Dorothy and the Tree Essay Example for Free

Dorothy and the Tree Essay Dorothy and the Tree: A Lesson in Epistemology Stanley Fish discusses how we in society base our lives off of assumptions. Using the example of Dorothy and the tree, Fish is able to show how with our assumptions, we as people categorize others and things into what we believe to be correct. Whether or not we have actually taken the time to figure out if we are right is irrelevant. He notes that we should just â€Å"keep trying to expand our sense of ‘us’ as far as we can†, so we can avoid judgments and isolating ourselves from the rest of society. Even though Dorothy realizes her mistake, she doesn’t realize that it is not a failure, but her consciousness assuming the classification of things in the world. Fish later on defines thought as the â€Å"structure that at once enables perception†, meaning that within categories things emerge, limiting perception and nothing can allow one to see everything because that is God’s job. Fish uses many Bible allusions to create justification for his assertions. He uses Genesis 1:26, and Paul’s road to Damascus to show that people can be persuaded to change their placement of things in society. Despite all of his valid points, Fish states that it is nearly impossible for one to change just on realizations. He believes it takes practice to accept the fact that there are things that we cannot comprehend because there is no limit on the conceptual trappings of society.

Drinking Milk Essay Example for Free

Drinking Milk Essay Introduction A: Gaining Attention Give the audience some question as: 1. how many people in the audience have a habit drinking milk for daily diet? 2. are you take care of your family or yourself by the way drinking milk? Why? B: Motivating The Audience: Comparing the differences between people drink milk and not. C: Establishing Credibility: give the audience some popular benefits when drinking milk from some famous expert nutrients in the world. D: Preview Of Main Ideas:now I will show you bebefits of drinking milk, it n ot only supply nutrient for people health, promote well being for all people especially with patient but also build strong bones and teeth. Body Main idea 1: Milk Supply Nutrients For People Health †¢ â€Å"Milk contain more and more mineral, protein, calcium, iron, vitamin, phosphorous and so on â€Å", according to well known nutrition expert Dr wendy Bazilian, author of the superfoodrx diet and co-owner of san diego-based bazilian’s health clinic. †¢ Milk contains 87. 5% of water, 3. 9% milk fat, 8. 8% solid non fat which includes protein, lactose, minerals and acids, enzyms and vitamins. Proteins include caseins, whey proteins, lactabumin and lactoglobulin. The main sugar present in the milk is lactose. It also contains vitamins A,C,D and amino acids. ? With baby:†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ ? With adult:†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. ? With old people:†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Main idea 2: Promote Well Being For All People †¢ Milk is very necessary for people. Specially, milk is very good for patient. It’s not only supplies eough energies minerals, proteins, but also it increase resistance and promote well being for all people. †¢ With normal people, milk plays inportance for both health , skin, and intestine. With patient, it promotes well being very quickly. For example, reducing blood pressure and diabetes, calcium, magnesium and potassium content in milk helps to reduce the blood pressure and diabetes. Reducing the risk of colon cancer, consuming at least one glass of milk per day reduce 15% risk of developing colon type of cancer. And buiding intestinal health. In the market, there are many kinds of milk. It is not only suitable with many kinds of diseases but also promote well being for people. For example with patient,they need more nutrients to improve the health but maybe they can not eat some nutrients food because it containt some matter that not good for their diseases. Milk will help them to supply every necessary nutrients, it can instead of the daily diet. -As you know the popular milk for pateint as ensure,.. ,†¦ Main idea 3: Milk Buids Strong Bones And Teeth. †¢ According to nutrition expert Bazililan, there are 99% of body is calcium is stored and hundreds of studies have shown that calcium in milk help improve bone densty, balance of other nutrients that have been proven to buid bones and teeth as well as promote the healthy function of blood usels. †¢ More milk-stronger bones, as it contains abundant calcium. Calcium also acids in muscular and circulatory function, prevents osteoporosis†¦ †¢ Fighting cavities: protein, calcium, phosphorous content in the milk products the tooth enamel, stimulates saliva production, and neutralizes food acids. Milk containt†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦supply †¦% calcium per day for health†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Arcording to studies show that: percent peole drinking milk are live more longevity than people don’t drinking milk. In modern life,people drinking milk hold approximate 85%. It show that the inportant of drinking milk in life. ( So drinking milk is the convinience, quickly,save money for modern life. Conclusion A: Signaling The Ending: I’m going to the finish this topic. B: preview of main points: I found it very convinience and good for us if drinking milk everyday. It supply nutrients for people health, promote well being for all people, and buid strong bones and teeth. C:Reference To Introduction Give some web adress a bout effect of milk with healthy to audience D: Ending With Impact Change your habit by the way drink milk everyday, you can change your health more and more strong and young,your life will more quality because it prevent your health out of some hard diseases in the future.

Analysis of Healthcare Models

Analysis of Healthcare Models The biomedical and social model for health The Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion VicHealth and VicHealth funded projects Many models of health exist thorough out the world. When a government or organisations is determining the most appropriate model to implement factors such as cost, ability to achieve desired outcomes and feasibility must be considered. The models of healthcare that play the largest role in the health of Australians are the biomedical and social models of health. The biomedical model of health The biomedical model of health focusses on optimum physical health for individuals. This model focusses on diagnosis and treatment of health conditions, with the goal of returning people to their pre-condition healthy state. This model relies heavily on hospitals, pharmaceuticals and medical technology to achieve this goal and is an expensive model. The biomedical model is widely accepted and forms the basis of health care throughout the western world. Advantages and disadvantages of the biomedical model of health Advantages Increases populations life expectancy as treatments advance Effective at treating common problems and returning people to a healthy state Can lead to advances in medical technology Can improve the quality of life for people with chronic conditions via medications etc. Disadvantages Use of advanced medical technology and the health system to diagnose and treat conditions is costly for governments Does not address factors that lead to the development of particular health conditions Not all health conditions can be cured, however they can often be managed via behaviour modification which this model does not consider Paying for medications and treatment via the biomedical approach can be expensive for individuals The social model of health The social model of health focusses on influences that can lead to poor health. It aims to improve health and wellbeing by directing efforts towards addressing social, economic and environmental determinants of health. Instead of an individual approach, this model focusses more broadly on communities and populations in an attempt to promote optimal health. There are five key principles to the social model of health: Addresses the broader determinants of health Factors such as gender, socioeconomic status, culture, physical environment, education and ethnicity can influence the health of people. The social model of health looks beyond the biological determinants and focuses on how health and wellbeing can be influenced by such broader determinants. Acts to reduce social inequities Quality of healthcare, access and use of healthcare should be equal across all groups in the community. The social model of health acts to ensure socioeconomic status, gender, race, locality or physical environment do not reduce equity. Empowers individuals and communities When people gain increased control over decisions and actions influencing their health they become empowered. The social model of health acts to empower and this may occur through increased health knowledge and can happen on an individual basis or collectively as a community. Acts to enable access to healthcare Health care and health information should be accessible and affordable to meet peoples needs. Social determinants that can influence this access include socioeconomic status, cultural barriers and education levels. The social model assists to lower such barriers to enable access to health care. Involves intersectorial collaboration The government, non-government organisations and the private sector should work in a partnership to address the broader determinants that influence individuals health. Greater community health has positive implications for all sectors and collaboration should be sought between such groups. Acronyms are often a handy way to remember much of the knowledge covered in the HHD course. The acronym AREAS or IDEAR may be used to remember the principles of the social model of health. AREAS Addresses Reduce Empowers Acts interSectorial IDEAR Intersectorial Determinants Empowers Access Reduce Closing the gap campaign demonstrating the principles of the social model of health. Since 2006, Australias peak Indigenous and non-Indigenous health bodies, NGOs and human rights organisations have worked together to achieve health and life expectation equality for Australias Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. This is known as the Close the Gap Campaign. The Close the Gap Campaign partners have developed targets to support the achievement of Indigenous health equality over many areas. Key targets include those to support: significant reductions in the rates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander death and illness from diseases and chronic conditions; the delivery of the necessary primary health care services for health equality to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, particularly by Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services; big improvements to housing (so that it supports good health) in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities; a dramatic increase in the availability of fresh and healthy food supplies in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities; and significant reductions in the rate of smoking among Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders. The Closing the gap campaign reflects the principles of the social model of health in the following ways: Addresses the broader determinants of health: The program is attempting to address determinants such as behavioural practices, such as healthy food consumption, and social influences, such as housing, that impact on the health of indigenous people. Acts to reduce social inequities: Social inequalities such as access to healthcare are being addressed in this program. Empowers individuals and the community: Providing an increase in the availability of fresh and healthy food supplies, allows individuals and communities the choice to engage in health behaviour. In conjunction with education regarding the benefits of these foods, this program will attempt to empower people so they feel they have control over their health. Acts to enable access to healthcare: Increasing access to primary healthcare services, including delivery of these services by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders where possible, reduces barriers that may prevent indigenous people from achieving optimal levels of health.- Involves intersectorial collaboration: In this campaign government and non-government organisations are working together and therefore there is the ability to influence a broad range of social factors that influence indigenous health. Other programs that are based on the social model of health include the Swap it, Dont stop it initiative, the Quit campaign and the SunSmart program. A progressive society, such as Australias, does not choose to use either the biomedical model of health or the social model of health, but incorporate both approaches to strive for optimal levels of health within their population. The Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion One of the most significant contributions to the evolution of Public Health occurred at the First International Conference on Health Promotion held in Ottawa, Canada in 1986. Stemming from the social model of health this conference saw the development of The Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion. The Ottawa Charter is a framework to assist governments and organisations around the world when developing health promotion strategies. The Ottawa Charter recognises that in order for health gains to occur the following basic conditions and resources must be available: Peace Shelter Education Food Income A stable eco-system Sustainable resources Social justice and equity The Ottawa Charter also outlines that the following three basic prerequisites are the foundation for health promotion: Advocate Political, economic, social, cultural, environmental, behavioural and biological factors can all favour health or be harmful to it. Health promotion action aims at making these conditions favourable through advocacy for health. Enable Health promotion focuses on achieving equity in health. Health promotion action aims at reducing differences in current health status and ensuring equal opportunities and resources to enable all people to achieve their fullest health potential. Mediate Health promotion demands coordinated action by all concerned: by governments, by health and other social and economic sectors, by nongovernmental and voluntary organization, by local authorities, by industry and by the media. Professional and social groups and health personnel have a major responsibility to mediate between differing interests in society for the pursuit of health. Priority / Action Areas of the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion When health promotion strategies and programs are devised by governments or organisations there is the intent to achieve various health outcomes. The following priority or action areas are recommended for use by The Ottawa Charter for creating a health promotion program. Not all areas need be addressed in every strategy. Build Healthy Public Policy This action area asks governments and organisational policy makers to be aware of the health consequences of their decisions and to accept their responsibilities for health. Policies that involve taxation and legislation can influence the behaviours of individuals, leading to either positive or negative influences on health. For example a legislation that prevents people from smoking indoors at a restaurant, can then make it easy for a family to decide to go out for dinner and not put the health of their family members at risk. Health promotion encourages health to be on the agenda for policy makers in all sectors and all levels. Create Supportive Environments This action area recognises the link between health and our societal and natural environment. Changing patterns of life, work and leisure have a significant impact on health. Work and leisure should be a source of health for people. The way society organises work should help create a healthy society. Health promotion generates living and working conditions that are safe, stimulating, satisfying and enjoyable. Protecting natural and built environments and conserving natural resources is an important part of health promotion given the influence they can have on maintaining health. For example, work places that have natural lighting and fresh air support the health of their staff. Strengthen Community Actions This action area recognises that community participation in setting priorities and making decision on the direction of health matters can lead to empowerment. When a community feels like its voice is being heard this can lead to increased participation and engagement in health promotion activities. For the community to draw on its human and material resources to promote good health it requires access to information, learning opportunities and funding support. Develop Personal Skills To increase options for people to exercise more control over their health personal and social development needs to occur. Providing information, education and opportunities for skill development whether that be at school, home, work or in the community will allow for learning and development of personal skills to occur. Reorient Health Services This action area recognises the need for the health promotion message to be shared amongst more than doctors and hospitals it needs to be shared among individuals, community groups and governments also. For example, if new medical knowledge exists regarding limiting the prevalence of childhood obesity, medical staff should be encouraged to share this information at community forums and via school visits. SunSmart program demonstrating the Ottawa Charter priority / action areas. Cancer Council Victoria  and the  Victorian Health Promotion Foundation  first funded SunSmart in 1988 in Victoria.Since inception the program has prevented more than 100,000 skin cancers and saved thousands of lives making it one of the most successful programs in Australia. Today  SunSmart is a multi-faceted program recognised for providing leadership and innovation in ultraviolet radiation (UV) protection. Programs operate in each state and territory of Australia by respective Cancer Councils, all using common principals but tailored to jurisdictional priorities.  The sun protection message is currently  Slip! Slop! Slap! Seek! Slide! SunSmart seeks to influence individual sun protection behaviours, those with responsibilities for protecting others and broader environmental change. SunSmart also aims to promote and improve the awareness of a balanced approach to UV exposure and the link with  vitamin D. Building Health Public Policy: The program is an advocate for change and implementation of SunSmart recommendations in schools , workplaces and local government areas. Create Supportive Environment: Encouraging schools, workplaces and governments to provide shaded areas for people when they are outdooea creates an environment that supports the SunSmart approach. Strengthen Community Actions:By working with various groups in the community, such as early childhood centres and sporting clubs, to reduce UV exposure the program is reducing the risk of skin cancer. Develop Personal Skills: The Slip, Slop, Slap, Seek, Slide advertising campaign is teaching people strategies to decrease their risk of developing skin cancer. Reorient Health Services: Working with a variety of groups and individuals across the health sector improves knowledge and skills that people have for reducing UV exposure. Other programs that incorporate the Ottawa Charter priority / action areas include the Swap it, Dont stop it initiative, the Quit campaign and the Closing the gap campaign. An acronym to assist remembering the first word of each Ottawa Charter action area is Bad Cats Smell Dead Ratsà ¢. VicHealth The Victorian Health Promotion Foundation, more commonly referred to as VicHealth was established in 1987 and works in partnership with organisations, communities and individuals to make health a central part of daily living. The focus of VicHealth is primarily on health promotion and prevention of health conditions for Victorians. VicHealth does not implement programs but advocates and financially support health promotion initiatives. The mission of VicHealth is to build the capabilities of organisations, communities and individuals in ways that: change social, economic, cultural and physical environments to improve health for all Victorians; strengthen the understanding and the skills of individuals in ways that support their efforts to achieve and maintain health. The mission of VicHealth guides the selection of the organisations strategic priorities, which reflect the Tobacco Act 1987 and are founded on principles of equity. The priorities for focus in the VicHealth strategic framework are: Reducing smoking Improving nutrition Reducing harm from alcohol Increasing physical activity Increasing social and economic participation Reducing harm from UV exposure. VicHealth reflects the social model of health by participating in business activities that draw on the Ottawa Charter. Health promotion actions that VicHealth are involved in are activities that: Create and use knowledge acquired through research and evaluation. Create environments that foster good health. Encourage the development of systems that support and sustain health. Communicate about priority health issues. Develop communities which are inclusive, accessible, equitable and safe. Support organisations to plan, implement and evaluate health promotion activity. Facilitate participation and skill development. Contribute to, and advocate for, healthy public policy and regulation. VicHealth also reflects the social model of health via its Key Result Areas (KRA). These are the targets they have set for the organisation over a particular period. VicHealth Key Result Areas KRA 1 Health inequalities 1.1 Improve the physical and mental health of those experiencing social, economic or geographic disadvantage. 1.2 Contribute to closing the health gap between Indigenous and non- Indigenous Victorians. KRA 2 Participation 2.1 Increase participation in physical activity. 2.2 Increase opportunities for social connection. 2.3 Reduce race-based discrimination and promote diversity. 2.4 Prevent violence against women by increasing participation in respectful relationships. 2.5 Build knowledge to increase access to economic resources. KRA 3 Nutrition, tobacco, alcohol and UV 3.1 Create environments that improve health. 3.2 Increase optimal nutrition. 3.3 Reduce tobacco use. 3.4 Reduce harm from alcohol. 3.5 Reduce harmful UV exposure. KRA 4 Knowledge 4.1 Produce, synthesise and translate practical health promotion knowledge. 4.2 Evaluate health promotion practice. KRA 5 Communications 5.1 Develop, implement and evaluate marketing and communications approaches to improve health. 5.2 Develop evidence on effective social marketing. 5.3 Provide accurate, credible and timely information to stakeholders on health promotion issues. KRA 6 Business operations 6.1 Ensure effective business and risk processes and systems. 6.2 Develop high-performing people in a healthy and sustainable work environment. 6.3 Operate transparently and with accountability. VicHealth funded projects VicHealths programs and projects focus on improving the health of all people in Victoria, including addressing differences in health status between population groups. Programs are guided by the latest evidence and there is an attempt to invest in a range of activities in sectors as diverse as sport and active recreation, the arts, education, planning and built environment, community and local government. These programs promote changes in policy and practice that can influence peoples ability to sustain a healthy lifestyle. Activities supported since the Foundations establishment in 1987 have contributed significantly to public health improvements in Victoria. The reduction of smoking prevalence among adults is one of the success stories in the effectiveness of comprehensive, well-funded and sustained programs for improving health. Two VicHealth funded programs are outlined below, accompanied by potential health outcomes of each project and how they reflect the social model of health: VicHealths Arts About Us program encourages dialogue about the benefits of cultural diversity and the harm caused by race-based discrimination. Arts About Us currently provides three-year funding to 16 community and arts organisations that have partnered with VicHealth. Each project is working with various organisations to create and showcase art that strengthens cultural understanding, celebrates cultural diversity and generates discussion about the effects of race-based discrimination. Potential health outcomes of this program include; Breaking down the social isolation that people involved in the program may have experienced, thus leading to improvements in peoples social health. Building social connectedness for community groups and individuals that come together in such a program is positive for social health. Building the self-esteem of people whose art may be displayed is positive for social health. Raising community awareness of race-based discrimination may possibly lead to less discrimination and therefore has associated mental health benefits. Economic benefits may stem from people whose art skills are recognised. Resulting employment may have associated health benefits for these people. How this program reflects the principles of the social model of health; Strengthening cultural understanding and raising awareness of issues such as race-based discrimination aims to reduce social inequalities. Celebrating diversity aims to empower individuals and communities so they have the confidence to participate in the community. Culture is a broad determinant of health that is being targeted in this program. As of  November 1, 2011, it is now against the law in Victoria to serve alcohol in a private home to anyone under 18, unless their parent or guardian has given permission. The teen drinking law web resource launched by VicHealth, the Australian Drug Foundation and the Victorian Government is aimed at parents, adults and young people  and gives practical information about the new law change. The website encourages parents and children to discuss alcohol consumption, provides information on short term and long term harm that may result from alcohol and how to reduce these risks. Potential health outcomes of this initiative include; Raising community awareness of the new law may reduce the degree of underage alcohol consumption with associated health benefits. Social health benefits may result when parents and their children communicate about alcohol consumptions and the associated risks. Physical health benefits may result when young people are educated on safe consumption of alcohol. Mental health benefits may result when parents are reassured that there is a law protecting their children from accessing alcohol from other adults. How this program reflects the principles of the social model of health; Teaching young people and adults about alcohol consumption addresses the broader determinants of health, particularly education. When young people are educated about alcohol and its effects they are empowered to take control over the decisions that they make in their lives. For further practice on how VicHealth reflects the principles of the Social model of health, head to the VicHealth website. Here you will find examples of many VicHealth funded programs. Identify several programs and make connections with the principles of the Social model of health. Get your teacher to read over your responses. Glossary Biomedical model of health Focuses on the physical or biological aspects of disease and illness. It is a medical model of care practised by doctors and/or health professional and is associated with the diagnosis, cure and treatment of disease. Mission A statement defines what an organization is, why it exists, its reason for being. Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion Developed by the World Health Organization this approach attempts to reduce inequalities in health. The Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion was developed from the social model of health. It considers health promotion as the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve, their health. The Ottawa Charter identifies three basic strategies for health promotion which are enabling, mediating, and advocacy. Social model of health A model that attempts to achieve improvements in health and wellbeing by directing effort towards addressing the social, economic and environmental determinants of health. VicHealth Is a Victorian government body that works with organisations, communities and individuals to promote health and prevent illness according to its priorities. Revision check checklist Can you explain the biomedical model of health? Can you explain the social model of health including the five principles? Can you explain the Ottawa Charter including the five priority action areas? Do you know VicHealths mission and strategic priorities? Do you know the potential health outcomes of a VicHealth funded project and how this project reflects the social model of Health? Revision Questions List three examples that represent a biomedical approach to health? Outline two features of the biomedical model of health? The QUIT campaign attempts to reduce the prevalence of smoking through assisting smokers to quit and not resume smoking. Describe how the QUIT campaign reflects two of the action areas of the Ottawa Charter? Explain the role of VicHealth in promoting health? VicHealth supports the Darebin Northern Interfaith Respectful Relationships Project. This project engages faith leaders and communities in Melbournes north to raise awareness of the problem of violence against women. The project helps faith and community leaders build their capacity to undertake primary prevention work. It incorporates a range of activities, including using scripture and teachings to promote respectful relationships, White Ribbon Day initiatives, interfaith declarations and peer mentoring programs. Explain, using evidence, two principles of the social model of health that are reflected in this program.

Attempting to Understand Eliezer Wiesel’s Night :: Eliezer Wiesel Night

Attempting to Understand Eliezer Wiesel’s Night Night is a story about a young boy's life during the Holocaust. He uses a different name in the story, Eliezer. He comes from a highly Orthodox Jewish family, and they observed the Jewish traditions. His father, Shlomo, a shopkeeper, was very involved with the Jewish community, which was confined to the Jewish section of town, called the shtetl. In 1944, the Jews of Hungary were relatively unaffected by the catastrophe that was destroying the Jewish communities of Europe in spite of the infamous Nuremberg Laws of 1935-designed to dehumanize German Jews and subject them to violence and prejudice. The Holocaust itself did not reach Hungary until 1944. In Wiesel's native Sighet, the disaster was even worse: of the 15,000 Jews in prewar Sighet, only about fifty families survived the Holocaust. In May of 1944, when Wiesel was fifteen, his family and many inhabitants of the Sighet shtetl were deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland. The largest and deadliest of the camps, Auschwitz was the site of more than 1,300,000 Jewish deaths. Wiesel's father, mother, and little sister all died in the Holocaust. Wiesel himself survived and immigrated to France. His story is a horror story that comes to life when students in high school read this novel. Even though many students have not witnessed or participated in such horror, they relate to the character because Wiesel is their age. They cannot believe someone went through the nightmare he did at their age. This book focuses on many themes: conflict, silence, inhumanity to others, and father/son bonding. We see many, too many, conflicts this young man faces. Eliezer struggles with his faith throughout the story. He believes that God is everywhere, and he can't understand how God could let this happen, especially as Eliezer faces conflict everyday in the concentration camp. He also learns silence means. He says he says it is God's silence that he doesn't understand. He feels that God's silence demonstrates the absence of divine compassion. Another silence that drive confuses Eliezer is the silence of the victims. He cannot understand why they don't fight back, especially with the inhumanity that is forced upon them. It is because of this inhumanity that he loses faith, not only in God but also in men. He tells how at the beginning, the Germans were "distant but friendly." However, when they reach the camps, the soldiers are transformed from men to monsters.

Lorraine Hansberrys A Raisin In The Sun - Dreams Essay -- English L

A Raisin in the Sun - Dreams Dreams The play A Raisin in the Sun demonstrates the hardships and successes of the members of a black family living in the south side of Chicago during the 50’s. For the Youngers, dreams are life. They are what bring the family together and pull it apart throughout the play. Each member of the family has a particular dream, and each of those dreams is like a wall being built between its owner and various other members of the family. Everyone’s dream straddles the line between selfishness and goodness for the family; however, some, like Walter’s, seem to be pulled more by the gravity of selfishness. Both Mama and Ruth share the same dream, but each has a slightly different reason for her preference. Walter’s dream is the most apparent from the beginning of the play, and he presses his family and himself until he accomplishes his goal. Walter focuses so much on his dream, however, that he leaves no room for his family. One may ask, why is he so intent on his dream? Walter is out to prove something to himself, to his family, and to the world. He needs to show people that he is a man and is responsible. No one ever trusted Walter with anything important as can be seen when he says, â€Å"Ain’t nobody with me! Not even my own mother!† (Hansberry, 85). In all of his life, Walter was not allowed to grow into a man and bear the responsibility of his life and the lives of his family. Mama has always been the head of the family, and Walter never got the chance in his childhood to take responsibility with less important matters; therefore, when he is handed a check for $6500, Walter does what he never had the chance to do before. Walter’s father was a proud man who wanted his family t... ...s possessions in the minds of many people. They can tear apart a family like the Youngers, or they can grasp and control a mind like that of Walter. However, dreams are items not easily left behind, and if they were, what would become of the people who owned them? Dreams make up a part of the life of humans that without, who can say where life may lead a person. Probably nowhere. For without dreams, a human has no ambitions and no desire to make any impact upon the world. Without dreams the human race would be one of idle creatures that desire nothing more than to be like the cockroaches in this play, searching only for the necessities of life between periods of sleep. Maybe that would be better, though, for someone like Walter; after all, what has he done but be a burden upon society? Or will he someday succeed because of a dream, if only through his son?

Tobacco and the Brain Essay -- Biology Essays Research Papers

Tobacco and the Brain Recent surveys show that 25 % of all American adults smoke despite the fact that tobacco is the No.1 cause of death (430,000 annual) and disease in this country (1). The life of a 30-year older that smokes 15 cigarettes a day is shortened by an average of more than five years (2). Why do people smoke despite the fact that it shortens their life? Why has this practice of smoking tobacco been around for 1000 years? There must be something that the human body or mind gains in spite of the threat of an early death. I realize this craving for nicotine on a personal level because I smoke. Smoker's self-reported motives for smoking include stress reduction and improved circulation (3). That sounds like my reasons. Plus smoking is like a friend that I visit and have a good time with, something that I enjoy being with. Smoking cigarettes produces a rapid distribution of nicotine throughout the body, and reaching the brain within 10 seconds of inhalation (4). The nicotine causes a release of dopamine, neurotransmitters that carries information across synaptic clefts, in the dopamine circuit. This circuit, known as the brain's pleasure center, is an anatomically small cluster of cells. It has evolved over millions of years and mainly seems to reward activities that increase the likelihood of survival, such as sex and eating. This cluster of cells might be small but it reaches into regions of the brain involved with a variety of tasks (4). . These dopamine-releasing pathways course from the evolutionary older part of the midbrain to the hypothalamus and trigger activity of other cells, that extend from one part of the midbrain to an area in the forebrain known as the nucleus accumbens (2). It also branches out t... ...reatments further improves smoke cessation success rates (4). Considering the high death rate due to smoking and the difficulty of withdrawing from this deadly addiction, it is not a good sign that America's youth cigarette usage is escalating. Smoking prevalence among adolescents has risen dramatically since 1990, with more than 3,000 additional children and adolescents becoming regular users of tobacco each day (1). WWW Sources 1)Quick Facts about Nicotine http://ctri.wisc.edu/sub_dept/quick_facts/ 2)Interesting Science http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/home?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0 3) Gleitman, H., Fridlun, A., and Reisberg, D. Psychology. Fifth Edition. New York. W.W. Norton & Company. 1999 4)U.S. Government Research Reports , http://nida.gov/researchreports/nicotine/ 5)MSNBC News Website , http://msnbc.msn.com/news/263658.asp .

Wall Mart of the Internet

From â€Å"Earth’s Biggest Bookstore† to â€Å"everything to everybody† to â€Å"Wall Mart of the Internet† to â€Å"World’s most customer-centric company†, Amazon has been tagged with these kinds of labels by its customers and followers. The reason for these many labels is because of the Amazon changing business model. Starting from Single-product and an intermediary with little inventory in 1995-1997 to Multi-product, profit-making, customer-oriented, investor, Services provider in 2000 Amazon has been changing its business model according to market conditions.One indication of a smart company is to continuously change its business model; it is an indication of smart company and ultimately the smart management team. It is also an indication that the company is learning and adopting itself to the external and internal environment. Amazon is the clear market leader for the largest US e-retailing categories of books, CDs and DVD movies. In var ious consumers’ polls, when respondents are asked for their experiences of e-shopping, Amazon â€Å"streaked ahead† of all others as the world’s favorite e-retailer.This means that Amazon is the undisputed favorite on considerations such as convenience, reliability and customer service. Amazon has achieved worldwide success and brand recognition due to paying attention to extensive offline advertising, which helped the company to become one of only three dot. com brands in the Interbrand world league table. It is an illustration of the power of branding that Amazon is the world’s top e-retailer. Before the dot. com downturn in the spring of 2000, the word â€Å"Internet† keyed into what seemed pervasive optimism for a new century.It meant youth, new possibilities and an opportunity to break with traditional business and create new rules. However, in 2000 things drastically changed as many e-commerce start-ups failed to return expected profits and w ent bankrupt. After this came valuable lessons across e-commerce, and evidence for incumbent retailers that factors such as having an established brand provide significant advantages in e-retail and play a part in customer loyalty and increased profit. Analysis of dot.com failures and comparison with traditional retailers in the same industry, for example eToys, which folded in 2000 and was subsequently bought by an established toy retailer, vs. Toys R Us, which successfully opened an e-retail channel through collaboration with Amazon, has revealed several advantages for the established retailer. Newcomers usually build their initial strategy on attracting new customers through aggressive marketing, brand-building and advertising, which logically lead to massive expenses and cash shortages.Amazon, however, has an existing customer base and can build on brand values that are already in place. Amazon’s marketing budgets allow the company to attempt new online projects or busine ss lines, unlike many start-ups. Founder of Amazon. com, J. Bezos rejected the traditional model for retailing. Having known that the usage of Internet is increasing every year with gigantic steps, – some resources report about 2000% usage increase annually, – Bezos decided that his retailing model should be intrinsically connected to Internet.While opening new physical retail outlets can expand the geographical reach of a business and add convenience for consumers, retailing online not only carries these benefits, but also offers further returns that are more specific to online trading. Bezos put books as Amazon’s core product, because they almost ideally correspond for the model of e-retailing. Low unit price, low risk cost, easy to pack and ship, and finally in a high and growing demand, books have become a perfect solution for Amazon’s model. Now books are by far the largest e-retailing category in the US.Research carried out by many companies illustr ates that about 65 per cent of the purchases made by Web shoppers in the US consisted of books. For newly created company, the Internet had global reach and provided the opportunity to trade internationally. For Bezos, Amazon’s broad benefits included the ability to trade 24 hours a day and seven days a week, and operate with lower overheads in terms of staff and space, while more particular advantages included the ability to increase the number of customer â€Å"touch points† and build more personalized customer experiences, products and relationships.However, again for J. Bezos these e-retail advantages did not imply that an online presence is a recipe in itself for success; that kind of thinking was tried and failed with the dot. com boom and bust. Instead, if there was any recipe for successful integration, Bezos found it in variants of established business practices, such as an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the business, for example in relation to technology awareness, which is a good indicator of e-commerce success.Amazon’s mission and strategy is quite simply â€Å"to offer Earth’s Biggest Selection and to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they may want to buy online and [we] endeavor to offer our customers the lowest possible price. † The company accomplishes this by operating six global internet sites: www. amazon. com, www. amazon. ca, www. amazon. de, www. amazon. jp, www. amazon. co. fr and www. amazon. co. uk.Through their zShops, auctions, affiliate program, [email  protected] and Amazon Marketplace programs, Amazon, and their sellers and partners, offer new and used collectibles and products in categories such as apparel and accessories, DVDs, electronics, computers, books, music, videos, cell phones, tools and hardware, the list is almost endless. In order to maintain quality, the company packages and ships all of its merchandis e. They also continue to negotiate volume deals with suppliers to meet their goal of lowering prices.Additionally, Amazon has formed partnerships and alliances with publishers, other on-line retailers, technology providers, either handling their web site operations or linking them to its virtual portal. As part of their diversification strategy, Amazon recently acquired Internet Movie Database www. imdb. com (IMDb), which is an authoritative source of information on movie and entertainment (Dennis et al, 2004). This acquisition is one of many Amazon is making expand its product and service offerings.The company is also preparing to sell internet domain names and already has received the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) approval. In order to improve customer service the company is investing in operational facilities, like its multi-lingual customer service support center in the Netherlands, to meet its rapid growth, increase selection and meet future operat ional needs while building efficiencies. This strategy helps Amazon increase its low profit margin, decrease its operational cost, increase customer response and order processing services and pass that savings on to the customer.Amazon strives to provide customers with the best possible online shopping experience by leveraging their powerful and innovative technologies. Part of the company’s competitiveness lies in their proprietary technology, which is licensed to companies like Target to run their e-commerce site. Its patented portal technology allows the customer to customize their on-line experience with personalized home page, product recommendations, email notifications on orders and new products, the ability to post reviews, 1-click ordering, search functions, up selling, and secure shopping cart functions, to name a few.Furthermore, they use technology to drive customer relationships. As an example, the company uses pop up daughter windows to quiz customers about Amaz on. These pop up windows survey the customer about Amazon related facts and in return the customer can get up to . 25 cents a day put in their account for answering questions. Building on this use of technology the company recently received patent approval and plans to add a chat function to enhance the customer experience and help consumers find products through each other.Through its Web Services development and affiliate program it encourages web site owners and developers to create applications capable of interacting with Amazon’s catalog, search engine, shopping cart and merchandising tools. In an effort to remain competitive and preempt new technology Amazon has an ongoing program to develop, update and add software and hardware including partnerships like it’s recently inked deal with Google. com. This will allow them to avoid service disruptions; slow response times, poor levels of customer service, and delays in information delivery.Amazon uses its proprietary technology to transform the online purchasing experience into the easiest and most enjoyable shopping experience online. The site communicates to the customer a visual feel of being in a one stop shop where they can find and purchase virtually anything they want. The site loads quickly, is easily navigated, allows the customer to instantly see an array of products, and provides a host of other customer driven enhancements designed to drive customer satisfaction. Amazon’s site conveys to the customers they can have it their way, all day.And by placing its image on everything it touches Amazon continually reinforces its brand, making it one of the most recognized customer-centric brands in the world. For the first time in year 2000, Amazon management has set its focus on making profit. Again, it is an indication of nothing but smart, opportunistic management that utilized its strength to grow. It is very clear that Amazon management team is very focused. In order to meets its future targets, Amazon has implemented a restructuring plan.It will allow Amazon to reduce operating costs, reduce employee staff, and strengthen some of its fulfillment and customer service operations. According to the quarterly report released by amazon. com for quarter ended September 30, 2004 â€Å"There has been a steep decline in operating costs† (Amazon, Quarterly results, 2004). This has improved the performance of the company. Since its beginning, Amazon has adopted various e-Business model to increase its customer base and recently set its focus on making profit. Given below are the strategies adopted by Amazon.Amazon has a track recording of first gaining expertise in the market and then scaling into other areas. For example, Amazon started with a web-based bookstore model and after gaining expertise in various operations expanded to other segments and geographies. Another example is, after capturing the US market; it expanded its business to Europe, namely the U. K, France and Germany and then to Japan. One advantage of this approach is that the incremental costs to expand the business, whether to multiple product line or geographically are small.This strategy of perfecting before scaling helps in long-term survival and growth of the company. Since its beginning, Amazon has always kept focus on the needs of its customer and never lost sight of it. This gives Amazon a strong foothold of the internet retail business. Playing on this customer strength, Amazon has struck deals with industry leaders retailers Toysrus. com, Borders, Drugstore. com, and Target to help them draw customers to their Web sites, thereby giving birth to its services segment. Amazon is playing on its strength here and in the process creating a place for itself as a provider of e-tail services.Under Amazon’s cooperative model, the partners do not compete with each other and try to lessen each other risks. This cooperation represents a symbiotic relationship, where t he two partners do what they do best while depending on each other to eliminate respective weaknesses. On August 10 2000, Amazon and Toyrus announced a strategic alliance. According to the press release by Amazon â€Å"The two companies have entered into a strategic alliance under which each company will assume responsibility for specific aspects of the toy and video games and baby products stores.Toysrus. com, in collaboration with its majority shareholder, Toys â€Å"R† Us, Inc. , will identify, buy and manage inventory; Amazon. com will handle site development, order fulfillment, and customer service, housing both Toysrus. com's and its own inventory in Amazon. com’s U. S. distribution centers† (Dennis et al. , 2004:118). This alliance helped Amazon in eliminating its inventory risk, as it does not have to purchase or store any toys until the customer have ordered and paid for the goods. Under Amazon’s coopetitive model the two parties act as provider and customer.Both the parties compete with each other but one party tries to lessen other risks and in return gets the share of others business. On Apr 11, 2001 Amazon and Border announced strategic alliance. According to the press release by Amazon on Apr 11, 2001, â€Å"Amazon. com will be the seller of record, providing inventory, fulfillment, site content and customer service for the co-branded site. The new site will continue to offer content unique to Borders. com, including store location information and in-store event calendars† (Prior, 20001:6).In this case Amazon will continue to sell books on its own, but will also provide services to Border. In return Amazon will get a share of every sale by Border. According to an article on Informit. com â€Å"The Click and Brick model allows an existing offline business to profit from partnering with an emerging online presence†. [5] In this regard, Amazon has struck a deal with electronic retailer Circuit city. This wil l give the customer, the advantages of picking up their purchases from hundreds of stores rather then paying for shipment charges.Amazon will receive a share of the revenues for all Circuit City electronics goods sold through Amazon. Amazon will be responsible for processing the transaction while Circuit City will be responsible for order fulfillment and product-related customer service. In all these cases, Amazon is extending its channel expertise in Web retailing to â€Å"e-nable† other retailers. With a full year’s experienced retailers under its belt, Amazon is set to scale the service model. The Borders and Circuit City deals are important steps in that direction.The coopetitive model is converting Amazon into a â€Å"product-less platform provider†, directly impacting its bottom line, with no inventory costs. The business model adopted by Amazon has given it a boost in its online business. By making strategic alliances with the industry leader and making t he life of customer has made Amazon a profit making company. According to 2004, financial results Amazons’ â€Å"Operating cash flow was $567 million for 2004, compared with $392 million for 2003. Free cash flow grew 38% to $477 million for 2004, compared with $346 million for 2003.Common shares outstanding plus shares underlying stock-based awards outstanding totaled 434 million at December 31, 2004, compared with 433 million a year ago. Net sales were $2. 54 billion in the fourth quarter, compared with $1. 95 billion in fourth quarter 2003, an increase of 31%. Net sales, excluding the $85 million benefit from changes in foreign exchange rates, grew 26% compared with fourth quarter 2003† (Amazon, 2005). Amazon business model has steadily evolved and over the years the large retailers have realized the importance of Business-to-consumer e-commerce.In contemporary context, along with other e-commerce companies Amazon experiences several problems. Financial and marketing analytics indicate that due to increased online competition, Amazon is gradually loosing its market share. Experts and investors indicate that Amazon’s technology and content costs soared 59% in the quarter, while the company keeps spending heavily on marketing campaigns, free-shipping promotions and other marketing activities to attract customers to shop regularly on its site.It is not surprising that Amazon is spending estimated 60 percent of their revenue on numerous marketing activities and building an appropriate brand image. Amazon’s brand allows company to be known, distinct, and credible in the minds of existent and potential customers, consumers, and stakeholders. Amazon’s brand facilitate the building of relationships with existing and potential customers, consumers, and stakeholders. In addition, company’s brand communicates the benefits offered to buyers and stakeholders that embody the value system of the company.Due to increased online comp etition, the brand image strategy utilized by Amazon is justified because it helps to retain existing customers and to attract new ones, gradually making them returning. For every business, particularly online e-retailing, good customers’ returning rate is an indication of a healthy business. That’s why Amazon should pursue this aggressive marketing and branding strategy to keep its customers. Many analysts discuss merger opportunities for Amazon. The merger will help Amazon. com expand the market share in E-commerce and create a new passageway.For instance, Amazon. com can merge with Wal-Mart, which has $26 billion market value and only $756 million debt. Now Wal-Mart is interested in E-commerce and online shopping. If Amazon. com merges with Wal-Mart, they will become the largest retail company in E-commerce. Amazon. com will also increase its market share. In addition, after the merger, Amazon. com can gain more marketing resources from Wal-Mart to create a new sale s passageway. For instance, customers can purchase the products from Amazon. com on the Internet and pick the items, or return them at Wal-Mart.It will provide additional choose for customers. The merger may help Amazon to create new customers and products. Bertelsmann has $14 billion market value and the company’s strategy now is focusing on music retailing and book sales. Their business is related to Amazon’s business. The CEO of Bertelsmann is also trying to open their business in American market (Brynjolfsson & Urban, 2001). If Amazon. com merges with this company, it will gain the new customers from Bertelsmann. Furthermore, integrating the products from Bertelsmann, Amazon.com can create new products on their website. Finally, a merger can improve and cover the financial loss of Amazon such as net sales loss, long-dept and cash loss. For instance, if Amazon merges with General Growth Properties, which has 136 malls in 37 states and owns $2. 8 billion market value , Amazon. com can still keep the power of operation and exercise the new marketing strategies (Brynjolfsson & Urban, 2001). Moreover, Amazon. com can gain the financial support from this company to cover its long-debt $2 billion. In addition, the merger will help Amazon.com increase the financial resources such as the amount of cash flow, and also decrease the cost and expense of the company. Another future prospect is to invent a new E-business strategy. E-commerce is one way that people can trade on the Internet. This trading system is very important, but it is not the only thing that the e-commerce enterprises should focus on. Amazon. com is a giant in E-commerce and the company uses Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) to trade, but Amazon cannot make profits even though the company has very strong technological support.Some specialists point out that communication, resources allocation, and project management guarantees success in E-commerce. Effective communication, which can improve bu siness performance, is one of the objectives that Amazon. com should fulfill. Effective communication includes two aspects: internal and external. First of all, internal communication emphasizes negotiation. Necessary and correct information must be communicated precisely between the employees or the departments. Secondly, external communication emphasizes on empowerment and good timing.For instance, Customer Services is a department that helps customers to solve problems. They have to communicate with the customers and understand what the customers want and need, and then report to the departments or the board. If the customer service department has the power to react immediately from the problems of customers and has good communication and relationship with the customers, it will create more business opportunities for Amazon. com. The second key that helps industry to succeed in E-commerce is resources allocation. There are various resources in the enterprises such as human resour ces and customer resources.First of all, concerning human resources, Amazon. com should understand employees’ particularities and arrange them in appropriate positions. If the employees are set in the right positions, the company should become more efficient. Secondly, in regard to customer resources, Amazon should collect information, such as suggestion, complaint or demand from the customers and then try to improve their products or services to provide better services to the customers. If the services satisfy the customers, Amazon will create more and more opportunities and new customers in the near future.For example, new outsourcing strategies should be used to collect focus group to survey customers’ opinions. The third key that may become helpful for Amazon is project management. A successful E-commerce enterprise should focus on project management. Project management emphasizes teamwork (Epstein, 2004). There are many teams in the company and each team has its d ifferent project and goal. Each team also has its power to make the decision. The responsibility of the team is to achieve the product. The responsibility of the enterprise is to manage the teams and make sure that the projects can be finished effectively.Distributing the limited resources to different teams and projects is the great challenge to the project management. The best way to overcome this challenge is to emphasize effective communication and negotiation Amazon. com is now considered as the world’s largest e-retailer of books, CDs and DVDs. The Amazon’s web portal is user-friendly, enabling e-Shoppers to find books quickly by title, author or subject. Users can find their title in seconds from a few keywords. Synopses and contents lists are provided, along with a list of other relevant books.Amazon keeps a record of customers’ preferences and advises when new books likely to be of interest are published. During many years, Amazon is renowned for custom er service, security and fast delivery. However, in current business context, the company is loosing market share, though is still well-recognized leader in online industry. The company keeps heavily investing in its brand through aggressive online and offline marking, building appropriate brand awareness among its current and potential clients. References Amazon, Inc. (2004). Quarterly results, Available at < http://media. corporate-ir.net/media_files/irol/97/97664/reports/91338ACL. pdf> Amazon, Inc. (2005). Press release Q4 Financial Results, Available at < http://media. corporate-ir. net/media_files/irol/97/97664/news/Release_Q4_04. pdf> Retrieved June 5, 2006 Dennis C. , Fenech T. , Merrilees B. (2004). E-Retailing, Routledge, London Brynjolfsson E. and Urban G. (2001). Strategies for E-Business Success, Jossey-Bass Epstein M. (2004). Implementing E-Commerce Strategies: A Guide to Corporate Success after the Dot. Com Bust, Praeger Prior, M. (2001). â€Å"Amazon to Operate Borde rs. com. † DSN Retailing Today, May 1, 40(9): 6.