No Child Left Behind Policy Essay

People have been used to announcements of various highly contagious diseases like the H1N1 influenza. A closer look at the course of the events shows that various public policies are instituted or strengthened to enhance control and mitigation of these diseases. What are the implications of these policies to a state like Georgia and Catoosa County in particular? On the same level there are various communication policies that have been instituted or even strengthened to enhance the human development especially with respect to freedom of speech and communication in general (Peterson & West (2003). Education has also been affected in a number of ways by various policies. This paper attempts to assess the impact of the ‘No Child Left Behind† policy on the state of Georgia with an emphasis on the Catoosa County. The â€Å"No Child Left Behind† is a public policy that was established to enhance education and academic development in the United States across all the states. In Georgia, one of the effects of the policy was the formation of charter schools. These are institutions that receive public funding just like other public schools in the public schools system. However, they have considerable reliance on the support of the communities in Georgia. The impact of the ‘No Child Left Behind’ can therefore be looked at in several ways as a multifaceted aspect in the sense of a Georgia community perspective. Given their nature, it would help to look at the financial implications of this policy (Wood & Meier 2004). The fact that these schools have been built because of the policy explains, in part, the positive impact of the policy. Thus, if it can be put in terms of Cost-Benefit Analysis, it would not be difficult to conclude that the force of the positive impact (which is the general development acquired from the more established schools) overweighs what would be though of as a burden (Olivert 2007). These effects are felt throughout Georgia including Catoosa County as small a county as it might be. NCLB are the most recent standard based education reforms that have been legislated by the government towards the No child left behind policy in order to provide measurable goals and high standards to improve productivity of individuals through proper education. Assessment of basic skills is supposed to be conducted by the state to determine the grade standards of educating and funding of education for each student and the school as a whole (Peterson & West (2003). Congress increased funding to education after the inception of the No child Left behind policy by about 40% to make the course more practical and to reach a wider population of students. The local governments were seen to be lax, failing students leading to the intervention of the federal government to push the course for No child Left behind in education to address issues like teachers teaching areas distant from their profession and failure to cater for special education. . Another impact of the policy is on governance. With the implementation of the policy, there were various objectives and targets each community had to achieve. These objectives and targets could only be met if the mode of governance was transformed to match the requirements of the policy (Wood & Meier 2004). While assessing the problems facing the efficiency and effectiveness of the charter schools as a response to the ‘No Child Left Behind’, the Georgia Public Policy Foundation noted that there are problems in governance and financing. This is because it is important that those who are engaged in organizing the charter schools, for instance, must have good knowledge of realms of education and must also be equipped with knowledge in finance (Wright et al 2004). If this is not the case, then they must be in a position to put a team together which is proficient in both aspects. Failure to meet standards of fiscal management will automatically qualify a charter for closure. There has been increased accountability in public schools after the enactment of the NCLB that have in deed significantly contributed to the no child left behind Policy and to improve the standards of education. The students in a particular public school can move to a higher performing school if the assessment finds that they have undergone an adequate yearly progress in consecutive years (Olivert 2007). The policy therefore brings a direct economic connotation to Georgia given that the established charter schools rely on the local governance to survive. Even though there is an economic burden put on the local communities, the policy itself has enabled more development to be achieved. A number of notable ends come from the No child left behind policy including: students outcomes being linked to the state academic standards in regards to the policy framework, the performance of students and their progress in math and reading measured annually to determine if they are within the set standards, parents receive adequate information as this is required of the state and school district and a foundation for parental involvement in the district and state schools affairs is consequently laid (Wood & Meier 2004). Parental involvement is important in promoting proper administration of and improvement of schools as well as check against any misappropriation of funds The No Child left behind is in deed a noble course championed by former president Bush to facilitate the achievement or even surpass the achievement of state standards in line with the federal standards mathematics and reading in the coming decade. Progress is significant in this policy that actually measures the achievement by a state assessment. Reference: Peterson H. & West M. (2003). â€Å"No child left behind? The politics and practice of school accountability,† Brookings Institution Press: New York. Wood H. & Meier D. (2004). â€Å"Many children left behind: how the No Child Left behind Act is damaging our children and our schools,† Beacon Press: New York. Wright D et al. (2004). â€Å"No child left behind,† Harbor House Law Press: New York. Olivert D. (2007). â€Å"No Child Left Behind Act: text, interpretation and changes. † Nova Publishers: New York.

Journal Articles Essay

Reading the title and the objective of the research study, I was kind of skeptical about the main assertion of the authors, which was that there is a strong connection between the prevalence of mental disorders, and ethnic minority groups that individuals belong to. I have read studies about genetics or heredity and environment as contributing factors to the occurrence of mental disorders, however, I have not heard about the influence of ethnicity on mental health. Therefore, I am in no position to either agree or disagree with the assertions of this particular research, primarily. Reading through the rest of the research, I would have to say that the authors presented a comprehensive amount of data, which supported their claim. Enlightened about the issue, perhaps, I would agree that the most significant contributory factor would be the limited access of the minority groups identified to mental health services. Culture would be less significant in explaining the phenomenon, because if I were to agree with this idea, it is like I am generalizing the prevalence of mental disorders to minority groups. Moreover, it promotes the idea of racism or discrimination. Primarily, reading an article that I am not really aware about contributed to my interest in the topic. This time around, the article is yet again disputing another published research study regarding the matter. Disputes, such as these, are intriguing, it adds more knowledge regarding mental health, and ethnic minority groups because an individual learns about two sides of the issue. Yes, the article revealed a comprehensive take on the issue as its objective was to study all the angles of ethnicity and mental health. Contrasting results to the previous study by the Surgeon General’s Supplement, as well as the agreeable points of the same study, were all explicated. However, there needs to be another study regarding the issue in order to answer the questions left by the study, supplement both research studies, and synthesize all ideas in order to form a unified body of knowledge about the said topic. Marielena, L. , Gamboa, C. , Kahramanian, M. I. , Morales, L. S. , & Hayes-Bautista, H. B. (2005). â€Å"Acculturation and Latino health in the United States: a review of the literature and its sociopolitical context. † Annual Review Public Health, Vol. 26, 367-397. In any aspect of life with regards to multiculturalism, acculturation seems to be one of the determinants of an individual’s way of life. Acculturation does not only influence health, but also other factors such as education, political beliefs, language, choice of food or clothing, and culture in its entirety. It is not surprising to learn that the healths of Latinos, who form a specific multiracial group in the country, are influenced by acculturation. One of the top priorities of the United States is health care, and being able to provide the best services in health care at lower rates to all its citizens. If this is the case, then Latinos who assimilate or adapt the American culture are more conscious of their health as compared to their previous views about the issue. Aside from this view, the adaptation of the English language is also important in affording health care in the country for individuals who are initially non-English speakers. I have read case and research studies about the limitations of health care access to multiracial groups because of communication barriers brought about by differences in language. Acculturation, in terms of language acquisition, greatly affects the access of Latinos to health care services in the country. What I like about the article is that it points out the importance of acculturation to, not just Latinos, but other ethnic minority groups’ access to health care services in the country. Since the issues about age groups and the rate of health awareness and mortality rates are discussed, this article informs all age groups within a particular ethnic minority group to accept change in order to be granted health care services that they deserve, regardless of being a child or an adult. The article is not part of an argument; rather, it is informative and seeks to notify readers about the impact and importance of acculturation to the very significant issue of health care. It was successful in accomplishing this aim, With regards to its coverage of the topics that are needed to complete the study, it was also successful.

Erasmus vs Luther; Discourse on Free Will Essay

The Erasmus-Luther Discourse on Free Will begins with the Diatribe concerning free will, written by Erasmus. Luther then refutes Erasmus’ Diatribe with The Bondage of the Will. The question being debated is whether man is in control of his own will, or whether everything is preordained by God, thus leaving man without free will. Their diverging philosophies have been interpreted as being the basic difference between Catholic and Protestant positions regarding free will. This debate offers two very conflicting views, although both philosophies were basic principles in their respective religions. Erasmus builds his argument without a solid foundation; like building a house without a foundation, it can easily crumble. Thus, Luther convincingly attacks Erasmus’ Diatribe. Erasmus holds that man is left with the choice of doing either good or evil. It is man’s choice and therefore, free will exists. In the opinion of Erasmus, the freedom of the will in Holy Scriptures is as follows: if on the road to piety, one should continue eagerly to improve; if one has become involved in sin, one should make every effort to extricate oneself, and to solicit the mercy of the Lord. Two conclusions concerning Erasmus’ beliefs can be drawn from this statement; firstly that man can himself find repentance and secondly that God is infallible, meaning that a person engages in evil acts with his own will. The definition of free will given by Erasmus is â€Å"the power of the human will whereby man can apply to or turn away from that which leads unto eternal salvation. â€Å" While addressing the topic of Adam and Eve, Erasmus states, â€Å"In man, will was so good and so free that even without additional grace it could have remained in a state of innocence, though not without help of grace could it attain the blessedness of eternal life, as the Lord Jesus promised his people. † Erasmus, therefore, believes eternal salvation is attainable with the help and mercy of God, but Erasmus also believes that Adam and Eve caused man to have original sin. Erasmus goes on to write, â€Å"In those without extraordinary grace the reason is darkened, but not extinguished. Probably the same occurs to the power of the will: it is not completely extinct but unproductive of virtuous deeds. † In short Erasmus believed that man has free will and therefore is punished or rewarded according to the choices he makes. He backs his argument with many quotes from the scripture but so does Luther, thus the argument shifts, and the sense of scripture is the debate. Luther, who wrote The Bondage of the Will to refute what Erasmus had written in the Diatribe, disagrees; stating that man does not have freedom of the will. In the first few pages, Luther proclaims â€Å"The Holy Scripture is no skeptic, and what He has written into our hearts are no doubts or opinions, but assertions more certain and more firm that all human experience in life itself. † Furthermore, he goes on to say â€Å"The essence of Christianity which you (Erasmus) describe†¦ is without Christ, without the Spirit, and chillier than ice†¦ † Luther immediately implies that Erasmus has not been saved. Luther abhors those who claim to be self-reformers, once again contradicting Erasmus. â€Å"You say: Who will reform his life? I answer: Nobody! No man can! God has no time for you self-reformers, for they are all hypocrites. The elect who fear God will be reformed by the Holy Spirit. † Perhaps the quote that best exemplifies Luther’s position is as follows: Thus the human will is like the beast of burden. If God rides it, it wills and goes whence God wills; as the Psalm says, â€Å"I was a beast of burden before thee† (Psalm 72:22) If Satan rides, it wills and goes where Satan wills. Nor may it choose to which rider it will run, nor which it will seek. But the riders themselves contend who shall have and hold it. † This philosophy contends that both good and evil are worked by a higher being. Both authors in this work make reference to Judas and his betrayal of Christ. Both parties acknowledge the foreknowledge of God, but Luther proclaims that God willed it. Thus the Protestant faith grew on the principles of predestination and the absolute belief that the scriptures are to be interpreted literally. At no point does Luther ever stray from the central point of his refutation, proving Erasmus wrong by presenting the conclusive evidence needed. Erasmus, on the other hand, never really plants his feet in this argument. Erasmus covers his tracks by changing the terms of the debate throughout his work. For example, Erasmus fails to define the limits within which the reader should think that the will is being acted upon. One can not conclude that Erasmus does not fully believe what he states in his Diatribe, but he admittedly discloses â€Å"I have always preferred playing the freer field of the muses, than fighting ironclad in close combat. † Erasmus proclaims that their debate is in the sense of scripture, yet how can one who defends free will pigeonhole the interpretation of the reader? Luther is much more direct in laying out his arguments and criticizes Erasmus for stating a bare definition without explaining its parts. The debate has very much become a personal matter by the time Luther’s discourse commences. There is no mutual agreement whatsoever, thus it is easy to see why the views of Catholics and Protestants were so divergent. Erasmus is clearly trying to convince his readers, most particularly Luther, that free will does indeed exist. Luther continues to stay his course and states that God wills all. Everything is preordained, evil included. Of the assertions, Luther simply states â€Å"one must delight in assertions to be a Christian at all! † While Erasmus seems leery to take a firm stance in his debate, he is changing the circumstances of the debate, which clearly is an attempt to prevent Luther from pinning him down in Luther’s The Bondage of the Will. After thoroughly refuting everything Erasmus has stated, Luther proclaims that Erasmus has â€Å"asserted nothing but made comparisons† . Whether there be complete merit in either man’s philosophy, Luther has quite convincingly made Erasmus’ position appear flawed.

OJ Simpson Trail Case Analysis Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

OJ Simpson Trail Analysis - Case Study Example As for the blood sample, the actual killer had spilt blood near the shoe prints at Bundy. Secondly, the blood that had been spilt at Bundy matched Simpson’s blood type. The gravity of the matter here is that a paltry 0.5% of the population would match with this sample. Again, Simpson had sustained fresh cuts on his left hand, after Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman’s murder. The same blood type was also found in Bronco; and in foyer and master bedroom to Simpson’s home. Again, the same blood type was found in Simpson’s driveway. There was also blood type found on Simpson’s socks in O.J. Simpson’s home. The blood type on Simpson’s socks matched Nicole’s. As can be seen in The Trial of O. J. Simpson: the Incriminating Evidence (2013), the glove evidence also heavily implicates Simpson. For one, a left-hand glove was found left at Bundy. The right-hand glove was found at Simpson’s residence. Again, the gloves were Aris gloves, and were size XL. Again, in 1990, Nicole Brown had purchased a pair of Aris XL gloves at Bloomingdale. Importantly, from 1990 to June 1994, O. J. Simpson had been wearing Aris Light gloves of size XL. As if the foregoing is not enough, the shoe evidence directly implicated O. J. Simpson. The shoe prints that were found at Bundy were from a size 12 Bruno Magli shoe. Again, the shoes had and left a bloody impression on Bronco carpet; and the impression was consistent with a Magli shoe. Importantly and interestingly, Simpson wore a size 12 Bruno Magli shoes. Again, it is important and interesting that the driver who was to take Simpson to the airport could neither see nor reach Bronco and when phone calls began getting through to Simpson, there were peculiar reactions from Simpson, revealing Nicole Brown’s death. Prima facie evidence on the other hand is the evidence that when uncontested, would establish a fact or bring about a presumption of a fact. In this case, the fact is that O. J. Simpson’s ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and a waiter Ronald Lyle Goldman. Secondly, there are indications that O.J. Simpson’s actions may have caused the deaths of the two. First, at 9:36 PM, Kato was seen by Kato Kaelin wearing a dark sweat suit. At 10:40 PM, 10:43 PM and 10:49 PM, Allan Park unsuccessfully tries to get to Simpson through his intercom. Between 10:50 and 10:51, Kato Kaelin heard three thumps on the wall outside his room. Again, at 10:54, Allan Park saw a six-feet tall man weighing about and 200 pounds and in dark clothes, walking across Simpson residence’s driveway. At 10:55, Simpson lied to Allan Park about his whereabouts. All these developments are indicative of Simpson’s identity and an unclear conscience. The applicable code that the prosecution was brought under is public good. The prosecution acknowledged that the case was for the public good and that to this effect, justice is dispensed with equal measure and even-handed ly. For this, the case was titled, People of the State of California vs. O.J. Simpson. The prosecution also ensured that s/he is not engaging an unrepresented accused and that the accused is accorded all his pretrial rights like the right to a preliminary hearing. It is for this case that O. J. Simpson had a solid defense

Skeletal System in the Human Body Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Skeletal System in the Human Body - Assignment Example Diarthroses joint is a small space that exists between the articulating surfaces of the two joined bones. Since no other tissues grow in this cavity, the surfaces move freely against one another. Hence, they are functionally defined as freely movable joints. Some examples include ball and socket joints and hinge joints.Synarthroses joint does not have a joint cavity. Fibrous cartilage 'or bone tissues grow between the articulating surfaces of the two joined bones and make them unable to move freely against one another. Therefore, they are functionally defined as immovable (or slightly movable) joints that do not allow free movement. Examples include the skull joints. Motor nerves supply signals from the nervous system to the muscle system. A single motor nerve fiber that supplies to a group of muscle fibers within a muscle is called a motor unit.Skeletal muscles are more rapid in contracting than cardiac and smooth muscles. Skeletal muscles are important in locomotion and movement an d consequently are of greatest interest to the ergonomist. Glucose stored in the cell or diffused into the cell from the circulatory system can be broken down anaerobically to generate ATP for muscle contractions. The all-or-none law, states that once the threshold has been reached, an action potential will continue to completion where the membrane will depolarize and then re-polarize. The all-or-none law also applies to muscle fibers. For muscles, the law states that once adequately stimulated, a muscle fiber will contract completely. Not all the muscle fibers are necessarily stimulated at the same time stated earlier, smaller motor units are recruited first and then aggressively larger motor units until the desired strength is attained. Thus, not all the muscle fibers are necessarily contracted at the same time. Fatigue results in failure of a muscle to contract in response a stimulus. The segment of the lever between the point of force exertion and the fulcrum is called the force arm and, likewise, the segment between the resistance and the fulcrum is called the resistance arm.

Business Economics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Business Economics - Assignment Example An average American and Indian live relatively different lives. This is due to fact that the population level hits more than 300 million in India. The high population rate has strained the economic and natural resources of the country to an extent that almost 30% of the India’s population live below the poverty line. Poverty remains a chronic condition in India (Zhu, 2008). The great industrialization in the U.S. has put high rate of efficient production in relation to a manageable population levels makes the living standards of the American citizens to be at par. Education –the change in American education system that is practical oriented is an avenue of economic prosperity as the citizens specialize in areas of best in ability and interest to hasten the production levels and efficiency in such fields rather theoretical aspects that contribute less to the general output (Cheneryet al., 2001). Human resource expertise –this would entail experience and job specialization. The growing industrialization in the U.S. is a hub of experience gain and job specialization in creating efficacy and increased productivity among the people. Experience gained in the line of duty is resourceful to the development of the individuals. Consumer purchasing power (CPP) –the cost of a unit good that a dollar can purchase has a great impact on the lives of the individuals. This bundle of good that one can have in a basket would impact on his social well-being as this entails what limits to consume with the ability to afford (Arnold, 2011). Currency stability –the economic stability of the domestic currency with respect to the dollar is impacting so much on the lives of the individuals (D’Souza, 2008). When the local currency is stable enough there is certainty in doing business and its prospects can be estimated to project on the sustainability of the

Developing Marketing Capability Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Developing Marketing Capability - Essay Example What are their approaches, challenges, needs and ambitions to structure a marketing function The aim is to identify the relationship between marketing and organization performance, which is to assert marketing as a significant business function. Objectives Challenges faced by organizing in measuring marketing performance. To organize a marketing function in order to bring competitive advantage and true organizational success. To align marketing function with organizational goals, structure, capabilities and resources. This is to bring competitive advantage and success for the organization. Organizational Challenges in measuring Marketing Performance In an objective to improve marketing performance, organizations first have to measure marketing performance (Richardson, 2012). Without assessing or measuring performance organizations cannot get on with the improvement of capability, skill or performance. There are certain major challenges which organizations face in measuring marketing performance (Shaw & Pont, 2003). Likewise there are challenges to measure intangible customer value, loyalty or marketing outcome which inevitably leads organizations to incomplete assessment. Similarly, by setting numerical data as performance measures bring incomplete information on assessment (Gronholdt & Martensen, 2006). Relatively big financial data feeds like return on investment, balance sheet, or profit or loss statements do not provide the real sketch of marketing, which eventually give distractive information. Moreover more operational activity of marketing does not mean it is performing well as if the marketers are found busy does not mean that there work is productive or based on outcomes (profits or revenues). Intensive marketing does not allocate productive marketing, and hence cannot be taken as a performance measure (Shaw & Pont, 2003). To access marketing performance organizations have to find a purposive method, in which first thing is to set a right performance m etrics. For measuring marketing performance there are different metrics which can reflect the operational and functional performance of marketing (Gronholdt & Martensen, 2006). In the most adaptive metrics used in critical evaluation of marketing performance are activity based metrics. This may include metrics of numerical counting and control and in-depth reporting to scan the intrinsic performance of the function (Raab, 2009). The most adaptive metrics include rate of customer acquisition, customer engagement, events successes, popularity of labels, and competitive brand reception respectively. There are certain limitations behind such metrics as they all are intangible but to a great extend provide the explicit information of how the marketing functioning is performing (Gronholdt & Martensen, 2006). Similarly, a well reported system is itself a performance scanner for marketing. When organizations demand performance assessment, it means they have well organized and well establish ed reporting systems (DCI, 2004). Such systems are obligatory, obligatory in terms of intensive reporting, periodic reporting and reporting with respect to each marketing activity. With time to time reporting, the whole picture comes out on front giving a projection of marketing delays, inefficiencies or unproductiveness (DCI, 2004). Organizations which imply MPM (marketing performa

Touman Model Argument about the Environment Term Paper - 1

Touman Model Argument about the Environment - Term Paper Example The environment is becoming worse with each passing day; there are several factors that are responsible towards the degradation of our environment. Some of the most factors that need to be worked upon are pollution, disposal of waste material in an unorganized way and in addition to this there are many more factors that need our immediate attention. This paper will throw light upon the Toulmin model argument and in addition to this what specific actions should Christians take regarding the environment will also be will also be provided in this paper. The ozone layer is depleting with each passing day and this is a very disturbing environmental issue, this means that human race will shortly come to an end should it not be dealt with properly. The ozone layer is pivotal when it comes to the survival of human beings, it protects us from harmful radiations emitted by the sun and its deterioration is a very big cause of worry for the human race. An Insight on Toulmin Model of Argument Stephen Toulmin was a British Philosopher and in addition to this, he was also a realist who developed a model of argument which will be incorporated in this paper. He divided any argument into six most important sections.

Analyze the data in paragraphs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Analyze the data in paragraphs - Essay Example When asked whether ELI classrooms temperature is usually suitable, 4 out of 30(13%) of the students agreed that the temperature is ok, 22 out of 30(74%) disagreed and thought that the temperature is not suitable and 4 out of 30(13%) were neutral. The fourth question was about whether ELI classrooms are provided with comfortable chairs and tables.9 out of 30(30%) of students interviewed answered in the affirmative, 14 out of 30(47%) of the students did not think that the tables and chairs are comfortable and 7 out of 30(23%) were undecided and hence neutral. The last question was about whether ELI classrooms are near to each other and usually taken in same building.8 out of 30(27%) replied in the affirmative,16 out of 30(53%) disagreed and 6 out of 30(20%) were neutral. The survey clearly indicates that ELI classrooms temperature is not suitable to most students and also the classrooms should be provided with comfortable chairs and tables. Majority of the students (53%) also do not think that ELI classrooms are near to each other and usually taken in same building. This should also be evaluated and implemented by concerned party, since it touches on the well being of the students directly, which is very crucial for their learning process. The ELI classrooms are however designed to be comfortable and practical for most students and are well equipped with technical tools which help in learning

Comparison between Country Lovers and The Proposal Essay

Comparison between Country Lovers and The Proposal - Essay Example Then we will analyze the similarities and differences between a short story and play. Whether a literary piece is a short story or play, as long as they are categorized in the same theme there will always be similarities, with that being said regardless of similarities when comparing two literary works differences can always be found as well. The short story, Country Lovers by Nadine Gordimer, is story about two children from different ethnicities who formed a relationship that later turned sexual. This story takes place on a South African farm, where ethnicity had a major influence on how people were classified. Being a person with white skin, one automatically had superiority over a person with black skin. The boy, Paulus Eysendyck, was fond of Thebedi, the daughter of the help. For years, Paulus went back and forth to school and every time he was home, he engaged in secret activities with Thebedi. As they grew older, their relationship turned sexual and eventually a child was crea ted. Paulus was unaware of the child until after birth. Thebedi had married Njabulo, even though Njabulo knew that the child was not his. When Paulus returned for the holidays from veterinary school, he was surprised to hear Thebedi had a child and rushed to her home to see the child. The next day he returned and poisoned the child. Paulus was charged with murder and a trial began. Thebedi appeared at the court date with a new child in hand by her husband Njabulo, only to find out that he was a free man. The evidence was circumstantial to the courts and another white man gets away with murder. The objective of this story was to express the issues racial relationships faced in the South Africa from 1949-1994 (Driver, 1994). The Proposal by Anton Chekhov is a play that displayed how one word or sentence can send an ordinary conversation down a path of no return. The play is a one act comic farce set during Chekhov’s Russia, a time when marriage was seen as a way of gaining econ omic wealth for a majority of the people. In this play, the marriage concept is satirized to show the real purpose of marriage, which is for materialistic gain as opposed to true love. Ivan VassilevitchLomov was the neighbor of Stephan StepanovitchChubukov, and his daughter Natalya Stephanovna. Ivan came to Stephan’s home one day to ask for Natalya’s hand in marriage. Stephan was overjoyed and agreed to the marriage. Stephan went and got Natalya so Ivan and her can talk. Before Ivan could ask the question they began to argue about a small area of land and who it belonged to. That went on for a little while, until Ivan left. Once Stephan found out Ivan left, he told Natalya why Ivan came. Natalya begged her father to return Ivan. Once he returned the father brought up marriage, Ivan and Natalya agreed and then they kissed. The content of both stories is similar but different. They both involve a male and female engaged in some sort of relationship. In the Country Lovers , the two grew up together and gradually built a relationship. Whereas in The Proposal, Ivan and Natalya were long time neighbors and Ivan felt he was getting old so he asked a woman who he knew for a long time hand in marriage. Paulus and Thebedi’s relationship was forbidden because of race, but Ivan and Natalya’

Romeo and Juliet Essay Example for Free

Romeo and Juliet Essay Yesterday evening, terror had struck the streets of Verona when there was a brawl between the Capulets and the Montagues. The end result was two fatalities and one missing person. Tybalt Capulet, nephew of the Lord Capulet’s wife, was allegedly slain by Romeo Montague, son of the great Lord Montague. Mercutio, kin to Prince Escalus, was the other casualty. He was allegedly slain by Tybalt, using Romeo as a shield when trying to break them up. Benvolio, of the Montagues, was an eye-witness to the terrible scene and was interviewed for hid full report on what happened. According to him, Tybalt wanted to fight Romeo, but Romeo declined and tried to mediate the situation also making alleged suggestions that they were related. And Mercutio, who had some violent tendencies, decided that he would fight Tybalt himself. But, in Romeo’s attempt to solve the problem, he got in between the two of them and Tybalt ended up stabbing Mercutio. He died on the spot. Then, Romeo’s anger got the best of him and he killed Tybalt for killing his best friend. Then, he just decided to flee the scene so he wouldn’t get caught. However, Lady Montague had her own side of the story she said â€Å"Benvolio is a Montague; he is not telling the truth. There must have been twenty guys fighting against Tybalt. Romeo must not live! † Lord Montague had said during his interview, â€Å"Romeo and Mercutio were best friends, he was doing what the law would have done to Tybalt, and he killed him. † A few weeks ago, the Prince declared that if he heard of one more fight between the two infamous families, there would be a death sentence. You would think that with this warning, the families would consider changing their violent ways. We got a few comments from the Prince, saying that the families will pay for the unfortunate events of the terrible night and an immediate exile against Romeo was declared. He clearly stated â€Å"If those who kill are given mercy, that’s as much as giving permission for murder. † As for now, our deepest sympathies go out to the kin of the fatalities.

In my everyday life how do I measure success and failure Essay Example for Free

In my everyday life how do I measure success and failure Essay The aim of this paper is to discuss how to measure success and failure in everyday life. The evaluation of the social concept of success should start with acknowledging that social definition of success varies from culture to culture and even from one social group to another. In other words, every society has its own belief about what social success is. For example, if a person drives a 2007 Jaguar and lives in a nice house, he or she is regarded as successful by society norms. People are trying to move up the social ladder because the society is placing a lot of pressure on them to belong to the highest class possible. Government uses the relationship between social class (lower, middle, and upper) to suggest that society is equally just. Growing up in the city, I could witness stereotypical views of low income families. I could witness people being discriminated because they didn’t have nice suits or dresses, and their vocabulary was not equal to or better than the person they were talking to. Sometimes the idea of social success puts too much pressure on people so they sometimes forget their morals and values. The problem is all they want to do is to reach new social status because that is what society has led them to believe and what society expects of them. My grandfather often cited a southern saying that reads as follows: â€Å"Money is the root of all evil. † Through the years I often wondered if he was correct. Society describes lower class as government assisted or a troublesome group of people. Hanratty and Meditz stated that â€Å"[i]n contrast, the masses were composed of the illiterate and the impoverished who lived on the margin of subsistence and possessed little or no security, skill, or stable employment. † I disagree with Hanratty and Meditz statement: most lower class people do have work-related skills and are literate. In a lower class neighborhood at a local barber shop there are always conversations about how the upper class is destroying the lower class, and why lower class people cannot integrate into the mainstream society. Some would say that their major obstacle on the way to social success is fear or ability to adapt to change. Lower class is aware that they are labeled; however, they are determined to be a driving force in society. The stereotype of a successful family implies that a husband and a wife have an income that allows them to live in a nice neighborhood. Society would classify that family as middle class. Samuelson writes that â€Å"[c]ompounding the stress, the price of entry into the middle class is always rising. The more we can have, the more we must have. Keeping up with the Joneses is the curse of our advances and ambitions† (19). The problem with middle class and the problem of trying to belong there is that the upper class considers itself middle class at times. It forces hard-working middle class people to work harder, often taking on two jobs to maintain their social status. Some upper class people continue to downplay their status as middle class. That would put pressure on truly middle class people to stay (or even move up) in the social status. Expectation of what society requires of the middle class often puts pressure on the middle class to advance. Being born into wealth has been the only way to integrate in the upper class. Today the upper class is comprised of a diverse group of people unlike years before when the rich just had to travel and throw socials. The perception of upper class as seen on television is sometimes different from reality, as the rich have large amounts of money and can abuse their power. The rich are excuse from a lot of mishaps, while the middle and lower class would have not received the same treatment. Domhoff writes that â€Å"[f]rom infancy through young adulthood, members of the upper class receive a distinctive education. This education begins early in life in preschools that frequently are attached to a neighborhood church of high social status. Schooling continues during the elementary years at a local private school called a day school. Higher education will be obtained at one of a small number of heavily endowed private universities. Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Stanford head the list, followed by smaller Ivy League schools in the East and a handful of other small private schools in other parts of the country† (24). The upper class continues to work hard on staying on top: they put pressure on themselves and their children to stimulate them to stay in the same social class. What we as society fail to realize is that success comes from within. In every culture there are social problems that result from being in a certain situation. Everybody has their own definition of what success is; definitions of success range from being rich, driving a fancy car, and living in a big house to simply being in good health and having a stress-free life. I have read a lot of articles through the years on what it takes to be successful and I stil.

Business Plan For Fashion Designer Company Best Looks Marketing Essay

Business Plan For Fashion Designer Company Best Looks Marketing Essay This business plan will feature a fashion designer company by the name Best Looks. The paper examines some of the strategies that the company does to ensure the success of the business. Company description Our company has realized the need to come up with a sound business plan which will guide the operations of our organization towards realizing high levels of economic growth and development. Our company will be manufacturing ladies casual wear ranging from blouses and trousers. This is an area which we are fully prepared to tap in the large market based on the fact that the world has become very sensitive when it comes to fashion. Apparently, this is one of the sectors which are witnessing a lot of growth in terms of moving large volume of sales due to the fact that people are spending more on clothing especially in the developed countries. Our target market for our clothing line will be young ladies between the age of 18 and 35. This is because this is the age which is very adventurous when it comes to fashion and highly treasures fashion designs. The mechanism that our company will put in place will be to ensure that the needs of our customers are fully met and thus we will shift our previous approach to production to give more attention to production of fancy ladies wear. This will be a very new venture for our organization because previously we have been dealing with manufacturing of official wears for both men and women of all age brackets. Therefore the location of our previous company did not matter a lot as long as it is in a strategic place in terms of total population. However, for the case of our new clothing line, a number of factors will have to be considered before settling on the best location. One of such factors is proximity to the target population which in this case is the fashion conscious youth. Therefore, this rules out any possibility of situating our business in the rural areas. Another factor that we have to consider is the spending capacity of the people in the location of our business. One thing to take note of is the fact of our products will be relatively expensive due to involvement of expertise in the production process and that the materials used for production are relatively expensive. This therefore means that the consumer will have to bear the extra cost by paying high costs for the garments. Therefore taking on these factors, we have settled on Texas City as the best place to situate our business. This is an area which is characterized by a lot of young working class populations not to mention the fact that there are many colleges and universities there which still form a ready market for our products. After such various deliberations we have settled on forming Best Looks as a start-up manufacturer of a clothing line targeted for females between 18 and 35. The role of Best Looks ranges from developing the clothing line to supporting it with promotions and advertisement to command a big market share in a highly competitive market set up. In the bid to ensure that, the company plans to strengthen its partnership with the retailers who are very important to the business development through a process of developing brand awareness. Best Looks therefore intends to market its new line as an alternative to the existing ones through differentiating itself from the others. This will be achieved through among other things applying the appropriate marketing strategies, high brand awareness and exclusiveness. The key message that is carried by the Best Looks includes upscale, classy, expensive and versatile. As a result, the promotional plan of the company will be very diverse and will include quite a big range of marketing communication. Vision One of the visions of Best Looks is to become the leading fashion designer company in United States and the rest of the world. The company also intends to see itself controlling about 95% of the total market share of United States and finally venture fully to other regions of the world. Mission The main mission of the company is to bring a new revolution to the world of fashion industry but moving in line with the changing trends in tastes and preferences of the people. Therefore the company will invest heavily in the research and development of new designs which match with the needs and demand. Objectives of the company The company has the following objectives To be the leading clothing line in America in terms of production of quality products. To open the market for upcoming similar markets in terms of sensitizing the public on various fashions and dress codes. To meet the existing demands for fashion and create new markets within and outside America. To create employment opportunities in the company in the country and outside. To establish a sound networks between the company and its clients through the use of appropriate marketing strategies. To be a leading exporter of ladies designer clothes to the rest of the world. The companys development will be effected in terms of stages. We recognize the fact that all the processes cannot take place overnight and therefore there is a need to implement the development of the company in stages. The first stage will involve production of the garments such as blouses and trousers. After ensuring that those products are already in the market, we will come up with Best Look perfumes to complement our design clothing line. Again the whole process of initiating production process will take effect on a moderate pace to avoid scenarios where business ends up with compromised qualities of products as a result of not taking time in proper product development. Things such as research and development come in handy in this area. This company intends to trade its shares in the stock exchange market. This move among other things will help in building a very strong capital base through getting the public resources from sale of shares. Other than that, the company will gain popularity by virtue of trading its shares in the stock exchange market. This means that in future, advertisements and other sales promotional strategies will be directed to a population which is already aware of the company and what it does. It therefore becomes very easy for such population to be convinced into buying and this will definitely translate into very high volume of sales for the company. One of the achievements of the company is that it has managed to collect a lot of information concerning the target market and their tastes and preferences. This is of great significance as far as understanding how to approach the whole process of manufacturing, the material to use as well as design. Product plan As earlier stated, the products being offered by our company will range from ladies fancy blouses and trousers for young ladies aged between 18 and 35. By considering that the garments are for young ladies, the trousers will be designed to be very fitting, which is one of the tastes of the young people. Other than that the designs of the trousers will range from high waist to low waist to cater for specific tastes of the clients. The materials will also range from silk to linen. When it comes it comes to the designing the blouses, most of them will be low-necked as it is preferred by many young people. The blouses in particular will come in wide variety of colors since the young people seem to be extremely adventures when it comes to the use of colors. Our products have unique characteristics which make them stand out from the rest of competitors products. One of such unique characteristics emanates from the fact that the material which makes the garments is easy to manage considering the fact that it does not crease easily. This attribute makes our garments preferable for those people do lot like spending time ironing out their cloths. It is important to patent our products to block our competitors from using anything exclusive to our brand for their own competitive advantage. The name Best Looks will be patented so that there will be no other clothing line which will be legally allowed to use the name. This name will serve as our brand name and thus every piece of clothing will bear the name. For us to operate within the country smoothly, it will be imperative for our company to ensure that it fully complies with the government requirement as far as registration of the company and other basic operation requirement is concerned. Registration of the company will come first. Due to the bureaucratic nature of the process, it will be important for our company to embark on this process early enough to avoid any unnecessary delays on the stipulated day of commencement of our business operations. Our product is very relevant to the state of art in the sense that it is features in some of the most recent designs as far as fashion is concerned. However, our products may be rendered obsolete by the fact that the dressing tastes of people seem to be changing day in day out and the worst fear will be for the ladies fashion taste to shift from trousers to something like dresses. This will mean that there will be minimal sales generated by the external factors. However, this is just but an isolated market scenario. Some of the liabilities that may be involved in the rung of the company will be the bad debts. In some cases, it is very normal for businesses to supply products at an agreement for future payment. This normally works on the basis of mutual trust which in some cases can prove to be inadequate. Under such circumstances, the person or the business being supplied with the products can default to make the payment as stipulated and upon numerous fruitless follow-ups; this finally ends up being counted as a bad debt. Under such circumstances, the company will be forced to bear this liability and devise a means of compensating such losses so as not to compromise with the normal running of the business. One of the things which make our company very unique is that is goes far beyond the provision of products to establish a personal relationship with the customers. For instance having an elaborate customer care is one of the qualities that Best Looks will borrow from its affiliate company. This attribute has been reported to work for the organization in maintaining the customer loyalty. It is through customer care services that the firm has been able to establish various issues and concerns of the customers and hence design appropriate ways of addressing them for the good of both the customer and the organization. Another aspect which makes the organization unique is that it puts issues such as social responsibility in the forefront as opposed to many other organizations within the industry. The products of the company are also very unique compared to that of the competitors in terms of versatility of designs, color and the material used. This makes the customer to base her decision on of buying on a very wide variety of products. Marketing plan Understanding the target market and its dynamics is very crucial in any business development. As earlier stated, our target market includes the young people who account for the greatest percentage in the total population of the country. However, the market is segmented into two units. To start with, there is that population consisting of college students mostly aged between 18 and 25. Other than that, the market is segmented into the age group between 25 and 35 years who majority fall in the working class category. These different segments of the population have varying spending power and so do their tastes of fashion vary to some extend. With such knowledge in mind, it becomes very easy for the company to adjust towards meeting the needs of each market segment because it matters a lot to see that the customers needs are well taken care of. The profile of our target customer includes classy, elegant, and expensive outfit. As it is the case with many people who are fashion-conscious, these are attributes which add glamour to their wardrobes and this is exactly what our company will take care of. Our company expects to take command of at least 75% of the market at its initial stages and move towards about 95% as it advanced to high levels of growth and development. With such a market share, it means that the total profitability of the company is well taken care of. Competition One factor worth noting is that the level of competition in the fashion industry has been growing daily. People have recognized the potential that this industry has and every one is trying every means possible to remain highly competitive. In Texas City where our business will be located, there are quite a number of similar businesses, some which have been in operation for an extended period of time. However, locating our business there will be an advantage in the sense that customers are already aware of the fact that they can get high quality designs in Texas. Therefore, the tasks that will lie a head o f us is to make our products as distinguished as possible from that of our competitors and hence make them stand out. One of the ways through which we will be able to ensure that our products are highly distinguished is by making sure that quality remains uncompromised for all our products. For any rational consumer especially aged between 18 and 35, quality comes first. In order to ensure quality production, our company will not take chances when it comes to high qualified personnel in both production and management. On top of that, job training will be given a lot of priority to ensure that workers are equipped with the necessary skills and expertise to enable to them perform their duties to the best of their abilities. Apart from that, out company will make use a pricing strategy which will put out prices relatively lower that that of our competitors. Price in any market scenario plays a very critical role in influencing peoples decision to purchase. Again, holding the quality constant, a rational consumer will go for a product which saves him or her an extra coin opposed to the reverse. This is one of those strategies which need to be approached with a lot of care because over-effecting it can compromise with the overall profitability of the company hence render our business unable to sustain itself. Therefore one of the ways through which the company will ensure that the companys products are priced lower that those of the competitors is to utilize economies of scale. This simply means mass producing the products and hence sourcing for raw material in large quantities. By so doing, the overall production cost will reduce by a significant margin and therefore it will be safe for the company to price its products low while still operating profitably. Other that enjoying the economies of scale, our company plans to cut down on the costs of production by minimizing the costs of labor. Most of production will be capital intensive as opposed to labor intensive. Our market research that we contacted in the area revealed that most of our competitors rely on walk in customers. This means that they do not make use of various sales awareness and promotional strategies to recruit more clients. Our company will take advantage of this and make proper use of the sales promotional tools to our advantage. One of our strongest competitors includes some Chinese manufacturing industries in Texas which have been in the business for the last ten years. They are a threat to our business because for one, for them to have stayed in the market for such a long time, they must be fully equipped with the necessary information concerning the market and that can be to our disadvantage. Other than that, it may take time for our products to penetrate due to the market dominance of these companies hence compromise with our overall success. However, our competition will not be based on how long a company has been in the market but will rather be a question of how well we can meet the needs of the customers while at the same time saving them an extra coin. Those are some of the attributes which will make our company stand out from the competitors. With the effecting of such approaches, I see the competitors loosing out in two to three years to come since our market share will be too high to allow the thriving of any other business within the region. Distribution channels matter a lot in any business because it determines how well or otherwise the products are availed to the consumer. Our customers are our biggest treasures and thus we will make use of distribution channels which ensure fast delivery of the products to their proximity. Marketing strategy Our marketing plan will include a process creating awareness whole at the same time persuading customers to purchase our products. With more and more people using the internet, this will be a perfect place for us to carry out our marketing. Social networks such as face book and the twitter will be in on the frontline to tap in the market there since statistics have that the highest population there is the young people who are our target group. Using internet as one of our marketing tool will render the whole process less costly as compared to other channels of advertisement wile reaching a very large volume of customers in every part of the globe (Ford, 2007). Other than internet, our company will make use of the social media such as television. The timing in which the advertisements appear in the television is very critical and our company fully takes note of that. For instance, when the advertisement is aired in between the news broadcasting, it is likely that a very large number of people will be watching and thus meaning that it will reach a very large number of people. Therefore, it will matter a lot for us to settle on the best time to place our adverts on the television. The marketing of our products will use the most appealing photos as possible. It is important to note that the kind of material used in any advertisements plays a big role in creating the image of the product in the eyes of the consumer. Therefore our company will not take chances with this fact when designing the adverts. Our company will own many outlets throughout the Texas City and other major cities in the country. Those outlets will be fully stocked with the products. Distribution of the outlets in all major cities will save the customers the time and resources they could use in terms of traveling costs involved when the product is accessed from a centralized place. Proper display of those products in the outlets will matter a lot and is something which will be given a lot of priority in our marketing plan to ensure that the customers are presented with a good view of the products stocked in those outlets. Our marketing strategies will stretch further in the world of beauty pageants where we will be sponsoring various modeling events. Among the things which we will do is to let the beauty pageants model various clothes from our clothing line. This will not only be a perfect opportunity for us to popularize our various designs but will also be a good opportunity for our customers to sample each individual design based on how it comes out when worn by the models. The many institutions of learning around Texas City form a very good avenue for marketing our products through the beauty pageants since such activities are quite prevalent there. Being Part of the social responsibility is an avenue for marketing our products. Social responsibility simply means taking part in the community activities that directly touch on the life of people. For instance, sponsoring a walk to raise money to aid some people who are starving in some countries in the world is just but an example of being a part and parcel of social responsibility. Through being part of the social responsibility, our company will get in touch with the customers at the grassroots not to mention the fact that it will build its image and brand personality. The social responsibility on our organization will be not be limited only to taking part in the events that touch on our target population but will be rather focus on all social realms and focus on circumstances faced by the society at large. Our marketing plan will work beyond geographic boundaries to serve customers in almost every part of the world. According to a research that we previously conducted, it is quite evident that there is a ready market for our products in other parts of the globe which is untapped. It is one of our objectives to go international and expand our client base. So far our company has identified a market in some African countries such as South Africa and Kenya. It therefore means that the supplies of our products will extent further to meet the international demand. In order to ensure that we remain profitable, we will be exporting in bulk and use cheapest options of transport such as ships. This will cut down our operating costs significantly hence make our products fairly affordable to the consumer. When it comes to selling, special skills will be needed. First and foremost, it would be important to equip those who are dealing directly with the customers with crucial knowledge on how best to handle them. This will include listening to their concerns and assisting them where possible in the move towards building a good relationship with them which is very crucial in our business success. Our company fully appreciates the input of our sales force since they are the back bone of our business. It is for this reason that our company will come up with sound remuneration scales as a way of motivating them towards realization of the goals and objectives of the organization. The significance of motivating employees in any institution cannot be overemphasized since its direct relationship with job performance is very evident. Apart from the remuneration package, our company will provide a supporting environment to nurture and grow the potential each individual employee in which capacity he or she serves. Therefore, it will be duty of the people in the top management positions to help effect this aspect. As I had earlier stated, our business just as many other in various industries cannot avoid advancing credit facilities to its clients from time to time. However, this should be done in a lot of moderation and skepticism as well. Our company will first and foremost carry out a thorough evaluation of credit worthiness of our clients to avoid landing our self in bad bets. The financial position in case of corporate client will also be of great significance in settling on the decision on where to advance credit facilities or not. This information can be obtained from analyzing the accounting records of the client. On top of that, our company will ensure that it avoids long term debts since most of them end up being bad ones (Thomas, 2001). Too many debts can pull down our company and that is why it would be imperative for the business to take this issue seriously and make rational decisions. To follow up our debts, we will engage debt collectors to do it on our behalf. This will help in protecting our relationship with customers since the debt collectors will literally do everything as far as ensuring that our debtors pay. Dealing with the customers directly in this case would make our relationship to be compromised and it can in turn affect our business. Today, almost every organization appreciates the importance of employing marketing strategies in the effort to boost sales. This is a factor that my competitors are taking seriously. This is therefore a shared approach to business between our company and our competitors. However, what varies is the application of varying marketing strategies. It is the nature of many businesses to experience seasonal peaks. This is the time when the business is highly booming and its during that time an organization can maximize on its profits. Therefore, the business should strategize itself into tapping in the increased business and translating it into high profit margins. For the case of our business, seasonal peaks are experienced during the summer. At this period, people can feel free to adventure with fashions w since the weather conditions permit so. Considering the material making our clothes, it is obvious that such clothing is only suitable for a relatively warm weather conditions. Management Plan The management team will be mandated to run the organization. It is this team that has greatest role to play in the success of the business. In the organization, team work will be highly emphasized because this will result into working towards realizing a common goal. The hierarchy of management consists of the managing director to unit managers. It will be the duty and responsibility of each manager to ensure that the people working under him or her embrace the policies of hard work towards the organizational devolvement. The manager will also be responsible for motivating the workers from time to time to boost their productivity. Therefore one of the basic qualities of the managers will be their ability to exhibit high levels of leadership skills Other than that, education background will matter since a lot of emphasis will be placed on people with adequate training in management related courses because we believe that such people will be well equipped with the necessary knowledge to enable them to take up the roles of managers within the company. At the moment there are quite a number of vacant positions which need to be filled as soon as possible for the business operations to kick start. Below is a table showing the vacant position and the respective annual packages Vacant position Annual package in USD Operations manager 120,000 Branch manager 170,000 Production manager 120,000 Marketing manager 140,000 Quality control manager 160,000 Though the supervisors may not fall under managers, their roles cannot be overlooked. Our company will recruit about five supervisors to help oversee various processes within the organization. Their annual package will range from 50000 to 70,000 US depending on their scope of duties. Employee motivation will be one of our key values to embrace. This will be done through carrying out performance appraisals to rank each individual employee accordingly depending on how they perform their duties. The employees ranked highest will be rewarded as a way of motivating them. This will also be a challenge for others to emulate the ones who are awarded hence bringing competition within the organization. This will work to the advantage of the company since every employee will be striving towards improved performance. The personnel will not be left out either when it comes to motivation. It is obvious that personnel who are not motivated cannot afford to motivate his or her subordinates. They should therefore be motivated from time to time to enable them perform their duties well. Training of employees remains very central in any organization. Our company values employee training a lot and as a result, the company has allocated a considerable portion of its budge towards trai ning the employees. Through this, the employees will be equipped with the necessary knowledge as pertaing to their duties within the organization. The Company will outsource training managers from some of the most highly reputable organizations in the country to impart the appropriate knowledge to the employees. The issue of employee training will be made from time to time; that is, there should be at least a training session once after every two weeks. The management team will be responsible for organizing these training. It is the duty of the human resource manager in collaboration with the other relevant managers to assess the performance f the employees for the purposes of appraisal. For instance, a marketing manager will be better placed to rank a person in the sales team. Subcontracting will help our organization save on the costs of recruiting and training personnel to fill in various positions. Our company will therefore make use of this in various production activities. For instance during the peak season when the business is booming, we will sub-contract people to form our workforce. This will supply the extra labor required to cater for the production towards meeting the extra demand. It will be the duty of the quality control manager to ensure that substandard products do not find their way not the market since this would compromise with the standard we want to set in the market. Operating Plan As we have earlier stated, we will make use of subcontracting in the production process. This will cut down on operating costs by some margin and also ensure high production since we will see to subcontract people with a good record of performance. The production process will require the use of various machines and equipment. It means that the company will have to invest a lot in the state of the art equipment to guarantee better quality. Some of the equipment will be source from abroad. It will therefore call for specialized people to operate these equipments and this is where the significance of training comes out clearly. Inventory control is very important because a situation where the rate at which the products are made is far much higher than the rate at which they are distributed can result into pilling a lot of stock for such a long time, something which can compromise with the quality with time. The environment in which our business is situated has both positive and negative impacts. First, most people in the area are every fashion conscious and therefore it will not take much time for people to start appreciating our new fancy designs. Another advantage is that people have very high purchasing power and this translates into moving high volume of sales. As for the disadvantages, the weather conditions here get so chilly sometimes thus discouraging people from wearing our designs (Berry, 2008). Financial Plan In our financial projections, we will assume that all factors will work in favor of our business and that we will be able to operate profitably. The projected revenues for the first three months will be estimated at 5000,000 dollars per month. However, we plan to keep our expenses at minimal levels as possible to be in a position to maximize out profits , for instance this is a breakdown of some of the consist that we will incur in the first month of production. Cost of raw materials 500,000 Wages and salaries 1,000,000 Cost of marketing 500,000 Fuel costs 500,000 Total 2,500,000 Therefore the profits fro the first month will stand at 2,500,000 dollars. i.e. profit = total revenue -total cost =5,000, 000-2,500,000 = 2, 500,000 dollars Our business will try as much as possible to stay away from funding its operations from debts. This is because debts come with a very high cost in terms of interest rates. Therefore most of the operations will be funded from equity. Legal Plan The business will operate like a limited company. This will mean that the liabilities of the company will be limited. This form of business has a number of advantages. With limited companies, we can decide to list our shares in the stock market to boost our equity. Other than that, each shareholder is entitled to particular shares of the organization depending on his or her contribution. Our company works in collabora

Relationship between stories :: essays research papers

The Relationship between Stories and Their Sources   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Most authors use some type of source when writing a story. The source could be religious, scientific, or something else that is inspiring to them. Even great writers such as Shakespeare had a source in which their stories came from. The source can be used for many different purposes. A certain author may use a source to show different parallels between two stories or to show similarities between events or characters. They may use the source to prove a point or to add meaning to the book. The source could also just be an ambiguous connection that helps complete the story. Whatever the authors reason for picking a certain source it seems to give the story completion and significance. In this class, we read many stories in which the source deals with religion and especially the gospels. In this paper, I will discuss these different stories and how they relate to their religous sources.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first story we read in class was, ?gA Visit of Charity?h by Eudora Welty. In this story, the source that is eluded to is the Genesis story of Adam and Eve. The story begins with Marian, a young campfire girl, who is on her way to an Old Ladies?f Home. Before entering the home she stops by some prickly shrubs. The outside of the home was covered by beautiful shrubbery and the whitewash brick building reflected the sunlight. Yet, the inside of the home was in bad shape. It smelled musky and the linoleum on the floor was bulging up. The details Welty adds are significant because it shows two different worlds. The one world Marian still sees which is beautiful like the Garden of Eden and the world she is slowly stepping into where things are not beautiful and good. The story continues with Marian visiting two old ladies who fought between themselves the whole time she was there. Marian did not want to be at the home and especially dislike visiting these two ladies. Although, the one lady was friendly to Marian she was still scared of both ladies. At the end of the visit the one lady grabs Marian?fs arm and asks her for a penny or a nickel. Marian runs from the old lady without looking back. When she gets outside she grabs the apple she hid in the prickly bushes on her way into the Home. As she jumped onto the bus Marian took a big bite of the apple. This is the most significant part of the story because it shows how Marian knew what she was doing was wrong but she carelessly did it

Essay --

Radiation has always been in everyday life even before Roentgen discovered x-ray. The mountains give off natural radiation, other forms of radiation are coal burning power plants, x-rays from a TV, and an airplane ride. The average dose from background radiation is about 360 mrem every year. There are two types of radiation, nonionizing and ionizing radiation. Examples of nonionizing radiation are microwaves and radio waves broadcasting. Ionizing radiation refers to gamma and x-rays. Ionizing radiation means that the rays are able to remove an electron from the atom then ions can be formed. The ions can cause damage when reacting with other atoms. Cells are able to be repaired if low dose are received. However, if cells get a high dose, the cells will be damaged or possibly die. If the cell is damaged permanently then it is referred to as a mutated cell. There are ways to better understand how radiation affects the body when compared to other every day activities. If an occupational worker receives 1 rem per year then is it possible that 51 days is expected to be lost. A person that smokes 20 cigarettes a day takes about 6 years off of their life. People that are overweight by 15% take about 2 years off of their life. In actuality radiation would seem as though it is not any more harmful than other everyday activities people decide to do such as smoke, chew tobacco, or sky dive. The risk of taking days, weeks, years off of ones lives will always be present depending on the activity they choose to be part of. However, radiation exposure in the healthcare field is used to extend the patient’s life by helping them find out what is going on in their body. A patient that comes in with RLQ pain, nausea, and vomiting then an abdomen x-r... ...om the radiation, the source of radiation comes from beneath the patient. Spot fluoroscopy should be utilized to minimize radiation to the patient, radiologist, and radiologic technologist. Radiologist and radiologic technologist must wear a lead apron and thyroid shield. A lead shield is put on the front to protect the radiologist and the tech. (Statkiewicz-Sherer, 1983) Radiation has changed drastically over the past 118 years. Exposures are much quicker, digital imaging is a possibility in most hospitals, and most importantly, radiation protection. Many people have died, some without realizing that they were killing themselves, for the advancement of x-rays. Because of these advancements physicians are able to tell patients what is going on very quickly and without much delay. It is very important to remember the 3 cardinal rules: distance, time and shielding.

The Importance of Winning Essay -- Personal Narrative

The Importance of Winning There is an old saying â€Å" It doesn’t matter if you win or lose, it’s how you play the game.† How true is this? Can this be applied to all situations in life? This may be pertinent to children in schools who participate in trivial events such as sports, for example. However, with these types of ideas we are saying that losing is fine. Consequently, youths are goaded to contend with the ideas of being losers and also-rans. In events such as sports, politics, and even war, the old saying should be paraphrased to â€Å"It does matter if you win or lose and how you win.† Winning or losing can be a matter of life and death. Today’s professional sports players are so responsible for the team that they know they have to play at their best, with one hundred percent effort. Otherwise, the consequences are some times fatal for the fans and players as well. For instance, at the U.S. Soccer World Cup of 1994, the national team of Colombia was playing against the U.S. to qualify for the second round. One defender from the Colombian team, Andres Escobar Gomez, in an effort to kick the ball out of the terrain, accidentally kicked it into the goal of his team. The opposite team jeered the auto-goal because the victory for the U.S. was eminent. The Colombian fans were so angry that when the team went back to Colombia, the soccer player who scored the auto-goal was murdered two days later by radical fans. This is just a tragic example of how important it is to win. ...

Teaching Preschool Children Reading

Phonological awareness is an important aspect in the fundamentals of reading. It is the first step in literacy. Children can learn phonological awareness in a variety of ways. Rhyming, sentence and word recognition, sound knowledge, phonemes, letter identification, spelling, and games which require active listening are a few of the techniques used by teachers in the classroom. All of these methods help in a child’s reading and speech fluency.All children need to learn how to read and write in order to survive in today’s society. There have been many different methods used in order to teach phonemic awareness to preschool children. Phonemic awareness is the capability of an individual to differentiate, identify and manipulate specific sounds. An example would be a child combining and blending the sounds in the word cat. Many people believe that phonics and phonemic awareness are the same thing. However, phonic awareness is recognizing that words come from sounds with in turn make up a language. Phonics is knowing that sounds are composed of letters which compose a writing style.In order to teach a child phonic awareness and to read, a teacher must comprehend the procedure that the brain formulates in order to understand the printed data. The brain undergoes three functions which facilitate understanding. First, there is information retention which has to deal with spurs of the environment. Second, language articulation is where a child uses prior knowledge in order to associate its meaning; and the third process is modeling and making connections with former information . Reading comprehension occurs in the frontal lobe of the brain. When this process takes place, it leads to an understanding and knowledge of what a person has seen and read.Phonological processing is a person’s ability to listen and  comprehend dialect as well as printed terms. Hence, it is to say that the child recognizes the sound each letter makes. Mechanically our brai n unconsciously processes verbal communication. Instantly a child gathers phonemes in order to pronounce the word and decomposes it to grasp the oral language. In contrast to speech, reading involves a child’s knowledge in the process of associating written words with the alphabet and in turn producing spoken words. Therefore, a child has to be of conscious mind in order to learn reading. A teacher must instruct a child in the phonological sequences of letters in order for the child to acquire phonological processing.There are many different techniques a teacher can utilize in order to build phonological awareness. One technique would be merging words and sounds collectively in order to construct new words. The words composed can be silly or factual. This technique facilitates the child’s use of phonemes, which was a study conducted by McCandlies, Cohen, and Dehaene in 2003 . Having a child combine letters and then separating them is another form of building phonologic al awareness. It will also help them in recognizing the letters of the alphabet. Examples of the activities mentioned above are having a child say the first sound in the word â€Å"rat† and then saying each letter sound individually. Blending would consist of telling a child say ‘at’ and then stating to them to put an ‘r’ in front and say the new word.These activities can been done with a variety of materials such as chalk, boards and markers. Remember preschool children are very visual. The more movement they utilize, the better they retain the information. Image is a phonic awareness 3 letter word game.Many people do not see imaginative play as a means of learning. However, it is during play that children are at their most influential developmental stage according to Vygotsky, a Russian psychologist. Since the children are imaging different situations, they are associating everyday activities and assigning meaning to them. During this time, individ uals and items can transform themselves into different things. For example, a child can become a cat, or a baby and a piece of construction paper can be converted into a notepad for taking orders in a restaurant. Through the children’s interactions and language, they gather and exchange knowledge, experiences,  and vocabulary which enhance their verbal communication through mutual exchange (Genishi and Dyson, 2009).Collaborative songs and games can also be a means to teach phonological awareness. Nursery rhymes can be utilized as a tool for phonological awareness. Rhyming activities such as asking a child which words rhyme or which ones do not rhyme will enhance their awareness. A teacher may also say a word and ask a child which word rhymes with it (Phillips, Clancy-Menchetti, Lonigan, 2008). Some examples would be: this old man, head shoulder knees and toes, one two buckle my shoe and Humpty Dumpty. Games that constitute phonological awareness do not have to come from a b ook. They can be invented from one’s everyday activities. Examples of these activities would be a trip to the grocery store or beauty salon.Children can be asked which items in the store begin with the same letter sound or which nail polishes have the same letters in them. If a child does not respond or say the correct answer, be sure to mirror the correct response and not state that they were wrong. The teacher should support the child through the learning process. The following illustration explains the steps of phonological awareness.Activities which implement pattern recognition are also efficient at phonological awareness. This is an excellent tool to utilize in the classroom due to the fact that children learn how to read by identifying patterns. When a child associates words from letter patterns and connects the sounds, this is called patterning. A teacher should replicate, rehearses, and observe the children when teaching pattern recognition in order to determine the child’s advancements in this area. Assessments should cover word subdivision, sound combinations, and sorting new data into patterns. Repetition is the key in the learning process.Preschool children have a short attention span; therefore, keep activities fun and exciting in order to facilitate the best learning environment. Not all children have the same literacy background and predisposition; they come from a variety of environments and cultural upbringings. Consequently, teachers must adapt to each individual child’s style of learning and pace. There will always be  variations in the learning process.Technology is a part of our everyday lives. Children have computers, iPhones, iPod’s, and tablets. Since technology surrounds children twenty -four hours of the day, seven days a week, parents need to take advantage of the situation and use the time wisely. There are many games online which can help children build their phonological awareness. Websites which par ents can utilize are: starfall.com, PBSkids.com, ABCmouse.com, learninggamesforkids.com, sheppardsoftware.com, and ezschools.com.All these websites provide educational games for preschool children. They have a variety of subjects such as math, reading, and science. Also they cover the fundamentals of the alphabet, phonics, sounds, and blending. These games are especially interesting for those children who are visual and auditory learners.Percentage of children who are going online daily for educational purposes As stated above, there are many different techniques that a teacher can employ in order to educate a child. Other methods such as repeated reading, modeling fluency, and leap frog are also useful tools in phonological awareness. Children imitate and mimic adult behavior. Therefore, it is vital that a teacher speaks to a child in the appropriate grammatical matter. They will store the information and use it later in other situations that arise. Although a preschool child does not know how to read, they do make associations with words. Hence, reading every day for thirty minutes will build a child’s vocabulary.Books which have tape recordings and CDs are also good sources for vocabulary buildings, rhyme, and word segmentation. In these days, parents are not concerned about their children’s education. They spend fifty or more dollars on video games instead of providing educational support. It is ignorant for them to believe that programs like VPK and Head Start are providing a child to play and interact socially. Although social interaction is vital to a preschool child, education stimulation is also crucial. Teachers go through countless training sessions in order to provide their students with high standards. There are a variety of sources that parents and teachers can use. Computer games, internet sites, books, rhymes, music and movement, and activities created by the teacher or parent are all ways to provide phonological awareness.Parents and teachers alike have to remember that every child is  different and each child has his or her way of thinking and processing information. Thus, educators and parents have to learn their child’s learning style whether it is audio, visual, or kinesthetic in order to provide a grade a learning environment. Reading, writing, and spelling are the principles of fluency. If children are provided with the proper tools now, they will be better equipped for the future. Remember, the children of today will be the leaders of tomorrow!

Confucianism’s similarities to virtue ethics Essay

Confucianism, the ancient social philosophy of China, would have had no ethical parallel in the West as little as 30 years ago. There are some small similarities that it holds with utilitarian ethics and deontology. There is very little in ethical egoism or relativism that lines up with Confucianism. I believe that virtue ethics, however, as laid out in Alasdair MacIntyre’s book After Virtue bears a striking resemblance to Confucianism. One important feature of Confucianism, according to John Koller, is that it is an essentially humanist philosophy; in other words, human beings are the ultimate source of values. This is in apposition to Supernaturalism—which claims that values ultimately come from God, and naturalism—which believes that values come from nature. Thus, Confucianism, answers the question of â€Å"How can goodness and harmony be achieved? † by looking for exemplars and principles in humanity itself. This is strikingly similar to the picture that Alasdair MacIntyre paints of the world. According to MacIntyre, most of the ethical language and arguments that are thrown around between ethicists and even everyday people is fundamentally incomprehensible or incoherent. Ethical prescriptions used to be based on a common belief in God and the ways in which He has ordered the universe. In today’s world, however, we no longer share that common belief, but we have kept the structures and language of our old ethical systems without the foundation stones on which they were originally built. To remedy this ailment, MacIntyre proposes going back to a kind of virtue ethics, an essentially humanist philosophy that defines virtuous behavior as what a good man would do. Like Confucianism, virtue ethics looks to neither God nor nature, but rather humanity to find the principles by which to live. Furthermore, both Confucianism and virtue ethics focus less on the rightness of actions themselves, but rather on the development of virtuous people. Koller, notes â€Å"The Confucian idea that virtue, rather than law, should be the basis of government†¦ †. Similarly, virtue ethics sees ethical behavior as ultimately driven by character, not by rules (deontology) or consequences (utilitarianism). Both Confucianism and virtue ethics are interested in cultivating people â€Å"skillful† in doing good as the basis of a stable society.

Health Care System Evolution

This paper is an overview about the evolution of the US health care system from the Great Depression to the current Health Reform Bill. I will give an understanding to Medicare and Medicaid program, which also will include a history of these two programs. Even though these two programs are a very complex in helping many poor, elderly, people with certain disabilities, and as well as low income pregnant women they are getting the care that they need as well as what they deserve. Health Care System Evolution, Medicare/Medicaid. Without the introduction of Medicare/Medicaid in July 1965 there would be many problems in the United States today. We would probably have disease outbreaks, and a large population without any health cost coverage. I believe that many people would not go to see a doctor because the cost of private medical care would be too expensive. I also believe that if Medicare and Medicaid did not come into existence that there would be mast amount of death in this country. Between the Great Depression through July 1965 health care had numerous debates in this country. In the 1930s a third-party payer health insurance was introduced including Blue Cross and Blue Shield and others to cover the cost of care in the event of illness or accidents. This only helped the people who could afford private insurance. The United States still was in need of helping the poor and uninsured. In the 1930s the Social Security Act supported public health care for just mothers and children. There was still a great demand to help all other uninsured people. After World War II the government supported and idea for public financed health insurance. In 1959 the Department of Health and Human Services helped in providing hospital insurance to Social Security beneficiaries. In the early 1960s Congress passed the Kerr-Mills bill, which helped the elderly that weren’t the poorest but who still needed assistance with medical expenses. President John F. Kennedy helped in the start of the 1965 bill for Medicare and Medicaid. This bill was known as the King-Anderson bill. This amended the Social Security Act and this covered hospital and nursing home costs for people over the age of 65. In July 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Social Security Amendment into law. With that signing of this law came the introduction of Medicare and Medicaid. Today Medicare/Medicaid has helped millions of elderly, low-income people, people with certain disabilities, and low-income pregnant women have health care because of this law. This program helps pay for services such as hospitals, physician visits, and preventive benefits. Medicaid and Medicare are two of the most enduring social programs in the US, providing different services to different groups of people. †1 Medicaid is a state administrated program, so each state varies in there program. Medicaid is also based on their income. Unfortunately, if their income is too high they will not be eligible for Medicaid. In 1990 the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act that requires state Medicaid care program s to cover the premiums for children ages six to eighteen whose family’s income is between 100-120% the federal poverty level. In 1997 the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) was introduced. This program helps states to receive federal money for uninsured children whose families are not eligible for Medicaid due to their income exceeds the limit for Medicaid. In 1976 formed the Health Care Financing Administration which is a division of the Department of Health and Human Services, then in 2001 the name was changed to Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Medicare is a social insurance program that provides health coverage to individuals, without regard to their income or health status. †3 Medicare provides health insurance to people over the age of 65, people with certain types of disabilities and people of all ages with kidney failure. The Medicare program is funded two ways, one by people that paid into most of their working lives by payroll tax revenues, and secondly premiums paid by beneficiaries of the Medicare program. â€Å"Medicare has been one of the fastest growing federal programs. 2 Medicare is broken down to four parts, Part A is the hospital insurance and with this part of insurance all persons aged 65 and older are automatically entitled to this benefit. Part A is broken down to inpatient hospital care, skilled nursing facility care, home health agency and hospice care. Part B is a supplementary medical insurance, which is available to people over the age of 65, which people must paid for through monthly premiums. Part C is the Medicare Advantage that is a set of options for health care under a managed care plan. Then in 2006 Medicare put into law a plan for prescription drugs which is Part D. With these two programs in the United States today helps the poor, elderly, people with certain disabilities get the care that they need and deserve. Today with unemployment at all time high and many baby boomers that will be in need of some type of health insurance; the inception of a new health plan became law. In the year 2010, President Obama signed into law the Health Reform Bill. This will give health insurance to all people. This reform will strengthen Medicare benefits by providing lower prescription drug costs and this will also give a chance to the people who didn’t qualify for Medicaid received the care they need. The reform law will help with Medicare/Medicaid fraud as well as stopping the abuse of Medicare/Medicaid to save taxpayers money. Medicare and Medicaid have come a long way from the Great Depression. I know that there are many abuses within the system and with this new reform bill I do hope that this system will change, because everyone deserves that right health care and to be a healthy person.

Beer Wars-Documentary Review Essay

Introduction Beer Wars was a very eye-opening documentary. It was interesting to see how the market share of the largest beer company, Anheiser-Busch, has grown throughout the years. In 1965, Anheiser-Busch had a meager market share of twelve percent. As marketing on television grew in popularity, Anheiser-Busch’s market share grew as well. By 1985, Anheiser-Busch’s market share had grew to thirty-seven percent. By 2005, Anheiser-Busch’s market share had grown to an enormous forty-nine percent. This was very shocking to me that one company could control almost one-half of the market share of a $97 billion industry. Also, in 1985, the other two largest beer makers, Miller and Coors, made up about twenty-six percent of the market share. Thus, in 2005, major beer companies made up seventy-five percent of the beer sales in the United States. Which tells us that craft breweries only had twenty-five percent of the market share. How the Large Got/Stay Large In the beginning, all beers were craft beers, until the big three companies wanted to grow, and grow they did. Unfortunately, as the three largest beer companies in the United States grew, the beer-drinking public that was buying their beer were actually the people who were suffering. The reason that I say this is because of the way the large beer manufacturers got to this point. The large beer manufacturers were not very concerned about the quality of their beers as much as they were about the number of sales that were created. The way that the large beer companies did this was through their advertising campaigns. The large beer companies were/are millions and millions of dollars during different sporting functions and on every day television. Beer Wars told us that, on average, there is about $1. 5 billion spent on advertising by the large beer companies every single year. That number is astounding to me, considering how popular their beers are. I think if they were to cut back their advertisements by about 50%, they would still maintain a stranglehold on the beer market in the United States. Another way that large beer companies tend to stay on top of the market is through shelf space at different locations. The large beer companies tend to make many different varieties of beers and thus are afforded more space on the shelves and local markets and liquor stores. This leaves a very small area for craft beers to be displayed, especially when it is very difficult to determine if a beer is a craft beer or made by one of the large beer companies. I will talk more about this later in the discussion. Why Light is King The large beer companies tend to market light lager beers, and for good reason. About eighty-five percent of the beer consumed in the United States is light lager. So, Miller Lite, Coors Light and Bud-Light are very good money makers for the large beer companies. I would not blame the companies for pushing and selling what the people want, or is this what people want? Craft Beer Facts Well, craft beers haven’t fully caught on in the beer markets. NPR. org tells us that craft beers only make up about five percent of the total beer market. According to NPR. org, there are currently over two thousand breweries in the United States. Of those two thousand, about 1,950 of those breweries are considered craft beer breweries. That’s another very interesting point. Ninety-five percent of the breweries in the United States are brewing about five percent of the beer that is sold in the United States. That really doesn’t seem right, but NPR. org goes on to tell us that in order to be a craft brewery, the breweries cannot brew more than 6 million barrels of beer every year. According to texaswatchdog. org, Anheiser-Busch alone brewed over one hundred million barrels of beer in 2011. That is an amazingly large amount of beer for one company to sell. This also tells us that the hope is not nearly lost for craft brewers. If all of the 1,950 craft brewers produced only ? million barrels of beer each year, they could easily cripple the large beer manufacturers with an influx of 975 million barrels of beer flooding the marketplace. But, the vast majority of craft brewers would never want to do that. The Craft Beer Way The craft brewers in the United States and around the world have a completely different take on what it means to brew beer. Dogfish Head craft beer was said to only have . 0002% of the market share of beer sales in the United States. According to brewersassociation. org, Dogfish Head craft beer ranked 12th in the nation in 2011, based upon the number of sales for a craft brewery. That is truly amazing, how a company ranked 12th in the whole country in craft beer sales still only has . 0002% of the total market share of the beer industry. However, the owner of the company said that he would never want to grow like the large beer companies have. He is more concerned about each and every bottle of beer being the best beer possible, rather than worrying too much about how many cases he is able to send out the door. As a whole, craft beer makers try to capture their piece of the market through differentiation of their products and not through advertising like the large beer companies. Craft beer makers still try to do new and interesting things with beer, but they do their best not to lose focus on the most important factor, a good quality brew. Spreading the News Beer Wars told us that one event that allows craft breweries to get their name out to the public is the great American beer festival. This is an event where brewers go to from all over the world for people to sample and try different beers that the craft brewers make. This is a great way for the small breweries to get their name out to the market. Unfortunately, Beer Wars told us that even the large beer companies are starting to attend this event. Large Feeling the Effects The large beer companies have now started feeling the effects of small craft beers in the marketplace. According to brewerassociation. org, craft brew beer sales have increased from about one percent to about six percent of market share in the past fifteen years. This is the only portion of the beer industry to have any sign growth in that timeframe. Once again, the large beer companies are using their financial advantage to combat this trend. Anheiser-Busch has gone out and purchased several small beer company names and have been selling them as craft beers, where in fact they are mass produced at one of many Anheiser-Busch’s factories. Another way that large beer companies are flexing their monetary muscles is through lawsuits. Beer Wars described how one craft brewer was being sued by Anheiser-Busch for using a name that the brewer had used for years. The problem with this is that Anheiser-Busch had not been using that name for very long. Another issue with this is that craft brewers do not have the financial means to be able to hold off many lawsuits from large beer manufacturers. The reason that this is difficult for craft beer makers is the fact that funding for craft breweries is very hard to come by. Usually investors either invest in very large ventures or very small ventures. Most of the time, craft beer makers are somewhere in the middle as far as their funding needs go. Because of this oddity, gaining funds for the production facilities for a craft brewery is very hard to obtain through normal financing. Political Issues Some of the other challenges for the craft beer manufacturers is found in Washington, D. C. Beer Wars tells us that beer lobbyists are one of the most powerful group of lobbyists in Washington. The main focus of these lobbyists is ensuring that the three-tier system of distribution is held intact. The three-tier distribution system basically splits up the beer manufacturers, the beer distributors and the beer retailers. This rule was put in after prohibition to make sure that beer sales would be fair across all persons involved. Basically, so the large beer makers couldn’t prevent others from getting their product onto store shelves. Unfortunately, this is exactly what is happening. Distributors tend to lend favor to the large beer companies, because they are paid by how much beer they deliver, and as we saw from Beer Wars, the large beer manufacturers still control that volume of beer sales. So, when the distributors are putting the beer on the shelves of the retailer, they will basically give the large beer companies whatever kind of shelving presence that they desire, basically because they are getting incentivized to do so. I definitely think that the three-tier system needs to be looked at and revamped to meet the needs of today’s marketplace. Conclusion Overall, this documentary was a very interesting look into the beer manufacturer marketplace. I never realized before how devious the large beer manufacturers are when it comes to protecting their market share. With both the lawsuits over naming rights and the basic control of beer distributors, it’s amazing that any craft beer makers even stand a chance of holding any portion of market share. I believe that the large beer manufacturers are scared of what could happen very quickly if they do not do something to respond to the expanding requirements for quality beer in the marketplace. This documentary definitely made me change my mind on how I thought about craft beers. I always figured it was just some fad that would eventually fade away. I see now that this is not the case at all. Craft brews are just being produced to give the marketplace a much higher quality, even if they have to pay a little more. I have a much greater respect for craft beer manufacturers. I would hope to someday be able to brew my own beer just to see how fulfilling it can be. I will definitely start drinking more craft beers because of this documentary. References (Other Than Beer Wars) 1. â€Å"BREWERS ASSOCIATION RELEASES TOP 50 BREWERIES IN 2011. † Brewers Association. Brewers Association, 17 Apr. 2012. Web. 28 Nov. 2012. . 2. Chappell, Bill. â€Å"U. S. Craft Beer Brewers Thrive, Despite Small Share Of The Market. † NPR. org. NPR, 18 May 2012. Web. 28 Nov. 2012. . 3. Lisheron, Mark. â€Å"Anheuser-Busch InBev Roars against Craft Breweries Bill in Texas Legislature. † Texas Watchdog | Investigating Government Waste, Fraud and.