Succubus Revealed Chapter 3

The crisp paper with its laser printing was a lot different from scrawling script on vellum, but I knew an official transfer letter when I saw one. I'd received dozens in the last millennia, in various forms, pointing me on to new assignments and locations. The last one had come to me while I was in London fifteen years ago. From there, I'd moved here to Seattle. And now this one was telling me it was time to move on yet again. To leave Seattle. â€Å"No,† I breathed, far too soft for Seth to hear. â€Å"No.† I knew this letter was legitimate. It wasn't a forgery. It wasn't a joke sent on Hell's stationery. What I was praying for was that this official transfer order had just been sent to me in error. The letter had no information about my next assignment because, per protocol, employees were usually briefed by their archdemons before a transfer. The letter then came afterward, to make the termination of the old job and start of the new one official. I'd seen my archdemon less than twelve hours ago. Surely, surely, if this was real, Jerome could have brought himself to at least mention it. The transfer of a succubus would be a big deal for him. He'd have to juggle both the fallout of losing me and gaining someone else. But, no. Jerome hadn't behaved as though he had a major personnel change coming. He'd said nothing to even hint about it. One would think this would have trumped his bowling league just a little. I realized I was holding my breath and forced myself to start breathing again. A mistake. Whoever had sent this had clearly made a mistake. Lifting my eyes from the paper, I focused on Seth's sleeping form. He was sprawled in his usual way, with his limbs all over the bed. Light and shadow played across his face, and I felt tears spring to my eyes as I studied those beloved features. Leaving Seattle. Leaving Seth. No, no, no. I wouldn't cry. I wouldn't cry because there was nothing to cry about. This was a mistake. It had to be because there was no way the universe could be this cruel to me. I had already gone through too much. I was happy now. Seth and I had fought our battles to be together. We'd finally achieved our dream. That couldn't be taken away from me, not now. Can't it? A nasty voice in my head pointed out the obvious. You sold your soul. You're damned. Why should the universe owe you anything? You don't deserve happiness. You should have this taken away from you. Jerome. I had to talk to Jerome. He would sort this out. I folded the letter four times and stuffed it into my purse. Grabbing my cell phone, I headed for the door and shape-shifted on a robe. I managed to slip out of the room without a sound, but my victory was short-lived. I'd hoped to be able to sneak outside, past Ian in the living room, and call Jerome in privacy. Unfortunately, I never made it that far. Both Ian and Margaret were up and awake, forcing me to stop middial. Margaret stood in the kitchen cooking something on the stove while he sat at the kitchen table. â€Å"Mom,† he was saying, â€Å"it doesn't matter what the water-to-coffee ratio is. You can't make an Americano out of drip. Especially with that Starbucks crap Seth buys.† â€Å"Actually,† I said, slipping the phone regretfully into my robe's pocket, â€Å"I bought that coffee. It's not that bad. It's a Seattle institution, you know.† Ian didn't look as though he'd hit the shower yet, but at least he was dressed. He regarded me critically. â€Å"Starbucks? They might have been okay before they became mainstream, but now they're just another corporate monstrosity that all the sheep flock to.† He swirled his coffee mug around. â€Å"Back in Chicago, I go to this really great hole-in-the-wall cafe that's run by this guy who used to be a bass player in an indie rock band you've probably never heard off. The espresso he serves is so authentic, it's mind-blowing. Of course, most people have no clue because it's not the kind of place mainstream people tend to frequent.† â€Å"So,† I said, suspecting one could make a drinking game out of how many times Ian used â€Å"mainstream† in a conversation, â€Å"I guess that means there's plenty of Starbucks here for me.† Margaret nodded briefly toward Seth's coffeemaker. â€Å"Have a cup with us.† She turned around and continued cooking. The phone was burning in my pocket. I wanted to sprint toward the door and had to force myself to behave normally in front of Seth's family. I poured myself a cup of delicious corporate coffee and tried not to act like they were keeping me from a phone call that could change the rest of my life. Soon, I told myself. I'd have answers soon. Jerome probably wasn't even up. I could delay here briefly for the sake of politeness and then get my answers. â€Å"You're up early,† I said, taking my coffee over to a corner that gave me a good view of both Mortensens. And the door. â€Å"Hardly,† said Margaret. â€Å"It's nearly eight. Ten, where we come from.† â€Å"I suppose so,† I murmured, sipping from my mug. Since signing up for Team North Pole, I hardly ever saw this side of noon anymore. Children didn't usually hit Santa up for Christmas requests so early, not even the ones at the mall I worked at. â€Å"Are you a writer too?† asked Margaret, flipping over something with a flourish. â€Å"Is that why you pull such crazy hours?† â€Å"Er, no. But I do usually work later in the day. I work, um, retail, so I'm on mall hours.† â€Å"The mall,† scoffed Ian. Margaret turned from the stove and glared at her son. â€Å"Don't act like you never go there. Half your wardrobe's from Fox Valley.† Ian actually turned pink. â€Å"That's not true!† â€Å"Didn't you get your coat at Abernathy & Finch?† she prodded. â€Å"It's Abercrombie & Fitch! And, no, of course I didn't.† Margaret's expression spoke legions. She took down two plates from the cupboard and stacked them high with pancakes. She delivered one to Ian and the other to me. I started to hand it back. â€Å"Wait. Is this your breakfast? I can't eat this.† She fixed with me with a steely gaze and then looked me up and down. It gave me a good view of the quilted teddy bears on her sweatshirt. â€Å"Oh? Are you one of those girls who doesn't eat real food? Is your usual breakfast coffee and grapefruit?† She gave a calculated pause. â€Å"Or do you not trust my cooking?† â€Å"What? No!† I hastily put my plate on the table and took a chair across from Ian. â€Å"This looks great.† â€Å"Usually I'm vegan,† said Ian, pouring syrup on the pancakes. â€Å"But I make exceptions for Mom.† I really, really should have let it go but couldn't help saying, â€Å"I didn't think ‘usually' and ‘vegan' go together. You either are or you aren't. If you're making exceptions some of the time, then I don't think you get the title. I mean, sometimes I put cream in my coffee and sometimes I don't. I don't call myself vegan on black days.† He sighed in disgust. â€Å"I'm vegan ironically.† I returned to my pancakes. Margaret was back to cooking again, presumably her own breakfast now, but still continued the conversation. â€Å"How long have you and Seth been seeing each other?† â€Å"Well . . .† I used chewing as an excuse to formulate my thoughts. â€Å"That's kind of hard to answer. We've, um, dated off and on for the last year.† Ian frowned. â€Å"Wasn't Seth engaged for part of the last year?† I was on the verge of saying, â€Å"He was engaged ironically,† when Seth himself emerged from the bedroom. I was grateful for the distraction from explaining our relationship but not pleased to see Seth up. â€Å"Hey!† I said. â€Å"Go back to bed. You need more sleep.† â€Å"Good morning to you too,† he said. He brushed a kiss against his mother's cheek and the joined us at the table. â€Å"I mean it,† I said. â€Å"This is your chance to sleep in.† â€Å"I got all the sleep I need,† he countered, stifling a yawn. â€Å"Besides, I promised to make cupcakes for the twins. Their class is having a holiday party today.† † ‘Holiday,' † muttered Margaret. â€Å"Whatever happened to Christmas?† â€Å"I can help you,† I told Seth. â€Å"Well . . . that is, after I take care of a couple of things.† â€Å"I can make them.† Margaret was already going through the cupboards, seeking ingredients. â€Å"I've been making cupcakes before any of you were born.† Seth and I exchanged glances at that. â€Å"Actually,† he said, â€Å"I can make them on my own. What would help the most, Mom, is if you could go to Kayla's school today. She's got a half day, and Andrea will need babysitting.† He nodded at me. â€Å"You work tonight, right? Come help me with the twins. I know they can use more volunteers. Elf costume optional. And you . . .† He turned to Ian and trailed off, at a loss for how Ian could actually be helpful. Ian straightened up importantly. â€Å"I'll go find an organic bakery and pick up some stuff for the kids who want to eat baked goods that are made with free-range ingredients and don't contain animal products.† â€Å"What, like free-range flour?† I asked incredulously. â€Å"Ian, they're seven,† said Seth. â€Å"What's your point?† asked Ian. â€Å"This is my way of helping out.† Seth sighed. â€Å"Fine. Go for it.† â€Å"Cool,† said Ian. He paused eloquently. â€Å"Can I borrow some money?† Margaret soon insisted that Seth have breakfast before attempting anything else, and I took advantage of his becoming the center of attention. I quickly put on casual clothes and made a polite exit, thanking her for breakfast and telling him that I would meet up with him at the twins' school for cupcake distribution. As soon as I'd cleared the condo, I began dialing the phone again. Unsurprisingly, I got Jerome's voice mail. I left him a message and made no attempt to hide my urgency . . . or irritation. That kind of attitude wasn't going to endear me to him, but I was too pissed off to care. This transfer was a big deal. If there was any chance of its legitimacy, he really should have given me a greater heads-up. Back at my place, my cats Aubrey and Godiva were happy to see me. Actually, I think they were just happy to see anyone who could feed them. They were lying in front of Roman's closed bedroom door when I walked in and immediately jumped up. They pranced over to me, snaking around my ankles and bombarding me with piteous meows until I refilled their food dishes. After that, I was old news. I toyed with the idea of waking up Roman. I really, really wanted to talk out this transfer news with someone, and Seth hadn't been an option this morning. Roman, unfortunately, shared his father's â€Å"fondness† for mornings, and I wasn't entirely sure I'd have the most productive conversation if I woke him against his will. So, instead, I took my time showering and getting ready for the day, hoping that Roman would get up on his own. No such luck. When ten rolled around, I left another voice mail message for Jerome and finally gave up on Roman. A new idea had hit me, and I went to go check it out first, setting the mental condition that if Roman wasn't up when I returned, I'd wake him then. The Cellar was a favorite bar for immortals, especially Jerome and Carter. It was an old dive of a place down in historic Pioneer Square. The bar didn't generally do a lot of business this time of day, but angels and demons were hardly the types to care about propriety. Jerome might not be answering his phone, but there was a very good chance he was out and about for a morning drink. And, as I came down the steps that led into the establishment, I did indeed feel the wash of a greater immortal signature over me. Only, it wasn't Jerome's. It wasn't even demonic. Carter was sitting alone at the bar, nursing a glass of whiskey while the bartender punched in 1970s songs on the jukebox. Carter would've sensed me too, so there was no point in trying to sneak off. I sat on a stool beside him. â€Å"Daughter of Lilith,† he said, waving the bartender back. â€Å"Didn't expect to see you out and about so early.† â€Å"I've had kind of a weird morning,† I told him. â€Å"Coffee, please.† The bartender nodded and poured me a mug from a pot that had probably been sitting there since yesterday. I grimaced, recalling the espresso shops I'd passed on the way here. Of course, Ian would probably love this stuff for its â€Å"authenticity.† â€Å"Do you have any idea where Jerome's at?† I asked, once Carter and I were in relative privacy again. â€Å"Probably in bed.† Carter's gray gaze was focused on the glass as he spoke, carefully studying the play of light off of the amber liquid. â€Å"I don't suppose you'd take me there?† I asked. Carter had teleported me once before in a crisis, but otherwise, I had no clue where my boss hung his boots. Carter gave me a small smile. â€Å"I may be immortal, but there are still some things I fear. Showing up at Jerome's this early in the morning with you in tow is one of them. What's so important? Did you come up with a name for the bowling team?† I held out the memo I'd received. Even before he looked at it closely, Carter's smile fell. I didn't doubt that the paper had some type of Hellish residue that my senses couldn't pick up. When he didn't take the note, I simply set it down in front of him to read. â€Å"A transfer, huh?† His tone was odd, almost like he wasn't surprised. â€Å"Allegedly. But I have to assume there's some kind of mistake. Jerome is supposed to meet with me first, you know? And you saw him last night. There was no indication that anything weird was going. Well. Weirder than usual.† I tapped the paper angrily. â€Å"Someone in HR messed up and sent this on accident.† â€Å"You think so?† asked Carter sadly. â€Å"Well, I certainly don't think Hell's infallible. And I don't see any reason why I would be transferred.† Carter didn't answer, and I studied him carefully. â€Å"Why? Do you know of some reason?† Carter still didn't reply right away and instead downed his drink. â€Å"I know Hell well enough to know they don't need a reason.† A strange feeling settled over me. â€Å"But you do know of one, don't you? You aren't that shocked by this.† â€Å"Hell doesn't really surprise me anymore either.† â€Å"Damn it, Carter!† I exclaimed. â€Å"You're not answering my questions. You're doing that stupid half-truth thing angels do.† â€Å"We can't lie, Georgina. But we can't always tell you everything either. There are rules in the universe that even we can't break. Can I have another?† he called to the bartender. â€Å"A double this time.† The bartender strolled over, arching an eyebrow at Carter's request. â€Å"Kind of early for that, don't you think?† â€Å"It's turning into one of those days,† said Carter. The bartender nodded sagely and liberally refilled the glass before leaving us alone again. â€Å"Carter,† I hissed. â€Å"What do you know? Is this transfer real? Do you know why I got it?† Carter pretended to be intrigued by the light sparkling on his whiskey again. But when he suddenly turned the full force of his gaze on me, I gasped. It was this thing he did sometimes, like he was peering into my soul. Only, there was more to it this time. It was as though for a brief moment, his eyes held all the sadness in the world. â€Å"I don't know if it was a mistake,† he said. â€Å"Maybe it is. Your people certainly get their wires crossed often enough. If it's legitimate . . . if it is, then no, I'm not surprised. I can think of a million reasons, some better than others, for why they would want to move you out of Seattle. None of which I can tell you,† he added sharply, seeing me start to interrogate him. â€Å"Like I said, there are rules to this game, and I have to obey them.† â€Å"It's not a game!† I exclaimed. â€Å"It's my life.† A rueful smile played over the angel's lips. â€Å"Same difference, as far as Hell's concerned.† Within me, I began to feel an echo of that terrible sadness I'd briefly seen in his eyes. â€Å"What do I do?† I asked quietly. That seemed to catch Carter off guard. I demanded answers from him all the time, clues to figuring out the many puzzles that seemed to follow me around. I was pretty sure, however, that this was the first time I'd simply asked for such open-ended life advice. â€Å"Let me guess,† I said, seeing him gape. â€Å"You can't tell me.† His expression softened. â€Å"Not in specifics, no. First, you need to find out if this was an error. If it was, then that'll make everyone's life easier.† â€Å"I need Jerome for that,† I said. â€Å"Maybe Hugh or Mei would know.† â€Å"Maybe,† said Carter, though it didn't sound like he believed it. â€Å"Eventually, Jerome will pick up his phone. Then you'll know.† â€Å"And if it is real?† I asked. â€Å"Then what?† â€Å"Then, you may have to start packing.† â€Å"That's it? That's all I can do?† Even as I said the words, I knew they were true. You couldn't refuse something like this. I'd had dozens of transfers to prove it. â€Å"Yes,† said Carter. â€Å"We both know you don't have a choice there. The question is, how are you going to let this affect your future?† I frowned, starting to get lost in angel logic. â€Å"What do you mean?† He hesitated, as though reconsidering what he was about to say. At last, he rushed forward with it, leaning close to me. â€Å"Here's what I can tell you. If this is real, then there's a reason for it, absolutely. Not some random re-org. And if there's a reason, it's because you've been doing something Hell doesn't want you to do. So, the question becomes, Georgina, are you going to keep doing whatever it is they don't want you to do?†

Counselor Reflection

School counselors are integral team members for any school staff. They help students make responsible decisions; mediate problems; deal with traumatic losses; develop a sense of respect for themselves and others; and plan for college, work, post-secondary training, and lifelong learning. As a school counselor, Nikki Williams has a desire to provide Miller Elementary school with an effective counseling program. This model has allowed her to be more accountable and given her the tools by which to assess the worth of my program and its services.Her knowledge and skills have been expanded through implementation of this program but, more importantly, the tone has been set for who she is as a counselor and where her desire is to go as she journeys into helping students achieve success. Leadership Every effort is made to assert herself as a school leader by demonstrating accountability and sharing pertinent data with students, teachers, parents, administrators and the community. Needs asses sments and outcomes from various guidance and counseling interventions are shared with staff.Data from these needs assessments are used to set priorities, establish program goals and objectives, and assign activities. Meetings with teachers are ongoing in order to provide classroom guidance activities that meet students’ academic, career, and personal/social needs. For instance, being an active member of our school leadership team, SST committee, and regularly attending IEP meetings allows me to provide leadership by being a guiding force in reviewing data, and designing and implementing ways to increase students’ academic performance.During these meetings, I contribute strong group facilitation and problem solving skills by keeping discussions focused on what benefits the student and contributing my knowledge of student growth and development. This year she has been an instrumental leader in such things as: * Providing staff development training (child mandated report ing, guidance program orientation, etc. ) * Conferencing, collaborating, and consulting with administrators, teachers, parents, students, and other stakeholders * Planning school wide events (Career Day, Hispanic Heritage Day, Red Ribbon Week, etc. * Developing an Advisory Council * Conducting a school needs assessment * Designing a comprehensive school guidance program * Maintaining contact with community organizations (DFCS, Rainbow House, HODAC, etc. ) * Educating parents about school counseling curriculum Collaboration Collaboration is an essential part of her school counseling program. She feels it is vital to collaborate with her staff. They meet regularly to review school data and identify obstacles to higher achievement. Through their collaborative efforts they problem solve and share their craft and knowledge.She feels that this encourages more open staff relationships, promotes collegiality, and allows everyone to work towards a common goal. For example, she has been worki ng closely with the teacher of the fifth grade special education group. She meets with this teacher regularly to put a plan in action to best meet the academic needs of these students. Her involvement in grade level and SST meetings give me the opportunity to partner with teachers, school psychologists, and other resource personnel by collaborating to identify and resolve student problems by designing the most appropriate and innovative program or instructional modifications.Advocacy To be seen as an advocate for â€Å"all students† is important to her; for she is an advocate in numerous ways for students, particularly with regard to behavior, motivation, and achievement. Through collaborative efforts with her school’s leadership team, she advocates for all students by providing support to encourage them to obtain the best possible education. Additionally, data gathered from delivery of classroom guidance lessons is used to share with teachers and administrators, which seems to encourage a more positive mindset for achievement and success for all students.Systemic Change Systemic change is an essential part of school reform. Ms. Williams feels that she presents herself as a leader in systemic change by delivering to all students an ASCA National Model Program that is aligned with state standards for academic personal/social, and career development. This effort is promoted through collaborative efforts with staff members as they assess and analyze data and review areas of concern. This year, she has come aboard the MES team to implement new ways to help students excel in all reas. She examines the risk factors, but also the strengths and potential that children bring to the counseling relationship. Consequently, this year Ms. Williams is playing an integral part of systemic change by working with her fifth grade special education students in an effort to close the achievement gap. The students failed the math portion of the CRCT test and through t heir school’s collaborative efforts; they hope to build success in these students.Furthermore, through implementation of the National Model Program, Ms. Williams brings about change in my school by being an exemplary counselor representing the entire school community in an effort to eliminate barriers to student achievement. Her commitment to the process of change puts her in a position to effectively serve as a catalyst in students’ lives and serve as a change agent in the school community.

America and Canada’s Universal Health Care System

America is full of social and economic problems that need to be addressed. The one problem that affects all citizens of the country is access and affordability of health care. The health care problem is unique in that every American will need health care at some point in their life, and this coupled with the fact that health care costs continue to rise further exacerbate the situation. In order to attempt a solution to America’s growing health care problem, it is essential that the country look to another country that has effectively addressed the health care problem.The only solution to America’s health care problem is to implement a universal health care system. Canada has implemented a universal health care policy whereby each citizen is afforded health care at no cost, and Canada’s efforts should serve as an example for America to emulate. Canada’s Health Care System, and Comparison to the United States The Canadian system works because of two importan t factors, which actually relate to one another.The first factor is the lowered cost of health care as compared to the United States, and the second factor is the greater accessibility of health care as compared to the United States. These two factors are inter-related because with lower costs, citizens in Canada are able to procure greater access to care. Essentially these patients have more options. In America an uninsured patient may believe that the only options they have are the cheaper clinics, and when these clinics do not accept them as patients they have no other options.The same cannot be said about Canadian patients, which makes Canada a viable model for the United States to follow. The first investigation should include the costs associated with care in Canada and the United States. Two figures in particular will be investigated. The first is the percentage of GDP that is spent on health care comparing each country respectively. Canada segments 10% of GDP on health care, while the United States relies on 14% of GDP for the procurement of health care. (Armstrong, Armstrong & Fegan, 2005, p.8) A discrepancy of the GDP between the two countries is important because while the Canadian system is close somewhat to the American system in GDP percentage, the fact that all Canadians are covered while a drastically smaller number are covered in America demonstrates how the Canadian system works. Another argument about these facts is that America has a much larger GDP than Canada, yet still cannot keep up with the health care crisis. Another important figure concerning expenditures is the cost per person.Canada spends about $2,049 per person, which is about 55% less than what is spent per person in America. (Armstrong, Armstrong & Fegan, 2005, p. 8) Many opponents of Canada’s system may look at these figures and suggest that Canada is cheaper because they have less people, but the figures take this into account and have calculated the costs per person. This allows the figures to take shape and demonstrate how Canada’s system seems to be more efficient. The next question is how Canada keeps their costs so low as compared to the United States.It has been suggested that Canadian costs for health care are low because of the use of public administration. (Armstrong, Armstrong & Fegan, 2005, p. 8) Essentially Canada relies heavily on universal health care whereby the government pays for the services and monitors the country’s health care field. Some opponents of this system will suggest that government control will only increase costs because governments such as Canada’s cannot operate within the health care field as efficiently as private enterprise. (Krasny, 1992, p. 43) This suggestion by Krasny is incorrect.The public sector in Canada handles all of the administrative tasks associated with a hospital, which lowers costs. (Armstrong, Armstrong & Fegan, 2005, p. 8) Other cost savings measures associated with Cana da’s universal health care system are the decreased overhead expenditures. Hospitals no longer have to include entire teams to conduct insurance calculations and coverage implementations as well as entire teams to keep track of billing and collection efforts. (Armstrong, Armstrong & Fegan, 2005, p. 8) This drastically decreases costs, especially when compared to the American system.The American system implements all of these overhead policies, which only strain the system further. For example, hospitals in America â€Å"must keep more extensive records in order to facilitate billing to the state and federal governments, insurance companies and patients, and in anticipation of malpractice suits. † (Armstrong, Armstrong & Fegan, 2005, p. 8) Canadian doctors who leave Canada and practice in America make about the same amount of money because the overhead was so large in America, despite their lowered pay in Canada due to universal health care.(Armstrong, Armstrong & Fegan , 2005, p. 8) All of these benefits of the Canadian system would be pointless if the care was not adequate. Canadians live longer, are ahead of America in healthiness in the world, have far less infant fatalities, and have much greater percentage of disability free life. (Armstrong, Armstrong & Fegan, 2005, p. 8) All of these health factors tend to point toward greater health care practices as compared to America, as well as greater access to health care facilities.The benefits of the Canadian system are clear, which makes the Canadian system a viable alternative to the American system. America still maintains a payment rate health care system where the patient must pay a certain amount in order to receive health care from a provider. American hospitals will not turn away a patient in need of care if it is of the utmost importance, but the hospitals will turn away a patient that is not being threatened by illness and does not have the ability to pay. (â€Å"Looking to Canada for,â €  2006, p.8) This idea is very peculiar in the grand scheme of assisting patients. On one hand the hospital is supposed to help the sick, but on the other hand a patient will receive little to no help if they do not have the ability to pay. The American government is to blame for a majority of the crisis that has resulted. Currently, many patients waiting on organ donations and transplant die because of the American legislative regulations. It is stated that â€Å"more than 6,000 American patients die each year while waiting for suitable organs, and that those waiting lists are caused by the U.S. Congress, which prohibits payments to organ providers and thereby dries up the supply of transplantable organs. † (â€Å"Looking to Canada for,† 2006, p. 8) The legislature not only makes health care unaffordable, but they also help create longer waits for patients who cannot wait any longer. The entire system in the United States has caused a health care crisis that will not alleviate until something is done. The current American climate when dealing with health care has caused major problems to result in the country.As Callahan states, Public opinion surveys show considerable discontent with American health care, the business community is increasingly distressed in trying to cope with ever- rising costs, and a long-awaited stimulus for serious reform may be at hand: middle-class alarm at a deteriorating situation for those previously well covered by insurance. The fact that a majority of personal bankruptcies in this country are occasioned by individual and family health care debts is a sobering figure.If the 46 million uninsured do not catch the congressional eye, maybe the steady increase of the uninsured and the rise in bankruptcies will. (2006, p. 28) Callahan suggests that the health care crisis in America has spread to nearly every facet of American life. The economy suffers, the savings sector suffers, the credit sector suffers, and the empl oyment sector suffers. The current aspects of the American health care system are alarming and need to be addressed or it is predicted that dire consequences could develop, which will lead to a better understanding and acceptance of universal health care. Callahan predicts:(1) movement at the state level; (2) business dismay at the cost of providing care and the consequent steady reductions of employer-provided coverage and benefits; (3) the persistently growing number of uninsured; (4) the alarming rate of health care costs well exceeding general cost of living increases (projected at 7- 8 percent a year for the foreseeable future); (5) increasing middle-class out of pocket payments even with present insurance coverage, and rising economic insecurities as they face a disintegrating scene; and (6) perhaps a change of attitude toward universal care among physicians, much as once happened with Canadian doctors. (2006, p. 28) According to Callahan’s facts and predictions, the Un ited States is in need of an extensive health care overhaul. Without proper addressing of the current situation, the average American patient will suffer through continually rising health care costs and health care coverage. The change to a universal system will not be easy because many in the medical field do not want universal health care coverage.Callahan has stated that during Canada’s attempt at socialized medicine, American members of the medical community enlisted propaganda and other forms of persuasion in an attempt to cause Canada to reject any form of universal coverage and these attempts failed. (2006, p. 28) The United States medical community understood that socialized medicine would cause a possible lowering of wages and rates as well as an increase in patients, which they did not want. If Canada’s system was implemented and succeeded, then possibly the American public would realize the benefits and would want universal coverage as well. The American med ical elite identified this possibility and have been fighting the change ever since. Accompanying this fight has been the American Medical Association (AMA), which initially established the attempts at making the Canadian system fail.Currently, the AMA has proposed a health care plan that does not even address the idea of universal coverage, and the group is a major political and public force in America with a lot of leverage to influence public policy. (2006, p. 28) The end result is a large organization that is supposedly watching out for patients, but at the same time is eliminating any type of universal health care opportunities. The American system allows groups such as the AMA to control public policy, which does not even recognize what the American public wants in health care. Callahan has stated that well over 60% of Americans would be in favor of universal health care in some form, yet the AMA ignores this need and continues to cater to the medical elite in America. (2006, p.29) If the AMA remains in control over medical public policy then nothing will ever get done to address the increasing need for American medical reform. The proper reformation of the health care system lies in universal health care, and Canada’s system is a prime example of health care effectiveness. A look into the actual facts surrounding America’s current health care position is beneficial into discovering the current state of the country. The facts about America’s system are shocking when put into perspective with other countries in the world. The World Health Organization puts America at number 37 overall in health care performance, which is in between the two countries Costa Rica and Slovenia. (Lesnik, 2004, p.1) Out of all the industrialized countries, America is lagging way behind many of the top countries in the world, and it appears that this ranking will continue to plummet if nothing is done to alleviate the health care crisis. The ranking of Ameri ca is a strange outcome for the country because America spends more than any country in health care services. According to Lesnik, In 2004, U. S. health spending rose to a whopping 15 percent of the gross domestic product, a higher percentage than any other nation, including those that provide universal coverage to all residents and those with much more modest Gross Domestic Products. (2004, p. 1) Lesnik’s figures present a dire circumstance for America. The American medical field has more expenditures than countries that already provide universal coverage, which includes Canada.If the expenditures are so high, it would make sense that America should have the best medical coverage of any nation in the world, but this is not the case. The idea as to why the United States ranked so low can be summed up with one idea and that is access to care. The numbers involved in a lack of access show further harms the stretch to the livelihood of Americans as well as the economic well bein g of the country. Illness affects every person and does not discriminate according to wealth or ability, which causes many citizens in the economic sectors of the country to lower their productivity because they do not have adequate access to care. (Lesnik, 2004, p. 1) This can cause a drop in growth in America, which will further exacerbate the situation.Fundamentally, if the economy falters then the ability of sick workers to pay for care diminishes, which increases the problem of access. Lesnik identifies the fact that tens of millions of Americans lack a doctor to call on if they are in pain or a medical facility that will accept them when they are sick. (2004, p. 1) Lesnik states, According to the U. S. Census Bureau, a staggering 45 million Americans–or 15. 6 percent of the population–permanently live without any form of health insurance. This creates serious barriers to care, which lead to unnecessary illness and death. It is increasingly clear that, for individ uals and their families, the financial burden of medical expenses is unmanageable without insurance. (2004, p. 1)It appears that the major problem affecting the US health care crisis is access to care. Access to care encompasses the ability to pay as well as suitable facilities in which to receive care. These are the main culprits in America’s health care shortcomings, and if not addressed will only become worse. One of the possible reasons that America has shied away from universal health care is the enactment of legislation in the 1960s. In 1965, the American legislature enacted the Medicare program, and many experts noted that this piece of legislation may open the door for universal health care. (Callahan, 2006, p. 29) Obviously this never happened, and America has maintained the status quo since.Another side effect of the Medicare program is that it had extreme costs to the government, which Callahan believes has caused many within government to shun any sort of grand ex penditure such as universal health care. (2006, p. 29) The battle between whether small implementation or extreme implementation of a socialized health care system is needed has been at the forefront of the health care debate. Many experts believe small increments in the government’s socialization will be beneficial, but Callahan suggests that according to Canada’s model only a grand implementation will solve the health care problem and small increments will do little to alleviate the crisis that is occurring right now. (2006, p. 29) According to Callahan, America needs a major overhaul and needs to look north to Canada for the ideal health care system.It appears that without this major change, America’s health care crisis will continue to grow to astronomical proportions. The American health care system is in a crisis and needs a change. Canada’s system appears to be better for the patient. A study into Canada’s system is essential in understandin g how the policies would affect the United States. Conclusion The success of the Canadian universal health care system demonstrates how America should switch to a universal-style system as soon as possible. The deteriorating state of the health care system in America illustrates how the American free-enterprise system does not work and does not provide adequate care, access, and lower costs.References Armstrong, P. , Armstrong, H. , & Fegan, C. (1998, June). The Best Solution: Questions and Answers on the Canadian Health Care System. Washington Monthly, 30, 8+. Callahan, D. (2006). Universal Health Care: From the States to the Nation?. The Hastings Center Report, 36(5), 28+. Krasny, J. (1992, February 17). The Wrong Health-Care Model. Is Canada's Health-Care System Really Cheaper?. National Review, 44, 43+. Lesnik, J. (2004). Community Health Centers: Health Care as It Could Be. Journal of Law and Health, 19(1), 1+. Looking to Canada for Health Care Reform. (2006, July). USA Today ( Society for the Advancement of Education), 135, 8.

Business Ethics, Governance and Social Responsibility Assignment - 1

Business Ethics, Governance and Social Responsibility - Assignment Example 36). Moreover, corporate social responsibility has over the decades become a prominent cornerstone for most institutions of the world (Valenti et al., 2014, p. 1). Corporate social responsibility has recently been viewed as one of the fundamental practices that have contributed to the success of most organizations of the world (Lindgreen et al., 2009, p.14). Different scholars have argued that there is no single organization that can achieve its goals and objectives without practicing proper business ethics, proper corporate governance and properly implementing corporate social responsibility (CSR). Further, it is through corporate governance that proper business ethics and corporate social responsibilities are implemented in a company. Over the decades, Boeing has grown to be one of the largest automobile manufacturers of the world. It has also grown to be one of the best companies globally. The company has provided employment for more than one hundred and sixty eight thousand four hundred American citizens. The company has a good track of corporate governance and leadership since it was founded in 1916. Recently, Boeing Company won an award in 2012 following its continued interest in building better communities of the world. Nevertheless, one of the core values of Boeing Company is to do business with the highest possible ethical standards while at the same time honoring all of its commitments to its shareholders. Boeing management is mandated to treat all of its customers with fairness, trust and respect. Not long ago, Boeing was forced to fire two of its executive officers when the company was found in possession of documents that belonged to one of its competitors and were to be used in favor of winning a contract from the government. The two employees strongly violated the company’s code of conduct and this highly damaged the

How strong was Tsarism in 1914 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

How strong was Tsarism in 1914 - Essay Example If one looks at Russia before 1914 it may be possible to come to some ending about these various views. In the course of 1905 to 1907 there had been significant peasant unrest intended mainly at the gracious landowners. ‘’A lot of this had been put downward by oppression but the government also approved a number of measures intended to alleviate the circumstances, including the elimination of redemption duties and the addition of credit via the Peasant Land Bank’’ (Wade, 2005.p.25). ‘’Once he became Prime Minister, Stolypin set himself the job of pacifying the peasantry as the key to Russia’s long-term stability’’ (Gatrell, 1994.p.461). During the conflict, the administration had observed that the community had not been a warranty of rural steadiness. Indeed, it gave turbulence their consistency and organization. Thus, the solution was to support peasants to leave the community and to become confidential landowners. ‘ ’Stolypin’s plan was to make a group of peasant administrators with a stake in sustaining the regime (Polonov, 2005.p.50)’’. They could then be relied on to hold their radical neighbours in check. The rationale Stolypin surrendered the Duma for the agrarian reorganization was his wish to make a class of small, free farmers a gamble on the abstemious and the strong, which would be hard working and innovative. It was felt that the presented system encouraged the rising disintegration of the land because of the rise in population, and did not give the incentive to make advancements because the land did not stay in the family. In quintessence, what Stolypin planned was privatization. In August 1906, Stolypin prepared 6 million hectares of state and crown land obtainable for peasant buying and in October, the new management eliminated all limitations on peasant movement. Nevertheless, ‘’the key measure was his Land Law of 9 November 1906’⠀™ (Geary, 1989.p.17).’’The verdict passed this and Duma did not approve until June 1910’’ (Gatrell, 1994.p.78). ‘’It stated that in the third duma (1907-12) the main position was held by the Union of 17 October , the date of the regal manifesto of 1905, which was dedicated to working with the administration for improvement in the agrarian civil rights , field, worker’s insurance, education, justice and local regime’’(Mendum & Waugh,2001.p.47). They approved Stolypin’s agrarian improvement, passed unevenly under disaster verdict in 1906. ‘’The graciousness, which had endorsed Stolypin’s agrarian improvement, opposed him on a number of other problems where they felt their welfare or that of the realm threatened and they used their central location’’ (Saul, 1997.p. 45). If the duma had a small number of successful changes to its credit, it did alter extremely the climate of Russi an government by bringing bureaucrat mistreatments out into the open, and by empowering public talk of contentious problems. ‘’From 1912 there was a renaissance of workers’ actions following the slaughter of activists at the Lena gold mines in Siberia’’ (Bagnall & McGonigle, 2004.p.481) ‘’. Ultimately, this caused the erection of blockades and to street hostility in St Petersburg on the eve of the First World War’’ (Saul, 1997.p.34). ‘’Visions of a latest era of industrial harmony and prosperity were rudely shattered by a fresh wave of Labour complaint that began in April, 1912, once

Solyndra, California based solar panel company Essay

Solyndra, California based solar panel company - Essay Example It is one of the companies, given assistance by the government in order to counteract the Chinese efforts towards the manufacture of green technology. The company went bankrupt in august 2011. Cynics are using the bankruptcy of the company to prove that the country is not ready for solar energy. Before filing for bankruptcy, the company was given five hundred and thirty five million dollars from the economic stimulus package (Department of Energy). Due to its current status, the manufacturing company is up for sale. The federal loans were part of the Obama administration stimulus program. The company used a new technology called copper indium gallium celenide (CIGS), in the manufacture of cylindrical panels, while competitors were using silicon. At first the company recorded high profits, but with plummet in silicon prices, and increase in prices of the materials they were using, started making losses. This situation was made worse by Chinese companies that produced solar panels at s ubsidized prices, due to low costs of production, thus flooding the market with cheaper products. The costs of manufacturing solar panels using CIGS was expensive to maintain in the end, leading to increased losses. Consequently, the company shut down its operation, and all employees were laid off. There are several laws that apply in this situation. One of them is the Energy Policy Act of 2005. This bill was passed into law by congress and signed by President George. Bush in 2008. It is an attempt to curb energy problems by providing incentives and loans towards cleaner energy alternatives. It has many provisions including subsidies for wind and solar energy production, to reduce environmental pollution. The loan provided by the federal government was guaranteed by the above act towards cleaner energy production mechanisms. The company later filed for bankruptcy two years after the bailout (Solyndra, 2011, 12). The managers of this company are likely to get millions of dollars in t ax breaks, due to provisions in the above act. The question is whether the government ignored the red flags and funded a company which could be a fraud from the beginning. The other is the American Recovery and Reinforcement Act of 2009. Sit was approved by congress and signed into law by President Obama in 2009. Its main aim is to save jobs including those in the â€Å"clean† energy industry. It draws from the Keynesian theory, which argues that during recession, the government should increase public spending, due to a decrease in private spending. Under the energy provision, the act allocated around eight and a half billion dollars for subsidies towards green energy solutions. Milton Friendman was an American economist and a noble price winner who advocated for a free capitalist economy where the government has little or no control over the businesses. As such, there are no constraints. This is was an opposition to the existing Keynesian government policies (Friendman, 1980 ). He was also of the opinion that a person can do whatever they please as long as they do not break the law. He widely promoted the stockholder theory. Basically, this theory is for the opinion that a company’s main obligation is to its stakeholders. As such a business or an organization should work towards maximized profits as long as they do not break the law. This is because the stakeholders have the most to lose from the bad decisions made by business managers. Because of this, a business will in the long run

White collar crime #6 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

White collar crime #6 - Essay Example fically speaking, it includes â€Å"fraud, bankruptcy fraud, bribery, insider trading, embezzlement, computer crime, medical crime, public corruption, identity theft, environmental crime, pension fund crime, RICO crimes, consumer fraud, occupational crime, securities fraud, financial fraud, and forgery† (Karri & Associates). The concept nowadays is often related to the socio-economic status of an individual involved in the crime. A white collar crime, performed either through computer or through paper, is often committed by people belonging to the middle class or the upper class because people get influenced by their origins. Also, since they belong to high social status, the crime may go undetected. The only thing that distinguishes the white collar crime from a low class crime is that it is implemented in a different way and at a different level. Thus, white collar criminals are only administratively different from lower class criminals. However, , Sutherland’s theory best described the white collar crime because it brought upper class and lower class criminals on same

The Implications of MRSA on Wound Healing Case Study

The Implications of MRSA on Wound Healing - Case Study Example There have been confirmed reports that patients who are getting admitted to hospitals for the treatment are most affected group due to MRSA infection (Craig Brown, 2006). It was also found that patients who stay for longer period in hospitals are found to be infected with MRSA in higher rate. MRSA also affects the wound healing negatively. Hence the proper nursing treatment techniques and strict maintenance of hygiene is very much needed for effective cure of MRSA. It has been found in the research studies that MRSA worsens the conditions of wound healing and hence draws attention of medical personnel through out the world. The management of this disease has become more crucial especially in a community set up. The role of base level functionaries like nurses is quite phenomenal in successful management of this disease. Scotland also has a remarkable number of patients suffering from MRSA. It has become a frequent cause of nosocomial infection, its increasing prevalence posing serious therapeutic and infection control problems within the hospital environment. Extended hospitalisation and antibiotic therapy have been identified as additional risk factors for MRSA carriage and infection. It is not exaggerating to comment that MRSA is a major challenge to the burn patient, with potential to cause significant morbidity and mortality. Burn patients have been shown to become colonised and infected more readily than other patient groups. Extensive bu rn injuries are particularly susceptible to infection as a result of the disruption of the normal skin barrier and accompanying depression of immune responses. Microbial surveillance, epidemiological studies and the introduction of strict infection control regimes can definitely reduce the prevalence of MRSA but may be insufficient for eradication or prevention of outbreak situations if not accompanied with community awareness programmes in Scotland. It was found that nearly one fifth of patients who died after surgery in 2005 had developed an infection in hospitals according to a national survey in Scotland. A total of 126 people, 7.6% of those who died after surgery, had MRSA. In 75 of those cases, it was believed to have contributed to the patient's death. The report also revealed that almost half of the patients with MRSA had the infection when they were admitted. This survey was done for a considerably larger ample. There were 301,894 surgical admissions to Scottish hospitals in 2005, with 240,302 patients having an operation. In 17.8% of cases where the patient died after surgery, they had shown a hospital acquired infection (HAI). This can be compared with 23.5% of people who died after surgery in 2004 (MRSA watch, 2006a). These figures, from the Scottish Audit of Surgical Mortality showed an improvement in terms of MRSA management in Scotland in comparison with that of 2004. The implementation of MRSA infection control guidelines by all the nursing staff in Scotland is crucial in reducing the impact of MRSA on wound healing. Reports confirm that NHS Lanarkshire infection control teams have been responding to the problem by working to tackle the issue with a range of initiatives to help combat infection, including specialist infection control

Virtues Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Virtues - Essay Example Integrity is defined as staying honest and having strong moral principles. For instance using the turn signal lights in a car. I make it a personal choice to use turn signals when turning off an empty road or in a parking lot. I strive to promise what I can deliver. This has made it easier for me to say no to what I cannot do and in turn my integrity is nourished.Work ethic is the policy that hard work is intrinsically virtuous or worthy of reward. Practice leads to perfection. It applies to academics, sports and life in general. What you reap is what you sow. Consistently, I have worked hard at my academics, and it has proved that work ethics does apply. Colin Powell states "A dream does not become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination, and hard work." Teamwork is the effective and efficient action of a group. Teamwork can never be overrated. If you need to walk fast, walk alone. If you want to go far, walk with others. From the football pitch to the classroom, I have enjoyed the fruits of collaboration. In class discussions, I have always found previously hard concepts explained by others. I have improved my grades through such group discussions. Self-discipline is the ability to control one's feelings and overcome one's weaknesses. In high school, I would procrastinate a lot. Then I started rewarding myself for following a checklist of activities previously written down. Now in my undergraduate I can attest to the power of self-discipline as a virtue. However, fully mastering it is still a process, not a destination.

AR 364 HISTORY OF ART(print based) Research Paper

AR 364 HISTORY OF ART(print based) - Research Paper Example Every man is an artist. Every individual has a way to voice out what is going on inside of him and loose it out in ways that would make an impact to whoever perceives. Art as an expression reflects what is happening in a certain society and culture. If art is a work output, then it must come from inside of the artist. The freedom of every individual lets him explore the vastness of his creativity exploding into varied concepts of supreme work of art and achievements. Historically, art has evolved through time and culture. Since the evolution of human history, art is already present. Early artworks were seen on the caves and rocks. They were aesthetically basic, devoid of colors, no definite forms and lacking in medium. Regardless of their simplicity, they are renowned important due to the message and content that they carry. What they have done is considered supreme and historically significant. Their art is their way of expression of what they perceive in their nature. Due to their simple cave wall caricatures and sketches, man’s civilization was traced. The message of an artwork reveals the environment at certain point in the history. There is a dynamic relationship of the artist with the environment, whether internal or external. With all his intellect, emotions, and religious beliefs, he freely cast out what he infers from his system. There are various factors that affect the artist’s works such as geographical, historical, religion, politics, and other day to day happenings can make artists resolved into expressions painted in canvasses to portray soundless words. This symbiotic human cycle produces a total artwork that is directed into shaping the world creating history and directing the course of the future. Art has been evident since the early period of Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic period in 30,000 BC to 2,000 BC. Man has expressed what they perceived from nature through

Big Brothers, Big Sisters Essay Example for Free

Big Brothers, Big Sisters Essay Big Brothers, Big Sisters is a prevention program, which enhances the socialization of children through paying attention to their psychological and physical development and increasing their feeling of â€Å"being included† into community and school environment. Due to the fact that the project is mostly directed to planning interesting leisure and education-related activities for minors, it can be interpreted as prevention program, as it creates a friendly and harmonious environment which encourages and reinforces the child’s self-esteem through establishing a symmetric communication between the minor and adult and teaching important social skills. As for me, I believe that the program is effective, as it deals mostly with three important predictors of deviance and crime – absence of developing and diversified pastime, lack of engagement with community activities and academic failure (and the consequent loss of interest in education) in schoolchildren. In addition, the relevant study, provided by the website, demonstrates the following results: â€Å"Researchers found that after 18 months of spending time with their Bigs, the Little Brothers and Little Sisters were: 46% less likely to begin using illegal drugs; 27% less likely to begin using alcohol; 52% less likely to skip school; 37% less likely to skip a class; more confident of their performance in schoolwork; one-third less likely to hit someone† (at http://www. bigbrooc. org/html/our_impact. html, 2007). There are three major curriculums, designed within the program. First of all, there is a set of community-based activities, which take place once a month. The community volunteers encourage the participants to do sports, play intellectual games, have meals together or simply take walks in the park. Group-based mentoring program includes monthly meeting of Big and Little Brothers and Sisters and learning new and unusual types of sports, associated with team playing. For instance, the participants do kayaking, play miniature golf or team bowling. All these sports are aimed at improving the children’s concentration, dexterity, ability to plan and make joint decision within the team; as one knows from developmental psychology, the progress of physical skills is particularly sensitive to influences at teen age, when the person is actively growing. The complex of school-based activities comprises weekly sessions, during which the minors are assisted in their home assignments. The major advantage of this program, which actually can cause in the jealousy of the similar agencies, is its image of partnership between adults and children, who receive not mentors, but friends, whose role models are more likely to be learned by minors. The typical agencies of this profile (working in the directions of prevention and diversion) more willingly involve competent specialists (in a limited number) than volunteers, so the underage target audience not always receives socialization experience and learn social skills during workshops and training. In addition, the Big Brothers Big Sisters project manages to maintain its focus on the underage audience in all points of its curriculum and stimulates the natural and healthy socialization in minors (through communication and team activities), instead of creating artificial conditions (like those in workshops and purposeful social skills training). The goals of the Big Brothers, Big Sisters project to great extent coincide with the orientation of the whole juvenile justice system. The major priority of the system is prevention of juvenile crimes and recidivism, but this goal is traditionally accomplished through enlightenment and education in the spheres of crime and punishment, drug addiction and alcohol use. The efforts of the program, on the other hand, are directed to improving the minors’ physical and psychological health and helping them establish friendly contact with the environment. This model is often neglected by the juvenile justice system, so it would be beneficial to introduce the program under the management of the network of government institutions, responsible for delinquency prevention, as the idea of healthy and natural socialization is likely to become a new direction in the functioning of the juvenile justice system and the unity of accountability will provide courts will more comprehensive information about the children. In addition, the program will also demonstrate success in the field of diversion. Finally, the program will correct the official and formalized image of the juvenile justice system and break the stereotype of the â€Å"punishing institution†. The major strength of the program is its positivist approach to prevention, which includes strengthening the minors’ social and psychological potential rather than intimidating schoolchildren about the adversities, associated with delinquency and illicit drug use. The project embraces community work, group work and school work, so that the major environments, in which the children operate, are influenced and to some extent altered. The ultimate goal in this sense is the development of the sense of inclusion into all these environments in the participants. On the other hand, the program lacks one important components, which is family-based work. As the website suggests, the underage participants originate from the households, where domestic violence and alcohol use are practiced. With respect to the fact that behavior models, learned in the family, are to certain degree determinative in teenagers’ behavior, it would also be useful to establish a contact between the families and the community and arrange activities, which imply the creation of a large team, consisting of children, their parents and the Bigs. Another weakness is the lack of basic psychological education for children, as at the certain stage of their development they need theoretical knowledge of building relationships and understanding others, so the Big Brothers, Big Sisters can introduce monthly discussions of the achievements and difficulties, experienced by the participants in their relationships with coevals and adults. Reference list Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Orange County. (2007). Official website, at http://www. bigbrooc. org.

The Cola Wars Essay Example for Free

The Cola Wars Essay There are a few reasons why the soft drink industry has been historically profitable for so long. One such reason is that soft drinks have been seen as a great and delicious alternative to drinking just water. Though water is essential to life and its even a main ingredient in soft drinks, its naturally very bland in taste and unexciting to the consumer. Soft drinks however are funs, flavorful, and delicious to drink so they give the consumer something else to desire and are bought to break up the monotony of drinking just plain water. A second reason that the soft drink industry has been historically profitable would be because of the fact that soft drinks have been a cheap buy for the consumer in comparison to anything else on the market. Soft drinks have been sold for as little as a nickel per a drink for varying sizes and quantities of the beverage, while other non soft drink beverages have gone for rate that are much higher than this. Even in todays market a consumer can go out to a store and buy any kind of soft drink product off the shelf and it would cost the a great deal less than it would for a bottle of juice or even a case of the healthy option, water. With a low purchase cost they have been able to entice consumer to continue to buy their products. A third reason that soft drink industry has been has a strong history of being profitable would be that they have always had strong marketing campaigns that appeal to their consumer base and audience. With campaigns such as the Pepsi Generation which lasted for more than a decade to help them set target those who were young, or at least young at heart, and even had the catch phrase â€Å"For those who think young† at one point helped them capture and steal away from Cokes large market share, and even brought them to within a 2-1 sales gap, while Coca-Cola used it’s a Coca-Cola lifestyle to market its soft drinks, even going as far as being a sponsor of the U.S. armed services and offering soldiers a flat rate for their products during WWI. Marketing campaigns such as these help boost sales of soft drinks over several decades and gained them loyal customers who have stuck by and continued to purchase the product that they like to drink. This way of marketing has help create a type of lifestyle for the consumer, which can have a strong benefit for them in the next generation, because if the parent of children have a certain kind of drink that they get their children on , then they are helping create the next generation of consumers for a product.

Forehead Lipoma Case Study

Forehead Lipoma Case Study ABSTRACT The lipoma is a relatively rare maxillofacial tumor, although it occurs with considerable frequency in other areas, particularly in the subcutaneous tissues of the neck. Lipomas are common benign soft tissue neoplasms of mature adipose tissue. They have been known to grow to large sizes causing masticatory and speech difficulties. The usual lesions consist of a well circumscribed, lobulated mass of mature fat cells. In other situations the covering mucosa becomes ulcerated and presents a diagnostic dilemma and seldom occurs in the younger age group. We present a case of forehead lipoma affecting 52 year old male patient. KEY WORDS – Lipoma , forehead , surgery INTRODUCTION Lipomas are benign tumors of mesenchymal origin consisting of mature fat cells which usually are involved by a thin fibrous capsule(1) . There are several forms and dimensions of this condition depending on location or evolution time which may cause orofacial deformity in some patients.( 2) Etiology of lipoma remains uncertain, even after pointing endocrine changes and heritance factors as possible causes. It is known that lipomas are mainly present in the fifth and sixth decade of life, being rarely found during childhood .(3,4) Lipoma’s are also seen in intra oral sites such as in lips, tongue, palate, buccal vestibule, floor of the mouth and parotid region(1,3) . Incisional or excisional biopsy can be done in these cases. Yellow coloration of lipoma should be observed as well as fluctuation of the lesion. This lesion will be on the liquid surface due to its lower density than a fixer solution(5,6-8). The treatment of lipomas is surgical removal. The recurrence is rare (1) a nd there is no reported malignant transformation (6) . Although, growth of lipoma is usually limited, it can grow to large proportions which can interfere in the speech, mastication, that reinforce the necessity to realize a surgical removal.(7,8) The present study aims to show a rare case of forehead lipoma in the maxillofacial region. CASE REPORT A 52 year old male reported to the Department of Oral Maxillofacial Surgery with the chief complaint of swelling in the forehead region which patient noticed 1 year back which had been gradually increasing initially but reported rapid growth since 1 month. On examination , a well defined 2 x 2 cm swelling was noticed in the forehead region on the right side just above the right eyebrow (Fig. 1). The skin over the swelling was stretched. No lymph nodes were palpable. On palpation, swelling was soft , fluctuant , non tender , mobile and the margins were slippery under the palpating finger. The swelling was non-pulsatile. The provisional diagnosis of lipoma was established. A differential diagnosis of dermoid cyst was excluded by negative aspiration . Routine blood investigations were carried out and were normal to plan an excisional biopsy under Local Anesthesia . Local anesthetic with adrenaline was infiltrated at the periphery of the lesion. Incision was then given along the crease in forehead to achieve better esthetic closure , crossing the swelling at its greatest bulge. Lesion was then slowly dissected out with the capsule in toto (Fig 2). Hemostasis achieved and subcuticular sutures were given (Fig. 3 4) so that scar is aesthetically acceptable . Histopathology report revealed a capsulated lesion with numerous adipocytes with peripherally placed nuclei. Admixed collagenic streaks were also seen. The entire lesion was excised and no recurrence has been observed for the past 6 months and the patient is under regular follow up. DISCUSSION Lipoma is a benign slow growing neoplasm composed of mature fat cells. Lipomas in the oral cavity are rare. The most common locations of lipoma in the oral cavity have been reported to be in the buccal mucosa, a region abundant in fatty tissue, followed by tongue. The hard palate has very little fatty tissue and the incidence of a lesion here is quite low. [9] Lipoma differs metabolically from the normal fat cells even though they are histologically similar. It has been shown that the fat of lipoma is not used for energy production during starvation period, as it happens with normal adipose tissue, their lipid is not available for metabolism. Adipose tissue is present in two basic forms white fat and brown fat. The clinical features of lipoma vary according to their rate of growth, size, and location. The usual complaint is of a painless palpable esthetically unpleasant mass, and there is seldom dysfunction of an involved muscle. A characteristic feature is a change in consistency and form of many of these lesions during contraction of involved muscle. The tumor is soft and flat when the muscle is relaxed and becomes firm and more spherical when muscle contracts. The etiology varies from the differentiation of multipotent mesenchymal cells in fat tissue, cartilage, and bone to metaplasia of a preexisting lipoma. Mesenchymal cells are modified by systemic and local influences that range from local trauma to prolonged ischemia. [10] Occasionally, the lipoma may invade muscles or grow between them: the so-called infiltrating lipoma. Infiltrating lipoma is an uncommon mesenchymal neoplasm that characteristically infiltrates adjacent tissues and tends to recur after excision. This type of lipoma is extremely rare in the head and neck region , and its congenital type is rare. [11] Lipoma consist of mature fat cells arranged into lobules that are separated by septa of fibrous connective tissue (12). Liposarcoma is important in the differential diagnosis, because well differentiated liposarcoma often contains many areas of lipomatous tissue. Despite the close histological similarity to normal adipose tissue, lipomas, usually have chromosomal aberrations such as translocations involving 12q13-15, locus interstitial deletions of 13q, and rearrangements involving 8q11-13 locus. [13] The clinical differential diagnosis includes ranula, dermoid cyst, thyroglossal duct cyst, ectopic thyroid tissue, pleomorphic adenoma and mucoepidermoid carcinoma, angiolipoma, fibrolipoma and malignant lymphoma. The definitive diagnosis is made by means of microscopic examination which shows adult fat tissue cells embedded in a stroma of connective tissue and surrounded by a fibrous capsule. On some occasions lipoma of the buccal mucosa cannot be distinguished from a herniated buccal fat pad, except by the lack of a history of sudden onset after trauma. Lesions outside the oral cavity could show greater recurrence rates after surgical excision. CONCLUSION Lipomas found in the oral and maxillofacial region are rare and usually slow growing lesions. The clinical course is usually asymptomatic until they get larger in size. Most lipomas develop in the subcutaneous tissues but deeper tissues may be involved as well. Surgical excision is the main treatment for lipoma. The complete excision along with precautions to prevent damage to adjacent structures should be emphasized during the operation, which is the key factor in order to avoid recurrence with least morbidity.

claustrophobia Essay -- essays research papers fc

Claustrophobia Does Claustrophobia cause people to deviate from confined areas? The independent variable is claustrophobia, and the dependent variable is the confined areas. Our hypothesis to this question is yes claustrophobia can be cured and reduced by cognitive behavioral therapy. The issue of claustrophobia is very important due to its impact on an individuals everyday life, since it affects a number of individuals throughout the world. A phobia is an anxiety disorder that is shown by an irrational fear of confined spaces. This phobia can cause a person to stay away form confined spaces such as a crowded store, sporting and social events, as well as elevators that could bring on this irrational fear. In society this can cause a person not to take part in certain events. This phobia can also lead to the interference with riding on public transportation such as a plane, train, bus or subway. In this our findings will be evident by the research provided. Each of these specific statements below, w ill help draw a conclusion about claustrophobia: 1) Fear of Restriction and Suffocation 2) The Reduction of Claustrophobia(Part 1) 3) The Reduction of Claustrophobia (Part 2) 4) Virtual Reality Treatment of Claustrophobia Claustrophobia 2 Fear of Restriction and Suffocation Claustrophobic fear is a combination of the fear of suffocation and the fear of confinement. The view on this topic is supported from the responses from a questionnaire done before, during, and after a MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scan was performed. Patients who successfully completed a MRI scan found they experienced fear of confinement not suffocation. These MRI scans were done in long narrow cylindrical chambers, which are dark and restrictive as well as noisy. Although you are not in a sealed chamber, you can literally see the light at the end of the tunnel. Some other chambers that were used in other experiments were enclosed, and restrictive which leads the patient to believe that there is the possibil ity of suffocation. This study was performed over a three-week period on an outpatient basis at two teaching hospitals. There were seventy-eight people involved in this study, twenty-three males, mean average 51.61 years (S.D.=20.0), as well as fifty-five females, mean age 45.67 years (S.D.=15.3). They collected research data on three different occasions using the F.S.S. (fear survey ... ...litating and complex anxiety disorder. Claustrophobia 10 In conclusion, this paper has shown that claustrophobia does cause people to avoid confined areas. Each individual in these cases had their lives affected by this fear and with the proper treatment will be able to overcome it. With more cognitive and behavioral research, and those afflicted with this fear, claustrophobia can someday be a thing of the past. No longer will thousands have to suffer with this phobia, and maybe then they can go on with their lives and see the world in a whole different aspect, one with no anxiety and most of all no fear. Bibliography Booth, Richard; Rachman, S. (1992). The reduction of claustrophobia. Behavior Research & Therapy, 30(3), 207-221 Botella, C, Banos; R.M. Perpina; C. Villa; H. Alcaniz; M. Rey; A. (1998) Virtual Reality treatment of claustrophobia. Behavior Research & Therapy, 36(2) 239-246. Harris, Lynn M; Robinson; John Menzies; Ross G. (1999) Evidence for fear of Suffocation as components of claustrophobia. Behavior Research & Therapy, 37(2), 155-159 Shafran, R; Booth, R; Rachman, S. (1993). The reduction of claustrophobia. Behavior Research& Therapy 31(5), 75-85

The Formalistic Approach to Hays Rapunzel Essay -- Hay Rapunzel Essay

The Formalistic Approach to Hay's Rapunzel Prayer has been always a symbol of faith, and even in modern poetry it is still used as a desperate cry to the One in Heaven. One of the great examples of this desperate cry would be Sara Henderson Hay's "Rapunzel".After reading her modern version, familiarity with Grimm's fairy tale "Rapunzel" will reveal a completely new interpretation. Sara Hay chooses Rapunzel's prayer to be in the sonnet structure. Sonnet, being a part of a lyric genre, represents the most personal and direct speaking manner. Here, the lyric poet is speaking from Rapunzel's point of view almost singing her sufferings, her feelings and her past experiences. Let's remember the first line of the sonnet: "Oh, God, let me forget the things he said". The elegy starts in the prayer form. It helps us to understand from the first line that the lyric hero is in suffering and is desperate. Through the words "let me forget", we can hear the echo of the past life, past things, that may never come back. The author (heroine) is leaving us in suspense, because she will never reveal to us "the things he said" and "the promises he made". The repeating formula "let me" reveals to us Rapunzel's feelings and is establishing the tone of the poem. The first lines help us to hear our heroine's voice tone, and to understand her suffering. Looking more at the first stanza, we can see many associations and connections between some words and the religious motif of prayer. The words "freezing and burning" are the extremes that help us to hear the echo of "Hell" (Rhetoric 102K class discussion, January 23 2001). In the same way the word promises in the Bible is syn onymous with the word covenant (or Testament). In the fifth li... ...ed by love, now has become the knowing one: " I knew...I knew...I might have known." Looking at the last line of the sonnet we understand its purpose. Here, we see the image of many symbolic Rapunzels. The heroine is looking at the past and at the future, and realizes that her life is just one small piece, compared to the Eternal concept, or a concept of All. She realizes that the earthly life is not eternal and she is just a suffering traveler like many others. Hay’s "Rapunzel" begins as a true worshiper, and finds her plight to be too disconcerting to communicate even to her Creator. So, she devolves into her own imaginings with groans so deep that only her soul can commune at this level. Prayer turns to song, song turns to fantasy, and in her heart, fantasy reveals tragic reality. Her only true hope is found in first heart cry: "Oh, God..."

Parkinsons Disease :: Biology Essays Research Papers

Parkinson's Disease Five years ago, she could still show the world her pleasant demeanor with a smile. Four years ago, she could no longer smile, but she was still able to walk upright. Two years ago, she could no longer walk without aid from a walker, but she could still find her mouth with a fork while eating dinner. Eighteen months ago, she could no longer eat under her own power, as the involuntary 'tremors' in her hands flung the food from the fork long before it reached her mouth. A year ago, my grandmother died. She was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease (PD) five years ago, and slowly deteriorated for four years until her death. She was given myriad drugs, but none seemed to help for more than a month, leaving her in worse condition after the effects wore off. Herein lies the mystery of Parkinsonà ¢s Disease. Researchers have made great progress in uncovering the etiology of this mysterious disease. Before summarizing some of the current theories on the cause of PD, however, it is necessary to describe some clinical observations of patients. Symptoms of PD include "tremors," rigidity, bradikinesia (slowness of movement) and loss of postural control (1). It has been found that patients who show these symptoms for PD have an eighty percent reduction in the levels of both dopamine (a neurotransmitter in the Substantia Nigra) and dopaminergic neurons (neurons that contain dopamine receptors) (1). There are currently four main theories on the cause of Parkinson's Disease: (a) Oxidation of molecules such as iron in the Substantia Nigra by free radicals kill the dopaminergic neurons (1); (b) environmental toxins similar to MPTP (a compound related to the painkiller Demerol), which have been shown to cause Parkinsonism-like symptoms, kill the neurons (1,2); (c) a mysteriously increased rate of dopaminergic neuronal apoptosis in some individuals (1); and (d) Genetic influence, as the penetrance of PD has been observed at higher levels within some families (1). There is evidence for all of these theories, although the most concrete evidence comes from a study that showed increased levels of iron in the Substantia Nigra in PD patients (1). While this study proved nothing, it provided further evidence for a powerful oxidizing agent, such as a free radical, involved in the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons. Parkinson's Disease :: Biology Essays Research Papers Parkinson's Disease Five years ago, she could still show the world her pleasant demeanor with a smile. Four years ago, she could no longer smile, but she was still able to walk upright. Two years ago, she could no longer walk without aid from a walker, but she could still find her mouth with a fork while eating dinner. Eighteen months ago, she could no longer eat under her own power, as the involuntary 'tremors' in her hands flung the food from the fork long before it reached her mouth. A year ago, my grandmother died. She was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease (PD) five years ago, and slowly deteriorated for four years until her death. She was given myriad drugs, but none seemed to help for more than a month, leaving her in worse condition after the effects wore off. Herein lies the mystery of Parkinsonà ¢s Disease. Researchers have made great progress in uncovering the etiology of this mysterious disease. Before summarizing some of the current theories on the cause of PD, however, it is necessary to describe some clinical observations of patients. Symptoms of PD include "tremors," rigidity, bradikinesia (slowness of movement) and loss of postural control (1). It has been found that patients who show these symptoms for PD have an eighty percent reduction in the levels of both dopamine (a neurotransmitter in the Substantia Nigra) and dopaminergic neurons (neurons that contain dopamine receptors) (1). There are currently four main theories on the cause of Parkinson's Disease: (a) Oxidation of molecules such as iron in the Substantia Nigra by free radicals kill the dopaminergic neurons (1); (b) environmental toxins similar to MPTP (a compound related to the painkiller Demerol), which have been shown to cause Parkinsonism-like symptoms, kill the neurons (1,2); (c) a mysteriously increased rate of dopaminergic neuronal apoptosis in some individuals (1); and (d) Genetic influence, as the penetrance of PD has been observed at higher levels within some families (1). There is evidence for all of these theories, although the most concrete evidence comes from a study that showed increased levels of iron in the Substantia Nigra in PD patients (1). While this study proved nothing, it provided further evidence for a powerful oxidizing agent, such as a free radical, involved in the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons.

Australia at the Turn of the Century

Weekends provided free time for some working peoples to relax and be entertained, though some families still had to work on weekends for the extra money. The upper and middle classes possessed a more comfortable life style due to their wealth. Because of their wealth, not all their time was devoted to work, therefore leaving more time for leisure activities. Sports that were mostly restricted to upper and middle classes or those who could afford them were Tennis, Golf, Rowing, Hunting and Car racing. Owning motor cars was very rare, and only the very wealthiest of families had them. Families who did have cars would travel to the country side or the beach for picnics. Garden parties, theatre and black and white motion pictures were also popular. Church was, and still is an important part of Sunday mornings. Once high speed paper press was brought in, more and more books were being published and mass produced, this lead to improved literacy skills. Back then, streets were dusty, dirty and noisy – crowded with people and horses. To cross the street, you had to walk through mud, dirt and horse manure. From the 19th century, life expectancy rose from 54, to now, 78. Up until 1980’s when bathrooms were installed, people had a ‘dunny’ or ‘privy,’ which consisted of a can with a seat resting on top. Because waste was not collected or taken away for weeks at a time, diseases were picked up and passed on more easily. When the flushing toilet came in, it was obviously the most hygienic choice, but not everyone could afford the upgrade. People often died from diseases that are easily prevented or treated today. In the 19th century, electricity was invented, but again, not everyone could afford it in their home. Also the first telephone was introduced to Sydney in 1880. Up until 1906 it was illegal to swim at the beach between 6am and 8pm. In the 1860’s it was fashionable for woman to have a small waist and lots of bunched up material in the skirt of their dress. Under their dresses, woman would wear garments known as ‘crinolines’ and ‘corsets.’ Crinolines were used to make the skirt become like a bell shape. Poor families did not have nice dresses and clothes, they had rags, and the poorest of families didn’t even have shoes for their children.

Entertainment Industry in Mexico

Overview of Entertainment Industry in Mexico By: Jennifer Tarleton Date: November 15, 2010 GEO 111 World Regional Geography Instructor: David Harris South Piedmont Community College TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Actors and ComediansP. 1 II. Singers and MusiciansP. 2 III. Production CompaniesP. 3 IV. BibliographyP. 5 Business is booming for Mexico's entertainment industry. Mexico promotes itself as choice destination for filmmakers, but problems threaten to stunt industry's growth. The entertainment industry in Mexico faces two serious challenges.The first challenge is to generate an environment that the entertainment industry can prosper and second, to protect intellectual property. A stable business environment is vital to the success of the entertainment industry in Mexico. I. Actors, Comedians, Films The history of Mexican cinema goes back to the ending of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th but some movies have rediscovered just recently. The â€Å"silent film† industry in Mexico produced several movies; however, many of the films up to the 1920s have been lost and were not well-documented.The Mexican cinema golden era occurred during the 1940s. The origin of early filmmaking is generally associated with Salvador Toscano Barragan. Toscano compiled the country's first fictional film, titled Don Juan Tenorio. By 1906, 16 movie salons opened their doors to accommodate the popularity of cinema in Mexico City. Actors such as Pedro Infante, Jorge Negrete, Cantinflas, Joaquin Pardave, Maria Felix, and Dolores del Rio gained their recognition. The themes during these years touched all aspects of Mexican society. The majority of the productions were comedies and dramas.Mexico's most famous contribution to popular cinema is perhaps the beautiful Mexican actress Salma Hayek who has endeared herself to thousands of fans across the world. Hayek is the first Mexican national to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress. She is one of the most prominent Mexican figures in Hollywood. Some of today’s most popular comedians also have Mexican roots. George Lopez is one of the top five highest grossing comedians in the world. Lopez, a Mexican-American, was deserted by his father at birth but was raised by his maternal grandmother.Lopez has received several honors for his work and contributions to the Latino community. In September 2004, George was honored with the â€Å"Spirit of Liberty Award† presented by People for the American Way. In August 2005, Time magazine recognized George as one of â€Å"The 25 Most Influential Hispanics in America†. Another large sector of the entertainment industry in Mexico is the adult entertainment industry. The adult entertainment industry in Mexico is worth around one billion US dollars, and employs around 20,000 in direct and indirect jobs.While this entertainment industry produces revenue it also causes problems. Many film stars were diagnosed with various sexually transmitted di seases, including HIV. II. Singers and Musicians Mexico has a rich musical history. Mexico has a musical history that is full of cultural contrasts, with many different musical styles and influences. The popularity of the Mexican music goes back to the 16th century. Mexico's musical tradition shows strong folk as well as modern influences. However, the various music traditions have managed to unite Mexican society into one popular musical culture.Modern Mexico's music lovers are equally swayed by the tunes and rhythm of traditional music like mariachi and ranchero songs as well as by the Latino beats of hip-hop and salsa. The music industry has also brought considerable economic advancement to Mexico-generating jobs, bringing long-term investment and spawning a number of parallel businesses related to the industry (e. g. , recording studios and radio stations). Mexican music is popular in not only in Mexico but also in America and Europe.The famous Mexican American singers and music ians are playing a crucial role in keeping their traditions alive. The Mexican music is lively and offers pure entertainment. The singers like Jade Esteban Estrada, Selena, La Mafia, Roy Benavidez, Freddy Fender, Hector P. Gracia are some of the famous contemporary singers. III. Production Companies Mexico has a flourishing film industry and has produced a number of internationally acclaimed film directors. â€Å"There's no question that Mexico is one of the brightest hopes for the future of our company †¦ It's one of five key global markets. (Sumner Redstone) Redstone is the chairman and CEO of the entertainment conglomerate Viacom. Viacom’s holdings include MTV, Nickelodeon and Blockbuster Video. Redstone is optimistic about the prospects of connecting with Mexican audiences and growing with the market in coming years. Mexico is also building its reputation as a destination for filming. According to Kevin Trehy, executive producer for Warner Brothers Productions, the real value of Mexico being used as a location shoot is that the local community reaps benefits at a rate four times the cost of production.Miguel Angel Davila, president of Cinemex, a national chain of movie theaters, sees growth potential for his business in Mexico too. Many films raise many unanswered and perhaps unanswerable questions about where Mexico has been and where its people, politics, and culture are headed.V. BIBLIOGRAPHY http://www. museumstuff. com/learn/topics/Mexico_City::sub::Culture http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/George_Lopez http://latinmusic. about. com/od/countrie1/p/PROBASICS17. htm http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Film_industry

Louis Vuitton Case

Louis Vuitton : New product introductions vs. product availability Introduction Louis Vuitton is a part of the Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy Group. Being the core business, Louis Vuitton is the most famous brand not only in the group, but also in the fashion industry. It is well-known for its quality and design. Most of the Louis Vuitton consumers are wealthy people, who expect premium products regardless to the price. Considering this fact, Louis Vuitton may implement a strategy, which ensures availability of the products at any time and provide the clients with the best possible customer service.In the past, Louis Vuitton faced the out-of-stock problem and it has not been solved yet. As a consequence, the company loses not only sales but also reduces its reputation. Managers realized that consumers’ satisfaction is one of the most important aspects for a company in order to continue being successful, gain high profits and reputation. The source of the out-of stock problem in L ouis Vuitton causes some disagreements between the company’s vice president for marketing and sales and the vice president for manufacturing and logistics.The first one states his opinion that the lack of flexibility and responsiveness is the base of the problem, while the second one blames the recent increase in new product introductions and the poor forec asting of demand. We will investigate these different problems and how Louis Vuitton can solve them by aligning the manufacturing process and marketing activities in the most efficient way. Supply Chain Strategy Consumers of luxury products have high expectations regarding the products? quality and design. Furthermore, the consumers want to be provided with a omplete shopping experience, when they purchase a Louis Vuitton handbag for 3 000 Euros or a pair of Louis Vuitton shoes for 1 000 Euros. An essential part of this shopping experience is the product itself. Therefore, Louis Vuitton? s supply chain has to be set up in making demanded products available, wherever and whenever they are demanded by a consumer. Unfortunately, Louis Vuitton is able to have around 98% of all demanded products from classic product lines available at their store . But if consumers request a product of one of Louis Vuitton? fashion lines, which are newly and less frequently introduced product lines, the rate of available products decreases roughly to 80%. Louis Vuitton products are bought due to the quality of the goods. Thanks to online stores, consumers use to easily purchase a desired good on the Internet. On the one hand, it saves consumer’s time; on the other hand, the probability of a potential out-of-stock problem is reduced, because o nce the purchase is realized, the company is able to react in a several ways to deliver the product.It can send the product from a store or from different warehouses, depending on where the consumer is located and where the item is available at that time. Moreover, Louis Vuitt on could improve its capacity strategy. Managers have to decide how to organize manufacturing in the most efficient way that a maximum number of units are produced for a time period. Currently, employees working for Louis Vuitton are divided into groups and each group is able to produce 120 hand bags per day.However, considering the out-of-stock problem, one can assume that it is not the sufficient quantity to meet the demand and a solution has to be found. In order to increase the capacity, Louis Vuitton has to increase the labor force. In that way, Louis Vuitton will be able to increase its manufacturing capacity and potentially solve the out-of-stock problem. Inventory Strategy Louis Vuitton has to decide whether to reduce the inventory in order to avoid additional costs induced by required inventory space in the stores or to increase the availability of demanded products.Undeniably, inventory must be as close to the stores as possible. This implies that if a certain product is o ut-of-stock it can be quickly delivered and satisfies consumer wants. Moreover, inventories should be kept in regional warehouses and that would also help Louis Vuitton to react in the most flexible way t o fluctuations in demand. For instance, if the store in Tokyo is out -of-stock, it would be easier to report about the problem to the nearest warehouse rather than to the main one in France. It will result in shortening the lead time. As a consequence, Louis Vuitton has to be constantly aware of the stock level.This can be achieved by the introduction of a continuous review system, which is used to manage independent demand of inventory and monitors the inventory level of any item constantly to release reorders, when the reorder point is reached. Thus, the company will be able to solve the problem once a higher than expected demand is realized. The most efficient strategy for Louis Vuitton should be larger inventories in the regional warehouses at higher prices. Sourcing Decisions Louis Vuitton is well known for being creative, innovative and looking for the excellence.Since Louis Vuitton was established in 1854, the core competencies of the company have always been des ign and quality, they perfectly correspond to the aim of Louis Vuitton to be one of the market leaders in the fashion industry. On the one hand, the classical collections have not been changed for years, and therefore being a symbol of elegance and prestige. On the other hand, fashion and collections constantly change in order to be modern. Quality is the second core competence the company uses to be one of the best brands in the industry.To provide the customers with the best, Louis Vuitton uses high quality raw materials, which is the first step to a qualified final product. Furthermore, employees involved in the manufacturing process do 80% of their task manually. It is more costly and time consuming, but is highly valued by the consumers. Considering these facts, Louis Vuitton needs to mak e the right sourcing decisions. First, the company should keep the designing and manufacturing activities sourced in, because these activities are the most important regarding Lou is Vuitton? creation of value. Second, I think distribution activities can be sourced out. The company should use firms, such as TNT, DHL, UPS, etc†¦ Louis Vuitton can choose among a variety of distributors in each country and select the most reliable one, which provides good delivery and service for a given price level. Warehouses are another part of the supply chain which can be sourced out. Renting a warehouse implies a smaller investment for Louis Vuitton and enables them to be more flexible.The out-of-stock problem that Louis Vuitton is facing can be solved by placing warehouses in regions with high population. Moreover, according to the fact that the company requires high quality raw materials, but not all of the existing suppliers offer sufficient qua lity; one possible solution is the implemen tation of the single sourcing. This means that Louis Vuitton depends on only one firm for all items needed for producing their leather goods. However, this can be extremely risky, because of the probability of un expected situations such workers’ strike.Another solution may be the multiple sourcing strategy. This implies that Louis Vuitton relies on many suppliers, but the associated risk with this type of strategy is that many firms become familiar with the core competencies of Louis Vuitton and it is possible to use these competencies for their own businesses. Finally, the most suitable sourcing strategy in the case of Louis Vuitton seems to be the dual sourcing strategy. It means that Louis Vuitton uses two suppliers, which serve the needs of the firm proportionally.Both of them are willing to have the leader position on behalf of higher revenues. This situation is advantageous for Louis Vuitton, because it can assure that because of the competition between the suppliers, they will be always supplie d with premium quality raw materials on a particular pric e level. Logistics One of the main aspects of the logistics system is the distribution. Most companies aim at minimizing their distribution costs and Louis Vuitton is not an exception. This is the reason why the company uses the multimodal solution.Therefore, Louis Vuitton combines transpor tation by sea, air and road. The advantage of cargo ships is that they can transfer big quantities on long distances. Moreover, Louis Vuitton operates in different continents and thus it is of great importance to ship in a cost effective way. The water transport provides efficient services at low prices. However, in specific situations such as rush orders, it is more rational to use airfreight. It can increase the costs but it guarantees that the company avoids the out-of-stock problem and satisfies customers? and consumers? wants.The distribution system, on its side, has a great impact on the location of wareho uses. For instance, the main centralized logistics warehouse in Cergy Pontoise is located near Paris, in France. The capital of France facilitates t he headquarters of Louis Vuitton as well as it is a city with high demand in fashion products. These are maybe some of the reasons why Louis Vuitton chose to situate its central distribution center. But, shipping from France to other countries may imply long customer lead time, which is the required time between the customer’s order and the delivery of this product.To shorten it Louis Vuitton could benefit from spot stock warehousing. Shortening the lead time is one of the most important aims of the companies, because of the fact that goods are available in the stores just at the time consumers demand them. One way for Louis Vuitton doing that is to decrease the overproduction of goods with lower demand. The second possible solution is the implementation of more frequent shipments of smaller quantities. This could be more effecti ve in combination with an improved forecasting system.It has the potential to reduce costs by not keeping fewer goods in stock, which are not highly demanded. Moreover, to avoid the out-of-stock problem, Louis Vuitton should interact and understand the preferences of the consumer. Louis Vuitton could do it via tracking the last purchases. In this way the company can recognize if a certain customer is willing to buy goods from the classical or from the modern collections. And Louis Vuitton can progressively improve its forecasting activities in order to know which collections have to be produced and which inventory has to be increased.Conclusion To improve the alignment between manufacturing and marketing, Louis Vuitton has to consider several factors. First, giving the present out-of-stock problem combined with the expected growth rates, the company has to increase their manufacturing capacity, based on the expected growth rate for the overall industry and for the different regions as well. In order to achieve that, they should add more labor force. More groups of workers will lead to increased production and therefore increased inventory in the warehouses.This would result in greater availability of products in retail stores and solve the out-of-stock problem. In addition, larger inventory of product enables Louis Vuitton to be responsive to increasing demand in peak times as well as providing the opportunity to focus on the production of newly introduced products and the satisfactions of its demand. Furthermore, Louis Vuitton should consider decreasing the introduction of new fashion lines in order to avoid disruptions of manufacturing and su pply chain activities caused by changes in the manufacturing process due to newly introduced products.Second, by improving the forecasting tools, Louis Vuitton should be more accurate in estimating the future demand for specific products. Moreover, Louis Vuitton should forecast more often and for shorter time periods. L ouis Vuitton should continue to insource the leather good production and use the dual sourcing strategy for purchasing raw materials. Finally, the group should introduce marketing tools in order to interact more with the consumers and to forecast the demand.