Orphanage Management

Orphanages 1. Daar-Ul-Tanzeem, Children Home 2. Anjuman Taleem-Ul-Quran 3. Daar-Ul-Shafqat, Anjuman Hamayat-e-Islam Location: (Gawaal Mandi & Raaj Garh) Group Members 1. Raza Ur Rehman L1F10MBAM0186 2. Hira Mumtaz L1F10MBAM0210 3. Adnan Ashraf L1F10MBAM0184 4. Arooj Shahid L1F10MBAM2211 5. Naveed Khan L1F10MBAM2204 University of Central Punjab Table of Contents Sr. No. | Topic| Page No. | 1. | Introduction to Volunteers| 3| 2. | Activity detail (Individually elaborated by each volunteer)| 4| 3. | Finding (Individually elaborated by each volunteer)| 5| 4. | Inference (in group)| 6| 5. | Solutions| 7| . | Recommendations| 8| 7. | Working Pictures| 9| 1) Introduction to Volunteers Name: Raza Ur Rehman Registration#L1F10MBAM0186 Contact # 0300-8818813 Email: [email  protected] com Hobbies: Playing chess & cricket. Aim of life: To become a leading exporter of Pakistan. Name: Hira Mumtaz Registration#L1F10MBAM0210 Contact # 0322-5454997 Email: [email  protected] com Hobbies: Fine arts, Candle making & Singing. Aim of life: I befit myself as an entrepreneur. I want to run my own business of handicrafts. I also have a plan to build a welfare house for senior citizens. Name: Adnan AshrafRegistration#L1F10MBAM0184 Contact # 0313-4545169 Email: [email  protected] com Hobbies: Reading newspaper and watching talk shows. Aim of life: I want to explore the transport sector of Pakistan. Name: Arooj Shahid Registration#L1F10MBAM2211 Contact # 0321-8855324 Email: arooj. [email  protected] com Hobbies: Browsing, Chatting, Music, Social networking, Art work. Aim of life: To lead a management team. Name: Naveed Khan Registration#L1F10MBAM2204 Contact # 0333-4818331 Email: [email  protected] com Hobbies: Cricket, Volley ball, Internet surfing. Aim of life: To become a renowned politician. ) Activity Details Raza Ur Rehman: I visited the orphanages of Raaj Garh near Chouburji and Gawaal Mandi. I went there along with my group members to create awareness among children and t he staff members of the orphanages regarding the rights of children. Then, I collected the complaints of children and assure them full support by Children Complaint Office. Hira Mumtaz: I spent some time with children of some orphanages to enhance their understanding about their rights and show them our support to excel in their lives. I asked them to write about the deficiencies or hurdles they are facing.Adnan Ashraf: I talked to the orphans of Raaj Garh and Gawaal Mandi about their problems which they are facing in their lives and made them aware about their rights as citizens of Pakistan. Arooj Shahid: I entered the orphanages and talked to the officials and the children about the deserving rights of children. I tried to develop a sense of confidence among the orphans and made them realize their importance for a bright future of Pakistan. Naveed Khan: I studied the environment of orphanages of Gawaal Mandi and Raaj Garh. We talked to the children about their routine work and mot ivated them to work hard. ) Findings Raza Ur Rehman: Words of all the orphans made us feel that the children are satisfied with the facilities and the care provided by the orphanage administration. They seem happy living there and had no issues regarding the quality of food, education, clothes, etc. Sometimes, I had a feeling that they are reluctant to talk to me but soon after spending some time with them, my mind got cleared and came to know that they were hesitating because very few outsiders visit them. This generated some kind of awkward feeling for them for a short period of time.After spending some time with orphans, I found out that these children are not willing to live with their families. They want to stay in the orphanage homes and consider them as their real home. But their living standard is not still up to the mark. Children have so many questions on their faces which need to be answered by us. Even, after all the efforts by the administration of orphanage, so many th ings are missing in the lives of these orphans which should be provided to them. Hira Mumtaz: Orphanage care takers had very close attachment with these orphans.The concept about orphanages we ought to have, been completely ruled out after visiting these orphanages. But, the quality of life remained a question for these orphanages. Still a lot of work and effort need to be put in order to match the normal living standards. Adnan Ashraf: I saw the orphans completely blank. They were astonished to see us. Their faces were trying to tell us something but the presence of orphanage staff did not allow them to speak openly. Although these children are living a better life in these orphanages but their childhood deserve more than this.Arooj Shahid: The aim of our visit to the orphanage was to develop our understanding about the routine work of these orphans. I noticed their every day routine of going to school and then their life at orphanage. I found out that children are just spending th e days of their life without any clear aims in future. Naveed Khan: After talking to the children and the officials of orphanages, I concluded that they have very limited access to everything and due to this their thinking has also got limited which is not a good sign for a prosperous Pakistan. 4) InferenceWith mutual consensus, all of us concluded that the children are spending a better quality of life in orphanages than their own homes. They are being provided with every best possible facility by the orphanage staff. They have a feeling that the orphanage is their identity and they are not ready to separate themselves from their identity. We found children very disciplined. With all these positive aspects, one thing that we came to know after conducting this campaign is that these orphans feel as if they are a burden on these orphanages. More often, they have a feeling of deprivation.They do not have an access to all the joys of life which a normal child enjoys such as playing cri cket or some other games. The reason is that they do not have the playing accessories. All these things affect their personality a great deal. 5) Solutions Children complaint boxes must be placed in every orphanage. Punjab Government, the donors and the organizations should reallocate the resources to more effectively support alternative care options for these children. CCO must take steps for developing different children welfare programs which should further be supported by our Government in allocating appropriate budget.Government should monitor their implemented activities to ensure that standard guidelines and regulations are followed. Child protection training and child empowerment activities should be implemented. We need to develop programs that will promote the fulfillment of the child’s mental and psychological wellbeing. CCO in cooperation with child protection agencies and other NGOs should initiate programs to provide information to and educate communities about the meaning and implications of adoptions of orphanages.Orphanage staff should take all necessary steps to ensure that children living in orphanages are, as far as possible and in keeping with the best interest of the child, reunified with their families. 6) Recommendations * Place children complaint box in every orphanage. * Punjab Government, donors and organizations should reallocate the resources to more effectively support alternative care options for children. * CCO should take steps for developing different children welfare program which should further be supported by our Government in allocating appropriate budget. Government should monitor their implemented activities to ensure that standard guidelines and regulations are followed. * Child protection training and child empowerment activities should be implemented. * Need to develop programs that promote the fulfillment of the child’s mental and psychological wellbeing. * A comprehensive program needs to be initiated to get children know about their rights, i. e. right to live, right to learn, right to educate and more important right to be a family or a training program on the rights of the child should also be developed for all children living in orphanages, reflecting the full range of rights. CCO in cooperation with child protection agencies and other NGOs should initiate programs to provide information to and educate communities about the meaning and implications of adoptions of orphanages. * Orphanage staff should take all necessary steps to ensure that children living in orphanages are, as far as possible and in keeping with the best interest of the child, reunified with their families. * Different agencies and NGOs with relevant expertise should continue efforts to improve child protection. 7) Working Pictures

Liabilities of a Director Essay

A company is usually established by individuals or Directors (officers included) in this case so as to run it in appropriate manner in order to make maximum profits. For this to happen, it is for the company (Pandora Diamonds and Gems Pty Ltd in our case) to enter or make contracts with outsiders like Kaplan Bank Ltd and Space Solutions Pty Ltd as far as our case is concerned. The contracts made by the company with other outsiders are usually done by Directors who are, most often than not, act as representatives of that mentioned company and be able to be liable by the acts of its Directors as stated in s126. Directors acting on behalf of the company during any contracts are usually in a crucial position of trust within that company, and therefore, the vast array of legal duties will stretch out on their shoulders for holding that position. Due to this hot position, it is easier than not, for their powers to be abused in different ways. Directors have been known to abuse their powers in office for their personal gain. For example, Directors have been held liable for inappropriately using company’s funds in making their personal secret profits. In such cases, the corporate law comes into play (the Common Law and the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth)) and Directors or any other officer who recklessly breach specific duties and obligations should be prosecuted in the court of law. So for the purpose of liability, the common law and the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) have been laid down so as to minimize the risk of wrongful behaviors by company’s Directors. In this paper, I will discuss the responsibilities, liabilities and duties of a director(s) in a company and give examples how Directors of various companies have been accounted or held responsible for infringing Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) laws. Directors’ Duties Since companies are usually established and managed by directors and a number of officers, these directors have that ostensible authority, collectively, to represent that mentioned company and not as an individual Director. As I am going to talk about it below, some individual directors (Andrew and Brian in this case) have been known to enter in to some kind of contract with outsiders (other companies) and not collectively as board of directors, as allowed under s201J and s198D of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth). Directors, in most cases, have contravened these sections of the Act because they have their own material personal interests outside the company and have disowned their â€Å"duty to act honestly and in good faith to the best interest of the company† as per Part 2D.1 of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth). Directors can only avoid the civil or criminal penalties for breaching the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) only if they fully understand their liabilities and duties (Sieve rs, 1997 and Cassidy, 2006). Some of Corporations Acts laws, which directors need to be watchful for, in order to avoid contravening Corporations Act laws, are and not limited to: 1. Act in good faith and honest for the best interest of the company. 2. By considering company’s interests ahead of their own. 3. Avoiding conflicts of duty and interest. 4. Duty to avoid insolvent trading by the company 1. Duty to act honestly and in good faith to the best interest of the company As far as s181 of Corporations Acts 2001 (Cth) is concerned, any director including Andrew and Brian in our case, have to act â€Å"in good faith and in the best interest of the company (Pandora Diamonds and Gems Pty Ltd)† (see Darval v North Sydney Brick and Tile Co (1988) 6 ACLC 154) and not for their personal intentional purposes. In our case, before resigning, Brian set up his own jewellery business so that he can engage in a lucrative business of supplying jewellery to his new friend Victor after resigning from Pandora Diamonds and Gems Pty Ltd. Brian, under Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) s.184, may have infringed the statutory duties that are found in ss.181-183, and therefore liable for civil or criminal penalties as per Corporations Act laws (Sievers, 1997 and Cassidy, 2006). 2. Duty not to improperly use the position of a director to gain any personal benefits As contained in s182 of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), directors must demonstrate their powers for the required purposes so that companies like Pandora Diamonds and Gems Pty Ltd for example can benefit and those directors who violate s180 of the Corporations Act law Sbe penalized or disqualified in the court of law as was illustrated in the case of Mills v. Mills (1938) 60 CLR 150 (Cassidy, 2006). In our case, the exercise of power by Brian to secure some personal advantage by starting his own jewellery business, is considered as an ‘improper purpose’ because it is not within the purpose of benefiting Pandora Diamonds and Gems Pty Ltd, but to himself (see Mills v. Mills (1938) 60 CLR 150, Biala Pty Ltd v. Uallina Holdings (No 2) (1993) and ASIC v. Adler (2002)). Eventually, Brian will be responsible for any financial benefit he might have received as the head of Pandora Diamonds and Gems Pty Ltd (see Queensland mine Ltd v Hudson (1978) 18 ALR 1) (Cassidy, 2006, p. 251). 3. Avoiding conflicts of duty and interest. The conflict of interest is a matter for all board of directors that does not only affect specific directors in the company. According to section 182 and 183 of the Corporations Act, any misuse of director’s position just for the disadvantage of the company and for the benefit of the director is generally forbidden by the law (see Aberdeen Railway Co. v. Blaikie Bros (1854). If some sections like s191 to s195 of the Corporation Act is analyzed further, it details some important rules on how Directors (Brian included) are supposed to disclose or declare to the board of directors, if there is any personal interest that is related to the affairs of the company. This is required so as to ensure that the honesty and integrity of directors are thoroughly observed (Cassidy, 2006). As far as our case is concerned, Brian may have violated s181 of the Corporations Act, for he did not declare or disclose to the board of directors that he has some interest of starting is own business as required under s191 (3) and he may be prosecuted in the court of law for not declaring his interest. 4. Duty to prevent insolvent trading by the company Corporate regulators have tried many means to make sure that there are no companies that can trade while insolvent by imposing higher level of liability on directors. As per s588G of the Corporations Act, civil penalties and personal liability on directors have been imposed on them if in case a company incur a debt and is declared insolvent. An example of a case where directors were liable for the company’s insolvency was that of Commonwealth Bank of Australia v Friedrich. Here, Maxwell Eise who was a director was fined millions of dollars for causing the company to undergo insolvency. The court argued that Maxwell Eise (Brian and Andrew in our case) had breached s588G of the Corporations Act and was liable for debts incurred by the company because his failure to prevent it. If in case directors of companies like Pandora Diamonds and Gems Pty Ltd have acted criminally and believed to be dishonest, in which may harm the company because of their self personal advantage, ASIC with the assistance of Australian Federal Police, criminal investigation can be conducted and tough procedures has to be followed when collecting evidence that will be use to determined as to whether a prosecution should go a head. And if the case is found to be more serious, it will be handled with the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecution; otherwise the lower courts will deal with these kinds of cases. All in all, directors should carefully study, understand and appreciate their duties and responsibilities that they are subject to as company bosses. Being a director of a company is not an easy task because there are several fiduciary duties that need to be adhered to.

Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 242

Assignment Example investigation before discipline, proof of guilt, reasonable penalty, absence of discrimination, and fair investigation imply that an employee may have been wrongly terminated. 3. The Fair Labor Standard Act describes two categories of employees; exempt and non-exempt. According to the legislation, exempt employees are not governed by this act and must be paid a fixed salary and meet certain criteria in relation to the job content. Non-exempt employees are covered by the act and are entitle to overtime pay. 4. Job evaluation refers to the process of determining the relative worth of one job to another. Performance evaluation refers to a process of determining, documenting, and evaluating and employee’s job performance. 5. The Lead policy ascribes to an organization’s pay structure that is set to remain ahead of the market for an annum. The match policy sets an organization compensation structure to bare similarity to that of the market. The lag policy sets the pay structure of an organization behind that of its market competitors. 9. Training focuses on the current job while development focuses on current and future jobs at the organization. Training has a shorter time frame compared to development in that it is immediate while development takes on a long term time frame. The scope of training aims at individual employees while development targets at the work group organization. The goal of training is at fixing a current skill deficit among employees while development prepares employees for future work demands. An example of training is onboarding where freshly hired management level employees are imparted with skills to perform the immediate tasks placed on them. An example of a development program for employees is off-site training where employees get to attend seminars and course offered outside the organization, which can assist them to come up with creative solutions towards ongoing

Risk Management Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Risk Management - Literature review Example The nature of oil spillage risk in oil exploration program The oil industry is concerned with a long history of spills on the North Slope and the probability of future spills is high. Indeed, there has been an oil spillage once a day, on average, from the time when gas and oil development began on the North Slope. Many of the tragedy involved pipelines, and improvement in the Chukchi and Beaufort would result in setting a connection of pipelines from wells to shore, till 75 miles away. In order to make the subject worse, ocean currents move the chemicals and oil hundreds of miles. Further, in the Arctic Ocean, cleaning up oil spills would lead to enormous challenges. Suppression and recovery at sea hardly ever leads to the removal of more than a comparatively small fraction of a large oil spill, i.e. only 10-15% and often significantly less. Till date, no technology subsists in order to clean up oil in the sea ice circumstances and late-season spills would stay behind until the following year. Furthermore, cold water splits down oil much more slowly than the warm water. Another impediment is the lack of infrastructure for quick reaction to a spillage. Climate change has considerably weakened the basis on which Arctic ecosystems function. Most important industrialization would add to the challenges faced by phytoplankton, at the bottom of the food chain and would generate a series of other problems. Species mainly at risk include polar bear, walruses, ringed seals, beluga and bowhead whales and coastal birds.

Cover letter, resume and other assignments Essay

Cover letter, resume and other assignments - Essay Example 2. Practice Reflection Form Name: Jane Smith CNO Registration no: L4T 3P4 Area of practice: Occupational Health Position in nursing: Occupational Nurse Source Of Input My Areas of Strengths My Areas for Improvement Self I am competent with knowledge of needs of patients with long-term conditions. I have strong communication skills, both written and verbal. I am strong in clinical leadership skills. I have an ability to work long hours and under pressure. I am flexible, enthusiastic and strong team player. I have an ability to deliver consistently positive results. Improve confidence to deal with painful and stressful situations in practice. Lack of IT skills related to preparing patient's documents, charts. Peer My peers view is that I'm a strong team player when we are working as a team. They have mentioned that I have a special ability to resolve problems of patients when they are in serious situations. Further my peers mentioned that I can create good patient/nurse relationship with paying attention to each and every individual patient. I need more confidence in the job activities when I'm dealing with my subordinates and patients. I need to improve the techniques on patient care and reducing risk in healthcare delivery level. I need to develop collaborative ways and trustworthiness when dealing with patients. Resources I used to reflect on my practice I used 'changing patients' worlds through nursing practice expertise' online modules. National Council for the Professional Development of Nursing and Midwifery (National Council) Report. I referred Health Professions Act (HPA) & nursing practice standards online report....In this stage skills needed to be wide which is covering all the areas of nursing practice such as clinical skills, communication and consulting skills, IT skills and leadership skills (Donner, & Wheeler, 2000). 3. Thirdly PDP should get approved by the practice manager or an appraiser. In this scenario it is better to give awareness to the healthcare practice manager about the professional development needs. Thus it will support to the management to set the training and development needs as against the existing resources and employees.

Business Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Business Report - Essay Example The organization, through the new initiative, has a lot of potential and could very well be on its way to cashing in on the demand of the market and could ideally lead its industry in no time. Unfortunately, Tedallal is still experiencing difficulty primarily because its strategy is not aligned with the organizational objectives. This issue has been identified using different assessment models such as Hayes & Weelright's four-stage model, service positioning matrix (SPM), as well as concepts such as ServQual, the service profit chain, service blueprinting and the lean service concept. These frameworks revealed that there are several mismatches and incoherent elements in Tedallal’s overall business approach that compromise several features of its new operational model. This came about through several factors, including a comprehensive offering of customer values that taxed the organizational capability and resources; half-baked strategy that failed to address the achievement an d maintenance of quality in products and services; and, the failure to meet market demands. These variables, collectively, put the company in a more dangerous ground, that when left unaddressed could ultimately lead the organization to its eventual demise. The key issues identified in this report that are needed to be addressed are as follows: 1. Although the organization adopts the four essential competitive priorities in its strategy as a service company, it fails to implement them each in their own respective areas as well as in a collective model that could coherently achieve the organizational objectives; 2. Tedallal lacks the organizational culture that could enable the company to attain its objective of putting emphasis on people and service. This aspect is particularly important, since Tedallal’s new strategy requires a high degree of organizational change that can only be achieved by changing people, perspectives and attitudes. 3. The strategy to utilize low-cost res ources and failure to invest on its people took its toll on the organization's ability to meet the demands and expectations of the customers, respond to the changes and requirements of the complex products and values it started to offer after the strategy overhaul. As this report would establish, there is a need for restraint and sober strategy building in regards to how competitive advantage is to be approached and achieved. What this means is that decision-makers within the company should decide which aspect they want to focus on, then perfect it, excel on it, and gradually build a lasting and memorable relationship with its customers. This should lead Tedellal to modify its current strategy from the existing knee-jerk or reactive approach into a long-term, coherent and unique model tailored according to its core objectives, organizational strengths and capabilities. This report has outlined several models that could guide Tedallal in effectively aligning strategy and objectives, in every step and in every aspect – from the evaluation up to the measurement of strategy according to the corporate objectives. These information are contained in a logically structured discourse of three important aspects of the organization and its strategy: Operations strategy, activity and performance; Service delivery

Golden Rule Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Golden Rule - Essay Example It was not meant as a guide to practical choice separate from all other principles of conduct. It has nothing to say about specific choices, nor does it vouch certain moral principles, ideals, or virtues. The golden rule relates, rather, to a perspective thought vital to the exercise of even the most basic morality: that of trying to put oneself in the place of those affected by one's actions, so as to counter the instinctive tendency to moral shortsightedness. It instructs listeners to treat others with the respect and understanding they themselves would wish to come across, and not to cause misfortunes on others that they would detest to have caused upon themselves. The golden rule put emphasis on the ethic of empathy: treat others as you would like them to treat you. Empathy relies on understanding that the other person senses pains as you do or will feel gladness as much as you do if they are properly dealt with. If another person is mourning, you feel his/her grief and offer consolation. If another is hurt, you go out of your way to extend help and you treat the injured person with support to prevent further suffering. Empathy, however, is not equally present among human beings, nor is any person incessantly empathetic for others. Some are deficient in empathy and are selfish, irresponsible and do harm to others with out feeling any remorse. The natural tendency is to treat only a number of other people, immediate members of a select group, and to be distrustful of and unreceptive to everyone else. Empathy can stimulate on in one circumstance and hold off in another situation. Once a particular group labels that non-members are threats, empathy is switched off and group members treat outsiders as though they were intruders. Actual situations may well affect how we relate the golden rule by looking at the practical significance of differences between experiences such as: observing another, how one would feel in the situation of another, what is the feeling of another, what is the world from the perception of the other, the impact of an action on the other, how the other would judged the fairness of another's act, and taking the other's viewpoint clearly into consideration in moral decision-making. Imagining oneself, however, in the situation of another is not plainly required by the golden rule, nor is it a requirement or adequate state for sound moral judgment. At times one acts it but stays unenlightened because of unawareness or self-deception, and occasionally one comprehends intuitively what is to be performed without any definite act of imagination. We normally presuppose that we understand others intuitively, that we empathize truly, that our expressions of sympathy are appropriate. Despite our usual dependence on empathy to enlighten us about another, our emphatic feeling of others often gives the wrong impression. The golden rule instructs us to treat others as we want others to treat us, thus implicitly advancing the assumption that there are important shared aims or similarities between the self and another. Over dependence on commonalities can dull receptiveness to dissimilarity just as much as being overly impressed with dissimilarity can make people blind to empathy. If the golden rule is to be understood as encouraging complacency about empathizing with others, then the rule would seem

Gun- Carry Permits in New York City Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Gun- Carry Permits in New York City - Essay Example However, the real problem lies deeper than this. The dilemma is not merely limited to the possession of guns but extends to the social and economic sphere. Thus, a policy needs to be created not further restricting guns but on creating awareness and promoting responsibility when handling guns. The possession and transportation of arms in violation of the laws may result in a charge of Misdemeanor or felony filed against the person. The mandatory jail time for possession of a firearm is approximately a year or above. Despite these strict policies, the alarming increase in crime rate and in the number of school shootings remains the most disturbing factor. Beginning from the incident of Whitman in the tower of the University of Texas to S. H. Cho's firing in Virginia Tech; all such incidents point at the same thing. This is the easy access of guns and the confused psychological mindset. These gory events in the history of America are serious issues and must be treated as such. After Vi rginia Tech shootings, the people were able to ban the purchase of guns on the basis that Cho had acquired it. However, there are other opportunities that people can avail in order to possess a gun legally. This includes purchasing them at gun fairs without having to get their history checked. This makes for a serious drawback in the policies through which anyone can go and purchase a gun. A shocking fact observed here suggests that the severity of laws and policies does not seem to be playing a role in hampering crimes. Implementation of the written policies and action upon them is requisite to decline such acts. Prevalence of law and order along with practical implementation of the written word alone can put an end to such issues (School Shootings and Violence 2012). The tug of war between crime and the defense seems not only to be triggered by the wave of terrorism but it is constantly fanned by the raising racist sentiments which are a direct product of terrorism. Since 9/11 a g reat number of terrorist activities have been viewed in the US. At some places Muslims were killed by white racists and at some whites were killed by Muslim Racists thus continuing the blame game. Moreover the collapsing economy, relapse of the governmental infrastructure and the unrest created as a bi-product constantly boosts up the crime rate. Slums are increasing day by day; unemployment and an empty stomach are capable of a lot more than the guns can do. Some places of the posh NYC have become red zones due to the increasing accumulation of unemployed people turned into criminals. Some analysts have argued that it is not the total number of guns in circulation that increases gun violence, but the carrying of guns in high-risk places at a high risk time. Thus, equal economic opportunities must be ensured in order to cultivate a peaceful environment. Moreover, equality with respect to ethnicity and race will also encourage harmony (Sherman, Shaw, Rogan & National Institute of Jus tice 1995). It seems to be a natural phenomenon to release frustration whenever and wherever an outlet is found. In this relation numerous incidents have been reported. On March 8 2012 it was reported in the New York Times that â€Å"no one has been able to explain why a Spanish teacher who had been fired from the Episcopal School of Jacksonville fatally shot the head of the school and himself with an assault rifle.†

Persuasive Speech-Skin Cancer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Persuasive Speech-Skin Cancer - Essay Example What makes cancer lethal is the fact that an inflicted individual wouldn’t feel its negative effects until it the abnormal cells have already grown so much. Skin cancers, for example, may appear on normal skin, or may develop from moles that were present at birth. For such diseases that only physically manifest in its deleterious stages, one should know the risk factors predisposing us to developing them, the steps that can be taken to ensure that we do not have them, and the treatment options once we are positive for having the disease. In battling any kind of diseases, prevention is always better than cure. To avoid melanomas, one must first know whether he or she is more likely to develop the skin lesion than others. Skin cancers can happen at any age, but elderly individuals are more susceptible to developing melanomas than younger people do. Caucasians, who have fair skin, blue or green eyes, and red or blond hair, also have a higher tendency to develop the skin disease. On the other hand, the type of melanoma commonly seen on soles, palms, or under the nails usually develops in African Americans. Aside from the abovementioned predispositions, it is also especially important for individuals with a past medical history of blistering sunburns, family history of melanomas, occupation requiring prolonged sun exposure, residence in high altitude places or sunny climates, immunodeficiency, or multiple birthmarks, to watch out for skin cancer. For people at risk, it is necessary to avoid tanning devices, arsenic, coal tar, and creosote. Because melanomas can appear on anyone, it is important to distinguish from all other body marks the one most likely to be cancerous. Early detection of a cancerous growth is vital in the success of treatment, and subsequent survival of the patient. Fortunately, self-examination can be performed using the following easy-to-remember ABCD symptoms of melanoma: A for asymmetrical, B for undefined borders, C for mixture of colo rs, and D for diameter of more than 6 mm. Self-examination using these symptoms should be conducted monthly, and an in-depth, formal skin exam by a dermatologist should be requested yearly. Once a suspicious body mark has been found, there is no reason to be depressed. Medical procedures are already present to ensure that individuals with melanomas can combat these cancer cells successfully. First, a biopsy, or removal of the whole or part of the mass, sentinel lymph node biopsy, X-ray, and or CT scan will be done to determine the extent of migration of melanoma. These medical procedures determine the extent of the growth of cancer cells. This is important to allow the patient have an informed decision with regards to the means by which the cancer cells are removed from the body. Through the years, treatment options for skin cancer has steadily increased and improved. Surgery is the treatment of choice for melanomas that have not yet migrated to other parts of the body. If cancer ce lls were found to other parts of the body, chemotherapy or radiation therapy may supplement the surgery to ensure that no cancer cell mass is left inside. These treatment options have high success rates, especially when melanomas are detected in its early stages. In addition, patients can participate in experiments testing novel drugs for cancer. With the continuing advancement of

Previous chest radiation Essay Example for Free

Previous chest radiation Essay Women who menstruate at an early age and menopause at a later age are likely to develop breast cancer (American Cancer Society, n. pag). This can be associated with the longer exposure to estrogen and progesterone hormones. Women who had undergone a radiation therapy on the chest area at an early age can significantly increase the risk for breast cancer, especially if the breasts are still developing when the therapy was taken (American Cancer Society, n. pag. ). Stages Breast cancer, as other kind of cancer, starts from a single dot that develops into a threatening stage when it is not detected and treated at an earliest time. The purpose of staging the disease is to ascertain the type and degree of treatment that may be applied to the patient. Normally, the stages of breast cancer start from 0 to III. Stage 0 This is otherwise known as the non- evasive breast cancer (American Cancer Society, n. pag. ). At this stage, no evidence of cancer cell breakage or invasion into other tissues can be noticed. Stage I Stage I is known by invasive breast cancer (American Cancer Society, n. pag. ). During this stage, the cancer cells starts to invade or spread to other normal tissues. The tumor can also be noticed as grows to two centimeters (American Cancer Society, n. pag. ). Although there is no lymph nodes involved (American Cancer Society, n. pag. ). Stage II At this stage, the cancer cells expands to the lymph nodes under the arm or the tumor increases up to five centimeters (American Cancer Society, n. pag). During this stage, the lymph node are not yet united to other nodes and to other normal tissues. Stage IIIA The cancer is said to have advanced to stage III when the tumor measure more than five centimeters or when the lymph nodes are clump together or stuck to one another or to other tissues (American Cancer Society, n. pag. ). Stage IIIB This stage is characterized by the spread of the tumor, at any size, to the breast skin, internal mammary gland, or chest wall (American Cancer Society, n. pag. ). This stage also includes the inflammatory breast cancer, a very serious but rare type (American Cancer Society, n. pag. ). Inflammatory breast cancer is distinguished by the redness and warmness in some or in all part of the breast. Stage IV The breast cancer has advanced to the last stage when the tumor expands on to the breast, underarm, and internal mammary lymph nodes and also on lungs, bone, or brain (American Cancer Society, n. pag. ). This stage also includes Metastatic cancer, which is the spread of cancer. Treatments of Breast cancer At an early, the suitable treatment for is the breast conservation that involves lumpectomy. On this process, the infected tissues and the surrounding normal tissues are removed (National Breast and Ovarian Cancer Centre, n. pag. ). This shall be coupled by surgery and followed by radiation therapy which is used to kill the tumor cells left after surgery. Research has shown that radiation therapy is as effective as mastectomy, which is the surgical removal of the breast. Other medication may include prescription of hormone- blocking drug tamoxifin for post- menopausal women, and ovarian ablation to younger women. Ovarian ablation is the stopping the ovaries from producing estrogen and can be done either by removing the ovaries or by prescribing certain drugs (National Breast and Ovarian Cancer Centre, n. pag. ). Chemotherapy is also used to treat breast cancer. Chemotherapy is the medication that kills cancer cells or stops them from growing (National Breast and Ovarian Cancer Centre, n. pag. ). It can be done in three strategies namely; adjuvant chemotherapy, presurgical chemotherapy, and therapeutic chemotherapy. Adjuvant chemotherapy is given to reduce the possibility of returning of the cancer and is given to people who had surgery or radiation while presurgical chemotherapy is used to shrink or kill the stray cancer cells and to completely get rid of the cancer (National Breast and Ovarian Cancer Centre, n. pag. ). Therapeutic chemotherapy, on the other hand, is given to women whose cancer has spread beyond the breast or those who have serious case of breast cancer. For advance breast cancer, the treatment may include chemotherapy. Treatments given to metastatic breast cancer are aimed to reduce the symptoms experienced by the patient so that the quality of her life may be improved. The treatments may include stopping the growth of the cancer and using one or more anti- cancer treatments depending on the parts of the body that has been affected by the cancer (National Breast and Ovarian Cancer Centre, n. pag. ). Such therapies available are high- dose chemotherapy, immunotherapies, gene therapies, and targeting therapies. However, their efficacies are not yet measured. Among the immunotherapies, only the monoclonal antibodies (Mabs) have been approved for breast cancer (National Breast and Ovarian Cancer Centre, n. pag. ). However, there are other forms that are under observation. The Herceptin or MAb trastuzumab is on top of the list which is used by women with cancer cells having too many copies of HER2/neu gene (American Cancer Society, n. pag. ). The HER2/neu gene is able to produce extra receptors to stimulate growth on the cells resulting into a more aggressive breast cancer. When the trastuzumab are attached to the receptors, the growth is lowered because the access to the cancer cells are blocked (American Cancer Society, n. pag. ). Another form of immunotherapies is the Bevacizumab or Avastin, which is an antibody that helps slow the growth of blood vessels in the tumor (American Cancer Society, n. pag. ). Some promising treatments for advanced breast cancer are interferons and interleukons, autologous vaccine therapy, and other antigen vaccine. These immunotherapies are being studied because their effectivity has not yet been ascertained. Conclusion Among the women, the disease that is very threatening is the breast cancer. Cases of breast cancer are increasing every year and so with the mortality rate. Yet treatments do not give complete assurance. Moreover, treatments are so expensive that are not available to poor patients. Cancer, as generally known, is a disease that is traitor and known only at a later stage. In order to avoid getting breast cancer, n individual shall be aware of the risk factors and avoid it as soon as possible. Works cited Baum, Michael, and Schipper, Harvey. Fast Facts Breast Cancer. Oxford: Health Press, 1999. Cadwell, Karin, and Maffei, Cindy, T. Breastfeeding A-Z: Terminology and Telephone Triage. New York: Jones Barlett Publishers, 2006. â€Å"Detailed Guide: Breast Cancer. † 13 September 2007. American Cancer Society. 24 June 2008 http://www. cancer. org/docroot/CRI/content/CRI_2_4_2X_What_are_the_risk_factors_for_breast_cancer_5.asp. Franz, Mary. â€Å"Diet and Breast Cancer. † Vegan Handbook:Over 200 Delicious Recipes, Meal Plans and Vegetarian Resources for All Ages. Ed. Debra Wasserman Reed Mangels. Vegetarian Resource Group, 1996. 193. â€Å"Genetic Testing for BRCA1 and BRCA2: Its Your Choice. † 2 June 2002. National Cancer Institute. 24 June 2008 http://www. cancer. gov/cancertopics/factsheet/risk/brca. â€Å"Treatment options. † 28 November 2006. National Breast and Ovarian Cancer Centre. 24 June 2008 http://www. breasthealth. com. au/treatment/.

Low Cost Carriers (LCC) Tiger Airways’ Marketing Strategy

Low Cost Carriers (LCC) Tiger Airways’ Marketing Strategy Executive Summary Since the late of last century, the business model of low cost airline represented by Southwest Airlines has been spreading all over the world, has influence and changed the framework and development of the world airline industry. This report is the analysis of the youngest airlines companies of Low Cost Carriers (LCC) Tiger Airways’s marketng strategy. Firstly, it is focused on the macro environmental factors affecting Tiger Airways. Next, it analyzes the competitors including direct and indirect competitors to point out the competitive advantage of Tiger Airways. Finally, this report is focused on the core competence analysis of Tiger Airways. 1. Introduction The low cost carrier is an airline that offers generally low fares in exchange for eliminating many traditional passenger services. The concept originated in the United States and subsequently spread to much of the rest of the world. The term originated within the airline industry referring to airlines with a lower operating cost structure than their competitors. The first successful low cost carrier was Pacific Southwest Airlines in the United States, which pioneered the concept in 1949, then this concept has been incorrectly given to Southwest Airlines which began service in 1971 and has been profitable every year since 1973.[1] Today, the low cost carrier model is applicable worldwide. One of the famous and successful airlines is Tiger Airways. Tiger Airways Private Limited is a low-cost airline which set up their headquarters in Singapores Changi International Airport. It is operated by one of the premium airlines in the world (Singapore Airline). The parent company is Tiger Aviation Private Limited that consists of The Tiger Singapore and Tiger Australia, Incheon Tiger Airways with slogan â€Å"Get The Real Deal†. The company was established from December 2003 to September 15, the 2004 maiden voyage.[2] It is currently the largest low cost airline operating in Singapore in terms of the amount passengers. Tiger Airways is Asia Pacifics true low fare airline. It offers the lowest fares of passenger safety and convenience of air travel. Tiger Airways from Singapore in September 2004 brought in two aircrafts in its fleet, the network of three routes. In the four years of operation, the operation of Tiger Airways from Singapore and Melbourne bases, base and third-party action in Adelaide in early 2009. Tiger Airways currently fly to over 25 destinations in nine countries in Asia. In only one year (2006), the airline served 1.2 million passengers; it is a growth of seventy five percent compared to the previous year. [3] Through the internet (the public and agents), it accounts for seventy five percent of Tiger Airways seats sold. In other words, passenger book from call centers and airport outlets accounts for twenty five percent. This indicates that the low cost carrier (LCC) model uses online marketing and technology to reduce operating costs is working. [4] 2. Macro-Environmental analysis 2.1 Technology Singapore is a technology driven country. From wireless internet to escalators, advanced technology is found everywhere in the country. People use technology here for the better quality of their lives. Under the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), [emailprotected] is a government initiative to build Singapores infocomm infrastructure. Working through IDAs call-for-collaboration, SingTel, QMax and iCell deploy a municipal wireless network throughout Singapore. Internet based booking adopted by Tiger Airways is one of the technological benefits. E-ticketing is the fastest way of booking tickets in the 21st century. Tiger Airways attracts most of its customers online. In addition, Tiger Airways operations are based on high-technology, and the company is constantly striving to bring customers the best services available in the industry in terms of operational efficiency, reliability and safety.According to industry standards, the on-time departure is the one that departs from the designated bay less than 15 minutes from the scheduled departure time.[5] That means they are not only doing their every effort to ensure that their planes leave on time (and get customers there on time), but also remain in tiptop condition as well, thus, customers will always get the same great experience that have come to expect, every time. 2.2 Demographic and economic The population in Singapore has increased and the visitors coming into Singapore has also increased. According to government statistics, the population of Singapore was 4.84 million in 2008, of whom 3.64 million were Singaporean citizens and permanent residents.[6] Singapore has one of the world largest GDP growths, which means that the people in Singapore are growing richer with higher rate of success. Singapore has a highly developed market which has historically revolved around extensive exports trade, in other words an export driven economy hugely dependant on export of goods to other countries. Along with Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea, Singapore is one of the Four Asian Tigers countries. The economy depends heavily on exports and refining imported goods, especially in manufacturing. Moreover, Singapore is also a popular travel destination making tourism one of its largest industries. There were about 7.8 million tourists visited Singapore in 2006.[7] It has also indirectly resulted in booming development of aviation industry. Singapore gets its revenue mainly through tourism and most of people coming from different nearby countries prefer these types of airline for their short travel. 2.3 Governmental Political forces are one of the most important factors for budget or low cost airlines. Forty nine percent of the shares of Tiger Airways are owned by Singapore Airlines (SIA). The chairman of the Singapore airlines belongs to the advisory council of the president which gives an added advantage to expand their network relationships with other airlines and countries. Singapore has a successful and transparent market economy. Government linked companies are dominant in various sectors of the local economy, such as utilities, media, and public transport. Singapore has consistently been rated as the least corrupt country in Asia and among the worlds 10 most free from corruption by Transparency International.[8] Apart from that, the Economic Development Board (EDB) together with the Information Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) aim to make Singapore the region’s major center. Their purpose is to promote Singapore as a compelling location for companies across the entire industry value chain; creating a self-reinforcing, inter-dependent ecosystem that will continuously attract talent, capital, ideas, and enterprises to create international products and services from Singapore. [9] 2.4 Cultural Singapore is a mixture of an ethnic Malay population with a Chinese majority, as well as Indian and Arab immigrants. There also exist significant Eurasian and Peranakan who are known also as Straits Chinese communities. Around 78,000 people work in the media in Singapore, including publishing, music, broadcasting, print, film, digital and IT media sectors. The industry contributed 1.56% to Singapores gross domestic product (GDP) in 2001 with an annual turnover of S$10 billion. The industry grew at an average rate of 7.7% annually from 1990 to 2000, and the government seeks to increase its GDP contribution to three percent by 2012.[10] Singaporean cuisine is an example of diversity and cultural diffusion, with influences from Chinese, Indian, Malay and Tamil cuisine. In Singapores hawker centres, traditionally Malay hawker stalls selling halal food may serve halal versions of traditionally Tamil food. Chinese food stalls may introduce indigenous Malay ingredients or cooking techniques. This continues to make the cuisine of Singapore a significant cultural attraction. That is one of reasons why Singapore is a popular tourist country. 3. Competitive analysis The cost of competition in airline industry is high. Tiger Airways, due to its low cost nature, has cut throat competition with the rival airlines like Virgin Blue and Jetstar. The industry growth is average for switching between airline companies which brings more convenience to the customers. The fixed cost is high for the Tiger Airlines and there is opportunity for it to sell unsold seats cheaply which results in pricing wars between the rivals. Tiger Airways competes in terms of price technology, customer services, in-flight entertainments and many more areas. 3.1 Comparison of Tiger Airways with Direct Competitors Air Asia: Air Asia is a low cost airline based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This is the first airline in the region providing ticketless travel and implementing comprehensive unassigned seats. With the domestic and international flight reservation Air Asia operates 656 flights daily, 102 routes to 57 destinations in 12 countries.[11] Destinations Covered: Air Asia covers fifty seven destinations as Tiger Airways which covers only nineteen destinations. It covers three times more than Tiger Airways’. Cost Analysis: Air Asia is approximately thirty percent more expensive as compared to Tiger Airways. For example, Tiger Airways ticket to Phuket is seventy two SGD whereas Air Asia charges one hundred and ten SGD. Air Asia charges one hundred and seventy SGD to Bangkok whereas Tiger Airways charges one hundred and thirty SGD. Baggage Allowance: Tiger Airways allows a maximum of fifteen Kg check in luggage and charges 25 SGD whereas Air Asia charges 7.50 SGD. Air India Express: Air India express is India’s first international airline that offers great value for money and provides convenient connectivity in the short range routes. Air India Express and Tiger Airways both connect India to Singapore and vice versa through Chennai.[12] Destinations Covered: Air India covers ten international destinations whereas Tiger Airways covers nineteen destinations. Cost Analysis: Air India Express is more expensive than Tiger Airways, for example, Air India charges 306 SGD to Chennai whereas Tiger Airways charges 269 SGD to Chennai. Baggage Allowance: Air India allows a certain limit of free of charge baggage whereas Tiger Airways only allows seven Kg of free hand baggage. Lion Air: Lion Air is Indonesia’s largest private carrier and Asia’s first hybrid carrier which offers both economy and business class seating. It operates scheduled passenger services on an extensive domestic network from Jakarta to forty destinations with 210 daily flights as of May 2008.[13] Destinations Covered: Lion Air covers 7 international destinations whereas Tiger Airways covers 19 destinations. Cost Analysis: Lion Airways is a little cheaper as compared to Tiger Airways. For example, Lion Airways charges 89 SGD for a ticket to Ho Chi Minh City whereas tiger airways charges 102 SGD. Baggage allowance: Free baggage allowance by Lion airs is 20kilos for economy class and 30kilos for business class whereas tiger allows only 7 kilos. 3.2 Tiger airways facing Indirect Competitors: Indirect competition includes trains and buses as other means of transport to reach a destination. Land transport that includes trains and buses are the indirect competition to air travel because they permit far greater capacity and frequency of service which is not possible by aircraft and their schedules are less interrupted by bad weather than airlines. Tiger Airways covers destinations such as Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Phuket and other destinations where are also accessible through other means of transportations such as trains and buses. Trains and buses hence are an indirect competition because of various reasons, such as time, price, and luggage allowed to carry, etc,. For example: 1. Tiger Airways has daily flights to Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok from Singapore but the frequency of buses from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur are ten times more. 2. Tiger Airways charges 59 SGD for a one way ticket from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur whereas the bus charges 33 SGD. However there are few buses such as Transnational Express which costs 15 SGD. Therefore, the ticket price varies depending on the type of bus passengers choose and the place from where passengers board the bus. A slower, costlier, but more comfortable way to travel to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, would be by rail. To Kuala Lumpur there are two day time trains and one over night sleeper train daily. The charges vary depending on the seat passengers choose. For instance, if passengers choose a first class seat it will cost approximately 28 SGD whereas a second class seat would cost around 14 SGD. 3. Tiger Airways charges 131 SGD for a one way ticket from Singapore to Bangkok and the train charges approximately 82 SGD for second class sleeper. However there is no direct train from Singapore to Bangkok. Therefore, passengers have to change minimum two to three trains further down to Bangkok. Obviously, convenience of travel is a known fact as traveling by air is the fastest means of transportation as compared to any other means. Basically for an airlines industry the main substitutes are travelling by train, bus or car to any desired destination. The various factors affecting these substitutes are money, convenience and time. However Tiger Airlines being price sensitive lures many travelers away from these substitutes. Thus, the cost is the key consideration for many travelers. The competitive possession of tiger airlines is affected by the bargaining power of the buyers. The potential buyers can put a lot of pressure on airline business which further affects its price, volume and profit margin. Tiger Airlines flying from the Gold Coast airport is competing for the same customer, which in turn is strengthening the buying power. A lot of buyers are attracted to tiger airlines as it main strength is its price. The threaten route for Tiger Airlines in the future is determined by the existing barriers to entry. Cost of entry is the biggest barrier. The cost of buying and leasing aircrafts, safety and security measures, customer services and man power is high. Tiger Airways itself a new entrant in the Airline industry has added a lot to the competition. This means a major constraint on the profit margin for the Airline industry. 4. Core Competences Analysis In order to satisfy the visitors on the Asia-Pacific region, Tiger Airways relies on low fares and the reliable regional air services. That is a true low fare airline which operates on three customer-focused core strategies: First of all, market stimulation. Tiger Airlines creates opportunities for new travelers and empowering budget conscious people to fly more often by making travel affordable with its consistent low fares. Tiger Airlines facilitates its processes of providing effective consumer service by online sales services, they provide hotel accommodation for the passengers, car rental and travel insurance benefits to passengers online. Huge response is generated by the consumers through the process of online sales as the number of seats booked online is increasing year after year. Services provided to travelers with benefits like offering them more options in terms of increased capacity in routes. Tiger Airlines is still under process of opening more travel options for the employees. Secondly, Tiger realized the importance of stringent cost control through their operations, so that they can keep our fares consistently low for travelers. Tiger Airways empowers budget conscious people to fly more often by making travel affordable with its consistent low fares. The market share of the airlines has increased due to the low price. Tiger airways offered 100,000 seats at 9.95 for Australian destinations. To book return flights from Melbourne at Mackay at 49.95 per flight and there were no server problems as in the case of Jet star. They charge $30 for exit row seats and $8 for all other seats. Thirdly, capacity utilization maximizes the number of sectors served by their aircraft per day with efficient air traffic planning. Tiger Airways has effective workforces, who work diligently to make the airlines a success. With the increase in the number of phone customers, due to good salesmanship done by the employees working in the call centers, the airline has decided to increase the number of staff in call centers. Generally the tickets are sold online or in airports. After sale services like delivering the purchased ticket at the house of customers adds to its marketing strategy. Moreover, Tiger Airways seeks to act as a good corporate citizen at all times and undertakes contributions and sponsorship programs as part of its partnership with the community. For example, it is currently making conscious efforts to conserve wildlife and sponsors the upkeep of Winnie, a white Tiger at the Singapore Zoological Gardens for the purpose of conservation, education and recreation Tiger Airways business model is based on the success of Ryanair, which uses a very low cost competitive basis, the basis of low fares. It also involves examining every aspect of the business, in an effort to eliminate non-essential costs, but it will not cut any corner of the passenger safety and on time. However, Tiger Airways should be constantly looking for good business opportunities available to the market. For example, one glaring advantage of using YouTube is that it serves 100 million videos per day. No matter what YouTube content (unlicensed, kids falling of skateboards, etc), thats a huge number and there are tremendous opportunities for Tiger Airways to benefit in order to reach such a huge audience for any business opportunities. Changes in technology and markets on both a broad and narrow scale are opportunities that Tiger Airways can also utilize. According to Forrester Research, online consumer auction sales will reach US$65 billion by 2010. This is almost one-fifth of all online retail sales. The growth of high speed broadband, and the number of online users, has opened new windows of opportunity for reaching viewers. The aims is to find the most effective internet advertising techniques for making full use of the internets, rapidly expanding, global marketplace. 5. Conclusion Based on above analysis, it can be seen clearly that Tiger’s success is no accident. It is based on their effective correct marketing strategies and operation performance. Although Tiger Airway is a successful company and has achieved good brand recognition widely, it still has much to improve in order to maintain the momentum it has generated over five years in operation. From the research point of view, with the marketing mix audit, I m able to identify and provide suggestions based on the aspects which we feel have to be improved, reinforced, developed to be the most effective. Besides that, I get an obvious view of the marketing strategies employed by Tiger Airways through the macro, competitive and core analysis. Reference [1] The History of PSA, http://www.jetpsa.com/index/history.html [2] Company Overview, http://www.tigerairways.com/sg/en/about_us.php [3] Tiger Airways sees 75% jump in number of passengers. Channel NewsAsia, Janauary 2007 [4] Tiger Airways new Advertising Campaign sees sales up more than 60%, 26 October 2005, http://www.asiatraveltips.com/news05/2610-Advertising.shtml [5] On-Time Performance, http://www.tigerairways.com/id/en/on_time_performance.php [6] Singapore Statistic, http://www.singstat.gov.sg/stats/keyind.html#popnarea. [7] Record Year As Tourism Exceeds 2006 Targets With S$12.4 Billion Tourism Receipts And 9.7 Million Visitor Arrivals, http://app.stb.gov.sg/asp/new/new03a.asp?id=6243 [8] Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index 2006. http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi. Retrieved on 2007-02-03. [9] Singapore Paves the Way as Trusted Global E-Commerce Hub http://www.ida.gov.sg/News%20and%20Events/20060926094702.aspx?getPagetype=20 [10] Media 21: Transforming Singapore into a Global Media City. Media Development Authority Singapore (PDF). Retrieved on 17/09/06 [11] AirAsia, http://www.budgetairlineguide.com/airasia [12] Air India Express, http://www.airindiaexpress.in/airindiaexpress/Home.asp [13] Lion Air, http://w3.lionair.co.id/ [14] Tiger Airways, http://www.tigerairways.com/sg/ [15] Cheap Airline Tickets! http://www.kipaddotta.com/travel/cheap-airline-tickets.html [16] Gross, S./Schroeder, A. (Eds.): Handbook of Low Cost Airlines Strategies, Business Processes and Market Environment, Berlin 2007

Cuban Missile Crisis Essay -- essays research papers

On October 22nd, 1962, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 35th President of the United States of America, addressed the nation on television. In his seven-point speech, he informed his audience that long-range nuclear missiles, capable of â€Å"striking most of the major cities in the Western Hemisphere, ranging as far north as Hudson Bay, Canada, and as far south as Lima, Peru† (JFK library p. 3) were being installed in Cuba by the Soviet Union. President Kennedy discussed the United States’ response, which included the placement of a naval blockade around the island of Cuba, a request for an immediate convening of the United Nations Security Council, and a heightened military alert. However, it was his third point which sent a chill around the world.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Third: It shall be the policy of this Nation to regard any nuclear   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  missile launched from Cuba against any nation in the Western   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hemisphere as an attack by the Soviet Union on the United States,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  requiring a full retaliatory response upon the Soviet Union.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   (JFK Library p. 3) With these words, President Kennedy informed the world that the Cold War was perilously close to turning hot, and the world stood on the brink of nuclear holocaust. Almost twenty years since the end of World War 2, after two decades of mounting tension between the Soviet Communist Empire and the Western allies, the dreaded nuclear showdown was underway. America and the Soviet Union were on a collision course. How had this come to pass? Although the announcement came as a great shock to the public, the Cuban Missile Crisis had not occurred â€Å"overnight†; it had been building for more than two years. In mid-1960, Cuba signed agreements with the USSR and Czechoslovakia, and almost immediately U.S. Intelligence detected the start of a massive, secret arms buildup on the island, sponsored by the Soviets. (Johnson, Hatch p. 2) Soviet ships began arriving at Havana, and the Cubans unloaded them under extreme secrecy. Over the next year, U.S. Intelligence recorded deliverie... ...ations, to ensure the carrying out and continuation of these commitments (a) to remove promptly the quarantine measures now in effect and (b) to give assurances against the invasion of Cuba. (Goldman, Stein p. 3) On October 28, the Russian Premier conceded to President Kennedy's demands by ordering all Soviet supply ships away from Cuban waters and agreeing to remove the missiles from Cuba's mainland, and the world breathed a sigh of relief. Looking back on the crisis, Robert McNamara believed the world was one step away from nuclear war. That step would be the President ordering invasion of Cuba. What was not known at the time was the presence of 43,000 combat-ready Soviet soldiers in Cuba, or the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons along Cuba's shore. Khrushchev had also given a standing order to his generals that if he couldn't be reached in the event of an invasion, they had authority to launch battlefield nuclear weapons. If Kennedy had invaded, the Soviets would have used nuclear weapons and President Kennedy would have had no choice but to retaliate. The response would likely have been an attack on Soviet soil, and global nuclear war.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

humans doing their best :: essays research papers

We human beings are a very unique creature. We have the ability to communicate through words, actions, and visions. We also strive to be the best that we can be. Whether at sports, school, or work we all want to be to the leaders of our field. That is why with my guidance and leadership we can grow not only as individual people but as a group of people as well. As you all know, my door is always open to suggestions and comments. If you feel hat something might work better than the way it is being handled let me know. Also, I shall make sure everyone is treated fairly and justly. In our country everyone will be treated equally regardless of their wealth or status, which we all desire. Here, no one will be overworked or underpaid; we will all share the revenue that is created by our fellowman. Lastly, there will be low taxes which will go toward funding our military. Our military will be used to protect citizens so they will not live in fear, it will not be used to police our peop le, like fascists. In the end communism will benefit us by allowing everyone to feel safe and equal. Since we are a communist community I shall be speaking for all of us. But that does not mean you have no say in what goes on. As your leader, I shall keep you all posted on what is happening locally as well as internationally. Unlike democracy, bills will be passed in a timely fashion because there will not be political parties arguing. Also, everyone will have the resources that they need which will eliminate competition for basic necessities, such as food, clothing, housing and education. Furthermore, unlike democratic politicians this government will be honest with its' people. No one under this government would be ruled with an "iron fist," like in fascism, instead the punishments that people receive will be given in accordance with the crimes they commit. First of all lets talk about the rules. Rule number one is no killing. Those who fail to do so will be subject to torture of the victims families' choosing. Second, no stealing. Stealing will result in forced payment of double the value of the item stolen, and in the case that the thief is poor, he or she will do community service equivalent to a dollar a day until they have paid off double what they have stolen.

Representations of Women in Ike Oguine A Squatters Tale :: Squatters Tale Essays

Representations of Women in A Squatter’s Tale Women can be perceived or looked at in many ways. They are depicted not only as mothers, but also as friends, companions, and even prostitutes. Today’s society has a variety of images of what they feel women should be and what they actually are. Likewise in Ike Oguine’s A Squatter’s Tale, women are portrayed through various roles such as mothers, girl friends or companions, and prostitutes to reflect the society. First, mothers are backbones of the family. When hard times are experienced, they are the ones who keep the family together. Women provide more than financial support to the family. They are the sense of hope and encouragement to keep the household running smoothly. In A Squatter’s Tale, Obi’s mother is the one who, even in hard times, keeps holding on trying to get through the difficulties. The love she has for her family is what gives her the strength to give all she can to her family. When Obi’s family move from their Yaba house to a three-bedroom flat in the outer reaches of Isolo, as a result of the sudden retirement of Obi’s father, their struggles for survival increase. Obi’s mother would drive everyday from Isolo to her shop in Yaba. The drive she endures everyday is very long and tiring. Obi knows his mother is enduring a lot for the family as Oguine establishes this sense of hardship by stating in Obi’s words, From our new home my mother had to do a hellish drive to her shop in Yaba every morning (leaving behind two disabled men – my father and me – brooding in the living room all day in front of the shiny black Sony Trinitron 21† TV I bought when I was treasury manager in BTF) and another hellish drive back every evening through the most chaotic traffic in the whole of Lagos. (113-114) The struggle of the drive alone is hard for Obi’s mother. When her car breaks down after ten years, the battle against hardships is about to be lost, because, in addition to working extremely hard, she is being put through hell. Obi realizes what the struggle is doing to his mother the day she comes home after her car has broken down.

Was Public Health Better in the Roman Era or the Middle Ages?

In my opinion, the Romans had superior public health, as they had much better sanitation and plumbing systems, which were in the Middle Ages available solely in monasteries, rather than entire towns. This was due to the fact that the Romans' infrastructure and methods of treatment were more developed than Medieval ones, as well as the fact that the Roman government were far more involved in the health of their citizens than later rulers, who found war and developing trade far more important, and viewed civilians' health as their own responsibility.The Roman towns were also much better planned and built than those in the Middle Ages, which often placed wells and sources of drinking and bathing water in close proximity to cesspits and sewers, which led to infected water and cholera and typhoid outbreaks. Furthermore, many Medieval streets were filled with filth, such as animal carcasses, human and animal excrement, waste from butchers and tanners, and many more sources of disease, as b acteria could grow freely and infect people very easily.As well as this, there were also very poor food standards, and it was not unusual for dishonest meat sellers to sell low-quality meat which could have caused disease, although a law was instated, decreeing that distributors of bad meat would be locked in the pillory. The Romans also had better waste disposal and water transportation systems, which allowed people to obtain clean drinking water, although there may still have been a risk of illness, as most pipes were made of lead, which is toxic.Their medical skills were also slightly better than those of Medieval doctors, as most Roman doctors were much better trained and taught about natural causes of disease, which gave them a considerable advantage over the mostly Church-educated doctors of the Middle Ages, who believed more extensively in supernatural ideas and religion-based methods of prevention and treatment of disease.An example of this is the Black Death, which killed 5 0 000 people in Europe, and was spread very quickly due to poor sanitation, ineffective cures, which would in many cases have made the patient worse, such as ingesting bile or faeces, or relying solely on prayers or religious ideas, rather than actively seeking a reliable cure, which was impossible without a knowledge of the true cause of diseases, although they did attempt to limit its spread by locking up houses which were infected with the disease. However, the Roman Empire was also poorly quipped to deal with plagues, such as the one which occurred in AD 80, and claimed hundreds of lives. However, public health in the Middle Ages did have some benefits: the towns often employed people such as gong farmers and muck rakers to survey and clean the streets to prevent disease, and remove sewage, although it was not possible to employ enough to maintain the cleanliness. The Romans had a similar system which worked to much greater advantage. Medieval towns also developed regulations an d fines for littering and dirtying the streets, although these could not be easily enforced.As well as this, the rich were happy to pay the fines and continue to deposit refuse in the streets. Moreover, near the end of the Dark Ages, butchers were banned from working in the inner city, which prevented pollution and assisted in keeping the streets clean. In conclusion, I believe that public health was much better under Roman rule, although the Medieval government did endeavour to improve the situation (albeit without much success. ) This is further evidenced by the average life expectancy in each era: it fell from 42 in the Roman era to 35, proving that standards had dropped dramatically since the Roman period.

Living Home vs Living Away Home

Have you ever think on living away home? Or you prefer to live at home with your family? A lot of people, mainly students, have this question in mind. But to answer it is better to made a balance between what you will find living away and what you have living at home; but it is a difficult task because you will find a lot of differences and similarities in both situations. One obvious difference is food. Food is a minimal basis to have into consideration in our life.At home, well, you will probably were with your parent's so they know where they can buy the cheaper and better food; whereas, if you live on your own away from home, you don ‘t anyone who could go to buy food at the right place or even, to advise you where to go to buy. In home you can also have your parent's who cook instead of you and they also are the ones paying the food; on the contrary, living away meaner to learn how to cook and to pay your groceries. Other areas of difference between live at home and living away home involves money and rent.When you are at your parent's' house don t have to centered in saving big sums of money because the only things in what you are going to spend your money on is in your yens because you don ‘t have to pay any rent or any kind of expenses: you don ‘t have to pay community expenses, trash service, health insurance†¦ Because these expenses are in charge of your parent's; in comparison, living away on your own you have to pay a rent and all kind of living expenses such as community charges, health insurance, social security expenses, and all of this sort of expenses for which you must to save a big sum of money to pay them.Another important difference is the state of freedom. At home you are always bound to the rules that your parent's established and they, most of the time, are going to pay attention to you trying to know what you are doing, telling you how things must be doing under their rules because you are under the same roof as t hem; therefore, living away from home you can established your own rules and can do mostly anything you want to do.In spite of these differences, these two apparently opposite situations share several important experiences. Living at home and living away from home are alike in their comparability when you arrive after a day working or even studying and need a nap or even to relax yourself seeing the TV, reading, listening to music, gaming†¦ People and meet with your friends to go to the cinema or going shopping. Also, you will have shops around your home that let you buy things you need.Living at home can be compared to living away from home in the possibility of paving a room of your own where you can relax, study or stay with your friends seeing films, playing some game or chatting. There is not such a huge rift between living at home and living away from home, both situations has its good things and its bad things. Probably people think that it is more secured living at home because it is a place that they know and don ‘t want to risk themselves going to a place that can be good or bad for them. But there is no much difference between the two situations.

Even Sigmund Freud participated Essay

Today the medical sphere may offer us good examples of how the existing diversification of approaches and methods towards the treatment of people is related to the fundamental shifts in our perception of the old problem of finding the connection between the human body and the mind. In fact, on one hand medicine as such is on the most fundamental level an inherently conservative filed of knowledge and practice because what is at stake for a doctor is often the very human life, the value of which overthrows any possible dubious methods of treatment that may lead to the lack of positive results, or even to negative ones. On the other hand, as we are constantly learning new things about such an intricate structure as the human body is, it becomes clear that phenomena that had been thought understandable in reality have a much more complicated nature, which requires elaboration of existing scientific approaches, or even demands refusal from some of the traditional medical postulates. To grasp challenges that arise from such shifts in our understanding of mind-body connection we may consider perhaps too extreme examples – numerous schools of the so-called New Age medicine which under the pretence of the break-through knowledge all too often advance simply untenable and absurd claims based on mere speculations (Reisser, Reisser, and Weldon, 1988, pp. 147-52), and the overly sceptical defenders of the traditional Western medicine who may tend to be too inflexible in their admission of the validity of alternative approaches to medical treatment of people. More specifically, the matter of the influence of human psychological processes on what has traditionally been considered purely physiological disorders is one of the most inflaming causes of disagreements between the mentioned approaches. This tension that in one form or another is ongoing between representatives of different medical camps to a large degree defines the modern discourse of approaches to the medical treatment (Miller, 2003, pp. 185-187). In this regard, it would be interesting to closely investigate the existing literature that represents the current state of affairs in the perception of the connection between the mind and the body. As a suitable object of our analysis may serve the book written by Doctor of Medicine John E. Sarno, a Professor of Clinical Rehabilitation Medicine at the New York University School of Medicine, and attending physician at the Howard A. Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine at the New York University Medical Center. His best-selling work â€Å"The Mindbody Prescription: Healing the Body, Healing the Pain† belongs to the list of the most popular books that highlight academic and practical achievements in the field of psychosomatic medicine, a school of medicine which is based on the principle of unity of the mind and the body, and which aims to examine the mechanisms of the interdependency between emotions and bodily functions and to promote psychological methods of medical care (Levenson, 2004, pp. 3-66). The combination of the academic approaches of the author to the support of his material and the popularity of the book among lay people to whom it is largely addressed suggests that on the example of this work we may judge the level of penetration of what could unanimously be perceived alternative medicine not long time ago into the modern medical discourse. With all this in mind, let us examine the volume of John E. Sarno in the context of its connection as of a textbook of applied psychosomatic medicine with the modern medical paradigms. For this purpose, we will briefly outline the history of psychosomatic medicine, then will try to link it with the book of Sarno, and in the main body of the paper will provide the book report with relevant comments on the book`s contents. Background on psychosomatic medicine The origins of the psychosomatic medicine can be found in the teachings of early Western philosophers and physicians who acknowledged that emotions played an important role for the human health (Cacioppo, 1989, p. 589). Still, the Western medicine has traditionally been more inclined towards the study of the significance of bodily functions (Loudon, 1997, p. 238). However, by the middle of the nineteenth century the level of attention to the involvement of emotions in diseases development grew as the observational evidence was accumulating that had suggested that some disorders were not always accompanied by organic affections (U. S. National Library of Medicine, 2005). For example, only since the seventeenth and the eighteenth centuries such a neurosis as hysteria began to be linked with emotional factors and the nervous system in general. Even Sigmund Freud participated in the study of symptoms of hysteria, and one of his conclusions was that they are based on memories linked to mental traumas which under certain conditions may intrude in the processes of somatic innervation. In this way, a possible mechanism for the interaction between mind and body was offered that was reminiscent of mechanisms that Sarno would be describing in his book. The German psychoanalysts Georg Groddeck even went as far as claiming that psychological mechanisms engendering hysteria can be applied to all somatic diseases which from this point of view are the bodily manifestations of unconscious psychological processes. In the 1930s psychoanalyst Franz Alexander attempted to find a compromise between the Freudian theory, such views as those of Groddeck, and existing knowledge of physiology. He was against excessively psychological interpretations that ignored the automatic mechanisms in the body that to a large degree directed emotional expressions. The theoretical basis developed by Alexander contributed in the United States to the invigorated extensive research of psychosomatic mechanisms, and psychosomatic medicine as a separate field of study was formed in 1939 when the medical journal dedicated to this branch of medicine was published. After that time, psychosomatic medicine was only gaining momentum. For example, World War II spurred the interest to it due to numerous manifestations of psychosomatic symptoms in soldiers. Eventually, by the 1950s interest to psychosomatic medicine and its scientific background grew so much that its concepts entered the popular culture as media started to publish numerous articles and thus popularized psychosomatic theories (U. S. National Library of Medicine, 2005). Now, fast forward to today, and we can witness that many of the postulates of psychosomatic medicine are already among the undisputed popular opinions of many people, and for instance the maxim that in order to stay healthy a person should avoid excessive stresses and disturbing emotional states is among the most frequently heard ones in both media sources and in our everyday interaction. However, after the surge of academic interest to it half a century ago, psychosomatic medicine, in contrast to its successful penetration into the public perception, somewhat lost momentum within scientific circles in the second half of the twentieth century (Kennedy, 2004, p. 400). So, it is in such circumstances that the book of John E. Sarno â€Å"The Mindbody Prescription: Healing the Body, Healing the Pain† saw the light of the day. The book of John E. Sarno in the larger social and historical context â€Å"The Mindbody Prescription: Healing the Body, Healing the Pain† builds upon themes from Sarno’s previous book â€Å"Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection† that advanced the idea that the cause of back pain, headache, slipped discs, and other chronic forms of pain is actually rooted in our psychology (Sarno, 1991). In â€Å"The Mindbody Prescription† Sarno adds new knowledge about the psychology of emotionally stimulated physical manifestations, and elucidates how such emotions as anger, anxiety, guilt, and other negative mental states can cause mental stimulation of negative physical symptoms. Thus, in both of those books the author touches upon very urgent topics for the modern American society in which an increasing number of people are plagued by back, neck, or limb pain. In fact, this is a serious economic problem as well, as industries in which large percentage of people are working at computers bear significant health insurance burden due to a variety of similar disorders causing pain, like fibromyalgia or repetitive stress injury (Sarno, 2005). More generally, pain as such in its different forms is a crippling problem for many individuals in both their professional and private lives (Margoles, 1998, pp. 9-32). So, â€Å"The Mindbody Prescription† addresses precisely this disturbing epidemic as it analyses clinical data to find the main cause of the pain disorders, and elaborates methods to treat those disorders. Importantly, in doing so the author tries to fill the gap existing in the traditional methods of chronic pain treatment that are apparently unable to stop this pain epidemic. From the very beginning of the main body of the volume it becomes clear for a reader that the author adopts a holistic approach to his subject. More specifically, Sarno opens the first chapter of the book with construction of various typical and stressful scenarios that in one form or another take place in lives of many of us and contribute to chronic physical pain that people experience. What is untypical, though, is that Sarno from the very beginning of the book begins to draw our attention to what could be considered as a minor element of those scenarios, but what in reality, according to the author, underlies the different manifestation of the pain disorders. This significant element is the factor of unconscious anger or outright rage that Sarno envisions as inevitably accompanying all of the scenarios that he delves in, like our troubles with private life, or within family, or career-related frustration, and many other different â€Å"or† that Sarno repeats in succession to bring home to us his case of unconscious mechanisms that generate anger in so many people. Now, this initial attention to the emotional side of our life is in a good agreement with our above observations about the widely acknowledged role that our mind plays in our health, and the author as if resumes that the existence of the definite connection between our emotional experiences and our bodily health is factual. But, judging from the way he begins his work, what we can expect from Sarno is the elaboration on the exact mechanisms that keep the mind-body connection running, especially as the author immediately claims that the disorders that he is about to discuss â€Å". . . are neither illnesses nor diseases, but rather symptomatic states induced by the brain to serve a psychological purpose† (Sarno, 1998, p. 3). After all, while general public does not always bother to verify its views, practitioners of classical pathophysiology would surely expect solid support of any claim related to the emotional aspects of diseases and illnesses and to the connection between pain problems and stress. At the same time, having chosen the non-technical style of presentation Sarno procured the easiness of reading for common people whose pain-related problems are the actual target of the book. The structure and the contents of the book â€Å"The Mindbody Prescription† consists of three parts preceded by an extended preface and an introduction that deals with a historical perspective of the book`s theme. The preface and the introduction of the book summarize theories and experience of Sarno with treatment of back pain and other types of musculoskeletal disturbances. Naturally, already in the opening parts of the work the emotional foundation of the pain is emphasized. In the end of the book we can find a thorough appendix, which provides supportive citations for conclusions of Sarno, and a bibliography which refers to articles that cover physical and psychoanalytic issues related to chronic pain and its treatment. In the first part of the book Sarno reflects upon concepts underlying mind-body medicine, and exemplifies influences that physical stress and such psychological states as feeling of guilt, anxiety, depression, or personality disorders have on the range of symptoms manifested in patients. Sarno categorizes the range of painful symptoms that may arise due to psychological processes as belonging to what he terms Tension Myositis Syndrome (TMS), which is a painful condition that develops in the back, shoulders, neck, or buttocks, and may equally arise in other parts of the body, and which throughout the whole book would be the main object of study for the author. But before shifting to investigation of concrete instances of TMS-related maladies, in order to justify his principal claim that chronic pain symptoms are in reality a kind of a defense mechanism used by our brain to distract our attention from our unconscious emotions of anger, Sarno copiously refers to the prominent figures whom we have discussed – Sigmund Freud, Franz Alexander, and some other defenders of the theory of psychoanalysis like Stanley Coen and Heinz Kohut. I believe that this approach is beneficial as it helps readers appreciate the historical inheritance that underlies basic conceptions of the psychosomatic medicine, and thus provides a firmer footing for beliefs held by many people who have had successful experiences with psychosomatic approaches to treatment of illnesses. Aside from the references to important figures in the history of psychosomatic medicine, the first part of the book also elaborates a distinct and well-structured explanation of the concepts constituting the basic principles of mind-body interaction. In the process of such explanation the author mentions such fields of study and such medical and psychological notions as neurophysiology of psychogenic disturbances, problems of psychosomatic origin, and reactions of conversion (which is one of the types of interaction between the mind and the body when unconscious elements of human psyche intrude into somatic processes) (Sarno, 1998, pp. 173-174). Sarno also mentions the findings of Candace Pert, a neuroscientist who found opiate receptors in the human brain, and who greatly contributed to the growth of our knowledge of links between biochemical processes in the brain and physiological phenomena. In this way, Sarno anchors the theme of his book in the history of psychosomatic medicine, and, even though he is mentioning some radical concepts that may be critically perceived by adherents of traditional pathophysiology, the style of Sarongs presentation is lucid and definitely absorbing. All in all, the first part of the book serves as a bridge between the general discussion of the psychological mechanisms of emotional influence on physical disorders and more detailed investigation of psychoneurophysiology that underlies psychogenic processes. In the second part of the book Sarno closely examines his clinical experience with emotionally caused physical disorders, and is primarily concerned with various manifestations of TMS and with the possibility to extend his theory of the mechanisms of TMS emergence to other diseases and illnesses. In fact, many of the clinical problems that he examines have already been known to have a connection to stress, which either produces them, or aggravates their effects. However, what makes the work of Sarno special is his approach to explanation of these disease states from the point of view of unconscious working of repressed anger and rage. To prove his case, Sarno has combined physical medicine with psychoanalytic theory in order to give what he believes is a proper account for TMS, which, according to his practice, is the main cause of musculoskeletal and back pain. For Sarno, the origin of painful manifestations of TMS lies in repressed emotions. And the pain in various parts of body as such is theorized by the author as being caused by a diminution of blood flow to the corresponding tissues. This process of blood flow reduction is mediated via the autonomic system as a stressful reaction of brain to repressed emotions. We may chart the TMS pathophysiology in the following way: The formation of unconscious repressed emotions (anger/rage); ? Abnormal patterns of autonomic system`s activity; ? Decrease of the level of local blood circulation; ? Development of mild oxygen deprivation; ? The resulting pain in muscles and other possible symptoms (for example pain in tendons, tingling, numbness, weakness). Having established such a mechanism of the emergence of pain, Sarno surmises that this approach from the TMS formation theory can as well be applied not only for the fixed number of cases of muscle and back pain, but to a wider range of physical disturbances. In this light, Sarno earlier pointed out that in a 1975 survey it had been found that â€Å"88 per cent of patients with TMS had histories of up to five common mindbody disorders† (Sarno, 1998, p. 29). And, indeed, Sarno manages to extend his theory of the emergence of pain disorders to migraine, to such various conditions as carpal tunnel syndrome, fibromyalgia, colitis, peptic ulcer, post-polio syndrome, infections, skin disorders, and even to more unusual instances like the chronic pain that accompanies Lyme disease, which is caused by bacteria transmitted through ticks. The author also mentions disorders in which emotions might be involved, among which are atherosclerosis, hypertension, one of the most common heart problems termed mitral valve prolapse, and even cancer. Of course, with such a broad scope of concern at hand Sarno has to offer an adequate methodology for unambiguous diagnosing of emotionally induced pain. For this purpose, his requirement is that the TMS diagnosis can be ascribed to a patient only if traditional physical exam failed to uncover existing abnormalities. However, according to the author, even in the presence of an abnormality TMS still can be working in a patient and exasperate the pain to the higher level than the found abnormality itself would be capable of. In the third part of the book Sarno discusses approaches that may effectively treat TMS and related physical disturbances. From what we have observed before it should already become clear that Sarno essentially assigns to the pain the function of a defense reaction that aims to divert our consciousness from the need to face repressed anger or other unbearable forms of emotional strain. On ground of this, as the only possible way of treatment of the real cause of TMS symptoms Sarno postulates the examination of the physical origins of repressed negative emotions as the way for the deliverance from pain. Generally speaking, a person has to find ways to single out those harmful emotions and roots of the unconscious anger that are undermining his or her psychological well-being. And what also makes the theory of Sarno special is that, according to him, the mere acknowledgement of certain emotional concerns, and not of any bodily abnormalities, as the ground of the deteriorated physical state is in many cases already a sufficient condition for healing. One may not even have to remove the psychological problem itself in order to procure a visible clinical improvement. This contrasts with some of the New Age schools of psychotherapy that also associate unconscious repressed emotions with various maladies, but which require that before the healing can take place such unconscious `problem spots` must be dissolved, like is proposed, for instance, by the so-called primal therapy, a school of psychotherapy elaborated by psychologist Arthur Janov (Janov, 1999). For Sarno, the identification of a problem is the main task for people suffering from emotionally induced physical disorders, and such identification can normally be implemented by means of an insightful self-examination, perhaps with the help of such techniques as meditation or self-affirmation (a method of compensation for the lowered self-esteem in one area by consideration of one`s proficiency in other areas (Sarno, 1998, p. 22; Nezu and Nezu, 2004, pp. 182-188). In this regard, from the point of view of Sarno it is also very important that a patient should have no doubts about the correctness of the TMS diagnosis, and that he or she fully realizes the exclusively psychosomatic origin of pain. To bolster this indispensable perception in patients, after the mentioned thorough physical examination needed for the elimination of possibility of the presence of real physical problems, Sarno accentuates the need to educate people and to assure them that the influence of repressed emotions is a sufficient condition for the reduction of the flow of blood to the affected areas of the body which leads to the pain and other troublesome symptoms, which nevertheless should not be viewed by people as those inflicting permanent damage to the body. Even if some structural abnormalities related to ordinary changes due to physical activity or aging are found, the patient should have a clear understanding of their nature. Basically, what is demanded from a patient is in no way the denial of the presence of the pain but rather the acceptance of its genuine origin. To help maintain such an attitude to chronic pain, Sarno recommends to patients who know that they have no physiological abnormalities to suspend physical therapy and to return to normal physical activity. In addition to that, patients should on the daily basis remind themselves the following points: I only have a mild oxygen deprivation and not structural abnormalities; my condition stems from repressed negative emotions and is not physically harmful; TMS exists to divert my attention from emotions; there is nothing to be afraid of for me; the physical pain is not dangerous; I will not allow pain to trouble and intimidated me; I will change the object of my concern from pain to emotional experiences; it is my conscious part that will have control, and not my subconscious mind; I have to think about psychological aspects of my life, and not so much about physical. When such a set of attitudes towards the role of one`s unconscious emotional experiences and towards one`s own body is obtained, Sarno believes that the brain that aims to contain the repressed emotions will no longer be able to fool us by drawing our attention to body. To illustrate how psychological relief may have a radica l influence on the chronic pain, the author offers examples of some practical cases. In one of such cases a patient knew about the most probable origin of her back pain but still did not have an improvement, and even had increased level of pain. According to Sarno, the worsening of the pain was brought about by the last efforts of the brain to keep hidden emotions unconscious, but when the feelings finally burst into the patient`s consciousness the pain, as if miraculously, went away. Sarno documents the account of this patient: â€Å". . . in an instant, I started to cry. . . Out of control tears, anger, rage, desperate tears. And I heard myself saying things like, Please take care of me, I don’t ever want to have to come out from under the covers, I’m so afraid, please take care of me, don’t hurt me, I want to cut my wrists, please let me die, I have to run away, I feel sick-and on and on, I couldn’t stop . . . And as I cried, and as I voiced these feelings, it was, literally, as if there was a channel, a pipeline, from my back and out through my eyes. I felt the pain almost pour out as I cried . . . I knew . . . that what I was feeling at that moment was what I felt as a child, when no one would or could take care of me . . . the feelings were there and they poured over me and out of me† (Sarno, 1998, p. 13). However, as in order to get rid of pain we have to use our insight to understand its foundation, one may wonder that if the real cause of the pain is the repressed anger, how helpful psychotherapy may be in the healing of TMS symptoms? The author says: â€Å"The therapists to whom I refer patients are trained to help them explore the unconscious and become aware of feelings that are buried there . . . When we become aware of these feelings . . . the physical symptoms . . . go away† (Sarno, 1998, p. 161). Still, according to Sarno, the need for psychotherapy should not arise too often. The author reports numerous cases when people did away with pain simply after having read the book and having followed suggestions contained there. In fact, Sarno claims that the percentage of those who report the improvement of their condition is as high as 90-95 percent, and that many of his patients had been living with physical disorders and pain for a large part of their lives and could not be treated by the traditional medical approaches. General critical observations Even though the belief that emotions and stressful circumstances are related to physical conditions of people is today generally accepted, the extent to which Sarno emphasizes the role of psychological factors will nevertheless surely seem too extreme for many clinicians. Indeed, formally speaking, the author of â€Å"The Mindbody Prescription† gives some reasons to relate him to those practitioners who denounce the traditional medical approaches as outdated ones, as he says that â€Å". . . poor medical advice . . . keep[s] your attention riveted on your body, which is your brain’s intention† (Sarno, 1998, p. 147), or that â€Å"Modern medical science studies the details of maladies but rejects unconscious emotional processes as the cause†¦ † (Sarno, 1998, p. 117). On the other hand, the effort of the author to extend the validity of his TMS theory to a range of disorders which in combination are shared by significant fractions of Western societies` populations may also seem to be too ambitious and at the same time not sufficiently verified according to strict scientific standards (Wilson, 1991). In this light, while Sarno rightfully remarks that â€Å". . . proper management [of TMS and related disorders] would alleviate much suffering and reduce the enormous cost of medical care that now burdens modern society† (Sarno, 1998, p. 126), he perhaps should also pay more attention to the fact that the majority of physicians still have doubts about the ability of psychological processes to cause chronic pain in the first place, and are more ready to agree that emotions may only aggravate physiological problems, but still in most cases should not be considered as their primary causes. In his turn, Sarno disputes that such processes as osteoarthritic changes and herniated vertebral discs are always the immediate sources of the pain and suggests that very often they may just be coincidentally present close to affected areas that due to emotional causes are deprived of oxygen. Such views further distantiate him from the conventional approaches to treatment of these disturbances. Moreover, Sarno insists that traditional medicine has no valid methods of TMS treatment because â€Å"If you thwart that purpose by taking away the symptoms without dealing with its cause, the brain will simply find a substitute symptom† (Sarno, 1998, p. 39). In any case, despite the unconventional elements of his methods of treatment, Sarno has numerous adherents who attest to the practical applicability and effectiveness of the theory of connection between psychological processes and manifestations of TMS. Therefore, I believe that even if Sarno is not able to provide a completely reliable from the academic point of view account of the mind-body connection, he may be practically exploring the mechanisms of the human body that the fundamental science is only beginning to test experimentally (Brush, 2005, p. 259). For example, consider the recent finding related to the famous placebo effect in which it was again confirmed that such a purely psychological factor as our expectations has not only psychological but as well physical effects on health. But in this particular research a new variety of the placebo effect was found, actually a kind of an anti-placebo effect, as it turned out that â€Å". . . once Alzheimer’s disease robs someone of the ability to expect that a proven painkiller will help them, it doesn’t work nearly as well. . . † (Neergaard, 2005). This fact testifies to the power of our psychology to intervene in the what might seem as purely physiological realm of our bodily functioning, and the data is being gathered to prove that at least such a psychological factor as the placebo effect â€Å". . . actually is physical, and that expecting benefit can trigger the same neurological pathways of healing as real medication does† (Neergaard, 2005). Now, this conclusion is in a perfect agreement with the principles underlying the theory of TMS origin advanced by Sarno. However, quite ironically, the specialists involved in the mentioned research were quick to point out that positive expectations â€Å"aren’t a substitute for real medicine† (Neergaard, 2005), which contradicts the reliance of Sarno on psychology as not only the cause of many physical disorders but at the same time as the only means of their healing. But I suppose that if Sarno produces an impression of being too confident in the self-sufficiency of his conclusions it could only mean that due to his extensive observational experience he may just be a little bit ahead of the vanguard of the mainstream medical science. And, after all, if we want to find what unites Sarno with the conservative part of the medical establishment it is his traditional recommendation for his patients to resume full activities of daily life, including physical exercises. Critical observations about Sarno`s view of migraine as an equivalent of TMS While Sarno devotes a large portion of his book to back pain, among other painful physical disturbances related to mechanisms that lead to TMS he mentions migraine, which is a very common condition that causes headaches, and physiological mechanisms of which are currently quite poorly understood (Cochran, 2004, p. 156). Sarno confesses his personal experience with migraine as he had had this condition for quite a long time before he was introduced to medical research which suggested that â€Å"migraine headache was the result of repressed anger† (Sarno, 1998, p. 111). As he was already amassing evidence in support of the significant influence of psychological factors on many widespread medical problems, he was inclined to test that idea. After trying to find out what anger that he could be repressing was causing his migraine, Sarno allegedly got rid of migraine headaches for the rest of his life. However, he himself acknowledged that some symptoms of migraine still continue to happen to him, which brings us to a question whether the method of the author of the book can be applied without reserve to all the types of chronic pains that seem to have no accompanying physical abnormalities. Indeed, it may be that our lack of understanding of the causes of migraine simply leaves us ignorant of possible physiological mechanisms that underlie it, and even though approaches borrowed from TMS treatment may often be effective for removal of painful symptoms, purely psychological vision of the migraine origins may hide from us its genuine cause. Besides, it may be somewhat alarming that the definition of migraine that Sarno advances is different from the one offered for example by the National Migraine Association. Sarno says that migraine is supposed to arise from â€Å". . . sudden constriction of a single blood vessel within the substance of the brain† (Sarno, 1999, p. 111), while on the website of the National Migraine Association it is stated that: â€Å"Migraine is disease, a headache is only a symptom. Migraine pain is caused by vasodilation in the cranial blood vessels (expansion of the blood vessels), while headache pain is caused by vasoconstriction (narrowing of the blood vessels). During a migraine, inflammation of the tissue surrounding the brain, i. e. , neurogenic inflammation, exacerbates the pain† (Coleman and Burchfield, 2006). Therefore, at least in the case of migraines it seems warranted to say that physiological mechanisms may be working to produce migraine independently from psychological processes, and that without knowing the exact causes and possible consequences of migraine-related tissue inflammation it is perhaps risky to adopt a strategy of assuring oneself that the pain is not physically harmful. The National Migraine Association again confirms this worry by pointing out that â€Å"The Migraine disease is a serious health and disability problem that affects approximately 11 to 18 million Americans .