Bank of Canada and Interest Rates Essay

The Bank of Canada has indicated that it has concerns over inflation being too low. (Parkinson). However, inflation has been rising and the Canadian economy has strengthened over the last several months. Keeping interest rates too low over a long period of time may have a tendency to over-inflate the economy and create asset bubbles while also creating pockets of greater debt, not dissimilar to those that contributed to the global economic collapse of 2008-2009. Although the Bank of Canada has iterated – and reiterated – its current neutrality with respect to interest rates, economists predict that current conditions may require the bank to move more quickly than it may like to bump the rates in the next several months. (Parkinson). Canada is currently facing a housing bubble like that which occurred in the United States, prior to the massive global downturn of 2008-2009. (Altstedter). Home prices have been steadily increasing along with the size of the debt that homeowners are taking on in order to afford the increase in housing prices. Earlier this year, the Bank’s governor, Stephen Poloz, had forward guidance language that cautioned that interest rate hikes could be in the offing removed from Bank of Canada’s policy statements. (Kawa). Since the removal of the language, inflation has begun to increase and the Canadian Dollar has weakened somewhat. This will contribute to further expansion of the housing bubble in Canada. In order to slow the growth of the housing bubble and prevent or delay its eventual bursting, the Bank of Canada will likely be forced to raise interest rates. Bank of Canada Will Not Alter Interest Rates One of the reasons Bank of Canada’s Governor Stephen Poloz removed forward guidance warning of the potential need to increase interest rates from the Bank’s policy statements was to highlight the neutral stance he and the Bank are embracing with respect to interest rates. (Kawa). Poloz said in a September statement that he feels that the global economy is â€Å"performing largely as expected† and that the housing industry in Canada was â€Å"stronger  than anticipated.† (Isfield). This month, Poloz stated that he feels that the upside and downside inflationary risks are, at this time, balanced and that, as such, there is no need alter interest rates in the foreseeable future assuming the status quo is not disrupted. (Parkinson). The Bank’s current neutral stance on interest rates, has now been reiterated and strengthened, to such an extent that it is possible, to â€Å"ultra-neutral.† (Isfeld). Because of Poloz’s ongoing statements with respect to interest rate neutrality, the bank’s removal of interest rate hike guidance from its policy statements, and the perception that the risks between and inflationary upside and an inflationary downside are perceived by Poloz and the board to be balanced, it is unlikely that interest rates will be changed in the next six to twelve months by the Bank of Canada. Works Cited Altstedter, Ari. â€Å"Housing Bubble Will Force Bank of Canada to Renew Rate Hike Warnings Soon, Pimco Says.† Financial Post. 1 Oct. 2014. Web. < http://business.financialpost.com/2014/10/01/housing-bubble-will-force-bank-of-canada-to-renew-rate-hike-warnings-soon-pimco-says/> Isfeld, Gordon. â€Å"Bank of Canada’s Stephen Poloz Turns Ultra-Neutral On Interest Rates.† Financial Post. 3 Sep. 2014. Web. Kawa, Lucas. â€Å"Say Goodbye To Forward Guidance From The Bank Of Canada.† Business In Canada. 14 Oct. 2014. Web. Parkinson, David. â€Å"Bank of Canada Still Fears Low Inflation Despite Balanced Outlook.† The Globe And Mail. 3 Nov. 2014. Web.

Privacy and Social Networks Essay

â€Å"Privacy seems to encompass everything, and therefore it appears to be nothing in itself† (Solove, 2008, p. 7). It is an oversimplification to define privacy as all what an individual owns. With the evolution of new technologies nowadays, it is very hard to define privacy because it varies from one person to another and from one culture to another (Solove, 2008). With the rise of social networks during the last decade, new views about privacy started to emerge due to its special mechanism in sharing information. Social networks enable users to instantly share information, thoughts, photos, products and videos with the many users in the network at once. Unlike other means of communication, the information in social networks can spread to hundreds of users in seconds. Then, the users who received the information may share it among their network, and then further to other networks, which will end up in spreading the information to millions of people in no time, just like a chain reaction. This new mechanism of sharing, which is becoming faster every day, raised new concerns about privacy among individuals and organizations. In spite of all these concerns about the personal privacy on the social networks, social networks websites are the most visited websites in the internet. For example, Facebook has reached 901 million monthly active users in April, 2012 (Hachman, 2012). Although social networks enables an easy sharing of private information about individuals or low profile information about organizations, individuals and organization should not be afraid of using social networks due to privacy concerns, and instead they should be more public and utilize the social network. Being public and open to the world is better than being private and closed because it enables people to learn from others personal experience. Naturally, any individual or organization benefits from communicating with others. Nevertheless, communication with others, regardless of the mean of communication, usually involves giving away some private information to the other. However, social networks empowered the world a new mean of communication that benefits all the users in the network by sharing private information. For example, an individual can share some previous experiences such as overcoming an illness, eating habit, or making a project. Being afraid of sharing experience, because of privacy, would only deprive others from benefit of these experiences. According to Tapscott (2012): Fully 20 percent of all patients with the fatal disease ALS share intimate information about their treatment and condition on the network PatientsLikeMe. com. And tens of thousands of others with rare diseases who use that website report that sharing has helped them better manage their illness. Because the social network enabled them to share information about their medical conditions, which is very private information, they supported each others with valuable information about their disease and inspired each others with their experience. Social networks enhanced collaboration, which in return brings benefits to all individuals, at the cost of personal information. Some may argue that because of posting private information on social networks, some employee may suffer from being fired from or being denied for a job. In other words, social networks negatively affect employment because they allow the employers or managers to access an employee’s or a job applicant’s private data. For example, Andrews (2012) states in her book that a high school teacher, called Ashly Payne, was asked to resign because she uploaded a photo of her on Facebook drinking an alcoholic drink even though it is legal to drink in her country. She also claims that employers â€Å"will not hire someone whose Facebook page includes photo of that person drinking or in provocative dress† (p. 122). However, the information on social networks could not be used against an employee or a job applicant because it is considered unethical and illegal. First, it is unethical to judge a worker from the personal aspects rather than working skills. Besides, Jarvis (2011) defines privacy as â€Å"the ethics of knowing† and publicness as â€Å"the ethics of sharing† (p. 110). Therefore, it depends how the individual interpret others information. On the other hand, employers can also look into a job applicant’s profile in a social network to see his/her previous experience in work. Second, it is illegal to make ecision on an employee or a job applicant based on social networks personal information. Furthermore, this act is considered discrimination and the company can be sued for this action (Waring & Buchanan, 2010). Therefore, employees and job applicants should not be afraid of posting information in social networks. Social network is a safe place to share private information with others. The main issue is that private data on the social network is accessible anytime and anywhere. Without a doubt, the privacy of individual’s profile data in the social network should be protected to make the network a safer place for sharing. Therefore, many social networks provide powerful tools to control the access on private information. First, social networks do not grant access to other users profile data anonymously. In order to access any data even if it is public, the individual needs gain the social networks trust by registering an account in the social network. This enables the social network administration control over the social network. Second, the user can choose who is able to view his/her profile private information and what information others can see. For instance, the user can block accounts, specify groups and set privileges. Third, social networks also provide a help center to report abuse of the services such as spamming, bullying or hateful speeches. The social network administration can stop any account permanently or even take legal action if an individual is reported abusing others privacy. Finally, most social networks provide a parental control to help parents control how their children use the social network. Since social networks rely on the trust between the users, these tools does not only make a social network a safer place, but also trustworthy. Richters and Peixoto (2011) performed a research to show the transitivity of trust in social networks. They found out that people decide who to trust based on other peers who trust. To emphasize this to the topic, users trust only specific users over their private information and thus they trust the social network. Conversely, trusting the social network increases the trust among the users. In addition, trustworthiness implies a social network safety, which in return means users being more comfortable sharing their information using the social network. For example, one of the reasons that made Facebook the most successful social network is the trustworthy of the users. According to Jesdanun (2006, as cited in Fogel & Nehmad, 2009), because Facebook was only restricted for students, the users felt safer to share data through the social network. Nowadays, Facebook is open to the public, but they are very strict in term of network safety. In fact, Fogel’s and Nehmad’s (2009) research statistics showed that â€Å"those who had social networking profiles had significantly greater mean scores†¦ indicating that they believed Facebook is a more trustworthy social network† (p. 175). For any social network to be successful, the social network has to maintain the trust of their users through the safety of the social network. Therefore, social networks are trustworthy over the users’ private in the social network. Despite of these control tools, some may argue that social networks still a potential threat to the users’ privacy. For instance, many believe that social networks made a fertile ground for identity theft and stalking. People usually fear the technology; because social networks are also considered one of them, every possible problem falls under the umbrella of privacy concerns on social networks. Privacy, however, is not only controlling the data access, but also controlling how it is used or interpreted (Boyd, 2010). Let us discuss these problems one by one. First, identity theft occurs when someone steals someone’s secret information and pretending to be that person. According to Jarvis, â€Å"[the identity theft issue] is less an issue of privacy than larceny† (2011, p. 96). Assuming it is an issue of privacy, suppose someone hacked someone else’s account or page on a social network, thus accessing or using the victim’s information. Should this be considered the social network fault? The user, the victim, probably did not take security precautions to protect what he/she considered a private data. Additionally, the social network provides tools to retrieve, to report or to suspend a stolen account. Second, stalking is obsessively observing an individual’s behavior or information. Unfortunately, stalking can mostly be from those who have access to the profile information such as friends and coworkers. However, it still depends on how they interpret the information. For example, if someone knew that his friend is getting divorced, he decides whether to support him, help him, or stand against him. Social networks’ databases do not only contain data about their users, but also how the users interactions with the social networks and other users. Therefore, the data in social networks are very valuable as some refers to it as â€Å"the new oil†. Social networks use these data, through data mining, to improve its services and to gain revenue. Most social networks gain revenue from targeted advertising. For example, if a user often reads about cars, or writes posts related cars, the data mining system is going to assume this user is interested in cars. Therefore, the social network shows that user advertisements related to cars within the user’s living area. Social networks created a new marketing option that helps the companies to expand their production and services (Andresen, 2011). On the other hand, data mining and targeted advertisement raises new privacy concern in social networks. For example, some users may feel uncomfortable when these advertisements are based on some information that were marked as private, a personal chat with a friend for instance. However, data mining and targeted advertising does not violate privacy laws or ethics. According to Seltzer research in data mining ethics (2005) â€Å"like most statistical methodologies data mining by itself is ethically neutral† (p. 1441). This is mainly because the data mining process is carried on by computer programs, which will not interact with these data the way a human would. They will not develop any judgment or feelings about the user no matter how sensitive the data is. Moreover, social networks provide advertisers with anonymous statistical data. In other word, advertisers do not know the identities of users in the statistics provided by the social network. In conclusion, social networks are new powerful tool for communication with the others. The data on the social networks are can easily be accessed anywhere and anytime, and therefore this created a controversial debate between privacy and the social networks. However, being afraid of using social networks would have only deprived the benefits of using these tools. Besides, employees and job applicants should not be afraid of using social networks because their information in social networks could not be used against them as it is considered illegal and unethical to be used against them. Nevertheless, social networks provide powerful tools to control over the user’s private information, thus implying that the social networks are trustworthy over private information. In sprit of all privileges control tools, many people believe that the social networks can cause problems such as identity theft and stalking. However, these problems are not necessarily due to social networks, but instead it is due to how people interpret the information in the social networks. As a result the, the user should be more careful when posting a sensitive data and think before sharing any information. Finally, because social networks databases contains tremendous amount of data, social networks created a new form of business using these data while protecting the identity of the data. Therefore, individuals and organization should not concern privacy when using social networks and utilize its benefits.

Course Concept Redesign Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Course Concept Redesign - Coursework Example In addition, the new student can present their views by commenting on the video and get feedbacks from their fellow students. The search strategy used article databases in identifying the three sources on the concept of the greenhouse effect and climate change. In the first source, Reinfried and colleagues argue that it is difficult changing student’s everyday ideas of the greenhouse effect. The challenge that environmental education face is creating of instructional setting aimed to foster student’s conceptual understanding of the concept of the greenhouse effect. In facilitating students conceptual development regarding the greenhouse effect, it is critical to design learning materials that promote active cognitive learning and focused on achieving deep understanding of the concept. Reinfried et al., present in the article, a developed learning material based on the theory of understanding and reasoning. They compared the efficacy of the design with standard learning materials by using pre-, post and follow-up test. In examining the student’s understanding and knowledge acquisition o ver the three measurement test, Reinfried et al., used both qualitative and quantitative methods. The study outcome demonstrated that the group instructed according to the design focused on in-depth learning had better knowledge gains and retention compared to the group taught using standard learning materials. The strength of the article, therefore, is that it provides an instructional design that engages learners in high cognitive activities, which enhance deep conceptual understanding of the abstract and complex concept of the greenhouse effect. However, the article has a weakness in presenting a comparative study conducted for a long a duration of time because conceptual changes require much time to develop. In the second source, Ogden et al., points that the extent of climate change affects human health in a

Marketing Strategy Justification with a Model Essay

Marketing Strategy Justification with a Model - Essay Example As a brief overview for the company’s product offering, it can be said that, the company’s product offering includes mainly developing latest technology devices in the field of pyrometrics, ceramic insulation, ceramic filtration, technical ceramics and various kinds of products of porous nature. The company, Mantec Technical Ceramics Limited is a leader all over the world in the B2B domain, in regards to their solution based offerings for highly innovative process and materials of ceramic technical (Mantec Technical Ceramics, 2012). Overview of Market The world, today, is getting increasingly dependent on technology. Ever since the widespread evolution of internet, emerging from the US during the middle of 1990’s, people have started to integrate and align their lives in relation to the developments happening in terms of technology and the latest communication devices. The four generations comprising of Baby Boomers, Generation X, Generation Y and the Millennium Generation have increasingly got dependent on the latest technological developments like the high end touch screen mobile phones, tablets PCs, laptop computers and the highly modernized I pads for availing the convenience and facilities provided by various products and services offered by today’s fast evolving Ecommerce based companies (National Tour Association, 2002, p. 17). This huge inclination of consumers worldwide for various kinds of technological devices have automatically triggered the demand for various small and vital components required for the production of these high tech devices. One particular product, which has become a key component for the development of these high tech technological devices and has experienced a sudden peak in demand, is the multi layer ceramic capacitors. The need for these ceramic capacitors has been tremendously high in markets, which produces high end portable devices in mass scale. As of today’s date, a large amount of these p ortable technological devices in manufactured in China and South East Asian countries, with them being recognized as the global hub for manufacturing of portable electronic products (Rajan, 2010). Identification of Market With the increase in demands for the latest technology high end portable devices by consumers all around the globe, there has been a tremendous spike in demand for the production of capacitors of ceramic nature. This demand for ceramic capacitor products has been increasingly high in markets where there has been a massive and large scale production for these high end technological devices. The entire Asia Pacific markets are increasingly considered as a global hub for production of electronic devices of portable nature (Rajan, 2010). Going by a micro level comparison of the demand forecasted for this multi layer ceramic capacitor on a market by market basis, it can be said that there are three scenarios that are arising in terms of future growth prospects in this p articular capacitor segment. In China, there has been a rising demand for the production of various portable devices like laptops, mobile phones and devices of similar nature. As a matter of fact, the demand for multi layered ceramic capacitors

Security Legislations and Standards Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Security Legislations and Standards - Essay Example Some of the well known examples of these rules and regulations comprise the Clinger Cohen Act, the GPRA (Government Performance and Results Act) and FISMA (Federal Information Security Management Act). Seeing that these rules, policies, and regulations are very important for the measurement of information security, thus including them for the information security performance management is useful for the businesses (Chew, Swanson, Stine, Bartol, Brown, & Robinson, 2008). This paper discusses the various aspects of Security Legislations and Standards. Legislations and Standards Serving their Purposes Global information security management guidelines play a significant role in organizing and determining organizational information system security. In this scenario, organizations use various rules and guidelines (such as BS ISO/IEC17799: 2000, BS7799, SSE-CMM and GASPP/GAISP) in order to determine and compare how authenticated their strategies are, and how extensively they are implemented . However, it is discovered that BS ISO/IEC17799: 2000, BS7799, SSE-CMM and GASPP/GAISP were general or common in their scope; as a result they did not focus on the dissimilarities exist between organizations and the reality that their safety needs are exceptional. In addition, according to the research those security strategies were authenticated by application to extensive capability thus it was not a dominant foundation for significant global information security strategy. Thus, to cope with these limitations, it is assessed that information security management strategy should be observed as a library of policies material on information safety management for the committed companies (Siponen & Willison, 2009). In this scenario, organizational directed security standards are different in intensity of concept. In addition, they differ from slack structures for security management (for example GMITS), to a record of security essentials i.e., " perform that, don’t carry out tha t" (for instance standards like BS7799 1993, IT Protection guide 1996), that look like those in list of tasks or responsibilities (for instance "clients should implement passwords whose length is more than 8 characters) that inserted security to information system in a mark in the pack way. Furthermore, development standards also encompass a public level function, as they offer the safety â€Å"development† rank to the business (Siponen & Willison, 2009). How to enforce these Legislations and Standards? The legislation and standard of ‘good practice’ for information security is the leading influence on information security. Additionally, it ensures information security by following a company’s viewpoint, as well as offers a realistic establishment for evaluating corporate data and information systems’ security. In order to effectively implement security management standards and techniques we first need to see the nature of security issues and danger s which an organization is currently facing. In this scenario we need to assess some important security issues those need to be managed and handled through simple security solution. For the management and neutralization of serious security and privacy management aspects we need to build and implement an effective business management policy that could effectively oversee security and privacy related aspect. In this scenario, the basic aim of information security management and standard enforcement is to react against the needs of global security management associations. Another aim is to focus on developing some useful strategies for better handling and

Memo writing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Memo writing - Essay Example r is that Social Security has been viewed by both parties and many different congresses as a means to rapidly provide a level of funding to any number of pet projects or current goals that exist. Naturally, such a practice has been short sighted to say the least. The end result has been that due to the fact that such a high level of borrowing from the fund has taken place, no project or governmental action is necessarily better off. The level of intra-governmental debt has remained the same. Moreover, the worst part of this type of borrowing is the fact that due to the way in which the laws that govern the use and utilization of Social Security â€Å"surplus† has meant that no meaningful level of surplus has been allowed to accrue. With respect to the way that Social Security surplus funds are allocated and distributed, the government considers a surplus as anything over current liabilities. A secondary means by which the government could and should seek to provide extra resources to the Social Security Fund is to increase withholding taxes on paychecks. Although raising taxes is never a popular choice among candidates that are seeking popularity with their constituents, the fact of the matter is that it is mathematically proven that the fund itself cannot continue to survive unless it receives an influx of new cash; whether as a function of increased government debt or by increased tax burdens upon those individuals who will one day rely upon it. In this way, the reader can quickly see that there remain two options for keeping the current fund afloat past 2033; taxation or an increase in government debt.1 Due to the fact that government debt already surpasses 15 trillion US dollars, it is not advisable that the government should assume that it will continue to have the capacity or the option to borrow the funding necessary to provide Social Security past the time in wh ich it will become insolvent. As one is fully aware, the benefits of Social Security are

Cyber Management Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Cyber Management Ethics - Essay Example They have abused it through downloading movies, downloading pornographic materials and/or pirated software. (Fox, M., Phillips, L. & Vaidyanathan, G., 2003) E-mail Accessed for Personal Benefit A statistic data from a pornographic industry consultant have noted that almost seventy percent of all visits to their website occur during the office hours or to be specific between 9 o’clock in the morning to 5 o’clock in the afternoon. According to the results received by Nielson or NetRatings, the online stock trading gets at least a ninety-two percent hits during the office hours and at least forty-six percent of the shopping done online during the holidays usually take place between nine o’clock in the morning to five o’clock in the afternoon. Another study made by Fox in 2002 showed that almost twenty five percent of employees in companies are suffering from addiction with the usage of the Internet. Another study conducted by Fox in 2002 was the activities th at were most addictive to individuals today. It revealed that gambling online has sky rocketed to the top five most addictive activities to individuals and translating it to a specific proportion would show that about eight percent of the respondents have become addicted to online gambling. (Fox, M., Phillips, L. & Vaidyanathan, G., 2003) Information Week also presented a study that predicted the amount of e-mail messages business organizations would receive that is based on their sizes. For example, the large business organization that has revenue of more than a billion dollars would roughly receive about two million and four hundred thousand e-mail messages a day and send around one... Cyber Management Ethics The paper analyzed the steps should be taken into account in order to change toward the new approach of stakeholder relationship to fit in the era of digital society. Furthermore, the method of literature review was applied as a basis of theoretical construction on stakeholder relationship approach that should be engaged in avoiding of the crisis. The sudden discovery of the World Wide Web or Internet and its usefulness to the business organizations has greatly affected the productivity of the employees within the business organization. It cannot be disputed that the impact of the internet would have both positive and negative influence and it is up to the business organization to determine if its positive the effect outweigth its negative effect. And, if the freedom of transactions presented by the internet is abused by the employees, it is the prerogative of the business organization to implement measures to curb or arrest any misfeasance or malfeasance. According to the statement made by Anandarajan, Simmers and Igbaria in 2000, these are some positive effects that business organizations could expect from the Internet to enhance the productivity of the organization where it has utilized the internet or the world wide web as their primary tool in completing and performing tasks. Examples of these tasks would be the analyzing, researching of data, the business organization would also have the shorter cycle times, products that would be marketed the costs that are related to the business organization would be reduced.

Basketball Point Guard Training Program Research Paper

Basketball Point Guard Training Program - Research Paper Example which they are able to perform different actions but also must consider all those actions that are required to develop their performance on continuous basis (Hatfield & Brody, n. d.). Conversely, outcome goals are mainly concerned with the end results that the athletes desire to achieve. It has been apparently observed that outcome goals are closely associated with process goals. The process goals are considered to be the paths that lead the athletes to achieve the positive outcomes (Hatfield & Brody, n. d.). The athletes should divide the goals into such activities that can be easily achieved as short-term goals. The achievement of these goals will certainly make the training programs interesting as well as boost the confidence of the athletes by a greater extent. On the other hand, long term goals rely upon the successful achievement of short-term goals. In this regard, failure to achieve short term goals will ultimately lead towards collapse in accomplishing long-term goals (Hatfield & Brody, n. d.). Training is regarded to be important aspect for any athletes that sharpens and develops necessary qualities as well as skills in order to render outstanding performances particularly in the sports arena. Athletes become more efficient and skillful only when they are provided with quality training program. In relation to basketball training program, it has been observed that it is quite difficult for a basketball team to succeed in any competition without a strong point guard. Any basket ball teams greatly rely upon point guards for their success in the competition. Point guards often act as a catalyst between the teammates and their likely performances to attain success. The prime objective of point guard training program is to develop certain skills of the athletes like dribbling, outside shooting, conditioning, passing and faking skills for achieving highest performance during the competitions (Special Olympics Nova Scotia, 2007). The point guard also called

Ideology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Ideology - Essay Example Ideology is a collective of this ingredient. The difference between an idea and ideology is that; an does not have believers. Meanwhile Ideology has believers.   A religion begins with an idea, when that idea captures attentions, then it becomes ideology. When an ideology has believers and followers, who are willing to act upon the idea then it changes to religions. Much like political movement or changes in anthropology, it always begins with someone thought. A thought with a consideration and then it is converted into a belief.  Ã‚   In the current society the terms ‘idea’ and reasons are common in different places such as among: Friends, family, school, work places. However no one really thinks of it and how it was made or what ideas and ideology is composed of it. In countries characterized by political activities, campaigns are usually distributed and commercialized in the media, they usually use the word â€Å"We needed this change† and they tell us all about why or how the targeted populace will gain from it. These changes are believed to be beneficial towards the believers; however, the reality is that, they benefit their composers who do not mention this during campaigns and in the advertisements. Changes cannot happen without being implemented by human efforts, they must inventors, motivators, or else they can be as well considered visionary ideals. A ‘change’ is a community product the sense that it facilitates the success of the targeted group, group of people, or a nat ion. Taking example of people such as; Adolf Hitler, Kim Jong il, Mao Zedong, Alexander the Great, or Genghis Khan, they all had their own vision of what a ‘good world’ is. They had great ideas that made senses in regard to logic as well as the view-points. They rose to power and directed their efforts towards convincing people to follow their ideas to the latter. For better or worse, these people made changes, which started from their ideas.  Owing to the fact that

Family theories Essay Example for Free

Family theories Essay In this answer, I am going to discuss about the conjugal relationship in modern industrial societies. This means I will assess the claim that conjugal relationships are based on equality in modern industrial societies. I plan to structure my answer from housework and childcare, power and money management. The hours worked between husband and wife become more equal by the increased participation by women in the labour market have led to more equality in modern family life. This view is highly supported by many sociologists like Young and Willmott who suggest that the family is becoming more symmetrical and therefore, is in fact becoming more egalitarian via a ‘march of progress. ’ They suggest that the family is gradually improving in terms of equality as there has been a trend away from segregated conjugal roles and more of a shift towards joint ones. This they argue is due to major social changes in that women are more financially dependant with employment opportunities and so there is less of a need to rely on extended kin. This is further explained by Gershuny who suggests that because women have these employment opportunities, they are more likely to do less domestic work. This is shown by the item as it suggests that ‘men were making more of an effort to do housework when their wives were in full-time employment. By this change of position for women, it has meant that men are now more responsible for different household tasks therefore suggesting that equality within modern family life is evident and so this view seems correct. He emphasises the change in social values as a reason for this which is also supported by Sullivan’s study (2000) which found an increase in equal division of labour. This supports Young and Willmott’s ‘march of progress’ view that conjugal roles are becoming more symmetrical; thus suggesting that the view of equal gender roles and relationships is likely. Also, due to post-modern society, there are better living conditions compared to those during industrialisation and so this has drawn the men back into the family and thus has enabled them to help with housework and childcare as well as providing leisure time; enhancing equality in relationships. The social changes have meant that equality is becoming evident and so the statement seems highly likely. However, the functionalist view of equality in modern family life has been highly criticised particularly by feminists like Ann Oakley (1974). Oakley rejects the ‘March of progress’ view described by Young and Willmott as she suggests that this is simply exaggerated as we still live in a patriarchal society where women do most of the housework. She suggested that the methodology used by Young and Willmott was hardly convincing as their questions lacked in detail. In Oakley’s research, she found only 15% of husbands had a high participation in housework, showing how the statement is flawed as this clearly does not show evidence of equality in relationships and gender roles. Despite Gershuny suggesting that paid work entitled equality for women, Oakley suggested that this was only an extension of the housewife role. Therefore, unlike Parsons claim of a ‘natural’ role, feminists argue that this was socially constructed to enforce dependence on men which became worse with industrialisation as it forced women to stay within the home. Thus, it is clear that joint conjugal roles are not as ‘joint’ as functionalists initially suggested they were as the social changes have only exacerbated the role of women suggesting this so called equality does not exist. Besides, other feminists like Elsa Ferri and Kate Smith (1996) suggest that the changed position of women in terms of employment has only created a dual burden as they now have to undertake paid work as well as the unpaid housewife role. Ferri and Smith suggest that unlike Gershuny, increased employment has had little impact of the domestic labour as fewer than 4% of families had a father responsible for childcare. Therefore, women still remain responsible for the children as well as their employment responsibility; clearly suggesting that modern family life is not as equal as it seems. The dual burden is also supported by Dunscombe and Marsden’s theory of a triple burden in that women are expected to do the double shift of housework and paid work but also the caring of the emotional welfare of the family. This clearly disputes Gershuny’s idea that women are more equal due to employment as the triple burden means that they in fact gain more responsibilities than losing them. Next, feminists ‘point to inequalities of power and control that persist in modern family relationships’ as a key reason for inequality; again challenging the statement. Allan suggests that ideological factors limit women’s power in that they are ‘disadvantaged from the start. ’ This suggests that the family is always going to be founded on inequality; thus suggesting that the view of equality is limited. This is supported by Barrett and McIntosh who suggest that men gain far more from women’s domestic work than they give in financial support and that in turn this support often comes with ‘strings’ attached. Also, men are usually the ones who make decisions about finances despite some families being dual-earners. This is due to the fact that women are statistically still paid on average less than men; enhancing male economic power. Therefore you can question the extent of equality in modern family life. Resources are also said to be shared unequally like Kempson’s (1994) study among low-income families. This leaves women in poverty and so restricts their power in the family which creates an atmosphere of inequality in conjugal relationships. This is further explained by feminists Pahl and Vogler (1993) who focused on the effects of decision making within the family through ideas like ‘pooling’ and ‘allowance systems. They found a 31% increase in pooling where both partners have joint decision responsibility as well as a decline in allowance systems. However, it was still evident that men usually made huge financial decisions. Edgell also supports this as the levels of decision making are not equal due to the male economic power that still exists. Therefore, women have less say in the decisions and thus it is obvious that the view that gender roles and relationships are becoming more equal is incorrect as inequality in pay and decisions still exist. Similarly, this inequality of power has led to domestic violence which clearly shows how inequality is evident in that relationships are being gender dominated. Radical feminists like Millett and Firestone (1970) use domestic violence as a way to show that society is primarily founded on patriarchy and that men oppress and exploit women. They suggest that the inequality of power within the family maintains men’s power and so domestic violence is inevitable. Similarly, Dobash and Dobash suggest that marriage legitimises violence against women as it provides the male with power and the women with dependency, therefore evidently showing no signs of equality. Thus, this disputes the statement of gender roles and relationships becoming more equal with 1 in 4 women being assaulted in their lifetime according to Mirrlees-Black. Finally, childcare which is essentially about exercising responsibility for another person who is not fully responsible for herself and it entails seeing to all aspects of the child’s security and well-being, her growth and development at any and all times. Mary Boulton ( 1983 ) argues the exaggeration in the extent of men’s involvement in childcare and she denies that questions about who does what give a true picture of conjugal roles. She also claims that although men might help with particular tasks, it is their wives who retain primary responsibility for children. It is the wives who relegate non-domestic aspects of their lives to a low priority. This shows that there is still inequality in terms of childcare in conjugal relationships. In addition, Elsa Ferri and Kate Smith provide some empirical support for Boulton by conducting a study based on National Child Development Survey. The survey found it was still very rare for fathers to take primary responsibility for childcare. In both the sample of mothers and the sample of fathers it was very rare in dual-earner families, no-earner families or families where only the mother worked, for the man to be normally responsible for the children or to look after them when they were ill. In almost every category the man was the main carer in 4 percent or less of families. This is also supported by the radical feminist idea of ‘gender scripts’ in that there are expected norms in terms of gender roles and so patriarchal relationships are inevitable. Therefore, they suggest that equality without burdens will only be reached through same-sex relationships as this eliminates the ‘gender script’ idea. Thus, this enhances the inequality of the family, and suggests that the view that conjugal relationships are becoming more equal is in fact incorrect as the inevitability of patriarchal relationships means that equality cannot be established. In conclusion, I have discussed and assessed the view that conjugal relationships are based on equality in modern industrial societies by evaluating three sections which are hours worked, power and childcare. With all of the statement, I believe that conjugal relationships in modern industrial societies are not based on equality.

Psychology Essays Down Syndrome Child and AAC

Psychology Essays Down Syndrome Child and AAC Down Syndrome Child and (AAC) Augmentative or Alternative Communication System Doesthe Down syndrome child, acquiring the ability to communicate usingaugmentative or alternative communication (AAC) System, follow a similardevelopment path as that of typical language development? The Down syndrome child, bydefinition, is different from others. Therefore, more than likely he or shewill experience some level of mental retardation and physical disability.Physical disability can include health, immunity, and physical problems whichaffect the sight, the hearing and speech. This would imply that most childrenborn with Down syndrome have limited intelligence, limited physical ability,and, similar to the deaf child, because of hearing deficits, will have delaysin language development. Language development and auditory function have beenlinked in numerous studies. Where in the deaf child intellectual function isnot an issue, it should be noted that in most deaf individuals, languageimpairment continues throughout life although the ability to communicate can beaugmented through other means such as hearing aids, sign language, and thelike. Language delay would beprognosticated in intellectually and/or auditorily impaired children frombirth. In the child with Down syndrome, given the additional physical problemsincluding impaired motor skills affecting articulation, a language delay, to agreater extent, would be both implied and expected. The question as to whether,with the use of augmentative or alternative communication (AAC) the child thenfollows the path of typical language development, albeit retarded or delayed. In the paper entitled Languageand Communication Characteristics of Children with Down Syndrome, (Miller,J in Pueschel. S.m. et al., p. 224) a collaboration of views that include thedelay which involves the necessity in language for cognitive development, anddeficit which involves the additional characteristics needed for languagedevelopment, is needed. That collaboration with the inclusion of otherenvironmental factors that can affect verbal skills and language comprehension.In fact, this study places more emphasis on the environmental factors thaneither delay or enhance language development in the delayed or deficit child. Given that all factors areinterchangeable in studies, i.e. level of deficiency or delay and environmentaland social factors, it can also be surmised that a child with variations ofthese combinations, would find his/her world enhanced with the ability tocommunicate. Studies using AAC with Down syndrome children generally speakingshow better communication skills which would lead to better environmentalfactors based on at least less frustration in social situations. Foreman and Crews (1998, p. 1)define AAC as to commonly refer to mechanical and electronic systems usedwith cerebral palsy and physical disability but include sign language as usedwith the deaf. This article also refers to the language system developed byMargaret Walker Makaton. The system was developed as a support tocommunication development in adults. This method, now used in over 40countries, combines the use of signing and speaking. Also mentioned in thisarticle is the use of picture communication that requires no reading skills butrather use pictographs to convey information. Both methods have been shown to havepositive results for the child along with concerns of stigma and difficultlyfor either the child or the family to learn the AAC. While these concerns havebeen voiced, on the other hand, better communication skills have cut downsignificantly on behavioral outbursts due to the inability to communicate. The studies also indicate thatlearning basic signs for no, help and the like empower the child. Thisempowerment would imply enhanced environmental factors as a consequent tobetter social skills. But further, as Foreman and Crews study shows (1998, p.6): The ability to name objects is of greatuse to young children with a limited capacity to communicate (Grove Walker, 1990). Most of the frustration experience by young children withcommunication difficulties is limited by the ability to name a desired toy,food or activity. While this study taughtchildren naming skills through four methods fv communication, it concludes thatthe multimodal method of instruction is an effective way of encouragingchildren with Down syndrome (1998, p. 7) and signing may carry most weightamongst the various modalities. Another point to be discussedis to the question as to whether children with Down syndrome have a pattern oflanguage development that is distinct or different from the typical. Studiesconducted by Harris (1983, pp. 153ff) and Coggins (1979, pp166ff) determinedthat children approximately three years old or younger, whether normal or Downsyndrome develop approximately the same. It is with older children where normalchildren acquire more advanced language skills (Coggins, 1979). Harris studysuggested that were different language strategies were used both groups, normaland Down, progressed in age. Miller points out that apreference for gestural expression over verbal expression among children withDown syndrome by educators, parents, and speech-language pathologists (Miller,p. 6) has been noted. This makes sense, as confirmed by many researchers;intelligibility of speech is a major factor in Down syndrome. This inability toproduce intelligible speech is attributable to physical problems mentionedabove, to include the muscular structure of the jaw, and often-reported oversizedtongue. This would go along with where studies indicate the normal child andthe Down syndrome child split from each other in language development. Themuscular development coupled with normally developing cognitive skills allowthe normal child to interact and communicate by the age of 5 or 6 whereas Downsyndrome children remain unintelligible. Additional to physicaldisability is the deficit in understanding concepts and complex ideas. AsMiller points out, ideas relating to time and space, relationships, causality(Miller, p. 8) are difficult to impossible for the child with Down syndrome tounderstand. It is in this area that the factors involving the physical,cognitive and environment can be linked to where the Down syndrome childsdevelopment and language skills reach a ceiling. From research conducted, itcan be safely assumed that children with Down syndrome stop developing aroundthe age normal children are able to understand the above-mentioned ideas andconcepts. This inability, retarding cognition, will then as a consequenceretard ability to communicate at a complex level of thinking as do normallydeveloping children and adults. This would indicate that, despite the currentAAC available, at some point language development would not continue on thesame path as in the typical. An important variable however, is environment, inthe determination of just how far this child can develop. Since gesture was noted to bepreferred in this group, studies noted in the article by John Clibbens, pointsto arguments such as those of Remington and Clark (1996) that signingfacilitates interactions and thus speech development and those carried out byMiller (1992) and Launonen (1996) both of which point to advantages in signingand greater advancement in vocabulary among subjects during an importantdevelopmental period (Clibbens, p. 2). Launonens follow up study in 1998found that there was still significant difference in social and linguisticskills between the two groups. Both of these authors emphasize signing asbeneficial both in the short and long term. Interesting to point out thatstrategies used by deaf mothers were looked at for research purposes. Clibbens,Powell and Grove (1997) note that signing is preferred as it is a naturallanguage system that does not require special equipment among other reasons. One of the major argumentsagainst signing is that it does not encourage children to speak. Yet othershave noted that as the child grows (to some extent as does the normal child)that speech overtakes use of gesture to communicate. It would seem that empowermentis an important factor in all people and this would not exclude the child withDown syndrome. Empowerment implies self-esteem. This comes out of socialinteraction that has positive feedback. When a child is able to find a way tobetter communicate with his environment and have his needs met, he is morelikely to want to learn, on some level, and to do more of the same. The generalfeedback in studies reviewed show that use of AA is generally positive for allparticipants. Empowerment and self-esteem, has been shown in studires of allsorts to enhance the life generally and leads to success in relationships.Success in relationship again, has been shown in numerous studies to be as theresult of good ommunication. Communication, as proven by these studies iseffective both verbally and nonverbally as through signing with thispopulation. There have been many thingssaid about the Down syndrome child that have not been included in studies.These things could be considered beyond the typical. Down syndrome childrenhave been noted to be openly loving and naively devoted because of theirchildlike nature. More and more opportunities are opening up for these childrento include roles on television. More exposure with less stigmatism, furtherempower the Down syndrome child as well as others with physical, mental andcognitive disiabilties. Events such as the Special Olympics, develop thephysical where before these chidren were coddled and hidden. This furthers theempowerment and self-esteem of the Down syndrome individual and encourages himor her to further develop language skills. Any method that furthers thechances of a disabled child such as one with Down syndrom to benefit from inclusionin events and circles of others in society brings benefit and furtherdevelopment in all areas of growth. AAC includes a growing number of methodswhereby the ability to communicate can be enhanced. Thus, what was previouislydescribed as impossible or atypical for a child born with Down syndrome nolonger applies. In conclusion, the child whohas learned one mode or a combination of modes of augmentative or alternativecommunication (AAC) System, follow a similar development path as that oftypical language development to a point. The factors that must be considered inevaluating this question are cognitive in that the intellectual ability toconprehend complex ideas will be retarded or impaired and reach a ceiling.Compared to the norm, where, at a similar developmental point, the typicalprogresses. Further, beyond the cognitiveand intellectual factors, there are the physical factors that impedeintelligibility. This is based on physical deformity and which contribute todelays which further impede ability to communicate. This separates languageability related to muscle development and jaw structure from the typical at thephysical level. AAC techniques cannot yetbring language development to the level of the typical or the norm, yet theycan increase vocabulary, extend communication skills, beyond what is now thenorm for the Down syndrome child. This enhancement helps the child developother social skills that bring the environment closer to him or her and others, While researchers in AAC techniquesrealize the factors that inhibit or enhance their studies involve the type ofmodality or combination thereof along with social factors level of deficiency,and the environmental factors that contribute greatly to the better functioningof children with Down syndrome. Because the stigma of retardation anddisability has lessened over the years, more opportunities are available toenhance learning and social skills. Sports events such as the above-mentionedSpecial Olympics allow a Down syndrome child to experience physical strengthand the sense of competition which build on self-esteem and emotional balance.More and more acceptance of such children has come about in the communityleading to support groups, respite, and more understanding of what is availableand what works. The capacity and capability ofthese children, studies and personal experience show, has been underrated. Acouple of generations ago, these children were not expected to survivechildhood. While they have shown mental deficiencies, their emotional abilitiesto give and receive are not deficient by the reports of many. More and more,these children are participating in regular schools, grow up to do work thathas meaning to them and are able to maintain independent living skills. Manyare developing talents such as singing, acting, music which also can beconsidered skill enhancing providing further means of communication andlanguage development. The answer is to the question:Does the Down Syndrome child, acquiring the ability to communicate usingaugmentative or alternative communication (AAC) System, follow a similardevelopment path as that of typical language development, is yes and no. Nobecause the child born with Down syndrome will develop at all levels atypicallyand this would include language development. However, as stated below: Providing the best strategies for communication for a child with anintellectual disability is an enormously complex task. Augmentative proceduresare not the complete solution to the communication problems of these children.However, by a slow process of trial and assessment of these procedures, smallgains can be achieved in the eventual construction of a system that allowschildren to communicate more effectively. The practical benefits of theseprocedures for children with Down syndrome (and all children with intellectualdisabilities) are of great importance to the improvement of their lifeopportunities. (Foreman, p. 8) Improvement of live andopportunity has been the result of, at least in part, augmentative procedures. References Coggins. T. E. (1979). Relational meaning encoded in thetwo-word utterances of stage 1 Downs syndrome children. Journal of Speechand Hearing Research, 22, 166-178. Clibbens, J. (2001). Signing and lexical development inchildren with Down syndrome. Down Syndrome Research and Practice 7(3),101-105. Clibbens, J. Powell, G.G. Grove, N. (1997). Manualsigning and AAC Issues for research and practice. Communication Matters,11 (2), 17-18. Foreman, P., Crews, G. (1998). Using augmentativecommunication with infants and young children with Down syndrome. Down SyndromeResearch and Practice Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 16-25. NSW, Australia, University ofNewcastle. Harris, J. (1983). What does mean length of utterance mean?Evidence from a comparative study of normal and Downs syndrome Children. BritishJournal of Disorders of communication, 18, 153-169. Launonen, K. (1996). Enhancing communication skills ofchildren with Down syndrome: Early use of manual signs. In S. von Tetzchner M. H. Jensen (Eds.), Augmentative and Alternative Communication:European Perspectives. London: Wherr. Launonen, K. (1998). Early manual sign intervention:Eight-year follow up of children with Down syndrome. In Proceedings of theISAAC 98 Conference. Dublin ISAAC/Ashfield Publications. Miller, J.F. (1992). Development of speech and language inchildren with Down syndrome. In I.T. Lott E.E. McCoy (Eds.) DownSyndrome: Advances in medical care. Chichester: Wiley. Pueschel, Siegfried M., Tingey, Carol, Rynders, J. E.,Crocker, A. C. Crutcher, D. M. (Eds.) (1987). New perspectives on Downsyndrome. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co. ISBN 0933716699Congresses Chapter 9, 233-62.

The Character of Sir Gawain in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Da :: Sir Gawain Green Knight Essays

The Character of Sir Gawain in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnell In the Authorain legend, Sir Gawain has great nobility, honesty, loyalty and chivalry. Sir Gawain is the nephew of King Arthur and a member of the king's elite Round Table. In the texts of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and "The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnell," Gawain is portrayed as a hero who exemplifies the characteristics of an honorable knight. He is viewed by many in King Arthur's court as a noble man who is loyal to the king, and who will sacrifice his own life to protect his lord. Sir Gawain represents an ideal knight of the fourteenth century. Sir Gawain's inner values and character are tested to the fullest and are clearly defined in the text of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The unknown author describes Gawain and the other knights as "Many good knights" (Norton 159), and he is referred to as one of the "most noble knights" (Norton 159) in King Arthur's land. This claim by the author is solidified by a challenge presented by the evil Green Knight, who enters the court of King Arthur and asks him to partake in a Christmas game. Sir Gawain, after hearing this challenge, asks the king if he may take his place. This represents that Gawain is very loyal to his king. Sir Gawain is also an honest knight in the text because in a year's time he ventures out in search of the Green Knight to endure a blow with the ax as the rules of the game were stated. He very easily could have not have carried out his end of the bargain by not traveling to the Green Chapel to meet the evil being, but Gawain is an honest knight who is true to h is word. Another trait of Gawain that is tested in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is his loyalty. While in search of the Green Chapel where he must face the Green Knight, Sir Gawain is tested by the lady of the castle he is lodging at. The lady tries to seduce Gawain, but he does not fall into her trap by sleeping with her. Instead, Sir Gawain remains loyal to the lord of the castle whom he has promised to be honest with, and the lady describes him as the "noblest knight alive.

Sichuan, China: An Earthquake that Brought Together Local, National, an

The Sichuan province in mainland china has had a long history of seismic activity. On May 12th, 2008 the village of Wenchuan County located in Sichuan province was struck by an 8.0 magnitude earthquake. According to the State Council Information Office, the causalities from this disaster were approximately 70,000, with approximately 10,000 confirmed to have been school children, whose deaths resulted from 7,000 collapsed classrooms and 18,000 more individuals, were reported missing (Teets, 330). The earthquake which struck Wenchuan County resulted in bringing together relief efforts from local, national, and international communities. A few examples are: Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Volunteer crews, Military efforts, Sichuan airlines, Red-Cross and many donations from international communities. These relief efforts, a result of strong government communication also, led to strengthening the devastated village and the nation of China. The involvement in recovery effor ts strengthens civil society’s individual capacity through mass networks of volunteers and donors, learning new skills in project management, and demonstrating to the government potentially positive roles the community can do. Relief efforts by groups help to build trust and connect potential volunteers and donors on behalf of foreign governing institutions. This essay aims to discuss these efforts in greater detail and provide numerous examples of successful recovery projects in Sichuan province. The earthquake which devastated Wenchuan County was a result of stress built up between the colliding Indian plate and Eurasian plate tectonics. This disaster left more than 4.8 million residents homeless in this village, ironically the 2008 Beijing Summ... ...struction efforts: the emergence of civil society in China?." The China Quarterly 198 (2009): 330-347. Vià ±a, Andrà ©s, et al. "Effects Of Natural Disasters On Conservation Policies: The Case Of The 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake, China." AMBIO - A Journal Of The Human Environment 40.3 (2011): 274-284. Academic Search Complete. Web. 31 Mar. 2014. Ying, Liang, and Wang Xiukun. "Developing A New Perspective To Study The Health Of Survivors Of Sichuan Earthquakes In China: A Study On The Effect Of Post-Earthquake Rescue Policies On Survivors' Health-Related Quality Of Life." Health Research Policy & Systems 11.1 (2013): 1-21. Academic Search Complete. Web. 31 Mar. 2014 Zhang, Xia, et al. "The NHV rehabilitation services program improves long-term physical functioning in survivors of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake: a longitudinal quasi experiment." PloS one 8.1 (2013): e53995.

When Filing for Bankruptcy in Canada :: essays research papers

This received a 27/28 in my OAC law class so, have a blast..... WHEN FILING FOR BANKRUPTCY IN CANADA The law sometimes seems to pervade all aspects of our lives and an involvement with bankruptcy and insolvency law has proved to be almost unavoidable for business people in Canada during the 1990's. In simplest term, corporate and individual bankruptcy law provides a set of rules to prevent chaos among the creditors of an insolvent corporation or individual. The legislation is a complex in part because those creditors fall into so many categories-secured creditors, unsecured creditors, government creditors, and so on-each with its own special rights and interests in the bankruptcy process. Canada's federal bankruptcy statute, the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, also deals with corporate receivership. A receivership is not the same as a bankruptcy. By the same token, a receiver is not the same as a trustee in a bankruptcy. However, the two systems have a lot in common and a receivership of an individual or a corporation usually occurs at the same time as a bankruptcy. Corporations that have become insolvent can try to avoid bankruptcy and receivership by reorganizing their finances. The Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act deals with reorganizations and another federal statute, the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act, may offer relief to some corporations. Some of Canada's biggest news stories of the past few years have concerned the attempts of major Canadian companies such as Olympia & York, Algoma Steel, Grafton Fraser, Woodwards, Westar Mining, and Birks, to complete reorganizations. But the most well known companies were both Air Canada and Canadian Airlines. Air Canada, Canadian Airlines, and United Airlines are all commercial passenger air carriers. Beyond that, they have only a few similarities. All are old commercial carriers that were facing bankruptcy together until the Canadian Postal Service approved air travel for Canadian Mail in 1925. There, they reached a point of divergence that continues today. AIR CANADA Time Magazine's November 17, 1958 cover sported a diagonal banner across one corner reading "Jets Across Canada." (Goutierez, 1997). At the time of the article's publication, "Air Canada had earned a reputation as an industry leader, and this, coupled with the high-profile leadership of 'Mr. C.R.,' made Air Canada's imminent transcontinental jet service the catalyst for an exciting new era. Time wrote that although Pan Am had already flown jets across the Atlantic, C.R. Smith and Air Canada would usher in the 'Jet Age' for most Canadians with the introduction of

Children With Sickle Cell Disease Health And Social Care Essay

Transcranial Doppler scanning ( TCD ) is a critical technique which can place kids with reaping hook cell disease at high hazard for shot ( Deane et al. , 2007 ) .This non-invasive imagination technique uses an ultrasound investigation, that produces high frequence sound waves to mensurate intellectual blood flow. In this survey, cubic decimeter will be looking at the undermentioned everyday hematologic and biochemical research lab trials, hemoglobin, reticulocytes, white count, lactate dehydrogenase, aspartate aminotransferase and creatinine in 250 reaping hook cell disease ( SCD ) affected kids with in the age group of 3-16years who attend the Brent Sickle and Thalassaemia Clinic at Central Middlesex Hospital in May 2010 to May 2011. My purpose is to utilize the above listed research lab trials to place all kids who are at hazard of enduring from the complications of SCD like vaso-occlusive hurting crisis, acute chest syndrome, infections, stroke to multi organ failure. TCD is perf ormed one time a twelvemonth at one-year reappraisal assignments on all kids with reaping hook cell disease to find if they are at hazard of developing any SCD complications. During this survey any kid identified to hold unnatural hematologic and biochemical research lab trials listed supra will hold a TCD regardless of whenever it was done. If the TCD identifies that any kid with those unnatural hematologic and biochemical parametric quantities is at a high hazard of developing complications of SCD particularly stroke, so the current National Health Service ( NHS ) intervention program for kids with SCD must be changed to supply an even more robust intervention plan.The significance of this survey hence is to better hereafter pattern and attention for kids with SCD. This will intend that any SCD affected kid with those unnatural hematologic and biochemical parametric quantities will be referred for TCD regardless of whether they have had their annual scan in a pursuit to better the ir wellness and wellness attention direction. Prevention is better than remedy.2. IntroductionHemoglobinopathies are a broad group of diseases impacting the production and or the maps of hemoglobin. ( Kirkham F.J, 2007 ) . They are one of the most common familial upsets worldwide and can be really terrible, if non fatal. They are classed into two groups: Haemoglobin discrepancies which arise from an change in the hematohiston concatenation, for illustration, Sickle hemoglobin ( Hb S ) Thalassaemias which arise from reduced production of the normal hematohiston concatenation. ( Kirkham F.J, 2007 ) SCD is one of the most common familial upsets impacting the hemoglobin molecule of ruddy blood cells ( Kirkham F.J, 2007 ) . SCD is an autosomal recessionary disease, intending a individual needs two faulty cistrons to hold the disease ( Kirkham F.J, 2007 ) . There are several reaping hooks cell diseases: homozygous reaping hook cell anemia or disease ( HbSS ) and heterozygote conditions including Hb SC and Hb S? thalassemia ( Kirkham F.J, 2007 ) . HbSS is responsible for the most terrible complications seen in reaping hook cell disease ( Kirkham F.J, 2007 ) . The prevalence of SCD is highest among people of African, Afro-Caribbean, Arab and Mediterranean lineage ( Kirkham F.J, 2007 ) It is widespread in the United States, impacting over 70,000 Afro- Americans and impacting about 12,500 people in the UK ( Howard et Al ; Kirkham et al. , 2007 ) . Sickle cell is progressively going common in the UK as a effect of migration ( Howard et al.,2007 ) . The life anticipation in SCD is between 42 and 53 old ages for work forces and 48 and 58 old ages for adult females. This low life anticipation is likely to increase as the wellness service have put in topographic point national showing programmes, instruction for parents and wellness professionals and better directions attention. Complications SCD is a multi-organ upset with a assortment of complications. The most common complications include, vaso-occlusive hurting crisis, acute chest syndrome, infections, shot, priapism, leg ulcers, cholecystitis, acute splenic or hepatic segregation to multi organ failure. ( Gladwin et al, 2008 ) . Vaso-occlusine hurting crises is due to sickle cells blockading vass in the microcirculation taking to ischemic harm in the castanetss, the lung, the kidneys and in the tegument ( leg ulcers ) , ( Gladwin et al, 2008 ) . Stroke is an of import complication as it is a major cause of mortality and morbidity in SCD kids. ( NHS Standard and Guidance, March 2009 ) . It has been reported as a taking cause of decease in both kids and grownups. Infarctive shot is seen chiefly in kids whereas hemorrhagic shot is normally seen in the 20-29 age groups, ( Ohene-frempong et Al, 1998 ) . The grounds for this age division are non good understood. ( Kirkham F.J, 2007 ) . By the age of 10, about 6 % of SCD kids are affected by ischemic shot ( .Kirkham F.J, 2007 ) . It is caused by the progressive narrowing of the center, distal and anterior carotid arterias providing blood to the encephalon consequences in shot ( Deane et al, 2007 ) . However, grounds for this progressive narrowing are yet to be established ( Deane et al, 2007 ) , but recent surveies suggest an association between high degrees of plasma free hemoglobin ( PTH ) from hemolysis, quickly devouring azotic oxide ( NO ) , which may ensue in events suppressing blood flow. ( Nelson et al, 2006 ) . Even though it is a really serious complication in SCD kids, it can be preventable. ( Quinn et al 2004 ) , if these kids are identified. Transcranial Doppler scanning ( TCD ) has been shown to place patients at high hazard of shot ( Deane et al, 2007 ) . TCD is an ultrasound that measures blood flow speed in the intracerebral vass. ( Bulas et al, 2000 ) . It is non invasive, reasonably expensive and a painless process that is good tolerated in kids. ( Bulas et al, 2000 ) . This high hazard of shot brought approximately by The Stroke Prevention Trial in Sickle Cell Anaemia ( STOP ) survey. This survey was perfomed by a group of scientist in 1996. It showed that high blood speeds as measured by TCD in the in-between intellectual arteria ( MCA ) , the distal internal arteria ( dICA ) and the bifurcation were associated with an increased hazard of shot. . ( Bulas et al, 2000 ) . These kids with high blood flow speeds were so on a regular basis transfused to cut down the hazard of shot [ new ref Adams RJ. , 1998 ] . The STOP survey has has proven important consequences on TCD as an valuable wellness technique in forestalling shot hazard in kids. ( Adams RJ. , 1998 ) given Furthermore, an experimental survey by Fullerton et Al, 2004 on SCD kids in California showed that there was a diminution in shot after the debut of TCD with contraceptive transfusion preventative steps were taken. . ( Rees et al, 2008 ) . Many surveies have shown the benefits of mensurating high blood speeds on TCD and subsequent transfusion to cut down hemoglobin S can cut down the hazard of shot. ( ) . Based on these surveies, National counsel from the NHS Sickle and Thalassaemia testing programmes recommended the usage of TCD scans all over the state. The guidelines proposed that by 2010, 99 % of reaping hook cell Centres in England should offer one-year TCD scans to kids with SCD from age 2 to 16 old ages. The scan consequences are classed into classs depending on the clip averaged maximum average speed ( TAMMV ) of the in-between intellectual arteria or the intracranial internal carotid arterias or the bifurcation of the two arterias, ( Standard and Guidance, March 2008 ) . TAMMV values & A ; lt ; 170 cm/s are normal, 170-199cm/s are conditional and & A ; gt ; 200cm/s are important forecasters of shot. ( Standard and Guidance, March 2008 ) . However, studies in the UK have shown that many kids do non hold entree to TCD scans ( Rees et al 2008 ) . Therefore it is imperative to place kids at high hazard for shot so that effectual preventative steps are taken. In this survey, based on cardinal hematologic and biochemical modus operandi trials we aim to happen research lab parametric quantities which can be used as showing tools for shot and be used in placing those kids most likely to hold an unnatural TCD scan. If these labaoratory paramaters can place SCD kids at increased hazard for shot it may take to recommendations for future pattern to include precedence for TCD scans to be given to these kids.TreatmentIn the UK, the National Health Service ( NHS ) has developed local guidelines for the intervention and direction of SCD, including: a combination of antibiotics, hurting slayers, fluids and ruddy cell transfusion when required. ( Kirkham F.J, 2007 ) . Hydroxyurea, an unwritten anticancer drug is besides used in some SC D patients to forestall painful crises ( Frenette et al, 2007 ) . Hydroxyurea works by increasing fetal hemoglobin F ( Hb F ) degrees which prevents the polymerization of the deoxygenated HbS in ruddy cells, therefore diminishing the frequence of painful crises ( Hoffbrand et al, 2001 ) . Reports from Howard et al 2007 and Frenate et Al 2007 besides explain that Hydroxyurea improves ruddy cell hydration, diminishing the adhesion of reaping hook cells to the endothelium and act as a azotic oxide giver, doing this drug rather good to utilize. A multi-centre survey of hydroyurea ( MSH ) in 299 grownups with SCD showed important benefits of utilizing this drug as patients had less one-year painful crises ( Charache et al.,1995 ) . A follow-up survey nine old ages on showed that these patients had a better quality of life ( Steinberg et al. , 2003 ) . Despite its clinical benefits, many patients are disbelieving about it being a chemotherapeutic drug and are hence disquieted about the lo ng term side effects ( Frennete et al. , 2007 ) . Bone marrow organ transplant can bring around SCD. About 175 HLA matched sibling grafts have been reported with greater than 80 % disease free patients holding a quality life ( Howard et al. , 2007 ) , nevertheless, troubles lie in happening a blood-donor lucifer and there is a hazard of decease associated with this procedure due to high doses of chemotherapy and radiation ( Frenette et al, 2007 ) . A possible remedy for SCD is cistron therapy, where infixing a normal cistron will convey about production a normal hemoglobin or shift of the faulty cistron. This is presently being investigated in research surveies as there are frights over the safety of genomic interpolation ( Sadelain et al, 2006 ) . Present surveies have shown that prenatal and neonatal showing for hemoglobinopathies in England has led to early sensing of affected kids, therefore, cut downing the post-natal and childhood morbidity and mortality ( Old J M 2007 ) .3. HistoryHaemoglobin ( Hb ) is an Fe incorporating protein, which carries O from the lungs to the organic structure ‘s cells and tissues ( Hoffbrand et al, 2001 ) . After 3-6months of age Hb A is the dominant hemoglobin, with little measures of hemoglobins F and A2 ( Hofbrand et el, 2001 ) . Normal hemoglobins in grownup human blood are as follows: HbA: ?2 I?2 ( 96-98 % ) HbF: ?2?2 ( 0.5-0.8 % ) Hb A2: ?2?2 ( 1.5-3.2 % ) Sickle cell disease is caused by a permutation at place 6 of a individual amino acid in the DNA sequence of the ? hematohiston concatenation ( fig. 1 ) . The minor alteration of glutamic acid for valine, as illustrated in figure 1, consequences in an altered hemoglobin discrepancy known as the Sickle Hb ( Hb S ) ( Hoffbrand et al, 2001 ) , which reduces the endurance of ruddy cells and causes irreversible sickling of ruddy cells at low O conditions ( Hoffbrand et al, 2001 ) . Consequently SCD patients endure a assortment of symptoms runing from anemia, terrible bone hurting ( referred to as sickle crisis ) , stroke, acute thorax hurting, to multi organ harm ( Gladwin et al, 2008 ) .Amino acidproglugluNormal ?- concatenationBase composing CCT Joke Joke Base composing CCT GTG JokeSickle concatenationprovalgluFig 1. Showing a individual base alteration in the he DNA sequence, where A ( A ) is replaced by T ( T ) . This permutation consequences in an amino acid alteration from glutamic acid to valine in the 6th place. ( Adapted from Hoffbrand et Al, 2001 ) . Normal ruddy blood cells are flexible and round in form. Their flexibleness and form allows them to go freely through little blood vass, known as capillaries ( Hoffbrand et al, 2001 ) . ) . Hb S is indissoluble when exposed to low O environments and may organize polymers which may change the ruddy cell membrane from a biconcave form to a sickle form. In oxygenated environments, sickled molded cells can alter back to the biconcave form ; nevertheless frequent form alterations may do lasting harm doing some cells to stay sickled. ( Hoffbrand et al, 2001 ) . Furthermore, these sickled cells circulate at a slower rate compared to normal ruddy cells and tend to go stuck, therefore barricading vass in the microcirculation and doing infarcts of assorted variety meats ( Hoffbrand et al, 2001 ) .DiscussionSurveies in the last two decennaries were more focused on direction of the return of cerebrovascular diseases ( CVA ) . Recently the focal point is now on forestalling the happening of a fir st CVA ( Ohene-frempong et Al, 1998 ) . Hemolytic anemia is associated to many complications of SCD ( Lezcano et al, 2006 ) . Assorted surveies have linked low Hb, and hemolytic markers such as Retics, LDH, AST and creatinine to cerebrovascicar diseases such as shot. ( Kato et al, 2007 ) . Incidence of ischemic shot is higher in SCD kids impacting about 6 % by the age of 10years ( Howard et al, 2007, Deane et Al, 2008 ) . It is associated with an occlusive vasculopathy impacting the distal, proximal and anterior arterias ( Bulas et al, 2000 ) . The narrowing of these vass may develop over months to old ages before symptoms of a Stroke may happen ( Adams et al. , 1997 ; Bulas et Al, 2000 ) . Designation of hazard factors for shot is of import because it offers the possibilities of forestalling it. Clinical surveies have identified some research lab trials as hazard factors for shot. ( Kirkham et al, 2007 ) , but none has strong anticipation when compared to TCD ( Ohene-frempong et Al, 1998 ) . Surveies by Adams et al 1998 and Lezacano et Al 2006 have shown that the disposal of regular blood transfusion therapy in kids with unnatural TCD measurings reduces both plasma hemoglobin and serum LDH degrees. LDH has long been associated as a marker of intravascular hemolysis by Neely et Al, 1969. Surveies by Ballas et Al, 1991 and Kato et Al, 2006 found serum LDH the dominant biomarker in intravascular hemolysis and besides strong correlativities of LDH with hemolytic markers such as hemoglobin, retics and AST in grownups with SCD. A recent survey by O'driscoll and co-workers done at King ‘s College Hospital in London in 2007 reported that high serum LDH in kids with SCD correlatives to abnormal TCD measurings. This determination suggests that LDH can be a important biomarker or a hazard factor for shot in kids with SCD. They besides reported important correlativities between LDH, Hb, Retics and AST. Furthermore, Rees et Al in 2008 found important correlativities between unnatural TCD consequences and Hb, Retics, AST and age. These happening were used to develop an index which can be used to place kids with SCD probably to hold unnatural TCD values. The survey by O'driscoll and co-workers is the first survey which demonstrates that a high serum LDH degree in SCD kids has strong correlativities with unnatural TCD measurings. Therefore in this survey we aim to utilize LDH as one of the research lab parametric quantities and farther validate the survey at Kings in the patient population at CMH. Extra showing factors for shot are hence needed. With this attack in head, Hb F, Hb S and WBC will besides be analysed in this survey. The importance of WBC arise from observations that high leucocytes is associated to terrible complications of SCD and from findings by Platt et al.,1994 that leucocytosis is a hazard factor in clinically open shot and in acute thorax syndrome ( Ohene-frempong et Al, 1998 ; Mark et al. , 2008 ) . High WBC is reported to correlate significantly with shot ( Frenette et al, 2007 ) , therefore a good parametric quantity to mensurate in this survey. Hb F is said to cut down the hemolysis, thereby cut downing the hazard of shot in kids ( Kato et al, 2007 ) . The genotypes, HBSS and HBSC kids will be assessed to see which group is more at hazard for shot. The current theories of complications of SCD particularly with respects to cerebrovascular disease are largely focussed on hemolysis and the bioavailability of NO. ( Kato et al, 2007 ) . Chronic hemolysis leads to the release of plasma Hb which sucks up NO. NO is a vasodilative, hence less NO in the microcirculation upsets the balance between vasoconstriction and vasodilation which consequence in endothelial disfunction ( Kato et al, 2007 ) . More surveies in understanding hemolysis and the function played by NO will assist in understanding SCD complications and cut down its badness in the hereafter. ( Kato et al. , 2007 ) . Several surveies has suggested that, there is a nexus between shot and hemolysis and that shot is associated with low hemoglobin and compensatory reticulocytes. ( Kato et al.,2007 ) . With that attack, we aim to mensurate the undermentioned research lab parametric quantities: Hb, Retic, AST, Creatinine and LDH and correlate them to abnormal TCD measurings.Future PROSPECTSRecommendations for future pattern to include precedence for TCD scan given to kids who have been identified with these research lab parametric quantities so that primary stroke can be avoided and preventative steps such as, transfusion or exchange transfusion is given. This will so better their attention.

Operational Difference †Major company stake is owned by franchises Essay

As I went through the historical span of Burger King History, the franchises of Burger King played a major part in expansion of the parent company from the early 1960’s till date. The relation of franchises and management has always been influential and significant in success and failures of Burger King History. Primarily, the company operated with major investment from franchises and minimal from the company, so the decisions and relationship with franchises was crucial. Flame broiler a unique device that improved with decades in Burger King history The company was set-up on the basis of the oven called ‘Insta-broiler’ for cooking burgers. The purpose had been inspired from McDonald’s speedy service. It was further mechanised into a gas grill without changing patties and self functional by means of a conveyor belt. Further, the device was also customised and technologically advanced to produce Chicken sandwich, Chicken Whopper, Veggie burger, etc. Drive –thru service The company though was working hard on franchises and unique device to meet operational needs; it was mainly oriented to meet demand of production at ‘Drive-thru’ restaurants. This was because the company had major part of its sales revenue i.e. 70 % from ‘Drive-thru’ operations. Later this competence was adapted by McDonald and other competitors as well. However the effectiveness and efficiency of Burger King’s ‘Drive-thru’ was easily highlighted. Competitive methods of Burger King The purpose of its competitive strategy is to build a sustainable competitive advantage over the organization’s rivals. It defines the fundamental decisions that guide the organization’s marketing, financial management and operating strategies. As there were many significant changes in the history of Burger King, eventually there were different competitive methods used in different span in history. Some of the significant competitive methods are listed as follows: 1} Initial decade in Burger king’s history, ‘Insta-broiler’ a device competitive in making burgers and technological advancements in the same gave it a competitive advantage. 2} High amount of franchises worldwide executed major ownership stake and customised operations in the outlets. This was tightened and a new company structure was formed, followed by a new competitive aptitude. [Year 1963 -1967] 3} Push sale approach led increase in competitive breakfast market and thus improve in position in market. Burger King moved to second position in US fast food market after McDonald. [Year 1982-1985] 4} Launched a Burger King Kids Club program that help the company to increase sales and successful entry into a new market segment. [Year 1990-1995] 5} Introduction of a TURNAROUND PLAN named ‘Go Forward Plan’, which was significant to attain objectives like increasing profit, create a customer image, teamwork, etc.[Year 2000]. One more advantage Burger King introduced was ‘Revamped Chicken Whopper’, helpful to compete with other competitors. Burger King < McDonald’s (BK is simply not as big as McD) Some of the basic company facts and objectives of both the companies, help us understand how Burger King is not as big as McDonald’s in global terms. Facts Burger King McDonald Founder 1941 by Richard and Maurice McDonald 1953 by Keith J.Cramer Present chain 12,150 outlets in 50 states and US territories and 74 countries More than 31,000 outlets in 119 countries Revenue $2.5 Billion Number of employees 360,000 employees 1,500,000 employees (1.5 million) Customers 11.8 million customers daily worldwide 58 million customers across the globe Products offered Flame-broiled burgers including the Whopper, Burger King also offers chicken sandwiches, fish sandwiches, French fries, onion rings, salads, chicken fries and Croissanwiches for breakfast. McDonald’s predominantly sells hamburgers, various types of chicken sandwiches and products, French fries, soft drinks, breakfast items, and desserts. In most markets, McDonald’s offers salads and vegetarian items, wraps Calorie content A Burger King Double Whopper has around 920 calories A McDonalds Big Mac consists of 540 calories Objectives Burger King McDonalds Market share 21.9 % in US fast food industry 44% in US fast food industry Value for money More bigger product for reasonable price Product size is smaller with inexpensive price Franchising More than 90 % of the outlets are franchised A little less than 30 % Suppliers The suppliers vary with various franchise in different locations worldwide. McDonald chooses best suppliers and type and quality of meat varies with country culture. Advertising The BK adverts were quite confusing and sending wrong messages in potential market which affected cultural values and also brand image at times. McDonalds often had appropriate ways of advertising and were supportive to increase sales and popularity of the brand. Issues relating to Burger King The case study is very critical in understanding the issues related with Burger King’s history. Some of the prominent issues from past to present can be listed as follows: Franchise management – The company found it difficult to manage more than 90% franchise in the business of Burger King products and services. Crucial reason was also the percentage of stake ownership , which was initially 38% and was improved to 42% by Donald Smith, former McDonald executive. Changes in leadership – The history of Burger King marked approximately 20 changes in management. The changes in short term span affected oragnisation focus over goals and objectives, affected brand image adversely and lacked consistency in operation. Unhealthy food – The Company came prominently in highlight during the era from 2003 as potential customers had responded to be health conscious. The period marked spread of mad-cow disease and obesity levels among children was a rising concern. Market recession – The US economy faced economic recession from 2006 and needs brand to take effective measures to sustain and avoid losing loyal customers to competitors. Recommendations for future development in UK The Burger King opened its first branch/outlet in UK in 1977 on Coventry Street in London. Since then till date Burger King has 654 restaurants in UK ( out of which 73 are owned) whereas it has 139 ‘drive-through’ restaurants. Considering the present fast food environment in UK, following recommendations come in lime-light: HEALTHY FOOD – Burger King UK has currently many problems within the environment in company and surrounding, however one of the prime concern is healthy food. The company needs to produce fast food with less saturated fats and salt content. The problem of obesity in UK is high as well and addressing to this concern is the need of demand to survive over the competitors. PRIME LOCATIONS and EVENTS – Burger King needs to increase its influence and market share in UK, by serving at prime hot spots as well as at travel destinations. The presence of Burger King on high streets and at various national rail stations and airport is reasonable, however it needs to be accessible at hot tourist spots and business oriented commercial areas. SPEED – Burger King needs to increase its speed of delivering products and services to customers, as it has been competing with McDonalds over more than 50 years and still lacks speed during peak periods. Speed in operations helps to generate revenue in coping zone. Schools of strategy – Burger King’s evolution (analyse critically) Strategy formation is judgmental designing, intuitive visioning, and emergent learning; it is about transformation as well as perpetuation; it has to include analyzing before and programming after as well as negotiating during †¦Ã¢â‚¬  – Henry Mintzberg However there is a difference in perspective leading to strategy arguments. Mintzberg identified this and tried to debate and answer different perspectives through his 10 Schools of Strategy/Thinking. The burger King History prominently highlights two of them, explained as follows: 1] The Power School – Strategy Systems as Processes of Negotiation According to the power school, strategy systems are described to be mainly shaped by power and politics, whether as a process inside the enterprise itself or as the behaviour of the enterprise as a whole within its external environment. Strategies that may result from such processes tend to be emergent in nature, and take the forms of positions and actions more than perspectives. On the one hand parts of the power school (‘micro power’) see strategy making as the interplay, through persuasion, bargaining, and sometimes through direct confrontation, among narrow scope interests and shifting coalitions, with none dominant for any significant period. On the  other hand other parts of power school (‘macro power’) see the enterprise as promoting its own welfare by controlling or cooperating with other enterprise (such as Franchises), through the use of strategic manipulation as well as collective strategies in various kinds of networks and alliances. EXAMPLE – Burger King at different period in history, tried to take control over franchises by executing greater control over their operations and direct confrontation with various industry giants/ suppliers. These various processes implemented to achieve power through strategy highlights ‘THE POWER SCHOOL’. 2] The Configuration School – Strategy Systems as Process of Transformation The school follows a formation approach wherein the organisation is transforming into one type of decision making structure into another. The school interrupts the period of stability by some process of transformation. It has configuration of strategy formation from other nine schools which are – Design school – Strategy formation as an architecture process Planning school – Strategy formation as a formal process Positioning school – Strategy formation as an analytical process Entrepreneurial school – Strategy formation as a visionary process Cognitive school – Strategy formation as a mental process Learning (or Emergent) school – Strategy formation as an emergent process Power school – Strategy formation as a process of negotiation Cultural school – Strategy formation as a collective process Environmental school – Strategy formation as a reactive process The school recognises a appropriate combination of any one or more of them taking into context a particular type. EXAMPLE – Burger King history marks use of Positioning school in year 1980 -1983 to create a brand image and achieve second position in US fast food market. 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Dare to Dream Essay

Batangas is a first class province of the Philippines located on the southwestern part of Luzon in the CALABARZON region. Its capital is Batangas City and it is bordered by the provinces of Cavite and Laguna to the north and Quezon to the east. Across the Verde Island Passages to the south is the island of Mindoro and to the west lies the South China Sea. Poetically, Batangas is often referred to by its ancient name Kumintang. Batangas is one of the most popular tourist destinations near Metro Manila. The province has many beaches and is famous for excellent diving spots including Anilao in Mabini, Sombrero Island in Tingloy, Ligpo Island in Bauan, these areas more popularly known as Anilao. Matabungkay in Lian, Punta Fuego in Nasugbu, Calatagan and Laiya in San Juan. Batangas is also where Taal Volcano, one of the Decade Volcanoes is located. It is also where the Taal Heritage town lies, a small picturesque town that has ancestral houses and structures dating back to the 19th century. The first recorded name of the Province was Kumintang, after the Datu who inherited the dominion from Datu Balensusa. Its centre, the present day Balayan, was the most progressive town of the Province and the traditional centre of governance. Later, as the eruption of the Taal Volcano destroyed a significant portion of the town, the provincial centre was transferred to Taal, which was then called Bonbon and the name of the province was changed after that of the town. The term batangan means a raft, the people used so that they could fish in the nearby Taal Lake. It also meant the numerous logs found in the Calumpang River, the body of water that runs through the northeastern portion of the town and assumes the shape of a tuning fork. Batangas is a combination of plains and mountains, including the world’s smallest volcano, Mt. Taal, with an elevation of 600 meters, located in the middle of the Taal Lake. Batangas also has many islands, including Tingloy, Verde Island(Isla Verde), Fortune Island of Nasugbu.Although attached to the big Island of Luzon, Batangas boasts of flora and fauna that is distinctively theirs. The local tree malabayabas is endemic to the province alone while the endangered flying fox thrives there without fear. Batangas is also home to the kabag, one of the world’s smallest fruit bat. In the Municipality of Nasugbu, wild deers are still inhabiting the remote areas of Baranggay Looc. But although Batangas has these land flying mammals, marine wildlife remains to be the province’s crowning glory. In fact, in the second half of 2006, scientists from the United States discovered that the Sulu-Sulawesi Triangle has its centre at the Isla Verde Passage, a part of the province. According to this study, made by the American Marine Biologist Dr. Kent Carpentier, Batangas Seas host more than half of the world’s species of coral reefs. It is also home to dolphins and once in a while, a passage of the world’s biggest fish the whale shark or the butanding, as the locals call it. Batangas also has other industries that makes it famous not only in the country but also in the world. More than anything else, Batangas is known for its fan knife, called balisong by the natives. This industry has become so famous that an urban legend exists about every Batangueà ±o carrying a balisong everywhere they go. This is also the reason why most Filipinos would warn never to mess with a Batangueà ±o. Pineapples are also common in the province. Aside from the fruit, the leaves are also useful that it becomes an industry of its own. In the Municipality of Taal, pineapple leaves are being processed to be a kind of cloth known as the gusi. This is further processed to become the Barong Tagalog, the National Costume of the Philippines. In fact, the Barong Tagalog that was used by the heads of states in the last Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation in 1995 was from Batangas. Princess Diana Spencer was also known to possess a scarf made of gusi. Batangas is also known for its livestock industry. Cattle from Batangas is widely sought throughout the country. In fact, the term Bakang Batangas (Batangas Cow) is actually synonymous to the country’s best species of cattle. Indeed, the cattle industry in Batangas is so famous, that every Saturday is an auction day in the Municipalities of San Juan, Bauan and widely-known and famous Padre Garcia every Thursday and Friday. Being near the sea, it is only expected that fishing plays a very important part of the Batangan Economy. Although the tuna industry in the country is mainly centered in General Santos, Batangas is also known for the smaller species of the said fish. The locals even have their own names for the said fish. Some of them include the term, Tambakol,yellow-finned Berberabe, tambakulis, Tulingan, Bonito and another species also called Bonito but actually the Gymnosarda unicolor. There is also an important industry for the Tanigue. Aside from the South China Sea, Taal Lake also provides a source of fresh water fishes to the country. The lake is home to Sardinella tawilis or simply tawilis, a species of freshwater sardine that is endemic to the lake. Taal Lake also provides farmed Chanos chanos or bangus. There is also a good volume of Oreochromis niloticus niloticus and Oreochromis aureus, both locally called tilapia. It is ecologically important to note that neither bangus nor tilapia are native to the lake. Thus they are considered invasive species to the lake. As mentioned in the section of culture, Batangueà ±os are indeed fond of drinking. This is of no surprise as it lies in what is called the coconut belt that is the raw material for the local liqueurs, the lambanog (with 90% proof) and the tuba (which is made of 5.68% alcohol and 13% sugar). Sugar is also a major industry. As a matter of fact, after the Hacienda Luisita, the country’s former largest sugar producer, was broken-up for land reform, the Municipality of Nasugbu has been the home of the current largest sugar producing company, the Central Azucarera Don Pedro. This also means that Batangas is also a home for a wide industry of sweets. Rice cakes are also a strong industry. Last May 7,2011, We, my family and my auntie and her daughter who were just here in the Philippines for a vacation went to a resort in batangas called La Virginia Hotel & Resort, it is set in 6 hectares of secluded grounds yet only 2 hours from downtown Metro Manila. La Virginia offers one of the largest privately-owned natural getaways in Lipa City. The resort is located in the Batangas side ridge around the Taal Lake, it offers breathtaking views of the lake and the Taal Volcano Islands. It is completely surrounded by coconut groves and forests so that is is set in a pristine environment. The resort boasts of five (5) world class swimming pools and a heated jacuzzi for family and personal fun. In that day also, I with my co-vacationist saw a flying 6 jets roaming around who are just from the air based near in the resort. There is a small chapel located inside the resort as well. The resort also offers well-appointed accomodation and picnic facilities for day trippers and extended stay visitors. Well, I will share to you the things that I experience and enjoyed on having a vacation. First, The View of Taal Lake in this nature’s beauty never fails to amaze me. La Virginia Resort offers a generous view of Taal Lake. It brought serenity down to my soul. Naks. But seriously, it did. Second, The Buddha View Deck I had a couple of pictures in front of the huge Buddha statue and when I used one of the photos as my Facebook profile picture, a couple of friends thought I went to Thailand! Nah, it’s one of the best backgrounds there for photo, with family. Make sure you have a picture with the Golden Buddha as your background. Aha! Third, The Ifugao Village, I’m Ilocana and that’s why I have close affinity to what’s there up north; not an Ifugao native though. This part of La Virginia features cottages which resembles the abode in Ifugao. It’s like you’re visiting the Tam-Awan Village in Baguio City. Fourth, The Infinity Pool because it gives you a good spot for the sunset. Imagine swimming in the infinity pool while the sun sets on the horizon. Then we went to the Hanging Bridge, I like bridges because it brings that certain shake on your nerves but at the same time, it challenges you to go on keep walking until you reach the other end. And last, The Tree House, See the best features of La Virginia Resort from the top of the tree house and you’ll wonder how it was landscaped to become what it is now. It was breathtaking up there. Perfect for some more picture taking. I wasn’t able to experience the La Virginia Zipline Rides due to its expensive price and my mother wouldn’t allow me to ride without my father due to his fear and we just went their because of my auntie’s vacation here in the Philippines and lack of time because after their we went to Laguna and explore in Enchanted Kingdom and take some rides.