The WWI Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The WWI - Essay Example Prior to joining the WWI, the United States enjoyed a blossoming, prosperous years that were evidenced by a rapid growth in the GDP and a positive improvement in the standards of living of the American People (Gary pp 417). However, after the war, with much of the expenses in the war having been borne by the American people, there was a considerable slump in the American economy. The average American consumer had to chuck out more to obtain the same amount of goods they would have obtained before the war. After the war, the American government tremendously reduced its number of troops and significantly reduced the pay of the remaining solders. As a result veterans returning from the war complained of the lack of other opportunities in the country. Since congress had allocated many funds to ensure success in the war and with the strain in the standard of living, the rise in inflation became persistent. After the war the government was more indebted than ever in the history of the Unit ed States. The war had cost the American government an estimated $38 million financed by the federal government and through the issue of war bonds and stamps (Cross pp 45-57). Prices of commodities shot up tremendously. Investment reduced greatly as Americans had no surplus cash due to the rising inflation.

Look at the Way Shakespeare Explores Relationships Between Men and Women in Measure for Measure Essay Example for Free

Look at the Way Shakespeare Explores Relationships Between Men and Women in Measure for Measure Essay When Shakespeare wrote Measure for Measure in approximately 1604, society was very sexist towards females and men were seen as the stronger sex, however Shakespeare included lots of strong female characters in his plays such as Portia in ‘Mercent of Venice’ and Lady Macbeth in ‘Macbeth’, he was aware that his plays wouldn’t change society and that unlimitedly, women are regarded as subservient to men. They were not allowed to vote, state their real opinions, go to university and they were never formally educated; their only expected roles in life were to run the household and provide children. Consequently, many men regarded their wives and daughters as possessions who were expected to abide by their husbands and fathers no matter what. When it came down to relationships with the opposite sex, virginity was regarded as a virtue and a prize. Men expected their wives to be pure in preparation for marriage and the women that had ‘succumbed to the pleasures of the flesh’ before they were married were considered ruined women. Men however were encouraged to learn the arts of seduction and some men of the higher class were sent to Italy to learn the art. In the society of Measure for Measure, men clearly use and abuse women. One of the main characters Angelo is placed in charge of the city in Vienna by Duke Vincentio. The Duke had been quite an easy going ruler who feels that it is time to clean up the Viennese society and administer a greater sense of honour. He chooses Angelo because of the strong characteristics and principles that he has make him stand out for being the perfect person to do so. Despite his name being a play on the word ‘angel’, he absurdly proves to be the villain of the play and along with several other male figures, he uses not only his gender but also his position of power, to exploit several members of the ‘weaker’ sex. When Angelo takes authority as ruler in the Duke’s absence he immediately wishes to make a mark. Unbeknown to him, the Duke has disguised himself as a Friar and has returned to Vienna to observe how Angelo administers ascendancy. Angelo initially comes forth as beyond criticism and determined to rule with an iron fist. When he discovers that a nobleman called Claudio has slept with his partner impregnated her, he orders Claudio be executed as an example to the citizens of Vienna, that such immorality will not be tolerated. The nobleman Claudio is introduced to us in Act 1 Scene 2. As he is being led away to prison, his friend Lucio asks the meaning of ‘this restraint’ and queries as to weather or not it is because of ‘lechery’. Claudio agrees that to a degree, his crime is one of being too lenient in terms of sexual activity and we recognize that this is a society where men and women are expected to show self-control before marriage. Claudio talks about his lover, Julietta with a certain degree of dominance; we learn he had ‘possession’ of her bed but in his justification it was ‘upon a true contract’ and it seemed the liaison was consensual. But also ‘upon a true contract’ could also mean that Julietta has donated herself to the dominant member of the relationship. Also this statement makes the ‘relationship’ appear to be almost a deal or an agreement in which has been made between the two characters. He also argues that they were as good as engaged but were waiting for the right moment to reveal the news to her family. Their sexual relationship is regarded by Claudio as ‘mutual entertainment’ and we realise that both can be held responsible for their crime however Julietta is now pregnant and they cannot hide their actions from others who can see the ‘shame’ of their union. In addition, the word mainly focused upon, is ‘possession’. This word once again reflects the sexism surrounding this era; in that the male is the dominant and most significant person. Therefore, it is clear that the women (being Julietta in this case) is almost an in-animate object, which is owned or ‘possessed’ by the man. Claudio’s sister, Isabella, is an aspiring nun and when she first heard about her brother’s arrest she snaps at Angelo with ‘make me not your story’. She honestly doesn’t believe that her brother has committed such sin and thinks it is all a story. When she comes to plead for her brother’s life, she is clearly virtuous and innocent; untainted by the ills of society and ready to offer up her life to God. Angelo is overtaken by his desires and attracted to her virtuous nature. He offers the proposition that Isabella ‘yield up’ her body to his ‘will’ and he in turn will grant a pardon for Claudio. The word ‘yield’ suggests Isabella should give in or cower before Angelo’s might as a man and as a ruler. It reflects how Elizabethan men thought of women as possessions, objects and caring about only their bodies and not their souls; that when it came to sex before marriage, women were meant to give up their bodies. Isabella is horrified and refuses, believing that by sacrificing her virginity, she sacrifices her soul. The word ‘will’ shows that Angelo dominates and expects to be obeyed in the ‘relationship’, despite her opinions or rights. As a man in a superior position, Angelo is used to being obeyed and his demands are to be met. This shows us that men treated women as objects to satisfy their needs. In light of how sexist this play has been, at the end of the play in scene 5 I become almost convinced of how vile the Duke is. He tries to portray himself as this great big hero when he helps Isabella save Claudio; but then injustices that by punishing Lucio so harshly. Prostitutes in those days were thought of as strumpets and marriage with such a person was a ‘sin’. So, Lucio is given an option to marry the whore he impregnated but he never has to repent for what he did. Actions like this in the Viennese society were highly frowned upon and this highlights even more how badly men thought about women in these situations because Lucio was devastated when the Duke told him his sentence. Isabella, originally on the verge of becoming a nun, finds herself about to marry the Duke. It is interesting that she is not given a chance to reply to the Dukes marriage proposal in the play. She is assumedly very content to become the spouse of the towns leader, mainly since he has saved her brothers life. But at the same time this situation reinforces her loss of sexual independence. The central conflict in the play revolves roughly around Isabellas rejection to follow the ways of the majority of the women in Vienna. Her marriage to the Duke confirms her virtue while denying her independence. There are no independent women in Measure for Measure. This is not strange, considering the setting and Shakespeares own era. But Measure for Measure gives its women characters even less freedom than other Shakespearean plays. Isabella is the one exception in that she refuses to respond to Angelos advances. However, she is still obedient toward the Duke, following all of his instructions. At the conclusion of the play, the Duke administers punishment to all of the people who have done wrong and rewards the good. Angelo is told to marry Mariana, and he escapes death at her request. The Duke probably does not want to execute Angelo, but wants it made clear that his crime deserves such a punishment. Marianas reward is Angelo, which she takes happily, although the Duke tells her that he is unworthy of her love. Claudio is allowed to marry Juliet, and Lucio is punished by being made to marry a prostitute. Marriage is not a specific punishment or reward; however in this situation it is definitely a punishment.

Light Touch Management Style Information Technology Essay

Light Touch Management Style Information Technology Essay Project management is the discipline of planning, organizing and managing resources to bring about the successful completion of specific project goals and objectives. A project is a predetermined effort (having specific start and completion dates) undertaken to create a unique product or service which brings about beneficial change or added value. The primary challenge of project management is to achieve the project goals and objectives while honouring the project constraints. Typical constraints are scope, time and budget. The secondary and more ambitious challenge is to optimize the allocation and integration of inputs necessary to meet pre-defined objectives. (L. Ireland) 2. Introduction Traditional project management methodologies grew out of a need to control ever-larger development projects, and the difficulties of estimating and managing these efforts to reliably deliver results. These methodologies based on the Waterfall Model (Refer Appendix) process drew heavily on the principles from engineering such as construction management, where the team needs to determine requirements, design and plan for the entire building in order to understand the full scope of the effort and maintain them in an orderly sequence (Hass K.B., 2007). The inadequacy of this process is that in real world situation the activities rarely follow a sequential order; clients find it difficult to complete certain processes completely at an early stage and then move on. A need arises to identify, track and maintain close relationships with stakeholders and customers to not only overcome pressures of unprecedented change, global competition, time to-market compression and rapidly changing technologies but also to create and deliver customer value. Augustine (2006) defines Agile Project Management as the work of energizing, empowering and enabling project teams to rapidly and reliably deliver business value by engaging customers and continuously learning and adapting to their changing needs and environments. For example Infosys, by using agile approach it has successfully integrated and standardized desktops to provide one technology foundation for the merged business of Promina group of companies and Suncorp. The project was achieved in short time with regular checking process to ensure the project remained on track. 33. BENIFITS AND CHALLENGES OF APM: Boehm H. et.al. (2005) identified three critical challenging areas that affect the software managers of large scale organisations: 3.1 DEVELOPMENT CONFLICT: Traditional project life cycles require adjustments to the agile process the reason being traditional activities are focussed on optimising development over a period of time controversial to agility which believes in delivering immediate operational results. Agile requirements being primarily functional and reasonably informal they may or may not work in any systems engineering verification of validation approach. 3.2 BUSINESS CONFLICT Todays business processes and infrastructure require almost accurate prediction of future difficult-to-estimate responsibilities. The main problem is that agile does not support the certifications like ISO, CMMI etc because of this organization rating is affected. 3.3PEOPLE CONFLICT Agile team members will perform multitasking so it is difficult for the managers to assign specific roles to the members. Agile teams must be assembled in agile workspace which demands pair-programming stations, walls for status chart for the team to coordinate and share ideas. Stakeholders may play a different role which is key for the organisation as agile requires onsite customers, customer feedback and interaction, and customer input for acceptance testing. 4. Agile Project Management The agile development methodologies deal with rapid changes include eXtreme Programming (XP),Crystal, Scrum, Adaptive Software Development (ASD), Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM) and Feature-Driven Development (FDD) (Abrahamsson P., 2003).Generally agile methods promote a project management process that mainly focuses on frequent inspection and adaptation, a leadership philosophy that encourages teamwork, self-organization and accountability, a set of engineering best practices that allow for rapid delivery of high-quality software, and a business approach that aligns development with customer needs and company goals. There are many specific agile development methods. Most promote development iterations, teamwork, collaboration, and process adaptability throughout the life-cycle of the project. Agile methods break tasks into small increments with minimal planning, and dont directly involve long-term planning. Iterations are short time frames that typically last from one to f our weeks. Iteration is worked on by a team through a full software development cycle, including planning, requirements analysis, design, coding, unit testing, and acceptance testing when a working product is demonstrated to stakeholders. This helps minimize overall risk, and lets the project adapt to changes quickly. Stakeholders produce documentation as required.. Agile methods are sometimes characterized as being at the opposite end of the spectrum from plan-driven or disciplined methods. This distinction is misleading, as it implies that agile methods are unplanned or undisciplined. A more accurate distinction is that methods exist on a continuum from adaptive to predictive. (Turner, 2004). 4.1 Agile Management Agile management technically is used mainly in IT projects or projects which use software programmes as their base. Its been well known now that software plays an important part in the Project Management practises of now a day, as it plays an important role, agile project management is also becoming an integral part of it. There are various software techniques that management teams are now employing for their Project Management needs, such as CAS (Complex Adaptive System). CAS based agile project management framework is established that prescribes six practises for managing agile development projects. These practises not only help to manage teams as complex adaptive systems but also provide with a freedom to overlay personal leadership styles. For example consider an ant colony which is an example for CAS. Individually, ants have primitive brains yet collectively run surprisingly sophisticated and efficient operations. Using a few simple rules of logic without central direction, they find food, build and maintain their nests, tend to their young, and respond to attacks (G. Anthes). Keeping the principles in mind, the project manager can tune the following practices to match their unique project situation. 4.1.1 Guiding Vision According to Margaret Wheatley, A project vision translated into a simple statement of project purpose and communicated to all team members has a powerful effect on individual member behaviour.. It is essential for the agile project managers to promote team ownership of the vision by facilitating group discussions that would eventually help the team through difficult decisions about business value and would help them focus and inspired on the ultimate goal. Agile managers guide their teams by defining, disseminating, and sustaining a vision that influences the internal models of individual agents. The Agile Manifesto (www.agilemanifesto.org) created in 2001 by the proponents of these methodologies articulated a core set of values useful in steering this vision. 4.1.2 Team Organising Agile project managers need to pay lot of attention to set up and organize a agile team to operate within the larger enterprise. Agile project managers need to seek a redundancy of function and posses generalized specialists with skills not only in their specialty areas, but in other areas as well. This would then help in organic team composition and enable adaptability to changing external conditions. If a project demands larger team size, the agile manger needs to organize the project into several small organic sub teams to work in parallel to scale up in size. Organizing a project into organic teams implies a minor interaction penalty in terms of communication and coordination overhead (De Marco). Positive collaboration can be achieved by means of the time-honoured kick-off group lunch, training sessions by sharing personal and professional information and by understanding individual team members signals. Also it is vital for agile manager to ensure that the team maintains optimal internal channels of communication while minimizing the effect of an interaction penalty. 4.1.3 Simple Rules Agile project managers should establish a set of simple, generative process rules for the team. Methodologies usually carry processes, templates, deliverables and rules along with them. These rules become so burden that they are not followed at all. Some heavier processes enforce rule compliance by auditing, resulting in being counterproductive. Team members on APM projects should follow simple rules with their interactions resulting in complex behaviour emerging from the bottom up over time. Throughout a project, the manager identifies practices that arent being followed, seeks to understand why theyre not, and removes obstacles to their implementation. For example consider Birds in a group they follow basic rules such as avoiding objects, keeping pace and staying close to other birds .By following these simple rules, group of birds exhibit complex, collective behaviour by flying for long distances and adapting to changing conditions along the way (Augustine, 2006).Also XP practices do not restrict the autonomy and creativity of individuals by providing a simple set of rules. 4.1.4 Free and Open Information To adapt an agile team information must be open and free flowing. In agile project management information flows freely and team members benefit from the power of knowledge no matter what its source. In the agile arena, information is freed to leverage its power. Collective code ownership encourages everyone to contribute to the project. For instance, Trimble Navigation New Zealand implemented XP practices as fully as possible, as these practices promote open access to information and benefited of working with an accessible in-house customer who was able to be part of the project team. 4.1.5 Light Touch Management Style In Traditional project management everything is viewed through the prism of control of change, risk and people control (Augustine, 2006).Elaborate methodologies, tools, and practices have evolved to manage an out of control world. But tools fail when linear task breakdowns cannot accommodate cyclical processes and neat schedule demand frequent updating to reflect changing circumstances. So agile managers need to manage their teams with a light touch management style that allows team autonomy and flexibility and a customer value focus without sacrificing control. Skilled professionals dont adapt well to micromanagement, and tools and techniques quickly reach their limits when not used appropriately. Managers realize that increased control doesnt yield increased order, accepting their own inability to know everything in advance while relinquishing some control to achieve greater order. 4.1.6 Adaptive Leadership (Agile Vigilance) Adaptive leadership employs systems thinking to understand a projects internal forces. For example, events are understood in terms of their patterns, or the common elements that persist in diverse circumstances. The agile manager understands the effects of the mutual interactions among a projects various parts and steers them in the direction of continuous learning and adaptation (Sanjiv et al., 2005). Double-loop Learning enable agile managers to lead teams adaptively that involves continuous observing and assessing of the effect of the practices on the project and adapting the practices such as getting Plus-Delta feedback and conducting scenario planning for maximum impact and desired results 4.2 Agile Framework Scott Amblers Agile Modelling framework provides a broader framework for creating agile processes applied to software projects. Higher level Agile Model Driven Development (AMDD) best practices came into existence when AMDD lifecycle began to combine to describe when modelling occurs on projects such as Architectural envisioning and Requirements envisioning at the beginning of the project or model storming on a Just-In-Time (JIT) basis throughout the project(Ambler,2002). Project managers and senior managers should strive to keep modelling approach as collaborative and simple as possible, by adopting as many of the principles and practises of AM to ease it gradually 4.3 Principles of Agile Management Agile methods are a family of development processes, not a single approach to software development. Some of the principles of Agile Project Management are:- Customer satisfaction by rapid, continuous delivery of useful software Working software is delivered frequently (weeks rather than months) Even late changes in requirements are welcomed Close, daily cooperation between business people and developers Face-to-face conversation is the best form of communication (Co-location) Regular adaptation to changing circumstances Simplicity Self Organising Teams. 5. Example of Agile Project Management 5.1 Executive Summary In 2002, Agile competency has started within Mahindra Satyam. It had a strong team of over a 100 consultants who were well trained in diverse skill sets to address various dimensions of Agile product implementation, support and maintenance services. The main focus was on customer delight and success. There are many challenges that an established software organization faces when shifting to Agile. While there is a wealth of information and literature on the topic, much of it is most applicable to small teams working on Greenfield projects. But when contending with several teams, multiple projects and a mix of work new products, existing products, and maintenance there is an art to figuring out how to adapt Agile so that it works for the business. The consultants are well trained in diverse sets to address the different dimensions of agile and the team is trained in various product versions including 8.5, 9x and agile e6. 5.2 Overview Mahindra Satyam is a leading global business consulting and IT services company established in June, 1987. Leveraging deep industry functional expertise, leading technology practices, and an advanced, global delivery model, we enable companies to unlock their business potential. It provides various services and solutions using agile methodology. Satyam has developed agile methodology to track costs associated in gathering and analysing the requirements, which are the primary cause for a software project to fail. Electronic Training Record (ETR) is a solution developed in agile to maintain and track the training requirements of users in pharmacy industries. Today Satyam is a part of the $6.3 billion Mahindra Group, a global industrial conglomerate and one of the top 10 industrial firms based in India. 5.3 Applying Agile Agile requires a great deal of discipline. To succeed, you need to have sound engineering practices and tooling, said Maples. Almost immediately, Agile exposes those areas that need greater attention. And how you deploy and structure your data will determine the accuracy and scale of your project. The first step was to define standards for data descriptions uniform definitions for different activities and assets across the organization. A single definition for goal story, requirement, user story. This helped to make it easier for teams to understand each others work, and allow them to manage dependencies across teams. Next, Satyam made Team Focus the standard management console for all of its delivery projects. Team Focus sits on top of all the various ALM tools and repositories for delivery organization and provides a single Agile dashboard. This enabled the teams to immediately begin adopting agile practices without making significant changes to tool support. 5.4 Agile Planning To drive alignment between its Agile teams, marketing and product management organizations, and ensure that the work that is happening sprint by sprint maps back to business goals, it relies on the connection between Team Focus and its core products to link strategic goals and plan items directly to the requirements, user stories, tasks, and test cases. Agile projects emphasize on working software, which is quite different from traditional software. Traditionally, the success of a project is measured by the functional milestone. In agile projects, however, working software is the final measurement of project status. At the end of each short iteration, a working product is produced and available for review. The main advantage of this is it provides enough time to fix any mistake during the execution of a project before it affects adversely on the project 5.5 Agile Quality 5.6 Result 100% increase in number of product releases per year Reduced administrative and planning overhead by an average of 15 hours per 3 week sprint Eliminated 6 days a month of vice president and director time spent reporting per product group Increased customer satisfaction by including minor features in maintenance releases Increased product quality, reducing issues open from release to release by 50% Increased team productivity through enhanced morale (Source: www.mahindrasatyam.com) 6. Conclusion The lack of guidance for project managers of agile development projects has been a gaping hole in the software development community over the past several years. The contrast between the world of agile software development and traditional project management has left many managers wondering what their role should be. By viewing the agile development team as a complex adaptive system and the manager as an integral part of that system, we have begun to develop a framework for managers. This framework of practices is meant to overlay the practices of existing agile methodologies such as XP, and provide clear guidelines for the visionary leadership of projects that use them. The servant-leader concept introduced by Robert Greenleaf is the most appropriate way of thinking of the agile project manager. The project can be modified as and when the process moves and can be guided to create the desired outcomes. Despite of being simple agile is a costly process. It needs an organisation with a quality team capable of working independent from the organisation coupled with desired skills and experience and a fully engaged product power;then the project will be lead in a great way. 7. References: Abrahamsson, P., Warsta, J., Siponen, M., Ronkainen, J. (2003). New directions in agile methods:Comparative analysis. In Proceedings of the 25th International Conference on Software Engineering,pp 244-254. Alleman G.B. (2002). Agile Project Management Methods for IT Projects, The Story of Managing Projects: A Global, Cross- Disciplinary Collection of Perspectives. Greenwood Press / Quorum Books Augustine S., Payne B., Sencindiver F., Woodcock, S. (2005). Agile Project Management: Steering From the Edges.(Vol. 48). Communications of the ACM. Issue. 12. pp. 85-89. Augustine, S. (2006). Managing Agile Projects. Printice Hall PTR. David I. Cleland, Roland Gareis (2006). Global project management handbook. McGraw-Hill Professional, 2006. ISBN 0071460454. p.1-4: Project management was formally recognized in the 1950s as a distinct discipline arising from the management discipline. DeMarco, T. The Deadline: A Novel About Project Management. Dorset House, New York, 1997. Hass K.B. (2007). The Blending of Traditional and Agile Project Management. (Vol. IX).PM World Today. Issue. V. Lewis R. Ireland (2006) Project Management. McGraw-Hill Professional, 2006. Sanjiv et al., Communication of the ACM, December 2005/ Vol.48, No. 12 Scott W. Ambler (2002). Agile Modelling. Published by John Wiley Sons , Inc., New York Anthes, G. Ant colony IT. Computerworld (2001); http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/61394/Ant_Colony_IT accessed on 15-04-2010 http://www.mahindrasatyam.com/services/erp/Agile.asp 8. Appendix Appendix-1 Model storming Active Stakeholder participation Test-driven design (TDD) Prioritized Requirements Iteration modeling Requirements Envisioning Architecture Envisioning Executable Specifications Just barely good enough Document late Multiple models Model a bit ahead Single source information AGILEMODELING Source -Ambler (2002) Appendix-2 Source: http://www.fivelakes.org/images/projectstages.png Appendix-3 Source: Hass K.B. (2007)

Stereotypes and Stereotyping - Programmed and Labeled for Life Essay

Programmed and Labeled for Life Here it is, college, a new stroll down the pathway of life. This should be an opportunity to show more of which we are. College has been said to be a process of coming into our own. It's not like high school, there is less pressure of conformity, or is it too late? I believe that by high school graduation we've already conformed based on what others tell us; in high school we have our futures already laid out. Picture a student walking down the hallway carrying a full book-bag, a pencil case in one hand, and a trumpet case in the other. What do you think of this teenager, besides the fact that he's a band student that likes pencils? To answer your question, the opinion towards this student has already been established. Shout-outs are already being called to him: "Loser," "Geek", and "Dork", just to name a few. Now imagine another student walking down that same hallway, this person is wearing a football jersey, has no back-pack on, but rather a single book under his arm and a pencil behind his ear. Shout- out are being called to him as well: "you're the man," and "hey playa." After all these years of shout-outs and name-callings, over time we begin to believe those words. We carry these labels around with us, and by college we have already established what we're told to be. Popularity is the foundation for most name-calling. The decipher for whether you're known as a "loser" or "the man", depends on your popularity. Popularity is similar to the game of cards, the higher the card; the more it's worth. For a student with a low card, he or she might feel as if there is no way of winning. I interviewed a college student who spoke about her popularity in high school as a low card. "I had a... ...e people pleasers, believing that's their mission. Living in a college dorm, I see a lot of different people, and I guarantee that I can tell who was who in high school. After high school, the people called "Dorks", "Nerds", and "Geeks" all seem to be overachievers. Those labeled as being The "brain" in high school with "no friends", have filled that description later on.. The name-calling and shout-outs in the hallways have also lowered these "nerdy" students into believing they're unsuitable to make friends. Those college students, who were part of the popular crowd in high school, are now underachievers. Those who were previously known as socially cool, feel as if that's all they should be. Whether you were part of the popular crowd, or part of the nerd crowd, your future has already been established since your driven by these labels you heard in high school.

Analyzing a Literacy Event

At any moment, your life can change. In any instant you could find yourself walking down a different path than you started down. You would never know it, but the simplest form of literacy could make the world of difference in your life. Writing, believe it or not, is a constant in your everyday life. Whether making a grocery list, composing an email, or simply doing your homework, there is no escape from writing. In my case, however, writing came to be my only salvation for justice.On a seemingly normal, stress-free, fall day, I found myself walking through The Village of Rochester Hills. It goes without saying that writing was one of the last things on my mind as I was shopping. However, as things seem to do, my priorities were about to drastically change. As I was attacked by three teenage boys, my world began to spin. I was knocked out by one single blow to the side of my face. As I opened my eyes I saw the boys leaving me on the pavement of the parking lot. After a moment, I real ized that my purse and all of my belongings had been taken.There and then was when I realized how important writing can really be. I instantly ran into the closest store and began writing down all I could recall about the incident. Filling the paper with descriptions of the boys’ clothes, hair, faces, the van they left in, and even their voices, I wracked my brain for all the information I had. Eventually, the Oakland County Sherriff came to the scene of the crime. Within the time it had taken them to reach me, I had already begun to go into a form of shock, causing me to forget details and important factors of the incident.My small gesture of literacy had been the key to finding justice in this situation. After the police had calmed down and taken me to the station, my next writing adventure began. It might not be obvious, but filling out police reports and giving detailed descriptions to a sketch artist involves many literary techniques. I can honestly say my encounter with writing was the most meticulous, painstaking, in depth paper I have ever written. Needless to say, my literary work provoked many reactions. After reading the entire report, most were angry: Angry that this sort of situation could happen to anyone.Some were sympathetic, offering hopes of catching the three boys with the help of my descriptions. I, on the other hand, read through my report over and over again, feeling worse and worse about the situation. Days later, the police were able to link my case with three others. The three other girls who had been put in similar situations, however, were unable to give as much detail as I was. In a sense, my ability to understand the grave importance of writing was able to help three complete strangers come closer to catching the three boys who stole their feeling of safety and self confidence.For as little as the average person considers literacy to be a part of their lives, I have personally found it to be one of life’s most valuabl e privileges. A single act of writing led me closer to a sense of justice and closure in a moment between shock and sanity. This encounter with writing has changed my outlook on many things. The most important, however, is that I feel grateful for all the teachers that have taught me how to write because without them, I may not have been able to rise above the situation.

Health Care Spending Paper Essay

Health care costs for individuals in the United States have increased and will continue to increase. The number of people needing care and insurance is one of the major factors in health care spending. Another factor is the amount needed to be spent on new equipment and technology which will always continue to change. The U.S. health care spending accounts for 16% of the gross domestic product (GDP), which is the highest compared to other countries. Although the American populations have benefited from the investments made in health care, it still puts strains on the systems used to finance health care, such as private and public insurance programs. Many people are still without insurance and those who do have insurance have seen their out-of-pocket expenses grow from their deductibles and copayments (Kaiser Family Foundation, n.d.). Health Expenditures The national health expenditures currently have reached $2.1 trillion. According to Forman (2008), â€Å"This translated into $7,026 per person and 16% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP)† (para. 3). Both of these records are the highest among the nations. The hospital spending accounts for 31% of the national health care expenditure, which continues to grow. Due to a 0.2% Medicare fee schedule update for physicians in 2006, the physician expenditure is at an generally low rate at 5.9%. Prescription drug spending has increased to 19% due to the implementation of Medicare Part D. Administrative cost have also grown over the years and is currently at 8.8% in the health care spending expenditure. The growth of this is due to the amount of Medicare beneficiaries who have enrolled in the Medicare Advantage plans. Medicaid spending has for the first time ever, decreased in the amount spent on health care, partly due to Medicare Part D (Forman, 2008). Spending too much? The level of health care spending is too high and continues to grow. It will continue to grow and exceed the overall GDP, which does not leave open opportunities for spending in other areas. Health care spending has not been manageable for some time now, resulting in a higher number of people uninsured and a greater number of consumers and employers struggling to afford insurance. The increased use of the Medicare Advantage plan has increased the importance of managed care and also puts the remaining fee-for-service system at risk (Forman, 2008). Health care in the U.S. is also much higher priced for the services than other countries. According to Kelley (2010), the public’s lack of market power – the ability to drive price based on supply and demand, as with most other products and service – is the cause of high prices in physician services, hospital services, and prescription drugs (p. 21). To Add or Cut Spending According to Kelley (2009), â€Å"Estimates suggest that as much as $700 billion a year in healthcare costs do not improve health outcomes. They occur because we pay more for care rather than better care† (p. 2). We are often provided with service that do us no good or services that we really do not need. Too much is spent on unnecessary hospitalizations, unneeded tests, over-priced drugs, and more expensive equipment that works just as well as the last and cheaper equipment (Kelley, 2009, p. 2). Compared to other countries, the U.S. health care costs are too high; more is spent per capita and the GDP percentage is the highest. Health care costs also can be reduced by eliminating the amount of medical errors, fraud and abuse, and payments for services with no evidence that they contribute better health outcomes (Kelley, 2009, p. 4). According to Kelley (2009), â€Å"The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) estimates that fraudulent billings to public and private healthcare programs are 3-10 percent of total health spending, or $75-$250 billion in fiscal year 2009† (p. 17). Kelley (2009), states that a substantial amount of care provided adds no or little value to the diagnosis of a patient’s condition or effective treatment of a diagnosed condition (p. 12). This means that the use of diagnostic test, high-price procedures, and irrelevant use of antibiotics can be decreased. The result of this could save millions of dollars in health care expenses for hospitals, patients, and insurance companies. Health care costs also can be cut by administrative costs. According to kaiseredu.org (2011), â€Å"At least 7% of health care expenditures are estimated to go toward for the administrative costs of government health care programs and the net cost of private insurance.† Health Care Finance The public’s health care needs are paid for by public and private health insurance companies, which in the year of 2010 cost about $2.6 trillion. This is ten times over the $256 billion spent in health care expenditures in 1980 (Kaiser Family Foundation, n.d.). Health care needs for citizens age 65 and older are covered through Medicare with no direct out-of-pocket expenses. Not all drug costs and medical services are covered under Medicare; some require additional coverage from private insurers (Torrey, 2010, para. 1). Private health insurance is available to employees through their employer. Americans under the age of 65 who cannot afford health insurance have a chance to be covered under state-run programs, such as SCHIP for children. There are millions of people still uninsured and many who are underinsured (Torrey, 2010, para. 2). According to Torrey (2010), â€Å"With the passage of the healthcare reform in March 2010, the number of uninsured Americans is changing so that by 2014, 32 million more Americans will have coverage† (para. 6). Economic Health Care Needs The future economic health care needs are expanding health care coverage and addressing the rising costs. The percentage of Americans with health insurance declined in 2009 (American College of Physicians, 2011). According to the American College of Physicians (2011), â€Å"The number of uninsured persons reached an all-time high, with almost 51 million people having no health insurance coverage and 59 million being without health insurance at least part of the year† (p. 2). Many people have also signed up for Medicaid and many more need to sign up with the time of the Baby Boomers. If the health care system does not come up with a solution to the finances of health care and health insurance it will not be provided. If the costs of health insurance are also not taken into account, many will lose their insurance because they can no longer afford it. I believe the needs of the health care system will be met through government financing and other programs, which may result in higher taxes. In 2014 the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will become available to nearly all Americans and will address the challenges of rising costs, inadequate capacity, and coverage. According to the American College of Physicians (2011), â€Å"ACA will address the shortage of primary care physicians by reforming payment systems and by the funding of primary care training programs† (p. 1). The health care system needs to realize how their money is being spent and wasted. The costs of medical supplies and some prescription drugs are outrageous. Starting with little changes, such as the price of aspirin in a hospital can result in lower health care costs. The important need of Americans and providing affordable health insurance is a major issue. This results in the high health expenditures that are seen today. Americans should not have to worry about whether or not they will be able to afford health care in the next few years, let alone have insurance. Americans without insurance will need to have access to some type of care or insurance. Health insurance companies and employers need to come up with a solution or find ways to help out the people of the U.S. If health care prices do not decrease soon, they may never decrease. References American College of Physicians. (2011). Health Care Coverage, Capacity and Cost: What Does the Future Hold?. Retrieved from http://www.acponline.org/advocacy/events/state_of_healthcare/snhcbrief2011.pdf Forman, H.P. (2008). National Health Care Expenditure Update: A New Threat or an Opportunity?. Retrieved from http://www.ajronline.org/content/190/3/557.full kaiseredu.org. (2011). US Health Care Costs. Retrieved from kaiseredu.org: http://www.kaiseredu.org/Issue-Modules/US-Health-Care-Costs/Background-Brief.aspx Kelley, R. (2009). Where Can $700 Billion in Waste be Cut Annually from the U.S. Healthcare System?. Retrieved from http://www.factsforhealthcare.com/whitepaper/HealthcareWaste.pdf Torrey, T. (2010). Healthcare Reform – How Should Healthcare be Paid For?. Retrieved from http://patients.about.com/od/healthcarereform/a/reform-payment.htm

Tropical Cyclone Characteristics

Tropical Cyclone Characteristics Tropical depressions, tropical storms, hurricanes, and typhoons are all examples of tropical cyclones - organized systems of clouds and thunderstorms that form over warm waters and rotate around a low-pressure center. A Generic Term composed of a system of thunderstorms that shows a cyclonic rotation around a central core or eye. A tropical cyclone is a generic term for a storm with an organized system of thunderstorms that are not based on a frontal system. To learn more about what tropical cyclones are called depending on their winds blow, read What TCs are called from birth to dissipation. Tropical cyclones are not only called certain things here in the U.S. depending on how strong they are, but theyre also known by different names depending on where you are in the world.  In the Atlantic Ocean and Eastern Pacific, tropical cyclones are known as hurricanes. In the Western Pacific Ocean, tropical cyclones are known as typhoons. In the Indian Ocean, a tropical cyclone is simply called a cyclone. These names are described in the article - is it a typhoon, a cyclone, or a hurricane? Must-Have Ingredients for a Tropical Cyclone Each individual tropical cyclone differs, but several characteristics are common to most tropical cyclones, including: A central low-pressure zone and high wind speeds of at least 34 knots. At this point, the storms are given a pre-determined storm name. Most storms are accompanied by a lot of rain and storm surges near the shore. Often, once the storms make landfall, the tropical cyclone can cause tornadoes. A tropical cyclone needs warm ocean temperatures in order to form. Temperatures in the ocean need to be at least 82 degrees Fahrenheit in order to form. Heat is drawn up from the oceans creating what is popularly called a heat engine. Tall convective towers of clouds are formed within the storm as warm ocean water evaporates. As the air rises higher it cools and condenses releasing latent heat which causes even more clouds to form and feed the storm. Tropical cyclones can form any time these conditions are met, but they are most prone to form from during the warm season months (May to November in the Northern Hemisphere). Rotation and Forward Speed Like ordinary low-pressure systems, tropical cyclones in the Northern Hemisphere is counter-clockwise due to the Coriolis Effect. The opposite is true in the Southern Hemisphere. The forward speed of a tropical cyclone can be a factor in determining the amount of damage the storm will cause. If a storm remains over one area for a long period of time, torrential rains, high winds, and flooding can severely impact an area. The average forward speed of a tropical cyclone is dependent on the latitude where the storm is currently. Generally, at less than 30 degrees of latitude, the storms will move at about 20 mph on average. The closer the storm is located the equator, the slower the movement. Some storms will even stall out over an area for an extended period of time. After about 35 degrees North latitude, the storms start to pick up speed. Storms can also become entangled with one another in a process known as the Fujiwhara Effect where tropical cyclones can interact with each other. Specific storm names in each of the ocean basins vary based on conventional naming practices. For instance, in the Atlantic Ocean, storms are given names based on an alphabetical pre-determined list of Atlantic hurricane names. Severe hurricanes names are often retired. Edited by Tiffany Means