treatments and the many restrictions on living life as normal children do.   Nursing care of a child and family experiencing the effects of epilepsy can be challenging.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   An eleven year old female presented in the pediatric epilepsy monitoring unit for intractable epilepsy.   She had a diagnosis of epilepsy since the age of three months.   She also had secondary diagnoses of attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and cognitive developmental delays.   Her family brought her to the hospital for a second opinion regarding treatment options for her intractable seizures.   The patient is an only child and lives at home with both of her biological parents.   The patients mother works outside the home and the father was a high school teacher but has made the choice to stay at home due to patients extensive needs and diagnosis.   The patient attends public school in a special needs classroom setting with other children with developmental disabilities.   She requires the use of a classroom aide due to her extreme behavioral outbursts.   Physical, occupational and speech therapies are provided for her while at s chool and she is reported as functioning at a twelve year old age level.   The parents revealed that the patient does not socialize well and most children are fearful of her due to her behavior.   They feel that she is challenging no matter what they do.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   During their stay the parents displayed behaviors of inappropriate coping and chronic sorrow.   They often described the patient as: A Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde.   She was observed to be pleasant at times, but had a short attention span.   Her behaviors could become disruptive and she had frequent outbursts.   She is dependent on others for assistance with hygiene due to frequent falls from seizures and inability to perform tasks on her own.   Her father also voiced that she had signs of regression over the last year.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The family has never sought services or explored resources through any epilepsy foundation.   They have also never looked into any other community services such as the board of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (MRDD), Wavier services or respite care.   The father reported that they have no choice but to try and cope through this lifelong disease.   The father appeared to be somewhat gruff secondary to his interactions and responsiveness towards the patients behaviors.   He was then observed on the video monitoring system to threaten the patient by showing his fist to patient.   Her mother was then seen pushing his hand away and said for him not to do this because they were on camera.   It is unknown to why the father was doing this jester or if he was angry at the time, but no physical abuse was seen.   The nursing staff felt at this point that there were many coping concerns and spoke to the family regarding their frustrations.   Social work and child psychiatry were also consulted to evaluate this escalating situation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   During this admission an extensive surgical workup was performed.   The patient was taken off of all antiepileptic medication so that a seizure could be recorded and observed on the electroencephalogram (EEG).   It was very difficult and emotional for the family to hope for a seizure to help the patients overall prognosis.   After several days of purposeful sleep deprivation the patient began to have seizure activity that escalated to the point of status epilepticus.   The seizures were able to be controlled on the unit with medical treatment and the patient was restarted on her antiepileptic medication.   After a week of extensive monitoring it was determined that she was able to be released home with her parents to come back for epilepsy surgery at a later date. The Theory of Chronic Sorrow   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The middle range theory of chronic sorrow is relevant to families of children inside the field of pediatric epilepsy.   They may experience many emotions upon identification of this medical problem and throughout its management.   Chronic sorrow can be defined as periodic recurrence of permanent, pervasive sadness or other grief-related feelings associated with ongoing disparity resulting from a loss experience (Peterson and Bredow, 2009, p.149). It can occur in the individual with the illness or with the caregivers and family (Dunning, 1999).     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   An experience of loss is usually a precursor usually to chronic sorrow. It may be a loss without a foreseeable end point. Examples of this could be: the birth of a disabled child or diagnosis of a chronic illness, or a more clearly defined loss event, such as the death of a loved one (Peterson and Bredow, 2009). A second precursor to chronic sorrow is considered to be disparity. A disparity is a gap between the current reality and the desired as a result of a loss experience (Peterson and Bredow, 2009, p. 149). A disparity happens when a patient or their family can not let go of the situation or the loss that has occurred. These can lead to recurring experiences of chronic sorrow. Trigger events can often bring about feelings of chronic sorrow.   A trigger event is defined as a situation, circumstance, or condition that brings the negative disparity resulting from the loss into focus, or exacerbates the disparity (Peterson and Bredow, 2009, p. 149).   This can depend on how often the patient has seizures and the affects that they have on the childs overall quality of life.   These events can also occur when the child has failed another medical intervention or is unable to accomplish an additional developmental milestone related to their chronic seizure activity.   One of the most frequent triggers of chronic sorrow in parents of small children with disabilities is the regression or absence of developmental milestones (Peterson and Bredow, 2009).   The trigger situations are usually unexpected and can appear at any given time.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Management methods for the theory of chronic sorrow are essential in the care of the child and their family.   The management of chronic sorrow involves two different types of intervention.   These types of management interventions are considered to be internal and external.   Internal intervention includes personal coping throughout an episode of chronic sorrow.   Different types of action oriented strategies are used to help the patient or family feel more in control of the situation that they are experiencing (Peterson and Bredow, 2009).   Internal management can be also gained from support groups or speaking to other individuals in similar situations. Interpersonal communication is another strategy of internal management that has been identified in helping someone deal with their chronic sorrow (Peterson and Bredow, 2009). External interventions are those received from a reliable healthcare member.   It is important for professionals to recognize that individuals who have experienced a significant loss may evidence the periodic recurrence of grief-related feelings, defined as chronic sorrow (Peterson and Bredow, 2009, p. 154).   Nurses can use this knowledge to provide support to those patients or families experiencing an episode of chronic sorrow or to those that may be have an episode impending. It is important to identify whether or not the individual has any internal management interventions. These interventions can then be assessed, strengthened, and supported (Peterson and Bredow, 2009). Chronic sorrow can affect any person and nobody is immune to feeling of a loss. The emotions raised by chronic sorrow can affect every individual differently. The middle range theory of chronic sorrow provides a framework for understanding the reactions of individuals to various loss situations and offers a new way of viewing the experience of bereavement (Peterson and Bredow, 2009, p. 151). It is important for the entire healthcare team, especially the nurses caring for these individuals, to be aware of the chronic sorrow and the concepts that define it as a theory. The middle range theory of chronic sorrow has a widespread application for nurses and others who strive to better understand individuals responses to loss and to define effective interventions for those experiencing chronic sorrow (Peterson and Bredow, 2009, p. 157). Application of Chronic Sorrow to Pediatric Epilepsy   Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  When a child is first diagnosed with epilepsy, the entire family and support system can become overwhelmed.   Chronic epilepsy can consume the lives of all involved with the child.   The child and their caregivers have to be concerned with medications, treatments, specialty diets, ongoing tests and appointments.   The child and their family also have to be aware of activity restrictions and precautions when at home, school, or out in public.   This can become a lifelong balancing act.   The theory of chronic sorrow becomes important for nurses to fully understand the care of a child with epilepsy.   There are so many trigger events that can be experienced by these children and their families that this can become an issue that arises often. According to the literature, chronic sorrow is considered to be a normal response to an ongoing loss (Peterson and Bredow, 2009). In the article by Hobdell (2007), chronic sorrow was studied with children and families affected by epilepsy. Regardless of onset, patient age, or circumstances involved, chronic sorrow is an important variable to consider.   The eleven year old patient and family who were cared for in the pediatric epilepsy unit had many issues that indicated that they were experiencing chronic sorrow. Their struggle with chronic sorrow began at diagnosis. Contending with the diagnosis of epilepsy and acting to overcome the inherent problems associated with this medical condition form the basis for a parents ability to cope with the care of a child with epilepsy (Hobdell, 2007). This family waited years to be blessed with this child and they were now facing the biggest uphill battle of their lives. The course of a childs seizures, potential complications, and long-term prognosis are often unknown (Hobdell, 2007).   This patient also faced diagnoses of ADHD and cognitive developmental delays seco ndary to her epilepsy. This family thought that the epilepsy was difficult enough, but they then had to try and cope with difficulties in every other aspect of their daughters life. This seems to be the time when their chronic sorrow intensified. The inevitable loss of the image of an ideal child, intensified by the diagnosis of a child with epilepsy, may initiate a mourning process that varies in intensity, rate, and duration (Hobdell, 2007). The diagnosis of epilepsy has affects on the entire family as well as the patient. The patients father felt as though he had to stay home to care for her seeing as she needed regular supervision and her mother could provide more monetarily. For parents who are working full time and caring for a child with chronic illness, the stressors related to managing work and caring responsibilities are magnified (Dunning, 1999). Her parents appeared to be involved, but were inappropriately reactive to episodic outbursts, which in turn seemed to increase the episodes. They were embarrassed that they were observed threatening the patient, but admittedly were not sure of how to effectively cope with the situation. Additional research has also examined adaptation, burden of care, and stigma as variables impacting stress and the ability to cope with the diagnosis of epilepsy (Hobdell, 2007). They blamed themselves for their daughters problems.   They explained that they tried to have a baby for ye ars.   After many unsuccessful pregnancies they believed that were blessed with this perfect angel.   When the patient started having seizures at the age of three months they were devastated and this is when the rollercoaster of their life began. Under these circumstances, it is common for parents to be reminded of the loss associated with the perfect child they once dreamed of or to experience an increased fear that their child may not be able to live the quality of life they once anticipated (Gordon, 2009). The diagnosis must initially be incorporated into daily life without it completely taking over (Hobdell, 2007). During the initial diagnosis of epilepsy the medical team explains the basics of what to expect, treatments, interventions for uncontrolled seizures, and safety precautions.   The nursing staff has a very important role with these patients and their families.   They can offer words of advice and examples of what others would do in a similar situation.   The nurses work hands on with these types of patients and families everyday and have a wealth of knowledge to help them feel that they are not alone.   Becoming accustomed to a new way of life can be very challenging.   Education is essential during the discharge process to help the family in being at ease with dealing with this new dilemma that they are facing.   Epilepsy can overpower a patient or familys independence.   Pediatric nursing is not only care of the children but care of the whole family (Dunning, 1999).   Nurses should effectively recognize matters of concern in families of children with epilepsy. This includes impending feelings of sorrow and their understanding and utilization of a variety of management and coping strategies. The capacity to promptly acquire this information may facilitate nurses in identifying families in need and put into action appropriate interventions. They must do this with the expectation of contributing to a more optimistic result for families of children with epilepsy. With an understanding of chronic sorrow, nurses can plan interventions that recognize it as a normal reaction, promote healthy adaptation, and provide empathetic support (Scornaienchi, 2003). Every aspect of the childs life must be addressed.   These issues include: home safety, personal care, school safety, driving, recreational activities, medical compliance, and social relationships. With the life-long issues that this child will face, they will need a significant amount of support from the nursing staff. Theories allow for the nursing staff to understand why a family feels the way they do and possible interventions in helping them cope with a difficult situation. The middle range nursing theory of chronic sorrow is applicable to any pediatric patient and their families dealing with the struggle of epilepsy. Adaptation occurs with both internal and external management. According to Gordons (2009) article, caregivers of patients found support from a variety of sources. The sources of support that this patient and family have are their extended family, friends, the nurses and other medical professionals. As nurses, our interventions should be listening to someone that is enduring chronic sorrow. Internal management differs in all individuals. Sometimes they do not want to reveal how they are feeling, especially to a complete stranger. Respecting the individuals internal management strategies will allow for the most positive results. Parents see strength and courage in their child and that alone gives them the strength they need (Gordon, 2009).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   External management of chronic sorrow is an intervention taken on by the patients nurses and other medical caregivers. When the nursing staff recognized that there were concerns regarding coping strategies they consulted the social work and child psychiatry teams for assistance.   Anticipatory guidance, support services, and community resources can be offered to these families (Dunning, 1999).   Nurses begin to build relationships with their patients and their families over the period of treatment.   During this time span, nurses may become aware of triggering events. Acting to prevent a triggering event or decreasing its capacity may suspend an episode of chronic sorrow.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The theory of chronic sorrow will be relevant throughout the ongoing treatment of the seizure activity. Sadly, in this field of pediatrics, many children and their families will have to manage with intractable epilepsy for the rest of their lives. In these cases, the family may have to suffer with chronic sorrow perpetually. When nurses have a thorough understanding of the theory of chronic sorrow, they will be able to provide more efficient support and help to diminish occurrences of chronic sorrow. Families who used effective adaptive strategies, such as methods to reduce the burden of illness, had a better quality of life (Scornaienchi, 2003). Conclusion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The nursing theory of chronic sorrow is crucial in taking care of patients in the specialty of pediatric epilepsy.   This theory directly applies to pediatric epilepsy due it its uniqueness and lifelong effects that it has on the patient and all members of the family.   The approach that the nurse and medical team takes in caring for this patient can help them learn to cope with this ongoing medical problem.   It is crucial for healthcare professionals to realize that the emotional response to epilepsy may have a negative impact on the child or their family.   They may have difficulty in adapting or adjusting to life changes, as well as have trouble in effectively coping and working towards promoting quality of life.   Every encounter with the patient or their family should focus on positive adjustments.   Offering support to help relieve the burden of chronic sorrow can be very beneficial for them.   Reducing feelings of guilt related to chronic sorrow can help facilitate adjustment between the patient and their family.   This all can allow for positive change in the lives of pediatric epilepsy patients and their families.   It has been found that little research has been done regarding chronic sorrow related to pediatric epilepsy and that it needs to be more thoroughly explored.   It should be determined whether intervention should be initiated at diagnosis with appropriate support and ongoing educational intervention.   Timeliness of intervention  may have a more positive impact on the child and their family in regards to perceptions of epilepsy and quality of life. Appendix   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In preparation for researching literature related to the theory of chronic sorrow and pediatric epilepsy I decided the best place to start was Kent State Universitys library homepage.   I formulated a plan ahead of time as to what kind of information was important to my search.   Precious time can be lost  from going into a search unsure of what information to look for.   I then went into the research database and found that the search engine EBSCO Host would allow me to search CINAHL, Medline Plus, and Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition at the same time.   I first narrowed my search by the term chronic sorrow which revealed one-hundred and thirteen articles.   I then narrowed my search further by adding in pediatric epilepsy which yielded one result.   I switched that term to just pediatrics due to only one article available for review and I was then able to view twenty articles.   From the results page I narrowed the articles to those that are less than 10 years old.   This process was essential in finding the exact information that I needed and left me with seventeen pertinent articles.   Many articles that I found would be important to my literature review were not available in full text.   Several of the articles were available through the Ohio Link, but due to time and distance factors to the college I found that I could access some of them directly from searching for them in Google Scholar.  Ã‚  Ã‚   I found this to be the most time efficient way to access the information I needed in my literature review.   I chose just the most appropriate articles available on my topic.   I did this by reading through the abstract to determine whether they would have any relevant information.   After reading through the abstracts, it was seen whether or not they would be beneficial to my literature review.  Ã‚   In doing this entire process I found four articles that were most appropriate in the literature revie w of pediatric patients suffering from chronic sorrow.

Religious Figures Who Defied Reason Through Faith: Saint Bernadette of Lourdes :: Essays Papers

Religious Figures Who Defied Reason Through Faith: Saint Bernadette of Lourdes Saint Bernadette of Lourdes is not originally one whom the people of her time would expect to become a religious figure that could see holy apparitions and guide others into miraculous experiences. Contrarily, she was born to a family that experiences hardships and a great deal of misfortunes. Her family loses their money through bad investments and kind-heartedness, three of her siblings die at birth, and her father passes away leaving the family to fend for themselves. It almost seems as if the family is "destined to relive the fate of Job".1 Like Job in the bible, they experience many trials and tribulations, but hold steadfast to their beliefs. Little did the Soubouris family know that Bernadette would become a saint loved and revered by thousands in the Catholic Church. Bernadette will become a subject of controversy to some, being tested by powers of authority in the church and community, but is able to prove herself true and sane through her unyielding faith. The apparitions that would change Bernadette’s life and cause others to question her integrity and sanity first appear to her on February of 1858. Bernadette, her sister Toinette, and a friend, Jeanne Abadie go out to find wood the grotto. Although Bernadette’s mother objects to her going out in the cold weather due to her asthma, Bernadette pleads and wins her way. While out searching for wood in the grotto, Bernadette hears a gust of wind but nothing is moving. She goes to investigate and reports seeing a "gentle light" which continues to brighten.2 Next, she sees an apparition of a girl or young lady dressed in white smiling at her. The apparition first causes Bernadette to doubt what she is seeing is real, but she soon realizes that it is. When that apparition ends, she has a feeling of happiness and continues about the task, perplexed to what she has just experienced. Bernadette later confides the secret of the apparition to Toinette, but Toinette betrays her and tells their mother of what Bernadette had witnessed. The mother is disturbed and doubtful of Bernadette’s vision, and forbids her to go back to the grotto again. The father feels the same, but also feels that the family, which is already experiencing a time of hardship, would be vulnerable to ridicule if Bernadette’s story were to get out.