Benefits of a College Degree Essay

After high school, a choice that many students have to make is whether to go to college or not. There are many factors that go into one’s decision. There are pros and cons to going to college and also there are pros and cons for not going to college. But the decision that will give someone the better opportunity to have a more successful life is to go to college. The money that one will earn after getting a college degree will be more than the money a person will make without getting a college degree. As our society has continued to evolve, education has become the optimal route to professional success: pursuing a degree is the best way to receive training, to gain expertise in a given field, and even to guide you and help you make choices about your career (Value†¦). Money is one of the most important reasons that a person goes to college. On average, a person that has just a high-school diploma earns $30,400 per year while a person that gets a bachelor’s degree will earn on average $52,200 per year (Value†¦). A master’s degree on average will get a person a yearly salary of $62,300 (Value†¦). Based on the numbers, a formal education is an essential ingredient in today’s society. Going to college and getting four more years of schooling may not be the fun thing to do, but it is a wise choice to help lead one to a more successful life. Some people may say that even though that someone will earn more money by getting a college degree, the cost of college does not equal out the amount of money one will make. While the cost of college is expensive, the difference in money made from a college degree will be able to cover the cost of college over time. The average cost of college tuition plus expenses per year is between $20,000 and $35,000 (U. S. News Staff). Of course that is quite a bit of money that would go into paying for college, but even if a person cannot pay for it at the time or did not get a scholarship, someone could always get a student loan so they can pay for college in that way. While if a person chooses to not go to college, that person can get a full-time job that one may focus heavily on. Although a person in college can have a job, that person cannot work as much as someone who is not in college. At first this is a positive for not going to college because that would mean more money for the people not going to college. That is true but over years; the people with a college degree will end up with more money because of the higher annual salaries. The benefits of a college degree are not just for money, but also a college degree will also give a person more career options. A person with a college degree will have more career options than someone without a college degree because employers will see that one has a college degree and think that person knows what to do and can do the job well. Employers want the best person for the job and a college degree looks really good on a person’s resume (Ten Great†¦). In a survey that was casted to see what employers look for, those employers said that they wanted people that have dependability, reliability, a good attitude, the ability to read comfortably, the ability to think more consciously, computer skills, and the ability to communicate clearly whether it be spoken or in writing (Knowledge and†¦). Along the path of getting a college degree, one will also learn these skills and attributes. Not only does a college degree increase one’s chances of getting a job, but it can also get a person employer-paid health insurance and pension plans. That is great considering that the amount of employers that are offering health insurance and pension plans are going down. Also, if in the town or state that a person lives in hits a recession, if one has a college degree, then that person is more likely to keep their job. Plus, even if that person does get fired, that person will still be more likely to find a job somewhere else because of the college degree (Ten Great†¦). College is not just a place to get a degree, but it is also a place to make connections and lifelong friends. Making connections is creating relationships with those that are further along in their career. One’s professors will enjoy helping out their students because they would not be professors if they did not care about helping out others. In college, a person will meet many people from many different places. The people that someone is with can listen to people’s stories about their backgrounds, experiences, and cultures. This will be an advantage because meeting a diverse range of people will give one a broader view on the world and cultural understanding (The Benefits†¦). Being in college will help one learn more about themselves. While one is in college, a person will figure out more about their likes and dislikes (The Benefit†¦). College is a time when one is starting to prepare for a career that one will enjoy doing that job for the rest of their life. Hopefully a person in college will find a career that one will enjoy and also be able to perform that job well. The time spent in college will help one become more satisfied with their career choice later on in life. Of course, the obvious benefit of going to college is the education and the knowledge that one will learn. In whatever major that a person takes while in college, one will get a higher understanding of what the class is about. Having the knowledge in a certain area will make a person better at their job. The knowledge that one will gain in college will help that person doing what is needed to get done every day. Plus, with a college degree, one will not need as much training as someone who did not get a degree. The benefits of going to college outweigh the possible negatives of going to college. While there is a chance of someone being very successful in life with only a high school diploma, the odds are just better if one has a college degree. There are many benefits of going to college so that one can earn a college degree. One can get a higher annual salary than someone that does not go to college. Having a college degree with give a person more career choices and also improve their chances of being hired by an employer. One will learn the skills that employers are looking for like knowledge, dependability, computer skills, and much more. A person that goes to college will develop great friendships and make a real connection with people. While in college, one will learn more about themselves, find out more about oneself, and hopefully be able to realize their dreams. There is no correct way to live life, but when someone is trying to figure what path to take so that one can fulfill their dreams and be as happy as possible, the signs point that going to college and getting a college degree is the smarter choice. Works Cited Gill, Deanna. â€Å"Negative Effects of Not Exercising. † n. p. HubPages Inc. 22 Mar. 2011. Web. 3Nov. 2012. Wiley, Blackwell. â€Å"Regular Exercise Reduces Large Number of Health Risks Including Dementia and Some Cancers, Study Finds. † ScienceDaily, 16 Nov. 2010. Web. 3 Nov. 2012. CourseAdvisor. â€Å"Benefits of a College Degree. † Washington Post Company. CourseAdvisor Inc. 2010. Web. 6 Dec. 2012. â€Å"Knowledge and Skills Needed to Succeed in the 21st Century Workplace,† National Center for Higher Education Management Systems, June 2000. â€Å"Ten Great Reasons to Get a College Degree. † n. p. Yellow Page College Directory. 2011. Web. 6 Dec. 2012. â€Å"The Benefits of a College Degree. † n. p. Hobsons. Web. 6 Dec. 2012. â€Å"The Real Benefits of a College Degree. † n. p. RightFitDegrees. com, Inc. 2009-2012. Web. 7 Dec. 2012. U. S. News Staff. â€Å"The Average Cost of a U. S. College Education. † n. p. U. S. News & World Report. 24 Aug. 2010. Web. 6 Dec. 2012. â€Å"Value of Education. † n. p. 2003-2010. Web. 6 Dec. 2012.

Assess the Importance of Employability

Assess the importance of employability, and personal skills in the recruitment and retention of staff in a selected organisation. Introduction In this task, I’m a going to talk about the importance Importance of employability is to refer a person’s capability for gaining and maintaining employment. For personalities, employability depends on the knowledge, skills and abilities they possess, the way they present those assets to employers, and the context e. g. ersonal conditions and labour market environment within which they seek work. As such employability is affected by both supply side and demand side factors which are often outside of an individual's control. This will make Burger King Employment much better by giving out these particular things. Suitable qualifications: Knowledge and skills that a candidate must have to be eligible for the job. Burger king will require candidates to have good qualifications, so they’re can upper come the duties and position at the job.Certain qualifications such as GCSE, degrees, diploma and training courses having the ability to speak another language terms that would otherwise be interpreted broadly. They don’t have a suitable qualification to work at burger king because it isn't really important to the company just that they need to have Maths and English. Without these qualification employers cannot employ Experience in a similar role: All candidates must have an experience in another fast food retailer E. g. Mac Donald's, so that burger king can know if that person is good enough for the job.They must have experience in a similar role to what they did in Mac Donald's, dealing with customers keeping the cooking area clean. (Asses) Knowledge of products/services: Burger King Employers must have knowledge of the products, because that can mean more sales. It will be difficult to sell to consumers if Burger King couldn’t show how a particular product would address to a customer needs. So Burger King Employers will need to have good communication skills, having an understanding of the products to use different techniques and methods for presenting the product to customers. (Asses)

Checking the Resistance through Wire

Check the resistance with wire We will use the constantan wire to check the resistance wire; our deformation is wire of different length. I chose this because it seems like an interesting deformation and proves that sometimes it is acceptable and safe to use long lines rather than small rows. For the experiment, use the following equipment.  · As a power pack, Constantine wire, ammeter group, we take the voltmeter and the ammeter into consideration, cut the different lengths of the constantan wire and indirectly connect them to the power pack. Examining the resistance of a wire is the name of the wire's resistance to the tendency of electrons to travel through the wire. The greater the resistance generated by the electron, the greater the voltage required to drive the current through the wire. The resistance value is defined by the following equation. Resistance on resistor R (R) = p  · db Current through wire (I) Tab / Important factors have many factors that can influence. Temp erature, current, line thickness, line length, line resistance. When the temperature rises, atoms in the wire begin to vibrate. That is, since they react electronically, the temperature affects the resistance. The problem with this method is that it is difficult to change the temperature of the wire and keep it at the same constant temperature. A 0.02 ohm resistance wire was used to measure the effect of temperature on the current. Wire thickness is 1 mm. I connected the wire to the battery and measured its resistance. Resistance decreases as the refrigerator temperature decreases. After cooling it to 0 degrees Celsius the resistance reached 0.014. After that, the wire is placed on dry ice and its resistance drops again. The resistance is measured after the star has heated the wire. The resistance of the wire rises as the temperature rises. At 100  ° C, its resistance is about 0.029

Chapter 6. The Intemately Oppressed Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Chapter 6. The Intemately Oppressed - Assignment Example It is clear that it is time makes prejudice stronger because after some period people start forgetting what were the reasons and actual roots of the way things are for them now. Most part of the human history, and it is obvious too, woman was a slave, and the worst part was that she did not even know it. And sometimes people say that what you do not know cannot hurt you. But it often hurts and it hurts even more when you do not know why it hurts or when it will stop. What I would like to say is that when some repressed group realizes their dominated condition and also their will to fight, that is when their true power emerges. Women of America made it possible for women all around the world to feel stronger and more confident, to be ready to fight for their place under the sun. The condition of women during the colonization was truly and obviously horrible, even more horrible taking into account that they were not slaves. Of course nothing good can or should be said about puritans as well as about supporters of slavery because those were the kind of people which fanatically followed false principles (well, let’s not talk about witch-hunting) and it is their bigotry that made false principles seem true. But here we have historical event that changed everything in historical development. Women’s movement and also its aim of the Abolitionism is one of the proudest and really events in American history. Why? Of course because it shows how reason can overcom blind and sinful laws. But the battle was hard as every battle that worth fighting, I should even say it was mean for this battle to be fought, sooner or later, because the voice of free spirit always whisper in the ears of those who are oppressed. â€Å"That man over there says that woman needs to be helped into carriages and lifted over ditches. ... Nobody ever helps me into

Engneering Disasters Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Engneering Disasters - Assignment Example Engineering is a discipline that applies both scientific and technological principles to help meet various needs of the people. The demands to engineering may include transportation infrastructure, buildings and constructions, aircrafts and computers hardware and software production (Liao & Okazaki, 2009). Nevertheless, the demands on engineering requires that the needs of the people are met both efficiently and cost effectively, meaning that the cost reduction principle is very important for any engineering project. It is due to the cost reduction principle that diverse and substitute materials for various engineering projects such as construction, aircraft light-weight and computer components have been developed. However, the need to reduce the cost of an engineering project may result in the application of flawed shortcuts and design fabrications, which in the end results in engineering disasters that are too costly both in terms of the lives lost and the devastating effects of su ch disasters either to the environment or to the economy of a nation (Ballarini & Okazaki, 2010). Nevertheless, such disasters of a higher magnitude have served to enlighten the engineering community on the relevance of prioritizing the safety needs of any engineering structure or project, over the cost reduction needs. The learning from major mistakes that have been done in the past has made it possible for numerous policy regulations and engineering efforts to be applied towards avoiding the repeat of such occurrences. Thus, this discussion seeks to analyze the Mississippi River Bridge disaster, with a view to establishing the particular aspects of the engineering disaster in relation to its causes, the engineering failures involved, the future recommendations for improvement to avoid such accidents and the implications of the disaster to the overall engineering

Brief Literary Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Brief Literary Analysis - Essay Example This period is characterized by immense disillusionment and erosion of conviction not only in religion but also in numerous secular precepts. T.S Eliot’s poem â€Å"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock† was composed during this time (Eliot 15). The poem is modernist in its theme, character and activities. Irresistible obsession with the self, temperament of consciousness and the progression of discernment characterize modernism. This essay aims to analyze how the poem argues about modernity and modernism, with respect to how the modern mind thinks. From the poem’s setting, layout, structure, and voice of the persona, it is clear that the persona is a sad and insecure modern man who tries to explain what happens and does not happen in his life (Trites 50). The essay uses the structure of the poem and the voice of the persona in combination with the words of the writer to identify how the theme of the poem relates to modernity. In the contemporary world, time is a p recious phenomenon. People are particularly conscious about time to the extent that they do not want to waste a minute. Time regulates every activity of the modern people (Brooker 107). In his poem, Eliot shows how J. Alfred Prufrock is too time-conscious. The persona allocates time for every activity (Eliot 24). He allocates time to make up for meeting and time to murder and create. He sees time as an instrument to correct mistakes and wonders if he can dare the time: â€Å"Do I dare† (Eliot 16). The persona also talks about time for making decisions, visions and revisions before having tea and toast, just like in the modern world, where people tend to relax (have tea) after work. He also talks about how the modern people rush to work in their coats and back home in the evening, showing how they value time. From Eliot’s poem, it is clear that the modern people are obsessed with attracting attention. The modern people always want to look good, elegant, beautiful, and h andsome (Brooker 111). They spend time and money to bring order to them. In whatever they say, do or put on, modern people always want to look smart. Eliot’s poem produces a picture of attention seekers who spend time to make up, â€Å"time to prepare a face to meet faces that you meet† (Eliot 16) so that they can meet some people. As he proceeds, the persona dedicates time to someone (probably his lover) and himself. Prufrock also narrates how he is not comfortable with the baldness and his thin arms. He also describes the clothes people wear and the types of colors of people and their hair color. This only shows how he is concerned with appearance and attention, which is a common feature of modern people. Though love existed before modernity, it forms a strong element of the modern person. Modern people show love in all manners both expressed and implied. It exists among both the youth and adults with all its features, such as heartbreak, passion, tolerance and silen ce. As the persona in Eliot’s poem speaks, it is hard to tell, whether he loves the person his words refer to (Trites 54). The title itself is about love: â€Å"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock†. Prufrock is drowned in love but is unable to speak his mind out, just like most of the modern teenagers or workmates, who fear rejection or are just shy to speak out their minds. At a point, Prufrock tries to overcome the fear when he asks himself, â€Å"Do I dare?† but is unable to speak out. In every society, there exist certain individuals who

South Africa Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

South Africa - Essay Example Hugh Masekela was an icon of Black music. Besides â€Å"Grazin in the Grass† which was a massive hit in the 60’s, he gave us an equally popular song called â€Å"Stimela† which he recorded over and over again and hence had six different versions. Hugh drew his inspiration from South Africa which was his home town. In Hugh’s own words, â€Å"I owe an endless debt to the people of South Africa and all those other African communities all over the world that I have accessed, and lived with and learned their music. He has traveled the world over and carries with him the message of hope and deep belief in the healing power of music. He speaks passionately when he mentions time and again the very hard labor done by the poor so that we could â€Å"look, smell and feel the way we want to†.(Hugh Masekela, â€Å"Stimela†, 1993) Though Hugh Masekela’s â€Å"Stimela† is a wonderful piece of work in which he brings out glaringly the life and suffering of the African people working in the mines, yet I would rather choose the simple and descriptive narrative of Anthony Trollope’s â€Å"The Diamond Fields of South Africa, 1870. The reason for this, being that it is for a History class and children are able to relate to it better when facts are in the form of a narrative. Moreover, Anthony Trollope has laid down the facts in chronological order using simple language which makes it easy for children to remember these facts. On the other hand, though Hugh Masekela’s â€Å"Stimela† is worth listening to over and over again for its sheer listening pleasure, yet it would not be too suitable or appropriate to be used in a History class for the fact not everyone can learn facts from music because music is used more for pleasure than for learning hard facts. Another reason I would choose the narrative instead of the song would be that it has the facts in chronological order which is so important for a History class, where as

Inflammatory Bowel Disease Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Inflammatory Bowel Disease - Essay Example Nevertheless, the Crohn sickness normally affects the lower part of the ileum (small intestines), though there is a possibility of it happening anywhere along the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. On the other hand, the ulcerative colitis mainly happens along the interior lining of the colon (McGuire & Beerman, 2013). The two diseases are treated differently. The ulcerative colitis treatment is based on the reduction of chronic and acute swelling that result in respite. The common drugs prescribed include antibiotics, antidiarrheal, and steroids. The patient can also be treated using immunosuppressant for example azathioprine cyclosporine and 6-mercaptopurine (Nelms, Sucher, Lacey & Roth, 2010). The other appropriate medication is anti-inflammatory -5- aminosalicylic acid and infliximab (biological therapies). The Crohn’s disease treatment is founded on the severe condition of the illness. The appropriate drugs include infliximab, steroids, antibiotics, immunosuppressant and in some cases surgery. In the surgery procedure the affected parts are removed that may consist of ileostomy, ileocolic resections, total proctocolectomy and segmental resections. The two diseases have different presentations. In ulcerative colitis the common signs include fever, weight loss, arthritis, ocular manifestations, abdominal or rectal pain, dermatological change and diarrhea with mucus and blood. The complication as a result of the illness comprise of severe bleeding, carcinoma, intolerance to immunosuppression, toxic colitis, strictures, toxic megacolon, perforation and dysplasia (Nelms et al., 2010). The symptoms of Crohn disease include delayed growth in adolescents, weight loss, fever, cramping and abdominal pain, malnutrition, anorexia and a stool that has blood or mucus. The complications that occur as a consequence of the sickness are neoplasia, perennial illness, malabsorption, gallstones, and kidney stones. The patient also suffers from obstruction of the

Classical and Greek Hero Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Classical and Greek Hero - Essay Example 34-47). This paper discusses and compares classical hero and Greek hero in the context of the examples from the novels "The Odyssey", "Oedipus The King" and "Beowulf" in a concise and comprehensive way. - Odysseus, the king of Ithaca, was a hero of the Trojan War in the Iliad. It was his idea to build a huge wooden horse, hide Greek soldiers inside, and smuggle them into the city of Troy to capture it. The Odyssey is the story of his long and magical trip home after the war. - Achilles was the greatest warrior of the Greeks, and fought and died in the Trojan War. He was shot by an arrow in the heel, the only weak part of his body. The tendon that connects the human calf and heel is called the Achilles tendon. Burton (pp. 34-47) discusses that the most popular hero was Herakles, or Hercules. The most famous of his deeds were his 12 labors. They included killing the Hydra, a many-headed monster, and capturing the three-headed dog Cerberus, who guarded the gates of the Underworld. Hercules was so great a hero that the gods granted him immortality. When his body lay on his funeral pyre, Athena came and carried him off to Mount Olympus in her chariot. Blackmore (pp. 135-162) mentions that Homer's epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey created a classical setting for Greek Heroes. These poems are full of battles, peril, violence and war and adventures that portray the heroic characters be courageous. The heroes, in these poems, face a barrage of arrows without flinching and are ruthless enough to kill many men without regret. The heroic characters battle for love, duty, and to protect their homes and families and beloved. A hero is understood in Greek mythology as a person of divine ancestry who has an unlimited and unprecedented courage, strength and power and it is celebrated by both the gods and people. Classical and Greek heroes portray traits of strength, ability, resourcefulness, honor and pride and power. Homer's heroic characters depict these characteristics by confronting challenges through out the poems (Blackmore, pp. 135-162). In ancient Greece, it was a widely accepted value to strive for a hero's excellence. Homer's Iliad and Odyssey do not explicitly detail the characteristic of excellence or a hero, but the behavior of the heroic characters can be analyzed to derive these attributes. Odysseus, Achilles and Diomedes are three of Homer's most noteworthy characters in his epic poems that demonstrate the values of a hero's excellent. They personify what was expected of a classical Greek hero (Blackmore, pp. 135-162). Knox (pp. 78-86) discusses that one of Homer's most controversial heroes is Odysseus from the Odyssey. Odysseus, the king of Ithaca, is a key example of the traits that were expected from a hero. He was known for his

Pricing Channels Essay Example for Free

Pricing Channels Essay Students come from a variety of backgrounds with a large and diverse base of knowledge and experience. Therefore, the primary role of the professor will be to acilitate discussions that bring out pertinent issues and to better frame the analyses of these issues. Required materials Case Packet: The case packet is available through www. study. net. Instructions to get materials from study. net are included in the last page of this syllabus, before the course schedule. Pricing Simulation Universal Rental Car Harvard Business School: Sign up instructions will be provided to you in early October. It will cost $12. 50. There will be a practice round available from Nov. 4-9. The official round will run from Nov. Other Readings: A number of readings for this class are available in full text (usually PDF) from Business Source Complete. For these articles, go to http:// www. lib. utexas. edu/, then to Research Tools* Databases Indexes to Articles †+ Databases by Subject* Business* Business Source Complete, and search on the title of the article (unless otherwise directed in the schedule). It works best if you put the title of the article in quotes. If you get a yellow box that says Find it at UT, click on the box and follow the links that have full text. Other Materials: Other materials, such as study questions for case studies, grading sheets, and lecture slides are available on Blackboard. Paperless Assignments: All assignments are to be submitted electronically rather than in hard copy and no later than 5 minutes prior to the start of class. Please send them directly to Dr. Mackie through Outlook as e-mail attachments using the following file name convention on the attachments themselves: File Name Convention [Class time]_[Your Last Name and First Initial_[Assignment name] Example: 930_SmithJ_Problem Set Example: 930_SmithJ_Brief_Case name Example: 930_TeamName_RtM Assignment Grading Blind Grading: MBA-student teaching assistants do the first round of grading on many assignments. Therefore all papers in this course are blind graded. Therefore: (a) Please do not submit assignments directly to the TA; and (b) Place your name *only* in the file name of the attachment.

Pros and cons of PPPs models

Pros and cons of PPPs models Introduction to Public Private Partnership Public private partnership is a cooperative venture between the public and private sector in which the public and privates sector carry out a particular project on the basis of agreed task and risks, each party retaining its tasks and responsibility. The interest in PPPs is growing day by day because it is an efficient way of delivering the public services to the masses. The rudimentary principal behind public private partnership is that, Although Public sector entities may need to be responsible for the delivery of public services, but it is not necessary that it must be actually responsible for providing or undertaking the investment themselves. In this way all actors in public private partnership can concentrate on doing what they are likely to do in the best possible way by utilizing their resources and skills. In order to under take any public private partnership for a particular venture we have different modes or model for PPPs, Which are described briefly as under. A brief overview of Prominent Models of PPPs Operation and management contracts In these agreements the responsibility for asset operation and management is passed on to the private sector entities. The duration for these contracts is generally short ranging from 3 to 5 years, but can normally be extended. The private party is remunerated on a fixed fee basis or on an Incentive basis with premiums linked to specific performance targets. Under this agreement the public party still bears the financial and investment risk associated with the projects. This type of contract is an efficient way to undertake a project because the private sector has enough skills and have strong interest in improving the service quality. This model of PPPs contract is suited for transaction phases which finally lead to privatization. Potential strengths of management The profound advantage of management contract is that many operational benefits that result from private sector can be availed without transferring the assets to the private party. Management contract are less thorny to develop as compared to others and are considered less controversial. Theses contracts are also less expensive as compared to others because fewer but efficient staff can be used to carryout the task. They can also be seen as interim arrangements, allowing for modest improvements while more comprehensive contracts and structures are developed. Similarly, a management contract can be structured to phase-in increasingly extensive involvement of the private sector over time and as progress is demonstrated. Potential weaknesses Despite of the aforesaid advantages of management contract it also embodies some drawbacks one of the key disadvantage of this contract is that in this contract the private sector entity who is managing a particular project does not enjoy the autonomy. This is important to achieve deep and lasting change also the division between the obligation for service and management, on one hand, and financing and expansion planning, on the other, is a tricky one. Service contracts It is a limited type of PPPs model in this agreement the Private party procure, operate an assets for a short span of time mostly for 2 to 5 years. In this contract the public sector is responsible for investment and management of the project which bears the financial and residual value risks. While the public sector entity provide the services. It is suited for simple and operational requirments.it is often used for toll collections. Potential strengths of Service Contract This contract is best suitable when the services are clearly defined in the agreement, the demand is reasonably certain and the performance of the project can easily be monitored. One of the the gigantic advantage of service contract is that it provides us relatively low-risk option for the expansion of private sector which in return brings efficiency in the system operation. It is a less expensive way to delivery the public services and due to low barrier to competition it encourage competition which in return enhance the public service delivery and it is also a good source of technology transfer and for the development of managerial capacity. The other prominent advantages include Decrease in operation cost Access to cheaper labor Cut up in labor training cost Access to advance technology at minimum cost Enhance service delivery Potential weaknesses Service contracts are used for simple and short term project in this the private sector only provide their services not the capital investment. But this contract is not suitable for such situation in which the objective is to pool up capital. An other important drawback of this contract is that of loss of managerial control because it is much difficult to manage the outside service provider as compared to own employees. Also other draw backs include the loss of flexibility in reacting to changing the business condition, lake of internal and external focus, loss of competitive edge, problem in contract renewal and contractual misunderstanding. In this it is difficult to calculate the hidden cost associated with the contract like legal cost and the time require to put the contract into action. Leasing agreements It is a financial arrangement in which the owner of a facility sells it to another entity, and subsequently leases it back from the new owner. In this contract both public and private sectors entities may enter into sale/leaseback arrangements for a variety of reasons. An innovative application of the sale/leaseback technique is the sale of a public facility to a public or private holding company for the purposes of limiting governmental liability under certain statues. Under this arrangement, the government that sold the facility leases it back and continues to operate it. Under this agreement the private party better off only if it manages to reduce operating costs while meeting the designated service level. On the other hand the public sector bears the risks associated with the network expansion, capital improvement and financing. Its life ranges from 12 to 16 years, this type of agreement is best suited for infrastructure. Other prominent leasing contract include Buy-build-operate (BBO) Lease-develop-operate (LDO) Wrap-around addition (WAA) Potential strengths One of the main advantage of this contract is that it brings efficiency in the public service delivery .Also in this contract the commercial risk is borne by the private sector which give a strong performance incentive and which coax the private sector to perform well. Under this contract the private sector competitively bid for providing the services which in return enhance the delivery of public services. Potential weaknesses As we know that in lease agreement the contractor revenue is based on the revenue stream of the customers payments so in such situation the question of tariff levels is of sensitive nature which can lead to possible conflict between the public and private parties. Also under this agreement the responsibility of capital investment is of public sector and the financial risk is borne by the public sector so in this contract no capital is mobilized from the private sector entity and also labour issues are of more sensitive nature as compared to other PPPs contracts. Concession Contract It is a type of leasing contract in which the ownership remain with the government while the private party not only provide capital investment but also responsible for the maintenance of the assets. After the completion of the project the government pays the agreed sum of money to the private party and gets the assets. It is suited for the construction and its life is from 15 to 30 years. Potential strengths of concession contract One of key advantage of Concessions is that it helps to mobilize capital from private sector for the construction or rehabilitation of existing projects. As we know that under this agreement the private sector also contribute capital for the project so it coax the private sector (concessionaire) to bring efficiency and effectiveness in order to increase his return in the project. It also encourages the private party to bring innovation in the delivery of public services. Potential weaknesses One of the major drawback of this contract is that the complexity of defining the activities of private sector entity. One of the major disadvantage of this contract rises in case of long-term projects i.e. more than 25 years because this complicate the bidding process and the contract design which hinder in anticipating the events of the project. Also due to its long term tenure it is deemed politically controversial and difficult to organize. Another drawback of this contract is that it limit the competition because of limited number of qualified contractors are available. Green field Contracts This type of agreement is mostly used for the development of new projects. Such projects are often demanded by engineers. Examples of Greenfield projects are new factories, power plants or airports which are built from scratch. Those facilities which are modified/ upgraded are called Brownfield projects. Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) In this the private party is responsible for designing, construction and operation of the assets. In this public party bears the financial risks but it has control on important phases of the life cycle of the project. This type of contract bring efficiency in the projects and removes the important maintenance issues from public budget This integrated scheme obliges the private operator to take into account the cost of operating the asset during the design and operation phase and therefore stimulates a better planning and management of the service itself It include the following types Build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) Build-rent-own-transfer (BROT) Build-transfer-operate (BTO) Build-lease-operate-transfer (BLOT) Potential strengths As we know that BOTs have been mostly used to attract private funding to the construction or renovation of infrastructure. Hence one of the key advantage of BOT agreements is that it reduces commercial risk for the private partner because there is often only one customer, i.e. public sector (government) .The following are some of the major advantages of BOT contract Due to the efficiency of private sector the public services can be delivered with minimum cost As the private sector directly involved in this so it reduces the public debit, balancing the beget deficit and reduce the role of public sector. It also facility the transfer of advance technology by intruding international contractors in the host country. Potential weaknesses The following are some of the major disadvantages of BOT contract The transaction cost in this case is higher as compared to other contracts Not suitable for small projects. The success of this project depends upon the successful raising of funds. BOT projects are successful only when substantial revenues are generated during the operation phase. A CASE STUDY This case study is one of the best example of public private partnership (service contract) which is contributing to the overall economic development of Pakistan. Faisalabad Industrial Estate Development and Management Company (FIEDMC) This is one of the classical of PPP (service contract) .In this contract the government of Punjab provided funds and the private sector were assigned the task to develop two industrial estates at Faisalabad by contributing there services on voluntary basis. This company constitutes of 21 members in its board 5 from public and 16 from private sector. Under this agreement the private sector will contribute their expertise to develop a world standard industrial estate in order to use the public money in a fruitful way. The following two prominent projects were undertaken under this agreement. Value Addition City. This industrial city was basically established in order to address the need for SMEs and to provide land on small scale to the industrialist. This estate consists of 200 acres land .where all utilities and facilities to the industrialist and a great emphasis is given to the security, further more The VAC offers facilities like a state of the art road network, electricification, natural gas, optic fiber telecommunication network, hospital, commercial area and extensive landscaping for environmental friendly atmosphere. M-3 Industrial city (M-31C) This is a larger project as compared to value added city with a vast area of 4500 acres. This industrial city is catering for the needs of all business sectors both industrial and services It entails the fulfillment the needs and wants of the prospective investors. This industrial city provides the important facilities according to world standards including, state of the art telecommunication system, transport facilities and labor colonies to the labor. This industrial city constitute of all kinds of textile industries, high quality chemical units, engineering including automobile and agricultural machinery firms and construction material firms. It will also cater the needs of pharmaceutical companies and food processing units. Other industries include IT equipment manufacture and software industry, electrical devices, electronics and other value added products. This is one of the classical example of PPP models in which the private party provides their services in the shape of their expertise to boost industries in Pakistan and it will boost the Pakistani economy. A Failure of PP Project (Metronet UK) The London underground rail system is the world first underground system which was established in 1863 and up to early twenty century it was operated by six private operators. But due to their substandard services its activities was directly or indirectly classified by the UK authorities by 1933. In February 2002 it was decided to bring improvement in the public service delivery by entering into a PFI contract with the private sector .Under this arrangement it was decided that maintenance and renewal of London underground infrastructure would be incorporated through three PPP contracts Under this agreement the Responsibility for stations, train operations, signaling and safety remained in the Public sector, being run by London Underground Limited, a new operating company set up for the purpose. It also had responsibility for determining service patterns and setting fares. Under this PPP project there were three private sectors companies which were called infracos namely Infraco BCV Bakerloo, Central, Victoria, Waterloo City. Infraco JNP Jubilee, Northern, Piccadilly. Infraco SSL Circle, District, East London, Hammersmith City, Metropolitan. To improve the Services and to ensure long-term assets management a 30 year contract was signed which is divided into 7.5 year segment. In this arrangement an Arbiter was also appointed whose role was to resolve the disputes between the London Under Ground Limited and an infaco regarding the payment and other issues. On December 31 2002 Tube Line acquired Infraco JNP and on April 2003 Metronet acquired the other two infracos.The PPP contract give legal ownership of London Underground infrastructure during the term of the contracting In July 2007 the work of modernization of London Underground Infrastructure was entrusted to Metronet BCV and Metronet SSL.and the fund was provided by the Government under PPP. But Metronet was unable to complete their task in the agreed time and estimated cost of bid. By March 2005 Metronet had not completed any of the eight stations due. Only 11 out of 35 stations were accepted as delivered by March and finally the London Underground Limited purchased 95% of Metrones outstaniding debt obligations from its private sector lenders in February 2008 rather than repaying this debt over the 30 years of the contract. The Department for Transport (DfT) made  £1.7 billion of grant available to help London Underground do so. Causes of Failure of this Debacle of PPP The following are some of the main reason for the debacle of this PPP contract. Poor Corporate Governance and Leadership structure of Metronet and tied Supply chain management Supplier was failed to give timely information to Metronet management about the costs against delivery. Ambiguities in the scope of the project and poor program management. Also it was found that it was unable to execute the the operation in the best possible way and lake of efficiencies in business administration activities. Conclusions From the aforesaid discussion on various prominent types of PPPs models we conclude that It is not always fruitful to enter to a PPP agreement .So the government should not enter into such contract without accurate and comprehensive assessment of the risk transferred to the private sector and a firm idea that what would constitute an appropriate price for taking such level of risk. If it does not transfer an appropriate level of risk to the private sector then it should not be availed. PPPs can be very helpful for the public service delivery if the underlying drawbacks are minimized and to minimize the risk associated with these models we must apply each model according to the type of problem we are solving. For instance if we need for Capital then BOT/BOO/Divestiture can be used. In case if we need for Expertise and Performance then Management Contract can be the best option. But if we need for Expertise only then Service Contract is the best option. Or if we are facing a complex pr oblem which can not be solved with one model then a combination of these models can be used. References www.ncppp.org/howpart/ppptypes.shtml Article by By Brig.Ahmad Riaz Siddiqi (Retd), X-Chief operating officer FIEDMC (Dawn Saturday, December 20, 2008) PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS Models and Trends in the European Union Authors: Andrea RENDA (Senior Research Fellow, CEPS) and Lorna SCHREFLER (Research Assistant, CEPS) India time.com http://www.cyfuture.com/disadvantages-of-outsourcing.htm http://www.investorwords.com The failure of Metronet REPORT BY THE COMPTROLLER AND AUDITOR GENERAL | HC 512 Session 2008-2009 5 June 2009 Department Of Management Sciences Ciit Islamabad

Chapter Summary of I Have Lived a Thousand Years, Growing Up in the Holocaust by Livia Bitton-Jackson :: essays research papers

Foreword: Elli Friedmann has returned 50 years later for a ceremony to the spot where she was once liberated by the American army. Living during the Holocaust, she has chosen to give us her story. Chapter 1-The City of My Dreams- Somorja, summer, 1943-March, 1944 Elli talks about daily life in her neighborhood. Her mother does not show any compassion for her. When Elli complains of this, her mother brings up excuses that are unconvincing. Elli believes her mother does not care for her and that her brother is the favorite. Hilter’s reoccurring radio broadcast give nightmares to Elli, whos family is Jewish. The nights when the Hungarian military police would come and stir trouble did not provide anymore comfort for Elli. One night, her brother, Bubi, comes home with news that Germany invaded Budapest, the town where he goes to school. But the next morning, there is no news in the headlines. The father sends him back to school. He learns the next day that a neighbor’s son who goes to school with Bubi has said the same. The day after, the newspapers scream the news of the invasion. Bubi arrives home, and the terror begins. Chapter 2- Hey, Jew Girl, Jew Girl - Somorja, March 25, 1944 Elli’s school has just closed. As she is leaving, a group of boys seem to be having a childish Nazi rally. She runs home and sobs for her normal life back. Chapter 3- The Tale of the Yellow Bicycle- Somorja, March 27, 1944 The â€Å"liquidation† process of the Jews in Elli’s town has begun. Everyone’s prized possessions must be brought to city hall, where they will also be registered. Elli has just gotten a new bike and does not want to give it up. After they come home, her father shows her and the rest of the family a spot where he has buried their most prized possessions. He tells her that he does not know who will survive. He then asks her if she will remember the spot. She yells that she does not want to be the only one to survive, and she does not want to remember. Chapter 4- The Tale of the Yellow Sun- Somorja, March 28, 1944 Every Jew must wear a yellow star and have a painted yellow star on their house. Elli does not leave the house for a week, and cannot believe the horrible things that have begun to surround her. There is an announcement that everyone will be receiving their school report cards and diplomas.

Technology: Friend or Foe? :: essays research papers

Technology is defined by dictionary.com as â€Å"The application of science, especially to industrial or commercial objectives† Determining whether this technology has helped or hindered our society, we must remember that it is not limited to computers and the internet. Technology has had a variety of faces over the last several thousand years of human existence. As man began to understand more and more about his environment, he began to use that knowledge to accomplish a practical purpose.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  We know from history books and stories passed from generation to generation that man gradually improved things as he discovered them. This is true from the invention of the wheel to the ancient Egyptians great pyramids. Had they not discovered the technology to accomplish these things, our American way of life would be vastly different today. The wheel led to the horse drawn carriage, which led Henry Ford to invent the automobile and the assembly line. Ford's Model T, the only auto Ford produced from 1910 to 1927, not only outsold every other car made for much of its product life, it outsold all the myriad other cars sold in the U.S. combined*. From those two inventions alone, a great improvement in travel and productivity was accomplished, not to mention the money. Today, we still manufacture automobiles and many other things in an assembly line due to its efficiency and effectiveness. Modern technology has robots to reduce the number of human operators required. Computer controls enhance the precision of the machinery used in these assembly lines to reduce flaws. This process continues to improve, but there are side effects.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Will Smith, a corporate trainer in the IT industry with 15 years experience said that â€Å"Without technology, many Americans would be without work today. The advancement of computers and the internet has created far more opportunities for new kinds of jobs. My company would not exist without it. Computers do fail, creating the job of pc repair for thousands, if not millions of people. Anytime you use equipment to improve things you need someone to maintain it, and therefore jobs are created.† The question was then posed, â€Å"What negative effects, if any, do you see resulting from the widespread use of technology?†. Mr Smith replied, â€Å"The internet in particular has encouraged laziness among many people. It also causes people to withdraw from social interaction because they can do everything they need from their home.

Should We Really Give Children the Vote? :: Exploratory Essays

Should We Really Give Children the Vote? Sixteen year old Vita Wallace is an activist for children’s rights. In her argument, â€Å"Give children the vote,† she attempts to show that an injustice has been made to citizens of the United States. Wallace’s major claim, or thesis (McFadden, 2003), is that citizens under the age of 18 shouldn’t be denied the right to vote on account of age. Rather, she argues, children should be allowed to vote at whatever age suits them individually. By saying individually, she is using a qualifier, words and phrases used to limit and modify the overgeneralization of claims (McFadden). It is important that Wallace uses the term individually, because she recognizes that an age limit would be inappropriate for some children. After this point, most of the essay is dedicated to her opinion on why it is important for children to vote. Wallace’s uses appeal to the reader’s values, also known as warrants (McFadden). The emotional pleas may cause the audi ence to stop and consider her logic, but lack of facts and evidence leaves the argument unconvincing. With her jumpy writing and scattered thoughts the argument is hard to read, and even harder to believe. Therefore, I found the essay to be unsuccessful in persuading my opinion. The logic and evidence used to support her major claim, known as grounds (McFadden) is hard to find. The strongest evidence in the whole essay is statistics of eligible adult voters. With this information, she points out that only 36-40 percent of eligible adults actually vote. However, 25 percent of the population is under the age of 18, leading to Wallace’s statement that â€Å"Although elected representatives are responsible for all of us, they are responsible to only a few of us† (Wallace, 1998, p. 146). This statement would be effective but Wallace loses her credibility at the end of the paragraph when she calls politicians and voters selfish. By doing this she is using a fallacy, statements based on poor logic and mistaken belief (Clark, p. 81). By saying they are selfish she is using an Ad Hominem argument, which is an attack on the person rather than the issue (Clark, 1998, p. 83). Throughout the essay Wallace develops many minor claims, which are secondary statements supporting the major claim (McFadden). Right away she discusses â€Å"Discriminatory laws† which prevent high school drop-outs from getting their driver’s licenses.

Ministers of Irish Education Essay

1. Since the foundation of the Irish Free State (1922) to the present day there have been 37 different ministers for education. Identify at least 4 of those ministers for education which you consider most significant. Critically evaluate the contribution they played in reforming the Irish Education Landscape. (50Marks) Today I will looked at 4 Irish Ministers of Education; John O’Sulllivan, Thomas Derrig, Donagh O’Malley and Ruairi Quinn and portray how I believe they contributed (and are contributing) hugely to the reform the Irish Education Landscape: 1. John M. O’Sullivan (Jan. 1926 – Mar. 1932) O’Sullivan was appointed to the Cabinet in 1926, serving under W. T. Cosgrave as Minister for Education. In 1926 a report from the Second National Programme Conference was presented to him as the Minister for Education. He accepted all proposals stated in the report to be recommended as a national curriculum. In 1926, he made Irish obligatory for registration as a Secondary School teacher & for ‘recognised’ (funded) schools. In 1926 under O’Sullivan, the School Attendance Act came into existence. It made it obligatory for all children between the age of 6 and 14 would attend school. O’Sullivan is also responsible for: Establishing the Commission on Technical Education in 1927 Setting up the Preparatory Colleges to train primary teachers in 1927 Introducing the Primary Certificate in 1929 As it became clear that many could not access suitable second level education discussions began on creating a continuation course to provide general education in a vocational style. The Vocational Education Act, 1930 was implemented by O’Sullivan. It reformed the technical education branch of the Department of Education and local Technical Education Boards. It introduced vocational schools, a new type of school with a greater emphasis on trade and commerce in courses. These courses were broken into continuation courses and traditional technical education courses. There were those who considered the system revolutionary and there were warnings of danger to faith and morals which could arise in the new multi denominational and co-educational schools to be provided. This was the state’s first attempt to take an active hand in establishing schools outside the power of the Roman Catholic Church. The Vocational Education Act was thee major ministerial achievement of the Minister. The act provided an avenue for a new approach to post primary education and to the introduction of the concept of education as a lifelong process. Here then was a new system which set out to educate through the medium of subjects themselves directly related to the world of work. It was not easily accepted. Education was regarded as the pursuit of abstract learning and the status of the educated person was almost in direct ratio to his/her inability to work with his/her hands. Even in today’s society, there is a still some stigmatism attached to attending a VEC school. However in reality such schools contribute so much to today’s society and as such Today we have 213 VEC second level schools and many further education, youthreach, traveller and prison education centres – a testament to O’Sullivan’s rein. 2. Thomas Derrig (Mar. 1932 – Sep. 1939) At the June 1927 general election he was elected to Dail Eireann as a Fianna Fail TD for Carlow–Kilkenny. In Eamon de Valera’s first government in 1932 Derrig was appointed Minister for Education. Derrig has been influential in cultivating of our education system – but not in a positive way: Derrig initiated a review of industrial and reformatory schools and the rules under the Children Act 1908, resulting in the critical 1936 Cussen Report, which he shelved. His lack of action was noted in 2009 when the Ryan Report examined the subsequent management of these â€Å"residential institutions†; Derrig was the first minister to seek a report that could have resulted in much-needed reforms. A call for public inquiry into industrial schools was rejected by Minister of Education. Thomas Derrig because â€Å"it would serve no useful purpose†. It has been suggested that he did not want to follow British law reforms in the 1920s and 1930s because of his strong anti-British views, and that Irish children had suffered needlessly as a result. Under Derrig’s rein, he not only effect teacher salaries, but also banned married female teachers from working. According to Diarmaid Ferriter (2004) in his book The Transformation of Ireland 1900 – 2000, the marriage ban imposed on female primary teachers from 1934 to 1958 seemed to attract little public comment, despite the fact that many untrained single teachers were replacing trained married female teachers. The INTO was not vocal in objecting on the basis of gender equality, and whatever opposition existed in the union was overshadowed by its campaigns on wage levels. This was a sign of the times in my opinion, where women had very little power or voice. It is probably only in the past few decades that this move to ban female teachers has really been viewed as scandalous and backwards. While the rest of Europe moved forward with education reform after World War Two, Derrig resisted such reviews. Derrig’s narrow mindedness cost us – academically and for so many young innocent children –physically and emotionally. 3. Donogh O’Malley (July 1966 – Mar. 1968) Following Fianna Fail’s return to government following the 1965 general election O’Malley joined the cabinet as Minister for Health. He spent just over one year in this position before he was appointed Minister for Education, a position where he will be forever remembered for his dynamism as a minister. Having succeeded another dynamic young minister, Patrick Hillary, O’Malley acted swiftly to introduce the recommendations that were made in an official report regarding education. Shortly after he was appointed he announced that from 1969 all schools up to Intermediate Certificate level would be free and that free buses would bring students from rural area to the nearest school. O’Malley seems to have made this decision himself without consulting other ministers, however, he did discuss it with Lemass. Jack Lynch, who as Minister for Finance had to find the money to pay for it, was certainly not consulted and was dismayed at the announcement. In spite of this O’Malley’s proposals were hugely popular with the public and it was impossible for the government to go back on its word. As minister O’Malley also extended the school transport scheme and commissioned the building of new non-denominational comprehensive and community schools in areas where they were lacking. He also introduced Regional Technical Colleges (RTCs), now called Institutes of Technology, in areas where there was no third level college in proximity. The best example of this successful policy is Limerick, now a university, where O’Malley is credited with taking the steps to ensure the university came into existence. His plan to merge Trinity College, Dublin and University College Dublin aroused huge controversy and was not successful, despite being supported by his cabinet colleague Brian Lenihan. Access to third level education was also extended as the old scholarship system was replaced by a system of means-tested grants which gave easier access to less well-off students. Because of O’Malley, the working class and middle class of Ireland are far better. Four decades on from the 1960s and we have a 4 fold increase in retention rates, with 82% retention of students to Leaving Cert. However I argue the validity of the grants system that he hoped put in place. As Niamh Bhreathnach commented in the Irish Independent in September 2002, O’Malley would be turning in his grave if he knew how the grants system was been exploited at that time. As the students of Ireland fight to hold onto the grants system as we know it, I personally feel it’s a pity that O’Malley didn’t introduce a student loan system like England’s system. It certainly would cost the Irish Taxpayer less. 4. Ruairi Quinn (2011 – Present) Whilst still in office, I believe that R. Quinn has and will continue to significantly contribute in the reforming the Irish Education Landscape. Within one year, Ruairi Quinn has shown how an energetic Minister can drive the education agenda and push for change. In April 2012 the report on The Forum on Patronage and Pluralism was published. In the Primary Sector, The fact that 96% of primary schools in Ireland are under denominational patronage is unique among developed countries. The group has advised that the first phase in divesting schools should involve 258 schools in 18 dioceses across 47 areas. How the Minister will carry out this task remains to be seen. However he is determined to carry this out and I believe as such it will be one of the most significant changes in our educational landscape since O’Malley’s introduction of free schooling. The 8 subject Junior Certificate currently being introduced by Quinn will change the landscape of learning for our students. I hope that with this introduction, I can as a teacher continue to use active learning activities in the classroom and concentrate on lifelong learning rather than the system of rote learning that exists at the minute. The minister also announced in May 2012 that Chinese will become a subject in the Leaving Certificate and he also announced an optional short course on Chinese language and culture which will be made available as part of the new Junior Cert cycle programme from 2014. As Quinn’s ministry continues to push on with the ideology of a 2 year teaching course, I am glad I am completing this course in 2012 and not in 2014. While I understand the ideology of this move, I do not believe it will improve teaching standards in Ireland. I believe that scholar students (regardless of their vocation) will look at the time it takes to become a teacher and the monetary rewards of it (which unfortunately is on the decrease) and the fact they could have for instance a medical degree in the same amount of time with brighter economic aspirations. It is my sincere hope that such visions do not come through. Today I have looked at 4 Irish Ministers of Education; John O’Sulllivan, Thomas Derrig, Donagh O’Malley and Ruairi Quinn and I truly believe they contributed (and are contributing) hugely to the reform the Irish Education Landscape.

Mystery of Love

When somebody talks about love, commonly, all human beings can relate and respond. We all know that love purely exist, so as Its mystery is still present. We know what love is, but we in our self cannot define It. Many have tried to give the meaning of love, but no one can provide the true definition of the word that Is always present everywhere yet remains as an undefined word to anyone. They say that love Is essential to people, we can acquire and give love to others.Being In love Is a magical leaning that everybody would want to have. Love Is so priceless, that even the riches person In the world cannot buy. Money can't buy love, but loves worth Is greater than money. For me, when you love someone, you must show to that person how much you care, trust and understand him. Love Is between Individuals, not only for one self. It Is not selfish, you must be willing to share love to others. Love Is not about the physical appearance, this is the reason why we can't see love, we can only feel it.We don't love just because of beauty, there is a more enough reason why we love someone. We can't explain how enchanted it is to be caught by love, we only know that the feeling is extraordinary. We must never find a reason in loving someone, for its clear that love haven't got a constant meaning so as it doesn't have a distinct reason. I believe that in love, there are no wrong decisions, there only exist wrong persons. We must never regret if someone leave or hurt us, it is just an eye opener hat the person we loved is not the right one for us.There is always a right person that is suited for us, we must learn to wait and not to rush things. We can define love on our own interpretation, that is why is so magical. The mystery of love is not yet unfolded, it continuously retains intriguing. Four lettered words with lots of different meaning and interpretation that varies on each individual. Love is everywhere around us, we must learn to wait until love found and catch us lik e there is no more escaping.

Requiment Essay

Healthcare United aims to be the number one provider of Healthcare professionals in Australia. Healthcare United is an organisation that currently employs 1,500 Healthcare professionals with two sites, in Victoria and NSW and seeks to expand its operations and open another office in Hobart. As an organisation our vision is to provide: The best qualified and trained human resources available for clients. Up-to-date technology in all services for both clients and staffs. Innovative best practices and procedures from both inside and outside the organisation. Best facilities and procedures in a competitive environment. To address the future needs of organisation, Healthcare United aims to recruit a future 500 or the best possible healthcare professionals available, in three stages, over the next five years. 2. Executive Summary Healthcare United is a healthcare provider and currently employs 1,500 Healthcare professionals with two sites, in Victoria and NSW. They recently developed a new strategic plan that involves opening another office at Hobart. Part of their HR plan is to employ 500 workers in three stages. An analysis and review of Healthcare United’s 2000 and newly developed 2010 policies and procedures for recruitment and selection have been conducted in this report. Conclusions have been made from the comparison between the 2000 Healthcare United recruitment and selection guidelines and the newly developed 2010 Healthcare United recruitment and selection policy and relevant legislation. Recommendations have been made for the changes necessary to improve procedures and the overall process of Healthcare United’s recruitment and selection policies and procedures, based on current research. 3. Purpose of Report The purpose of this report is to review analysis and compare Healthcare United recruitment and selection policies and procedures for the year 2000 and 2010 for the following 5 key areas: Timeframes Personnel involved Documentation Training Monitoring and evaluation Conclusions have been made from the comparison between the 2000 and the newly developed 2010 recruitment and selection policies and procedures. Recommendations have been made for changes to the 2010 policies and procedures to improve the newly developed recruitment and selection policies and procedures at Healthcare United. 4. Analysis and Review: Healthcare United 2000 and 2010 Recruitment and Selection Policies and Procedures The following is the analysis and review of 2000 and 2010 recruitment and selection policies and procedures: Key Area 2000 2010 Timeframe The whole selection process from: analyse the vacant position position description lodge an advertisement short-list applicants interview preparation interview applicants reference checks Total: 35 to 51 days The whole selection process from: analyse the vacant position position description lodge an advertisement short-list applicants interview preparation interview applicants reference checks Total: 14 to 21 days maximum. Personnel Involved HR department will assume major responsibility for the recruitment and selection of staff, the training of required personnel and supporting documentation. Managers will support the managers in role. Managers will assume major responsibility for the recruitment and selection of staff, the training of required personnel and supporting documentation. HR department will support the managers in role. Documentation All vacant and new positions will be advertised internally and externally for ten working days unless special exemptions apply and be advertised online and in leading national newspaper. All positions must first be advertised internally for a minimum of ten working days in the HU newsletter before being advertised externally for a period of ten working days. Training HR department will hold the training for all new employees. Manager will hold the training for all new employees. Monitoring and Evaluation HR department will monitor and evaluate each new employee about their work performance. Managers will monitor and evaluate each new employee and report it to HR department about their work performance. It can be noted from both the 2000 and 2010 Healthcare United’s recruitment and selection policy and procedures make no reference to all relevant legislation for the recruitment and selection processes. However 2010 policy and procedures briefly mention that Healthcare United is an equal employment opportunity (EEO) employer. 5. Conclusions and Recommendations 5. 1 Conclusions It can be concluded from the analysis and review of 2000 ; 2010 Healthcare United policies and procedures for recruitment and selection processes that 2010 policies and procedures are superior to those of 2000 in all key areas in term of efficiency and effectiveness of the recruitment and selection processes. For example, 2010 policy and procedure envisage a timeframe of maximum 3 weeks which is for efficient in selecting the best candidate when compared to the 2000 policy and procedures which specify selection processes requiring 35-51 days. Also, 2000 policy and procedure require participant of a large number of HR personnel when compare to 2010 where only the department managers are principally involved with the HR a support role only at all stages of recruitment and selection processes. 5. 2 Recommendations It is recommended that the newly develop 2010 policies and procedures for recruitment and selection should be adopted by Healthcare United for its recruitment and selection processes for future employment needs. However, the 2010 policies and procedures should include the provisions of legislative Acts, such as Anti- discrimination and the latest individual relation laws and regulations in addition to the EEO laws already included for the recruitment and selection processes.

Foreign Workers

A very good afternoon I bid to the House Speaker, Honourable Adjudicators, worthy opponents, precise timekeeper and members of the parliament. Now the time has come for me as the first speaker from the opposition team to stand here to speak on the motion â€Å"FOREIGN WORKERS HARM THE COUNTRY†. But before I proceed with the first argument on the motion. I would like to give the opposition definition of the keywords in the motion. ‘Foreign workers’ is defined as a person who works in a country other than the one of which he or she is a citizen.According to Oxford Dictionary, ‘harm’ is defined as physically injure, which in this case, foreign workers causes harm to malaysians citizens. Therefore, we,the opposition define today’s motion as â€Å"FOREIGN WORKERS HARM THE COUNTRY†. Ladies and Gentlemen, Before I proceed with my first argument, allow me to state our stand regarding the motion today. We, the opposition, strongly say that FOREIG N WORKERS HARM THE COUNTRY. As the first speaker, I will speak on ‘citizens’ and ‘unemployment’ factors. My second speaker will touch on ‘†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. and ‘†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. ’ factors. Whereas my third speaker will do the rebuttals. Members of the House, As the first speaker, allow me to convince you that ‘FOREIGN WORKERS HARM THE COUNTRY PHYSICALLY AND FINANCIALLY’. According to Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, foreign workers in Malaysia numbered 3. 5 million as of mid-2011, comprising 1. 5 million legal foreign workers 2. 0 illegals. He also mentioned that Malaysians relies heavily on foreign workers to help out in the construction and plantation sectors.Most of the workers are sourced from Indonesia, India, Bangladesh and Nepal. However, ladies and gentlemen, what happens if these foreign workers become unemployed? Won’t they resort to crime? Even ou r police force will be and are still unable to cope with the situation. We are in dire straits as too many unemployed foreigners are a social menace and yet the government intends to take in more foreign workers. S. Vidyanathan, an assemblyman from Barisan Nasional actually mentioned that foreign workers behave inappropriately and made residents around them felt uncomfortable.He also mentioned that â€Å"They often stay in big groups and have been seen taking baths using water pipes in front of their houses and wearing only towels or underwear. They loiter around playgrounds and other public places where they hug and kiss in public . † As you all know, ladies and gentlemen, this type of behaviour is not acceptable in Malaysia because of our culture and religion. This proved that foreign workers promote bad cultures specially to the youngsters. Ladies and Gentlemen, A lot of studies had been conducted on foreign worker issues in Malaysia and they had been discussed in various dimensions.Yet, negative impacts which come along such as social problems were commited by foreign workers. For instance, spread of diseases, theft, cheating, roberry and even killing. Ladies and Gentlemen, The unemployment rate can be defined as the number of people actively looking for a job divided by the labour force. Changes in unemployment depend mostly on inflows made up of non-employed people starting to look for jobs, of employed people who lose their jobs and look for new ones and of people who stop looking for employment. According to Labour Force Indicator Malaysia, it shows that the unemployment ate in Malaysia increases from 2012 to 2013 with the percentage from 2. 8% to 3. 2%. Foreign labour is the main factor that causes over population. And as you all know, ladies and gentlemen, overpopulation cause many unemployed. Now, foreigners enter our country easily by sea and land, of course to avoid immigration and customs authorities and to take our jobs. Members of the Ho use, For your information, the unemployment rate in Malaysia is considered low compared to the early years such as 1986 where the unemployment rate reached as high as 7. 6%.Foreign workers from Indonesia, China, Myanmar, Vietnam, Philippines and many other countries enter Malaysia and fill in the vacant jobs in Malaysia causing job sectors to decrease in the number of jobs available for our own labor force causing labor force in Malaysia to increase in the unemployment rate. Please consider about this Mister Prime Minister, why would you do this to our own country? So there you are, ladies and gentlemen, I have given you strong argument why we, the government say FOREIGN WORKERS HARM THE COUNTRY. With that, I rest my case.

How gender Expectations Affect Both Paid and Unpaid Providers of Essay

How gender Expectations Affect Both Paid and Unpaid Providers of Health Care - Essay Example Women care takers have overwhelmed the nursing realm and has taken a dominant role within medicine. The concept of women as workers is a relatively new phenomenon in the last century or so. Since the beginning of time, it was deemed that women should stay home and be "child bearers." Because of the fiscal pressures of the century, women are now encouraged, and some times coerced, to join the work force. Because it out the ethical norm, sex discrimination has surfaced to protest such radical changes. Discrimination has manifested in the form of gender wages, uncooperation from opposite sex counterparts, overlooked for job positions, and so forth. Women are seen inferior to the male dominated workforce. "This invisibility persists at all levels, from the family to the nation. Though they share the same space, women and men live in different worlds." Albeit these discriminations and persecutions have arisen, fierce political measures have been taken by western governments to mitigate such abuses and maltreatment. As far as women as nursing or physicians, particular in Canada, women are still subject to types of discrimination. Men are perceived physically and emotionally stronger to take on duress of any type in contrast to women.

Up to the thing u write Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Up to the thing u write - Essay Example Foxfire has become a hero for the people working in atrocious conditions and even puts his own life in danger when it comes to savings lives of his own group and people. Otter is fascinated by his uncle’s stories about America and wants to accompany his father and his uncle to the country. Otter thinks very highly of his uncle. His uncle talks about the social upheavals in China. He then talks about his work in America, making himself a legendary figure in China. Listening to his stories Otter thinks very highly of his uncle. He thinks that his uncle is brave and heroic to have this opportunity and to lead it. What he doesn’t realize till he steps on the land of America that his uncle was very humble to the grueling circumstances around. Uncle foxfire in fact states his acceptance of the situation in the statement above. It is so true that there are only two ways to deal with a situation at hand. Either accept the change and adapt yourself to it or change the situation as per your requirement. Initially the statement may sound heroic but as we go on reading further it is very tragic to know that the heroic spirit has bowed to the inevi tability of the situation. Only in last few chapters uncle Foxfire leaves up to the heroic spirit he has within

Ventur and Competition Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ventur and Competition - Essay Example States is the Federal Sherman Act 1890, with each state having reciprocal antitrust provisions effectively mirroring the Sherman Act (Hovenkamp, 2005). The essence of the Sherman Act is the prohibition of agreements that unreasonably restrain trade, monopolies, attempted monopolies and conspiracies to monopolize (Sherman Act 1890, section 1). The relevant enforcement body is the Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. Department of Justice, state attorneys and general or private parties affected by any proposed anti-competitive measure (Posner, 2001). If a joint venture or partnership agreement is found to fall within any of the Sherman Act 1890 prohibitions, the penalties for violation include the following: The main reason that healthcare joint ventures can fall foul of the antitrust provisions under the Sherman Act is that often the partners will be competitors within the same market with the overriding purpose being to pool resources to maximise economic benefits (Elhauge & Geradin, 2007). However, if additional to this, the venture partners continue to compete outside of the joint venture agreement, the antitrust legislation imposes restrictions on conduct between the partners (Hovenkamp, 2005). Secondly, one of the partners in the venture may have market power or the result of the venture will be to increase market power, which can be anti-competitive if the partners to the venture are then enabled to set prices above a competitive level. Furthermore, in considering the proposed joint venture the company should consider the following four issues in particular: In considering compliance with Sherman Act provisions, it is vital for the company to consider the relevant market (Posner, 20010. The relevant market comprises the relevant service market and relevant geographic market (Elhauge & Geradin, 2007). The service market is where the market of services is â€Å"reasonably interchangeable† and the relevant geographic market is â€Å"the area of effective

Social Networking's Impact on UK Business Dissertation

Social Networking's Impact on UK Business - Dissertation Example The structure of social networking allows an individual to have his or her own profile, friends, discussion groups, posts blogs, and more.The widespread usage of social networking amongst masses elucidates the escalating popularity of social networking on a constant basis. It also shed the light on the fact that consumers profoundly calculate upon the social networking services before making a decision for their purchase of any product or service. However, several enterprises have become ignorant to the fact that the sales profoundly comes under the impact of the usage of social networking services (Donoghue, 2010). On the other hand, people, businesses, and entrepreneurs are inclining towards the usage of social networking, it is imperative that the social networking is leaving an indelible imprint on to the thoughts and perceptions on masses. Therefore, it provides the researcher to conduct a wide range of investigations in order to determine the impact, whether negative or positiv e upon the business community in the UK. SMART Objectives The primary aims and objectives that urge the researcher to carry out the research analysis come under enlightenment below. However, these aims and objectives would enable the researcher to have a vital, evident, and extensive understanding about the social networking and its impact on businesses in UK. To determine the diverse and different types of social networking aspects To classify the trends and occurrence of the natural disasters To identify the impact (both negative and positive) of social networking on business, particularly the UK business sector To categorize and discover the arenas (such as marketing, employment, Corporate Social Responsibility and many more) on which the social networking abscond an impact on business in UK In order to compose a comprehensive and systematic analysis, the hypothesis statement is imperative that would help the researcher to accomplish the above-mentioned goals. In this regard, the research statement has come under design, which articulates, "How social networking has had an impact on businesses in the UK?" Literature Review Social networking is one of the arenas that lay key emphasis on fabricating the social associations amongst people who share similar interests, backgrounds and intend to develop own societies (Muniz and Schau, 2007, pp. 186-202). Besides, the social networking provides a choice of selection for the people to share their thoughts, events, activities, and interests within a particular developed network. Facebook, Twitter, Ask-a-peer, LinkedIn, Skyrock, Tagged, and numerous others are some of the popular and widely used social networking sites in the European region (Liebowitz, 2007, pp. 11-15). With the increased employment of the social networking, the impact that it creates on business has become a common and universal concern for the scholars and experts in various fields (Shirky, 2011, pp. 39-46). Therefore, research with respect to the impact has already come under initiation that even envelop several other aspects of impact of social networking such as privacy, social investment, youth culture, education and several others (Liebowitz, 2007, pp. 11-15). According to one of the very recent research study, it has come to notice that more than half of

Liable or Not Liable Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Liable or Not Liable - Essay Example , EcoCath made according to me, a full disclosure of their business position with regard to products of interests, marketing strategies projected income and other linkages with potential investor companies. All this were at the disposal of Medsystems to factor in, investigate the extent of their efficacy before getting into a contract with EcoCath (courtcases.net, 2000). In their representations preceding the contract, EcoCath table all the material facts to Medsystems. These included the fact that the financial projections were not real and were a mere assumptions made as the bench marks for the business (courtcases.net, 2000). In the EcoCath prospects delivered to Medsystems the position of the company in relation to capitalization, future plans, financial data and collaborative agreements were vivid (courtcases.net, 2000). The collaborative agreement can plays a pivotal role in EcoCath’s defense, this is because in it was the cautioned by EcoCath that the partnership enter ed into with other investors will be risky and that assurance could not be given to these strategic partners regarding the agreements reached. It is the fair to believe that Medsystems were operating at the apex of information when they decided to sign the agreement (courtcases.net, 2000). The innocence of EcoCath is also corroborated by the fact that in their response later of agreement, they unequivocally stated that their persuasion to enter into the partnership was occasioned not by the EcoCaths prospects but by their physical assessment of the company any consent from their technocrats. They also acknowledged the enormous risks involved in share investments and that in the event of loss they will bear the circumstances (courtcases.net, 2000). Medsystems’ suit

Marketing Plan Development Blog Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Marketing Plan Development Blog - Assignment Example The installation of efficient telecommunication system at the companys offices ensures that even at night, the machine generated reply is sent to the consumer. It assures him/ her that the responsible personnel will attend to the inquiry when they report to work. The company also has its own suppliers and has leased out quarries for obtaining its raw materials. This ensures all times the supply be less than the demand. As a result of a pre-arranged deal with the suppliers, the production costs are low for the company translating to a pocket friendly cost of the same to the consumers (Valentin, 2004). With low prices, the company can be competitive in the market. Due to the businesss young age, it becomes difficult to acquire loans and other financial assistance from financial institutions(Valentin, 2004). The requirement by these facilities requiring a certain cash flow for a company to be eligible for such services has hindered the growth of the company. It has resulted in the company losing out on big tenders requiring large capital to facilitate the consumer needs. The increase in mortgage offers and good financial times in the country has resulted in a boom, in the real estate sector. Thus with enough resources and efficient services it will be easier to acquire new markets for the products being offered by the company such as sand and gravel plus the offer on transportation of the same to the construction site. The external factors that threaten the success and future of the company among others include political and legal interference by third parties(Valentin, 2004). The government has set up environmental agencies that have become critical of open quarries being left after mining. Thus, it has been gazette that such sites be filled after the quarrying seizes subjecting the company to additional operation costs. Another threat is the emergence of other construction trucking companies which have flooded

Bbc story Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Bbc story - Essay Example However, due to the advancement in technology, there are many options for people to select from the sources of news. Besides TV, radio, and newspapers, there is now internet which provides the latest news at any given time of the day free of cost. This increasing trend has forced the companies to focus just as much on their online presence. The newspaper industry is losing audience to the internet as people are no longer willing to pay for news that they can easily access online for free. Thus, in order to survive, the news companies are not spending big amount to maintain audience both online and offline. A different strategy was adopted by all three of the news companies to compete with each other. BBC was quick in coming up with an online strategy given its vast audience. The company soon announced its decision to go â€Å"digital† under the leadership of Entwistle. The introduction of iPlayer proved to be quite successful both, for the network as well as the VOD market (Andrews, 2012). The main strategy of the company was to focus on vision, audio and music, and digital future media division (Andrews, 2012). The global audience for BBC online is estimated to be 30 million (Horrocks, 2012). Guardian, on the other hand, completely embraced the online media and decided to become â€Å"a digital-first organization† in 2011 (The Guardian, 2011). The company announced that it will be posting complete material online and increase its investment in maintaining audience online as it is the future’s demand. The company is now focusing on reaching out to more people through internet and mobile phones and make efforts to improve its digital services since the entire newspaper industry has been suffering due to this major shift in use preferences (The Guardian, 2011). The guardian is presently the fifth most visited news site in the world with over 30 million online

Human resource management, human resource development, training system Essay

Human resource management, human resource development, training system - Essay Example They are not designed for skills that cannot be systematically understood. â€Å"Soft† skills like customer service could be improved by training cycles because, while it is not a technical skill, certainly repetition can benefit it, measurement can occur over time by looking at customer service responses, etc. Even some interpersonal skills might be training cycle-appropriate. But a skill like being able to select stocks based on an economic intuition or advanced theory is not likely to be a training cycle approach, since the approach cannot be systematically understood, broken down, conveyed or put into a cycle. The training cycle design, at its basis, is a four-step process: 1. The training needs of the organisation are analysed and identified. A training gap is thus examined and enumerated: The gap between the organisation's means and goals. 2. The design of the training programme itself. 3. Implementation of the training. 4. Evaluation of that training. Evaluation of the training determines more weaknesses in the organisation as well as discovers new inefficiencies in the process which then leads back to analysing and identifying need training needs, ad infinitum. Many design techniques are helpful in creating a working training cycle program. Pre-defined inventories of tools and skills, either defined by the organisation or defined by industry standards writ large, can guide design. â€Å"One organization wanted to develop a competency for all its information technology employees that would serve as the foundation for employee development, performance management, and career pathing. When examining the options for developing the model, the usual methods were thought of first: surveys, focus groups, subject matter expert interviews, and organization records. However, it was suggested that IT competencyneeds are not really that different across different organisations. Ninety percent of IT skills required in one company will be required in anotherâ⠂¬  (Arnold et al, 2000). In fact, most industries have well-understood pre-established job sets. It is true that, if the company were to recreate theirs from the ground up, it would likely be highly optimized for their company's needs. But unless HR has the money and time to reinvent the wheel, adopting a pre-existing inventory then eliminating skills that obviously are not relevant and adding those that are is likely to be far more efficient. Further, the design process itself can be made more efficient: While some training elements might heavily impinge upon the workers' needs and require a lot of their feedback, some are just technical changes or improvements that workers not only desire but in any respect are not onerous impositions (Arnold et al, 2000, 24-25). The SME pool can be limited to only a few experts. The Internet itself is a wonderful tool to reduce training cycle time (Bigdoli, 2004). Implementation It is well known that training cycle approaches don't take into ac count the full, rich complexity of an organisation (Koster, 2002). For one thing, training gaps are not always negative. There may be untapped strengths (Christie, 2011). Training cycles can be

Product service system Essay Example for Free

Product service system Essay More and more researchers, institutes and programmes have paid attention to product-service ystems (PSSes) in the last decade because PSS integrates tangible artefact and intangible service to achieve sustainability, improve enterprise competitiveness, and meet customer needs better. In order to respond to the industrial trend towards PSS and frame the related research, the state-of-the-art of PSS research and development are reported. Furthermore, in order to integrate fragmental PSS solutions, this paper proposes a framework for product-service lifecycle management (PSLM) and technologies of PSS development. So, four categories are focused on: review of PSS, esearch about PSS development, a framework for PSLM, and technologies for PSLM (modular product-service development and ontology-based productservice knowledge expression and reuse). The preliminary solution of the implementation roadmap and technologies for PSLM which need to be perfected is proposed to lay a basis for further development and application of PSS for the benefit of industries. Keywords: product-service systems (Psses); product-service lifecycle management; PSS development; modular product-service development 1. Introduction Since the early 1990s, the driver in our economy has been changing from production f material goods to product-service offers based on knowledge and information (Roy and Baxter 2009). The service proportion of output and profits in manufacturing enterprises are increasing. It has become an important trend in the manufacturing industry that service is used to enhance the competitiveness of businesses as well as an important source of values (Sheehan 2000, Mont 2003). There are mainly two manifestations, the first is manufacturing companies are more and more focused on the service in the design or development phase; the second is manufacturers xpanding their activities to the entire lifecycle of the physical products. As a response to this trend, more and more enterprises are beginning to take this service-oriented model of manufacturing, and there are already a lot of successful examples. Rolls Royce offers Total Care Package and Power by the Hour rather than transterring ownership ot the gas turbine engine.

Policy on Refugees and Integration in Costa Rica

Policy on Refugees and Integration in Costa Rica COSTA RICAN GOVERNMENT POLICY ON REFUGEE AID AND INTEGRATION INTRODUCTION: THE AMBIGUOUS STATUS OF THE REFUGEE AND COSTA RICA The problem of the refugee originates as a peculiarly twentieth century phenomenon. The displacement of peoples from the very borders that delineate states presented a historical challenge that threatened the integrity and the essence of the latter. As the philosopher Giorgio Agamben abstracts the pertinence of this problem: Every time refugees no longer represent individual cases but rather a mass phenomenon (as happened between the two wars, and has happened again now), both these organizations and the single states have proven, despite the solemn evocations of the inalienable rights of man, to be absolutely incapable not only of resolving the problem but also simply of dealing with it adequately.[1] For Agamben, this inadequacy of the treatment of the refugee problem, despite the international consensus on the existence of the human rights of the refugee, is intimately tied to the theoretical shortcomings of the notion of the Nation-State itself; there is a consistent rupture in t he functionality of the Nation State when confronted with the anomaly of the refugee, i.e., when a subject is separated from his/her state, this subject becomes a disturbing remainder that other states find it difficult to account for. Thus, insofar as the refugee denotes a certain failure of the Nation State to protect its citizens/non-citizens, the case of the refugee denotes the limit of the State. Nevertheless, despite the tension between the notions of the refugee and the state that ground their relationship, there is an attentiveness to this problematic (evinced in Agambens own remark), demonstrated by the general consciousness of the existence of the refugee. Hence, regardless of any discerned policy inadequacies, there still exists a concerted effort to address the problem. The success of various refugee policies certainly may be evaluated, e.g., as with Agambens negative evaluation. In the case of Costa Rica, its treatments of the refugee crises that began in 1980s Central America was an example of some moderate successes, or at least, the desired mobilization of a states capabilities via governmental policy towards the refugee cause. However, this mobilization encountered its own distinct problems, over-determined (following Agambens abstraction of the problem) by the irregular status of the refugee him/herself. The successes and failures of Costa Ricas refugee policy is a particularly significant case study for numerous reasons. To the degree that there was a concerted effort from the Costa Rican officials to alleviate the refugee crisis, the shortcomings relate not to Costa Ricas negligence of this crisis (thusly indicating the direction of an evaluation of this policy in terms of a general apathy on the part of Costa Rica), but the opposite: it is this very effort that provides a compelling case for an analysis of a refugee policy in terms of its affectivity and its limits. That is, Costa Ricas attempt to rectify their refugee problem, rather than ignore it or deal with it in a manner that undermines the notions of the rights of man, provides an excellent paradigmatic case for the possible indexing of refugee policy. It is because of this very commitment to alleviating the problem that Costa Rica, despite any subsequent further critiques regarding the details of their refugee policy, is recognized by the international community as having advanced a fairly successful policy in regards to refugees. As Tanya Bysok notes Costa Rica is often cited as a model for refugee settlement.[2] However, this is not to suggest that the Costa Rican approach is flawless. Whilst some policies of the Costa Ricans have been recognized as effective by social scientists, this praise does not diminish the evident gaps in the Costa Rican policy. In this paper we shall examine the Costa Rican treatment of the refugee and attempt to understand how the refugee was integrated/or non-integrated into Costa Rican society. This analysis will be concerned with Costa Ricas approach; however, whilst there was a clear Costa Rican governmental policy, a significant factor in the Costa Rican case is the large presence of foreign organ izations that were encouraged to participate in a possible refugee solution. Thus, because of the Costa Rican openness to a diversity of aid organizations and volunteers offering support, the qualitative analysis of the success/failures of the Costa Rican approach cannot merely be attributed to the Costa Rican government itself. Whilst this encouragement of international participation may be logically viewed as an autonomous gesture of the Costa Rican government, it can also be construed as Costa Ricas self-acknowledgement of having been fundamentally overstretched in terms of its capabilities to handle the problem. Secondly, this analysis shall be supplemented with an anonymous questionnaire of former refugees in Costa Rica, in order to introduce a non-theoretical personal discourse within the parameters of our text. The method of the questionnaire is placed into the paper to act as a balancing point with the theoretical evaluation. The emphasis on the notion of testimony, a form of empiricism all its own, forwards an account of the Costa Rican policy that evaluates the countrys treatment of refugees from a theoretical standpoint, while also acknowledging the power and significance of such a testimony. COSTA RICAN REFUGEE INTEGRATION ANALYSIS The genesis of Costa Ricas refugee problem may be preliminarily abstracted as a matter of geopolitical positioning. Costa Rica occupied a hazardous place within Central America in the 1980s. The relative stability of Costa Rica was contrasted by the neighboring conflicts in El Salvador, Panama, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras: The 1980s evinced a certain explosion of such geopolitical and ideological tensions in Central America, from which Costa Rica was spared. As Martha Honey notes, the Costa Rica of the 1980s â€Å"appeared to be an oasis of tranquility†[3] It is this status of a certain oasis in Central America, that evidently yielded Costa Ricas refugee problem: as a stable nation, it represented the destination of choice for refugees seeking to avoid war in their native lands. Costa Ricas stability as a source for refugees has continued in the time period since the beginning of the 1980s. Yet the refugee that Costa Rica encounters now is substantially different: Refuge es coming into Costa Rica today tend no longer to be from Central America but instead the vast majority are from Colombia. Many are middle-class, urban professionals.[4] Thus, by no means is the refugee in Costa Rica a homogeneous figure. The wars across Central America in the 1980s that led to such displacement are no longer a significant factor in present Costa Rican refugee policy. The Costa Rican encounter with the phenomenon of the refugee begins in 1980 with increasing hostilities in the neighboring country of El Salvador. The immediate reaction of Costa Ricas treatment of this refugee influx distinguished itself from other nations such as Honduras. Whilst Honduras policy favored the internment of the Salvadorian refugees in camps, Costa Rica from the outset emphasized the process of making the refugee self-sufficient; they sought to sever any dependency of the refugee on the state apparatus itself, while simultaneously integrating the refugee into Costa Rican society. These two approaches immediately evince a lucid difference in treatment. In the case of Honduras, this treatment may be viewed as an isolationist approach, insofar as the site of the camp becomes the home of the refugee it does not represent a zone of inclusion, but rather one of suspension moreover, it is an implicit acknowledgment of Honduras government inability to deal with the phenomeno n of the refugee, placing the refugee in a certain no-mans land, as it waits for the conflict in the home country to cease. In contrast, the Costa Rican emphasis on autonomy and self-sufficiency denotes the acceptance of the refugee immediately into its boundaries. We can abstract this difference in terms of a synchronous thinking and a diachronous thinking. In the case of Costa Rica, the policy does not introduce the phenomenon of two times, i.e., waiting for the war to stop rather, the interruption of the refugee experience is directly addressed, through a minimization of this interruption that is a policy of refugee inclusion in Costa Rica. On the other hand, in the Honduran approach, two times are articulated, a wartime and a non-war time. There is no possible mediation between the times; there is only a case of transition and thus, a passivity on the part of the government that is then transferred to the refugee him/herself this interruption that is the refugee event determines the entire Honduran policy. In essence, Costa Rica attempted to establish the continuity of the refugees’ life, allowing for the possibility of a normalcy to remain in the face of a crisis. Such initial successes of the Costa Rican programme may be attributed to a certain history of human rights discourse that emerges in the country, i.e., that Costa Rica was conducive to internationalism in its support of UN programmes and its own creation of international approaches. This historiographical element is significant to understanding the immediate difference of Costa Rica from its neighbors, as it stresses a historical Costa Rican commitment to human rights. As Alison Brysk notes, Costa Rica qualifies as a global good Samaritan because its record of human rights promotion is enduring and multifaceted, and it makes a meaningful contribution to globally significant initiatives.[5] Hence, Costa Ricas Good Samaritan status is derived from its fidelity to such initiatives on both a regional and global level. Among its contributions, Costa Rica was involved in the peace negotiations that ended three regional civil wars, while also functioning as the seat for the Inter-American C ourt of Human Rights of the Organization of American States (OAS). On the international level, Costa Rica was involved with international organizations such as serving at the initial prepatory conference for the founding of the United Nations, while also initiating the UN Childerns Fund. These historical contributions of Costa Rica may be construed as establishing a certain tradition within Costa Rica that made it more receptive to the specific demands of the refugee influxes that began in the 1980s. Thus, from an ideological perspective, there was nothing in the Costa Rican state ideology that would be adverse to the refugee; rather, the ideology was committed to human rights from its outset. This tradition may help to understand the initial successes of the Costa Rican programme. In the initial stages of the refugee problem in the 1980s, because of such an international tradition of Costa Rican policy, there was no shortage in the country of foreign and international refugee organizations that participated in the alleviation of the crisis. As Basok summarizes these contributions: A number of government and voluntary agencies have participated in refugee settlement [in Costa Rica]. They include local branches of such international organizations as Caritas, the Episcopalian church, and the YMCA. In addition, refugees themselves formed a number of voluntary organizations in the hope of assisting their compatriots. Apart from providing emergency aid to refugees, the UNHCR has also financed most of the refugee urban projects. Financial assistance has been provided by other international NGOS as well.[6] The plurality of non-governmental actors demonstrated a Costa Rican openn ess to the refugee crisis. Moreover, the possibility of refugees themselves forming aid organizations demonstrated a certain autonomy of the refugee within Costa Rica; despite the loss of nationality that is the refugee displacement, the refugees were granted a freedom to organize and assemble regardless of their anomalous status. These international organizations were also complimented by Costa Ricas own approach, which has been termed as the durable solution model, emphasizing integration of refugees into the country of asylum. As an unpublished UNHCR document describes this durable solution model: Self sufficiency projects are the ultimate aim of UNHCR as they allow the refugees to become independent of emergency assistance and be productively integrated in the receiving community. In the under-developed countries with serious unemployment problems, self-sufficiency projects offer the best alternation for the refugees work problem. For the receiving country, these durable solutions are a contribution to the national economy, particularly the projects which include both nationals and refugees.[7] Costa Ricas commitment to what the UNHCR deemed as the most effective program for refugee crisis further explicates the traditional openness of Costa Rica to international consensus, whilst concomitantly identifying Costa Ricas desired integration of refugees. The UNHCRs evaluation further acknowledges the durable solution as beneficial to the new country of the refugee itself: the influx of labour sources provided a boost to the national economy of Costa Rica. Thus, Costa Ricas commitment to the durable solution model may be viewed as both a commitment to international law and the notion of human rights, whilst also a policy decision how to utilize the refugee crisis for the benefit of Costa Rica itself. Nevertheless, what may be termed as Costa Ricas comprehensive solution, insofar as it incorporated the UNHCRs preferred model while simultaneously allowing for the participation of foreign organizations, nevertheless encountered specific problems. Primarily the non-organizational model’s intervention into the refugee problem was problematic: The results, however, were less than satisfactory. In 1985 it became evident to the UNHCR that less than half of the 152 projects registered with government agencies were still active. Most of the others had failed.[8] The infectivity of the multiplicity of organizations according to the quantitative data of the UNHCR tends to suggest that the approach of a strength in numbers, i.e., multiple organizations engaging in the refugee crisis, was unsuccessful primarily because of a lack of cohesion. Inasmuch as the Costa Rican intent was essentially one of no aid is bad aid†, this ultimate failure speaks to a certain consistency needed be tween organizations, in order better to establish links between groups, and affectively address the grounding problem, that of the refugee him/herself. This bureaucratic entanglement between organizations as detrimental to the refugee is easily discernable from the perspective of the refugee him/herself; because a plurality of organizations exists, the refugee is caught in a bureaucratic system, with no connection to the Costa Rican government itself. This serves as an impasse to the desired integration. This collapse of the various international programs led Costa Rica to attempt a more autonomous policy that would be regulated by the government, therein optimistically hoping to marginalize the previous failures through a centralization of refugee policy. This centralization would enable a consistent discourse of the durable solution to emerge in the Costa Rican space. As Ed Mihalkanin notes After the failure of many of the international and domestic refugee projects, the Costa Rican government tried to integrate refugees into already existing jobs.[9] By Costa Rica directly addressing the problem, this focusing of the remit of refugee policy could better serve the goal of integration: as the refugees are located in Costa Rica, the most efficient means towards integration would be to have the government directly involved in the refugee process by opening economic opportunities to the refugee. This shift reflects a certain fundamental ambiguity at the heart of the general theory of refugee policy. While, prima facie, the plurality of non-governmental organizations that operated in Costa Rica to alleviate the suffering of the refugee may be viewed as a logical step, inasmuch as it emphasizes giving aid to refugees in light of any possible limits to the capabilities of the Costa Rican government, this approach simultaneously suspends the notion of an integration into Costa Rican society. That is to say, if integration is the ultimate goal of Costa Rican refugee policy, such integration can only be engendered by the direct intervention of the government itself, as the government is ultimately congruent with Costa Rica. From this perspective, the collapse of the aid programmes emanating from various international sources may be viewed, in actuality, as a step towards a more direct involvement of the Costa Rican government in the refugee problematic, in terms of a more strident form of integration. This strident form would be necessary if the Costa Rican government would become the primary instrument for refugee aid in the nation, as opposed to the organizational plurality. Nevertheless, after the general failure of the international aid programmes, charity organizations, etc., the new Costa Rican government initiative itself faced various de jure issues that prevented the establishing of a greater remit for refugee aid. As Mihalkanin writes, at times Costa Rican laws actually prevented refugee aid, despite any best intentions of the Costa Rican government. This was the case regarding Costa Rican employee law: â€Å"Yet very few work permits were issued since by law only ten percent of a firms workers can be foreigners.†[10] Thus, the attempt to integrate refugees into the Costa Rican labour force already met opposition in a pre-existing law that marginalized the possibility of foreign workers in Costa Rica. As Mihalkanin notes, despite the intent of both the government to integrate the refugees and the employers’ will to aid the refugees by giving them work, this shared movement encountered a double impasse: the de jure situation of the l abour law, coupled with the de facto situation of employers, whom, although giving refuges a workplace, could not register the workers because of the law. Therefore, any type of de jure integration of these refugee workers who were already working in Costa Rica, was not possible because of the law; despite their labour power, and one must conclude, the desire for this labour source, the separation between the de jure and the de facto situation prevented this opportunity at integration. What occurred then is simply a missed opportunity, a miscommunication between government and private sectors, the latter wholly receptive to the influx of refugee workers, but whose hands were metaphorically tied by the Costa Rican law. This problem of the limits of aid in the sphere of labour relations also extends into the basic human rights of Costa Ricans, such as health care: insofar as health care is available to refugees in Costa Rica, access is limited from both a temporal and financial perspective. As a UNHCR report from 2003 noted, â€Å"in Costa Rica, access to social security services is universal, which means that everyone, regardless of nationality, is entitled to health coverage at a very low cost.†[11] Nevertheless, the caveat here is that â€Å"refugees and asylum seekers are entitled to free healthcare cover during their first three months in Costa Rica.†[12] This leads to an immediate problem facing refugees after the three month period of coverage has elapsed; as Gloria Maklouf Weiss, Director of ACAI (Asociacià ³n de Consultores y Asesores Internacionales), a UNHCR partner in Costa Rica recapitulates this problem: â€Å"some refugees are in such economic hardship that they cannot pay even the very small monthly fees.†[13] Thus, considering the situation of the refugee, the three-month time limit appears insufficient for health care coverage. The securing of an employment opportunity in Costa Rica within this same three-month period would have to be a concomitant aim of a programme; otherwise, the benefits of the Costa Rican health care policy are severely limited by the refugees’ inability to generate capital. On this point, the separation of the spheres of employment and healthcare impede the abilities of the refugee to begin a life in Costa Rica; insofar as employment and healthcare are considered as distinct issues, the benefits of healthcare are separated from the refugee labour force. The weakness therefore in this aspect of the policy is not anticipating the contiguity between employment integration and the possibility of health care. It is examples such as these incongruities in the law and policy of Costa Rica itself that failed to provide a comprehensive programme for its refugees. Thus, whilst Costa Ricas position as a stable country remains attractive to refugees in a time of crisis, various gaps in the system prevented a comprehensive plan to address the phenomenon. QUESTIONNAIRE The data in section 2.0 regarding Costa Rica’s history and policy approach to the refugee crisis only provides one side of the picture. This theoretical analysis of Costa Rican refugee policy, considering the constraints on any discourse of this style, is to be supplemented by a questionnaire submitted to four former refugees in Costa Rica. Whilst the sample size of the questionnaire is admittedly small, the necessity of its inclusion rests on a theoretical significance given to the notion of testimony in an effort to verify or contradict the reading provided of Costa Rican refugee policy. The prejudice of the academic discourse is to be alleviated through the survey presentation; thus, the purpose of the questionnaire is based on a theoretical value attached to testimony and the attempt to provide a more complete picture of the refugee policy of Costa Rica. Because of sensitivity to the time concerns of the participants and because of issues with the English language, the que stionnaire was deliberately simple and limited to four questions. QUESTIONNAIRE ANALYSIS While the sample size is admittedly small, and the nature of the questions direct, the data of the questionnaire would seem to indicate a moderate level of satisfaction with the Costa Rican refugee policy. The option for the refugees in Costa Rica appears to be beneficial; the majority of answerers expressed that integration and employment possibilities were available in Costa Rica, whilst also noting the receptivity of the various refugee organizations to the concerns of the refugees. It is germane to note that the questionnaire deliberately avoided inquiring into the personal history of the participants, in respect for ethics and the privacy of the participants. While this may be construed as detracting from the accuracy of the questionnaire, as it brackets out some of the personal histories involved in the participants, the aforementioned ethical position of protecting privacy was taken as paramount. Rather the questionnaire was to function as a cursory testimonial survey of Costa Rican refugee policy, and thus, while no means a complete account, it does indicate that the Costa Rican option for refugees was more positive than it was negative. CONCLUSIONS The difficulty of the refugee problem primarily lies in the problems it engenders vis-à  -vis the traditional structure of the State, which relies for its function on the notion of citizenry. Inasmuch as human rights become an international imperative, the anomalous appearance of the refugee conflicts with the traditional State model. This tension is however a source for the production of new approaches to the refugee problematic. Costa Rica’s position in the ravaged Central America of the 1980s placed the nation into a role of a paradigm case for refugee policy. The Costa Rican approach must be commended at the outset for its commitment to human rights and the welfare of the refugees. The intent of the Costa Rican policy therefore must be viewed in a positive light. However, the complications that arose from the refugee crisis provide valuable data and source material for the possible improvements of refugee policy. Costa Rica’s acceptance of foreign, international and non-governmental charitable organizations to alleviate the crisis, whilst helping the refugees on the â€Å"terrain†, actually hindered the successful integration of these refugees into Costa Rican society, inasmuch as these organizations, as non-Costa Rican entities, actually created a further distance between the refugee and the Costa Rican state. Moreover, once the majority of these organizations had failed, the Costa Rican government was left to complete the so-called â€Å"durable solution.† The impasses to the â€Å"durable solution† may be traced to employment and economic laws of the Costa Rican state, laws which were unable to successfully meld with the desired â€Å"durable solution.† It is various de jure factors, despite the overall Costa Rican government intent and the intent of the private sector to integrate refugees through employment, which hindered the affectivity of this solution. Nevertheless, Costa Rica is still referred in some academic literature as an excellent example of a refugee policy. This seems to be supported by the anonymous questionnaire that was a part of our research; the questionnaire, while its sample size is admittedly small, nonetheless offers a certain support to the notion that Costa Rica was more effective than not regarding the refugee experience. Thus, whilst there are problematics in the policy of Costa Rican refugee integration, it is nevertheless a paradigm from which numerous positives can be drawn, whilst also providing a better insight into the impasses that may present themselves in such a policy: hopefully these cases, will yield a better approach to the difficult notion of the refugee in the future. BIBLIOGRAPHY Giorgio Agamben, â€Å"We Refugees†, accessed at: http://roundtable.kein.org/node/399 Tanya Basok, Keeping Heads Above Water: Salvadorean Refugees in Costa Rica McGill Queen’s Press: 1993. Alison Brysk, â€Å"Global Good Samaritans? Human Rights Foreign Policy in Costa Rica†, in: Global Governance, Vol. 11, 2005. Martha Honey, Hostile Acts: U.S. Policy in Costa Rica in the 1980s, University of Florida Press: 1994. Ed Mihalkanin, â€Å"Refugee Aid, Displaced Persons, and Development in Central America† in: Refugee Aid and Development, Greenwood Press: 1993. UNHCR, â€Å"Health Fair in Costa Rica gives refugees much needed medical care†, March 6, 2006, accessed at: http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/EVOD-6MNF3L?OpenDocument> 1 [1] Giorgio Agamben, â€Å"We Refugees†, accessed at: http://roundtable.kein.org/node/399. [2] Tanya Basok, Keeping Heads Above Water: Salvadorean Refugees in Costa Rica, pg. Xvii. [3] Martha Honey, Hostile Acts: U.S. Policy in Costa Rica in the 1980s, pg. 4. [4] UNHCR, â€Å"Health Fair in Costa Rica gives refugees much needed medical care†, March 6, 2006, accessed at: http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/EVOD-6MNF3L?OpenDocument> [5] Alison Brysk, â€Å"Global Good Samaritans? Human Rights Foreign Policy in Costa Rica†, in: Global Governance, Vol. 11, 2005. [6] Basok, pg. Xviii. [7] Basok, pg. Vi. [8] Basok, pg. Xviii. [9] Ed Mihalkanin, â€Å"Refugee Aid, Displaced Persons, and Development in Central America† in: Refugee Aid and Development, pg. 90. [10] Mihalkanin, pg. 90. [11] UNHCR, accessed at http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/EVOD-6MNF3L?OpenDocument> [12] UNHCR, accessed at http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/EVOD-6MNF3L?OpenDocument> [13] UNHCR, accessed at http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/EVOD-6MNF3L?OpenDocument>