Cost accounting Essay Example for Free

Cost accounting Essay Education is a vital process that enables pupils and students to acquire knowledge and skills that can earn them a living and a respectable life. Within most education systems are measures such as user charges and cost recovery. These measures are put forward so as to improve the quality of education. In Sub-Saharan Africa countries, the user charges and cost recovery measures have been criticised by some people on equity grounds although within the same region other people have defended the measures based on the same grounds. This essay therefore, intends to identify and discuss the various dimensions of user charges and cost recovery measures in education as well as to propose an alternative for user charges and other cost recovery measures in the Zambian education system. In order to have a wider understanding of this essay, the key words that are frequently appearing should be defined. According to (Jiminez, 1987) user charges are defined as a fee for service or a direct charge for the provision of a good or service by the Government in an open market while cost recovery is the regain of the costs of government-provided or funded products, services or activities that, at least in part, provide private benefits to individuals, entities or groups, or reflect the costs their actions impose. User charges fall within the broader concept of cost sharing which involves the contributions from users towards the cost of the particular service that they benefit from such as education, health and water (Terme, 2002). Cost sharing takes a wide range of forms such as direct charges and indirect charges. Examples of direct charges in education are charging fees for tuition and for school writing materials while the indirect charges include in kind contributions such as maintenance, construction and furniture. Such in kind contributions must equate to the official fees of the services provided. User charges however, are direct charges or fees which in the education system may include PTA funds which the school can use for the construction of ablution blocks and class room blocks. Examples of user charges in public offices include fee for a copy of a marriage, birth or death certificate. Cost recovery measures may include the products, services and different activities such as: recreational services; minerals and petroleum services; registration and licensing activities that the government offers to people that have costs (Lockheed and Verspoor, 1990). These costs can be recovered by either the users or other people who benefit from goods, services or activities. They can also be recovered from taxpayers. The education systems such as colleges offer teaching programs to students, the students benefit from such programs by acquiring skills and knowledge for teaching in other government or private schools. Since colleges have to buy chemicals for school laboratories, they also have to provide internet services, white board makers and other educational activities. The colleges have to find other ways of recovering such costs so as to maintain quality in their services. This is usually done by imposing tuition fees for all students, charging boarding fees, book fees as well as internet fees. The resources acquired from user charges and cost recovery measures are said to be equitably distributed to all sectors of economy. Equity is the fairness, justice in the distribution of resources (Kelly, 1999). This concept is normative in nature meaning that it involves the distribution of resources to different areas according to the amount needed and not on equal basis. It is also concerned with the patterns in which cost and benefits are being distributed among different areas of a society. To achieve equity in an area, resources as well as benefits must be distributed unequally that is more to the poor and less to the rich. An action like this should be done because the poor lack sources for income as well as protection hence providing less funds for their schools than the rich. This indicates that most of the poor people largely depend on different resources from the government in order to earn a living. User charges and cost recovery measures in the Sub-Saharan countries are seen by some people to be promoting equity in the education system because they improve the way resources are allocated in all the education institutions (World Bank Policy Research Report, 2001). User charges and cost recovery measures also lead to the effective contribution of resources. This in schools is usually achieved when the value that users place on educational services equal the cost of resources used up in the production of those services. Pupils as well as parents tend to value education, by so doing they put pressure on the school, teachers and the stuff to maintain quality. This increases accountability of education institutions hence the easy detection of problems to do with learning. Accountability in education enhances equity. The proper functioning of the user charges and cost recovery results into meeting and maintain the resource requirements for the education system. In situations when the government is not incapable of providing needed resources the school from the user fees can generate its own needed resources and solve any problem at hand. User charges often ensure the provision of quality leaning through the provision of books and other important learning materials, improved school planning and management, better utilization of teaching staff and reduced unit cost in construction for those who enroll. The vulnerable groups of society can also enroll by paying fees through in kind contribution to the construction of the school and even maintenance of school materials. Therefore, the equity benefits in this instance results from the use of resources in ways that benefit the poorest. Such benefits manifest through improvements in the provision of education in rural areas as well quality of educational services. User charges and cost benefits in the Sub-Saharan countries have been criticised because the vulnerable groups in such societies have been found not to be benefiting from the resources that are said to be distributed on equity. According to (Kelly, 1999) disadvantaged groups of society comprise of the poor, people that are handicapped, the girls or females and those that live in rural areas. With the user charges in the system, children from the poor families may not enroll because these families will have to look at how they will make indirect costs such as transportation, school meals, school provisions and sports as well as direct costs such as school fees and boarding fees. Besides that poor children also lack personal material and are unable to buy materials that are sold at school. With high levels of poverty children cannot be allowed to go to school because they are a source of income in their families especially in areas of farm work and selling. Those that are allowed to go to school usually go on empty stomachs. This affects them negatively in academic performance thus causing inefficiencies in the school system. In addition the school curriculum as well as the culture of learning act as barriers in the educational endeavors of these children because it is too advanced for them to understand and does not relate to their everyday activities. The other dimension is that this type of educational provision does not encompass areas such as rural areas. Education provision in rural areas is poorer than in urban areas (Central Statistics Office, 1997), because most of the teachers sent to teach in these areas are untrained, this in turn leads to poor quality in education; the school buildings and sanitation are so poor such that pupils get less motivated to attend lessons; materials and other supplies are not adequately distributed hence preventing pupils from acquiring the necessary knowledge and skills. The fairness, justification as well as the treatment of all people according to their needs that is said to be an outcome of user charges and cost recovery measures is seen not to apply in such cases. The other dimension that equity distribution does not cater for is that of the handicapped. One of the major problem in this area is lack of accurate information on the number of children with special educational needs (Central Statistics Office, 1994) the second one is the attitude of society to education of people with special needs. Some parents feel ashamed of themselves of having disabled children hence not sending them to school. Education for these children is not provided fully because even if they enroll they do not receive all the facilities they need for quality learning. In the gender dimension, the gender-based constraints to education tend to be more pronounced in rural areas (Psacharopoulos and Woodhall, 1985). This is due to the fact that the environment is normally more accommodative of gender inequality. Rural areas display strict traditional cultural values, attitudes and practices, such practices are harmful to girls education for they encourage early marriage, abduction, genital mutilation, sexual violence, excessive domestic chores, male superiority and domination of women are tolerated and encouraged by the community both inside and outside the school and with the user charges imposed, parents will opt to sending male children to school than female ones. Alternative justification for user charges and cost recovery measures in the Zambian education system must involve the participation of the poor; people that stay in the rural areas; the handicapped, the girls and other vulnerable people in society. According to (Carmody, 2004) the Zambia education system has been faced with severe constraints in items of finance. This can be solved by the increase in the sector funding by the government and the private sector. Increased funding in a particular sector increases financial resources. The increased financial resource can be used for the construction of educational facilities for handicapped children as well as building new and better schools in the rural areas. Such resources can also be used for sponsoring the education of children from the poor families in education. This can change the face of education in Zambia if it is effectively implemented. In conclusion, user charges and cost recovery in the Sub-Saharan countries cannot alone bring about equity in the distribution of resources in entire society because such countries are still developing. This means that the presence of a large number of poor people in these countries tends to bring about such irregularities. Therefore, in order for the vulnerable to be fully incorporated into the education system, there would be need for assistance in the form of funding by the government and the private sector. These should also be involved in the provision resources and the running of education system in order for them to counter check the progress of education of the people being sponsored as well as the people sponsoring themselves.

Abortion Issue Essay Example for Free

Abortion Issue Essay Abortion is a controversial issue but it should be discussed because it is happening, and is more widespread than we care to admit. If we truly care about life, then we must understand what is going on. Ideally, pregnancy is a wanted and happy event for women, their partners and their families. Unfortunately, this is not always so. Around the world, millions of women every year become pregnant unintentionally. In the Philippines, as in other countries, some of these women are faced with a difficult choice: to give birth to a child that they are not prepared or able to care for, or to obtain an illegal, and often unsafe, abortion. As a Filipino citizen abortion is a crime. According to Articles 256-259 of our Revised Penal Code, whether youre the woman getting the abortion, the abortionist, or someone assisting or encouraging the abortion, if you commit the act on purpose, you could get sent to jail for one month, to twenty years. No exceptions. For us, the consensus in abortion is strongly anti. Almost all of my classmates insisted that intentional abortion of any kind; was murder, regardless of whether or not it was done to save the mother’s life. Out of the forty-four students in our section, only about six said that abortion, if regulated, could be made legal. While I myself would prefer to avoid having to get an abortion as far as reasonably possible, I believe that this issue should be looked at through a more critical lens. Why? Because it is the attitude that most Filipinos adopt in relation to abortion is frequently more emotional than practical. Much of it can be traced back to a knee-jerk, culture-based reaction to anything involving babies and death. The lines on matters involving religion, culture, and tradition are quite blurred, and the results are all the same: a default outcry against abortion, or any sort of regulation concerning sexual health. See more:  Masters of Satire: John Dryden and Jonathan Swift Essay OBJECTIVES * Be able to understand and to be aware to the effects of abortion. * To enlighten the Filipino citizen not to agree to the so called â€Å"abortion bill†. * For us to share the learning’s to the teenagers what does abortion really do to our human life. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY Abortion and Philippines Laws Abortion is illegal in the Philippines and is not permitted under any circumstance. The act is criminalized by the Revised Penal Code of the Philippines, which was enacted in 1930 but remains in effect today. Articles 256, 258 and 259 of the Code mandate imprisonment for the woman who undergoes the abortion, as well as for any person who assists in the procedure, even if they be the womans parents, a physician or midwife. Article 258 further imposes a higher prison term on the woman or her parents if the abortion is undertaken in order to conceal [the womans] dishonour (Tan 2008 and Wikipedia 2008).The 1987 Constitution of the Philippines effectively any amendments to the Penal Code’s provisions on abortion because of Article II, Section 12, which states: â€Å"The State recognizes the sanctity of family life and shall protect and strengthen the family as a basic autonomous social institution. It shall equally protect the life of the mother and the life of the unborn from con ception. The natural and primary right and duty of parents in the rearing of the youth for civic efficiency and the development of moral character shall receive the support of the Government.† In the principle, legalizing abortion would require a referendum to amend the constitution, although the enactment of a more definitive provision sanctioning the ban was not successful. In 1999, Congressman Roy Padilla Jr. of Camarines Norte filed House Bill 6343seeking to allow abortion in special cases (e.g., rape, congenital defects in the fetus or cases where the mother’s life is endangered). It is unlikely that the bill will be passed but it has stimulated discussion on abortion. The passage of HB 6343 will require amendment because the Bill as it presently stands is inherently unconstitutional (Wikipedia 2008 and Tan 2008).The United Nations recognizes that abortion in the Philippines is permitted only in instances in which the pregnant womans life is endangered. However, there is no law in the Philippines that expressly authorizes abortions in order to save the womans life; and the general provisions which do penalize abortion make no qualifications if the womans life is endangered. It may be argued that an abortion to save the mothers life could be classified as a justifying circumstance (duress as opposed to self-defence) that would bar criminal prosecution under the Revised Penal Code. However, this position has yet to be adopted or debunked by the Philippine Supreme Court. Proposals to liberalize Philippine abortion laws have been opposed by the Catholic Church, and its opposition has considerable influence in the predominantly Catholic country. STATISTICAL RESEARCHES Philippines is the only Catholic country in Asia and contrary to that statistical data reported that there were some 400,000 to 500,000 abortion in 2005. The Department of Health added that nearly 100,000 women who have unsafe abortions every year end up in the hospital. About 4 in 5 abortions in the Philippines are for economic reasons, according to a survey by the University of the Philippines. In many cases, said Jocelyn Pacete, a spokeswoman for Likhaan, a womens health group based in Manila, the mother cant afford another child, so ends up choosing her five living children over the fetus in her womb. (Source: Legal_Updates) STATISTICAL FACTS, QUALITATIVE FACTS Prevalence of Abortion in the Philippines Accurate measurement of induced abortion levels has proven difficult in many parts of the world. Health care workers and policymakers need information on the incidence of both legal and illegal induced abortion to provide the needed services and to reduce the negative impact of unsafe abortion on womens health. Information on the current level of unintended pregnancy and abortion is essential for understanding the extent to which women face barriers in planning pregnancies and preventing unintended ones. Evidence on recent trends in these important indicators is also crucial in assessing whether changes in policies and programs are necessary. Abortions cut across class, age, and marital status, and occur in both urban and rural areas. The UP Population Institute (UPPI) 1994 study estimates that between 300,000 and500, 000 women obtain induced abortions annually in the Philippines. Put another way, there may be 16 induced abortions for every 100 pregnancies. According to Singh et al. (2006), induced abortion in the Philippines is widespread and practice takes many forms. Nearly half of pregnancies each year end in an induced abortion or an unplanned birth. Unintended pregnancy is the root cause of abortion. Some 3.1 million pregnancies occur each year in the Philippines. Of these, 15% result in induced abortions, 31% in unplanned births, 39% in planned births and 15% in spontaneous abortions. An estimated 473,000 abortions occur annually. One-third of women who experience an unintended pregnancy end it in abortion. Thus, about 1.43 million pregnancies each year—nearly half of all pregnancies— are unintended. The annual rate of unintended pregnancy is 81 per 1,000 women of reproductive age, meaning that about 8% of Filipino women aged 15–44 conceive every year without intending to do so. Women from all segments of society experience abortion . Women who have had an abortion resemble average Filipino women: The majority are married, Catholic and poor. They have some high school education and have already had several children. METHODOLOGY Surveying students, friends and all the people around us that is willing to answer our questionnaire. We’ve made a questionnaire instead of direct interview to the respondents. We are estimating around 50 respondents and from there we can assume a certain percent for the â€Å"Pro-Life† and â€Å"Anti†. REFERENCES: (Source: Legal_Updates) http://www.chanrobles.com/revisedpenalcodeofthephilippinesbook2.htm: 1. Ã…hman E and Shah I, Unsafe abortion: worldwide estimates for 2000, Reproductive Health Matters, 2002, No. 19, pp. 13–17. 2. Ã…hman E and Shah I, Unsafe Abortion: Global and Regional Estimates of the Incidence of Unsafe Abortion and Associated Mortality in 2000, fourth ed., Geneva: World Health Organization, 2004. 3. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Development, Abortion Policies: A Global Review, Vol. III, New York: United Nations, 1995. 4. Singh S et al., Estimating the level of abortion in the Philippines and Bangladesh, International Family Planning Perspectives, 1997, 23(3):100– 107 144. 5. Shire A and Pesso L, Changing policies and attitudes: postabortion care in the Philippines, Compass, 2003, N

Personal Reflection on Leadership

Personal Reflection on Leadership In my brief professional career at IBM, I was part of a software development team where I was the youngest and least experienced person. I vividly remember that we had a team manager, highly experienced and professional but an ineffective leader. He would perform his tasks but did not go that extra mile. On the other hand, one of my teammates-very less experienced compared to the manager was a true leader, his duties did not ask him of any such commitments, but he always went the extra mile to help the team. He took me under his wing, motivated others in the team, and found innovative ways to solve the problem. He created an environment for high competence. He gave me so much confidence through his mentoring that I was performing at the highest level in no time. He created a synergy among the team that even the client praised. His actions reminded me of a saying from Jack Welch, former CEO of GE â€Å"Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others†. In my opinion, he was the true leader because he positioned the team at the centre of everything and took the responsibility of growing everyone. This experience was one of the most influential leadership lessons I have come across till now. I am definite that I will have a clear picture in mind when I embark on future leadership roles. Before pursuing my degree at Cass, I had the opportunity to look around my brother’s nascent IT firm which is primarily focused on web-based services and providing internet marketing solutions. Though a well rounded firm, I sensed a lack of strong innovation and new products. This might jeopardize the company in the long run. Ideally, after completing my graduate studies, I am keen to join him and oversee the launch of new products, specifically, something along the lines of an automatic website builder. Furthermore, I am also keen to move the companys operations to different cities in the country where there is an opportunity of further growth. Taking charge of being the Product Head and institute such changes will require strong leadership skills. Innovative Leadership: Launching a technologically advanced product in my organization will require me to adopt innovative leadership characteristics and work seamlessly across different sets of people having varied skills. A good innovation leader is characterized by the ability to excel on  two  conflicting skills: creativity and discipline. Creativity involves skills such as idea generation and conceptualization while discipline involves the skill to implement and launch. A successful leader should measure the weight of both and take actions accordingly (Roland Bel, 2010). Furthermore, Innovative leaders are characterized by the following attributes (Jean-Philippe Deschamps, 2008) Mix of Emotion and Realism The Acceptance of Uncertainty, Risks, and Failures High Degree of Passion The Willingness to Proactively Search for External Technologies and Ideas The Courage to Stop Projects, Not Just to Start Them Talent for Attracting Innovators and Building and Steering Winning Teams According to the author if an individual needs to bring an innovative change in the organization, he or she should possess at least some of the qualities listed above so that they are successful in bringing new products or services in the market. Adaptive Leadership and change: Coming back to my tenure at IBM, what my colleague did differently with others in the team was that he forced us to think differently than other teams, bringing out the best in everyone. Each one of us was flexible in taking any type of task, further increasing the teams flexibility and productivity. According to Ronald A.Heifetz and Donald L.Laurie (1997, p132-141) Organizations today require adaptive leadership where challenges reside not in the executive suite but in the collective intelligence of employees at all levels. This is where the success of many future ideas and entrepreneurial ventures will lie. I believe bringing in such a change will be one of my biggest challenge once I take the leadership role. Moreover, Adaptive change will require people to work in new ways, new relationships and take on new roles (Ronald A.Heifetz and Donald L.Laurie, 1997). I intend to carry out such changes through the implementation of different project management techniques such as Lean and Agile (Schwaber, 2004). These techniques have been successful in recent years as they are quite adaptive in nature. These techniques forces employees to adapt quickly, learn new things constantly and learn from their mistakes. In Particular, these techniques are found to be useful in major tech companies and technologically driven products and hence will suit the company style. I have already had experience with such techniques at IBM and hence I will be able to use my knowledge and skills to implement it within my future organization. A lot of companies such as IBM or Google make ‘transformation of employees their top priority. They continuously invest in employee transformation and hence are able to meet the challenges of the changing environment. When I was working in IBM, I remember going through multiple trainings and workshops and these trainings did not just include technical trainings. Trainings such as communicating effectively, leading in teams, how to conduct meetings etc were equally important. According to Mike Pedler et al(1989,pp1-8) an organization which facilitates the learning of all its members and continuously transform itself is a learning company . My future goal will also be to change my organization into a learning company through employee development programs and knowledge management systems (Pedler et al, 1989) as currently there is lack of such learning. My skill model: The skills model provides a good overview of the skills which are necessary for an effective leader (M.D. Mumford et al, 2000). Appendix 1 lists my score in the three components which are described in the model Technical skills: The high score in this regard can be attributed to my experience in software engineering and working on a complex product while I was working in IBM. My daily tasks almost always included problem-solving and analyzing product requirements in detail. According to Mumford et.al (2000, p.24) the experiences required in the course of leaders careers influence their knowledge and skills to solve complex problems. My background and experience will help me tackle problems during the development stage of the product. Human Skill: Throughout my professional experience I worked with different sets of people with varied skills and experience. The entire project in IBM consisted of over a hundred people in India, and the product had multiple features that required expertise and collaboration from multiple teams. This meant communicating with various team leads and delegating responsibilities. Though I had quite a rich experience working in teams, there is still development which needs to be done in this regard. For e.g.: Participating in Toastmasters club at CASS will improve my communication and leadership skills. The experience of working with people from diff cultures and backgrounds in CASS will further improve my people skills. Conceptual skill: Since my duties at IBM were essentially technical I was largely uninvolved in the strategic decision-making process. My low score represents my lack of experience in this skill and needs the most development. Conceptual skills require working at an organization level and working with ideas (Peter G.Northouse, 2013). I plan to intern at a start-up company so that I am able to have experience at an organizational level. It will give me an overview of the challenges which are faced by new organizations when launching new products or services. Furthermore, not to forget the mentoring I will have from my brother who has been heading the company for a couple of years now. Learning form him will improve my understandings and will help me tackle issues at a higher level. Additionally, I will have to broaden my knowledge base further and enhance my entrepreneurial skills to be successful in my futures goals. Though Leadership theory and practice can greatly improve a persons leadership skills a competent business leader is one who possesses a clear vision for his or her company, is keenly aware of emerging trends and possesses the ability to capitalize on them. References: Bel, Roland. 2010, Leadership and Innovation: Learning from the Best, Wiley Periodicals-Global business and Organizational Excellence, pp 47-58 Deschamps, J. P. (2008). Innovation leaders: How senior executives stimulate, steer, and sustain innovation. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. Heifetz, Ronald A. Laurie, Donald L (1997), The work of Leadership, Breakthrough Leadership-Harvard business review, pp 132-141 Mumford, M.D., Zaccaro, S.J., Harding, F.D., Jacobs, T.O., Fleishman, E.A.(2000). Leadership skills for a changing world: Solving complex social problems. Leadership Quarterly, 11(1), 11-35 Northouse, Peter.G (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Sage publications-6th edition, p46-51 Schwaber, K (2004). Agile Project Management with Scrum, Microsoft Press, Redmond, WA, Pedler, Mike., Boydell, Tom., Burgoyne, John.(1989). Towards the learning company, Management education and development, Volume 20-part1, pp 1-8

Essays --

Early life and military career[edit] Born in Tampa, Florida, Kittinger was educated at the Bolles School in Jacksonville, Florida, and the University of Florida. After racing speedboats as a teenager, he entered the U.S. Air Force in March 1949. On completion of aviation cadet training in March 1950, he received a USAF Pilot rating and a commission as a Second Lieutenant. He was subsequently assigned to the 86th Fighter-Bomber Wing based at Ramstein Air Base in West Germany, flying the F-84 Thunderjet and F-86 Sabre. In 1954 Kittinger was transferred to Holloman AFB, New Mexico, and the Air Force Missile Development Center (AFMDC). He flew the observation/chase plane that monitored flight surgeon Colonel John Stapp's rocket sled run of 632 mph (1,017 km/h) in 1955. Kittinger was impressed by Stapp's dedication and leadership as a pioneer in aerospace medicine. Stapp, in turn, was impressed with Kittinger's skillful jet piloting, later recommending him for space-related aviation research work. Stapp was to foster the high-altitude balloon tests that would later lead to Kittinger's record-setting leap from over 102,800 feet (31,300 m). In 1957, as part of Project Manhigh, Kittinger set an interim balloon altitude record of 96,760 feet (29,490 m) in Manhigh I, for which he was awarded his first Distinguished Flying Cross. Project Excelsior[edit] Kittinger next to the Excelsior gondola Main article: Project Excelsior Captain Kittinger was next assigned to the Aerospace Medical Research Laboratories at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio. For Project Excelsior (meaning "ever upward"), a name given to the project by Colonel Stapp as part of research into high altitude bailouts,[2][3] he made a series of three extreme altitude parac... ...4-mph wind blowing on you. I could only hear myself breathing in the helmet."[12] Kittinger set historical numbers for highest balloon ascent, highest parachute jump, longest drogue-fall (four minutes), and fastest speed by a human being through the atmosphere.[13] These were the USAF records, but were not submitted for aerospace world records to the Fà ©dà ©ration Aà ©ronautique Internationale (FAI).[14] Kittinger's records for the highest ascent, highest parachute jump, and fastest velocity stood for 52 years, until they were broken in 2012 by Felix Baumgartner. For this series of jumps, Kittinger was decorated with a second Distinguished Flying Cross, and he was awarded the Harmon Trophy by President Dwight D. Eisenhower.[15] The Stargazer gondola on display at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio. Project Stargazer[edit]

College Athletes Should be Paid Essay example -- argumentative essay

A running back slips through the line, breaks a couple tackles, and scampers down the sideline for a large gain. The point guard pulls up for a deep jump shot over his defender and nails it as the shot clock expires. Both of these descriptions can be used to describe either a college athlete or professional athlete. Both are participating in a sporting event in which fans will pack into the stadium or arena. Money is flowing into both the college and professional organization. This is where the similarities end. In the professional leagues such as the NBA or NFL, athletes make millions of dollars off of lucrative contracts and an abundance of endorsements. They can make as much money as they possibly can. In college, the athletes are limited to what kind of scholarship the college they are attending provides them and whatever money they have saved. It may not appear like this is not a serious problem. However, there is the one glaring difference between these two sides. While professional athletes are paid to play and can make bundles of money, college athletes are not allowed to receive money or other benefits of any kind even if they acquire this money in a legal and correct fashion. This has been the rule for ages, but many people are starting to challenge the rule. There are people who believe that college athletes should not be able to receive benefits of any kind, including money. On the other side, there are people who believe that the college athletes should be able to make money and support themselves. The people who are the side which believes the should not make money usually point out the fact that they are in college and should be more focused on their studies. The other side provides many valid points to h... ...rmine how much to pay each player in different sports. However, it seems completely unfair that a college athlete can neither accept gifts from someone or even sell their own possessions to make money. If a regular student can sell something they own on a website such as Ebay, why is that an athlete is not allowed to do the same with something they own? It also seems crazy to me how something as simple as â€Å"Dez Bryant [a former wide receiver at Oklahoma State]...having a meal with Deion Sanders† (Rogers 2) will cause the NCAA to throw down harsh suspensions down on the athlete and school. The NCAA needs to worry about more important things then who the student-athletes dine with and whether or not they are selling apparel they wore in a game. Hopefully they will realize this and the student athletes in college will finally get a fair chance at the money they deserve.

I Was Mugged Essays -- Personal Narrative, essay about myself

I was mugged tonight. It was about 11pm, and I was walking home from the gym, and for some reason I decided to the Other Route. I walked down Valencia to 15th instead of 14th, and headed down the block that's supposed to be one of the worst in the city, along the side of the Valencia Street Projects. It was a beautiful, warm night, and tons of people were hanging out outside. It looked like a few drug deals were being had, but usually no one hassles me. I was wearing my torn up jeans jacket that I bought 13 years ago in high school, my jogging shorts and old Nikes, and my hair was all messy. How the hell could I have looked like a person with money? I was walking down this one particular block, thinking to myself, "wow, racism is bad." And then I thought about how this block was one of the first things that people warned me about when I moved into my hood, and how mad at me my ex-boyfriend John would be if he knew I was walking down that street, and how my parents would be pissed, and how really, logically speaking, it was a pretty stupid thing to do. But I made eye contact with one dude who was pretty cute and he smiled at me and I smiled at him and I kept walking, thinking, "well, there are some cute people in the projects." I wa... ...ds them. "You pathetic losers! You got my money, but you don't have my pride." (Sure it is a clichà ©, but hell, give me some credit, I did just get mugged!) "You two are the losers for doing that!" Why bother filing a report? These skinny kids have enough problems without having the cops go in there and remind them how desperate and lacking in dignity they are. In the war between good and evil, it is not always who walks away with the goods, but the who deserved them in the first place, and how they were attained. So I trotted home to write this up. Thirty bucks for a story to tell. Not a bad deal, really.

Communication Merit Essay

In this written piece I will be assessing the role of effective communication and interpersonal interaction in health and social care with references to theories of communication. The theories are; Soler theory, Tuckman’s theory and the communication cycle. The Soler theory was created by a man called Gerard Egan. He believed that this theory shows that basic non-verbal communication can help make a person feel involved and cared for when working with another person. This theory is a non-verbal listening method that is used commonly in communication. Soler means: S – Facing squarely- By doing this it shows that a service provider is involved with their clients. The body direction shows the message that you are involved with the other person. O – Keep an open posture- Keeping an open posture means not crossing arms and legs as this sends a message to the other person that you are talking too that you’re not involved or really interested. L –Lean- By leaning forward when a person is talking to you, it shows that you are involved and listening to what the other persons is saying. E – Use good eye contact- By having good eye contact with a clients, this shows that you are listening and that you are not distracted and shows you are involved because you are focusing on the person you are talking to. R – Be relaxed- It is important to keep still and not move about when a person is talking to you. You would use Soler Theory in a GP’s, such as; if someone has got an illness and needs to go to the doctors, the GP would sit squarely in front of the patient and keep an open posture and also, use good eye contact. The GP would use this theory to let the patient know that he is listening to them and to show the patient that you can tell him the problem without feeling shy or embarrassed. You may need to give someone some bad news and by using this communication theory, you will be comforting them and giving them your undivided attention, making them feels that they are valued. If you are giving the person some bad news, you will need to be serious and professional so that the other person trusts and respects you. However if you were fussing about with something else, not concentrating, kept looking at your watch as if wanting to be somewhere else or on your mobile the last thing they would want is to hear some bad news from you. Solar theory can be used in Interviews, such as, the interview could be 2 people getting to know  each other e.g. within early years or education teachers/minders would need to get to know the new children starting/enrolling. This would enable them to build a stable relationship with the child meaning they gain as much help or as little help needed to suit them. The teacher/carer would also get to know how the child best learns. An interview like this is often when first impressions are made so body language is very important. The Soler theory is good within counselling. Counsellors are often dealing with people in a fragile state of mind and will more than likely struggle to trust just anyone. The biggest part of a counsellor’s job is to listen to someone’s problems and react appropriately. Counselling sessions could become quite tense, especially if the counselee is on edge. The R in SOLER states that you need to be relaxed whilst paying attention, seeming relaxed would reduce the tense atmosphere making the other person relax. Soler theory, also states facing the other person squarely with an open posture, this makes the person talking feel valued, making them want to open up to the couns ellor and talk more. The Tuckman’s theory was created by Bruce Tuckman. He developed the four stages of team development in a group, which are; The Forming, Storming, Norming and performing stages. In order for the team to grow, to face up to challenges, to tackle problems, to find solutions, to plan work, and to deliver results. This model has become the basis for subsequent models of team dynamics and frequently used management theory to describe the behaviour of existing teams. Forming Stage- The forming of the team takes place. The team will meet and learn about the; opportunity, challenges, agrees on goals and begin to tackle the tasks. They may be motivated but are usually relatively uninformed of the issues and objectives of the team. The team members are usually behaved but very focused of them self’s. Supervisors of the team during this stage tend to need to be directive. Storming Stage- Every group will enter the Storming stage, in which different ideas compete for consideration. The team will address issues in the group, such as; what problems they are supposed to solve, how will they function independently and together and who would be the leader in the group. The team members will open out to each other and confront each other’s ideas and perspectives. Norming Stage- At some point, the team may enter the norming stage and team members will adjust their behaviours to each other as they develop work habits that will make the teamwork seem more  natural and fluid. Team members may often work through this stage by agreeing on; the rules, values, professional behaviours, shared methods and working tools. During this stage, team members will begin to trust each other and the motivation will increase as the team gets more acquainted with the project. Performing Stage- Some teams will reach the performing stage. These teams are able to function as a unit as they find ways to get the jobs done smoothly and effectively without conflict or the need of supervision. The team members will have become independent and will be motivated and knowledgeable. The team members are now competent, autonomous and able to handle the decision-making process without supervision. You would use Tuckmans theory in multi-agency services, such as, If someone was physically abused, they might contact the police to report the abuser, but the person who has been abused might need to go to the hospital due to the pain where they have been hit, so the police will pass this situ ation to the hospital once they have finished. Once the hospital has finished with the person who has been abused, they might pass the situation to a counsellor because, the person who has been abused may be suicidal due to the physical and emotional abuse. All of these services would work as a team and go through the Tuckman Stages. The Communication cycle refers to the whole process of communication from the origin up to the conceptualizing and the response of the intended message by the right person. The communication cycle is not complete before feedback even if the message reached the intended recipient. There are 6 stages in the communication cycle. An idea occurs- This is the first stage of the cycle, which is when you have an idea that you want to communicate. Message coded- In this stage you will think through how you going to communicate and what you are thinking and begin to put your thoughts into language, or even codes such as, sign language. Message sent- This is the point where you send your message in a form of sp eaking, writing or other ways such as, sign language or braille. Message received- This is the stage that focuses on the other person who has to sense the message by hearing your word or seeing your symbols. Message decoded- This is a vital stage of the communication cycle, where the other person will interpret the message. Message understood- This is the final stage of the communication cycle, this is when the message is understood and they are able to communicate effectively. The Communication cycle is used when trying to communicate  sensitive subjects. For example, if someone is dying, we can use the communication cycle to make sure that we don’t say anything insensitive or even hurtful to the person who is meant be receiving the information. We can use the communication cycle to encode the information correctly. It is also important to make sure that we communicate the information at the correct time to prevent a misunderstanding of the message. The place and method of communication is also important in communicating a sensitive subject effectively and sensitively. We use the Communication cycle in any health and social care services because everyone processes the Communication cycle. Blurtit Ltd. [Online] http://science.blurtit.com/157992/the-6-stages-of-the-communication-cycle-are-obtain-or-giving-thoughts-noting-body. [Available from: 22nd January 2014] AntiEssays.com. (2014) [Online] http://www.antiessays.com/free-essays/325901.html. [Available from: 22nd January 2014]