A critical evaluation of affordable housing policy for the first time Essay

A critical evaluation of affordable housing policy for the first time buyer in leeds city centre - Essay Example staining a dualism in the housing market where renting, in its different guises, is relegated to a marginal position and tenants, unlike owners, are arguably cast as second-class citizens. However, past and recent research (e.g. Bramley & Watkins,P.23, 2004; Maclennan et al., P.104, 2002; Radley, P.45, 2004) has suggested that there are severe limits to the proportion of housing needs which can be realistically satisfied through owner occupation (even including low cost sales and Right to Buy). Action is therefore needed to provide greater term choice through the provision of more private and, especially, social rented housing to meet the needs of those unable to become homeowners. The British land-use planning process has changed very little since its constitutional beginning in the 1940s. Planning is primarily restricted to considering land-use issues through the management and coordination of policy at various levels of administration by a variety of agencies and actors. Implied to the operation of the land-use planning system is a national coordinating level, where the social, economic and environmental needs of spatial areas can be addressed in an integrated way. Although this suggests that planning can only be operated effectively when land-use issues are considered strategically (Bruton and Nicholson, P. 21-40, 2004; Rowan-Robinson et al., P, 369-381, 2004; Breheny, P. 233-249, 2002), the provision of a national element of strategic coordination by the central state is an essential ingredient in physical development. As Diamond (P18-25, 2004) has remarked, strategic planning sets out a frame of reference for the organisation of planning at the lower tie rs of administration. The planning process is managed and implemented by national and local tiers of government and is hierarchical in policy framework (Tewdwr-Jones, P. 584-593, 2005). Although there has never been a national physical plan in England, central government has always provided a clear approach

J.C. Penney’s “Fair and Square” Pricing Strategy Essay Example for Free

J.C. Penney’s â€Å"Fair and Square† Pricing Strategy Essay Retailing is hard, and that’s what Steve [Jobs] said to me when we started stores at Apple. — Ron Johnson, CEO, J.C. Penney1 It was August 2012 and the release of second quarter earnings was looming for Ron Johnson, the chief executive officer of J.C. Penney, one of America’s first department stores. Johnson, HBS ’84, had intimated to Wall Street that the retailer’s second quarter results were likely to miss expectations again, following dismal first quarter results that had sent the company’s stock price careening to less than half of its February 2012 value of a share. The Q1 news released in May was grim: a $163 million loss, same store revenue down 19%, and the number of customers shopping in J.C. Penney stores down 10%. These results were particularly disheartening given the company’s radical repositioning of its business model and its brand in February 2012. The centerpiece of the repositioning initiative was a switch from J.C. Penney’s existing high-low pricing strategy, in which the retailer ran frequent sales to offer customers deep discounts off of its higher list prices, to a new strategy the company dubbed â€Å"Fair and Square† pricing. â€Å"Fair and Square† pricing was meant to simplify J.C. Penney’s pricing structure and make it more straightforward for customers to shop. It offered great prices every day, with less frequent price promotions. The company touted its new pricing strategy as offering â€Å"no games, no gimmicks† and invited consumers to â€Å"do the math† to see how it offered them cheaper prices on a regular basis with less hassle. Moving away from high-low pricing was a massive shift for J.C. Penney. In 2011, the retailer spent $1.2 billion to execute 590 different sales events and promotions2 and generated 72% of its $17.3 billion in annual revenue from products sold at steep discounts of more than 50% off of the initial list price.3 Wall Street was initially  supportive of the company’s plans for change. Investors, who sent J.C. Penney’s stock soaring up 24% following the announcement of the new pricing plan, viewed it as a way for J.C. Penney to escape the ruthless downward spiral of escalating price promotions that gripped America’s retailers struggling to survive the economic recession. But by mid-summer 2012, customers and shareholders appeared to be voting with their feet, leaving the retailer in droves. Was Johnson’s new pricing strategy misguided or was it just a matter of time before customers fully embraced it? Johnson was under enormous pressure to turn things around quickly as the all-important back-to-school and holiday shopping seasons were imminent. Many voices were calling on him to consider changing the pricing strategy again. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ HBS Professor Elie Ofek and Professor Jill Avery (Simmons School of Management) prepared this case. This case was developed from published sources. HBS cases are developed solely as the basis for class discussion. Cases are not intended to serve as endorsements, sources of primary data, or illustrations of effective or ineffective management. Copyright  © 2012, 2013 President and Fellows of Harvard College. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, call 1-800-5457685, write Harvard Business School Publishing, Boston, MA 02163, or go to www.hbsp.harvard.edu/educators. This publication may not be digitized, photocopied, or otherwise reproduced, posted, or transmitted, without the permission of Harvard Business School. This document is authorized for use only by Jack Cherewatti in MKTG MGMT taught by S. Adam Brasel Boston College from November 2014 to May 2015. For the exclusive use of J. Cherewatti 513-036 J.C. Penney’s â€Å"Fair and Square† Pricing Strategy Company Background Johnson was at the helm of what at one time was considered America’s most  venerated department store. Once the largest department store chain in the country with over 2,000 stores, as of 2012, the 110 year old retailer operated 1,100 stores, claiming to serve more than half of America’s households with 41 million square feet of retail space. Founded by James Cash Penney in 1902, the company’s first outlet was opened in a Wyoming mining town under the name â€Å"The Golden Rule,† that signified its philosophy of treating customers the way Penney himself wished to be treated. Johnson believed that his â€Å"Fair and Square† pricing plan corresponded to the founder’s beliefs, â€Å"Now if you go back to the founding of this company, James Cash Penney believed in everyday fair prices. He said, ‘We don’t mark goods up just to mark them down. We don’t believe in sales.’†4 The company enjoyed years of rapid growt h and expansion. By its 50th anniversary, annual sales exceeded $1 billion. It initially offered consumers one stop shopping as a mass merchandiser, selling soft goods, such as clothing, as well as hard goods, such as appliances, hardware, electronics, and sporting goods. Its retail business was joined by a mail order catalog in 1963 and an ecommerce website in 1998. However, following tough times in the 1980’s, the company reorganized, phasing out its hard goods lines and refocusing on its soft goods to become a fashion oriented department store. But by its 100th anniversary, the company appeared to be running out of steam. Price-oriented mass merchandisers, such as Walmart and Target, had garnered the lower end of the market, while higher end department stores, such as Macy’s and Nordstrom’s, were catering to the upwardly mobile middle class. Although the economic recession of 2008 was difficult for all retailers due to consumers’ increasing frugality, middle market retailers, like J.C. Penney and Sears, were hit the hardest. By 2011, J.C. Penney’s stores were old, often disorganized, and faded, and the brand and its merchandise were starting to feel dated. About 400 of its stores were located in small towns, such as Alpena, Michigan with a population of a little over 10,000. In such towns, there were often only few, if any, other department stores. The remaining 700 or so stores were located in major metropolitan areas, often in suburban malls, such as the Northshore Mall in Peabody, Massachusetts (15 miles north of Boston). Following years of store closings, sales malaise, declining market share,  slumping earnings, and weak stock market performance, activist investor and hedge fund manager, William Ackman (HBS ’92) obtained an 18% majority shareholder position in the company in 2010–2011. He was determined to turn J.C Penney around and extract its value, much of which was locked up in its vast real estate holdings that were estimated to be worth $11 billion.5 J.C. Penney owned 400 of its retail stores and paid low rents (an average of less than $5 per square foot) for the remainder. Specialty stores like Gap paid much higher rents (around $40 per square foot) for their retail space.6 Looking to shake up the company, Ackman was instrumental in luring Johnson to take the CEO position. Johnson was a big catch. In the 1990s, he was vice president of merchandising at Target where he helped transform the mass merchandiser into a hot retail brand selling stylish yet affordable products. During his time there, Johnson negotiated a contract with designer Michael Graves, beginning Target’s profitable partnerships with high end designers, which enhanced its brand image as a chic, fashion-forward retailer. Starting in 2000, he worked with Steve Jobs to develop the wildly successful Apple retail stores. Johnson was the brainchild behind the â€Å"Genius Bars† concept, a free technical help and support area staffed by knowledgeable customer service representatives, widely touted as one of the most innovative retail concepts of the last decade. Johnson was regarded by many as creative and determined; according to a friend, â€Å"What people loved more about him than his talent was his persistence. He was just relentless.†7 Johnson’s deep retail experience combined with his wholesome charisma and boyish enthusiasm made him the perfect change agent. The media dubbed him the â€Å"Steve Jobs of the retail industry† and on the day his appointment was announced J.C. Penney’s stock jumped 18%. An Industry under Pressure J.C. Penney’s 2011 sales were lower than they were in the 1990s and the retail landscape was getting more competitive. Department stores, in particular, were under increased pressure. New retail formats, such as big box retailers like Walmart that operated free standing supercenters selling mass merchandise and small specialty stores like Gap and J. Crew that were located in shopping malls and offered specialized merchandise, were squeezing department stores out of the market (see Exhibit 2). An emerging challenge came from large international clothing retailers, such as HM and ZARA, that were aggressively entering the U.S. market. These retailers relied on shorter product life cycles and partnerships with top designers to offer fast-fashion merchandise at relatively low prices. Johnson explained the challenge as he stepped into his new role: Over the past 30 years the department store has become a less relevant part of the retail infrastructure, largely because of decisions the stores have made. As America exploded with big box and specialty stores and new shopping formats, department stores abdicated their unique role instead of engaging the competition. They retreated from categories and assortments that made them distinctive. Department stores were once the most popular places for Americans to shop, offering distinctive merchandise in elegant settings that provided special services, such as tearooms, salons, and on-site tailoring, and served as social hubs. Johnson reminisced, â€Å"In the golden age of department stores, America’s families came for more than just to shop. They were able to have fun experiences and were offered a range of useful services. . . . If we want to transform the department store, we have to understand what happened. These stores were a pillar of the community.†9 Johnson, unlike others, believed that department stores could be revived. â€Å"There’s no reason department stores can’t flourish. They can be people’s favorite place to shop. They’ve got all these strategic advantages—the lowest cost of real estate, exceptional access to merchandise, scale to create enormous marketing power, colocation with specialty stores. And people like stores  with huge assortments and one-stop shopping.†10 J.C. Penney’s performance had been lackluster for quite some time, and the retailer was losing market share even within the shrinking department store channel (see Exhibits 3 and 4). Competitors Macy’s and Kohl’s were nipping at J.C. Penney’s business from both the high and low end. The average J.C. Penney customer only visited a store four times per year and sales per square foot ($156) were low compared to those of its competitors and the specialty stores Johnson hoped to emulate (Gap $30011, Apple $5,626 in sales per square foot). 12 Department stores and big box stores had increased their promotional budgets since the outbreak of the Great Recession in 2007 and most used blockbuster sales, coupons, and frequent price promotion to drive purchases. According to consulting firm A.T. Kearney, more than 40% of the items Americans bought in 2011 were bought on sale, up from 10% in 1990.13 Many retailers were eager to wean shoppers off of the big discounts that had become commonplace. Competition was also increasing from online retailing. Yet Johnson believed brick and mortar stores were still relevant, â€Å"Physical stores are still the primary way people acquire merchandise and I think that will be true 50 years from now. . . . A store has got to be much more than a place to acquire merchandise. It’s got to help people enrich their lives. If the store just fulfills a specific product need, it’s not creating new types of value for the consumer. It’s transacting. Any website can do that.†14 Many of J.C. Penney’s largest competitors, such as Macy’s, seemed to have a different  view and were investing heavily in their e-commerce operations and in catering to what they called the â€Å"omnichannel† consumer, who accessed the retailer through the web, on mobile devices or in physical stores (often as part of the same purchase decision). Although it had been a pioneer in multi-channel commerce, with 2001 combined cata log and web sales of nearly $3.4 billion, J.C. Penney’s ecommerce sales had stagnated over the last three years while those of Macy’s and Kohl’s had grown substantially during the same time frame.15 (See Exhibit 5 for E-commerce sales growth). J.C. Penney’s Radical Makeover Following his appointment in November 2011, Johnson determined that nothing short of a complete overhaul would solve J.C. Penney’s problems. Just two months after taking the helm, Johnson and his newly recruited leadership team, culled largely from Apple and Target, announced a radical repositioning of the J.C. Penney business model and brand. Following the announcement, Forbes magazine dubbed J.C. Penney the most interesting retail story of the year, proclaiming, â€Å"This week, Johnson took a sledgehammer to the J.C. Penney way of doing business. It’s the most exciting thing I’ve seen in retail since Apple opened stores, again with Johnson at the helm.†16 The turnaround plan evoked J.C. Penney’s founding spirit, and Johnson declared it a reclamation of the company’s heritage. J.C. Penney’s website announced, â€Å"Over 100 years ago, James Cash Penney founded his company on the principle of treating customers the way he wanted to b e treated himself: fair and square. Today, rooted in its rich heritage, J.C. Penney Company, Inc. is re-imagining every aspect of its business in order to reclaim its birthright and become America’s favorite store. . . . At every visit, customers will discover straightforward Fair and Square Pricing.†17 The four-year plan involved several distinct, yet integrated elements that touched every part of the business and were designed to recreate a golden age department store that appealed to all Americans, across age, income, and geographic demographics. As Johnson explained, â€Å"We are going to rethink every aspect of our business, boldly pursue change, and create long-term shareholder value, as we become America’s favorite store. Every initiative we pursue will be guided by our core value to treat customers as we would like to be treated—fair and square.†18 New Logo J.C. Penney had been tinkering with its brand logo, changing it three times in three years. In 2011, the company asked the public for help in redesigning the logo in a crowd-sourcing experiment. The winning design was submitted by a University of Cincinnati student and was unveiled with much fanfare via social media. In 2012, Johnson scrapped this design and hired an agency to redesign the logo once again. The new logo evoked the American flag with red, white, and blue colors and the letters â€Å"jcp† in lower case font within a square that represented the new â€Å"Fair and Square† mantra. J.C. Penney, which many affectionately called â€Å"Penney’s† would now be known as â€Å"jcp.† (See Exhibit 6 for the new logo.) New Brand Spokesperson One of the most exciting and controversial developments of the plan was the announcement of comedian and talk show host Ellen DeGeneres as the new brand spokesperson. DeGeneres, who once worked at a J.C. Penney store as a teenager in Louisiana, appeared in television advertising, developed J.C. Penney themed skits for her popular talk show, and tweeted about the company on Twitter. Johnson proclaimed DeGeneres to be â€Å"one of the most fun and vibrant people in entertainment today, with great warmth and a down-to-earth attitude. . . . Importantly, we share the same fundamental values as Ellen.†19 Shortly after DeGeneres’ advertising debut, the conservative Christian group One Million Moms took offense, citing DeGeneres’ homosexuality as  problematic for the brand’s image and its traditional family shopper demographic. The group asked its members to boycott J.C. Penney and to call their local store manager to ask for DeGeneres’ removal as spokesperson. DeGeneres went on the offensive to defend her personal values and to reassert her relationship with her fans and with J.C. Penney, producing a witty, yet heartfelt response delivered on her talk show that quickly went viral on the social web. A firestorm erupted and played out on J.C. Penney’s Facebook page, where both pro- and anti-gay posters pledged their support for and/or rejection of the retailer. J.C. Penney survived the controversy by standing firmly behind its choice of spokesperson. The protest event generated significant positive press for the company and Facebook feedback was more positive than negative. Riding the wave of publicity, J.C. Penney went on to feature two gay dads in a widely touted Father’s Day advertising campaign. New Store Design While the new logo and spokesperson were short-term fixes that could be executed quickly, Johnson knew from his experience at Apple that, to really make a difference, he had to make significant changes to the product offering, a longer term proposition. He embarked on a multi-year plan to re-energize and redesign J.C. Penney’s product offering and its merchandising at retail. He began by forging new supplier relationships with top brands like Martha Stewart and hot designers like Nanette Lepore to create J.C. Penney-specific merchandise lines, a strategy reminiscent of Target. He then went to work to improve the quality of J.C. Penney’s sagging and dated private label brands, Worthington, St. John’s Bay, The Original Arizona Jeans Co, and Stafford, to reinvigorate them and restore their brand integrity. These efforts could also build on J.C. Penney’s recent purchase of the Liz Claiborne brands (which, among others, included Liz Claiborne branded apparel, L ucky Jeans, Kate Spade and Juicy Couture) and the ongoing opening of about 300 Sephora locations inside J.C. Penney stores, which offered a select set of Sephora beauty care products. 20 He envisioned the in-store retail environment as a series of interactive specialty â€Å"Shops,† along a visually engaging and vibrant â€Å"Street,† with a central â€Å"Square† that would serve as the social hub of the store. J.C. Penney’s vast array of  merchandise, currently hung on crowded racks and shelves, would be regrouped and merchandised in 80-100 â€Å"stores-within-a-store,† each meant to simulate the buying experience of a specialty shop. The first shop to appear was devoted to jeans and featured a denim bar, trained fit specialists, and Levi’s innovative Curve ID program that helped women find the right jeans for their body type (see Exhibit 7). Plans for future shops included Joe Fresh and Mango. The company planned to install two to three new shops each month, beginning in August 2012, over a four year period. Many of the shops were designed to pull in younger shoppers, a deficit in J.C. Penney’s current customer base. The â€Å"Street† would consist of wider aisles with a fresh, clean look, more streamlined with less signage and bold, colorful, upscale graphics featuring the square from the new logo (see Exhibit 8). Each month would have its own unique personality and color-coded signage that changed the look of the store to freshen its appeal. Ten thousand square feet at the center of the store would be designated for the â€Å"Town Square.† In this area, J.C. Penney planned to offer complimentary services, such as gift wrapping, and special promotional events to create fun and excitement. During the summer of 2012, the company offered free hot dogs and ice cream, free â€Å"Go USA† Olympic t-shirts during the Summer Olympics, and free back-to-school haircuts for school children. Johnson summarized his vision for the new environment, â€Å"We are going to make the store a place people love to come-just to come. We’ll transform the buying experience not unlike what we did at Apple.†21 New Sales Structure To support the new retail environment, Johnson needed to re-energize J.C. Penney’s sales force. His goal was to create a team of specialists who were product experts, much like Apple’s Geniuses. J.C. Penney sales clerks had always been paid commissions based on how much they sold. This system encouraged sales clerks to sell aggressively to customers. Johnson felt that this aggressive sales culture did not fit with the new â€Å"Fair and Square† positioning and set out to change it by eliminating all sales commissions. It was a controversial decision, especially among the sales employees, many of whom had just been through a wave of layoffs and were nervous about keeping their jobs. Johnson explained his rationale for the change, â€Å"A lot of great retailers don’t use commissions. We never used them at Apple. . . . And I think it’s a better thing to do to pay people in advance for what you want them to do and let them look in the customers’ hearts and try to help them. . . . We think we’ve got a great way to do business for the middle class, where we really put a big bear hug around the middle class and help them look better and live better every day.† 22 But some employees expressed dissatisfaction, â€Å"I must take offense at Ron Johnson’s reason for eliminating commission. Ron Johnson should remember that J.C. Penney is not Target, we are better. When people come into our store they expect to be greeted, they expect someone to be available to help, they expect good service,† said a sales associate. Another associate claimed, â€Å"I lost about $250 per pay period and Mr. Johnson thinks this is FAIR and SQUARE. From all of J.C. Penney’s little workers, this stinks.† Another lamented, â€Å"We long-term employees are heartbroken at what we see around us. Ron Johnson may have a grand plan, and it may work, but we feel like he is destroying ‘us’ in the process of implementation. It has become an awful place to work, short-staffed to the point that we struggle to properly service what customers we do have.†23 But without a doubt, the cornerstone of the change program was a new pricing scheme that many believed to be the riskiest part of the strategy. The New Pricing Strategy Looking at the numbers, Johnson believed that he needed to address the existing high-low pricing structure that had gotten out of control. J.C.  Penney’s customers had become hooked on the deals; over the past ten years, the average discount to get customers to buy went from 38% to 60%24. â€Å"At some point you, as a brand, just look desperate. J.C. Penney spent over $1 billion [on price promotion], and the customer didn’t even pay attention,† he agonized.25 In his first report to shareholders, he spoke about the detrimental long term effects of excessive price promotions, â€Å"Plagued by the ‘games’ of the industry over the last several decades, retailers-including J.C. Penneybarraged customers with a constant stream of promotions that proved to be ineffective. Each time we participated in this pricing war, we were discounting our brand and eroding the trust and loyalty of our customers.† The company announced its â€Å"Fair and Square† pricing plan in January 2012. The plan had three pricing tiers. First, the company reduced prices by an average of 40% to offer consumers an â€Å"Every Day Fair and Square† price. Second, every month the company ran a â€Å"Month Long Values Event† with special pricing on seasonal items, marked down an additional 20-29%, meant to coincide with events such as Back-to-School and Father’s Day. Third, every first and third Friday of each month (paydays for many working Americans) were designated â€Å"Best Price Fridays,† where J.C. Penney would offer special deals on items it was looking to liquidate, about 20% of the store’s stock, at deals of about 1/3 off of the every day price. Each price point was supported by unique signage at retail, (see Exhibit 9). J.C. Penney eliminated its famous â€Å"Doorbuster† sales, such as those that it traditionally held on Black Friday, the day after Tha nksgiving and the busiest shopping day of the year, that featured outrageously low prices on  over 500 items from 4:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Exhibit 10 shows an example of the different price tiers. Importantly, J.C. Penney avoided using the words â€Å"sale† and â€Å"clearance† in its messaging of the new program to consumers. Said Johnson, â€Å"Sale is not in our vocabulary. . . . Every item in the store is priced to be its best price every day.†27 The â€Å"Fair and Square† price was the only price listed on the price tag, moving J.C. Penney away from the practice of listing the manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) and the sale price, which was intended to show customers how much they were saving relative to somewhat fictitious list price. In the highly competitive world of retailing, nearly no one priced goods at the MSRP. Breaking with another retailing best-practice, J.C. Penney ended all of its â€Å"Fair and Square† prices with .00 instead of .99, rounding up to the nearest dollar. Johnson also instituted a no restrictions â€Å"Happy Returns† return policy, designed to take the hassle out of returning items, eve n without a receipt. In effect, the new plan combined elements of two traditional pricing strategies. The â€Å"Every Day Fair and Square† prices represented an everyday-low-price (EDLP) strategy, while the â€Å"Month Long Values† and â€Å"Best Price Fridays† maintained some emphasis on high-low pricing. High-low pricing strategies are intended to allow retailers to use price discrimination to maximize the average price paid by customers who differ in their willingness to pay. Customers who are highly price sensitive wait for sale days to purchase, use coupons and rebates, scour the crowded clearance racks to find a bargain, and take advantage of retailer’s door buster specials on big shopping days like Black Friday. Customers who are less price sensitive buy when it is convenient for them, tend not to use coupons and rebates due to the time it takes to clip and organize them, and rarely join in on door buster specials or clearance sales. Thus, the retailer reaps higher non-sale prices from many of their purchases. However, given the predominance of high-low pricing strategies across retailers in today’s marketplace, even less price-sensitive consumers had become savvy about waiting for sales to buy or comparing across retailers to find the store offering the best prices that week. Instantaneous price comparisons were  getting easier, given the rise of mobile applications that allowed a consumer to scan a bar code on a product and find the lowest price for it at online retailers and nearby stores. Kohl’s was an aggressive high-low retailer, featuring small electronic signs on shelves throughout the store that displayed original prices and discounted prices. These signs allowed Kohl’s the flexibility to change prices instantly, to facilitate frequent, short-term sales. Marketing consultant Jonathan Salem Baskin offered his thoughts on the high-low practice retailers engage in, â€Å"When no price is ‘the’ price for an item, it means that instead retailers engage customers in a constant cat-andmouse game in pursuit of the truth. No individual store can own sale pricing; each simply participates in a round-robin of discounted offers that its competitors have and/or will again match.†28 Johnson felt that today’s retail customer was savvy, â€Å"The customer knows the right price. To think you can fool a customer is kind of crazy.†2 EDLP pricing strategies, such as that offered by Walmart, promise consumers that they will pay the same, low price every day. This frees customers from waiting for sale periods to purchase, and eliminates the need for retailers to offer coupons to drive purchase or to engage in constant advertising of price promotions via weekly newspaper circulars. EDLP is designed to make customers feel comfortable purchasing at the retailer without worrying that they could be getting a better deal somewhere else or at another time. In general, most department store retailers used high/low pricing strategies. Macy’s and Sears had flirted with EDLP pricing in the past; but both had largely abandoned it once they realized how addicted department store customers were to sales, coupons, and other discount programs. Although  Macy’s still offered a limited set of items at an â€Å"everyday value† price, it heavily supplemented this practice with aggressive coupons and frequent sales events for the majority of the goods it carried. Macy’s customer Marietta Landon summarized the promotion addicted retail climate, â€Å"Especially Macy’s—they make every weekend a sale with saving passes and advertising galore.†30 The new pricing strategy was a big shift for J.C. Penney, a company known and loved for its JCP Cash coupons distributed to customers via direct mail and email, its RedZone Clearance aisles, and its weekly circulars advertising that week’s price specials. The â€Å"Fair and Square† pricing program would eliminate all coupons and weekly circulars; instead the company would distribute a high quality, editorial content-heavy glossy magazine each month to highlight its Monthly Values. The 96page magazine was as much a branding vehicle as it was a promotional one. $80 million in promotional funding would support each Monthly Value event. J.C. Penney now promised its customers that they would not have to â€Å"jump through hoops to get a good price†. Johnson hailed the strategy for its simplicity and transparency and the way it respected customers, â€Å"People are disgusted with the lack of integrity on pricing,†31 adding that â€Å"We want shoppers to shop on their terms, not ours.† Johnson intimated that â€Å"By setting our store monthly and maintaining our best prices for an entire month, we feel confident that customers will love shopping when it is convenient for them, rather than when it is expedient for us.†32 Michael Francis, J.C. Penney’s new president, was excited about the new pricing moves, â€Å"We are redefining the J.C. Penney brand so we become a store for all Americans, by offering an experience they cannot get anywhere else. This will start by freeing consumers from the barrage of promotions and undifferentiated shopping experiences they have become used to and replacing it with something entirely fresh and new that is evident in every aspect of our store.†33 He added, â€Å"It will be a breath of much-needed fresh air and give [customers] reasons to visit J.C. Penney more often than ever before. Our objective is to make our customers love to shop again.†34 Francis was recruited by Johnson from Target and offered a signing bonus of $12 million  and a total compensation package worth $44.7 million. He was charged with managing the marketing and merchandising efforts. Reactions to â€Å"Fair and Square† Pricing  Industry observers could not contain their strong opinions on the new pricing strategy. Some called the move â€Å"refreshing, daring and probably exactly what the retailer needs,† noting that â€Å"it’s a shocking move for any retailer, let alone a department store where high-low pricing and promotions have long been the norm.†35 But others were far more skeptical. Pricing consultant Rafi Mohammed proclaimed, â€Å"J.C. Penney lacks the differentiation to make this pricing strategy successful. . . . When selling a relatively undifferentiated product, the only lever to generate higher sales is discounts. Even worse, if competitors drop prices on comparable products, J.C. Penney’s hands are tied-it is a sitting duck that can’t respond.†36 Mohammed also noted, â€Å"J.C. Penney’s Every Day prices will not be as low as the biggest discounts that it once offered. Instead, its pitch to customers is why play the â€Å"wait for the rock-bottom price† game when Penney offers â€Å"pretty good† prices every day?†37 Ignoring the skeptics, Johnson was committed to his new pricing plan, rolling it out across all stores on February 1st, after deciding not to conduct market research to test its appeal with customers, â€Å"We debated whether there was a way to test. . . . We would have needed everyone to run the old business model and would have had to add new people to run a test in 10 percent of our stores. . . . We knew the customer would love the new strategy. We decided to get on with our future.†38 Based on his experience at Apple, Johnson also believed that  customers didn’t always know what they wanted; it was up to companies to lead the way, â€Å"You can’t follow the customer. You’ve got to lead your customers—anticipate their needs and meet those needs, even before they know what they want.†39 A lot was riding on the decision. COO Mike Kramer explained, â€Å"We are fundamentally reimagining every aspect of our business and we fully expect the bold and strategic changes we are making to our operations will result in improved profitability. This should enable us to fund the transformation of J.C. Penney’s store experience, while at the same time returning value to shareholders with steady earnings growth.†40 Communicating â€Å"Fair and Square† DeGeneres was featured in a new advertising campaign to usher in the new â€Å"Fair and Square† positioning. Bearing the tagline â€Å"Enough. Is. Enough,† the campaign encouraged consumers to revolt against complex pricing structures, never-ending sales, an overabundance of direct mail circulars and coupons cluttering their mailboxes, and the hassles of returning unwanted products without a receipt. In the ads, DeGeneres travels back in time to ancient Rome, Edwardian England, and the Wild West to learn if today’s confusing price environment was always the norm. She encourages customers to reject the crazy price environment. The creative campaign was witty and contemporary; many found it reminiscent of Target’s award-winning advertising. It was quite a departure from J.C. Penney’s previous campaigns that were more typical of department store messaging. Launched during the Academy Awards broadcast, the ads appeared to be a hit with consumers. Ace Metrix reported that the ads scored well above average on persuasion and watchability metrics and achieved a personal best score for J.C. Penney.41 Initial Results In the first three months following the launch, 67% of products sold at J.C. Penney were purchased at the â€Å"Fair and Square† price, the highest price the retailer listed. Johnson could not hold back his satisfaction, â€Å"This is profound. People are now buying at the first price, [the] right price. That’s the dream of every retailer.†42 However, trouble was looming on the horizon. Through mid-March, mothers, a critically important target market for most department stores, steadily scored J.C. Penney lower on valueperception scores. These women, suddenly not receiving coupons and not seeing the weekly price promotions in the circulars, were downgrading their opinion of whether J.C. Penney offered good value for the money.43 This was despite the fact that J.C. Penney’s prices during the time period were actually quite competitive. A Deutsche Bank analyst report showed that for a random basket of 50 identical items, J.C. Penney was 9% cheaper than Macy’s, and 26% cheaper than Kohl’s. Consumer research firm BIGInsight reported negativity among adults 18+ for whether J.C. Penney’s advertising campaign was â€Å"Hot or Not?† and showed Macy’s gaining ground on J.C. Penney in women’s apparel shopping trips following the launch (See Exhibit 11). Morgan Stanley’s Michelle Clark reported consumer survey results revealing that â€Å"Shoppers think that the J.C. Penney of old actually offered better value than the â€Å"fair and square† model introduced a few months ago. Of the consumers who had been inside a J.C. Penney store since February, more cited higher prices (rather than lower) at the department store. In fact, only 16% of shoppers associated â€Å"Best Prices† with JCP. Furthermore, customers cited that bargains were harder to find and fewer aisles with deals were evident (see Exhibit 12).45 Loyal J.C. Penney customers were moving away from the retailer. One shopper, Wendy Ruud, complained that she was no longer receiving coupons from J.C. Penney and was shopping more frequently at Target and Walmart, â€Å"The closest J.C. Penney is about a half hour away from me. If I don’t get a special  discount, it’s not worth the trip,† she said.46 Another shopper e-mailed the Huffington Post saying, â€Å"They are catering to the younger shopper, and it isn’t the younger shopper that kept them afloat.†47 A third who considered herself â€Å"frumpy and proud,† commented, â€Å"He’s working hard to ‘de-frump’ the store without considering that many if not most of its customers might have shopped there precisely because they like the more conservative frumpy look.† 48 These early indicators played out in J.C. Penney’s first earnings report following the launch of the new plan. Johnson had to announce a significant earnings loss ($163 million) based on plummeting sales revenues (-19% overall, with e-commerce sales dropping 28%), gross margin compression (from 40.5% to 37.6%), and decreasing customer conversion. Johnson asked investors to be patient, calling the first quarter sales drop â€Å"the price we’re paying to get integrity back.†49 He held fast to his convictions, â€Å"We had to make the bold step. It’s one big year we have to go through. It’s really hard but we’ll get through it.†50 Investors showed no patience, sending the company’s stock down 20%, the biggest single day drop in over four decades.51 The critics did not waste time to pile on Johnson. Time columnist Brad Tuttle wrote, JC Penney’s message seems to be one that some shoppers don’t want to hear. They like playing games and hunting for deals, and the markdown from the original price is how they keep score. By eliminating coupons and most â€Å"sales,† JC Penney has been saying it doesn’t want to play games anymore. That sounds wonderful, but among certain shoppers, it’s the equivalent of grabbing the ball and taking it home. No more games, no more fun-and not much reason to visit JC Penney on a regular basis anymore. If, for the most part, a store’s prices are going to remain the same tomorrow, and next week, and the month after that, there’s not much incentive to browse the aisles for special deals today.52 A Forbes columnist concurred, â€Å"By taking away the weekly sales customers loved, Johnson abandoned his core JCP shopping enthusiasts. In effect, signaling to the core JCP enthusiastsshoppers who have sustained J.C. Penney through its years of retail muddling, that they no longer mattered. He confused them, and he pissed them off.†53 The Motley Fool sarcastically  quipped, â€Å"The silver lining in J.C. Penney’s awful report is that Sears [struggling with its own dismal results] has someone it can laugh at now.†54 Macy’s CFO Karen Hoguet was crowing that her company was benefiting from J.C. Penney’s missteps, reporting that sales in Macy’s stores that shared a mall with J.C. Penney were up significantly since the changes.55 And J.C. Penney’s apparel suppliers were becoming anxious, as their sales dropped precipitously, some as much as 70% over the prior year. One prominent supplier indicated that he was increasing his business with Kohl’s to make up for the shortfalls at J.C. Penney.56 These developments were sobering for Johnson yet he remained unfazed, â€Å"It’s been tougher than we anticipated†¦You know, we expected to be down. We are down a little more than we thought, but not enough to change the strategy†¦We’re treating this company as a startup†¦We’re inventing a whole new model to do business†¦It is a one year transition that’s part of a multi-year transformation. But once we get to one year of de-promoting or repurchasing our integrity, I fully expect us to grow. And so we’ve just got to get through that year. And we’ll get through it.†57 Speaking at Fortune magazine’s Brainstorm Tech conference in July, Johnson reiterated his support for the new pricing strategy, claiming that his board was â€Å"totally supportive†. When asked if he had a contingency plan whereby the company would revert back to high/low pricing, Johnson swore it was not in the cards, â€Å"It won’t happen while I’m here because I know it’s not the right thing to do. And I know this is what connects completely with our own unique heritage. And every longstanding company has a DNA in its core that  typically goes back to its founder. And when you reconnect with that, that’s when good things happen. That’s what Wal-Mart has had to do. And it’s really led to great success. That’s what Apple had to do when Steve came back. That’s what we’re going to do.†58 Making Some Adjustments As J.C. Penney management tried to decipher the disappointing results, much of the blame was put on the marketing execution and on customers’ stubborn reliance on price promotions. Mike Kramer, J.C. Penney’s new chief operating officer expressed his frustration, â€Å"Coupons, that drug. We did not realize how deep some of our customers were into this. . . . We have got to wean them off this and educate our consumers.†59 Johnson blamed the marketing execution, claiming that it failed to clearly communicate the new pricing strategy, â€Å"Our execution wasn’t what we needed. Our pricing is kind of confusing. Our marketing kind of overreached [Now] the most important thing is to educate consumers on the price changes and make sure the core customer understands J.C. Penney still has products they love, at exceptional value, every day.†60 Francis took the fall for the poor earnings, abruptly leaving the company a mere eight months after he started as pr esident. Following Francis’ departure, Johnson took responsibility for marketing and merchandising, believing that customers just didn’t understand the story behind â€Å"Fair and Square.† He tweaked the marketing plan, adding five additional â€Å"Best Price Fridays† to the calendar, including the important Fridays anchoring Memorial Day Weekend and Black Friday. The advertising creative was changed to incorporate a harder-hitting â€Å"Do the Math† positioning (See Exhibit 13 for an example). In June, J.C. Penney reintroduced the â€Å"S† word â€Å"sale† into its advertising to help clarify that its Best Price Friday deals actually extended through the weekend until all inventory was sold. Under pressure, Johnson speculated what his old mentor, Steve Jobs, who passed away in October 2011, would have advised, â€Å"I think Steve’s advice would be don’t worry about what others say. Trust your instincts. Do the right thing†¦Stay the course. But he would also say the essence is in the simplicity. And so he would have liked where we are going on pricing, but he would have said ‘You’ve got to clean it up. You’ve got to be more direct’.†61 Johnson buckled down, â€Å"What you can’t do is chicken out.  If you had looked at the data on the Genius Bar after a year and a half, we should have taken it out of the store. But it was something I believed in with every bone in my body.†62 He continued, â€Å"The world moves by innovators and innovators have to have the courage to imagine something that hasn’t been done before and the conviction to see it through†¦It is really hard. It takes a lot of courage. You’ve got to be able to have a few arrows shot in your back.

T.S Eliot’s Preludes and The Love Song of J.Alfred. Prufrock, are examp

T.S Eliot’s Preludes and The Love Song of J.Alfred. Prufrock, are examples of modernist poetry which illustrate the concerns of modernist poets. Explain how the poetry you have studied reflects some of the major concerns of its context? In your answer refer closely to two poems by T.S. Eliot. T.S Eliot’s Preludes and The Love Song of J.Alfred. Prufrock, are examples of modernist poetry which illustrate the concerns of modernist poets. The modern era, which lasted between 1885 to 1940 was concerned with challenging the traditional views of life. In terms of literature, Eliot was a leading figure in challenging the style and verse of traditional romantic poetry. Preludes portrays the hopeless and monotonous life of the working class in an urbanised, dirty, industrialised city. The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock primarily represents Eliot’s view on relationships, society and the human sub conscience. The modernist movement in poetry began in 1910, where significant figures such as Ezra Pound and Jules Laforgue’s styles clashed with the romantic styles. This greatly influenced Eliot’s style and impacted his way of writing. Some main features used include imagism, allusion and a free verse rhyme scheme. Imagism is mainly concerned with the use of precise images to capture a moment, or feeling of a character. In Preludes, Eliot creates an image of a yellow fog â€Å"that rubs it’s back †¦ licking it’s tongue into the corners of the evening†¦Ã¢â‚¬  which could also be interpreted as an image of an â€Å"urban cat† at night time lurking around the city. It is this image which conflicts with the romanticist’s imagery of nature – it represents the ugliness of urban fog. Allusion is an indirect reference to another tex... ...e subconscious. The opening sentence â€Å"Let us go then, you and I † is an example of Prufrock’s inner self speaking to his outer self. As the poem flows, the attitude from â€Å"I will go† changes to a hesitant â€Å"I might go†. This is a response to the idea of Prufrock approaching the woman he loves to ask her for her hand in marriage. Thus you can see how the Eliot reflects some of the major concerns of the context – modernism. The modernist movement broke away from the rules of romantic poetry in terms of structure. It also looked away from the beauty of nature and focused upon the â€Å"ugliness of urbanisation†, the power of the subconscious and the social issues such as women and the working class society. Eliot’s poems Preludes and The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock are specimens of true modernist poetry which reflect the major concerns of the modernist time.

Cultural competence and its promotion in the education system Essay

The demise of racial segregation in the 1960s saw the emergence of cultural diversity with colored and non colored students now being taught under the same roof. From then on, schools have seen an increasingly diverse mix of students, matters having been complicated further by globalization, which has resulted in more diverse cultures making the United States their country of choice. Diversity is good and must be appreciated; the only problem is that if not handled well it may have the potential of creating apathy between the different cultures making up the cultural mix so that instead of a system becoming a cultural melting pot, it becomes the crystallization chamber. The aim of this paper is to examine the role of culture in molding competent students. Cultural competence More often than not, competence is construed in its narrowest definition, which is mostly in reference to acquisition of the necessary skills for the performance of a job. For this paper however, competence will be in reference to both culture and knowledge. Ahlawat and Ahlawat (2006) found the influence of globalization to be so enormous to the extent that multicultural diversity is now amongst the key ingredients for students aspiring for a global career. An equally important finding is by Thomas (2006), who emphasized the importance of cultural intelligence in the business environment. The role of culture within the organizations is captured by Berrell and Gloet (1999), who did a study on influence of culture in organizational culture and found it significant. The study implies that for one to blend seamlessly in to an organization there must be a level of cultural competence because there seems to be a thin line between the culture within and without the organization. For instance, according to the study, an organization within Malaysia will most likely have a culture similar to that of Malaysian people. If one has problems adapting to the Malaysian culture then the person’s work output may be greatly limited. The role of the education system in such a scenario will be to create a culturally competent global citizen. It cannot of course be expected that students will be trained to adapt to certain cultures only, instead, skills to adapt to diverse cultures will be imparted. Such a skill is given by Arizaga, Waldo and Castellanos (2005), who found that teachers who participated in multicultural enhancement program showed increase cultural competence in the form of listening and expressive skills. Evidently, these are adaptive skills that once acquired may be applied in any cultural setting. Educator’s role in promoting cultural competence The design of the education system should ensure that it produces tolerant people capable of adapting to any cultures. One of the ways given by Arizaga et al (2005) is by having multicultural enhancement programs to promote listening and expressive skills. Pope and Mueller (2005) also emphasize the need to integrate diversity issues in designing education programs. This can perhaps be described as the cornerstone of achieving cultural competence because if its importance can be taken in to account in the training of educators then eventually the educators that will end up in the field preparing the students will know what it entails to be culturally competent, and will thereafter pass on the skill. Pope, Mueller and Reynolds (2009) appear to agree with the importance of having culturally competent educators when it pays tribute to student affairs professionals for the increased number of multicultural scholarships in the last three decades. The emphasis should therefore be on getting culturally competent educators on board the educational system if substantial results are to be expected. . Further to that, the authors are also urging the educators not to simply embrace diversity; they should actually seek it proactively. In addition to promoting cultural competence in as far as interacting with people from other ethnic, racial and national cultures, the education system should promote tolerance to homosexuals. This is according to Liang and Alimo (2005), who suggested that the education system could promote a more positive attitude of heterosexual students towards homosexual students by encouraging interaction between the two groups, something the study found to increase tolerance between the two groups. An equally important aspect of attitude development in the education system is the acquisition of positive views of self worth and meaningfulness Coll and Zalaquet (2007). Its importance in promoting cultural competence may not be obvious, but it is not hard to imagine how a person with a feeling of high self worth and meaning will find it rational to respect other people’s rights. A challenge to achieving cultural diversity is presented by Salazar (2005) who cites challenges faced by counsellors of color. Counselors of color according to the research are faced with prejudices in their interactions with white middle class students. Sadly, this may be an in built mentality, which may take some time to get rid of but fortunately, cultural competence presents one of the remedies to this inappropriate attitude. Implications of the findings Most people spend over two decades in school, meaning that the education system plays a big role in shaping the national psyche. Among other functions, Gay (2009) says that education plays an important role bringing up constructive students. The element of constructiveness goes beyond cultural competence and ropes in other areas such as raw knowledge and social skills. In fact, according to the article the education system may play role in promoting democracy. The upshot of all this is that an educator must realize that the challenges and objectives of the education system are dynamic and for one to remain relevant, it is important to continuously adapt to the changes. For instance, a few years ago it would have been unthinkable that the education system would want to promote tolerance towards homosexuals; these were outcasts for whom there was little concern. However, the reality of the output focused employment present today has ensured increased tolerance to such people and thus the need for a change in approach. An educator will be differentiated from any other knowledgeable person from their ability to produce all rounded graduates. Some of the important traits to be considered include cultural competence and tolerance. For example, if the task is to teach students mathematics without considerations to the other aspects then that can even be done by anybody with the basic knowledge needed to teach the particular subject. The professional educator must be easy to differentiate from other people possessing the same level of knowledge, and one of the hallmarks of this is the ability to produce culturally competent students among other things. Conclusion From the study, cultural competence has proven to be a very important subject area for one’s development. Most people spend over two decades in school, meaning that they will acquire some of their lifelong traits there. Global occupational mobility is on the rise and one of the key ingredients to it is cultural competence. People with less of it will have a very hard time adapting to the different work environments that will be made available by the increased mobility. One’s work output is not a function of skills competence only; it must also include the person’s ability to work with people, which means adopting the narrow minded definition of education will produce half baked students. References Ahlawat, S. , & Ahlawat, S. (2006, ). Competing in the Global Knowledge Economy: Implications for Business Education.. Journal of American Academy of Business, 8(1), 101-105. Arizaga, M. B. , Waldo, M. , & Castellanos, L. (2005). Multicultural Sensitivity and Interpersonal Skills Training for Preservice Teachers. Journal of Humanistic Counseling, Education and Development, 44(2), 198-202. Berrell, M. , & Gloet, M. (1999). Reflections on the cultural dimensions of educational administration. EAF Journal, 13(2), 10. Coll, J. , & Zalaquet, C. (2007). The Relationship of Worldviewsof Advisors and Students and satisfaction with advising: A Case of Homogenous. Journal of College Student Retention, 9(3), 273-281. Gay, G. (2009). Similar Concerns, Different Perspectives of Social Studies and Multicultural Education. Social Studies Review, 48(1), 25-27. Liang, C. , & Alimo, C. (2005). The Impact of White Heterosexual Students’ Interactions on Attitudes Toward Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual People: A Longitudinal Study. Journal of College Student Development, 46(3), 237-250. Pope, R. , & Mueller, J. (2005). Faculty and Curriculum: Examing Multicultural Competence and Inclusion. Journal of College Student Development, 46(6), 679-688. Pope, R. , Mueller, J. , & Reynolds, A. (2009). Looking Back and Moving Forward: Future Directions for Diversity Research in Student Affairs. Journal of College Student Development, 50(6), 640-659 Salazar, C. (2005). Outsiders in a White, Middle-Class System: Counselor Educators of Color on Academe. Jounral of Humanistic Counseling, Education and Development, 44(2), 240-252. Thomas, D. (2006). Domain and Development of Cultural Intelligence: The Importance of Mindfulness. Group & Organization Management, 31(1), 78-99.

Analysis of Arthur Young’s Travels in France

DEPARTMENT OF GOVERNMENT, HISTORY AND JUSTICE CAMPBELL UNIVERSITY ANALYSIS OF ARTHUR YOUNG’S TRAVELS IN FRANCE BY DANIELLE KING Submitted to Professor Ocana in partial fulfillment of the requirements for Western Civilization 112 November 3, 2010 Arthur Young was born on September 11, 1741 in Bradfield, a village in Suffolk, England. After he dropped out of school and acquired a job in a mercantile house, for which he was not suited for, Young began his writing career at the age of seventeen. He was much more inclined to write than work in a more commercial capacity as he later became a great English agriculture writer.Although Young was such a fantastic agriculture writer he is most known for his social and political writings. Young was not very successful with the land from the start; however, after inheriting the land around his home after the death of his mother and through a series of failed farming attempts elsewhere in England, he began to learn quite a lot about agricul ture. From this point Young began to write several books and journals about agriculture in and around England and his popularity grew tremendously. After having made quite a name for himself in the world of agriculture, Young began to travel outside of England.Young first went to Ireland in 1776 and published his findings there four years later with Tour in Ireland. Young’s most popular excursion was to France, which he first visited in 1787. Young explored the country in great detail learning a good deal from the people and the land. Young meticulously documented the condition of the soil and other agricultural data as well as his opinions as to the political and social reasons for Frances’ agricultural failure. This information was published in 1792 split into two volumes titled Travels in France.The reason this work was so important then and still important today is because Young gives a remarkable account of the social, economic, and political problems and struggle s leading up to and just after the beginning of the French Revolution. During the section of Travels in France that discussed his thoughts on the French Revolution, Young was enraged by much of what he saw. The issues that seemed to frustrate Young the most were unequal taxes, harsh penal codes, and a lack of justice in the court system. The first major dilemma Young discusses is a system of unequal taxes.He begins by giving the reader an understanding of how the kingdom was organized. Young says that the kingdom was broken into generalities with an intendant appointed to govern them. The generalities were broken down further into elections which were governed by â€Å"sub-de-legue†; this position was appointed by the intendant. Needless to say, the intendant held a vast amount of power particularly with regards to taxation. According to Young these intendants could â€Å"exempt, change, add, or diminish† taxes on a whim. (Young) With this type of control it is easy to see why befriending the intendant might be advantageous.It was known that the friends and family, even very distant relatives could benefit financially from a connection to the intendant. Naturally people without this connection were very upset as, since taxes still had to be paid to the kingdom, they were the ones to shoulder this financial burden. There were exemptions allowed for the intendants, sub-de-legues, nobility, clergy, and the friends and family of these people. The poor of the kingdom felt as though the people with the most economic resources were exempted from paying taxes because they were fortunate enough to have those resources.The second issue Young uncovers while traveling in Frances is the kingdoms’ unequal and unfairly harsh penal code. Young uses, as an example, the laws for salt smugglers. Taken from his Travels in France were eight extremely strict regulations covering the offenders accused of smuggling salt. The first law mentioned says that if five or more armed salt smugglers are gathered together in Provence they will be fined and spend nine years in jail. If these same people were anywhere else in the kingdom they would be put to death.The next law says that if less than five but more than one armed smugglers are gathered together they get a second chance. The first time they are caught meeting, they will be fined and sentenced to three years in jail. The second time they will be killed. The third rule discusses unarmed smugglers that have some sort of transportation to move the salt. This could be in the way of animals and or carts while traveling on land or a boat if the smuggler is on the water. At this point the punishments become slightly less severe with the first offence being only the fine of the previous law without the time in jail.However, if that fine is not paid then the same three years time will be served. With this law as well, the smuggler would have a second chance although the second offence carried a muc h stiffer penalty. In most of the kingdom a heaver fine was required as well as nine years jail time. In Provence, a smuggler could expect to go to jail for five years without the fine. In Dauphine, however, the second offence would take away a smuggler’s freedom for the rest of his life. The next law covers unarmed smugglers without transportation.This is the least severe of the punishments for males having only a small fine for the first offence. If the smuggler does not have the money to pay the fine they are flogged and branded. The second time they are caught is not much worse with a fine and six years jail time. The fifth law sets the punishments for women; it is very interesting that are given three chances and not given jail time for either offence. The first time they are sentenced with a very small fine and the second time a slightly larger fine. The husband is responsible for the fine. The third time they are flogged and permanently put out of the kingdom.The next law says that the child smugglers are treated the same as the women with both parents held liable for the fine. After the common people of the kingdom, the nobles are mentioned. If nobles are caught, their titles and estates are taken away from them. No fine or jail time is necessary for the same crime that common people could be put to death for. The last law in this excerpt discusses what Young thinks is the salt or revenue employee that smuggles on the side. This person would be sentenced to death. If this employee steals or transports the stolen salt they would be hung.This is the only law listed that describes a particular kind of death showing how important they felt this crime was. The final major issue Arthur Young found with the French during his journey through the kingdom was with the lack of justice in the court system. In his words the justice that was administered was â€Å"partial†, â€Å"venal†, and â€Å"infamous†. (Young) He goes on to say that after conversing with numerous men in several different areas around France all of them felt as if the legal system needed serious reform, as equal justice under the law was completely impossible due to widespread corruption.Young found that as two parties stood before the judge the winner of the dispute would be whichever party could bribe the judge more. Shockingly, this bribe did not always have to be monetary; it could also be the â€Å"beauty of a handsome wife† (Young) The only way justice would be served was if two conditions were both meet; neither party could have any connection to the judge (or anyone else in power) and neither party could have something of value to offer the judge, be it money, land, or women.If either of these conditions was not met, the party that knew the judge or had the available resources would be victorious. Furthermore, the judges had the authority to originate decrees. Not surprisingly, they did this without the permission of the King. As it turns out, these â€Å"parliaments† had configured a judicial system where they made the laws and then turned around and punished people for breaking these laws. Young had uncovered what he described as â€Å"a horrible system of tyranny†.Young’s main points of unbalanced taxes, unforgiving penal codes, and the deceitful legal system help to bring into focus his feelings of why the French were doomed for a revolution. He does a wonderful job of really capturing the feeling of the typical Frenchmen at the time. Although he arrived in the kingdom to evaluate the conditions of the soil and other aspects of the farming environment, he seemed to leave with a thorough understanding of French society in the late 1780’s. The only bias shown in the piece might be in that Young only makes note of the thoughts, fears, and complaints of the working class citizens.From the reading, it is difficult to get a sense of how the people in power felt about day-to-day lif e. Because of this one-sided account, any reader would automatically find themselves cheering for the â€Å"little people† and suppressing a growing detestation for persons of authority. The principle value of Arthur Young’s Travels in France is that the people of this day and age studying the French Revolution have an excellent report of some of the events leading up to it. Young goes deeper into the major concerns of the day than the average textbook can.The reader truly gets the opportunity to feel the pain of the local townspeople. Textbooks try to hit the highlights of history, which sticks mainly to important kings and key politicians, where in pieces like Young’s, readers get to understand the plight of the average Joe. Bibliography Stead, David. Arthur Young. EH. Net Encyclopedia 2003. http://eh. net /encyclopedia/article/stead. young Young, Arthur. Arthur Young’s Travels in France During the Years 1787, 1788, 1789. London: George Bell and Sons, 1 909.

A Study of Cinematography Techniques in Gallipoli essays

A Study of Cinematography Techniques in Gallipoli essays In the making of any good film, the use of different cinematographic techniques plays an essential role in grasping the viewers interest in the film. Any directors main goal is to keep to viewer interested throughout the whole story, and to really encourage the meaning behind the story. Filmmakers, in order to interact meaning, to captivate, and to generate a specific psychological, or emotional response in an audience, or viewer uses cinematographic techniques. I will argue that in the film Gallipoli, through the use of different cinematographic techniques, the character Archie loses his innocence through the bonds of friendship. The first time that we see the use of a cinematographic technique is when Archie and Frank meet each other for the first time at the championship sprinting race, for the 100-yard dash. The race starts, and after a little bit of sprinting we see Frank look over at Archie. This is where we see the use of the cinematographic technique of a subjective camera angle. A subjective camera angle is a shot that represents the point of view of a character, often a reverse angle shot, preceded by a shot of the character as he or she glances off-screen. We then are shown a view of Frank from Archies point of view. This use of a cinematographic technique is used to give the viewer an idea of Archies fearlessness to beat Frank who is his opponent at the time. In a sense this race, and the use of this technique shows Archies innocence as he is dressed in white, whereas Frank is dressed in black, which shows his rebellion. In addition during this race, we see the incorporation of another cinemato graphic technique, by the use of a something called a long shot. A long shot is a shot taken with the camera at a distance from its subject. The long shot is used at first showing Frank, and Archie at different ends of the screen. By the end of the race he shows both of them together in one screen....

Good Record Keeping in protecting Welfare of Patients Essays

Good Record Keeping in protecting Welfare of Patients Essays Good Record Keeping in protecting Welfare of Patients Essay Good Record Keeping in protecting Welfare of Patients Essay The intent of this essay is traveling to look at four of the rules from the Nursing Midwifery Council ( NMC ) papers, rules of good record maintaining. The NMC is the United Kingdom s regulator for the nursing and obstetrics professionals. It is a professional s duty to follow the NMC codification, rules of good record maintaining, to assist safeguard the wellness and well-being of the populace ( NMC, 2009 ) . These four rules chosen provinces, Persons should enter inside informations of any appraisals and reviews undertaken and supply clear grounds of the agreements that have been made for future and on-going attention, including any inside informations of information given about attention or intervention ( NMC, 2009 ) . Ensure records should be accurate and recorded in such a manner that the significance is clear and to boot ( NMC, 2009 ) . Where allow the individual in your attention or their carer should be involved in the record maintaining procedure ( NMC, 2009 ) and even tually Persons have a responsibility to pass on to the full and efficaciously with co-workers, guaranting that they have all information they need about the people in their attention ( NMC, 2009 ) . In add-on to these four rules this essay is traveling to discourse each rule and the impact they have on a patient s attention program and how they are maintained in a patient s attention program. Record maintaining is a cardinal portion of nursing and obstetrics pattern ( Giffiths et al, 2007:1324-1327 ) . The function of good record maintaining is to guarantee that all healthcare professionals know what attention and intervention the patient is having. The first rule of good record maintaining being discussed provinces persons should enter inside informations of any appraisals and reviews undertaken and supply clear grounds of agreements that have been made for the hereafter of ongoing attention. This should besides include inside informations of information given about attention and intervention ( NMC, 2009 ) . One of the chief evidenced based records in a attention scene is a attention program. A attention program is a written record that informs persons about the attention and intervention of the patient ( Barrett et al, 2009:5-6 ) . Care plans can be developed by utilizing, the nursing procedure. This involves a measure by measure attack affecting appraisal, planning, implementing and measuring. This method provides a frame work for professionals, enabling a attention program papers to be produced to run into the demands of the patient and protect their public assistance ( Wright, 2005:71-73 ) . : When a patient is admitted into a attention environment undergoing an appraisal is indispensable. This should cover all basic demands such as hygiene, societal, physical and safety demands of the patient, which besides includes internal homeostasis demands like temperature, pulsation, respiration and blood force per unit area ( Geyer, 2007:29-30 ) . While patients attention is ongoing, a papers that is widely used within an acute side of the wellness attention scene is EWS ; this early warning mark papers is a tool that protects the public assistance of patients while having attention from professionals. This tool can enable early sensing of the impairment of a patient, based on mensurating critical marks. This tool can foreground hazard when monitoring patients and observe when the demand for farther intercession is required off skilled practicians ( Mohammed et al, 2009:18-24 ) . Appraisals can affect a assortment of tools the intent of these tools is to assist professionals make t heir occupation decently and assist toward measuring precedence of attention ( Barrett et al, 2009:87-94 ) . Measuring and be aftering are ongoing while the patient is having intervention. Documenting in a patients record while attention is ongoing shows clear grounds of what as to be established, showing the interaction that multi disciplinary squads provides, from the clip a patient is admitted in to a attention puting to when they are discharged ( Barrett et al, 2009:20-23 ) . Within a attention program relevant information is stored about the patient, this should enable all professionals to develop a cognition of the patient and enable them to hold an empathic apprehension of the societal, psychological and physical well-being of that person ( Barrett et al, 2009:47-56 ) . A patients single file will besides incorporate inside informations about the history of the patient, this can foreground any hazard apparent, guaranting all professionals presenting attention to persons are cognizant of the patient s status, any known allergic reactions, attention required to be delivered and any intervention the patient is having. The appraisal and planning phase of the nursing procedure provides an accurate method of which the attention program papers can steer professionals. The implementing phase enables professionals to present the attention agreed and planned throughout written communicating. The evaluating phase enables professionals to see if attention has been planned efficaciously. These four methods of the nursing procedure is a demand when developing a attention program this so enables multi-disciplinary squads to be able to supply effectual attention when protecting the public assistance of patients ( Wright, 2005:71-73 ) . It is of import that the whole attention be aftering procedure is documented from appraisal to rating every bit shortly as it has happened, uncomplete paperss can do the patients to endure through no mistake of their ain, professionals have a legal duty to record paperss and the NMC insists that is has to be done good. There are a assortment of ways paperss can be recorded. Howe ver, written and electronic methods are the chief 1s widely used within a attention environment. With whatever method used records should stay accurate and easy understood. The rule of good record maintaining from the NMC, 2009 besides suggests that records should be accurate and recorded in such a manner that the significance is clear ( NMC, 2009 ) . Implementing good record maintaining in a attention program is relevant for the importance of advancing the public assistance of patients. All wellness records should be legible, as clinical records are shared the whole clip a patient is having attention or intervention. Health professionals read through records on a day-to-day footing and it is of import that the information in paperss can be understood ( Powell, 2009:300-301 ) . Records can incorporate hapless script and can be really hard to read, this can hold an consequence on how attention is delivered to the patient. If persons do non understand the authorship within a patient s records, errors can happen and set patients at greater hazard. Health attention records provide a batch of information about patients and it is critical it remains right. The type of mistakes made when entering information can include, indecipherable manus authorship, slang, spelling mistakes, typing mistakes and non entering indispensable information. Missing out information while documenting in records can set a patient at hazard and this highlights a cause for concern. For illustration a patient who has been given their medicine ; so the nurse who gave the medicine forgot to document it. If professionals do non have information of when and what clip and day of the month medical specialties where given to a patient, it may misdirect other nurses taking over from another displacement doing professional mistakes and hazard of an overdose may happen to the patient ( Dimond, 2005:568-570 ) . When entering in medical paperss utilizing medical abbreviations can be confusing, particularly if the nurse is non familiar with the medical nomenclature. Medical nomenclature can be shortened down into a assortment of abbreviations. The nursing and obstetrics council make it clear that abbreviations should non be used as there are dangers in utilizing them. Professionals may misidentify abbreviations in paperss and do injury to the patient if the misinterpretation is implemented to the patient. For case NFR ; non for resuscitation or either manner this could intend neurophysiological facilitation of respiration, which is a physical therapy. This abbreviation could do fatal effect if it suggests in a patient papers that the patient is non required to hold NFR and it is non made clear that within records. This is why abbreviations should non be used when entering information as all records should show a clear elaborate response ( Dimond, 2008:196-198 ) . Information in records should stay clear and accurate as they are a legal papers, non merely for the safety of the patient but it protects persons from charges of carelessness and other signifiers of malpractice. If a patient comes into any legal differences, paperss should stay professional as it is an single duty as a professional to be lawfully responsible for what they write and all records should be legible to stand up in tribunal if necessary ( Powell, 2009:300-301 ) , this shows how important record maintaining is. Brooker A ; Waugh 2007 provinces If nursing attention is non written down so it did non go on . When paperss are being produced, where allow the individual in your attention, or their carer, should be involved in the record maintaining procedure ( NMC, 2009 ) . This rule is an on-going development throughout nursing pattern, every bit good as affecting patients in any determinations about attention and intervention. Communication between nurse and patient as to be developed to consider on the agreement of attention. Information within this treatment may come from close household members or carers, if the patient is non able to talk for themselves. Professionals require Information from relations and other persons near to the household it is critical in the within the procedure of record maintaining, interchanging information is indispensable to supply safe attention to continue towards the patient. When information has been has been obtained from the individuals involved, consent does hold to be given by the patient/carer. Throughout the development of record maintaining it i s of import to affect the patient or carers to clear up what attention has been discussed, this is of import because the client s demands have to be agreed with the overall construct of the attention program and the procedure of its bringing. This enables information to be shared throughout multi-disciplinary squads and leting professionals throughout a assortment of services to hold entree to their medical records whenever they may necessitate it ( NMC, 2008 ) . Patient s records can be critical to staff members who do non cognize the patient to good, persons giving consent for their file to be shared helps professionals to make their occupation for the best involvement of the patient. This so allows the persons to supply a responsibility of attention and enables professionals to protect the public assistance of their patients. The last rule to be discussed to boot advises that Persons have a responsibility to pass on to the full and efficaciously with co-workers, guaranting that they have all information they need about the people in their attention ( NMC, 2009 ) . Nursing records are a important communicating tool ; health care records are mostly important in pass oning elaborate information from one service to another. Clinical records are a beginning of communicating throughout the health care sector, supplying information to protect the well-being of persons. It is indispensable that communicating is developed throughout multi-disciplinary squads to guarantee all information is passed on sing patients for which they have to present attention. When professionals are interchanging information it provides a foundation for which the continuity of attention to patients can go on. Information should be clearly reported to professionals so they are good informed of the client s status, non merely verbally b ut manually. ( McGeehan, 2007:51-54 ) . It is non merely about verbal communicating throughout handovers, passing over information at the terminal of a displacement can be rather brief, written certification gives professionals the chance to look up on patient s information which holds of import inside informations sing the patient. This is most valuable particularly for staff covering displacements, on some juncture s alleviation staff have to be called in to cover staff deficit, they would non cognize the patient and it enables them to read up and derive an penetration of the patient, including medical history, current intervention and what attention to be delivered, hence enabling them to present attention confidently ( Featherstone, 2008:860-864 ) . However, discoursing these four rules sing the procedure of record maintaining high spots the huge sum of impact these rules can hold throughout a attention program papers. This involves pass oning throughout recorded certification alarming multi-disciplinary squads of patient s inside informations based on facts. This allows professionals to cognize what the patient requires and go on the attention agreed to protect the patient from any injury. Communication as an impact throughout a attention program, all recorded information helps towards the patterned advance of continuity of attention that gets delivered throughout the whole health care sector enabling successful attention bringing. Care programs are a papers of grounds of agreements made of which has to be delivered and the attention that has been agreed. It provides stableness to patients and professionals in connexion to medical intercession between those involved guaranting a secure environment for which attention can be del ivered ( Barrett et al, 2009:13-14 ) . The impact these rules have on a attention program can be recognised but the recognition of the impact is highlighted when a attention program is being maintained. Keeping a attention program is a cardinal procedure which is established by reexamining and audits. Using these methods to keep a attention program is indispensable as it is an on-going procedure to protect the public assistance of patients, reexamining and scrutinizing can incite the cause for professionals to look into a attention program farther. Audited accounts of records allows professionals to find how well policies are implemented within a attention environment and how criterions of attention bringing are set. This helps set up best pattern in nursing records and helps to cut down any hazard towards the patient safety, which can originate from hapless record maintaining ( Griffiths et al, 2007:1324-1327 ) . Information that has been recorded draws attending upon the demands of the patient. If a patient was kicking of chest hurting over a period of clip this would alarm nurses and physicians to look into the job further and further medical intercession possibly required ( Geyer, 2007:23-24 ) . Simply making an audit raises consciousness of the demand to better pattern. Regular audits on certification have to take topographic point to place any necessary mistakes and guarantee criterions are maintained within health care installations. Reviewing is indispensable as ongoing factual records of a patient s wellness position can foreground alterations in a patient s status enabling professional s records to amend alterations for the best involvement of the patient when reexamining certification ( Brooker A ; Waugh, 2007:368-369 ) . Reappraisals are put in topographic point to assist measure a patient s program of attention, doing certain that the attention they receive is relevant to their demands at the clip. The purpose of reexamining paperss and how they are maintained in a attention program is intentionally to guarantee that the public assistance of the patient is being protected. Reviewing paperss in a attention program focuses really much on the person receiving attention. However, the individuals involved in supplying attention to the patient drama a large portion in the reviewing procedure to guarantee all attention is specific to the demands of the patient ( Miller A ; Gibb, 2007:271-271 ) . Reviews and audi ts play a large portion in how records are maintained maintaining paperss and pattern current and up to day of the month guaranting the best involvement of the patient. Decision The chief intent of record maintaining is the attention of the patient and it is considered as a cardinal portion of nursing pattern. It is important to the wellbeing of the patient and the bringing of attention ; it besides ensures that professional criterions are being upheld within a health care environment. Documents have an impact on everybody involved and the importance that records are written good and follow within the record maintaining rules, sets criterions to professional s in bend aid lend to the quality of attention being given. The effects of hapless record maintaining are rather clear hence the demand for medical staff to guarantee that the proper processs are undertaken. Professionals need to maintain records to safe guard their patients while protecting their public assistance, this highlights the demand for this to stay every bit precise as possible throughout keeping records while attention is ongoing. Recording in paperss can help towards the continuity of attent ion which provides a safe stable environment for the patient. Professional who work in an wellness attention environment are cognizant that there work burden can go be really busy, it is of import that they do non allow this consequence their demand to maintain records. Time should be set aside for record maintaining, if records are rushed mistakes can develop and hapless quality of records can neer be contributed to the quality of attention. Good record maintaining is a feature of a skilled practician and it is mostly about the assorted signifiers of communicating from one service to another. Communicating throughout bringing of attention high spots why records should be recorded suitably to the NMC 2009 rule of good record maintaining guidelines. Following these rules enhances the fact of how critical record maintaining is used to protect the public assistance of the patient.

Definition and Examples of Duality of Patterning

Definition and Examples of Duality of Patterning Duality of patterning is a characteristic of human language whereby speech can be analyzed on two levels: As made up of meaningless elements;  i.e., a limited inventory of sounds or phonemesAs made up of meaningful elements; i.e., a virtually limitless inventory of words  or morphemes  (also called  double articulation) Definition [D]uality of patterning, says  David Ludden, is what gives language such expressive power. Spoken languages are composed of a limited set of meaningless speech sounds that are combined according to rules to form meaningful words (The Psychology of Language: An Integrated Approach, 2016). The significance of duality of patterning as one of the 13 (later 16) design features of language was noted by American linguist Charles F. Hockett in 1960. Examples and Observations Human language is organized at two levels or layers simultaneously. This property is called duality (or double articulation). In speech production, we have a physical level at which we can produce individual sounds, like n, b and i. As individual sounds, none of these discrete forms has any intrinsic meaning. In a particular combination such as bin, we have another level producing a meaning that is different from the meaning of the combination in nib. So, at one level, we have distinct sounds, and, at another level, we have distinct meanings. This duality of levels is, in fact, one of the most economical features of human language because, with a limited set of discrete sounds, we are capable of producing a very large number of sound combinations (e.g. words) which are distinct in meaning.(George Yule, The Study of Language, 3rd ed. Cambridge University Press, 2006) Duality of Language and Animal Communication The level of sounds and syllables is the province of phonology, while that of meaningful elements is the province of grammar and semantics. Has this kind of duality any analog in animal communication systems?... The short answer to [that] question seems to be no.(Andrew Carstairs-McCarthy, The Origins of Complex Language: An Inquiry Into the Evolutionary Beginnings of Sentences, Syllables, and Truth. Oxford University Press, 1999) It is hard to find clear and uncontroversial examples of duality of patterning outside our own species. But let us say that we can find them- and there is evidence, from the way some animals like birds and dolphins manipulate melodies, that this might be true. This would mean that duality of patterning is a necessary condition for a communication system to be a human language, but that by itself it may not be enough. There is no human language without duality of patterning.(Daniel L. Everett, Language: The Cultural Tool. Random House, 2012) Hockett on Duality of Patterning [Charles] Hockett developed the phrase duality of patterning to express the fact that discrete units of language at one level (such as the level of sounds) can be combined to create different kinds of units at a different level (such as words)... According to Hockett, duality of patterning was probably the last feature to emerge in human language, and it was critical in separating human language from other kinds of primate communication...The most difficult bit to figure out is how and when duality of patterning could have emerged. How did individuals manage to isolate various bits of calls so that they could be endlessly combined into arbitrary symbols? Hockett thought that if two calls each had two distinct parts, then perhaps something in the blending process might alert individuals to the existence of discrete units. If you can combine breakfast and lunch into brunch, then does that alert you to the possibility that br is a distinct unit of sound that is combinable with other dis tinct units of sound? Solving this puzzle remains one of the thorniest of the problems in determining how language became possible.(Harriet Ottenheimer, The Anthropology of Language: An Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology. Wadsworth, 2009) The Structures of Phonology and Syntax The question of whether the structures of phonology and syntax are separate and distinct is relevant to the notion of duality of patterning... The division between meaningful and meaningless elements is less sharp than it appears, and the fact that words are composed of phonemes is arguably just a special case of the pervasive hierarchical structure that is present in language...Of all Hocketts design features, duality of patterning is the most misrepresented and misunderstood; in particular, it is frequently conflated with or linked to productivity (Fitch 2010). Hockett seems to have regarded duality of patterning as the single most important breakthrough in the evolution of language (Hockett 1973: 414), yet he himself was unsure whether to ascribe duality of patterning to the dance of the honeybee (Hackett 1958: 574).(D.R. Ladd, An Integrated View of Phonetics, Phonology, and Prosody. Language, Music, and the Brain: A Mysterious Relationship, ed. by Michael A. Arbib. MIT Press, 201 3)

A META-ANALYSIS OF ADOLESCENT OBESITY AMONG IMMIGRANT LATINO Essay

A META-ANALYSIS OF ADOLESCENT OBESITY AMONG IMMIGRANT LATINO POPULATION IN - Essay Example Thus, it is more comfortable for them to eat in fast foods and do not spend much time on cooking at home. A problem of obesity is a complex phenomenon that should be considered on the social, economic, psychological and cultural levels. A target group chosen for the research consists of immigrant Latino population in San Antonio, Texas. It has been often claimed, that ethnic minority groups are subjected to a high risk of becoming obese in comparison with other Americans. Lower living level, other spheres of occupation, a lack of proper education, inability to have a constant access to information about healthy way of life and possibilities to live this kind of life and many other factors have prevented ethnic minorities from being healthy people. Therefore, this target group is one of the most vulnerable social groups to the destructive influence of obesity. POPULATION: Latinos have become the largest racial/ethnic minority group in the United States of America, and are expected to grow to about one-fourth of the population by the year 2050 (Delva, O'Malley & Johnston, 2007). The term Hispanic is used interchangeably with Latino and refers to descendents of at least 25 different countries, all of which are Spanish speaking (Centrella-Nigro, 2009). Definition of Hispanic or Latino origin used in the 2010 Census refers to a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). Hispanics now make up 38 percent of Texas’s 25.1 million people, up from 32 percent a decade ago. Bexar County, which includes San Antonio, grew by 23.1 percent and is home to 1.7 million. In accordance with the 2010 census San Antonio population grew by 25 percent to 1.33 million people , the Hispanic population grew by 25 percent making to 63.2 percent Hispanics in San Antonio (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, over 30% of adolescents in Texas are overweight or obese. That is 1 in 3 teenagers. Obesity is not just a physical condition –it has many psychosocial implications that need to be acknowledged. PREVALENCE: According to the Health Profiles 2005 by The San Antonio Metropolitan Health District (SAMHD) the Hispanic population is expected to far outpace other ethnicities by 2040 and beyond. The Hispanic population faces well-documented health concerns, such as obesity. Programs addressing those areas should be maintained or increased. Bexar County’s Hispanic population is also younger with fewer college graduates than any other ethnic population. Those factors are often predictors of future poverty and increased risk for associated health problems such as obesity. Unfortunately, 90% of Hispanics in Bexar County have not earned at least a 4-year college degree. Moreover, the Hispanic population is burdened with additional risk factors for childhood obesity, including parental obesity, low socioecon omic status (SES), recent immigration, acculturation to US diet and lifestyle, and limited health insurance coverage, ethnic beliefs, differences in ideal body images, lack of appreciation of weight management, questionable literacy levels, and access to medical care (Wilson, Adolph, & Butte, 2009; Centrella-Nigro, 2009; & Harrington, 2008). Source: 2009 FITNESS GRAM, According to FITNESSGRAM a Healthy Weight equals BMI ranging from 14.7-27.8 for boys and 16.2-27.3 for girls

SAME SEX MARRIGE Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

SAME SEX MARRIGE - Research Paper Example f same-sex marriage, and whereas there are people who say they should be legalized and rely upon the equal rights for everyone, including gay persons, there are also those who find a lot of arguments against the legalization of homosexual marriages. Mostly those opposing the same-sex marriages claim that the gay people are normally not in the habit to be faithful to each other. However this can hardly serve as a reasonable and sound argument as not all hererosexuals are faithful and devoted husbands and wives. Taking into account that there are multiple benefits (social and emotional) for people who get married, it becomes clear that it would be unfair to deprive gays and lesbians of their right to get married only on the ground of their sexual orientation. In fact, in many countries of the world and some states of America homosexual marriages have already been legalized. So it seems that soon the gay people all over the world will get the right to get married to their partners. There are still, of course, some burning issues that are being argued about and discussed, such as adopting and bringing up children in homosexual families, however even these are being solved now in many world countries basing upon the presupposition of equal rights and equal opportunities for every human being. How can marriage be defined? Marriage is the unity of two people who live together, and this unity should be acknowledged by the society. Such factors as having children, loving each other, and even official recognition (for in some places, it is still possible to marry without registration) are not necessary. It is normally taken for granted by the majority of people that marriages are concluded between two people of different sex; however in the course of history there have been plenty of examples of unities of people of the same gender, and these unities had all features of an â€Å"ordinary† marriage (Sparta, Ancient Greece, Rome, Ancient China and Japan). If we talk about