Harold S. Kushners Why Bad Things Happen to Good People free essay sample

A book report on Why Bad Things Happen to Good People by Harold S. Kushner. This report reviews Harold S. Kushners `Why Bad Things Happen to Good People` and provides a positive view by the papers author. The essay includes examples from Jewish history. It would be so much easier to live in a world where God punishes the evil and rewards the good; a world where everybody knows only good things will happen to them if they follow Gods commandments and calamity will be visited only upon those who do not. However, that type of world would eliminate the freedom to make choices between good and evil. People who chose to be good because they will be rewarded are no better than trained dogs performing for treats. The choice is meaningless.

Halliburton

Halliburton Free Online Research Papers In 1919, Erle P. Halliburton established the new method of an oil well cementing company in Oklahoma City. This was the start to Halliburton’s extensive timeline. Today Halliburton provides services for the petroleum and energy industries (Business Source Complete, 1998). From 1994, the company’s revenue rose from $5.9 billion to $14.9 billion in 1999 (Bruno Valette, 2001). During this time Dick Cheney was the CEO of the Halliburton organization. In this time the company’s overseas operation grew from 51% to 68% (Bruno Valette, 2001). Mr. Cheney has receive must credit for this massive success. Furthermore, Halliburton provides an extensive range of services from engineering to oil refining. Halliburton has one of the world’s largest infrastructures. According to Bruno Valette, Halliburton is the worlds largest diversified energy services, engineering, construction and maintenance company. â€Å"The diversified revenue stream makes Halliburton less susceptible to a downturn in any one market or division† (Data Monitor Plc, 2007). Halliburton has almost 100,000 employees and 7,000 customers in more than 120 countries (Bruno Valette, 2001). Halliburton management planning skills has helped the organization grow into the largest provider of services in the construction and oil industry offer all over the world. However, Halliburton faces several ethical dilemmas that may lead to the down fall of their massive organization or it could just fuel their way to more power. Let use examine the history of Halliburton to the present as we take into account the choice made by the organization to increase its revenue and grow as a company. Halliburton’s strategic vision is to â€Å"†¦continue to set the company apart from the competitors. Driven by a passion for excellence, a commitment to finding the best solution for the customer the legacy of our founders (Halliburton, 2008).† Halliburton’s vision statement is inspirational. According to Bateman and Snell the most effective vision statements inspire organizational members (Bateman Snell 2007). The start of a successful organization is a well though out vision statement. Halliburton has set themselves apart from other organizations that are in the same industry just by their vision statement being so touching and heart felt. Furthermore, Halliburton organization took several steps to becoming a larger service provider by purchasing Brown Root, an engineering and construction company (Halliburton 2008). This was one of the many strategic plans that expanded services and increase revenue. This purchase increased the company’s stakeholder’s existence and it also put Halliburton’s organization on the map for being a more powerful, resourceful organization. In 1962, Halliburton and Dresser Industries integrated to provide more efficient services for their customers (Halliburton 2007). Dresser had acquired M.W. Kellogg, a leader in petroleum refining and petroleum processing technology, extensive knowledge and expertise in the petroleum industry (Halliburton 2007). With Halliburton expertise in engineering, construction, and oil; paired with Dresser’s knowledge in petroleum refining and petroleum processing technology, makes an unbeatable team. This team offered major innovations to the industry. Innovation forces the four functions of manage to continuously change and implement new ways of reaching the company’s goals. The top executives analyzed the situation and came up with new goals. The next step was to analyze those goals and organize them in a way that the company can benefits from. Halliburton innovation to the engineering, construction, refining and petroleum processing industry has shown its benefits by its revenues. Halliburton and Dresser paired and made a partnership that only brought success and media attention. However, in 1998, the two forces separated (Halliburton 2008). Each pursued separate ventures. Halliburton continue to provide services in engineering, construction, and oil. From this time Halliburton has obtained several major contracts that have increased the revenue and the global span of their organization. Furthermore, the organization’s balance of the â€Å"Big Five† personality traits leads to a productive work atmosphere (Griffin 2007). According to Ricky M. Griffin, experts believe that personality traits that lean toward the more positive side of each of the five traits are more productive in an organizational setting (Griffin). Halliburton has also used â€Å"Groupthink† make major decisions. Halliburton management made managerial decision that has given the organization almost a century of on going business. Do to the management team efforts Halliburton has made decisions to best reach the organizational goals. However, Halliburton has received a lot of criticism due to contracts that took place overseas. Halliburton has been accused of taking part in shooting of a protesting villager overseas, undermining American foreign policy (Bruno Valette, 2001), and abuse to inhabitants in Burma (Bruno Valette, 2001). Issues like these go on and on. Halliburton has faced several ethnical dilemmas as they increased the work, or rather the contracts they received from overseas. The most devastating issues are the litigations that the organization watch women get rape, people forced to work and even murdered if they did not cooperate with the invaders. â€Å"An ERI investigation concluded that construction and operation of the pipelines has involved the use of forced labor, forced relocation and even murder, torture and rape (Bruno Valette, 2001j).† Wendy Hall, a spokeswomen for Halliburton, claimed that Halliburton does not do business in Burma but a number of pipeline and other projects in Burma where built by Halliburton’s organization (Bruno Valette, 2001). Ethical issues like the Burma issue are only the ones that have been uncovered. It just goes to show everyone how money and power can get an organization away with almost anything. How long before a massive organization, that reigns almost in every part of the world, fall? Another question to ask is why haven’t an organization like Halliburton fallen already? One reason most organization last so long is because of they analyze their external and internal environment. SWOT analysis is an assessment taken of an organization’s strengths, weakness, opportunities, and treats (Bateman Snell, 2007). According to Data monitor, Halliburton strengths are they have a diversified revenue stream, have expertise in setting up LNG plants (Data Monitor Plc, 2007). Data monitor goes further to report Halliburton’s weaknesses as having lower margins compared to other industry, poor performance in Iraq and Kuwait, and they may be subjected to criminal investigation (Data Monitor Plc, 2007). Data monitor reports Halliburton’s opportunities as a positive outlook for the global oil and gas sector, in demand for environmental services, increase in demand for natural gas, and the shifting of operations to United Arab Emirates (UAE) (Data Monitor Plc, 2007). Further more, Data monitor reports Halliburton’s threats as political instability, environmental regulations, and termination of government contracts (Data Monitor Plc, 2007). However, according to Griffin, Halliburton’s organization is so big that it has an internal auditing staff that spends all of its time performing audits throughout the organizations divisions. This internal audit division of Halliburton helps to stay in compliance with the law congress passed in 2002, Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which requires CEOs and CFOs to take full responsibility of the organization’s financial statements (Griffin). Halliburton’s management team has made choices that have accelerated the company’s name and revenue. On the other hand, Halliburton has made some unethical decision that has gotten the company in the public’s eye. This attention has not diminished the company business rates or growth. The success of the company is remarkable. Through the organizational tactics and the strategic plans the company will continue to grow and profit. References Bateman, T., Snell, S. (2007). Management: leading and collaborating in a competitive world (7th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. Business Source Complete. (1998, November). Dresser merger with Halliburton completed. Retrieved December 03, 2008, from ESBCO: www. apollolibrary.com/LTT Bruno, K., Valette, J. (2001, May). Cheney Halliburton:Going Where the Oil Is. Retrieved December 09, 2008, from ESBCO. Data Monitor Plc. (2008, November 2008). Halliburton Company SWOT ANALYSIS. Retrieved November 29, 2008, from Data Monitor: www.datamonitor.com Griffin, Ricky W. Principles of Management, Student Acheivement Series. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2007. Halliburton. (2007). Halliburton. Retrieved December 9, 2008, from Halliburton: halliburton.com/Default.aspx?navid=338pageid=713 Research Papers on HalliburtonMoral and Ethical Issues in Hiring New EmployeesAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaOpen Architechture a white paperThe Project Managment Office SystemDefinition of Export QuotasTwilight of the UAWNever Been Kicked Out of a Place This NiceResearch Process Part OneMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married Males

The Art of William T. Turman Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Art of William T. Turman - Essay Example He left a legacy in his visual arts, and up-to-date his paints are broadly distributed in the U.S., many areas within ISU, and other institutions such as John Herron Art Institute, Indian Art Club, Swope Art Museum, homes, and libraries. He was a son of Perlina Wible Turman and Return Jonathan who offered him outstanding parental support. Today, many people renowned William as the pioneer from, which Turman Township, Turman’s Fort, Turman Prairie, and Turman Creek were named. His value of painting cannot be estimated as it continues to escalate in most institutions. After securing a strong education background in art at the Pennsylvania University, he was known for his extreme modesty and was elected as the leader of Penmanship Department, currently known as Indiana State University. With deep roots in art, the artist inspires many young artists with his paintings that clarify the impact of his work in the local culture. This essay seeks to discuss William T Turman visual arts and in doing, will provide criticism and historical, culture, and biographical information about his work. In their article, Sworp Art Museum provides biographical information about Turman’s art that records how he began his artwork. As stated, Turman instigated training in art at the Art Institute of Chicago and Chicago Academy. From 1941-1957, he served as the president of the Swope Art Museum where his paintings were emulated. Some criticizes the artist’s indistinct landscapes of Brown country with scenic sites within Wabash Valley, which some regard it be plain in content. However, one can affirm that Turman created great insights on his artwork when he painted an oil landscape of a Jewel Pool that made him awarded for his expertise of documenting the region’s people, landscape, and history as outlined in the following exhibition. â€Å"William Thomas Turman (Graysville, Indiana 1867 - 1960 Taft, California),  Jewel Pool  (detail), oil on paperboard, 1 945, Bequest of Beatrice W. Sayer, 1997.03† Retrieved from http://www.swope.org/upcoming/the-art-of-william-t-turman/ As indicated, the diagram is landscape of a jewel pool painted by oil on paperboard in 1945, and submitted to Bequest of Beatrice Sayer in 1997. Later, he exhibited most of his works in various institutions such as John Herron Art Institute, Indiana Art Club, Swope Art Museum, and Hoosier Salon among others. Though his works are mostly in private collection, there are those in public buildings such as Columbia City, Turman Township High School, and Jasonville just to name a few. The exhibition was extensively inspired by his travelling that favored his subject in artwork. In honour of his work, Turman’s exhibitions explore more on culture as the artist indicate his deep roots of different areas in painting. Turman acknowledged the importance of majoring in culture as a potential tool to capture many to his painting. In this case, some of his painting maj ors in culture in the sense that the artist uses different styles such as landscape, rivers, and paintings. As a consequence, it revealed his expertise in art as he identified applicable styles that attracted many to his drawings. Turman relied on these styles for inspiration in his paintings that appealed beautifully printed and designed. His collection elaborated writing and poetry language that revealed on culture and history. His use of a wide range of styles with an absolute absence of description linearity presented him with an honorary acknowledgement as the â€Å"The Dean of Wabash Valley Artists† (Sworp Art Museum 1). This created a remarkable reputation in his art to the extent, the art gallery ascertained in 1939 in the building at Indiana State Teachers college, named â€Å"Turman Hall†

Law UCC Essay and Multiple Q&A Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Law UCC and Multiple Q&A - Essay Example This Article is regulatory in function both protecting the payee and signee of the order/payor (Cornell University Law School, 2005). Because Article 3 deals directly with the definition of payments and how it is coursed through from institutional bodies such as banks to the payee, specific terms and conditions apply to its sections. I have observed that portions of sections in this Article is clear and simple to follow. One such illustration is Section 3-114 wherein terms on an instrument are made understandable as guidelines to settle contradictions. I perceive that written words representing numerical values are likely than written numbers. Hand writing is most valued than typewritten documents while printed papers are the least utilized in filling up an instrument. One reason for all these is that specific presentation of values, such as spelling, and handwriting offers a proof of participation of the instrument’s signee in the payment system. Essay 2 Article 4: The Fourth Article of UCC is about the applicability of banking in business transactions. It clarifies the roles and responsibilities of the bank and its relationship with its customers. Bank responsibilities, in legal terms with respect to an item for the purpose of payment, presentment or collection are governed by law of the place where the bank is (Cornell University Law School, 2005). This Article [4] are also within  Articles 3 and 8, they are subject to  those Articles.  Ã‚   If there is conflict,  this Article  governs Article 3, but  Article 8  governs this Article.† (Cornell Law University, 2005). There is overlapping of statements of Articles 4, 3 and 8, which shares the same topic. These terms are included to provide for the relationship of bank and customer according to the presiding bank law in the area. If this violates a specific existing guideline on banking, Articles 3 and 8, automatically governs the transaction. Another example of overlapping of stateme nts is in Article 4-106a-c. The difference between â€Å"payable thru† and â€Å"payable at† creates enormous variation in the payment process. Moreover, there are two alternative clauses with â€Å"payable at† both has different methods of payment. The payee either can receive a draft drawn on the bank or the payment which was collected from the payor. The latter process involves the bank as channel and requires the bank to collect only and is not authorized to pay.

Interventions to Reduce Risk of Sexual Abuse

Interventions to Reduce Risk of Sexual Abuse Introduction Various intervention strategies have been implemented to try and reduce the risk of sexual abuse in those persons with a learning disability. There is a general consensus that education programmes directed towards the perpetrator are least effective and that techniques aimed at fostering assertiveness and communication in the learning disabled adult are the best preventative measures. In this review I found there to be a significant lack of research that measured the effectiveness of these interventions and further support and investigation is needed into researching these intervention strategies, advocacy and community awareness studies. Methods of obtaining research In recent years the number of articles on ‘sexual abuse in people with a disability’ found in databases such as Medline and Proquest have increased although there is still a considerable lack of quality statistically significant research. Political and media exposure has unsurfaced the need for this group to be protected. For example, the European ‘Valuing People’ agenda unsurfaced serious inequities.3 Some of the most in-depth studies come from research in which women with learning disabilities have been interviewed directly about their experiences including the ground breaking work of Michelle McArthy.3   A number of factors can limit the disclosure of abuse and lead to an underestimation of the extent of this problem. For example, an individual that has had limited exposure to prevention programs and sexuality education may not recognise the abusive nature of sexual contact they have experienced.4 Disclosure may also be inhibited by feelings of confusion, guilt or denial especially if the abuse occurred from a care-giver or a person that was trusted by the victim.4 This paper aims to criticize interventions and assess the most appropriate methods used to help educate those with learning disabilities about sexual abuse and foster prevention rather than looking at ways to support post-abuse. I haven’t addressed the issue on whether sterilization is appropriate in this review as it steers away from the autonomy of the mentally disabled adult and it is more appropriate to concentrate on education as a tool of prevention and looking at the efficacy of training methods. Method of obtaining papers for literature review All papers in ‘British Journal of Social Work’, Medline via PubMed and Medline via ProQest from 1995 – 2005. Keywords used were ‘learning disability’, ‘sexual abuse’, ‘mental handicap’, ‘prevention’, ‘intellectual disability’, ‘consent sexual relationships’, ‘learning disabilities’, ‘sexual act’, ‘sexual malpractice’. Search terms were grouped as follows:- ‘education, sexual abuse, disabled’, ‘education, sexual abuse, handicap’, ‘education, sexual, disabled’, ‘assertiveness training, sexuality, disabled’ and ‘sexuality, training, mentally disabled.’ Papers found that concentrated on adults only were used and those articles found on sexual abuse pertaining to children were omitted apart from one paper that examines the use of a Computer-Based Safety Programme that could be useful in edu cating mentally disabled adults. Papers that addressed interventions used to prevent abuse from occurring were included in the review. Definitions A ‘learning disability’ is defined as â€Å"a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in the reduced ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations, including conditions such as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia.†2 Disorders not included are â€Å"learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities or mental retardation, of emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.†2 It is not necessarily the person’s learning disability that makes them more vulnerable to the sexual abuse as to the situation they are placed in so that if we took a person of normal mental capacity and placed them in the same environment the risk of sexual abuse for that person would be greate r as well. Sexual Abuse refers to any form of sexual contact to a vulnerable party and violates the victim’s rights as they are not fully aware of the situation. Sexual exploitation is evident when done by anyone in a position of trust or authority towards a person or where the victim has a relationship of dependency with the perpetrator. There are various definitions of sexual abuse used in the literature and widely diverging definitions tend to be used in studies of adults with intellectual disabilities.5 Brown and Turk (1992) also distinguished between non-contact and contact abuse. Another definition of sexual abuse was â€Å"any sexual contact which is unwanted and/or unenjoyed by one partner and is for the sexual gratification of the other†.6 This is still ambiguous as sometimes sexual contact is misunderstood and it could still be enjoyed it is just that the victim is unaware of what the full extent of the act means. I believe that a better definition of sexual abuse is any sexual act performed on a victim in a position of vulnerability. That is one party is not fully aware of the act being performed and there is an imbalance in power. Could this then exclude those persons with an intellectual disability from having a relationship with a person of normal mental capacity? Perhaps, if there is balance in t he relationship and the learning disabled adult can make decisions in other aspects of the relationship this would be a more equally distributed balance of power and this person may be able to fully make decisions on relationships at their own accord. There are varying degrees of mental handicap and this makes research difficult as ethical dilemmas on whether there is full consent and understanding of sexual contact can be ambiguous. However, there are also clear cut cases such as when a disabled person is institutionalized or the primary care-giver is the perpetrator. For the purpose of this review it is important to move more onto preventing the abuse in those that are vulnerable and critiquing methods used to empower those with disabilities rather than focus on the definition of abuse. Protection of those that are in a more vulnerable position and empowerment of individuals already victims of abuse should be fore-front in the social literature. Prevalence of Sexual Abuse There is an increase in the prevalence of sexual abuse in children with learning disabilities. A study conducted by the US National Center on Child Abuse and neglect (1993) found that caregivers abused children with disabilities 1.7 times more than children without disabilities.11 The violation of children can foster the development of low self-esteem and lead onto abuse into their adult lives. A research study by Sobsey found that the risk estimate of abuse of people with disabilities may be as high as an increase of five times greater than the risk for those that aren’t disabled.8 A study by Zemp (2002) found that 64% of female and 50% of male participants were sexually exploited and that disabled room mates were the predominant group of perpetrators for the male and third important for the female participants in the study.9 The statistics in the current literature does vary and â€Å"the wide variation in the figures is due to differences of abuse, the differences in the populations sampled and differences in research methods.†7 Vulnerability For children with disabilities the risk factors for sexual child abuse are increased. A child with a learning disorder has more difficulty in understanding and communicating and has an increased level of vulnerability. As they are unable to understand tasks as well as other normal children of the same age they are often brought up with low self-esteem as their care givers perform more of the tasks for them than they would for other children. This also leads onto a greater vulnerability and increased risk of sexual abuse than what is seen in children of the same age and normal development.1 This low self-esteem can continue into adulthood resulting in the learning disabled adult also possessing low-self esteem and greater risk factors of vulnerability in comparison to other adults. For those adults with intellectual disabilities there is a difficult balance to be met between empowering the individual to make their own sexual choices and to be leading more of a normal life and to claim their sexual rights and protect them from sexual abuse.4 Murphy et al (2004) suggests that services should be guided as to whether a person has the capacity to make their own sexual choices, however, the ability to assess this capacity to consent hasn’t been clearly defined. It is obvious that a caregiver would be taking advantage of their position of trust and it would be defined as sexual abuse. However, relationships outside this sphere are much more difficult to assess. Sexual acts between two adults of diminished mental capacity for instance and with adults outside the care-giving role. A more appropriate definition in this case may be â€Å"where a person is used by another in order to satisfy certain needs without being informed or giving consent†. This focus is more on the perpetrator as satisfying their sexual needs while the victim does not gain anything by the relationship so the victim is in a position of vulnerability and may not be able to represent themselves. Review of Intervention Techniques as a method of preventing Sexual Abuse in the learning disabled adult Lobbying the Government and changes to policy The manner in which sexual abuse is dealt with in a community reflects the way disabled people are regarded by in society. A report was released in 2004 that spoke about the changes the government is try to initiate as part of the ‘Valuing people: Moving Forward Together’ project.12 According to the Health and Social Care Act 2001, an annual report must be given to Parliament on learning disability. The Leaning Disability Task Force report for 2004 was called ‘Rights, Independence and inclusion’ and addressed the Sexual Offences Bill. Part of the Bill that talks about capacity and consent was changed to reflect the rights of people with learning disabilities to a full sexual life. The British Home Office is now working on helping others understand the Sexual Offences Act fully. Change has taken place and inclusion in helping to form government policy can be considered ‘morally and ethically the most appropriate form of education’. The acceptance of the disabled person as an individual is important not only at school level but right through to parliament. Behavior modification in the learning disabled adult; empowering the victim It has been suggested that programs aimed at re-educating the perpetrator have had little success and interventions aimed at modifying the behavior of the victim have a much greater success at reducing the risk of sexual abuse in adults with learning disabilities (Bruder et al, 2005). To be able to protect themselves against perpetrators, the adult with learning disabilities needs to learn how to assess whether a situation is inappropriate, must have the assertiveness to say no and seek help and to report the event. The eleven papers chosen for review are listed in Table 1 in the Appendix. Burke et al, 1998, suggested that one way a care provider can lower the risk of sexual abuse in a learning disabled adult is to help provide functional communication skills. The adult may use their own form of communication whether this be symbols or words and their form of communication should be encouraged so that they are able to express their needs. Communication is empowering to the individual and enables them to be able to get a message to their Caregiver. Often those with intellectual disabilities are hard to understand and the carer should ask themselves if they have tried to read non-verbal behavior or begun to establish an alternative form of communication. Burke et al, 1998, also suggested that it was the Carer’s role to provide sexual education to limit the risk of abuse. This education then becomes a way of communicating the common language of sexual health. It is important that the individual understands what appropriate sexual behavior is and understands how to trust their feelings by ‘validating, rather than dismissing or minimizing, them’. The person also needs to be made aware of the appropriate forms of touch so that they can maintain and understand personal boundaries. Burke has suggested that these adults need to have a plan for when somebody doesn’t obey their personal boundary rules so that they are able to get themselves out of the situation and avoid sexual abuse altogether. It doesn’t mean being afraid of strangers but learning how to remain safe. Burke has suggested ways of empowering the learning disabled adult and reducing the risk of sexual abuse. These methods may not be useful when the caregiver is the perpetrator and it could be suggested that a teacher outside the carer role provide this type of education so that the individual is then able to recognise when a person in close association with them has crossed personal boundaries. It does not give ways to avoid abuse altogether and aims to reduc e the risk when the person knows what types of behavior is inappropriate and requires reporting. The main downfall of Burke’s research was that she didn’t quantitatively measure the reduction in risk of introducing a communication skills program so further research is needed to assess whether the implementing education on sexuality and encouraging communication strategies actually lower the incidence of sexual abuse. Earle, (2001), agreed that those with learning disabilities are especially vulnerable to sexual abuse due to the disabled person’s dependent environment, difficulty in articulating their abuse and understanding when abuse has taken place. She suggested that ‘whilst disabled people have the right to be protected from sexual abuse and exploitation, it could be argued that a concern with this risk should not be used as a smokescreen to deny disabled people their sexual identity.’ Earle also postulated that by not discussing sexuality and creating an atmosphere where ‘sexuality is taboo’, this may in fact increase the incidence or worsen the experience of the sexual abuse. Earle also found that nurses tended to think of their disabled patients as asexual and in denial did not address the sexual needs of the patient at all. She also found that disabled individuals have been unable to access information and services on sexuality. Earle admits in this paper that ‘the purpose of this paper has not been to provide answers’,’ nor has it been possible to explore all of these issues in depth’ but to show that the issue of sexuality should be given greater emphasis in a holistic health care framework. The missing link is whether empowering the disabled individual to make their own sexual choices and discover their own sexual identity actually reduces the incidence of sexual abuse. Teaching refusal skills to sexually active adolescents was introduced in a study by Warzak et al (1990). The training was given to sexually active handicapped female adolescents who lacked an effective refusal strategy. Role-plays were used to help teach effective strategies using ‘the who, what, when and where of situations which resulted in unwanted sexual intercourse.’ The skillfulness and effectiveness of the subjects’ refusal skills were judged to be improved as a result of the training. This study did not have a control group. The research did have a long-term follow up after 12 months and this showed a decrease in sexual activity for each girl. Singer (1996) introduced a programme to seven intellectually disabled adults that lived in a residential group home. The programme consisted of weekly sessions of assertiveness training, group exercises, role-plays and information giving. The participants had previously been subjected to verbal, physical and emotional abuse by previous members of staff and Singer aimed to teach them how to respond appropriately and assertively in situations of abuse. The trainers assessed each client individually to evaluate how they would initially act in a situation of abuse and also measured their social behavior, assertiveness skills, use of verbal and non-verbal behavior and reading and writing skills. They were given ratings on assertiveness in each role play and it was found that after the training was implemented, the participants did not show improvements in scores where authority figures were the perpetrators but that an overall general improvement in assertiveness scores was established. T he staff did comment that the residents showed an increase in confidence, communication and positive attitude post-intervention. This type of study would be great implemented on a larger scale. The difficulty in establishing whether this research has been effective is due to the small numbers. The long-term effects of the trainings are also unknown as there has not been any follow up study. The research study is lacking statistical analysis and a control group so it is difficult to assess whether the trainings actually reduced the risk of further sexual abuse. Mazzucchelli (2001) introduced a ‘Feel Safe pilot study of protective behaviors programme for people with intellectual disability.’ The programme was designed to increase personal safety skills by teaching ways of recognizing unsafe situations and developing a range of coping and problem-solving skills. This research study implemented the use of a control group. There were ten participants in each group. This intervention program was originally developed in the 1970s for children and was then used in this research study with learning disabled adults. Another main focus of the training was â€Å"Nothing is so awful that we can’t talk to someone about it.† The training programme involved the research group participating in role-plays and then evaluating how they behaved to promote self-regulation of behavior as well as using the role-plays in real, everyday situations. Questionnaires were used to evaluate quality of life and protective behavior skills and con ducted by assessors that weren’t involved in delivery of the programme. The experimental group did show a statistically significant increase in performance on the Behavioral Skills Evaluation in comparison to the control group from pre-test to follow-up suggesting that the programme did improve favorable behavioral skills but did not improve the participant’s quality of life. The six-week follow up may have been too soon to appropriately evaluate any change in quality of life. Mazzucchelli also had a small number of participants which led to difficulties in showing statistical significance for the research. The themes which showed the greatest increase from pre-test to post-test were â€Å"we all have the right to feel safe†, â€Å"it is acceptable to be non-compliant or ‘break rules’ during an emergency and self-assertion skills. The researchers Lee et al (2001), examined the effectiveness of a computer-based safety programme for children with severe learning difficulties that could be implemented into an adult training programme. Three groups were established. One group was offered the safety programme, one was a control and the third group was given the intervention programme much later in the study. All of the participants were tested for cognitive ability and knowledge of personal safety concepts pre-training. Two post-tests were conducted 1 week and 2 weeks after the safety programme. There were 18 candidates in the control group and 31 children in the experimental group. None of the schools had previously implemented formal personal safety training programmes although some of the teachers had started to discuss personal safety with their students. The computer programme went through role-plays illustrating types of behavior and the experimental group was divided into ‘less able’ and ‘ more able’ depending on cognitive ability. The researchers used two interviews to establish the student’s perception of authority figures and their knowledge of personal safety. MANOVA analysis found authority to have an independent effect on the respondent’s safety scores and this authority awareness was independent of the participant’s cognitive ability. These researchers found that those involved in the safety programme have significantly improved their knowledge of safety concepts and maintained this increase in knowledge for 15 weeks. There was also a statistically significant result in those going through the programme for the skill of ‘being able to tell someone’ and the study illustrated that they would repeatedly tell someone even after being dismissed the first time and they could also provide a reason for this disclosure. The research showed that there was no significant increase in knowledge attained by the control group leaving t hese untrained students as potential targets by perpetrators. Lee et al (2001) also found that the increase in knowledge post-training was greater in the ‘more able’ group so that training may need to be repeated for those with lower cognitive ability. By the end of the programme all the students were able to produce a list of people that they would tell if they experienced an incident. The researchers also explored the importance of acknowledging authority issues when designing a personal safety programme. This research illustrates that learning disabled students can benefit from training programmes on personal safety. The implementation of these programmes with adults may prove beneficial. Education of teachers, health care providers and caregivers Howard-Barr et al (2005) explored the beliefs in teachers regarding sexuality training of mentally disabled students. The researchers also investigated the range of sexuality topics they would teach and their professional preparation. The participants in the study believed that sexual education should be taught, they rated their current delivery as inadequate and expressed that they needed much more preparation. The number of participants was moderate (n=494) although only 206 candidates actually returned the questionnaire resulting in a response rate of 42%. There were 36 sexuality topics presented and out of the top 6 most important skills, the concept of personal skills was rated the highest. Teachers of mentally disabled students rated personal skills topics such as finding help, assertiveness, communication and friendship more important than human development topics such as reproduction, anatomy and body image. Subjects such as masturbation, human sexual response and shared sexu al behavior were the most neglected topics. The limitations of this study included the inability to assess the quality of teaching and whether the teacher was actually addressing any specific areas of the 36 topics. This research topic did not address the effectiveness of education as a risk reduction method for sexual abuse however it did examine the beliefs of the teachers in the type of topics covered in sexuality education of mentally disabled students. It also revealed a general feeling of professional inadequacy in this area. Fronek et al (2005), conducted a research study that examined the effectiveness of a Sexuality Training Program for patients post-spinal cord injury. They found that there was evidence to support consideration of the client sexuality and a lack of training given to caregivers in this area. This study evaluated the attitudes of staff before and post-sexuality training. The researchers based the training on the Specific Suggestions and Intensive Therapy (PLISSIT) model. The sample group (n=89) was divided into a control group and experimental group randomly. A series of one-day workshops were conducted to the experimental group. Topics covered included identification of professional boundaries, limit setting, maintaining boundaries, development of sexual identity and case studies. This training programme was not focusing on the prevention of sexual abuse, rather the education of staff to being able to be open and teach their patients about sexuality. The staff assigned to the treatment group showed a significant improvement on all subscales of the KCAASS (Knowledge, Comfort, Approach and Attitudes towards Sexuality Scale) post-training and these changes were still significant three months later. In comparison, the control group did not show any significant changes on the KCAASS. Those patients suffering from spinal cord injury are not necessarily affected cognitively and may be only physically affected so this study is limited in assessing how sexuality training of staff could benefit the needs of people with a learning disability. The training was conducted over a one day period and a longer programme may be more beneficial to staff. There was a reporting bias shown by the control group as they were not assigned to receive training initially and the researchers believe that feelings of resentment and a tendency to over-estimate knowledge resulted from being assigned into the control group. Whether improvements can be maintained for longer periods of time (>3 mon ths) is uncertain and refresher courses may be necessary. The research did not examine the effect this education has on the patient in improving their own sexual identity and further studies would be useful in examining whether this limits the risk of sexual abuse. The PLISSIT model has been widely used to implement staff training and sexuality rehabilitation interventions within various clinical disciplines and could be an effective model to use to train carers of mentally disabled people. This model also allows for staff involvement according to level of comfort, previous knowledge and counseling skills. Community awareness Rogow (1998) discusses the impact of different forms of abuse in two case studies and expresses the need for comprehensive preventative or pro-active intervention strategies. The author discusses the release of an education campaign that consists of a video, handbook, workshop series and public service announcements for broadcast media that is aimed as a preventative to educate people involved with disabled youth. These publications are not specifically addressing prevention of sexual abuse in mentally disabled persons although, these forms of media could be used to help foster community awareness of this subject. The effectiveness of these media releases has not yet been evaluated and requires research. The video and handbook is being supported by government and private agencies and made in co-operation with parents and organizations advocating for the rights of people with disabilities. Advocacy Leicester Cooke (2002) expressed a need for further advocacy to those individuals to whom the giving of informed consent is difficult (individuals who are most likely to be among those labeled as having ‘severe learning disabilities’). These researchers also suggest that advocates, in representing other people, must attempt to work out what the learning disabled person would choose and not necessarily what they would choose. Advocates needs to have high levels of empathy and the ability to know when and how to set their own beliefs and values aside. Assessing the ability to use advocacy to reduce the risk of sexual abuse in learning disabled persons is yet to be researched. Recommendations for social work practice at local level There are several great projects currently in place that foster the empowerment of the learning disabled adult to help them protect themselves and also to be able to make their own choices about sexual relationships. For example, The Disability Pride Project explores avenues that promote safety and support by promoting awareness within the community and developing healthy sexuality workshops for people with disabilities.10 This group teaches community specific advocacy and self-advocacy skills, organizes workshops for personal attendants and institutions about sexuality in the lives of people with disabilities and creates opportunities for young women with disabilities to be mentored by older women with disabilities.10 These educational sessions could be implemented by Social Workers, carers and other educators internationally to foster empowerment in the learning disabled adult to help prevent abuse and instill confidence and responsibility in both the disabled adult and the caregivers. In this review I have critiqued papers that have researched the effectiveness of education of both the carer / teacher and the learning disabled adult and it is evident that there is an extreme lack of research in this area and there is a need for more statistically significant, large numbered studies that investigate the effectiveness of intervention strategies. Conclusion The studies on interventions used to prevent sexual abuse in those with a learning disability are limited. There is some suggestion from the research that advocacy and changes to policy will help to encourage greater understanding of learning disabled people in the community. Greater awareness can foster independence and boost self-esteem which may then lower the risk of sexual abuse in this minority group. Some of the research papers presented in this review have shown that intervention strategies such as improving communication skills in the learning disabled and education of both staff and carer may be beneficial. The implementation of behavioral strategies including role-plays may help the intellectually disabled person gain an increase in confidence, assertiveness and develop a strategic plan if placed in danger of a sexual predator. These training programmes could be introduced by the social worker or some other authority figure apart from the actual care-giver as there have be en cases where the carer is actually the perpetrator of the abuse. More studies of greater numbers using both an experimental and control group are necessary to determine whether these intervention strategies will be successful at significantly reducing the risk of sexual abuse in the learning disabled adult. Although, an increase in confidence and assertiveness in these people would also be a great benefit so even if the studies are unable to show significant risk reduction of sexual abuse the training could positively influence other aspects of their lives. References Abuse of Children with Disabilities. NCFV. Public Health Agency of Canada. www.phac-aspc.gc.ca http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/sped/projects/ose/categories/ld.html#defin Brown, H. 2004. A Rights-based Approach to Abuse of Women with Learning Disabilities. Tigard Learning Disability Review. Volt 9, Is 4, pp41-44. Murphy, GH and O’Callaghan, A.2004. Capacity of adults with intellectual disabilities to consent to sexual relationships. Psychological Medicine, Volt 34, Is 7, pp 1347 Brown, H and Turk, V. 1992. Defining sexual abuse as it affects adults with learning disabilities. Mental Handicap Volt 20, pp 33-55. McCarthy, M. 1993. Sexual experiences of women with learning disabilities in long stay hospitals. Sexuality and disability Volt 11, pp 277-286. McCarthy, M and Thompson, D.1996. Sexual abuse by design: an examination of the issues in learning disabilities services. Disability and Society. Volt 2, pp 205-224. Subset, D. 1994. Violence

Experiment 14: Determination of an Equilibrium Constant

J— — Experiment 14: Determination of an Equilibrium Constant Objectives: To study the chemical reaction of Fe3+ and SCN- to produce Fe(SCN)2+ in aqueous solution. To measure concentrations of ions in solution using a spectrophotometer. To determine the equilibrium constant of this reaction at a given temperature. Procedure: Part 1: Calibration Curve Using Standard Solutions (Done with a group) 1. Obtain seven clean 150 mL beakers, one beaker per person. 2. Prepare solutions A-1 to A-7 in each beaker, each person preparing one solution. 3.Once all the solutions are prepared, set the wavelength of the spectrophotometer to 450nm. 4. Obtain a cuvette and fill it about half way with solution A-1, the blank sample. Insert the cuvette carefully, as to not get any fingerprints on the sides, into the spectrophotometer and zero the instrument. This will be the only time the spectrophotometer needs to be zeroed. 5. Pour out solution A-1, rinse the cuvette twice with A-2, and recor d the absorbance for A-2. Do this for the subsequent solutions. 6. Plot the data, absorbance versus concentration.This will be the calibration curve used for Part 2. Part 2: Solutions to Determine the Equilibrium Constant, K 1. Obtain 5 clean 50 mL beakers and prepare solutions B-1 to B-5. 2. Follow steps 3-5 from Part 1, using B-1 as the new blank. 3. Using the calibration curve from Part 1, determine the equilibrium concentration of [Fe(SCN) 2+] from the absorbance measured for B-1 to B-5. Data Tables: Part 1 Solutions for Calibration Curve Solution| 0. 200M Fe(NO3) 3| 0. 00200M KSCN| 0. 1M HNO3| [Fe(SCN) 2+]| Absorption| A-1| 25. 0 mL| 0. 00 mL| 75. mL| 0 M| 0. 000| A-2| 25. 0 mL| 1. 00 mL| 74. 0 mL| 2 x 10-5 M| 0. 097| A-3| 25. 0 mL| 2. 00 mL| 73. 0 mL| 4 x 10-5 M| 0. 160| A-4| 25. 0 mL| 4. 00 mL| 71. 0 mL| 8 x 10-5 M| 0. 335| A-5| 25. 0 mL| 6. 00 mL| 69. 0 mL| 1. 2 x 10-4 M| 0. 532| A-6| 25. 0 mL| 8. 00 mL| 67. 0 mL| 1. 6 x 10-4 M| 0. 684| A-7| 25. 0 mL| 10. 00 mL| 65. 0 mL| 2. 0 x 10-4 M| 0. 843| Part 2 Solutions for the Determination of the Equilibrium Constant Solution| 0. 200M Fe(NO3) 3| 0. 00200M KSCN| 0. 1M HNO3| Absorption Measured| [Fe(SCN) 2+] From Calibration Curve| B-1| 5. mL| 1. 00 mL| 5. 00 mL| 0. 113| 2. 67 x 10-5 M| B-2| 5. 0 mL| 2. 00 mL| 4. 00 mL| 0. 260| 6. 06 x 10-5 M| B-3| 5. 0 mL| 3. 00 mL| 3. 00 mL| 0. 397| 9. 28 x 10-5 M| B-4| 5. 0 mL| 4. 00 mL| 2. 00 mL| 0. 521| 1. 22 x 10-4 M| B-5| 5. 0 mL| 5. 00 mL| 1. 00 mL| 0. 614| 1. 44 x 10-4 M| Questions: 1. a. If K >>1 then the equilibrium will lie to the right, favoring the products. At equilibrium there will be very little reactant and mostly product present. b. If K

Airline industry analysis by Porter’s Five Forces Essay

The Airline industry provides a very unique service to its customers. It transports people with a high level of convenience and efficiency that cannot not be provided by any other industry or substitute. Airline companies pride themselves on the way they treat their customer during the flight. They have things such as food, drinks, entertainment, and a welcoming staff. The service of transportation is provided in other industries but the airline surpasses all of them when it comes to timeliness. The geographic scope of the airline industry is at a global level. Some firms are able to fly their planes all over the world while others focus on smaller geographic areas. The five forces model is one way to answer the first basic question in strategic management; â€Å"Why are some industries more attractive than others?† This model shows the five forces that shape industry competition; threat of new entrants, bargaining power of buyers, threat of substitutes, bargaining power of suppliers, and competitors. In order to analyze the airline industry we have look at each of these forces. Bargaining power of Buyers The airline industry is made up of two groups of buyers. First, there are individual flyers. They buy plane tickets for a number of reasons that can be personal or business related. This group is extremely diverse; most people in developed countries have purchased a plane ticket. They can do this through the specific airline or through the second group of buyers; travel agencies and online portals. This buyer group works as a middle man between the airlines and the flyers. They work with multiple airline firms in order to give customers the best flight possible. Between these two groups there is definitely a large amount of buyers compared to the number of firms. There are low switching costs between firms because many people choose the flight based on where they are going and the cost at the time. This is some loyalty to firms but not enough for high switching costs. Each customer needs a lot of important information. They need to know the details of what  is provided during the flight. Buyers need to understand the timing of the flight and the safety aspects of flying in general. The service provided is unique. Each airline has a niche. Some airlines focus on cost, while others focus on having the best amenities, etc. Overall the bargaining power of buyers has an extremely low threat in this industry. Bargaining Power of Suppliers Next we look at the bargaining power of the suppliers. In this case the major suppliers are the airplane manufacturers. The top two manufacturers in the world currently are Boeing and Airbus(Odell,Mark). In this industry the inputs are extremely standardized. Airline companies only seem to differentiate with amenities. The planes are very similar. Currently some manufacturers are trying to make their plans more ecofriendly. Airline companies cannot easily switch suppliers. Most firms have long term contracts with their suppliers. Planes are such high capital products that firms probably make long term loan agreements and have more favorable credit terms when they don’t switch companies. It is difficult to enter into the plane manufacturing industry because of the capital needed to enter. The amount of money and expertise needed to make even one plane is around 200 million dollars. For this reason there are very few suppliers in the airline industry. Airline firms are the only source of income for these manufacturers so their business is extremely important. Based on these things the bargaining power of suppliers has a low threat as well. Threat of New Entrants Threat of new entrants is another major aspect of the five forces. This aspect has a low threat for the airline industry. There are two aspects that do however raise the threat level. First, there are extremely low switching costs. Second, there are no proprietary products or services involved. Even with these two aspects the industry still has a very low threat overall. Existing firms have a large cost advantage. This industry requires  a large amount of capital and without a strong customer base there will be little to no profit in the first few years. Existing firms can and will use their high capital to retaliate against newer firms with whatever means necessary such as lowering prices and taking a loss. Although there are low switching costs between brands, consumers tend to only chose well-known names. Airline tickets are expensive so people don’t want to give that money to firms they don’t trust. There is also a huge safety aspect involved and most consumers feel safer with firms that have been around for a long period of time. This industry requires plane and flying experience which also lowers the threat of entry. When firms decide to enter the market they first have to become licensed which can take about a year. After that they are constantly being regulated by several organizations such as the Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Transportation. The time and money spend to solely open an airline company is enough to prevent most people from entering the industry. Threat of Substitutes After looking at the threat of entry it is important to also consider the threat of substitutes. This industry has a medium substitute risk level. There are substitutes in the airline industry. Consumers can choose other form of transportation such as a car, bus, train, or boat to get to their destination. There is however a cost to switch. Some means of transportation can be more costly than a plane ticket. The main cost is time. Planes are by far the fastest form of transportation available. Airlines surpass all other forms of transportation when it comes to cost, convenience, and sometimes service. Consumers do sometimes choose other methods for various reasons such as cost if they are not traveling very far which raises the risk. Rivalry among Existing Players The last area of the five forces is the rivalry among existing players. The rivalry in the airline industry is very intense for many reasons. The industry is currently very stagnant. It seems to be in the mature stage of the business cycle. The number of competitors stays the same in the long run  and it doesn’t seem to be under or over capacitated. The fixed costs are extremely high in this industry. This makes it hard to leave the industry because they are probably in long term loan agreements in order to stay in business. The products involved or the planes are highly complex which also heightens the competition. The competition is lessened by the brand identities of different firms. For example, Jetblue is known for its amenities and Southwest is known for its low prices. The market share seemed to be equally distributed because each company has its own part of the market and because switching costs are low none of the firms can really hold a large percentage of the market. The strongest forces in this industry are the competition of existing firms and the power of suppliers. The rivalry of existing players is high and will push out any firm that doesn’t have enough capital. Suppliers are strong forces because planes are so costly to make. If the suppliers changed the credit terms by even a small amount it could mean a significant loss for the firm. On the other hand the other forces involved seem to have a weak threat. It is costly and time consuming to enter the market which lowers the risk of entry. Buyers have a weak force because of the low switching costs and substitutes are weak because they are usually too costly. The profit in this industry is high because for most people flying in necessary. It is not a trend which makes this industry profitable for the long term. Airlines that are more profitable are in a better position because they usually have more planes and a larger variety of flights which provides further convenience for the consumer. Recently there have been some changes in some of the forces. Some airplane manufacturers have been making ecofriendly planes, which is a change in the bargaining power of suppliers. This would differentiate the products, raising the threat of suppliers. Another recent change is the use of web portals such as Expedia to book flights. This positive change creates a whole new group of buyers and makes purchasing flights faster and easier. The increase in gas prices has also been a positive change for the industry  because it lessens the power of substitutes. People are more willing to fly to their destination if driving would be more expensive. After looking at the Five Forces Model firms should make dealing with the competition their main priority. The other areas in the model seem to have an overall low threat so existing firms don’t have to focus on those areas as much in their business strategy. Now that we have brought you through our Porter’s Five Force analysis, the last thing that is important to consider when exploring an industry, are the dominant economic features. The next section of our report will give you an overview of what features affect the airline industry most.