RAPHAEL MAZZUCCO Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

RAPHAEL MAZZUCCO - Essay Example Through his works, Raphael Mazzucco has left a thrilled and provocative colophon on the fine arts community. His latest release, â€Å"The Iceland Collection’ offers his audience a rare opportunity to share in his love affair with his surroundings and nature. Through the mixed media one vividly realizes Raphael’s love of photography. His artistic skills are quite exceptional allowing him to produce images that are astounding in their honesty and instigates deep pathos, as well as spur new heights of excitement (Rosenbaum Contemporary, 01). Raphael, a seasoned lens man, has garnered massive attention from outstanding fashion clients including Bergdorf Goodman, Guess Jeans, and Victoria’s Secret. Fascinatingly his photographs have featured prominently in the front pages of French and Italian magazines. His arrival into the art world was met with a loud applaud as well as criticism after he conducted a global excursion in which he exhibited his works. While the wor ld of literature, especially art, continues advancing, Raphael stands out as an iconic shutterbug and artist who has captured sensual and alluring moments in the lives of American women, his legacy with span several generations. His aptitude to express himself from an overwhelmingly raw perception leaves his imprimatur in our culture and depicts the ever-changing gorgeous world (Rosenbaum Contemporary, 02). In â€Å"Below the Sky; 2013," Raphael overly interlocks various colors that lead to the creation of a bright 2-Dimensional (2D) image. The artwork uses light blue color, silver, and black color excessively to create an attractive image of a woman surrounded by sharp lines that look like sharp sticks or lances. It depicts plains that lie under a vast sky. The black color is speckled in various spots in the portrayed with a major concentration in the backside near the frames of the portrait. He uses a brownish color to depict the landscape

Information Technology Essay Example for Free

Information Technology Essay Information technology refers to the collection of tools that make it easier to use, create, manage and exchange information. The Internet is the latest of a long series of information technologies, which includes printing, mail, radio, television and the telephone. It is the application of computers and telecommunications equipment to store, retrieve, transmit and manipulate data, often in the context of a business or other enterprise. The term is commonly used as a synonym for computers and computer networks, but it also encompasses other information distribution technologies such as television and telephones. Information technology refers to the study and development of a support-management based, computerized information system. The development is mainly observed in the form of dedicated software applications and a number of hardware programs. The advantages of IT include work place cost-effectiveness and essential globalization. Why is Information Technology Important ? All our work related applications are now completely automated, thanks to the IT sector. IT professionals are people involved in essential management of sensitive data, exclusive computer networking and systems-engineering. The advancement of the IT sector has resulted in automated: Administration of entire systems. †¢ Globalization True globalization has come about only via this automated system. The creation of one interdependent system helps us to share information and end linguistic barriers across the continents. The collapse of geographic boundaries has made the world a global village. The technology has not only made communication cheaper, but also possible much quicker and round the clock. The wonders of text messages, email and auto-response, backed by computer security applications, have opened up scope for direct communication. †¢ Cost-effective Computerized, internet business processes have made many businesses turn to the Internet for increased productivity, greater profitability, clutter free working conditions and global clientà ¨le. It is mainly due to the IT industry that business have been able to make their processes more streamlined, thereby becoming more cost-effective and consequently more profitable. People are able to operate their businesses 247, even from remote locations only due to the advent of information technology. †¢ Communication Quick and effective communication is vital to any business anywhere in the world. Information technology gives an entrepreneur or business the tools, like email, video conferencing, SMS, etc., essential to communicate efficiently and effectively. to the business world, and information technology gives your company the resources it needs to communicate quickly and effectively. Not only do people connect faster with the help of information technology, but they are also able to identify like-minded individuals and extend help, while strengthening ties. †¢ Storing and Protecting Information IT provides a low-cost business options to store and maintain information that may be important from a business or service point of view. Virtual vaults and other such security systems not only store vital data but also allow control over the access to such information. IT security systems will also protect virtual data from being hacked or wiped out in case of any technical failure. †¢ Creation of New Jobs One of the biggest advantage of IT has been the creation of a whole new field of opportunity for skilled personnel leading to new and interesting jobs. Hardware and software developers, computer programmers, web designers, system analyst, the list of new jobs created could go on. IT has also been attributed to be the major cause of surge in the economies of certain Third World nations too. Things that were once done manually or by hand have now become easier and faster due to the advent of a computing technology. Our world today has changed a great deal with the aid of IT which has penetrated almost every aspect of our daily lives and society, from leisure to business. IT has become a part of our day-to-day lives through the evident use of PCs, Internet, cell phones, faxes, the list would seem endless. Let us hope that newer development in the field of IT can provide benefits to our future generations, just as it has greatly benefited ours. The Importance of Modern Technology Modern technology has become so entrenched in the idea of a modern society that the two are nearly inseparable. Developing countries try to get better utilities, more vehicles, faster computers, as well as Internet and cell phone providers because thats what makes a modern society. Modern technology must be implemented in order to accomplish the feats required of a modern society. Health One of the biggest benefits of modern technology is that human longevity and health have improved because of its application. As understanding of the body and its functions improves, and as new tools to help heal it (lasers, sonograms, enhanced medication, and nonintrusive surgical tools, just to name a few) are created, life lasts longer. Not only does life extend, but people can live more comfortably, and recover from wounds and diseases that even a half a century ago would have been fatal. In many cases these people live full, productive lives. Communication Modern technology has revolutionized how people communicate. Since World War II, telecommunications and mass media have been growing by leaps and bounds. Radio, telephone, satellite communication, cellular technology, wireless Internet in the modern day two people can chat via a computer when theyre on opposite sides of the planet. Communication has shrunk the world, bringing people from all cultures and backgrounds into contact with each other. Resources Modern technology allows resources to be expanded and for previously unused ones to be tapped into. If electricity is the lifeblood of a modern society, for instance, modern technology allows it to be harnessed in new ways. Coal-fired plants and gas-driven turbines are old, but serviceable. Wind and tidal generators use modern technology to harness forces on a scale that our ancestors would have thought impossible. Modern technology has also provided ways to grow more food, transport more people and make more products for a growing society. Knowledge What modern technology really represents is an increase in knowledge and how people can use it. Modern technology is usually the direct result of discovery and experimentation. Technology is defined as the scientific method being used to achieve a commercial or industrial goal. So to create technology, a bigger base of knowledge and understanding must be created from which to draw on. As improvements are made to technology, so too are improvements made to the pool of knowledge.

Different Types Of Faults and Viruses Essay

Different Types Of Faults and Viruses Essay In todays modern society the use of technology is vastly increasing. Technology is progressively becoming a obligatory system that we use in everyday life whether thats using laptops, phones or computers, we use these types of devices mainly due to the implausible service technology provides such the different types of applications and also the well known internet. Statistics suggest that laptops and computers are a very common type of technological device than any other gadget mainly due to its stability, capacity, simplicity, and portability. Having a computer requires a lot of care; computers may come across different types of faults which can be time consuming and frustrating to endure. There are several symptoms a computer/laptop can experience when being under threat such has not being able to download anything, very slow browsing or computer wont come on but this can be avoided by installing firewalls/anti-virus software. P3: Different types of faults Viruses- Viruses are very common in interrupting a computer while it is used in an activity of some sought, Viruses inflict damage by multiplying its self on to another programme without the users allowance which then results in the virus doing anything it wants such as destroying a programme and downloading inappropriate content. A virus can occur by surfing a non- trustworthy site, opening spam mail or clicking on fake adverts. A typical virus would mainly access the hard drive of a computer which can result in deleting important information/data. There are many viruses that can penetrate a computer such as macro viruses, File infectors etc. Error messaging- Error messages imply that a computer has rejected a certain demand that a user has issued for a specific reason, for example when trying to load or save files you may get an out of memory dialogue box, or when trying to access websites the computer may respond with an access denied dialogue box. Loss of service- Loss of service is a certain malfunction while trying performing an operation. Example of Loss of service can be failure in accessing the internet or the system shutting down, or a certain component of the computer is not responding such as the printer, scanner, unable to share resources with other computers or that you cannot interact with other computers. Poor performance- Poor performance is the slow response from the system such as on the internet a certain webpage may take a long time to load or a computer is unable to obey a specific command. In my opinion the internet is the most successful and useful resource in order to find a solution for faults because the internet has unlimited data so if you were looking for information the internet will almost guarantee you a worthy find. How to resolve these faults Viruses: Viruses can damage your system in many ways, shape or form, you should contact a help desk in which you will be consulted by an experienced technician if not then visiting forums where people are in the same situation can help, FAQS (frequently asked questions). Another solution can be downloading anti software or firewalls such as Norton. If you are determined to succeed without having to invest then you may consider opening up the computer and trying to adjust the issue. FAQ Loss of service: A certain component of a computer may not be functioning e.g. scanner, if this issue occurs the user should refer to the manual given with the scanner at purchase or looking at informative books on a possible solution, or maybe reading trouble shooting guides, you may need to contact your manufacturer for assistance. Error messages- This type of fault is very frequent when trying to perform a particular procedure, reading trouble shooting guides may be helpful, reading manuals upon the issue or maybe notifying a technician. Poor performance: a computer may take a long time to load an application such as the internet; a user should contact the local administrator for assistance. When buying a computer a user should always make sure they have the essential package to adjust faults such as having firewalls and antivirus software etc, and they should always have the links on where to go if these types of problems occur P4- Source technical information to provide advice and guidance for a variety of faults. Viewing different sources of information can always help to find a solution to different types of faults, when buying a computer you should consider analyzing what the computer does, its security etc. A user is always given instruction manuals at purchase which are very important because a user may find out how to solve the problems they are having such as poor performance. Alternatively if a manual does solve the issue then a user should consider other options. Below are explanations of each type of sources of information Sources of technical information FAQs: Frequently asked questions or FAQs is an online source which lists the most common questions and answers that are based on a problematic situation. FAQs can be written concerning any subject, they are written by users who have become some sought of an expert in a particular field which they have been in themselves in which they have found the solution. Fault records: it keeps a register of all of the faults that occur, it includes when a fault occurs, why it occurred what do to do solve it. Specialist expertise: an expert can be the best source to cure a fault because they can gain a better understanding when they have visual indication and then they can solve the issue. User manuals: The main purpose of user manuals which can also be known as user guide is to provide assistance and clarity when using a particular system, object or item. The information a manual supplies is usually written by a professional technological writer. Technical forums: Technical forums can be known as an online conversation between different users regarding a specific issue they have experienced. This can be an efficient method when finding a solution because there are millions of internet users throughout the world so you are bound to find someone who has had the same issue and that you can seek advice and help from them but you can come across answers that may be biased. Product specification: A product specification consists of a document that includes the raw material that will be used to make this product, and all the required characteristics If a users computer fails to operate, viewing FAQs can help and actually going to the official company of your computer can help, manufacture lend a major hand in going in to depth with these issues. For example if you have a Compaq laptop or computer and are experiencing difficulties such as faults you can contact the company on their website and address them about this particular situation. http://www.compaq.com/cpq-country/uk/en/cpq_support.html. A computer is almost guaranteed to experience poor performance once which is when a web page does not load or that something is not loading. When a users computer lacks speed it is best to notify a professional technician to make adjustments to the system or possibly upgrading your computer can increase speed. Since my computer is from the company Compaq I would use this source of information on how to increase speed/clearing any junk off the system, http://www.compaq.com/country/articles/index.html. Browsing sites, opening spam mail can occasionally allow viruses to enter the system mainly the hard drive which can result in deleting important data. Re booting the system can be an option if a user does not want antivirus software but this action may result in data being deleted. Downloading antivirus software or firewalls are the biggest help to defend against viruses. A common anti virus software used by many can be Norton since they provide outstanding protection against spyware and virus programs. http://us.norton.com/antivirus. Loss of service can be very time consuming and costly if a device of your computer does not work such as printer. A solution can be reading the manual you got with the device at purchase, contacting a specialist or maybe opening up the device yourself and trying to solve the issue. The best solution can be contacting the manufacturer of your computer and inform them. Error message dialogue boxes are often displayed when you try to perform a certain operation, there are different types of phrases which show an error message has occurred such as access denied and File not found. Reading trouble shooting guides can help, open user forums, but in a different scenario, if you are using a Microsoft application and it fails to obey your demand, you may come across a send error report dialogue box in which you can actually address Microsoft regarding this issue, I believe this is the best cure if you are experiencing these type of faults with Microsoft. But when experiencing error messages while using windows, I believe this source of information may be able to satisfy a users needs. http://en.kioskea.net/faq/113-windows-error-codes-and-how-to-fix-them P5 and P6: Use different communication routes to provide advice and guidance, respond to end users. Communication is a vital ingredient needed in everyday life, lack of communication can disrupt many people/ organizations in their bid to achieve to their full potential. Communication is a method primarily used to distribute information for a certain purpose whether that can be physically, orally, verbally etc; communication can deliver a users factual material, opinions, theory, predictions through to the public. The most common methods of communicating can be through telephones, email and face to face. Communication can be categorized into three main categories which are telephone, email and face to face: Communication passing through telephone can be known as verbal communication, because as a technician a user is not visible through the telephone but words are still used to communicate with the user. It is easy to distribute information through telephone because a user can hear your advice on how to address a specific issue, but through this process there are many issues that a user and technician can encounter such as connection failure and loss of signal. In some cases communication via telephone will not help due to the user having only some degree of knowledge on how to solve an issue. This therefore concludes that it is best for a technician to tackle the matter themselves. Communication through face to face talking can also be known as verbal communication. This type of communication is a more efficient method of solving an issue than any other because a user can show visually the full extent of the issue. A user can give an in-depth insight regarding the problem through talking face to face. This type of communication enables the technician to gain a visual and physical understanding of the issue e.g. printer not connecting, which then can lead to technician taking away the computer and addressing the subject. Below is an example of a face to face conversation: User: hello Technician Hi, so what is the issue regarding your computer? User: I installed a certain programme on my computer (Microsoft word older version) and it seems to keep freezing every often, it keeps saying not responding Technician: do you use your computer very often if so how long? User: yes I use my computer for all sorts of studies and also my nephews play a lot of computer games on the PC. Technician: first of all if your nephews are playing on the computer, always make sure you close the game windows because this can take up the processing power, memory or maybe even try uninstalling them because they can contain harmful viruses. And also make sure that the software you are using is compatible with your windows. Confirm that your PC holds the minimum requests for the software you are using for example the base score of your computer must exceed the software score, if it barely exceeds the software this may cause your computer software to be erratic, the following link describes the base score for a computer and how to match a specific software you would like to use. http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/What-is-the-Windows-Experience-Index User: Thank you very much for your help, I believe if have found the solution to my issue Email communication is a written type of communication which demonstrates an issue through a written document. This type of communication media is very different from the others because the user or technician does not have the benefit of voice modulation nor can the recipient receive any form of visual indication, providing the user with a source of technical information may not be certified to use can be an issue, when emailing a user should always be specific about the issue they are enduring if not then a response from a technician can provide information best suited for a different problem. End users query concerning a fault A technicians reply regarding the fault FAQ Why does my computer freeze overtime? What do i do to clean my system? How often should I clean my system? Why cant i run more than 3 applications at once? Information for technicians reply obtained from http://www.microsoft.com/atwork/maintenance/speed.aspx http://cobweb2.louisville.edu/faculty/regbruce/bruce//mgmtwebs/commun_f98/Verbal.htm http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000528.htm Bottom of Form http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/What-is-the-Windows-Experience-Index

Picasso :: essays research papers

1881: Pablo Ruiz Picasso was born on October 25, 1881, in Malaga, Spain, Son of Jose Ruiz Blasco, an art teacher (1838-1913) and Maria Picasso Lupez (1855- 1939) 1884: Birth of the first sister, Dolores (Lola) 1887: Birth of the second sister, Concepcion (Conchita) 1888 / 89: Started painting tutored by his father. 1891: Translated La Coruà ±a, where his father worked as an art teacher. The death of his sister Conchita. 1892: Enters school of Bella's Arts in La Coruà ±a. His father taught him. 1895:He was an Advanced student of the Barcelona Academy of the fine arts from the age of 14 , He experimented in his youth with hardly all of the avant-garde styles current at the turn of the century, an early demonstration of his life long ability to assimilate aesthetic ideas and to work in a variety of styles. He painted " Girl with bear feet" (Paris) 1897: He transferred to Madrid for advance training ; but he was an unimpressed by his tuition, and spent a great deal of time in Cafes and brothers. 1898 : He won a gold medal for " Customs of Aragon" , which was exhibited in his native town. He painted " Gypsy girl on the beach" 1901: Known as the " Blue period" because of the blue tonality of Picasso’s paintings were a time of frequent change of residence between Barcelona and Paris. During this period he would spend his days in Paris. Studying the master works at the Louvers and his nights enjoying the company of fellow artist at cabarets like the Lapin Agile. 1903: In works such as the old guitarist ( 1903;art institute, Chicago) he created evocative portrayals of blind, impoverished, or despairing people in a predominantly blue palette. His use of blue as a motif was apparently derived from the symbolic importance of that color in the contemporary romantic writings of Maurice Maeterlinck and Oscar Wilde, whose work often derived its force from the depiction of madness or illness. 1904: Picasso entered into a relationship with Fernande Oliver, who inspired many of his pre-cubist works, such as the painting " woman with Loaves" End of the Blue Period. 1905: Marked a radical changing color and mood for Picasso. He became fascinated with the acrobat, clowns and wondering families of the circus worlds. He started to paint. in subtle pinks and grays, often highlighted with brighter tones. This was known as his "Rose period"

The relationship of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with its neighbouring countries and with the United States

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has cordial relations with most of its neighbouring countries, especially those that are part of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). It has made significant efforts to settle disputes regarding borders and helped considerably in improving the relations with Yemen and United Arab Emirates. Although relations with Iraq were tense after the Kuwait invasion, they got better in 2003 when the regime was overthrown. In 2008, Prince Saud al Faisal aimed to appoint an ambassador in Iraq and initiated a diplomatic mission in Baghdad. It has been a mediator in regional crises and has supported the Palestianian-Israel negotiations. Saudia Arabia’s role in the Gulf War has helped it in developing new allies in 1991 and improving its existing relations. King Abdullah has played a big role in providing monetary assistance and resolved regional crises in Sudan, Lebanon and Somalia. Although the relations between Saudi Arabia and Algeria, Libya and Tunisia were strained after the Kuwait invasion, now they have returned back to normal. Relations were Jordan are also very good. United States knowing that Saudi Arabia has the largest oil reserves and a strategic location has always tried to stregthen ties with this nation. In 1944, the United States embassy opened in Jeddah but diplomatic relations established a long way before that in 1933. The embassy in Jeddah later became the Consulate General for United States. The two countries share common economic interests, concerns over sustainable development, terrorism and security. Having good relationships with these countries is important because United States is highly dependent on the oil exports of Saudi Arabia. Whereas, US is the largest trading partner for Saudia Arabia. Exports from United States also find their way into Saudi Arabia as it is the largest market for US exports in the Middle East region. The US also provides training and support in terms of weapons and security services to the Saudi forces. Saudi Arabia has also bought military weaponary and other equipment from the United States. The prosperity of both countries lies in building and maintaining good relationships with each other.

Health and fitness Essays

Health and fitness Essays Health and fitness Paper Health and fitness Paper I have been told by my well-meaning friends that very fit people have two advantages when they rest. First, their wide recuperation zone enables them to handle physical or emotional stress better. When a fit person gets the flu, for example, his heart rate may increase up to 35 percent of maximum, but he is still in his recuperation zone. When an unfit person gets the flu, his heart rate pushes him out of the recuperation zone so tissue repair is jeopardized. Second, very fit people can be active and still be in their recuperation zone. When my fit friend gets a cold, his mom wants him to rest. For her, rest means sitting down. For my friend, playing basketball outside with his friends in the driveway may be rest. It takes a lot of running around to drive him above 50 percent maximum heart rate. Fit people rest and recuperate while having fun doing active things. One must not overlook the significance of this: it may be the most important thing one will ever learn about fitness. Fat, out-of-shape people often complain of how hard it is to get fit again. They try to exercise religiously, but something always seems to go wrong, causing repeated setbacks. Their recuperation zone is so narrow that it’s hard to stay within it. Even if they exercise perfectly, monitoring their breathing and heart rate, the slightest cold, muscle strain, stress drives them above that narrow zone, thus decreasing the time spent in recuperation. Fit people, on the other hand, appear not to need rest. When they are doing gentle activity, they are still in their recuperation zone, repairing tissue, replenishing glycogen and building muscle. I guess I stand to benefit if I lose another 5-8 pounds because at 125 pounds, I still feel quite heavy. After some thinking, I decided to enroll and try out a new gym and dance center near our place. I still feel that it would be beneficial for me if I exercise over and over until I gradually get fitter and my resting heart rate gradually decreases, giving an ever-widening zone in which to recuperate. Recently a friend suggested that when I hike, I actually am in the subaerobic zone most of the time. Occasional uphills push me into the aerobic zone, and very steep climbs push me into the anaerobic zone. But most of the time, I amble along the subaerobically, enjoying the scenery. Because I do so much of it, I’m quite sure my subaerobic pastime does more to maintain my fitness than the aerobic jogging I do when I’m home. What are the reasons why some people are physically active while others are sedentary? Some people are basically just too lazy to flex a muscle or too. exercising, and went too active in their life. People can definitely become more flexible as they get older, instead of less, but like everything else, it takes consistent practice. You don’t have to stretch every single day if you don’t want. But do stretch before you exercise, and try to do a full stretching routine two or three times a week. Describe reasons that underlie why people are active or inactive. Highlight and emphasize the one or two reasons that you think are the critical ones for most active and inactive people. Some people exercise because they understand that exercise keeps blood sugar levels in control. This is the same with the high cholesterol levels which I already have. Judging from the slew of books and magazine articles extolling the virtues of various â€Å"surefire† weight loss programs, the financial success of reducing clubs, and the popularity of special foods that claim to make people lose weight, sometimes it appears that the American national pastime is not baseball, but dieting. Although some people may be overweight because they suffer from some kind of metabolic or physiological disturbance, the overwhelming majority of overweight people are so because their level of physical activity is too low to9 match the calories they consume. How do these reasons explain my own level of physical activity? These reasons level with my own level of physical activity because I am mostly seated down, whether in the classroom or at home in front of the computer. I noticed that   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  daily, I am rooted to my chair for hours on end and I   is not working for me at all. I know I need to be moving because I realize that our bodies were designed to move. Because machines do a lot of our work for us, and because many occupations, including going to school, involve many hours of sitting, it is easy for most individuals to ingest more calories than they expend. Moreover, the ready available food, especially high-calorie snack foods such as potato chips, candy and the like, makes it even easier to acquire   needless calories and excess pounds. Consider how these reasons seem to explain your own level of physical activity. Upon looking at my own body needs, it seems that if I want to adopt a weight-reducing program that results in a loss   of 1 pound a month, I can easily plan my dietary and physical activities so I can produce a net daily deficit of 120 calories.   All I have to do is to walk a   little more each day or cut out a soft drink or a couple of cookies. Most people are involved in special diets and other rapid-weight loss programs. Such programs plunge people into unusual and sometimes bizarre exercise and eating behaviors that may produce temporary   weight loss but that, because they are so unusual, cannot be sustained. People become impatient with time-consuming exercises and become bored with restricted diets; soon they give up and return to their former life styles and habits. As for me, I know that in order to achieve permanent weight loss and energy balance at a desired weight, overweight people have to change their long-term eating behaviors and their levels of physical activity. In short, successful weight loss and permanent weight control require a lifestyle change. WORK CITED Charles b Corbin, William r, Corbin, gr. j welk, and Karen a welk.

Top 10 part-time holiday jobs this season

Top 10 part-time holiday jobs this season ‘Tis the season†¦to think about whether you want a seasonal holiday job this year. If you wait until the Black Friday ads are out and Starbucks unveils its holiday coffee cup designs to start thinking about what you want to do for your seasonal holiday job, it’s likely too late. So we’ve got some of the best part-time holiday gigs this year, to help you seize those early opportunities to make extra cash this holiday season. But before you get started, there are a few checklist items you should have ready, so that you’re ready to apply for jobs as they come up- because seasonal hiring can move awfully fast.Get your resume application-ready. Have your interview outfit ready to go. For a seasonal job, this may be more casual than the traditional dark suit. Whatever outfit you choose, it should be neat (no loose threads or weird hems), cleaned, and ready to go at a moment’s notice.Get in the right mindset. Holiday jobs are likely to demand your time during unconventional or inconvenient shifts. Make sure your mental expectations are aligned with a potentially hectic schedule that doesn’t leave you with a lot of free time or holiday down time.Let’s look at some of the top opportunities this holiday season, from the classic (retail) to less orthodox jobs you may not have considered.Retail Sales AssociateWhen you think of â€Å"seasonal part-time job,† you probably think of a role in a busy retail store, helping keep shelves stocked while hordes of holiday shoppers come through looking for the perfect gift. And that’s because it’s a perennial opportunity for people looking for temporary work over the holidays. You don’t need to commit to retail as a career for this kind of job, but it can also be a great experience-builder if you want to seek more retail opportunities in the future. This tends to be an â€Å"all hands on deck† kind of job. You may be tasked with assisting customers on the floor, completing sales as a cashier, or working behind the scenes with inventory, merchandising, and stocking- whatever needs doing to accommodate the holiday crowds. If this is the route you want to take, start with the big retailers (Target, WalMart, Kohl’s, etc.), but don’t be afraid to look at every store in your area and see if they have any â€Å"help wanted† notices popping up either in store or online.What you’ll need: A good retail resume, strong customer service skills to deal with every kind of customer imaginable, and time management skills. You may also be asked to work long or odd shifts throughout the holidays, so flexibility is key.Snow Removal Drivers/WorkersWe may still be firmly in autumn mode right now, but as the Starks tell us, winter is indeed coming. Many private snow removal companies and towns/cities are already looking ahead to the snowy season, hiring part-time and seasonal help to prepare for the winter’s storm s. This is less of an option if you live in, say, Florida, but if you live in an area that sees its share of snow and ice over the winter months, it can be a good option.What you’ll need: A valid driver’s license and the ability to handle heavy equipment like plows, sanding trucks, and sidewalk snow removal tools.Christmas Tree WorkersThe holiday season means Christmas tree sales, either at dedicated tree farms/garden centers, or big box stores that also sell trees (think Home Depot or Lowe’s). From Thanksgiving to Christmas, these employees help meet the influx of customers, selling and preparing trees for travel home, as well as selling and stocking other seasonal plants.What you’ll need: The ability to lift heavy objects, stand for long shifts, and work outdoors in varying conditions.Seasonal ActorsAnother classic seasonal job is playing Santa (if you’ve got the girth and the lap- beard is usually provided for you), or his entourage (think elves and Mrs. Claus). This job has been a mainstay of malls and department stores for decades and usually runs from Thanksgiving-ish through to Christmas. But Christmas actors aren’t the only ones who are needed on a seasonal basis- if you look early enough (say, September), there are also a lot of Halloween-themed jobs available, working in haunted houses or amusement parks as scary extras.What you’ll need: Acting skills, people skills, and customer service skills.Seasonal PhotographersAll the Santas and the elves come with a very important seasonal role: the photographer. Individual stores, malls, and events hire photographers every year to capture the holiday merriment for posterity. Seasonal photographers and assistants are responsible for taking photographs, taking orders, and potentially developing/editing photos as well.What you’ll need: Portrait photography skills, photo editing skills, organizational skills (after all, no one wants mistakenly sent pictures of some other family’s kid sitting on Santa’s lap), customer service skills, and problem solving skills, because camera snafus while there’s a long line of people waiting to see Santa can be problematic. It also can’t hurt if you have a knack for getting toddlers to smile at just the right time for a lasting photo.Election WorkersThis is one of the more unusual ones on the list, in that you may not think of it as a â€Å"seasonal† job. But the fact is that every November there’s some kind of election going on in your town or district, and staff is needed to manage the voting process, check in voters, and ensure that election laws and best practices are being followed. Many polling places rely on volunteers, but some towns and cities hire poll workers to manage the crowds and ensure smooth voting and accurate reporting.What you’ll need: Strong organizational skills, and a solid sense of civic duty.Warehouse WorkerBehind the retail scen es, there are thousands of warehouse workers needed to make sure that goods are getting where they need to go throughout the holiday season, whether that’s store shelves or customer orders shipped directly. Companies like Amazon in particular bulk up its warehouse staff during the holiday season, in anticipation of keeping operations running at peak volume around the clock. Other top employers in this area include shipping companies like FedEx or UPS, which keep packages moving at a high volume to accommodate tight shipping deadlines and incredibly high demand.What you’ll need: The stamina to work while standing for long periods of time, as well as the ability to lift heavy objects. These jobs may also involve the use of heavy equipment to move freight.Delivery DriverWarehouses aren’t the only logistics centers that need extra help during the holidays. Companies typically hire extra drivers for the season, to accommodate the higher volume of packages going in an d out.What you’ll need: A valid driver’s license (and possibly a Commercial Driver’s License as well), a clean driving record, and excellent navigation and time management skills.Customer Service AssociateCustomer service is another major area where companies need extra help during the holiday season (and slightly beyond, to accommodate post-holiday issues with gifts). These seasonal employees may work on site or remotely via phone or internet chat to answer questions, help customers troubleshoot issues, and escalate as necessary. Customer service can be a round-the-clock proposition, so you can likely expect overnight, weekend, or holiday shifts.What you’ll need: A solid customer service resume. You’ll need customer service skills first and foremost, as well as tech skills like handling multi-line phones, recordkeeping software, and internet chat programs. You’ll also need strong problem-solving skills, as much of your time may be spent hel ping to diagnose and resolve problems for customers.Tax AssociateNo one really likes to think about the looming tax season while in holiday mode, but after the new year has passed and life goes back to normal, seasonal tax associates are in high demand. Tax preparation companies hire temporary employees to accommodate the demand from January through April. If you have a background in financial math and familiarity with the U.S. tax system, this can be a good gig for you in the post-holiday season.What you’ll need: Strong math and accounting skills, a bachelor’s degree in a related field, and familiarity with tax preparation software.If you’re looking for a part-time seasonal gig, you have lots of opportunities to match your skill set, interests, and availability. The retail-facing jobs are perennial favorites for a reason (consistency, plenty of jobs available), but if retail isn’t your thing, there are lot of other options.

“Siddhartha” by Herman Hesse Essay Essays

â€Å"Siddhartha† by Herman Hesse Essay Essays â€Å"Siddhartha† by Herman Hesse Essay Essay â€Å"Siddhartha† by Herman Hesse Essay Essay Essay Topic: Siddhartha Herman Hesse describes cognition in Siddhartha as something that can merely be obtained through self-discoveries and experiences. Throughout Siddhartha’s larning experiences he denounces instructors and their ways of learning. Hesse traces Siddhartha’s enlightenment through his ain experiences and through the people he meets along his journey. Siddhartha’s quest of the Self is developed by three major events including his meeting with Buddha. his attempted self-destruction. and his reaching and going of his boy. These three events contributed to his self-discoveries and individualism. Siddhartha’s meeting with Gautama. the Buddha. is the first major experience in his journey that affected his acquisition procedure. After several unmotivating old ages of populating an ascetic life of a Samana. Siddhartha began his journey and sought out Gautama. known as â€Å"The Illustrious One. † Siddhartha hoped that Gautama could help him in his journey to happen his inner ego. Gautama’s advise and instructions were a letdown to Siddhartha. He felt that the Buddha’s methods would merely learn him spiritualty in a logical manner when he was seeking for ways to recognize his spiritualty in a more natural. metaphysical manner. This interaction between Gautama and Siddhartha demonstrates the subject that cognition can non be taught. Siddhartha feels he can non larn by merely hearing Guatama’s experiences. He believes he needs to see these things himself to truly make his inner ego. The following event that moves Siddhartha forward in his pursuit for self-discovery is his attempted self-destruction. Before he contemplates suicide. Siddhartha has become a wholly different adult male. He indulges in many of the stuff pleasures that most people delve into. He becomes Kamala’s lover. and desires money. which he gets through being a merchandiser and a gambler. Siddhartha begins to alter and go ego centered. greedy. and loses much of his religious additions because of his geographic expedition of the material universe. Siddhartha realizes what the life he is populating has become and is disgusted with himself. He leaves the small town every bit shortly as he realizes what he has turned into. showing his growing. At the clip of his attempted self-destruction. Siddhartha has realized the ways of both the layman and religious life styles and had a pick of which way best suited him. The concluding experience that gave Siddhartha the most of import cognition was the find of his boy. Young Siddhartha. Siddhartha was given the duty to raise Young Siddhartha. whom he had neer known existed. after Kamala’s decease. Young Siddhartha was really hard to raise. Unlike Siddhartha. he was really ill-mannered and spoiled. Siddhartha wasn’t able to pass on with his boy so he allow him make whatever he wanted to make. Young Siddhartha was really unappreciative and ran off. neer to be seen once more. After a period of deep agony. Siddhartha realized that the hurting he was experiencing was caused by the heartfelt. yet unanswered. love he felt for his boy. By sing this atrocious hurting. Siddhartha had learned how to love. By loving so allowing travel. Siddhartha gained more cognition of the layman and religious universe than he thought was possible. Siddhartha’s turning adulthood throughout the book can be traced to events that led to his cognition of individualism. His meeting with the Buddha allowed him to recognize that he must do his ain finds and experiences. His attempted self-destruction and experience in the small town allowed Siddhartha to see a side of himself he had neer seen before. And last. the clip with his boy gave him the opportunity to widen himself in love. His ripening was developed by the effects of both the good and bad effects of the picks he made.

Progress of Spirit over Time Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Progress of Spirit over Time - Assignment Example For more details, you can visit the official website: http://www.pacificstandardtime.org/exhibitions. It feels good to stay on top of what's happening in â€Å"P.S.T.: Art in L.A.† because there are absolutely several interesting and highly educational exhibits that are truly worth visiting, and even traveling for. I was glad to be able to go visit a couple of exhibits prior to them closing. Some of the exhibits that really stuck in my mind are those entitled â€Å"Under the Big Black Sun† and â€Å"Doin' It in Public.† I like â€Å"Doin' It in Public† because of the feminist theme that comprises every piece of art work in the exhibit. It served as an eye-opener for me because it truly showcased how undermined female artists were before the recent changes in the art scene. It is nice to know that while art works such as Lili Lakich's â€Å"Vacancy/No Vacancy† may have raised eyebrows during that era, it is still one of the those pieces that paved th e way for feminist art to be highly-acclaimed nowadays. Lili Lakich’s Vacancy/No Vacancy, 1972, shown in the â€Å"Doin’ It in Public: Feminism and Art at the Woman’s Building† exhibition at Otis College of Art and Design. An important thing I noticed is that almost all the exhibits showcased in â€Å"Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. ... All I saw in them were individual crafts by artistic people whom I consider as inspiration in my art life. However, as I look back to my previous posts to blogs, and my previous personal write-up, I discovered I had been getting more and more into the collective meaning of the entire L.A. Art Scene. I got more in tune with the culture and the history that shaped the entire art world in L.A., and began to see the vast difference from other art scenes in other places. Before, I have always appreciated non-conformity because for me, going against the norm is an art itself. However, as I experienced the different art exhibits showcasing a deeper meaning of what it is to be radical, I realized non-conformity comes from something deeper than deviating from the

Left Bundle Dranch Blockade and Atrial Fibrillation Essay

Left Bundle Dranch Blockade and Atrial Fibrillation - Essay Example In this paper, a case study of an older patient diagnosed with Left Bundle Branch Block (LBBB) and fast Atrial Fibrillation (AF) after a Total Knee Replacement (TKR) will be discussed, including the assessment, pathophysiology, treatment and management. Atrial fibrillation (AF) may result after a Total Knee Replacement (TKR) especially in older adults as a consequence of hypercoagulability and proinflammatory states associated with anaesthesia and surgical trauma, hyperadrenergic state related to perioperative stress, hypoxia, and hypovolemia leading to increased myocardial oxygen demand. Specifically, tachycardia as the heart’s compensatory mechanism to supply the systemic circulation leads to subsequent arrhythmias. In addition to AF, Left Bundle Branch Block (LBBB) also occurs as an associated condition in older adults above 75 years old due to vascular incompetency and stasis. Usually, people with AF experience palpitations, dyspnea, syncope, fatigue and other cardiovascular and pulmonary manifestations. However, the most important danger posed by LBBB and AF is the hemodynamic stagnation which promotes the thrombus formation and decreased cardiac output. The patient is an 83-year-old gentleman who had undergone a total knee replacement on August 16, 2011. His past medical history was significant for hypertension and arthritis. He reported to have past medical history of atrial fibrillation. ... He reported to have past medical history of atrial fibrillation. On the other hand, he stated independence on performing most of his activities of daily living including household chores without difficulties. He claimed not having episodes of orthopnea or paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea. He was able to walk half a mile before becoming short of breath. Impaired with worsening arthritis, the involved knee caused immobility problems and extremely debilitating pain that occurred usually after an exertion. In a short walk, the patient’s knee was traumatically injured that prompted surgical intervention. The patient qualified for the operation after the panel of pre operative assessment was carried out. However, the patient manifested shortness of breath and chest pain two days after the operation. He was then transferred to an orthopaedic centre to manage the acuteness of the symptoms. Also, the patient was connected to a cardiac monitor and an electrocardiographic reading was taken. He was initially given Bisoprolol 2.5 mg but the condition showed no improvement. At that same night, the patient was transferred to Critical Care Unit of Royal Sussex County Hospital where blood studies were run through. His final diagnosis is Left Bundle Branch Block (LBBB) and fast Atrial Fibrillation (AF). Assessment Cardiac complications resulting from surgery are the result of an intricate and dynamic relationship among patient- related risk factors including the patient’s functional capacity, procedure-related risk factors, and the circumstances surrounding the operation. Preoperative patient evaluation begins with obtaining a detailed history and physical examination (Fleisher et al. 165). After the total knee

Cause Related Marketing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Cause Related Marketing - Assignment Example The paper tells that cause-related marketing is a two-way process in which a business is approached by those whoa re working for a cause and so in collaboration, the company markets its goods or services using that cause and end of the day a decoded portion of the profits goes to the cause. This is a two-way process because it helps both the companies and the causes. On one hand, with the sales of the companies, a lot of charity is generated for the cause, which might not be that much if asked just in the name of charity. On the other hand, it helps the company a great deal in making more profits because the companies gain the sympathies of the consumers that they attach with cause and so they buy the companies products more to help the cause. Cause-Related marketing helps the companies significantly in making more profits. When a cause is attached with the products of a company, the company gets the â€Å"halo† effect by being related to a noble cause and so the people attach same feelings for their products that they attach for the cause. A research has concluded that 89% of the consumers would prefer to buy a cause-related product by switching a brand if the prices are same. This benefits the company significantly because even if the prices are low to be kept equal with the competing brands, the tag of a cause would make up for the profits. More sales would be generated because of people, like buying for a cause and so the increased sales would automatically result in giving the company more profits. This cause-related marketing works in a win-win manner. It basically believes in â€Å"doing well while doing good†. Although some might think of it as only a business and marketing tactic in which the companies play with the consumer’s emotions to generate profits, it actually works in both directions. Apart from cause-related marketing, otherwise the companies also try to touch the soft sides of their consumers through advertisements etc s o this is not a new concept. Getting related to a cause does help that cause to earn charity and it helps the companies in generating more sales and thus profits too. Cause-related marketing helps the company’s profitability by polishing its reputation amongst the customers. It gives the company better visibility because people start spreading the word about such companies to raise awareness for the cause.

Presentation of the Figure of the Slave in the Romance Era Essay

Presentation of the Figure of the Slave in the Romance Era - Essay Example Through his ability to quote John Milton and the Bible, important secular and religious books, he surprised the public with its high literary quality and caused many to seriously question what they'd been told. Approximately ten years after Equiano's work was published, Robert Southeby wrote his poem "The Sailor Who Had Served in the Slave Trade." The poem captures the essence of a lost soul dealing with the guilt of his past treatment of slaves, for his failure to recognize them as humans and also God's chosen creatures. By exposing the progression of the lost sailor's great sin, Southeby provides a glimpse into the general attitudes of the British people, showing a strong shift in understanding from the past to Southeby's present. Both works make use of contrasts to combat common beliefs that Africans were a separate species more like animals by showing them instead to have equal or greater intellectual capacity, to have a civilized frame of mind, and to be included within the Chri stian framework of existence. Evidence of Intellectual Capacity Just the idea that he was able to write his own story, without requiring someone else to transcribe what he said, made Equaino different from many other former slaves whose stories have been immortalized. While all surviving stories of slave experiences are considered valuable: "Their literacy, accompanied with their position as former slaves, provides their narratives with an added sense of authenticity and authority on the subject of the slave trade" (Gunn, 2007: 6), Equiano's was different. He did it with such a high degree of skill that the British, expecting to find a relatively amateur accounting, instead found themselves fully engaged in a thrilling story of adventure... Taken together, Equiano and Southeby provide a clear way to look at the prevailing attitudes and beliefs about slaves at that time. They do this by exploring concepts of individual intellectual pursuit, culture and society, and their characters' position within the framework of the Christian church. Equiano proved he was an intelligent individual, capable of expressing himself to the most educated of English society with skill and persuasively, when he wrote his book. He brought into question whether Africans could be trained to be on a par with white people intellectually speaking, which further questioned whether Africans were truly an inferior, more animal species. Although Southeby's sailor hadn't thought it strange that slaves were flogged to death on a regular basis on the slave ships and had to be forced to touch the slaves in order to make them eat before, he changes his mind after the murder. He is a creature of feelings and emotions, acting on base elements of dominance as he follows through on his captain's orders. Similarly, Equiano shows his society back in Africa to be highly organized and quite civilized, including a rich strand of the arts interwoven into daily life, as compared to the brutality and force depicted in Southeby's world.

Animal Law Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Animal Law Research - Essay Example Legislative provisions in other countries of the world are below par when compared to Australia, however the question of rights for animals must also encompass a wider frame of reference rather than the alleviation of suffering. Therefore, from the perspective of animals used in scientific research, the question that is proposed to be examined is â€Å"Should animal rights be legally recognized and should the legislative provisions be modified to include this aspect?† Animals are routinely used as guinea pigs in experiments involving research on new drugs or behavioral research that may also cause pain and used as subjects in toxicity tests to assess the safety of consumer products.5 In this connection for example, the Draize Test6, which is legal in NSW, is one where rabbits with their inefficient tear ducts are tested for cosmetic eye products by placing them in stocks and immobilising them, while the substance to be tested is dropped into one eye.7 Drug testing carried on in animals is intended to examine the safety of these drugs prior to their use in humans, since human life is perceived as more precious as compared to an animal. Since animals undoubtedly suffer pain and discomfort during these experiments, are their rights being adversely affected? Gendin questions the value of scientific research on the basis that different species may react differently for different doses, likewise since animals cannot describe their experiences, nor can the provide information on symptoms such as giddiness or nausea. He also suggests various alternatives to using animals for research purposes, such as using lesser organisms like bacteria or fungi, the use of mathematical and/or computer modeling and more studies performed on humans under carefully regulated conditions. Gallistel on the other hand has advocated the unrestricted use

Creating a Plan for Positive Influence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 4

Creating a Plan for Positive Influence - Essay Example The researcher states that to complete a one – year project, the team should plan systematically and strategically how to finish the assigned task. The members of the team must exert satisfactory effort to the project as they work as a team. However, in a group, the individual members tend to contribute less effort in a project. Given this, the focus of this essay shall mainly delve at creating a plan for positive influence that would increase the motivation, satisfaction, and performance among individual members of the team. In doing so, specifically, this essay aims at answering three points. First, it aims to identify the specific differences in attitudes, emotions, personalities, and values among the individual members of the team. Second, it targets to address how such identified differences influence behavior. Last, it intends to create a plan that would address such differences to influence positively the whole team. This plan created in the essay is of significance to the entire team because it can assist in effectively managing the team through identifying and addressing the particular differences. This will aid to build a high – performance project centered on the team’s motivation and productivity. Hierarchy and differences in role exist for the purpose of attaining a shared goal. Likewise, it is important for each member to realize his or her significance to the team. Teamwork is an important key for influencing positively the members of the team to perform their best.

Presentation of the Figure of the Slave in the Romance Era Essay

Presentation of the Figure of the Slave in the Romance Era - Essay Example Through his ability to quote John Milton and the Bible, important secular and religious books, he surprised the public with its high literary quality and caused many to seriously question what they'd been told. Approximately ten years after Equiano's work was published, Robert Southeby wrote his poem "The Sailor Who Had Served in the Slave Trade." The poem captures the essence of a lost soul dealing with the guilt of his past treatment of slaves, for his failure to recognize them as humans and also God's chosen creatures. By exposing the progression of the lost sailor's great sin, Southeby provides a glimpse into the general attitudes of the British people, showing a strong shift in understanding from the past to Southeby's present. Both works make use of contrasts to combat common beliefs that Africans were a separate species more like animals by showing them instead to have equal or greater intellectual capacity, to have a civilized frame of mind, and to be included within the Chri stian framework of existence. Evidence of Intellectual Capacity Just the idea that he was able to write his own story, without requiring someone else to transcribe what he said, made Equaino different from many other former slaves whose stories have been immortalized. While all surviving stories of slave experiences are considered valuable: "Their literacy, accompanied with their position as former slaves, provides their narratives with an added sense of authenticity and authority on the subject of the slave trade" (Gunn, 2007: 6), Equiano's was different. He did it with such a high degree of skill that the British, expecting to find a relatively amateur accounting, instead found themselves fully engaged in a thrilling story of adventure... Taken together, Equiano and Southeby provide a clear way to look at the prevailing attitudes and beliefs about slaves at that time. They do this by exploring concepts of individual intellectual pursuit, culture and society, and their characters' position within the framework of the Christian church. Equiano proved he was an intelligent individual, capable of expressing himself to the most educated of English society with skill and persuasively, when he wrote his book. He brought into question whether Africans could be trained to be on a par with white people intellectually speaking, which further questioned whether Africans were truly an inferior, more animal species. Although Southeby's sailor hadn't thought it strange that slaves were flogged to death on a regular basis on the slave ships and had to be forced to touch the slaves in order to make them eat before, he changes his mind after the murder. He is a creature of feelings and emotions, acting on base elements of dominance as he follows through on his captain's orders. Similarly, Equiano shows his society back in Africa to be highly organized and quite civilized, including a rich strand of the arts interwoven into daily life, as compared to the brutality and force depicted in Southeby's world.

Creating a Plan for Positive Influence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 4

Creating a Plan for Positive Influence - Essay Example The researcher states that to complete a one – year project, the team should plan systematically and strategically how to finish the assigned task. The members of the team must exert satisfactory effort to the project as they work as a team. However, in a group, the individual members tend to contribute less effort in a project. Given this, the focus of this essay shall mainly delve at creating a plan for positive influence that would increase the motivation, satisfaction, and performance among individual members of the team. In doing so, specifically, this essay aims at answering three points. First, it aims to identify the specific differences in attitudes, emotions, personalities, and values among the individual members of the team. Second, it targets to address how such identified differences influence behavior. Last, it intends to create a plan that would address such differences to influence positively the whole team. This plan created in the essay is of significance to the entire team because it can assist in effectively managing the team through identifying and addressing the particular differences. This will aid to build a high – performance project centered on the team’s motivation and productivity. Hierarchy and differences in role exist for the purpose of attaining a shared goal. Likewise, it is important for each member to realize his or her significance to the team. Teamwork is an important key for influencing positively the members of the team to perform their best.

Italy and Greece Essay Example for Free

Italy and Greece Essay Its all fat, but does it make you fat? In this coursework I am going to explain the health implications of eating saturated and hydrogenated fats by investigating individual types of oils and margarines and their affects. My research into different types of fats will explain which fats should be eaten more or less of and the reasons for this. I will also talk about the fats we shouldnt eat, what affects they have on our bodies and why we should avoid eating them. I am then going to form an for and against argument about why hydrogenation in the industry can harm our bodies and then come to a conclusion whether I think we should or shouldnt eat hydrogenated fats. In this part of the task am going to find out and explain what is meant by monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, and saturated fats/oils. Triglyceride Molecule A triglyceride is a molecule that contains one glycerol molecule and three fatty acids, which is mainly constituted in vegetable oils and animal fats. The chemical formula is RCOO-CH2CH (-OOCR) CH2-OOCR, where R, R, and R are longer alkyl chains. The three fatty acids RCOOH, RCOOH and RCOOH can be all different, all the same, or only two the same. This part of my coursework will explain what is meant by Monounsaturated, Polyunsaturated and Saturated fats or oils. Monounsaturated Fat Monounsaturated fats or (Monounsaturated fatty acids) are fatty acids that only contain one double bond in the chain and the rest of the remaining carbon atoms in the chain are single bonded. Fatty acids are long chained molecules with a methyl group at one end and a carboxylic acid group at the other. The fluidity of the fatty acids increases with the increasing number of double bonds. Monounsaturated fats have a higher melting temperature than polyunsaturated fats but lower than saturated fats. Monounsaturated fatty acids are liquids at room temperature and semisolid or solid when refrigerated. Monounsaturated fats are found in natural foods such as nuts and avocados and are the main component of tea seed oil and olive oil (Oleic acid). Macadamia nut oil, grapeseed oil, groundnut oil (peanut oil), sesame oil, corn oil, popcorn, whole grain wheat, cereal, oatmeal, safflower oil, sunflower oil, tea-oil Camellia and avocado oil are also sources of monounsaturated fats. Oleic acid is typical monounsaturated fatty acid which has 18 carbon atoms with the first double bond occurring 9 carbon atoms away from the methyl group. Other typical monounsaturated fatty acids include Palmitoleic acid which has 16 carbon atoms with the first double bond occurring 7 carbon atoms away from the methyl group and 9 carbons from the carboxyl end and Vaccenic acid which has 18 carbon atoms. Oleic Acid Polyunsaturated Fat Polyunsaturated fat or (Polyunsaturated fatty acids) are fatty acids which contain more than one double bond within the molecule. It has two or more points on its structure capable of supporting hydrogen atoms that are currently not part of the structure. Depending on the geometry of the double bond the polyunsaturated fatty acids can assume a cis or trans conformation. They can be divided into two categories Omega 3 fats which can be found in fish, seafood, and lean meat, plant foods such as cereal grains, seeds, nuts, legumes, dark green leafy vegetables, figs and also in plant oils including soybean, canola, linseed and walnut. Oily fish such as mackerel, salmon, trout, tuna, sardines, herring and gemfish contains more omega 3 fatty acids than white fish. Omega 6 fats which is the second category are mostly found in nuts, seeds and plant oils such as corn, soy and safflower. There many benefits of omega fats, some of which are lowering blood cholesterol levels and in doing so reduces risk of coronary heart disease. The melting point of the compound is significantly lower because the strength of the intermolecular forces is reduced due to the lack of hydrogen atoms on the molecules surface. Trans fats solidify at a higher temperature than cis fats making them more similar to saturated fats than cis fats. A typical polyunsaturated fat is Linoeic acid; both of the double bonds in Linoeic acid are cis. Linoeic Acid Saturated Fat Saturated fat is fat that consists of triglycerides that only contain saturated fatty acids radicals. There are several natural occurring saturated fatty acids which differ by the number of carbon atoms; they range from 3 carbons (Propionic Acid) to 36 carbons (Hexatriacontanoic Acid). Chains of saturated fatty acids have no double bonds which makes them fully saturated with hydrogen atoms. Foods containing a high proportion of saturated fats include dairy products especially cream and cheese and also butter and ghee. Others foods also include animal fats such as suet, tallow, lard and fatty meat, coconut oil, cottonseed oil, palm kernel oil, chocolate and some prepared foods. A typical saturated fatty acid is Stearic acid. Stearic Acid Fats that we should eat more of and why? We should eat more non-saturated fats which are Polyunsaturated and Monounsaturated fats, these types of fats and oils have numerous health benefits. It transports fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K throughout the body and also cushions and protects internal organs. Essential fatty acids (EFAs) benefit your heart, metabolism and immune system. Some EFAs are used by the body for structural, hormonal and electrical functions rather than energy. These EFAs increase metabolic rate and increase fat burn off resulting in loss of weight. Fat is a concentrated source of energy. It can also prevent irregular heart beats and reduces inflammation. We should avoid eating Saturated fats as they are bad for health and they clog up arteries causing heart disease and strokes. However health warnings to avoid saturated fat have been misinterpreted which makes people thinks avoid all fat. Polyunsaturated and Monounsaturated fats are actually good for you if eaten sensibly. Diets high in saturated fat have been correlated with an increased incidence of atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease. Saturated fats increase cholesterol levels in your body which increases the risk of heart disease.

Childhood Consumerism And Consumption Media Essay

Childhood Consumerism And Consumption Media Essay During the rise of consumer culture in the nineteenth century, children and childhood were called on to fulfill a range of important roles. In addition to being consumers themselves, the young functioned as both goods to be used and consumed by adults and as proof that middle-class materialist ventures were assisting in the formation of a more ethical society. Children also provided necessary labor and raw material for industry. However, in todays corporate world, youth culture is largely the creation of marketers, corporations and those interested in getting rich off youth through popular culture. The young people have been targeted by the big business and the advertising industry to bolster their revenue. Although primarily discussing the American situation, the globalization of youth culture means the findings are relevant to most of the world. Indeed, given the global reach of such icons of American popular culture as MTV, McDonalds and Coke, almost no culture is immune from its effect. Unlike in the past centuries, presently children and teens are growing up in a world made up of advertisers, marketers and corporate giants who are doing all they can to drain every last dollar out of the lucrative youth market. And they are succeeding. Douglas Rushkoff media critic said; For todays teens, a walk in the street may as well be a stroll through the mall. Anywhere they rest their eyes; theyll be exposed to a marketing message. A typical American teenager will process over 3,000 discrete advertisements in a single day, and 10 million by the time theyre 18. Kids are also consuming massive quantities of entertainment media. Its a blizzard of brands, all competing for the same kids. To win teens loyalty, marketers believe, they have to speak their language the best. So they study them carefully, as an anthropologist would an exotic native culture, (Mooks and Midriffs, 2006). They spend their days browsing through reams of market research data. They conduct endless surveys and focus groups. They comb the streets, the schools, and the malls, hot on the trail of the next big thing, which will attract the attention of their prey, a market segment worth an estimated $150 billion a year. Businesses are creating and selling popular culture which has made teenagers the hottest consumer demographic in America. They simply not reflecting teen desires, rather they are manufacturing those desires in a bid to secure this lucrative market. Not only are they selling the goods but they are also dictating the market and consumer behavior. Like Mark Crispin Miller said, advertising has always sold anxiety, and it certainly sells anxiety to the young people. Its always telling them theyre losers unless theyre cool (Merchants of cool, 2000). Corporations invest a lot of money just to research what is cool and what is not. The problem is, cool keeps changing, simply because kids keep changing. And the corporations struggle to keep up with the rapid changes in cool. The corporate world deals with this problem not by just mapping cool, but to create cool. This in fact has become much of the strategy of the businesses to create cool, while claiming to simply be reflecting cool. Thus they are no longer selling a product, they are selling a lifestyle. This process is done in part by doing market research into what teens like, then repackaging and re-selling it back to them. Marketers extensively interview young people to see what they wear, what they eat, what they buy, what they listen to, and so on, then repackage the results into a sellable commodity. Robert McChesney explained: The entertainment companies, which are a handful of massive conglomerates that own four of the five music companies that sell 90 percent of the music in the United States-those same companies also own all the film studios, all the major TV networks, all the TV stations pretty much in the 10 largest markets. They own all or part of every single commercial cable channel. They look at the teen market as part of this massive empire that theyre colonizing. . . . Teens are like Africa . . . that theyre going to take over, and their weaponry are films, music, books, CDs, Internet access, clothing, amusement parks, sports teams. Thats all this weaponry they have to make money off of this market. Everything on MTV is a commercial. . . . Sometimes its an explicit advertisement paid for by a company to sell a product. Sometimes its going to be a video for a music company there to sell music. Sometimes its going to be the set thats filled with trendy clothes and stuff there to sell a look that will include products on that set. Sometimes it will be a show about an upcoming movie paid for by the studio, though you dont know it, to hype a movie thats coming out from Hollywood. But everythings an infomercial. There is no non-commercial part of MTV, (Cultural Manipulation, 2004). Young peoples incomes continue to grow, as does their influence over their food and drink intake and personal care use. The youths market is evolving, making stereotypical views of children outdated. According to Global Issues; On average children watch 25,000 to 40,000 television commercials annually. Businesses spend about $15-17 billion advertising to children in the US. $160 billion is spent annually by teens. Children (under 12) spend almost $18 billion a year. 8-12 year olds this category has more influence on the market spend more than $30 billion a year. The young people influence parental spending over $130-670 billion a year, (Anup Shah, 2008) Mark Crispin Miller said: Teenagers suffer from acute self-consciousness to begin with. Their bodies are changing and they feel awkward and they often are awkward. So thats already a kind of psychological problem, a burden for most kids. This system comes along and heightens that anxiety by constantly confronting every kid with a kind of mirror in which youre supposed to look at yourself and like what you see or not like what you see, depending on whether youve bought the stuff that theyre selling, (interview: Mark Crispin Miller). This is due mainly to the companys advertising strategies suggesting sexuality; beauty for girls and for boys there is an emphasis to portray them as tough. Seeing that this has become a huge world problem some countries have taken an initiative to control commercials targeting young people. For example in Sweden banned commercials during childrens prime time. The European Union is deliberating issues related to advertising targeting the young people, whether they should be a European wide ban or a regulation. There is an international biannual conference that is organized with aim of dealing with topics such as: childhood consumption practices, childrens roles in the consumer decision-making process, media, consumption and youth culture, public policy and media regulation. Contrary to what is happening Europe in the US business is business. Since the constitution recognizes children to have their rights it is hard for parents to fully deal with the situation without governments support. The best way to deal with this is for the concerned parties, especially the government, teachers and parents join hands into educating the better ways on spending and how these so called corporate friends are manipulating them into spending. And since consumerism among the youth has become a culture it is better to approach the subject with respect if the message is to be effective.

Essay --

Introduction Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is refers to the enterprise to create profits, bear legal responsibility to shareholders, while also taking into account the impact on the result of the various stakeholders. Corporate social responsibility is an important way towards sustainable development, it is consistent with the reasonable expectations of the business community as a whole, not only will not divert energy companies, but also improve the competitiveness of enterprises and reputation. As a supplier of energy to approximately 5% of Americans and more than 40% of Californians, PG&E is the investor-owned utilities company, which provide natural gas and electricity and focus on Hydroelectric, Nuclear, Fossil fuels and Solar power. (PG&E, 2014) PG&E has a long-term strategy in environmental sustainability to addressing the climate change issue. Their economic vitality sustainability programmes focus on bringing economic benefits to the communities as part of corporate social respo nsibility. Like the PG&E company channelled $2.5 million to economic development charitable commitment in 2013.( PG&E, 2013) Economic benefit and social impact PG&E Company seeks to exceed the current standard of environmental protection. They decided to improve the standard of management system, which can help them to innovate some environmental protection programs. Moreover, PG&E train all the employees on sense of environmental protection. Facing with long-term sustainability environmental strategy, lots of investor will be willing to invest some new clean power that can both protect environment and raise the profit. Therefore, PG&E improve efficiency at the power like solar, bio energy and hydro energy. The ripple effect, which PG&... ...successfully achieved CSR in many ways. In order to meet a satisfactory CO2 output, such utility enterprise needed to create a strategy that can adapt different situation in climate change, PG&E is a responsible enterprise that obeying CSR development as well as any social impact while making profit. Win-win strategy is a really good example for pre planning the company strategy to face up coming challenge and also gives you a overview about the performance of the company itself. In the Win-win strategy, PG&E seek to find out some ways to create some renewable and clean energy like Hydro energy and solar power. This will be a huge step for PG&E to become more environmental friendly. In this action, investor, researcher, customer and environmentalist, all of them think that PG&E performing well. The position of PG&E in FT Global 500 will be rising in the future.

Scott Joplin :: essays research papers

Scott Joplin was know as the kings of ragtime. I will explain also explain how he grew up and what type of music he played. I will also write about why I believe he deserves the title that he has been bestowed upon him.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The first thing I will talk about is the type of music he is know for which gave him that name. Most people listen to the type of music he composed but next to none know who or how it was composed. There seems to be an abundance of music fans who know little or nothing about the origin of their music. By discussing what he has accomplished it will explain why he is considered to be so important to his type of music.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Rag time as it is most commonly know was the type of fast paced music played around 1885 in St. Louis. Scott Joplin was born in 1868 and lived until 1917, but has done a lot in his life span. He was one of the first African Americans to be know as a composer. Born in Texarkana, Texas to a large family with musical background, he began learning to play the guitar and beagle, and gained free piano lessons by showing such fast progression to his teachers. After death of his mother, he left the house at age fourteen. He learned much form traveling through Mississippi playing in local spots and learning form what was offered to him. In 1885 he arrived in St. Louis, at the time a center for a new music phenomenon called ragtime.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Ragtime, also called â€Å"ragged rhythm†, was first a piano style know for its fast paced beats. It first came into the publics eye in 1893 when he performed an instrumental ensemble at the World Exposition in Chicago. His originally developed style of rag time know as â€Å"Maple Leaf Rag† First came on the scene in a club in Sedalia, Missouri as his own form of ragtime. In 1899 He gained nationwide popularity after selling over one million copies worldwide.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   After this Joplin tried to make this new from of piano style he had grown to love more widely know form of music In 1911 he finished an opera called Treemonisha, designed to reach this status. Sadly this opera was not well accepted by the public and caused him to slip into a state of depression.

Border Security

Security our border is essential to securing the homeland. The country faces a different set of challenges with non-Mexicans who are caught crossing the border illegally. Mexican illegal immigrants are initially detained when they are apprehended. The problem is that the detention facilities do not have enough room for accommodation. As a result, about four of every five non-Mexican illegal immigrants that are caught are released in society and asked to return for a court date. When the date arrives, about 75 percent of those released do not show up at the court.In 2004, only 30,000 of the 160,000 non-Mexicans were sent home for being caught coming across the southwest. (http://www. whitehouse. gov/news/releases/2005/11/20051128-7. html) The practice of catch and release had been the government’s policy for decades. It was an unwise policy and the government has plans to end it. To help end catch and release, there is need to increase the capacity in the detention facilities. The president signed a legislation supported by members of the Arizona delegation in 2005 to increase the number of beds in detention facilities.One of the most effective tools the government has in this effort is a process called expedited removal. Under expedited removal, non-Mexicans are detailed and placed into streamlined proceedings. It allows the government to deport them at an average of 32 days, almost three times faster than usual. In other words, the government is cutting through bureaucracy. The program was so successful that the defense secretary expanded it al up and down the border. (http://www. whitehouse. gov/news/releases/2005/11/20051128-7. html)Since 2001, the government has hired 1900 new Border patrol agents. The agents are being helped by deployment of technologies. Technology helps an individual have broader reach and more effectiveness. When agents can take advantage of cutting edge equipment like overhead surveillance drones and infrared cameras, they can d o a better job for everyone. In Tucson agents on the ground are directing unmanned aerial technology in the sky, and they are acting rapidly on illegal immigration or illegal activities they may see from the drones.Since these unmanned flights began, agents have intercepted a lot of drugs on the border that otherwise and people that otherwise have made it through. (http://www. whitehouse. gov/news/releases/2005/11/20051128-7. html) US spending on military and police aid to Mexico has more than tripled to $57. 8 million with the hope that it will help protect America’s southern flank. The draw down of National Guard troops along the US-Mexican border should be stopped or alternative border security improvements provided because of problems with a high-tech â€Å"virtual fence† project.â€Å"Project 28† project, a 28-mile array of radars and surveillance cameras near sasabo, indicate that broad implementation of a â€Å"virtual fence† along the nationâ€⠄¢s southern border won’t happen soon. Project 28 is part of a national plan to secure the US Mexico border with physical barriers and high-tech detention capabilities. (Carl B, 2007) Curbing illegal immigration and security the nearly 2,000 mile, (3,200-kilometer) south western border are hot topics in this US election year. Washington has pledged to complete 67 miles (1,070 kilometers) of new barriers by the close of 2008, despite resistance from landowners and environmentalists.Based on along standing relationship of cooperation and mutual assistance, US customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the General Customs Administration of Mexico (GCAM) have begun the implementation of those action items designed to guarantee the secure and efficient flow of trade between the two nations. (Carl B, 2007) For purposes of developing and implementing initiative identified in the US/Mexico Border Partnership Plan, CBP and GCAM have created special working groups: the Border working Grou p, the Enforcement Working Group and the Technology and Customs Procedures Working Group.These groups have been working on a broad range of initiatives namely; 1. Extending and harmonizing the service hours in coordination with the trade communities, at the entry ports located at the common border. 2. Ensuring the Advanced Passenger Information System in Mexico is implemented. This will help collect and share data concerning air passengers arriving to and departing from United States and Mexico. 3. Deploying gamma ray machines at our railroad crossings. 4. Exchanging core data on every transaction occurring through the common border in an electronic environment.5. testing and implementing new technologies for instance electronic seals 6. Fraudulent trade investigations should be conducted jointly. This has led to significant seizures of undervalued and illegally transshipped goods. 7. Devolving systems to monitor in-transit shipments through our territories. 8. Seizing illegal cash transported by air passengers. (http://www. dhs. gov/xnews/releases/press_release_0137. shtm. ) The Mexican border fence that was approved by President Bush in October 2006 is now complete, but accolades for the project are few and far between.The secure fence Act, which was touted by Republicans as a major border security initiative in the weeks leading up to the 2006, mid-term elections is now viewed by many as a fiasco of the first order. The fence is only two and a half feet high and people argue that it cannot stop illegal immigrants. The Mexican border fence as completed is a roughly 30 inch high barrier built primarily of wooden stakes and chicken wire. Chicken wire could not be provided for the entire length of the fence due to budget constraints.These portions therefore consist only of wooden fence posts driven into the ground roughly every twelve feet with small-hand written in between bearing the words â€Å"security fence). (Carl B, 2007) Governor Janet Napolitano on We dnesday March 08 ordered more National Guardsmen posted at the Mexican border to help stop illegal immigrants and curb related crimes. National Guard troops have worked at the border since 1988, but Napolitano signed and order authorizing commanders to station an unspecified number of additional soldiers there to help federal agents.Once the funding is approved, the troops will monitor crossing points, assist with cargo inspection and operate surveillance cameras, according to the order. About 170 national Guardsmen are already posted at the nation’s busiest illegal entry point, where they assist with communications, fence construction and antidrug efforts. (Carl B, 2007) For the last four years, the crisis at the southern border has not improved. Today, approximately the same number of illegal crossings occurs on the southern border as occurred four years ago.That averages about 5,000 illegal crossing per day and approximately 5 million illegal crossings. In a post 9/11 worl d this is unacceptable. (http://www. lenmunsil. com/BorderMunsil. pdf. ) The government should immediately deploy the Arizona National Guard and assign it the mission of security Arizona’s southern border working cooperatively with US Border Patrol and ongoing operation Jump start. The Governor is authorized under A. R. S Sec-26-172 to â€Å"mobilize all or any part† of the National Guard when the Governor proclaims an emergency or â€Å"deems it necessary to protect lives or property.It should also seek funding to create the â€Å"Arizona Border Patrol† as a division of the Department of Public Safety-Law enforcement will play a significant role in safeguarding Arizona from ongoing effects of illegal immigration. (http://www. lenmunsil. com/BorderMunsil. pdf. ) It should also seek funding to deploy radar technology to the entire length of Arizona’s southern border, complementing current Border Patrol efforts and covering those areas that are currently u nprotected.Additional resources should also be provided to law enforcement, the courts and all necessary components for the criminal justice system to process illegal aliens quickly and move them out of the state system. (http://www. lenmunsil. com/BorderMunsil. pdf. ) Reference: Carl Braun. 2007. Above all Else. The Minute man Struggle to Secure America’s Borders. http://www. whitehouse. gov/news/releases/2005/11/20051128-7. html. Retrieved on13th March 2008 http://www. dhs. gov/xnews/releases/press_release_0137. shtm. Retrieved on 13th March 2008 http://www. lenmunsil. com/BorderMunsil. pdf. Retrieved on 13th March 2008.

Performance Management in Non-Profit Organizations Essay

Non-Profit organizations are trusted to address some the most challenging issues affecting society: ending violence in inner-city communities, educating disadvantaged children, diminishing health disparities and empowering disfranchised populations to bring about change are just a few of these very difficult tasks non-profits take on. Considering the importance of that work and the pivotal role these organizations play in alleviating the burden of those issues to society, it is fair to say that non-profits are held against high expectations and consequently need to show stellar performance to live up to the magnitude of the scope of the work they were trusted upon. It is also fair to say that their performance will not only affect their bottom lines, but also the welfare of the communities they serve. Public and nonprofit organizations significantly affect, and have great potential to improve, the lives of citizens and communities in such areas as public safety, transportation, parks and recreation, economic development, education, housing, public health, environmental management, space exploration, social services, and more. In each of these areas there is interest, and sometimes very great interest, in ensuring that public and nonprofit organizations perform well and help society to move forward. (Berman, 2005) Looking at nonprofits from that viewpoint and understanding the impact their performance has on society, one would think that these organizations are usually driven by results and have efficient performance management systems in place. The truth is that it is not the case, non-profits are known to be mission-driven and the notion of performance-based management is somewhat new to most of those organizations. Non-profit organizations are of increasing importance in modern economies, not only as providers of goods and services but also as employers (Speckbecker, 2003). Moreover, there seems to be a growing awareness that nonprofits need management just as for-profit organizations do. As Speckbecker says: â€Å"Twenty years ago, management was a dirty word for those involved in nonprofit organizations† (Speckbecker, 2003). It meant business, and nonprofits prided themselves on being free of the taint of commercialism and above such sordid considerations as the bottom line. Now most of them have learned that nonprofits need management even more than business does, precisely because they lack the discipline of the bottom line.† (Speckbecker, 2003). In the business world, market forces serve as feedback mechanisms. Companies that perform well are rewarded by customers and investors; underperformers are penalized. Performance is relatively easy to quantify through quarterly earnings, ROI, customer loyalty scores, and the like. Moreover, such metrics can be calibrated and compared, ensuring that the companies producing the best results will attract capital and talent. Managers are encouraged to invest in the people, systems, and infrastructure needed to continue delivering superior performance. And internal feedback mechanisms, from up-to-the-minute operating data to performance reviews, keep everyone focused on critical activities and goals. In the nonprofit world, missions, not markets, are the primary magnets attracting essential resources, from donors inspired by organizations’ audacious goals; from board members, who not only volunteer their time and expertise but also often serve as major funders; and from employees, who accept modest paychecks to do work they care passionately about. (Bradach, 2005) There are many opportunities for performance improvement in the Non-profit field and there are many organizations that have successfully used performance measurement methods. This paper looks at some areas in which improvement has often been recognized and sought in recent years in order to better serving external stakeholders’ needs, improving organizational effectiveness and using resources efficiently, improving project management, and increasing productivity through people. Modern performance improvements efforts often raise the bar in these areas, and managers are increasingly expected to be familiar with the strategies and standards that they involve. These areas offer important opportunities for increasing performance and productivity. When it comes to performance management in nonprofit, the first issue that comes to play is how to define performance. When dealing with a segment whose products are not tangible, how can one define the effectiveness of that kind of work? At the same time, the expectations being placed on these organizations to show results by their staff members, their boards, and public and private donors are rising. Nonprofit leaders are put in a difficult position where they need to demonstrate accountability and quantify the goals they want to achieve. For that reason, most of them have resorted to a set of commonly used performance measures to ensure they are being much more explicit about the results they intend to deliver and the strategies they’ll apply to achieve them. This paper will discuss some of the performance measures used in the non-profit sector. Performance Measurement Performance measurement is the activity of documenting the activities and accomplishments of programs. (Thomas J. Tierney and Nan Stone, 2005). The performance of a nonprofit can be measured by quantifying outcomes and outputs that have been achieved through the services they deliver. For example, by showing how well students in a certain school district are doing with standard testing scores, reduction in communicable disease rates and how many inmates were connected with housing and jobs after discharge. It is about measuring what programs are really achieving and letting people know how resources are being translated into results. Performance measurement systems provide considerable detail about programs. It can be argued that performance measurement by itself does not constitute performance improvement; it is an information-gathering strategy. However, the purposes to which this information is put are clearly associated with improving performance (Berry, 2003). Coming from the point of view that performance is in the eye of the beholder and again revisiting the issue that nonprofits deal with issues that may not be tangible and are hard to quantify, the first question one can ask is who is watching non-profits to make sure they are doing a good job? Moreover, what qualifies as a good job for an organization such as AIDS Action? A cure for AIDS has not been found yet; does it mean that organization failed? Understanding what performance for nonprofits is may not be as clear cut and straight forward as it is for for-profits. After all, we are not looking at how many pairs of shoes have been sold or how many new branches of a bank have been closed. We are looking at quality of life indicators and those are much harder to measure. The most fundamental decision a nonprofit can make is to define the results it must deliver in order to be successful. That process entails translating the organization’s mission into goals that are simultaneously compelling enough to attract ongoing support from stakeholders and specific enough to inform resource allocations. (Thomas J. Tierney and Nan Stone, 2005) Most traditional management accounting systems are based on financial results and their practical relevance for performance management in for profit organizations is obvious. However, the concept of profit as defined as a way to measure results is not valid for nonprofit organizations. Clearly, this does not exclude that nonprofit organizations generate profits in the sense that they generate a cash surplus. For example, a hospital or a theater may calculate the surplus of specific â€Å"products† (a specific operation or a play at the theater) or the surplus during a particular period. (Speckbacher, 2003). However, the main difference is that even though these non-profits had a surplus, their focus is still their mission. They didn’t make decisions based on how they could make more money; they made decisions based on what was better for their programs. The fundamental difference between profitable and non-profit organizations when it comes to financial decision making is that for the latter the mission is still the focus. The past several decades have seen unprecedented growth in the scope and complexity of relationships between government and nonprofit organizations. These relationships have been more fruitful than many critics had feared and more problematic than many advocates had hoped. In the recent years, governments have increasingly relied on non-profits to address issues on a community-level. Non-profits deal with a wide array of issues and for each of these topics; these particular non-profits are experts on that subject. The government has acknowledged that expertise and also the fact that those organizations are usually community-based and more in tune with the particular needs of those communities or interest groups. As government’s dependence on nonprofits for public services, usually through contracts and grants, has increased, government officials have steadily increased their accountability demands for nonprofits, especially through greater regulation and performance-based contracting (Behn, 2001). Expectations for information and greater transparency in programmatic and financial operations are also on the rise at both the state and federal levels. In addition, many leading associations representing nonprofit organizations have called for greater levels of self-regulation, including better governance procedures (Maryland Association of Nonprofits, 2009; Panel on the Nonprofit Sector, 2007). A very common concept that derived from this relationship between government and nonprofits is performance based contracting. This paper will review that concept and outline a few additional approaches Non-Profits can use to measure performance. Performance Contracting Performance Contracting became very popular in the mid-90s with the â€Å"reinventing government† movement. New public management (NPM) practices generated a spike in the interest level from the government in doing business with non-profits. And due to this increased interest, all the ideas and concepts that concerned improving the performance of public services transcended to the non-profit arena. Moreover, this movement and the related NPM encouraged policy makers to adopt more market-based strategies for addressing public problems, such as contracting with private nonprofit and for-profit agencies (Lynn, 1998). In addition, the welfare reform legislation of 1996 created the Transitional Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, replacing the long-standing Aid to Dependent Families and Children (AFDC) program (Berman, 2005). A central component of the new TANF program was performance-based contracts to encourage service providers to place individuals in permanent employment quickly (Berman, 2005). These contracts were also part of a broader strategy embodied by TANF to reduce the role of cash assistance in helping low-income individuals; social services delivered extensively by nonprofit and for-profit agencies through performance contracts were designed to help individuals who might have previously relied on cash assistance to obtain employment and/or learn new skills to prepare themselves for the labor market (Berman, 2005). Non-profit organizations greatly benefited from these new trends in New Public Management which allowed them to conquer a bigger space in the public arena, as they had increased visibility and more access to resources. Under the core principles of that movement, communities had to be empowered to address their own problems and the federal government trusted non-profits to implement high-level projects, as pointed out before. Consequently, governments become increasingly dependent on such organizations to tackle some of the more critical issues in society. And due to the fact these issues, such as welfare, violence prevention and land preservation are of high interest to the government officials’ constituents; accountability came in to play. These performance-based contracts are being executed with tax dollars and the government officials need to be accountable to their voters on how these resources are being allocated and what results those programs are bringing. What it comes down to is that Non-Profits are in charge of executing what elected officials promise their constituents. Therefore, the need to enter contracts with a clear expectation of how the budget will support programs and goals and how those monies will translate into improvements to that community or segment. Non-Profits greatly benefit from this relationship with government. From both the point of view of business development, since their contract revenue has significantly increased with the grants and contracts received from the federal government. And from the point of view of implementing performance management activities, since this new way of conducting business paved the way for the introduction of valuable concepts related to performance management in non-profits. In Summary, new public management brought a new set of ideas and principles that were embraced by nonprofits and changed some of their paradigm with regards to their own definition of success and they relationship with their mission. Performance started to be evaluated by directly connecting program budget to goals and outcomes to understand the impact of those contracts had on addressing the issues at hand. Over time, performance contracting spread to a wide variety of service fields in the United States and elsewhere. New York City, for instance, has restructured hundreds of millions of dollars of contracts with social and health agencies as performance contracts. Some state governments have â€Å"privatized† at least some of their child welfare services by shifting public services provided by state or county staff to performance-based contracts with nonprofits, with the goal of improving the efficiency and effectiveness of child welfare services (Courtney, 2000). The same has been done by the Health Resource Service Administration (HRSA) and Substance Abuse Mental Health Administration (SMAHSA), in the past five years when they increased substantially the funding available to communities to address major public health epidemics, such as HIV and Heroine/Crack use, that the government alone wouldn’t be able to tackle. Due to the magnitude of these contracts and the threat these issues pose to society, the issue of performance has been addressed tirelessly and governments pressured nonprofits to come up with a set of measures to account for their performance and their ability to fulfill the terms of those contracts. The benefits and disadvantages of performance contracts have been extensively discussed in recent years. Within the performance management strategy movement, other strategies have been employed that strive to be more nonprofit-centric. These strategies include benchmarking, logic models, balanced scorecards, and social return on investment (SROI). All of these strategies have been used to measure performance in non-profit organizations in recent years and can illustrate examples of how organizations are applying management concepts to their operations. (Heinrich and Marschke, 2008). The Performance management contracts introduced nonprofits to these concepts and in result they became better able to manage their own performance as a whole, and not only when it relates to these contracts. (Heinrich and Marschke, 2008). All these concepts will be discussed in this paper. Benchmarking Benchmarking involves identifying excellence and using it as a standard by which to measure performance. Benchmarking entails an effort to compare a specific nonprofit organization (or set of agencies) with other comparable organizations. It has its roots in the for-profit management world where companies are often compared on various measures, including profitability. The attraction of benchmarking is that it offers nonprofits a mechanism for them to assay their organizations, including administrative costs, the efficiency of their fund-raising operations, and number of members in comparison with other organizations with similar missions and profiles. Outcome evaluation is also very complicated, so benchmarking offers a strategy for program improvement and greater accountability, even in the absence of specific outcome data that are often lacking for many nonprofit programs (Kara D. Rutowski, Jeffery K. Guiler and Kurt E. Schimmel, 2007). Looking again at the issue that the product delivered by nonprofits may not be so easily measured and quantifiable as services and products in the for-profit industry, it is harder for nonprofits to assess their own performance looking at standard reports. For instance, let’s look at an HIV Testing Program whose goals are to promote HIV testing and raise awareness of risk factors. Hypothetically, let’s consider that such program tested 1000 people during a given year and only 4 were positive. How will they measure their performance based on those numbers? That can be quite difficult to determine if a 4% seropositivity rate is an indicator for success or failure. However, using the benchmarking approach this program can compare itself to how it did as it relates to other programs serving similar populations and obtaining similar results. According to HIVqual (HIVqual.org), an organization that specializes in providing benchmarking for different clinical indicators for HIV treatment, despite seeming low that 4% rate is well above the national average. The National average according to the HIVQual Project is about 1%. In this case an apparent low performance indicator, 4%, turned out to be an excellent outcome. Without access to that kind of information that program manager would not know how well he was doing and whether or not his program was being successful. Undeniably benchmarking tends to be most helpful with easy to obtain information, such as number of administrators, membership levels, and the amount of donations. However, the health care industry utilizes it a little more comprehensively, especially when looking at health outcomes of a particular community and health disparities data. The field of Public Health has also embraced that strategy for community-wide data evaluation, such as rates of violence and STD transmission, and used it to compare how effectively neighborhoods have addressed such problems. Also, the Boston Public Health Commission compares individual program data with city-wide data to determine how well a program is performing in comparison to others. Benchmarking is an attainable way to measure performance, as non-profits are comparing their outcomes to national and local averages they can have a clear idea of where they rank and where they need to improve. However, that approach can only be utilized if such data exists. As mentioned before, in the health care industry this method is widely used and there are plenty of data available on clinical outcomes. Different types of benchmarking may be undertaken, depending upon what the organization hopes to achieve (Rutowski, Guiler & Schimmel, 2007). Industry benchmarking, or functional benchmarking, is the measurement of several aspects of the company’s operations and a comparison of these across an industry. Competitive benchmarking is used to compare an organization with its competitors. Process or generic benchmarking is used to compare similar procedures at different companies. There has been relatively little research exploring benchmarking in nonprofit organizations outside of the healthcare industry (Rutowski, Guiler & Schimmel, 2007). Hopefully, nonprofits will follow the trend set by healthcare and employ this strategy as a performance measurement technique more efficiently in the upcoming years. Balanced Scorecards Another performance management strategy commonly utilized by nonprofits is the balanced scorecard developed by Robert Kaplan in 2002. The balanced scorecard is intended to counter the criticism from within the nonprofit sector that the application of certain types of performance management strategies borrowed from the for-profit sector do not sufficiently account for the social mission and values of many nonprofits (Berman, 2005). Kaplan describes the innovation of the balanced scorecard as follows: â€Å"The balanced scorecard retains traditional financial measures. But financial measures tell the story of past events, an adequate story for industrial age companies for which investments in long-term capabilities and customer relationships were not critical for success. These financial measures are inadequate, however, for guiding and evaluating the journey that information age companies must make to create future value through investment in customers, suppliers, employees, processes, technology, and innovation.† (Kaplan, 2002) The balanced scorecard is a strategic-planning tool that seeks to integrate financial, programmatic, operational, and mission-related objectives, so a nonprofit agency can strive to create a more efficient and effective organization while at the same time remaining faithful to its mission. (Berman, 2005). The balanced scorecard does involve a significant investment by a nonprofit organization because of its substantial data requirements and the need for extensive consultation among the different stakeholders of a nonprofit, including the board, staff, clients, community members, and funders. As a result, the balanced scorecard tends to be embraced by larger nonprofit and public organizations eager to drive substantial change in their operations. The balanced scorecard is also particularly worthwhile for organizations that seek to rethink or improve their relationship with their users, such as parents in a family-service agency or patients in the case of a hospital. In this sense, the balanced scorecard reflects the enhanced primacy placed on responsiveness to customers in all types of organizations (Berman, 2005). However, despite its holistic approach to organizational strategy, the balanced scorecard tends to focus on measurable indicators of costs and program utilization and thus is not widely used to consider the citizenship and community-building role of nonprofits although it potentially could be used to address these issues. (Berman, 2005) Also, the measurement of program impact through the balanced scorecard approach remains challenging given the difficulty of obtaining relevant outcome data because of the expense and the long-term effects of many nonprofit programs. (Berman, 2005) Balance score cards are a viable alternative for nonprofit organizations. In this system, one takes a look at various elements affecting performance and not a single isolated measure. Due to the fact that non-profits are very in tune with their mission, and are constantly focusing on trying to allocate their limited resources efficiently in order to achieve their goals, this system works very effectively as it provides these organizations with this bigger-picture view they much need. The balanced scorecard system has a multiple focus on several perspectives, including financial performance, and that will give nonprofits the tools they need to make decisions regarding where moneys will be invested in comparison with performance analysis of different programs. For a nonprofit organization, profit is not a determining goal of strategy; but no margin, no mission. Therefore, they need to be able to put their money where they can see results. The other issue to be considered with this approach is stakeholder involvement. In this case, the balanced scorecard provides a comprehensive framework that will help association directors and managers better define strategies, track performance, and provide data to show their various stakeholder groups how well they are performing in terms of mission value and outcomes. It helps as far as celebrating their successes and selling their message to others. Well-rounded and well-presented results will make those organizations look more appealing and that could potentially attract endowments, additional contracts and positive publicity. Logic Models Another performance management approach that is widely used by nonprofits is a logic model. As a matter of fact, many public and private funders now require nonprofit grant and contract applicants to develop a logic model as part of their grant application. Logic Models have become a standard performance measure for contracts due to the fact that they focus on process and outcomes. Logic models force nonprofits to map the entire â€Å"production process† for their programs, from the initial inputs such as staff and resources to the long term outcomes. For funders, logic models offer an opportunity to hold nonprofits accountable for the implementation of their programs. Thus, funders could sanction a nonprofit that fell short of its intended service deliver model after a contract or grant was awarded (Berman, 2005). For Nonprofits, logic models allow them to select which outcomes they want to achieve, so they can focus their efforts on achieving these particular goals. These goals are not chosen randomly, this consists of a â€Å"logic† process, from a cause-consequence frame of reference; therefore, these goals are very achievable and these organizations are very likely to succeed. Logic models have certainly caught the attention of nonprofits nationwide. Arguably their greatest value is on the â€Å"front-end† of service implementation. Ideally, the process of creating a logic model should engage a broad spectrum of a nonprofit agency’s staff and volunteers in thinking about impact and outcomes (Berman, 2005). This level of involvement helps them refine their strategies and win the support of agency stakeholders. By having everyone on board, these agencies will be more likely to achieve program goals. Logic models as a strategy to drive better outcomes and help funders select the most effective agencies for funding remains quite problematic. Furthermore, logic models tend to focus on programmatic performance and generally do not engage the agency in thinking about governance or citizen–agency relationships. (Berman, 2005) SROI – Social Return on Investment Another performance strategy designed for nonprofits that also take into account their difficulties in evaluating programs and defining success is the Social Return on Investment (SROI). This strategy was pioneered by Jed Emerson and colleagues at the Roberts Foundation in San Francisco who envisioned SROI as a vehicle for assessing the social value of nonprofit programs. Too often, nonprofit programs, especially social service programs, are evaluated quite narrowly and thus may not appear to demonstrate significant value for the community (Berman, 2005). Topics, such as quality of life, positive decision making, civic pride and affinity for diversity, for instance, are very hard to measure. One can measure how many people attended a benefit to raise autism awareness, but how can we measure how the lives of those who attended were impacted by their participation? Bearing that challenge in mind, SROI is designed to overcome this problem through a more inclusive approach to thinking about costs and benefits that consider the savings to society of nonprofit services. For example, a person’s employment because of job training and placement by a nonprofit would produce long-term benefits for society that should be considered when evaluating the impact of a nonprofit program (Tuan, 2008). This type of argument may be a hard one to make. There is the counter-argument whether or not current citizens are paying for current services. There is also the counter-argument that tax dollars should be directly benefiting tax payers, and projects such as school renovations may sound more appealing than investing on something that people will see results in the long run. Similar to other performance management initiatives, SROI focuses on programmatic impact rather than governance (Tuan, 2008). SROI is also quite complicated in practice so its adoption within the nonprofit sector has been quite limited, although the conceptual framework employed in SROI has encouraged funders and nonprofits to approach social impact more inclusively and to be rigorous and data-driven in thinking about costs and benefits. SROI has also spawned other efforts to think broadly about the social value of nonprofits (Tuan, 2008). In times where government and the country in general faces a dreadful budget crises making decisions from where to cut from such an abstract idea may be not the best way to measure performance as it relates to results from financial investments. This approach is probably the one that makes more sense from a long-term perspective. However, many non-profits can not afford that kind of thinking and need to have more tangible data to account for their performance. The idea of social impact can and should be used for lobbying and for getting buy-in from constituents; however, resting on that strategy to justify resource allocation and to measure results may be a risky decision to make. Conclusion: Overall, the varied performance management strategies commonly used by nonprofit organizations tend to minimize attention to internal management and governance as well as the external relations in favor of a focus on impact and the relevant costs and benefits (Berman, 2005). As previously discussed, the biggest issue faced by non-profits is the fact that their product may not be as easily defined as the services and goods are in the for profit world. The issue of the market inclination and how people are responding to their services is also another important one to be kept in mind. Non-profits are not dictated by their consumers’ behaviors, but by the environment as a whole. The definition of success in the nonprofit world is very complex and can be looked at from different angles as explained through the strategies above. Non-profits have increasingly tried to incorporate performance management strategies to its practices. And although the management of these organizations may be a little more in tune with those principles, we can not forget that those concepts may not be as evident to their staff. For many of the direct line staff, it is very hard to evidence the impact of performance management on management decisions and service improvements. Managers may be aware of the value of performance measurement in influencing decisions and improving services, but sometimes the communication with staff tend to be broad and disappointingly vague. As non-profits utilize these concepts to run their operations, they need to understand that front line staff needs to be equally aware of how the organization is performing and how that affects them. There is a presumed linkage to budget decisions, although promised in theory, is often difficult to detect in practice. Many non-profits have been good about disseminating those ideas among their managers, but that may not have been equally successful in getting their staff on board. In conclusion, performance management in nonprofit is a very broad topic that can be viewed from many different perspectives. The need to become more accountable to results has forced many of these organizations to adopt performance management systems. There are a few commonly used systems as explained in this paper, they each have their strengths and their weakness and it is up to each nonprofit manager to decide which one suits them best. This is a very new field, however, that has emerged with New Public Management and become more prominent in the 90s. There is a lot of room for new theories and approaches to be developed, and I am sure in the near future we will be hearing more innovative concepts coming into play. Regardless from which angle you look at predominance for nonprofit organizations, there will always be the issue of hard-to-define products and goals. And there will always be the cultural issues within those organizations where staff may not be as in tune as managers are of the needs to define success and measure performance. People join non-profits because they have affinity with their missions and the idea that they have to achieve goals and quotas may not be as tangible to them as their desire to help others. BIBLIOGRAPHY: 1. Bradach, Jeffrey (2005). Non-Profit Effectiveness. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press. 2. L., Thomas, J. Tierney, and Nan Stone (2006). â€Å"Delivering on the promise of nonprofits.† Harvard Business Review. 3. Lencioni, Pat. â€Å"Nonprofits vs. For-Profits: Mission and Performance.† Business Week Online 6 May 2009. General Reference Center Gold. Web. 1 May 2010. 4. Berry, J.M. (2003). A voice for nonprofits. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press. 5. Behn, R.D. (2001): Rethinking democratic accountability. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press. 6. Behn, R.D., & Kant, P.A. (1999). Strategies for avoiding the pitfalls of performance contracting. Public Productivity & Management Review, 22, 470-489 7. Blalock, A.B., & Barnow, B.S. (2004). Is the new obsession with performance management masking the truth about social programs? In D. W. Forsythe (Ed.), Quicker, better, cheaper? Managing performance in American government (pp. 485-519). Albany, NY: Rockefeller Institute Press. 8. Bovaird, T., & Downe, J. (2009). Innovation in public engagement and co-production of services. Meta-evaluation of the local government modernization agenda-White policy paper. 9. Emerson, J., Wachowicz, J., & Chun, S. (2000). Social return on investment: Exploring aspects of value creation in the nonprofit sector. San Francisco: The Roberts Foundation. Retrieved December 6, 2009 10. Lynn, L.E., Jr. (1998). The new public management: How to transform a theme into a legacy. Public Administration Review, 58, 231-237. 11. Lyons, M. (in press). Australia: A continuing love affair with the new public management. In S. Phillips & S. R. Smith (Eds.), Governance and regulation in the third sector. London: Routledge. 12. Marris, P., & Rein, M. (1982). D ilemmas of social reform: Poverty and community action in the United States. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 13. Marshall, T.H. (1964). Class, citizenship, and social development: Essays. New York: Doubleday. 14. Berman, Evan M. Productivity in Public and Nonprofit Organizations. Armonk, NY, USA: M.E. Sharpe, Inc., 2005. p 15. 15. Tuan, M.T. (2008). Measuring and/or estimating social value creation: Insights into eight integrated cost approaches. Seattle, WA: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Retrieved December 11, 2009. 16. Speckbacher, Gerhard. The Economics of Performance Management in Nonprofit Organizations. Nonprofit Management & Leadership; Spring2003, Vol. 13 Issue 3, p267, 15p 17. Ammons, David N., and William C. Rivenbark. â€Å"Factors influencing the use of performance data to improve municipal services: Evidence from the North Carolina benchmarking project.† Public Administration Review 68.2 (2008): 304+. General Reference Center Gold. Web. 3 May 2010 18. Kara D. Rutowski, Jeffery K. Guiler and Kurt E. Schimmel. Benchmarking organizational commitment across nonprofit human services organizations in Pennsylvania. School of Business, Robert Morris University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, 2007. 19. Courtney, M.E. (2000). Managed care and child welfare services: What are the issues? Children and Youth Services Review, 22(2), 87-91. 20. Kaplan, R.S. (2002). The balanced scorecard and nonprofit organizations. Boston: Harvard Business School.