Fringe benefit plans Essay Example for Free

Fringe benefit plans Essay What, really, are fringe benefits? Fringe benefits are a significant share of a workers total compensation package, which has grown over time (Flynn, 2000). They are of two types: One type of fringe benefit is the spreading of an employee’s pay, which was earned while working, over periods when the employee does not work. The other type of fringe benefit includes all sorts of things which became substituted for money pay, which the employee may spend for things of his or her own choice. Instead of getting one’s entire money wage, the employee may get some of it in the form of specified goods or presumed services. All sorts of things become substituted for money pay. They range all the way from better toilet facilities in the plant to golf courses for members of the families of employees perhaps even help in building a church of some denomination in the community. It may be more company picnics, or a Christmas party, or insurance of one sort or another, or a pension for old age all sorts of things. Retirement pensions, even though all workers may be covered by a basic age-related state pension, the vast majority of firms operate an occupational pension scheme for their employees to which the firm contributes. In spite of the onus for pension provision shifting towards the individual in a number of countries, including the UK, company pension schemes remain a substantial and widespread fringe benefit. Other benefits include redundancy payments and discounts on company products and the use of company cars. Sometimes these fringe benefits are the result of employee pressure, either through the union or without any union. But often they are initiated by management; a company plan is put into effect. However they come about, fringe benefits of this type have one aspect in common. Smith (2003) has asserted that in each instance its cost comes out of the money due the employee as pay. Fringe benefits are not just a demand of last resort by men living in a society which already supplies them with almost everything they need. They satisfy some fundamental human needs which, but for conservatism on both sides of industry, would probably have become matters for the bargaining table long before now. Fringe benefit plans increase the benefits available to employees through provision of such benefits as better pensions, year-end bonuses, paid vacations, sick leave, and holidays and an air-conditioned working place, in addition to the employees’ basic salary. In some instances, profit-sharing agreements are also included, as well as store discount privileges of workers. At this stage, the desire for security and continuity of income may well have become as great, or greater, than the desire to raise income. Thus the social logic of fringe benefits in an advanced society. When it comes to health insurance and pensions, fringe benefits help compensate for myopia in an individuals consumption decisions. High marginal tax rates, for both firms and workers, encourage the use of fringe benefits. As workers have become better off in real terms this has increased their demand for fringe benefits. Fringe benefits conferred tax advantages on both workers and firms. In theory it was possible to determine the optimum combination of wages and fringe benefits in relation to the firms desire for profits. A substantial proportion of the average workers costs to his employer are in the form of fringe benefits. As far as private fringe benefits are concerned, large firms are able to obtain group discounts and larger numbers of employees ensure lower per-worker costs of administration. Often fringe benefits are taxed at relatively low rates, if at all. This creates strong incentives for the firm and its employees to increase the proportion of fringe benefits within total compensation. Further, taxation coverage is rather incomplete at the employee level owing to technical difficulties in taxing individual fringe benefits and because welfare income is relatively small. Fringe benefits also have an advantage to the employers not just because the benefits were tax deductible but also because they reduced turnover and thereby boosted productivity. Also, the use fringe benefits improved the overall morale of the employees. The social equation was working. WORKS CITED Flynn, B. (2000). Fringe Benefits. New Statesman, 129 (4499), 32. Smith, S. (2003). Labour Economics. (2nd Ed. ). London: Routledge.

Gender Differences in Advertising Language

Gender Differences in Advertising Language In this modern life, advertisements appear widely not only in shops and stores, in leaflets and brochures, on newspapers and magazines but also on high-tech media like radios, televisions and the Internet. They appear in different forms: texts, images, audio files or an integrated form of all: video/animated files. However different they are, they are designed with only one intention. That is to make more profit by bringing the products to groups of potential customers. To fulfill that intention effectively, they characterize the potential customers of each product or service and design personalized advertisements (2008 Choicestream Personalization Survey) that target to certain potential groups of customers. Thus, in the advertising market, some products have more than one advertisement which target at different groups: one may target at the old while another may target at the young; or one may target at the rich while another may target at the working class. Clear Shampoo is one obvious example in Vietnam. The product has seven advertisements on television and the Internet. They seem to target at different viewers of different genders and have several other aspects such as models, images, languages and advertising techniques. This essay focuses on one of those aspects, the language, and aims to find the answers for two following questions: Is the language used by male models/voiceovers different from that used by female models/voiceovers? Is the language used by models/voiceovers of different genders strongly associated with the target viewers? 2. Theoretical background 2.1. Advertising Nowadays, businesses and manufacturers are actually aware of the great importance of advertising their products or services since a successful advertisement can bring them great profits whereas an unfortunate commercial can lead them to bankruptcy (Sadek-Endrawes, 2008). According to adcracker.com, a website for tips, tools and techniques to create world-class advertising ideas, businesses and manufactures try their best to find ways to design the best advertisements for their products and services to attract attention, engage minds, trigger emotions and change what people think. Among techniques used are special metaphors (a symbolic representation for the product), promises of benefit or problem solving, offers of free samples, features of human-like and life-like, features of eye candy, etc. Writers from adcracker.com also believe that it might be useful to choose or create their own characters who are put in some special situations, for example conflicts, which can be exaggerated . But the most and foremost important techniques that all advertisement designers need to know are the techniques of choosing the target viewers and language wisely and correspondingly. That is the reason why there are sometimes more than one advertisements designed for only one single product. 2.1.1. Language use as a powerful advertising technique Language plays a vital role in the society in general and in everyones life in particular. We use language of all kinds every day, if it is not to say, every moment to communicate with other people, to get ourselves and our own opinions expressed and vice versa to get the same things from others (Gyllgard, 2006). Mastering that communicative power of language, sensible advertisers try to utilize language as a powerful tool to influence the viewers. More specifically, they often try to use language distinctively in order to catch viewers attention (adcracker.com). For example, they sometimes play with words, use them out of context, and create new ones in order to help viewers remember a certain brand. Sometimes, those words become the slogan for the brand like Moving Forward for Toyota cars or Malaysia Truly Asia for Tourism in Malaysia. The designers of advertisements also pay attention to speech accommodation (Giles Coupland, 1991) and adjust the speech styles of models and voiceovers in order to fulfill their advertising intentions, especially the intention of attracting the attention of specific groups of viewers. A study of a group of students from Mount Holyoke College (Alfaro et al.) finds that the advertisement is much more effective when the gender of models/ voiceovers and the targeted gender are matched. Language in advertisements is also internationalized (Sadek-Endrawes, 2008), which is expected to be beneficial in order to create the same response from viewers of different countries in case the product comes into the global market. 2.1.2. Focus on target viewers Most advertisers know that advertising techniques have persuasive energy and that the strength of such persuasive energy is measured in several ways, but most importantly in relation to a target audience (adkracker.com). It is explained by adcracker.com that different target audience have different lifestyles, different attitudes, different feelings and emotions, which consequently results in different behaviors. Thus, successful advertisers often attempt to build adverts that can get people to take action or plant a belief in the minds of their prospective buyers by closely associating their adverts with the targeted viewers. This is also supported by the 2008 Personalization Survey of Choicestream, an independent research firm providing recommendation service for the worlds largest retailers and entertainment brands including Yahoo!, ATT, Tesco, Overstock.com, etc. In the survey, they noted that those who spend the most money and shop most frequently are more likely to click on per sonalized ads than non-personalized ads. In fact, 39% of them are more willing to click on a personalized advertisement. 2.2. Gender difference Men and women are different in various aspects which can mainly be categorized into biological and social factors. Consequently, different terms are coined to show such differences, for example sex and gender. Sex is defined by Eckert and McConnell-Ginnet (2003:10) as a biological categorization which is based primarily on reproductive potential and gender is the social elaboration of biological sex. This means that sex is something fixed by birth (Thomas, 2004) and gender is something that the social life shapes on us continuously in every pace of our life (Graddol and Swann, 1994:8). It is believed that gender has a major influence on language use through the process of socialization (Tannen 1993:84). As afore-mentioned, language is an important part of an individuals life which helps to form his/ her social identity (Gyllgard, 2006:1) by their different linguistic habits which reflect different individual biographies and experiences (Graddol and Swann, 1994:5). Coates (1993:144) also claims that when children adopt linguistic behavior considered appropriate to their gender they perpetuate the social order which creates gender distinctions This means that language is among the most significant factors, bedsides social roles and social positions, that make distinctions between men and women. Actually, it is observed that men and women use language differently in a gender-appropriate manner (Tannen, 1993:85) since they are small. In the following part of the paper, the use of language by different genders will be discussed in three main aspects: (1) topic choices, (2) word choices and (3) manner of speaking. Topic choices In terms of topic choices, men are believed to talk more about sports or other physical activities when they are small (Poynton, 1989) and about current concerns, about their strength and their dominance (Coulmas, 2005) when they grow up. Meanwhile, women are believed to spend time talking more about home activities, romance and fantasy worlds. Later in their life, they are considered to choose to talk about nonsense and unimportant personal topics (Gyllgard, 2006). Consequently, mens language is often considered as serious and important while womens is seen as trivial and easy to ignore (Coates, 1993). Word choices It is believed that women seem to be more careful about choosing words than men. It is explained that this results from the different roles of the two genders in the society. Women are considered to have their first and foremost roles as caring the families and bringing up children. Consequently, they need to be careful with the words they use or otherwise they may set bad examples for their children. Also regarding word choices, in their works, Poyton (1989) and Eckert McConnell-Ginet (2003) find that women use more intensifies (such as so and very), words of approximation (such as about and around), or inessential qualifiers (like really or so) than men. Women are also claimed to use more adjectives (including empty adjectives like cute and evaluative adjectives like wonderful) and adverbs. Furthermore, hedges and tag questions are found more in womens language than in mens in order to require confirmation or signal uncertainty respectively (Lakoff, 1989). Manner of speaking With the same reasons of different social roles, in terms of manner of speaking, women are found more polite in speaking and men are found to create and use more taboo language like slang or swear words (Poyton, 1989). Lakoff (1989) also agrees with this by giving an example that women choose to use weaker expletives like oh dear or goodness instead of words like shit or damn. Meanwhile, Coates (1993) believes that the language used by women is collaboration-oriented with supportive comments to create and maintain relationship of closeness and equality while that used by men is competition-oriented in order to assert their positions of dominance. 3. Methodology and Data This study focuses on the difference between the languages used by male and female models in different advertisements for the same product, namely Clear Shampoo, one kind of shampoo used in Vietnam. It will test whether the difference in language used by male and female models and voiceovers is associated with the difference in genders of the target viewers and how they are associated. First of all, English versions of seven Clear Shampoo advertisements are selected to be the data for analyzing. Those advertisements are chosen for several reasons. Firstly, shampoo is now an essential cosmetic product that people, regardless of their age, their social or financial status and certainly their gender, have to use in their daily life. Thus, it is worthwhile to investigate the advertisements of such product. Secondly, it is found that there are several different advertisements of Clear Shampoo on television as well as on Youtube at the same time and it is presumed by the author that it may result from the advertisers purpose of targeting viewers of different genders. Consequently, with the help of Google search and Youtube website, seven advertisements of Clear Shampoo are collected and transcribed in the appendices of this essay for being analyzed to answer the first research question. Differences among those advertisements will then be figured out by checking the above -mentioned theory and later used to group the seven advertisements into 3 groups: for men, for women and for both men and women. The second question is answered by analyzing the interviews with 20 viewers of both genders who are non-native speakers of English but gain sufficient proficiency to understand the advertisements. Actually, they are Vietnamese teachers of English who are now teaching English at College of Technology and students of some M.A. programs for English Linguistics or English Teaching Methodology. The procedure includes two small sections. Firstly, the viewers are given the transcriptions of the advertisements and asked two following questions: Who does each advertisement target, men or women? How do you know who the advertisement target at? After that, they are asked to watch the seven advertisements and answer the two questions again. 4. Data analysis and results 4.1 Advertisement analysis and results Based on the theoretical background and seven advertisements of Clear Shampoo, the following results on gender differences in language use are obtained and grouped in three major aspects: (1) choice of topic, (2) choice of word and (3) manner of speaking. 4.1.1. Choice of topic It is revealed by the advertisement analysis that male models talk about their confidence and show their strength as well as their dominance to others by facing the problems: Black is confident. Confidence means no dandruff. (Appendix 1) Face it. Cover it. I deal with dandruff like man. (Appendix 4) or Rage. Rage against her breath of fear. (Appendix 5) Meanwhile, female models talk about beauty as in: some beauty shampoos (Appendix 3) about their daily activities such as combing in appendix 3 or about their emotion and their perception as in: I love my hair. Im convinced. (Appendix 2) Convinced. I am. (Appendix 3) They also mention one fact that they often try to avoid the troubles they encounter: Hide itCover itI keep it secret as any woman should. (Appendix 4) 4.1.2. Choice of words Verb choice As male models choose to talk about their confidence, their strength as well as their dominance, they use words that help to express perfectly what they mean. Actually, they use strong verbs as breath, move and sweat in Appendix 1 or face, solve, and deal with in appendix 4 or verbs that show their activeness as in I trust Clear. (Appendix 1) The verbs spoken by male voiceovers also have the same feature: remove and prevent the dandruff (appendix 5), or make the dandruff go away and stay away (appendix 7) so that its all settled (appendix 4). All those verbs bring to the audience the active position of the speakers, and thus, reveal their dominant positions. On the other hand, the verbs used by female models are quite different since they seem to display the defensive positions of the women Im convinced. (Appendix 2) Convinced. I am. (Appendix 3) or their solutions of avoiding dandruff by hiding it, covering it or keeping it secret (appendix 4). Adjective choice As their concerns are different, female and male models choose different adjectives when they speak about their hair. For example, most male models and voiceovers use black to talk about their hair or the hair they want to have: I like black. Black is confident. Black looks good. (Appendix 1) From black into darkness and into the dark, the icy blackness follows. (Appendix 5) the seduction of black, the temptation of black. Its the closeness of black that you can only have (Appendix 6) At the same time, female models talk about the features of soft, clean and beautiful which are just suitable to describe female hair. Clear makes my hair soft and beautiful. Just soft hair. (Appendix 2) Can your shampoo leave your hair soft and clean Clear takes it soft. Just soft hair. (Appendix 3) 4.1.3. Manner of speaking As can be seen from the seven advertisements, female models talk with a collaborative orientation. They talk as if they want to share their experience with the audience whereas male models and voiceovers try to assert their positions of dominance by a competitive orientation. They talk about their dealing with dandruff (appendix 4), the collision of sparks and dandruff (appendix 5), their black seduction and temptation when they are dandruff free (appendix 6). The tendency of dominance is also expressed by their short imperative sentences which can be found more frequently in male models or voiceovers speech: Face it Solve it (Appendix 4) Rage, rage against her breath of fear. (Appendix 5) Make the season more seductive. Make it a Clear Black Valentines. Be board. Be Black. Move closer anytime. Have Clear Black Valentines. (Appendix 6) The first advertisement in Appendix 1 with the male model also offers another feature of male speech. That is the logic in thinking and speaking: Black is confident. Black looks good. Looking good means no dandruff. Confidence means no dandruff. Clear means no dandruff. With his logical speech, the male model tries to convince the audience the close relationship among Clear, black, confident and looking good. 4.2 Interview analysis and results The results of the interviews reveal that it is not language but mainly the models, the images in the advertisements that inform the interviewees about the target viewers of the advertisements. In fact, after looking at the transcription of the seven advertisements, most of them (16 out of 20) hardly say who the advertisements target at. The other four guess the target viewers based on the name of the models (Rain in Appendix 1 or Nicole in Appendix 2) or the name of the products (Clear Men in Appendix 4 or Clear Black Valentines in Appendix 6). However, they can easily answer the two questions after watching the video files and confirm that the language does not get much of their attention but the rhythm of the speech does have some effects on their viewing. This might lead to a conclusion that language does not play an important role in revealing the target viewers of advertisements. 5. Conclusion The results of two analyses reveal the answers for both research questions. Firstly, the analysis of the advertisements answers the first question about the relationship between the language and the gender of speakers. In fact, it confirms the theory of gender language. According to the analysis, the language used models/voiceovers of different gender are not the same even though they are not the language that they say in the real life but what they are told to say by the advertisement designers or directors. The differences mainly lie in the choice of topics, choice of words and the manner of speaking. Secondly, the analysis of the interviews with 20 non-native English speakers answers the second question about the relationship between the language and the target viewers of the advertisements. The result reveals that language does not have a strong link with the target viewers since most of the interviewees cannot say exactly the target viewers of the advertisements if they only look at the transcriptions of the ads. Although the research has found answers for both research questions, there are still many drawbacks that should be improved. First of all, it is realized that just one or two typical advertisements should be selected in stead of seven so that the analysis could be more thorough and focused. Secondly, the interviews should be recorded by means of multi-media in stead of just recorded by note-taking since it can provide much more information and can be referred back easily. References 2008 Choicestream Personalization Survey. Choicestream. 29 October 2009 Advertising techniques Dos and Donts and Simple Tips from Years of Learning. Buzz Marketing. 29 October 2009. Alfaro, M.W. et al. The effect of voice-over gender and targeted gender of product on television commercial effectiveness. 12 December 2009 Creative and Effective Advertising Techniques. AdCracker. 29 October 2009 Coates, J. 1993. Women, Men and Language. London: Longman. Coulmas, F. 2005. Gendered speech: Sex as a factor of linguistic choice. Sociolinguistics. Cambridge. Eckert, P. McConnell-Ginnet, S. 2003. Language and Gender. Cambridge: CUP Giles, H. Coupland, N. 1991. Language: Contexts and Consequences. Open University Press Graddol, D and Swann, J. 1994. Gender Voices. Oxford: Blackwell. Gyllgard, L. 2006. Gender differences in Swedish students written English and students identification of female and male language features. 29 Oct, 2009 Lakoff, R. 1989. Language and Womans Place. New York: Harper and Row. Newman, M.L. et al. 2008. Gender Differences in Language Use: An analysis of 14,000 Text Samples. Discourse Processes. 45: 211-236 Poynton, C. 1989. Language and Gender: Making the difference. Oxford: OUP Sadek-Endrawes. 2008. Culture Advertising. 29 Oct, 2009. Sunderland, J. 2008. Language and Gender. Routledge. Tannen, D. 1993. Gender and Conversation Interaction. New York: OUP. The Targeted Advertising Dictionary and Business Index. The Interactive TV Dictionary and Business Index. 25 Nov, 2009. Thomas, L. et al. 2004. Language, Society and Power. Routledge. Trudgill, P. 2000. Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society. London: Penguin APPENDICES APPENDIX 1: Clear Commercial found on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLb6o0QV9jo I breath. I move. I sweat. With the world watching. My hair. My clothes. I like black. Black is confident. Black looks good. Looking good means no dandruff. Confidence means no dandruff. Clear means no dandruff. I trust Clear. Dandruff never comes back. My name is Rain. Clear. No Dandruff. APPENDIX 2 Clear Commercial found on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGzm2dIjO3I I lived to perform. My song, my dance, my hair. Theres no room for dandruff. Clear makes my hair soft and beautiful. I love my hair. Clear. It works. Im convinced. My name is Nicole. Clear. No Dandruff. Just soft hair. APPENDIX 3 Clear Commercial found on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TYOSixnZWwfeature=related Can your shampoo leave your hair soft and clean. That is how combing sounds like with some beauty shampoos. And that is how it sounds like after Clear takes it soft. Convinced. I am. Clear. No Dandruff. Just soft hair. APPENDIX 4: Clear Commercial found on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rd_LQMSvXJ4 Face it. Hide it. Solve it. Cover it. I deal with dandruff like a man. I keep it secret as any woman should. But either way, we know the answer is clear. I use clear. Clear men for me. It has zinc vitanol, clinically proven effective to remove dandruff and prevent it from coming back. Its all settled then. For us, its only one choice. New clear. No dandruff. APPENDIX 5 Clear Commercial found on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6WlPhqIyrs From black into darkness, shadows see follicles bent and broke and slivers of sparks as dark and dandruff collide. Rage, rage against her breath of fear! Now frozen, silence marks the danse macabre. And into the dark, the icy blackness follows. APPENDIX 6 Clear Commercial found on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9tx1JR34lc You never know when youd get stuck by the seduction of black, the temptation of black. Its the closeness of black that you can only have when you are dandruff free. With Clear. Make the season more seductive. Make it a Clear Black Valentines. Be board. Be black. Move closer anytime. Have Clear Black Valentines. With clear. No dandruff.

Suffering In Shakespeares Plays Essay -- essays research papers

Suffering In Shakespeare's Plays How does suffering affect one's actions? Do different types of suffering affect one in different ways? This paper seeks to determine how William Shakespeare's character's respond to various types of suffering. Suffering can be defined in two ways; physical suffering, in which the character is inflicted with physical pain and trauma, and emotional suffering, where the character suffers an emotional trauma or loss. In The Tempest, the physically traumatized characters, are Trinculo and Stephano. They are chased by dogs but their physical trauma has not induced any sign of remorse or guilt. Ferdinand, on the other hand, is overcome by emotional suffering at the "loss" of his son. In King Lear, Lear is plagued emotionally. He feels that he has lost the love of his favorite daughter Cordelia, and he feels the harsh hatred of his two evil daughters. At the conclusion of the play, his sanity is restored but he has suffered tremendously in an emotional manner at the hands of Regan and Goneril. In Othello, Brabantio goes through emotional suffering when he must succumb to his daughter's wishes. Desdemona also goes through emotional suffering when she is accused by Othello of cheating on him when he is convinced of this by Iago. In The Tempest, the theme of purification through suffering can clearly be seen. Prospero, in his long exile from Milan, has more than attoned for whatever mistake he might have made while he ruled. Ferdinand must suffer through Prospero's hardships and laborious tests before he can win Miranda's hand. Most significantly, Alonso must undergo the suffering that Prospero has designed for him before he is forgiven. Prospero, who is the real Duke of Milan was overthrown 12 years earlier by his younger brother Antonio. Prospero was driven out of the island along with his daughter Miranda; the two were cast out to sea. His suffering has occured in a physical and a non-physical way, he is deeply hurt from losing his kingdom and from being cast out to die. Despite this, he is generous in forgiving. He is not only in control of those around him but he punishes the guilty and demands repentance. When Ferdinand meets Miranda, they instantly fall in love with each other. "I might call him...a thing divine; for nothing natural...I ever saw so noble." ( Tempest, I, ii, 417-419). He is perfect for h... ...ello and Iago agree that Desdemona should be put to death. Out of rage, Othello smothers Desdemona in bed and kills her. "She must die, else she'll betray more men." (Othello, V, ii, 6). In conclusion, there is evidence that Shakespeare designed his characters to be affected by different types of suffering in different ways. The characters who underwent emotional suffering, usually ended up purified or at least in a better state of mind. On the other hand, those who only underwent physical suffering did not change from their past behaviors and did not repent. Evidence of this can be seen in the following ways: Ferdinand in The Tempest, is struck by emotional pain. Because of this, he is purified through his trial and he repents. In Othello, the main character is caught in an emotional battle- who is he to believe- his loyal servant or his new bride? Unfortunately, Othello does not realize the truth until it is too late and has already killed Desdemona. In King Lear, Lear becomes temporarily insane from the pain and turmoil he endures from his daughters. He does not come to terms about his mistake until, like Othello, it is too late and Cordelia has already been killed.

The Power of Peer Pressure :: Peer Pressure Essays

According L K Cardin Smith and S a Fowler from the department of continuing education. â€Å"Classroom peers can serve as powerful sources of reinforcement in increasing or maintaining both the positive and negative behaviors of their classmates. In two experiments, we examined the effectiveness of a peer-monitored token system on reducing disruption and nonparticipation during a transition period of a kindergarten class for behaviorally impaired children. Additionally, the effect of providing and subsequently withholding corrective feedback to peer mediators on the accuracy of their point awards was evaluated. Results in Experiment 1 suggest that both teacher- and peer-monitored interventions were successful in decreasing disruption and increasing participation of monitored peers. Experiment 2 further demonstrated that peer monitors could successfully initiate the token system without prior adult implementation. Analysis of the point awards in both experiments indicates that peer m onitors consistently awarded points that were earned. However, when corrective feedback was withdrawn the peer monitors frequently awarded points that were not earned, i.e., they rarely withheld points for undesirable behavior. Even so, the monitored peers' disruptive behavior was maintained at low rates.† Teens aren't the only affected by it. It’s an epidemic. That challenges everyone, not only kids or teens but teens and adults alike. â€Å"The main consequence of saying no to negative peer pressure is not just withstanding "The heat of the moment," as most adults think. Rather, it is coping with a sense of exclusion as others engage in the behavior and leave the adolescent increasingly alone. It is the loss of the shared experience. Further, the sense of exclusion remains whenever the group later recounts what happened. This feeling of loneliness then becomes pervasive but carries an easy solution -- go along with the crowd.† (MICHAEL RIERA, Uncommon Sense for Parents with Teenagers) (http://www.notable-quotes.com/p/peer_pressure_quotes.html#JFfXdBCK18YwLwIx.99) Peer Pressure affects everyone differently. For example, adults might be pressured to do something for work. The loss of what would happen if they didn't do it is the motivation. Sounds like blackmail, to me. However teens might be pressured into something by their friends this could go either way. Before I go much farther. There’s two types of peer pressure positive and negative. Positive is when someone helps you to do something that you wouldn't have had the courage to do on your own. Some examples could include doing a sole in choir, or trying out for a sport. Negative peer pressure however, is when someone constantly tells you should try it.

A Defence of Individual Autonomy in a Multination Liberal State Essay

A Defence of Individual Autonomy in a Multination Liberal State Liberalism is committed to protecting the freedom to choose, question and revise one’s own conception of the good life. For this reason, liberalism defends (among many other things) freedom of conscience, expression and association, as well as mandatory, universal education. In Multicultural Citizenship, Will Kymlicka argues that the state is also obligated to ensure that the lifestyle options which are made available to an individual so that she can choose, question and revise her own conception of the good life, are meaningful to her by being understood by her in relation to her own "societal culture". He concludes, therefore, that in a multination liberal state, self-government rights should be granted to national minorities in order to guarantee that their members will have access to their own societal culture. However, in the case of an illiberal national minority, granting them the rights necessary to preserve their own societal culture will result in violations of the individual rights of their members. This is a serious problem for liberalism. Kymlicka proposes that we must accept such violations because the liberal state is not entitled to impose liberal values and practices on to a national minority. He suggests that the state should promote the voluntary liberalisation of the illiberal culture from within, and is only justified in using force in order to prevent severe violations of individual rights. In this paper I will argue that Kymlicka’s approach is lacking in some areas. I will argue that a multination liberal state should not grant self-government rights to a previously non-self-governing illiberal national minority unless the individual r... ...ial obligation, which does not apply to foreign nations, to take further steps, as outlined above, to their neighbouring fellow human beings. Endnotes 1 Will Kymlicka (1995), Multicultural Citizenship, (Clarendon Press, Oxford). p.76 2 Ibid., p.90 3 Avishai Margalit and Joseph Raz (1990), ‘National Self-Determination’, Jounal of Philosophy, 87/9: 439-61. p.447-9 4 Supra, note 1, p.89 5 Ibid., p.83 6 Ronald Dworkin (1985), A Matter of Principle, (Harvard University Press, London). p.231 7 Supra, note 1, p.78 8 Ibid., p.168 9 Ibid., p.169 Bibliography Ronald Dworkin (1985), A Matter of Principle, (Harvard University Press, London). Will Kymlicka (1995), Multicultural Citizenship, (Clarendon Press, Oxford). Avishai Margalit and Joseph Raz (1990), ‘National Self-Determination’, Jounal of Philosophy, 87/9: 439-61.

Hospice Care Essay

Hospice care is a special type of care that is mainly concerned in comforting patients and issuance of quality life instead of providing curative services to a sick person. Hospice care is in most cases appropriate for someone with a terminal illness and the life of persons is expected to run for six months or less. There are in-patient hospices units are often set up for offering the hospice services. However, when need arises, the hospice administration can offer extensive services to the patients at their homes (Forman, 2003, p. 53). Hospice care units also offer medical social services. Every patient referred to hospice care is assigned a social worker who assists him or her with the social and emotional needs. Counseling services are also offered where spiritual and pastoral support is given to encourage the patients emotionally (Forman, 2003, p. 58). Bereavement counseling is also offered to the family and caregivers for a whole one year after the patient has passed away. The hospice units finance all the medical services and medications of the patient’s diagnosis and other related symptoms that are alleviated. Laboratory and other diagnostic studies are offered in relation to any terminal illness to help determine the terminal illness of the patient. Difference between Hospice Care and other Long-term Care Unlike other care-providing facilities such as the nursing home facilities and assisted living facilities, hospice care does not offer a 24 hour care to the patients (Forman, 2003, p. 53). Instead, hospice care only operates for 12 hours and therefore there is need for the family members to take care of their patient or employ caregivers or other nursing home staff (Forman, 2003, p. 4). For a patient to qualify for hospice care, a medical practitioner must give a directive that the patient is having six months or less to live and that medication is helping no more. One main objective of the hospice care is to improve the quality of life. Hospice care today offers the same services just like the Palliative Care (Forman, 2003, p. 55). Hospice care services can be similar to those of other long-term care facilities and also there are distinct differences between the two. Nursing services is one of the services offered in a hospice care unit. A patient is assigned a nurse who visits him or her 3 days a week. This helps a lot to restore the health of the patient as the patients prepare for a good death with people around them having good communication (Forman, 2003, p. 67). There is also a physician who works hand in hand with the nurse to help restore the health of the individual. The physician checks on the patient regularly to ensure whether the health of the patient is improving or not (Forman, 2003, p. 53). In conclusion, the hospice care units improve the quality of life of many individuals. It should be well understood that the mission of hospice is to establish life and make people see death as any other natural process. Many have often believed that hospice care is to hasten life, but that is not the case. It is clear that the hospice care is so different from other types of care such as the nursing facilities and assisted living facilities. The difference comes in terms of the services offered. Most of the services in the hospice care are all about medical improvement as a person is nearing death. Also, hospice care does not provide services unless one has been asked by the medical practitioner to seek the hospice services.

Culture and Disease

Asthma is a disease that is sweeping the country. With so many new cases being reported daily, it has become somewhat of an epidemic. It can be found in almost all corners of the world. Although it is most common in the US, Canada, and UK, it is growing more common in heavily industrialized countries like Brazil and South Africa. This disease can affect anyone; from women to men, children to adults, Caucasians to African Americans. However, it is most prevalent in African Americans, and even more so in African American women. Asthma is a chronic disease of the lungs and one of the most common long term diseases in children (â€Å"Asthma â€Å", n. d). The actual cause of asthma is unknown and there is currently no cure, but certain things in the environment trigger the inflammation of the airways, ultimately leading to asthma attacks. However, it is manageable and can be prevented by avoiding your triggers. Triggers vary for every person, but the most common are tobacco smoke, dust mites, pets, and pollution (â€Å"Asthma â€Å", n. d). The symptoms include tightness in the chest, coughing, and wheezing (â€Å"Asthma â€Å", n. d). Asthma attacks can be deadly if they are not taken care of right away. During an attack the airways in your lungs shrink and do not allow enough air to pass through. Since we do not know the cause of asthma, why is it that African Americans are three times more likely to be hospitalized from it (â€Å"Asthma Facts And Figures†, n. d)? According to â€Å"Asthma data surveillance† (n. d) African Americans are at 11. 6% for having asthma, compared to Caucasians at 8. 2% or Hispanics at 7. 3%. African Americans are also three times more likely to die from asthma, and African American Women have the highest asthma mortality rate of all groups, more than 2. 5 times higher than Caucasian women (â€Å"Asthma Facts And Figures†, n. d). Some researchers believe that it is socioeconomic while others believe it is genetic. Either way, the numbers speak for themselves; for some reason African Americans are more likely to have asthma than any other culture. Looking at socioeconomic reasons, there are many that can be factors in why African Americans are more likely to develop asthma. According to (Castillo, Jordan III, & Tan, n. . ) studies have been done that show even though the same health care is offered to both Caucasians and African Americans; the quality of treatment is often lower for the latter. A certain study even discovered that, in a poor minority neighborhood, there was a higher rate of hospitalization and considerably less people with inhalers (Castillo, Jordan III, & Tan, n. d. ). It was also found that minorities compared to Caucasians, would have an increased chance of seeing primary care physicians rather than specialists because of the cost that specialists usually charged (Castillo, Jordan III, & Tan, n. . ). Another contributing factor could be lower literacy levels in not only the African American culture, but minorities as a whole. Studies have been done to correlate the two, and what was found was that out of 483 minority patients, mostly African-American only 27% of the study subjects could read at a high school level (Castillo, Jordan III, & Tan, n. d. ). This is important because the patients may not comprehend important information given to them about the disease. There are also environmental factors that affect not only this culture, but the population as a whole. Since asthma is triggered by particles in the air, pollution is a big factor in it. Living in areas with higher pollution rates will definitely affect those with asthma. African American children have been known to live in more polluted areas, which help develop more vulnerability to allergens (Castillo, Jordan III, & Tan, n. d. ). The pollution in the high level of ozone is the one that can trigger asthma attacks among African-American children. The ozone causes irritation to the lungs, and then creates inflammation in the lungs making it hard to breathe (Castillo, Jordan III, & Tan, n. d. ). All of these factors have been known to increase restriction in the airways which results in a greater number of children being hospitalized in these polluted areas. As mentioned before, asthma is not curable. However, it is treatable with the correct combination of medications prescribed by a doctor. Medications can either be given in pill form (anti-inflammatories) or inhaler form (bronchodilators). There are also two types: long term and quick control. The long term medications are to help the patient have fewer and milder attacks, but they will not help during an asthma attack (â€Å"Asthma â€Å", n. ). Inhalers are the most common for quick control. During an asthma attack, taking an inhaler is one way to help control the symptoms, and get the attack under control. The other way to help manage asthma is to avoid triggers. Everyone has different triggers, where pet dander may affect one person; it may not affect someone else. One way schools are working to promote the awarenes s of asthma is by letting students and parents know the air quality for the day. Schools now have a colored flag for the three air qualities. Green is for good, yellow is for moderate, and red for unhealthy. Students often have to miss school because of asthma attacks or asthma related problems. If parents and teachers can work together to educate the students about the importance of staying indoors on unhealthy days, we can help to prevent attacks. Another way is about educating children on the benefits of staying away from people who are smoking. We see the commercials on television constantly; the ones with the baby in the crib and the smoke finding its way from a nearby apartment into the child’s lungs. The baby goes into a coughing fit and we are reminded how easily smoke can travel. Second hand smoke is dangerous, especially to someone whose asthma can be triggered by it, sending them into an attack. Anyone can get this disease, although it is more prevalent in African Americans. Even though it is not curable, educating people on this deadly disease is an important aspect to ensuring those affected by it can manage it. Avoiding your personal triggers and making sure you have spoken with a doctor about a treatment plan is key. In this case, both culture and environmental factors have contributed to why African Americans are more commonly diagnosed with this disease. References: Asthma .  (n.d).  Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/asthma/faqs.htm Asthma facts and figures.  (n.d).  Retrieved from http://www.aafa.org/display.cfm?id=8&sub=42 Asthma data surveillance.  (n.d).  Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/asthma/asthmadata.htm Castillo, R., Jordan III, M., & Tan, L.  (n.d.).  Prevalence of asthma disparities amongst African?American children.  ,  (), 1-3.