How to Make Distilled Water

How to Make Distilled Water Distilled water is purified water produced by condensing steam or water vapor from impure water, such as well water, seawater, tap water, snow, streams, or even plants or damp rock. You can distill water to further purify the water you have, to make drinking water for emergencies, or to obtain water while on camping trips. There are several methods for making distilled water, so you can save yourself some money and distill it yourself rather than buying it at the store. Which of several methods to use to distill water depends on the resources you have available and whether you are distilling impure water or have to get water from the air or plants. Distill Water on Your Stove, Grill or Campfire You can make distilled water over a stove, grill, or campfire quite easily. You need a large container of water, a smaller collection container that either floats in the first container or can be propped up above the water level, a rounded or pointed lid that fits the big container  (turned upside down so that when the steam condenses, the water drips into your smaller container), and some ice. Here is a recommended material list: 5-gallon stainless steel or aluminum potRounded lid for the potGlass or metal bowl that floats inside the potIce cubesHot pads Fill the large pot partly full of water.Set the collection bowl in the pot. The plan is to collect water dripping from the center of the inverted pan lid, so choose the size of the bowl to make sure the distilled water wont just drip back into the main pot.Set the pot lid upside down on the pot. When you heat the water, water vapor will rise up to the lid, condense into droplets, and fall into your bowl.Turn on the heat for the pan. The water needs to get very hot, but its OK if it doesnt boil.Put ice cubes on top of the lid of the pot. The cold will help to condense the steam in the pot into liquid water.When complete, turn off the heat and use care to remove the bowl of distilled water. Store distilled water in a clean, preferably sterile container (dishwasher clean or else immersed in boiling water). Use a container intended for long-term storage of water because other containers may have contaminants that would leach into your water over time, undoing all your work to get pure water. Collect Water in an Outside Container A similar method is to heat water in a pot but collect the distilled water in an outside container. You can be as creative as you like with your setup for this. Just be sure to collect the distilled water and not the pot water. One option is to use a funnel over the boiling water container that is connected to the collection bottle with aquarium tubing. For the funnel to drain into your collection bottle, you want to empty the tubing at a lower level than the funnel. Otherwise, the method is the same. The advantages include safety (you dont need to wait for the pot to cool to get your water) and reduced risk of contamination from the source water. Contamination is not a big concern when youre purifying rain or tap water but may be more of a consideration if youre trying to make nonpotable water safe enough to drink. Distill Water From Rain or Snow Rain and snow are two forms of naturally distilled water. Water evaporates from the ocean, lakes, rivers, and the land and condenses in the atmosphere to fall as precipitation. Unless you live in a highly polluted area, the water is pure and safe to drink. (Do not collect rainwater that comes off an asphalt shingle roof through the gutters for this procedure.) Collect rain or snow in a clean container. Allow a day or so for any sediment to fall to the bottom of the bowl. In most cases, you can pour off the clean water and drink it as-is; however, you can include additional filtration steps, such as running the water through a coffee filter or boiling it. Water keeps best if its refrigerated, but you can keep it indefinitely in a clean, sealed container at room temperature, too. Use Home Distillation Kits Unless youre collecting rain or snow, water distillation costs money because it uses fuel or electricity to heat the source water. Its cheaper to buy bottled distilled water than it is to make it on your stove. However, if you use a home distiller, you can make distilled water more cheaply than you can buy it. Home distillation kits range in price from about $100 to several hundred dollars. If youre making distilled water for drinking, the less expensive kits are fine. More expensive kits are used for lab work or for processing large volumes of water to supply water needs for an entire house. Distill Water From Plants or Mud While out camping or in serious emergency situations, you can distill water from virtually any source of water. If you understand the basic principle, you likely can imagine many potential setups. Heres an example of a method used to extract water from desert plants. Note that this is a time-consuming process. Green plantsPlastic wrapCoffee can or other clean containerSmall rocks Dig a hole in the ground in a sunny location.Place the coffee can in the center of the bottom of the hole to collect the water.Pile up damp plants in the hole around the coffee can.Cover the hole with a piece of plastic wrap. You can secure it using rocks or dirt. Ideally, you want to seal the plastic so no moisture escapes. The greenhouse effect  will trap heat inside the plastic, aiding in the evaporation of the water.Place a pebble in the center of the plastic wrap to create a small depression. As water evaporates, the vapor will condense on the plastic and fall where you created the depression, dripping into the can. You can add fresh plants to keep the process going. Avoid using poisonous plants containing volatile toxins because they will contaminate your water. Cacti and ferns are good choices, where they are available. Ferns are edible, too.

The Cobb-Douglas Production Function

The Cobb-Douglas Production Function In economics, a production function is an equation that describes the relationship between input and output, or what goes into making a certain product, and a Cobb-Douglas production function is a specific standard equation that is applied to describe how much output two or more inputs into a production process make, with capital and labor being the typical inputs described. Developed by economist Paul Douglas and mathematician Charles Cobb, Cobb-Douglas production functions are commonly used in both macroeconomics and microeconomics models because they have a number of convenient and realistic properties. The equation for the Cobb-Douglas production formula, wherein K represents capital, L represents labor input and a, b, and c represent non-negative constants, is as follows: f(K,L) bKaLc If ac1 this  production function  has constant returns to scale, and it would thus be considered linearly homogeneous. As this is a standard case, one often writes (1-a) in place of c. Its also important to note that technically a Cobb-Douglas production function could have more than two inputs, and the functional form, in this case, is analogous to what is shown above. The Elements of Cobb-Douglas: Capital and Labor When Douglas and Cobb were conducting research on mathematics and economies from 1927 to 1947, they observed sparse statistical data sets from that time period and came to a conclusion about economies in developed countries around the world: there was a direct correlation between capital and labor and the real value of all goods produced within a timeframe. Its important to understand how capital and labor are defined in these terms, as the assumption by Douglas and Cobb make sense in the context of economic theory and rhetoric. Here, capital indicates the real value of all machinery, parts, equipment, facilities, and buildings while labor accounts for the total number of hours worked within a timeframe by employees. Basically, this theory then posits that the value of the machinery and the number of person-hours worked directly relate to the gross output of production. Although this concept is reasonably sound on the surface, there were a number of criticisms Cobb-Douglas production functions received when first published in 1947. The Importance of Cobb-Douglas Production Functions Fortunately, most early criticism of the Cobb-Douglas functions was based on their methodology of research into the matter- essentially economists argued that the pair did not have enough statistical evidence to observe at the time as it related to true production business capital, labor hours worked, or complete total production outputs at the time. With the introduction of this unifying theory on national economies, Cobb and Douglas shifted the global discourse at it related to micro- and macroeconomic perspective. Furthermore, the theory stood true after 20 years of research when the 1947 United States Census data came out and the Cobb-Douglas model was applied to its data. Since then, a number of other similar aggregate and economy-wide theories, functions, and formulas have been developed to ease the process of statistical correlation; the Cobb-Douglas production functions are still used in analyses of economies of modern, developed, and stable nations around the world.

The Cobb-Douglas Production Function

The Cobb-Douglas Production Function In economics, a production function is an equation that describes the relationship between input and output, or what goes into making a certain product, and a Cobb-Douglas production function is a specific standard equation that is applied to describe how much output two or more inputs into a production process make, with capital and labor being the typical inputs described. Developed by economist Paul Douglas and mathematician Charles Cobb, Cobb-Douglas production functions are commonly used in both macroeconomics and microeconomics models because they have a number of convenient and realistic properties. The equation for the Cobb-Douglas production formula, wherein K represents capital, L represents labor input and a, b, and c represent non-negative constants, is as follows: f(K,L) bKaLc If ac1 this  production function  has constant returns to scale, and it would thus be considered linearly homogeneous. As this is a standard case, one often writes (1-a) in place of c. Its also important to note that technically a Cobb-Douglas production function could have more than two inputs, and the functional form, in this case, is analogous to what is shown above. The Elements of Cobb-Douglas: Capital and Labor When Douglas and Cobb were conducting research on mathematics and economies from 1927 to 1947, they observed sparse statistical data sets from that time period and came to a conclusion about economies in developed countries around the world: there was a direct correlation between capital and labor and the real value of all goods produced within a timeframe. Its important to understand how capital and labor are defined in these terms, as the assumption by Douglas and Cobb make sense in the context of economic theory and rhetoric. Here, capital indicates the real value of all machinery, parts, equipment, facilities, and buildings while labor accounts for the total number of hours worked within a timeframe by employees. Basically, this theory then posits that the value of the machinery and the number of person-hours worked directly relate to the gross output of production. Although this concept is reasonably sound on the surface, there were a number of criticisms Cobb-Douglas production functions received when first published in 1947. The Importance of Cobb-Douglas Production Functions Fortunately, most early criticism of the Cobb-Douglas functions was based on their methodology of research into the matter- essentially economists argued that the pair did not have enough statistical evidence to observe at the time as it related to true production business capital, labor hours worked, or complete total production outputs at the time. With the introduction of this unifying theory on national economies, Cobb and Douglas shifted the global discourse at it related to micro- and macroeconomic perspective. Furthermore, the theory stood true after 20 years of research when the 1947 United States Census data came out and the Cobb-Douglas model was applied to its data. Since then, a number of other similar aggregate and economy-wide theories, functions, and formulas have been developed to ease the process of statistical correlation; the Cobb-Douglas production functions are still used in analyses of economies of modern, developed, and stable nations around the world.

Leisure in Society. Golf Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Leisure in Society. Golf - Essay Example According to ESRC fact sheet the most popular leisure time activity in the UK is watching TV. However, the main problem, which arises, is the lack of movement and physical activity in the lives of the British population. According to the research conducted in Bristol over 10Â  % of 11-year-old children should move more actively and are recommended to make daily exercises. The other survey conducted by the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children came to the conclusion that children from more well-to-do families make less exercise than children from poorer social background and girls were less active than boys / BBC News, 2005/. Medical surveys, which took place in 2002, showed the same results that over 22Â  % of male and 23Â  % of British female population were obese. Besides, some part of the population was not obese but overweight. These are 43Â  % of males and 34Â  % of female population of the UK. Thus, according to the Body Mass Index over 50Â  % of all adult population of Great Britain is overweight and were recommended to control their weight / Office for National Statistics, 2005/. On the other hand, it should be mentioned that there is a growing interest to the sport activities in the UK. Thus, the General Household Survey made a research of the most popular sporting activities of grown-ups (aged 16 and more). The results of the survey are represented on the table below/ Office for National Statistics, 2005/ : The only corrections, which I would like to make in this list is to include angling. Thus, according to the Environment Agency approximately 11Â  % of all British population has fished during the past two years / Environment Agency, 2007/. Therefore, I would like to mention this kind of sport activity as one of the popular activities of the UK population both of men and women. On the other hand, the other hand, which we also should take into consideration, is the organization of the sport activity. Thus, according to

Accounting for Strategy and Management Control Assignment

Accounting for Strategy and Management Control - Assignment Example various analysts and researchers with an aim to prove the difference and analyse the affect of such differences of functional management on the organisation at large. Based on the similar context a research paper was conducted by two authors, Teerooven Soobaroyen and Bhagtaraj Poorundersing with the article titled as â€Å"The effectiveness of management accounting systems: Evidence from functional managers in a developing country†. The research paper was concentric on the key issue of examining the accessibility of different management accounting systems and the value which these systems pertain for functional managers. To relate the issue with the impact of economical factors, the authors had a chosen environment of a developing economy, i.e. Mauritius located in Africa. The design methodology used by the authors to conduct this paper was concentrated on the survey method of interviewing the production and marketing managers of manufacturing companies. Further the data was analysed through the implementation of regression-path. On the contrary, any kind of research paper conducted posses certain limitations and certain advantages as well. For instance, the paper by Teerooven Soobaroyen and Bhagtaraj Poorundersing, concentrates on examining the managers’ point of view related to the implications of different management accounting systems. This certain attribute simultaneously have certain advantages and a few disadvantages. On one hand, it has an advantage to identify the problems of the realistic practices faced by the managers, while on the other hand it ignores the perception of workers in terms of task uncertainty. These kinds of limitations generally occur due to the personal perceptions of the author(s), the research methodology of the paper, and the time allocated for the research. This study therefore, is emphasised on the critical analysis of the advantages of the research paper and its limitations to successfully attain the determined objective.

Multiculturalism in Counseling Essay Example for Free

Multiculturalism in Counseling Essay ABSTRACT Stemming from the uprising in the 1960s, multiculturalism has presented serious challenges to the society, especially to the academic sector. Criticized by social groups, schools were inclined to adopt programs in recognition of the multicultural population, and later structured their systems to cater to the needs of the growing population. Today, multiculturalism has become an important consideration in designing school programs, facilities, and hiring policies. Particularly, school counseling was one area that went through a notable change. The introduction of this paper gives a brief historical background of multiculturalism in school counseling. It discusses how multiculturalism was incorporated into the school curriculum, and was adopted in school counseling. The main part of this paper discusses the competencies every school counselor must possess to address the needs of multicultural students. Anchoring on the three core competencies set by the AMCD, this paper presents ways on how one can be knowledgeable of clients’ worldviews in order to serve them best. In addition, it suggests other devices or strategies counselors may consider when dealing with multicultural students.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The conclusion of the paper summarizes the ideal characteristics of a counselor, and presents further considerations school administrators and counselors can make to ensure effective counseling strategies which adhere to the demands of multiculturalism. Introduction Multiculturalism as Rosado (1997) defines, is a system of values and behaviors which recognizes and respects the presence of all diverse groups in society—their identities, values and socio-cultural differences. In addition, multiculturalism supports continued contribution of the culture in the society. Based on this definition, we can view multiculturalism as the harmonious coexistence of different cultures in the society. In the author’s view, culture is not limited to bases of origin. Culture may arise from similar beliefs, attitudes, or feelings of a certain group of people. Thus, it also encompasses those who have the same subcultures based on values, economic status, socio-political status, or gender. Particularly, those who have the same subculture based on gender include women, gays, lesbians and transgender individuals. In the same manner, people belonging to the same economic status or religion share a similar subculture that establishes their diversity from others. In this study, we refer to multicultural people as those who embody a different set of cultures and subcultures, other than the native culture or the majority. As such, we may define multiculturalism as an approach that recognizes diversity in culture among different ethnic, gender, economic, socio-political, and religious backgrounds. Multiculturalism has also become a prevalent topic in school counseling. It has prompted psychologists and educators around the world to review school practices that hamper culturally diverse students from performing well in school. Now that the growing population of multiculturally diverse students seems to be taking over the White population, the challenges that go with implementing multiculturalism in counseling would probably be more relevant in the next decades.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Multiculturalism in Counseling In the field of education, authors claim that multiculturalism rooted out from the social action of African Americans and other â€Å"people of color† back in the 1960s (Banks, Davidson Davidson, as cited in Gorski, 1999). The common feeling that schools had the most hostile and oppressive treatment of other cultures aroused them to protest and fight for reforms. In those days, African Americans and other cultures suffered from racism and discrimination from the White population who occupied professorship or management statuses. Colored people were treated as second class citizens, if not as outcasts. However, through the efforts of African American activists, schools were compelled to review their policies and hiring process in consideration of the non-Whites. In the 1970s, other groups such as the elderly, gays, lesbians, and people with disabilities also contested that institutions should pay equal respect to all peoples on matters of employment, educational opportunities, and work pay. Following this, a number of programs and policies emerged, including additional courses on prominent women or famous people of color. Despite this effort, social activists were not satisfied, for schools only celebrated women of greatness, and not women in general. For instance, James Banks (1981;1989), one of the pioneers of multicultural education argued that to adhere to the idea of â€Å"multicultural environment,† all aspects of the school had to be reviewed. According to him, policies, teacher’s attitude, assessment programs, and counseling should be transformed accordingly. This concept of multicultural education coincided with the idea of social equality among diverse cultures. By 1980s, following the path of Banks, K-12 teachers, namely, Carl Grant, Christine Sleeter, Geneva Gay, and Sonia Nieto exposed and criticized oppressive teaching approaches, standardized tests, classroom climate, and discriminatory hiring practices. Relevantly, this created in every academic professional the challenge to recognize diversity or as later coined, multiculturalism, and make it their mission to â€Å"manage† and â€Å"live diversity† (Rosado, 1997 ). Being multicultural does not only mean having a student population composed of various cultures, though this is often the contention of many schools. Rosado points out that for a school to claim they are multicultural, they must at least adhere to four standards. These include reflecting heterogeneity, demonstrating sensitivity, realigning the school’s mission, and creating an ambiance that empowers all groups in the school. With clear and careful intention, Rosado argues that schools should adopt change geared towards multiculturalism on individual as well as institutional levels. On the one hand, by saying individual level, we mean that schools should aim at urging administration, teachers and students to transcend beyond their own racial, gender, cultural and socio-political identity to recognize other identities. On the other hand, as Rosado contends, institutional level means focusing on empowering diversity. This goes beyond merely admitting people of color, but also taking into consideration in the school’s mission, vision, values, and structure how it can empower each individual. Although motivated by good intention, empowering people of diversity, as pointed out by Rosado may sometimes lead to a utilitarian view of giving a person his needs in exchange of what he can offer his society. We say that this is very utilitarian in that it sees the individual as a utility, more than an entity with values, attitudes, and affection. In contrast, we should be inclined to think that it is the school’s responsibility to provide the different needs of individuals in recognition of their diversity and nothing else. No conditions should apply as to whether the society can profit from his acts or not. Relevantly, whether the person is worthy of rewards of multiculturalism should not be an issue. Four intentions have motivated the adoption of multiculturalism in education. These include the â€Å"need to remedy ethnocentrism, rebuild understanding and appreciation of different cultures, defuse tension and conflicts among ethnic groups, and make the school curricula relevant to experiences and traditions† (Webb, 1990). In the next part, we will discuss how well these motivations relate to school counseling.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Many research works confirm the positive effects of multicultural education on students. For example, Hale (1986) shows that children in a preschool program achieved higher cognitive levels upon integrating African American culture in the curriculum.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the same way, Zaslavsky (1988) demonstrates how elements of other cultures can help in teaching complex math concepts to students of an inner-city school. Fulton-Scott (1983) confirms benefits of integrating multicultural education in elementary programs for Hispanic students. The study reveals that students’ scores in Math, Reading, and Language were significantly superior over those of students enrolled in programs without multicultural integration.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Benefits of multiculturalism are likewise recognized in the field of Psychology, particularly in school counseling. However, research in this area has focused more on counselors’ multicultural competence rather than on the effect of counseling founded on multiculturalism.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In 1991, the Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development (AMCD) identified the need and rationale for multicultural counseling. This led to the approval of 31 multicultural counseling competencies as proposed by Sue et al. (1992) in 1991. Following this, in 2002, the APA Council of Representatives approved the Guidelines on Multicultural Education, Training, Research, Practice and Organization Change, which was, in fact, based on the work of Sue et al.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The need to adopt multiculturalism in counseling, especially in schools, is truly urgent and necessary for ethical reasons. In relation to this, AMCD identifies three characteristics counselors must possess. First is counselor awareness of own assumptions, values, and biases. Second is understanding the worldview of the culturally different client; and third, developing appropriate intervention strategies and techniques   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Primarily, culturally skilled counselors can be identified as those who have awareness of other people’s culture other than their own. They are aware of how their cultural background, experience, attitude, biases, and values influence the counseling process of a client. Moreover, these counselors recognize their limits when it comes to tolerating other values, behaviors, or norms. To add, culturally skilled counselors are also comfortable with differences between them and the clients in terms of race, gender identity, ethnicity, culture, and beliefs. To illustrate, the first measure of competency requires a counselor to mirror whether his own values and beliefs would personally or professionally affect the process of counseling. For example, a Christian counselor may have biases towards a Muslim student, for they have truly different belief systems. In this situation, if the counselor has no knowledge of ethical limitations, he might insist that his beliefs are better or are morally upright, and those of the student’s are the opposite. However, such case may be prevented if the counselor is fully aware of conflicting values he has with the student. In our own view, a school counselor should be open to all values of every student. This is different from the counselor in the private sector. In school counseling, the counselor who cannot accept views of some students is not fit for school counseling. A school counselor should have readiness to counsel every student, and there should be no instance when he would not accept a student for counseling.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To ensure that the counselor meets the first requirement mentioned above, he should reflect on his values and find out if he has beliefs against any culture, including students with different gender identities, cultural or religious practices, and other moral practices that their culture has taught them. For instance, taking into consideration the case of students with gender identity problem, the counselor must be careful not to insist that the student sticks to his biological gender. Rather, he should exercise care in handling this case. After all, the whole life of the student may depend on the decision he makes at the time of counseling. Culturally skilled counselors possess knowledge and understanding about how gender stereotyping affects them personally and professionally. Considering the sensitivity of the issue of gender identity disorder, the school counselor must be careful not to affect the decision and values of the individual, for he is going to suffer later on should he take the wrong decision.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Moreover, as Sue et al. contend, culturally skilled counselors possess knowledge about their social impact on others. These include one’s awareness of own communication style, and how this style may hinder or facilitate the counseling process. Recognizing limits of their competencies, school counselors may confer with their colleagues how to overcome these weaknesses. Aside from this, they should seek further training or education on other cultures as a way to do away with biases. The process of balancing one’s view of other cultures may take a lifetime as new concepts may arise everyday. For example, the term transgender individuality appeared only in our modern times, but the concept of transforming from one gender to another has been known as early as the time of Sophocles or even earlier. In this regard, counselors should not grow tired of finding ways for self-actualization. Also, on the second characteristic, it is the responsibility of the culturally skilled counselor to gather resources to learn about the identity of other cultures. In the case of homosexuality among students, the counselor should know the different sides of the coin in being a homosexual. In particular, counselors who deal with this issue should have a good understanding of the process of being a homosexual (Adams, Boatwright, Gilbert, Forrest Ketzenberger, Cass, Chung Katayama, Croghan, Driscoll, Kelley Fassinger, Dunkle, and Pope, as cited in Sanabria, 2004). With this knowledge, he must let the student decide on his own whether to retain his gender identity or move to the phase of ‘coming out†. Coming out or in other words, admitting to the society that one belongs to a specific gender type is in itself a dilemma among teenagers with identity confusion. The specific role of the counselor in this situation is to help the youth consider advantages and disadvantages of coming out (Adams, Belz, Brown, Croteau Hedstrom, Elliott, Hetherington, Morgan Brown, Morrow, Pope, Rodriguez Chang, Pope Schecter, Savin-Williams, as cited in Sanabria, 2004). Additionally, the counselor should guide the student in the stage of coming-out by training him/her how to deal with people’s inquiry about his identity. For example, the counselor could give real-life scenarios, and ask the student to react on them in order to ensure that he would be prepared for particular instances when he would experience doubt. If the counselor feels affirmative or senses tolerance toward gays and lesbians but lacks the knowledge to handle cases of these individuals, he could improve his familiarity with them through a lot of ways. One source of invaluable information is reading literatures regarding gay/lesbian culture. At present, explorations on gender-specific cases are improving in terms of number and depth. These readings can guide a counselor to discover gay/lesbian cultural identity. Likewise, attending conferences or symposia, gathering insights from past clients and friends who belong to the same gender type will also contribute a lot (Sanabria, 2004). Also, as Sanabria expresses, if the counselor feels that he is not qualified to handle the case, it is only ethical to refer the student to someone who could offer him the right counseling. Furthermore, counselors who cannot be affirmative of gay and lesbian culture are probably misinformed and should look into themselves again if they are fit for being a school counselor. The issue regarding sexual minorities is only one of the issues a school counselor must be able to handle. If the counselor cannot help sexual minorities, he should reconsider if he should continue practicing in the academic setting. Suffice to mention, the National Career Development Association, American Counseling Association, and American Psychological Association have well-defined ethical codes that offer guidance for individuals who work with sexual orientation issues. Included in these ethical codes is the knowledge about students’ behavioral identity. Importantly, culturally skilled counselors should be aware of life experiences, cultural heritage, and historical background of their multicultural students. For instance, an Asian American student has different historical and cultural background from a Latino counterpart, or an African American. When counseling an Asian American, for example, a Chinese girl who cannot relate well with her classmates, a counselor must be informed of the conservative values Chinese families have. Actually, the attitude of keeping one’s silence may be in conformity with Confucian values. In this regard, the counselor cannot expect the girl to be as outgoing as he r classmates are, for the behavior she presents embodies a cultural heritage among the Chinese. Furthermore, culturally skilled counselors understand the consequences arising from one’s exercise of cultural traditions and rites. In some parts of Asia, for instance, there is still the custom of prearranged marriage. Thus, a counselor who encounters a high school student in this situation should suspend judgment of the custom, but rather honor it, and perhaps counsel the child to make her own choice, after laying down the consequences of abiding by the culture. In considering choices, the counselor may enumerate possible circumstances the child would face if she relents to her parents’ decision, or vice versa. Under no circumstances should the counselor dictate to the child what she should do as this may result in confusion or family conflict. Likewise, the counselor may also opt to explain the issue to the parents, but before doing so, the counselor must take precautions so as not to offend them. At all times, respect should form part of every counseling situation. Aside from obtaining a rich background of their students, a competent counselor, according to Sue et al. should also be kept updated with the latest trends and occurrences that concern his clients. In the case of a school counselor, it would be of great help if he engages in research and other activities to keep him updated with the students’ lingo, hobbies, behavioral patterns, etc. They should actively seek out opportunities—personal and professional experiences that enrich their knowledge, understanding, and cross-cultural skills. Moreover, as some schools implement nowadays, counselors can engage in outside school activities such as outreach programs, educational trips, camps, and other activities which would help gain a more vivid profile of the counselees. They should also be actively involved with minority individuals outside the school setting. Community events, celebrations, and other gatherings may help provide a wider perspective of minorities which relate with the academic scenario. Considering the dynamic role that the school counselor plays in society, the responsibility of ensuring that they possess the relevant qualities expected of a counselor should be borne by colleges offering the course or training. Based on the literature gathered, schools have positively become fully concerned about the issue of multiculturalism. Many schools and universities nowadays adhere to the demands of the culturally diverse society. However, the way to attaining competency of some school counselors may still be too far. In one study Holcom-McCo y (2000) conducted, the author identified five underlying factors influencing school counselors’ perception of themselves as competent professionals. These factors included understanding of racial identity development, ability to comprehend multicultural terminology, multicultural awareness, knowledge, and skills. Among which, counselors perceived lack of knowledge of racial identity development as the problem that hindered them from being fully competent in multiculturalism. To address this problem, Schwallie-Giddis et al. (as cited in Sanabria, 2004) suggest that future school counselors should undergo multicultural training on racial identity development, and multicultural knowledge development. In a study conducted, school counselors assessed the effectiveness of a nine-month multicultural professional development program. The study involved 13 school counselors in a multicultural professional development program held from school year 2001-2002. Applying three dimensions of multicultural competencies, the participants assessed their own competencies. Resources included a videotape of a case study to which participants reacted, in order to discover assumptions, values and biases. To assess understanding of the clients’ worldviews, the study made use of case studies of linguistically and culturally diverse (LCD) students. The participants were asked to apply a framework to the cases to examine aspects school counselors should consider when handling diverse students. The participants had a lengthy discussion on the provided cases, and at the end of the session, they expressed the advantage of having discussions with peers. Another session comprised of a panel interview with three mothers of different cultures. Each of the women talked about her child’s experiences in school, all of which related to the inefficiency of the school officials to handle multicultural students. In all the issues raised, lack of communication surfaced as the most recurrent problem. In relation to this, participants commented that had there been proper communication between parents and school officials, issues would have been resolved more easily. Moreover, the study also included a session that dealt with developing appropriate interventions to cases of LCD students. Through this, participants were able to exchange views and experiences which could help build up a resource for interventions to cases of LCD students. Based on this session, counselors noted that most of them found it difficult to deal with LCD student mainly because of the language barrier. Furthermore, insecurities due to lack of knowledge of other cultures affected the competencies of the participants. In sum, the school counselors agreed that having enough facility to understand the student and overcoming language barriers is one major key to providing adequate help to students. Similarly, Chandras et al. (2006) suggest counseling strategies and techniques in handling multicultural students. One skill they emphasized to be critical in every counseling situation is effective listening. Effective listening, as Neuknug (2002) defines, includes allowing students to talk, concentrating on what is being said, giving minimal advice, empathizing, asking for clarifications, and limiting questions. When handling multicultural students, it is important for the counselor to be fully sensitive to verbal cues that relate to culture. For instance, a student who is often bullied in class may not admit why he is being bullied due to his insecurity. There are some students who would rather keep the truth to themselves or resolve their own conflicts instead of asking help from school officials. Despite this attitude, a good school counselor could still unlock verbal cues that could make the student open up. For example, a child who claims he is not interested in making friends with his classmates could likewise mean that his classmates are cruel to him and not totally uninteresting. As such, clarifying responses and not directly giving advice may help the child reflect on his own situation. To maintain effective counseling strategy, a constructive and emphatic relationship is very important (Chandras et al., 2006). In this respect, the counselor’s role is first to build up trust and optimism. On the one hand, gaining trust of a student is paramount to establishing a good relationship. Without trust, there can be no revelations, no life experiences told. On the other hand, developing optimism facilitates finding a solution to the problem. Also, when a student perceives that there is a solution to the dilemma, he becomes more willing to cooperate in the counseling process. Secondary to the abovementioned is discussing stages of the counseling process. It is important to inform the counselee how the counseling would go, what can be achieved during counseling stages, and how long they will take. Together with this, the counselor should set guidelines both he and the student will follow, such as time schedule, behavior rules, and limitations. Chakras et al. determine other responsibilities of a counselor. These include preparing the student for counseling session. As a counselor, one has to establish the reason why the student should undergo counseling. Asking the student what he feels is wrong, or eliciting experiences that seem difficult for him are ways to prepare the student. In addition, the counselor must assert that the problem can be worked out if the counselee cooperates in resolving it. Also, some situations that lead to the attention are considered for school counseling. These include breaking school rules, misbehaving, or underachievement. As such, the class adviser and the school counselor should work hand in hand regarding record of students’ behavior and progress. One of the misconceptions about counseling is that students are referred to it only for disciplinary purposes. Students tend to think that if they are called for counseling, they have been noted to misbehave in school. Thus, some students create a wrong view that counselors are disciplinarians. Importantly, this issue should be addressed during school orientation, letting the students know and feel that counseling is a helping process, and not a disciplinary one. Furthermore, what the counselor can do to avoid this misconception is to call each student one by one, get to know them, and allow a time for them to be acquainted with her and her work, so that fears regarding counseling could be avoided. Importantly, not only those who have reports of misbehavior should be called for counseling, but every student handled by each counselor. During counseling session, one good characteristic the counselor should exhibit is to remain focused on the specific problem. If the student’s problem concerns only his classmates, the counselor should identify ways to resolve it at the said level, and not delve on the students’ family background, as such may give the student an impression that his problem is huge. For example, if the student identifies that he is having problems with classmates bullying him, the counselor must call the attention of the said classmates and allow the said parties to explain the issue (i.e., tell them of the situation to find out if they are aware of the problem they cause their classmate). Furthermore, it is the counselor’s role to sustain interest of the counselee during the counseling process. To attain this, the counselor should ask questions relevant to the situation, and involve the counselee in arriving at the best workable solution. Asking irrelevant questions and monopolizing the discussion may distract the concentration of the counselee. In addition, the counselor may give assignments or home work so that the student would feel responsible and be prepared for the next counseling session. As regards developing appropriate intervention strategies and techniques to help multicultural students, counselors should also be effectively involved in non-academic and out-of-school activities. As the core of the student’s personality, the counselor should focus first on building family relationships. Activities involving the students’ family would be an effective strategy to (1) know students well, (2) gain knowledge of family structure of students, whether parents are separated, and where students stay, (3) provide a venue for family bonding, and (4) inform parents of their children’s progress/problems. Parent involvement in counseling is inevitable. Some studies confirm student improvement in â€Å"academic performance, attitudes and behavior, attendance, school adjustment and engagement, and graduation rates† (Barnard, Epstein, Simons-Morton Crump, as cited in Sanabria). In Jevnes (as cited in Sanabria), a recent meta-analysis of 41 studies shows a significant relationship between parent’s involvement in school and academic achievement of urban students.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Parent involvement in school can include activities designed to inform them of their children’s progress, workshops or conferences to help them cope with the difficulties of parenting, marriage, etc. However, some parents lack the initiative to get involved in their child’s school affairs. As Lareau (as cited in Sanabria, 2004) posits, parents perceptions of racism and their own negative school experiences tend to create the distance between them and the schools. One study conducted by McKay, Atkins, Hawkins, Brown (as cited in Sanabria, 2004) found that the racism awareness of low-income African American parents was positively related to at-home parental involvement, and inversely related to at-school involvement. In this case, the counselor should coordinate closely with class advisers and other school officials to help convince these parents to give priority to their children. One source of motivation could be research dat a establishing correlation between children’s progress and parental involvement. One activity the counselor could organize is a â€Å"Day with Parents.† This could be a panel discussion involving model parents (probably of outstanding students) to act as the panel, and discuss relevant issues with students and co-parents. In this activity, the panel discusses ways on how they get involved with the affairs of their children, and how these measures create positive output to them. After the pane interview/discussion, the parents may exchange ideas in a forum to discuss proper ways to bring up children. Specifically, student problems, whether academic or personal, may also be brought up. Another activity the counselor could organize is a family day in which the whole family will come to the school to enjoy rides, games, or dining together. This event may be school-wide and would need the participation of every school personnel and students. Aside from organizing events for the family, the school counselor could also incorporate in the program field trips, camping, games, and other fun activities for the students. This will help students, especially with multicultural background, to get to know their classmates well. This way, they would also find time to have more friends. Aside from this, fun activities would also make them realize that school is not just for learning academics but also for having fun.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Moreover, other activities school counselors could provide include workshops or performing arts activities. These activities are very ideal to cultivate the talents of students. Examples of which include art, theater arts, dance, and singing workshops. After the workshops, counselors could also have a culminating activity in which students show what they have learned from the workshop. For arts, students will have an art exhibit, for dance, theater arts, and singing, the counselor could propose to school administration to allow a concert or show, in which students will be the performers. This particular activity could also serve as a fund raising campaign aside from showcasing the talent of students.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Other activities to make students realize their potentials include sports activities/intramurals. This would allow sports-minded students to show their capabilities in their field. Also, this could serve as the school’s campaign against drug use among students.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Further to the given interventions, counselors could also conduct career orientation, especially for graduating students. In this activity, the counselor would invite some professionals to talk about their career to inspire students to follow a similar path. At the end of the session, the counselor would elicit from students, which career aroused their interest, and what made them interested to it. Importantly, students should be given many options to choose from, and career professionals to be invited should likewise have multicultural identity, so that students can easily relate with them. Evaluation sessions should also follow to allow room for improvement.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Counselors also have a part in the school’s community outreach. By giving orientation to students regarding the activity and motivating them to help other people, students will realize that the helping profession is not limited within the four corners of the school. The participation of the counselor is very important as this will strengthen the role of the counseling profession and the school’s mission of helping other people.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Other interventions the counselor could incorporate in the counseling program include achievement tests, personality tests, and other assessments to gauge the students’ academic and personal progress. These could help identify the needs of the students or their inclinations to serve as guide in choosing their future career. There are a lot of ways a school counselor can adopt to help in the holistic development of students. In adopting each intervention, what is important is to bear in mind its applicability to the multicultural students. As each student comes from a different background, it is imperative to learn about them individually, and not just by names or culture affiliation. As long been practiced by other counseling professionals, one strategy the counselor could employ is to do home visits. By visiting students in their home, the counselor will gain a clear and accurate picture of the students’ background. Similarly, this would also create for him a first-hand experience of the students’ cultural background.   Conclusion As we continue to live in the Information Age, we are driven to realize the many impacts of multiculturalism on people, educational institutions, and society in general. In particular, we see how it changed history in the 1960s with the civil protest of Black Americans, and how it restructured school policies on employment of faculty, and treatment of students. Similarly, we see how it inspired minority groups to express their views and contribute to the rich and modern culture. Moreover, we see the important role of multiculturalism in the counseling programs of schools and the community, not to mention the challenges it continues to bring counselors in providing care and assistance. Although discrimination based on race, ethnic origin, gender, religion, disability, socio-political, and economic status are still evident in our society, the progress attained by forerunners and supporters of multiculturalism make us look forward to a better nation in the next decades. As time unfolds, we may take pride as we watch Americans embrace Africans, Asians, and other people of color. This view will continue to unveil as school administrators continue to uphold and cultivate the gifts of diversity in their orientation of students and communities. Much to the efforts made by school activists, we may look forward to more reforms in the counseling scene, either in schools or communities. The standards set by the AMCD or APA would continue to lead counselors to realize the importance of their roles in the society. The role played by counselors is not an easy task. However, by being conscious of their own tendency toward biases, counselors would avoid disserving their clients, and in the long run, the attitude of people especially schoolchildren toward counseling would further be affirmative. Moreover, adhering to the second characteristic, counselors would maintain a sensitive attitude toward cultures of other people. As such, they will feel the importance of bridging gaps among multicultural individuals, thus becoming proponents of unity and peace in the long run. Also part of the competency requirements of counselors is to devise or organize strategies to provide relevant counseling and helping services to the people. In this respect, their role is not limited to the school setting they serve, but it is likewise relevant to the community they work with. By fulfilling their part as community helpers, counselors would have a richer cultural experience which could help in their field. Recognizing the difficult task expected of counselors, we may develop the doubt regarding the capability of school counselors of today in taking on the said challenges. In this regard, counselors would need all the assistance it could get from school officials such as teachers, principal, and other staff. Through the collaboration between counselors and school officials, multicultural students will realize the important contribution they can make in the society, not only in their group but also in the lives of other people, in the fields of technology, manpower, innovation, and care for the environment. The nature of helping students does not end in counseling them or providing moral support. Rather, it extends to making them feel their importance as people, providing them choices in life, and cultivating their talents. The counseling program of every school should be the most active program among all, as it involves not only the students and counselors, but also other school officials, including the teachers, librarian, and support staff. If every one in the school system shares in the goal of achieving multicultural counseling, we can hope for the success of multicultural students. As such, everyone should his/her own part and responsibilities in promoting the welfare of the students—that is, giving respect to people of other cultures, helping them realize their life goals, and making them co-creators of society. Despite all the efforts exerted by counselors and other individuals to make up a better society, we can still note some people, even students who would resist multiculturalism. The harsh picture of some students exhibiting exclusivist attitude toward their peers should not be overlooked. Rather, it should be the concern of everyone in the school, especially its officials. In line with this, more studies should be conducted on how to incorporate multicultural views into the counseling program of every school, beginning from pre-schools to post-graduate schools. It would also help if psychological groups or associations would set standards particularly for multicultural school counseling. These rules would serve as guide for school administrators in choosing the right school counselor. While it is the role of school counselors to provide counseling to multicultural students, it would also help if schools would implement a procedure to evaluate if other aspects of the school adhere to promoting cultural diversity. Particularly, school administrators should realize that the issue of multiculturalism should not be addressed by the counseling program alone, but also by all aspects of the school, including the physical structure of the school. In this regard, future research in psychology could include ways on how the school’s physical structure could support counseling programs for multicultural students. References Chandras, Kan, David DeLambo, Sunil Chandras. (2006). Counseling strategies and techniques to sensitize school counselors to the life experiences of culturally different students. Retrieved January 28, 2008, from http://www.counselingoutfitters.com/Chandras.htm Constantine, Madonna. (2001). Universal-diverse orientation and general expectations about counseling: Their relation to college students multicultural counseling expectations. Journal of college student development. Retrieved January 28, 2008, from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3752/is_200111/ai_n8993131 Freedman, Kenneth. (1999). Multicultural counseling. Retrieved January 23, 2008, from http://www.alaska.net/~fken/Multiculture.htm Gorski, Paul. (1999). A Brief History of Multicultural Education. Retrieved January 25, 2008, from http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/papers/edchange_history.html Hanna, Fred. (2000). Asian shades of spirituality: implications for multicultural school counseling. Professional school counseling. Retrieved January 29, 2008, from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0KOC/is_5_7/ai_n6121238 Harris, Anthony.   (2007). Philosophy and techniques of multicultural education. Journal of multidisciplinary research. Vol. 1 Issue 1. Retrieved January 22, 2008, from http://www.scientificjournals.org/journals2007/articles/1080.htm Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students. (n.d.). Retrieved January 29, 2008, from http://www.getthetoolkit.com/publications/transgender%20students.pdf Patterson, C.H. (1996). Multicultural counseling: from diversity to universality. Journal of counseling and development. Retrieved January 25, 2008, from http://www.sageofasheville.com/pub_downloads/MULTICULTURAL_COUNSELING_FROM_DIVERSITY_TO_UNIVERSALITY.pdf Rosado, Caleb. (1997). Toward a definition of multiculturalism. Retrieved January 30, 2008, from http://www.rosado.net/pdf/Def_of_Multiculturalism.pdf Rosado, Caleb. (n.d.). What makes a school multicultural? January 24, 2008, from http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/papers/caleb/multicultural.html Sanabria, Samuel. (2004). Culturally appropriate career counseling with gay and lesbian clients. Career development quarterly. Retrieved January 29, 2008, from http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Culturally+appropriate+career+counseling+with+gay+and+lesbian+clients.-a0127052322 Sue, Derald Wing, Patricia Arredondo, and Roderick McDavis. (1992). Multicultural counseling competencies and standards: A call to the profession. Retrieved January 25, 2008, from www.counseling.org/Files/FD.ashx?guid=e14f8c36-41e7-4af8-830d-69f6057986d7 – Van Velsor, Patricia Graciela Orozco. (2007). Involving low-income parents in the schools: Communitycentric strategies for school counselors. Professional school counseling. Retrieved January 29, 2008, from http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Involving+low-income+parents+in+the+schools%3a+communitycentric-a0171018638 Webb, Michael. (1990). Multicultural education in elementary and secondary schools. Eric digest number 67.  Retrieved January 24, 2008, from http://www.ericdigests.org/pre-9218/secondary.htm

The Use of Flashback in Kenneth Branaghs Henry V Essay -- Film, Movie

The Use of Flashback in Kenneth Branagh's Henry V Â   In Kenneth Branagh's film adaptation of William Shakespeare's Henry V flashback is used at key moments to comment on the action and to explain points in Henry's past, and how that past effects his present judgment. Certain scenes and lines are borrowed from parts one and two of Shakespeare's Henry IV to do this. The result is an amalgam of scenes, lines, and characters which brings about a telling expose of Henry V, and the man he was before becoming king of England. Flashback is used in this adaptation directly, to establish key points and players in Henry's life, as well as in a less direct manner, coming through in his current actions, to show his sovereignty, what that means to him and why. The initial flashback scene displays a memory of Pistol's concerning Sir John Falstaff (portrayed by actor Robbie Coltrane). The flashback occurs while Falstaff is on his deathbed, and his remaining friends lament his impending loss. Branagh gives Pistol a line of Falstaff's, describing Falstaff in his own words as "A goodly, portly man, in faith," (1 Henry IV. II. iv. 421), apparently to establish Falstaff as the well loved character he seems to be in the Branagh film. Falstaff is shown as the jolly jester in this flashback, and not at all as the dangerous, mischief making deceiver he is in the texts, themselves. Branagh focuses on the pathos of Falstaff, to display his rejection as an unfortunate one. It is in this flashback that the audience sees the Machiavellian seeds being sewn in Prince Hal's personality as he shows his willingness to banish "valiant Jack Falstaff", however it is not shown where these seeds came from. Falstaff advises his young friend not to banish him f... ...am Shakespeare's Henry V, Branagh uses flashback in more than one way to retell the classic story of King Henry V. Both in actual, and implied flashback Branagh shows the true character of Henry, along with what makes him the king that he is and what gets him to this point in his life. The byproducts of the humanization of Falstaff, and the vilification of Bardolph, coupled with the unique look at Henry's image of his father gives the audience a very different look at this life story, but one which is nonetheless accurate, and entertaining. Works Cited Henry V. Dir. Kenneth Branagh. The Samuel Goldwyn Company, 1989. Kliman, Bernice W. "Branagh's Henry V: Allusion and Illusion." Shakespeare on Film Newsletter. 14.1 (Dec. 1989): 1+. Shaw, William P. "Textual Ambiguities and Cinematic Certainties in Henry V." Literature Film Quarterly. 22.2 (1994): 117-28.

Case Study- Culinarian Cookware

1. Describe consumer behavior in the cookware market. How is cookware bought? How is it sold? What are the implications for Culinarian’s marketing strategy? Cookwre was bought either by piece or in a boxed set. Below are two graphs about how cookware is bought and sold. How is cookware bought: How is cookware sold: Implications: * There is a big potential in mass merchandise outlet, which has not been explored yet. * Enhance cooperative relationships with department store, because this is a very important sector with a large share in both purchasing and selling. Direct sales doesn’t have a large share (only 5%), and the percentage that people buy through this channel is almost zero, so we need to consider if direct sales is necessary. * A large share of cookware is sold in 75 local specialty stores (27%), and we need to reduce the sales of this channel. * Target customers should be women from 30-55 with household income over $75,000. 2. What are Culinarian’s stre ngths and weaknesses? Why has the company been successful? Strengths| Weakness| Strategy| Advertising|Very clear four strategic priorities| A fraction of Competitors| Product| Promotion| Unparalleled product quality| Lack of consistent and meaningful price discount events | Advanced performance technology| | Leader in metallurgy technology | | First manufacturer to provide the benefits of copper cookware with effortless and maintenance. | | Sales and Distribution | Market share| Very strong relationships with retailers| Low compared to other competitors (6. 5%)| Eight experienced account managers| | The success of Culinarian lies in the following aspects:Above all, the company has very clear four strategies priorities. Furthermore, good execution is very important. Strategies play like a guideline, and all marketing and sales activities are launched under this guideline. Then, the company did a good job on preserving its brand image with unparalleled product quality and advanced tec hnology. Building strong relationships with retailers is another factor. The company offers a higher margin to retailer than other competitors, which stimulates the retailer to push the sales.Finally, Culinarian is quite clear about their target customers, who have high-income, so their advertising is very effective that they focus on magazines and newspapers targeted at high income audience. 3. Was the 2004 promotion profitable? Calculate the profitability using Brown’s logic and then calculate profitability using the consultant’s model. How would you calculate profitability? My conclusion is the 2004 promotion was profitable. Using Brown’s logic Actual units = 184987 Forecast units = 59871 Variable costs = 38. 4 Incremental contribution impact = (62. 4-38. 64)*184987-(72-38. 64)* 59871 = 2397995 Using consultant’s model Actual units = 129386 Forecast units = 119504 Variable costs = 52. 05 Incremental contribution impact = 10. 35*129386-19. 95*119504-993 32+39540 = -1104752 My method Conclusion: the promotion is profitable Promotion period March to May Variable cost Both overhead cost and advertising cost should not be included in the variable cost, so my variable cost should be 38. 64-(52. 05*7%)= 35 Forecast unitsI use consultant’s figure by the computer-generated model, which is 119504 Actual units Actual orders from March to May in 2004, which equals 184987 (47191+89423+48373) (62. 4-35)*184987-(72-35)*119504=646995 4. Should Culinarian run a 2007 price promotion? If so, what should be the specifics of such a promotion (e. g. , product scope, discount rate, timing, communicate) Culinarian should run a 2007 promotion. First of all, in 2006, Culnarian’s CEO established four strategies for the company. The 2007 price promotion would be a very good implementation of the strategy.Moreover, 2005 telephone survey shows that unaided brand awareness for Culinarian are 15% with household income under $75000 and 25% with hous ehold income over $75000 ( this figure is lower than its competitor Le Gourmand and Robusto). Finally, the cookware market in U. S. had been increasing year on year, so had been Culinarian’s products, so there must be a great potential on sales growth. Details of the promotion Product Scope They should run promotion on product DX1 and CX1. First, SX1 and PROX1 are for advanced and professional chefs, so they are very high-end with smaller shares of the revenue.Then, DX1 and CX1 take a lion share of the total revenue. Finally, discount on DX1 and CX1 would not affect brand image as they are relatively low-end products with low price and technology. Timing They should choose April, May and June as spring sales and October, November and December as winter sales. May and June are weddings seasons, while November and December are Christmas time. According to the survey, 55% of the respondents received or purchased cookware as a gift. So I suggest there should be two price promotio ns in spring and winter. Communications:Commercial advertisement on cook channels (39% watch television cooking shows and 18% purchase cookware seen on television cooking shows) Direct support to retail stores such as displays and sales staff (30% stated that they would be drawn to stores with attractive displays, and 25% preferred a full- service store) Enhance channel communication with mass merchandise outlet (32% of respondents bought cookware in mass merchandise outlet) Traditional channels, including TV, radio, newspapers and cook magazines. (10% said they might respond to TV, radio, magazine, or newspaper advertising) Discount rate :20%

Economics Commentary Essay

The article concerns the price war in the airline business in China. Air companies sell tickets at lower than cost price to drive out competitors. The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) wants to prevent this and will set a price floor for seats on 699 flights. In this commentary I will explain the situation and discuss the consequences of this issue. Air companies try to attract the necessary numbers of passengers to stop their routes from being canceled by the CAAC. Offering discounts is one of the ways to attract people to buy air tickets. In this case, discounts of 70 to 80 percents had been offered to consumers over the last few months, while a regulation made by the NDRC and CAAC in 2004 states that airlines should not sell tickets at less than 45 percent of the nominal price. Although this regulation, China Eastern continued the price war by still giving these huge discounts which were meant to provoke counterattacks from other airlines. Firms usually want to determine prices to maximize profits and one option is predatory pricing. Predatory pricing means that firms cut prices below costs to drive out competitors. As soon as firms have driven out competitors, obtained a bigger market share, they raise the prices again. Predatory pricing makes the industry more concentrated, because there a fewer firms in the market. With other words, the market becomes less competitive and more monopolistic. The CAAC tries to prevent this in order to keep the air business competitive. Options are price floors, as will be explained later. However, travelers are against the idea, as price wars are profitable for them in the short run. They can buy relatively cheap tickets now. Though the tickets will be more expensive in future, in the long run. This happens when the firms have driven out their competitors and have raised their prices again. Then producers will charge higher prices than the normal price and the consumers would therefore be worse off. Although this predatory pricing , also rumors about government intervention made consumers already unhappy. Some insiders have implied that China Eastern used funds injected by the government to subsidize its losses on ticket sales. The reaction of the CAAC was that the government had injected several billion yuan into China Eastern to maintain its daily operations, but not so it could cut ticket prices. The reaction from the travelers on the implementation of a price floor was also negative. A price floor means that a government introduce a minimum price that can be charged for a product. With an implementation of a price floor, the demand will decrease from Q0 to Qd and the price will increase from P0 to Pmin. The firms which are still in the industry will now charge higher prices at lower outputs. They pay more and get less. If the CAAC decides to implement this price floor it causes that there will be a excess supply, the area Pmin-(Qd-Qs) . The costs can be higher than the profits and therefore producers will leave the industry. This will lead to a shift in supply and to less excess supply in the long run as shown in figure 2. Secondly there is a problem with unemployment. By implementing a price floor, unemployment will occur. This is because the supply will shift to left in the long run. There are fewer suppliers and therefore people will get unemployed. People who were working in the area Qd-Q0 will lose their jobs. On the other hand, people who are working in the area 0-Qd will keep their jobs and will gain more. Consumers are obviously not happy with this and some people reacted with statements as, ‘We don’t want to pay extra just to fund some senior manager’s salary’, as mentioned in the article. Predatory pricing is a difficult task to prevent, since price floors do not benefit consumers neither in the short run nor in the long run. The CAAC probably needs to find other regulations and restrictions manners to prevent this ‘malicious competition’.

Eqypt vs Mayan essays

Eqypt vs Mayan essays The Egyptian civilization that developed along the Nile River was comprised of desperate human communities forced by the growing desert to live there. It grew to be one of the first great urban cultures of human history. The Mayan Civilization was an ancient Native American culture that became of the most advanced civilizations in the Americas. The people known as the Maya lived in the region that is now eastern and southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, and western Honduras. The basis of both of the societies was agriculture. Agriculture lead to every other aspect of these two diverse, yet similar cultures split by the globe. The Mayans and the Egyptians both had very primitive farming techniques in the beginning. In order to be successful at all, the people had to work together. No one could do all of the labor alone. This meant that the cultures needed many workers to help out with the work. As the farmers and people began to cooperate, an organization began to grow. They found leaders among them who directed the workers. Forms of government and religion developed and due to this fact the people soon began to build cities and to manufacture things. Eventually they even began to trade with their neighbors. That is how it all started. This was the founding ground for both of their societies. To be a successful society the people needed a food supply, which meant that they had to have trust and faith in their farming techniques and in the supernatural gods that controlled their fate. Today, as then, every society has a god or idol they worship to explain why life takes the path that it does. Both the Mayan and Egyptians had a very strong religion centered society. The Maya worshiped agricultural gods, such as the rain god and, later, the corn god. Eventually they developed the belief that gods controlled events in each day, month, and year, and that they had to make offerings to win the gods favor. The ...

8 TV Shows That Will Make You a Better Novelist

8 TV Shows That Will Make You a Better Novelist Netflix Write: 8 Shows That Will Make You a Better Novelist Reedsy editor and novelist Andrew Lowe highlights an excellent way to improve your writing craft without the need to read a word or skip a YouTube ad. You’ve probably already absorbed it without even knowing. It will enhance your story if the key characters all want different versions of the same thing, or if their change or development is influenced by a unifying theme. You don’t want characters to feel like ciphers; window-dressing for the story. You want them to be an integral part of the way the story functions. The way to do this is to be absolutely clear about your theme. You need to be able to answer that second question with total confidence; ideally, in the fewest possible words.In the Duffer Brothers’ Stranger Things, they’ve boiled their theme down to a single four-letter word: loss. Joyce is a mother who’s lost her son, Will. Jim is a police officer who’s lost his daughter to cancer. Eleven is a young girl who’s lost her childhood. Mike, Dustin, and Lucas have lost a friend. Jonathan Byers has lost his younger brother and his father. What can @netflix's #StrangerThings teach authors about 'theme'? All the characters are pulling in the same direction, and so all the writers have to do is examine their differing motivations as the characters set about finding the things they’ve lost or achieving some kind of related redemption. If you can set your story around a potent central theme, then it will go a long way towards making your characters believable, your story multilayered and - a big bonus, this - because of the clear focus, that dreaded synopsis will be a lot easier to write.Where to watch? NetflixOr if you want to read some of the books that inspired the series, check out our quintessential Stranger Things book list here!Andrew Lowe is one of our top copy-editors on  Reedsy, and you can visit his profile here. His novels The Ghost and Savages  are  available now.What have  you learned about writing by watching  your own favorite TV series? Share your thoughts in the comments below, but be warned once more: there will be spoilers.

To what extent are human bodies products of culture Discuss In Essay

To what extent are human bodies products of culture Discuss In relation to Susan Benson and Anne Balsamo theories and give 2 ex - Essay Example 123); at the same time, it served as an instrument to the expression of one’s culture, beliefs and practices (e.g., tattoos, body piercings, etc.) (Shilling, 2002, p. 68). Nevertheless, cultural influences on the beliefs of the society pose questions about the abilities of the body to satisfy human craving for perfection. The physical limitations of the body, especially in the context of gender, are causes of these commotions. At the spring of technology, the frustrations that bred from these limitations made humans create cybernetic organisms or the cyborgs, concede to cosmetic surgeries, and use equipments that could help correct the issues â€Å"concerning health, beauty and ageing† (Lewis, 2002, p. 294). Because of the increasing attention gained by the human body, several individuals and groups have formulated theories on the bases of these shifts. Theories on Human Body and the Culture As culture affect people’s beliefs and practices in almost all aspects o f living, its influence on human perception about their body has also been inevitable. This is plainly evident particularly in the Western civilizations. Consequently, the collection of research studies and related literature on the account of identity and differences as determined by the body itself, and how humans have proceeded to initiate changes and created new ways to modify the limitations of the natural body which promote control especially in the aspects of health, beauty and aging, have accumulated to unexpected degrees. Subsequently, theories by Foucault, and others, attempt to explain the relationships between the society’s views of the human body, its causes and effects, and the internal and external factors that play a role in the circumstances involved (e.g., human emotions and drives, language, among others) and the current trend of human ascendancy over it (Lewis, 2002, p. 295; Shilling, 2002, p. 65; Balsamo, 1999, p. 20). The presence of social standards and the pressure that it puts on the populace, as well as the submission of the society to these norms, propose that despite the intrinsic diversities that result from â€Å"the modernist ideology of individualism† (Lewis, 2002, p. 295), culture remains to be a crucial and major determinant of how the people view the body and its value. With this, and with the assistance of technology, the human race try to develop the body into the image which suits the idealists view of how the body should be by maintaining health (e.g., exercise and proper diet) and even undergoing cosmetic surgeries; existing in the absence of or surpassing â€Å"bodily flaws, disease, obesity, ageing and (even) death† (Lewis, 2002, p. 295). This is also why bodybuilders, cyborgs and robots, and even those who have anorexia and bulimia exist -- ways in which humans try to demonstrate control over their bodies to achieve what is considered by the society as ideal or within the bounds of social standard s. As a result, experts suggest that what human body is now -- how it is treated, looked at and valued -- is a product of cultures that desire for standardized perfection. Still, the presence of the aforementioned advances towards the â€Å"improvement† of the human body does not mean the complete absence of what is unwanted. Mary Douglas even stated that â€Å"that which is negated is not thereby removed† (as cited in Benson, 2002, p. 124). Hence, people continue to struggle between the threats of the internal and