Child Support Enforcement: One Law Does Not Fit All

Single parents are becoming the norm these days and the government has stepped in to assist these custodial parents to make things fair. It takes two people to make a child so it seems only fair that two people support the child financially, right? I am a single mother. My daughter’s father, Donnie, and I were never married and weren’t together at the time of her birth. He wasn’t around to sign the birth certificate so I had to go through DFS to fill paperwork out to get support payments from him after our daughter (Nathalia) was born. When I filled out the CSE (Child Support Enforcement) paperwork the case was being handled by a caseworker in Jefferson City, MO. I gave the caseworker Donnie’s address about four months after our daughter’s birth. Nothing was done and I assumed they were having trouble getting hold of him. When Nathalia was five years old my case was moved to a caseworker in Columbia who called and got the information from me again and I received paternity paperwork within the month. The way it works is the noncustodial parent only has to pay from the time the paperwork showing paternity was sent. I had tried to contact Nathalia’s father to start visitation. He came around for one hour a week for about two months then just stopped. He paid the arrearage for support payments after facing criminal charges for non-payment of support payments, and being threatened with a year in jail if the support was not paid. I feel no sympathy. Now he is back to not making the payments. On the other hand I have a friend (Jessica, fictional name) who has a five year old daughter (Hannah, fictional name) whose father has been in and out of jail for child support non-payment. He has a relationship with Hannah and has care of her fifty percent of the time. The government wants to put him back in jail for arrearage on Hannah and two of his other children. Jessica has lost her health insurance due to not signing papers that would have him arrested. With these two cases the fathers are very different. One is an absentee father who quits jobs to avoid paying his support payments, the other a father who is very much in his child’s life and is a positive influence. Both fathers are being treated equally in the eyes of the State. But which father deserves the jail time? In an article by Jeff Minerd, â€Å"A Kinder, Gentler Look at ‘Deadbeat Dads’,† he states â€Å"In 1950, about 20% of children lived apart from their father; that figure is now approaching 50%† (8). This article was printed in 1999 so the percentage of children not living with their father has likely increased. The increase is due to many reasons. Some of the reasons may include death, divorce, and never-married couples. With the number of children who do not live with their fathers rising it only stands to reason that the number of cases the CSE (Child Support Enforcement) is handling is increasing as well. According to the Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families Office of Child Support Enforcement, one of their goals is â€Å". . . to emphasize that children need to have both parents in their lives. . . † (Handbook). If this is true then why is the father who is a positive influence and is present in his child’s life having to deal with the possibility of going back to jail for past child support non-payment, but the father who wants nothing to do with his daughter and doesn’t pay his child support as ordered gets off with a slap on the wrist? Child support enforcement should look more in depth at each case before taking actions against a non-custodial father. The Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families Office of Child Support Enforcement states â€Å"Although the function of the CSE program is to collect and distribute child support payments, throughout the Handbook [sic]we hope to give the message that children fare best when both parents play an active, supportive role in their lives† (1). The government claims that the actions they take against non-custodial parents are to assist in getting families to work together to make children’s lives better. But according to Jeff Minerd, â€Å"Government enforcement of child support can have the effect of separating fathers from their children† (8). Minerd also states that it is more supported to go after the â€Å"low-income† fathers because it gets the mothers off of State welfare monies. With â€Å"middle-class† mothers it isn’t so supported to go after the fathers because it doesn’t help the State with the amount of money being paid out because they aren’t on welfare (8). So is their mission to help keep families connected or is it to get the money back that they are giving to the low-income families? The first reason CSE should handle these cases case by case is that if actions are taken that cause the father to be resentful it could harm the relationship between the parents and the child. Actions taken by the state can come between the custodial mother and the non-custodial parent. As Cindy Elmore states in her article â€Å"On and On, Over and Over: The Gender War in Child Support Enforcement Court,† â€Å"We’re all crowded together waiting for the courtroom doors to be unlocked, but the women don’t talk to the men, and the men ignore the women† (397). The line of communication between the parents is destroyed by feelings of resentment and arguments that arise from court dates and state demands. Arguments between the parents also harm the child. Even if the parents do not argue in front of the child, the child will still feel the tension and know something is wrong. Feelings of resentment toward being forced to do something may also disturb the relationship between father and child. If the father is arguing about how much to pay and how often with the mother it may cause the father to stop coming around the child. In my situation Nathalia’s dad, Donnie, got upset about the amount and when I couldn’t change it he just cut all contact. The way his support amount was determined was a paper was filled out on the amount of money it took to raise Nathalia. Then the amount I made and the amount he made were taken into consideration. Since I made more my percentage of responsibility was larger. Then they take the percentage left to raise her after subtracting mine and he is responsible for that. So there was nothing I could do to request they lower the payments. We had many arguments relating to this. Another was that he was afraid the State would go after property that he owned. According to the Handbook on Child Support Enforcement liens can be placed on property the non-custodial parent owns in the county (26) and can also take State and Federal Income Tax refunds to pay back child support (29). So it could happen but not if he pays his support payments on a regular basis. When I kept refusing to ask if his payments could be lowered he stopped calling Nathalia and stopped coming to visit her. Second, if a father is active in a child’s life and is a positive influence leniency should be given. Pushing a father to make payments higher than he can make then sending him to jail until it is paid, when he is active in the child’s life, will only harm the child. In â€Å"Child Support Enforcement and Father Involvement for Children in Never-Married Mother. Families† Chien-Chung Huang states, â€Å"Although there are no studies on changes in father-child contact for children in never-married mother families over time, studies find that about one-third of children saw their fathers at least once a month but another third of children had no contact at all with their fathers† (99). If there are such big chunks of the population receiving child support that have similar situations with the non-custodial parent, shouldn’t the different types have different ways of handling the cases? A father that is helping his child with homework every other week shouldn’t be held to the same treatment as a father who has no contact with his child by his own choice. Speaking from experience, I know that if I my daughter’s father was involved in my daughter’s life in a positive way and they had a healthy relationship I would not mind so much if there was a payment missed here or there. A child’s life can be so much fuller with positive influences from both the mother and the father figures in their lives. Third, if the system states that they are trying to get fathers more active in the child’s life through child support enforcement then if they don’t see what is going on before ordering something to be done, they won’t succeed. Jeff Minerd does not think that child support should not be enforced, â€Å"However, the harsh treatment of low-income fathers may make them hostile and resentful of the mothers, children, and government authority† (8). If a low-income father is ordered to pay what the CSE considers to be fair what happens if the father isn’t even making enough to make the payments? Is he to be held to the same standards as a father that keeps quitting his job to avoid making his payments? What if the father gets remarried? According to Hans and Coleman in the article â€Å"The Experiences of Remarried Stepfathers Who Pay Child Support,† â€Å"Remarriage magnified feelings of disempowerment and introduced additional complexities to existing child support arrangements† (613). When fathers remarry it adds more financial responsibility, especially if they have more kids in the new marriage or if there are stepchildren in the marriage. When the Child Support Enforcement Agency takes harsh actions against non-custodial parents it starts a chain of events that can destroy the relationship between the parents. The resentment the father feels for being forced to comply with what the state orders can cause a rift between the father and the custodial mother. In cases like mine it may have caused a rift so large that my daughter may never see her father again. She doesn’t understand why her father doesn’t come and see her any more. A couple of months ago she made up a reason of her own, it was because he was sick. Just last week a new reason came up. She told me he died and that is why he doesn’t come over anymore. I don’t know where she got this but I do know that it is her way of dealing with her feelings. I don’t know what to tell her when she says this. If I tell her that he is alive what reason do I give her when she then asks why he doesn’t see her anymore? Perhaps if the enforcement of the child support was handled differently she would still have a father that was active in her life.

Miss Essay

Marketing Management Individual Assignment 1. The definition of EPRG orientation and its practice in international companies/local companies * ethnocentric (home-country oriented) An ethnocentric firm views the business from the perspective and values of the home country. Policies and practices are likely to be designed by home-country nationals with little or no variation for international operations. Ethnocentric oriented international companies believe that anything worked at home must also work abroad. For example: Nissan using ethnocentric orientation during its first few years of exporting cars and trucks to the U. S. market. Nissan’s cars were designed for mild Japanese winter, the vehicle were difficult to start in many parts of the U. S. during winter there. In northern Japan many car owners would put blankets over the hoods of their cars. Nissan’s assume that Americans would do the same. * Polycentric (host country-oriented) In contrast with ethnocentric, a polycentric firm operates according to the principle that each country of operation is different. Polycentric is a highly market-oriented. Each market is considered unique, that’s why the marketing mix, product strategies, pricing strategies etc is different for each country. Example: Citicorp’s financial services around the world operated on a polycentric basis. James Bailey, one Citicorp executive, offered this description of the company: â€Å"we were like in a medieval state. There was a king and his court, are they in charge? No. The land barons are who were in charge. King and his court may declare this or that, but the lord barons who went and did their thing to their appointed land. With that statement we can interpret that even the owner of company in headquarter stating this and that, but each country has some differences, and we should makes some changes in order to make our company succeed in other country. * Regiocentric (regionally-oriented) Firm treats a region as a uniform market segment and adapts a similar marketing strategy within region but not across region. For examole: Mc Donald not serving pork and slaughter animals through Halal process only in Middle East and some muslim-dominated countries. * Geocentric (world-oriented) The geocentric approach considers the whole world as a single market and attempts to formulate integrated marketing strategies. The firm recognizes both similarities and differences in cultures and markets. Best practices are adopted on a global basis and adapted for local conditions where necessary. Nestle and other multinational company is using geocentric orientation. Colgate Palmolive is an example for a company which using geocentric approach. It has been operating internationally for 50 years and its products are households in more than 170 countries. 2. The practice of each of the entry modes (exporting, licensing, franchising, contract manufacturing, strategic alliances, joint ventures and foreign directt investment) please provide example for each entry strategy done by each local company and international company * Exporting The home company exports their product to host country company/distributor. It is the safest entry strategy to start expanding company overseas. By exporting we would learn the market situation in overseas market. And it is less risky and less cost than to manufactures the goods in host country. The example of exporting is kecap Bango and bumbu Bamboe in European market, especially French. Kecap Bango and bumbu Bamboe export their goods to Indian and Asian store in France. The target market is of course Indonesian consumer who lives there. Another example is Teh Botol in carton pack, it sells its product by helping of Indonesian embassy in Paris, France. * Licensing In licensing the home firm agrees to permit a company in host country to use the manufacturing, processing, trademark, know-how or some other skill provided by the licensor. For example, Coca Cola give license to United Bottlers to make Coke in Zimbabwe. Franchising A home company which using franchising (franchisor), grants another ( a company or individual) the rights to distribute goods or services using franchisor’s brand and system in exchange for fees. Mc Donalds is known to use franchise as its market strategies through the world. In Indonesia, alfamart and indomaret are using franchising as their strategy. But they still using it within Indonesia not overseas. * contract manufacturing In contract manufacturing the firm decide to enter by contracting a manufacture of its product in target market. In example GAP contract manufacture in developing countries to manufacture and sells them. The products can be made to the conditions and specific requirements of the local market * strategic alliances Strategic alliances firm unite with competitor to pursue a set of assented goals remain independent after the formation of the alliance. The partner firms share the benefits of the alliance and the control of the performance of assigned tasks and the partner firms contribute on a continuing basis to one or more key strategic areas. For example, in 2005 Adidas (a German company) announced its acquisition of Reebok. Mr. Herbert Hainer, the CEO of Adidas, expected to cut costs by 125 million Euros in the next three years by sharing information technology, synergies in sales and distribution, and cheaper sourcing. However, the new combined company will continue to run separate headquarters and sales forces, and keep most distribution centers apart * joint ventures In joint ventures the firms in which two or more investors share ownership and control over property rights and operation. In Zimbabwe, Olivine industries have a joint venture agreement with HJ Heinz in food processing. * foreign direct investment The firm makes a direct investment in a production unit in a foreign market. It is the greatest commitment since there is a 100% ownership. The international firm can obtain wholly foreign production facilities in two primary ways; It can make a direct acquisition or merger in the host market and It can also develop its own facilities from the ground up. Multinational company are already using foreign direct investment, like Nestle in many countries in the world including Indonesia, Unilever, etc

Planning for the Chevy Volt Essay

What does the Chevy Volt case tell you about the nature of strategic decision making at a large complex organization like GM? From the Chevy Volt case, we can see that GM is a large complex organization and has a lot of processes to make any decision in changing their strategic plan. Moreover, they sticked to the past failure that they had experienced. Therefore, they moved too slow and missed the opportunity to change or adapt themselves to the external trend or a better opportunity. What trends in the external environment favored the pursuit of the Chevy Volt project? -Gas price was increasing sharply because of growing demand in developed countries including China and India -Global Warming become a significant concern so people trend to use the car which produce less Carbon Dioxide. -The cost of Manufacturing lithium ion batteries was falling and new technology make them more powerful -Demand for fuel efficient car like Prius (Toyota) that utilize new battery technology What impediments to pursuing this project do you think existed within GM? -GM already spent a huge investment in developing fuel cells -Many decision makers in GM didn’t want to suddenly switch gears and focus on lithium ion batteries instead -Technology in a large lithium ion battery production was difficult -Failure in the past was the experience that GM still remembered and was afraid to invest in new project What does this tell you about the nature of strategic plans? Chevy Volt project which is partly based on the assumption of fuels prices is rather skeptical. Plan outlay in context of rising oil prices, and environment sustainability only does not in a sense constitute total business plan layout. External environment analysis such as the macro and micro-economic factors also should have been focused, so that an alternative plan layout to develop new innovation for its benchmark cars model that run on fuel and that which should meet the tighter regulation in the future. How do falling oil prices affect the Chevy Volt project? The Chevy Volt project strategic plan was based on factor that kept rising oil prices in contention to market its electric car model for profitability. Falling oil prices can affect Chevy Volt project in terms of profitability directly from the sale of electric cars. Do you think oil prices will remain low? The demand for oil increases, prices also is also likely to surge accordingly. Besides there are no substitute product 5. What will it take for the Chevy Volt to be a successful car ? in light of your analysis, how risky do you think this venture is for GM? What are the costs of failure? What are the costs of not pursuing the project? I think it wills success for the following factors Its new models have cutting-edge designs that sell well, and its quality rankings and fuel economy rise, If every new model has dramatically better gas mileage in government testing than its predecessor, Proper advertising is done like GM products are appearing in hit movies, music videos, TV shows and other media. Cost of not pursuing the†¦

Business-Level and Corporate-Level Strategies Essay

Business-Level and Corporate-Level Strategies - Essay Example A wide range of products are offered through the McDonalds stores like food items, coffee, soft drinks and other types of beverages (Yahoo Finance, 2012a). The analysis of the competitive business environment of McDonalds would also be discussed in this study. These strategies that are taken up by McDonalds at different levels would be compared and contrasted to help in the overall strategic analysis. Business level strategies A business level strategy can be defined as an action plan that is developed by a business organization which gives a description about the various means through which it would compete in a given industrial or market segment (Ireland, Hoskisson, and Hitt, 2008, p. 88). The primary objective of a business level strategy formulated by any organization is to create increased value for its customers in a consistent manner. There can be five different types of business level strategies that can be employed by an organization. They are: a) Cost leadership, b) Focused cost leadership, c) Differentiation, d) Focused differentiation, and e) Integrated differentiation or cost leadership (Ireland, Hoskisson, and Hitt, 2008, p. 88). The business level strategies employed by McDonalds Corporation have been discussed in this section. ... The business strategy employed by McDonalds is competitive in nature in a number of different categories like quality, price, employee training and management. McDonalds serves its customers globally who are of different ages and comprises of various demographics as well. The company's strategy is to satisfy the needs of its target customers by providing them with good quality food products that are less expensive and in quick time. The company offers different variety of food items to its customers through its restaurants located in different parts of the world. McDonalds operates its business in nearly 119 nations of the world and its strategy is to provide different kinds of products in accordance with the specific needs and wants of people staying in different countries. This type of knowledge base and flexibility of McDonalds helps it to achieve its global objectives and targets and sustain the existing competition in the market. According to Hin (2008), the business structure o f McDonalds has a significant impact on its business strategies. Corporate level strategies In corporate level strategy companies can adopt three types of models. a) Directional Strategy (focusing on growth of the business, managing market share of the company to a stable platform, b) Portfolio Strategy (analyzing market in terms of strength, opportunities, weakness, threats), c) Parenting Strategy (companies transfer resources and maintain workforce in the foreign country). Corporate level strategy is a strategy which is aimed at the long term position of a business. McDonalds operates its business in the global fast food industry. The company has its presence in nearly 119 nations of the world (McDonalds Corporation, 2012). The corporate level strategies of McDonalds are

Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 19

Leadership - Essay Example It is quite apparent that a great percentage of people do not comprehend the distinction between leadership and management and therefore use the two terms interchangeably. However, the two terms are different since leadership involves motivating and inspiring while management involves administration and control (Northouse 13). Apparently, Leadership is more desirable than management for various reasons. Research has shown that organisations are better off having a few effective leaders and many brilliant managers than the other way around. Many scholars argue that the world needs more leaders than managers. Leadership is more of a trait than an acquired ability. Management can be taught; that is, anybody can be a manager but not everybody can qualify to be a leader. While a manager focuses on attaining results through the application of managerial skills, a leader focuses on improving the quality of performance rather than results. Leadership and management are, however, similar in the sense that they share complimentary attributes. For instance, a good leader should possess good managerial skills and vice-versa. My biggest strength is the ability to think critically and creatively. Critical and creative thinking forms the basis for effective leadership. The ability to analyse situations and develop effective solutions to common problems develops good leadership skills (Hurley and Brown 2). The objective of applying critical and creative thinking is to approach challenges with an open, holistic perspective. For example, if one is performing poorly financially, he /she should trace the root cause of the problem in order to provide a rational solution, free from any biases. Using inductive and deductive reasoning, which are essential to critical thinking, it is possible to create a systematic approach to the problem. The basic

Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Case Study Example While this move is anticipated to benefit China’s trading partners, since they will be in a position to reap the benefit of a flexible currency exchange rate, which includes increasing the value of their exports to China, there is some dissent view amongst some economists, that doing that will have a negative implication on China and consequently on its trading partners (Alfaro and Tella, 7). On the event that China would make its currency exchange rate more flexible, a high rate of deflation will be experienced in China, which would result to economic decline. This is because; making the exchange rate flexible would mean that the Chinese currency will lose some value relative to other currencies, such as the US dollar. This would mean that the cost of doing business in china will increase, since the multinational corporations and other foreign investments to china will be force to cater for the cost of increased inflation. This might result to having most of the foreign inves tments or the multinational companies moving out of the Chinese market, and seeking to invest in other countries, where the cost of doing business will be relatively lower (Alfaro and Tella, 18). ... The Chinese economy operated under the principles of communism, until reforms were introduced to make it a socialist economy, with private ownership of property and increased reforms in agriculture, state-owned enterprises, banking sector, trade and foreign investment policies, which saw China increase its GDP growth by 9.5% annually, and increase its trade from 10% of GDP to 79% of GDP between 1978 to 2004 (Alfaro and Tella, 15). The most significant change was in foreign investment policies, where China pursued policies that allowed for high foreign investment, resulting to having 50% of Chinas exports being produced by foreign investors by 2004 (Alfaro and Tella, 16). China pursued foreign direct investment into its economy more than borrowing loans, an aspect that saw the FDI account for more than 70% of its capital inflow in the early 2000s. However, the pressure of investment into china reached to a position of imbalance with the household consumption, prompting the Chinese gov ernment to slow down its pursuit for investment, to encourage household consumptions, so that the pressures of investment and consumption would level off. Thus, as opposed to focusing on revaluing the exchange rates, the Chinese government started focusing on domestic policies that would enhance consumption starting 2005 (Alfaro and Tella, 22). Both the domestic policy and the exchange rate revaluation have the impact of increasing deflationary pressure, while increasing the cost of doing business for foreign investors. This calls for a further adjustment to such businesses, which may include increasing their sales in China to cover up for the increased costs, or shifting their businesses to other countries which have less cost of doing business. Therefore, as much as there

Global Human Resources Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Global Human Resources Management - Essay Example This task requires a human resource department or function that can identify the right people at the right moment in time and come up with working strategies to keep and attract talent to the organization. The coca-Cola company is known to be the world's largest beverage manufacturer, marketer, distributor marketer and company. The company which is also one of the largest companies in the United States of America also deals in non-alcoholic concentrates and syrups. Incorporated in 1892, the Coca-Cola organization is best known for its main product - Coca-Cola although it currently offers almost 400 brands in well over 200 countries. The company serves a wide client base with an approximate serving of 1.5 billion clients daily. This figure translates to over 10,450 beverages per second, and 800 million in the USA per year. In 2003 alone, the company achieved earnings in excess of 4.347 billion US dollars. The Coca-Cola Company and its subsidiaries only produce syrup concentrates which are sold to bottling companies who hold Coca-Cola franchise throughout the world. The company has several competitors across the different countries some of which make alcoholic drinks. The Coca-Cola Company has a franchised distribution network that dates from 1889. It makes concentrate which is later sold to various bottling companies with exclusive territories throughout the world. ... Coca-Cola has used catching themes such as "Drink Coca-Cola" and many other promotional strategies to market its products coupled with a strong, aggressive and effective marketing and distribution network. The company's mission is to refresh and benefit everyone touched by the business. The company mission is simplicity, solidness and timelessness in doing business. The coca-cola Company applies several strategies in order to stay ahead of competition. Differentiation strategies applied help to ensure that clients have a clear distinction between the company's products, trademarks and brands and those of its competitors. Before venturing into a market, the company engages its machinery in conducting vigorous market research. The company has policies that ensure its activities are globally standardized and meet all legal requirements. What this means is that more or less the same quality of product is ensured universally. Further, the company is renowned for recruiting and employing a well trained human resource that ensures its activities are performed satisfactorily. Human Resource Strategies and Programs Throughout the business world, human resource functions are faced with a number of challenges as a result or rapid evolutions in the corporate world. This calls for the adoption of strategies that will help in overcoming problems faced by human resource managers. Firms that do not emphasize on attracting and retaining talent often face dire consequences as competitors seize the opportunity to strategically employ a better human resource (Rohmetra, 2005). The organization must become more resilient, adaptable, customer-focused and agile in order to succeed. The human resource function of the company must hence

Listening Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Listening - Essay Example In my opinion, this goes hand in hand with listening. Listening to what the client is saying shows that you are interested and hence elevates the chances of success. Sales people are required to possess effective communication skills such that they are able to communicate audibly to a customer and subsequently listen attentively. This paper describes the ‘why’ and ‘how’ listening is one of the most important components of successful salesmanship in the context of the residential renovation industry. There are various ways that a good salesman can adopt the skills of becoming a good listener. To become a better listener, a salesman is advised to first pay attention and listen to the other person before talking, exercise tolerance, persistence, and shun complains. In the modern world, the residential renovation industry has grown into a multi-billion dollar industry. In general, listening has its importance in business communication. It is a key factor of prod uctivity and success in an institution. Listening is important in the establishment of effective and successful associations and relations within the workplace. This is also applicable in the residential renovation industry. Through listening, a salesman is able to establish a relationship or association with the customer. Listening makes it easier for the salesman to converse with the client as s/he is able to comprehend issues effectively. Salesmen are advised to ensure that they develop their listening abilities through offering their complete concentration to their clients and retain eye contact with the client (Green 98). Consequently, a salesman is advised to seek clarification of the statement or arguments brought forward by the client to ensure effective comprehension. A salesperson in the residential renovation industry is ought to listen to the client genuinely and openly. S/he is ought to consider the fact that the whole process is client based, so every attention should be focused towards the client. Listening to the need s of the clients ensures that all renovation work or sale conducted on behalf of the client meets his/her requirements. To elucidate the ‘how’ to listen, Green posits that: Active listeners have a good perspective of, and a strong handle on, paraphrasing, restating, summarizing, responding to nonverbal messages, and responding to feelings. These active listening techniques enable salespeople to hold three important things in their grasp. Listening results in a better understanding of what prospects are saying, listening causes a greater flow of information from prospects, and is the basis for tailoring a sales approach that matches the prospect (97). Listening makes it possible for a salesperson to grasp information and details presented by the client that are beneficial in establishing and putting forward resolutions geared towards benefiting the organization dealing with residential renovation services. This is attr ibuted to the fact that through listening, a salesman has a chance to identify and ascertain the feelings and thought of a particular customer on a particular issue of activity. The information gathered by the salesperson can subsequently be incorporated in chatting the way forward to meet the requirements of the client. Listening helps both the client and the salesperson to build conviction and confidence towards each other. Subsequently, listening helps the salesperson to

Valentines Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Valentines - Essay Example She expected more appreciation than a disappointment from her best friend. Nelly said that being athletic make her stronger. She says that it is her choice to be a sportswoman, and she expects her lover to motivate and not to disappoint (London, 2015). Nelly says that she was astonished by her date to offer a gift suggesting she cut on her weight (London, 2015). Nelly said that that a membership card to a Slimming club was the least she expected on a Valentine date. She always imagined that her friend likes and support her involvement in sports; however, she was disgusted. It is out of this anger and lack of respect that she decided to end their relationship (London, 2015). Katie Ford a 33 years old business woman had a worst experience on a Valentines Day (London, 2015). Ford like many other ladies knew that she was to have a romantic time for many years after she broke up with her boyfriend at the age of 26 years. For the years she had Valentine date, Ford had appreciated the company of her date, but not this time. As usual she waited patiently for her date to pick her and drive to town. Her date came on time, and they headed for the party. However, this time she experienced a traumatic encounter after she and her date had to part ways. That evening they went to buy drinks, but they changed the plan and stayed in the restaurant. Her date started drinking, and they talked of a better future. She was promised so many things and could not afford to resist him. Ford though hesitant agreed to let him have a chance. Their romantic time did not last long as they Fords date got too drunk. He started fighting with strangers and police were called to calm him down. When police arrived, they arrested Ford’s lover even after she begged for his release. The police had no other choice but to arrest the unruly man and booked him overnight. Ford was so disappointed in his friend behaviour and

How to Make a Transistor Radio Essay Example for Free

How to Make a Transistor Radio Essay First a few safety precautions: * Never touch the element or tip of the soldering iron. They are very hot (about 400Â °C) and will give you a nasty burn. * Take great care to avoid touching the mains flex with the tip of the iron. The iron should have a heatproof flex for extra protection. An ordinary plastic flex will melt immediately if touched by a hot iron and there is a serious risk of burns and electric shock. * Always return the soldering iron to its stand when not in use. Never put it down on your workbench, even for a moment! * Work in a well-ventilated area. The smoke formed as you melt solder is mostly from the flux and quite irritating. Avoid breathing it by keeping you head to the side of, not above, your work. * Wash your hands after using solder. Solder contains lead which is a poisonous metal. If you are unlucky (or careless!) enough to burn yourself please read the First Aid section. Preparing the soldering iron: * Place the soldering iron in its stand and plug in. The iron will take a few minutes to reach its operating temperature of about 400Â °C. * Dampen the sponge in the stand. The best way to do this is to lift it out the stand and hold it under a cold tap for a moment, then squeeze to remove excess water. It should be damp, not dripping wet. * Wait a few minutes for the soldering iron to warm up. You can check if it is ready by trying to melt a little solder on the tip. * Wipe the tip of the iron on the damp sponge. This will clean the tip. * Melt a little solder on the tip of the iron. This is called tinning and it will help the heat to flow from the irons tip to the joint. It only needs to be done when you plug in the iron, and occasionally while soldering if you need to wipe the tip clean on the sponge. You are now ready to start soldering: * Hold the soldering iron like a pen, near the base of the handle. Imagine you are going to write your name! Remember to never touch the hot element or tip. * Touch the soldering iron onto the joint to be made. Make sure it touches both the component lead and the track. Hold the tip there for a few seconds and * Feed a little solder onto the joint. It should flow smoothly onto the lead and track to form a volcano shape as shown in the diagram. Apply the solder to the joint, not the iron. * Remove the solder, then the iron, while keeping the joint still. Allow the joint a few seconds to cool before you move the circuit board. * Inspect the joint closely. It should look shiny and have a volcano shape. If not, you will need to reheat it and feed in a little more solder. This time ensure that boththe lead and track are heated fully before applying solder. If you are unlucky (or careless!) enough to burn yourself please read the First Aid section. Some components, such as transistors, can be damaged by heat when soldering so if you are not an expert it is wise to use a heat sink clipped to the lead between the joint and the component body. You can buy a special tool, but a standard crocodile clip works just as well and is cheaper. Soldering Advice for Components It is very tempting to start soldering components onto the circuit board straight away, but please take time to identify all the parts first. You are much less likely to make a mistake if you do this! 1. Stick all the components onto a sheet of paper using sticky tape. 2. Identify each component and write its name or value beside it. 3. Add the code (R1, R2, C1 etc.) if necessary. Many projects from books and magazines label the components with codes (R1, R2, C1, D1 etc.) and you should use the projects parts list to find these codes if they are given. 4. Resistor values can be found using the resistor colour code which is explained on our Resistors page. You can print out and make your own Resistor Colour Code Calculator to help you. 5. Capacitor values can be difficult to find because there are many types with different labelling systems! The various systems are explained on our Capacitors page. Some components require special care when soldering. Many must be placed the correct way round and a few are easily damaged by the heat from soldering. Appropriate warnings are given in the table below, together with other advice which may be useful when soldering. What is solder? Solder is an alloy (mixture) of tin and lead, typically 60% tin and 40% lead. It melts at a temperature of about 200Â °C. Coating a surface with solder is called tinning because of the tin content of solder. Lead is poisonous and you should always wash your hands after using solder. Solder for electronics use contains tiny cores of flux, like the wires inside a mains flex. The flux is corrosive, like an acid, and it cleans the metal surfaces as the solder melts. This is why you must melt the solder actually on the joint, not on the iron tip. Without flux most joints would fail because metals quickly oxidise and the solder itself will not flow properly onto a dirty, oxidised, metal surface. The best size of solder for electronics is 22swg (swg = standard wire gauge). Soldering is defined as the joining of metals by a fusion of alloys which have relatively low melting points. In other words, you use a metal that has a low melting point to adhere the surfaces to be soldered together. Consider that soldering is more like gluing with molten metal, unlike welding where the base metals are actually melted and combined. Soldering is also a must have skill for all sorts of electrical and electronics work. It is also a skill that must be taught correctly and developed with practice. This tutorial will cover the most common types of soldering required for electronics work. This includes soldering components to printed circuit boards and soldering a spliced wire joint. Soldering Equipment The Soldering Iron/Gun The first thing you will need is a soldering iron, which is the heat source used to melt solder. Irons of the 15W to 30W range are good for most electronics/printed circuit board work. Anything higher in wattage and you risk damaging either the component or the board. If you intend to solder heavy components and thick wire, then you will want to invest in an iron of higher wattage (40W and above) or one of the large soldering guns. The main difference between an iron and a gun is that an iron is pencil shaped and designed with a pinpoint heat source for precise work, while a gun is in a familiar gun shape with a large high wattage tip heated by flowing electrical current directly through it. For hobbyist electronics use, a soldering iron is generally the tool of choice as its small tip and low heat capacity is suited for printed circuit board work (such as assembling kits). A soldering gun is generally used in heavy duty soldering such as joining heavy gauge wires, soldering brackets to a chassis or stained glass work. You should choose a soldering iron with a 3-pronged grounding plug. The ground will help prevent stray voltage from collecting at the soldering tip and potentially damaging sensitive (such as CMOS) components. By their nature, soldering guns are quite dirty in this respect as the heat is generated by shorting a current (often AC) through the tip made of formed wire. Guns will have much less use in hobbyist electronics so if you have only one tool choice, an iron is what you want. For a beginner, a 15W to 30W range is the best but be aware that at the 15W end of that range, you may not have enough power to join wires or larger components. As your skill increases, a 40W iron is an excellent choice as it has the capacity for slightly larger jobs and makes joints very quickly. Be aware that it is often best to use a more powerful iron so that you dont need to spend a lot of time heating the joint, which can damage components. A variation of the basic gun or iron is the soldering station, where the soldering instrument is attached to a variable power supply. A soldering station can precisely control the temperature of the soldering tip unlike a standard gun or iron where the tip temperature will increase when idle and decrease when applying heat to a joint. However, the price of a soldering station is often ten to one hundred times the cost of a basic iron and thus really isnt an option for the hobby market. But if you plan to do very precise work, such as surface mount, or spend 8 hours a day behind a soldering iron, then you should consider a soldering station. The rest of this document will assume that you are using a soldering iron as that is what the majority of electronics work requires. The techniques for using a soldering gun are basically the same with the only difference being that heat is only generated when the trigger is pressed. Solder The choice of solder is also important. There several kinds of solder available but only a few are suitable for electronics work. Most importantly, you will only use rosin core solder. Acid core solder is common in hardware stores and home improvement stores, but meant for soldering copper plumbing pipes and not electronic circuits. If acid core solder is used on electronics, the acid will destroy the traces on the printed circuit board and erode the component leads. It can also form a conductive layer leading to shorts. For most printed circuit board work, a solder with a diameter of 0.75MM to 1.0MM is desirable. Thicker solder may be used and will allow you to solder larger joints more quickly, but will make soldering small joints difficult and increase the likelihood of creating solder bridges between closely spaced PCB pads. An alloy of 60/40 (60% tin, 40% lead) is used for most electronics work. These days, several lead-free solders are available as well. Kester 44 Rosin Core solder has been a staple of electronics for many years and continues to be available. It is available in several diameters and has a non-corrosive flux. Large joints, such as soldering a bracket to a chassis using a high wattage soldering gun, will require a separate application of brush on flux and a thick diameter solder of several millimeters. Remember that when soldering, the flux in the solder will release fumes as it is heated. These fumes are harmful to your eyes and lungs. Therefore, always work in a well ventilated area and avoid breathing the smoke created. Hot solder is also dangerous. It is surprisingly easy to splash hot solder onto yourself, which is a thoroughly unpleasant experience. Eye protection is also advised. Preparing To Solder Tinning The Soldering Tip Before use, a new soldering tip, or one that is very dirty, must be tinned. Tinning is the process of coating a soldering tip with a thin coat of solder. This aids in heat transfer between the tip and the component you are soldering, and also gives the solder a base from which to flow from. Step 1: Warm Up The Iron Warm up the soldering iron or gun thoroughly. Make sure that it has fully come to temperature because you are about to melt a lot of solder on it. This is especially important if the iron is new because it may have been packed with some kind of coating to prevent corrosion. Step 2: Prepare A Little Space While the soldering iron is warming up, prepare a little space to work. Moisten a little sponge and place it in the base of your soldering iron stand or in a dish close by. Lay down a piece of cardboard in case you drip solder (you probably will) and make sure you have room to work comfortably. Step 3: Thoroughly Coat The Tip In Solder Thoroughly coat the soldering tip in solder. It is very important to cover the entire tip. You will use a considerable amount of solder during this process and it will drip, so be ready. If you leave any part of the tip uncovered it will tend to collect flux residue and will not conduct heat very well, so run the solder up and down the tip and completely around it to totally cover it in molten solder. Step 4: Clean The Soldering Tip After you are certain that the tip is totally coated in solder, wipe the tip off on the wet sponge to remove all the flux residue. Do this immediately so there is no time for the flux to dry out and solidify.

Treating Foxconn Workers As Machines

Treating Foxconn Workers As Machines Foxconn Technology Group is a multinational anchor company of Hon Hai Precision Industry CompanyLtd., a Taiwanese company that is the worlds largest leading of electronic manufacturer. Foxconn is the largest exporter in China which has a workforce of 90,000 workers all over China. Its well-known clients include Apple, Dell, Nokia, and Microsoft and so on, which take comparative advantages of labour cost and production resulting in profit maximisation (BBC, 2011). For satisfying rapid and huge demand on IPad, Foxconn has promised Apple Company to boost the productivity to fulfil their orders. Unfortunately, Foxconn did not be concerned on the employees of job stress due to intensive manufacturing process. According a report from Student and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehaviour (SACOM) (2010), it stated that 14 frontline workers died from suicides between January and August 2010, due to excessive working quantity and depressed emotion. It reflected that the boosting productive manag ement would lead the workers as dehumanized machines and the deterioration of dignity and well-being. In respond to the tragedy incidents, then the CEO Terry Gou Tai Ming advised that the workers signed the commitment of all kinds of suicides disregarding as the companys responsibility. He also attributed the suicides to personal problems, such as bad socialisation and finical debts, in order to obtain the grant amount of compensation offered by the company. Although the company initiated the action for the recovery of job satisfaction, the harsh management methodology was eventually not changed to contribute to job stress and burnout. For instance, the action invited counsellors to the factory, negotiated to make higher wage, established the hotline and Employee Care Centre, held an anti-suicide assembly and organised the activities for inspiration, but it is useless for reduce in job stress. Despite to carry out the emergency decision-making, there is a close relationship between poor wage and accommodation, harsh management and lack of health and safety protection (Chamberlain, 2011). First, the raised wage was slightly increased CNY 100 compared to the minimum wage (CNY 1250 per month) set by local government. This improvement is insufficient for living condition especially in Shenzhen where the monthly living wage should be CNY 2293 (Students Scholars Against Corporate Misbehaviour, 2010). In addition, each crowded dormitory can accommodate 24 workers and observer was told by a worker who was forced to sign confession letter after illicitly using a hairdryer (AM 730, 2011). Second, excessive and involuntary overtime is an apparently serious problem led to job stress and burnout. The report of SACOM (2010) revealed that workers had to work 10 hours and 6 days per week which means overtime adding up to 84 hours during the midst of series of suicides. The premium should generally be 1.5 or 2 times weekend hourly wage conformed to Labour Law, yet there is no bonus for overtime during weekend. Then, the frequent change of work shifts may be irregular that probably arrange the day and night shift in a day, are changed 2 to 3 times a month. The workers would not allow talking at work. Finally, the employer has responsibility to provide a safe work place and the effective protection and training the employees on occupational health by Occupational Disease Law of China. Unfortunately, 3 workers were diagnosed with leukaemia and 1 worker is anxious related to the harmful chemicals. Meanwhile, no personal protective equipment liked goggles and gloves would be provided when the workers operated a drill on his duty. The victims even need to pay medical fees themselves. An assistant of CEO explained to the criticism of anti-suicide commitment becoming over intensive and to the prohibition of talking during working in order to enhance the quality of productivity (The Liberty Times, 2011). Introduction While Economy becomes booming period, employer would make generous incomes by fulfil the demand. For example, the manufacturers would like to use existed production machines and a number of workforces in order to complete the orders and satisfy their clients. Responding to accomplishment of goals and targets, management may underestimate the front-line employees job difficulties and anxieties that results in turnover or potential negative outcome. This purpose is to analyse the threats of employees health and safety in Foxconn and to research the implication of leading organisation. Job stress and Burnout Job stress is defined as a relationship between employees mental or physical distress and working environment (Kahn Boysiere, 1994). Other definition may allow stress for improving performance that is the interaction of work conditions and employee personality with changing psychological functions (Beer Newman, 1978). However, the workers in Foxconn would not contribute to this improvement, the tragedies occurred under stress and harsh management instead. The main three stressors are job quality, relationship, and physical quality that yield to job burnout. Job burnout refers to a result of job stress that develops from the sustained situation that employees are unable to deal with the excessive demand resulting in physical, emotional and cognitive exhaustion (Hu Cheng, 2010). The degradation of job quality in Foxconn may compose of low wage and excessive work hours. The workers could not receive the compensation on overtime; even there is no internal (mental) or external (monetar y) reward. It would damage the job security and relationship between the employer and workers, then the company would be decreased the labour force due to the increasing resignation of workers. Another stressor is a lack of physical quality that results from irregular work hours and work-life imbalance. Consequently, the company should face the potential loss of revenue and take the responsibility of turnover. Emotional Labour Emotional labour plays a significant role in daily work life for employees and direct or indirectly influence to the company. For instance, the employees become emotional exhaustion and cognitive withdrawing from the job, and then finally resigned. Emotional labour is the regulation of emotion and emotional display at work that interact with customers, co-workers, and the public (Chau et al. 2009). The emotional labour consists of two categories are surface acting and deep acting. Surface acting refers as suppressing ones emotional and pretending to the desired emotional expression, while deep acting involves modifying actual ones feeling to show proper emotional display. Chau et al. stated that the surface acting would relate to the negative outcomes, such as turnover, or withdraw behaviour, due to emotional dissonance and internal exhaustion, whereas deep acting may reduce negative outcomes due to authentic and positive emotions. Acknowledge of deep acting for the employees perform s in Foxconn that can lead to decrease the emotional exhaustion and avoid the turnover intentions. Psychological Contract A psychological contract (PC) is considered as a mutual obligation that was established by both the employees and their employers regarding the terms and conditions of exchanging relationship (Kotter, 1973; Rousseau Tijoriwala, 1998). In other words, the expectations concern on what the employees owe their employers and on what their employers owe the employees in return (Ng Feldman, 2009). For example, the employers may provide the inducement, such as high pay or potential promotion, for the motivation to encourage the employees maximise effort. Nevertheless, the breach of psychological contract (BPC) could not reach the promise by either the employers or employees. Chen, Tsui and Zhong (2008) categorised into two types of BPC which are reneging and incongruence. Reneging occurs when employee breaks the promise, or the employer is unable to satisfy the promise. Incongruence occurs when the employee and employer have misunderstanding of the contract and promise. Obviously, the form er PBC is the Foxconn employers who violate the law and could not pay the overtime rate wage to compensate the employees effort. The excessive work quantity would be detrimental to their physical and psychological health that lead to depressive work condition and finally happened suicides. The latter BPC was analysed misunderstanding of the Foxconn employers driving the additional work hour into daily work quantity; on the other hands, employees would like to have a normal socialisation with certain work hour and well-being. Ironically, the employers made military management in order to achieve the productivity maximisation, but they neglected the employees job stress to seriously misunderstand that was the employees needs. The four methods can deal with BPC depending on age and work experience, because PC focuses on relatively young employees with relatively low work experience (Ng Feldman, 2009). The first method is exit that refers to voluntary withdraw behaviour. Flaherty and Pappas (2002) demonstrated that the older and more experienced workers have more likelihood to stability in their work live and less likelihood to intend to leave their employers. The second method is voice that the employees attempt to voice out to the employers yielding to improvement in work condition. On the other hand, it may increase the risk of retaliation from employers. Consequently, the younger and less work experienced employees should express their disappointment due to less malleable PC, while the older and more experienced employees should avoid using voice direct to employers in order not to decrease their job security. The third method is loyalty which involves silence or passion to negative work condition for remaining with an organisation. Generally, older and more experienced employees may have more flexible expectation to deal with interpersonal relationship problems. According the suicides at Foxconn in China record of SACOM (2010), the victims age range from 18 to 25 that belongs to young age or junior work age group. It implied the younger or less experienced employees that could not have appropriate expectation to overcome the difficulties. The last one is neglect in term of counterproductive behaviour that is lower involvement and greater workplace withdrawal. The older and more experienced employees would be less to engage in this method because of more malleability within the current firm and less replication in outside firm. In additional, other research showed that mentors and supervisors can support with BPC by providing career-related information and psychological support (Zagenczyk et al., 2009). The career-related support includes the provision as protection, visibility a nd sponsorship, while psychological support includes friendship, confirmation, acceptance and counselling. The supervisors would like to evaluate the performance as well as giving feedback to subordinates. Organisational Misbehaviour Organisational misbehaviour (OMB) is the intentional action that violates the shared organisational norms and expectation or unconventional practices which are not supposed to do at work (Vardi Wiener, 1996). Vardi and Wiener (1996) distinguished OMB into three types to influence in personal, organisation and others or organisations. OMB type S is intention to benefit self-interest which often occurred in internal organisation. For example, distorting data may obtain the high evaluation in order to increase the chance of promotion; stealing and selling the property from organisation take money into personal account; and harassing peers by handling the personal work task or gossip others is detrimental to other accounts of reputation. Type O OMB intends to benefit the employing organisation that usually occurred in external organisation. For instance, cheating other firms members is to obtain the contracts for the employing organisation. Type D OMB intends to hurt others or to damage the organisation that associated with both internal and external organisation. An example of type D is revenge in order to deriving the own satisfaction and responding to actual or perceived mistreatment. In addition to three types of OMB, workplace deviance and dysfunctional behaviour are important to analysis in the case. Workplace deviance refers as voluntary behaviour of organisation members that infringe upon the organisational norms due to threaten to the organisation or organisational members (Robbinson Bennett 1995). The latter considered as the behaviour instead of motivation, the action will carry the negative effect and consequence for an individual or group within organisation (Griffin, O Leary-Kelly Collins, 1998). Hence, dehumanised management in Foxconn belongs to type O that excessive work hours and low overtime paid would benefit to the organisational interest that encourage the profit maximisation. This action would deteriorate the relationship between employers and employees, and damage the employees socialisation and physical quality. Then, the supervisors forced to sign confession letter due to unintentional faults that attributes to workplace deviance because it should directly be detrimental to employees physical and mental aspects. Although the company attempted to allow the activities such as hotline and anti-suicide assembly, for motivating the employees, those activities would be compulsory to join and not be counted in their work hours. As a result, the behaviours would reverse the function of motivation that considered as dysfunctional behaviour. However, Shamsudin (2006) showed the ways to resist OMB that are personal counselling and surveys with questionnaires. Personal counselling is a primary solution that understands the reasons of OMB and the different standards of behaviours because employees may possess the different values, perception and norms. But personal counselling might not work when the OMB is in group, violent or criminal in nature, surveys can collect and analysis the whole employees perception and norms in order to avoid the conflicts in the relationship of employers and employees. Job quality Job quality can come from many dimensions that enhance job security and satisfaction. Consequently, understanding of job quality is significant to maintain employees in the organisation, and the likelihood of BPC can be decreased within the interaction of employees and employers. Job diagnostic survey is a job measurement that understands the degree of job quality (Hackman, 1975). The motivating potential score that add up skill variety, task identity and task significant to divided by three and then combine with autonomy and feedback. In addition, other studies expressed the job quality in America and Europe, so that can help to improve the situation of Foxconn. Handel (2005) explained that Fordism is a period which is the context of stable industrial system including American economic dominance, rising productivity and earning, steady or decreasing inequality, and robust employment growth. Neo-Fordist theory claims that job quality for most workers is in term of material reward and work pace which is the base principle of high pay, job security and career mobility due to inequality between management and labour in post-war market. Increasing job quality through Post-Fordist theory means the respect to both material (e.g. pay) and intrinsic (e.g. job challenge, autonomy and workplace cooperation) rewards and working condition (e.g. decreased physical workloads). Referring to Handels theory, post-Fordism period is similar as booming economy in China where real GDP grew at an average rate of 9.3% by foreign investments and become the worlds largest economy (Morrison, 2005). The Foxconn should increase the wage by the material reward, offer sufficient time and independence by intrinsic reward, and decrease the quantity of workload to diminish the possibility of job burnout. In European work market, the work-life balance and working time and training and career development are principles of job quality (ETUL, 2009). The management of Foxconn could provide the flex ible working arrangement by employees choosing working pattern themselves for balance the job stress and well-being in order to enhance the socialisation (Kelliher Aderson, 2009). Also, training and career development can expand the confidence in job task and identity. Conclusion In conclusion, Foxconn has made a military management to its employees as dehumanised treatment that drove the suicide tragedy. Job stress may contribute to job burnout that composed of excessive work quantity and low wage in Foxconn. Emotional labour could help to improve the turnover intention and emotional exhaustion by deep acting. PC is s mutual expectation involving employers and employees and BPC would fulfil PC which can use exit, voice, loyalty and neglect method to eliminate BPC depending on age or work experience. OMB type O should attribute to overtime and low wage deteriorate the relationship between employers and employees. In addition, the workplace deviance and dysfunctional behaviour could be detrimental to the relationship as well. Job quality is also significant to raise job security and satisfaction because job redesign is to change the role and return of career when the economy changed.

The War On Drugs | History

The War On Drugs | History Throughout history drugs have been nothing but a social problem, virtually a burden. Some of the most famous and influential people have been known to abuse drugs. Such individuals are Edgar Allen Poe who smoked opium in an attempt to make his poetry more creative, and musician Ray Charles, arrested in 1964 on drug charges. (Erowid) A rise in drug use began around the time when American soldiers came back home from the Vietnam War addicted to heroin. At that time, drugs were only being used by small group of people, and they were simply looked down upon. It was not until the late nineteen sixties when recreational drug use became fashionable among young, white, middle class American citizens that the United States Government put its foot down. (PBS) They started slowly, developing agencies like the (BNDD) Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, which was founded in 1968 by the Linden Johnson administration. Congress also started passing laws like the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevent ion and Control Act in 1970. It was not until June 17, 1971 when the war really started. At a press conference in the White House, President Richard Nixon officially declared war on drugs. He stated, Drug abuse is public enemy, number one in the United States. He also announced the creation of the (SAODAP) Special Action Office for Drug Abuse Prevention. Three years later on August 9, 1974, President Nixon resigned, but not before founding one the greatest assets for the war on drugs, the (DEA) Drug Enforcement Agency. Established in July of 1973, this super agency (PBS) consisted of agents from the CIA, Customs and ODALE. This agency was designed to handle all aspects of the drug problem in America and would be headed by Myles Ambrose. Throughout the first years of the program the DEA established their main focus; to stop the flow of marijuana from Mexico to America. Around the mid-seventies the enemy face began to change, the enemy was now cocaine and it was coming from the country of Colombia. On November 22, 1975 the Colombian police seized over 600 kilos of cocaine from a small plane at the Cali (Colombia) Airport. The plane was believed to be headed to Miami, Florida. The amount of cocaine that was seized that day was the largest cocaine bust to date. (PBS) The DEA, along with other agencies, are still fighting cocaine and many other drugs to this day. One of the reasons the war on drugs is lasting so long is because of the cost; the war on drugs is a very expense war. In the past, the government has spent around 10 billion dollars a year, this year alone (2011) over $14,000,000,000 is how much the federal government has spent on this seemingly, never-ending war. (Drug Sense) At this rate the cost per second will be over $600 per second by the end of the year! The reason the cost is so high is because there are so many different agencies and programs that need financial aid. Programs such as D.A.R.E and the Just Say No anti-drug campaign are some of the programs that such money is spent on. The Just Say No campaign was founded by Nancy Reagan in 1984 and was the centerpiece of the Reagan Administrations anti-drug campaign. (Wikipedia) The campaign mainly consisted of TV commercials and public advertisements, to keep kids from trying drugs. When the war on drugs first began to take shape in the early seventies, the government wanted to know where the illicit substances were coming from. In the beginning the answer was simply Mexico, they had previously imported in all of the marijuana in the sixties. The simple mom and pop cartels (small businesses) would grow the marijuana in their own backyard and smuggle it over the border into southern Texas. This and much larger operations are known as the Trafficking of drugs. (Wikipedia) After a few years of smuggling, the government caught on, so customs started cracking down on the border. This made the smugglers take to the air; they began using airplanes to get over the border. (Drug Library) The Mexican smuggling business began to slow down though, due to stricter regulations on customs and border patrol. The lack of business was also due to another factor; Americas drug of choice had changed. America now had a taste for cocaine and it was coming from the country of Colombia . Cocaine which is an extract of the cocoa bean is grown all over the country of Colombia. The country of Colombia is a nation made of poverty and corruption. Its main cash crop is coffee, but in reality its cocaine. It is speculated that in Colombia alone, there is over 150,000 hectares of coco plantations. (Transnational Institute) Colombia depends on cocaine; it is estimated 300,000 people are directly dependent on the cocaine economy. (icdc.com) Thousands of people are assassinated and kidnapped every year in Colombia, due to political violence. In 1989, three of the five Colombian presidential candidates were murdered; the Medellin drug cartel was mainly responsible for these violent atrocities. Medellin is one of Colombias biggest cities; it is located in central Colombia. Throughout the early seventies to the early nineties, Medellin was the cocaine capital of the world. In fact anyone using cocaine between the late seventies, early eighties, had a high chance of using cocaine from the Medellin Cartel. They invented the market for cocaine; they were the first people to ever be that successful in selling dope. The Medellin Cartel consisted of many people, but there was one man who controlled it all, the key figure on the other end of the war on drugs, the kingpin himself Pablo Escobar El Patron. (Wikipedia) Pablo was born in the most violent of times in Colombia, La Violenica a time of civil war in that nation. Around 1965 when Escobar was just 17, he dropped out of school, and then began selling cocaine, by 1976 he was arrested, but this did not stop him. By 1982 Escobar had become so powerful that he was elected congressman on the Colombian Parliament. (Wikipedia) He also purchased one of Colombias popular professional soccer teams (Escobar was a bil lionaire). By this time in Colombia, Escobar was looked at as a sort of Robin Hood (PBS) buying mass apartment complexes for the poor to live in, the poor loved him. He was unstoppable, that was until 1989, Escobar helped coordinate a terrorist campaign that shot down an airliner out of the sky. His men shot down the plane in attempt to kill the only presidential candidate in the Colombian election. (Wikipedia) After this incident the U.S. government made Escobar a military target, and began a so-called war with Escobar. Four years later, a vigilante death squad known only has the Los Pepes secretly composed of the Colombian Search Bloc, Ex Medellin cartel members, and American DEA agents, announced they intended to attack family members, friends, associates, and assets of Pablo Escobar until he was found. (Wikipedia) On March 4, 1993 the Los Pepes killed Escobars attorney Raul Zapata. Two days later the Los Pepes killed two more of Escobars attorneys, by this time the Los Pepes wer e brutally killing five to six people a day. On July 14, 1993 Col. Hugo Martinez, head of Search Bloc, met with U.S. Army Col. John Alexander and agreed to allow a ground-based U.S. listening post in Medellin(Freedom To Exhale) Finally on December 2, 1993, Colonel Martinez and his men tracked Escobar to his three million-dollar estate. As the Search Bloc went in to arrest him, Escobar ran out on the roof and he and his bodyguard Alvaro de Jesus Agudelo, fired at the squad. Because of this, the police were forced to gun both of them down. He died from multiple gunshot wounds the day after his birthday at the age of 44. This was the deathblow to the Medellin Cartel; business would never be the same in Medellin. Another country that is highly involved in drug trafficking in America is the country of Mexico. In the past, Mexico was primarily responsible for marijuana; today Mexico is responsible for many illicit substances coming into the United States, but mainly cocaine and marijuana. Today there are many drug cartels in Mexico, but the Arellano- Felix Organization (aka Tijuana Cartel) is by far the strongest. (Wikipedia) The Arellano-Felix Organization is North Americas most violent drug trafficking cartel. Based out of Tijuana, Mexico, for over a decade they shipped tons of cocaine, heroin and methamphetamines into the U.S. every year. Annual revenues are in the hundreds of millions. (DEA) The cartels strategy is to recruit Juniors; young educated upper class men with families living on both sides of the San Diego-Tijuana border, using them as their drug runners and hit men. They have single handedly killed hundreds of innocent people including the cardinal of a church in Mexico. They wer e on the FBIs ten most wanted list a couple years ago, but they are still on the loose. At the other end of the war on drugs, is treatment; treatment for the addiction to drugs. Addiction is one the most serious parts of the war on drugs, its the aftermath of having fun. (PBS) The Vietnam soldiers were some of the first people to suffer from heroin addiction. Psychiatrist Dr. Robert DuPont is a pioneer doctor in drug abuse treatment; he performed studies in Washington D.C. in 1969 of heroin addicts, and then convinced the mayor to allow him to provide methadone to the heroin addicts. This action resulted in the citys crime rate dropping. (PBS) Speaking of drug abuse addiction and treatment, the costs incurred needs mentioning. The cost of addiction can be devastating to the abusing person and the persons family. People trade in their cars, clothing, and shelter just to get a fix for their addiction. Moreover, the cost of rehabilitation is outrageous. Unless you are attending a free one, it can cost up to $1000 dollars a week. There are many public programs today for the sole purpose of keeping people clean. Programs such as Betty Ford, D.A.R.E, and many more are set up to keep people from drug abuse. In the end, the war on drugs is not a war to be won or lost; it all boils down to personal choice; to do drugs, or not to do drugs. Hopefully the choice is not to do drugs. Also, the complete ceasing of illegal drug smuggling into the United States is virtually impossible. For one, the 2,000 miles of border separating the U.S. and Mexico, as well as the coastal areas, make it tough to stop all drug trade from the south. I also suspect that government corruption on both sides of the border allow for many of these illegal substances to make their way into this nation, as it generates enormous amounts of money. After all, it is all about the money and power.

A Rewrite of the Ending (Chapter XX) of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray :: Picture Dorian Gray

A Rewrite of the Ending (Chapter XX) of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray It was a lovely night, so warm that Dorian threw his coat over his arm, and did not even put his silk scarf round his throat. A sealed envelope fell out of his coat pocket. It was from Basil’s Gladstone bag that Dorian had rummaged through before throwing into the fire. In his recent preoccupation, Dorian had forgotten all about the envelope. He now stooped to pick up the fallen envelope and broke open its seal. Out fell a small watercolour portrait. An angelic face stared back at Dorian and it was of himself. Oh Basil! Why? The portrait was painted with love, Dorian could see that. His eyes glistened in the moonlight. What had he done to his good friend? Distractedly, Dorian put the portrait and the envelope back into his coat pocket, lit a cigarette, and hurried toward home. Two young men in evening dress passed him. He heard one of them whisper to the other, â€Å"That is Dorian Gray.† He remembered how pleased he used to be when he was pointed out, or stared at, or talked about. He was tired of hearing his own name now. Suddenly, one of the young men called out to him: â€Å"Mr. Gray.† Dorian spun around. The one who had called out to him now said, â€Å"Tell us, Mr. Gray, what is your secret?† Dorian cried, â€Å"What secret?† â€Å"Your secret to eternal youth. It is witchcraft, the villagers say.† It was the first time that anyone had directly questioned his appearance and Dorian did not know what to answer. Biting his lower lip, Dorian faintly replied, â€Å"How inquiring you young men are! What good is eternal youth?† â€Å"What good?† cried the young men. â€Å"Wild adoration from charming ladies and great admiration from seekers of truth and beauty!† â€Å"Do not speak of what you know not!† â€Å"You have bewitched all the women in this town, Mr. Gray. And they have suffered for it. What is your secret?† â€Å"Are you saying that you wish for your young women to suffer?† Dorian’s eyes flashed with regret and anger. With that, he turned around and walked quickly home. Behind him, he heard the two young men yell. He thought he caught the words â€Å"Basil† and â€Å"murder.† With a shiver, Dorian stepped into his home and found his servant waiting up for him.

Red Dwarf :: essays research papers

Red Dwarf, by Rob Grant & Doug Naylor Red dwarf was written in collaboration by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor. However on the cover of the book the author is called Grant Naylor and is referred to as a â€Å"Gestalt entity† giving the reader a clue as to what style the book is going to take. The BBC television series of the same name is based on this book but the events of the book and series are quite different and in my opinion the book is superior. The central character of this book is Dave Lister and it focuses on his journey through space which brings him farther and farther from the planet of his birth. The other characters in the book are Arnold Rimmer (the hologram of a third grade technician who was killed by a nuclear explosion, which had the power of a neutron bomb); Holly (a computer that once had an IQ of 6000 but went computer senile due to 3 million years alone in deep space;) and Cat (a humanoid whose race evolved from a cat which was protected from the radiation, in the ship’s hold). The first stage of Lister’s journey began on his 25 birthday. He decided to take a monopoly board pub crawl around London. When he woke up with a huge hangover he was on Mimas (one of Saturn’s moons) with no money wearing a lady’s hat and a pair of yellow fishing waders and a passport/work permit made out in the name of Emily Berkenstein. Since he had no work permit he could not earn enough money to buy his way off the moon and so the only way he could think of to get home was to join the Space Corps on the mining ship Red Dwarf. His plan was to work his way round the solar system until he reached Earth, then he would go AWOL. However this plan was altered when something drastic befell him, he fell in love. For five weeks the boring monotony of ship life was bearable but then Kristine Kochanski broke it off with him. This made life on ship unbearable and so he formulated a plan by which he could get to Earth sooner (at least from his perspective). He bought a cat on one of his shore leave holidays and then took pictures of himself and the cat to be developed to make sure he was caught.

Patient Satisfaction

Patient satisfaction is critically important to the health care industry today due to the competitive nature of the field. Patients have many choices when it comes to seeking medical attention, and hospitals are dependent on return business to stay operational. Hospitals have traditionally utilized the semi-private room model in order to increase profitability. A semi-private room is a room shared by two patients. Each patient is given their own bed, but they usually share a single bathroom. Unfortunately the financial practice of using semi-private rooms comes at the expense of patient satisfaction. Research has shown that private rooms increase patient satisfaction, because of the decreased likelihood of nosocomial infection, a quieter environment, and the inherent privacy afforded when conducting patient care. Nosocomial Infection Perhaps the biggest challenge facing healthcare today is the epidemic of hospital acquired (nosocomial) infection. Patients come to the hospital for varying degrees of injury, or illness with the expectation of receiving medical treatment. What they are not expecting is exposure to potentially life threatening infections during their stay. According to a joint study by Jimma University and Addis Ababa University the most common causative agent found in nosocomial infection is Staphylococcus aureus. This harmful pathogen can be transmitted via direct or indirect contact. This means the pathogen can be transmitted by patient to patient contact, staff to patient contact, or the sharing of a common surface like a toilet seat (Bereket et al. , 2012). Patients in private rooms are far less likely to come into contact with each other, shared surfaces, or shared medical equipment all of which can harbor infectious microorganisms (Skocynska et al. , 2012). Standardizing the practice of private rooms can greatly reduce nosocomial infection rates within patient populations. Patient's who contract nosocomial infection are bound to have lower satisfaction rates. By reducing the nosocomial infection rate hospitals can ensure increased patient satisfaction. To make matters worse strains of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) are becoming commonplace. MRSA is easily transmittable and resistant to most commonly used antimicrobial agents (Bereket et al. , 2012). Nosocomial infections such as MRSA result in increased length of stay, higher morbidity rates, and increased cost of hospitalization. Recent studies have shown that each exposure to a new roommate in the hospital setting results in a 10% increase in the risk of acquiring MRSA (Stall, 2012). Private rooms eliminate the possibility of exposure to MRSA infection related to roommates in the hospital setting, which vastly reduces the rate of hospital acquired MRSA infections amongst all patient populations. Reducing the spread of MRSA can result in decreased length of stay, lower morbidity rates, and decreased cost of hospitalization. A hospital concerned about patient satisfaction can see the value that private rooms have to offer when it comes to reducing MRSA exposure. Proper hygiene is also of major concern where nosocomial infection is concerned. Unfortunately staff members are usually to blame for spreading infectious microorganisms from one patient to the next. Studies have shown healthcare professionals are more likely to perform hand hygiene between patient rooms rather than between beds in the same room (Bereket et al. , 2012). This is not necessarily due to a failing on the part of healthcare professionals, but a failing of healthcare systems utilizing semi private rooms. Take this scenario for instance: a nurse is working with a patient in a semiprivate room when suddenly the bed alarm goes off on the neighboring bed. The roommate is an elderly female with Alzheimer's-dementia who recently fell at home and suffered a fractured hip. The nurse has already been in physical contact with one patient and now has to take action in order to prevent the roommate from falling. The nurse must act quickly to prevent a fall-related injury and does not have time to perform hand hygiene before assisting the roommate back to bed. This nurse would not have been put in such a position had her patients been placed in private rooms to begin with. Standardizing the use of private rooms prevents situations such as the above from occurring, promotes proper hand hygiene amongst healthcare professionals, and protects patients from unnecessary exposure to nosocomial infection. Peace and Quiet Nosocomial infection is not the only issue having a devastating effect on patient satisfaction. In fact the most common complaints in hospitals today are noise related (Eggertson, 2012). With patient satisfaction being of paramount importance hospital systems should be paying close attention to what bothers their patients. Loud roommates, visitors, medical alarms, and television sets can worsen an already noisy environment for a patient trying to get some much needed rest. Some patients need more frequent monitoring than others. A post-operative patient may need to have their vital signs checked hourly, a diabetic may need to have their blood sugars checked regularly, and a patient on a high risk infusion may need constant monitoring. This can be extremely disrupting for the patient in the neighboring bed. Some patient's may also have numerous visitors, watch TV late at night, or be just generally disruptive to their neighbor. Private rooms may not address all noise complaints in the hospital, but will at the very least resolve those related to roommates. Considering this issue is the number one patient complaint in hospitals today it is guaranteed to increase patient satisfaction. In addition to being the number one patient complaint excessive noise has been proven to cause sleep disturbances in hospitalized patients. Sleep disturbances result in increased lengths of stay, increased morbidity, and higher costs of care (Buxton et al. , 2012). Patients recovering from surgery or acute illness need undisturbed rest periods for proper healing. An unnecessarily extended, complicated, and expensive hospital stay caused by sleep deprivation is extremely detrimental to patient satisfaction. Private rooms increase the quality of sleep, reduce lengths of stay, decrease morbidity, and result in a lower cost of care. These factors result in increased patient satisfaction. Noise-related issues in hospitals not only affect the adult population, but can have deleterious effects on the infant population as well. The neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) often places infants in nurseries where multiple babies are cared for in the same room. NICUs consist of high risk infants with varying degrees of illness. Some of the infants being cared for require constant monitoring and intervention. This can result in a very ill infant receiving care that involves noisy alarms, life saving machinery, and ongoing care-related activity. The result is sleep disturbances, increased tress levels, and compromised healing processes for all infants in the room. Placing infants in private rooms eliminates the noise concerns created by the delivery of care for other infants and facilitates family interaction with the ill infant (Feldman, 2009). This results in better outcomes for the infants and happier parents. Considering the fact that infants are not old enough to make decisio ns regarding where to seek medical treatment, it is necessary for hospitals to recognize that parental perception of infant care is of paramount importance to patient satisfaction. Respecting Privacy Another large concern affecting patient satisfaction is related to patient privacy. In 1996 the U. S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) instituted the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in order to protect patient privacy (HHS, 2013). HIPAA violations can have a devastating effect on a hospital's financial health, with each violation resulting in up to $1. 5 million in penalties annually (AMA, 2012). In a financially unstable economy with reimbursement rates at an all time low these penalties can add to existing budget deficits. Budget deficits in a healthcare system result in understaffing, which leads to disgruntled employees and higher patient-to-staff ratios. Understaffing leads to the degradation of patient care. A prime example of this is call bell response time. Patients do not appreciate having to wait twenty minutes for a staff member to respond to a call button. When there is a high patient to staff ratio the time it takes for staff to respond to each patient call lengthens. Unfortunately when hospital administrators make budget cuts, cutting staffing is usually where they begin. Private rooms can help prevent HIPAA violations from occurring during the delivery of care, which can save a hospital millions of dollars in penalties, and allow greater financial resources for staffing needs. A financially healthy hospital can afford to keep a reasonable patient-to-staff ratio, which allows for staff members to deliver quality care in a timely fashion, and results in greater patient satisfaction. The financial repercussions of HIPAA violations are not the only concern when it comes to patient privacy. Patient perception of measures taken to protect privacy during hospitalization has a great impact on patient satisfaction. Performing patient care while maintaining a patient's right to privacy is nearly impossible in a semi-private room. A study conducted by Juliet Whitehead and Dr. Herman Wheeler shows that patients define and conceptualize privacy by the following criteria: â€Å"Privacy of information, e. g. having one's conversation being not over heard. Privacy of person and body, e. g. not being viewed during one's private moments. Having one's own personal space. † (Whitehead & Wheeler, 2008). The very concept of sharing a room with another person makes it extremely difficult to conceptualize having personal space. The delivery of care almost always involves private bodily functions and the sharing of private information. Privacy cannot be reasonably protected in the delivery of care when two patients share a room with nothing but a curtain separating them. Private rooms increase a patient's perception of the privacy they experience during their stay, which is of great importance in increasing patient satisfaction levels. The most common form of HIPAA violations occur when healthcare is being delivered to a patient in the presence of others without obtaining the patient's informed consent (Ziel, 2004). In a semi-private room a nurse has to ask her patient if it is OK to discuss details of the patient's care in front of anyone who happens to be present at the moment. If the patient does not agree the nurse is required to provide a private setting in which to discuss, or deliver care. This means that if a patient is in a semi-private room the nurse is required to move her patient to a private area, or ask the roommate to leave while care is performed. In reality it does not happen this way in the hospital setting. Care is delivered regardless of whether or not there is a roommate present. Nurses do ask visitors to leave the room while delivering care if a patient requests, but do not ask other patients to do so. This means that privacy violations occur multiple times a day to patients in semi-private rooms. The use of private rooms makes it much easier to deliver care while protecting patient privacy and thereby increases patient satisfaction. Conclusion With the ever growing research indicating that private rooms increase patient satisfaction it is truly a wonder why some hospital systems continue to argue against the switch to private patient rooms. Whether by decreasing nosocomial infection rates, providing quieter environments, or increasing patient privacy the use of private rooms clearly has a positive impact on patient satisfaction. In an extremely competitive economy where patients have a choice where they will seek medical attention it seems only logical that patient satisfaction should be a top priority when considering the choice between private or semi-private rooms. Hospitals that chose to listen to their patient population will soon realize that private rooms result in greater patient satisfaction and return business. References American Medical Association (2013). HIPAA Violations and Enforcement. Retrieved from https://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/physician-resources/solutions-managing-your-practice/coding-billing-insurance/hipaahealth-insurance-portability-accountability-act/hipaa-violations-enforcement.page Bereket, W., Hemalatha, K., Getenet, B., Wondwossen, T., Solomon, A., Zeynudin, A., & Kannan, S. (2012). Update on bacterial nosocomial infections.  European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences,  16(8), 1039-1044. Buxton, O., Ellenbogen, J., Wang, W., Carballeira, A., O'Connor, S., Cooper, D., & †¦ Solet, J. (2012). Sleep disruption due to hospital noises: a prospective evaluation.  Annals of Internal Medicine,  157(3), 170-179. doi:10.7326/0003-4819-157-3-201208070-00472 Eggertson, L. (2012). Hospital noise.  The Canadian Nurse,  108(4), 28-31. Feldman, L. (2009). Patient safety. Private rooms becoming the standard in NICUs. Hospitals & Health Networks/AHA, 83(11), 10. Lorenz , S., & Dreher, H. (2011). Hospital room design and health outcomes of the aging adult.  Herd,  4(2), 23-35. SkoczyÅ„ska, A., Sadowy, E., Krawiecka, D., Czajkowska-Malinowska, M., Ciesielska, A., Przybylski, G., & †¦ Hryniewicz, W. (2012). Nosocomial outbreak of Streptococcus pneumoniae Spain9VST15614 clone in a pulmonary diseases ward.  Polskie Archiwum Medycyny WewnÄ™trznej,  122(7-8), 361-366. Stall, N. (2012). Private rooms: a choice between infection and profit. CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal = Journal De L'association

Surrogacy in India

The essay, â€Å"Inside India's surrogacy industry†, talked about how the surrogacy industry made an impact on India. Being a socially conservative country, India surprisingly does not reject the idea but rather supportive of it. The confederation of Indian industry reported that by 2012, the practice of surrogacy will generate 2. 3 billion dollars. Why is this industry advancing so fast in India? First of all, commercial surrogacy is legal in India, while it is still banned in many other countries. With the business growing so fast, the government is drafting laws to make sure surrogacy is not being privatized. The government is setting the age limit of the surrogate mother to 35 and can only have the maximum of 5 pregnancies, including their own children. Another reason that surrogate mothers are so popular in India is the pricing. In western countries, surrogacy can cost up to 90,000 dollars but in India, the surrogates are only being paid around 6500 to 7500, which is the sum of their income for several years. While this seems like a perfect balance of supply and demand, it does raise some alarming questions. Has the need for survival or simply living a better life twisted the fabric of traditional human beliefs? India, a religious and conservative country, allows their women to simply â€Å"rent† out their wombs. To my understanding, the ability to reproduce is a gift from god. Putting a price tag on something so precious and sacred is no better than prostitution. If prostitution is illegal, then why shouldn't paid surrogacy be? If compared, prostitution may create less long term problem than the surrogate business. Another problem that we should realize is that the Western side of the world should not bring their problems to the east. Child labor and sex related business in China, underage sex trade in Thailand and Indonesia and more other problems were brought in by the westerners. Anything they could not fulfill in their countries, were brought to the weaker east. At times, the supply and demand rule apply but so do many social and health problems. Children who work in sweat shops do not get proper education and they will only remain working in the shop. Children who sell their bodies at a young age were misled to believe that it is a proper method for survival. Surrogacy is not the world's most critical problem but it does touch on many ethnical issues . What needs to be done is carefully review different possibilities and draft laws to heavily regulate. Being able to reproduce is a gift , not a business.

Eat Well, Feel Better. the Link Between What We Eat and Our Mental Health

Eat well, feel better. The link between what we eat and our mental health. Table of contents 1 Introduction Page 2 1. 1 Background information Page 2 1. 2 Aim Page 2 1 Methodology Page 2 2. 3 Primary research Page 2 2. Secondary research Page 2 3 Findings Page 3 3. 1 What is mental illness Page 3 3. 2 The link between food and mental health Page 4 4 Conclusions Page 5 5 Recommendations Page 6 6 Bibliography Page 7 . Introduction 1. 1 Background Information In recent years there has been an increase of mental health problems in our society. According to the Department of Health(2012) one in four adults experience mental illness at some point during their lifetime and one in six experience symptoms of mental illness – thus making it the largest single cause of disability in our society. Many people choose to take control of their mental health by using self-help approaches alongside, or even instead of, prescribed medication and talking therapies.Making changes to diet and eat ing habits is just one approach that some people have used to help improve their mental well-being. The links between diet and mental health are less clearly understood than links between diet and physical health. There are some generally accepted trends and pieces of advice than can help when thinking about what you eat and drink. 1. 2 Aim This report is going to outline what mental health is and how it affects people. It is going to research how what you eat affects your mental health and how eating or not eating certain foods can contribute to a person’s mental wellbeing.It is also going to suggest the types of foods that are good to help maintain mental wellbeing and tell the reader why and how these foods make a person with mental health problems feel. 2. Methodology 2. 1Primary research The time allotted for this report did not allow for any accurate primary research to be done as this would have involved drawing up questionnaires, handing them out to a target group, co llecting them in and analysing the findings all of which would be a time consuming task. 2. 2 Secondary Research In the report secondary sources from various websites are the main source of information.There is limited information in books about this as it is a very current topic and websites such as www. mind. org and www. sustainweb. org have been carrying out research on this subject and have a lot of valuable information. 3. Findings 3. 1 what is mental illness Mental illness is a term used when someone experiences significant changes in their thinking, feelings or behavior. The changes are usually bad enough to affect how the person functions and can cause distress to them or to other people. It may cause Anxiety, Depression, Suicidal Thoughts, Sleep Deprivation and a general feeling of unease and despair.A person with a mental illness sees things differently than a person without a mental illness and something simple to a non-sufferer can be life changing to a sufferer and can lead to the illness taking over where it is a downwards spiral in to the depths of depression. This then become a vicious circle of depression leading to the sleep deprivation which in turn leads to anxiety attacks which can then lead to feelings of despair and maybe even suicidal thoughts which then brings the sufferer straight back to the beginning were they are anxious about what might happen next and starts the circle all over gain. 3. 2 Research According to Youngminds(2012) there is increasing evidence of a link between what we eat and how we feel. This is called the ‘food – mood’ connection. How we feel influences what we choose to eat or drink and vice versa – and a healthy diet can help to protect our mental health. Mental health problems are believed to be the result of a combination of factors, including age, genetics and environmental factors. One of the most obvious, yet under-recognised factors in the development of major trends in mental he alth is the role of nutrition.Sustain(2010) indicates that a balanced mood and feelings of well-being can be helped by ensuring that our diet provides adequate amounts of certain foods such as foods that contain;- * Complex carbohydrates, Glucose from the carbohydrates we eat provides the brain’s main source of fuel. Without this fuel, we can’t think clearly. Some carbs are better than others. Sugar, white pasta and biscuits will only give you a short burst of energy. You'll feel tired and grumpy when the sugar high wears off and for someone with mental health issues this could then trigger a series of emotions. . If you eat lots of sugary foods, fizzy drinks and stimulants such as coffee, tea or alcohol, your blood sugar levels go up and down. This can make you irritable, anxious, and dizzy, it can also lead to poor concentration and aggressive behaviour. Complex carbohydrates†, such as wholegrain, beans and vegetables, are a better choice because they give you sustained energy and you don’t get that come down feeling when they wear off. * Essential fats, Essential fats, found mainly in oily fish, seeds and nuts, cannot be made within the body, so we have to get them from food.Sixty per cent of the brain is made of fat, and the fats we eat directly affect its structure. A lack of omega-3 fatty acids has been linked to various mental health problems, including depression and lack of concentration. * Amino acids, Proteins found mainly in meat, fish and soya products are broken down in the body to be used as amino acids, which are vital to good mental health. Brain messengers are made in the body from the proteins that we eat. If we don't get enough amino acids it can lead to feelings of depression, apathy, lack of motivation or tension. * Vitamins and mineralsVitamins such as b ,c , e and folate along with minerals such as zinc and magnesium which are found in foods such as green leafy vegetables ,eggs ,red meat ,yeasts ,nuts, whole g rains and fruits are all good to help combat mental health issues. * Water is also very good. This is also backed up by information given by Youngminds(2012) and sustain(2012). This is, of course, the same type of healthy balanced diet that is widely recommended to reduce our risk of developing coronary heart disease, strokes, a range of cancers, diabetes and a number of digestive disorders and conditions.The diet that would give us the right amount and balance of these nutrients would contain: * lots of different vegetables and fruit * a wide variety of whole grains, * nuts, seeds and legumes, * and some occasional oily fish, lean meat and dairy products. Mind(2012) says the body of evidence linking diet and mental health is growing at a rapid pace. As well as its impact on short and long-term mental health, the evidence indicates that food plays an important contributing role in the development, management and prevention of specific mental health problems such as * depression, sch izophrenia, * attention deficit hyperactivity disorder(ADHD), * Alzheimer’s disease. This is also backed up by sustain(2010) and mentalhealthfoundation(2012). The evidence so far does not show that these conditions can be prevented or cured by diet alone. However, evidence is accumulating that the combination of polyunsaturated fats, minerals and vitamins may help to: †¢relieve the symptoms of some mental illnesses; †¢improve the effectiveness of medication for some conditions; and †¢reduce the unpleasant side-effects of some medications.Comfort eating is another symptom of mental health issues, eating or drinking the foods that give false highs but also bring that depressed low feeling when the effects of the chemicals released in the brain ware off. Mind(2012) states If you eat lots of sugary foods, fizzy drinks and stimulants such as coffee, tea or alcohol, your blood sugar levels go up and down. This can make you irritable, anxious, and dizzy, It can also l ead to poor concentration and aggressive behaviour.Even with all the information that is out there not many people realise the link between food and mental health. Mentalhealthfeedingminds(2012) states that the role of diet in the nation’s mental health has yet to be fully understood and embraced, and shifts in policy and practice have been slow to materialise. Possible reasons include a lack of awareness of the evidence, scepticism as to its quality and vested interests in other treatments and approaches. 4. ConclusionsThe aim of this report was to show the link between food and mental health and to show how certain foods effect how we feel. Whilst researching this topic the author found that there is a definite link between food and mental health although not enough research has been done in this area to allow for an extensive report to be carried out. The websites that have researched this issue are trusted and credible websites but they lack the resources to investigate f urther or carry out primary research on this matter. 5. RecommendationsA recommendation would be for extensive medical research to be carried out in this area with doctors and nutritionist working together to teach people with mental health issues how to help themselves by maintaining a healthy and balanced diet. Also primary research should be done on a target group of people with mental health issues were they keep a food diary of what they eat for a period of time noting how they felt and if there was an improvement on their mental health. References Bibliography * Departmentofhealth. (2012)Mentalhealth. Available from. www. dh. gov. uk. (Accessed02/10/2012). Ispsuk. (2012). What is mental illness and what is mental health? Availablefrom. www. ispsuk. org(2012. Accessed. 04/10/2012 * Mentalhealthintheuk. (2012). Mindguidetofoodandmood. Available from. www. mentalhealthintheuk. co. uk/Mindguidetofood. pdf. Accessed02/10/2012 * Mentalhealthfoundation. (2012). DietandMentalHealth. A vailablefromwww. mentalhealth. org. uk/help-information/mental-health-a-z/D/diet. 2012. Accessed. 04/10/2012 * Mentalhealthy. (2012). Self-help Depression Availablefrom;www. mentalhealthy. co. uk/lifestyle/mind-food/food-for-good-mental-health. Accessed03. 0. 2012 * Mindforbettermentalhealth. (2012). Mind guide to food and mood. Availablefrom;www. mind. org. uk/help/medical_and_alternative_care/food_and_mood-the_mind_guide. Accessed. 02. 10. 2012. * Sustainweb. (2010). Howarefoodandmentalhealthrelated? Availablefrom;. www. sustainweb. org/foodandmentalhealth. Accessed. 02/10/2012. * Youngminds. (2012). Youngmindsthevoiceofyoungpeoplesmentalhealthandwellbeing. availablefrom;http://www. youngminds. org. uk/for_children_young_people/better_mental_health/look_after_your_body? gclid=CJWfjqiRurMCFUVZ3godwEEAFQ. A ccessed. 02. 10. 2012.