My Hero, My Grandfather Essay example -- Personal Narrative

My Hero, My Grandfather My grandfather was a very loving man, he loved his family more than anything he had known. The only thing that could compare to his love for his family, was his love for his country. In his life he would have to make many sacrifices for his country, and the second would be supporting his wife and kids. He took on hardships with ease, he always had a certain calmness to him, this is something I idolize about him, I would like to learn how to act this way. He’s my hero because he was special, not like anyone else I have ever met, he knew he was special, but he never he never flaunted it. In this essay I will try to paint a picture of my hero, and give examples of why my grandfather is my hero. In January of 1933, my grandfather was born in the small Pennsylvania town of McKees Rocks. The second of five children, an older sister Joan, and three little brothers Terrance, John, and Jerome, all to their parents Robert W. Hileman and Katheryn Conolly Hileman. My grandfathers’ childhood was difficult, because it was part of this depression. When he was a kid his food was rationed, his family was only allowed so much of certain items sugar, meat, butter, and other certain things. When he was twelve years old, he got a job at a deli slicing meat, he did this to help his family out, this demonstrates that even at a young age he was willing to do whatever it took to help out what with he called â€Å"the cause†, or his family. His parents were very hard workers, his father was an air brake mechanic, at the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad, he would put in long hard hours, to support his family. His mother was forced to work during World War II, she worked at a mill doing riveting work, later she worked at Bell Telephone. They were a very loving family, but work came first, this left very little time for their kids. My grandfather being the oldest son, was expected to help out more, one time when he was about twelve years old, his mom told him â€Å"Bobby, go to the store, and get me some bread† he said â€Å"OK.† Even though he did not want to go get it, he did it anyway, but as he went to get the bread, he became angry that he had to go get it, so when he got back to the house he had thrown the bread onto the roof of the house. This story has great meaning to me, because it was very rare that he would act out this extreme, espec... ...al use, instead of saving it for the soldiers who needed it. He would also tell me stories about how he and his friends would acquire food, by eating dog, tree bark, and broken up watermelon. He told me a story about when he was hungry, and he went into a territory occupied by the enemy to steal pieces of watermelon for himself and his friends. This is another example of him making sacrifices. he told me â€Å"I signed up to find adventure, like John Wayne, and boy did I get it.† Sometimes I think this was a dumb reason, but I respect that he was honest, and told me one reason he wanted to go to war, he also said he thought it would have been better than what he had at home. When he retired, he and my grandmother would go on many vacations, many would be to patriotic sites like Gettysburg, Washington DC, Virginia, and even some historic sites in Canada. By doing this he showed his love for his country, and history itself, he would do everything to the fullest. He raised his family to the best of his ability, he was a good family man, and a hard worker that endured whatever confronted him. This is why he is my hero, because of his strength and his will to make sacrifices.

Influence of Sex in Society

Sex plays a major role in today's society. From television, radio, music, and advertisements, to video games, the Internet, and even art and pictures, all forms of media use sex to help sell their products. With the public being exposed to so many different types, the overuse and exploitation of sex is common. Is sex a useful tool, or a ploy to get the attention of the public? Before discussing sex in the media, one must understand why it has come to be that people use sex as a gimmick. â€Å"The writing of modern history has resulted in a viewpoint that is nothing short of a stag party. The history of women is ignored, hushed up, and censored in the most literal sense of the term. This method of eliminating the social and political destiny of half of humanity is the most effective form of supremacy. † (Janssen-Jurreit, 1982, pp. 15-16) The world we live in today is still man-made, no less now then in the nineteenth century. Eve Zaremba states in Privilege of Sex: â€Å"Women's self-awareness as females has until very recently reflected the world's (i. e. men's) image of them; how well their personal performance matched male expectations. As English Canadians began to develop an identity in 19th century society, they mirrored the â€Å"ideals† for women of the Victorian period: gentility, weakness, ignorance and submissiveness. (Zaremba, 1974, p. i ) These individual roles, as described by Oneill and Leone in Male/Female Roles: Opposing Viewpoints as the relationship of a man or woman to society on the basis of gender, became essential in shaping male and female attitudes towards one another. Over the past twenty years remarkable changes in these traditional male and female roles have been witnessed. The subsequent impact on men, women, and families due to these changes is believed to be, by many social historians, caused by the re-emergence of the women's movement. (p. 13) Though a positive alteration of roles has occurred, how is it that children of this century still may obey stereotypes? â€Å"A baby is born knowing nothing, but full of potential. † (p. 19) Oneill and Leone believe that the process by which an individual becomes a creature of society, a socialized human being, reflects culturally defined roles and norms. The first crucial question asked by the parents of a newborn baby is â€Å"What is it? A boy or a girl? † (p. 25) Other queries about attributes of health and physical conditions are only brought up afterwards, the first priority is to establish its sex. † Indeed, almost immediately, gender identity is permanently stamped on the child by the name it is given. † (p. 26) Recent research has established beyond a doubt that males and females are born with a different set of â€Å"instructions† built into their genetic code. Studies at Harvard University and elsewhere show that marked differences between male and female baby behaviour are already obvious in the first months of life. Females are more oriented towards people. Male infants, on the other hand, are more interested in â€Å"things. † Stanford psychologists Karl Pribram and Dianne McGuinness conclude that women are â€Å"communicative† animals while men are â€Å"manipulative† animals. Some people believe this is hereditary, while others think that if boys and girls were brought up in exactly the same way then all behavioral differences between men and women would evaporate. Beginning in early adolescence, children develop their own ideas of male and female roles with the perception of the conduct and activities of his or her parents and other adults in their world, including characters on television. Young people are exposed to advertising from a very early age. The effect, says the Ontario Ministry of Education, especially of advertising on television, â€Å"has a significant bearing on girls' and boys' behaviour, and their aspirations. To most children the commercial message is another piece of information received from the television set. It is often difficult for them to distinguish truth from fiction, particularly when the fiction is packaged in compelling words, striking images, and catchy music. † (Ontario Ministry of Education, 1975, pp. 5-7) An overwhelming amount of the visualizations that young kids see are the stereotypical images of women and girls. â€Å"This almost makes it seem legitimized, states Hon. David Macdonald, as it is reinforced and perpetuated by the mass dissemination of these images in broadcasting. (Macdonald, 1979, p. 3) Children know in their minds that women, like men, come in all ages, shapes, sizes, and colours, but they do not see this represented in the broadcast media. The increasing diversity of women's lives is also omitted in most broadcasting. For example, commercials and programming most often portray women as mothers performing domestic tasks, as economically dependent homemakers, or as sexual lures for products or decorative objects. â€Å"Such images constitute a limiting or narrowing of women's, men's, and children's perceptions of themselves and their roles in society. † (pp. -5) Sheila Copps made public her comments that â€Å"sexist and racist stereotypes were prominent in advertising. † (Curtis, 1996, p. 6) A member of the Canadian Advertising Foundation (CAF), Patrick McDougall, fired back by saying Copps had no clue what the CAF does and adds that Canadian advertising has immensely cleaned up its act and that there is very little if any sexist advertising being broadcasted. (p. 6) The overall content of television nowadays has changed dramatically from that of the past. Today characters deal more and more with important issues such as teen pregnancy, stds, spousal abuse, and birth control. Impoco, 1996, p. 58) Five to ten years ago, this subject matter was unheard of for use in programming content, as TV families tended to be occupied with trivial things such as outrageous clothing and hairstyles. Although Canadians have improved their broadcasting standards, not everyone is completely following their trend. In an intensive study done on American programming, it was found that a sexual act or reference occurred every four minutes on average during prime time. (p. 59) â€Å"Sex Sells,† the old adage goes. (Menzies, 1996, p. ) Sexiness, as a component of the good life, is a staple for advertisers – Coca-Cola decorated its drug-store posters at the turn of the century with coquettish young women who male drinkers wished to date and female drinkers to emulate. (Carter, 1996, p. 53) Finnish yogurt makers ran an ad with hot, young, well-built Finnish boys holding containers of yogurt, with the slogan â€Å"Less fat, more taste†¦. Eat it. † This aroused a scandal and nationwide debate. A formal pole was conducted on these ads and some interesting statistics were produced. Two-thirds of respondents were male, and two-thirds thought the ad was sexist. There was a sharp contrast in the female contingent, as the vast majority of whom thought the ads were sexy and quite acceptable (Holland, 1996, p. 31) These stats just prove that when the shoe is on the other foot, women view ads much in the same way that men do, and men are offended at seeing themselves portrayed as objects. Nowadays everyone seems so sensitive about anything brought up in the media. â€Å"Even when it comes to the etiquette of using sex appeal in advertising, it seems that there is a wrong way (exploit women) and a right way (exploit men). The pendulum has swung the other way now. If one is to gaze upon an exposed chest in an ad these days, chances are it belongs to a man. Male models have emerged as the politically correct â€Å"babes† of the 90's. Yet, pray tell, where is the massive public outcry? † (Menzies, 1996, p. 9) Mediawatch, an organization that â€Å"monitors† the depiction of women and girls in the media, admits that you certainly see more naked male flesh today, than you did three years ago. They contend that the effects of objectification on men and women aren't equal because â€Å"men and women aren't equal to begin with. Author of this column, David Menzies writes â€Å"Hmmm, I still dunno. Isn't a double standard, by any other name, still a double standard? † (p. 9) There is another more serious problem then offending the genders, with sex in the media today.. â€Å"Advertising images featuring young models in suggestive poses are sending out sinister messages to pedophiles,† according to one of Australia's leading forensic psychiatrists, William Glaser. He argues that some advertising messages are giving pedophiles subconscious approval to commit crime. It's a very subtle thing, but a young girl posing suggestively in a revealing bikini can send out the wrong message,† Glaser says. He adds â€Å"I don't blame the advertising industry, but feels it fuels the fire when it comes to pedophilia. † (Johnson) Also, the attractiveness of sexual aggression as crime news, and therefore as prime news, has been recognized by many newspapers lately. â€Å"While comfortably hidden under the cloak of objective crime reporting, sexual violence can be endlessly exploited for its titillating value, its crypto – pornographic quality and its sexist slant. † (Johnson, 1997, p. 24) As rape and sexual assault became a more serious social problem in the 80's, this prime news story has helped many papers to sell more copies in the competitive news market, while creating an impression of responsive and responsible reporting. â€Å"Newspapers are adept in sensing issues that arouse general interest and they then subtly alter the terms of the debate to achieve the end result of selling newspapers and making a profit,† alleged authors Maria Los and Sharon Chamond. â€Å"There is a thin line when it comes to educating the public on a problem, or exploiting it for it's shock value. † (Los and Chamond, 1997, p. 93) Although this is a horrible exploitation, there is yet another form of media that rivals this problem. The Internet is the worst for having excessive sex in the media, as it is not regulated. All of the other forms of broadcasting have some sort of committee or association that analyzes and approves all ads and shows before they are released to the public. With the Internet, there currently are no real ways of suppressing the content. There are programs such as Net Nanny that will not open sites containing certain material, but what's stopping a kid from going over to a friend's house or to school and going to the Playboy site? With it's vast geographical span, the Internet has the most numerous amounts of possibilities for media purposes, due to it's ability to reach anyone that can access a modem. Problems such as pornography and hackers generate a fear in a lot of people and scare them from using one of the greatest information resources of our world. We've all seen and heard how sex is used in today's media. With all of these problems and outcries being raised about it, some may as why is it used at all? Well sex is a part of life, everyone's life. It is a common ground to all people. Everyone will experience it or will be or have been affected by it. Producers, advertisers, writers and musicians must believe that if they include it in what they're trying to sell to the public, people will somehow relate to it, and be drawn in by it. A lot of times, writers and critics just go overboard and over analyze things that may not be as terrible as they make them out to be. Sex in advertising can be a useful and educational tool, when employed properly, but if people in the media offend just as much of society as they win over, by producing worthless, excessive overloads of eye candy, then the use of sex is wasted.

Costco Wholesale Essay

1. Executive Summary Costco Wholesale Corporation founded in 1983 by Jim Sinegal in Seatle Washington with a vision & mission â€Å"to continually provide members with quality of goods and services at the lowest possible price control inventory.† Part of their strategy include direct buying relationship that ensures an efficient & strong SC management, high standard staffing plans, high quality products at lower prices and assessable to members who are considered more loyal. Efforts are made to develop strategic options in line with these strategies while focusing on the supply chain parameters that span from order placement to receipt of goods at the warehouse and made available to customers in the warehouse shop floor using the most cost effective processes in order to ensure they support the mission of the company. By assessing Costco’s external opportunities and threats as well as the internal strengths and weaknesses (using SWOT & Porter’s Five Forces analysis), one can infer they are doing well within their industry. More options were generated to increase sales and awareness of the retail warehouses. The report concludes with recommendations for Costco to sustain it’s market edge and advance by expanding into the European & Asian markets more as their presence is still very weak in these regions as well as add other services & goods to their already existing list. 2. Introduction Costco Wholesale Corporation founded in 1983 within the retail industry is the largest warehouse club in the world based on sales volume. A major wholesale business offering three levels of membership and the largest wholesale club operator in the US with membership/warehouse locations spread across Asia, Europe, North & South America with headquarters based in Washington, US. Their main competitors operating membership warehouses include Sam’s Club & BJ’s wholesale club. Jim Sinegal, the founder defines the company vision as â€Å"giving the best to the customer at the best value possible†. Here best value (in quality of goods & services offered) at low prices are the driving force. Costco backs up it’s products with a return policy within a time frame of average 90 days, a highly endearing attraction to it’s members. The business model focuses on low prices & volume purchase in order to achieve profit at low margin with stores offering discounts on an average of 4,000 products out of which roughly a thousand are ‘treasure hunt’ referring to goods that are scarcely available for purchase always. Volume purchase from few vendors yielding further reduction in price and lowers cost in marketing. With low prices, quality goods in limited selection based on forecast lead to quick turnover in inventory. The high volume purchase and efficient network distribution yield efficiency in operations for Costco. With a stipulated membership fee, Costco warehouses are designed to help small to medium size businesses reduce purchasing costs as well as serving large families with the goods packaged in bulk ranging from alcoholic beverages, electronics, fresh food/produce, household & office supplies, pharmaceuticals & tires. Also available are special memberships with services like car & home insuranc e, mortgage and real estate services, and packages for travels. 3.Purpose and Main Areas Of the Research (Concepts & Techniques) Analyzing the supply chain operations at Costco wholesales, in line with the business focus while limiting to it’s supply chain operations strategy for maintaining a competitive edge as it relates to SC operations (from sourcing to arrival on pallets and or display at their various warehouses racks), their challenges and options for improvement will be the focus of this report. The following issues will form questions that will give a frame for this report: †¢ What are the key issues facing Costco in line with (efficient) Supply Chain Operations? †¢ What would be options to compete with these issues?  Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ Which options best suits the business focus and would yield better growth financially? The sections thereafter will consider trying to answer the questions above by applying SWOT analysis (see appendix 1) and Porter’s five forces framework (see appendix 2). Areas needing improvement will be obvious from such, options that would generate better performance after localizing issues peculiar to Costco. These would ultimately lead to clear recommendations for Costco’s improvement. Due to inaccessibility of authentic and current data for successive years on sales, further analysis could not be carried out to compare Costco for accurate sales assessment in the last three years or compare with the other two leading club wholesalers (Sam’s & BJs). Identifying, analyzing key parameters with Supply chain operations processes at Costco and suggest areas of possible improvement. Inventory Management: Since good are moved straight to the selling floor and inventory is not held by Costco but managed by vendors, inventory & labor cost of handling is avoided. In their meat & grocery section for instance, they focus on low-price & high volume strategies hence, Costco carry very limited amounts of grocery & perishables whereas Wal-Mart is known to have weakness in the area of perishables (Petrak, 2006) Partnership/Collaboration with suppliers: Costco has buying relationships with many producers of national brands and are supplied directly from suppliers routing to the warehouses of docking points that serve as distribution points. Partnership market is an attribute of Costco, for instance by partnering with American Express to create a Costco-AMEX credit card, discounts & cash cards as offered to customers while Costco markets Amex cards, thereby helping them to acquire more customers. Distribution Strategies/Transportation: The redesign of product packages to fit into pallets and thereby maximize space has led to reduction of trucks used to transport goods. Cross-docking of goods by delivering directly to Costco stores while some are kept in the distribution centers saves a lot of time & cost along the SC. Utilization of buzzers for truck drives at delivery points to indicate when trucks have been unloaded can save time as against the truck driver’s physical movement within the warehouse is a time saver. Their warehouses are not situated on prime locations hence cost is saved from unnecessary high property cost; again, they own over 80% of the warehouses. Green Logistics: Costco Kirkland signature has launched eco friendly cleaning products. It maximizes the use of solar power in it’s warehouses, it’s delivery trucks are better packaged to allow maximization of space so as to reduce fleets of transportation and hence environmental pollution. Energy is better conserved with timed lighting and construction of warehouses that can maximize skylight during the day. Food products are packaged in recyclable and more environmentally friendly materials. Customers are paid to recycle their old electronics at the green sight. Information Technology: This retailer prides itself in it’s connection of all warehouses to the headquarters in Washington. By using the EFIM which provides real time information, manages control systems and inventory management system. The ECR is used to achieve profitability, improvement in efficiency, logistics, procurement and overall cost control. Kumar (2008) records that approximately $6 billion in a year is lost in the USA by supermarkets due to out of stock products among 25 top retailers as a result of inefficiency in their logistics. Vertical Integration: Costco practices a partial vertical integration with it’s cross-dock distribution. By gaining control of either its inputs or its outputs or both in sourcing directly from suppliers they have more control over innovation & delivery of those services. Cost is also reduced which is ultimately transferred to customers. Further optimization of operational performance through SC operations options that can sustain a competitive edge and improve customer satisfaction through service improvement and cost reduction. 4. Description Of The Separate Areas 4.1Description of The SC Operations Performance & Improvement. The measurement of SC performance can be based on profit, customer service or sales maximization (Chow, 1994). While the traditional method majorly measured product costs, identification of costs related to customer service is key. Elimination of various extraneous costs like plastic shopping bags, fewer shop floor staff, limited product variety & brands on shelf and also slowing down on capital expenditure like expansion, Costco has been able to focus on improving buying power for achieving greater output. Since inventory rates are quickly turned over, payments to suppliers is fast tracked hence they are able to benefit from discounted early payments. Cost is involved in sourcing products from suppliers, shipment to depots & warehouses, distribution to warehouses & storage in inventory. By considering the concept of avoidable cost (possibly considering packaging & storage), efforts can be made to improve on SC performance by implementing better SC integration program. Partnering with more suppliers and or service providers for better flow of operations as well as building keener competition can enhance better efficiency leading to more profit in the long run. More side business services can be added at Costco like money order and cash transfers to attract more customers and make Costco a one stop store. Aside from email messages being sent to existing members on promotions, greater awareness can create a more organized means to lure more customers on the expanding array of products & services such that new & more revenue streams are attained. 4.2 Issues Affecting Supply Chain and Possible Solutions Analysis of SC at Costco using SWOT analysis (appendix 1) reveals Costco is doing really well. Growth opportunities exist for business by entering the European & Asian markets as these have not been exploited. From present methods of operations, the high staff salary and low margins maintenance amongst other issues need to be looked into for future prospects. The aging and close exit of the CEO along with growing competition and other threats in intended foreign markets such as political and religious wars, foreign exchange & bank issues are threats to consider. In dealing with these issues, it will be important to assess briefly lead time management, product handling, transportation, quality, inventory as well as possible process solutions. Where possible, promotions should be done to enhance more sales though with the low prices and already highlighted low margin & high employee, this may eat into the profitability but if well planned can create more publicity for the company which can yield quick inventory turnover. Since low overhead & tight operation is the practice, better savings can be passed on to customers in form of promotion or otherwise. Exploration of overseas market is still a strong force and will yield greater profit considering the existing reputation Costco has and understudying how business is executed in such regions. Development of more private labels on wider product range and increased focus on customer loyalty programs are worth considering as well. It is advisable the board of management put in place a business plan before the exit/retirement of the CEO. Porter’s Five Forces analysis (see appendix 2) could identify an overall attractive industry, with the following power and threat situation: The buyer power was determined to have a positive potential impact on Costco business as it portray that buyers have the requisite level of expendable incomes to provide effective demand for goods & services. In a similar manner, low threat of new entrants and substitute products portray an attractive industry whereas moderate internal rivalry and supplier power have a positive impact on Costco operations as it kept the company alert and devoid of complacency. 4.3 Analyzing The Contribution Of SCOM to Competitive Business Performance To further highlight the role of SCOM in enhancing business performance and maintaining a competitive edge, a few activities like volume purchasing, efficient packaging & distribution, supplier integration & customer integration have contributed to give a close picture of Costco capabilities and business level performance with each activity having unique benefits and detriments. Again, constant review of SCM practices may further help management in Costco to further match demand with SC requirements like efficient, lean SC (Cook et al , 2011). Their Network design, JIT resource planning distribution, optimization of transport & replenishment policies have impacted positively and should be subject to constant review for sustaining a competitive edge. 5. Conclusion Finally, it is believed that some useful contributions are being developed to improve supply chain and it’s operation in line with the objective of Costco in delivering quality at lowest cost to customers on time with the aim of sustaining a more competitive advantage. Some useful SC options have been suggested above which support these objectives. While the ultimate goal remains to sustainably increase market share by achieving more qualitative growth and at the same time expand on the earning base through exploitation of the European market and already existing markets, Mascarehas et al (2004) adds that â€Å"competitive advantage must be won again and again† in other words, giving the current ever changing business world we live in, customer tastes and priorities are changing hence the need for Costco to be better positioned in order to respond always to it’s members needs while expanding on new fronts.

Gun Control Research Essay

ProCon. org recently featured an article that studied gun control. â€Å"Stricter state gun laws associated with fewer gun deaths, study finds. † The article discussed gun control laws in states with stricter laws tend to have lower rates of gun related homicides, and a suicide (ProCon para. 1) Gun control in the United States is becoming a wide spread issue and is becoming a problem everywhere. Although I am living in a city with uprising crime that has been skyrocketing over the years, I wasn’t aware of this being an issue all over the United States.I decided to do some research to find out whether I am in favor of Gun control laws or not. After reviewing many articles for and against gun control, I found out that I do in fact agree with gun control laws. It became difficult to determine my side of the controversy due to there being a lot of negative and positive opinions about the issue. I feel like gun laws should be in place to restore our countries gun related cri me rates in the U. S. The ProCon article argues that states with the strictest gun control laws have lower rates of gun related homicides and suicides.The argument for gun control laws revolve around the statistics of gun control laws being stricter in certain states verses states with not so strict gun control laws. According to ProCon, â€Å"the most restrictive gun control laws have an average of 6. 64 fewer deaths per 100,000 people per year than those with the least restrictive laws† (ProConpara. 1). ProCon continues on to discuss the study â€Å"Firearm Legislation and Firearm Related Fatalities in the United States,† that was studied by different researchers that measured the association between the â€Å"legislative strength of state gun control policies† (ProCon para.1). The researchers then began to study the five categories used to create the legislative strength score which included laws designed to: curb firearm trafficking; strengthen background ch ecks on purchasers of firearms beyond those required by Brandy Handgun Violence Prevention Act; ensure child safety; ban military style assault weapons; and restrict guns in public places (ProCon para. 1). The researchers then ranked all 50 states from 0 to 28 based on their score (ProCon para. 2). â€Å"The higher the score, the more restrictive the gun lawsin that state,† stated the researchers (ProCon para. 2). â€Å"This study is a very important addition to our understanding of the connection between gun control and gun violence,† said John Roman, a PhD, senior fellow. â€Å"In addition to the general relationship between gun safety laws firearm deaths, also suggests that increasing the number of gun safety laws increases the reductions in firearm related deaths. So the benefits just get bigger with more laws† (ProCon para. 3). After reading the ProCon article, I found myself agreeing with the researchers.I can see different levels of gun related crimes all over the United States. Just by living in Fort Wayne, IN where there has been a peak in gun related crimes and deaths gives me proof that their study was indeed accurate. If more states had stricter gun control laws they would start to have lower rates of gun related homicides and suicides. Next, I went to an article by Chuck Baldwin, an American Politician, who disagreed with gun control laws: â€Å"Here we go again. We have another mass shooting at yet another â€Å"gun free† zone.Not only was the location a â€Å"gun free zone, it was located inside the nation’s capital, which has some of the strictest gun-control laws in the entire country,† Stated Chuck Baldwin, (Baldwin para. 1). Mr. Baldwin clearly has a strong disagreement about gun control laws in the United States. In the title of the article, he stated, â€Å"Guns don’t kill people; gun control laws kill people† (Baldwin para. 1). Mr. Baldwin then proceeds to talk about people basicall y abusing gun control laws and that they are useless because people are still using guns in â€Å"gun free† zones. Mr.Baldwin argued, â€Å"I thought gun-control laws and â€Å"gun-free† zones were supposed to protect people from gun violence† (Baldwin para. 1). Mr. Baldwin proceeded to argue that â€Å"Gun-Free† zones are actually â€Å"Free Killing† zones (Baldwin para. 1). He then went on to explain how â€Å"This is the second time in recent memory when some wacko shoots up a military installation† (Baldwin para. 2). I feel like Mr. Baldwin’s logic behind gun control laws is kind of persuasive because even though there are gun control laws, and â€Å"gun free† zones, doesn’t mean that people are going to stop committing gun related crimes in places where there are laws in place.I expected that I might be swayed by Mr. Baldwin’s information, but I was not. I am definitely in favor of gun control laws. I also th ink that Mr. Baldwin’s argument was kind of true and he had a lot of good reasoning, but I still think that by enforcing gun control laws helps a lot of states to lower their gun related crimes. However, I did not see anything on Chuck Baldwin’s article that proved gun control laws were good or bad. The final article that convinced me of my position came from the Congressional Digest.The article, â€Å"Prevalence of Gun Use and the Regulatory Response† doesn’t focus on one side of the issue. Instead, it focuses on the different reasons gun control laws could or could not be effective. Some argue that the low violent crime rates of other countries have nothing to do with gun control, maintaining instead that multiple cultural differences are responsible (Gun para. 1). â€Å"Through the years, legislative proposals to restrict the availability of firearms to the public have raised the following questions: â€Å"What restrictions on firearms are permissibl e under the Constitution?Does gun control constitute crime control? Can the Nation’s rates of homicide, robbery, and assault be reduced by the stricter regulation of firearms commerce or ownership? Would restrictions stop attacks on public figures or thwart deranged persons and terrorists? Would household, street corner, and schoolyard disputes are less lethal if firearms were more difficult and expensive to acquire? Would more restrictive gun control policies have the unintended effect of impairing citizens’ means of self-defense? † (Gun para.2) This article provided a lot of questions that I asked myself and I answered â€Å"yes† to more than half of the previous questions. I had not considered these questions until I read the Congressional Digest. I think that if the government really cracked down on gun control laws, people would actually see a change in gun related crimes. I feel like yes, more restrictive gun control policies have unintended effect o f impairing citizens’, and yes different cultural differences have nothing to do with gun control issues.After reading these articles on gun control laws, I am now more informed and can still say that gun control laws still should be enforced. I am surprised at the different views this issue has received. I found out that I do in fact agree with gun control laws. It became difficult to determine my side of the controversy due to there being a lot of negative and positive opinions about the issue. I feel like gun laws should be in place to restore our countries gun related crime rates and fatalities in the U. S.

Statement of Intent

Statement of Intent The title of my Final Major Project is â€Å"Military Hero†. I will focus on the area of fashion and will work towards producing a small capsule collection consisting of a jacket/coat and a dress that I hope to create and display on show. It will be based around the ever popular military style; which has always been a favourite of mine. In my pathway project my theme was â€Å"Architecture in Fashion† of where I looked at structure and form, I found this theme to be very broad and endless.I also produced a garment based on the theme of shirt-making for a design competition, as I am progressing to University of Ulster to study the BA Hons Degree in Textile Art, Design and Fashion I feel I have made the right area and theme to work with for this project. I will start by looking at period weapons, medals, and armour of which I will use to produce a range of observational studies at A1 size.As I am focusing on Military Fashion I will take my inspiration from fashion designers Frida Giannini, Christopher Bailey, Alexander McQueen and John Galliano as I find their work and style to have elements of what I’m aiming to achieve as a final outcome for my final major project. I will also refer back to the uniforms worn by the armed forces and paramilitaries of various nations. Fashion magazines and the internet as well as my college’s library are also resources I will use. On completion of my visual recording and references I intend to begin the design cycle of the final outcome.I will start by researching the style of garments I shall design through creating moodboard’s relating to colour, style and my military theme; I will then produce a capsule collection board of fashion designs which I will then develop further. Through completing class critiques I will refer to my peer comments and advice from specialism tutors to make a final decision. Once decided I will move on to creating a pattern that will then lead on to the making of a toile this will help me to make any adjustments needed. After this is completed I will compose the final pieces onto fabric that I have chosen.To make sure I do not have to deal with any complications I aim to do each stage two weeks in advance. All work that I do will be critically evaluated as I go along, this will help me to stay on track and I will also record websites, ideas and my schedule in my daily diary. The military styled capsule collection will be on exhibition and modelled on two size 10 mannequins at my college’s end of year show. I will have couture photography of the garments mounted in the background and will also have my project sketchbook displayed on a plinth.If I have any spare time I will also make myself a top based around my military theme. Appendix Bibliography Books: Antonio Mancinelli, (2010), â€Å"Fashion Box: The Immortal Icons of Style†, Thames & Hudson. Richard Martin, (2001), â€Å"The Fashion Book†, Phaidon. Kr istin Knox, (2010), â€Å"Alexander McQueen: Genius of a Generation†, A & C Black Publishers. Bonnie English, (2010), â€Å"Fashion: The 50 Most Influential Fashion Designers of All Time (Icons of Culture)†, Barrons. Websites: Who What Wear http://www. whowhatwear. com/Style http://www. style. com/ Vogue http://www. vogue. co. uk/ Lookbook http://lookbook. nu/ Fashion Is My Inspiration http://fashionismy-inspiration. blogspot. co. uk/ Polyvore http://www. polyvore. com/ Wikipedia http://www. wikipedia. org/ Trendstop http://www. trendstop. com/ Fashion Era http://www. fashion-era. com/ What I Wore http://whatiwore. tumblr. com/ Gucci http://www. gucci. com/ Fashion Net http://fashion. net/ Style and the City http://www. styleandthecity. com/ Alexander McQueen http://www. alexandermcqueen. co. uk .

Case study 4 -BUDGETING STATEMENTS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Case study 4 -BUDGETING STATEMENTS - Essay Example Hence for 4000 patients visited during the month, the number of hours expected to be spent by the nurses is (4000 * 0.5) 2000 hours. But the actual time spent by the nurses on the patients is 2080 hours. This indicates that an additional 80 hours, i.e, (80 * 12)  £ 960 was spent on the patients. It is essential to investigate the reasons for this variance as the effect of this variance is adverse. As this measure is directly related to the efficiency of the nurses working at the hospital, one of the reasons for this variance might be that some of the nurses might be inefficient (Drury, 2005). The other possible reason could be that, some of the patients might have required additional care and attention which could have resulted in additional hours spent by the nurses. Appropriate action can be taken to improve the efficiency of the nurses can control this variance to a great extent (Blocker, 1951). The cost incurred in terms of the payment made to the nurses amounts to  £ 33,180. However the estimated pay based on the average pay per hour ( £ 12) is computed as (2080 * 12)  £ 24,960. This additional  £ 8,220 also has an adverse effect on the budget. Hence it is essential to understand the reasons for this variance in order to adjust the budgeting accordingly for the future periods. It is known that the pay for the nurses vary from  £ 7 to  £ 28, whereas the average is  £ 12. In the budget prepared, this average was only taken into account. However, the reason for the variance might be that more number of nurses with payment more than  £ 12 were on duty during the month. This variance can be controlled by noting the nurses who will be on duty for the following month and estimating the pay based on their pay scales, instead of using the average pay value. The quantity of supplies and variable heads are associated with the nursing hours as per the statistical studies. According to the standard, an average of  £ 10 worth of supplies and variable overheads are

Wellness project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Wellness project - Essay Example First, the physical dimension refers to the physiological state of the body system, ensuring that a person is free from illnesses and maintains physical activity through exercise and healthy diet. If a person is physically healthy, he can function well in the society and make significant contribution to the community. As such, being involved in one’s community also entails responsibility with the surrounding environment. Environmental dimension of health means that a person is able to take responsibility over his environment through protection and conservation of nature. Doing one’s part for environmental conservation also means involving one’s self in the community. As such, a person who builds good relationship with the people in the community shows a healthy social dimension (Corbin et. al., 2008). In a way, building relationships in one’s community is related to emotional dimension because person is capable of recognizing his and other people’s personal feelings. Aside from this, emotional dimension includes the ability handle stress and copes with life’s challenges. While emotional dimension deals with feeling, mental dimension of health deals with cognition or thought. A person is in good mental health if he does not suffer from anxiety and depression. Lastly, if one able to establish inner peace and find deeper purpose in life, it means that the individual is in good spiritual health. Spiritual dimension refers to one’s inner values and realization that we exist for a reason and that each of us has a higher purpose in life. It is only when an individual is able to develop his spiritual dimension, along with other five health dimensions, that we can say one