Drinking and Driving: Underage, Military & Binge Drinking

TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION†¦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‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 5 UNDERAGE DRINKING†¦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‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 5 MILITARY UNDERGE DRINKING†¦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‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 7 BINGE DRINKING†¦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‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 8 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‚¬ ¦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 RECOMMENDATIONS/SOLUTIONS†¦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‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 11 MILITARY WINGMAN CONCEPT†¦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‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 13 ENFORCING THE LAW†¦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‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 15 WORKS CITED†¦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‚¬ ¦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‚¬ ¦ 17 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONSReported Drinking Patterns Among Students†¦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‚¬ ¦. †¦ 6 Table 1 Binge Drinking Prevalence, Frequency, and Intensity†¦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 Michael J. Green Professor Paul Rosenberg Writing for Managers 2 March 2013 Drinking and Driving: Underage, Military and Binge Drinking We all know one of the worst decisions we can make as responsible drivers is to get behind the wheel after a night out on the town where we may have had a few too many alcoholic beverages. We may not even be in a condition to make a rational judgment, let alone operate a vehicle.Underage Drinking We all know that underage drinking is when anyone under the legal drinking age of 21 drinks alcohol. Many teens face adult problems at a very young age. Underage drinking is a major problem among teens today. In today society, kids are being pressured into doing things at a very young age. Problem many parents are fa cing in their own life are also posing as problems on their kids. Aside from being illegal, underage drinking can bring about public health problems.According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism underage drinking risks include: â€Å"Death – 5,000 people under the age of 21 die each year from alcohol-related car crashes, homicides, suicides, alcohol poisoning, and other injuries such as falls, burn, and drowning. † (NIAAA) We are not only talking about deaths as well as serious injuries, impaired judgment, increased risk for physical and sexual assault and brain development problems. (NIAAA). As you can see there are serious risks involved with underage drinking.Compare and Contrast Driving in the Winter and Driving in the SummerHow can you recognize the signs of underage drinking? Here are some signs that can help you recognize underage drinking. We’ve all probably seen some of these warning signs at one point in our life. But how much att ention did you really give them. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism here are some warning signs that can help you recognize underage drinking. Has there been a change in their academic grades or any behavioral problems at school? Has there been a change in who they hang out with?Have they appeared to be less interested in their favorite activity or sporting event? Do they not want to be seen in public or make an appearance at a family function? Can you smell alcohol on their breath or have you found empty or full alcoholic beverages on them or in their room? Do they have slurred speech or muscle coordination problems, such as walking in a straight line? (NIAAA) Again these are just some of the warning signs that can help your recognize that your teenager maybe drinking alcohol.As you can see from the below chart there’s a high percentage of 12th graders, 42% to be exact, that have had an alcoholic beverage in the past month. If you add up all three grades you get a total of 81% of 8th, 10th, and 12th graders that have drank in the past month. I find this to be an alarming rate and we have to do something to decrease these numbers. (L. Johnston) Military Underage Drinking We all know that you only have to be 18 to enter the military or 17 with your parent’s permission.So we can serve our country and die for this country but we can’t have an alcoholic drink, legally, until we are 21. Underage drinking in the military is nothing new. I remember when I first came in the Air Force, even though the legal age to drink was 21, nobody really said or did anything about underage drinking. Man how times have changed! Military members between the ages of 18 and 25 tend to be heavy drinkers, more so than their civilian peers. (Rhem) I’m not surprised or really alarmed by this but did you know that 21% of military members admit to heavily drinking.What I am alarmed by though is this statistic hasn’t been low ered in 20 years. Alcohol abuse costs the Department of Defense over $600 million a year to either treat members or account for lost time at work. The Department of Defense has decided to take a new approach to lower these statistics. According to LtCol Wayne Talcott senior officials like a new approach to preventive maintenance â€Å"You maintain a jet engine so it doesn’t fall out of the sky. † â€Å"We need to begin to look at where there are risks to the human weapon system and how we can build a system that protects our people. (Rhem) The military usually waits till there is a problem with alcohol abuse before doing anything about it. However, recently we have seen an increase in developing new programs or procedures to educate our military members about the severity of alcohol related problems. We just want to get the right message to the right people about making better decisions about their drinking behavior. Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Article 111 – Drunken or reckless operations of a vehicle, aircraft, or vessel. General, Manual for Courts-Martial United States) As you can see, the military has its own set of rules that members have to follow. Even though the military laws are similar in nature to civilian laws we are held to a higher standard. Some tools that commanders can use to manage alcohol abusers are: Line of Duty determination; Actions involving security clearance, access to classified information or access to restricted areas; Duty assignment review to determine if the member should continue in current duties; Unfavorable Information File or control roster actions based on alcohol related isconduct or substandard duty performance; Separation under the Uniform Code of Military Justice for document failure to meet standards; and Administrative demotion, withholding of promotion and denial of reenlistment. (General, The Military Commander and the Law) Line of Duty determination is used to determine if the illness, injury, or disease existed prior to service (EPTS) and if the EPTS condition was aggravated by military service.It is used to determine whether or not the illness, injury, or disease, or death occurred while the member was absent from duty and whether or not the illness, injury, disease or death was due to the member’s own misconduct. Once the findings are revealed from the Line of Duty investigation, it may impact the following areas: You may not be eligible for disability retirement and/or severance pay; you may not be entitled to pay and allowances; your current enlistment could be extended to include any period of time that you were unable to perform your duties; you could be denied your veteran benefits or medical benefits.If the line of duty investigation finds you guilty you could lose out on more than you thought. (General, The Military Commander and the Law) As you can see, Commanders have several tools at their disposal to prevent or correct alcohol related incidents. But that doesn’t mean they can prevent all of them. Binge Drinking Binge drinking is the most common pattern of excessive alcohol use in the United States. The National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism defines binge drinking as a pattern of drinking that brings a person’s blood alcohol concentration to . 08 grams percent or above.This typically happens when men consume 5 or more drinks, and when women consume 4 or more drinks, in about 2 hours. (Alcoholism) According to national surveys: One in six U. S. adults binge drinks about four times a month, consuming about eight drinks per binge; While binge drinking is more common among young adults aged 18-34 years, binge drinkers aged 65 years and older report binge drinking more often – an average of five to six times a month; Binge drinking is more common among those with household incomes of $75,000 or more than among those with lower incomes; Approximately 92% of U.S. adults who drink excessi vely report binge drinking in the past 30 days; Although college students commonly binge drink, 70% of binge drinking episodes involve adults age 26 years and older; The occurrence of binge drinking among men is twice the occurrence among women; Binge drinkers are 14 times more likely to report alcohol-impaired driving than non-binge drinkers; About 90% of the alcohol consumed by youth under the age of 21 in the United States is in the form of binge drinks and more than half of the alcohol consumed by adults in the United States is in the form of binge drinks. CDC) Frequent binge drinkers can have the most serious health problems. These people are seven to sixteen times more likely, than non-binge drinkers to have missed classes, gotten behind in their school work, engaged in unplanned sexual activity, and not used protection during sexual intercourse, had run-ins with police, damage property, and been injured or hurt. (CDC) As you can see from the above chart binge drinking happens in all age groups, race and ethnicity group’s, educational levels, and in all income levels.Conclusion I’ve talked about several problems that are related to underage, military and binge drinking and driving. Why I talked about all three of these types is that they intertwine with one another. Most if not all of us had a drink before we were 21, I know I did. Does that make it right for the next generation to continue to do so? Who’s to say! We have come a long way since I was under 21 and we still have a long ways to go. I don’t think we will ever completely get rid of underage, military or binge drinking and driving.It’s going to happen! But we can make some recommendations or solutions to educate our kids. Recommendations/Solutions In my opinion there is no right way or wrong way about reducing underage, military or binge drinking and driving. Each state and/or city may have their own way of trying to reduce drinking and driving. But here are s ome examples of what is being proposed and done in the Cheyenne, Wyoming area on Military bases and on College campuses throughout the state.How can we improve the educational processes to educate our youth about the dangers of alcohol? What we do know is that educational programs that only provide information or that focuses on self-esteem or resisting peer pressure haven’t been effective. The Wyoming youth group is proposing a more aggressive approach. Instead of waiting till community colleges and Universities are experiencing binge drinking problems we need to start at the grade school and high school levels. (Group)Here is a detailed list of what the State of Wyoming is recommending at all educational levels: Developing school cultures that promote prevention and intervention policies; Increase state and local funding for prevention education in schools and colleges; work with senior administrators to understand what must be done to reduce underage drinking; make sure co lleges and universities adhere to policy enforcement and changes; ensure constant development and consistent communication with statewide colleges and universities; proper certification for employees serving alcoholic beverages; encourage youth involvement for positive change. Group) Here is what the State of Wyoming is recommending at kindergarten through twelfth grade: See what programs have shown success and share them with other Wyoming schools. Provide education to school employees on how to identify underage drinking and how to handle the situation. Educate youth in making healthy, safe and lawful lifestyle decisions. Have alcohol-free events and activities. You can even go as far as doing random sobriety checks before people leave the event or activity.Educate the youth about the dangers of underage drinking to include brain damage, addictive disorders and legal consequences that can arise from alcohol abuse. Talk with them about how alcohol can impair their performance stand ards in and out of the classroom. Provide education to both the kids and to the parents. Parents need to be able to communicate effectively with their children. Help them acquire necessary skills regarding advertising and promotion of alcohol. Establish support groups for kids when there is drinking in the home.Ask for feedback and/or surveys this will enable all parties to see what is and what isn’t working. (Group) For higher education the State of Wyoming is recommending the following programs: Utilize the best programs found by the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. This will help you in developing your own local college programs. The plans should include but are not limited to: screening and intervention strategies; encouraging alcohol free events or activities; limit alcohol related advertisement on campuses; enforcing campus policies and state and local laws; continuous research and program evaluation.Support efforts by colleges and Universities to red uce alcohol use; ask for support and help from senior leadership on college campuses to increase awareness of high-risk alcohol related activities; increase education to first year students, athletes and organizations that promote alcohol related activities; educate your staff, parents, and even alumni and warning signs of alcohol abuse; provide referral information and updates on policies and procedures; provide an anonymous student survey to see if the educational programs are working and underage drinking is decreasing.Now that we have the schools accounted for what about educating our parents. (Group) Here are some things you can do to ensure you provide the necessary education to their parents. Parents are the first line of defense at times and need to intervene when they see a problem. What can we do for the parents? Establish peer groups – social media is a great source to reach out to for assistance and guidance. Provide presentations by parents from parents that have lived through a death or alcohol related incident. Who is held liable for providing alcohol to minors? Provide effective ways for parents to talk to their children about alcohol abuse.Provide pamphlets to parents so they can identify the signs and symptoms of alcohol abuse. Educate the parents on how to host an alcohol free house party for their kid. (Group) These are some of the educational needs that the State of Wyoming is implementing or has implemented throughout the state. As you can see they are not just relying on the schools to intervene. They are making sure parents are involved and how to identify any signs or symptoms their child may be showing from alcohol abuse. I feel that these educational needs can be easily implemented within each and every state. Military Wingman ConceptThe term Wingman stems from a time-honored tradition within our Air Force flying community that essentially says a lead pilot will never lose his/her Wingman. It’s a promise, a pledge, a co mmitment between Airmen who fly. The Air Force has cultivated and instilled this same culture of commitment between all Airmen and Air Force civilians in all career fields and specialties via the Wingman program. Being a Wingman isn’t easy, but all Airmen at all levels of command have a role as Wingmen. How can you transfer this ability of being a wingman from military time honored tradition to a non-military environment?You would think this would be easy, but some people don’t recognize the concept. I’m going to use a sports analogy to help explain the Wingman concept. â€Å"Let’s say we have a highly skilled professional football team. Holes in the line open up an instant before the running back reaches them at full speed, allowing him to achieve a big gain. Pass receivers run complicated pass routes, turning back to look at the quarterback after the ball is already airborne on its way to them. Simultaneously, offensive linemen keep defensive players f rom reaching the quarterback just long enough for him to get the pass off†¦and not a moment longer.Meanwhile, the quarterback, without even looking at or coordinating with his blockers, knows just how long he can hold the ball before he has to get rid of it. And the timing of all this is compressed into less than four seconds. † (Dettmer) As you can see, the wingman concept can be carried over to non-military business situations. But we seldom see this in businesses. Businesses are still comprised of mutual activities that at times require a team effort to complete a project or task. Some of it may be due to the fact at the end of the day you get to go home and you don’t have to rely on them to save your life.The Wingman concept is simple and easy to implement into your work area, no matter where you work. To be a good Wingman all you have to do is take care of yourself and those around you. Some ways you could do this is when you are out with your buddies and they ’ve had a little too much to drink, you step up and tell them they’ve had enough. You don’t let your wingman get behind the wheel of a car after they’ve had anything to drink. It’s not about being their friend; it’s about saving their life or someone else’s life. In the end it comes down to making the Wingman concept a way of life, and not just a slogan.Enforcing the Law How can you control drunk driving? It requires four board strategies: Deterrence; Treatment; Information and education; and Prevention. I’m going to provide solutions on how we can implement all four and decrease or control drunk driving. What is deterrence and how can that control drunk driving? Deterrence is simple! However, it may not be all that simple to pass new laws that prohibit drunk driving. Deterrence is also enforcing existing laws and holding those that broke the law accountable. It’s basically like, striking fear into them if they do decide to drink and drive.A good example of this is the zero tolerance law. Not all states have this but some do. It’s a law that applies to anyone under the age of 21 that gets caught for drinking and driving. How embarrassed would you be if you got caught for drinking and driving and lost your driver licenses? If you were still in high school, most likely the whole school would know about it. This alone could be a deterrent for some, but maybe not for all. (Hedlund and McCartt) Treatment is about getting the help you need when you need it. Alcohol is a drug and if left untreated can cause serious damage to your health and to others around you.However, treatment sometimes only happens once you have been arrested or caught. The most difficult thing is to self-identify and get the help you need before it’s too late. Changing individual’s behavior is not easy. However, if you can assess all offenders equally and then assign them a treatment program that is appropriate f or their needs. (Hedlund and McCartt) Information and education by itself doesn’t decrease drinking and driving and has little or no effect on reducing it either. However, combined with deterrence and prevention programs it goes a long way.Educating the public on drinking and driving laws has proven very effective in reducing drinking and driving. For example those states that have â€Å"Zero Tolerance† laws in place 85% of drivers were not aware that the blood alcohol content for minors was different than for those that are over 21. With a little information and education in those states they reduced drinking and driving crashes by 30%. It has been proven that a little education can go a long ways. (Hedlund and McCartt) With prevention we have control over a few things. We can enforce the policies that are in place or create new one law’s.We have already established the legal age to drink alcohol is 21. By increasing the legal age from 18 to 21 this was an atte mpt to reduce underage drinking. We can regulate the places and time when you can purchase alcohol. You have to have a liquor license to sale or distribute alcoholic beverages. Some states also regulate on the day and time you can purchase alcohol. For example some states don’t allow you to purchase alcohol on Sunday before noon or not at all, and most states don’t allow the sale of alcohol after 2 a. m. We can also regulate the taxes on alcoholic beverages.For example the amount of taxes for alcoholic beverages in the State of Wyoming hasn’t increased since 1935. (Group) Prevention programs can make a difference, but even small measures are better than nothing at all. Programs like training bartenders or servers to know when they should stop serving to the customer have proved beneficial. In the end though, the best strategy for progress is through improved deterrence, with assistance from the other three strategies. Works Cited Alcoholism, National Institute o f Alcohol Abuse and. â€Å"NIAAA council approves definition of binge drinking. NIAAA Newsletter (2004): 3. CDC. â€Å"Vital signs: binge drinking prevalence, frequency, and intensity among adults – U. S. 2010. † MMWR Morb Mortal Weekly Report (2012; 61 (1)): 9-14. Dettmer, William. â€Å"The Wingman Concept. † 2006. The Wingman Concept. 2 Mar 2013. General, Judge Advocate. â€Å"Manual for Courts-Martial United States. † General, Judge Advocate. Manual for Courts-Martial United States. Maxwell AFB: The Judge Advocate General School, 2012. IV51 – IV53. General, Judge Advocate. â€Å"The Military Commander and the Law. † General, Judge Advocate. The Military Commander and the Law.Maxwell AFB: The Judge Advocate General School, 2012. 215-223. Group, Cody Youth. â€Å"Wyoming Cares. † Jan 2012. http://www. wyocare. org/items/get_pdf/1416%20%20problems%20and%20solution%20document. 2 Mar 2013. Hedlund, James H. and Anne T. McCartt. Drunk Driving: Seeking Additional Solutions. Traffic Safety. Washington D. C. : Preusser Research Group, Inc, 2002. L. Johnston. â€Å"Centruy Council. † Dec 2012. Centery Council. 2 March 2013. NIAAA. National Institute on Alchohol Abuse and Alcoholism. 2013. 2 March 2013. Rhem, SSgt Kathleen T. â€Å"Alcohol Abuse Costs DoD Dearly. † U. S. Military (2000): 1.

Graduate study plan Essay

I currently poses an undergraduate degree in Health Care Administration, from Sacramento State University. My current career is within the Health Care field at Kaiser Permanente hospital Health Connect Department in Pleasanton, California. This is the regional department for, electronic medical records. I manage projects for system upgrades, and any technical issues that require a fix. I have worked for Kaiser Permanente for five years and wish to succeed at a higher level within the organization. In this paper I will give an insight into my reasons for pursuing my graduate degree, and strategies I will use for personal success and achievement. I have managed always to accomplish both personal and professional goals that I set. It is important to have a goal, whether personal or professional that one is striving to accomplish, so they are motivated to work harder. My short-term personal goal is completing my Master’s Degree. A few personal long-term goals, are to have an open mind to change, effective time management, and continuing to grow as an individual and Mother. A long-term goal in my professional career is becoming a manager or director within Kaiser Permanente or another organization. In lieu of the professional job opportunities and accomplishments, confidence, and knowledge is a professional area I am striving to gain more of, which is a main reason for advancing my education to the graduate level. Obtaining a Master’s Degree will permit expansion in knowledge and skills within area’s I did not advance at the undergraduate level. I am pursuing my degree, to grow as an individual and in my professional career, this degree will expand my skills, knowledge, and confidence to perform at a higher level. Pursuing a degree will open job opportunities, and a higher pay scale. Setting goals is the easy part, but achieving them is the hard part. Challenges will arise and everyday life may interfere. Three challenges I face in meeting both short and long-term goals, is lack of time, personal life distractions, and control in advancing professionally. I have to focus on incorporating better time management and stress management into my every day schedule, so lack of time is not an issue. Personal life distractions, include a Forty-hour work week and commute, my fourth month old baby girl, and leisure activities. What I have learned is to plan out a time each day for these activities. It helps manage my time and stress, by keeping track of all activities and obligations on a calendar. If I have a written schedule that I visually can see, I stay focused. Finding a good balance in life is what keeps me moving forward and accomplishing my goals. One may not always have complete control in accomplishing goals one may have for themselves, an example is my goal to achieve at a higher level professionally. Sure I can have an abundance of knowledge and work hard every day, but in the end it will be the hirer who determines if I am a good fit for the position. Competition in the job industry is at its all-around high, but the key to success is, never give up. Graduating with a Master’s Degree is a milestone in achieving my short-term goal, and advancing professionally in a new career as well as showing confidence, by performing at a higher level is a long-term milestone that will mark my achievement in the goals I have set. I believe effective communication is an essential factor in overcoming differences and creating an environment that people can come together to learn, work, or play. Communication on the surface seems straight forward, but I am guilty of a weaknesses related to how I communicate, which includes relating to the audiences age or gender when communicating. In practice, it is troubled with multiple issues dependent on the parties involved, who convey, and receive messages. A couple of questions that one can ask to improve communication, are, â€Å"Is it possible to convey a message and have it received as the speaker intended? What happens between the voicing of a message and the hearing of a message? Under what conditions does accurate communication occur? Do our own mental models affect interactions with others? What can leaders do to create the conditions for clear  communication?† (â€Å"Creating the Conditions for Effective Communication and Learning in Organizations,† 2008, p. 11). These are numerous examples of questions one should ask themselves, and I will use these examples of what I can ask myself to improve my method of communication. A challenge between faculty and students is to communicate as clearly as possible to ensure students receive the information they need. Given this, I have also noticed how often miscommunication happens between staff and their students. In the journal article titled, â€Å"Creating the Conditions for Effective Communication and Learning in Organization,† it was stated that traditional communication strategies, such as paraphrasing to ensure a faculty member understands a student and asking him or her to articulate back their understanding of what was said. It was observed that no matter how skilled the speaker, there are still many interpretations by the receiver (Scott, 2008). Three strategies I will practice as a communicator are, ask myself questions that may benefit how effective my communication is before communicating to a specific audience, have the audience restate how they understood my statement or question and be as detailed as possible so my information is not misconstrued. Regarding my stronger aspects of communicating, I am clear and concise, an experienced public speaker, and able to communicate effectively in a business environment. Communication is one of the main planks on which organizational success rests in today’s tough business environment. As a result effective communication skills have become essential to enable professionals to achieve the exact levels of performance demanded by them. Apart from the practical aspects if one has a grasp on basic concepts of communication, it can further assist professionals to communicate skillfully and persuasively (Rai & Rai, 2002). Suggesting that the saying â€Å"It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it† rings true for effective communication. Possessing the quality of effective communication heads toward a high quality leader because it enables one to express ideas successfully (Rolle, 2002). Effective time management, reasonable goals, overcoming obstacles, and  effective communication will lead to success in acquiring a graduate degree. If one strives to succeed and manages their time efficiently, this is easily obtainable. Re-evaluating my goals and strategies to overcome obstacles, and analyzing my communication level, has already advanced me closer to success. Recognition is a way to advance both personally and professionally. References  Rai, S. M., & Rai, U. (2002, September). Effective Communication. Effective Communication, 16(3), 1129-1130. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/docview/224372918?accountid=35812 Rolle, J. R. (2002). The Role of Communication in Effective Leadership. The Role of Communication in Effective Leadership, 16. Retrieved from http://www.eric.ed.gov/contentdelivery/servlet/ERICServlet?accno=ED467282 Scott, M. (2008). Creating the Conditions for Effective Communication and Learning in Organizations. Creating the Conditions for Effective Communication and Learning in Organizations, 11(3), 11. Retrieved from http://www.eric.ed.gov/contentdelivery/servlet/ERICServlet?accno=EJ830651

Judaism and Christianity Essay

Judaism and Christianity are two of the oldest forms of religious expression that are currently in existence. But though both express belief in the same God, there are different ways that they express their devotion and interpreting God in their religious ways. But we first must see and define the two before we delve into differentiating them. The central belief of practicising Christians is the fact that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that Jesus is an integral part of the Holy Trinity, and the promised Messiah, or savior (Conversion to Judaism). But Judaism, or the practices and beliefs in religion as practiced by the Jews (Charles Henderson, 2003), insists on the unitarian view of God (Judaism). Suffice it to say that the Jews believe that there is only one God, indivisible, being only one as opposed to Christianity’s of one God in three Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Judaism). To the Jews, no matter what the accomplishments of Christ, He is only a human being, not the Son of God (Judaism). Judaism is a term that was coined by the â€Å"Hellenized† Jews of the â€Å"Second Temple Era† to put definitives on their practice (Henderson, 2003). The Jews trace their lineage to the patriarch Abram, called out of his Mesopotamian homeland to jouney to Canaan and begin the nation of Israel (Judaism). But there is a development that bridges the differences of the Judaistic and Christian divide, the messianic Jews, or â€Å"Jewish Christians† (Philosophy, Theology and Religion). These Jews uphold the practice of the customs and traditions of Judaism while acknowledging the deity of Jesus Christ as the Son of God (PHILTaR). They profess acceptance of the â€Å"one God† doctrine of Christianity, the Holy Trinity, and adhere to the Old Testament, or Tanach, and the New Testament, or Brit Hadshah, as the complete Word of God (PHILTaR). As such, they reject the authoroty of the teaching of the Rabbis, or â€Å"Rabbinic literature (PHILTaR).

Should Homosexual Couples be Allowed to Adopt Research Paper

Should Homosexual Couples be Allowed to Adopt - Research Paper Example So, therefore if the same sex couples are in a  monogamous relationship, financially stable and most importantly a loving relationship, they  should be allowed to adopt a child if they decide to do so. Homosexual couples are capable of  raising healthy children, their life style will not be transcended to them and they will not be  psychologically damage as suggested by the traditional family. Being a heterosexual  does not guarantee you being a better parent. This paper will explore why homosexual couples  are fit parents and children that are abandoned can be given a chance at better life with these  parents.  Homosexual couples who are given the right to adopt children can have the same  advantages. The anticipation for health alteration and development as children is same whose parentages  are heterosexual. This is absolutely ridiculously and nonsensical. Our society imposes prejudices and biases  against people who are different and not considered â€Å"no rmal.†Ã‚  The legal procedures and structures throughout the world leave the same sex couples desiring to be parents with two options. Firstly, the couples can always adopt the children of their partners. This is termed as second adoption option which is somewhat an extension of what we call as adoption by step parents. Another has been the traditional options allowing homosexual couples to become foster parents. Already mentioned this law has enforced by the government of Florida. Under this law homosexual couples are devoid of the rights to become legal parents. There is no basis on which to assume that a parental homosexual orientation will  increase the likelihood of or induce homosexual tendencies in the child. The most important  role of any parent, same-sex or heterosexual, is to provide the basic needs, such as food, shelter,  clothing, health-care and love (Patterson, 1025-30).  Public controversies do not stop chasing case of same sex adoption even though the re are enough evidences to suggest that homosexual couples strive to fulfill all the necessities of their children. Homosexual couples are capable of raising healthy children, their life style will not be transcended to them and they will not be  psychologically damaging as suggested by the â€Å"so call traditional family†. Our findings have proved that gay couples are more interested in adoption compared to the heterosexual couples. This point is proven with the help of the statistics from The National Survey of Family Growth which shows that 46.2% homosexual couples are interested in adoption compared to 32.3% in heterosexual couples. 5.7% homosexual couples are even ready to take concrete steps for adoption compared to 3.3% heterosexual couples (Brodzindsky and Pertman, 64). Such a data shows that future of many more children could be secured if eligible homosexual couples are allowed to adopt. In most of the cases it has also been found that such same sex couples are b etter educated and more financially stable. But out of such 3.1 million couples only 1.6 million have been given the right for adoption (Brodzindsky and Pertman, 64). This shows pure discrimination on basis of abnormal sex orientation. When heterosexual couples can still have children with medical assistance, homosexual parents will naturally have more urge towards adoption and this will ascertain security for many orphans. With proper monitoring of their activities for at least a couple of years after the adoption the safety of the

The Origins of Sufi Islam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

The Origins of Sufi Islam - Essay Example Asceticism and Remembrance to Allah "Dhikr" used to be the specific affection for Sufis in the initial phase of Sufism, and this was the initiation of innovated performs to support the spiritual exercises. However, during the primary stage earlier to the association with innovated customs and controlled commands, intellectuals alarmed general public about the intense nature of Sufism. 2This innovated development originated from Iraq (Basra) and the great religious scholars like Imam Malik, Imam Shafi and Ahmed bin Hanbal didn't gave positive remarks for it. They were of the opinion that such extreme rituals are impracticable. This was a beginning in the direction of extreme prayers, which may destined towards distortion, as it was not established on a valid set of guidelines provided by religion. Instead it was based on embellished sensation of human beings. This movement was actually a reaction of sanctimonious and practical Muslims in opposition to the worldly behavior of Muslims d uring 661-50 AD, the era of Ummayyads.3 It was during 5th and 6th century AH when this frenzied situation was subjugated by the Sufis and attracted people to proceed along their practices, claiming the control of "Walis" and "Sheikhs" and their doctrines as a resolve to that disorder. During the ruling period of Khalifa Mamoon an institution by the name of "Dar-ul-Hikma" was set up to provoke Greek, Roman and Muslim scholars to come together and share their point of views. This provision was an absolute focus in terms of combination linking mysticism of Islam with pagans for creating the type of Sufism presented by Ibn-e-Arabi.4 The Integration and Distortion When the attendants and descendants of them passed away, the field of Sufism left unattended and went against the doctrines of Islam. Opponents of Islam had gone entrenched into Muslim community and were already creating "Fitnahs" by means of multiplying fictitious Ahadith and other commands which afterward resulted into the creation of factions like "Mutazilah", and "Khawaarij". This was the period when Sufism flourished and acquired sustains from sovereigns of empires. These rulers actually diverged of Islamic teachings to such a degree that they started magical tricks as amusement in their courts, albeit those magical tricks are not allowed in Islam.5The essence of Shiites began to include in Sufism during this era, though modern Sufism traces its extraction back to Shiites genesis. It was era of Imam Ghazali, Jalal uddin Rumi and Mohiuddin Ibn-e-Arabi when philosophy and beliefs of Sufism prospered. During 3rd century they converted works of Greek thinking into Arabic which later proved to be ineradicable for Sufism, ensuing in Greek pantheism turn out to be a fundamental element of Sufism. During this period the orthodox practices of Oslam were almost overlooked and Sufism began to follow pagan activities like worship of the Saints, grasping venerance for the Walis and utilizing magical tricks. They forgot teachings of the Holy Prophet Muhammad(PBUH).If we deeply study the spiritual principles of different religions like Hinduism, Taoism and Christianity we can clearly observe

Critically discuss the statement Entrepreneurs who wish to expand Essay

Critically discuss the statement Entrepreneurs who wish to expand their business should first expand their networks - Essay Example At the appropriate times the company sends customized message to the customers with suggestion for flowers and presents. The company gains a world-wide reputation. Therefore, good management information systems fast the business operation and use resource more effective. Basket Company also involves similar business actives we discussed above, by equipping the management information system, will greatly support business operation. Now the competition f basket market is very furious, it is not enough to improve only the product, we should impress the customers as a person who cares them more than their selves. To achieve the goal, we have to identify the trend f customer needs. Like large office goods supplier---Staples. The company system maintains lists f previously ordered items. Over time, Staples learned a great deal about its customers' preferences and use that information to offer new items. We value our employees as they play an important role in company success, but only with the helps f those tools, our employees and managers can easily make the decision on buy from supplier and predicate the profits. Thus, the good management information system plays a more important role in the competition. One f the outcomes f information system is the strategies for competitive advantages. ... t to play in a competitive strategy, cutting the labor and administration cost during business operation, the business can sell goods or provide services at a price that is lower than the competitors. Surveys and feedback sessions will be conducted from detailed transaction records and various data to access the ongoing project. Expanding business network is in fact an expansion f an organization. Franchising is a generic term that describes a way f doing business. In essence a model f business structure that relies on a relationship in which an owner (franchisor) f a business has licensed others (franchisees) to use a business system and trade name to market and sell products/services. Thus it is a marketing concept f delivering products and services that can be applied across a diverse range f businesses. The International Franchising Association has developed 75 different categories describing the businesses f its members. Who is involved Franchising involves two parties: Franchisor - The franchisor is the initial owner f a business system which has been developed and proven to be a successful method f operating a particular business. As owner, the franchisor has the legal capacity to provide licenses to others (franchisees). Typically the owner seeks to expand the business through a relationship with others who have similar objectives. Franchisee - The franchisee is the party that has entered into an agreement with the franchisor to use the trade mark / business name and business system in a defined outlet or territory. How does it work Essentially the franchisee has agreed to be part f the franchisor's operation. In return for fees, the franchisee secures these rights for a set period f time and can expect from the franchisor: Training in business practices -

Income Statement - Ford Motor Company Assignment

Income Statement - Ford Motor Company - Assignment Example Income statement is different from the balance sheet because the latter represents a single instance of time (for example, a week). Income statements are for a longer time period that is a year or quarter of a year (Pandit and Phillips, 2004). The term revenue is the amount of money received after selling a product or providing a service. Revenues are mentioned in the start of an income statement. They also represent the total sale made by a company in a time. The revenue generated once calculates, helps in determining the profits made by a company. This covers all the expenses in maintaining a business. The cost for the operational unit of the business is also added in this. Operating expenses include the money spent on market research, development of products, marketing and promotion of goods and services and intellectual property rights (patents, trademarks etc.). Some items that are not accurately measured may not be reported (Garrison et al. 2003). After having calculated the total revenue and expenses incurred, it becomes easy to calculate profit. Profit is revenue minus total expenses. They are referred to as the bottom line of an income statement because unlike revenues that are reported at the top of the income statement, profits are reported at bottom (Ford Motor Company Annual Report, 2012). An analysis of Ford Motors Company’s income statement from year 2012 shows the following facts. The total revenue was $133,559,000. The cost of revenue was $116,107,000. The gross profit was $17,452,000. Amongst the operating expenses, the amount spent on research and development is Zero$. The net income is $5,665,000. The net income to include extra expenses is 5,665.0 $. The net income excluding extra expenses is 5,665.0 $. This shows that throughout these years (2011-2014) the company has shown impressive growth. The company has been successful in reducing the percentage of sales for income tax

Illegal Immigration Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Illegal Immigration - Research Paper Example Mexico is the leading source country for US immigration as 31% of America’s foreign born citizens are from Mexico. Interestingly, 5.9 million out of the estimated 10.3 million unauthorized people in America are Mexicans (Hanson, 2006).This forms 56% of the Mexican presence in America. The geographical proximity can be accounted as the major reason for this trend. The analysis of cultural, economical and social costs incurred by the country in this process would reveal information confirming the need to check illegal migration. One very important factor which magnifies the impact of illegal migration is its unaccountability. There are no records on how the large quantum of immigrants influences various nationally relevant issues. The benefits of policy interventions by the government meant of its citizens are received in a large scale by the illegal immigrants. Owing to the unaccountability of people living illegally in the country, quantifying this is difficult. This results i n deterioration in the expected results of the policies. Resultant would be the social, cultural and economic costs associated with this. Taking these serious implications into account, it is very important for the Government of United States to control illegal migration. As Mexico border being the most susceptible in this regard, special attention need to be given in this area. Many of the policy statements of the American government emphasize on the issue of illegal immigration as of prime importance. Despite this, the statistics on migration suggests increasing trends on illegal immigration. The objective of this essay is to critically analyze the impacts of illegal migration on national security, economy, culture and the... From the research it can be comprehended that the most important and potentially risky impact of illegal migration is the concern that it poses over national security. The Commission report on the 9/11 has stated that the visas given to terrorists are as harmful as the most detrimental weapons. The report has revealed interesting statistics on t illegal immigration. It has been stated that almost 500 million people cross the US borders of which 330 million are non citizens. Hayworth, John D & Eule, Joe has opined that the major concern is over the other 500,000 people who enter the American soil illegally or who overstay in the country despite the visa expiry. This population may cause irreparable damage to the country and would spread antinational feelings. A factor of increasing concern is that the production of fraud travel documents has more or less become a business. The investigations on the 9/11 attack has revealed a number of forgeries relating to driving licenses, Social sec urity cards, vehicle registration ,insurance documents and many other nationally sensitive documents. In general, illegal immigrations, sham marriages to attain permanent residency and forgery of documents to extend the stay, all has been observed in association with terrorist activities. Thus for the sake national security, it becomes very important for the government to put an urgent stop to illegal migration and the allied activities.

Dorothea dix crusader for the mentally ill Term Paper

Dorothea dix crusader for the mentally ill - Term Paper Example While there, at the age of only 14, she organized her own school and taught neighborhood children. At the age of 19, she moved back to her Grandmothers home in Boston and started a second formal school for older children she named "The Hope," which catered primarily to poor children of the area. As a creative and caring thinker, she wrote a book for children entitled Conversations on Common Things (Brown, 1998). The school was forced to close when Dorothy became seriously ill and during her convalescence over the next two years, she continued with her writing including Hymns for Children and American Moral Tales for Young Persons (Gollaher, 1995). In 1830, Dorothea was engaged by Reverend William Ellery Channing and his wife to be a tutor and governess for their children. She traveled with the family to the Virgin Islands and stayed for nearly a year. Upon returning to Boston, she opened another school in the same location as "The Hope" school. However, within a few years, she became seriously ill with tuberculosis and was forced to retire from teaching in order to rest and recover. She spent the next 18 months recovering from her illness in England with close friends of Reverend Channing, William and Elizabeth Rathbone III. As she recovered from her illness and began to feel well enough to travel, she took advantage of an opportunity to tour York Retreat, a well known insane asylum in England. It was here that she observed patients being treated with dignity and respect, and it is thought that she formed many of her beliefs associated with compassionate care and proper treatment for the mentally ill (Herstek, 2001). In 1837, both her mother and grandmother passed away. Her grandmother left a fairly substantial inheritance to her and her brothers, which was instrumental in supporting her life's work. In 1841, she was invited by a friend to teach inmates Sunday school at the East Cambridge institution. It was there that she observed inmates that were mentally ill and housed in the general population with criminal inmates without regard to age, sex, or their ability to cope in any social environment. She was appalled that men and women were housed together in squalor with little food, heat or sanitary options (Brown, 1998). It was at this point that she embraced the concept of the pressing need for society to provide assistance to the mentally disadvantaged, and embraced the role of crusader for the mentally ill. For the next two years, she visited nearly all the institutions in the State of Massachusetts and documented the treatment of inmates and their living conditions. One example of the horrib le conditions was when she found that it was a common belief by prison and institution management that mentally ill patents couldn't feel extreme hot or cold temperatures, so there was no need to make provisions to protect them from extreme temperatures. She found this incomprehensible, and began documenting finding and thoughts she compiled

Biovail Case Essay Example for Free

Biovail Case Essay In the case when ownership changes hands upon receipt of the product at the distributors facility (FOB destination), the second condition for revenue recognition under SAB101 has not been met. In this case the company would not recognize revenue because delivery did not occur. Part 3: The shipment left Biovail on September 30, 2003, which is in the 3rd quarter. Under FOB shipping point guidelines it would be correct to recognize revenue for the shipment in the Q3 report. Assuming revenue associated with this shipment was included in Q3 earnings as originally stated, no further impact. Under the FOB destination guidelines it would be incorrect to recognize revenue. In that scenario the truck does not reach it’s destination in the 3rd quarter and thus no shipment is made and revenue should not be recorded. Assuming that this shipment would take longer than 1 day to reach the distributor, based on the fact that it is in Chicago on 10/1, this shipment shouldn’t have been planned as revenue in quarter three anyway. The accident will have an impact on Q4 revenue. Part 4: Biovail’s treatment of analysts who cover their stock is concerning. It is still unclear whether Treppel was correct or too harsh, but Biovail’s fierce retaliation against Treppel highlights their willingness to go to great lengths to suppress any negative analyst reports. This combined with, the lack of clarity around their accounting practices and conflicting arguments from their distributor lends us to question their integrity. This would create a difficult environment for an analyst to create a unbiased report and significantly discourages us to be an analyst covering this company.

The Short Stories Of Haruki Murakami English Literature Essay

The Short Stories Of Haruki Murakami English Literature Essay Within The Elephant Vanishes, an anthology of short stories by Haruki Murakami, and The Outsider, a novel by Albert Camus, culture is examined and the reader is invited to see culture as following set rules and routines. Through the protagonists, the reader understands that culture observes these behaviours without question and in doing so are robotic. One of the ways this idea is reinforced through references to food. Food is shown to join people ceremoniously and who you share your food with reveals insights about the culture in which you live. Through the action of the texts and first person narratives the protagonist is established as different to the culture. In the short story, Sleep, the protagonist noted, I went to the living room, switched on the floor lamp beside the sofa, and sat there drinking a full glass of brandy (page 84). Although she enjoys alcohol, she has to drink by stealth. She is restricted in her freedom to enjoy alcohol because her husband does not approve of it. Her husbands occupation as a dentist precludes her from eating chocolates until an accidental reminder of old chocolate flakes wedged between the pages of the book I found a few crumbling flakes of chocolate stuck between the pages (page 90). She was then inspired to free herself from the shackles of her husbands dental fraternity norms. She shamelessly indulged herself on this pleasure impulsively, I felt a tremendous urge to have the real thing (page 90). In Sleep, timing for lunch is precisely at eleven forty, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ I looked at my watch. Eleven Forty. Eleven Forty! (Page 91, Elephant Vanishes, Sleep). The typical type of food was, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦minced scallionsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦buckwheat noodlesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦dried seaweedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦tofu (page 91). The reference to the exact time and the type of lunch indicate routine. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Cup of coffeeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦two slices of bread, spread them with butter and mustard, and had a cheese sandwich (Page 89), something which the protagonist wishes to escape from. It is only when she breaks with the conventional rules that she feels as though she is living. The husband sitting on the sofa reading the newspaper shows the cultural routine of people in their everyday life, While I cleared the table, my husband sat on the sofa reading the paper (page 92). I made my husband his usual coffee (page 89). The protagonist is aware of cultural expectations of which her husband doggedly ad here to living through the same routine every day. Anna Karenina lay there beside him, but he didnt seem to notice. He had no interest in whether I read books (Page 92). The husband did not pay attention to his wifes interests or in the fact that it was his own book, which she was reading. It is the routine and monotony that he is occupied with the protagonist lives through every day doing whatever gives her pleasure. This rarity of freedom inevitably leads her to seeking food for pleasure while the husband, so ingrained in routine, appears robotic. Although food symbolically represents routine in The Outsider, it also establishes Meursault as an outsider of the culture. Both of Mersaults friends, Masson and Raymonds immoral behaviour has the culture classify them as outsiders. Due to their unusual behaviours, when these people meet to enjoy food together, it demonstrates that they encompass similar characteristics of personalities which are deemed unconventional from cultural expectations. The protagonist drinks wine to accompany food with Raymond and Masson (page 53). In this context, drinking alcohol is an acceptable practice and culture, both for men and women where it was observed by Mersault that Marie, his girlfriend à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦shed had a bit too much to drink (page 53). However, the fact that when Marie, commented, Do you know what time it is? It is half past eleven (page 53 The Outsider), a fact acknowledged by Masson when he responded, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the time to have lunch is when you are hungry (page 53 The Outsid er), indicates that for Masson, food is an individuals choice not regulated by expectations of a fixed schedule. At his home, Mersault appears to prefer à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ smoking, and eating chocolatesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ during mealtimes (page 26) The Outsider, while he watched the people below his flat from his veranda. In the text, Meursualt made contemplative observations of people that were dressed differently within the local community that went passed the street, He was wearing a straw hat and a bow tie and carrying a walking-stickà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ I understand why local people said he was distinguished (page 25-26). This reveals the distinct behaviour of Meursault alongside the normal behaviours of the culture. Similarly, Meursault was also recognised by the individuals that went passed the street, The local girls, with their hair down, were walking arms in armsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ I knew several of the girls and they waved to me. (page 27). Later in the evening Mersault went down to buy some bread and some pasta, did my cooking and I ate standing up (page 28, The Outsider), a posture of which is not dictated by conformist practice. Mersaults behaviour and insights reveal how individuals within the community stand out by their mere appearance that are easily recognisable that identifies them to be different or distinguishable. In addition, Meursault does fix his eating schedule by a particular time. This further confirms that he is an unplanned and disorganized person unlike the robot woman (page 45-46) The Outsider. The robot woman à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦while she was waiting for her hors doeuvre she opened her bagà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦took the exact sum plus a tipà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦meticulous task occupied her throughout the meal (page 46) The Outsider. The robot woman contradicts Meursaults character, in that he would rather follow his distinctiveness with regards to most of his decisions about when, how, where and what to eat. The robot women on the other hand, showed the characteristics of order and direction when she ordered her meal, She called Celeste over and ordered her whole meal at once, speaking precisely but rapidly. (page 46) of which afterwards she dived into her bag again and took out a blue pencil and a magazine which gave the radio programmes for the week. One by one, she very carefully ticked almost every programmeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (page 46). From this rigmarole, the robot womans actions seem to follow a set of routine. In the story, The Second Bakery Attack, the protagonists were newly married and did not pre-empt stocking food in their house, Our refrigerator contains not a single item that could be technically categorized as food (page 37). à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦a bottle of French dressing, six cans of beer, two shrivelled onions, a stick of butter, and a box refrigerator deodorizer (page 37). This is a symbol of how empty their lives are. Although they work, go to bed at set times, conforming to the routines of work, they are metaphorically, unsatisfied. The couples conformist behaviour seems to set them to their hunger. In order to find a cure to break their hunger, the couple opposed convention by robbing Mc Donalds, Attack another bakery. Right away. Now. Its the only way. (page 43). During the robbery, the manager of the store showed typical characteristics of conventionality by the requirements of conformation from the upper authority saying, I cant do that. Ill be held responsible if I close up w ithout permission (Page 46). From this, it shows that the larger majority of the culture such as the manager and workers are similar to the robot woman in that their lives are dictated by order and routine and only a very small proportion of people operate in a non-conformist mode. Finally, in The Wind-up Bird and Tuesdays Women, the protagonist cooks spaghetti for breakfast. He chooses to live outside the routine of the culture and this is reflected by his choice of cooking and eating spaghetti in the morning, Spaghetti?à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Its only ten-thirty in the morning. What are you doing cooking spaghetti at ten-thirty in the morning? (page 5, The Wind-Up Bird and Tuesdays Women) asked the woman who telephoned home for ten minutes of his time. In both The Elephant Vanishes by Haruki Murakami and The Outsider by Albert Camus, food are focused as a symbol that represents routine or an individuals desire to have freedom. The role of the characters is reflected in the type of food they chose to eat, where and when the repartee of food takes place. When any of these involvements of food varies, one can discern that these characters may be quirky, eccentric or stand-alone in their relationship to the larger culture. (Word Count: 1428)

Essay examples --

Ceramics are used extensively in dental restorations because of their superior aesthetics and biocompatibility compared to metals (1). However, the brittleness of ceramics can initiate crack propagation causing failure of the restoration (2). Resin cements are used for cementing ceramic restorations because of their excellent aesthetics and mechanical properties. The cement penetrates any defects or irregularities on the ceramic surface thereby preventing propagation of cracks (3, 4, 5). Optimal clinical performance depends on sufficient resin cement polymerisation. Degree of conversion (DC) is affected by the amount of light reaching the cement which in turn, is affected by the opacity and the thickness of the ceramic as well as the thickness of the resin cement layer. Insufficient polymerisation influences both mechanical properties and clinical performance of the restoration (2, 5). Aims of this study are to see how light transmission (LT) is affected by thickness or opacity of a ceramic and how resin cements thickness affects DC. Hypotheses are: (1) LT decreases with increasing thickness or opacity (2) DC would decrease with thicker cement samples. Method Shade A1, A2, A3 and A3.5 of Base Dentine VN7 powder (Vita, Bad SÃ ¤ckingen, Germany) were used. Ceramic disc thicknesses tested (measured using digital calliper) were 1.40, 1.00 and 0.60mm. Specimen preparation Twenty ceramics discs, five of each shade, were prepared by mixing 0.73g of powder with 0.29mL of Modelling Liquid (Vita, Bad SÃ ¤ckingen, Germany). The mixture was placed in a 1.60mm thick metal ring on a mould assembly and vibrated for 40 seconds. The surface was levelled using a razor blade before firing the discs in a furnace (Vita Vacumat 40, Bad SÃ ¤ckingen, Germ... ... the disc. LT through a ceramic disc would ultimately affect the polymerisation of resin cements. The second hypothesis that DC should decrease with increasing resin cement thickness layer is rejected as the graph showed that 1.00mm resin cement thickness had the greatest DC. A higher DC was seen with thinner resin cement specimens because there would be more LT and the photoinitiator in resin cements needs light to initiate the polymerisation reaction. A thicker resin cement layer would allow less light to reach the bottom so there would be less monomer to polymer conversion and resultantly, lower DC. However, very thin specimens may experience light reflectance which may affect the DC results. Conclusion LT through ceramics was measured and LT decreased with increasing thickness or opacity. DC appeared to increase when thicker resin cement samples were tested.

The decisive stage of Balkan civilisational development :: essays research papers

In the last decade of the 20th century, the Balkan region and the broader area of South Eastern Europe, a number of states with old traditions or new emerging transformations, have entered into a recurrent, historically decisive stage of their civilisational development. The characteristic parameters are: †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  an exceptional dynamism, instability and contradictory processes, events and phenomena; †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  noticeable and periodical ethnic - minority, confessional, territorial and other problems and contradictions which unfavorably influence the general stability of the region and mutual relations among the Balkan states; †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  non - equality of the countries from the region regarding the guarantees of their national security which depends on whether they are members of the European and Euro - Atlantic economic and political structures and organizations or not; †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  an imbalance in their arms and armed forces as a result of the accumulated differences in military and economic potentials of the states in the region and the old bioc approach to the composition and implementation of the agreements in this area; †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  periodically tense socio - economic problems and crises, which have turned into a characteristic feature of the internal political situation in the states of the region; †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  the strong aspirations of all countries in the region, bar none, towards an accelerated, full and equal integration into the European economic, political and military structures, combined with attempts at establishing and strengthening mutual confidence, cooperation and a general Balkan dialogue; †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  the continuing geo-political restructuring, both relations to the political powers in the countries of the region and in the sub - regional and regional levels. The basic factors from a political, economic, military and humanitarian point of view influencing the various components of the geo - political situation and security in the Balkans and South Eastern Europe at the end of the XX century, can be characterized by the fact that, in addition to their individual relevance, they most often occur in combination and are manifested with different strength and intensity in each Balkan State respectively. From a political aspect, this group of factors has the strongest effect on the changes in the geo - political status quo and preserves its leading role at the present. Some of the more relevant factors among these are the following: †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A major change in the geo - political configuration of the region and the appearance of a number of new sovereign and independent states as individual subjects in international relations; a new formula emerged: 11+2 states in the region (until the beginning of the 90's when there were 6+1);

Companies to Watch: The Gap and Nordstroms :: essays research papers fc

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I chose to research two very different apparel retail stores. The GAP, Inc. and Nordstrom, Inc. are very interesting companies to me because they deal with something that is very important to me and a lot of people, clothes. Everyone buys and wears clothes, and these are two companies who have succeeded in this venture. They both started out with the same intentions, to sell apparel through specialty stores, but at this point Nordstrom’s has been more successful.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In theory these two companies are very similar because they are trying to accomplish the same thing. They both sell apparel, shoes and accessories for women, men and children through specialty and clearance stores. The clearance stores mentioned are Nordstrom Rack and GAP factory outlet stores. They also stress the use of personalized customer service. The GAP and Nordstrom feel that good customer service is the way to keep customers happy and thus keep them loyal. Because of this, they have many employees to serve their customers and spend a lot of time training these employees.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  These companies are also set up in the same way. They each have a chairman, president, and a couple of vice presidents. They both operate on the New York Stock Exchange. Another interesting similarity is that they both are based out of the west coast, The GAP in San Francisco and Nordstrom in Seattle. But this is where the similarities end.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The sizes of these two companies are very different. The GAP is a global retailer with about 3,700 stores and 166,000 employees worldwide. Nordstrom on the other hand has about 77 stores nationwide and 43,000 employees. It does operate one international boutique, Faconnable, mainly in Europe. The GAP has three brands including GAP, Banana Republic and Old Navy, all operating in their own stores. Because of this huge difference in size, the GAP has much higher revenue than Nordstrom, but this doesn’t mean that it’s a better company.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the news lately, the GAP has been under a lot of scrutiny because its sales have been down so much causing their credit rating to lower as well. Investors feel that this is due to the sharp slowdown in consumer spending, growing competition and series of fashion misses. It has too many stores open to sustain this major hit on sales. They have very little debt, but analysts think that this combination spells a future bankruptcy.

Hallstead Jewelers Case Study

Submitted by Yellow Team Eunice King Ronda Klassen Joshua Krupnick Larry McCraw Ronald Mills BUS 5431 Managerial Accounting Professor Nancy Shoemake April 18, 2010 1. 0Summary Hallstead Jewelers was one of the largest jewelry and gift stores in the United States for 83 years. Customers came from throughout the region to buy from extensive collections in each department. Any gift from Hallstead’s had an extra cache attached to it as they were known for having the best. Even though the principal retail shopping areas shifted two blocks west, Hallstead’s reputation and selection still brought in customers. In 1999 however, sales became stagnate and profits were starting to slip. The owners (two sisters, Gretchen and Michaela) made several changes in an effort to revitalize the store back to its full glory. The largest decision they made was to move the stores location, expanding it by 50% more space and selling staff. This move resulted in a five-year lease as well as extensive and expensive renovations. They also made some changes in product offerings and offered more sales potential at the cost of minor reductions in margins. During the year it took to complete the Hallstead’s renovation the industry started showing major changes toward internet based jewelry sales. Tiffany & Company, a business with an origin much like Hallstead Jewelers, grew into an international powerhouse. At the same time, a start-up internet seller, Blue Nile, became the second largest diamond seller in the U. S. While Hallstead’s was growing their fixed costs by doubling their rent payments, Tiffany and Blue Nile were increasing their revenue with â€Å"virtual† storefronts allowing them to increase sales with very little increase in expense. In an effort to explore ideas in strategy that would return the business to profitability, the sisters compiled some questions for their accountant to analyze using some additional operating statistics. The following answers will take a deeper look into the mechanics of the business and provide Gretchen and Michaela with recommendations to get their business back on track. 2. Changes in Breakeven and Margin of Safety The following table shows that while the breakeven in both sales dollars and number of sales tickets has continued to rise from 2003, to 2004, and to 2006, the margin of safety has decreased over the same period of time. What caused this change? 3. 0Reduction in Price One idea the consultant had was to reduce prices to bring i n more customers. The following table illustrates that by reducing prices 10% and increasing sales to 7,500 tickets, the company’s operating income significantly decreases, losing an additional $580K over the previous year’s income/loss. Breakeven in sales tickets is 9,337 – an increase of 1,832 from the previous year. Breakeven in sales dollars increases $1. 47 million to a total of $13. 12 million needed. 4. 0Elimination of Sales Commissions Another idea that Gretchen had was to eliminate sales commissions even though both her Grandfather and Father insisted that commissions were one of the reasons for their success in the past. The figure below illustrates that the elimination of sales commission greatly affects operating income. By eliminating the sales commission in a projection of the three previously reported years, we can see that operating income is in the positive for all three periods. Although Gretchen’s father and grandfather perceived commission to give them a competitive edge, calculations prove that the commission payments are definitely hurting Halstead’s bottom line. Further consideration should be given to eliminate them if possible. 5. 0Advertising Michaela felt that a bigger store could benefit from greater advertising and suggested that advertising be increased by $200,000. If advertising expenses were increased by $200,000, the breakeven point in both sales dollars and sales tickets would increase. For Fiscal Year (FY) 2006, Hallstead spent $257,000 on advertising. If this were increased to $457,000, the breakeven point would be as follows: Breakeven in sales tickets = Breakeven sales dollars / Average sales tickets 7,805 = $12,120,525. 73 / $1,553 Breakeven in sales dollars = Total Fixed Costs / Contribution margin ratio $12,120,525. 73 = $5,211,000 / 0. 430 The affect of the increases in advertising expenditures on the breakeven point in sales dollars would be an increase from $11,655,335. 72 to $12,120,525. 73, a difference of $465,190. 01. It would probably be a good idea for Hallstead Jewelers to try the increase in advertising. Although the company is currently struggling with a negative operating income, the increase in breakeven dollars is relatively nominal. Competition from much larger companies, such as Tiffany & Company, as well as internet jewelry sales from companies such as Blue Nile has taken some of their business. Perhaps some of this increased advertising budget should be spent on expanding their business to the internet and advertising there; allowing Hallstead to compete more directly with Blue Nile and boost sales. Increased advertising may also help bring in more customers who are not yet aware of the company’s new Washington St. location and larger renovated store. 6. 0Average Sales Tickets The following overview takes a look at how much the average sales ticket would have to increase to breakeven if the fixed cost remained the same in 2007 as it was in 2006. Average sales ticket for 2006 is $1,553 @ 6,897 tickets for an Operating loss of $406,000. †¢# of tickets x Average sales ticket = Sales revenue †¢6,897 tickets x $1,553 = $10,711,041 †¢Average ticket sale dollar amount needed to break even = Sales revenue needed to break even / # of sales tickets for 2006 †¢Average ticket sale dollar amount needed to break even = (Fixed Cost / Contribution Margin Ratio) / # of sales tickets for 2006 †¢Average ticket sale dollar amount needed to break even = ($5,011,000 / 0. 43) / 6,897 †¢Average ticket sale dollar amount needed to break even = $1689. 2 †¢Average sales ticket increase to break-even = Average ticket sale needed to break even – Average sales ticket for 2006 †¢Average sales ticket increase to break-even = $1690 – $1,553 = $137 By reducing prices 10% and increasing sales to 7,500 tickets, the company’s operating income significantly decreases, losing an additional $580K over the previous year’s income/loss. Breakeven in sales tickets is 9,337 – an increase of 1,832 from the previous year. Breakeven in sales dollars raises $1. 47 million to a total of $13. 12 million needed. 7. 0Recommendations In our analysis of Hallstead Jewelers we found that Income was steadily declining and the move to the new location, with increased fixed costs, resulted in a loss for 2006. We implemented several options to see what variances would occur. A consultant recommended a 10% reduction in prices which would lead to an increase in sales. We showed this to be a bad idea as operating income significantly decreased with the price reduction. Another idea was to eliminate sales commission. Eliminating sales commission greatly enhanced operating income and resulted in positive operating income for all three years. Michaela suggested increasing the advertising budget by $200,000. Increasing the advertising budget increased the breakeven in sales dollars by $465,190; if increasing the advertising budget results in increased sales it would be justifiable. Based on our analysis of Hallstead Jewelers we would recommend that they discontinue the practice of paying sales commissions. Although Gretchen’s father and grandfather perceived sales commission to give them a competitive edge and drive sales, calculations prove that the commission payments are definitely hurting Halstead’s bottom line. Elimination of sales commission in 2006 would have resulted in $1,215,184 less in breakeven sales dollars. The company's name and reputation should be asset enough to drive Hallstead Jewelers sales. In addition, we would recommend Hallstead Jewelers use $200,000 from the elimination of the sales commissions and apply it to increasing the advertisement budget combating stiff competition from large retailers such as Tiffany and Company and the internet business, Blue Nile. The increased advertising budget should be assessed on an annual basis to validate its effectiveness. Works Cited Jiambalvo, James. Managerial Accounting 4th ed. New Jersey: John Wiley, 2010. â€Å"Break-Even Analysis. † Wikipedia Online http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Break_even_analysis. (11 APR. 2010) â€Å"Contribution Margin. † Wikipedia Online http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Contribution_margin. (10 APR. 2010)

Sample Financial Plan Description

We have created a financial plan to help you retire at the age of 62 and afford to send your son, Sam, to college. After looking at the information you gave us regarding your income and expenses, we came up with the best solution for your financial future. We’ve picked out profitable mutual funds for your son’s college, as well as retirement investments. We also have found different methods of saving money for your retirement and future education for your son. We believe that there will be a great benefit to having a financially stable future. We understand with Sam attending a four-year university, the cost will be great along with the need for saving money for this to work financially. Grand Valley State University will provide an excellent education for your son, along with benefiting him for his future. Overall, it will cost $189,750 to attend Grand Valley State University for four years. We do, however, understand that the cost to attend the university may concern you at first, but there are methods of assistance that are available, such as investments and savings plans. Investing in specific funds, with good performance history, will have a huge advantage in acquiring the money for your son to go to college. We strongly advise investing a portion of your discretionary income into mutual funds. Your discretionary income would be the amount of your income that is left over, after taxes and expenses have been paid. Investing in mutual funds, rather than other investment options, will eliminate the stress and difficultly of trying to time the market. We invested 46% of your discretionary income into four different types of mutual funds, which will provide diversification for your investments. Using a MET and/or a MESP savings plan will create many advantages that will benefit you in sending your son to college. Both, the MET and MESP savings plan, are 529 plans. These are tax-advantaged savings plans specifically designed to encourage saving for future college costs. You are not able to withdraw money that is invested into a 529 plan unless it is an eligible college expense. We feel as though it is a benefit for most because it allows the money to amass without disturbance. The Michigan Education Trust (MET) is a way to help pay tuition and mandatory fees at Michigan public colleges. The plan allows for years of college tuition to be purchased for the future use of a student at today’s price. For example, you could buy four years of tuition now at 2011 prices, which would be $189,750, for Sam to use when he enters college in 2028. Some advantages the MET offers are a state tax deduction and a tax-free growth. The only thing that we want to bring to your attention is that you only have fifteen years to use the tuition benefits, unlike the MESP, which has no expiration date. The Michigan Education Savings Plan (MESP) is an advantageous way to allow your family to save for the expenses that come along with college. The MESP is a 529 college savings plan which allows families to save for tuition, room & board, mandatory fees, equipment, and required books for any qualified institution in the nation and some abroad. When the student is ready to use the funds in the MESP, whatever has been accumulated is what they have to work with. Some benefits of the MESP include: a state tax deduction, tax-free growth, and it allows for unused benefits to be transferred between members of the same family. We would recommend this plan over the MET to your family. The MET will cover tuition fees; although, it lacks the flexibility to pay for other related expenses, such as books, supplies, and other miscellaneous items. A mutual fund is an investment in which a company brings together money from many investors and invests it in stocks, bonds or other assets. Mutual funds are a good long-term investment, such as for your retirement. The risk level depends on the type of mutual fund it is. In your case, we chose the mutual fund with the best performance out of each different type. We recommend taking the remaining portion of your discretionary income, which would be 54%, and invest it just as we did for your son’s education. Mutual funds that are properly diversified will have investment dollars spread equally among four different classes of financial assets. We invested the remaining portion of your discretionary income into the same four mutual funds that were used for your college savings. We chose to invest in an international mutual fund, the New World Fund, which has a 9. 55% rate of return. We also chose an aggressive growth mutual fund, the SMALLCAP World Fund, which has a 9. 62% rate of return. Thirdly, we invested in a growth mutual fund with a 13. 63% rate of return, known as the Growth Fund of America. And lastly, we chose a Growth and Income mutual fund, the Capital World Growth and Income Fund, with has an 11. 17% rate of return. When diversifying the money in which you would like to invest, the smartest decision that you could make would be to invest in the four mutual funds that I just stated or funds that fit into each of the four different classes. This helps to reduce risk, such as if a couple securities in the mutual fund lose value and that loss could compensate for other securities that appreciate in value. When reaching the retirement age you can then transfer your gained revenue from all four of your mutual funds and place it into a bond fund. Bond mutual funds are designed mostly to provide investors with a steady stream of income versus capital gains. These funds are debt securities, or IOUs, which are issued with a promise of repayment on a certain date at a specified rate of interest. For your financial plan, all of your gained revenue was placed into a bond mutual fund as soon as you retired, therefore liquidating your riskier assets. Using this bond fund, you are earning a 5% interest every year. For example, the first year of retirement, after removing your yearly expenses, you will have $678,785 to place in your bond fund. At the end of the year, with the 5% interest rate of return on bond fund, you will have profited $1,139. 70 throughout the year, even after your expenses. We recommend that you invest in at least one retirement savings plan, such as a 401k or a Roth IRA, to securely save for retirement. It is a good idea to look into different savings plans, rather than make a hasty decision, because everyone benefits from a different savings plan, depending on their situation. In your case, the Roth IRA or 401k will be the most beneficial. With both of these retirement savings plans there are tax breaks that will benefit you. These savings plans are greatly used in America to help save for retirement nowadays. Each savings plan offers different advantages for couples saving for retirement. A 401k is a retirement savings plan for employees in which a desired amount of your check is taken out before tax deductions and placed into your 401k account. We understand that you have a pension plan through work, but your wife does not. This type of savings plan would be a great way to save for retirement. 401k is the favorite plan for corporate America today, due to its many advantages. Many employers will match, up to a certain percentage, the amount in which you place into your 401k. Invisible savings is one of the biggest advantages to the 401k savings plan. The money saved is taken directly out of you check weekly, even before the income tax is withdrawn. In doing so, this makes the money seem invisible to your eyes, and to your financial pocket book. There are other beneficial savings plans available, which can be used along with the 401k. Roth IRA’s are after- tax IRA’s. They grow tax free and offer many more choices than the normal IRA. Roth IRA’s are a good choice when it comes to saving for retirement. Even though you contribute after-tax dollars into a Roth IRA, all withdraws are completely tax free if you are over the age of 59 ? and have had the account for 5 years. With Roth IRA’s, unlike a tradition IRA or a 401k plan, there are no required minimum distributions. Direct contributions can be withdrawn at any time as well. Roth IRA’s can be set up on top of already existing retirement plans; as well the assets can be passed onto beneficiaries after death, therefore leaving an inheritance for your family. We are sure that we have supplied you with a detailed overview in helping you to be financially secure now and in the future. In taking the advice that we have given you with these many different investment ideas, you will find yourself more than content financially. We can guarantee that down the road, you will not have to worry about your financial status. Although in actuality, it is important to remember that building wealth takes time. However, the acquisition of your financial contentment will be well worth your time. We hope, here at L&N Financial Planning, that providing you with this letter will give you the financial peace of mind that you and your family deserve.

Leading & Managing People †Expatriate Essay

Multinational firms throughout the world are increasingly concerned about hiring, developing and retaining managers with international experience and global perspectives† quoted by Briscoe and Schuler in 2004. This report will be focusing on variety of issues relating to Human Resource implications which faced by the expatriate working in MNC located in Malaysia as well as Malaysian working in overseas. The extraction will be from the most recent newspaper, journal and articles relating to the following topics in human resource management. 1) Expatriate Failure and the Selection policy 2) Training and development for cross-cultural 3) Performance appraisal for expatriate The expatriation was subjugated by professionals sent by their employers to foreign subsidiaries or headquarters. 3. 0 KEY ISSUES AND ANALYSIS 3. 1 Expatriate Failure and the Selection policy Expatriate facade many new challenges both in the workplace and the community. For instance, culture shock differences in work-related norms, isolation, homesick, housing, schooling, language, customs, cost of living and coping with his/her spouse’s problems of adapting to new environment. According to Stone(2008), research indicates that a manager’s inability to adapt or their partner’s inability to adapt is the major cause of expatriate failure. Harvey(1983) cited the consequence include premature return from a foreign posting and high resignation rates, with expatriates leaving their company at about twice the rate of domestic managements. Tung (1987) expounded the three main reasons contributing to the failure of expatriates in US MNC is as follows:- * the inability of the manager’s spouse to adjust to a different physical or cultural environment; * the manager’s inability to adapt to a different physical or cultural environment; * other family-related problems. One study by International Orientation Resources, an HRM consulting firm, found that 60 percent of expatriate failures occur due to these three reasons too(Solomon,1994). Besides the above mentioned reasons, include inappropriate selection practices, inadequate preparation and training as well as the stresses associated with expatriation which identified by New Zealand research (Enderwick and Hodgson, 1993). Another critical reason is the cross-cultural communications can be a struggle for the international manager. Gestures, facial expressions, behaviour and words can have different meanings and connotations. China, Korea and Japanese have high-context cultures where considerable importance is given to non-verbal and situational cues. In contrast, Australia, Canada, the US and Britain have low-context cultures where what is said is what it meant(Stone,2008). In contrast, some Malaysians who work aboard feel that the grass is greener on the other side. In Appendix A, this article highlighted the reasons why some Malaysian prefer to remain overseas. Due to higher paid, to widen their horizons, the prestige of working in a foreign company and the quality of life is unbeatable. The expatriate is unable to adapt in the foreign environment due to lack of cultural skills. According to HRM consulting firm, this is because the expatriate selection process at many organisations is essentially flawed (Solomon, 2000). Expatriates failed because these three focal reasons which mentioned by Tung that have not been part of the selection process. The underlying message was that the family is the basic unit of expatriation, not the individual. The MNC needs to look into this matter seriously in order to reduce expatriate failure. 3. 2 Training and development for cross-cultural Many companies including MNC have been ignored on providing training for employees whether local or global organisations. MNC recruits expatriate based on technical competence and past job performance as the key selection criteria and assumed the expatriate is able to adapt in the country where he was posted. MNC should not take them for granted. They should be pre-prepared by providing orientation, training on the cultural, language and living skill in the host country. Shown in Appendix D, expatriate reports interviewed an expatriate working in Nanchang, China on how significant was the culture shock he experienced when he moved abroad? He replied that quite significant and hard to adapt to the Chinese food and people spitting on the streets. Certainly, at the initial stage every expatriate will face cultural shock difference which may lead to miscommunication, misunderstanding and misinterpretation. Then directly he will be unproductive, inefficiency and faces expatriate failure. The MNC has to recruit a new manager to replace him which will be time consuming and have to repeat the process of selection and hiring. The MNC requires the expatriate to train the local employees in the host-country by transferring his knowledge and skills to them so that they are able to be independent and step into the positions/responsibilities within the shortest possible time. The article in Appendix B highlighted Malaysia government will review the education system to produce talent needed for an advanced nation and also perks to lure home highly skilled Malaysians (brain drain) and retain global talent to develop a quality workforce. Even our government recognise the essential of education/training to develop our highly skilled employees that are not only vital to the companies but also making the nation into globally competitive and transforming it as the high-income economy for instance Singapore, HK and Shanghai. 3. Performance appraisal for expatriate Stone (2008) cited that performance appraisal is a matter of serious concern for many expatriates. This is because performance appraisal is often handled badly. Companies fail to take into account the added complexities that come with international appraisals. Key issues involving performance expectations, performance measures and who will be responsible for the conduct of the appraisals are left vague or undecided. Worse, some head office managers ignore the international appraisal and do not incorporate it into the career development process. The end result is that expatriates perceive the appraisal process as unfair and as a source of never-ending frustration. Groeschi (2003) quotes that a number of comparative international and cross-cultural management research projects have concluded that HRM is influenced by culture. He also highlighted the same HRM policy is likely to be attributed quite different meanings by different cultural groups for instance performance appraisal. An organisation’s performance appraisal systems are an important element of its control systems, which is a central component of organisation architecture (see Figure 1 as below). In many international companies, the thorny issue is how best to evaluate the performance of expatriate managers (Hill, 2009). During the appraisal evaluation for the expatriate, there are two groups who evaluate the performance of expatriate managers. They are host-nation manager and home-office managers whom are subject to bias. The host-nation managers may be biased by their own cultural frame of reference and expectations. On the other hand, home-country mangers’ appraisals may be biased by distance and by their own lack of experience working abroad. Home-office managers often not aware of what is going on in a foreign operation and they tend to rely on hard data in evaluating an expatriate’s performance, such as the productivity, revenues, profitability or market share which reflect factors outside the expatriate’s control. Due to such biases, many expatriate managers believe that headquarters management evaluates them unfairly and does not fully appreciate the value of their skills and experience. It also one of the reasons many of them believe a foreign posting does not benefit their careers (Hill, 2009). 4. 0 RECOMMENDATION 4. 1 Expatriate Failure and the Selection policy Managing a MNC provides a diversity of challenges which the crucial one will be how the parent-company will recruit potential expatriate to manage their off-shore operations affiliates/subsidiaries. Selection of the expatriate must be right at the first time although time and resources consuming in reviewing and evaluating all the potential candidates follow by filtering them. The expatriate should not be selected based on technical competence and past job performance as the key selection criteria. Expatriate failure in many cases is the result of a lack of personal adjustment rather than a lack of technical skills. Harvey (1997) cited furthermore, research shows that in many companies expatriate selection is often haphazard and irrational. Organisations need to understand that in choosing expatriates, they should take into account differences in the business, social and cultural environment in the specific country and the impact on the potential expatriate, spouse and dependants (Stone, 2008). Stone’s (1991) study found that both local managers and expatriate managers perceive the essential selection criteria as the expatriate’s ability to adapt and the adaptability of the partner and family. 4. Training and management development for cross-cultural According to Hill (2009), superior performance requires not only strategy must also be supported by the right organisation architecture. Strategy is implemented through organisation. In Figure 1, people are the linchpin of a firm’s organisation architecture. For a firm to outperform its rivals in the global marketplace, it must have the right people in the right postings. Those people must be trained appropriately so they have the skill sets required to perform their jobs effectively and so they behave in a manner that is congruent with the desired culture of the firm. The following trainings are recommended for MNCs’ expatriates:- * Cross-Culture Training prior to departure The purpose of this training allows individuals to more rapidly adjust to the new culture before departing to host-country, and therefore, to be more effective in their new roles (Black and Mendenhall, 1990). It has been widely recognised for more than 20 years that the partners and children of expatriates play an important role in contributing to the success of expatriate assignments (Fukuda and Chu, 1994; Rahim, 1983) Cultural, Language and Practical(Living Skill) trainings * These trainings are helping to control and reduce expatriate failures. There is no question that comprehensive cultural training can have many benefits for MNCs. For starters, it can help orient and develop expatriates to better communicate, understand, and work effectively with people from different cultural, religious, and ethnic backgrounds. Comprehending and valuing cultural differences can al so help expatriates in the effective management of multi-cultural teams. Understanding global markets, customers, suppliers, and competitors is another indirect benefit. Pragmatically, cultural training can have a positive impact on combating very expensive expatriate failure (Luthans, 2002). Their spouse adaption problem, it is important that the spouse and the whole family to be included in this training * Language training usually conducted in host-country’s language. When the expatriate willing to communicate in the host-country language(even not fluent), can help build rapport with local employees and improve the manager’s effectiveness. * Benefit of practical training in helping the expatriate manager and family ease themselves into daily life in the host country. The expatriate community group can be a great source of support and information sharing in helping the expatriate’s family adapt to a foreign culture. 4. 3 Performance appraisal for expatriate To overcome the expatriate’s frustration and problems, the HR manager needs to ensure that the following key issues are clarified before the expatriate begins an overseas assignment:- * What are the organisation’s performance expectations? * What criteria and standards will be used to measure performance? * Who will conduct the evaluation – a local manager, a head office manager or both? * What will be the frequency of the appraisals? What consideration will be given to local environmental influence? (for example, volatility of foreign exchange rate fluctuations, availability of skilled labour, political instability, corruption and so on) * Is the appraisal positively incorporated into the career development process? * Are head office managers cognisant of the local business environment? * Are there any cultural influences that may distort the measurement of the expatriate’s performance? In order to overcome the biases of the two groups who evaluate the expatriate managers’ performance, it is recommended to implement 360-degree feedback.