Project Appraisal & Finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Project Appraisal & Finance - Essay Example We have to clarify the two sets of key questions we are dealing with. The first answers the questions "what" investments are and "why" they are important for a business, whilst the second answers the question of "how" investments decisions are made. The second part of our paper elaborates and expands on some of the key concepts that we cover in the first part. In the process, we hope to acquire a deeper understanding of the principles, methods, and issues that have to be considered in investment decision-making. This paper will closely simulate the complex world of top management decision-making faced by any business on a daily basis, and where no single discipline - finance, production, corporate social responsibility, or general management - dominates. As we look at all the conceivable angles that any normal business looks at prior to the making of an investment decision, we can realise that just like in the real world, we need to make choices. Hopefully, our discussion will show that management decision-making is a complex task, that every decision made today can have far-reaching consequences, and that any professional manager who wants to be a worthy practitioner of the art and science of management must take his or her educational preparation, and eventually his or her responsibility as a manager very, very seriously. The ABC Mining plc Case For purposes of clarity in our understanding of the assumptions used in our discussions and the consequent calculations to arrive at our decisions, we summarise the key facts of the case. ABC Mining plc is investigating the possibility of purchasing an open-cast coal mine at a cost of 2.5 million which the government is selling as part of its privatisation programme. It would invest in and operate the mine for four years, after which it would clean it up and sell the assets. The Finance Director prepared the projected profit and loss accounts shown in Table 1, and in his report to the Board of Directors recommended that the company should not proceed as the profitability of the proposal is poor. The following are the questions that need to be answered: First, what could be considered as the most appropriate investment appraisal methods which would help the company to decide whether or not to proceed with the project Second, explain why we consider the investment appraisal methods just discussed to be the most appropriate for evaluating investment projects. Third, we would discuss briefly whether the project should go ahead. Table 1: ABC Mining plc Profit and Loss Statement (in millions) Year 0 Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Comments Investments Purchase (2.5) Paid to government Equipment (12.5) Financed 10m debt at 12% Sale of Equipment 2.5 Year 5 sale of vehicles/eqpt Working capital (0.5) One-time investment Sunk costs (0.2) Included in Year 1 write-off Survey costs (0.4) Counted in Year 1 Clean-up (0.4) Net vehicle sales 2.1 Sales 9.4 9.8 8.5 6.3 Less: Direct Exp Wages (2.3) (2.5) (2.6) (1.8) Incl.

Health Insurance and Medicare Essay Example for Free

Health Insurance and Medicare Essay I. Introduction The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) was signed into law on March 23, 2010 by President Barack Obama. Along with the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act (HCERA), it represents the momentous transformation of the U.S. health care system. Its main goal is to decrease the amount of uninsured citizens as well as to reduce the overall costs of health care. It is a vastly complex reform that will affect many people in aspects of their health care, costs, and the country. There are many opinions about how this reform will affect the nation, some saying it will make us better off, others saying we will be worse off, and those who do not think it will make a difference. But regardless of these opinions, what the majority does agree on is that these laws may be difficult to understand and that many are not even aware of these changes. There are many problems that the health care industry is facing. The cost of health care may arguably be the most important factor that people are concerned about. Many think that health care policies and premiums are too expensive. Coupled with the fact that our population is aging, meaning that there will be more elder people with more health problems, health care costs are rapidly growing and take up a huge chunk of the federal budget. There are also many loopholes within the current health care system. Individuals who are looking to buy insurance can be denied based on their pre-existing conditions. Some insurance policies even have a lifetime limit on benefits. What all these examples basically sum up is that the people who are in need of health care the most are those who are also the most unlikely to be insured, or are under insured. In an attempt to address these issues, the PPACA and Reconciliation Act were established. The Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act was enacted to amend the PPACA. It is divided into two titles, one addressing the health reform and the other addressing student loan reform. It makes changes to some parts of the PPACA. That is why many people commonly refer to the overall health reform as just the PPACA. The most noted change this brings  is that it requires almost all citizens to have health care insurance, or to pay a penalty. Some examples and cases regarding this issue will be discussed later on. The PPACA also considerably expands public insurance as well as funds private insurance coverage. It will close loopholes such as setting life time limits as well as making it illegal to reject coverage for those with pre-existing conditions. In terms of affordability, the PPACA will expand Medicaid to cover low-income families and individuals across the nation. It also aims to cut down and reconstruct Medicare spending, which will be the main focus of this paper. II. The Impacts of the PPACA and HCERA on Medicare and Health Physicians The PPACA is made up of 10 titles. I will be discussing selected provisions in Titles II, III, IV, and V regarding Medicare. These include program modifications and payment to Medicare’s fee-for-service program, the Medicare Advantage, prescription drug programs, Medicare’s payment process, changes to address, waste, fraud, and abuse, and other miscellaneous Medicare changes. As for the HCERA, the first title has provisions detailing health care and revenues. Subtitle B of Title I involves provisions that change provisions PPACA relevant to those listed above (Medicare Advantage, fee-for-service, and prescription drug programs). Subtitle D has provisions regarding decreasing fraud, abuse, and waste in Medicare. Subtitle E discuses revenue related provisions such as a provision that changes Medicare tax provision in PPACA. A. Impacts on Medicare According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the provisions in PPACA as amended by the HCERA will reduce direct spending by an estimated $390 billion (CRS, 2010). The provisions that are predicted to produce the largest savings include the following: (1) developing an Independent Payment Advisory Board to create changes in Medicare payment rates is presumed to save about $16 billion (2) decreasing Medicare payments to hospitals that aid a vast number of low-income patients, is expected to reduce expenditures by an estimated $22 billion (3) permanent deductions to Medicare’s fee-for-service payment rates (4) changing the high-income adjustment for Part B premiums, and (5) making maximum payment rates in Medicare Advantage closer to spending in fee-for-service Medicare. However, it is critical to  note that these are just estimates. Medicare is made up of four parts that are each accountable for paying for various benefits, dependent on different eligibility criteria. Under traditional Medicare, Part A and Part B services are usually paid by a fee-for-service basis (services supplied to a patient is reimbursed through a separate payment). Part A supplies coverage for skilled nursing facility (SNF) services, inpatient hospital services, hospice care, and home health care, which are subject to some limitations. Provisions that reduce Part A spending make up a large part of the savings related to this legislation through either payment changes or constraining payment updates. PPACA will alter Medicare’s payment updates to Part A hospitals to account for cost savings, which will significantly reduce Medicare spending in the next 10 years. Under PPACA (Title III Subtitle A Section 3001), beginning for discharges on October 1, 2012 hospitals will acquire value-based incentive payments from Medicare. The first year of the value based purchasing (VBP) program will aim at collecting data and assessing performance. Starting in 2013, adjustments to hospital payments will be made based on performance by the VBP program. There will also be VBP standards established (i.e. levels of improvement and accomplishments), as well as a method for assessing how hospitals perform. Hospitals with the highest score will obtain the biggest VBP payments. Those that meet or go beyond the standards are able to receive an increased DRG payment for each discharge within the year. However, to provide for these VBP incentive payments the DRG payments will be reduced by a certain percentage: 1.0% in 2013; 1.25% in 2014; 1.5% in 2015; 1.75% in 2016; and 2.0% in 2017. An alternate choice to receive covered benefits would be Medicare Advantage (MA). Private health plans are paid a per person amount to supply all Medicare-covered benefits to those who enroll in the plan under MA. The payments made to MA plans are decided by comparing the maximum amount Medicare will pay for benefits with a plan’s cost of providing those required benefits. If the plan’s cost is below the maximum, then it is paid  the cost plus a rebate equal to 75% of the difference to the maximum. But if the plan’s cost is above the maximum, then it is paid and must also charge the enrollee the difference between the cost and the maximum. PPACA modifies how the maximum payment is decided. Beginning in 2012, it will implement benchmarks (maximum amount Medicare will pay for benefits) calculated as a percentage of per capita FFS Medicare spending. It will also increase benchmarks depending on the quality of the plan. Those with a high quality rating will get an increase in their benchmark while new plans or those with lesser enrollments may also qualify to get an increase. PPACA will also vary the plan rebates based on quality with new rebates set from 50% to 70%. In regards to changes affecting Medicare’s prescription drug benefits, the health reform makes a few changes to the Medicare Part D program. PPACA increases the premiums held by higher income enrollees. The income standards are set to be at the same manner and level as that in Part B. Beginning in 2011, those enrolled in Part D will have a 50% discount for drugs during the coverage gap. In extension, HCERA will supply a rebate of $250 to those who enter the gap in 2010. Hopefully this phases out the â€Å"donut hole† (coverage gap) by slowly lessening the cost-sharing and coverage gap for generic and brand name drugs. Medicare’s finances are operated through two trust funds, the Hospital Insurance (HI) and the Supplementary Medical Insurance (SMI) trust fund. The main provider of income to the HI fund, which pays for Medicare Part A, is the payroll taxes paid by employers and employees. Medicare Part B and D are funded by general revenues and monthly premiums. In addition to all the previous provisions addressing Medicare’s financial issues, there is another precautionary step being taken. The PPACA has a provision to establish an Independent Payment Advisory Board with the goal of decreasing Medicare spending. B. Impacts on Physicians The PPACA and HCERA make various changes to the Medicare program, which in turn affects physicians and how they practice. Some of these provisions have clear consequences, such as immediately changing physician reimbursement, while others have indirect influences on how physicians may practice in the  future by modifying the incentives to improve the delivery and quality of care. PPACA broadens the Medicare Physician Quality and Reporting Initiative (PQRI) incentive payments though 2014 and administers a penalty for those who fail to report quality measures starting in 2015. It also supplies for a further bonus to physicians who meet the requirements of an assessment program, such as the Maintenance of Certification Program, while penalizes the physicians who fail to meet those standards in the future. Under Section 3002 of Title III, Medicare claims data will be used to provide reports to physicians that measure resources used to provide care for Medicare beneficiaries. Under Section 3007 of Title III, the Secretary of HHS is obliged to create and administer a separate payment modifier to the Medicare physician fee schedule. This payment should be based on the relative cost and quality of the care provided by physicians. The quality of care should be assessed based on risk-adjusted measure of quality determined by the Secretary. Costs are also assessed based on measures determined by the Secretary. Risk factors such as ethnicity, demographic, socioeconomic characteristics, and health status should be taken into account. By January 1, 2012 these explicit measures of cost and quality, along with implementation dates of the adjusted payments should be published. III. Regulations Implementation With such significant changes and provisions being made, there should be a way to keep track of how each is being regulated and implemented. I will discuss the regulations, time limits, and effective dates on how each are being done so by year. The first changes of 2010 start with Medicare provider rates. This includes reductions in the annual market basket updates for hospital services. Currently, there have been productivity adjustments added to market basket update in 2012. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have issued these updates for varying provider types starting in August 2010. The  implementation of the Medicare Beneficiary drug rebate, which supplies a $250 rebate to those in the Part D coverage gap, started January 1, 2010. In May 2010, the CMS published a brochure containing information about the coverage gap in Medicare Part D. As of March 22, 2011, about 3.8 million people have received the $250 rebate (HHS, 2011). As for closing the Medicare drug coverage gap, on December 17, 2010 CMS sent a letter to pharmaceutical companies addressing guidelines to the Medicare Coverage Gap Discount Program. This program became effective on January 1, 2011. Moving onto provisions implemented in 2011, Medicare payments for primary care will provide a 10% bonus payment for services. It will also provide the same bonus to general surgeons working in areas with a shortage of health professionals. This is being implemented starting in January 1, 2011 through December 2015. As for the MA payment changes, they will restructure payment to private plans and prohibit higher cost-sharing requirements. This has been in effect since January 1, 2011. The CMS issued a notice to MA plans in April 2010 addressing the freeze in 2011 payment rates at 2010 levels. A Medicare Independent Payment Advisory Board made up of 15 individuals to arrange proposals and recommendations to decrease the per capita rate of growth in spending if it exceeds targeted rates was planned to be established. On October 1, 2011, funding was made available and the first proposals are due January 15, 2014. In 2012, the second part of the MA plan payments, which reduce rebates paid and provide bonuses to high quality plans, went into effect on January 1, 2012. On February 28, 2012 the CMS sent out a letter to MA plans addressing the payment rates for 2012. Fraud and abuse prevention was also implemented on January 1, 2012. It establishes procedures for screening and reporting those who participate in Medicare. On March 23, 2011 CMS issued a notice addressing the fee that providers would have to pay to fund the screenings. Later on in the year, on October 1, 2012 Medicare value based purchasing was put into effect. This creates a program to pay hospitals based on their quality of performance. This coming year in 2013, there will be a few provisions to come into effect  starting off the new year. On January 1, 2013 the Medicare tax increase (increases the Medicare Part A tax rate on wages by 0.9% on incomes of $200,000), Medicare bundle payment pilot program (program to create and assess payments for certain services), and the latter part of the prescription drug coverage gap (reducing coinsurance) will be put into effect. As for 2014, the last of the Medicare provisions will be implemented. The Medicare Advantage plan loss ratios are mandated to be no less than 85%; this will begin at the start of the year on January 1, 2014. The second implementation for that year will be Medicare payments for hospital-acquired infections; it will decrease payments to those hospitals for their hospital-aquired conditions by 1% and this process will continue onto 2015. IV. Cases Challenging PPACA When the PPACA and HCERA were signed into law, many people opposed and sued claiming that the reform was unconstitutional for a number of reasons. The most controversial was the mandate that require most citizens to obtain health insurance coverage, and if failing to do so would have to pay a penalty in the form of an individual tax. Another debated provision was the expansion of the Medicaid program to cover even more individuals, such as those with low income. All of these separate cases were then merged into a single case, The National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, 567 U.S. (2012). When ruled, it was a momentous Supreme Court decision in which the Court maintained Congress’s authority to enact the provisions of the Affordable Care Act and the Reconciliation Act. In December 2011, it was announced that there would be a 6 hour oral argumentation heard by the Court over a time span of three days beginning on March 26, 2012 and ending on March 28, 2012 discussing varying debatable topics of these provisions. By a vote of 5 to 4, the Court maintained the Individual Mandate aspect of the PPACA as a binding exercise of Congress’s authority to lay and collect taxes. The critical characterization of this financial penalty as a tax is what passed the mandate as constitutional. Preceding this landmark case there were many previous hearings held, all  having similar conflicting opinions. The Eleventh Circuit was also dealing with arguments in relative cases challenging PPACA. While it was assumed that the Fourth Circuit, which had heard oral arguments before the Eleventh Circuit, would issue a decision on PPACA first, the Eleventh Circuit was actually the second to issue its opinion, on August 12, 2011. In Florida ex rel. Bondi v. U.S. Department of Health Human Services (2011) the plaintiffs of the case were two private individuals, the National Federation of Independent Business, and 26 individual states. The Eleventh Circuit then published a 300-plus page opinion finding by a 2:1 majority that the Individual Mandate (requiring health insurance coverage) is unconstitutional, and thus created a split of authority between the two Circuits. The Eleventh Circuit heard this appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida, which saw the Individual Mandate to be an unconstitutional exercise of Congress’s authority. The district court also found that the Individual Mandate was not applicable to the rest of the PPACA, meaning that the whole act was invalid. The plaintiffs in the district court case also debated that the PPACA’s expansion of Medicaid was unconstitutional, but the district court granted the government judgment on that issue and the Eleventh Circuit agreed to that court’s decision. These two cases show how divided opinions can be and how difficult it was and is to pass a health reform law. Opinions are still divided, concerning many aspects such as the Medicaid expansion, the Commerce Clause, and the Necessary and Proper Clause. On the issue of Medicaid expansion, no one, single opinion had the support of the majority of the Justices. Also, on the issue of if the Individual Mandate was within the authority of Congress under the Commerce Clause and the Necessary and Proper Clause, again there was no single opinion that was supported by the majority of the Court. Despite all these controversies, and even though the act has passed, there are still those who are continuing to pursue litigation in order to repeal and defeat the PPACA. V. Conclusion Medicare spending has been increasing much more rapidly compared to the general economy, and this definitely raises concerns about Medicare’s  long-term sustainability. The provisions in the Affordable Care Act and the Reconciliation Act were established to decrease Medicare program costs by about $390 billion over the following 10 years through modifications in payments to various providers, by leveling payment rates between fee-for-service Medicare and Medicare Advantage, and by boosting efficiencies of how health services are delivered and paid for. Overall, the PPACA and HCERA are momentous pieces of legislation that will restructure the future of the U.S. health care system. It is still unclear of how well these provisions have been implemented, with some still having yet to be so. The main concern is probably how well costs will be contained or reduced. With all of these new taxes, hopefully the reform will actually reduce the federal deficit over the next ten years that these provisions are being implemented. There is still much work to be done within the next few years, to see how this reform works out. Many people are glad that it has passed and support this reform as well as encourage it to be expanded, while others oppose the reform arguing that it creates too much government involvement in the issue. But since it has passed and is enacted in the present, people should make use of what is being provided. Some are not even aware of the changes in the health care industry and are oblivious to how they are being affected. That is why it is important to stay informed and make decisions, after all this is what directly affects your future. References CRS Analysis of CBO (March 20, 2010). Estimates of the effects of PPACA and the Reconciliation Act combined. Congressional Budget Office. Retrieved October 31, 2012 from: http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/113xx/doc11379/AmendReconProp.pdf Barrett, Paul M. (June 28, 2012). Supreme Court Supports Obamacare, Bolsters Obama. Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved November 3, 2012 from: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-06-28/supreme-court-supports-obamacare-and-bolsters-obama Congressional Budget Office (March 2009). An Analysis of Health Insurance Premiums Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Letter to the Honorable Evan Bayh. Congressional Budget Office, Washington, DC. Retrieved November 3, 2012 from: http://www.cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index=10781. Kaizer, J. (2010). Implementation Timeline. Health Reform Source. Retrieved November 5, 2012 from: http://healthreform.kff.org/timeline.aspx Hilgers, David W. (February 2012) Physicians post-PPACA: not going bust at the healthcare buffet. The Health Lawyer, Vol. 24. Retrieved November 4, 2012 from: http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/publishing/health_lawyer/health_mo_premium_hl_healthlawyer_v24_2403 Pozgar, George D. (2009). Legal essentials of health care administration. Missisauga, Ontario: Jones and Bartlett Publishers, Michael Brown. National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, Secretary of Health Human Services 567 U.S. (2012) No. 11-393 Argued March 26-28, 2012 – Decided June 28, 2012 Florida ex rel. Bondi v. U.S. Department of Health a Human Services, 780 F.Supp. 2d. 1256 (N.D. Fla. 2011), order clarified by 780 F.Supp. 2d. 1307. (N.D. Fla. 2011).

Language In My Home :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  People say that parents are teachers of good and bad English. People also judge people on how they speak, whether the language is incorrect or just simply inappropriate. I think I had the best of both worlds with my parents.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  First of all, my mother is very articulate and has a very large vocabulary. Ever since I can remember she was correcting me on how I spoke and how I wrote. I always would get so mad at her for doing that, but I realize now that my vocabulary and English skills are better than that of many people I associate with. I feel much more confident with my writing and speeches because of my mother’s influence on my grammar. I know I can speak publicly and people will take me seriously and understand what I have to say because of my background in â€Å"good† English.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Secondly, my father is from Jersey City and never graduated college so his way of speaking is different than my mother’s. He speaks more of the vernacular he grew up with and he isn’t worried about what people think when he talks. He says he is more interested in getting his point across than worrying about whether or not people think he is brilliant. My father taught me that in situations of everyday life, you do not have to be articulate all the time. He teaches me everyday that speaking in my own way makes me who I am. He is not instilling upon me to talk â€Å"bad† but different situations call for different languages.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I do feel that my parents encourage me to use correct English whenever I can. They know that with my future plans in life, correct English usage is imperative. They also understand that sometimes I am just going to speak however I want in order to get my point across. I have noticed that even when I have conversations with friends, we all seem to sound so much more intelligent because we are finally using everything we have always been taught to use when speaking. Because of everything I have learned from my parents, I do feel adequately trained in English. I know, depending on my surroundings, how I am suppose to talk and I feel that if I am just hanging outside my house with my friends or giving a presentation to the CEO of a major corporation I can do it.

My Life as a College Student

GORDON KUSSI TABIRI English Writing: From Start to Finish My life as a college student Seven years ago I gained admission to pursue a B. A program in one of the prestigious universities in Ghana. The name of the university is Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). I was offered a four year bachelor degree program leading to a degree in Sociology and Social Work. Thus, I read BA Sociology and Social Work. I was so happy at the time because of two reasons.One was that, I had tried twice to be admitted into the countries universities but refused until finally the third time of which I succeeded. The second reason why I was happy was related to the fact that I had the opportunity to continue my education to a level that I had always dream about. My first year as a fresher on campus was very interesting for me. I was to read sociology and social work as a major and Geography as my minor.I therefore registered for my courses for the first year which included subjects s uch as introduction to sociology, traditional social structure of Ghana, introduction to human geography, development of geographic thought, introduction to physical environmental systems, communication skills, introduction to computers, and ethics and etiquette in traditional systems. I read these subjects for the first and second semesters as my first year program. I attended all lectures, wrote my assignments and the years exams. The results of the exams came and I had a Cumulative Weighted Average (CWA) of 59. 17.I was so disappointed about my results and decided to make better grades no matter what it takes to do so. I wrote the second semester exams and improved upon my performance by obtaining a CWA of 60. 32. I realized the fact that increasing the hours of my studies yielded good results. My second year on campus was very exciting. This was because I made very good friends and also had acquainted myself with campus life in general. I had a good friend by name Christian Boat eng who happens to be an old classmate at Akrokerri College of Education where we both obtained our diploma in basic education in the year 2001.Christian was very instrumental in my life on campus because he taught me how to study for long hours. We actually took similar courses together in the first two years of our education in KNUST College. We were also roommates for three years and shared a lot of things together. My second year courses also included literature in English, introduction to geomorphology, theory and practice of geography, principles of cartography, concepts and theories in sociology, social structure of modern Ghana as well as the nature of social work. The courses were very challenging especially those related to geography.I had a successful year and also improved on my performance. This second year was very significant to my life because it was during this period that I decided to read a master’s program after graduation. That year helped me realized a l ot of my potentials and also changed my perception of life in general. My third year in KNUST also saw me reading courses such as perspectives in sociological theory, research methods, theoretical framework for social work methodology, industrial sociology, medical sociology, and also bamboo and rattan processing.I enjoyed reading these courses especially industrial sociology, medical sociology as well as sociological theory. During my third year, we were made to drop our minor course, so I concentrated only on the major which was sociology and social work and also other borrowed courses. I also managed to secure the same room on campus with my friend, Christian. We both studied hard and had very good grades in our third year exams. We also had lots of fun on campus until school vacated. Christian was actually based in Kumasi which is the city in Ghana were KNUST was located whereas I was also based at Accra, the capital city of Ghana.In view of this, I spent most of my school holid ays in Accra with my family. During the long vacation after the end of the third year, I had an attachment with Tetteh Quashie Memorial Hospital situated at Akuapem Mampong. I was attached to the social welfare department of the hospital where I performed generic social work. It was a great experience since I had practical training in dealing with social welfare cases of clients at the hospital, district court and the district family social welfare cases. My mentors taught me so well that by the time I finished my attachment, I had developed a passion of working as a social worker someday.After my attachment, I prepared for my final year academic work. On arriving on campus for my final year, I registered for courses such as social psychology, social development, human resource management, approaches to counselling in social work, environmental sociology and a long essay dissertation. I had actually started writing my BA thesis in the third year of my studies. My topic was, â€Å"t he role of non-formal education to the contribution of the social and economic development of Ghana: a case study of the Ejisu- Juaben Municipality†.It was a great and challenging topic to write, in that there wasn't much literature on the subject of non-formal education. Owing to that, I researched the web widely in writing this project. My supervisor by name Mr. Barnie gave me all the directions and support so well that I obtained an excellent grade in this long essay. I was very excited because I was constrained by time in combining my academic work with writing of this thesis. In spite of all the challenges, my hard work paid off with me obtaining very good grades in all my final courses I took.Thus, I completed all my forth year course exams and was ready for graduation. We were to graduate exactly one month after completion of all the necessary course requirements. I was among one of the students who were to graduate with second class upper (honors) degree in sociology a nd social work. During graduation, my uncle and a cousin of mine accompanied me, and it is a day that I will never forget in my life. I dressed neatly in my graduation gown and went through the ceremony very happy of my accomplishments. After the ceremony I took several pictures with friends and my family and we had a great party after the occasion.I would never forget my experience on campus because it transformed my life. My general outlook of life has changed tremendously. I now understand that I have great capabilities as well as weaknesses. My college experience has contributed in shaping my personality today. I have learnt to work hard to overcome my weaknesses as well as develop my potentials and capabilities. This is the reason that I had saved money to pursue a master’s program in Switzerland to be able to actualize my dreams and aspirations in life.

Invincible

It's taken over 30 years to make its way to the big screen but the Cinderella story of ex-teacher/bartender Vince Papale's triumph in the world of professional football came to life on the big screen in Invincible in 2006. Papale captured the attention of Philadelphia Eagles fans when he made it onto the team after Coach Dick Vermeil held open tryouts. The film version stars Mark Wahlberg as the lifelong football fan who just wanted his hometeam to play with heart – and maybe win a few game. Invincible follows the rules of the football film genre very closely but also added a couple of innovations to popular sport genre. The movie followed popular cliches of football films with the â€Å"new coach† who has radical new ideas and during the final game of the movie the starring team is down at halftime. One major cliche that Invincible innovates is the cliche that the star actor is the leader on the team; instead, he is the low man on the team and actually doesn’t make any great contributions to the team. In Invincible, the new and young coach Dick Vermeil is new to town and has a whole lot to prove. As much like most football films with a new coach, he has huge radical ideas for the teams operation. This is represented in the theme that he opens tryouts to anyone in the community to wants to play for the Philadelphia Eagles, mostly as a publicity stunt to bring fan support back up. This theme is also seen in â€Å"Remember the Titans† and â€Å"We are Marshall. This cliche often leads to a sub-cliche that the new coach has several obstacles to overcome and receives some sort of negative criticism in the early scenes of the film. This again is also shown in Invincible when the coach heavily gossiped about in the local pub where Papale works at. A second major cliche that is seen in numerous football films is the dramatic â€Å"final game† where the starring team is losing at halftime only to win in a last minute victory. In Invincible’s case, the final game is against the Dallas Cowboys in a conference championship game. The team is of course down and out about to lose it all when all of the sudden Papale forces a fumble on a punt return that gives the Eagles a bit of hope. The Eagles go to score on the returning drive with a crucial kickoff to the cowboys. Paple who only plays special teams sprints down the field to recover the kickoff and run the ball into the endzone for a touchdown puts the Eagles in the lead for a victory. The fact that Paple score a touchdown symbolizes the message that of the film which is that anyone can do anything they desire as long as the put forth the effort and determination. Often in football films the star player is hero of the team or the most talented. In Invincible the star play, Paple, is actually one of the less talented players on the team. Paple isn’t even one of the leaders on the team, for most of the film the rest of the team doesn’t like Paple because they think he doesn’t belong on the team nun the less the NFL. During practice the other players’ intensely try to hurt him so that he may quit or be unable to play. Paple turns out to be a hero for his community rather than a hero for the team. His motivation to keep going is his teammate’s disapproval and his friend’s support, which I sends a message that one must always pull forward even if his peers or colleges are against them. Invincible is a great football film that relies on the classic under-dog story that for some reason never gets old. The movie sends us messages that perseverance and determination lead to great things, which is very satisfying and compelling to witness. While this film follows most of the popular football film cliches, it still has its own key elements that make it unique. Football films such as Invincible and other renditions will always be cranked out of Hollywood on a regular basis for decades to come, but there’s just something about watching the beloved characters run down the field in slow-motion and jump high in the air for a dramatic last minute win, that never gets tiring to watch.

Can the 365 Day Penny Challenge Help You Save Money

Can the 365 Day Penny Challenge Help You Save Money SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Saving money can be really hard. It’s also really important. If you don't, it can be impossible to reach your financial goals, whether purchasing a house or paying for your child’s college education. Saved money also helps pay for sudden, unexpected expenses, like a car repair or an surprise doctor’s bill. However, if you’re stuck in the trap of living paycheck to paycheck, saving money may seem totally out of the question. That’s where the penny challenge comes in! Designed to help you save nearly $700 in one year, the penny challenge makes saving money manageable and fun by breaking your goal into tiny daily payments. In this article, I’ll talk about how the penny challenge works, whether or not it’s a good way to save money, and offer tips to help you succeed if you try it. What’s the Penny Challenge? The 365 day penny challenge (or penny-a-day challenge) makes saving money easier and more manageable by having people deposit a small amount of money every day into a savings account or small jar. Basically, you start by depositing one penny into your savings on the first day of the challenge. The next day, you deposit two pennies. On the third day, you deposit three pennies. You keep increasing the amount of money you deposit by one penny every day, until you deposit $3.65 into the account on the final day. After a year of doing this, you’ll have saved $667.95. The penny challenge helps you save money in manageable small increments. Instead of struggling to put 20% of your paycheck into your savings account, or paying a larger amount of money into your account on a less regular basis, the 365 day penny challenge gets you into the habit of saving a small amount of money very regularly. Penny Challenge Printout Use this printout to keep track of how much money you should deposit into your savings account every day of the 365 day penny challenge. You can also download a larger, PDF version of this chart here: Penny Challenge PDF. Tips and Tricks for the Penny-a-Day Challenge Use these tips and tricks to make following the 365 day penny challenge easier and more fun. #1: Make Saving Easy and Fun Looking for extra motivation to make your savings exciting? Use a fun jar or piggy bank! Find a safe place in your house to put your makeshift savings account. Using a fun jar can incentivize saving money by making it fun and more game-like to deposit your pennies. You can also visualize your progress and see the physical fruits of your savings labor every day. If you'd rather deposit money into an online savings account or an account at your bank, you should try to minimize the frequency of your transactions. If you're depositing the money into a physical savings account, collect all the money from each day of the week in one place and designate a specific day of the week that you'll deposit that into your savings account at the bank. If you'd rather make online transactions, tally the money that you're supposed to deposit each week and transfer it from your checking to savings account in one transaction. You can schedule those online transactions ahead of time if you're worried about forgetting them. I'd highly recommend using a fun jar or piggy bank to save your money during the penny-a-day challenge. Depositing your money that way will make saving money more easy and automatic, since you won't have to make weekly trips to the bank or remind yourself to transfer funds online. #2: Deposit Your Money First Thing in the Morning One of the best things you can do to make the penny challenge easier for you is to get into the habit of depositing your money first thing in the morning. If you get into the habit of depositing money first thing in the morning, it’ll be easier for you to remember to do it every day. Turn saving money into a part of your morning routine, just like brushing your teeth or washing your face. That way, you’ll never forget to do it! It’s better to deposit money in the morning, rather than at night, because when you deposit money first thing in the morning, you won’t have encountered any opportunity to spend that money. If you wait until the end of the day to deposit your money, you may have already spent it on a movie ticket or dinner or other purchase. Depositing money first thing in the morning prioritizes saving over spending. #3: Track Your Progress A great way to motivate yourself is to track your progress. You can track your progress by watching your savings account online, or by updating a small card or placard near your piggy bank. You’ll be surprised how quickly the saved pennies add up, and tracking your progress can also motivate you to continue saving if you're struggling. #4: Place the Chart Somewhere Easy to See Worried about forgetting about the penny challenge? Print out our penny challenge print-out and paste it somewhere you’ll see it every day, like your refrigerator or your bathroom mirror. If you see the challenge every time you reach for a snack, you’ll be less likely to forget about it. Does the Penny Challenge Work? So, is the penny challenge actually effective at helping you save money? If you’ve failed at larger savings challenges, like the 52 week challenge or the bi-monthly challenge, the penny challenge is a solid way to save a bit of money every day, leading up to a decent savings account at the end of the year. Because the 365 day penny challenge requires depositing only a small amount of money every day, it’s a great way for people who struggle with money to start saving. Even if you’re living paycheck to paycheck, you can likely find several pennies every day to put into your savings account. Many people who do the penny challenge are absolute beginners at saving money - which is okay! The penny challenge helps you form a consistent habit of saving money by getting you into the practice of saving money everyday. The biggest con of the 365 day penny challenge is that it doesn’t ultimately save that much money. While $667.95 is a decent amount of savings, it won’t go very far in helping you pay for larger purchases, like a house or a car, or facing unexpected costs, like a hospital bill. You’ll need to eventually start putting away more money in order to fund any larger purchases. Review: How the Penny Challenge Can Help You Save Money The penny challenge is a great way for people who struggle with saving money to get into the habit of putting away a small amount of money each day. By saving pennies every day, you’ll build your savings account and develop smart habits about saving money.

Usefulness of the US Constitution (for grades 9 and below) essays

Usefulness of the US Constitution (for grades 9 and below) essays It's been almost 215 years since the Constitution of the United States was written. Most of the language is obsolete, and parts of it are no longer in use. Twenty-seven amendments have been made to the Constitution. That's a lot of changes to a 10-page paper! Why, then, is this old document still in place? Is our government too lazy to write a new one? Do they not have enough time? Are other things more important? Or does the government realize that since the Constitution was such a good plan to begin with, there isn't anything to redo? The Constitutional Convention was scheduled to begin on May 14th, 1787, but since travel those days was so slow, it didn't start until on May 25th, when the first delegates arrived from 7 states. That was as many delegates as the convention needed to start. By the time the convention was over, however, 55 delegates from the different states showed up to express their opinions. Only delegates from Rhode Island didn't show up. Each delegate was well-educated and, well...fairly wealthy, you might say. Most had taken part in the Revolution, and two-thirds had been part of the Continental Congress. The average age of each representative was 42, although some were as young as 26 (Jonathan Dayton) and as old as 81 (Benjamin Franklin)! Even though Ben was so old, he was the one who proposed the 3 main compromises at the convention (about which you'll hear later). However, many important leaders were missing! Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Patrick Henry were among those people who were not present at the signing of the Constitution. Would they have made a very big impact if they had been there? I'm not sure. There's not much to improve on the Constitution, in my opinion. James Madison was a leader at the Constitutional Convention, as was George Washington. George didn't really do much in the way of the debates; instead, he was the head of all the meetings and persuaded people to try to work out the...

The Equal Family of Words

The Equal Family of Words The Equal Family of Words The Equal Family of Words By Mark Nichol This post discusses a family of words that pertain to balance, impartiality, or uniformity. The root equi-, which forms without the i when it precedes a vowel, ultimately derives from the Latin adjective aequus, meaning â€Å"even† (which is not related to equus, meaning â€Å"horse† and the source of equestrian). Equal refers to a state of balance, and the noun form is equality; a person or system that favors or promotes equality is an egalitarian. (The consonantal change occurred in French.) Equity is the quality of fairness, though the word also has senses in finance and in property ownership of rights or value. The adjectival form is equitable, and equitably is the adverbial form. The antonym, with the same variations, is inequity, though iniquity, which means â€Å"wickedness,† stems from the same source. (Its adjectival form is iniquitous, and the noun is formed by attaching to that word the suffix -ness.) To equate is to balance or compare, or to make even or smooth; the act of doing so is equation. (That noun also denotes a logical or mathematical expression.) Equanimity is fairness, and equilibrium is mental or physical balance. The root word of the former term is a form of animus, meaning â€Å"mind† or â€Å"spirit,† so a literal translation is â€Å"even mind,† and the root word of the latter term is derived from libra, meaning â€Å"balance† or â€Å"scale,† so equilibrium literally means â€Å"even balance.† (Equanimity has no adjectival form, but equilibrious, though rare, serves that function for equilibrium.) Equivalence (equivalency is a variation) is literally â€Å"equal worth†; the adjectival form is equivalent. The source of the root of equivocation is also that of vocal and voice; literally â€Å"equal voice,† the word has pejorative senses of â€Å"avoiding commitment to what one says† or â€Å"using language to deceive.† One is described as equivocating or being equivocal. Equinox derives from the Latin word for â€Å"equality of night (and day)†- the root nox is related to the first syllable of nocturnal (and both are cognate with night)- and refers to the two days of the year, six months apart, when day and night are of identical duration. A word that may not be an apparent relative of those described above is adequate, which means â€Å"sufficient.† (Its Latin forebear literally means â€Å"make equal.†) Depending on context, the word can be neutral or disparaging. And the rare term equiparation means â€Å"equal treatment.† (The root syllable is related to par and per, which pertain to value.) Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:12 Signs and Symbols You Should KnowHang, Hung, HangedOne "L" or Two?

Proposal of Dissertation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Proposal of Dissertation - Essay Example Though, this particular research is carried out primarily with an academic interest, yet if carried out in an objective manner, research not only helps the researcher in knowing about many unknown aspects, but it often provides a benchmark for future researches as well. Quite often industry too takes a cue from such studies in their policy papers etc. depending upon the objectives and inferences of the study. Research philosophy is a belief about the way in which data about a phenomenon should be gathered, analyzed and used. This dissertation is a more of a qualitative case study focusing on an analysis of the e-business phenomenon in general and analysis of some specific examples. While the concept has proved to be a revolutionary one, there are some concerns as well. During the course of the research an effort would also be made to analyse such concerns. To carry out such a study in general we resort to the following main approaches; In addition to reviewing the existing literature available in the public domain, efforts would also be made to seek opinion of some people involved in e-business operations. This sample group of people would comprise of users, technology service providers, company owners/ managers and some government functionaries or regulators. This will not only help in finding out some primary data, but it will also provide me an opportunity to gain some first-hand information. Whilst this study required participation of human subjects, consent and confidentiality will be a significant issue. If we need to conduct interview or solicit responses to the questionnaire during the course of the research, all possible efforts would be made to communicate the aim and purpose of the study to the participants beforehand. Acquiring informed consent is vital to a researcher. Such a consent document serves as protection both for

Portfolio Part 3 Company Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Portfolio Part 3 Company Research - Essay Example It is the consumer banking division of multinational City group. The main location of this bank is at New York in United States. It has almost 983 North American branches which are concentrated in major metropolitan areas in US and these areas are New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Washington D.C., Boston, Philadelphia, Los Angeles etc. Again the bank has spread its business activities in more than 36 countries. City bank has occupied 3, 777 branch locations across the globe. It is the largest bank in United States by total assets and this bank is followed by Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase. More than 2, 00, 000 employees are involved in this organization. The offered products of this company are investment banking, corporate banking, wealth management, credit cards, consumer banking, financial analysis, private equity etc. Again the bank also offers mortgage and loan facilities to its customers. Major competitors of this organization in US are JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America. Generally middle and high income groups are the target customers of City Bank. Again the bank has plenty institutional clients and major percentage of revenue is earned from this segment. The bank has two major segments for conducting its operational work. These segments are global consumer banking and institutional clients group. Global consumer banking segment generally provides retail banking services to more than 100 million people in 40 countries of the world. 50 % of total revenue of this organization is generated from this retail banking segment and deposit of this segment consists 40 % of total deposits (Citigroup, 2013). As per the statistical report, this can be said that the organization is going to achieve 5.6 % growth rate in the upcoming year. Again this can be said that as it is the largest bank in US so it has gained the maximum market share i.e. 35 % of total market

What is collective efficacy and, how, if at all does it affect local Essay

What is collective efficacy and, how, if at all does it affect local crime rates - Essay Example far as collective efficacy is concerned then crime is actually any harmful act or criminal offense which might be injurious for a particular individual or the entire community. Local crime has a very strong relationship with collective efficacy as it is drastically increasing today in the world while collective efficacy is becoming essential to reduce the crime. Hence it is clearly evident that they both are interlinked with one another. However, the impact of collective efficacy over the crime rates and the critical aspects of their relationship are still unidentified. This paper aims to analyze collective efficacy from different perspectives including all of its influencing factors, how it initiates in a society and what are its possible consequences. Moreover, its affect over the local crime rate would be argued so as to make a conclusion that either the prevalence of collective efficacy in the modern societies will reduce the local crime rate or this would have rather an unnotice d impact. Since this paper is based upon local crime statistics and the general phenomenon of collective efficacy therefore the argument is made considering all the secondary sources including journal articles. These articles have focused upon previous researches in the same area while they have also given a very clear outlook on the criminal world. Thus they have been significantly used to build the argument and also to make the convincing conclusions based on practical ideas. Here, people often misunderstand that crime or criminal activities are linked with the personal attributes of an individual however, the reality is far different from this assumption. It was considered appropriate to present arguments in the paper which will be helpful in understanding organizational and social characteristics of a society which are actually associated with the increasing/decreasing crime rate (Sampson, 1997, p.918). The overall research and critical analysis of collective efficacy reveals that

An investigation into why e-businesses fail Essay

An investigation into why e-businesses fail - Essay Example This dissertÐ °tion used multi-cÐ °se studies Ð °s there were numerous exÐ °mples of fÐ °iled online businesses Ð °s well Ð °s successful ones. The results of the cÐ °se studies hÐ °ve shown thÐ °t stÐ °ff with experience in mÐ °rketing is vitÐ °l to the success of the online business, Ð °s mÐ °rketing in online business encompÐ °sses most Ð °spects of the business, Ð °nd is not just confined to Ð °ttrÐ °cting Ð °nd retÐ °ining customers. MÐ °rketing Ð °n online business Ð °lso involves mÐ °nÐ °ging the website itself Ð °nd ensuring thÐ °t the technicÐ °l Ð °spects Ð °re contributing to the customer experience. In the cÐ °se studies, it wÐ °s cleÐ °r thÐ °t experience wÐ °s the key to success in online businesses, Ð °s experience would influence other fÐ °ctors such Ð °s mÐ °rketing Ð °nd business plÐ °ns. Some online businesses mÐ °y need professionÐ °l help in mÐ °rketing, but only if they hÐ °ve not expertise within the teÐ °m. There fore it wÐ °s more importÐ °nt to recognise Ð °nd identify the shortcomings of the online business model before setting up the online business. This seemed to be Ð ° greÐ °ter determinÐ °nt of success, Ð °s Ð ° well-thought out business Ð °nd mÐ °rketing plÐ °n would Ð °nd should include experienced Ð °nd quÐ °lified personnel. The dissertÐ °tion Ð °lso highlighted the importÐ °nce of business pÐ °rtnerships especiÐ °lly where the online business wÐ °s not Ð ° mÐ °nufÐ °cturer. Since the dÐ °wn of the internet, Ð ° lot of businesses Ð °nd individuÐ °ls set Ð °bout estÐ °blishing online businesses in Ð ° bid to Ð °mÐ °ss mÐ °ssive profits. However, Ð °ccording to CrÐ °ine (2001) since the yeÐ °r 2000 Ð °pproximÐ °tely 200 online businesses went out of the business Ð °ccounting for more thÐ °n 50% of business closures. This high fÐ °ilure rÐ °te is of concern to the business Ð °nd finÐ °nciÐ °l community; Ð °s such closures will Ð °lso Ð °ffect stock mÐ °rkets Ð °nd shÐ °res. Some of the online

In your essay, discuss what you have learned about managing a change Essay

In your , discuss what you have learned about managing a change in an organisation of your choice. Support your argument by drawing on at least 3 key readings from this modules lectures and tutorials - Essay Example As a result of globalization and emerging technologies, the business environment continues to evolve and thus; the need for organizations to adapt to the new changes and change management. In addition, during the change management process, organizations need to engage in a thoughtful planning and a sensitive implementation that involves consulting with persons affected by the new changes (Schein 1993, p.27). In a multinational company such as Coca Cola, managing change should encompass a process that involves consulting with stakeholders concerning the proposed changes to improve the firm’s performance. This is because, the stakeholders form part of the Company and any change affect their interest in the Company. Among the stakeholders that the firm needs to consult in regard to change management include the shareholders, the firm’s personnel, suppliers and customers of Coca-Cola products. Consulting stakeholders during a change management process is important in the sense that it helps to deal with dissenting voices not comfortable with the proposed changes. Consultation in essence helps to raise concerns that need to be resolved before adapting new plans to improve performance. Prior to implementing any change, the Company need to consider various factors that include assessing the proposed change and what the change may achieve in the long run. Further, it is important to determine the persons who might be affected by the proposed changes and their reaction to such change. This assessment will help the organization come up with an implementation plan acceptable to all major stakeholders of the Coca-Cola Company. The change agent in this sense, should come up with strategies to make the people affected by proposed changes understand the reason for change. This is a way of enabling the people affected to play a role in decision making regarding change

An investigation into why e-businesses fail Essay

An investigation into why e-businesses fail - Essay Example This dissertÐ °tion used multi-cÐ °se studies Ð °s there were numerous exÐ °mples of fÐ °iled online businesses Ð °s well Ð °s successful ones. The results of the cÐ °se studies hÐ °ve shown thÐ °t stÐ °ff with experience in mÐ °rketing is vitÐ °l to the success of the online business, Ð °s mÐ °rketing in online business encompÐ °sses most Ð °spects of the business, Ð °nd is not just confined to Ð °ttrÐ °cting Ð °nd retÐ °ining customers. MÐ °rketing Ð °n online business Ð °lso involves mÐ °nÐ °ging the website itself Ð °nd ensuring thÐ °t the technicÐ °l Ð °spects Ð °re contributing to the customer experience. In the cÐ °se studies, it wÐ °s cleÐ °r thÐ °t experience wÐ °s the key to success in online businesses, Ð °s experience would influence other fÐ °ctors such Ð °s mÐ °rketing Ð °nd business plÐ °ns. Some online businesses mÐ °y need professionÐ °l help in mÐ °rketing, but only if they hÐ °ve not expertise within the teÐ °m. There fore it wÐ °s more importÐ °nt to recognise Ð °nd identify the shortcomings of the online business model before setting up the online business. This seemed to be Ð ° greÐ °ter determinÐ °nt of success, Ð °s Ð ° well-thought out business Ð °nd mÐ °rketing plÐ °n would Ð °nd should include experienced Ð °nd quÐ °lified personnel. The dissertÐ °tion Ð °lso highlighted the importÐ °nce of business pÐ °rtnerships especiÐ °lly where the online business wÐ °s not Ð ° mÐ °nufÐ °cturer. Since the dÐ °wn of the internet, Ð ° lot of businesses Ð °nd individuÐ °ls set Ð °bout estÐ °blishing online businesses in Ð ° bid to Ð °mÐ °ss mÐ °ssive profits. However, Ð °ccording to CrÐ °ine (2001) since the yeÐ °r 2000 Ð °pproximÐ °tely 200 online businesses went out of the business Ð °ccounting for more thÐ °n 50% of business closures. This high fÐ °ilure rÐ °te is of concern to the business Ð °nd finÐ °nciÐ °l community; Ð °s such closures will Ð °lso Ð °ffect stock mÐ °rkets Ð °nd shÐ °res. Some of the online

Encouraging Career Exploration among Adolescents Essay

Encouraging Career Exploration among Adolescents - Essay Example Adolescent age varies depending on gender, with girls experiencing it at an earlier age than boys. It is the age where risk behaviors appear through experimentation among the youths. During the experience, both sexes get a ray of decisions and pressure from all the sides interfering with their choices. Based on this regards, various factors affect career exploration among the adolescent. To start, career choices remain guided by the nature of jobs in the later life. When young, children tend to make decisions on future jobs depending on inspiration from their surroundings. This, however, changes during the adolescent stage where people often look for ideal jobs. This gets influenced by economic and social contextual factors forcing them to occupy new occupational paths (Nilsson, Schmidt, & Meek, 2002). The remarked transition according to psychological expert Doctor Bandura is because of new perceptions brought by ranging choices caused by many factors. This is the stage where many p eople feel they want to do more than expected hence engaging in things which go against societal expectations. They filter jobs to come up with the ideal jobs; they want to shape their careers based on job appropriateness (Hobbs & Stoops, 2002). Career decision making is a process that should be completed right from high school; however, the adolescent stage calls for a revision showing career immaturity. Consequently, the inability to make decisions also contributes to poor career choice during the adolescent stage. This is because many people in the adolescent stage feel they have the whole world in front of them. Settling on careers, therefore, remains a difficult activity which requires guidance (Gardner & Steinberg, 2005). Subsequently, migration plays an influential factor in adolescent career decision making. For instance, out-migration of rural adults creates a function of ruralist hence creating a feeling of limited job opportunities. Students in the adolescent stage found in rural areas, therefore, have problems making career choices for fear of job insecurity. The conflicting dilemma experienced by the rural youths is faced by adolescent youths, with many youths unable to judge the difference between urban employment and rural places. In this regard, youths tend to make career decisions which see urban employment guided by high income and more opportunities (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 2002). Adolescent youths, for instance, argue rural jobs pay peanuts, and so they make the wrong decision of moving to towns while, in the real sense, urban employment pays high but is accompanied with many expenses. Apart from decisions based on rural or urban locations, career choice among the adolescent also faces other barriers. This includes qualification as well as financial obstacles. For instance, many adolescent youths hope for grandiose dreams with some wishing to be doctors while some hoe to be engineers (Gardner & Steinberg, 2005). In as much as these are poss ible, many youths in the adolescent ages fail to acquire the qualification for such careers.

Segment ideas for school brodcast Essay Example for Free

Segment ideas for school brodcast Essay 1) The segment would be interviewing people on their favorite movie. The segment is trying to show the different genres of movies people like. I would accomplish this by interviewing 10 people. I would put the segment together by interviewing the 10 people; do an introduction, and putting cool music in the background. This would be interesting to see because then people will have a good sense of what a good movie is and watch it. 2) The segment would be if people believed in unicorns or not. This segment would show how many people believe in unicorns. I would accomplish this by interviewing 20 people, do an intro, show 5 interviews, put music in the back and at the end say the ratio of how many people believe in unicorns. This segment would be interesting because students like to take a break from all the facts and listen to pointless things. 3) The segment would be a poem. This segment will show a something that inspirational. I would accomplish this by looking at poems, picking one, putting it on the screen and having the speaker read and explain what it means. This will be interesting because the students will have something to remember throughout the day to keep them working hard. 4) The segment would be a student comedy. This will show the students something that starts their day off good. I would accomplish this by videoing students doing comedy show. I would put the segment together by introducing it then playing the clip of the comedy. This will be interesting to students because in the mornings everyone is tired and laughing will wake them up. 5) This segment would be sports. This will show the students how good or bad our sports teams are. I would accomplish this by getting all the data of our sports teams and putting it in a chart. I would put this together by having a person read the sport data while the table is on the screen. This will be interesting to students because we don’t always have time to go to all the sport games to see who won, so this way we know if we won or not. 6) This segment would be videos of school events. This will show the school events and get more students to attend the events. I would accomplish this by videoing the events. I would put this together by editing the events, and putting music in the background. This will be interesting to student because they will be able to see what they missed in a one-minute video and want to come to the next event. 7) This segment would be an interesting fact. This will give students information that will stick in their brain. I would accomplish this by picking a fact. I would put this together by putting the fact on the screen and having someone read it. This will be interesting to students because they will learn something they didn’t know.

Accountability for Reasonableness for Priority Setting

Accountability for Reasonableness for Priority Setting Essay Accountability for Reasonableness, for priority setting and resource allocation. INTRODUCTION Pakistan as a developing country has very limited health care resources when  considering a huge population of over 170 million. We have very few tertiary care  hospitals and they are providing services to the whole country. Majority of people in  our country are poor and they are unable to afford the expenses of private hospitals,  though private hospitals are also very few. Thousands of doctors are unemployed  and still we have shortage of doctors. Majority of BHU (Basic Health Units) are  closed as majority of doctors belong to urban areas and they don’t want to work in  remote village areas. In all these situations, it is very difficult to maintain health  care throughout country. In this essay, I will take into account four conditions of  accountability for reasonableness for priority setting and resource allocation. I will  take into account these four conditions by Norman Daniels and I will consider a  tertiary care hospital scenario where I did my house job in medicine ward last year. There were majority of patients suffering from chronic liver diseases (CLD). I will  further continue this essay in discussion. DISCUSSION Before discussing the four conditions of accountability for reasonableness, I will  briefly discuss the case scenario. In my medicine ward as I earlier said majority of  patients were of chronic liver diseases (CLD) and it includes Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C  and cirrhosis of liver. Cirrhosis is the end result of hepatocellular injury that leads  to both fibrosis and nodular regeneration throughout the liver. The clinical features  result from hepatic cell dysfunction, portosystemic shunting, and portal  hypertension. Cirrhosis may cause no symptoms for long periods. One of the major  complications is uppergastrointestinal tract bleeding which may occur from varices,  portal hypertensive gastropathy, or gastroduodenal ulcer. Hemorrhage may be  massive, resulting in fatal exsanguinations or enencephalopathy. Esophageal varices  are found in 50 % of patients with cirrhosis. There are several treatment and  management options available for esophageal varices includin g acute resuscitation  as initial management, pharmacologic therapy, balloon tube tamponade, portal  decompressive procedures and emergent endoscopy. Endoscopic techniques are also  used for prevention of Rebleeding. 1. Now, I will discuss my case scenario. In our  hospital there is one associate professor who is trained in doing endoscopy and  Wednesday is fixed for performing endoscopies. Emergent endoscopy is performed  after the patient’s hemodynamic status has been appropriately stabilized (usually  within 2-12 hours). Majority of poor patients come to hospital in end stage liver  diseases. I have taken this case series as it is a perfect example of scarce resources. Many patients faced problems as their endoscopies were not performed on time as  there was only one day fixed in a week. Now I will apply the four conditions of  accountability for reasonableness for priority setting and resource allocation. These  four conditions are publicity condition, relevance condition, revisions and appeals  condition and regulative condition. Accountability for reasonableness makes it  possible to educate all stakeholders about the substance of deliberation about fair  decisions under resource constraints. It facilitates social learning about limits. It  connects decision making in healthcare institutions to broader, more fundamental  democratic deliberative processes. 2. In my case scenario I will apply the four  conditions as follows. The first one is publicity condition. It states that decisions  regarding limits to care and their rationales must be publicly accessible to clinicians,  patients, and citizens in a publicly administered system. When the patients suffer  the complication of esophageal varices, they are informed about the limited capacity  of the ward to arrange endoscopy as it is done on only Wednesdays and surgical  ward have their own burden of patients to be done endoscopies, due to this reason  we were unable to send patients to surgical wards and the patients and their  relatives mostly agrees on this setup and if their was any emergency only then we  take help from surgical ward or send the patients to any other hospital, so the first  condition is fulfilled. In above scenario second condition is also fulfilled which isrelevance condition. It states that the reasons for limit-setting decisions will be  reasonable if it appeals to evidence, reason, and principles that are accepted as  relevant by fair-minded people who are disposed to finding mutually justifiable  terms of cooperation. In my case scenario the decision making is according to the  framework. The rationales w ere reasonable as it is evident that we had limited  facility of endoscopy and it was fairly accepted by patients and their relatives and  also by doctors and other hospital staff. In our setup priority was given to those  patients who needed emergency endoscopy rather than those who requires  endoscopy for diagnostic procedures. The third condition is revisions and appeals  condition. This condition is a very common problem in government hospitals and in  our scenario we request consultants from surgical ward to do emergency endoscopy  if we think patient is serious and he or she may die if the endoscopy is not  performed on time or in other case the other hospital is very far so that it will be late  if we send the patient to other setup and here comes the function of oncall  consultants also, the oncall consultants plays huge role in these emergency  situations. This third condition is a mechanism for challenge and dispute resolution regarding limit setting decisions, including the opportunity for revising decisions in  light of further evidence or arguments. 3. Thus we fulfill the third condition also by  revising our decisions as I explained above. The fourth and last condition is  regulative condition or enforcement. There is either voluntary or public regulation  of the process to ensure that conditions 1-3 are met. This condition is also fulfilled in  our setup as we communicate with the patient and their relatives about our limited  resources. We are able to convince patients in our case scenario. The hospital  leadership is constantly making efforts to meet the conditions of ‘accountability for  reasonableness’. 4. CONCLUSION In this essay I have discussed all four conditions of accountability for  reasonableness, for priority setting and resource allocation. ‘Accountability for  reasonableness’ is a framework that can be used to guide legitimate and fair priority  setting in health care organizations, such as hospitals. In our beloved country  Pakistan we have few government civil hospitals bearing the burden of millions of  population. We try our best to server the humanity. Iam not claiming this system a  perfect one, it needs a lot of improvement and the example is my case scenario in  which we have very limited resources. Government should establish civil hospitals in  small cities also and should increase their budget; they should recruit more doctors  and nurses as we have shortage. They should train doctors with latest equipments  and provide hospitals appropriate medicines. In addition to this all the hospitals  should be provided with computers and also be made online so that a data system  can be established and it can help the patients and also hospitals for future  reference. I will conclude by saying that in such scarce resources, government sector  hospitals are doing excellent job. REFERENCES Current Medical Diagnosis and Treatment 2004. 43rd edition. Norman Daniels. (2000). Accountability for reasonableness. BMJ; 321; 1300-  1301. D K Martin, P A Singer and M Bernstein. (2003). Access to intensive care  unit beds for neurosurgery patients: a qualitative case study. J. Neurol.  Neurosurg. Psychiatry; 74; 1299-1303. Jennifer AH Bell, Sylvia Hyland, Tania DePellegrin, Ross EG Upshur, Mark  Bernstein and Douglas K Martin. (2004). SARS and hospital priority setting:  a qualitative case study and evaluation. BMC Health Services Research, 4:36

Sexism: Modern Day Society Essay example -- Gender Studies

The horror movie clichà © has a vast amount of stereotypical archetypes such as the dumb jock, the promiscuous female, the geek, and the innocent virgin. There are plenty of more archetypes that are on the protagonist side and as well as the antagonist side of the story. Of course in horror movies the antagonist archetype is the slow-walking, super-human and/or creature-like monster that usually wins a running race against their prey except is killed ultimately by the innocent virgin. There are movies in the past, present and likely future that will always contain these archetype characters because we have them in every aspect of life. On a daily basis, fictional horror movie killers wearing masks, like Jason Vorhees and Michael Meyers, will not be roaming around at home and/or work, every day or ever, but we will always have some type of stereotypical situation happen in one fashion or another. Female archetypes, or stereotypes, that plague movies of all genres are still present i n modern day Hollywood. This is just one example of how sexism is still a hot-topic. In the office, hospital, department store or any other place of business or pleasure are examples of common possible locations that can spurt a lot of sexist occurrences. Depending on an individual’s background (age, sex, race, etc.) there will always be a philosophical issue among gender roles and what is deemed socially correct. Human resources are a group of people that is present in all places of business. They are the people that run a company, business or in a global-scale, the economy. A portion of that same group of working people is human resource management that oversees the organization. This is one example parallelism to how the world works in certain places... ....† Retrieved from http://www.gendercide.org/case_infanticide.html Jones, A. (2004). Gendercide and genocide. (pp. 12-20). Ohio University, OH: Ohio University Press. Joyce, K., Sharlet, J. (2007). â€Å"Hillary’s prayer: Hillary clinton’s religion and politics†. Mother Jones. Retrieved from http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2007/09/hillarys-prayer-hillary-clintons-religion-and-politics Lerner, G. (1994). The creation of patriarchy. (1 ed., Vol. 1). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Nelson, V. S. (1978). Infanticide and the value of life. (pp. 100-105). Buffalo, NY: Wiley Subscription Services. Silvestre, J. (2000). The rise of women leaders in philippines: A study of corazon aquino and gloria macapagal-arroyo. The Rise of Women Leaders, 165-177. Wellington, S. W. (1996). Women in corporate leadership: Progress and prospects. What's Holding Women Back, 36-43.

Racial inequality in the period 1945-55 Essay

How accurate is it to say there was significant progress towards racial inequality in the period 1945-55? Racial inequality in the USA was an extensive and significant issue before, and controversially after this time period. What is crucial to say is that progress still needed to be made – this is despite the colossal step forward predominately in the legal frame work of federal government, but economic and social steps too, for example – voting rights in the southern states. Arguably though these so called steps forward both helped and hindered the fight for black equality. An example of this hinderance would be the rise in white opposition due to African American protests. One major problem in American society before 1945 was the lack of expression the black population had on American politics, and crucially if they could vote the amount of affect they could make.One effective section of American society that was positively changed by primarily Truman’s government was political appointments, and political change. Perhaps interestingly you could say, limitedly that political viewpoints and acceptance had been altered. On one section we look at political appointments. Under Truman’s government we see an attitude change to black people in politics. Before 1943 we have no African Americans in senior political and federal positions. However the change begins in this year when William Dawson and Adam Powell were elected to congress – successively in 1949 we see William Haist become a Federal Judge. This arguably indicates a crucial change in viewpoints, or at least a step forward to this. Activism due to the war also heightened in1945. This point is crucial as its direct consequences allowed direct action to influence political agenda. For instance the Morgan V. Virginia case in 1946, arguably wouldn’t have appeared before the war. Irene Morgan with the help of the NAACP targeted supreme court, consequently ruling the segregation in interstate busses was illegal. So here we have a pathway. Increased black activism, increased direct action and political judge appointments – alongside government change of tactic leads to the conclusion that significant progress with various court cases have vastly improved the racial equality, in 1945-55. In hindsight we see a consequence of CNO’s direct action campaign in Arkansas. In 1945 1.5% of black people could vote, however as a result of increased activism in 1947 17.3 voted. This was crucial as it shows the phenomenal change the war brought on activism and equality and more interestingly how the apparent change in political viewpoint changed how Black people were able to express themselves politically, arguably this suggests its highly accurate to say this time period was significant. Another example of how significant progress was made was how various economic impediments were overcome. Before 1945 Huge restrictions, even in the North were upon Black workers – however under Truman’s Government and the ‘Secure these rights’ agenda things were about the change. ‘Secure these rights’ was a committee set up by Truman to highlight inequality and changes to be made in America. There are several main examples that were helped by this scheme, arguably the most significant were the various proposals and departments set up in 1949 which were consequently proposed to congress. One main section would be the ‘Fair Deal’ program. This initiative aimed to tackle fundamental economic inequalities. Evidence suggests that segregation was accentuated by literal segregation of communities. Black people had a lower standard of living. Under Truman in 1949 we see a government initiative providing a higher minimum wage and a public housing scheme. Moreover, looking at a different section of economic impediments we see a huge unemployment difference between black and white people, a startling statistic is that 62% of low paid labour jobs were done by black people, only 28% white. This huge juxtaposition in jobs was yet again tackled by Truman and ‘Secure these rights’ In his 1949 speech (to an integrated crowd) he pledged to not fund organisations that discriminate on the grounds of race. This was extended from before 1945 as the CGCC scheme. This arguably was achieved through Truman’s fight in the cold war, but perhaps more significantly through the efforts of Black direct action. Evidence suggests that although segregation was still an issue, looking back years before this era – significant change had been made to fundamentally the perception of people and the legal framework. I think looking at economic initiatives we see a path being built that wasn’t thought of before 1945. In this I believe this era is fundamental for the successes of people like Martin Luther King and the NAACP in the decades to come. Social changes, mostly as a result of the factors above Eg. Secure these rights, also took place in this period. The fight for equality was most apparent in the South before 1945. We see all aspects of society from education to restaurants was segregated, but this was, at least attempted to be tackled in this era. Steps were being made, with the help of activism, courts and initiatives. With education we see Black children were being segregated in inferior schools and to many extents being treated as second class citizens. Fundamentally though this had wider consequents as this lack of quality education would put Black people for generations to come at a disadvantage – helping segregation in the economy. Here we have a historical pathway. As a result of the war – activism was increased and groups such as CORE and the NAACP emerged. This allowed lobbying of supreme court, and laws to be passed in their favour, eg. Sweatt V. painter case (1950). In the Brown v. Topeka case we see that Direct action unswervingly caused the supreme court to rule in 1954 that segregation of schools was illegal. More over reported incidences of lynchings were proportionally lower in the later stages of this period, despite a boom after the increased activism. However on the whole the change is significant as it altered attitudes of the plessy v. Ferguson case in 1896, that black people can be ‘separate but equal’ This new ruling completely goes against this and I believe this is the true change of this period, and in many respects a beginning to the end.The evidence suggests here that without a doubt this time, due to many different factors was crucially significant to the framework of equality that was needed to change older and newer generations viewpoints on African Americans. Arguably in this light, this period seems detrimentally effective. In stark contrast we look on the other side of the spectrum. We see numerous de jure laws being placed, and we see that framework being laid – but how significant is that progress? How effective were those laws? We are now underpinning how little de facto change actually took place, especially in the political realm. For example there was a change in law in particularly the southern states enabling Black people to vote. However Grandfather clauses’ (you had to be able to prove the previous two generations had voted) and unanswerable literacy test or clause (the ability to read) stopped Black people from voting. In 1947,17.3% of black people could vote in new orleans – but many were stopped because of sheer intimidation. More over in the North – where arguably politically barriers were not present, poverty of black voters often stopped them from voting. So although laws had been placed preventing it – the idea of white supremacy constantly found routes around this. So looking at the significance of the change, the evidence suggests they are relatively minor in the de facto change. Furthermore we look at Truman’s significance, on one hand we see he was the first president (After Lincoln) to express Black equality so highly in his manifesto. However more significantly many of the proposals by ‘Secure these rights’ never got passed. This is because of the overwhelming about of racists in congress – arguably more could have been done in this period, but political factors stopped this from happening. The examples made earlier was the creation of the ‘CGCC’ (Committee on Government contract compliance). At the time of creation, this seemed to have worked. However in hindsight we see that it was poorly conceived and could not force defence companies to implement fair employment. Here is a clear example of how on one side of the spectrum the CGCC seems to have made significant progress – however when you dive deeper we see that little change took place – suggesting that this time period was not as significant as first thought. Perhaps if more defined laws had been implemented and congress backed Truman this time period could have been more effective. Political factors were not the only topic to doubt this eras significance. Stemming from this economically and socially, despite great change Black people still faced great hardship. In the South, they faced lower wages and higher unemployment. In 1950 one-third of black Americans lived in the North due to migration. This just fuelled the lower standards of living in ghettos, concentrated in industrial cities. On one hand this could be a positive factor, in that unemployment was down. Significantly though – looking at segregation, black industrial workers were unlikely to get payed the same as their white counterparts. Furthermore although unemployment had fallen they were still more likely to be unemployed than white Americans. For example in New York City 6% of the white population was unemployed, adversely the figure was 10% for black men. On one hand, arguably opportunities had been changed and improved for black workers, but significant progress still needed to be made. For instance socially, schools were still segregated on the large part in southern states, similarly in other aspects of life such as state bus services and social areas. Crucially black people were still treated like second class citizens, in this period, in many aspects of life. This point had not changed from before 1945. Segregation, although in many cases illegal put black citizens at a disadvantage constantly – so they could never be in the same position as white people, suggesting significant progress still needed a lot of progress. Above all, looking in hindsight at this point it seems the position of black people had fundamentally not changed, therefore one could conclude that it is not accurate to say significant progress had been made. In conclusion it is clear a combination of factors help both sides of this argument. On one hand we see that although de jure change has been made, little had been done to follow up these policy proposals, and on the whole peoples social, economic and political position changed very little. This is despite the steps forward in public engagement (direct action) and political momentum (Truman’s government). CORE’s ‘Journey of Reconciliation’ in 1947 is a prime example of this. On one hand we see black and white citizens standing up for what is right, non segregated interstate busses. However the consequence of this direct action was arrested campaigners and little media attention. Perhaps the years 1955, and later were more significant in making de facto change, in that problems were finally beginning to be solved at grass root level. However in stark contrast we look at the other side of the spectrum, relatively significant progress had been made. For example if you look at the years before 1945, we see little or no change to the legal framework, other than the 14th and 15th amendments that considerably contributed to equality of African Americans, however in this period we see masses of physical change in all aspects of society. More over we see increased activism due to the war laid down the fundamental roots of direct action. For example one major fault of the Journey of reconciliation was the little time it was over, 2 weeks. However these newly founded groups (UDL, NAACP, CORE) in this period grounded themselves, and learnt – for example the Montgomery bus boycott was a success, with the help of a better organised NAACP. On the whole I believe that it is hard to ignore the progress made in this period. From 1945, with primarily the help from supreme court many aspects of several generations lives were improved – and this improvement is more that can be said for any other period of time. It is this comparison alongside compelling grass root policies of Truman’s government that leads to the argument that it is accurate to say there was significant progress made 1945-55.

China’s Role in the World Economy

Over the past decades, the competitiveness of the United States economy has been outstanding because of its capacity for innovation, higher education system, market size in terms of labor and product markets, and flexible capital markets. These advantages have allowed U. S. industries to take a leadership role in the global economy, providing products and services demanded worldwide. However, the U. S. economic powerhouse faces expanded global competition. Economic liberalization throughout the world, skills upgrades in developing countries and massive technological advances mean that the United States faces expanded competition for jobs and investment. The United States’ overall competitive position in the world economy is threatened by uprising developing countries such as BRIC—Brazil, Russia, India, and China. This paper will focus particularly on China’s role in the world economy. At a time when the U. S. nd other traditional economic powers are weakening, China’s economic power is strengthening, indicating that it will try to find a much more assertive role in shaping the future of the world financial order. China, after all, has one-fifth of the world’s population, or roughly twice the population of the European Union, the United States, and Japan plus a handful of other high income nations. China sees the global downturn as an opportunity and it has the resources to seize the moment. Although Chinese leaders are struggling with shrinking trade and rising unemployment, China’s economy is still growing faster than those of other major nations. Chinese banks are more stable and the Beijing government is sitting on the largest stockpile of foreign reserves in the world. China's power has been increasing in recent years as it has surged to become the third biggest economy, after the U. S. and Japan. Since the late '70s, however, China's economy has doubled every eight years. In that same period, the U. S. conomy has doubled once. Today, average Chinese have some ten times the purchasing power they had just a quarter century ago. China's growth was led by exports and investments in fixed assets, such as factories and roads. China is now a powerful trading nation, and in recent years has been an avid consumer of industrial commodities such as copper, iron ore, and steel to fuel its rapid industrialization. Additionally, another main driver of Chinese growth was the Beijing Summer Olympics whom people looked to as a defining moment of China's rise. China's run of economic prosperity has been great news for millions of Chinese who have seen their living standards improve, as well as for global trade and the broader world economy. However, with all the foreign investment China is receiving, the country will only grow more and more interdependent upon the world economy. The impressive growth rate of China’s economy is not without its shortcomings. Problems such as inflation and inefficient state-owned enterprises plague the rise of the Chinese economy. Some of China’s economic problems seem to be internal, and connected with supporting the massive population while divesting the government of money-losing businesses. Its integration into the international economic order poses major difficulties for the rest of the world. These problems include bringing China's mixed market/centrally planned economy into the GATT, adapting to competition from labor-intensive Chinese exports, encouraging further market-oriented reform, and accommodating its demand for international capital. But China's participation in the global economy also offers important opportunities for trade, investment, and international cooperation to promote world prosperity and stability. The average Chinese GDP is still very low, meaning that it is a country with a lot of poverty. Since China has limited natural resources, the incremental increase in demand for these resources will have to come mainly from imports. Demand for energy and for certain other resources will thus grow very rapidly and China will have to expend large amounts of foreign exchange on their purchase, but China will have the oreign exchange required. And it is also clear that for the developed world, we have to react intelligently and strategically to what China is doing, accepting its aspirations, but also being aware of our own national self interest, and being clear about the ways we can work together. China is a manufacture based economy and is also graduating 350,000 engineers each year, six to seven times more than the U. S. These engineers are joining the manufacturing sector where manufactures now play an important role in response to global demand. The use of information technology in organizations is inevitable, be it manufacturing. It has contributed largely to the process advancements in countries much like Eastern Asia. Chinese manufacturers, for example, will continue to seek out and perfect the implementation of the latest strategies and technologies in the future. A comparative analysis of the investment patterns of U. S. manufacturers versus China is quite astounding. †¢ U. S. Manufacturing plants spent 3% of sales on capital equipment in 2004 whereas China spent 20%. †¢ In the U. S. 53% of manufacturing plants were expected to increase their capital-equipment spending in 2005 compared to China at 72%. †¢ IT spending was expected to increase at 42% of U. S. Plants in 2005 whereas in China, 75% of plants were expected to increase their spending on IT. In short, China has a manufacturing base that is, more cost-efficient today and investing more heavily in the capital equipment and IT that will enable it to become more innovative tomorrow. The impact of information technology in global trade is on the rise, as several advancements are focused on to be implemented in various developing countries like China. American entrepreneurs have pounced on the opportunity of growth in these countries, specifically in China. China is highly populated and is increasing in middle class citizens who have enabled the creation of consumer markets in China. While continuing to grow, entrepreneurs have leaped at the chance to be apart of the business and consumer growth. They learn the Chinese culture, language, and government regulations through their own research and or with the help of locals. Using the opportunity of unpenetrated markets and low resource and production costs, these entrepreneurs are able to build successful ventures. With high business growth, more Chinese citizens are able to afford purchase of imports and exports. Certainly, China is poised to become the world’s next economic super power and largest trading entity, in terms of inward and outward trading flows. If China would keep growing at this pace its economy would be bigger than the American’s economy by 2030 (Prasad, 2004). Their success in attaining that status will depend largely on how they collectively deal with their existing and future economic issues. The economy is showing positive changes but still faces very big difficulties. Despite its problems, China's economy is forecast to grow by at least 5% this year, in stark contrast to many major global economies that are shrinking. But these are speculations about the future. As for the present, China’s emergence is already a major challenge for other developing countries, for Asia, and for the world. That challenge will not diminish anytime soon.