Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Domestic Violence Case Study - 1235 Words

Field Study: House of Ruth Domestic violence is an issue affecting millions of families. As a result of the increasing incidents of abuse, the number help centers and outreach programs have amplified in urban areas. One of the most influential centers against domestic violence is the House of Ruth. Established in 1977 and located in an urban city area, the House of Ruth offers various services to women and children who are victims of familial violence. Their mission states, â€Å"The House Of Ruth Maryland leads the fight to end violence against women and their children by confronting the attitudes, behaviors and systems that perpetuate it, and by providing victims with the services necessary to rebuild their lives safely and free of fear.†¦show more content†¦Free group therapy sessions provide support in escaping their once isolated lives. In order to capitalize on the counseling resource, women must recognize that they are not alone in their situation (House of Ruth, ). Leaders insist that women e xpound on their situation and exchange support. The root of their relationships comes from the mutual violence endured. By having relatable experiences, deeper connections are made possible. The unique transition programs offered by House of Ruth propel women into becoming self-sufficient. When asked about their transition program, Sandi Timmons stated, â€Å"By partnering with outside organizations, we are able to provide women with a stepping stone to rebuilding their lives. Outsourcing helps us find starting jobs for women.† When women are given an opportunity to support themselves instead of their abusers, they are overcome with confidence. The belief of independence is instilled within women when they are able to provide for their families. Transitional housing offers apartments with supported rent to improve a families’ monetary condition. Women must stay a minimum of six months in the confidentially located rooms to ensure every victim’s safety. The stress of constantly struggling to pay for housing is relieved by this resource. Women and children would be frozen within the circular-traditional model of time if transitional services were not provided.Show MoreRelatedDomestic Violence Case Study1536 Words   |  7 Pagesvisited Complainants on December 3, 2016, was because of text messages of noise complaints she from tenant Christina Santoro, who lives directly below Complainants. Respondent states that Santoro’s text messages described three days and nights of domestic violence. Respondent states that her goal was to re-establish peace in the building and reiterate the rules and regulations to Complainants about the noise. As background, Respondent states that all applicants go through the same application processRead MoreDomestic Violence New Zealand Case Study877 Words   |  4 PagesThe current legal response to domestic violence in New Zealand is the protection order under the Domestic Violence Act 1995 which coupled by the non-violence programme for respondent and the safety programme for protected person under the Domestic Violence (Amendment) Act 2013. However, the primary focus of this paper is the non-violence programme and only to refer to the protection order and safety programme when necessarily. The court may make a protection order if it is satisfied that the applicantRead MoreDomestic Violence New Zealand Case Study887 Words   |  4 PagesIII New Zealand response to domestic violence The current legal response to domestic violence in New Zealand is the protection order under the Domestic Violence Act 1995 which, coupled by the non-violence programme for the respondent and the safety programme for protected person under the Domestic Violence (Amendment) Act 2013. However, the primary focus of this paper is the non-violence programme and only to refer to the protection order and safety programme when necessary. The court may makeRead MoreThe Effects of Domestic Violence on Children: Case Study649 Words   |  3 Pagesfather worked long hours for little pay and was quick to anger and used violence to control the household. Shakes witnessed the physical and emotional abuse of his mother. He never confronted his father, but always tried to play the peacekeeper between the two. Shakes mother was not fluent in English and had a hard time connecting to the community and her son. The trauma that Shakes went through because of the domestic violence shaped his psychological and social development. Shakes was a resilientRead MorePEACE Domestic Violence Agency Case Study813 Words   |  4 PagesThe PEACE Domestic Violence Agency program was founded to assist in decreasing the incidents of domestic violence in Ohio by 25%. Domestic violence toward women continues to increase on a national level and continues to plague the citizens of Ohio. The victims are generally black females from low-income ba ckgrounds. The 2014 report from the Ohio Department of Public Safety has reported similar trends. The report also identified the cities of Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati as having increasedRead MoreGoogle Smart To Stop Domestic Violence Case Study763 Words   |  4 PagesProject Manager From: Rohith Yeravothula Date: November 30, 2017 Re: GOOGLE IoT NETWORK TO CURB DOMESTIC VIOLENCE I feel honored and am thankful to Google, for giving me a chance to express my idea as part of Blue Sky initiative. I would like to propose the idea of utilizing Google IoT network devices to curb and eliminate domestic violence in the United States. Domestic violence has been one of the top concerns the United States is facing. It can take several forms, like emotional, verbalRead More Case Study: Impact on Children of Substance Abuse, Domestic Violence, and Mental Illness2706 Words   |  11 PagesStudies have shown that children who grow up in families where there is substance misuse, mental illness or domestic violence are more vulnerable to significant harm (Kendall-Taylor and Mikulak 2009).Children’s vulnerability usually stems from the effects of substance misuse, domestic violence or mental illness on parenting ability. Substance misuse, domestic violence and mental illness can result in parent’s finding it difficult to organize their lives to meet both their p ersonal needs and theirRead MoreDomestic Violence : A Social And Legal Problem1344 Words   |  6 PagesHistorically, domestic violence has been viewed as a private issue to be dealt with between partners. It wasn’t until the 1970s that intimate partner violence (IPV), also known as domestic violence, became recognized as both a social and legal problem. Policy and lawmakers have been avidly defining the roles of the criminal justice system and communities in responding to domestic violence since its official acknowledgements as a public issue. Male Victims’ Experiences with Domestic Violence Our societalRead MoreThe Sentencing Of Domestic And Non Domestic Violence Cases1653 Words   |  7 Pages‘Similar Punishment, Comparing Sentencing Outcomes in Domestic and Non-Domestic Violence Cases’ (hereby referred to as â€Å"article 1†) written by Christine E. W .Bond and Samantha Jefferies used NSW administrative court data from January 2009 and June 2012 to report multivariate analyses of the sentencing of domestic and non-domestic violence offences. The research conducted consisted of independent variables, offender social characteristics, legal and case characteristics and dependent variables, to highlightRead MoreHegemonic Masculinity And Domestic Violence963 Words   |  4 PagesThe media produces double standards by representing the act of domestic violence among athletes differently based on the gender of the perpetrator or person committing the crime. Hegemonic masculinity can best be described as the dominant, privileged, and often invisible ca tegory of men at any point in history. In gender studies, hegemonic masculinity refers to the belief in the existence of a culturally normative ideal of male behavior. Hegemonic masculinity posits that society strongly encourages

Monday, December 23, 2019

Customer Service Essay - 2359 Words

Customer Service Customer Service is the employees of an organization giving customers what they want. They need to provide the right products and the right service to all the customers and potential customers. The organization and its individuals provide products and services to meet the expectations of its customers. Customer Service applies to all types of customers, these include; individuals, groups, people from different cultures and people with specific needs. Customer service is important to the organization for the following reasons: Effective customer service promotes: Ã…Â ¸ Customer Satisfaction Ã…Â ¸ Job satisfaction of staff Ã…Â ¸ Repeat Business Ã…Â ¸Ã¢â‚¬ ¦show more content†¦There are twenty-two Hollywood Bowls situated around the UK, stretching from Glasgow in Scotland to Taunton in the far south. Teesside Parks Hollywood Bowl is in the top three of most visited throughout the UK, there are many reasons for this such as, Hollywood Bowl is the only Bowling Centre in the area, and most of there customers are within a twenty minute radius, this covers Redcar and Cleveland, County Durham, the North York Moors and much more. When we were at Hollywood Bowl all the staff were very helpful, right from the people who greeted us at the door to the staff who attended to our needs at the bowling lanes. --------------------------------------------------------------------- All the staff have a lot of contact with the customers, such as on the day we were at Hollywood Bowl, there was a big school party that were playing bowling blind folded for the RNIB blind awareness week. The staff were taking food and drink orders from all of the children and helped them with any problems that they came across. At the start of their bowling one member of the management staff explained the rules over the microphone to all of the children, many of the management staff wereShow MoreRelatedCustomer Service2488 Words   |  10 PagesCustomer Service Research Paper Before I get into further analysis of my own personal experience, I am going to explain about different characteristics that are involved in customer service. Most businesses will tell you that quality customer service is the keystone to success. An essential component of outstanding customer service is the possession of a great staff. Larger companies may be weighed down by employee handbooks that specify the customer service guidelines. Independent, smaller businessesRead MoreCustomer Service2541 Words   |  11 Pagesï » ¿Customer Service at Datatronics Datatronics is an organization that serves their customers with Enterprise Resource Planning integrated solutions. Their growth is mainly attributed to acquisitions of smaller competitors. E-Z RP was such a company that despite its inferior size compared to Datatronics was able to succeed and outperform Datatronics on grounds of customer service and customer satisfaction. Datatronics recognized the fact and acquired E-Z RP with the aim to improve in that respectiveRead MoreCustomer Service Services And The Service Sector2162 Words   |  9 PagesSince+ the global economy embraced customer service, issues regarding levels of customer service have become more prominent in service organisations. Even now there are organisational managers with no training or knowledge of how organisations in the service sector require a high level of customer service. This is ignorance of the fact good customer service can create a competitive advantage; increase profit; efficiency; and increase staff a nd customer retention and satisfaction. Based on comprehensiveRead MoreCustomer Service And An Organization1445 Words   |  6 Pagescontinuously fail in customer service satisfaction for many reasons. As service failures are inevitable, it is important for companies, especially small businesses, to capitalize on learning the importance of reducing service failure. Just as the seed is the core of the fruit, customer service is the core of an organization; its meaning is the primary function for organizations to retain business and discover new ventures. Customer service is the primary source of business-to-customer communication andRead MoreCustomer Service Essay641 Words   |  3 Pagesto communicate with customers to identify and agree on product/ service specifications. It is crucial to be aware that customer expectations and needs will change from time to time and will be affected by market trends, fashions and changes in external environments. This means the business plans need to be adapted to changing needs of customers and is important that organisations communicate with its customers. Profiling is a method to understand the needs of the customers. Profiling enables organisationsRead MoreThe Etiquette Of Customer Service1601 Words   |  7 PagesThe Etiquette of Customer Service – Instructional Guide Overview Objective Key points How to say â€Å"I’m sorry† without apologizing in customer service? There are justifiable situations that require customer service representatives to say â€Å"I’m sorry† without apologizing. Situations include: a plan benefit that is not covered, denial of a pre-authorization, or an appeal denial. Session#1 I’m Sorry When this occurs, there are phrasesRead MoreCustomer Service Representatives1622 Words   |  7 PagesZappos. This is followed by a hierarchal ranking of the four major presenting problems for the company, which are: maintaining the â€Å"wow† image without overspending, inventory management/distribution problems, transportation efficiency problems and customer behavior problems. Each of these problems is addressed in more detail in the discussion section and the recommendations section at the end of the analysis. Prior to the conclusion and recommendations section, a list of possible strategic alternativesRead MoreCustomer Service At The Restaurant2103 Words   |  9 Pages†¢ Execute exceptional outstanding customer service by recruiting, leading and developing people and planning, organising, directing, controlling and evaluating all the operations of the restaurant to build sales and control costs to deliver optimum business results for the restaurant †¢ Understand, enforce and train Crew and Managers on all appropriate policies, award minimums, security and safety procedures. †¢ Modifying the operational procedures as per the requirement of the profitability of theRead MoreCustomer Service1186 Words   |  5 Pagessome companies aim to look after their customers well, ensuring that the customer is at the heart of their business and everything they do. In marketing terms this is called being customer focused. It is important to realise that customers can take their business anywhere they want to and if they are not satisfied they will take their business elsewhere. Therefore, it is very important to understand who our customers are, their expectations of the service they experience and how that effects futureRead MoreEssay on Customer Service1144 Words   |  5 PagesSection 1 – Understand the factors that affect an organisation and the customer service role 1. Complete the table below with a description of the products and services for at least two commercial organisations, public organisations and third sector organisations. Please ensure you provide a description for each organisation, rather than a list. Organisation type Name of organisation Description of products and services Commercial organisation Commercial organisation

Saturday, December 14, 2019

Public Sphere Free Essays

Public Sphere By â€Å"the public sphere† we mean first of all a realm of our social life in which something approaching public opinion can be formed. Access is guaranteed to all citizens. A portion of the public sphere comes into being in every conversation in which private individuals assemble to form a public body. We will write a custom essay sample on Public Sphere or any similar topic only for you Order Now (Jurgen Habermas, Sara Lennox and Frank Lennox, 1964) The public sphere is an area in our social life where every individual can come together to freely discuss their opinions. Besides, the constitution of public sphere is every conversation from private individuals assembles to form a public group. The concept of the public sphere, as the historically conditioned social space where information, ideas and debate can circulate in society, and where political opinion can be formed, became a central, organizing motive. This framework cast the public sphere as a sociological concept as well as an inspirational vision of something better yet to be attained. Peter Dahlgren, 1995) Besides, the public sphere is where every single individual shares information and ideas as well as identify societal problems, and through that discussion influence political action. It is a discursive space in which individuals and groups congregate to discuss matters of mutual interest and, where possible, to reach a common judgment. The internet could be an efficient political instrument if it were seen as part of a democracy where free and open discourse within a vital public sphere plays a decisive role. The model of deliberative democracy, as developed by Jurgen Habermas and Seyla Benhabib, serves this concept of democracy best. (Antje Gimmler, 2001) The internet is one of the public spheres, also known as virtual sphere for the public to discuss their opinions, mutual interest and their political views. Civil society can be defined as the totality of self-organized spheres of activity in the form of associations, organizations, cooperatives, and the like, in which members freely confer equal rights upon one another and through which a public, social and political realm is established. Citizen initiatives, round-tables, various societies, national and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and so on, all belong to the new political sphere to which the term civil society refers. Although the public sphere and civil society do not coincide, they overlap to a significant degree, and given its critical function in the model of deliberative democracy, the intersection of civil society and the public sphere is particularly important. (Antje Gimmler, 2001) The civil society is formed by self-organized spheres, and the members of it freely confer equal rights. Civil society is a new political sphere which overlaps to a significant degree with public sphere and functions as the model of deliberative democracy. Why public sphere is important? Public sphere is very important in which constituted to democracy. Television, popular newspapers, magazines and photography, the popular media of the modern period, are the public domain, the place where and the means by which the public is created and formed the opinions. The issue of the public sphere is at the heart of any reconceptualization of democracy. Contemporary social relations seem to be devoid of a basic level of interactive practice which, in the past, was the matrix of democratizing politics. Many of these places remain but no longer serve as organizing centers for political discussion and action. It appears that the media, especially television but also other forms of electronic communication isolate citizens from one another and substitute themselves for older spaces of politics. (Mark Poster, 1995) Newspaper and journals as one of the public sphere provide a lot of information and political debate. Besides, other institutions such as public assemblies also discuss about socio-political. People can shape their public opinion and talk about their needs and interests while influencing political practice. The public sphere consisted of organs of information and political debate such as newspaper and journals, as well as institutions of political discussion where socio-political discussion took place. For the first time in history, individuals and groups could shape public opinion, giving direct expression to their needs and interests while influencing political practice. The bourgeois public sphere made it possible to form a realm of public opinion that opposed state power and the economic interests that were coming to shape bourgeois society. (Lewis Edwin Hahn, 2000) From the public sphere, people can know more about the world around them. People can update the world events and the development of society through the public sphere. The public sphere is a mental environment where people engage in interpreting both the reality around them and the processes which occur there. Such interpretations, in turn, have an impact on the course of future events and processes. Thus, the public sphere serves to update people on world events and on the development of society, whilst the public is able to apply its own attitudes to the shaping of opinions which form the public sphere, as well as to the actual processes and decisions involved. (Maarja Lohmus, 2002) Why Malaysia’s citizens need this public sphere? Malaysia’s citizens need the public sphere to strengthen the democratization process and public deliberation. However, Malaysia government controls all of the media to filter the bad comments toward the government. Federal constitution and several restrictive laws such as the Internal Security Act (ISA), Sedition Act (SA), Official Secret Act (OSA), and Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA) contribute to the limitation of press freedom and engineer the refeudalization process in Malaysia. According to Doris Graber, there are no media that are free from government controls. Many of the regulations regarding the size and reach of media business combinations, protection of national security, protection of the rights of individuals, and cultural safeguards strongly influence what may and may not be published. Violations are kept in check by the fear of regulatory legislation. In times of war or similar threats to national security, controls have often become quite severe, including laws that prohibit criticism of the government. Finally, most of the information about government that the media present is supplied by government sources, giving government officials control over what to disclose or conceal and allowing them to present information from the government’s perspective. (Mohd Azizuddin Mohd Sani, 2009) Deliberative democracy is understood to be a rational discourse in which a certain political position is debated and clarified. Through the arena of the public sphere, people freely come together and discuss political issues and influence political action. The public sphere is important for the exercise of deliberative democracy, and is characterized by two distinctive features. The first is the citizens? general access to information, opinion and institutions, and the second is the enhanced political participation through discussion and debate on certain issues that would influence the political action. Thus, the Internet is credited with the potential to contribute to the public sphere and, therefore, to deliberative democracy. How to cite Public Sphere, Essay examples Public Sphere Free Essays â€Å"The idea that a public sphere to which everyone can contribute on equal terms is simply a fantasy. † To believe that there exists a public sphere where every single member contributes on an equal level is highly unrealistic. Correspondingly, many academics have critically supported as well as argued against this view. We will write a custom essay sample on Public Sphere or any similar topic only for you Order Now There will be discussion of the public sphere and various writer’s views and concepts regarding it, with specific references to Howley (2007) and Turnbull (2006), as well as Hackett (2010), Holub (1994), Apppadurai (2000), Meikle (2008), and Fraser (1990). The different academics will introduce and discuss; an ideal and flawed public sphere, a democratic public sphere, and the important roles of audiences and participants. Furthermore, there will be a particular focus on Habermas, his theories and findings consequently deconstructing his ideas on his bourgeois public sphere theory. Overall, the key argument in this discussion is that the public sphere is ideally seen as an arena for equal opinions, however pragmatically this is not the case and it is difficult to achieve it because of the different factors that exist between individuals and participants. Holub (1994) explains the public sphere as; â€Å"a realm in which opinions are exchanged between private persons unconstrained (ideally) by external pressures. Theoretically open to all citizens and founded in the family, it is the place where something approaching public opinion is formed. It should be distinguished both from the state, which represents official power, and from the economic structures of civil society as a whole. Its function is actually to mediate between society and state; it is the arena in which the public organizes itself, formulates public opinion, and expresses its desires vis-a-vis [face to face with] the government†. Similarly, a majority of modern conceptualisations of the public sphere relate back to Jurgen Habermas and his bourgeois public sphere. Habermas defines it as a space of reflective discussion about issues and subjects of a common interest, following an informed democratic procedure (Meikle 2008). Thus, a relevant example would be; supplying different resources of media to developing countries in preparation for an election or some sort political decision. By doing this, individuals are being provided an informed democratic process, allowing them access to sources of independent media to make a more informed decision before they elect. This is often present in events such as elections as it is an arena where private people come together as a public; as one. By looking back, the characteristics of the public sphere have not changed when comparing the old and contemporary. Meikle (2008) discusses how Habermas emphasized the role of periodical press in the development of his public sphere (p. 129), describing it as the ‘coffee-house culture’ and how at the time people would sit and discuss topics and events which would in turn lead to influencing the political culture of the 17th and 18th century. However, it must also be noted that Habermas’ accepted criticism to his notion, as well as making it clear that the public sphere is not given to every type of society, and it does not own a fixed status. Furthermore, Meikle (2008) also likens the public sphere to a place where participants can discuss their ideas freely. However, it is important to regard these definitions as the ‘idyllic’ public sphere, Holub (1994) mentions ‘ideally’ in brackets, because realistically it is unachievable to have this sort of ‘perfect’ public sphere where everyone contributes equally. Many academics have criticized Habermas’ bourgeois public sphere, questioning if it ever really existed, and if it did, would it really be able to ever exist again? On that note, Hackett (2010) brings forth the notions that this concept of Habermas’ public sphere that presumes rationality, equality is false, and consequently, he critiques it, alongside Fraser (1990), saying that; â€Å"it embeds a masculinist notion of rationality, and a taken-for granted gendered distinction between private and public spheres. It ignores the ‘counter’ and minority public spheres of subordinate groups, the intrusion of social and economic inequalities into the processes of the public sphere, and the conversion of public opinion into effective state policy through representative political mechanisms. (2010, p. 4). Additionally, Fraser (1990) looks at how Habermas’ theory of the bourgeois public sphere constitutes a number of exclusions, in particular excluding women and individuals of lower social class, as it was not accessible to all. Lower class people did not have the resources and women did not have the same rights, privileges and power as men, in society, to have their equal say. Moreover some of these factors are still relevant, such as the social classes and accessibility to resources. Furthermore, Fraser (1990) mentions the exclusion of subordinate groups, where she states â€Å"subordinate groups sometimes cannot find the right voice or words to express their thoughts, and when they do, they discover they are not heard [and] are silenced, encouraged to keep their wants inchoate, and heard to say ‘yes’ when what they have said is ‘no. ’† (1990, p. 64). It is evident, that this access, whether it is technological, power or status related, to contributing to the public sphere still does not equate to equality. Rather, the factors that need to be considered are not access alone, but also what kind of ‘voice’ the speaker possesses in society. All of which are dependent on a number of factors, such as the speaker’s status in society, gender, age, class, education, culture and country. Moreover, public spheres are relevant in today’s new social media’s like Twitter, Facebook and various blogs. They create an arena in which social sites, like these, generate meanings which are then distributed and discussed amongst a large audience, consequently becoming a public sphere and letting interaction occur with all its participants. This emergence of social media has called for a new public sphere to be formed. Meikle (2008) discusses how media is an integral aspect of the public sphere and that in present society, it is inescapable. Media plays an obligatory part; today’s â€Å"newspapers and magazines, [internet,] radio and television are the media of the public sphere† (Habermas in Meikle, 2008, p. 128). However, for Habermas this role that media plays is an issue, stating that the world shaped by the mass media is only a public sphere on the exterior; only in ‘appearance’ and nothing else. Though the public sphere cannot be regarded as equal, Meikle does suggest that it can be look at in a positive sense; regarding it as a useful standard against which we can measure how the media actually do operate (Meikle, 2008, p. 131). Furthermore, Habermas’ ideal public sphere has often been said that it is being compromised by contemporary tabloid media and culture. It produces a blur between the private and public spheres in regards to celebrity culture and making their private lives a public concern and discussion. As well as regarding media as just pure entertainment, the tabloid media are constructing participants who only consume what they are being fed by the media instead of making their own informed decisions (Meikle 2008). Furthermore, Habermas (in Meikle 2008) believes that our contemporary political mediascapes, which refers to the â€Å"distribution of electronic capabilities to produce and disseminate information [such as] newspapers, magazines and†¦ Television stations† (Apppadurai, 2000, p. 326), are in fact are a long way away from being an ‘ideal public sphere’. He looks at how â€Å"public opinion is no longer produced by the public, instead, public opinion is now something produced for the public† (2008, p. 129) we are being influenced and there is no opportunity to discuss ideas freely, or for there to be complete equality in the contribution to the public sphere because of the different factors that come into play. Similarly, Habermas (in Meikle 2008) uses the term ‘equals’ in regards to participants in the public sphere. Yet, Meikle (2008), in accordance to Fraser’s (1990) view, discusses how the public sphere cannot guarantee each person’s contribution to be of equal amount. This is because of the reasons and factors that exist in society such as; power and status; celebrity power over ordinary individuals, access to resources; developed and developing countries, and gender; the imbalance of power between men and women. Turnbull (2006) looks at the roles of audiences, and why their role is so vital in instances like these. Turnbull discusses the media’s audience and argues how media is looked at as a centrality in our lives and world, some have less or no access and the social and cultural context of the individual is â€Å"embedded in their access to and use of various media technologies†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ The â€Å"participation [of audiences] in an increasingly mediated public sphere may be largely conditional† (p. 80), as it alters the stance on every participant having an ‘equal’ contribution to the public sphere. Howley (2007) states that people need to promote a more democratic media culture, for a place that individuals can share their mutual interests and concerns, discuss topics. He supports that there is not one sole public sphere because there is not a single medium that is ‘perfect’ (pp. 357-358). Furthermore, Howley (2007) brings forth the idea that the public sphere is the centrality for media institutions but is also significant for media students, providing a theoretical perspective; it helps to emphasize the essential and crucial relationships between democracy and modern communication systems. As the role of a democracy, a citizen who is informed and wishes to engage, needs to be accommodated by the media; providing them resources of news, information and opinion, for that individual to then be able to use this to identify themselves towards this common interest. However, this notion of a democratically public sphere has issues that arise, the main one being the nature and conduct of public discourse in a highly mobile and heterogeneous society. By regarding societies that have things like ethnic, religious and cultural diversity, partisan politics, and economic stratification present, the sole idea of achieving agreement on matters of public policy seem inaccessible and unachievable. Also, another issue is the â€Å"contemporary media systems – characterised by unprecedented consolidation of ownership and control on the one hand, and the fragmentation of mass audiences into even smaller ‘niche markets’ on the other – makes issues of access to and participation in public discourse equally problematic† (pp. 343-344). Thus, this idea of an equal and democratic public sphere is difficult to have and carry out. In conclusion, the ideal public sphere tries to offer a place where people are able to discuss their ideas freely between one another. However, to believe that individuals can discuss in a completely free manner, with no influence and be complete equals, contributing on equal terms, is a far-fetched hope. There can only ever be a place of equality and rationality in an ideal society, as factors of social, linguistic and cultural inequalities, rights and even freedom of speech of an individual, all affect any possibility of equal communication and contribution between people in a public sphere. How to cite Public Sphere, Papers

Friday, December 6, 2019

Karl Marx Analysis Essay Example For Students

Karl Marx Analysis Essay Karl Marx was a believer in an inevitable revolution between capitalists, and the workers employed in their industries. He claimed that the actual cost of any product is simply the price of material and most importantly, the labor employed to build it. However, the owner of the industry does no labor in creating the product, but rather buys a laborer and sells the results of that man?s work. What he refused to accept, was the fact that the owners would sell the product for more than he paid the laborer making it. Marx therefore considered any profit or difference made in the sale, to be stolen from the worker. He anticipated that industrial owners would then begin to thicken their wallets by paying workers as little as possible, consequentially, causing his employees to become increasingly poor. Marx theorized that this increasing wealth of the capitalist, along with the increasing poverty of the workers, would eventually cause a revolution. As in all societies, individuals are placed into social classes. They are informally separated into these classes by means of their income, and worth to the society. The higher classes are capitalists who most likely inherited monies, and thus are considered to be more important than peasants or laborers. Peasants and laborers are then classified by their wealth (or lack of), which is directly proportional to their importance in the industry. Peasants are considered to be unimportant, and therefore are placed at the bottom of the social ladder. While laborers, although replaceable, are believed to be slightly more important, thus they are placed on a rung just above that of the peasants. The individuals in these classes become aware of their identities and interests, by socializing with other individuals who are considered to be in the same class. ?The mode of production of material life determines the social, political and intellectual life process in general. But it is not the consciousness of men that determines their social being, but on the contrary, their social being that determines their consciousness? The majority of the time, these classes to not mix or join together. However, in certain extreme cases, when all social classes are threatened, they will unite as one to fight the outside force.?(pg. 160)?The bourgeoisie finds itself involved in a constant battle. At first with the aristocracy; later on, with those portions of the bourgeoisie itself, whose interests have become antagonistic to the progress of industry; at all times with the bourgeoisie of foreign countries. In all these battles it sees itself compelled to appeal to the proletariat, to ask for its help, and thus, to drag it into the political arena. The bourgeoisie itself, therefore supplies the proletariat with its own elements of political and general education, in words, it furnishes the proletariat with weapons for fighting the bourgeoisie.? (pg. 214)Capitalism is only feasible in a free society, where one man is allowed to acquire as much property as he desires. Therefore, the political action taken by the capitalist is extremely important. The rich will forever have more control over government because they control the majority of the money running the government. While the poor have to rally together and choose between, allowing the government to be run by the rich capitalists, or taking action themselves. If they choose to fight then they need to come together as a strong unit and demand even distribution of money as well as governmental control of industry. Thus, they need to instill a ?communistic? government. During periods of class conflict it would seem that states do become more democratic. This is due to the fact that individuals in their respective classes rally behind one another to make a difference. .ua477a8349f192462d23f9bdb41ab8c41 , .ua477a8349f192462d23f9bdb41ab8c41 .postImageUrl , .ua477a8349f192462d23f9bdb41ab8c41 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ua477a8349f192462d23f9bdb41ab8c41 , .ua477a8349f192462d23f9bdb41ab8c41:hover , .ua477a8349f192462d23f9bdb41ab8c41:visited , .ua477a8349f192462d23f9bdb41ab8c41:active { border:0!important; } .ua477a8349f192462d23f9bdb41ab8c41 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ua477a8349f192462d23f9bdb41ab8c41 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ua477a8349f192462d23f9bdb41ab8c41:active , .ua477a8349f192462d23f9bdb41ab8c41:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ua477a8349f192462d23f9bdb41ab8c41 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ua477a8349f192462d23f9bdb41ab8c41 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ua477a8349f192462d23f9bdb41ab8c41 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ua477a8349f192462d23f9bdb41ab8c41 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ua477a8349f192462d23f9bdb41ab8c41:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ua477a8349f192462d23f9bdb41ab8c41 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ua477a8349f192462d23f9bdb41ab8c41 .ua477a8349f192462d23f9bdb41ab8c41-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ua477a8349f192462d23f9bdb41ab8c41:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: What Cause The Civil War Essay They discover that there is power in number and unless they ban together, change will not occurBibliographySociology Essays

Friday, November 29, 2019

Political Implications of Commedia dellArte

The Impact of Commedia Dell’Arte Commedia Dell’Arte (CDA) is one of the brightest spots in the history of performing art. It is rather difficult to name a particular year when it appeared, but researchers agree that first records of this type of performing art date back to the middle of the sixteenth century. It has had an enormous impact on the development of the European theatre (Scala Salerno 1967).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Political Implications of Commedia dell’Arte specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The archetypal characters have entered numerous plays to convey certain ideas. Originating from the Italy of the XVI century, Commedia Dell’ Arte has gained several distinct features in the course of its development. According to the historical evidence, the term was copined by the famous Venetian playwright Carlo Godoni (Lennard, 2008, p. 23). The concept of CDA has shaped sinc e then, clearly geared towards the pantomime genre. However, in the XVII century, it was extremely powerful. Molià ¨re, Shakespeare and even modern playwrights resorted to elements of CDA to create their masterpieces. Clearly, theatre is a reflection of the society and, therefore, CDA which was so influential was also a kind of reflection of the society of those days (Henke 2002). It is possible to note that this type of theatrical performance had certain political implications and it often challenged social norms. Scenarios of CDA and Their Implications It is necessary to note that somewhat simplistic scenarios also contributed to certain political implication. This type of performance is characterised by a simple plot where two lovers (who are rich or well-to-do) cannot be together because of some vicious rich people (Richards Richards 1989). At the same time, spectators follow some events of poor people’s lives who try to handle more serious troubles as they can hardly e xist and should focus on ‘careless lives of their masters. Importantly, in the sixteenth century it was a norm to stage events from the life of members of the royal family and noble people. Initially, CDA was not welcome among nobility due to this peculiarity of theatrical performances as they did not find merchants or servants to be worth mentioning in a play (Brockett Ball 2000).Advertising Looking for essay on architecture? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More People did not want to see peculiarities of life of ordinary merchants, workers and servants, even though the love story of well-to-do people was central. It is necessary to note that CDA was usually performed during fairs for people who lived in cities (Brockett Ball 2000). Admittedly, city dwellers, merchants, bourgeois, servants, the poor were the first target audience for CDA (Rudlin 1994). However, in the course of time, CDA became widely spread and popular am ong people of all social layers. As has been mentioned above, theatre is only a reflection of the society. However, CDA was also one of the factors that contributed to the change in the social structure and roles played. Bourgeois started playing an important role in the society and they became quite a significant force. Clearly, this empowerment was reflected in CDA as rich people were central characters. Rich people were those who benefited at the end of the performance. Of course, some rich men were often punished, but this punishment was the result of those people being vicious, immoral and not being religious enough. This punishment had nothing to do with an explicit revolt against the rich. At the same time, people were pleased that the rich were punished and saw it as a kind of retribution. It is important to note that these performances had two implications as they were a reflection of the society and a kind of entertainment for people who filled their time with watching the play instead of going to fight those who exploited them. Archetypal Characters in CDA and Their Implications It would be wrong, however, to claim that the CDA was primariy based on two types of characters, i.e., the rich and the poor. As the existing evidence, as well as the researchers conducted on the issue say, there are actually six basic characters used in the CDA genre most often and, therefore, becoming the staples of the genre. To be more exact, these are the so-called â€Å"Sweet Young Thing† (Elliott, Geraci Ebner, 2005, 243), a young female character; â€Å"the Miles Glorious† (Elliott, Geraci Ebner, 2005, 243), who is, paradoxically, often the antagonist, â€Å"the Old Man† (Elliott, Geraci Ebner, 2005, 243), who is also lovesick for the female character, â€Å"the Old Woman† (Elliott, Geraci Ebner, 2005, 243), who supervises the female character, â€Å"the Brave Young Man† (Elliott, Geraci Ebner, 2005, 243), the knight in shining armor, and â€Å"the Clever Slave† (Elliott, Geraci Ebner, 2005, 243), who helps the young woman and the male protagonist â€Å"escape the evil clutches of the Old Man† (Elliott, Geraci Ebner, 2005, 243).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Political Implications of Commedia dell’Arte specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More As one can see clearly, with such a cast of characters, it is hard to bend teh rules of the genre and create an original CDA. However, introducing a bit of diversity into the given list, one can create a truly original work, as some of the authors have shown in a very graphic way. One of the most distinctive features of CDA is the use of specific characters which were created on the basis of some archetypal agents within any society. Thus, Pantalone is a rich person who enjoys the top status in the society (Rudlin 1994). Admittedly, this character embodies vices ascribed to the r ich who exploit poor people. Characters that deserve special attention are Pulcinella and Brighella who often perform roles of evil employers who can humiliate poor people and servants (Rudlin 1994). Appearance of such characters and especially the roles they played during the performance can be regarded as a reflection of the shift in the society. The very existence of these characters was a challenge to the social norms that existed at that time. On the one hand, rich people (who were not noble) became central characters and were presented as a powerful force that controlled many people’s lives. This was striking for the nobility of that time. However, this was close to reality as merchants were becoming stronger than nobility. On the other hand, these characters were often punished and mocked at. This was a reflection of people’s attitude towards the rich people. They were hated and despised. At the same time, one of the most loved characters is Arlecchino who is a quick-witted servant who has to survive in the world of the rich (Rudlin 1994). Admittedly, these are the most archetypal characters which reveal the timeless confrontation, i.e. the rich versus the poor. Arlecchino is always hungry (just like poor people), and he has to work for his masters. He solves their problems and he is often punished for nothing (Rudlin 1994). People who watched those performances could recognise themselves easily and could lament over the unfairness of the world or enjoy the small victories of the poor (or sufferings and punishment of the rich).Advertising Looking for essay on architecture? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This character can also be regarded as a challenge to the accepted social norms as servants had a very specific role in the Middle Ages. They completed all the necessary tasks but they were often invisible as the nobility perceived the servants as flock, furniture or a shadow that was there when it was needed. However, CDA made everyone see that servants did not only existed but helped their masters immensely and could even punish rich people. Servants were often smart and resourceful. The Use of Lazzi in CDA Apart from the archetypal characters, CDA is also characterised by the use of the so-called lazzi. Lazzi were used to â€Å"enliven a performance when audience interest lagged†¦ to embroider on a situation, or to fill a gap in the action† (Brockett Ball 2000, p. 127). Lazzi were often based on some latest news or gossip (Gordon1983). This part of the performance had a really important impact in the long run. Thus, successful lazzi were often copied and performed by many theatre groups. Therefore, discussion of burning issues was turned in the form of a quarrel or fight. The viewers were passive participants of the discussion and they often adopted this or that standpoint. Any meaningful political or social changes were reflected in CDA and spread all over Europe as this form of performing art was popular in many European countries. Lazzi also challenged social forms that existed in the society. For instance, in lazzi, servants could sometimes revenge on their masters or those who insulted them (Brockett Ball 2000). Of course, in reality, no poor could rebel against the master with impunity. Any attempt of the poor to insult the rich was punished severely. However, this was not the case with CDA. This was a kind of reflection of poor people’s (i.e. the major part of the target audience) aspirations and hidden desires (Fava 2007). Spectators saw some kind of justice and were very pleased that at least some servants could stand up for th emselves. This idea of social justice was present in many performances and it reconciled people with the reality as they were distracted from their burning problems, at least, for some time. Conclusion On balance, it is possible to state that CDA had political implications and challenged the society as it revealed the wrongs of the world in a very grotesque form. Poor people could recognise themselves in the play, enjoy the happy ending and some small victories of the poor (and ‘good’ rich people, i.e. lovers) in the play. The new form also reflected the shift in the society where nobility lost a lot of points and bourgeois became empowered. Apart from this, CDA also challenged some social norms as the viewers were exposed to new trends, which could become some of the factors that had certain impact on the development of the entire society. This form of performing art was one of numerous sources of spreading the latest trends. Therefore, it is difficult to put a price o n CDA as it affected the development of theatre as well as the western society. Reference List Brockett, O Ball, R 2000, The essential theatre, Univeristy of Michigan, Michigan. Elliott, K, Geraci, C, Ebner,D, 2005, Barron’s how to prepare for the SSAT/ISEE, Barron’s Educational Series, Hauppage, NY. Fava, A 2007, The comic mask in the Commedia dell’Arte: actor training, Improvisation, and the Poetics of Survival, Northwestern University Press, Evanston. Gordon, M 1983, The comic routines of Commedia dell’Arte, Hopkins University Press, London. Henke, R 2002 Performance and literature in the Commedia dell’Arte, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Lennard, J, 2008, William Shakespeare: Hamlet, Humanities – EBooks, New York, NY. Richards, K Richards, L 1989 The Commedia dell’Arte: a documentary history, Blackwell, Oxford. Rudlin, J 1994, Commedia dell’Arte: an actor’s handbook, Routledge, London. Scala, F Salerno, H 1967, Scenarios of the Commedia dell’Arte: flaminio scala’s il teatro delle favole rappresentative, New York University Press, New York. This essay on Political Implications of Commedia dell’Arte was written and submitted by user Jed1d1ah to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Monday, November 25, 2019

Free Essays on Mass Media And Politics

media in politics Media The media play an important role in American politics. It is the job of the media to keep citizens informed and to help shape their opinion’s on issues of the day. Reporters, however, look at reporting in different ways. Reporters like Michael Lewis report on what interest them. In â€Å"Trail Fever†, he finds himself attached to Senator John McCain of Arizona as he follows him on his 1996 Presidential campaign. In â€Å"A Time of Change†, New York Times editor Harrison Salisbury looks back on two heavily publicized political events of the 1960’s, the Kennedy assassination and the1968 Democratic National Convention. Salisbury’s tenure as editor â€Å"qualifies him to critique† the coverage of great events. Paul Glastris, on the other hand, discusses why certain political events, like Al Gore’s National Performance Review (NPR), do not get much media attention. All three articles show how the media is affected by what transpires in A merican politics, and in some instances how it affects those who report on them. In â€Å"Trail Fever,† Michael Lewis follows the Presidential election of 1996. He was uninspired by the two favorites, Senator Bob Dole from Kansas and President Bill Clinton. Lewis along the way ran into Senator John McCain from Arizona who was seeking the Republican Presidential nomination. Lewis was impressed by McCain’s strait forwardness. Lewis find McCain to be an honest man among many people who are not always telling the truth. Lewis questioned himself, â€Å"I know well enough how to interview someone who shades the truth . . . But I don’t know how to interview an honest man who occupies high political office (512). Lewis not only questions himself on who to do his job, but McCain gets in him enough that Lewis actually questions his own political affiliation. â€Å"The loner I hang around McCain the harder it is to fight the feeling that just maybe I’m Republican† (514). Eventua... Free Essays on Mass Media And Politics Free Essays on Mass Media And Politics media in politics Media The media play an important role in American politics. It is the job of the media to keep citizens informed and to help shape their opinion’s on issues of the day. Reporters, however, look at reporting in different ways. Reporters like Michael Lewis report on what interest them. In â€Å"Trail Fever†, he finds himself attached to Senator John McCain of Arizona as he follows him on his 1996 Presidential campaign. In â€Å"A Time of Change†, New York Times editor Harrison Salisbury looks back on two heavily publicized political events of the 1960’s, the Kennedy assassination and the1968 Democratic National Convention. Salisbury’s tenure as editor â€Å"qualifies him to critique† the coverage of great events. Paul Glastris, on the other hand, discusses why certain political events, like Al Gore’s National Performance Review (NPR), do not get much media attention. All three articles show how the media is affected by what transpires in A merican politics, and in some instances how it affects those who report on them. In â€Å"Trail Fever,† Michael Lewis follows the Presidential election of 1996. He was uninspired by the two favorites, Senator Bob Dole from Kansas and President Bill Clinton. Lewis along the way ran into Senator John McCain from Arizona who was seeking the Republican Presidential nomination. Lewis was impressed by McCain’s strait forwardness. Lewis find McCain to be an honest man among many people who are not always telling the truth. Lewis questioned himself, â€Å"I know well enough how to interview someone who shades the truth . . . But I don’t know how to interview an honest man who occupies high political office (512). Lewis not only questions himself on who to do his job, but McCain gets in him enough that Lewis actually questions his own political affiliation. â€Å"The loner I hang around McCain the harder it is to fight the feeling that just maybe I’m Republican† (514). Eventua...

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 12

Ethics - Essay Example Walzer approaches the ethics of war using Utilitarianism. The theory approaches ethics by defining morals by use of actions. The actions can be used to define what is wrong or right. In theory, an action that yields beneficial consequences is as right or moral while actions leading to negative results are as wrong. The theory is the consequentialist theory because it focuses on the outcome of actions rather than the action themselves. The theory holds that any action is by the extent of benefits or harms it is within the society. According to the theory, the greater good means greater happiness, and the moral duty of the individual is to maximize human happiness. The problem with the theory is; the development of individuality, and encouraging the use of immoral actions to achieve success. According to Walzer, the humanitarian approach employed in the world has not been successful due to the several challenges associated with human behavior. In fact, the society is into the right win g and the liberal as recorded in the book Arguing About War. The 20th century is with a simple lesson on politics, which focuses on motivation for political action. The most lethal concept in the era is the ideology which is different from the accepted or focus on the interests of the nation. The desire for wealth or money, power ignoble and devotees to the criminal excess are the product of shifting ideologies. In fact, the challenge in the society is the war between values or values against social pressures and desire for wealth and money. The development of the concept of international security is a product of the war study and its effect on the society. The book by Walzer covers the contemporary issues associated with war and the impact of the various issues and the role of humanitarian intervention. It describes accurately, the challenges faced by country and organization seeking to help or support the society and the impact of global politics in the whole process. Humanitarian intervention is an armed intervention without agreement of the other state to which the invasion occurs. In fact, it focuses on combating humanitarian disaster rather than invasion based on country’s interest. The focus of the humanitarian intervention is to capture or reduce large-scale violation of human rights with the focus being on stopping the violation of human rights. The challenge posed by the process is massive. However, Michael Walzer states that human intervention is when it responds to the need of the citizens or acts that shock moral conscience of mankind. In other words, states cannot kill or attack citizens from other states legitimately, not even within their borders are they allowed to do the same. Despite the existence of justifiable ground for humanitarian intervention, the level or point at which human intervention occurs is an issue of great debate. In fact, agreement has never been reached on whether to have a standard approach or evaluate the situatio ns independently. However, according to Walzer human intervention has improved the level of security and protection of human rights within the society. The first obligation of the government is to offer security, but it may become unattainable leading to the need for humanitarian intervention. After the world war, the world plunged into a state of uncertainty. Instead of peace, there were minor conflicts within the state’s leading to genocide and ethnic cleansing. However, the challenge of the new threats led to the development of various approaches to

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Business senerio Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Business senerio - Assignment Example The managerial staff at the firm must find alternative solutions to the problem as soon as possible. The morale problems the company faces have escalated into other human resource issues including a lack of communication, interpersonal conflicts, and physical confrontations. The situation has gotten so bad that the employees have stopped caring about their duties and their actions have reached external stakeholders. Recently an employee acted improperly dealing with a customer by yelling at the customer and acting unprofessionally. We have received several complaints from vendors of the company that have not received important paperwork concerning incoming shipments. The company is not suffering from any cash flow problems, but for some odd reason the finance department never pays the bills on time. The quality of the food at the cafeteria has reached an all time low. It seems as if the company is in the middle of chaos. Due to the negative impact that the morale problem is having on the entire organization the company has to take immediate steps to remedy the situation. The first step towards finding a solution is recognizing the existence of the problem to then take corrective actions. As managers we are responsible for the job performance of our subordinates. This matter cannot be delayed any longer because the low morale at the company is spreading like a virus. The majority of the departments at the firm are underperforming and the firm has become an unpleasant place to work. It is important for the company to take this matter seriously because low employee morale usually results in poor productivity and production. The firm has done a poor job at dealing with the situation so far and has let a simple issue turned into a problematic situation. The objective of the meeting is to allow the entire managerial staff to participate in the process of finding a solution to the morale problem. By the end of this meeting

Monday, November 18, 2019

Entrepreneuria venture report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Entrepreneuria venture report - Essay Example On September 15, 1997 Google.com was officially registered as domain (Google, 2013). In June 1999, the venture released their first press release where it announced strategic stake sell to Kleiner Perkins and Sequoia Capital for $25 million. In 2001, Eric Schmidt became the CEO of Google while Brin and Page became the presidents of technology and products respectively. During 2002-05, Google launched many popular products like Adwords, Google News, Adsense, Google Books, Orkut, and Google Map that highlighted their accolades (Google, 2013). Larry Page and Sergey Brin are the co-founders of the venture. Their initial objective was to establish a search engine algorithm that will be able to determine the importance of individual webpages (Google, 2013). Larry started with launching ‘web crawler’ that works like search engine and explores web that originated from the home page of Stanford. Founder’s primary responsibility was to convert back-link data that the search engines gathers for a particular web page into importance measuring webpage (Google, 2013). In the year 1996, Robin Li designed a small search engine named RankDex under a subsidiary of Dow Jones. This technology worked on the same concept as Google search and it was also patented. Hence, according to my opinion as the venture grows it would be best for the company to include Li in their team which will help Google to acquire all the intellectual properties of Baidu in China that was used by Li when he founded Baidu. It is the art of mobilizing others to struggle for shared aspirations. Creativity is the inborn trait of an entrepreneur who effortlessly succeeds in his work and can work with a team by providing them proper guidance & leadership. As discussed earlier, Google’s mission is to organize the information of the world and make them universally available. These envision of imagining exciting

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Financing Education in Developing Countries

Financing Education in Developing Countries How should developing countries finance university education? Explain your answer with cross reference to developed country experiences of financing University Education. Word Count: 4023 1. Introduction Education, its nature, purpose, its provision, and most importantly, its funding, are major topics of cultural and ideological debates which remain a central point of concern even today. Till the 1980s, the social democratic consensus, in England and New Zealand for example, considered education to be a public good, and therefore an indispensable service, provided by the state, to all citizens equally, without direct charge. The New Zealand Treasure writers, for example, argue that education doesnt belong to the marketplace. It should be considered a Natural Sphere and a public good which needs state intervention (The New Zealand Treasury, 1987). However, New-Right arguments of the 1980s challenged this school of thought, asserting education is a commodity which should be left to the market forces with minimum state intervention (Grace, 1994). Barr (1993), for example, asserts education is not a public good since it does not exhibit the three reflections of public goods: non-rivalnes s, non-excludability and non-rejection (Barr, 1993). This lead to the dilemma of financing higher education: How should countries finance higher education? This essay begins with a theoretical framework, looking at the human capital theory to understand why education is important followed by a brief discussion on the key issues concerning financing higher education to understand why cost sharing has become a popular phenomenon over the years. Major alternatives to state financing are discussed using examples from different countries followed by a conclusion and a brief policy recommendation. 2. Theoretical Framework 2.1 Human Capital Theory Education is considered to be, both, a consumer and capital good (Okemakinde, 2008), because not only does it offer utility to a consumer, but also acts as input towards the production of other goods and services. It is, therefore, also considered to be highly effective and even necessary, to bring about an improvement in the production capacity of a country.   (Okemakinde, 2008) With the increase in economic development and structural change the requirement for skilled workers is increasing across all economies, resulting in an increasing demand for employees with higher education ( Department of Education and Training, 2015). Authors including Okemakinde (2008 ) and Psacharopoulos (1986) consider formal education to be an investment in human capital (table 1). The human capital theory, thus, encourages investment in education both in developing and developed countries (I. Fà ¤gerlind, 2002). Figure 1 Returns to investment in education by country type and level (Psacharopoulos, 1986) Education and development policies have largely been based on the theoretical framework of the Human Capital Theory, which stresses on the high returns of education, in terms of productivity and efficiency of workers, and eventually economic development (Ozturk, 2001). 2.2 State funding and the need for alternatives Countries with socio-political ideologies consider education to be a public good and, consequently, should be free or considerably subsidised. This ideology claims the society to be the major beneficiary of higher education and asserts substantial taxes can be raised, progressive in nature, if there is political will and proper leadership. Such taxes will cover costs of education, allowing students, especially among the poor, to have equal access to education (Johnstone, 2003). Previously, higher education in most developing countries was predominantly financed and provided by the government (Psacharopoulos, 1986), such as majority of Sub-Saharan Africa (Teferra, 2013) (McGavin, 1991), India (Tilak, 1995) and China (Cheng, 1995).   However, Psacharopoulos (1986) argues such a system lacks sustainability, efficiency and quality. In fact, till the 1960s most universities in the UK were funded by the state. As seen in figure 2, the shift away from public funding has increased the participation rate in higher education in the UK (Haynes, 2003). Figure 2 Index of student numbers and public funding for higher education, 1980/1-1999/2000 (Haynes, 2003) A dominant theme of higher education throughout the world in the 1990s has been financial distress (Johnstone, 1998). The upsurge in the demand for financing higher education (Johnstone, 2003), coupled with constrained public budgets, has been a major challenge faced by governments in both, developing as well as developed countries (Woodhall 2007,   Akpochafo 2009).   However, as the number of students enrolled in higher education increased, the subsidies introduced when enrollments were low proved to be unsustainable (Woodhall, 2007). According to Woodhall (2007), with the expansion of higher education systems and the difficulty addressing the costs of higher education through public expenditure, the last twenty years have seen major changes in how higher education has been financed worldwide. These include; an introduction of tuition fees in countries where higher education was free, a substantial increase in tuition fees and a shift towards student loans (Woodhall, 2007). Therefore, parallel systems of financial assistance and cost sharing have been introduced so that students and parents arent burdened by the cost of university education and equality and accessibility isnt compromised (Johnstone, 1998). 3. Alternative Methods of Financing Higher Education 3.1 Tuition fees, selective scholarships and grants Most developed countries shifted costs of education from taxpayers to students, in the form of tuition fees, decades ago. Tuition and fees in public and private universities have established in the US for a long time (Johnstone, 1998).The tuition fees for UK full-time undergraduates at a university in the UK were paid from public funds until 1998, when tuition fee was introduced (Barr, 1998).   This trend is now being followed by developing countries as well (Johnstone 1998, Salmi 1998, Hans de Wit 2005). Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Jamaica have higher levels of student financing, similar to those seen in Ireland, the Republic of Korea, and Spain. (Hans de Wit, 2005) Figure 3   cost recovery at public universities in Latin America and the Caribbean (Hans de Wit, 2005) In countries like as Bolivia, Guatemala and Thailand, cost recovery is low, or nonexistent like Brazil and Argentina, as seen in figure 3. It is important to note the drop-out rates in these countries. According to Hans De Wit (2005), the annual number of graduates in Columbia has risen over time as opposed to Argentina, where education is publically funded and drop-out rate is higher (figure 4). Figure 4 annual number of students admitted to and graduated universities in Argentina and Columbia, 1982-2001 (Hans de Wit, 2005) Johnstone   (1998) notes higher education in Hungary faced problems like inefficiency, inequality and lack of responsiveness to the market economy. The public sector was financing higher education, spending 86% per capita GDP on higher education in 1993 alone. This, compared to 45% in OECD countries and 30% in Germany, is a considerably high amount. As a result, the need for a shift in cost burden was felt. In 1995 full-time students paid a monthly tuition fee of HUF 2000 in public universities, while part-time students paid up to HUF 8000 per month. In order to ensure equality in access, tuition fee was fully or partially waived, based on academic merit or financial need, for one-fifth of the students (Johnstone, 1998). Figure 5 Higher education in Hungary, 1990/91 versus 2006/07 (Marcucci, 2008) The state support per student was 40 % lower in 1998 than it had been in 1990. Reforms in 2005 recommend state funding for at least 35% of graduate students and 10% for doctoral students and in 2007 the Ministry of Education allotted 60% of its scholarship funds to merit based students and 35-40% to students in need of financial aid (Marcucci, 2008). This shift of the cost burden away from the government resulted in an increase in overall participation rate in Hungary (figure 5). According to Rosovsky (2001), during the 1990s, Makerere University in Uganda moved from a situation where the government covered all running costs and students did not pay for education to one where more than 70 % of the students paid, resulting in twice the amount of student enrolment and development of infrastructure. While imposing tuition fee is considered to shift the burden of financing higher education away from the government, it is argued that tuition fees or increasing it at a rapid rate might exclude potential students from disadvantaged families. (Johnstone, 2003), thus compromising on the access and equity of university education. 3.2 Loans and deferred payment schemes Financial aid such as loans, means-tested grants and selective scholarships are being introduced to preserve equity and access to university education (Psacharopoulos 1986, Johnstone 1998). Comparing grants and scholarships to loans and other types of deferred payments, the latter tends to relieve the burden of the cost of higher education on the government and raise the universitys revenue. Loans are also more likely to encourage the involvement of market forces, thus leading to efficiency and increased responsiveness of the university (Johnstone, 2003). Furthermore, the problem of exclusion associated with rising tuition fees can be met with the availability of loans and deferred payment schemes that dont consider the financial worth of students and their families (Johnstone, 2003). Student loans in Hungary, sponsored and guaranteed by the government, were introduced by a student loan company owned by the Hungarian State, Dià ¡khitel Kà ¶zpont, in 2001 (Marcucci, 2008). These loans cover tuition fees and living costs, are not means-tested and are available to all students enrolled in public and private higher education institutions in Hungary or the European Economic Area (ibid), thus ensuring equity and access. Other forms of deferred payments, where students bear a certain share of the cost burden and repay the amount gradually, once they have been employed, are also an alternative to recovering expenses. (Johnstone 1998, 2003). Examples of such payment schemes are graduate taxes, a concept never fully adopted (Barr, 1998), the income surtax implemented in Australia (Johnstone, 1998, 2003), and the drawdown pension payment system implemented to repay the student loan fund in Ghana (Johnstone, 2003). In the graduate tax system, the current cost burden incurred by the government for the support of education is not immediately relieved. However, over time, future income surtax payments, which are collectively (potentially) sizeable, albeit highly uncertain, shift the ultimate financial burden away from the government (Johnstone, 1998).   In this system, students incur low or no tuition and living costs. However, once they start earning they have to pay more income tax than they would have otherwise (ibid). The more one earns the more one pays back, thus argued to be progressive in nature and believed to prevent high debt rates among graduate students (BBC, 2010). The Australian Higher Education Contribution Scheme launched in 1998 provided income contingent loans through the Higher Education Loan Programme to help students pay their tuition fee (Johnstone, 1998). Students start repaying the debt once their income is above a certain amount ($54,126 in 2015-2016).   The amount is readjusted on a yearly basis to reflect any changes in Consumer Price Index, thus maintaining the real value of the debt. Participation levels of domestic students in higher education have increased from 3.7% of the population between the ages of 15 to 64 in 1989 to 6.6% in 2014 ( Department of Education and Training, 2015). Figure 6 and 7 show a sharp increase in participation of students after income contingent loans, or graduate taxes, were introduced. Figure 6 Domestic higher education participation and bachelor or higher attainment 1989-2014 ( Department of Education and Training, 2015) Figure 7 University participation by SES: 1988-99 persons (Chapman, 2005) However, such schemes are also critiqued to be inefficient and politically costly (Johnstone, 2003). High earners might choose to work out of the country to avoid the graduate tax. Not only will this result in tax being evaded but also may lead to a brain drain (BBC, 2010). Other than student emigration, payments are often lost due to high defaults and lack of tax records. As Johnstone (1998) notes, applicability of graduate tax to developing countries depends on the degree to which the income tax system can be trusted. Additionally high costs associated with servicing and collecting make such schemes a less attractive option (Johnstone, 2003). According to Psacharopoulos (1986), loans encourage expenditure on education. If the returns to investment in university education are high, loans will help students invest in education, or human capital, consequently increasing the demand for higher education and the flow of private resources into the sector (Psacharopoulos, 1986). However, problems associated with lending loans, such as high collection costs and substantial cases of evasion, have discouraged the development of effective schemes for financing higher education in developing countries. Private banks find the risks and costs of lending too large to incur without charging a prohibitive interest rate, resulting in the governments providing or funding loan programs for students (Psacharopoulos, 1986). Repayment, especially in developing countries, is a major cause of concern associated with lending loans. According to Tilak (1995), only 5.9% of the investments made on student loan programmes in India during 1963-64 to 1987-88 were recovered. Furthermore, according to Johnstone (2003), the willingness to borrow and lend is important since students prefer their financial aid to be non-repayable 3.3   Expansion of private universities Since most developing countries have a highly centralised education sector, stringent rules and barriers restrict the operation and contribution of community run and private institutions. Easing these controls and decentralising management will allow mobilisation of private and local resources in the education sector, reducing the fiscal burden on the government (Psacharopoulos, 1986). The lack of available places in state universities led to the establishment of private universities (Oyebade, 2008). Romania had no private universities before 1989. Laws passed in 1990 resulted in the creation of 70 private institutions, almost all of them claiming university status and enrolling one-third of total enrolments in higher education (Johnstone, 1998). In 1981 in Chile the number of private and public universities charging tuition fees increased. In 1990, 52.4% of the total enrolment was provided for by private universities with no funding from the state. The state, previously incurring all costs, financed only 27% in 1990.   The increasing number of private universities helped meet the rising demand for university education, increased access to higher education and increased diversity, with no costs incurred by the government. However, this change also resulted in an increased tuition fee, falling quality and an uncontrolled rise in the number of private institutions (Johnstone, 1998). Oyebade (2008) finds private universities in Nigeria have increased from 3 institutions in 1999 to 24 in 2006. However, Oyebade adds, the cost of private university education and the poverty level may lead to problems like lack of access and equity. With 90 million people living in absolute poverty in Nigeria, the enrolment of students in private universities is effected considerably. Only one of the seven universities operational in 2005, were fully enrolled and the remaining six, despite being functional for over six years, were not. Private institutions are widely criticized for their lack of quality, as seen in Chile in 1990, and equity, as seen in Nigeria. Additionally, Johnstone (1998) adds, their sustainability is also questionable since their major source of revenue is tuition fees alone. 4. Entrepreneurial Activities Another alternative to finance higher education is generating income through entrepreneurial activities such as selling services, contracting research and renting out facilities. Exploring new ways of generating revenue is a great way for universities to improve quality, be more innovative and increase their relevance in the society by providing services in response to the societys needs (Hans de Wit, 2005). Universities in Mexico began to realise the need for internal revenue generation since government support was not likely to grow, consequently, turning towards entrepreneurial activities, involving faculty and students to raise extra income. Different departments began to generate revenue by providing services and specialised courses (Johnstone, 1998). According to Rena (2006), the University of Zambia and Eduardo Mondlane University in Mozambique have benefited from entrepreneurial activity in the form of improved capacity, information and revenue by establishing and linking internet nodes to local electronic networks and selling their subscriptions. Rena (2006) also adds Ghana and Nsukkas initiatives of consulting activities have proven to be a successful entrepreneurial activity. Ghana claimed a profit of 9% on total revenue of US$22700 in 1991 by providing consultancies through their consultancy centre. Nsukka indicated a profit of US$35,238 through its consultancies between 1982 and 1991. With an income of US$90,398, the consultants received 50% of the profits while the university received 30% and the department received 20%. In Makerere University in Uganda, where previously the government incurred all costs of education, recent entrepreneurial activity generated more than 30% of revenue (Rosovsky, 2001). Makerere has raised revenue through evening classes, commercially running their bookshop and bakery and establishing a consultancy bureau with staff where a portion of the generated revenue goes back into the university (ibid). Universities in China generated income through university enterprises, commissioned training programs and educational services, research (Cheng, 1995) and consultancies and logistic services (World Bank, 1997). According to World Banks report (1997) revenue generated from universities contribute to around 3.7% of total higher education revenue in China. In Shanghai, 50 universities ran approximately 700 enterprises with the total revenue of Y 1 billion in 1992 alone. Fudan Universitys entrepreneurial activities raised a total revenue of Y 20 million, out of which Y 2 million was invested back into the university (World Bank, 1997). Commissioned training, an effective way to earn additional revenue due to the rising demand for skill upgrading, was the second largest source of revenue, constituting around 2.3% of total higher education revenue.   Provision of educational services added up to about 1.1% of the total revenue. For example, the Department of Law of Peking University gene rated revenue by providing short training courses on recently implemented laws to employees belonging to public and private organisations. Income from research and consultancy added up to 1.3% of the revenue in 1992. Income from research in 36 national universities added up to Y1.12 billion. Additionally, logistical services such as running dining halls and hostels, although not highly lucrative, constituted around 0.7% of the revenue (ibid). According to Johnstone (1998), most risks associated with entrepreneurship in developing countries can be overcome by ensuring the activities are legalised and are supported with clear regulations and transparency and efficiency in management and procedures. Entrepreneurial activities, such as those carried out in China, Africa and Mexico, have not only benefitted the universities by raising extra revenue, but also benefitted the economy by increasing responsiveness to consumer needs. 5. Philanthropic: Philanthropic activities and initiatives targeted towards higher education can build up funds for scholarships and grants in public and private universities. Although many cultures and societies have a strong tradition of charity, however, these contributions often ignore higher education since it is either considered a private good or the responsibility of the government (Johnstone, 2003) The Aga Khan University and the Lahore University of Management Sciences, top ranking universities in Pakistan (HEC, 2016), are good examples of successful philanthropic initiatives, established and partly operated through private philanthropy (Rosovsky, 2001). Donations made to educational institutes in china are either used as merit scholarships for students, for faculty training overseas or construction of university buildings bearing the name of the donor (World Bank, 1997). However, most initiatives cannot depend on such financial generosity in developing countries (Rosovsky, 2001). Small provincial universities in underdeveloped, far-flung areas are rarely the recipients of such donations, augmenting the problem of rising disparity between universities and inequalities (World Bank, 1997). 6. Part-time employment for students According to Johnstone (2003), many American students hold jobs that require 20 to 40 hours a week. The encouragement and financial support of the Federal Work-Study Program, which partially subsidises education, and an economy that has an abundance of summer and term-time, part-time employment opportunities, has allowed students in the US to finance their education to a great extent. However, for this to be possible, a robust economy with widespread availability to such low-paying but readily available jobs is necessary. This feature may be largely absent in many countries, especially in developing countries (ibid). 7. Distance learning The trend of distance education has quickly spread across various countries including Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Korea, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Thailand (Johnstone, 1998). China, for example, has a network of provincial universities, and a television university, for distance learning programs and education (Johnstone, 1998). After the 1986 National Policy on Education in India, open and distance universities became a means of overcoming the problem inequity and unmet demand for higher education (Tilak, 1995). Approximately 3 million part-time students and 4 million full-time students in India were enrolled in correspondence courses (Johnstone, 1998), which are considered to generate revenue much above the correspondence costs (Tilak, 1995). Distance education and open learning programs can be an effective way of increasing access to university education at moderate costs (Johnstone, 1998). 8. Policy recommendations and conclusion Psacharopoulos (1986) posits generous scholarship schemes covering tuition costs and living expenses are not suitable in the long run because over time, as lower income students start to enrol in higher education, the cost of providing grants and scholarships will become a burden on the government. An increase in the role of private actors in the provision of, and contribution to, higher education is a   popular recommendation (Psacharopoulos   1986,   Johnstone 1998). However, some oversight and regulation may be needed to ensure standards are maintained fraudulent operators are kept at bay.   As Johnstone (1998) suggests, privatisation should be used as a tool to increase access to education, however, the government should continue to provide monitoring and regulation.   Additionally, a greater role of private and community-run schools will encourage competition, eventually leading to higher efficiency and managerial accountability (Psacharopoulos, 1986). Furthermore, Oyebade (2008) stresses on the need for effective student aid programmes, like loan facilities that have a repayment system that is easily traceable, so that students are able to incur the costs of private university education. Psacharopoulos (1986) emphasises on complementing the shift towards increased private financing with the provision student loans and limited selective scholarships, thus not compromising on access of education. Loans allow students to finance their current studies so that those with limited funds arent denied selection into higher education.   Furthermore, to further avoid selection bias and ensure access, the Psacharopoulos (1986) suggests the use of selective scholarships granted on the basis of financial need and academic merit. This will not only provide students with an incentive to perform better but also ease the financial burden of students belonging to poor families, thus minimising inequalities in access to university education. Johnstone (1998) suggests the introduction of private higher education supported through tuition fees, thus shifting the cost away from the government. He further suggests the introduction of loans and means-tested grants to ensure equity and access to higher education. Psacharopoulos (1986) recommends developing a credit market for higher education, where access to education can be augmented through widely available loans and deferred payment schemes. In countries where collection of loans poses a problem,   an alternative being used is repayment in kind through national service (Psacharopoulos, 1986). Educations institutions can raise significant income by offering various products and services such as training programs, marketing the expertise of faculty, carrying out laboratory tests, renting facilities, research and consultancies and centralised programs for teacher training (Rosovsky, 2001). In recent years, it has become possible and permissible for companies to pay for manpower supplied by higher education, for example commissioned training where employers pay a fee in return for a training course for their employees. Another means is rewarded allocation where institutions ask for a fee from the employers in return for the employment of a graduate. The fees being a compensation for the training cost of the manpower provided (Cheng, 1995). Policies encouraging such activities will not only generate additional revenue but encourage innovation and allow educational institutions to provide products and services the society needs. Lastly, part-time and seasonal jobs should be encouraged through state policies and programs, such as the Federal Work-Study Program in the US. Part-time jobs should be readily available for students so that they are able to finance their studies. Additionally, this method not only shifts the cost burden of higher education away from the students families but also decreases the dependency of students on other means of financing such as state funding, loans, scholarships or grants. References Department of Education and Training, 2015. Higher Education in Australia. Barr, N., 1993. The economics of the welfare state. Barr, N. A., 1998. Economics of the Welfare State. BBC, 2010. Tuition fees and graduate tax: Whats the difference?, s.l.: s.n. Bruce Chapman, C. R., 2005. The access implications of income-contingent charges forhigher education: lessons from Australia. Cheng, K.-m., 1995. A Chinese model of higher education? Lessons from reality. In: L. B. a. K. King, ed. Learning from Experience: Policy and Practice in Aid to Higher Education. s.l.:s.n. Grace, G., 1994. Education is a Public Good: On the Need to Resist the Domination of Economic Science . In: Education and the Market Place. s.l.:Psychology Press. Hans de Wit, I. C. J. J. G.-à . a. J. K., 2005. Higher Education in Latin America: The International Dimension. Haynes, D. G. a. M., 2003. Funding Higher Education in the UK: The Role of Fees and Loans. HEC, 2016. 5 th Ranking of Pakistani Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) 2015. I. Fà ¤gerlind, L. J. S., 2002. Education and National Development: A Comparative Perspective. s.l.:s.n. Johnstone, B., 2003. Cost Sharing in Higher Education: Tuition, Financial Assistance, and Accessibility in a Comparative Perspective. Johnstone, D. B., 1998. The Financing and Management of Higher Education: A Status Report on Worldwide Reforms. Marcucci, M. S. a. P., 2008. Higher Education Finance and Cost-Sharing in Hungary. McGavin, P. A., 1991. Reform in the Financing of Higher Education in Papua New Guinea. Okemakinde, D. O. a. T., 2008. Human Capital Theory: Implications for Educational Development. Oyebade, G. I. a. S., 2008. From Public University Dominance to Private University Policy Initiatives in Nigeria: The Push and Pull Factors. Psacharopoulos, G., 1986. Financing Education in Developing Countries: An Exploration of Policy Options.. Rena, R., 2006. Higher Education in Africa A Case of Eritrea. Rosovsky, D. B. a. H., 2001. Higher education in developing countries: Peril and promise.. Salmi, J., 1998. Strategy for Higher Education Development in Latin America: Executive Summary.. Teferra, D., 2013. Funding Higher Education in Africa: State,Trends and Perspectives. The New Zealand Treasury, 1987. Government Management: Brief to the Incoming Government 1987 Volume II Education Issues. Tilak, J. B., 1995. Higher education in India at a cross-roads. In: L. B. a. K. King, ed. Learning from Experience: Policy and Practice in Aid to Higher Education. s.l.:s.n. Woodhall, M., 2007. Funding Higher Education: The Contribution of Economic Thinking to Debate and Policy Development. World Bank, 1997. China Higher education reform. A World Bank country study..

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Alcohol and its effects Essay -- essays research papers fc

Alcohol is a large part of American culture. All over the United States drinking is not only acceptable but a social norm from teenagers to adults. This is not only the case in the U.S., but all over the world, where some drinking ages are 18 and 19 years of age. In America specifically, alcohol has been around for centuries and is a large part of many social gatherings. Although this is the case now, in the early 1900’s during the prohibition period, all alcohol was banned and deemed illegal to possess. Even though illegal, the task was just too heavy and alcohol was too much a common practice for most Americans. As time went on the prohibition period ended and the laws were revoked, making it legal again to possess alcohol. The drinking related problems that were around during prohibition pale in comparison to the problems alcohol has caused since then. Many people wonder if kids are drinking earlier and earlier and they feel the drinking age should be raised. On the other hand many people are against raising the drinking age, mainly those whom would be affected by this decision, Americas youth. From its affect on society, including its appeal towards young adults, to the diseases it causes, the problems of alcohol abuse are widespread and in many forms.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It is a known fact that many Americans drink alcohol on a weekly basis. Depending on the rate and volume of consumption, alcohol has many different effects on the human body. Light drinking has been proven not to be a problem, and is even considered to be healthy. A glass of Red wine once a day is known to be beneficial to the heart. It helps prevent coronary heart disease by reducing plaque deposits in the arteries surrounding the heart, preventing blood clotting, while also helping to dissolve clots that already exist (Rehm 1210). Moderate and heavy drinking is a different story though. When drinking to the point of moderate to heavy consumption, there is a greater risk for personal injury. Car accidents are not the only causes of injury when under the influence of alcohol. Many incidents of injury are directly related to alcohol consumption including violence, and accidental personal injury. This being said, drunk driving is the main cause of death associated w ith alcohol consumption (Rehm 1220). Researchers have found that with increased volumes of alcohol consumption on... ...  Ã‚  Health and Research World, 1991, 52. This article speaks of adolescent alcohol use and abuse. It examines the lack of research done on adolescent health issues and the current knowledge of the consequences of adolescent alcohol consumption. The article also presents strategies on how to inform and clarify the issues of adolescent alcohol abuse. Brad Mackay, â€Å"Alcohol Rivals Tobacco for Health Impact: WHO,† Canadian Medical   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Association, June 8, 2004, 1778. This article was short but provides a good comparison of alcohol and tobacco. The article presents good facts while giving good suggestions for solutions to the rising problems with alcohol. Jurgen Rehm, â€Å"The Relationship of Average Volume of Alcohol Consumption and Patterns of Drinking to Burden of Disease: An Overview,† Addiction Research Institute, May 8, 2003, 1209-1228. This article is aimed towards a large study to estimate the global burden of disease attributable to alcohol. The article tries to identify the relationships between average volume consumption, patterns of drinking, disease, and injury outcomes. The article also gives many numbers to back up its points.