Wellness programs try to Be welcoming

AH, July: an ideal time of year for morning runs, long swims, family bike rides and picnic tables laden with seasonal produce. In short, it’s healthy time.  Unfortunately, it’s also health care time — when managers must contend with rising health insurance premiums as they plan next year’s budget.  What is a cost-conscious manager to do? The answer of the moment is to provide a wellness program, promoting healthy behavior year-round.According to a survey by the Hay Group, a consulting firm, more than half of all large companies offer some combination of services like nutrition education, weight management assistance, health risk assessments, and help with quitting smoking; more than a quarter offer things like fitness coaching and discounts on health club memberships.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"I was basically out of the business for the better part of the decade,† said Michael Carter, a vice president at Hay responsible for employee health management consulting. â€Å"Now everybody’s my new best friend.†On the surface, it is hard to see anything wrong with urging employees to tone up and trim down. A fitter work force is a happier work force, and less costly, too.  But wellness programs can be minefields. Some employees may resent the programs, viewing them as examples of father-knows-best intrusiveness. At least one program has even formed the background for a lawsuit.The biggest challenge of wellness programs is to reach the employees who would get the most out of them. Gym rats will always take advantage of benefits like discounted health club memberships — but they would probably work out anyway, and discounts may not be enough for those who are seriously overweight or out of shape.  Personalized incentives like fitness coaching and nutrition counseling are often a better way to reach employees in the middle group who just need a little encouragement. It is also crucial to make accommodations for disabled emplo yees.And the tone taken is crucial: who wants the boss telling you to eat your spinach? A program that feels coercive will probably never be as popular as one with positive incentives, like cheaper health insurance.  Employees respond best to wellness programs that are presented as a form of organizational change, rather than as a top-down imposition of new requirements, according to a study of 243 employees by Ellen Ernst Kossek, a professor of human resource management and organizational behavior at Michigan State University, and two colleagues.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"It shouldn’t be, ‘Here’s this program,’ † she said. â€Å"It should be linked to ‘How do we make a workplace that’s healthy for everyone.’ †Ã‚  Scotts Miracle-Gro has one of the most extensive wellness programs on offer. Services include personalized fitness coaching and a $5 million wellness center at its headquarters in Marysville, Ohio, with a gym and medical facili ties. The company also has a policy against hiring workers who smoke, where state law permits.Participation in Scotts’ wellness programs is high — but the company has also seen an unexpected side effect from its efforts.  Last year, Scott Rodrigues filed suit against the company in Massachusetts, saying that Scotts fired him after a drug test found nicotine in his system and that the company’s antismoking policy violated his civil rights.  Harvey Schwartz, Mr. Rodrigues’s lawyer, said the case was also an example of benefits discrimination, where a company dismisses an employee to avoid high benefits costs.  In a motion to dismiss the case, which is pending, Scotts said that Mr. Rodrigues had not actually been hired but had been offered a job on the condition that he pass a drug screen, including a test for nicotine.â€Å"When you look at controlling costs,† said Su Lok, a Scotts spokeswoman, smoking â€Å"is something that employers are rea lly taking a stand on.† The company had no comment on the specific case because it is ongoing.  Union Pacific Railroad has had a smoother ride with its longstanding wellness program. The proportion of health insurance claims related to lifestyle has dropped by 11 percentage points over 11 years, said Marcy Zauha, the company’s director for health and safety.Union Pacific, based in Omaha, offers some companywide wellness benefits, including health risk assessments and stop-smoking plans. But much of the program, including regional walking contests and group weight-loss efforts, is administered locally. Managers’ health promotion initiatives are included in their annual reviews.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"We’ve tried to build health into our existing culture,† Ms. Zauha said.Fiserv, a financial services technology company based in Brookfield Wis., created a wellness program in 2005 to better recruit and retain employees.  Fiserv employees who fill out a health risk assessment receive a sizable discount on their monthly health insurance premium. There are also companywide fitness challenges: in a recent eight-week walking contest, participants were issued pedometers, and anyone who walked 7,000 steps a day received a prize.Teams have to been known to question whether their rivals really log the number of steps claimed. But that was fine with Linda Schuessler, manager of wellness promotion.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"As long as they’re engaged,† Ms. Schuessler said, â€Å"we don’t really mind those concerns.†(this is the copyofth article from NY Times,http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/22/business/yourmoney/22mgmt.html?ex=1186113600&en=ded5f6bb661041b0&ei=5070#)Journal AssignmentThe concept at hand is about how managers and company heads would make the most out of their companies by introducing a healthy lifestyle to their employees. It is evident that today, health care costs are so high that rising health insurance premiums would surely be in the way of budgeting for the company (Holland). Obviously, these company heads and managers should not jeopardize the health of their employees, that they should provide the necessary things for their wellness. But surely, this would cost them that it wouldn’t be that easy to pull out strings and fix the budget. That is why these managers should resort to a way that would be more cost effective and keep them from harms way of these health care costs.The article discusses how managers and company heads employ human resource management in order to do away with the costly expenses of health care and health insurances that they provide to the employees. But this doesn’t mean that they neglect the health of these working people. It is true that these people are very important to the company, that these companies need them in order to be productive, which is why it is important that their every need will be given to them or will be addressed.What these company leaders and managers do is that they make sure that these employees are healthy so that they can avert the spending that they’ll have to give when any of these gets sick or has health problems. In order not to shoulder the burden of health care and health insurance premiums, they offered to keep them fit in their own ways.In order to do so, these companies offer basically every health guidance and services that they can offer to the employees. These includes educating them regarding nutrition and proper diet, weight management assistance, health risk assessments and checkups, fitness coaching and giving out memberships for fitness groups and health clubs. Through this, the company themselves are able to ensure that their employees are fit and are far from harms way, thus saving them the costs of health care for these people. Thus, the companies’ budgets will not be greatly affected.If you would relate this approach in human resource management, you could see that this is more on the incentive aspect, wherein you provide your employees something that would keep them going to work. For those who are concerned with their health and well-being, they would surely grab the opportunity of free health club memberships and nutrition education. This is positive for the company, since the employees themselves are the ones who initiate in keeping themselves healthy. Remember, the main concern of the company in this issue is how they can do away with the extra costs of health care and health insurance premiums for their employees.Regarding the effectiveness of this approach, the article states that there are already several large-scale companies who adopted this system. They have their own health clubs and offer free membership to their employees. They say that these greatly helps them in cutting costs, thus the allotted budget for healthcare would be saved. There are still some who are not that much into health stuffs, people who think that nutrition education is l ike intruding with their lives. These people are those who would most likely have health risks and should be given enough consideration in order to engage them in these health programs.Human resource management surely entails various levels of dealing with the people you are handling. This includes how you handle them, and the ways on how you are able to manage them, making them do what they’re suppose to do. This is where healthcare comes in, wherein their safety and well being is not only their concern, but should also be the company’s priority. When their wellness goes down, the company goes down as well, in terms of both manpower and monetary aspects.Reference:Holland, K. (2007). Wellness Programs Try to Be Welcoming, Too. The New York Times. Published July 22, 2007. Retrieved August 1, 2007, from http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/22/business/yourmoney/22mgmt.html?ex=1186113600&en=ded5f6bb661041b0&ei=5070# Wellness Programs Try to Be Welcoming AH, July: an ideal time of year for morning runs, long swims, family bike rides and picnic tables laden with seasonal produce. In short, it’s healthy time.Unfortunately, it’s also health care time — when managers must contend with rising health insurance premiums as they plan next year’s budget.What is a cost-conscious manager to do? The answer of the moment is to provide a wellness program, promoting healthy behavior year-round.According to a survey by the Hay Group, a consulting firm, more than half of all large companies offer some combination of services like nutrition education, weight management assistance, health risk assessments, and help with quitting smoking; more than a quarter offer things like fitness coaching and discounts on health club memberships.â€Å"I was basically out of the business for the better part of the decade,† said Michael Carter, a vice president at Hay responsible for employee health management consulting. â€Å"Now everybody’s my new best friend.†On the surface, it is hard to see anything wrong with urging employees to tone up and trim down. A fitter work force is a happier work force, and less costly, too.But wellness programs can be minefields. Some employees may resent the programs, viewing them as examples of father-knows-best intrusiveness. At least one program has even formed the background for a lawsuit.The biggest challenge of wellness programs is to reach the employees who would get the most out of them. Gym rats will always take advantage of benefits like discounted health club memberships — but they would probably work out anyway, and discounts may not be enough for those who are seriously overweight or out of shape.Personalized incentives like fitness coaching and nutrition counseling are often a better way to reach employees in the middle group who just need a little encouragement. It is also crucial to make accommodations for disabled employees.And the tone ta ken is crucial: who wants the boss telling you to eat your spinach? A program that feels coercive will probably never be as popular as one with positive incentives, like cheaper health insurance.Employees respond best to wellness programs that are presented as a form of organizational change, rather than as a top-down imposition of new requirements, according to a study of 243 employees by Ellen Ernst Kossek, a professor of human resource management and organizational behavior at Michigan State University, and two colleagues.â€Å"It shouldn’t be, ‘Here’s this program,’ † she said. â€Å"It should be linked to ‘How do we make a workplace that’s healthy for everyone.’ †Scotts Miracle-Gro has one of the most extensive wellness programs on offer. Services include personalized fitness coaching and a $5 million wellness center at its headquarters in Marysville, Ohio, with a gym and medical facilities. The company also has a pol icy against hiring workers who smoke, where state law permits.Participation in Scotts’ wellness programs is high — but the company has also seen an unexpected side effect from its efforts.Last year, Scott Rodrigues filed suit against the company in Massachusetts, saying that Scotts fired him after a drug test found nicotine in his system and that the company’s antismoking policy violated his civil rights.Harvey Schwartz, Mr. Rodrigues’s lawyer, said the case was also an example of benefits discrimination, where a company dismisses an employee to avoid high benefits costs.In a motion to dismiss the case, which is pending, Scotts said that Mr. Rodrigues had not actually been hired but had been offered a job on the condition that he pass a drug screen, including a test for nicotine.â€Å"When you look at controlling costs,† said Su Lok, a Scotts spokeswoman, smoking â€Å"is something that employers are really taking a stand on.† The company ha d no comment on the specific case because it is ongoing.Union Pacific Railroad has had a smoother ride with its longstanding wellness program. The proportion of health insurance claims related to lifestyle has dropped by 11 percentage points over 11 years, said Marcy Zauha, the company’s director for health and safety.Union Pacific, based in Omaha, offers some companywide wellness benefits, including health risk assessments and stop-smoking plans. But much of the program, including regional walking contests and group weight-loss efforts, is administered locally. Managers’ health promotion initiatives are included in their annual reviews.â€Å"We’ve tried to build health into our existing culture,† Ms. Zauha said.Fiserv, a financial services technology company based in Brookfield Wis., created a wellness program in 2005 to better recruit and retain employees.Fiserv employees who fill out a health risk assessment receive a sizable discount on their monthly health insurance premium. There are also companywide fitness challenges: in a recent eight-week walking contest, participants were issued pedometers, and anyone who walked 7,000 steps a day received a prize.Teams have to been known to question whether their rivals really log the number of steps claimed. But that was fine with Linda Schuessler, manager of wellness promotion.â€Å"As long as they’re engaged,† Ms. Schuessler said, â€Å"we don’t really mind those concerns.†(this is the copy of the article from NY Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/22/business/yourmoney/22mgmt.html?ex=1186113600&en=ded5f6bb661041b0&ei=5070#)Journal AssignmentThe concept at hand is about how managers and company heads would make the most out of their companies by introducing a healthy lifestyle to their employees. It is evident that today, health care costs are so high that rising health insurance premiums would surely be in the way of budgeting for the company (Holland). O bviously, these company heads and managers should not jeopardize the health of their employees, that they should provide the necessary things for their wellness. But surely, this would cost them that it wouldn’t be that easy to pull out strings and fix the budget. That is why these managers should resort to a way that would be more cost effective and keep them from harms way of these health care costs.The article discusses how managers and company heads employ human resource management in order to do away with the costly expenses of health care and health insurances that they provide to the employees. But this doesn’t mean that they neglect the health of these working people. It is true that these people are very important to the company, that these companies need them in order to be productive, which is why it is important that their every need will be given to them or will be addressed. What these company leaders and managers do is that they make sure that these empl oyees are healthy so that they can avert the spending that they’ll have to give when any of these gets sick or has health problems. In order not to shoulder the burden of health care and health insurance premiums, they offered to keep them fit in their own ways.In order to do so, these companies offer basically every health guidance and services that they can offer to the employees. These includes educating them regarding nutrition and proper diet, weight management assistance, health risk assessments and checkups, fitness coaching and giving out memberships for fitness groups and health clubs. Through this, the company themselves are able to ensure that their employees are fit and are far from harms way, thus saving them the costs of health care for these people. Thus, the companies’ budgets will not be greatly affected.If you would relate this approach in human resource management, you could see that this is more on the incentive aspect, wherein you provide your empl oyees something that would keep them going to work. For those who are concerned with their health and well-being, they would surely grab the opportunity of free health club memberships and nutrition education. This is positive for the company, since the employees themselves are the ones who initiate in keeping themselves healthy. Remember, the main concern of the company in this issue is how they can do away with the extra costs of health care and health insurance premiums for their employees.  Regarding the effectiveness of this approach, the article states that there are already several large-scale companies who adopted this system. They have their own health clubs and offer free membership to their employees. They say that these greatly helps them in cutting costs, thus the allotted budget for healthcare would be saved. There are still some who are not that much into health stuffs, people who think that nutrition education is like intruding with their lives. These people are th ose who would most likely have health risks and should be given enough consideration in order to engage them in these health programs.Human resource management surely entails various levels of dealing with the people you are handling. This includes how you handle them, and the ways on how you are able to manage them, making them do what they’re suppose to do. This is where healthcare comes in, wherein their safety and well being is not only their concern, but should also be the company’s priority. When their wellness goes down, the company goes down as well, in terms of both manpower and monetary aspects.Reference:Holland, K. (2007). Wellness Programs Try to Be Welcoming, Too. The New York Times. Published July 22, 2007. Retrieved August 1, 2007, from http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/22/business/yourmoney/22mgmt.html?ex=1186113600&en=ded5f6bb661041b0&ei=5070#

Mapp v. Ohio and Miranda v. Arizona: An analysis

The case of Mapp vs. Ohio [367 U.S. 643 (1961)] was brought to the Supreme Court on account of Mapp’sconviction due to a transgression of an Ohio statute. Mapp was said to have violated the statue for possessing and keeping in her house various materials which are obscene in nature. The obscene materials were found in her house after a search conducted by police officers in her house. Mapp appealed her conviction before the Supreme Court, arguing that the search conducted by the police should be struck down as invalid as the same was conducted without the benefit of a warrant. In Miranda vs. Arizona [384 U.S. 436 (1966)], Miranda was convicted of rape and kidnapping. His conviction was decided by the lower court on account of his confession before police officers. He confessed to having committed the offense when he was investigated upon after being arrested by the police. Miranda appealed his conviction before the Supreme Court, contending that the confession cannot be considered as proper basis for his conviction due to the fact that he was without the assistance of counsel during the interrogation in which the confession was made by him. Section 2 In Mapp vs. Ohio, the Supreme Court set aside the conviction, holding that the search could not validly produce the conviction for the same was conducted without a warrant being issued for the same. The Court, citing Weeks vs. United States [232 U.S. 383 (1914)], supported its decision by saying, â€Å"conviction by means of unlawful seizures and enforced confessions should find no sanction in the judgments of the courts†. In the opinion of the Court, to convict a person based on an invalid search is a denial of the Constitutional rights of the citizens, and hence cannot be permitted by the Courts. The conviction in Miranda vs. Arizona was likewise held invalid by the Supreme Court. In this case, the Court relied on the coercive nature of interrogations conducted by police for saying that one conducted without the presence of counsel to assist the accused is a denial of the constitutional rights of the latter. Hence, any confession made under any un-counseled interrogation cannot be sanctioned as valid evidence against the accused. The Court, in its decision, made clear that â€Å"the person in custody must, prior to interrogation, be clearly informed that he has the right to remain silent, and that anything he says will be used against him in court; he must be clearly informed that he has the right to consult with a lawyer and to have the lawyer with him during interrogation, and that, if he is indigent, a lawyer will be appointed to represent him†. Section 3 It is believed that the decisions rendered in both cases do not handcuff the police so as to restrict them from performing their duties. In fact, it is advanced that the decisions in Mapp and Arizona even seeks to limit, if not to eradicate, the abuse sometimes perpetrated by the police in the course of arrests or investigations. It cannot be said that the doctrines laid down by the courts handcuffs the police for law and jurisprudence provides for valid exceptions to the applications of the doctrines. At most, the decisions only seek to prevent the police from having unbridled discretion in gathering evidence against suspected violators and in obtaining confessions through violation and coercion. Section 4 After an analysis of the case, it becomes apparent that the abuses perpetrated by police officers in the conduct of their duties are the same reasons why the Court has rendered a decision which effectively limits the discretion of the police in conducting interrogations and gathering evidence against suspected violators of the law. In the same way, the cases also gave hope that after the rendition of the cases, the police would no longer be abusive for purposes of prosecuting an offender; that convictions will only be produced by evidence obtained through legally permissible means. Section 5 References Cited: Mapp v. Ohio. 367 U.S. 643 (1961) Miranda v. Arizona. 384 U.S. 436 (1966) Weeks v. United States. 232 U.S. 383 (1914)

Who Am I as a Learner

SECTION  ± A1. Who am I as a Learner? I am passionate to learn new things in an interesting way. I am a quick learner of theories andconcepts if it is delivered through visuals and demonstrations. I would prefer to learn in a practical way rather than reading books, articles and journals. However, I am a good survivor in nature. S o, if in case I would have to learn through books and articles I could do thateffectively. I believe in learning through a mix of theory and practice. S ometimes I may get bored if I am only into theories and not in practice. I am interested in learning complexthings, simple things may make me bored.I believe in learning through group discussion, as Icould share the knowledge easily and in a communal way. I am very analytical and creativein nature. I feel writing is a good learning practice. W riting refines the learned materials. My strengths in learning are, I am always eager to solve difficult problems and learnsomething new from those problems. I feel making assignments is a better practice rather than exams. However, I am good in tackling exams as well. W hen I do assignments, Iexperience a lot of questions rising and it makes me interesting to find answers for thosequestions.I would prefer to find the answers through a podcast or a video file rather than books. I like to read learn through visuals. I am good in relating things, when I learn anyfundamentals I could use it properly in a difficult situation. I am always eager to knowsomething new and interested in keeping me updated in the area where I ¶m interested in. Icould quickly understand when someone explains about hard theories. I always try to learnsomething from people I meet. My weak points are, sometime I may get bored in reading books, articles and journals. However, some articles are interested in reading but not all.S ometimes I cannot concentrateon things which I am not interested in. But, if I am forced to do that I will probably makemyself concentrating in to that. S ometimes, I don ¶t understand difficult concepts by reading books; I may need lectures or visual explanations. V ARK learning style test: Multimodal study strategy A ccording to VA RK results I am into multimodal study strategy, VA RK result says that,? Multimodal study strategy people have 3 to 4 mode of preferences, in which they use theone according to the people around them. They could easily match or align their mode to the thers around them.But if they want to annoy other people then they could stand in adifferent mode and make others do in an alternate way?. W hen I am looking into the VA RK report, it exactly resembles my mode of learning. I have 4modes of learning one is V isual, Oral, Reading and W riting. However, I would prefer to usevisual mode most of the time. But if the circumstance made me to use another mode I wouldreadily adopt other mode without wasting the time. VA RK says that people who havemultimodal preferences have told that it is often essential for them to use more than onestrategy to learn better and communicate better.People with multi modal strategy feelinsecure if they have only one mode of learning. Mental muscle test Briggs type Indicator states about my personality type as ENFJ that is I am a kind of personwho always seek to build up and encourage growth in my friends and family. I may have aintellect potential about them that may broaden away from how they see themselves. I alsotry to find out the potential within relationships or the team. But, I never push the people sohard that ends up creating conflicts, because maintaining the harmony is very important for me.I agree with the Briggs type indicators report. I always believe in relationships andfriendships that make everything easy. I never try to get into any conflict that spoils therelationship as relationship is more important for me. It also states that my dominant functionis feelings and very extraverted, I don ¶t agree with the above statement completel y. S ometimes I may be feelings oriented person but sometimes I am just material minded. Itdepends upon the situation where I am in. If I am working in a company I won ¶t be feelingoriented, rather I will be a professional. Leadership style MM DI report says that I am primarily a participative leader. S uch leaders accomplish through people, through collective involvement, through teamwork in the tasks. This kind of leadership involves constructing communal ownership and promise within the group. Theseleaders create people feel valuable as an essential part of the team so, everyone accomplishesthe goals through relationships and teamwork. I agree with the above statement as I always been a part of the team and I am good in motivating people towards the goal of the companyas a colleague. I believe I can be a good leader in future.It also shows that the chance for meto grow in ministry is higher than the senior position. The personality radar shows that my preferences match more lik ely towards the area of Organization, action, information, innovation, change and values kind of jobs. Even Theanalysis position is a more like to be my best area of preference and it matches my profile. Roles that suite my personal nature Belbin ¶s Report states that in a role of a plant I am creative, unorthodox, and imaginative andsolves difficult problem. A s discuses in the previous areas I am creative and imaginative innature.I could solve difficult problems. However, I have some weakness which I allowable but I need to improve it that is ignoring incidentals. It states that I am very much pre-occupied with my own beliefs to communicate easily. That ¶s correct, whenever I want todiscuss something important I won ¶t act pre-occupied. However, in normal cases, I amalways pre-occupied. This is a barrier for me to learn something from people whom I am notmuch interested in. In the role of resource investigator I am extrovert, communicative, enthusiastic and developgood conta ct.But I am a bit more positive, and I lose interest on a particular thing once theinitial enthusiasm has passed. A fter that I need something new. S o, I would prefer to go for avery dynamic job that keeps me enthusiastic always. A s a coordinator I behave morematured, confident, I do clarify goals, and take other people jointly to encourage teamdiscussions. I am a thoughtful and analytical person. It offers me a extraordinary advantage inthe position of an adviser. It helps me advice to others or as evaluator of outside assets.Iwould anticipate being well aware about things that happening and I would like to work in aclear picture. But not so greatly to the particular technological capability as to my wideinterest in all that is happening. W hen it comes to operating at a less senior level or in dealing with everyday issues I mayfind it more difficult to achieve job satisfaction. The work may not be mentally stimulatingenough. A nother danger is that I may find myself operating in too confined a space thatdenies me the chance to prove myself. I could find myself criticised for not doing enough ona practical front.That will depend partly on the expectations of the person to whom I report. Much depends on whether I am in a job that is cast with suitably broad terms of reference. If not, I will need to take action to change the frontiers of my job or even to seek a moresuitable position My ultimate functioning role is an examiner. In professional terms, it gets close to a role of detective. My questioning mind can be strength for improvement. S o, any job I may prefer, Iwant to be a energy for getting better what exist there. 2. Implication of career choice I have chosen my career in travel and tourism industry. A it is an interesting field and myfamily background is in the same industry itself. I have a vision to grow up in the ladder toreach an executive position. I am planning to enhance my leadership skills, managing skillsand personal abilities to become a chief executive of a multinational company in travel andtourism industry. S o, based on that plan I have chosen my graduation in travel and tourism. Ialready have work experience in the same industry. W hile I was working in my previouscompany I felt that I am lacking of some managerial personality. S o I decided to learn thosemanagerial tactics through this course.I have chosen travel and tourism as my key subject asthis degree is going to help me in the future career development. Life-long learning plan In have a mixed set of learning plan in the future. First of all I am planning to learn some of the major international languages such as S panish, Italian, Chinese and German. A s traveland tourism has world wide scope and learning international languages may enrich my C V and increase my job opportunities in this field. I would like to learn about various culturesand behaviour of different people from different backgrounds.That may enable me tounderstand various people in the wo rk place as well as in personal life. A fter completing my graduation I am planning to work for 2 years to gain more experience in package tours. Then I am planning to do masters in travel and tourism that may enhance mycareer opportunity in a senior level. The mix of practical experience and academics willenrich my knowledge in the travel and tourism sector. I am also planning to do some researchin people behaviour and tourism to gain more in-depth knowledge about the field. Transferable skillsI am going to take the academic theories and concepts that I have studies in this course into practice. A ccording to Honey and Mumford (1992) report I am a pragmatist ¶s person who isalways keen on trying out ideas, techniques and theories to see if they work in practice. I can positively search ideas and I could take the initiative to experiment with applications. People like me are enthusiastic management students brimming with new ideas to implement and seethe effects in practice. I lik e to take practical decisions and solving problems. I really think that there is always a better way and if it works then its good.S o, I could promise that I will take the theories and concepts to the real world and experimentit to identify the effectiveness of the concepts. S pecifically in the strategic planning subject Igained the confidence that I could evaluate a company ¶s strategy and I could develop newstrategic choices that the company could pursue in future. I learnt to use appropriate toolswherever required. S o, I can say that I will use these managerial tactics in real business. Career choice Travel and Tourism is my passion and I would like to choose my career path in the sameindustry.I have previous experience in this industry and I feel I really enjoy the job. I justneed to polish my skills and abilities in making strategic decisions and day to daymanagement activities. I feel this course helped me a lot in gaining knowledge about themanagerial aspects and decisio n making. I would like to raise my qualification to a senior level executive in future. I will build my personal and academic skills to suit that position. A sI am a multimodal learner and a participating leader, I could easily mingle with people andmotivate others towards teamwork. I hope my career will flourish through the path I havechosen

CYBERLAW Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

CYBERLAW - Assignment Example Ever since its invention, internet has been largely controlled and governed by common consensus of its users, and the regulatory structure has evolved and co-existed naturally, as opposed to developed deliberately in a structured manner (Acquisti, 2004). However, recently there has been a considerable transformation in the manner in which ecommerce is managed and governed. Due to widespread public concerns, the bodies governing its use, at the national as well as international levels, have been forced to adopt stringent laws, for its healthy development, from time to time. Although, it is quite evident by now, that controlling or regulating the internet environment is not within the scope of any government – local or international. It can only be developed through a healthy co-operation between all states. In the present day world, regulation of the internet assumes a position of immense significance and is inevitable for the smooth operation of all activities and particularly, those related to business practices. Internet has facilitated the foray of even the smallest of firms into a larger public domain, granting them an opportunity to access a wider customer base. In the process, the competitive advantage available at the disposal of firms and individuals has widened drastically, completely transforming the conventional business practices giving rise to various issues related to data protection and security. In order for individuals and firms to operate smoothly and safely in such a high tech environment, it is inevitable for those at the helm of affairs, to afford simple yet effective laws which ensures the protection of their data, and maintains their privacy in this highly vulnerable virtual world. This paper discuss the various aspects of the European data protection directive, with special reference to directives 95/46/EC and 02/58/EC, as amended; in the context of its

Evaluate economic, legal and ethical impacts on the quality of Research Paper

Evaluate economic, legal and ethical impacts on the quality of healthcare provided to patients - Research Paper Example It also depends on the level of literacy of the patients that determines their knowledge of their fundamental legal rights. Quality service can be defined as the health service that provides favourable treatments to patients and enables them to recover from their poor health challenges. In essence, the aim of patients who approach medical centers for treatment is to recover from ill health conditions and to receive mature treatment full of respect. This assessment is investigating a major hypothesis and claim by patients from various health centers that: The mistreatments and the violation of the fundamental freedoms of patients to access medical services is influenced by the prevailing Economic, ethical and legal factors. Medical services as the patients claim expose them to mistreatments and violation of their freedom of access to treatments. Whether the problem statement is true or false will be determined by the critical analysis of case scenarios in practical environments. 3. Li terature Review Economic factors In the United States of America, health care is almost exclusively restricted to the working class. This is because majority of the health care system and centers charge high fees and implement their services through medical insurance policies. The low level economy class definitely can not afford to access medical insurance. The indicator to the massive exorbitant medical costs reflects in the contribution of the medical sector to the GDP of the U.S. economy. Practically, the medical sector contributes 18 percent of the US GDP; approximately $2.5 trillion annually. This is obviously higher that the contribution of other sectors to the economy. Even though the quality of... This paper presents a modern comprehensive analysis of the existing problems in the public health system of the US, that directly affects the healthcare service quality with the ultimate aim of addressing these ethical, economic and legal issues and improving the conditions under which patients receive treatments. The study is based on various outcries about breaches of legal and ethical terms of services The definition of quality health services is based on the satisfaction that the patients receive from the health units and whether they recover from their conditions or not. It also depends on the level of literacy of the patients that determines their knowledge of their legal rights. In the United States of America, health care is almost exclusively restricted to the working class. This is because majority of the health care system and centers charge high fees and implement their services through medical insurance policies. The low level economy class definitely can not afford to access medical insurance. Majority of the of the challenges that face healthcare service centers will in the future depend on the ultimate challenge of integrating between the efficiency of services and the care system to the quality and safety. There should be a strategy to access affordable healthcare among all the citizens of a country. It remains to be a real issue to worry about, whether it is possible for all citizens to access the services or not. The unavailability of these services is the main ethical issue of concern.

Summary for videos Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Summary for videos - Essay Example Professor Bobo also notes that among the five drugs that have been classified as illegal, policy formulators have distinct cocaine as the â€Å"most illegal† yet scientifically, other drugs have worse effects on users. This is specifically because Black only deal in cocaine. According to Professor Bobo, the existing punitive law, coupled with the assumption that prisons and jails should be the primary reaction to crime, is racially designed. In the presentation by Professor Bobo, he points out key factors believed to be the main causes of cycles of crime as economic, cultural and political. Some of this includes intensive joblessness, poverty, and family breakdowns. All the way since 1960s, one in every eighteen Blacks has been in jail or in some form of criminal justice process. This makes the society in which the Black children grow in being unstable, with many of them having missed opportunities of obtaining college education and serving in military. It therefore follows that cycle of crime continue in the neighborhood. The presentation by Professor Bobo resonates so well with the situation in Chicago where â€Å"interrupters† reveal their side of the story and what they believe causes gang violence. In their pursuit of making difference, the experience by the interrupters reveal issues like lack of education, poverty and unsafe environment as some of the propagating factors of violence in their

Social Change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Social Change - Essay Example As per the data available of 2000 the most noted of these tribes were Pueblo, Iroquois, Blackfeet, Lumbee, Apache, Chippewa, Sioux, Choctaw, Cherokee and Navajo.2 However, it should be mentioned that all these tribes and suffer from ill health and poverty and related menaces like alcoholism and suicides. It is an extraordinary data to find that the American Indians consist only 1% of the population yet scores extremely high when poverty rate, suicide rate and alcohol percentage is taken into consideration. In accordance to 2003 census report it was found that about 88% of the Native American population lives under the poverty line.3 Other reports like Amnesty International of 2003 revealed that about 23% of all suicides committed in the US are by American Indians. American Indians also rank extremely high in the context of alcohol consumption and substance abuse. It is reported that 31% of alcoholism is linked with the American Indian community. Drug abuse is also reported as the rate of 26%. Unemployment is also high in this list of backwardness. It has been estimated that 34% of the American Indians are completely unemployed and about 40% o f the American Indians are partly unemployed. The American Indians also tops the list of community ill health. They are the most vulnerable community towards diabetes and heart related disease. They also record the highest percentage of infantile death.4 There are several causes of this backwardness. Initial military defeat has been morally and physically ramifying and this was corresponded by several factors like termination policies of the post world war period and slavery in the 19th century. In modern era they are deprived by favoritism, outlaw of language and culture, cultural assimilation with force, reservation related to confinement and overall cultural pressure along with economic and social discrimination.5 The "Digital Divide" is as well a major area of anxiety for Native Americans and other minority groups for the reason that many American Indians and Alaskan Natives have hitherto to be associated to basic telephone networks and are consequently unable to access the Internet, they are at jeopardy of falling even further behind in their facility to access employment, educational, and other prospects made accessible by information technology. 6 American Indians are also a racial community who from time to time face favoritism the same as African Americans do. In truth, earlier than the civil rights laws were endorsed, in some states three separate drinking fountains labeled "whites," "Colored" and "Indian" were found. There were as well three segments in some movie theaters. All of the civil rights decrees that defend people from favoritism for the reason that of race or color or national origin as well protect American Indians.7 Lately the Department of Justice took legal action a school district in Utah for not having a high school in the isolated community of Navajo Mountain. The Navajo and Paiute high school age students who reside in this community all had to go over 90 miles from home and live in dormitories or with relatives and attend boarding schools functioned by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The school district had constructed high schools in the communities where non-Indians lived. The school district argued that because the Indians live on a condition they didn't

Biology Aids Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Biology Aids - Essay Example The two major cell types in blood are white blood cells and red blood cells. Red blood cells are the most common type of blood cells which functions as the principal means to deliver oxygen from the lungs to body tissues through blood. Adult humans have roughly 2-3 1013 red blood cells at any given time (women have about 4 million to 5 million erythrocytes per cubic millimeter (microliter) of blood and men about 5 million to 6 million. On the other hand, white blood cells are components of the blood. They are manufactured in the bone marrow and are instrumental in depending the body against infectious diseases and foreign substances. White blood cells are part of the immune system. In a normal adult, There are normally between 4x109 and 11x109 white blood cells in a litre of healthy adult blood - about 7,000 to 25,000 white blood cells per drop. B-cells circulate throughout the body with antibody molecules on their surfaces. When they pick up the signal of a particular antigen, they multiply and transform into plasma cells, which are essentially minifactories with one purpose: to churn out the precise antibodies that hook onto the antigens of the interloper. T-cells, on the other hand, migrate to the thymus. ... T-cells, on the other hand, migrate to the thymus. There, with the aid of various thymic hormones, immature T-cells grow, learn to recognize and attack antigens, and develop a range of specialized activities. The thymus is the master gland of cell-mediated immunity, a veritable training school for different classes of T-cells. There are three types of T-cells: T-helper cells which orchestrate the actions of other immune cells; killer T-cells which liquidate invading microbes, viruses or cancer cells; and suppressor cells which maintains properly balanced immune responses. 4. What does MHC stand for What is it Why is it important in the context of disease-causing agents MHC stand for major histocompatibility complex which is a group of genes that code for certain proteins that are found in the surface of cells and help the immune system recognize foreign substances. MHC is an essential component of the immune response as they allow the T-cells of the immune system to recognized body cells which are invaded by infectious substances. The MHC molecules do this by presenting fragments of proteins belonging to the invader on the cell's surface. The T cell recognizes the foreign peptide attached to the MHC molecule and binds to it, stimulating the T cell to either destroy or cure the infected cell. In uninfected healthy cells the MHC molecule presents peptides from its own cell, to which T cells do not normally react. 5. Compare and contrast viruses and bacteria. Both virus and bacteria both has the capacity to bring diseases. Also, both organisms contain DNA and enzymes. Amidst these similarities, a virus is smaller

Who Has Had the Biggest Influence on You and Why Essay - 2

Who Has Had the Biggest Influence on You and Why - Essay Example My mother influences my life greatly. She holds a job that compels her to spend long hours at her workplace, thus gets home late in the night. However, she ensures that she spends quality time with her family. She wakes up when we wake up in the morning, regardless of the short time she gets to sleep. She prepares the entire family for their day, which makes her get quality time with her family in the morning. During this time, she enquires of any problems we could be facing, and she gives advice accordingly. Therefore, she gets to maintain close bonds with her family, despite her tight schedule. This motivates me to engage in as many activities as I can, so long as I manage my time wisely.  One of my friends was hospitalized at the end of last year. I organized a number of friends and we went to visit him at the hospital. He had been involved in a car accident that injured his head. I also took the opportunity to find out the state of the medical bill. Given a large amount of mone y involved, I proposed a scheme to raise money for the friend. The plan allowed us to seek help from friends and relatives, thus helping us to support our friend financially.  This happens many times when we meet with my friends to discuss various assignments that we have to complete to fulfill academic requirements. We form a group, and then give our various contributions to the issue in question. We use the available literature to help us manage the assignment, as well as the internet. Such groups make it easy to excel in school as the discussions enable an individual to complete their assignment accordingly.  I believe in the success of a consultancy business because it is not affected adversely by, such factors as economic downturns. Such a business involves giving advice to people in the various ways they can use to approach problems in their organizations, businesses, or even daily life.

The Legal Environment of Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Legal Environment of Business - Essay Example Some of the major cost that is to be paid by the company while launching IPO includes expenses that are incurred for legal services, underwriter’s commission, printing costs, accounting services and personal marketing. Other legal factors include the loss of control, flexibility and confidentiality as all the necessary regulations are governed by SEC after the company gets publicly limited. Dilution of ownership results in disgruntling management. From economic point of view, the company faces a lot of pressure from the unsteady and unstable position of the economy of a country. When any news regarding the company is revealed on media, it impacts the IPO or share price of the company. Company also faces pressure to maintain and enhance its quarterly earnings as the public invests by verifying the financial position of the company. Several other economic and legal factors affect the company’s decisions while launching IPO. It is necessary to keep all the information into account as any discrepancy can lead to a discounted price of share. Labour Laws and Employment Labour laws can be defined as those laws and regulations that are defined for the employees in order to protect their rights from employer retaliation and reporting the violations to the legitimate authorities. Employment and labour policies are shaped by the countries in which they operate. However, in most of the countries the employment and labour laws are based mainly on the international standards. Due to this reason, companies do not get much influenced by the labour laws and policies. Yet, it has a certain amount of influence because the laws and policies are not precisely same. Some major criteria that labour laws of every country follow include: Freedom of assembly and speech Protection of right to sue Dues, Fees, Initiation and Assessment When companies start to expand domestically and internationally, they face some sort of discrepancies. As a company grow, the employee policy manual must grow with it. Simply being aware of what is right or wrong is not enough. Implementing these practices is also vital for the healthy growth of the companies. Fredman (1997) provided comprehensive study on the importance of labour laws in the dynamic and fast changing world. The study provided different perspective of modifications in labour law as per the changing economic and social condition of the country. Should the labour law be refashioned while protecting the worker’s right or should it be flexible enough by removing the employment protection? In my mind, it all depends upon the condition of the economy of a country and the extent to which it allows labour right protection and employee’s rights. Globalization has caused many companies to expand their business domestically and internationally. Without doing so, it is not possible to for the companies to compete with other companies. Brussels (2006) in his report mentioned the ways of â€Å"modernisin g the labour laws for the 21st centuries†. He stated that the traditional model is not suitable for all workers for adapting change and utilizing the opportunities that are offered by globalization. (Modernizing the labour laws for the 21st centuries, 2006) A report named as â€Å"The employment relationship: Overview of challenges and opportunities, (2006)† showed employment and labour law challenges faced by the company while expanding internationally and domestically. The profound changes that occurred in the work world especially in the labour

How the organisation can effectively manage staff performance Essay

How the organisation can effectively manage staff performance - Essay Example Effective management of staff performance is very important to any organisation if it is to achieve its goals. The first step in ensuring managing employee performance is recruiting qualified personnel. Key competencies expected of new employees need be outlined in advance before the recruitment process begins (Dickens, 2012). Having a qualified workforce will ensure that tasks are performed effectively, and organizational goals are met (Storey 2007). Accomplishments and Contributions that employees perform give the human resources possibility to appraise the most notable employees and give feedback to their work and thus discover new resources for ideas and innovation (Thompson, 2012). My model organisation will be the Swiss company, â€Å"Nestlà ©Ã¢â‚¬ . It is the world’s number one Food Business with its long record of creating the best food for people. The company states that its main assets are not the numerous office buildings or factories, but the nationalities, religions and ethnic groups who consume Nestlà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s products and services. Unity and among employees enable the company to operate harmoniously in all its activities creating a single corporate culture (Revill, 2013). The company has developed a program that ensures Nestlà © attracts the most talented people/staff. The company is also making efforts to ensure good employees are retained (Revill, 2013). The company contributes actively to the quality of HRM by proposing policies and by constantly applying and implementing them to members of Nestlà © community. HRM assists in the execution of planning and creating awareness towards the required adaptability to unexpected situations. The expectations of the workers are to be clearly set and clarified by the management. There is need for an all-inclusive process between the management and the staff that helps to set what is expected of the employees and continuously spell out their functions. Every staff is from time to

The media advertising for Conrack Essay Example for Free

The media advertising for Conrack Essay The appropriate media advertising for Conrack is most likely to be the advertisements of a local scale rather than a national scale. I believe that a good place to start is the local newspaper, yellow pages, leaflet and local radio. On the other hand, a business like Eco-Store is most likely to be advertising on an internet website, national newspaper and a specialist magazine or even television. The local newspaper is good for Conrack because many people of the surrounding community are likely to read it and it will therefore reach a vast majority of the target market. One disadvantage of the local newspaper is that the advertisement would be fairly small and will cost in the region of i 51. It could also mean that the advertisement is hidden behind the bigger advertisements of bigger companies. The Local newspaper could also be a disadvantage in that not many people will be interested. Eco-Store on may choose to advertise in the national newspaper rather than local because of its vast stores located throughout the UK. It is an advantage because it means that there is national coverage, readers can refer back to the advertisement and its relatively cheap at i 20,000 for 3 months for a company who turnover i 200 million. There can be also be much detail provided. In contrast to this, there is no movement or sound; the advertisement is usually boring as its limited to only black and white. The yellow pages are a good place to advertise for Conrack as there are different yellow pages for each region of the country. It is also an advantage as many people look at the yellow pages when they want to buy something auspicious such as timber. It is only a one off payment of i 367 for a 4. 5cm box for the whole year. This is well within the budget of Conrack. The marketing strategy for eco-store is to improve the Homely nature. The best way to do this is in the form of pictures. I think this might mean that eco-store could opt for television advertising. Television advertising is an expensive choice but it could prove to show results very quickly. On advantage of Television advertising is the creative advertising can have a big impact on the business. They can demonstrate Eco-Friendly being homely and can reach a vast audience. In contrast to this, its expensive, the message is short lived and many consumers switch channels when there are advertisements as there is now a vast amount of other program choices with the newly digital television. The other option for Conrack could be to advertise on the local radio; in recent years this has been proven to be very effective. It could be advantageous in that it: enables the use of sound, thought provoking messages could be used, produced relatively cheaply. On the other hand, it isnt visual, no copy of material, consumers may forget as there is nothing to refer back to. Eco-friendly may choose the internet as an advertising medium as it has wide coverage, cheap to set up, global, number of hits can be measured. Both companies could incorporate the use of specialist magazines. This will mean there are more effective consumers that are willing to buy the timber. It also means that many people may be interested and could attract local businesses to buy products in bulk. Both businesses could use many types of advertising that could enhance the image of there businesses and no business is limited in using each type of advertising medium. The best type of advertising is one which results are quickly seen. There are many other forms of advertising a business could use depending on the type of people they want to target and number.

Evolution of Respiratory Systems in Animals

Evolution of Respiratory Systems in Animals Jonathan Codd Respiration in animals is a necessity as it allows the exchange of respiratory gases that are required for survival. There are huge variations in the designs of respiratory systems and each has evolved due to selective pressures in environments, such as food and territory. The evolution of species is driven in part by limited resources and the adaptations in which these can be exploited. This report will describe the evolution from aquatic environments to terrestrial environments as part of this movement, of animals onto land, created a cause for the fast development of newly designed systems in order to support air breathing as oppose to gaining oxygen from water using gills. Lungfish first developed lungs, and the ability to breathe air instead of water, whilst living in aquatic environments and the appearance of air-breathing in fish is the major foundation for terrestrialization. Each species has different requirements due to different techniques of movement and feeding, for exam ple, and respiratory systems are required to support the lifestyle of each species in order to exchange the maximum amount of gas possible. The ability to develop additional processes able to assist in respiration has ensured that the oxygen demands of each animal is met. The respiratory system of animals is crucial for the life as it allows the exchange of gases between an organism and the environment. These respiratory systems have been forced to continually develop new designs depending on new evolutionary pressures from changing environments. Many species have evolved due to the availability of new niches and unexploited resources and thus have been forced to develop supporting mechanisms of respiration. This report examines the evolution of respiration from aquatic environments to the terrestrialization of land and the rapid expansion of respiratory methods that soon followed. The evolution of lungs from gills in the Sarcopterygii lineage has allowed the tetrapod transition onto land and is responsible for the ability to eventually develop fully terrestrial species that are able to respire solely air. Each system must be complementary to the requirements of the species and environment in order to meet the aerobic demands and some species are able to undergo various methods of respiration in order to undergo sufficient rates of gaseous exchange. Each method has been specifically developed for the niche, and uncinate processes have formed in order to assist with ensuring respiration can be as efficient as possible. Introduction The evolution of air breathing was vital in the transition of life from aquatic to terrestrial environments and, therefore the rapid evolution of the animal kingdoms physiology and anatomy in order to exploit all available niches (Graham, 1997). The development of air breathing would not, however, have taken place if the atmospheric composition had not altered during the Phanerozoic era, around 550 million years ago, when the concentration of oxygen showed an increase, likely due to the appearance of large vascular land plants (Ra et al., 2007). The ozone layer was thought to have formed around two billion years ago (Walker, 1978) and is essential for allowing the survival of life on earth by preventing high-energy ultra-violet radiation from entering the earths atmosphere (Parson, 2003). The movement onto land has allowed for a huge expansion in the amount of available niches and therefore caused a rapid radiation in the body plans of animals and a variety of respiratory mechanisms to evolve in support (Ra et al., 2007)    The Importance of Pulmonary Surfactant Lungs differ throughout the animal kingdom as they have evolved for the specific niche of each species; nevertheless one thing they all commonly include is a gas-liquid interface which allows surface tension to arise, causing complications (Daniels and Orgeig, 2003). The pulmonary surfactant system prevents the collapse of respiratory surfaces in lungs due to unequal pressures arising from differently sized alveoli, as well as maintaining a reduced resistance to air flow and improving lung compliance (Daniels and Orgeig, 2003). There is overwhelming evidence that there was a single evolutionary origin of the surfactant system, thought to be from the epithelial cells lining the pharynx (Daniels et al., 2004), due to Surfactant Protein-A (SP-A) or like-structures being present in all the major vertebrate groups; implying that it is an essential pre-requisite for lung evolution (Sullivan et al., 1998). Surfactant has been studied in swim bladders, which have now been shown to be a homol og of the lung, with the original principal function being an anti-adhesive but also with involvement in preventing water from entering the swim bladders or lungs (Daniels et al., 2004) Pulmonary surfactant composition is primarily lipids (around 90%) most of which are phospholipids, and the remaining ten percent is comprised of proteins. (Veldhuizen et al., 1998). There were found to be four types of surfactant proteins (SPs): A, B, C and D which all have varying properties and roles within the surfactant system; SP-B and SP-C were both found to be highly involved in the surface activity due to hydrophobic properties and SP-D is hydrophilic and part of the collectin family (Wà ¼stneck et al., 2005). Dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) is the most hydrophobic lipid component and therefore DPPC-rich monolayers are able to sit packed tightly together, ensuring the exclusion of water, however they are not well suited for the expansion of the lungs and so are alternated with mixed monolayers when necessary (Wà ¼stneck et al., 2005). Respiration in Fish Fish evolution has allowed both water and air breathing to arise as a means of gas exchange and as these vary greatly in properties, such as density and the oxygen concentration, the mechanistic pumps must also show great diversity to meet the requirements for effective respiration (Brainerd and Ferry-Graham, 2005). Fish that breathe in water use gills which are highly evolved organs that provide large surface areas and thin barriers between the fishs blood and the aquatic environment, thus allowing for a high rate of gaseous diffusion (Evans et al., 2005). Whilst they show properties for gaseous exchange the gills are multifunctional organs which are also responsible for the loss of ions and nitrogenous waste, therefore fish must also have regulatory mechanisms allowing them to successfully osmoregulate (Evans et al., 2005). As fish are continually moving they all require a buccal pressure pump as well as a suction pump, most likely the operculum, working in tandem to allow for expansion and compression to move water across the gills; the suction pump is more prominent in some species such as the Osteichthyes compared to the Chondrichthyes (Ap and La, 2001). A counter-current method is established due to water flowing in the opposite direction to the movement of blood, with the secondary lamell ae being the site of gaseous exchange (Shelton and Randall, 1962). The counter-current mechanism is required as the content of dissolved oxygen is less in water than it would be in the atmosphere (Ibanez et al., 2008) and thus allows high concentrations of gas to be exchanged, whereas a con-current mechanism would too quickly reach an equilibrium and efficient extraction of oxygen would cease (Brainerd and Ferry-Graham, 2005). There are two hypothesis surrounding the origin of air breathing in fish, one suggests that lungs arose only once at the base of the Osteichthyes, whereas opposing arguments have recently suggested that lungs evolved on at least two separate occasions and instead developed in both the Actinopterygii and Sarcopterygii (Brainerd, 1994). Some air breathing fish, such as the Actinopterygian, are able to modify their buccal pump to create a four-pump mechanism, using two expiration and compression cycles, in which expired air is first pumped into the lungs before being compressed out into the atmosphere (Perry et al., 2001). When empty fresh air is inhaled via the expansion of the buccal cavity before finally being compressed into the lungs, this is shown to fully expand and compress and so there is little mixing of expired and fresh air (Perry et al., 2001). Not all air breathing fish show this mechanism as some Dipnoi, lungfish for example, will still ventilate using the primitive two-stroke mechanism (Burggren and Johansen, 1986) and even though there can be mixing of expired and fresh air in the lungs, there has been no significant evidence to suggest that this is any less effective than the four-stroke method as breathing accessories allows the increase in volume of inhaled gases (Brainerd, 1994). Terrestrialisation Lungs were an obvious pre-requisite for the transition onto land but there were many other anatomical and physiological adaptations necessary for tetrapods before they were able to fully terrestrialise and survive free of an aquatic environment (Daeschler et al., 2006). In the late Devonian, terrestralisation occurred as a means of exploring previously unexploited niches and resources through the evolution of tetrapods via the Sarcopterygian lineage, whose habitats were most likely mud-flats neighbouring the waters edge (Graham and Lee, 2004). Tetrapods share common features with both modern day land vertebrates and fishes and the discovery of Tiktaalik rosaea allowed the transitional form to be studied in detail to provide evidence on the necessary adaptations required for terrestrialisation (Sarfati, 2007). The skeleton of Tiktaalik was found to be a lot stronger than that of its sarcopterygii-like ancestors and would have allowed it to support its own body weight in substrate, it also showed a longer snout and loss of bony gill covering but still maintained fish-like qualities, such as well developed gill arches and fin rays which implies that it still spent a majority of time in an aquatic environment (Ahlberg and Clack, 2006). Tetrapod digits were seen to arise from the pectoral fins of Sarcopterygii, although there was seen to be a pattern there remained a few anomalies throughout the development (Sarfati, 2007). When discovered Tiktaalik was a hugely important addition to the fossil record and bridged the gap between fish and tetrapods after confirmation from phylogenetic studies placed it on the Sarcopterygian to tetrapod lineage (Sarfati, 2007). The further anatomical and physiological changes that continued after Tiktaalik were responsible for allowing tetrapods to adopt new mechanisms of feeding and locomotion that were required for survival on land and thus was responsible for a huge step in the necessary radiation of respiratory systems (Clack, 2006). Respiration in Amphibians and Non-Avian Reptiles Amphibians are able to breathe by utilising cutaneous methods, using their skin to exchange gases, which could also suggest that it was an important method of respiration used during the transition onto land (Gans, 1970). [JC1]Some amphibians, that have a large enough surface area to volume ratio, such as certain species of salamanders, will rely solely on cutaneous respiration for gaseous exchange due to an absence of lungs (Feder and Burggren, 1985). Cutaneous respiration is based on an infinite pool of oxygen, through air or water mediums, in what is known as a co-current or open flow and is a passive process as there is a lack of inspiratory or expiratory flow (Burggren and Moallf, 1984). Whilst a few amphibians will rely only on cutaneous respiration, most will just use it as an accessory breathing mechanisms and will have other primary methods of respiration (Brainerd and Owerkowicz, 2006). As a means of understanding the primitive breathing in early tetrapods and air breathing fish, other species of salamanders have been studied. It was found that they use a method similar to the two-stroke mechanism previously described in Dipnoi; in which during inspiration they will expand their buccal cavity in order to create a negative pressure required to draw in fresh air, therefore supporting claims that this is most likely the primite mechanism of respiration seen in Sarcopterygii and early tetrapods (Brainerd et al., 1993). Whilst most air breathers will create a negative pressure to cause air to move into the lungs, frogs and some air breathing fish, are known as positive pressure breathers as they use their buccal chamber to fill with air which they will then actively force into the lungs (Jones, 1982). In frogs this system consists of two valves; the paired nares, which remain open for the majority of the time with the function of connecting the buccal cavity to the external air and the glottal valve which spends the majority of the time closed and is only opened when air is entering or leaving the lungs from the buccal chamber (Jones, 1982). This breathing cycle is most likely to begin with expiration as breath-holding was found to most likely occur during the end of the buccal inspiration (Jones, 1982). Reptiles, are believed to be the first group of animals to involve movements of the ribs in the assisting with lung ventilation (Nielsen, 1961). Aspiration breathing is thought to have arison in amniotes, which includes reptiles and mammals, most of which have tried to eliminate their reliance on costal aspiration by evolving accessory breathing methods to aid in respiration (Brainerd and Owerkowicz, 2006). It is evident that aspiration breathing evolved after the buccal pump mechanisms, however, there have been no transitional forms intermediate between the two found which suggests that aspiration breathing developed abruptly and amniotes soon after lost the ability to utilise a buccal cavity (Brainerd, 1999). Studies in lepidosaurs, established that most have an unidivided pleural cavity, which is also present in amphibians and air breathing fish, suggesting that this is the primitive form and that seperation occurred only later on in evolutionary history (Brainerd, 1999). Crocodiles display many unique features compared to the rest of the reptile group as they use a hepatic pistol to ventilate their lungs by utlising a muscle known as the diaphragmaticus, which is not homologous with any other diaphragmatic muscle (Brainerd, 1999). The liver divides the thoracoabdominal cavity and the diaphragmaticus muscle, orinating from the pelvis and caudal gastralia, is responsible for the expansion of the thoracic cavity by retracting the liver; this creates a negative pressure inside and fresh air is forced in, with inspiration containing an intermediate pause (Brainerd and Owerkowicz, 2006). The multicameral chamber seen in crocdiles allows high aerobic demands to be met, which is vital for their survival, and is only found in few other reptile species (Perry, 1988). Respiration in Avian Reptiles Avian reptiles, more commonly known as birds, use a lung-air sac respiratory system which allows cross-current flow, where air and blood are flowing in the same direction to one another (Scheid and Piiper, 1972). The avian respiratory system is small and compact and the thin barriers are thought to be advantageous during flight but not necessary as the mammalian bat respiratory system is dissimilar but still successful for long migratory flights (Schmidt-Nielsen, 1997). Uncinate processes, which alternate depending on the niche of each bird, are fundamental in the avian respiratory system and assist with the movement of the ribs and sternum, allowing for both inspiration and expiration to take place (Codd et al., 2008). The air sacs are used only for ventilation, with gaseous exchanges taking place as air is passed through the parabronchi, which are thin tubes with openings at each end allowing the uni-directional flow of air, which was found to be unique to avian respiration (Scheid, 1979). The parabronchi are packed into a dense hexagonal array with gas exchange tissue, known as the mantle, surrounding the lumen of each; composing a networks of both blood and air capillaries (Brown et al., 1997). The cross-current system found in birds requires these blood and air capillaries to be in close proximity and arranged parallel to one another in order for diffusion to take place; with the uni-directional flow being studied and found to be of no additional advantage to this cross-current system (Scheid, 1979). There are a total of two inspiratory and expiratory cycles that must occur for the complete flow of air through the lungs (Schmidt-Nielsen, 1997). During the first inspiration air flow is split from the trachea to the caudally grouped air sacs or the dorsobronchi, where it will enter the parabronchi and the gas that remained in the lungs from the previous inspiration is forced cranially (Brown et al., 1997). When the first expiration takes place the air remaining in the caudal air sacs moves through the parabronchi, where gas exchange takes place, and another inspiration forces the air into the cranial air sacs (Brown et al., 1997). To exit the respiratory system, the second expiration forces the air to flow from the cranial air sacs through the ventrobronchi and exits using the trachea (Reece et al., 2015). The trachea involved in avian respiration is made up of complete cartilagenous rings and is found to be around 4.5 times the size of mammalian homologues which allows larger tidal volumes and increased compliance within the system (Reece et al., 2015). There have been no valves discovered in the avian respiratory system and therefore to maintain unidirectional air flow it has been suggested that aerodynamics methods, such as jet flow, must be existing in the system during inspiration, and increased resistance through the intrapulmonary bronchus is used during expiratory flow (Scheid, 1979). Respiration in Mammals The respiratory system in mammals is completely separated from the abdominal cavity and the diaphragm and ribs are both crucial in the mechanism of respiration (Keith, 1905). The muscles of the ribs, such as the intercostals, are required for the expansion of the ribcage, which allows the neccesary generating of negative pressure caused by increased the lung volume for aspiration breathing (Perry et al., 2010). The diaphragm is responsible for the control of inspiration as it is able to contract and elongate the thoracic cavity which creates a negative pressure, thus drawing air into the lungs (Loh et al., 1977). The pericardium is closely bound to the lungs and is connected to the central tendon of the diaphragm allowing the vital pairing of both (Keith, 1905). The elevation of the rib cage, which allows further increase in the available volume for external air to enter the lungs, is also under diaphragmattic control (Loh et al., 1977). The mammalian lung is highly complex and involves lots of branching in order to increase surface area from the trachea, which then splits in series into the primary bronchi, secondary bronchi, tertiary bronchi and finally the alveoli. There are around 3108 alveolar air sacs which comprise of thin membranes to increase the surface area and allow the ease of diffusion of gases between them and the capillaries (Hoppensteadt and Peskin, 2002). Inspiration and expiration cycling allows the constant renewal of air into and out of the lungs and provides mammalian species with sufficient oxygen to meet the aerobic demands (Weibel, 1984). Respiration in Insects There is a wide variety of mechanisms adopted by insects for respiration due to the huge variation in available niches. All will utilise a network of air-filled vessels, which are known as tracheae and tracheoles, and can be as small as 1ÃŽÂ ¼m in diameter, with most terminating nearby to the mitochondria of cells (Miller, 1966). The tracheal system at rest is filled with fluid which is thought to be actively absorbed by the permeable inner tracheal wall when required for breathing, using active transport or secretion from cells (Wigglesworth, 1953). Experiments have demonstrated that during tracheal compression, which is controlled by an increased pressure inside the exoskeleton, the tracheae noticeably shrink in diameter to aid in air convection and increased diffusion of oxygen into the tissues due to a high pressure build up (Westneat et al., 2003). Spiracles are required at the external and internal barrier in the tracheael system to allow external air through the skin; and previous experiments have found if these are blocked then the insect cannot survive as respiration will cease (Fraenkel and Herford, 1938). Interneurons are essential as they are responsible for the pairing of spiracle movement with ventilation by communicating with the spiracles motor neurones (Miller, 1966). The discontinuous gas exchange cycles present in insects will typically occur in three stages, beginning the closed-spiracle phase where only small amounts of external gas exchange are able to take place (Lighton, 1996). A fluttering-spiracle phase permits oxygen uptake for the diffusion of gases into the tracheael tissues and finally an open-spiracle phase concludes the cycle whilst allowing the release of accumulated carbon dioxide (Lighton, 1996). Ventilation is under endogenously controlled rhythms produced by the central nervous system which allows aerobic respiration rates in flight muscles to be so successful that they can be challenged only by certain species of bacteria (Miller, 1966). During insect respiration air is sucked into the tracheal system by creating negative alterations in internal pressure using the pumping of hemolymph by the heart or the contracting of abdominal muscles, others can include passive diffusion or autoventilation (Westneat et al., 2003). Respiration in Cetaceans Cetaceans have evolved a much more unusual respiratory system to any terrestrial mammal, as the nasal passageway has moved to a more dorsal position to allow the exclusion of water from the system and ease of breathing as they surface (Thomas and Kastelein, 1991). A nasal plug, made up of nasal plug muscle, connective tissue and adipose tissue, is responsible for the seperation of the internal and external environment and is retracted anteriolaterally for respiration by bilaterally paired nasal plug muscles (Thomas and Kastelein, 1991). The lung size of cetaceans varies depending on the depth of the dives undertaken, due to the variety of pressures causing differing extents of thoracic collapse (Piscitelli et al., 2010). It was found that the lung size will be reduced in cetaceans that undergo deeper dives and there will be an increase in the thoracic mobility. The lungs of larger whales were found to possess extremely heavy myoelastic bundles in the air sacs and alvolar membranes that were not found in much smaller cetacea (Wislocki, 1942). Conclusion The evolution of respiratory systems has been an extremely specific process that has showed both gradual, and rapid changes throughout the many lineages of the animal kingdom in order to encorporate universal requirements, as well as accessory breathing mechanisms (Weibel, 1984). Respiration is a vital life process required for survival and it is essential that gas exchange is as efficient as possible in order to allow high oxygen-demanding aerobic activities to take place when necessary (Perry, 1988). Each respiratory system may have a variety of additional mechanisms, uncinate processes, that assist in the breathing mechanics to enable the ease of transporting larger volumes of air within each system (Codd et al., 2008). The pulmonary surfactant system is of great importance, as it allows the successful existance of such mechanisms by preventing collapse of respiratory surfaces, as well as aiding them by increasing lung compliance and reducing the resistance to air flow (Daniels and Orgeig, 2003). The evolution of efficient respiratory systems, when paired with other necessary adaptations, has provided a foundation for more complex body systems to develop to allow the utilisation of previously unexploited resources and niches, thus providing organisms advantages in the animal kingdom (Graham, 1997). Bibliography Ahlberg, P.E., Clack, J.A., 2006. Palaeontology: A firm step from water to land. Nature 440, 747-749. doi:10.1038/440747a Ap, S., La, F.-G., 2001. Ventilatory modes and mechanics of the hedgehog skate (Leucoraja erinacea): testing the continuous flow model. J. Exp. Biol. 204, 1577-1587. Brainerd, E.L., 1999. New perspectives on the evolution of lung ventilation mechanisms in vertebrates. Exp. Biol. Online 4, 1-28. doi:10.1007/s00898-999-0002-1 Brainerd, E.L., 1994. The Evolution of Lung-Gill Bimodal Breathing and the Homology of Vertebrate Respiratory Pumps. Integr. Comp. Biol. 34, 289-299. doi:10.1093/icb/34.2.289 Brainerd, E.L., Ditelberg, J.S., Bramble, D.M., 1993. Lung ventilation in salamanders and the evolution of vertebrate air-breathing mechanisms. Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 49, 163-183. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8312.1993.tb00896.x Brainerd, E.L., Ferry-Graham, L.A., 2005. Mechanics of Respiratory Pumps, in: Physiology, B.-F. (Ed.), Fish Biomechanics. Academic Press, pp. 1-28. doi:10.1016/S1546-5098(05)23001-7 Brainerd, E.L., Owerkowicz, T., 2006. Functional morphology and evolution of aspiration breathing in tetrapods. Respir. Physiol. Neurobiol., Frontiers in Comparative Physiology II: Respiratory Rhythm, Pattern and Responses to Environmental Change 154, 73-88. doi:10.1016/j.resp.2006.06.003 Brown, R.E., Brain, J.D., Wang, N., 1997. The avian respiratory system: a unique model for studies of respiratory toxicosis and for monitoring air quality. Environ. Health Perspect. 105, 188-200. Burggren, W., Moallf, R., 1984. Active regulation of cutaneous exchange by capillary recruitment in amphibians: Experimental evidence and a revised model for skin respiration. Respir. Physiol. 55, 379-392. doi:10.1016/0034-5687(84)90059-8 Burggren, W.W., Johansen, K., 1986. Circulation and respiration in lungfishes (dipnoi). J. Morphol. 190, 217-236. doi:10.1002/jmor.1051900415 Clack, J.A., 2006. The emergence of early tetrapods. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 232, 167-189. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2005.07.019 Codd, J.R., Manning, P.L., Norell, M.A., Perry, S.F., 2008. Avian-like breathing mechanics in maniraptoran dinosaurs. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B Biol. Sci. 275, 157-161. doi:10.1098/rspb.2007.1233 Daeschler, E.B., Shubin, N.H., Jenkins, F.A., 2006. A Devonian tetrapod-like fish and the evolution of the tetrapod body plan. Nature 440, 757-763. doi:10.1038/nature04639 Daniels, C.B., Orgeig, S., 2003. Pulmonary Surfactant: The Key to the Evolution of Air Breathing. News Phsiology Sci. 18, 151-157. Daniels, C.B., Orgeig, S., Sullivan, L.C., Ling, N., Bennett, M.B., Schà ¼rch, S., Val, A.L., Brauner, C.J., 2004. The Origin and Evolution of the Surfactant System in Fish: Insights into the Evolution of Lungs and Swim Bladders. Physiol. Biochem. Zool. Ecol. Evol. Approaches 77, 732-749. doi:10.1086/422058 Evans, D.H., Piermarini, P.M., Choe, K.P., 2005. The Multifunctional Fish Gill: Dominant Site of Gas Exchange, Osmoregulation, Acid-Base Regulation, and Excretion of Nitrogenous Waste. Physiol. Rev. 85, 97-177. doi:10.1152/physrev.00050.2003 Feder, M.E., Burggren, W.W., 1985. Cutaneous Gas Exchange in Vertebrates: Design, Patterns, Control and Implications. Biol. Rev. 60, 1-45. doi:10.1111/j.1469-185X.1985.tb00416.x Fraenkel, G., Herford, G.V.B., 1938. The Respiration of Insects Through the Skin. J. Exp. Biol. 15, 266-280. Gans, C., 1970. Respiration in Early Tetrapods-The Frog is a Red Herring. Evolution 24, 723-734. doi:10.2307/2406552 Graham, J.B., 1997. Air-Breathing Fishes: Evolution, Diversity, and Adaptation. Academic Press. Graham, J.B., Lee, H.J., 2004. Breathing Air in Air: In What Ways Might Extant Amphibious Fish Biology Relate to Prevailing Concepts about Early Tetrapods, the Evolution of Vertebrate Air Breathing, and the Vertebrate Land Transition? Physiol. Biochem. Zool. 77, 720-731. doi:10.1086/425184 Hoppensteadt, F.C., Peskin, C.S., 2002. Gas Exchange in the Lungs, in: Modeling and Simulation in Medicine and the Life Sciences, Texts in Applied Mathematics. Springer New York, pp. 75-108. doi:10.1007/978-0-387-21571-6_3 Ibanez, J.G., Hernandez-Esparza, M., Doria-Serrano, C., Fregoso-Infante, A., Singh, M.M., 2008. Dissolved Oxygen in Water, in: Environmental Chemistry. Springer New York, pp. 16-27. doi:10.1007/978-0-387-49493-7_2 Jones, R.M., 1982. How toads breathe: Control of air flow to and from the lungs by the nares in Bufo marinus. Respir. Physiol. 49, 251-265. doi:10.1016/0034-5687(82)90077-9 Keith, A., 1905. The Nature of the Mammalian Diaphragm and Pleural Cavities. J. Anat. Physiol. 39, 243-284. Lighton, J.R., 1996. Discontinuous gas exchange in insects. Annu. Rev. Entomol. 41, 309-324. doi:10.1146/annurev.en.41.010196.001521 Loh, L., Goldman, M., Davis, J.N., 1977. The assessment of diaphragm function. Medicine (Baltimore) 56, 165-169. Miller, P.L., 1966. The Regulation of Breathing in Insects, in: J.W.L. Beament, J.E.T. and V.B.W. (Ed.), Advances in Insect Physiology. Academic Press, pp. 279-354. doi:10.1016/S0065-2806(08)60189-7 Nielsen, B., 1961. On the Regulation of the Respiration in Reptiles. J. Exp. Biol. 38, 301-314. Parson, E.A., 2003. Protecting the Ozone Layer: Science and Strategy. Oxford University Press. Perry, S.F., 1988. Functional Morphology of the Lungs of the Nile Crocodile, Crocodylus Niloticus: Non-Respiratory Parameters. J. Exp. Biol. 134, 99-117. Perry, S.F., Similowski, T., Klein, W., Codd, J.R., 2010. The evolutionary origin of the mammalian diaphragm. Respir. Physiol. Neurobiol. 171, 1-16. doi:10.1016/j.resp.2010.01.004 Perry, S.F., Wilson, R.J.A., Straus, C., Harris, M.B., Remmers, J.E., 2001. Which came first, the lung or the breath? Comp

Should Cell Phones Be Banned In Classrooms English Language Essay

Should Cell Phones Be Banned In Classrooms English Language Essay Some people think that cell phones should be banned in the classrooms because they think it bother the whole classrooms. They think it is not necessary to have them in classrooms. As for those they want the cell phones to be banned in the classrooms. They think that cell phones makes a lot of noise in the classrooms. So it is bothering them or even the whole classrooms. Because some cell phones have a loud ringing tone. The phone will rings so loud and thats the time all the people turn to check whos cell phones is that ringing. They want to know what do those people will talked about. That is the time students wont pay attention in classrooms. They might think that those people are talking on the cell phones are taking about something more interesting. So, they might hope for knowing about what theyre say on the cell phones. Students can not keep track of their time. Even in the middle of lecturing or working on their classworks. The students would stop listening to the instructors or teacher or stop on their work and start to answer their cell phones. Sometimes they stop from what theyre doing and start to play games on their cell phones. And they dont mind to concentrate or even pay any attention in their class any more. Its likely cell phones are more to interrupt all of their work and their attention in the classrooms. Even though they know that cell pones are limiting their learning and understanding in classrooms. Because even their free time and they dont think of studying any more. They only think of calling around or talking with their friends or even playing games on their cell phones and never mind about studying. All of their free time are more reserve for them to spend on cell phones. And if they banned the cell phones maybe they turn back to spend the free time for study because they wont have some else to do. Anyway, people are the key to know what is better for them. But I think that cell phones are not really important to use in the classrooms. Maybe somewhere else is better and not in class. In other way we might need and it is not to use in the classrooms. Especially, us people in Micronesia we never think of the is better for us to do in order for us to have a good life in the future. We just think of now and easy things for us right now. Because cell phones are not doing something to us in the classrooms. Although some people think cell phones are important incase of emergency, I think they are too distracting for the whole class, also the school can find students in emergencies. As for me I think thats the good think for it banned the cell phone in the classrooms. Because there is a way to what we need for the cell phones. That is why the cell phone is not good to use in the classrooms. And also good thing to improve our studying. EN 112 Essay Evaluation 90 to 100 A- to A+ Excellent to Very Good: The essay has a clearly expressed thesis. It also shows knowledgeable and thorough development of thesis; the support details are relevant, clearly stated, well organized and cohesive; sentences show variety, strong vocabulary with minimal grammatical errors, appropriate transitions are used. Format is correct. Very well developed. 80-89 B- to B+ Good: The essay has an acceptable thesis. It also shows significant knowledge of topic but not complete development of thesis; the supporting details are mostly relevant and organized but lack details thus somewhat interrupting the flow; sentences show some variety and good vocabulary; some grammatical errors, some use of transitions which are used appropriately; format is correct or almost correct. Well developed 70-79 C- to C+ Average: The essay has a fair thesis which indicates the topic and has an opinion but is somewhat weak. It also shows some knowledge of topic but limited development of thesis; some supporting details are relevant; main ideas stand out but somewhat choppy and loosely organized; sentences could use a little variety; several grammatical errors, few transitions and use is not always appropriate; format is correct or almost correct. Developed with at least 500 words but should have more details and support. 60-69 D- to D+ Fair to Poor: The essay has a weak thesis. It also shows limited knowledge of topic and inadequate development of thesis; a lot of the supporting details are confusing or disconnected; limited variety in sentence structure and vocabulary; frequent grammatical errors, almost no transitions are used; format needs correction. Underdeveloped and may have less than 500 words. 0 to 59 F Very Poor: The essay has no or very weak thesis and does not show knowledge of topic; the supporting details are mostly or all irrelevant; no organization; all simple sentences; weak vocabulary; dominated by grammatical errors and lacks transitions; format needs correction. Underdeveloped with less than 500 words. Overall Comments: the format of your essay is not correct. Please read the required format resource on the course web site. You need an introductory paragraph that introduces the issue, and your position shown in the thesis which is at the end of the introduction. This needs a lot of work. You need to have each paragraph correctly focused on what each one is for. A separate one is needed for the opponents argument against your opinion and in this paragraph you refute or concede his argument. There are also many grammar errors. This still needs lots of work before it can be considered an essay with a passing grade. Checklist†¦ Introduction Developed well to introduce the issue/problem and thesis Thesis statement is a clearly stated arguable position Thesis statement is in proper place Three/four developmental paragraphs 3 or 4 major reasons for position (your support) Organization of support/details (PATTERN 1or 2) Transitions and expressions used properly Logical development of reasons (THEY MAKE SENSE) Opponents most important reason refuted/conceded OR three opposing reasons refuted Relevancy Conclusion Restate thesis and support (reasons) Demand action, suggest a solution or predict an outcome Does not introduce a new idea Presentation Proper format (LOWERS GRADE IF WRONG!) Mechanics (spelling and grammar) Essay is 500 words or more

Public Opinion and Television Essay -- Mass Media Danger Essays

Public Opinion and Television The paper explores how dangerous such an important mass media as TV can be, if too many power is concentrated in just a few hands, and how our perception of reality can be manipulated by the selection and manipulation of information presented on TV. Introduction The following term paper deals with the development of television from its early beginnings in the 1920s up to now. My attention focuses on the powers which influence what is shown on TV and the analysis of methods they use in order to manipulate the public opinion. Outlining the success story of this important means of mass media at the beginning of the first chapter, I will then explain the effects of globalisation on the TV market. Considering the example of commercialised American television, I will demonstrate in which ways the extreme competition between TV companies and their struggle for the top ratings has influenced the quality of TV programs. In the second chapter I will deal with "media control" and show how television can be abused by political powers in order to direct the public opinion. After describing the general effects of such influences I will finally return to the example of America and analyse the social and political effects of Rupert Murdoch ´s "media monopoly" in the Unites States. Finally I will explain the methods of mass manipulation employed by his Fox News Channel, which are outlined in Robert Greenwald ´s film OUTFOXED. Neil Postman ´s book "Amusing ourselves to death", Noam Chomsky ´s pamphlet "Media Control" as well as Klaus Plake ´s "Handbuch der Fernsehforschung" were important sources of ideas and quotations for my work. 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The development of television: During the nineteenth century the industrial revolution, the formation of new nations and the development of infrastructure and traffic had strong effects on society. Travelling became much easier and cheaper while the means of transportation became faster and faster. Even the media had to adapt to the growing spatial mobility of the people and so the challenge was to find a new mean of communication which was able to make information available wherever you are.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  First scientific steps towards an electronic media were made at the end of the nineteenth century, when Guglielmo Marconi invented the transmitting antenna, which made primitive forms... ...r der Unterhaltungsindustrie. Fischer Verlag/Frankfurt/M. Internet Sources: Burnheim, Sally (2003/November 30): "Freedom of Expression: Case law under European convention on Human Rights". The Daily Star. Law & Rights section. [Online]. [2005, Jan. 24] http://www.thedailystar.net/law/200311/05/ Perger, Roman (2000/August 25): "Auf in den Bà ¼rgerkrieg". Die Zeit. Politics section. [Online]. [2005, Jan. 25] http//www.zeus.zeit.de/text/archiv/2000/38/200038_dreiweise.xml Sorkin, Andrew and Fabrikant, Geraldine (2005/January 10): "Murdoch to Buy Rest of Fox for $7 Billion" .New York Times. Bussiness section. [Online]. [2005, Jan. 18] http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA081FFF345D0C738DDDA80894DD404482&incamp=archive:search Worm, Alfred (2001/March 31): "Dritte Phase". Message Magazine. Austria Archive. [Online]. [2005, Jan. 25] http://www.message-online.de/arch3_01/31_worm.html Film: Greenwald, Robert (2004): Outfoxed. California Productions, Inc./USA Other sources: Skull, Steven (2003) (2003): Misperceptions, the Media and the Iraq War: An Independent   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Survey on Media Impartiality. PIPA/Knowledge Networks/Maryland