Belonging and Community

What is my current understanding of belonging and community? Well id have to say belonging is a big thing to teens and most people believe you have to dress a certain way or do something to fit into there apparent â€Å"community† but I definitely dont care what others think. Community to me is my friends family and people who mean alot to me. However that isnt the correct meaning, community is a bunch of people living in a certain area. I like to think my idea of a community is how it should be. How did I come to this understanding of my thinking? Well I dont fully know, its mainly values and thoughts that ive collected and made in my mind while growing older. Many things probably come from my dad hes a great man with alot of good values and he helped shaped who I am today. My mother also taught me alot of good values and also helped shaped who I am. I definitely can't give all the credit to them I have to give some of it to my friends to they have great ways of thinking and are very great people. Thats not all though alot of these ways of thinking come from me and thoughts I think in my head of how the world should be. What are views of others regarding belonging and community? Many of my peers think belonging means trying to be like someone else and fitting into something they like to think is a community. Why is community important in our society? Well without community what do we actually have? A whole lotta nothing really, without community how would we have friends like we have today? Id say without community were very isolated and us ourselves wouldnt be the people we are today. Do you feel we need to have communites? No, We dont absolutely need communities we can just be zombies wandering in no general life direction. Seriously I think we need communitys cause our friends, family and such they are there when you need them. What happens if you have non of that and are in a bad situation? Well you arent able to stay emotionally stable and lose any sort of ambition or heart you have. You crash and fall and have no one to pick you back up again least thats how I feel. If we didnt belong to a community what would we be missing out on? Id have to say we would be missing out on many different things. We would be missing out on our chances to socialize and not be so isolated. We would be missing out on learning certain morals and life choices. We would miss out on having many different friends who help us go through all the crap teenagers have to go through. I also think without communities alot of people wouldnt have much ambition to try hard I know I wouldnt at least. What kinds of communities do I belong to? I belong to quite a few communities if you go by the definition of others. Communities such as school, area district, working community. Thats not community to me though community to me would be my friends and family. I gotta say my group of friends is one of the most important types of community to me cause we have eachothers backs through thick and thin. Even more important family cause seriously without family where would you be right now? Not here thats for sure.

Future Trends in Health Care Essay

Clinical decisions reflect the electronic world we live in more than ever. The electronic health record (EHR) is quickly replacing the traditional paper chart. In the United States by the 2014, medical records will be converted to an EHR. Medical records were converted over a ten- year period in the United Kingdom from traditional charting to EHR. The electronic age is here and with it new terminology. Electronic Health (E-health) describes many topics from the EHR to several systems and new subspecialties. Telemedicine has grown to include many activities within the electronic realm. The Internet and external delivery sources are quickly gaining favor for follow up care and rural medicine visits. Patients’ no longer have to wait or drive far distances to see their physician they can simply go to an outpatient clinic and visit the physician via videoconference using SKPE like technology. Internet/Electronic Communication as an External Delivery Source The estimates state that about eight billion people can access some form of electronic communication network across the globe. The estimation of this global access is the ability to investigate and research any health condition by symptom or chief complaint. The user simply inputs his or her perceived diagnosis and several choices are displayed in most search engines such as GOOGLE or BING. The programming used today does not even require that the spelling is correct because of the built in spell check feature. The electronic/computer age has brought with it many advantages that ten years ago were impossible. The ability to research as many topics/symptoms once performed at the library can be done at home. The Internet/e-communication has revolutionized both personal and professional fact-finding missions. E-health is quickly replacing both the research and word of mouth referrals. Going online and asking a question provide all the  physicians in the area as well as what type of specialist to visit. Blogs have replaced word of mouth. The impact is clear e-health is here to stay. Nomenclature depends on the type of patient care activities described. EHR is a universal and global term. Programs that support clinical decision-making can include: * Computerized provider (or physician) entry (CPOE) systems used by clinicians to enter, modify, review and, communicate orders, and return results for laboratory tests, x-ray images and referrals. * E-prescribing – clinical information systems used to enter, modify, review, and output, or communicate medication prescriptions. * Computerized decision support systems – (CDSS) used in the context of eHealth technologies, clinical information systems that integrate clinical and demographic patient information to provide support for decision making by clinicians. * Picture Archiving Computer System – (PACS) used radiology to store data and x-ray images. â€Å"The widespread availability of medical information on the internet and its effects on health care has exponentially increased over the last decade† (Black, et. al, 2011, p. 9). The impact of e-health has changed the landscape of health care. The growth has ushered in a new way for providers to communicate and educate patients. Instead of handouts concerning particular disease processes the provider can give the technologically clever patient the information by directing him or her to the website. Safe and effective instructions are the responsibility of the provider so investigation and verification for accuracy is important. Impact of Distance Delivery on Health Care Distance to the clinic or hospital is a concern for patients in rural areas. The convenience of participating in an e-health visit is beneficial. â€Å"On-line, computer-assisted communication between patients and physicians promises to replace a substantial amount of care now delivered in person† (Kassirer, 1995, p. 52). The prediction of Dr. Kasssirer is true today telemedicine, is on the rise. Large scale acceptance of e-medicine is yet to be realized. The backbone of American healthcare the physician office visit is under construction with the advent of e-Health. The patient is more in control of their health care than any time in history â€Å"ideally, responsibility for decisions could be shared by the patient and the physician, with the patient playing a substantial part† (Kassirer, 1995, p.  52). Transformative power is evident in this fundamental shift in thinking throughout the health care community. Communication Issues and Health care today Medical and scientific data is available to both the physician and the patient through the use of the Internet. †The Internet is clearly the modern vehicle with the potential to improve information dissemination and perhaps change the way health care is delivered† (Podichetty, et. al, p. 274). Smart phone and device technology is accessed and often used throughout the course of the day by both the physician and patient. Electronic interactions have replaced many of the traditional forms of communication. The move toward electronic exchanges between health care providers is becoming a common occurrence. Web-based medical resources are accessed by the patient and the physician equally. â€Å"Over 90% of physicians use the internet to research clinical issues† (Podichetty, et, al, p. 274). Researching can occur at the bedside with direct collaboration with the patient. The ability to understand and explain multiple disease processes is achieved through the interactive technology advances of today. Impact of Communication Techniques in the Future The future of healthcare communication and current trends are evolving as rapidly as technology will allow. Technological advances are occurring so rapidly that the health care environment will continue to evolve and invent new forms of communication techniques over the next five years. â€Å"Information and communications technology will play a key role in delivering health care in the future† (Dumiak, 2011, p. 328). Standards are changing within the cultural landscape of e-health. As the environment changes so too will the standards and regulations of telemedicine. As the landscape continues to change â€Å"there is cultural and historical resistance to heavy centralization of record-keeping and privacy concerns about the potential intrusion of government or business into sensitive personal documents† (Dumiak, 2011, p. 328). Soon we will be able to provide our complete medical history and medications through the use of a master patient record that updates in real time. The cloud is already offering â€Å"a place to remotely store and access gigantic sets of experimental data† (Dumiak, 2011, p. 329). The logical  transition to electronic documents is on the horizon. In conclusion, the future of centralized electronic records is on the horizon. The landscape will continue to evolve and shape itself around the acceptance of new technologies and ways to communicate medical information. As the evolution continues the legal and ethical considerations will mirror that of technological advancement â€Å"work is still under way to establish standards and rules on how to send information to the central system† (Dumiak, 2011, p. 329). The future will determine a set of standards for e-Health technologies. The technology exists but can health care can keep up with the future needs of the patient. References Biscup, R.S., Booher, J., & Podichetty, V.K. (2006). Assessment of Internet Use and Effects among Health Care Professionals: A Cross Sectional Survey. Postgrad Medicine, 8(2), 274-279. Black, A.D., Car, J., & Pagliari, C., Anandan, C., Cresswell, K., Bokun, T., McKinstry, B., Procter, R., Majeed, A., Sheikh, A., (2011, January). The Impact of E-Health on the Quality and Safety of Health Care: A Systematic Overview. Plos Medicine, 8(1), 1-16. Dumiak, M. (2012, September). E-Health’s Future Frontiers. Bull World Health Organization, 328-329. Kassirer, J.P. (1995, January). The Next Transformation in the Delivery of Health Care. The New England Journal of Medicine, 332(1), 52-54.

Business And Cultural Environment Of Syria Economics Essay

Business And Cultural Environment Of Syria Economics Essay Syria (officially the Syrian Arab Republic) is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest. Syria has been governed by the Baath Party since 1963, although actual power is concentrated to the presidency and a narrow grouping of military and political strongmen (Wikipedia, 2010). Moreover, the nature in Syria is distinctly diversified. It contains seashores, mountains, forests, dessert, rivers, caves, natural and artificial lakes, and a lot summer resorts. All this along with the diversity in the antiques, the ancient cities with its markets, khans and old domiciles, the handicrafts and the traditional industries contribute to formulate a unique attracting compound tourism product. Analysis of Syria Business Environment Cultural Environment in Syria Languages Arabic is the official language, spoken by 89% of the population, while 6% speak Kurdish, 3% Armenia n and 2% other languages. Otherwise, English and French are spoken in business circles (Arabic German Consulting, 1999). Ethnic groups Syrians are an overall indigenous Levantine people, closely related to their immediate neighbors such as Lebanses, Palestinians, and Jordanians. While modern-day Syrians are commonly described as Arabs by virtue of their modern-day language and bonds to Arab culture and history; they are in fact largely a blend of the various Aramaic speaking Syriac groups indigenous to the region who were Arabized when Muslim. Arabs from the Arabian Peninsula arrived and settled following the Arab expansion. Religions The overwhelming majority of the Syrian population is Sunni Muslim. Other Muslims which include: Ismailis, Shiites, and Alawites. Of the non-Muslims in Syria, most are Christians, primarily Greek and Armenian Orthodox. Religious minorities include Druze, who follows a religion related to Islam, and a community of approximately 1000 Jews. Syria has 70% Sunni Muslim, 12% Christians (almost is Orthodox and Greek Catholic) and 18% other minority groups including Jews and Druzes (Arabic German Consulting, 1999). Syria Culture Syria is a traditional society with a long cultural history. Importance is placed on family, religion, education and self discipline and respect. The Syrian’s taste for the traditional arts is expressed in dancing such as the al-Samah, the Dabkeh in all their variations and the sword dance. Marriage ceremonies and the birth of children are occasions for the lively demonstration of folk customs (Advameg, Inc., 2010). Traditional Houses of the Old Cities in Damascus, Aleppo and the other Syrian cities are preserved and traditionally the living quarters are arranged around one or more courtyards, typically with a fountain in the middle supplied by spring water, and decorated with citrus trees, grape vines, and flowers. Political and Legal Environment in Syria The Syria government hopes to attract new investme nt in the tourism, natural gas, and service sectors to diversify its economy and reduce its dependence on oil and agriculture. Syria has begun to institute economic reforms aimed at liberalizing most markets, but reform thus far has been slow and ad hoc. For ideological reasons, privatization of government enterprises is still not widespread, but is in its initial stage for port operations, power generation, and air transport. Almost sectors are open for private investment except for cotton mills, land telecommunications, and bottled water.

Port management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Port management - Essay Example This might be owing to the development approach of the government of the nation’s towards this particular sector (Chou & et. al., 2003). Contextually, this particular essay will ensure a thorough discussion about why the Far East Asia port market is one of the fastest growing ones in the world along with analysing various factors that contribute in making the market a faster growing one. Observably, East Asia is regarded as one of the fastest growing port sectors of the world, which is largely owing to the export growth strategies persisting within this particular region of the world. The port industry in this particular region of the world has seen substantial changes over the years and it has developed to the maximum level. History depicts that this particular sector had seen noteworthy neo liberal changes that acted as a major aspect towards the development of port sector in the East Asia region. Notably, Asia is amid the major renowned regions of the world in terms of international trade owing to the continuous economic development from the 80s to the modern day scenario. With continuous economic growth in the Far East Asian regions, people became quite concern towards earning a better life for themselves, which further encouraged them towards developing manufacturing and production systems. This depicts the first postulate of production factors. However, as per the second postulate, people belonging to this region were not quite capable of conducting every work efficiently in earlier days, which further resulted in trade amid various regions. With the emergence of trade in this sector, the demands for container port services have increased rapidly. Observably, the combine capacity of Far East Asian ports in terms of handling volumes is recorded to be 107 TEUs, which is again expected to rise in between 254 million TEUs and 306 million TUEs by the year 2015. It has been noted that

Mesothelioma (Incidence) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Mesothelioma (Incidence) - Essay Example active export oriented asbestos industry and the people involved in both mining and construction are exposed to this material thereby increasing predisposition to suffer from mesothelioma. The incidence of mesothelioma in Canada has increased steadily as seen from the figures collected over a period of twenty years starting from 1984 where the cases diagnosed have more than doubled, as persons exposed to asbestos from 1970 onwards are being reported as positive for the disease (Marrett et al, 2008). The disease develops gradually and sometimes it takes as long as thirty years to manifest after the first exposure of a person to asbestos. Although more common in men than women, family and other persons living in close contact with asbestos workers are more likely to suffer from this disease. A person usually gets exposed to asbestos particles when they are suspended in the air during mining and milling operations. It has been well known in the past too that in addition to forming depos its in the lungs of factory workers, asbestos is responsible for precipitating cancers of the pharyngeal, gastric and the colorectal regions. Concurrent smoking can worsen the situation in such people. This is the reason due to which many developed countries of the world have stopped working with asbestos completely. But as long as workers are engaged in demolition, renovation and construction activities involving the use of asbestos, the risk of developing mesothelioma will always be present. In Canada, although adequate precautions have been put in place for the workers involved in the asbestos industries, the risk will continue to be there as long as this industry exists. As lungs are the major tissue involved, the disease manifests itself by symptoms of dyspnea or respiratory distress and pain in the chest wall (Marrett et al, 2008). Pleural effusion or discharges from the lungs and rarely ascites or accumulation of serous fluid in the peritoneal cavity are the accompanying

Debate on Health Care Management Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Debate on Health Care Management - Term Paper Example The paper is subdivided in sections including the introduction, the main body, the conclusion and eventually recommendation. The introduction introduces the subject matter to be handled in the discussion. The body analyzes various health care scenarios and their implications on the current problems affecting the industry. The conclusion captures the main points discussed in the body and the recommendations highlights the changes to be made on the industry to make it better. Introduction Everybody in the society aspires to receive the best medical care whenever she or he needs. This is not achievable to everyone because access to quality healthcare comes at a cost. On the other hand, the world is continuously changing but the healthcare system used by majority of Americans was created in the 1940s. During that time, Americans did not change their jobs frequently, as is the case today. In addition, the number of retirees was low, which meant that the retiree benefits were not costly to the employer. This has changed and coupled with increasing life expectancy, employers are finding it hard to offer retiree benefits. The cost of provision of quality healthcare has been escalating over the years, which means that most people cannot afford it. Enacting of changes such as leading health lives will result in trimming the costs involved in the provision of these services (Shortell & Kaluzny, 2006). Scenario 1: Business as Usual The fluctuations between the government intervention and the market fixes on health care policies affect the efforts at cost containment in the health industry. The government through its health care policies has increased the population of the organized health care plans, increasing the competition in the health care industry. The government has facilitated this through eliminating certain laws, which banned selective contracting. The managed care systems supported by the United States government imposes prices for purchasing the services and t he cost the providers get paid (Fuchs, 1988). Multiple payments, health delivery and insurance schemes as well as the health care being financed by both the public and the government have led to high health costs in the country. This system of health care system is expensive because the government cannot effectively manage the total health expenditure, affecting service utilization and heath care availability (Fuchs, 1988). The health care providers in the industry strive to maximize the reimbursement of the government for the services delivered to the managed care organizations. In contrast, the government seeks to contain the cost increases in the industry; thus, there exists counteractive forces among the players negatively influencing the efforts to contain costs. The cost containment has remained a primary challenge in the country (Major Characteristics of U.S. Health Care Delivery, n.d). The health care market responded to the government interventions, which increased competit ion in the industry by initiating price discounts on the health care services that they offered to their clients. The rising cases of obesity besides the swift expansion of the providers make health care spending to rise. The gains made in managing the chronic diseases through developments and innovations in technology and

Dog Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Dog - Research Paper Example Why the dog’s exhibit friendships with human when all the other members of its species or family like the foxes or Jackals stay away from human beings?. Do dogs possess more intelligence than all the other animals? These are interesting questions one might ask. It is difficult answer the above questions without having a dog as a pet animal. Dog owners have many stories to talk about the honesty, loyalty and intelligence of their pet dog. But others may not have such experiences. This paper is written based on my personal experiences with my pet dog. I don’t know how my audience (those who are not interested in having pet animals or dogs) will respond to my experiences because of their less knowledge about animal behaviors. I think they might not agree with my arguments. Anyway this paper is written for convincing my audience about the intelligence and honesty of my pet dog (A Doberman). According to S. Coren, author of "The Intelligence of Dogs", there are three types of dog intelligence: Adaptive Intelligence (learning and problem-solving ability), Instinctive Intelligence and Working/Obedience Intelligence (The Intelligence of Dogs). I am living in a rural area and my house is surrounded by some big trees and herbs. Snakes are plenty in number around my house. We usually release our Doberman from its kennel during the night time because of the threats from thieves. One midnight, when all of us were sleeping, I woke up because of the continuous barking of our Doberman. I have opened the door and watched my dog trying to call my attention towards him. I have examined all the surrounding and found nothing extra ordinary. When I tried to return to my home, my dog started to block my way and keeping a close look at a particular area around my home. I have realized that something was wrong and decided to make closer look at that area. To my utter surprise I have seen a poisonous cobra resting near the doors of my house dog. My dog was making a conscious effort

APPLY THE LEARNING CURVE THEORY Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

APPLY THE LEARNING CURVE THEORY - Research Paper Example The curve helps an organization to tune it finely from all directions. If an organization has the knowledge of handling the entire process, it can make informed decisions. The simulation describes the opening of a Pizza store by Mario in Palm Springs which was situated I a mall where there was potentiality to succeed and make profits as there was traffic of customers. Mario although faced many challenges of customer dissatisfaction. The dissatisfaction moved to an extent that most customers left the store without purchasing due to waiting for a very long time. What Mario should therefore aim is the retention of the old customers and getting more new consumers of his product. For the goals to be achieved there are changes or alternatives that should be employed by Mario. Mario is required to reduce the time customers use in waiting. The time should be cut down from nine minutes. Mario also have to balance their demand of service and provide appropriate service to the clients. If this can be rectified Mario’s business would be profitable. As Mario has a small business the learning curve can be very profitable and helpful to him. The process they use can adapt concepts of the learning curve in very many ways. The learning curve has been removed from the chronological observation that people who do recurring roles exhibit a development in task performance in many times. The empirical studies of this occurrence give rise to three conclusions based on current practice and theory. The period required to carry out a role diminishes with the repeat of the task. The quantity of development has adequate consistency to let its function as a tool of prediction (Hugh J. R et al, 2012) In the simulation a process data of performance was compiled. There was the choice to change cooks, staff, 4 person and 2 person tables to have to give the maximum service without interfering with the profits. The table above shows how the profit goes up every time

The Ethical Treatment of Animals Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Ethical Treatment of Animals - Assignment Example arian to protect the rights of the animals while maintain maximum satisfaction of the interested parties, the guiding ethical principles should be universalistic, welfarelist, and aggregative. Being Universalist means that utilitarian ethics should protect the rights of all the animals regardless of whether they are domesticated or not. Utilitarian ethics should express welfare of the animals by looking at what is good for them. Lastly, being aggregative means the decisions made on how animals should be treated should add up to the weight, intensity and the number of interest of the animals affected by the possible actions of people. Rights-based ethics on the other hand, can refer to the basic rights of animals that should not be violated. As much as humans do harm to the animals, right-based ethics are there to ensure that they also benefit as well. I think right-based ethics put limits to the extent animals can be harmed, for example, in experiments, animals is morally wrong to su bject the subject under unnecessary pain jus t because the researcher is interested with some desired resulted that must be understood after the animals has endured pain. Basing on right-based ethics, rules apply differently according to the purpose of keeping the animals. For example, animals kept as pets have more protective ethical rights compared to the animals kept for experimentations. There have been major conflicts between utilitarian and right-based ethics. Arnold Schwarchezenegger who was the governor of California signed an ethic right document to stop ducks from being fed on foei grass. The grass enlarged their livers; causing them to have pain on their necks for the purpose of gourmet human delicacy (Cohen and Regan 380). As a result, controversies have emerged over utilitarian and right-based ethics of animals. The controversies have been based on three issues: Whether animals have direct moral standings and if so, what should be morally right for animals that are kept

Hcl Project Report Essay Example for Free

Hcl Project Report Essay Before I begin my documentation I must thank all the people behind the successful completion of my project. I am especially thankful to my industry guide Mr. Vinod Rai for his valuable and enlightened guidance. I am highly grateful to him for providing me an opportunity to undergo the project in his presence. Despite his hectic schedule he showed a keen interest in my research and helped a lot in broadening my vision for the topic. My thanks again go to him for providing me all the required help to compile the data and other information to materialize the study. I am also grateful to my faculty mentor Mr. Tarun Kumar Vashisth for his guidance and kind support throughout the project. I must also not forget to mention the names of people in the organization who pumped me with immense confidence and support without which it would have been impossible to complete the project, hence with warm regards I would like to thank Mr. Sunil Bhatt Mr. Shammi S. Bhatia Ms. Priyanka Ms. Parbhaker PREFACE This project is based on the study of working capital management in HCL Infosystems. An insight view of the project will encompass – what it is all about, what it aims to achieve, what is its purpose and scope, the various methods used for collecting data and their sources, including literature survey done, further specifying the limitations of our study and in the last, drawing inferences from the learning so far. HCL Infosystems Limited (HCL) is a leading domestic computer hardware services company. HCL is engaged in selling manufactured (like PCs, servers, monitors and peripherals) and traded hardware (like notebooks, peripherals) to institutional clients as well as in retail segment. It also offers hardware support services to existing clients through annual maintenance contracts, network consulting and facilities management. The working capital management refers to the management of working capital, or precisely to the management of current assets. A firm’s working capital consists of its investments in current assets, which includes short-term assets— cash and bank balance, inventories, receivable and marketable securities. This project tries to evaluate how the management of working capital is done in HCL Infosystems through inventory ratios, working capital ratios, trends, computation of cash, Inventory and working capital, and short term financing. DECLARATION I Ajay hereby declare that research project submitted to punjabi university, patiala in partial fulfillment of the degree of BBA on Working Capital is the result of my own hard work under continues guidance of Mr. Vinod Rai , HCL CDC Chandigarh.

Early literacy support programme

Early literacy support programme This small-scale research project focuses on The Early Literacy Support (ELS) Programme (DfES, 2007) within an urban primary school. Over the past few years there has been a large amount of investment provided by the Government to help raise childrens attainment in literacy. As a result, additional support programmes and interventions have been developed. The ELS Programme is an intervention produced by the National Strategies aimed at Year 1 children, who with additional support, should reach or exceed age related expectations in literacy. Aims This research aimed to study the ELS programme to identify how children are selected to participate in in the programme and to investigate the staff and childrens perceptions of the intervention and impacts as a result of the programme. This research examined three key questions; How is Early Literacy Support supporting childrens specific needs? What are the perceptions of teaching staff on how Early Literacy Support has impacted on childrens enjoyment, development and attainment in literacy? What are the perceptions of the children on Early Literacy Support and their enjoyment and development in literacy? Rationale I have a keen interest in literacy and am interested in learning about different ways to support children who struggle to easily acquire literacy skills within the mainstream classroom. The main reason for conducting research into this area was to enable me to gain a better awareness of literacy interventions for young children, which will ultimately increase my understanding and inform my future practice as a teacher. The class where I was on placement had a large number of children who required additional literacy support, so it seemed the ideal opportunity to further investigate the literacy interventions that children were involved in. Furthermore, although research has previously identified the positive impact of ELS and other phonics interventions, there is no documented research assessing childrens or adults views on the programme. The present research aimed to address this literature gap. Literature Review Learning to read, write and spell are among the most critically important and empowering skills that children will learn at school (Pumfrey Elliott, 1990, p. ix). Literacy skills provide the grounding for education and future life, however, a large proportion of children in the education system experience literacy difficulties. Children who struggle to acquire literacy skills are a continuing educational concern in todays modern society (Pumfrey Elliott, 1990). Browne (2009) identifies that teachers largest concern is surrounding children who fail to make progress in reading and writing. There are a wide variety of possible causes of childrens literacy difficulties, for example language delay, visual impairment, absence of books at home and general learning difficulties (Browne, 2009). It is therefore essential for teachers to assess the pupils difficulties and identify underlying causes in order to provide support that is tailored towards their individual needs. At Key Stage 1 in 2009, 84% of children achieved level 2 or above in reading and 81% of children achieved level 2 or above in writing (DfCSF, 2009). These figures remained relatively stable between 2007 and 2009. Although the majority of children are achieving age-expected levels, there is still a proportion of children who are under-achieving in literacy during their early school years. The gap between children who are struggling in literacy during their early years of schooling and their progressing peers will widen as children continue through their school life, which will have a negative impact on their self-esteem as well as educational attainment (Moore Wade, 1995; Rose, 2006). Graham (2008) states that approximately 35,000 children (6% of Year 6s) each year are leaving primary school with literacy levels below their age expected potential. Moore and Wade (1995) highlight that difficulties in literacy will also impact attainment in other areas of the curriculum, as reading and writing are crucial skills. It is therefore essential that children receive suitable, individualised support as early as possible to prevent later, exacerbated difficulties (Moore Wade, 1995; Graham, 2008). Rose (2006) argues that childrens reading and writing difficulties can be avoided through early assessment and by implementing appropriate interventions to support their individual needs. The use of early interventions can be seen as a preventative approach to avoid later difficulties (Burroughs-Lange Douetil, 2007; Savage Carless, 2008). This view has been recognised by the Government and schools are now formally required to provide focused support to children before Year 3 (Graham, 2008). Following the introduction of the National Literacy Strategy in 1998, the Government introduced additional initiatives with the aim of alleviating literacy difficulties in todays young population, in order to raise attainment (Shiel, 2003; Soler Paige-Smith, 2005; Graham, 2008). The Government instigated three waves of support to help schools plan and implement adequate provision for every child (DfES, 2007; Graham, 2008). Wave 1 describes the provision of Quality First Teaching which consists of systematic phonics and a rich language environment that all children should receive within whole-class literacy lessons. The DfES (2007) argues that good teaching is the most effective way to raise childrens achievement (p.9). Wave 2 is designed to help children who have experienced quality teaching but are still behind their peers, although they have the potential to reach age related expectations. This level of support is in addition to daily literacy lessons and usually consists of group work following a structured programme that is delivered by a teaching assistant. Wave 3 is designed for children who have Special Educational Needs and require personalised one-to-one support (DfES, 2007; Graham, 2008). A recent focus in schools has been on Wave 2 interventions, with the aim of helping children to make progress in literacy (Rose, 2006). A commonly implemented Wave 2 intervention is The Early Literacy Support (ELS) Programme (DfES, 2007) produced by the National Strategies. The approach is used for children in Year 1 (age 5-6 years) whose literacy skills are developing slower than expected during their first term in Key Stage 1 (Shiel, 2003; Graham, 2008). The children identified to participate in ELS are expected to progress to, and possibly exceed, age-related expectations following small, focused group sessions (DfES, 2007; Hatcher et al. 2006a). A teaching assistant delivers the group sessions in close collaboration with the class teacher, which is essential for successful application of the programme (DfES, 2007). The ELS programme consists of planned, systematic sessions that work alongside the Primary Literacy Strategy and incorporates aspects of Letters and Sounds (DfES, 2007). The sessions focus on supporting and developing childrens phonological skills, helping them to link sounds to graphemes, decode words and subsequently improve their reading, spelling and writing (Hatcher et al. 2006a). This is essential, as studies assessing a variety of interventions have repeatedly identified that successful literacy interventions focus on phonological knowledge as a starting point to reading and writing (Hatcher et al. 2006b; Savage Carless, 2008). Ehri et al. (2001) conducted a meta-analysis of 52 intervention studies and concluded that phonemic awareness was the most significant contributor to reading and writing development. Rose (2006) stresses that effective interventions must build upon phonic work that the children have experienced within the mainstream classroom. Furthermore, he argues th at interventions will only be successful if the work completed in the sessions is sustained and built upon back in the classroom when the intervention finishes (Rose, 2006). Research has shown that the ELS programme has positive impacts in improving childrens literacy skills, particularly reading (Burroughs-Lange Douetil, 2007). Soler and Paige-Smith (2005) documented that children who were experiencing mild difficulties in acquiring literacy skills, progressed in literacy following the ELS programme. Further evidence comes from Hatcher et al. (2006a), who evaluated the effectiveness of the ELS programme compared to another reading intervention. They found that the reading skills of 6 year olds were raised in line with their peers by the time they had finished the programme. However, in this study there was no unseen control group, so results cannot be compared to children with low literacy skills who did not engage in the programme (Hatcher et al. 2006a). On the negative side, a constraint with the ELS programme is that the sessions are delivered by teaching assistants, rather than trained teachers. Researchers have argued that children who are struggling should be taught by skilled professionals who have knowledge of how to support and improve childrens attainment (Stainthorp, 2000) However, research has consistently shown that interventions delivered by teaching assistants can be effective in improving childrens literacy attainment (Hatcher et al., 2006b; Savage Carless, 2008). Rose (2006) highlighted that successful interventions were regularly carried out by teaching assistants who worked effectively with groups of children. Evidence comes from Hatcher et al. (2006b) who assessed the effectiveness of a reading intervention and found that the majority of children had caught up with their peers by the end of the programme, although a proportion of children still required extra support. They concluded that teaching assistants are mo re than capable of successfully teaching a group intervention in order to raise attainment. Additional support comes from a longitudinal study conducted by Savage and Carless (2008). They found that the majority of pupils who had engaged in teaching assistant directed interventions in Year 1, achieved national average results at the end of Year 2. Research to date stresses the importance of early interventions and highlights the success of teaching assistant directed group sessions. However, an important consideration regarding additional support is ensuring that the type of intervention given is related to the childs specific needs in order to raise attainment (Bradley, 1990). Furthermore, although research has previously investigated the effectiveness of ELS, there is a lack of research that has examined the teachers, teaching assistants or childrens perceptions of the intervention and subsequent impacts. The present research aimed to further examine the ELS programme to address this literature gap by studying the intervention in an urban primary school, where staff had recently implemented the programme in order to raise literacy skills for a group of Year 1 children (see Appendix 1 for project plan). The research aimed to investigate: How is Early Literacy Support supporting childrens specific needs? What are the perceptions of teaching staff on how Early Literacy Support has impacted on childrens enjoyment, development and attainment in literacy? What are the perceptions of the children on Early Literacy Support and their enjoyment and development in literacy? In order to answer the above research questions, ELS sessions were observed and staff and children were interviewed. Furthermore, childrens literacy targets were obtained and their reading and writing levels were compared from before and during participation in ELS. Methodology Design This small-scale research project employed a case-study design, examining the ELS intervention within one urban primary school. Demetriou (2009) identifies that case studies enable researchers to collect and record in-depth data within a real-life context. Participants A purposive sample (Burton et al. 2009) of three Year 1 children from an urban primary school were recruited for the study as they had been selected by their class teacher to participate in the ELS programme. The sample also consisted of the Year 1 class teacher and teaching assistant who delivered the programme. Data collection methods A mixture of qualitative and quantitative data collection methods was used in this study. Mason (2006) recommends using a mixture of qualitative and quantitative research methods to enable a clear view of the data. Furthermore, Evans (2009) highlights that using different categories of participants (teachers, teaching assistants and students), alongside a range of data collection methods enables triangulation and therefore increases validity and reliability of the methods and data collected. The majority of the data collection involved qualitative research methods, in order to gain rich, detailed data regarding individuals beliefs and opinions surrounding the ELS programme (Evans, 2009). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the class teacher, teaching assistant and three children who participated in ELS. This form of interview enables the researcher to respond to interviewees answers to gain more detailed information (Burton et al. 2009). A set of key questions were planned (Appendix 5, 6 and 7) and additional questions were asked during the interviews depending on the participants response. Open-ended questions were asked to enable participants to express their own opinions, leading to more detailed, in-depth data (Burton et al. 2009). All interviews were recorded using a dictaphone and later transcribed. Three sequential ELS sessions were directly observed, with the observer as a non-participant. Although this is a time consuming method, Burton et al. (2009) argue that observation can be one of the most powerful tools in research (p. 95) as it can yield rich, real-life data that can be essential for the research. The observations were noted using a continuous narrative and were also recorded using a dictaphone to ensure objectivity. Quantitative methods were used to examine childrens literacy targets and attainment levels. Childrens literacy levels before participating in ELS (Autumn Term 2010) were compared to levels after completing a few weeks of the programme (Spring Term 2011). This data was also compared to adults and childrens perceived improvements as a result of the programme. Data analysis Observations and interviews were transcribed and coded using the open coding method, by identifying emerging codes from the data related to the key research questions (Burton et al. 2009). The observations were transcribed and coded according to the ELS session activities that the children engaged in, such as sounds, spelling and writing sentences (Appendix 8). All interviews were transcribed and systematically coded according to themes related to the key questions, for example childrens needs, development, enjoyment and attainment (Appendix 9). Ethical considerations Before conducting the research, an ethical consideration form was completed (Appendix 2) using Bera (2004) guidelines, which was signed off by my MA Tutor. As the research was being completed in a school, the research proposal was explained to the Head Teacher and she gave informed consent for the research to be carried out in her school (Appendix 3). As the research involved children under 16 years of age, parents of the three children involved were sent a letter explaining the research and asking for their permission for their child to be interviewed and observed. All parents returned the letters signed (Appendix 4). The research was also briefly explained to the children and they were informed that they didnt have to answer any questions if they didnt want to. Interviews with both staff and children were completed at a convenient time for the participants and were kept short so as to not impact on their usual school/work routine. Interviews with children were conducted in a quiet room that children were familiar with to ensure that they were comfortable. Furthermore, observations of ELS sessions were conducted during normal timetabled sessions to minimise intrusion or distress for children. All data collected was coded to ensure confidentiality and anonymity. Once the data was transcribed and reported, all interview recordings were deleted (Bera, 2004). Results Observations of ELS sessions are shown in Appendix 8. Interview transcripts with the class teacher (CT), teaching assistant (TA) and three children (A, D, and E) are shown in Appendix 9. The three childrens writing targets are shown in Appendix 10 and their literacy levels from September 2010 to April 2011 are shown in Appendix 11. How is Early Literacy Support supporting childrens specific needs? Childrens needs During the interview, the class teacher (CT) stated that the ELS programme was implemented at the school as there was a need in Year 1, particularly to raise the levels in writing. The three children were selected to participate in ELS as they were working on a W level in literacy and they lacked confidence in reading and writing. She said they all have potential, they are beginning to use their sounds but need more input with decoding words to read and sounding out words to spellà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.independently they werent able to produce a sentence on their own. Furthermore, child E had a lot of time off school so was selected in order to fill the gaps in his learning that he had missed. The childrens writing targets prior to starting the programme (Table 1), were all focused towards using sounds to spell and writing a simple sentence with correct punctuation independently. The teaching assistant (TA) said she was unaware of the childrens literacy targets, but knew the children has been selected for the programme to increase their confidence in reading and writing. Table 1 Childrens writing targets. Writing Targets January 2011 Child A To use full stops and capital letters in my sentences. Child D To use a Thrass chart to help me spell. Child E To write a sentence on my own. ELS session activities During a typical ELS session, the TA stated that they look at letter sounds, apply an action to each sound, learn key words and write simple sentences using the key words. She said a lot of the sounds and words we use in the sessions are also Thrass words, and the children often recognise that. During ELS observations (Appendix 8), the majority of the activities observed were focused on sounds and spelling. Session 18 incorporated writing simple sentences using the sounds and spellings that they had learnt in the previous sessions. Children were occasionally required to read key words, however there wasnt a specific reading activity incorporated into the observed sessions. Both the CT and TA stated that the ELS programme is followed strictly and not tailored according to the childrens specific needs or individual progress. However, the CT said that a feedback and assessment procedure is currently being implemented whereby the TA records a brief summary of the sessions to pass on to t he CT. What are the perceptions of teaching staff on how Early Literacy Support has impacted on childrens enjoyment, development and attainment in literacy? Enjoyment The CT and TA both identified that the largest impact of the ELS programme has been on the childrens confidence in reading and writing, both in the ELS sessions, whole class lessons and at home, which has increased their enjoyment in the subject. CT said they now believe they can write and seem to enjoy writing. Furthermore, she stated that the children are also starting to write things at home and show them to the rest of the class, which they never used to do. Within whole class lessons, she has also observed that the children are more involved during discussions and are definitely more positive towards their work, especially child A. The majority of the children seem to enjoy their extra literacy sessions. However, the TA noted that child A sometimes seems frustrated because she is missing out on class work, but otherwise she is enthusiastic in the sessions. The CT said that the children always come back from the session with a big smile on their face, which highlights their enjoyment of the ELS sessions. Furthermore, when in the classroom, the children are now showing pride and pleasure in their literacy work. The TA stated that children come over and say look at all the work Ive done, or can you read my writing. Development During interviews, both the CT and TA were very positive regarding the impact that ELS has had on the childrens literacy skills since starting the programme in January. Children are now confidently answering questions, they are able to write sentences independently and use their sound knowledge to spell and read words. CT stated they can now write a sentence independently without getting stressed out and they are beginning to spell all the simple words correctly. She also identified that children are more focused on their class work and are able to confidently complete writing tasks independently. CT described child E who was previously not focused on his work, whereas this week when he wrote about the school trip he wrote half a page on his own, which he would never have done before. This development has also been noted by the TA during ELS sessions, with child A now willing to try any activity, child D can correctly sound out words and child E has caught up with peers after a lot o f time off. The TA stated that all children have definitely benefitted from the programme already. Attainment As shown in Table 2, all of the three childrens levels in reading and writing have increased from W levels (not yet accessing the Year 1 curriculum, so assessed against P scales) in November 2010, to at least a level 1c in April 2011 during the period that ELS was implemented. The greatest improvement has been in writing, with child A and E achieving a level 1c+. What are the perceptions of the children on Early Literacy Support and their enjoyment and development in literacy? Enjoyment During interviews with the children, it was clear that all children enjoy the ELS sessions, however child A stated that she didnt want to be in the group anymore as she doesnt think she needs to be in it. All three children stated that they enjoy sounding out letters in the sessions and described how much they enjoy helping Pip the puppet with her sounds. Child D said I like it when we talk to Pip and help her sound out letters and likewise child E stated I like sounding out letters and reading things. Writing was consistently the activity that children enjoyed the least as they found it the most difficult. However, when describing her favourite piece of writing, child A stated I enjoy writing lots of things because I know how to write now. Development When describing what the children thought they had improved at in literacy, all the children identified that they can now sound out letters to help them with their reading and writing. Child A felt that she had got better at sounding out letters and stated this was because she had been practising with the TA. She also talked about finding writing difficult in Foundation Stage and said now I just remember how to write a word and can write it down. Child D said Ive got better at my reading because I can now sound out words to help me read. I am on List 9 hotwords already. Child E stated I have got better at writing. I always make the sounds for the letters and words to help me to write. Discussion This research aimed to investigate how the ELS programme is supporting childrens needs and assess adults and childrens perceptions of the programme. Interviews, observations and obtaining childrens targets revealed that the ELS programme is at present supporting the childrens specific needs. Furthermore, overall both staff and children expressed positive opinions regarding the ELS programme. The ELS session activities focused mainly on sounds and spelling, with writing a simple sentence incorporated into some sessions. This links directly with childrens needs before starting the programme and their individual writing targets, which Bradley (1990) argues is crucial in order for an intervention to be successful. Furthermore, the phonics covered in the session was linked to Thrass, which is the phonics programme that children experience in the mainstream classroom. This is crucial, as Rose (2006) argues that it is essential for children to have continuity to enable them to transfer their skills from the classroom into the session and vice versa. Although the sessions at present are supporting childrens needs, their targets will change over time and it cannot be concluded that the sessions will continue to support their needs. The ELS programme is followed strictly, with no room for incorporating work to specifically target the childrens individual needs if they are not cove red by the programme. This is therefore in contrast to the view held by Bradley (1990). Although the programme must be followed, it might be beneficial if the TA knew the childrens targets so she could focus on those particular skills, within the planned sessions. Both the adults and childrens perceptions of the programme were very positive. The adults have seen improvements in childrens literacy skills during the past few months, particularly with the childrens confidence in all aspects of literacy. The adults stated that the children are now more confident at sounding out words and will independently complete writing tasks that previously they struggled with. The children were able to identify what they felt they had improved at, which were in line with the adults opinions of the childrens development. This increase in confidence appears to have had an impact on the childrens enjoyment in aspects of literacy, although writing was consistently their least favourite aspect. Only one child expressed her frustration with being involved in the group as she felt she was missing out on class work. The ELS sessions are timetabled for 20 minutes at the same time each day, meaning children are always missing foundation subjects as part of their topic work. Although the intervention is clearly aiding childrens development, the children are potentially missing out on crucial learning experiences within the mainstream classroom. It would be interesting to investigate whether childrens opinions of the intervention were more positive if the interventions were timetabled on a rotational basis to ensure that children were not always missing the same lessons. The adults positive opinions surrounding the impact of ELS are supported by the increase in childrens progress and attainment in literacy. The childrens attainment in both reading and writing had increased from W levels, to at least a 1c during the period that ELS was implemented. The current research therefore supports previous findings that have documented improvements in childrens literacy skills and attainment following participation in the ELS programme (Soler Paige-Smith, 2005; Hatcher et al. 2006a; Burroughs-Lange Douetil, 2007). However in this study, it cannot be concluded that increase in literacy attainment is solely attributed to the ELS programme, because other variables were not controlled. Alongside the intervention, children were also experiencing quality teaching during their whole class sessions, with reading and writing supported across the timetable. Furthermore, the school has recently implemented the Read Write Inc. phonics scheme to use during the literacy le ssons, which focuses heavily on sounds and spellings. Therefore, it may be a combination of the ELS intervention, quality first teaching and literacy phonics schemes that have led to an improvement in literacy skills and subsequently an increase in reading and writing attainment. Further, controlled studies need to be conducted to assess the specific impact that the ELS intervention has on childrens literacy skills. Additionally, the present research only assessed a snap shot of the intervention and did not assess the impact of the programme on literacy skills and attainment in the longer term. Although the research documents an increase in skills and attainment, it cannot be concluded that the programme helped children to reach or go beyond age expected levels in literacy by the end of a school year. It would be interesting to conduct longitudinal research to see whether children participating in ELS during the spring term of Year 1, achieve age-related expectations of at least a level 1b by the time they finish Year 1. Although Savage and Carless (2008) conducted a longitudinal study of ELS and assessed results at the end of Year 2, research has yet to assess childrens attainment across the whole of Year 1. The current research also supports the literature that suggests that teaching assistants can deliver interventions successfully in order to raise attainment (Hatcher et al. 2006b; Savage Carless, 2008). However, prior to starting the programme the teaching assistant received no training and simply had to deliver the programme following the session plans. She was not confident in using Thrass as she had had no phonics training. In agreement with Savage and Carless (2008), it can be argued that to further improve childrens attainment, teaching assistants who are delivering interventions need to be trained in phonics programmes and should be aware of approaches to support childrens learning. As this was a small-scale case study conducted in one urban primary school, the findings from this research cannot be generalised to other children or schools (Demetriou, 2009). Furthermore, case study designs have been criticised for being influenced by the researchers subjectivity (Demetriou, 2009). However, to overcome this issue, the present research adopted multiple research methods and recording approaches in order to ensure objectivity, which therefore increases the validity and reliability of the findings (Burton et al. 2009). A strength of the research was that observations of ELS sessions were conducted sequentially over a 3 day period in order to increase reliability and observations were noted and recorded to ensure objectivity. However, the researchers presence may have influenced the children and staffs behaviour, meaning the observed sessions may not have been a true reflection of typical intervention sessions (Wilson Fox, 2009). Furthermore, the interviews yielded hi ghly valid, in-depth data, however once again the results cannot be generalised as the answers were specific to the children and staff interviewed (Wilson Fox, 2009). Conclusion In conclusion, this small-scale study revealed the positive benefits that the ELS programme has had both on the childrens confidence and their attainment in literacy. The research has increased my understanding of literacy interventions to support childrens learning and increase their attainment. Interventions would be something I would consider implementing in my own classroom if there was a need to boost childrens literacy skills. Furthermore, I would carefully consider the timing of the interventions so as not to greatly impact of their learning in other subjects that the children may enjoy. The recent changes being proposed in the Education Bill currently going through Parliament, has led to a period of uncertainty with regards to the curriculum, National Strategies,

Free Hamlet Essays: No Tragic Flaw in Hamlet :: The Tragedy of Hamlet Essays

No Tragic Flaw in Hamlet It was my observation after reading Hamlet, that the play and its main character are not typical examples of tragedy and contain a questionable "tragic flaw" in the tragic hero. I chose this topic because Hamlet is a tragedy, but one that is very different from classical tragedies such as Medea. I also found quite a lot of controversial debate over the play and its leading character. While reading through my notes, I found that, according to Aristotle, "the tragic hero will most effectively evoke both our pity and terror if he is neither thoroughly good nor evil but a mixture of both; and also that the tragic effect will be stronger if the hero is better than we are in the sense that he is of higher than ordinary moral worth. Such a man is exhibited as suffering a change in fortune from happiness to misery because of a mistaken act, to which he is led by his hamartia ("error of judgment") or his tragic flaw." It is important that this be clear, because I plan to demonstrate how Shake speare makes Hamlet an atypical tragedy to begin with, and how controversial an issue Hamlet's tragic flaw is. Shakespeare's Hamlet is an atypical play to begin with, because the play's format doesn't conform to traditional Aristotelian concepts of the 3 unities. Shakespeare does not conform to unity of time, place, or action. Hamlet contains a "play within a play," sub-plots, and its action is not set in one day, but several. According to Aristotle, the play should be one day long. There are also a number of comedic moments. Humor, as Aristotle would have it, would reduce the impact of tragedy. Unlike Medea and Oedipus, which contain virtually no humor whatsoever, the play Hamlet has several comedic moments. The last difference I could find is the stature of the character. In the older plays such as Oedipus, the heroes are primarily kings. Hamlet on the other hand is a prince; his stature is starting out smaller than normal. While reading Hamlet, I came to the conclusion that even though this is a tragedy, the hero's supposed flaw is not like those in classical tragedies. To the best of my knowledge, the flaw that I could pick out that best fit Hamlet was sloth . . . as well as the critics themselves.

Slavery as the Cause of the American Civil War Essay -- Slavery Essays

The Civil War was caused by many several pressures, principles, and prejudices, fueled by sectional differences, and was finally set into motion by a most unlikely set of political events. From economic differences to political differences all the way up to cultural differences, the North and the South opposed each other. These tensions were further increased after the western expansion of the United States. By the early 1850’s a civil war was known to be likely coming soon. Economically, the chief and immediate cause of the war was slavery. Southern states, including the 11 states that formed the Confederacy, depended on slavery to support their economy. The North used a factory system for their agriculture, which they hired cheap labor. Southerners used slave labor to produce crops, e...

The Changes in Mickey and Edwards Relationship :: Blood Brothers Willy Russell Essays

The Changes in Mickey and Edward's Relationship There! In a flash the whole course of your life has been decided, will you succeed or will you fail? It is not for you to decide, you have had your freedom taken away from you and you will never realise until the last moments of your frustrated, or enjoyable life and by then it will be too late. This is Blood Brothers in a nutshell; a musical which tears through the walls of social ethics exposing the obvious truth, injustice and social inequalities roam our Country and the devices which Russell uses brings this to the audience in a mixture of speech, song and show. In this piece of drama coursework focusing on Blood Brothers there will be several different aspects of the play which will be focused on. The characters, particularly the main two, will be the fundamental building blocks of answering the question because once we know everything about Mickey and Edward we can then go on to look at their relationship changes. Another important issue to look at is the dramatic devices used by the director and how this will link to the structure of the play. Also it would be useful to look at the language used as this can give a good insight into the author and on this note, reach into the ideas and themes of the play so we will have a good view of Willy Russell's intentions. Finally looking at the setting to see more of Russell's intentions and the cultural context; trying to see what kind of audience Russell had in mind. Looking at Russell's intentions I have come up with three main view points: He just wrote this play as you see it at face value; it could be an ironic storyline that they are blood brothers but also real brothers, the fact that it's a musical is purely for show and entertainment. The evidence for this point of view is one of Russell's interviews about Educating Rita, where Rita cuts off Frank's hair; it's supposed to be alluding to the cutting of Sampson's hair by Delilah. In fact the real reason was it was supposed to be a comic gag. So then how do we know that Russell wrote the play for the general audience and not for the commentators and critics, maybe he wrote the play to be enjoyed; rather than for people to debate the social meanings but just watch a musical? An alternative view point would suggest that Russell saw this as way to show how difficult it is to be successful or just to lead a good

Dollar General Case Study Essay

Dollar General is a retailing company, especially extreme value oriented. Since its establishment in 1955, Dollar General has drastically grown. In 10 years, from 1955 to 1965, the Company grew to 255 stores with annual sales of $25.8 million. Today, Dollar General owns 6,300 stores in 27 states, with 2002 annual sales of $6.1 billion and more than 54,000 employees. This growth was extremely fast in the 1990’s. The number of stores grew so from 1,461 in 1991 up to 6,113 in 2002. Since the beginning, Dollar General takes advantage of a niche by setting up profitable small stores delivering convenience and value. All the Dollar  General’s Strategy is based on a customer-driven distribution of consumable basics. Financial situation of the Company remains really satisfying in spite of shareholders lawsuits due to restatement of its earnings few years ago. Revenue growth was equal to 12.6% in 2003 for a total amount of $7.24 billion. Its net income was the largest of the sector with $319.9 million. In the same time, and over the last three years, the Company has reduced its long-term debt by $448 million. Such a success can be explained by a really good positioning of the Company through its external environment and among its direct competitors. Dollar general knows very well how to manage the exploited niche and its opportunities. The main strength of Dollar General remains its ability to constantly open new stores, knowing that the key success holds in the proximity of small stores delivering convenience and value. It is in fact a kind of necessary comparative advantage on this market. The new CEO, David Perdue has got no experience of retail industry. He has to choose in which direction Dollar General will go. He has to go on the expansion of the Company but with the arrival of new and very powerful competitors such as Wall-Mart or Kmart. 1. Background Dollar General is a discount retailer of general merchandise, with around 6,300 discount stores in over 27 states in 2003. The Company, which headquarters are based in Goodlettsville, Tennessee engages in the provision of general merchandise at low prices, serving customers in Midwestern and Southeastern US. The Company offers its customers an assortment of consumable basic merchandise, which includes: health and beauty aids, packaged food products, cleaning supplies, hardware, stationery, household items and basic apparels. The majority of its items are priced at $1. The Company employed around  54,000 employees. Their buying staffs negotiate low purchase prices from suppliers. It purchases its merchandise from various major suppliers. To maintain high in stock levels of core merchandise, the Company usually limits its stock-keeping units per store. Timeline In 1939, with only a third grade education, J.L. Turner formed his own company in Scottsville, Kentucky, with his son, Cal. In 1955, Cal Turner and his son Cal Turner Jr. opened the first Dollar General store in Springfield, Kentucky. In 1965, they operated in 255 stores and generated $25.8 million of sales. In 1976, Dollar General exceeds annual sales of $100 million for the first time. At the beginning of the 1990s, the Company’s annual sales kept increasing and began to expand store sizes from 5,000 square feet to 6,800 square feet. In 2000, Dollar General’s corporate employees move to Goodlettsville, Tennessee. The move also saw the most aggressive store reset in the Company’s history, in which, more than 5,000 stores were set. In 2001, the Company began offering perishable products. This program included a selection of dairy products, meats, frozen foods and ice cream, and was expanded from 411 stores at the end of 2001 to 1,367 stores at the end of 2002. In February 2003, 7 distribution centres which served around 6,192 stores in 27 states and generated in net sales $6.1 millions. 2. Dollar General diagnosis a. Financial analysis Net Sales Increases in net sales resulted primarily from 587 net new stores and a same-store sales increase of 4.0% in 2003 compared to 2002, and 573 net new stores and a same-store sales increase of 5.7% in 2002 compared to 2001. The Company’s merchandising strategy in recent years has been to place a greater emphasis on faster-turning consumable products and to give less prominence to slower-turning home products and clothing. The Company believes that this strategy has enabled it to better serve its customers while improving its inventory turns. As a result of this strategy, over the past three years the highly consumable category has become a greater percentage of the Company’s overall sales mix while the percentages of the home products, seasonal product and basic clothing categories have declined. In 2002 and 2003, the mix was as follows (in percent of sales): 2003 2002 Highly Consumable 63% 60.2% Seasonal Products 15% 16.3% Home Products 12% 13.3% Basic Clothing 10% 10.2% The Company’s same-store sales increase in 2003 over 2002 of 4.0%, or $228.3 million, was due to a number of factors, including but not limited to: increased sales of candy and snacks, health and beauty aids items, pet supplies and perishable products primarily due to the increase in the number of stores with coolers (in 2002, 1,400 stores had coolers). Gross Profit The gross profit increased by more than 200 millions dollar in 2003 as compared with 2002 primarily due to the following: The Company made progress in reducing the shrink at problem stores during 2003. Some of the actions taken by the Company to combat shrink beginning in 2002 included the installation and the implementation of software that improve the inventory management. They also invest in others technologies which help purchasing and store allocation decisions. Current Financial Condition The Company has also to deal with its accounting issues due to the uncertainty about their past financial reports. The Company is still under the investigation of the US Securities and Exchange Commission and has to provide solid proof for every financial figures published and for every transactions done. b. Strengths and weaknesses analysis STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES One of the leading dollar store retailers in the US Improved financial performance Stores located in small communities Invested in better distribution facilities Space issues Merchandise mix problems Lost of competitive advantage Strengths Dollar General is one of the leading dollar store retailers in the US. The Company enjoys a strong market position within this particular segment of the retail market. It has a low cost operating structure and a relatively limited assortment of products offered. The Company’s strong market position will help to enhance Dollar General’s brand awareness. Dollar General is well known Company which does not need to communicate on their strategy because of their strong identity, they have low communication cost. This will in turn make it easier for the Company to attract new custom. Their strong store experience allows the ability to develop their strategy with a high knowledge experience. It facilitates their expansion strategy. The Company improved its financial performance and increased in revenue in 2003 up to $6.1 billion after a 15% increase in 2002. Net income also grew by 27,7% in 2003 reaching $264,946. Stores are located in small communities, meaning it does not have to compete with the larger retail outlets for custom. Moreover they have made better distribution investments which allow them to have better facilities in their distribution and lower costs. Weaknesses Growing fast, involved learning experiences, duplicating models, and creating format. It has been a force during a few years. Nowadays, Dollar General has to adapt its stores to the demand, and follow the market growth. Merchandise mix problems Dollar General has also experienced merchandise mix problems in recent years. These merchandise mix problems have led to the Company’s inventories becoming obsolete. This has forced Dollar General to write down some of the value of its inventories. The concept of dollar store has been a success, and many competitors are on the general store traces. Their concept has been copied, so their competitive advantage and their strategy are no more as efficient as in the  beginning. Competitors have also learnt form the Company’s experience. 3. External Analysis a. Competitors According to the case the two major competitors of Dollar General Corporation are: Family dollar Dollar tree These two companies have adopted the same strategy than Dollar General. Their expansion has been fast, they have the same customers, and the same core business. Although they have many customers such as The Talbots, Inc.Fred’s, 7-Eleven, Sears Roebuck, Wal Mart, 99 Cents Only Stores, Kmart or Target. COMPETITOR COMPARISON (2002) The following chart shows the differences between those three companies. Comparison criteria – 2 – 1 0 1 2 Industrial Equipment (number of stores, distribution center†¦) Wide of product range Productivity Profitability Pricing Image Penetration rate Revenue Growth over the past year Dollar Tree Family Dollar Dollar General Following this graph study it seems Dollar General generally remains the most impressive competitors of the sector. DG remains the best in term of image, penetration rate (even if it is only present in 27 states whereas the others are present in about 40 states), financial position (they have the best Net Income 265 millions dollars, Dollar Tree: 155 millions and Family Dollar: 217 millions) and in term of selling force thanks to its still greater number of stores (6,113 stores for 54,000 employees, Dollar Tree: 2,263 stores for less than 9,600 employees and Family Dollar: 4,616 stores for less than 22,000 employees). [ in 2004, Dollar Tree has got 9,600 employees and Family Dollar 22,000 employees according to Yahoo.com so we can guess that it was inferior in 2002] Nevertheless DG has to take care not to lose its leadership concerning the wide of product range proposed. And even if the target household income is not exactly the same than Dollar Tree, DG has also to pay attention to the politic pricing implemented by Dollar Tree, which is in fact the best of the sector thanks to products price at $1 or less than $1. But generally, DG remains really well positioned among its competitors. b. Opportunities and threats analysis OPPORTUNITIES THREATS New distribution centers Business less susceptible to slowdown in consumer spending Stores expansion in new states Size of the stores New competition People qualification Dependency to suppliers Opportunities The Company is dependent upon the smooth functioning of its distribution network and upon the capacity of its distribution centers. The Company relies on the ability to replenish depleted inventory through deliveries to its distribution centers from suppliers. New distribution centers are expected in the end 2004 or in 2005 in order to support continued growth. The dollar business is less susceptible to a slowdown in consumer spending compared with other retail operations because over a third of its stock costs $1 or less. This will mean that Dollar General’s business will not be affected as much as other high cost and high margin led retail operations, as in times of economic distress consumers will look to save money by purchasing goods that are perceived to offer better value from retailers such as Dollar General. So they have the possibility to gain market share if the economy slowdown. The stores are located in only 27 states so they have the possibility to open new stores and to expand into additional states. It will depend on factors that are beyond the Company’s control such as: the ability to negotiate favourable lease terms; the ability to hire and train new personnel,  especially store managers; the ability to identify customer demand in different geographic areas. The size of the stores is from 5,000 to 6,800 square feet, whereas Family Dollar stores’ size is from 7,500 to 9,500. It shows that DG can extend the size of their stores in order to grow their sales. Threats The discount retail merchandise business is subject to excess capacity and some of the Company’s competitors are much larger and have substantially greater resources than the Company. The competition for customers has intensified in recent years as larger competitors, such as Wal-Mart, have moved into the Company’s geographic markets. The Company remains vulnerable to the marketing power and high level of consumer recognition of these major national discount chains, and to the risk that these chains or others could venture into the â€Å"dollar store† industry in a significant way. The Company’s success depends to a significant extent upon the abilities of its senior management team and the performance of its employees. The loss of services of key members of the Company’s senior management team or of certain other key employees could negatively impact the Company’s business. In addition, future performance will depend upon the Company’s ability to attract, retain and motivate qualified employees to keep pace with its expansion schedule. The Company’s business is dependent on its ability to obtain attractive pricing and other terms from its suppliers. The Company believes that keeping good relations with its suppliers is generally a good way to obtain attractive pricing. If the Company fails to maintain good relations with its suppliers, it may not be able to obtain attractive pricing with the consequence that its net sales or profit margins would be reduced. 4. Problem identification Dollar General’s strategy is based on low prices and convenience. That is what differentiates this Company from another. They had the ability for delivering value to their customers and for placing many stores where other big-box retailers will not is well-deserved. The new CEO, David Perdue, which has no experience in retail industry, has to go on the expansion. But he has to face the problem of a harder competition. Indeed, the success of dollar stores attract big firm such as Wall-Mart and Kmart on this market. So where will he decide to open new stores? He will probably has to expand new stores in new states but he might not find a location without competitors.

Geggus, David Patrick. Haitian revolutionary studies. Essay

After the 1695 Ryswick Treaty between France and Spain, France took control of St. Domingue (Willie 2001, p 36). The legal rights bestowed upon the French gave them the jurisdictional capacity to reign over the western region of Hispaniola. Government officials from France took care of the administrative and governing bodies of St. Domingue. The Ryswick Treaty paved way for the French to colonize St. Domingue and take preeminence in virtually every fundamental aspect of the region. The social, economic and political realms of the people of St. Domingue were largely defined by the French colonial systems in place (Willie 2001, p 36). The weighty colonial systems of the French in St. Domingue led to a stratified social system, dividing the people into social classes. The Les Grand Blancs were the superior whites who consisted of the planters and royal officials of the colony. The Les Petit Blanc, considered as the lowest group of whites consisted of the artisans, shopkeepers and bookkeepers in St. Domingue. By 1789, the total umber of whites in St. Domingue was 30, 000. The Mulattoes or free coloreds, numbering 28,000 by 1789, consisted of children fathered by white French men with black women (Willie, 2012, p 38). Emancipation of the free coloreds gave them an opportunity to own slaves as their white counterparts. They possessed one third of the real estate in St. Domingue. The slaves, who numbered 450, 000 by 1789 were the least in the social ladder (Ghachem 2003, p 4; Willie 2001, p 38). They literally owned nothing and were devoid of any degree of liberty compared to the other social classes. The social stratification structure in St. Domingue resulted into social, economic and political disparities that constantly caused friction among the social classes in the social ladder. Every social class sought to defend its rights and freedoms; the quest for justice and liberty was deeply engraved in each of the social classes (Geggus 2002, p 14). A critical analysis of the perceived economic and social injustices experienced by the groups is ultimately significant in understanding the causes and aims of the St. Domingue Revolution. Indeed, a critical evaluation of the social ladder in the French colony is imperative in comprehending the causes and aims of the St. Domingue Revolution from 1791-1804. The economic demography of St. Domingue in the late 18th century               Ã‚  One cannot talk about the St. Domingue Revolution (1791-1804) without expounding on the economic demography of the then, largest French colony. Dominated by agriculture and trading relations, the French colony was indeed export motivated. The colonial economy maximized on sugar, coffee, cotton and indigo plantations. The colony had 3000 coffee plantations, 800 sugar plantations, 800 cotton plantations and 2950 indigo plantations (Willie 2001, p 36). The expansive plantations placed St. Domingue strategically among the French colonies; in fact, it was the richest plantation colony of the French. The second half of the 18th century saw St. Domingue expand to become the largest exporter of coffee and sugar in the world; this placed France at a strategic place in the world economy (Willie 2001, p 36). The increased growth and demand in the colonial economy in St. Domingue triggered the colonialists to continually restructure the plantation systems. A constant increase in the number of slaves in the colony by the colonialists fueled the destabilization of the social balance in St. Domingue. In a bid to maintain a robust and thriving colonial agricultural economy, the colonialists subjected the slaves into hard labor, which consequently eroded their state of freedom and liberties. The lowest social class in the French colony experienced social and economic deficiencies that exacerbated their poor living standards. The poor living standards meant that the mortality rate of the slaves, sky- rocketed and necessitated the capture of more slaves for the further expansion of the colonial economy. The complicated economy in late century St. Domingue saw an increase in the number of slaves, which led to slave insurrections prior to 1791(Marsh and Nicola 2011, p 21). The desire of the slaves to attain freedom and liberty precipitated the St. Domingue revolution that historians claim changed the landscape of world affairs, and contributed to the demise of slavery. Hence, the social imbalance created by the economic demography of St. Domingue led to the inception of the revolution. The economic and social disparities of the social groups               Ã‚  Economic and social disparities were at the height of the causes and aims of the St. Domingue revolution (Geggus 2002 p 14). The social classes often clashed with one another in a bid to secure their social, economic and political justices. However, this was not an easy endeavor; hence, precipitating repeated crises that brought social and economic imbalances in the colony. The colonial masters sought to maintain the colony’s economic valor, and for this to happen, the relentless friction among the social clashes continued inevitably. Certainly, the social ladder triggered disparities that heightened the imbalances in the colony. The Les Grant Blancs who were born in the colony expressed feelings of discontent against the whites born from France, their motherland. The whites from France took charge of the most important government offices in the colony. The whites born in the colony (creoles) expressed dissatisfaction because they wanted to participate effectively in the government (Geggus 2002, p 6). The inability of the Les Grant Blancs to have a greater autonomy in the running of the colonial administration affected their social status in the colony. The group perceived that being on top of the social ladder deemed it right to have autonomy over the affairs of the colony. The planters and wealthy members of the group perceived that the ceremonial positions they were given in the assembly was not tantamount to their social status. The reduction of their status to minor aristocrats precipitated their desire to command more grounding against the European-born colonialists. As a result, there was a social stru ggle and imbalance as the group sought to gain the legal rights of controlling the colony. The Les Grant Blancs also wanted to have the freedom of trade. As the plantation owners, they wanted to have more economic autonomy from the proceeds of their produce. Apparently, the colonialists controlled the produce from the island, which was its major asset because of the strategic economic benefits associated with it. The French government introduced the Exclusive trade system, which ensured that the control of goods had to come exclusively from France. Moreover, the high taxation levied on the colony did not auger well with the group. The white plantation owners continually sought to have economic independence from the French government and the colonial administrators. The economic struggles between the Les Grant Blancs and the royal French colonial administrators brought economic imbalances that often threatened the integration of the groups. The white planters saw that the economic advances were creating injustices that needed to be addressed. According to Willie (2001, p 39 ), the Les Grant Blancs believed that the colony officials wasted St. Domingue’s resources. Therefore, the plantation owners and members of the assembly constantly attacked the executive officials from France. It was widely acknowledged that the wealth of the French colonies was primarily meant to benefit France, but not the colonies. This brought mixed reactions in the colony, with the superior whites advocating for the abolishment of heavy taxes and a greater control of the colony’s trade relations. The Les Petit Blanc consisting of poor white men did not have good relations with their rich counterparts. The social disparities between the two groups caused sharp conflicts that often resulted into physical violence. The Les Petit Blanc did not like the fact that their rich counterparts had immense wealth, which they could only imagine. The privileges that the Les Grant Blancs enjoyed created a stratified social structure that made the Les Petit Blanc inferior. The Mulattoes or free coloreds were also inferior to the wealthy planters and civil officers. The interaction between the poor whites and the Mulattoes as well as the slaves made the rich whites to perceive them as less important in the economic status of the colony. The economic and social superiority of the rich whites resulted into strained relationships between them and the â€Å"Les Petit Blancs†. Undoubtedly, the strained relationships stemmed from the economic and social disparities of the colony’s stru cture. Of importance still, is the relationship between the whites and the Mulattoes/ free coloureds. The disparities between the social classes came because of the economic and social characteristics of the Mulattoes. The free coloureds were seen as extremely ambitious and a threat to the social and economic dominance of the whites. They were strong and showed great prospects of social mobility and capacity to compete with the whites. Additionally, most of the Mulattoes were highly educated; hence, posing challenges to the dominant whites. The whites did not like the fast-rising nature of the free coloureds; they wanted them to remain inferior to them and settle at the bottom of the social class ladder. The social and economic disparities between the groups caused numerous conflicts that destabilized the power of the colonial administration. Due to the massive influence of the Mulattoes/free coloureds, the colonial legislature introduced strict laws to limit their influence (James 1963, p 97). The enacted laws forbade them from holding public office, joining the colonial army, wearing European clothes, organizing social functions, marrying whites and residing in France. They were also forced to work for free for a certain number of days per year, according to the French law. The free coloureds were economically and socially deprived of their rights because of their race and their prospects of social mobility. The Mulattoes did not agree with the social and economic injustices committed against them; hence, they sought to find for their rights (Ott 1987, p 67). These factors caused tensions between the whites and the Mulattoes and consequently led to the intense fighting between the groups in 1791. The slaves, majorly from African origin were subjected to hard labor and deprivation of their rights as humans. They were the lowest in the social ladder, and yielded nothing in respect to their social and economic statuses. They experienced harsh conditions subjected to them by the superiors. The economic and social disparities between them and the other groups denied them the opportunity to enjoy their rights and dignity. In 1791, as the Les Blancs, Les Petit Blanc and free coloureds were fighting one another because of the prevalent social and economic disparities, the slaves maximized on the opportunity to start revolts in St. Domingue (James 1963, p 110). The slaves, favored by their numbers, fought against the whites and free coloureds because of the torments they faced as inferiors in St. Domingue. Undeniably, the social and economic disparities among the social classes in the colony contributed greatly in the St. Domingue Revolution. The Declaration of Rights of Men               Ã‚  The Declaration of Rights of Men of 1789 was an instrumental document of the French Revolution in the expression of human rights. The document played a vital role in the establishment of the fundamental human rights that have continued to influence the modern world. In the wake of the French Revolution, there was need for setting up of laws that recognized the basic human rights and the equality of all people before the law. The declaration came at a time when rights and liberties were highly violated at the merit of a few. The French Revolution sought to fight for liberty, equality and fraternity rights (Manigat 1977, p 420). Certainly, the Declaration of the Rights of Men played a dominant role in the start of St. Domingue Revolution. After the document brought the realization of human rights and universal laws in France, the social classes in St. Domingue sought to fight for their rights and privileges in a highly stratified colony. The Les Blancs wanted the right to makes laws, the abolishment of trading restrictions from France and wanted to have social equality with the French whites. They also wanted the scrubbing off, of royal bureaucracies in St. Domingue. The Declaration of the Rights of Men inspired the free coloureds to fight for social and political rights and the abolishment of discrimination. On the other hand, the slaves fought for their personal freedom from the oppression by the other social classes. Based on the discussion above, it is worth noting that the Declaration of the Rights of Men inspired the St. Domingue Revolution. Conclusion               Ã‚  In conclusion, it is notable to assert that the St. Domingue Revolution (1791-1804) was because of various factors. Social and economic disparities in the colony were a major factor in the start of the revolt that certainly ended slavery in the island. The social classes that lived in St. Domingue often clashed in respect to the economic and social factors defining them. The deprivation of rights and liberties among the social groups led to conflicts that often turned physical. The need for economic and social rights and the quest for justice in the late 18th century St. Domingue led to a successful slave revolt that resulted into the birth of the nation of Haiti. As historians put it, the St. Domingue Revolution was significant in defining the history of European colonialism. Indeed, the upheaval is significant in understanding the history of French imperialism. References Geggus, David Patrick. Haitian revolutionary studies. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2002.Ghachem, Malick W. Slavery and citizenship in the age of the Atlantic revolutions. Alfred, N.Y.: Alfred University, 2003. Print. Ghachem, Malick W. The Old Regime and the Haitian Revolution. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012. Print. James, C. L. R. â€Å"Parliament and Property.† In The Black Jacobins; Toussaint L’Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution. Second Ed. New York: Vintage Books, 1963 Willie, Doris. â€Å"Renaissance and Revolt.† In Lest you forget: a study and revision guide for CXC Caribbean History. Kingston, Jamaica: Jamaica Pub. House, 2001. 38-65 Manigat, Leslie F. â€Å"The Relationship between Marronage and Slave Revolts and Revolution In St. Domingue-Haiti.† Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 292, no. 1 Comparative P (1977): 420-438.Marsh, Kate, and Nicola Frith. France’s lost empires: fragmentation, nostalgia, and la fracture coloniale. Lanham, Md.: Lexington Books, 2011.Ott, Thomas O. The Haitian revolution, 1789-1804. 1st ed. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1987. Source document

Environmental Science and Population Essay

sing the textbooks, the University Library, or other resources, answer each of the following questions in 100 to 200 words. 1. What would you include in a brief summary on the history of the modern environmental movement, from the 1960s to the present? There were many notable events during this time period. The very first environmentally sound act was the Air Pollution Control Act of 1955. The act declared that air pollution was harmful to public health as lung carcinoma became more prevalent within communities. Strict Government regulations and pollution requirements became the norm for other facets of the Environment as well. www.epa.gov/air requirements. The Federal water pollution control act followed in 1965 gave the Government limited controls to federal water pollutants due to limited enforcement authorities and money. This act was finally solidified in 1970 revision with an imposed clean water act without exceptions. www.water.epa.gov. My own personal favorite involves the marine conservation law of the seas. Developed by the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act of 1999, the act was designed to protect and manage threatened migratory and marine species: Including Wales, Dolphins, Porpoises and threatened Fauna. www.environment.gov.au/marine species. 2. Explain the primary concern over exponential population growth. What promotes exponential population growth? What constrains exponential population growth? Exponential Population growth is the main concern that the earth would not have enough resources to supply its inhabitants. There are two basic principles involved, the idea of exponential growth and its ultimate control. Believing that with the over population of people the earth becomes over used and the resources are depleted, which in turn affects the quality of the planet directly and indirectly. Modern medicine, health care and education has allowed people to live longer lives now than ever before, with knowledge and contraceptive devices people have more control over the population birth growth. Unlike China and other countries  that still limit how many children a family may be allowed to reproduce in order to keep the population growth rate lower. www.nature.com/exponential/logistics. 3. Explain the primary concern over exponential population growth. What promotes exponential population growth? What constrains exponential population growth? 4. What is carrying capacity? Compare predictions for human population growth in developed countries versus developing countries. What will occur if carrying capacity is exceeded? 5. How do individual choices affect natural ecosystem? Provide examples from your personal or community experience. 9. What is carrying capacity? Compare predictions for human population growth in developed countries versus developing countries. What will occur if carrying capacity is exceeded? A Carrying capacity is determined by how much the earth can sustain the population with its current resources. The largest factors involved is the ability to obtain education and wealth. The competition is tough for food and water. It is critical that the carrying capacity be controlled or the natural resources will be depleted. If this happens the human race will not thrive. www.science.howstuffworks.com. 10.  How do individual choices affect natural ecosystem? Provide examples from your personal or community experience. There are many way how we affect our eco system; smoking, polluting the air in our lungs and the environment of others, riding a bike other than driving a car to limit pollutant emissions, wasteful water usage, washing the car or watering the lawn. My own example is that I don’t recycle plastic, paper, or glass. Plus, I am lax when leaving rooms with lights on.