Teacher as Managers Essay Example for Free

Teacher as Managers Essay There are five behavioral steps in the differentiation of the effective delegator and the ineffective delegator. In this case, the manager of a contracts group, Ricky Lee, who is part of a large regional office supply distributor realized his limitations in terms of capacity when he received a new assignment. Ricky lee knew he needed to delegate this assignment in order to meet his current project deadline and also meet the needs of his boss. The first step Ricky needs to do is assess his employees and determine who has demonstrated a clear understanding of negotiating contracts, and also who has proven excellent results in negotiating with manufacturers. When Ricky identifies an employee who has knowledge, and demonstrated success contract negotiation like his employee, Bill Harmon, Ricky needs to evaluate if Bills workload would allow him to take on a new project. The next step Ricky needs to do is have a private conversation with Bill and clearly outline the parameters and scope of this project. Ricky needs to make sure that Bill understands what is expected by clarifying and asking open-ended questions. Ricky needs to make sure Bill does not have any unanswered questions regarding the development of the department’s new procedures manual for negotiating contracts with office product’s manufacturers. Therefore, Ricky will allow Bill to participate in the decisions since he will be held accountable for this task. Ricky needs to clearly explain that this needs to be completed by the end of the month, and make sure that Bill feels comfortable and accepting of the time commitment. Ricky needs to make sure that Bill has the ability to work this project as he see fit, however his authority is limited to only the parameters of the project. Bills needs to understand this his authority to all other aspects of his job or the job of other works has not changed. Ricky needs to ensure that Bill understands and accepts that his range and discretion are limited to the scope of the project only. In allowing the employee to participate, Ricky must understand that Bill may have his personal self-interests and biases that may cause a potential problem in not committing fully or deterring him from taking on the delegation of the new assignment. Ricky will need to listen to learn and use open-ended questions to redirect the personal biases and self-interests. Some employees find themselves facing challenges because they immediately think about themselves and have a tendency to exhibit impartial judgment, which is not always fair in a workplace environment. Employees have to do what’s right for them, but also remember that this is a business. When presenting open-ended questions, this provides Ricky the opportunity to answer all of Bill’s questions or concerns in a positive manner. Ricky is able to provide Bill with all of the answers and support and even resources that Bill needs. For instance, if Bill says â€Å"I do not have the the first written copy of the resource manual and I am not sure who has it. † Ricky may respond, â€Å"Well Bill, I have it in my office and I will commit to have it to you by 12pm. † This provides Bill with the resource he needs and Ricky may ask some more open-ended questions using who, what, where, when, and why to get Bill to open up about any questions or concerns. Personal biases influence the way another person may think about a particular object, place, or person. The employees who are judgmental may focus on ways to degrade their peers or have difficulty in taking on a new task. This creates a negative culture and does not motivate a team to perform to its fullest. Many employees can see being bias in a workplace both negatively and positively. They are normally personal biases which are formed through a person that may have been predisposed during childhood, environment, through another person’s own biases without researching, and/or experiences. The Assignment that Bill Harmon has agreed to take on will outline the steps followed in negotiating contracts with office products’ manufacturers who supply the organization’s products. It is important to inform everyone involved of the delegation. Anne Zumwalt and any other managers that may be involved with this project or directly affected by the outcome will be informed of Bill’s commitment to take on this new task. It is important that Ricky informs all employees affected by this delegation of Bill taking on this project and to inform employees on how much authority Bill has committed to. This provides a sense of pride and ownership over the project for Bill and he is fully aware that he will be held accountable for the end-product. When setting the parameters of this project with Bill it will be important to determine how Bill and Ricky will establish feedback channels. Bill must know how to communicate with Ricky about the project. It is important to know the stages that Bill may provide feedback to Ricky. Ricky should also inform Bill on how he intends on monitoring the project and how often he will be checking in. Bill should provide commitment and understanding on exact deadlines (end of the month on a specific date) and expectations. It is crucial that Bill knows if any problems should arise then Ricky should be contacted as soon as possible so they are able to work through it in the most proactive and efficient way.

Emergency Departments And Effects Of Non Urgent Cases

Emergency Departments And Effects Of Non Urgent Cases Emergency Departments (EDs) are under increasing pressure and increases in numbers of patients deemed inappropriate or some which could be seen by alternative providers are all a burden on the ED and the health service in general. Over recent years there has seen an increase of attendances at EDs of more than 20% with the majority being primary care cases. Recent changes to the GP contracts in 2003 have also had an impact on increases in attendance to EDs. There is a potential saving of in excess of  £120 million if patients attended the appropriate health service provider either GPs, walk in centres or by self treating and asking a pharmacist. Patient education and good promotion of the Choose Well campaign could reduce these numbers and therefore do away with the need to have to potentially turn away non-urgent cases. Introduction EDs are under increasing pressure to deliver high quality care due to rising attendances. Over the period from 2007-2010 there has been an overall increase in attendance at EDs of England of 20.9%. There was an increase of 10.7% in attendance between the period 07/08 to 08/09 (12,318,051 attendances in 07/08 and 13,794,072 in 08/09) 11.4% increase between 08/09 and 09/10 (15,569736 attendances in the period 09/10). There have been numerous attempts to try and stem the rise in ED attendances including offering patients guidance, making them aware of the consequences and informing them of the alternative health services available. A GP ED Triage Pilot conducted by Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Sheffield General Practitioner Collaborative in March 20101 which was conducted to ensure patients were seen in the most appropriate location and by the most appropriate health care professional found that cases deemed to be actual primary care cases amounted to 19%. From this study it could be said that approximately 20% of attendees could potentially have been seen by a general practitioner in primary care rather than attending the ED but this is very small sample and many more studies would need to be carried out looking at different departments to be able to draw a more definitive conclusion. Applying 20% would therefore estimate that for the year 2009/10 in England approximately 3 million attendees were candidates for primary care. The estimated cost of seeing these patient in the ED based on the cost of  £56 for treating a minor ailment and  £75 for a standard (average cost  £65.50) totals  £196.5 million. Doctors consultations in primary care settings are the most cost effective part of the medical component of the NHS at  £15- £30 (averaging  £22.50), GP consultations cost less than out-patients appointments, ED and ambulance calls (ambulance calls costing  £255 per patient). Therefore the cost of treating the 3 million potential primary care/GP patients in the GP setting would total  £67.5million which would save the NHS a potential  £129 million.2 These values are only for normal working hours. Most non-urgent cases actually occur out of hours which would actually increase this amount even further with even more potential savings. The above costings are currently being changed to new Health Care Resource (HRG) code costings which are slightly less which could reflect lower savings than those calculated.3,4 The choose well campaign North West estimated the national cost to the NHS of treating minor illnesses is  £2 billion a year.5 The new system will have 11 different HRG groups, opposed to the current three Groups. The new HRG codes mean you must code both investigations and treatments, as opposed to investigations alone6 (appendix 1). This review hopes to come to an understanding why these patients use the emergency department rather than GP surgeries, barriers to other forms of care and access to GP surgeries and therefore answering the question whether emergency departments should be able to turn away non-urgent cases. Other points which will be taken into account are the ethical dilemmas associated with potentially turning patients away and the potential repercussions of doing so. Method and literature review A search was performed using Lancaster Universitys metalib data base which searched Scopus, Springerlink, Science Direct and Ovid Medline and Pub Med data bases. After accounting for duplicates and reviewing titles and abstracts, papers were selected for review. Search criteria included the terms, non-urgent, emergency department, primary care. The date was initially limited to 1996 2010 but on further searches earlier articles were allowed in order to search for historical articles. The search was also limited to humans and English language. The Department of Health website and the Primary Care Foundation website were also used to find current legislation and data. Database Limits Results OVID Medline emergency department, non-urgent primary care year-1996-2010 humans, English 25 Pub Med 12 Springerlink 19 Science Direct 72 Why patients attend the emergency department There is no formal definition of what is deemed an appropriate attendee to the emergency department due to peoples own impressions of what they believe to be an emergency. This leads to inappropriate attenders who could have legitimately seen their own GP. The types of patient who attend inappropriately and their decisions to do so are complex and involve social, psychological and medical factors.7 Urgency is also a term which is difficult to define and to measure. Studies have been carried out which have measured urgency but there is such wide variation on what is deemed urgent the results are subjective. Due to this subjective nature when defining urgent it is important to be consistent and have appropriate and qualified medical professionals determining the urgency of a situation using set criteria. In an early study Lavenhar et al described an urgent problem as one that requires medical attention within a few hours.8 This definition is used in this review. It has also been found, what medical professionals deem as non-urgent is often not perceived the same in the patient and the urgency of the situation should be based on the presenting signs and symptoms and not the eventual final diagnosis.9 Patients have been seen to attend the ED for many reasons including, the following: They deemed their condition/illness to be appropriate for the ED They believed the GP would refer them anyway The GP surgery was too far to travel to The GP surgery was closed A friend or family member felt it appropriate For those patients who deemed their attendance to be appropriate for their illness or condition it would be very difficult to convince them otherwise and such patients generally attend the ED for reassurance that there condition is not serious and is not going to get any worse. Such patients also have high anxiety, and a sense of urgency and self diagnose yet have no formal medical knowledge.9-12 Those who believed that their GP would have referred them anyway thought they would cut out the middle man. The patients found to do this in a study carried out by Palmer et al deemed their condition to be bad enough and that their GP would refer them, and attending their GP prior to attending the ED would just be a waste of time13 this study also found that pain was a major factor patients took into consideration when deciding on where to attend. Pain itself being subjective and open to individual interpretation. Those that found the GP surgery to be too far to travel were patients who generally lived in rural areas where the distance to both GP and ED were significantly far away and patients therefore decided they may as well attend the ED rather than the GP to save time in the event that the GP would just refer them anyway. Those patients for whom the GP surgery was closed mainly attended out of hours or at weekends. These patients generally thought their condition was urgent and couldnt wait until the surgery reopened.11,12 For attendees who were advised by friends and family to attend the ED did so purely on this advice and the majority of which would not have done so without this advice. This included people advised by colleagues, first aiders and schools where responsibility for the patient was in someone elses hands and the person advising did so in order to protect themselves.12,13 Another major factor to consider when looking at why patients attend the ED is the decision making capabilities of the patients themselves. This would include social, psychosocial and medical factors. Padgett and Brodsky14 proposed a three stage model which outlined how the stages of decision making interacted between the three different stages within the model. The three factors were predisposing, enabling and need. The decision making stages being recognising the problem, deciding to seek treatment and the decision on where to get the treatment. Predisposing factors which are part of stage one included the age, sex, race, level of education, family and social support available. The enabling factors, stage 2 were the income of the patient, usual source of care, proximity of the source of care and the perceived accessibility of this care source and the factors contributing to the need, stage three, were symptom recognition, evaluation of need, level of distress and psychiatric co-morbidity. Padgett and Brodskys three stage model14 Barriers to Care The above predisposing factors are also forms of barriers to care and are dealt with by patients in many different ways. Patient education would be a major tool for breaking down such barriers.11 This is the aim of a local and national campaign called Choose Well. This is a campaign that is supported by the NHS and its staff and aims to ensure people who need advice and treatment for common complaints, get fast and expert care.5 The North West has seen an increase of 177,000 patients in the ED over the last two years and hoped the Choose Well campaign would reduce this over the winter of 2010/11. The North West NHS estimated that 1 in 4 ED attendances were due to patients who could have self treated or could have been seen by other health professionals elsewhere. Offering guidance in both GP surgeries and EDs would give patients the information for themselves to determine the urgency of their condition. This information could include what definitely should be seen at the ED and what definitely shouldnt. Where this is a good idea and has the potential to work well however it could potentially cause patients with urgent problems to believe that they are non-urgent therefore putting them at risk of harm. On the other hand it could also cause some patients to deem themselves urgent and attend the ED when they were initially happy to attend their GP practice adding to the non-urgent caseload. The Choose Well campaign briefly describes the types of conditions that should attend the ED as an emergency and gives contact numbers for patients to ring in order to get further information on where is best for them to attend. This may be difficult for some patients; particularly the elderly as navigating around a website may be difficult or impossible and at a time when you are not well or believe to be in an emergency situation this could be valuable time needed for treatment. It does however offer valuable advice for minor injuries and illnesses known not to be life or limb threatening and could possibly eliminate the need for these patients to enter the health service at all reducing overall numbers and costs. Does Choose Well make a difference? The Choose Well campaign North West sent out a survey (appendix 1) to determine the number of people who had made alternative decisions to attending the ED and whether the messages from the campaign had reached the local people. The survey results are not yet available but Merseyside NHS was successful in increasing the level of awareness amongst the people of Merseyside of the range of NHS services available to them over the winter of 2008 with 94,547 people using NHS Walk in centres in Merseyside, a rise of 18% from the year before and there was a drop in AE attendance of 6.4%, compared to the previous winter yet they still had high attendances to the ED with up to half of these potentially of the type that could have been treated by more appropriate NHS services.15   Many patients do not realise that there are cost implications and differences in cost between EDs and GPs and believe that it makes no difference whether they visit as all they want is a diagnosis regardless of who gives it to them.16 Many do not visit their GPs because of the appointment systems in place, and they are often unable to make an appointment and are therefore more willing to wait around in the ED where they are guaranteed to be seen rather than wait for an appointment at their GP practice. It has also been noted that when patients were unable to see their regular GP and were offered an appointment to see an alternative the decision was made to attend the ED rather than see the alternative.17,18 The opening hours of primary care facilities also do not satisfy the needs of some patients, those who work during the day may not be able to take time off from their daily activities to attend appointments which are set at the discretion of the GP practice rather than at the discretion of the patient such as in the evening, during the night and at weekends. Repeat attendees of the ED are found to make up a large proportion of cases. In a report by NHS Manchester19 who had registered 230,000 attendances per year at its three main sites showed that 13% of these attendances were frequent attendees (patients who attended the ED four or more times in a six month period) with the average number of times a frequent attender being 5.7 times. The report also suggested that this was inappropriate use of the ED and that patients needs were not being met by primary care providers. They decided to increase performance by putting in place best practice which was to include devising computer software that would identify the frequent attenders and allow GPs to see who they where so that they can make contact with the patients and inform them about their inappropriate use of the ED. The patients were sent letters stating key messages on the use of the ED and an information leaflet. The pro-forma letter which read An AE department is often not the best p lace to receive care for non-urgent problems or those that will need ongoing treatment. They do not have your medical records which included information about other medical problems both past and present, investigations, regular medication, and any allergies to medication. Not having this information can compromise the treatment you receive. The enclosed leaflet contains information about services other than AE departments which are available to you. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.AE departments should be used when the problem is an accident or requires emergency treatment. We would request that you contact the surgery first when you have a health problem that requires some advice and/or treatment.19 This intervention was found in one GP practice to reduce the number of repeat attenders by 20%19 even though studies have shown that this would be the number of frequent attenders that would over time stop attending anyway without any form of intervention.20,21 In order to validate the results found the intervention should be compared between surgeries with some surgeries having intervention and some not having the intervention. GP services within the ED There has been an increase in the number of primary care doctors in EDs or based closely to EDs over recent years. This has been found to decrease the numbers of non-urgent cases seeking ED treatment in favour of a GP and has also reduced the number of unnecessary admissions to hospital. This sort of initiative requires team work and close working partnerships with both EDs and GPs which at times has be proven to be tricky due to differences in culture and beliefs. The primary Care Foundation has carried out research commissioned by the Department of Health, the study, which was carried out in May 2009, looked at different models of primary care across England practising within and alongside EDs. The number of patients deemed to be primary care patients were identified. It found that around half of all EDs did in actual fact have some form of primary care presence working within the ED and that between 10% and 30% of attendees were classified as primary care candidates.22 Discussion Ethical dilemma of turning patients away The four principles of ethics developed by Beauchamp and Childress23 must be taken into account when coming to a decision as to whether to turn patients away from the ED. The 4 principles approach takes into account that whatever our personal beliefs, philosophy, moral theory or life stance the care of patients is the most important factor. It could be said that turning patients away from the ED was going against the ethics of the health service in that it is considered freely accessible to all at any time. The Four Ethical Principles Autonomy Patients must be respected and must not be deceived and must be given adequate information. If patients are turned away then they are not given all the required information regarding their condition. Even though they would be advised to see their GP they may not do so. Beneficence and non-maleficence It may be seen as causing the patient harm by turning them away, they may suffer further pain or psychological trauma by not being seen. Justice Justice or fairness may be breached if patients are turned away. The health service is free at the point of entry and patients that are turned away may feel as if they are being denied care or treatment, even though they would be offered it at their GP practice for some this may not be possible or an option therefore denying them any form of care at all. Conclusion From the articles and documents reviewed it can be seen that non-urgent attendees at the ED are a drain on public funds and a time of economic instability and when there is a keen focus on service cuts and delivering value for money. In spite of the evidence and from reviewing articles I feel that it could potentially be detrimental to the health and well being of patients if they were to be turned away from the ED for non-urgent or minor conditions that could be seen in general practice. Turning them away could make them stop seeking medical treatment and could make them lose faith in the health service altogether. I believe that more patient education and greater access to GPs and primary care health professionals is what is required in order to reduce the numbers and therefore the cost of treating such patients. It is not the duty of the treating professional to determine the perceived severity of illness or injury a patient attends with but to offer them the care and support they need in order for them to continue their lives as they would like to. It is however the duty of health professionals to educate their patients and offer support on how they should deal with such illnesses and injuries so as not to have to attend or re-attend the ED. This could come in the form of information leaflets or just by talking to the patients and finding out their reasons for attending the ED rather than GPs and how things can be put in to place and organised for future patients to overcome the barriers to other forms of care. In 2003/4 there was a change in the GP contracts, following this there was an increase in ED attendances. The new contracts made changes to the after-hours access to GPs and allowed GPs to opt out of this area of care, this then resulted in the increase of after-hours presentations to the ED of GP cases.24 So in order to increase access there would need to be more GPs not opting out of the after-hours work or changing the contracts to omit the option to opt out of such. Even though there are provisions such as walk in centres and out-of-hours services people attend the ED, this could be due to the unfamiliarity of such places and lack of knowledge of the facilities available. More patient education and promotion of such centres would be required to ensure they are made aware to everyone in the event of requiring such services. Also the integration of primary and secondary care could help improve services for everyone by bringing GPs into the EDs and from a closer working partnership. Appendix 1 HRG code HRG name Band AE tariff ( £) VB01Z Any investigation with category 5 treatment 1 183 VB02Z Category 3 investigation with category 4 treatment 1 183 VB03Z Category 3 investigation with category 1-3 treatment 2 133 VB04Z Category 2 investigation with category 4 treatment 2 133 VB05Z Category 2 investigation with category 3 treatment 2 133 VB06Z Category 1 investigation with category 3-4 treatment 3 78 VB07Z Category 2 investigation with category 2 treatment 4 110 VB08Z Category 2 investigation with category 1 treatment 4 110 VB09Z Category 1 investigation with category 1-2 treatment 3 78 VB10Z Dental Care 5 52 VB11Z No investigation with no significant treatment 5 52 HRG codes and tariffs6 Appendix 2 North West Choose Well Survey If you or a family member had a minor illness or injury (for example a sore throat, backache, cough or cold), which is the first NHS service you would use for advice and treatment? (Please select one answer) Y/N Y/N Pharmacy Minor Injuries Unit GP/Doctor Look for advice on the internet Phone NHS Direct or look on their website Dial 999 NHS Walk-in Centre Go to AE Urgent Care Centre None of the above, I would look after myself Other, please state below If your first choice service was unavailable, which other NHS service would you contact next? (Please select one answer) Y/N Y/N Pharmacy Minor Injuries Unit GP/Doctor Look for advice on the internet Phone NHS Direct or look on their website Dial 999 NHS Walk-in Centre Go to AE Urgent Care Centre None of the above, I would look after myself Other, please state below If you are a parent or carer for children under 16 years of age, please complete questions 3 4. Otherwise go straight to question 5. Which age group are your children in? Y/N Y/N 0 4 years 10 13 years 5 9 years 14 16 years If your children had a minor illness or injury (for example a temperature, a sore throat, cough or cold, a small cut or a sprain), which is the first NHS service you would use for advice and treatment? (Please select one) Y/N Y/N Pharmacy Minor Injuries Unit GP/Doctor Look for advice on the internet Phone NHS Direct or look on their website Dial 999 NHS Walk-in Centre Go to AE Urgent Care Centre None of the above, I would look after myself Other, please state below 5. If you have selected AE or 999 in answer to questions 1, 2 or 4 above, please answer this question. Otherwise go straight to question 6. If you have selected AE or 999 in answer to questions 1, 2 or 4 above, can you tell us why you would make this choice? (Select as many as apply) Y/N Y/N You will receive the best quality care and advice You know that you are guaranteed to be treated You will be seen quicker than any other service The AE is closest to where you live You do not know where else to go In the past your GP sent you to your AE or told you to call 999 You would have chosen a GP, but are not registered with one In the past you were told to go to AE or to call 999 by another health service, e.g. pharmacy/NHS Direct You would have chosen a GP, but it is difficult to get an appointment Other, please state below Which of the following services do you currently use your local pharmacist store for? (Select as many as apply) Y/N Y/N Picking up a prescription Advice if your child has a high temperature Advice and treatment for a headache Advice and treatment for backache and other aches pains Advice and treatment for an upset stomach Advice and treatment for a urine infection Advice and treatment for treating coughs, colds flu Contraceptive advice Other, please state below Did you know that your local pharmacist store provides a confidential consultation area? Yes/No Did you know that your local pharmacist can offer you confidential advice and treatment without an appointment? Yes/No Would you consider using your local pharmacist for any of the following? (Select as many as apply) Y/N Y/N Contraceptive advice Advice if your child has a high temperature Advice and treatment for a headache Advice and treatment for backache and other aches pains Advice and treatment for an upset stomach Advice and treatment for a urine infection Advice and treatment for treating coughs, colds flu Other, please state below Do you know where to find information about late night and weekend opening hours for your local pharmacist? Yes/No Choose Well is an NHS campaign that aims to help people in the North West to understand which NHS service to use if they need fast and effective treatment for minor illnesses and ailments; and how to use 999 and AE services appropriately. Have you heard of the Choose Well campaign? Yes/No If yes go to Q 12; if no go to Q 13 Where have you seen or heard about the Choose Well campaign? (Select as many as apply) Y/N Y/N Local newspaper Local news websites PCT website Community radio Local radio Life Channel (GP TV) Bus advert Leaflet Signs on ambulances Other posters Word of mouth (someone mentioned it to you) Other, please state below Have you heard any of the following messages? Tick as many as appropriate. The number of people using AE and 999 services is continuing to rise One out of every four people who go to AE could have either treated themselves at home, or used another local NHS service You can get three free text messages, with details of your three nearest pharmacies by texting pharmacy to 64746 Your local pharmacy provides expert, convenient advice and treatment for minor ailments AE and 999 services are for life-threatening and serious conditions such as heart-attacks, strokes, breathing problems and serious accidents Get the right NHS treatment As a result of seeing these messages, if you or a member of your family has a minor illness or ailment are you less likely or more likely to use the following services (please select as appropriate). Less Likely More Likely Your local pharmacy Your local GP NHS Walk-in Centre or similar service Minor Injuries Unit Urgent Care Centre NHS Direct NHS Choices Website AE 999 To help us to get our campaign right, it would be really helpful if you could give us some information about yourself. Which age group do you fall in to? Y/N Y/N Y/N 16 19 40 49 70 79 20 29 50 59 80 89 30 39 60 69 90+ Gender please delete as appropriate Male Female Please could you tell us the first part of your postcode e.g. M22 or SK6 Ethnicity Please can you select the group that best describes your ethnic background White Y/N Y/N English/Welsh/Scottish/Northern Irish/British Irish Gypsy or Traveller Other, please give details Mixed/Multiple Ethnic Groups Y/N Y/N White and Black Caribbean White and Asian White and Black African Other, please give details Asian/Asian British Y/N Y/N Indian Bangladeshi Pakistani Chinese Other, please give details Black/African/Caribbean/Black British Y/N Y/N African Caribbean Other, please give details Other Ethnic Y/N Y/N Arab Other, please give details Thank you for your time we really appreciate your help. If you are willing to help us to develop this project further, please fill in your contact details below Name Address Tel. No. Email address Taken directly from the Choose Well questionnaire5

Essay --

James Eagan Holmes didn’t let six-year-old Veronica Moser-Sullivan out of that movie theatre that fateful night. Daniel Parmentors mom didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to him because of T.J. Lane. Mary Sherlack’s husband will not set the table for her after Adam Lanza entered her school. The actions of those three shooters were not to cause such small but widespread repercussions for so many other mourning people. They all suffered from various mental illnesses. 79% of recent shootings are attributable to mental illnesses. The U.S. should re-evaluate gun screenings to decrease the odds of another mass shooting by not allowing anyone with any mental or psychological problem to own or possess a firearm. While the Constitution states that everyone has the right to bear arms, the present situation is different from that past, when relations with Great Britain were shaky. Secondly, gun violence is on the rise, with 46 school shootings since 2010, compared with only 40 from 2000 to 2010. Finally, if gun screenings are modified, there will be many jobs available, while contributing to national security at the same time. Many gun owner argue that since the Constitution gives everyone the right to bear arms, that we should obey the law and allow everyone to own guns. While this is true, it does not mention that it was over a different time period that the law was passed. During that time period, relations with Great Britain were shaky, and the U.S. government wanted to ensure that each citizen would be able to defend themselves. It was essential that the country to be armed so that a part of it could not be taken over by another country that would have been greedy for power. Guns also made people feel safer, and therefore loyal to the... ...A lot of money? Yes it is. But that does not have tobe that only big change made by the government. If a fee of 50$ to own a single gun for a year was introduced, then the U.S. could make the U.S lots of money to pay for the program, and they would turn a profit at the same time.â€Å"There’s no perfect estimate of firearms in the U.S. because creating a national registry of firearms is prohibited by federal law,† noted Alex Katz, a spokesman for Mayors Against Illegal Guns. â€Å"But academics and interest groups across the political spectrum broadly agree on the 300 million figure.† And if the estimates that Katz gave are accurate, then the U.S. could have 15 billion dollars rolling in at the same time, and after staff expenses are paid, they can make nearly 2.5 billion dollars per year. This price tag that comes with the guns could even discourage some potential gunbuyers.

John Hus: A Threat to the Western Church & Martyr Essay -- Religion

John Hus: A Threat to the Western Church & Martyr The official definition of a martyr is â€Å"a person who sacrifices something of great value for the sake of principle†; therefore Jon Hus is undoubtedly a martyr (Merriam-Webster 1). His radical ideas caught the attention of thousands of followers while simultaneously undermining core practices of the Church. His beliefs led to what is known as the Hussite Reformation and ultimately, his death. John Hus’s death was ordered by the Church because his unorthodox principles threatened to disperse or even diminish some of the Church’s power and would cause an abundance of changes within the religious system as a whole during the 15th century, and possibly forever. The fears of the Church would later prove to be legitimate concerns but their efforts to prevent these changes from occurring failed, and not only did they prevent these changes from happening, but the Church’s attempts to get rid of John Hus’s ideals only â€Å"fanned the flames his messag es ignited† (Joyner 52). Now, centuries after his death, John Hus is still revered by many as â€Å"one of the first true reformers of the church† (Joyner 42). John Hus’s humble beginnings hardly reflect the impact that he would later have on modern day Christianity and the reformation process that would occur within the Church. Yet, his upbringing and early career are an essential part of his legacy, and provide indications of what was to come. John Hus was born in Bohemia, which is located in what is now the Czech Republic. His family was not wealthy but Hus was known for being virtuous, and having a strong set of morals instilled within him, so his decision to study Religion at the University of Prague did not come as a surprise. He received his ... ...reatening public figure for the Church during the 15th Century, but his work and the things believed him allow him to be regarded as a great Christian Martyr. Works Cited Black, John Sutherland. John Huss: A short Biography. Shamrock Eden Publishing, 2011. eBook. Dallman, William. John hus A Brief Story of the Martry. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1915. eBook. Joyner, Rick. Three Witnesses. 1. 1. Fort Mill: MorningStar Publication, 1997. 1-61. eBook Merriam Webster ." N.p., 2012. Web. 23 April 2012. . Molnar, Enrico. "The Liturgical Reforms of John Hus." Speculum. 41.2 (1995): 297-303. Web. 1 May. 2012. Reetzke , James. "Beliefs." John Hus. Chicago Bibles & Books, 2001. Web. 24 April 2012. .

History of Bolsheviks in Russia Essay

The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903. The Bolsheviks were the majority faction in a crucial vote, hence their name. They ultimately became the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The Bolsheviks came to power in Russia during the October Revolution phase of the Russian Revolution of 1917, and founded the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic which would later in 1922 become the chief constituent of the Soviet Union. The Bolsheviks, founded by Vladimir IllyichLenin, were by 1905 a mass organization consisting primarily of workers under a democratic internal hierarchy governed by the principle of democratic centralism, who considered themselves the leaders of the revolutionary working class of Russia. Their beliefs and practices were often referred to as Bolshevism. Bolshevik revolutionary leader Leon Trotsky commonly used the terms â€Å"Bolshevism† and â€Å"Bolshevist† after his exile from the Soviet Union to differentiate between what he saw as true Leninism and the regime within the state and the party which arose under Josef Stalin but as we will get to know there are similar traits to the Bolsheviks regime and that of Stalins. The Bolsheviks were journalists long before they were state leaders, and they never forgot the impact of a well-aimed message and the role of media. Newspapers were the life-line of the underground party. Formative ideological and political debates were conducted in them; reporters and deliverers evolved into party cadres; and readers became rank-and-file supporters. At times, newspapers smuggled from abroad kept the Party alive; and Lenin’s editorials often forestalled factional division. Revolutionary struggle taught Bolsheviks the value of mass media, and confirmed their belief that culture is inherently partisan. In times of political turmoil, they exploited it skillfully. Illegal front-line newspapers helped turn soldiers against the Great War; effective propaganda helped win the Civil War. Yet the revolutionaries knew that the same weapons could be used against them. When they took power, they protected themselves by denying the opposition access to public opinion; printing presses, theaters, movie houses were all eventually confiscated and placed under state monopoly. The Bolsheviks considered these measures necessary and just to maintain power and control as the ruling and dominant political party. Soviet authorities were never ashamed of their monopoly on different aspects of culture. Culture was a weapon of class struggle as identified by similar events in the Chinese Revolution as the media and its variety of channels would amplify the rate and effieciancy of propaganda. Allowing the enemy access to mass media would have seemed criminally stupid. To debate the ethics of censorship was a waste of time; the Bolsheviks’ concern was how to mold popular values, how to reach the masses, reflect the wishes of the state and censure alien ideals. This essay will look at the reason why the Bolsheviks were convinced that a stringent control over the media through a monopolistic system was necessary for holding unto political power but would eventually lead to press freedom for the masses due to a systematic process of internally socializing the Soviet Union with a strong appeal to the working class which would help solidify the Bolsheviks political power in the long term. With a strong thought that they overly represented the working class, the control over the media represented one of the strongest tools to control and effectively influence the social working class in the Soviet Union. 1 Bolsheviks and the Media The early twentieth-century media suited Bolshevik purposes. Under Bolshevik sponsorship, they spoke with one powerful voice, unweakened by dissent or excessive subtlety, unencumbered by complexity. Red propaganda depicted a world of stark contrasts: Bolsheviks were valorous and self-sacrificing; the Whites were cruel and debauched. It was no time for half-tones or self-conscious irony. Bolshevik propaganda might seem heavy-handed, yet judging by its success, much of the public did not resent the overbearing tone. Opponents on both the left and right were no match for the Bolshevik blitz, and some, like the Whites, were particularly ineffective in shaping public opinion. Discussions of Soviet mass culture have usually dwelt on its administration and rhetoric more than content and reception. This is unfortunate, because mass culture was a rare example of equilateral negotiation in Soviet society. The culture gap could not be forced as it stood as an obstacle to the unity of the nation behind one unilateral political party. The economy could be socialized; industry could be whipped into higher production; and citizens could be made, at tremendous cost, to behave as they should. But socialist society demanded not that people just say the necessary things, but also think them in private. Socialism had to be internalized. Many Bolsheviks saw the mass media as the path from ideology to internal thought. It converted abstract phrases into concrete images. Propaganda demanded the cooperation of three groups: the Party and state, which provided the content; the skills of writers and artists, who made ideas into image; and the audience, which received and digested the images. Leaders, artists, and citizens all acknowledged the wishes of the other. The audience craved interesting material; the state needed its values represented by symbols; artists desired an arena for their creative energies (and a respectable living). One side-the audience-stayed mute about its thoughts, yet even at the height of tyranny, no mass audience could be forced to watch a movie or read a book. After claiming to represent the working class and finally taken power in Russia, the Bolsheviks saw themselves as the rightful representation of the working class. Though the Bolsheviks felt they were right in claiming to represent working class within their many promises and strong influence, they were not justified in making this claim in the end. The party felt it had won the right to represent the proletarians by promising freedom and self-government, but after demonstrations such as the Kronstadt Rebellion and the formation of the Cheka, it became apparent that the Bolsheviks had betrayed the working class. Firstly, the Bolsheviks felt that they were a clear representation of the working class. One of the main reasons for this assumption was Lenin’s irresistible promises to the working class. In Lenin’s work â€Å"Declaration of the Rights of the Toiling and Exploited Peoples† he outlines the rights and privileges promised by the Bolshevik party if they should come into power. One of the first rights he outlines is â€Å"The sovereignty of the people; i. e. , the concentration of the supreme power of the state in a unicameral legislative assembly composed of representatives of the people. Lenin sets out to demonstrate how the Bolshevik party stands for people’s representation in government, to further show the proletarians that the Bolshevik party is a â€Å"people’s party†. Lenin then goes on to point out that workers should be given the right to â€Å"Unrestricted freedom of conscience, speech, press and assembly; the right to strike and to form trade unions. † Because these new rights and freedoms were never available to the proletarians under the Tsarist regime, the promises made by the Bolsheviks were too good to pass up. In addition, the strength of the influence of the Bolsheviks’ served to gain support of the working class to the extent that other parties could not reach. Alex Shotman demonstrates how he and many others like him were influenced more by Lenin, leader of the Bolsheviks , than any other party leader. The result of this debate and many others like it demonstrate how Bolshevik influence dominated in comparison to that of any other party. Because of the many promises and strong influence of the Bolshevik party, its members felt that they were justified in representing the working class. The validity of this idea, however, proved to be questionable after the Bolsheviks came into power. 2. Monopoly and the Media The Bolsheviks established a state monopoly of the media that absorbed literature, art, and science into a stylized and ritualistic public culture–a form of political performance that became its own reality and excluded other forms of public reflection. Although Lenin had control he wasn’t completely supported by the people of Russia. To gain support Lenin made a secret police force, which was in charge of erasing any opposition to the party. The Bolsheviks were also renamed the Communists. Freedom of press was cancelled, unless you supported the Communist cause. The government took control of all ways of life. Lenin also made peace with the germans as he knew if war continued, the revolution wouldn’t fully work. Although some were angery with the losses Russia had in the treaty, the Bolsheviks were in control, though it was not a steady form of control. There was still widespread opposition and soon a civil war broke out. he socialist ideologyon the freedom of press viewed it from two categories. Firstly the Leninism-marxism was completely against the idea of freedom of press as either absolute or abstract. The argument embodying this was that in a capitalist society the notion of freedom of press applied only to the Bourgeoisie and therefore the right to freedom of press applied to only a small percentage of the population. The first action to implement restrictions on the freedom of speech was the introduction o f the Decree of the Press authored by Lenin himself. The Decree and form of press which advocated for opposition and insubordination to the ruling communist party. An excerpt from the Decree below details the the thought of Lenin on how the monopolising the press would later benefit the masses and the working class: â€Å"For the bourgeoisie, freedom of the press meant freedom for the rich to publish and for the capitalists to control the newspapers, a practice which in all countries, including even the freest, produced a corrupt press. For the workers’ and peasants’ government, freedom of the press means liberation of the press from capitalist oppression, and public ownership of paper mills and printing presses; equal right for public groups of a certain size (say, numbering 10,000) to a fair share of newsprint stocks and a corresponding quantity of printers’ labour. † He recognised both the revolutionary potential of the workers’ press, see for example a number of his early articles such as Where to Begin and What is to be Done, and the reactionary role of the bosses’ papers (as did Marx later in his life). However, the class nature of society had actually corrupted the press, according to this resolution. Against the bosses’ newspapers, the revolutionary government set up a commission to examine the links between the capitalist press, shareholders and who owns, funds and organises the bosses’ newspapers. However, at this stage of the revolution the bosses’ press had not been suppressed, that came soon after with the invasion of Soviet Russia by 19 different armies and attempts to undermine the revolution. Sadly, these measures of suppression in part laid the basis for the later dictatorship of Stalin and the snuffing out of freedoms alone with wholesale state terror and murder of millions. In one way the suppression of the press proved Marx’s original point about human freedom but in a far more terrible way. 3. Aftermath of Monopolising Freedom of the press in the Soviet Union The Bolshevik leadership took it for granted that the revolutionary changes that they would carry out in the area of property relations, that is economic reforms, would result in equal revolutionary changes in culture. Thus in the first decade of their rule, the Bolsheviks would allow a degree of tolerance for independent creativity as well as developing government policies to mould the thoughts and behaviour of its citizens. The Bolsheviks were prepared to use propaganda on a scale never before used by any government to create a people attuned to the ideological dictates of their rulers. To this end, Lenin created a series of institutions to manage every aspect of public activity. The Supreme Council of the National Economy was formed to direct and coordinate all aspects of the communist economy. All matters dealing with the security of the State were entrusted to the Cheka and the Revolutionary Military Council handled every aspect of the Civil War. To manage the social revolution, Lenin consolidated all cultural organisations into a single large bureaucratised institution called the Commissariat of Enlightenment (=Narkompros) under the leadership of Anatolii Lunacharskii until (1929). Lunarcharskii was the Cultural Commissar and his all â€Å"counterrevolutionary newspapers were closed. a State monopoly over newspaper advertising was created. Lenin hoped to restrict the publication of anti-government newspapers by denying them advertising revenue. However, despite this, some 3,000 anti-Bolshevik newspapers continued to be published between November 1917 and June 1918. July-September – all independent newspapers were closed down by the Bolsheviks. On 27 May 1919 a state monopoly on paper was created. The state could now control the publication of all books. 6 June 1922 saw the censorship of all publications and pictorial matter was placed under the control of Narkompros. Publications of he Communist Party and its affiliates the Communist International and the Academy of Sciences were exempt. Due to these rules of censorship any semblance of independent thought disappeared from public life in Russian. From 1918 onwards, authors and painters learned to practice the art of self-censorship because they knew that the government censor would be keeping a strict vigilance on the work. Despite this however, Stalin was to in troduce even more severe censorship laws after 1928 to further ensure that the government controlled the mind and the social development of the ‘communist citizen’.

Did the Global Capital Markets Fail Mexico?

If the Mexican economy had not been overly dependent on investments from the United States, it might have saved itself from crashing when the U. S. economy went through dramatic changes. Then again, Mexico was not adept at marketing its investments in any case. Perfect markets rely on perfect information while imperfect information is a form of market failure. Of course, Mexico had not provided sufficient information about long-term investment to American investors. As the example of the United States’ current account deficit reveals, Mexico was not hurt by its current account deficit alone.Rather, the country should have worked to perfect its market for long-term investments to save itself from the crash. In fact, Mexico is entitled to long-term investments from countries besides the United States, too, if it seeks to provide perfect information to foreign investors. With the advent of the Internet, this has become relatively simple. It was not the global capital markets that failed Mexico. Rather, Mexico failed itself. One of the reasons for investors pulling out their capital from Mexico was political upheaval in the country.Mexico did not only need to provide perfect information about long-term investments to foreign investors, but also knowledge about managing the political risks faced by investors at the time. Hedging is a way to manage such political risks. As an example, a foreign investor may obtain insurance from the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency of the World Bank. The insurance may provide covers against civil disturbance, war, expropriation, in addition to currency transfers.National insurance companies – run by the government – may similarly be approached by a foreign investor to obtain cover for risks that arise from non-payment (Frenkel, Karmann, & Scholtens, 2004, p. 20). The Mexican government should have promoted such insurance companies at the time. In fact, information about hedging as a political risk managem ent tool should have been considered a part of perfect information for a perfect market of investments. What is more, perfecting a market thus should have been considered a major step toward further development of Mexico.

Inference A Critical Assumption in Reading Comprehension

When evaluating a students  reading comprehension, his or her ability to make an inference based on the assigned critical reading section will greatly influence overall performance. This critical  reading comprehension skill  is necessary to grasp concepts related to the  main idea, the  authors purpose, and the  writers tone. An inference is an assumption made based on specific evidence, and though students make inferences in their lives every day, it may be difficult for some to demonstrate an ability to make assumptions on a piece of writing, such as defining a word by examing the vocabulary term in context. Allowing students to observe real-life examples of making inferences and routinely asking practice questions that require them to make educated guesses using specific examples will help improve their ability to make inferences, which can go a long way to ensuring they pass standardized reading comprehension tests. Explaining Inferences in Real Life In order to develop this critical reading comprehension skill, teachers should help students understand the concept by explaining it in a real world context, then applying it to testing questions which require students to make inferences given a set of facts and information. All sorts of people use inferences in both their daily and professional lives all the time. Doctors make inferences when they diagnose conditions by looking at X-rays, MRIs, and communication with the patient; crime scene investigators make inferences when they follow clues like fingerprints, DNA, and footprints to find out how and when the crime was committed; mechanics make inferences when they run diagnostics, tinker around in the engine, and chat with you about how your car is acting to figure out whats wrong under the hood. Presenting students with a situation without giving them the full story than asking them to guess what happens next is a good way to practice making inferences on given information. Students will have to use your tone, character and action descriptions, and language style and usage to determine what could possibly happen, which is exactly what theyll need to do on a test of their reading comprehension skills. Inferences on Standardized Tests Most standardized tests for reading comprehension and vocabulary include a multitude of inference questions that challenge students to use context clues to answer questions based on either the vocabulary used or the events that happened in the passage. Common questions on reading comprehension tests include: According to the passage, we can reasonably infer...Based on the passage, it could be suggested that...Which of the following statements is best supported by the passage?The passage suggests that this primary problem... An inference question will often use the words suggest or infer right in the tag, and since your students will be educated about what an inference is and what it is not, they will understand that in order to come to a conclusion, they must use evidence or support presented in the passage. Once they are able to process this, they can then choose the best answer on  multiple-choice tests  or write in a brief explanation on open-ended quizzes.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ( Ptsd ) - 1783 Words

A Traumatic Life â€Å"Even in times of trauma, we try to maintain a sense of normality until we no longer can. That, my friends, is called surviving. Not healing. We never become whole again ... we are survivors. If you are here today... you are a survivor. But those of us who have made it through hell and are still standing? We bare a different name: warriors.† ― Lori Goodwin According to National Center for PTSD (Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder), â€Å"it is a mental health problem that some people develop after experiencing or witnessing a life-threatening event, like combat, a natural disaster, a car accident, or sexual assault†. Lamentably, PTSD can happen to anyone, and it is not a sign of weakness. There are a number of factors that can increase the chance that someone getting will have PTSD, many of which are not under that person s control. For example, having a very intense or long-lasting traumatic event or getting injured during an event can make it more likely that the person will develop PTSD. PTSD can manifest as nightmares, intense remembrances of the event challenge their ability to fall or stay asleep, feelings of unreasonable anger and constant edginess. Victims often avoid the situation that may produce thoughts or memories of the traumatic event. Even though PTSD is often associated with soldiers, police of ficers, and other emergency personnel involved in life-threatening situations, the disorder can be triggered by any overwhelming experience. 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