Fundamental Reasons For Lobbyist Reform Term Paper

Fundamental Reasons For Lobbyist Reform - Term Paper Example TBTF banks, GM, Chrysler, AIG, and other important American companies received aid from the Treasury in the form of stimulus money intended to address the root causes of the problem in losses stemming from the real estate melt-down. After review, it is believed that the undue lobbyist interest by the same companies that received financing from these programs, as well as from the Federal Reserve directly via Quantitative Easing, may have influenced or even corrupted the process through which legislation was written concerning their own industry. Furthermore, the same influences were also seen during the process during which the Health Care Reform was passed. These issues point to a larger cause in the need for lobbyist reform. The most fundamental reason for this is to remove the possible conflict of interest in legislation, but this issue may also be seen as protecting the greater democratic system as well as making the administration’s own work more effective in legislation and reform. 1. In the examples of the Wall St. Rescue Package, TARP, and the stimulus packages implemented to assist the economy, Time magazine reported, â€Å"the legislation, which would bring more change to Wall Street than anything else enacted since the New Deal, was a Super Bowl for lobbyists.† (Brill, 2010) In analyzing the way that lobbyists from Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Bank of America, Citi, and other TBTF banks contributed soft money to the political process to buy influence in legislation, it reflects badly on the Administration and democratic process in America, and through this, encourages the Administration to support reform of lobbyists in Washington. 2. In the example of Financial Sector reform, the same companies and others, including major leaders in the industry, finance, and banking have influenced the process unduly.

Electronic Medical Records Essay Example for Free

Electronic Medical Records Essay Electronic Medical Records (EMR) are becoming more widely used across the healthcare spectrum. One of the reasons for their popularity is the potential that is presented for increasing the quality of care delivered to patients by decreasing handwriting interpretation errors, reducing medication administration errors and eliminating lost charts. Time management is a crucial skill to have as a nurse. It allows for a smooth workflow which translates into quality patient care. Much time can be wasted not only by the nurse signing off illegible handwritten orders, but also by the other nurses that have to help interpret the handwriting. The EMR requires the physician to enter orders electronically, thereby eliminating handwritten orders. Electronic orders are more precise and more accurately followed (Sokol, 2006). Fewer errors make it to the patient, reducing unnecessary tests and increasing the quality of care that patients are receiving. Electronic medication administration records (MAR) are useful in displaying medications due at specific times. Not only is it possible to sort the medications due at one time, the MAR will also alert the nurse to potential drug interactions. Late medications will be displayed in red to be easily seen. If bar coding is implemented, medication errors can be reduced by a range of 60%-97% (Hunter, 2011). A lost chart can be very frustrating while trying to deliver seamless care to a patient. Paper charts are easily misplaced. Since there is only one, if a single provider is using it, no one else of the medical team can view the chart. The EMR can be viewed from any computer with secure internet access or on a handheld device. When the internet is down, a downtime view only access is available. Nursing Involvement Nurses are known as patient advocates. In advocating for their patients, nurses strive for what is best in their patient’s care. Since nurses will be using the EMR most frequently, it is imperative that they are part of the selection and implementation on an EMR. A nurse, on the EMR team, will represent all nursing. Nurses will be accessing the EMR through their shift several times and will become familiar with the layout and workflow and will be able to provide insight into what would work best to ensure quality of care. There is a saying that you don’t know what you don’t know. A nurse knows what she will need and is the best to supply this information. While researching which EMR would be the best for a facility, a nurse can provide information on time saving workflows between systems. Nurses must also be trained as super users to provide a seamless change from paper charting to electronic charting and provide support to fellow nursing staff. A nurse on the EMR team will be able to deliver new information in a way that other nurses are more receptive to. Handheld Devices If nurses were to use handheld devices in delivery of patient care, there would be a noticeable savings of time as well as more accurate charting. Nursing personnel carrying a handheld device would have immediate access to their patients chart to notice new orders, lab results, or medication admission records. The need to review the paper chart repeatedly throughout the day would be eliminated along with the long search that commences every time you have to look for the paper chart. This could add several minutes to a nurse’s time at the bedside, improving patient satisfaction. When vital signs are taken, written on a slip of paper and then transcribed into the paper chart, there are many opportunities for error and delay. Numbers can be transposed, written incorrectly or the wrong patient’s information could go into a chart. With the immediate availability of a handheld device, the information from the vital signs monitor would have the ability to interface into the patient’s chart virtually eliminating late charting and errors. Security Standards The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was initiated in 1996 as a standard for protecting individually identifiable health information (U. S. Department of Health and Human Services). HIPAA requires that all information, either written or electronically, that falls under the criteria is protected from unauthorized viewers. An EMR carries more stringent HIPAA guidelines than a paper chart due to the risks associated with computer based files and there are a few key steps that must be taken to ensure compliance with this act. Access control: each user will have a unique user name and password that must not be shared. Firewall protection must be used on the internet server the hospital utilizes to prevent hackers from obtaining access to protected information. If users are authorized to access patient information from home, there must be a secure server used (Arevalo, 2007). Storage: Data must be encrypted to enhance the security while information is being stored and while it is transferred. Encryption entails protection of files and data that is only viewable to authorized users. Compliance of these regulations should be audited on a regular basis with any violation being swiftly remedied (Medical Records, 2013). Healthcare Costs Purchasing an EMR can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. In order to justify such a large purchase, one must examine the potential ways that money can be saved while using an EMR. After spending hours training users and with a little practice, nurse’s workflows will improve and less time will be wasted. A chart will not have to be searched for, double or triple charting is eliminated by using handheld devices for immediate charting. The quality assurance team will be able to run reports on compliance of core measures and be able to recommend changes to nursing personnel to implement. Fewer medication errors will be made by using the electronic MAR. Most importantly, these time and money saving factors will enhance patient safety. With fewer paper charts to store, valuable space can be remodeled into patient care areas that offer services not previously offered due to space issues (Power, 2013). This will increase revenue for the facility. Comparison Epic offers a computerized management system that is utilized by everyone in the healthcare setting including, nurses, nurse aids, physicians, dietary, radiology, emergency department and the business office. Each department will have a unique look and functionality to their program. There is no need to use multiple systems to gather information on a patient. It can be used in medium size ambulatory settings such as a clinic as well as in a hospital setting for either inpatients or outpatients. With all departments having access to the same information on a patient, errors will be reduced in delivery of patient care. The chance for entering erroneous lab results or miss- documentation will also be reduced with department specific workflows. Not only will this result in better patient care, but also in a nurse’s ability to delivery effective, efficient, quality care without delay. In addition, all physician order entry is electronic, every time. Order sets can be customized for each prescriber, saving time and hassle while maintaining meaningful use and following core measures. For added security, the system can be set to automatically sign a user out after a specified length of time of non-use. And while all of the patient’s information is available to each user, audit trails are left enhancing patient security. Epic has pre-loaded patient teaching materials available as well as the option to custom make information. After visit summaries are easily printed upon discharge and an electronic copy is permanently attached to the chart. Patient would benefit from a facility the uses the Epic system by having access to MyChart. MyChart is a portal of access between a patient and their provider for communication as well as a portable computerized health record. IF a patient were to access care from a facility that does not utilize the Epic system, that patient would have access to MyChart and would then be able to provide critical information that would enhance their care. Another computerized management system available is one from Cerner. This system can be used in all settings in a hospital including nursing. For medication administration, Cerner has available barcode identification of medication to help nursing staff complete their five rights verification prior to administration. It also allows charting at the bedside to enhance accuracy either through a handheld device or a stationary computer. All order entry by physicians is done on the computer allowing the providers to follow built in prompts for allergy information and adverse drug interactions as well as prompts that will aid in the order of care protocols to enhance patient care. Cerner also has a portal designed for patient to have access to their records no matter where they are as well as tracking information for health goals a patient and their provider have established. The portal allows progress tracking and provides information on steps that can be used to help the patient reach their goals. This gives patients more responsibility for their health while providing the incentive needed. Nursing care will be escalated similarly to the way it would be in Epic. Patient information is easily accessible through intuitive workflows allowing nursing staff to make responsible decisions regarding patient care. My recommendation for a computerized management system would be the one available from Cerner. It is the most user friendly for staff including nursing and offers intensive training and yearly upgrades. The different departments systems appear to work together seamlessly resulting in increased savings of time and money (Cerner, 2013).

Youth Justice And The Medias Society Criminology Essay

Youth Justice And The Medias Society Criminology Essay This essay will start by highlighting how the media may shape societys response to young people who break the law through the moral panic model. The medias role will be outlined and youth crime data summarised. The urban disturbances of the early 1990s and the death of James Bulger will both be discussed in turn. In both cases a description of the event will be followed by an outline of the media response, identifying elements typical within the moral panic model. An attempt will be made to understand the reaction of society to media representations associated with young law breakers. Finally, in each case the action undertaken by the agents of control will be examined. This essay will attempt to construct arguments challenging this model throughout, and suggest that moral panics may also have sources within societys elite through hegemony. It is acknowledged that arguments surrounding hegemony may link in to the groundbreaking youth justice legislation of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, introduced after the period discussed in this essay. The impact of this legislation is acknowledged, however for the purposes of the media and societys response to young people who break the law it will not be discussed. The Moral Panic A moral panic may be outlined as the identification of a threat, for example to social values. This threat is simplified by the media with distorted representation resulting in raised social anxiety. Agents of control respond, resulting in either the panic diminishing or social changes taking place (Thompson cited in Newburn 2007 p95). The deviancy amplification cycle describes how heightened deviance may be attributed to stigma arising from media exaggeration or the treatment from agents of control (Brown 2005, Cohen 2002). Young highlights how this may quickly create problems through exaggerating an outsider lifestyle (Young cited in Kidd-Hewitt 2002 p119). Although studied by Jock Young in 1971 (Kidd-Hewitt 2002), Stanley Cohens Folk Devils and Moral Panics (1972) was described as the first systematic empirical study of a moral panic in Britain (Muncie 2004 p119). Cohens study of Mods and Rockers in Clacton during the Easter bank holiday in 1964 argued a clear relationship between young law breakers, the media, the general public and the police. Cohens work may be associated with Tannenbaums labelling and Lemerts primary and secondary deviance, all with origins in Mead and Cooleys symbolic interactionism (Newburn 2007). The media have constructed and processed information and ideas regarding deviancy since the industrial age, meaning society usually experience this commercially and politically constrained representation of deviance second hand (Cohen 2003). Hall et al (1978) explain how the media may have an assumed objectivity and frequently communicate an assumed social consensus, but they often have structured access to elite interests or primary definers, and reproduce their biased message. Cohen outlines elements which may appear in the media as stereotyping and stigmatising, a moral emphasis, and the requirement for further action. Information may be exaggerated and the use of symbols may be apparent with deviance represented through identifiable items such as clothing (Cohen 2002). Attitudes that may arise in a moral panic include the perception a disaster has occurred, the prophecy of doom (Cohen 2002 p38) where it is perceived events will happen again, and how at the height of a moral panic other unrelated events may be presented as connected. Perceived origins of a panic may include behaviour being likened to a disease, spreading and infecting. Nostalgia may appear along with disillusionment at the way things have become, impulsive activities may be described as premeditated, and behaviours may be perceived as newly developed (Cohen 2002). Youth Crime The ability of the media to influence public views of youth crime (Allen 2004 cited in Smith 2007) is evident through a rise in crime perceived by the majority of individuals who cited the media as a key information source (Hough and Roberts 2004). This is illustrated by 89 per cent of offenders known to the police being over the age of 18 yet nearly a third of survey respondent attributed most crime to children (Smith 2007). It is also suggested respondents perceived an exaggerated risk of being a crime victim (Goldson 2002 p391). It is advised that crime data should be treated with caution because an exact figure of occurrences does not exist (Tierney 2006). 20 per cent of the 5.4 million recorded crimes in 2006/07 were attributed to 10 to 17 year olds (Newburn 2007, Nicholas et al 2007) and approximately 80,000 crimes per annum are accountable to other agencies. These figures are not included in official crime data, along with 40 per cent of police reported crimes (Maguire 2002). Youth crime declined overall between 1985 and 1993 (Newburn 2002 cited in France) with relative consistency between 1993 and 2000 (Flood-Page et al 2000 cited in France). Offender and victim surveys highlight crimes not included in official data the dark figure (Newburn 2007) with estimated rates varying from eleven times more crime occurrences (Sparks et al 1977 cited in Tierney 2006) to a figure 39 times greater (Farrington et al 2006). Some crimes frequently undertaken by children have a smaller dark figure meaning proportionately more youth crime may be included in crime data. Crimes associated with younger people have estimated occurrences per actual conviction of six times for burglary, 77 for shoplifting and 132 for assault. Crimes associated with older offenders have rates of 809 occurrences per conviction for fraud, and 1463 for thefts from work (Farrington et al 2006). Early 1990s Urban Disturbances During the 1970s ideas surrounding the majority of crime being committed by a minority of individuals emerged from the Magistrates Association (Muncie 2004) and strategies during the 1980s were partly responsible for a reduction in youth crime (Pitts 2001). This increased sharply in the early 1990s by 111 per cent (Pitts 2001) and the Criminal Justice Act 1991 introduced an increasingly desert based sentencing policy, limiting the ability to consider previous crimes (Thomas 2003). From mid 1991 urban youth disturbances emerged from Cardiff, Oxford and in Newcastle notably on the Meadowell Estate where two young car thieves died in a police chase (Newburn 2007). These disturbances involved car related crime and resulted in conflict primarily between male youth and the police, and resulting in many arrests (Brown 2005). Individual younger children, identified by pseudonyms also appeared to be participating in unrelated activities such as domestic burglary Wykes (2001) argues that the poverty, substance misuse and lack of opportunity particularly experienced by the socially excluded Meadowell youth was largely ignored by the media. This supports Jewkes argument that the juvenile cultural resistance suggested by Cohens model may be exaggerated as a primary source of continued deviance (cited in Newburn 2007). The Media Exaggerated and distorted communication may have shaped societys perception of the level and type of offending being based on emotive, ambiguous and inaccurate information from the police and media (Garland cited in Goldson 2002). Labelling and stereotyping claimed hardcore child super crooks were responsible for 90 per cent of offences and were the number one crime problem (Daily Star, 30 November 1992 cited in Muncie 2004 p28). Reporting restrictions led to the identification of younger deviants through pseudonyms such as Ratboy, Homing Pigeon Boy, Spider Boy and The Terror Triplets (Muncie 2004). Deviant activities were distorted describing joyriding, ram raiding, and hotting (Muncie 2004) with frequent use of the term riot argued by Brown (2005) to be indicative of a moral panic. The graphic representation of deviance and the macho urban male youth stunt driving (Brown 2005 p59) supports McRobbie and Thorntons (2002) argument that moral panics may be entertaining. Moralising was also apparent with depictions of defiant youth as a ten year old in an SAS mask swaggered free from court resulting in calls for further action (Brown 2005 p60), although it is argued that a moral factor may not always be evident in a moral panic (Jewkes 2004 cited in Newburn 2007). The Terror Triplets illustrate the nature of the press coverage. The triplets were not persistent offenders with one previous conviction between them, and they all experienced health issues ranging from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder to epilepsy and a speech impediment with their education described in court as inadequate (guardian.co.uk 2002). Societys Reaction One panic surrounded the serious persistent young offender, frequently termed bail bandits (Brown 2005 p61) which failed to recognise that persistent offenders usually engage in petty crime, many are vulnerable children who are neglected or abused, with mental health and education issues (Muncie 2004). Vague and imprecise descriptions of youth deviance were highlighted by the police and media on an increasing basis with this lack of distinction fuelling social anxiety regarding the level and type of juvenile offending taking place (Garland cited in Goldson 2002). The inability of the criminal justice system to deal with youth crime was also a source of concern with Ratboy, who had accrued 55 offences between the ages of ten and 14, symbolising the inability for law and order to be maintained (Muncie 2004 p28). Despite decarceration and diversion reducing known juvenile offending in the 1980s, it was increasingly believed penal liberalism had gone too far (Goldson 2002 p390). Fiction increasingly replaced factual and rational information to conjure up monsters that seem to lurk behind the gloss and glitter of everyday life (Pratt 2000 cited in Goldson 2002 p390). Brown (2005) argues the moral panic had mutated into a total panic about the majority of young peoples lives, making the suggestion that Cohens model may provide an insufficient explanation. Childhood was considered to be in crisis, and as with Cohens prophecy of doom (2002 p38) idea, further deviance was expected (Pratt 2000 cited in Goldson 2002). Jewkes (cited in Newburn 2007) argues that the cohesiveness of societys reaction may be overstated in Cohens moral panic model. McRobbie and Thornton (2002) agree, noting how audiences may be sophisticated, understanding varying styles of interpretation which may fragment messages further, such as the ironic in-house publishing style in the Sun newspaper. Increased sources of information since the early 1990s such as the internet may cause further fragmentation. Agents of Control The extensive coverage escalated concerns prompting a Home Affairs Committee in July 1992 to consider youth crime, persistent young offenders and the youth justice system (HAC 1993 cited in Muncie 2004). It was concluded that an increasing minority of young offenders were committing a high volume of offences, despite a lack of evidence (Farrington 2002) and the idea of a persistent group being arbitrary (Hagell Newburn in Muncie 2004). Smith argues that the government responded through introducing the Aggravated Vehicle-Taking Act 1992, which was imprisonable for five years (Home Affairs Committee 1993; Childrens Society 1993 cited in Smith 2007, Brown 2005), later increased to 14 years in the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (statutelaw.gov.uk 2008). Hegemony Brown agrees with Cohens suggestion that the agents of control have no choice but to respond in their socially sanctioned manner suggesting that high media coverage prompted the police action towards joyriding which had been occurring for some time (Brown 2005). The elite-engineered moral panic model provides an alternative explanation, describing how societys powerful elite may be the source (Goode and Ben-Yehuda cited in Newburn 2007). Marxist philosopher Gramsci explains such activity through hegemony, something Hall et all include in their model of the moral panic (Hall et al 1978) and something Smith (2007) cites as significant. Hegemony describes the persuasive communication of a societal consensus of belief systems through the media, gaining legitimacy for elite actions (Althusser 1977 and Cohen 1985 cited in Smith 2007, Smith 2007, Brown 2005). Prior to the Aggravated Vehicle-Taking Act 1992 The Lord Chief Justice and the Magistrates Association were overtly discontent with political interference and the limited capacity to increase sentences the Criminal Justice Act 1991. A sophisticated campaign (Smith 2007 p25) during 1991 by powerful members of the police also emerged relating to persistent young offenders, argued to have resulted in a media moral panic (Brown 2005, Downes and Morgan 2002). The Death of James Bulger In February 1993 the well documented abduction of two year James Bulger by ten year olds Robert Thompson and John Venables occurred. Taken from a shopping centre, the boys walked for two miles to a railway track where James was attacked and murdered (Muncie 2004, Brown 2005, Smith 2007). Following nine months custody and a month long trial the boys were found guilty of the murder (Morrison 1997). The boys are now living under assumed identities, understood to be outside of the UK. 27 murders of children by children have occurred in the last 250 years (Muncie 2004) with four 10-13 year olds convicted of murder between 1979 and 1992 (Cavadino 1996). Children are considered to be at greater risk from people who know to them (Morrison 1997) highlighted by sexual abuse and torture of James Bulger which it was argued suggested indicated the sexual abuse and torture experienced by at least one of attackers (Sereny 1996). The Media The hostile and sensationalist approach to this case contrasted sharply with a similar Norwegian case which was treated as a tragic accident (Muncie 2004 p6) and a similar case from Stockport in 1861 where rehabilitation was the ultimate public response. Exaggerated and irrational labelling stigmatised the boys as spawn of satan, freaks of nature, and monsters (Muncie 2004 p4). Sereny (1996) argues that the response to the boys as innately evil highlights how insufficiently it was attempted to understand issues in their lives, with which Morrison agrees (1997). A consensus regarding a new type of deviance was evident as we will never be able to look at our children in the same way again. Concerns of reoccurrence were evident with parents everywhere are asking themselves and their friends if the Mark of the Beast might not also be imprinted on their offspring (Sunday Times cited in Muncie 2004 p4) advising For Goodness Sake Hold Tight To Your Kids (Sun 16 February 1993 cited in Mason 2003 p197). Blurring of the boundary between the media and the audience (McRobbie Thornton 2002) may be seen with the widely broadcast CCTV footage of James Bulger in a shopping centre with his assailants. The Bulger family created a petition in conjunction with the Sun newspaper and a television phone in of nearly 300,000 names demanding Thompson and Venables never to be released (Morrison 1997). Retributive comments broadcast on television included James father Ralph stating one day theyll be out of jail and Ill be waiting for them and Jamess uncle Jim threatening when we get hold of them, we will fucking kill them (Morrison p234). McRobbie and Thornton (2002) also explore the idea of pressure groups or the folk devils themselves blurring this boundary further and widening the debate by either appearing in or producing their own media, although this is not evident in this case. By 1995 young people were being represented as the savage generation (The Sunday Times 5 February 1995 cited in Kidd-Hewitt 2002 p117). Cohens its not only this (Cohen 2002 p39) idea was evident through frequent and omnipresent panics which blamed the breakdown of the family, the availability of drugs and the crimogenic media (Kidd-Hewitt 2002, Thornton cited in Newburn 2007). McRobbie and Thornton (2002) argue unlike the novelty described in Cohens model, this has become a basic media response. Society Despite this crimes unusualness, societal anxiety increased surrounding both the governments capacity to control the crimogenic capacity of younger children, and the protection of younger children (Pitt 2001, Muncie 2004, Brown 2005). Crime data suggests a trend of younger childrens involvement in crime through a fall in the peak age of offending, but this is also accompanied by earlier desistance (Criminal Statistics 1995 cited in Coleman 1997, Criminal Statistics 2005 cited in Coleman Schofield 2007). Adult perceptions regarding age-appropriate behaviour were challenged (Brown 2005) and with childhood on trial (James Jenks cited in Muncie 2004 p4) innocence shifted to potential evil and hate (Muncie Hughes 2002). It is also argued that resulting public and legal attitudes towards children have become more punitive as a result of this case (Hendrick 2002 p39) with misrepresentations fuelling harsher measures (Smith 2007). The well established panic surrounding crimogenic media also emerged (Brown 2005), a youth culture anxiety as seen as early as 1917 when the deteriorating influence of cinema was highlighted (Russell cited in Pearson 1983). In the Bulger case the film Childs Play 3 was the subject of this panic despite evidence in court suggesting this film had not been viewed by the boys (Morrison 1997). Brown (2005) argues that the films character Chucky who physically represented a child but behaviourally represented an adult was used as a symbol of the challenge to age-appropriate behaviour. More tenuous associations include the use of batteries in James Bulgers attack (Morrison 1997). Agents of Control It is argued that doli incapax (incapable of crime) where it must be proven that a child understands right and wrong was reviewed for ten to thirteen year olds in response to this case. Although the principle was initially retained it was later revoked in the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (Bandalli 2000 cited in Gelsthorpe Morris 2002). Despite protection under the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child (UNCRC) mental health provision was limited during the boys nine months in custody and minimal allowance was made for their age with the trial in an adult court and their identities exposed to the international media, argued to have heightened the campaign of hate (Scraton Haydon 2002 p313). Upon release Dame Butler-Sloss favoured the 1998 Human Rights Act over freedom of expression, granting anonymity to Thompson and Venables for the risk of retributive injury or death (cited in Scraton Haydon 2002). The UK government breached articles relating to a fair trial, fixing sentence and periodic review of sentence in the European Convention of Human Rights (Muncie 2004, Scraton Haydon 2002). The sentence had already been increased from eight years to ten by the Lord Chief Justice. Final sentencing authority rested with Michael Howard (Sereny 1996) who increased it for a second time to 15 years, citing public concern and the Bulger petition (Morrison 1997). This illustrates Cohens argument that sometimes agents of control have to act. Once overturned, the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 removed the capacity for the Home Secretary to intervene in sentencing decisions (Muncie 2004). With crime becoming second only to unemployment on the agenda (Pitts 2001), the intention to incarcerate 12 to 14 year olds through secure training units and secure training orders was announced, ten days after James Bulgers death and only months after ending custody for 14 year olds in the Criminal Justice Act 1991 (Smith 2007). More punitive measures were introduced in the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 where the maximum sentence for fifteen to seventeen year olds doubled to two years (Newburn 2002). Hegemony The end of the bi-partisan consensus on crime was apparent in the 1970 Conservative Party manifesto (Pitts 2001) with punitive rhetoric becoming associated with political success (Smith 2007). By the 1992 general election a return to bi-partisanship was argued in the form of being tough on crime as a means to political victory (Downes Morgan 2002). Following Labours 1992 defeat policies were transferred from the reinvented and electorally successful Democrats (Pitts 2001) argued to have rescued the Labour Party from perpetual opposition (Pitts 2001 p18, Hudson Lowe 2004) which included a punitive approach towards crime. This was evident the month before James Bulgers death when the Shadow Home Secretary, Tony Blair declared how New Labour were tough on crime, tough on causes of crime (cited in Pitts 2001 p19). Political posturing is argued to have become part of youth justice continuing throughout the 1990s with Labours new approach suggested to have heightened Conservative government punitiveness. It is argued that rather than being a catalyst for policy change, the murder of James Bulger may have accelerated the punitive turn. The abolition of doli incapax may be associated with this event but it is argued that events prior to James Bulgers death were already influencing youth justice policy (Smith 2007). The tone of political communication highlights the argued political exploitation of youth fear with labels like vermin (Goldson 2002 p392). John Major illustrated an assumed punitive consensus (Hall et al 1978), saying how society needs to condemn a little more and understand a little less and Kenneth Clarke called for increased court powers, emphasising hostility towards really persistent, nasty little juveniles (Smith 2007 p25). McRobbie and Thornton argue hegemony is overstated due to the potential plurality of reactions (2004 p72), something Jewkes also points out, describing how public and media cohesion is overstated (cited in Newburn 2007 p100), although it is noted that fragmented hegemonic activity may be seen, for example with Thatcherism and the Daily Mail (McRobbie Thornton 2004). Following on from the deviance amplification model, it may be argued that in some cases governments may increase deviancy through the interventions they initiate (Brown 2005). Conclusion It has been suggested that the media is powerful in shaping societys response to young people who break the law, being a primary information source. One of the ways in which the media shapes societys response is by creating the impression that youth crime is more widespread that really is the case. The problems that some deviant youth experience are grossly under represented such as the health issues of The Terror Triplets and the potential that at least one of James Bulgers attackers may have also been a ten year old victim of sexual abuse. Problems also include the failure to circulate general information such as the dark figure of crime for fraud, the adult age of most known offenders or a fall in the peak offending age. The simplified and exaggerated way in which youth are represented is argued to cause widespread societal panic and irrational fears, for example the anticipation of similar repeat activity in the case of rare crimes such as the murder of James Bulger. Explanations for the activity such as its not only this may feed the panic, resulting in greater fears about unrelated factors and in the case of the early 1990s lead to a total panic about youth. Authority action may be influenced by the public interest generated by a moral panic, and in the case of hegemony societys response to the media may be the provision of consent for authority action. It was argued that moral panics also have the potential to be entertaining and do not always include moralising. The cohesiveness of response to a moral panic may be overstated with the plurality of media highlighted. The idea of a total panic about youth was considered and the blurring of boundaries illustrated as having the potential to diffuse anxieties through debate widening, or heighten concerns and inform state action, as with the petition in the Bulger case. In conclusion, evidence may support the model described by Cohen, it is suggested however that other perspectives highlight that the way in which the media and society interact with respect to young people who break the law is more complex.

Winston Churchill :: essays research papers

Those eleven burning words summed up the nature of Britain's war, turned Britain's back on the weaknesses of the past, set her face toward the unknown future. Because of them the rest of that speech has been forgotten. It should not be forgotten, for it is not only a great example of Winston Churchill's eloquence, but the epitome of the movement which he leads. After a brief report on the formation of his Government, Winston Churchill said: "You ask, what is our policy? I say it is to wage war by land, sea and air--war with all our might and with all the strength God has given us--and to wage war against a monstrous tyranny never surpassed in the dark and lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. "You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word. It is victory. Victory at all costs. Victory in spite of all terrors. Victory, however long and hard the road may be, for without victory there is no survival. "Let that be realized. No survival for the British Empire, no survival for all that the British Empire has stood for, no survival for the urge, the impulse of the ages, that mankind shall move forward toward his goal." December 31, 1940, was not only the end of a year; it was the end of a decade--the most terrifying of the 20th Century. The decade which ended in 1920 had seen a war that was to prove inconclusive. It had seen a revolution that was to lie quiescent after establishing itself in the largest country of the world. The decade which ended in 1930 was one of confusion and wasted energy--the wasted energy of gambling and gin-drinking in the U.S., of civil war in the Far East, of misdirected revolutionary effort from the U.S.S.R., of the attempt in Europe to hold resurgent peoples in check. The decade which ended this week saw the failure of that attempt and the unleashing of ruthless war. It saw the Far East's battle of warlords turn into a war for the supremacy of one people. It saw the U.S. turn to a feverish effort to protect itself and its neighbors. It saw, in the Battle of Britain, the life-&-death struggle of the greatest empire the world has ever known. The Candidates of 1940. No artist, no athlete, no scientist, only a man whose place was on the stage of world politics, could be Man of 1940--last and stormiest year of a stormy decade.

Advertising Is Harmful Essay

Today I went to the bathroom in Tyson’s mall, and I saw a Lenovo camera advertisement stuck in front of the stool. It made me feels like a camera recorded everything in the bathroom. No matter where you go, walking on the street, taking the bus or subway, looking for websites or watching TV shows you always see advertisements. So I believe advertisements are harmful. Some people say that advertisements won’t brainwash them, because they know what they really want. I don’t agree with this, because advertisements affect our subconscious mind. For instance, I have read a newspaper article about a mother who came home and asked her child what he wanted to eat and her child said McDonalds. The mother asked him why McDonalds and the kid said because he always saw it on the TV so he wants to try it. Although a child didn’t really know how McDonald food tastes, McDonalds had been advertised so many times on the TV that the children make the decision to have it for dinner. Not only are kids influenced by advertisements, but adults also are. For example, I bought a Dell laptop last year, but returned it a week later. See more: Homeless satire essay I saw the Dell advertisements everywhere, at the college, the website, and even walking on the street, so when I wanted to buy a laptop, Dell became my first choice. I returned it a week later, because my friend told me Lenovo laptop has the same configuration as the Dell laptop but the price was much cheaper. This example demonstrates how the advertisement induces people to buy products. When people have seen advertisements many times, they have good impressions of the product in their minds. So not was only I had been influenced by advertisements, but most people are also. For example, most people bought IPhones rather than other phones because IPhones advertisements around everywhere. Often an advertisement not only disturbs our daily lives, but also provides untrue information. Companies always show perfect products in their advertisements, but the real products are much worse. For example, last month I went to Burger King, and I saw a big poster outside the store that showed a man held a hamburger with two hands and open his mouth as big as he can to eat a hamburger. However, he only bites little of the hamburger, because it was too big. And it only cost 99 cents! When I bought it, I felt I had been cheated. It was delicious, but it was smaller than my hand and can be finish within a bite. Also most of the reducing weight advertisements are untrue too. Some companies exaggerated their products in the advertisement to misleading people to buy the products. Some of the advertisements said the medicines could help people reduce around 5 to 20 pounds per month. As we all know, obesity is one of the most serious problems in America, so many people tried to reduce their weight in many ways. However, the result is not as the advertisements showed. Those drugs helped people reduce the weight but also had side effects. For instance, drugs harm people’ health by increasing the risk of diseases, and people would also rebound a weight heavily after they stopped the drug. While not all advertisements are untrue, some advertisements provide exaggerated information that let us waste money and also harm our health. We waste our money to buy advertised products we don’t need. An advertisement may make us feel lower class than other because not having the newest product. For example, The Apple Company has most successful advertisement campaign, because most of people would like to buy their new products. For example, the IPhone5 commercial shows IPhone5 is tallest, thinnest and lightest iPhone. Many people changed Iphone4S to the IPhone5 because the commercial shows IPhone5 is better. However, it has similar systems and the same function as Iphone4S. Another reason people buy the IPhone5 is they had low self- esteem. Like my friend who bought IPhone4S last winter and bought IPhone5 now. And he told me, when there has a better product then he wouldn’t use worse one, because that makes him feel he was lower class than others. In this case, people wasted money to buy the newest advertised products to satisfy their vanity. There are too many advertisements in our world now, because companies try to increasing the sales. However advertisements always mislead people to waste money. Government must provide a law to stop untrue and exaggerated advertisements. And parents also need to take time to explain to their child that some products they saw in commercial are harmful. For example, when child asked to buy a quick food or candies, parents must explain to them those foods are unhealthy. Advertising Is Harmful Essay Today I went to the bathroom in Tyson’s mall, and I saw a Lenovo camera advertisement stuck in front of the stool. It made me feels like a camera recorded everything in the bathroom. No matter where you go, walking on the street, taking the bus or subway, looking for websites or watching TV shows you always see advertisements. So I believe advertisements are harmful. Some people say that advertisements won’t brainwash them, because they know what they really want. I don’t agree with this, because advertisements affect our subconscious mind. For instance, I have read a newspaper article about a mother who came home and asked her child what he wanted to eat and her child said McDonalds. The mother asked him why McDonalds and the kid said because he always saw it on the TV so he wants to try it. See more:Â  Social Satire in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Essay Although a child didn’t really know how McDonald food tastes, McDonalds had been advertised so many times on the TV that the children make the decision to have it for dinner. Not only are kids influenced by advertisements, but adults also are. For example, I bought a Dell laptop last year, but returned it a week later. I saw the Dell advertisements everywhere, at the college, the website, and even walking on the street, so when I wanted to buy a laptop, Dell became my first choice. I returned it a week later, because my friend told me Lenovo laptop has the same configuration as the Dell laptop but the price was much cheaper. This example demonstrates how the advertisement induces people to buy products. When people have seen advertisements many times, they have good impressions of the product in their minds. So not was only I had been influenced by advertisements, but most people are also. For example, most people bought IPhones rather than other phones because IPhones adverti sements around everywhere. Often an advertisement not only disturbs our daily lives, but also provides untrue information. Companies always show perfect products in their advertisements, but the real products are much worse. For example, last month I went to Burger King, and I saw a big poster outside the store that showed a man held a hamburger with two hands and open his mouth as big as he can to eat a hamburger. However, he only bites little of the hamburger, because it was too big. And it only cost 99 cents! When I bought it, I felt I had been cheated. It was delicious, but it was smaller than my hand and can be finish within a bite. Also most of the reducing weight advertisements are untrue too. Some companies exaggerated their products in the advertisement to misleading people to buy the products. Some of the advertisements said the medicines could help people reduce around 5 to 20 pounds per month. As we all know, obesity is one of the most serious problems in America, so many people tried to reduce their weight in many ways. However, the result is not as the advertisements showed. Those drugs helped people reduce the weight but also had side effects. For instance, drugs harm people’ health by increasing the risk of diseases, and people would also rebound a weight heavily after they stopped the drug. While not all advertisements are untrue, some advertisements provide exaggerated information that let us waste money and also harm our health. We waste our money to buy advertised products we don’t need. An advertisement may make us feel lower class than other because not having the newest product. For example, The Apple Company has most successful advertisement campaign, because most of people would like to buy their new products. For example, the IPhone5 commercial shows IPhone5 is tallest, thinnest and lightest iPhone. Many people changed Iphone4S to the IPhone5 because the commercial shows IPhone5 is better. However, it has similar systems and the same function as Iphone4S. Another reason people buy the IPhone5 is they had low self- esteem. Like my friend who bought IPhone4S last winter and bought IPhone5 now. And he told me, when there has a better product then he wouldn’t use worse one, because that makes him feel he was lower class than others. In this case, people wasted money to buy the newest advertised products to satisfy their vanity. There are too many advertisements in our world now, because companies try to increasing the sales. However advertisements always mislead people to waste money. Government must provide a law to stop untrue and exaggerated advertisements. And parents also need to take time to explain to their child that some products they saw in commercial are harmful. For example, when child asked to buy a quick food or candies, parents must explain to them those foods are unhealthy.

Role Of A Company Chairman Within A Public Limited Company And The Content of The Chairman’s Report of Reckitt Benckiser Plc. The WritePass Journal

Role Of A Company Chairman Within A Public Limited Company And The Content of The Chairman’s Report of Reckitt Benckiser Plc. Introduction  Ã‚   Role Of A Company Chairman Within A Public Limited Company And The Content of The Chairman’s Report of Reckitt Benckiser Plc. ). It is the responsibility of the chairman to set the agenda of the board and ensure that there is enough time for discussing all the items in the agenda with specific emphasis placed on strategic issues that affect the company.   The chairman should facilitate the effective contribution of NEDs in particular and ensure that constructive relations exist between executive directors and NEDs. This ensures that a culture of openness is prevalent in the board. In addition, the chairman should ensure that directors receive accurate, timely and clear information. In addition, the chairman should promote effective communication with shareholders. . The chairmans statement of Reckitt Benkiser Plc contains some important information. It contains information regarding the performance of the company during the year ended 2011. It provides details of the difficult environment in which the company operated and the strategies that the company implemented. For example, the Chairman begins by stating that the company performed well in a turbulent business environment. The chairman also notes that a new CEO was appointed during the year. This was a significant event for the company because the CEO is very important in implementing the companys strategy. The chairman further notes that the company witnessed an improvement in its cash flows during the year which enabled it to pay down part of its debt. The strong cash position also enabled the company to increase its dividend by 9% from the year 2010 figure to 125 pence per share. The chairmans statement also focused on the companys strategy. The chairman notes that considering the changing business environment, the company has redefined its vision and purpose to align itself with the opportunities and challenges of the environment in which it operates. The chairman believes that the new vision and purpose are fundamentally sound and will result in the creation and growth in shareholder value. The chairman concludes by making a statement on corporate governance. Accordingly the chairman notes that the Board conducted its regular reviews of the performance and results of the business including reviews with management on strategy, brands, geographic area and functional performance as well as detailed reviews of human resources, corporate responsibility and reputation, controls and business risks (Reckitt Benkiser Plc, 2011). Critical Evaluation of the IFRS Foundation’s convergence Agenda The IFRS foundation is working through its subsidiary body, The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) to develop a global set of accounting standards that can be used across different. The foundation is making efforts to promote the convergence of national standards with International Financial Reporting Standards. For example, the IASB has been working on a Joint Conceptual Framework project with the US Financial Accounting Standards Board to ensure the convergence of US GAAP standards with IFRSs. In addition, the IASB has made significant progress in achieving convergence of national accounting standards of different countries with IFRS. For example, in 2002, the European Union (EU) issued Regulation EC No. 1606/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council requiring all EU listed firms to adopt International Financial Reporting Standards on or before 1st January 2005 (European Union, 2002; Jermakowicz and Gornik-Tomaszewski, 2006; Epstein and Jermacowicz, 2007). Thi s meant that more than 7000 firms were required to prepare financial statements that complied with IFRS standards during the year ending 31st December 2005. Moroever, in 2007, the United States (U.S) Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) which regulates the trading of securities in the U.S decided to waive the requirement that foreign firms listed in the U.S should reconcile their financial statements with U.S Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) (SEC 2007; Street and Linthicum, 2007). Moreover, the SEC has considered proposals to allow U.S firms to prepare financial statements that are in compliance with IFRS (GAAP) (SEC 2007; Street and Linthicum, 2007). IFRS is increasingly gaining recognition as a global set of accounting standards. Zalm (2008) observes that the number of countries that had replaced their national GAAP with IFRS was approximately 100 in 2008. The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the Financial Accounting Standards Board have been working on a joint project to harmonise IFRS with U.S GAAP. The objective is to enhance the comparability of financial statements prepared under both standards and to improve the understandability, relevance and reliability of financial reports prepared using either U.S GAAP or IFRS. In order to evaluate the convergence project, this paper benefits and costs of convergence. Benefits of Convergences Improvement in FDI flows One of the benefits of convergence is that it will result in an increase in cross-border capital flows such as foreign direct investment (FDI) (Chen et al., 2010). Convergence will result in a reduction in the degree of information asymmetry between home country and foreign users of the information reported in financial statements (Chen et al., 2010). Users of financial statements will be able to compare financial statements prepared across different countries and thus make better investment decisions. It has also been argued that widespread adoption of IFRS will reduce or eliminate differences in accounting standards across the globe. This will result in a reduction in information processing costs and to an increase in cross-border economic transactions (Chen et al., 2010). According to the European Commissioner, McCreavy for example, adopting IFRS standards as a global set of accounting standards will result in more efficient allocation of resources and greater cross-board investment which will enhance economic growth in the EU (McCreavy, 2005). Enhancement of the quality of Financial Reports A potential benefit of the adoption of IFRS standards is that it will result in high quality and more corporate reporting practices. This will in turn improve market liquidity, lower costs of capital and enhance resource allocation. Greater market liquidity is consistent with a more efficient capital market. Improving market liquidity will result to a decline in transaction costs and increase the number of people participating in the market. An increase in the number of market participants will result in more efficient markets because more people will ensure that securities are always trading at their equilibrium prices (Bodie et al., 2007). Costs of Convergence Despite the potential benefits cited for convergence some investor groups believe that it is still very early to determine whether IFRS can effectively serve as a global set of accounting standards (SEC, 2010). The main argument offered is that IFRS is yet to be sufficiently developed or applied in practice to the extent that one can judge its ability to serve as a global set of accounting standards. According to the SEC (2010) IFRS lacks guidance in certain significant areas. In areas where there is guidance, such guidance tends to require much latitude before it can be comparable with US GAAP. There are jurisdictional variants in the application of IFRS which pose significant challenges to the adoption of IFRS. In order for IFRS to be applied globally, countries will need to converge in many other areas such as auditing, taxation, legal systems, etc. According to commentators, existing US GAAP standards are already universally accepted as high quality financial reporting standards. In addition, not all firms in the US require capital from global capital markets or market securities internationally. Therefore, the convergence agenda is likely going to result in increased costs for US companies. Investors and large firms in the US also felt that there were significant challenges and risks associated with having an international institution as the ultimate body that would issue accounting standards for issuers of securities in the US. Significant concerns were raised over whether this was likely going to be a wise policy taking into account the long standing role of the SEC as the oversight body over the financial reporting process in the US. Another concern raised is that incorporating IFRS standards into the financial reporting system in the US will have a negative impact on the compliance with corporate governance requirements in the US. For example, the Sarbanes Oxley Act prescribes a number of corporate governance rules that US companies with comply with such as ensuring that the audit committee has at least one independent non-executive director with financial expertise. Investor groups in the US feel that the IFRS agenda may affect the ability of US companies to comply with these rules and as such the convergence agenda of the IFRS foundation is likely not going to be feasible in so many countries. In addition, Hail et al. (2009) argue that accounting standards play a limited role in improving the quality of financial reports. There are other institutional factors that contribute to the enhancement of financial reporting quality. For example, the reporting incentives of firms and the enforcement of standards have been cited as important factors that determine the quality of financial reports. Hail et al. (2009) further contend that comparability of financial reports cannot be guaranteed by the adoption of a single set of accounting standards across different countries. Comparability can only be fully achieved if the reporting incentives of firms are similar. Therefore, the argument that comparability of financial statements will improve as a result of the adoption of IFRS remains questionable. Furthermore, it is not correct to view accounting standards in isolation from other important factors of a country’s institutional framework. There must be a match between the institutional framework and accounting standards. This means that if a country adopts accounting standards that do not properly match with the elements of its institutional framework can result in undesirable consequences for the economy as a whole irrespective of whether the new accounting standard unambiguously improves the element itself. SECTION B Environmental Reporting By Reckitt Benkiser Plc. According to the Sustainability report of the Reckitt Benckiser Plc, the companys strategy incorporates a commitment to run the business in a manner that is responsible, environmentally sound and sustainable. With respect to the environment, the company is committed to ensuring that the workplace environment is safe and healthy. It is also committed to ensuring that the employment environment attracts, developed and retains the right talent of people to manage the business. The company has a life cycle carbon management program and a sustainable operational excellence program. With respect to the life cycle carbon management program, the company is committed to reducing its carbon dioxide emission. The life cycle management approach is used to reduce CO2 emission right across the product life cycle. This approach is used because the largest emissions occur when consumers use products. For example, Air Wick launched a ground-breaking air fresher product which replaced the traditional propellant gases with compressed air. The natural propellant delivers a cleaner fragrance experience in a safer way than butane or nitrogen. The propellant is non-flammable and non-hazardous. Using compressed air in place of butane saves 5,000 tonnes of butane per year which in turn saves 20,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions (Reckitt Benckiser Plc, 2011b). It should be noted that there is no specific legislation that governs environmental reporting in the UK. The only legislation that governs the reporting of CO2 emissions in the UK is the Climate Change Act of 2008 and the Energy Act of 2010. The Climate Change Act aims at reducing CO2 emissions. The Climate Change Act and the Energy Act led to the implementation of the Carbon Reduction Commitment, which represents a mandatory climate change and energy saving scheme. The scheme aims at enhancing energy efficiency and CO2 emissions. The sustainability report of Reckitt Benckiser Plc is to some extent in compliance with the Climate Change Act and the Energy Act 2010 (Gray et al., 2010). Despite the absence of legislation on environmental reporting in the UK, a significant number of attempts have been made to encourage businesses to provide sustainability and environmental reports on a voluntary basis. Businesses are often encouraged through codes of practice and environmental reporting guidelines. Reckitt Benkiser Plc might have been influenced by these encouragements to disclose information relating to its environmental and social performance. Despite the absence of legislation, it has been argued that voluntary disclosure of environmental and social performance helps in enhancing firm value. For example, McGuire et al. (1988); Davis (1960); and Roberts (1992) provide evidence suggesting that there is a positive link between corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure levels and firm performance. The evidence also suggests disclosure of environmental performance is positively related to firm value. This explains why Reckitt Benkiser Plc has made an effort to d isclose information about its environmental performance. Advanatges a Company may gain by adopting and disclosing voluntary environmental Accounting Practices Adopting voluntary environmental accounting can help a company improve its reputation (ICAEW and EA, 2010). Voluntary environmental accounting can be viewed by users of financial statements as a positive signal that the company is using efficient and low cost manufacturing techniques which results in efficient use of resources. As such the company’s share price can increase if it discloses positive information. In addition, customers and can view the company as having concern over its environment. customers are not interested in buying from companies that do not have regard for their external environment. Consequently voluntary disclosure of environmental information can result in an improvement in the company’s sales and financial performance (Gray et al., 2010). How Future Environmental Accounting will continue to support accrual accounting and going concern. Accrual accounting is essential because not all transactions are settled in cash. It enables organisations to record transactions that have not been settled in cash as credit transactions. The going concern assumption assumes that the business will continue to exist for the foreseeable future. Environmental accounting will support accrual accounting in that it will enable businesses to continue recording all transactions irrespective of whether they are settled in cash or not. With respect to going concern, environmental accounting will enable users of financial statements to assess the impact of the company on its environment and determine whether the company will be able to continue as a going concern. Section C. Classification of the Convertible Bond The convertible bond in question is a compound financial instrument because it has both debt and equity characteristics. According to IAS 32, Financial Instruments, Presentation, the instrument’s component parts should be accounted for separately. The accounting should be done according to their substance based on the definitions of liability and equity. The entity is required to make the division between equity and debt at issuance and is not allowed to make any amendments in response to changes in market conditions such as a change in the market interest rate, share prices, or other event (Deloitte, 2012). Therefore, the instrument will be classified as a compound instrument including debt and equity components. The debt component is the contractual obligation of the company to pay cash and the equity component is the option of the holder to convert the bond into common shares of the issuer (Epstein and Jermakowicz, 2007; Deiloitte, 2012). Calculation of the Equity Component The present value of the bond is calculated as follows: Year Discount Factor (9%) Interest/Principal Present Value 1 0.9174 0.08 0.073392 2 0.8417 0.08 0.067336 3 0.7722 0.08 0.061776 4 0.7084 0.08 0.056672 5 0.6499 4.08 2.651592 Debt Element 2.910768 Equity Element 1.089232 The bond pays a coupon of   $.08million (2% x $4million) per annum. At the end of the year, the bond is expected to repay the coupon plus principal of $4.08million. The cash flows need to be discounted at the market interest rate of 9% on similar non-convertible bonds. The present values are based on the discount factors for the 9% interest rate. It can be observed that the present value of the bond is $2.91million. This represents the debt component of the financial instrument. The equity component is calculated by subtracting the debt component from the amount raised from the issue of the security. Therefore, the equity instrument is equal to $4million less $2.91million. This gives $1.19million. Closing Figure in the Statement of Financial Position The closing figure in the statement of Financial Position is based on the following amortisation Schedule: Year Cash Paid Interest Expense Discount Amortised Liability ($millions) 0 2.91 1 0.08 0.36 0.28 3.19 2 0.08 0.29 0.21 3.40 3 0.08 0.31 0.23 3.62 4 0.08 0.33 0.25 3.87 5 0.08 0.35 0.27 4.14 References Gray, R., Collins, D., Bebbington, J. (2007) Environmental and Social Accounting Reporting, Centre for Social and Environmental Accounting Research. ICAEW and EA (2010) TURNING QUESTIONS INTO ANSWERS ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES AND ANNUAL FINANCIAL REPORTING, available online at: environment-agency.gov.uk/static/documents/Business/TECPLN8045_env_report_aw.pdf [accessed: 25th April 2013]. Deloitte (2012) IAS 32 Financial Instruments: Presentation [online] IAS Plus: Available at: iasplus.com/en/standards/standard31 [accessed: 26th April 2013]. McGuire, J. B., Sundgren, A., Schneeweis, T. (1988), â€Å"Corporate Social Responsibility and Firm Financial Performance†, The Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 31, No. 4, pp. 854-872; Academy of Management, Available online at: jstor.org/stable/256342 Davis, K. (1960, Spring). Can business afford to ignore social responsibilities? California Management Review, 2, 70-76. Roberts, R. W. (1992), â€Å"Determinants of corporate social responsibility disclosure: An application of stakeholder theory†, This article is not included in your organizations subscription. However, you may be able to access this article under your organizations agreement with Elsevier. Accounting, Organizations and Society, Vol. 17, No. 6, pp. 595-612 Bodie, Z. Kane, A., Marcus, A. J. (2007). Investments. 6th Edition. McGraw-Hill Duangploy, O., Gray, D. (2007)   ‘‘Big Bang’’ Accounting Reforms In Japan: Financial Analyst Earnings Forecast Accuracy Declines As The Japanese Government Mandates Japanese Corporations To Adopt International Accounting Standards Advances In International Accounting, vol. 20, pp. 179–200 Epstein, J. B., Jermakowicz, E. K. (2007), â€Å"Interpretation and Application of International Financial Reporting Standards†, Wiley. European Union, 2002. Regulation (EC) No 1606/2002 of the European parliament and of the council of 19 July 2002 on the application of international accounting standards. Official Journal of the European Communities September 11, 2002, L. 243/1 L. 243/4. Zalm G. (2008), Prepared statement of Gerrit Zalm, Chairman of the International Accounting Standards Committee Foundation, before the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee of the European Parliament, available online at: iasb.org/NR/rdonlyres/A318265C-10E4-4051-A7D1-DCC9E4D763C5/0/Prepared_statement_Gerrit_Zalm.pdf [accessed: 9th April, 2012].

Private School Scandals and Controversies

Private School Scandals and Controversies   Every school, public or private, has had its share of unpleasant news. With many private schools and boarding schools having histories that span hundreds of years, its highly likely that in some fashion, each school has some skeletons in its closets. Public schools have scandals, too, but private schools tend to be the focus of the media because of their independent status and tuition rates. What kind of scandals happen at schools? Everything from bullying and hazing to sexual misconduct and embezzlement scandals. Each school will handle the scandals in their own way, but the goal is to protect the victims, the other students, and faculty at the school, and the schools reputation.   The most recent headlines have involved sex abuse scandals at private schools, and with many of these institutions dating back hundreds of years, very few have squeaky clean pasts.  Many of these scandals that hit the media are the result of past actions being brought to light years later, in some cases decades later. The schools that handle these cases the best are those that provide support for their students and alumni and work to ensure that their campuses today are safe and supportive for students.  Background checks, particularly for staff and faculty, are common practice in most schools today. Even the best schools are sometimes met with controversy. Its the way a school deals with these crises that is the best measure of its competence. The best ones recognize how important it is to deal with bad news promptly. They know that the Internet, including social media, and cell phones will spread rumors as quickly as you can text your classmates. They also know that members of the media are lurking just waiting for some juicy morsel about an elite school to surface, so they can fan the flames of indignation and mock self-righteousness. Scandals are not limited to private schools, though, and can be found at schools of all kinds, including public schools and even top colleges and universities. The safety of students is the utmost concern of school officials, and most schools take swift and serious action when transgressions are discovered. Heres a brief look at some incidents which have occurred in private schools over the years. June 2017:  The Boston Globe  reported on Phillips Exeter Academy and its protests by students because of the lack of response to accusations of racially insensitive comments by faculty.  May 2017:  New York Post published an article about a student at Kent School in Connecticut, who alleged abuse by her French teacher, who she claimed seduced and abused her repeatedly.April 2017:  USA Today reported on the investigations into Choate Rosemary Hall and its four-decade long history of abuse involving more than a dozen teachers.  March 2017:  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹Philips Exeter uncovered instances of sexual misconduct from five former faculty members.June 2016: Top Administrators Fired at William Kochs Elite Private School:  According to the  New York Times, Billionaire William Koch fired the head of school at Oxbridge Academy and declined to renew the contracts of the athletic director and the football coach. The moves came after a sexual harassment complaint and an internal inves tigation into accusations of kickbacks, grade-changing, excessive spending and violations of the rules governing high school sports. May 20​16:  Boston Globe Releases Article, Private Schools, Painful Secrets:  This article focuses on sexual abuse at private schools in New England. Including Fessenden, Deerfield, St. Georges, Taft, Exeter, Thayer, and Concord.May 2016:  New York Time Reports on Sex Abuse at Private Schools:  Focuses on private schools in New England, including St. Georges, Taft, Exeter, Thayer, and Concord.  January 2016/October 2016:  In January, Connecticut newspapers reported on an  evacuation  of a dormitory at Cheshire Academy, a boarding school in Connecticut, after gasoline was found on campus. No one was hurt and students were allowed to re-enter the dorm that same night. In October, however,  reports from local papers revealed  that two juvenile boys were arrested for attempting to manufacture bombs in the woods near the main campus.  Headmaster Scandals:  This article from  Town Country  outlines five private school scandals involving heads of schools. From murder and mysterious finances to drugs and abuse, these ordeals read like a script from Hollywood.   Parents Sue Conserve School Trustees:  Read Conserve School Changes From 4 Year High School to 1 Semester Model to understand how the economic downturn of 2009 has wreaked havoc on one private schools endowment to the point where the trustees are changing the schools business model. The parents of current four-year high school students were not happy with that decision and have sued the trustees.Five Hockey Team Members Expelled from Milton Academy:  Milton Academy rocked by expulsions  is a Boston.com story detailing how five members of the Milton Academy hockey team were expelled for receiving oral sex from a 15-year-old sophomore girl.Parents Sue Miss Porters School Over Expulsion:  At a Prep School, the Gloves Are Off  details what happened when a prestigious Connecticut girls school expelled a senior student.School for Scandal:  Groton was rocked by accusations of sexual abuse and hazing in a  2002 story reported on ABCNEWS.Rector of St. Pauls School Retires:  Th e Rector of St. Pauls School, Concord, New Hampshire,  retired  after an outcry regarding what many alumni considered to be  excessive expenditures  on renovations to the Rectors housing as well as a lavish compensation package for himself and his assistant.  In the fall of 2004 St. Pauls also had to deal with a  drowning  and a hazing incident in addition to all the controversy over excessive spending and the investigation by the New Hampshire attorney general. Sex Scandal Hits Selwyn House:  I wrote  about  this story  in May 2008. This incident hit home as this Montreal boys school occupies the building which was Westmount Senior High School when I attended it in 1960-61.Counterfeit Currency Scheme Uncovered at Lower Canada College:  It seems that internet gambling debts forced some LCC students to print money to cover their balance.Academy X:  Horace Mann teacher Andrew Trees was fired for his fictional account of life in a private school,  Academy X.Death of Student at The Hill School:   Suicide scatters grief and guilt in every direction. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the close-knit world which is a boarding school  community.  The headmaster and staff dealt with this very sad incident with compassion and sensitivity.Upper Canada College Teacher Found Guilty of Sex Charges:  It was a sad day for UCC when former master Doug Brown was found guilty of sexually abusing 18 former students. One of those students released a memoir article in 2013 that appeared on the  Toronto Life site. Incoming Students at The Landon School Caught in Embarrassing Activities: Incoming Landon boys apparently were creating  a list of girls  they knew in a bizarre sort of draft selection process. Naturally the girls parents were upset.    Article edited by  Stacy Jagodowski

The Greek Hero vs The AngloSaxon Hero Essay Example

The Greek Hero vs The AngloSaxon Hero Essay Example The Greek Hero vs The AngloSaxon Hero Essay The Greek Hero vs The AngloSaxon Hero Essay The Greek Hero vs.The Anglo-Saxon Hero The hero stands as an archetype of who we should be and who we wish to be. However, the hero has inherent flaws which we do not wish to strive towards.In literature, these flaws are not used as examples of what we should be but rather as examples of what not to be.This is especially dominant in the Greek hero. While the Greek hero follows his fate, making serious mistakes and having a fairly simple life, the Anglo-Saxon super hero tries, and may succeed, to change his fate, while dealing with a fairly complex life. The Greek hero is strong and mighty while his wit and intelligence are highly valued.In the Greek tragedy, the hero struggles to avoid many flaws.Among these flaws are ambition, foolishness, stubbornness, and hubris-the excessive component of pride.He must overcome his predestined fate-a task which is impossible.From the beginning of the tale, it is already clear that the hero will ultimately failwith the only way out being death.In Oedipus, the hero is already confronted with a load of information about his family and gouges his eyes out.At this point, when he tries to outwit his fate he has already lost The Anglo-Saxon hero must also deal with his fate but tries, and usually succeeds, to change it.While the Greek hero battles his fate with his excessive pride and intelligence, the Anglo-Saxon hero tries to eliminate his doom by force.The Anglo-Saxon hero is considered a barbarian of sorts due to his sometimes unethical and immoral views and courses of action.At the end, the Anglo-Saxon succeeds in altering his fate though. The Greek hero is so normal, that the reader can relate to him.He is usually a common human being with no extraordinary life. His story seems believable, even possible.

Use adaptive leadership to solve the culture issues Essay

Use adaptive leadership to solve the culture issues - Essay Example Finally, the micro-cultures exhibit the intrinsic or extrinsic microsystems of an organization (Schein 2010, pg22). Organizational cultures tend to dominate within an organization since every new member gets introduced to it, and they slowly get engulfed. They determine the practices of individuals within the group whose behaviors in return develop a pattern. In leadership, organizational cultures determine the strategies in accomplishing routine tasks. Fundamentally, for any successful leader, identification of any preexisting cultures, acknowledgement of its existence and comprehension of the shared values may be necessary (Schein 2010, pg31). In Global project management, a different form of leadership may be necessary. A global mindset with effective global leadership frameworks to overcome cross-cultural differences in the workplace may be necessary for every leader (House et al 2002, pg. 3). With more globalization trends in the world, individuals tend to yearn for more self-actualization at work, and they take risks for positions offered globally away from home (HASS 2009, pg35). Traditionally, leadership relationship encompassed only two participants; the leader and a follower. In the contemporary world, success in leadership needs adaptive leadership. The competency of an individual in adaptive leadership within a transnational environment involves ability to adapt to various cultures, contexts and norms (Glover et al. 2012, pg. 18).. The attributes of adaptive leadership cosmopolitanism entails the ability to be comfortable away from home. Secondly, fearlessness in business which involves taking risks into new ventures. Thirdly, necessary curiosity to express genuine interest in the people within the new environment is important (SEGIL 2002, pg27). Fourth, one needs to suspend their suspension of judgment by expressing readiness to learn before making

Indonesia - Suharto politics Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Indonesia - Suharto politics - Research Paper Example 3). This started in central Java when he involved himself in many enterprises that were very profitable thus helping in the funding of the poor military forces. This business with Islamic therefore strengthened his relationship with the Muslims thus making it easier for him to from alliances with them. Indonesia is also highly populated by Muslims who were looking for ways of making Indonesia a Muslim republic. Reasons Why Indonesians Mainly Opposed Communists Communism was strongly opposed by Indonesians because a military propaganda convinced international and Indonesian audiences that an abortive coup scheduled for September 30th, 1969 was coup organized by the communists. It was also reported that the murders and atrocities committed against many Indonesians were targeted at Indonesian heroes. The army led a campaign to destroy Indonesian society and communist party. In some parts of the country, the army organized religious, militia and civilian groups where communist vigilantes defeated the army, killing approximately half a million people. Consequently, Indonesian Communist Party was eliminated by political Islam and the military. Key Experiences that Shaped Suharto’s Politics Suharto had served in key military positions during the reign of Sukarno. On February 1966, he was appointed lieutenant General by the president. On the other hand, the March 1966 Supers mar decree transformed most of Sukarno’s power to Suharto giving him permission to do whatever he found necessary in order to restore peace ( Elson, 2001, p. 8). Elson further assesses that he also served in the Indonesian security forces that wee against Japanese here, he rose become the Major General when Indonesia gained independence. This gave him enough experience that shaped his political life. New Order Implemented under Suharto The new order implemented under Suharto was the building of a very powerful institution in the presidency of Indonesia. Therefore, Suharto isolated his rivals from the ruling elite and army and rewarded his loyalties with patronage. The new order aimed at achieving economic development, political order, and ending mass participation in political processes. The new order was featured in a weak society, corporatization and bureaucratization of societal and political organizations, with effective and selective opponents’ repression. Suharto’s order ensured a government that was authoritarian and military dominated. The order established two intelligence agencies; State Intelligence Coordination Agency and Operational Command for the Restoration of Security and Order for maintenance of domestic order. Position of Islamist Parties Muslim parties’ position was justice, democracy and gender equality. They encouraged female activists. These parties were more democratic and moderate than the other political parties. They radically criticized the position of Americans towards Muslims through peaceful demonstrations. The y also sought to recover the Muslim identity both in the social and political arenas. State of Economy Inherited by Suharto and his Key Reforms Suharto inherited a nearly-collapsed economy from Surkano due to social breakdown and political conflicts during Surkano’s reign (Miller, 2008, p. 5). However, Suharto revived the economy by controlling the 1965-68 hyper-inflation. Miller (2008,

CASE STUDY # 1 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

# 1 - Case Study Example However, some children may accurately develop these abilities but still have symptoms of language disorder. The speech disorders without known causes are usually referred to developmental language disorder. Nonetheless, numerous agents including brain injury, developmental problems, hearing loss, autistic spectrum disorder, and learning disabilities, may cause the language disorder in children (The New York Times 01). Notably, each agent has its unique symptoms, system of diagnosis, and treatment. Cori Williams, the national president announced during the Federal Lections of the year 2007 lobbied a national campaign against speech disorder among children. William wanted the speech pathology to be discussed extensively and sufficiently so that the government could adopt the Speech Pathology as an Australia’s policy (Speech Pathology Australia 01). The main areas that this public policy aimed at addressing included the functions of the speech pathology services to children with speech and language disorders. William also wanted the improved access of pathology services to children in remote areas. Finally, it lobby called for extended pathology services within the Medicare Allied Health Initiative (Speech Pathology Australia 01). There numerous exams and tests that are often conducted in children to determine the type of speech disorder they might be suffering. In some cases, a speech disorder in a child may be traced from the medical history of the child’s family (Simms 432). In such a case, it may be revealed that the child’s close relative might have suffered speech and language problems. Moreover, a child who might be suspected to be suffering from language or speech disorder can be taken for standardized expressive and receptive language tests. During this test, a language and speech neuropsychologist or therapist will be able to determine the same. Additionally,

3.How do you believe business and economic functions should interact Essay

3.How do you believe business and economic functions should interact with society - Essay Example The government though does has a large role to play in assisting the businesses in fundamentals like acquisitions and profits, by assist what is meant here is that the government through its power to make rules and regulations defines how business would be conducted and that is a major role that the government has to perform. In situations quite contrary to the one mentioned before, the role of the government might be more than just being an administrative supervisor, the government can take upon it self to run the whole economy, it could nationalize all major industries and say that we know what is best for us and we will produce what we like, such is the nature of managed economies. We can now see that there is a close connection between the government and the running of the economy but there is a missing link in this chain i.e. the consumer. The consumer is perhaps one of the most important links in this chain because a consumer defines what is to be sold and what not in the marke t economy. The consumers through their purchasing power have the ability to dictate terms to the government, which in effect shape the rules and the regulations that are implemented within the society. Each and every entity has its own role to play in the society but it can never exist in complete solitude because of the high inter dependence on each other. The discussion and the argument on the three points raised will follow but an important point here is that even these three points will have some points interlinked with them and hence a detailed explanation for these intertwined terms should not be expected. In a free market society the governments role is the bare minimal, the consumer and the producers of the product decide what is going to be made, how it is going to be made and for whom it is going to be made. Through the forces of demand and supply the prices of the products are

3.How do you believe business and economic functions should interact Essay

3.How do you believe business and economic functions should interact with society - Essay Example The government though does has a large role to play in assisting the businesses in fundamentals like acquisitions and profits, by assist what is meant here is that the government through its power to make rules and regulations defines how business would be conducted and that is a major role that the government has to perform. In situations quite contrary to the one mentioned before, the role of the government might be more than just being an administrative supervisor, the government can take upon it self to run the whole economy, it could nationalize all major industries and say that we know what is best for us and we will produce what we like, such is the nature of managed economies. We can now see that there is a close connection between the government and the running of the economy but there is a missing link in this chain i.e. the consumer. The consumer is perhaps one of the most important links in this chain because a consumer defines what is to be sold and what not in the marke t economy. The consumers through their purchasing power have the ability to dictate terms to the government, which in effect shape the rules and the regulations that are implemented within the society. Each and every entity has its own role to play in the society but it can never exist in complete solitude because of the high inter dependence on each other. The discussion and the argument on the three points raised will follow but an important point here is that even these three points will have some points interlinked with them and hence a detailed explanation for these intertwined terms should not be expected. In a free market society the governments role is the bare minimal, the consumer and the producers of the product decide what is going to be made, how it is going to be made and for whom it is going to be made. Through the forces of demand and supply the prices of the products are

The Relationship between Revenue Management and Pricing Strategies in Research Paper

The Relationship between Revenue Management and Pricing Strategies in Airline Industries - Research Paper Example This essay discusses that Revenue Management (RM) falls under the dynamic pricing models. There are several terms used to describe revenue management. The most common on is yield management, or a combination of several terms such as Price and Revenue Management (PRM), or Perishable asset revenue management (PARM). It normally describes a pricing method where the cost of buying the product or service changes over time to take advantage of the variation in consumer willingness to pay a certain price for the product. Depending on the industry, the prices either increase or decrease with time. In the electronics market for instance, the price of a product is normally higher during the launch compared to the prices charged after some time. In the airline industry, prices typically increase towards the scheduled time of the flight. Pricing strategy refers to the framework that a producer uses to set the prices for a particular product. Pricing strategy is very crucial because it affects th e potential for success of a product. The most basic pricing model is unit cost pricing model, which assigns the price of an item based on the cost of production and the expected margin. Pricing is not normally a straightforward affair because forces of supply and demand affect it. The price of an item tends to be closer to what the market is willing to pay for than the simple arithmetic of cost of production and margin. Dynamic pricing models tend to seek to maximize revenue based on the prevailing demand. In some cases, dynamic pricing actually disregards the cost of production. ... In some cases, dynamic pricing actually disregards the cost of production. In the case of the airline industry, unit cost is an unstable way of organizing pricing because of the large upfront cost Revenue management is the most dominant pricing model in the airline industry because of its potential to boost profitability in that particular industry. It came about after the liberalization of the industry in the late seventies. Airline executives found themselves in a tight spot because of increasing competition in the fledgling industry. They sought to find ways of increasing the profitability of the airlines in the industry based on their existing carrying capacity. However, the airline industry is not the only industry that uses yield management. The hotel industry also uses it and other industries such as printing firms, bus companies, car hire firms and private lodges also use it to maximize revenue against a backdrop of fixed capacity and highly perishable products (Koenig & Meis sner 2011). The goal of this paper is to investigate the relationship between revenue management and pricing within the airline industry. In the first part, the discussion will seek to examine the important issues surrounding revenue management, followed by an analysis of how those factors affect pricing strategy in the second part. Literature Review The Concept of Revenue Management There is a wide variety of terms, concepts, and approaches to the study of revenue management. Some scholars use all the related terms interchangeable stressing the greater meaning of time sensitive pricing. Older researchers used yield management and revenue management to mean the same thing (Boella 2000; Bieger & Agosti 2005). Recent

Why Healthcare Practitioners are Unwilling to Change Practice Patterns Assignment

Why Healthcare Practitioners are Unwilling to Change Practice Patterns - Assignment Example However, despite the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) rules being approved by the American Medical Association in 2008 and this logistical development subsequently making it easier for the reception and transfer of payments, healthcare services providers have not yet come to significantly use them. Conversely, healthcare practitioners may find it hard to change their practicing patterns because of the unfavorable balance between inadequate healthcare resources and the unreasonable demand for the same services. Doctors and nurses may, for instance, want to make their practice more patient-friendly by elongating consultation hours, but the queue in the waiting room may not allow this. One can take a compassionate approach when dealing with physicians who loathe evidence-based systems. In this effect, it will be gainful to facilitate dialogue with physicians, so as to understand their point of view, in lieu of singling out individual physicians for professional malpractice. For a hospital leader, it will also be important to make an initiative of presenting solid evidence. The corollary to this is that upon seeing pieces of relevant information that bring about a significant difference, healthcare practitioners will gradually come to appreciate evidence-based systems. Integrating these efforts with information Electronic Health Records (EHR) systems and clinical decision support will also help solve this problem. This statement is indeed legitimate since the odds of dying in a healthcare center are greater than the risk of an air crash. Particularly, chances of dying in a healthcare institution because of human error are 33,000 times higher than the danger of dying in an airplane crash (Hammond, 2008). Although it is indeed true that the danger of dying in a hospital is more imminent than that of an airline accident, yet, this should not be construed to mean that healthcare practitioners are more careless, compared to pilots  and the flight crew.  

3.How do you believe business and economic functions should interact Essay

3.How do you believe business and economic functions should interact with society - Essay Example The government though does has a large role to play in assisting the businesses in fundamentals like acquisitions and profits, by assist what is meant here is that the government through its power to make rules and regulations defines how business would be conducted and that is a major role that the government has to perform. In situations quite contrary to the one mentioned before, the role of the government might be more than just being an administrative supervisor, the government can take upon it self to run the whole economy, it could nationalize all major industries and say that we know what is best for us and we will produce what we like, such is the nature of managed economies. We can now see that there is a close connection between the government and the running of the economy but there is a missing link in this chain i.e. the consumer. The consumer is perhaps one of the most important links in this chain because a consumer defines what is to be sold and what not in the marke t economy. The consumers through their purchasing power have the ability to dictate terms to the government, which in effect shape the rules and the regulations that are implemented within the society. Each and every entity has its own role to play in the society but it can never exist in complete solitude because of the high inter dependence on each other. The discussion and the argument on the three points raised will follow but an important point here is that even these three points will have some points interlinked with them and hence a detailed explanation for these intertwined terms should not be expected. In a free market society the governments role is the bare minimal, the consumer and the producers of the product decide what is going to be made, how it is going to be made and for whom it is going to be made. Through the forces of demand and supply the prices of the products are

Why Healthcare Practitioners are Unwilling to Change Practice Patterns Assignment

Why Healthcare Practitioners are Unwilling to Change Practice Patterns - Assignment Example However, despite the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) rules being approved by the American Medical Association in 2008 and this logistical development subsequently making it easier for the reception and transfer of payments, healthcare services providers have not yet come to significantly use them. Conversely, healthcare practitioners may find it hard to change their practicing patterns because of the unfavorable balance between inadequate healthcare resources and the unreasonable demand for the same services. Doctors and nurses may, for instance, want to make their practice more patient-friendly by elongating consultation hours, but the queue in the waiting room may not allow this. One can take a compassionate approach when dealing with physicians who loathe evidence-based systems. In this effect, it will be gainful to facilitate dialogue with physicians, so as to understand their point of view, in lieu of singling out individual physicians for professional malpractice. For a hospital leader, it will also be important to make an initiative of presenting solid evidence. The corollary to this is that upon seeing pieces of relevant information that bring about a significant difference, healthcare practitioners will gradually come to appreciate evidence-based systems. Integrating these efforts with information Electronic Health Records (EHR) systems and clinical decision support will also help solve this problem. This statement is indeed legitimate since the odds of dying in a healthcare center are greater than the risk of an air crash. Particularly, chances of dying in a healthcare institution because of human error are 33,000 times higher than the danger of dying in an airplane crash (Hammond, 2008). Although it is indeed true that the danger of dying in a hospital is more imminent than that of an airline accident, yet, this should not be construed to mean that healthcare practitioners are more careless, compared to pilots  and the flight crew.  

Urban Myth 09 Essay Example for Free

Urban Myth 09 Essay It was a cold night with a strange breeze in the air. The roads were filled with a slight feel of tension as the mans car drove over the frosted motor way. The smart business man dressed in an expensive suit was coming home from work and drove peacefully along the road with not a single worry in the world. He was making his way down a long motor way. The further he seemed to go the colder he began to feel. He felt the cold air coming in and touching upon his polyester suit even though the windows were tightly shut. He was listening to his favourite radio station when he suddenly heard a loud crrrrrrrr sound blast out from the radio speakers. The radio automatically shifted to another music station one the man had never heard before, spooky opera music began to play from the station. It shot out from the radio speakers and surrounded him in the car. The man was momentarily startled then looked down to change the station. On that second he sensed something and looked back up at the frosted road. He gazed upon a young women dressed in an immaculate bold red dress. She was madly close and standing directly in the middle of the road. Without a doubt the man immediately applied the handbrake and stopped with a thunderous skid. As the car stopped the woman was directly in front of bumper. The man looked her straight in the eyes in astonishment as the young women didnt look one bit bothered about nearly being killed by the car. The woman slowly raised her arm into a hitchhikers position to ask for a lift home. The man automatically told her with hand gestures to come inside the car; he was scared she may want to file a law suit against him as he had nearly killed her. He thought that if he gave her a lift home she would not do anything against him. The woman was breathing heavy and with every breath she took misty air seeped out from her mouth onto the front windscreen. As the man began to drive he started to examine the woman from the corner of his eye. She was wearing a sleeveless red dress and looked as if she was going to a party. The man tried to make small talk with the women but got no reply, not even a facial expression. The woman was completely silent and only made noise when taking breathes. As they made it down the road and started to approach the houses the woman began to shiver. The man took off his jacket and gave it to her. She slowly took it without speaking and quickly put it on. Her house was not far from where she was, the young women pointed towards the house and the business man parked up outside. As soon as the car stopped the woman slid quickly out of the car and ran into the house. The man thought to himself how glad he was that she was not going to file a law suit. He then realised the women was still wearing his expensive jacket but could not do anything as he did not want to disturb the household she had already entered. He then heard loud shouting coming from the house but thought nothing of it and drove off. The next morning the man came back to the house to this time hear the same spooky opera music he had first heard when he encountered the strange young woman on the road. The man parked up the car and got out. He approached the door and knocked; the knock sounded echoes throughout the house but could not compete with the sound of the creepy opera music. The music suddenly went off and an old tired looking woman slowly opened the door. She looked very surprised as if no one had knocked on her door for many years; she immediately asked the man what he wanted. The man explained to her what had happened and her daughter or relative perhaps has still got his jacket. The old lady took the man inside and made him feel comfortable as he sat down. She explained to the man how her daughter was murdered brutally on her prom night and thrown into a river not far from the house 20 years ago by her boyfriend as she was coming home. She told him everything in detail about how she was wearing a beautiful red dress and her favourite opera song she use to always play whenever she was feeling upset. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Miscellaneous section.