Buddism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Buddism - Essay Example The quest of a Prince, confined to the four walls of the Palace, to know the truth in life, gave to the world the great philosophy and world religion or way of life known as BUDDHISM. It is based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, who is known as the Buddha, or the Enlightened One. Siddhartha Gautama, the great warrior Prince, was born around 566 BC in Lumbini (formerly in North India). Even when he was an infant a seer predicted that Siddhartha would become either a great King or an ‘enlightened one’. The king, fearful of losing his son and heir to the kingdom, confined him to the Palace. During his three attempts to encounter with the realities that lay outside the walls of the Palace, Prince Siddhartha saw a sick man, an old woman and a decaying corpse and a wandering holy man. This created unrest within him and he realized that there is something beyond the human life, beyond the physical existence. He realized that all men have to undergo all these four stages and not just in one life but life after life. While the Palace was sleeping, one night he escaped leaving his wife and child, and the luxuries of the Palace, in search of the truth. This was the first step towards attaining ‘bodha’. In search of the truth Siddhartha travelled across the country, from one saint to the other. At each step he did release one layer of negativity from within but was still not able to attain the truth. He realized that neither a the life penance and ascetic practices nor a life full of luxuries could reach him there. He discovered what is now called the ‘middle path’ to attain enlightenment. He remembered a moment in childhood in which he had been watching his father start the seasons plowing, and he had fallen into a naturally concentrated and focused state in which time seemed to stand still, and which was blissful and refreshing (Wikipedia). He sat down under a large

Challenges to Kingstons Tourism Industry

Challenges to Kingstons Tourism Industry Kingston has many natural, heritage and infrastructural assets that lend themselves to the development of urban tourism and, at one time, was viewed as a viable tourist destination. The citys history, however, indicates a level of creeping neglect and social turmoil which has led to what is today, an almost non-existent tourist presence. However, it is the social problems that are faced by Kingston, in the form of poverty, crime, and violence, that form the strongest arguments in favour of the development of tourism infrastructure in Kingston. It argued that these are merely symptoms of the greater problem of social exclusion and the lack of economic opportunities for the community at large. Therefore infrastructural development that leads to the creation of sustainable employment opportunities is required. The citys current dependency on manufacturing and related industries has failed to provide the growth or economic benefits required, particularly since the liberalization of the Jamaican economy and the removal of trade protection. Jamaica has not been competitive, neither as a low cost producer of manufactured goods nor as centre of excellence in any particular manufacturing process, not even when compared with its Caribbean neighbours, such as Trinidad and Tobago. It is therefore unlikely that this sector will be the engine of future growth required to provide the people of Kingston with the economic and social benefits required. Conversely, Jamaica has gained significant comparative advantage in tourism, even though its capital city has not been central to this thus far. Many cities in the US and around the globe, facing decline in their manufacturing or primary industries, have embarked on a similar development path and like these cities, Kingston has few available development options. However, research suggests a positive relationship between investment in infrastructure and between performance as well as between tourism and welfare. The writer suggests that properly managed tourism infrastructure in Kingston has the potential to provide significant benefits to its citizens. There is, however very little indication that tourism development in Kingston is high on the agenda of tourism policymakers. The Tourism Master Plan, while acknowledging Kingstons assets, does not make it a priority and merely passes the responsibility to the UDC. Additionally, while a number of papers, studies and plans exist that relates to various sections of Kingston, and some of these do acknowledge the tourism potential, there appears to be very little co-ordination of these initiatives and no central body that is responsible for guiding the achievement of the various plans. It is recognized that the successful development of tourism in Kingston requires the involvement of the central government, local government, the private sector and active participation of the community. It is suggested that while the government will have some role to play in the provision of basic infrastructure, the major investment in tourism infrastructure should come from the private sector. Beyond this however, the government needs to create the environment to encourage this private sector investment and act as facilitator to the development by addressing such issues as: Creation of the tax regime that would facilitate the development Development and encouragement of the capital markets Legislation to facilitate removal of derelict buildings and facilitate city cleanup Inner city housing solutions that provide good living conditions for the community Assessment and address of social and environment issues Provision for security of citizens and assets Tourism planners need to have a clear understanding of the key drivers that affect the demand for tourism products and extensive research may be required into the key factors affecting the major sources of tourists that would gain value from visiting Kingston. Markets include the, dsts VFR, CariEuropean markets, which are not heavily penetrated by the present offerings of resort towns, would make ideal initial candidates markets to be studied, applications of Butlers Area Life cycle Model to the destinations in Jamaica may be useful as it is possible that the creation of Kingston as an alternative location could strengthen Jamaicas strategic offerings. This is especially important as the resort towns approach the later stage of the life cycle and over-capacity becomes a more significant limiting factor for tourism growth an issue. At present, the governments ownership of the national airline Air Jamaica arTe Jamaica UTban Transit Company Limited (JUTC) and the ownership and operation of the Norman Manley International Airport make it an active player in the provision of tourism transportation in Kingston. In addition to its ro as policy setter and regulator the government will and therefore require fulg of the factors affecting the tourism demand and s tourism transportation. It is anticipated that Kingston will become a major cruise shipping destination and this will potentially raise issues and conflicts with the container shipping industry. There is little doubt that crime and of the major issues facing the markets acceptance of Kingston as a viable destination. However, , it is important that this is not used we do not use this as of investment. It is noted that in Jamaicas crime against tourists is relatively low and it is also noted that other countries that have high crime levels, are considered as viable tourist destinations. While the hosting by Jamaica of the semifinal of the Cricket World Cup in 2007 will may not be judge a shining success either financially or as a catalyst for tourism, the hosting does provide a number of lessons which need to be utilized in the future. It cannot be denied that the use of such events to Kick Start tourism in Kingston, if properly planned and managed could be an important part of the tourism planners strategic tool kit. A Strategic Plan is required In the writers opinion there is a clear need for a Strategic Plan for the development of Kingston; a component of which should be the development of tourism. This plan must have as one of its deliverables; the formulation of a clear vision for tourism in Kingston. This vision must be shared among the stakeholders including, national and city Government, the relevant Public Sector bodies, the private sector and the community. A clear understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of Kingston as a potential destination for tourists is required and in this regard it is important that the discourse on crime and violence and the impact on tourism is clearly understood. A significant output of the strategic plan should be a full inventory and assessment of the existing attributes, tourism assets such as attractions, potential attractions and infrastructural assets in the Kingston Metropolitan Area (KMA). This will need to be compared with the desired assets and infrastructure to determine the required investments. This investment is likely to be very significant and, given Jamaicas current fiscal constraints, is not likely to be accommodated in the present budgetary environment. The discussion of PPII does touch on infrastructure financing, though it is recognized that creative and innovative ways need to be developed to finance the development. A key issue, which must be fully considered, discussed and evaluated in the strategic plan is the issue of Leadership and Politics. While this has not been discussed in detail in this paper, it cannot be ignored as it represented a common theme in a number of the case studies that were reviewed, including St Louis, Baltimore and especially Montreal. Additional Research Required It is recognized that it is beyond the scope of this paper to consider all the applicable areas that require consideration. There is, for example, significant scope for new research to be carried out in order to understand the attitudes of the community, in Kingston and Jamaica generally, towards the active development of tourism in Kingston. It is important to determine whether the community will view such developments as being positive, viable and beneficial to them. and therefore we wish to , the the benefits that will the stakeholders in the unity will expect tain from delivering that value to the tourists and, the positive and negative social and environmental impacts that re expected to result from increased tourism and the related development need to be answered? There is also a need to carry out research into the potential markets mentioned earlier before embarking on significant infrastructural or marketing expenditure. Additional data on what type of tourist may be targeted, where they will come from and what value will they get they will get from would be beneficial to future developers.

History, Culture and Self Discovery in Amy Tan’s Joy Luck Club Essay

History, Culture and Self Discovery in Amy Tan’s Joy Luck Club   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the novel The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan, the relationship between history, culture and identity is illustrated through the narrations of seven women. In these stories the women discuss events of their past and the reader is able to see how it affects them later in life. In addition, they also discuss how they have been shaped by cultural expectations. These two things affect both the mothers and daughters in the novel.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The best example of how personal history affects the development or loss of an identity is through the stories of Ying-Ying St. Clair. The events in Ying-Ying’s early life foreshadow ones that happen later in her life. For example, when Ying-Ying was a small child she fell overboard a boat and was lost in the water. Even her name means "clear reflection" which foreshadows her future loss of identity (Tan). Later, she immigrated to the United States and ended up being stuck on Angel Island Immigration Station for three weeks, "lost in a sea of immigration categories"(Tan 107). Throughout her life she was able to see things before they happened, but this did not allow her to prevent the loss of her sense of self.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   During Ying-Ying’s first marriage she plays the role of an obedient wife so well that she becomes one and puts it above everything else. Later in the book when she looks back on it she states, "I became a stranger to myself"(Tan 280). After all this the man is unfaithful to her and leaves her for an opera singer. It is to this event that she attributes the loss of the golden side of her tiger sprit. Long after this, when St. Clair began courting her, she saw this as a sign that she would also lose the other half of h... ...es she wants to keep the house and is in control of her life again.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Many of the characters in the novel are struggling to find themselves. Personal history is an obvious contributor to the development of the characters' senses of self. The events that occur in a character’s past influence their attitudes toward themselves and the way they treat their daughters. The two cultures that meet in the families portrayed also influence these attitudes. It is only when the characters take both these factors into account can they begin to discover their true selves. Work Cited Tan, Amy. The Joy Luck Club. New York: Random House, 1989. Sources Consulted Do, Thuan Thi. Chinese-American Women in American Culture. 1992 http://www.ics.uci.edu/~tdo/ea/chinese.html Jokinen, Anniina. Anniina's Amy Tan Page. 1996 http://www.luminarium.org/contemporary/amytan/

Chad Foster’s “Teenagers Preparing for the real world” Essay

Chad Foster’s book Teenagers Preparing for the Real World, is a great motivational piece for teens and leaves a lasting impression on the reader. In the chapter â€Å"Mr. X and Mr. President,† Foster instills the importance of contacts and friendship in a person’s life. His example of Mr. X shows kids that a friendship formed in a person’s younger years can pay off greatly down the road, emotionally and even financially. He then tells the tale of his father’s first experience in the work world, where he met two men, had a brief friendship for a few months, then moved. Foster senior continued to correspond with these men for the next thirty years, never even seeing each other. As it turns out, one of these men was President George Bush and Foster had the opportunity to meet him in person. This story is significant because it shows that everyone grows up to be someone in the world, and someday you just might want to be their contact. Overall, this is a very well put together chapter and defiantly leaves an impression on the reader.

Guitar Playing Techniques Essay

You can play your guitar during your leisure time at home as a hobby, to record in the studio, to perform in a quiet cafà ©, or to perform in front of a huge crowd. To make that record worthy of being platinum, to make that soothing aura within the cafà ©, or to make that crowd uncontrollable and crazy partially depends upon the technique you use to play the guitar. Three techniques that are popular and can be used to amaze your listeners are elegant fingerpicking, strumming, and sweet sweep-picking. Elegant fingerpicking is mostly used to serenade the audience into a state of complete relaxation or euphoria. You can pick with the natural sound-muting characteristic of your fingertips or the solid and natural sound-amplifying characteristic of your nails. You can also choose to hit any combination of strings to emphasize the sound of each string or to create a soothing rhythm by hitting multiple strings at the same time. Fingerpicking is only an intermediate level technique, but there are many details that can be added to make it a more advanced skill and much practice is needed for it to be perfected. Using the fingerpicking technique you can assemble different pitches and patterns with however many strings you have to formulate an attention-grabbing rhythm. Strumming, which is more common than fingerpicking, can be used to create catchy tunes and can also bring about many different moods within the different musical audiences. You can use a guitar pick to give you a louder and bolder sound or use your hands which allows you to be more flexible, creates a blurred effect, and makes the sound more natural and brighter. Strumming brings more attention to the rhythm of the song or piece of music because the strumming itself has percussion characteristic. Strumming is preferred for beginners because it’s one of the most basic techniques of playing guitar and helps you get used to the sound of the guitar in a fun, but quick way. Even though strumming one of the most basic and popular techniques, it is also a very effective attention grabber. Whether you are trying to play a slow song that’s heavy on the eyelids or an exciting piece that can make the crowd lively all depends on the strumming pattern used combined with the chord progression. Sweep-picking is the most advanced of these three techniques and when used efficiently can produce a heart-racing performance. Sweep-picking combined with the customized sound of an electric guitar can create some of the most crowd-shaking performances. It can be aggressive yet gentle, but sweep-picking isn’t usually used to serenade or sooth. It consists of hammer-ons, pull-offs, bending, and so on, all in a single strum. The key is that the left hand, for right-handed guitar players, has to be timed and trained perfectly so when the pick goes over the string it hits all the notes needed by the time the pick gets to the next string. This is what makes sweep-picking a very advanced technique. It’s the heart of the performance and the flow is beautiful. Although there are many approaches to playing the guitar, these three techniques, no matter the difficulty, make for great performances. There’s always a way to get creative with fingerpicking when you have six strings and five fingers. A song can be complete with just strumming due to its percussion aspects and flexibility. And sweep-picking can always get the crowd to either shed tears or go wild. If you have practiced enough and you are confident about your skills then by the end of your performance, or when you publicize your record not only will the listeners be satisfied, but you will too.

Stylistic Features in A Prayer for Owen Meany Essay Example

Stylistic Features in A Prayer for Owen Meany Essay Example Stylistic Features in A Prayer for Owen Meany Paper Stylistic Features in A Prayer for Owen Meany Paper John Irving was born on March 2, 1942, in Exeter, New Hampshire, United States and is an American novelist and Academy Award-winning screenwriter. Irving had achieved his fame after the international success of The World According To Garp in 1978. Irving often brings his own life stories to his books making them more connectable and lively like with his seventh book A Prayer For Owen Meany. Published in 1989, it tells the story of a unique friendship between John Wheelwright and Owen Meany growing up together in a small New Hampshire town during the 1950s and 1960s. It makes me ashamed to remember that I was angry with him for taking my armadillos claws. God knows, Owen gave me more than he ever took from me-even when you consider that he took my mother. (Irving. 101). A Prayer For Owen Meany uses many stylistic features to enhance the development of the boys friendship like the amazing narrative point of view, the highly personal mood and tone, and well developed characters. The narrative perspective of A Prayer For Owen Meany can connect or entranced a reader by the friendship told through the first person of John. John Irvings A Prayer For Owen Meany is an amazing tale about two friends, John Wheelwright and Owen Meany. It documents their adventures through their childhood to their present life as adults. A Prayer For Owen Meany is told through the first person narrative of John Wheelwright. what makes this book successful and not another story of someones childhood is the way John Irving uses the inside view of John and Owens weird friendship to hook the reader. Dan understood that I loved Owen, and that I wanted to talk with him most- most of all- but that it was a conversation, for both Owens sake and mine, that was best to delay. But before we finished loading the baseball cards in the car, Dan Needham asked me what are you giving him? What? I said. To show him that you love him. Dan Needham said. Thats wha

Penubuhan Malaysia 1963 Essay Example

Penubuhan Malaysia 1963 Essay Example Penubuhan Malaysia 1963 Essay Penubuhan Malaysia 1963 Essay 16 September 1963 The establishment of Malaysia The Prime Minister of the Federation of Malaya, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra in his speech at the Conference of Foreign Journalists Association of Southeast Asia held at the Adelphi Hotel, Singapore on 27 May 1961, had an insight about the need to establish a plan to bring the Federation of Malaya, Singapore, North Borneo, Brunei and Sarawak into a form of political and economic cooperation. Among other things, this cooperation should be conducted with the aims of limiting the influence of ommunist influence that could Jeopardise the political stability within the region. The Governments stand is based on the political developments in Singapore that shows an increasing influence of the Leftist. In addition to that, the idea is to offset the total population, increasing the economic development and to accelerate the process of the independence for Singapore, Brunei, North Borneo and Sarawak. The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Branch of Malaya and Borneo Meeting n Singapore on 23 July 1961 had agreed to establish the Malaysia Solidarity Consultative Committee, chaired by Donald Stephen. The purpose of setting up this committee is to explain more clearly about the concept of Malaysia to the public, especially to the people of Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei. In this committee, the representatives of Malaya consisted of members of Parliament. Singapore Representatives comprises of the Legislative Council members and one from the opposition party. Members of the delegation from Sarawak were members of the State Council, the same with Sabah. The Committee convened four times to discuss matters relating to the establishment of Malaysia. The first meeting was held in Sabah in August 1961, followed by Kuching, Sarawak in December 1961 and then in Kuala Lumpur in January 1962. The last meeting was held in Singapore in February 1962. In the last meeting, the Committee agreed to submit a memorandum to the Cobbold Commission to conduct surveys on the views of the people in Sarawak and Sabah on the notion of Malaysia

Whats a Good SAT Score for 2018

What's a Good SAT Score for 2018 SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Another year, another chance to take the SAT! If you're taking the SAT this year, you might be wondering: just what is a good SAT score for 2018? Is there a particular score I should be aiming for to make sure I get into the colleges I want to go to? To answer the question of what good SAT scores for 2018 are, this article looks at a few different definitions of what makes a good SAT score, and how this has changed over time. We also explain why SAT score goals should be specific to each student and give you step-by-step instructions for choosing your target SAT score. What Is a Good SAT Score for 2018 Overall? On an individual level, a good SAT score is any score that gets you into at least one of the schools you want to go to. To figure out what a good 2018 SAT score is for all students, however, we'll need to take a broader view of SAT score data. The best way to do this is to take a look at the most recent data for the average SAT score and SAT score percentiles and see how your scores and percentiles compare. As a general rule, good SAT scores are ones that place you in the top half of test-takers; the farther above average your score is, the better. Similarly, a not-so-good SAT score is one that lands you in the bottom half of test-takers (and the further below average your score is, the worse). The latest College Board data indicates that the average SAT score for graduating seniors was 1060 (533 Evidence-Based Reading and Writing (EBRW), 527 Math), which means that good SAT scores for 2018 are those above the average SAT score of 1060/1600. To take a closer look at the different levels of performance on the SAT, we've created a chart with SAT percentiles and scores using data from students who took the new SAT and graduated in 2017. Remember that a percentile score tells you what proportion of students performed at or below your level (e.g., a 50th percentile score means 50% of students performed as well as or worse than you). Percentile EBRW Math TOTAL 90th percentile (excellent) 670* 680* 1340* 73rd percentile (good) 600 590 1180 50th percentile (average) 530** 520** 1050** 25th percentile (poor) 460 450 910* 10th percentile (very poor) 400 390 810* Source: SAT Understanding Scores 2017 *Score is one percentile higher than percentile listed (e.g. 91st or 24th percentiles).**Score is one percentile lower than percentile listed (e.g. 49th percentile). (Note that the percentiles of the total scores aren't always equal to the percentiles of the sum of the section scores. This is most likely due to score rounding, since scores are reported in increments of 10; for instance, the real 91st percentile EBRW and Math scores might be 665 and 675 respectively, which sum up to a total 91st percentile score of 1340, but round up to 670 and 680.) One (potentially surprising) number jumps right off the top of the chart- your SAT score doesn't need to break 1500, or even 1400, to put you in the top 10% of students. As the chart above indicates, a score of 1340 is in the 91st percentile! Thus, any score at or above 1340 is extremely impressive. On the lower end, any total score between 400 and 810 (a pretty wide range) puts you in the bottom 10 percent of test takers. If you raise your score to a 910, you'll still be performing worse than 75 percent of test takers. Because of this, it's pretty safe to say that any score at or below 910 is a bad SAT score. As we said earlier in this article, comparing your performance on the SAT to all other students who took the SAT is a fairly general way to look at things. After all, the main reason you want to perform well on the SAT is not just to have bragging rights that you got a high score, but to get into college. Depending on what colleges you apply to, a 91st percentile score could be way more than you need- or it could be lower than the score of the lowest-scoring accepted student. So how do you figure out what a good SAT score is for your specific circumstances? What's a Good 2018 SAT Score for You? In the end, when it comes to figuring out what a good SAT score is, what really matters is finding the score that's good for you. This means calculating what score you'll need to have a good chance of admission to the schools you want to get into. At PrepScholar, we refer to this as your target score. What you choose as your target score should depend entirely on what schools you're applying to. For example, for a student applying to highly competitive schools like Caltech (1560 average SAT score) or Yale (1540 average SAT score), a good SAT score will be at or just below 1600. But for a student applying to schools like UC Merced, a solid target score might be something closer to 1250. Where are these specific numbers coming from? Find out in the next section that will take you through calculating your target SAT score, step by step. Choosing an SAT Score Goal for 2018 Below, we'll walk you through the three vital steps to follow to determine your score goal. You can download a PDF of a blank chart from this ebook, or create one yourself. Here's an example of what your chart might look like: School Name 25th Percentile SAT Score 75th Percentile SAT Score Step 1: Fill In Your Schools The first step is to list the schools you know you want to apply to in the far left column, like this: School Name 25th Percentile SAT Score 75th Percentile SAT Score Wellesley College Wesleyan College Ohio Wesleyan University Wells College Note: This is just an example list. We don't recommend picking schools solely based on the fact that their names sound similar. If you're not sure what schools you'll be applying to yet, you can still list the ones that have been suggested to you by guidance counselors, parents, teachers, and friends. To arrive at the most accurate target score, though, it's better to take the time to research schools and figure out which ones you're interested in, then add them to your list. Think about what schools you plan to apply to, then write the names down in your target score chart. Victor van Werkhooven/Flickr. Step 2: Find SAT Score Information for Your Schools The next step is to find out the 25th and 75th percentile out-of-1600 SAT scores for your schools. (If you want to figure out what scores you should aim for in Math and Evidence-Based Reading and Writing as well, go to this link to download the charts.) A quick way to do this is to look for your schools in our PrepScholar college database. Start by searching for "[School Name] prepscholar sat or "[School Name] prepscholar". You can then go to either the admissions requirements page or the SAT and GPA page- both have SAT score information. Scan the page for the school's new SAT score information; specifically, you're looking for the 25th and 75th percentile scores. This information is important because it will tell you the SAT scores of the middle 50 percent of admitted applicants for that specific school. If you can't find your school in our database, you can search each school's website for their most recent admissions information (usually in their Common Data Set or Incoming Class Profile pages). However, because no two college websites are organized the same way, this is a long and arduous task, particularly if you're looking at 10+ schools (which is why we recommend using the PrepScholar database first). You'll also need to make sure the scores on the school pages are for the new SAT and not the out-of-2400 SAT; if they are for the old SAT, you can convert them to the new SAT scale using these conversion charts. Here's our sample target score chart again, now with SAT score information filled out for each school: School Name 25th Percentile SAT Score 75th Percentile SAT Score Wellesley College 1370 1530 Wesleyan College 1340 1520 Ohio Wesleyan University 1090 1320 Wells College 1020 1240 Step 3: Calculate Your Target SAT Score Finally, it's time to calculate your target score. For your best shot at getting into your schools, you'll want this score to be the highest 75th percentile score in your chart (since that will mean you're scoring as well as or better than at least 75% of all admitted students in all the other schools as well). In our sample chart, this score is an extremely high 1530- a 99+ percentile score! If this target score is so high as to seem completely unobtainable and hopeless, you can aim for a slightly lower score. Ideally, this score will be the second-highest 75th percentile score (in our sample chart, a 1520- not much different), or in between the second-highest and highest 75th percentile scores. You can also always go with the median of the 75th percentile score column in your chart (in our sample chart, (1520+1320)/2=1420), although this may pull down your chances of getting into the schools with higher 75th percentile scores. Alternatively, you can start out by aiming for this lower score, then upping your goals once you attain it. Once you have your target total SAT score, you can also calculate your rough target section scores by dividing your total target score by two and rounding up. In our example of a 1530 target total score, this gives us target section scores of 770 for Evidence-Based Reading and Writing and Math. (If you do want to calculate exact target scores for each section, follow the instructions in this article.) Want to learn more about the SAT but tired of reading blog articles? Then you'll love our free, SAT prep livestreams. Designed and led by PrepScholar SAT experts, these live video events are a great resource for students and parents looking to learn more about the SAT and SAT prep. Click on the button below to register for one of our livestreams today! Are Good SAT Scores in 2018 Different From Past Years' Good SAT Scores? We've now gone through three different criteria that can be used to determine what a good SAT score is: a score higher than the average SAT score, a score higher than 90% of students' scores, or a score higher than scores of 75% of students admitted to the schools you're applying to. But you might still have the lingering question: are good SAT scores in 2018 different from what good SAT scores were in past years? The short answer to this question: no, there's not really a difference between good SAT scores in 2018 vs. good SAT scores in past years. The longer answer involves getting back down into the details of SAT score data. Because 2017 was the first year the College Board released information about performance on the new out-of-1600 SAT, any comparison of those scores with past years' SAT scores requires score conversion. In the table below, I've converted the 2017 SAT score averages to the old SAT format for ease of comparison. Average SAT Scores 2006-2017 Year Total Critical Reading Writing Math 2006 1518 503 497 518 2007 1508 501 493 514 2008 1507 500 493 514 2009 1505 499 492 514 2010 1506 500 491 515 2011 1500 497 489 514 2012 1498 496 488 514 2013 1498 496 488 514 2014 1497 497 487 513 2015 1490 495 484 511 2016 1484 494 482 508 2017* 1450* 500* 450* 500* Table data taken from College Board's Total Group Reports 2016 and 2017.*Data converted from new 1600 SAT format to old SAT format. At first glance, it might seem like there's been a slight decline in average SAT scores over the last ten years, with a huge drop this past year for Writing in particular. If you go by averages alone, then it's easy to conclude that a good SAT score is lower for 2018 than it was in the past. However, there are a couple of important factors that you need to take into account when looking at this data. Converting between the old and new SAT is tricky because of how different the tests are, and Writing scores are particularly difficult to compare between the old and new SAT because old SAT Writing scores took your essay score into account, while new SAT Writing scores don't. It's possible that the 30-point Writing score drop in 2017 because the College Board didn't get the conversion quite right when removing the essay. Furthermore, averages are just one way of tracking changing scores. Another isthe distribution of SAT scores. Let's look at how the range of scores changed from 2011- 2016. (I've left out scores on the new SAT scale for clarity's sake.) SAT Score Percentiles 2011-2016 Year # tested 90th %ile 75th %ile 50th %ile 25th %ile 10th %ile 2011 1,647,123 1930-1940 1720 1490 1280 1110 2012 1,664,479 1930-1940 1720 1490 1280 1100 2013 1,660,047 1930-1940 1720 1490 1280 1100 2014 1,672,395 1930-1940 1720 1490 1270 1090-1100 2015 1,698,521 1930-1940 1720 1480 1260 1080-1090 2016 1,637,589 1930-1940* 1710-1720* 1470-1480* 1260-1270* 1090-1100* *2016 percentiles are approximate and based on PrepScholar's calculations, as the College Board did not release percentile data that year. Number of test takers for that year is from the College Board. As with averages, some of the percentile scores (mostly the 10th-50th percentile scores) have gone down a little bit over time. Over the years, as more students took the SAT each year, fewer test takers were reaching certain scores each year, which lowered the percentile scores. The changes in percentile scores, however, are fairly slight: of the percentile scores that decreased, almost all dropped by only 10 or 20 points, which is not enough of a change to indicate a significant trend. Interestingly, some of the percentile scores didn't change at all over the same period of time. From 2011 to 2016, the 90th percentile scores remained exactly the same, and the 75th percentile score nearly so, meaning that the same percentage of test takers were scoring at or near these scores each year. The overall consistency in SAT score percentiles, coupled with the fact that students may take the SAT over multiple calendar years (e.g., fall and spring junior year) suggests that what's a good SAT score hasn't changed much in the last few years. In Conclusion: What Are Good SAT Scores for 2018? There are multiple ways to define what is a good SAT score for 2018. The broadest comparison means looking at your SAT score and comparing it to the average SAT score (1060). If you scored at or above the average SAT score, you did well; if you scored below this score, you did not. A slightly more nuanced view takes into account different score percentiles and lets you compare your score against categories like the top 10% and the bottom 10% of students (1340 and 910 total SAT scores, respectively). If your score is equal to or above 1340, then congratulations- you're part of the top 10% of students who took the SAT! If your score is at or below 910, then you're in the bottom 10% of all students who took the SAT, and will probably need some dedicated studying to bring your SAT score up to your target score. While averages and percentiles give you an objective way to compare your score to the scores of other students, however, the most helpful way to think about it is to compare your score to the scores of students admitted to colleges you want to attend. To do this, you'll need to pick a target score, and then shape your SAT studying around meeting that goal. Ultimately, a good SAT score is one that gets you into the colleges you want to go to. If you follow our guidelines for choosing a score goal and work hard to attain it, you'll guarantee yourself a strong chance of being admitted to the schools you want to get into. Hitting your target SAT score takes you one more step up the ladder to reach your college admission goals. What's Next? Figuring out your target score is just the first step of planning out your test prep schedule. To find out what other steps you need to take, follow our guide to building your very own SAT study plan. If you haven't scheduled your SAT yet, you'll want to get on that (or at least get an idea of when the test is offered this year). Use our guide to choosing an SAT test date to see what your options are. Not quite hitting your target score yet? We have two sets of strategies, tailored to students at different skill levels. If you're regularly getting a 600+ on Math and EBRW but aren't quite hitting the score you need, be sure to read our articles on how to get a perfect SAT score and perfect Math, Reading, and Writing scores. If you're aiming for a 1200 total SAT score but aren't there yet, then our articles on how to improve low Math, Reading, and Writing SAT scores will be a better fit. Disappointed with your scores? Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points?We've written a guide about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

United States Vs. India Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

United States Vs. India - Essay Example The rate of unemployment according to the CIA Factbook was 9.5% in 2009 and 9.1% in 2008 in India. When compared to the USA, the unemployment rate is very similar for the year 2009 as the country had 9.4% unemployment but in 2008, the rate was 5.8%. The rise in unemployment in the recent years in US has been caused by the economic conditions and the sub-prime crisis. General Motors filed for bankruptcy in 2009 and many other companies which employed a large proportion of the population also closed down. Many companies made lay-offs to reduce costs as their products were not being sold in the market. Many economists say that the unemployment that the US faces is seasonal and will improve with time. The inflation rate in the US for consumer prices was -0.7% in 2009 and 3.8% in 2008 (CIA, 2010). In contrast, India had an inflation rate of 9.8% in 2009 and 8.3% in 2008 (CIA, 2010). The rate of inflation is very high in India as compared to the USA which was negative for the last year. This high inflation rate in India accounts for the high demand of products in the country and the low rate in US accounts for the low demand and higher production in the economy. The US is the largest hub of technology in the world with per capita GDP of US$ 46,900 where as the Indian economy has per capita GDP of US$ 3,100 as of 2009 (CIA, 2010). Both these countries derive most of the GDP from the services sector and have economic liberalization policies. India has become a well known exporter of software products and has an edge of low labor cost. Although more than half of the labor force is self-employed in the agricultural industry in India, but the sector only accounts for 17% of the net income of the country. The US only derives 1.2% of its total revenue from agricultural sector and 71 % of the revenue from the services sector (CIA, 2010). USA has been struck hard by the worldwide economic downturn and the country itself

Target storesNew and Old Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Target storesNew and Old - Research Paper Example The government of Canada has received various sanctions and warnings about their very expensive price quotations of the houses in the region. The real estate industry has been affected by the various price inflations and rises with the main aim of boosting the economy of Canada. The real estate industry in Canada has been investing in the building of various condominiums in different parts of the country. Majority of the people in Canada have been investing in the different kinds of real estate available due to various reasons. Majority of the property buyers find cumbersome to buy land, assemble materials, look for a master house plan and then come up with the houses that they desire (Fu et al, 2014). Canada is composed of individuals who are very busy in their lives to find time for such activities. Moreover, the whole process is time consuming and expensive. Therefore, majority of the property of the people in Canada are resorting to the purchase of various condominiums, studio ap artments and other forms of housing that fit their lifestyles, careers and plans. The housing market of Canada has various ranges of houses that suit a broad market of buyers. The question therefore remains, is the housing market in Canada stable and is I worth investing in it? The rate of building of the standalone unites has been estimated at 183604 units in the month of October as opposed to the previous month which had amounted to 197355units built. Majority of the property evaluators had estimated the rate of building the various real estate properties to be at 200000 units per month (Pierdzioch et al, 2012). The decrease for units built in the month of October had influenced the rising trend in the construction witnessed in the previous six months. There was a noticeable increment in the number of housing units built in September. The statistics had put the number at 197763 units as opposed to the

Action Assignment#3 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Action #3 - Assignment Example They energize their goals, missions and visions to doing the best always. Leaders become more determined than ever in changing the society for the better. My name is Majed. I worked for eight years as a high school teacher of Arabic. The Ministry of Education provided me with a scholarship to study leadership at the University in the United States in order to gain the experience necessary to further my career. To be honest, the course has helped me a lot in growing as a leader. I learnt different values of leadership from the course which were lacking in my life. One of these values I learnt is the significance of responsiveness. I have applied responsiveness in different fields of leadership and the end result has been pleasing. Currently, I am the president of the American Youths for Change whereby I have enabled many young people abandon drug abuse. As a leader, I have motivated thousands of youths to pressurize their political leaders to become responsible. I have also staged numerous leadership seminars in both locally and internationally. In these seminars, I have been able to preach the importance of accountability to young leaders. This is due to economic stagnation which has affected many countries. Ideally, my dream is to see a corruption free world where leaders uphold the responsibility bestowed to them by their people. As a leader, I also dream to see a world where the rule of law is respected and a society where the opinion of every citizen counts. I also want to see a society where leaders have moral values and integrity. This will allow we the citizen have trust and hope in our government. As a leader, I want to leave a good legacy as someone who changed the society in a positive manner. I want to create a change in the society for the growth of my people. This is because I strongly believe that any standing society today has a possibility of dying. I want death to be alien to my society. My efforts to inspire the society have been rewarded.

Direct and indirect messages Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Direct and indirect messages - Assignment Example We felt fortunate for your company to install an iron gate for one of our business tenants at 921NW 23rd Ave., Portland OR 97210 six months ago; your workers were prompt and fast. Enclosed is a copy of the invoice for the said installation. However, we received a complaint on the said gate from our business tenant who complained of it struggling to open and close. Upon inspection by our management, we found out that the two doors of the gate have settled and do not march in height. The gate gets stuck, and takes too much force to open, close, and lock it.We were glad to transact with your company as it had provided us with a one year warranty for the gate should we encounter a problem with its operation. It is upon this backdrop that we kindly ask you to send your team to inspect the gate and remedy the problem as soon as possible. I would like to inquire for your rates on a retreat package for our staff on either of the following periods; January 12-16. We are a team of 55 marketing and media professionals who are interested in conference/retreat/vacation facilities for four days. They will be accompanied with their partners or significant others and thus he would like to find out if they can provide them with approximately 50 rooms. Kindly provide me with information regarding all the stated requests by September 15th and if you could offer us a discounted group rate since we might be visiting during peak times. Further, could you let me know if your hotel operates a shuttle to and from Jackson Hole airport?  

Australias Marine Pollution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Australias Marine Pollution - Essay Example A lot of dangerous illnesses can spread because of waste that entry the ocean. The issue is worth-researching that is why the given paper will discuss marine pollution in Australia, mainly its causes, seriousness and the reaction of the Australian government. There are many ways of marine pollution: pollution from ships, from land, as a result of deliberate discharge of the waste from manufacturing and unintentional entry of waste from people’s activity. More than 75% of all marine contamination is caused by waste that appears in the water from land. It influences environmental processes, people’s wellbeing and oceanic resources’ application. The most serious problem is that very often the pollution of water remains undiscovered for a long time (Letter: Coastal Pollution). While oil and garbage represent well-detectable contaminants – they can be noticed swimming in the water, venomous and radioactive substances can’t be detected without special analysis. The problem is that marine environment could be damaged before the cause is found and eliminated. The water can be contaminated through intentional discharge as well as unintentionally through unplanned entry of materials into the water as a result of people’s activities (Henrickson 2001). A lot of venomous substances cleave to small elements, which appear in water in different ways. These substances then become integrated into the  oceanic system and imbibed into oceanic  seaweeds and other organisms, some of which are consumed by animals and fish. This can cause different illnesses and even mutations. Venomous metals  also appear in oceanic system. As different animals from land consume fish, venomous substances can be brought to land and then to humans through meet and other products. Oil pollution spoils the quality of the water we drink significantly: Acid sulfate soils (ASS) is the term usually given to soils or sand that contain iron

The History of Banking in the United States Research Paper

The History of Banking in the United States - Research Paper Example At its core, a bank, no matter at what place in history or where it is located, does the same thing: it deals with taking in, recording, and giving out money. It is ironic to note that, upon the celebration of the United States of America gaining their independence from England, there was no bank in existence in the former colonies. As colonies of England, they had fallen under the Bank of England, and used the British forms of money, as their legal tender (Rothbard 47). Far more common, however, was trade in the form of barter of items, such as beaver fur and wampum, as well as tobacco and rice (Rothbard 48). Called â€Å"commodity money†, it served the needs of the colonists during trade with each other, especially in outlying rural areas; however, an actual legal tender was needed, it was found, when trading in cities or in a foreign market with other countries. Thus the newly-formed states were forced to bring in money from other countries to act as their own currency; before long, Spanish doubloons competed alongside French, Portuguese, and Brazilian coins for tender (Rothbard 49). This controversy was solved when, in 1781, the Bank of North America was founded by Roger Morris in Philadelphia (Foster 176). As the first bank established on the new soil, its primary aim was to finance the American Revolution, as well as economize the use of cash. Its primary aim was to do this by using the money that it was paid by depositors as loans to others, often at two or three times the amount of cash on hand (Foster 176). It succeeded admirably in both areas, making loans to not only the government but private citizens, and was quickly followed by more banks. To stay out of the limelight of the raging debate of whether or not Congress had the power, under the Articles of Confederation, it procured a charter from the State of Pennsylvania, which was continuously renewed until the bank entered the national banking system (Foster 178). This bank was quickly followed by other banks, including the Bank of Massachusetts, established in 1784, the Bank of New York, also founded i n 1784, and the Bank of the Manhattan Company, founded by Aaron Burr under the disguise of a company that was to supply pure water to New York City (Foster 179). While all of this was going on, a debate was raging in the new Congress. Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury, called for a national bank, stating it was needed to manage the government money and to regulate the credit of the nation (Johnson 7). Thomas Jefferson argued that there was no provision for a national bank in the U.S. Constitution, therefore it was not within the power of Congress to create one (Johnson 7). Hamilton, after lengthy discussions on the fact that the new government had created fiscal powers in the past, and therefore owed it to the people to exercise some control over them, won the argument and the First Bank of the United States was

Australias Marine Pollution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Australias Marine Pollution - Essay Example A lot of dangerous illnesses can spread because of waste that entry the ocean. The issue is worth-researching that is why the given paper will discuss marine pollution in Australia, mainly its causes, seriousness and the reaction of the Australian government. There are many ways of marine pollution: pollution from ships, from land, as a result of deliberate discharge of the waste from manufacturing and unintentional entry of waste from people’s activity. More than 75% of all marine contamination is caused by waste that appears in the water from land. It influences environmental processes, people’s wellbeing and oceanic resources’ application. The most serious problem is that very often the pollution of water remains undiscovered for a long time (Letter: Coastal Pollution). While oil and garbage represent well-detectable contaminants – they can be noticed swimming in the water, venomous and radioactive substances can’t be detected without special analysis. The problem is that marine environment could be damaged before the cause is found and eliminated. The water can be contaminated through intentional discharge as well as unintentionally through unplanned entry of materials into the water as a result of people’s activities (Henrickson 2001). A lot of venomous substances cleave to small elements, which appear in water in different ways. These substances then become integrated into the  oceanic system and imbibed into oceanic  seaweeds and other organisms, some of which are consumed by animals and fish. This can cause different illnesses and even mutations. Venomous metals  also appear in oceanic system. As different animals from land consume fish, venomous substances can be brought to land and then to humans through meet and other products. Oil pollution spoils the quality of the water we drink significantly: Acid sulfate soils (ASS) is the term usually given to soils or sand that contain iron

Correctional Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Correctional Policy - Essay Example erica boasts the highest incarceration rates on the planet, even higher than places such as China, Iran or Russia, Canada also has significant challenges housing, feeding, and rehabilitating all of the prisoners in its prisons nationwide. According to a report released by the Pew Center for Research on the United States, nearly one in 100 persons in the United States is incarcerated (Pew Center, 2008). Canada has a much smaller population than the United States but the statistics are no less that a staggering. Statistics Canada has recent reported that for the first time in more than 10 years Canadas incarceration rate has increased and is now 110 prisoners per 100,000 of the Canadian population. This represents a 2% increase and for comparative purposes Canadas incarceration rate is higher than most western European countries including that of Sweden which is 82 per 100,000 and France which has an incarceration rate of 85 per 1000 population. The numbers are staggering and must be u nderstood if one hopes to tackle the issue of criminal justice reform and correctional policy reform in the 21st century (Tony, 2001; Statistics Canada, 2008). Seeking to address the fundamental issues associated with an overcrowded prison system and to propose a means through which correctional policy reform can be undertaken in the Canadian context, the following will argue that restorative justice will provide the answer to Canadas incarceration woes. This policy brief will be structured in the following manner in order to properly address the problems associated with over incarceration in Canada. Beginning with an analysis of the problem, an exploration of the weaknesses, deficits, and excesses of Canadas present correctional policy will be this elaborate upon. Following this a recommended policy to address the problems discussed above will explain the concept of restorative justice. Arguing that restorative justice can be one of the means through which solutions to Canadas

National Rifle Association Nra Politics Essay

National Rifle Association Nra Politics Essay The National Rifle Association of America is an American non-profit association that was established in the year 1871 by Union veterans of the American Civil War. The group is known for promoting private ownerships of firearms, as well as providing proper law enforcement training, as well as encouraging the safety of firearms, highlighting the importance of marksmanship, hunting activities and self-defence training in the United States. The National Rifle Association is also the parent associations of affiliated groups such as the tax-deductible NRA Foundation, a charitable organization, in addition to a lobbying group, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA). The NRA is one of the United States largest certifying bodies for firearm safety training and proficiency schooling courses for law enforcement departments, leisure hunting, and adolescent firearm safety. The organization has published several magazines and sponsored plenty of marksmanship events that features shooting skills and sports. Due to their charitable contributions through the manner of being premier firearms education organization in the world, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) a revenue service responsible for collecting taxes and the elucidation and enforcement of the Internal Revenue Code has designated the NRA as a 501(c)(3) organization. This allows the NRA organization to be exempted from federal taxes as well to ensure that the financial support for firearms-related activities would be available now and for future generations. Goals, aims and objectives The primary goal of the association when it was first created would be to promote and encourage rifle shooting on a scientific basis. That statement was in accordance to a magazine editorial written by one of the founders. But as time goes on, with multiple incidents throughout the United States that involve massive casualties in regards to misuse of firearms, from the Virginia Tech to the latest Sandy Hook disaster, the NRA had to take a stronger stand against the new firearms bills in addition to the repeated attacks towards the Second Amendment and their new goals, aims and objectives had to reflect that. After all the NRAs political movement has always been based on the initiative that the firearm ownership is considered to be a civil right that is protected by the Second Amendment of the Bill of Rights. Therefore the NRA is making it, its mission to maintain the Second Amendment rights and advocate enforcement of existing laws against violent offenders to reduce crime. At the sa me time, the Association still aims to be the nations leader in firearm education and training for law-abiding gun owners, law enforcement and the armed services alongside promoting the shooting sports as a whole by focusing on these objectives; Firearms Training and Owner Education Even though the NRA is profoundly mixed up in political lobbying, the organization is still staying strong on their roots by offering a variety of security programs to promote the responsible use of firearms. The group offers hunting protection instructive courses for adults and children; it reaches towards the youth through its Eddie Eagle program. The NRA also makes an attempt to coach firearm owners on the secure storage of firearms through an assortment of publications at their disposal. Confiscation of Firearms in Disaster Situations Following the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina in the year 2005, the state of New Orleans law enforcement police officers were instructed to de-arm citizens before allowing them into evacuation centres. The NRA and the Second Amendment Foundation filed for a temporary restraining order on Sept. 23, 2005 and the order was granted by the U.S. Further gun confiscations was barred, as well as the demand for the return of previously confiscated guns to their lawful owners. In June of the same year, the NRA came out in support of Act 275 which was signed by Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco. The act forbids the confiscation of firearms from lawful citizens in declared states of emergency. International arms control La Pierre perceives that the United Nations debate of an Arms Control Treaty as an attack on national independence and towards the Second Amendment. He argues that their debate about human rights does not fall under the Second Amendment which is the right to defend oneself. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has stated, in 2009, that the United States has in place an extensive and rigorous system of controls for arms transfers, without calling for additional restrictions. La Pierre, however, argues that Clinton did not bother to mention the Second Amendment or the U.S. sovereignty in her speech and that her silence on those seminal elements of the freedom, stands in stark gap to the impudent defence of the liberty of America as a country. Proposition H in San Francisco The majority of supporters in San Francisco approved of Proposition H in November 2005, which, the outcome, would prohibit the sale, assemble and circulation of firearms and ammunitions inside the city limits, and it will be effective as of 1st January, 2006. Within a day after the election, the NRA, alongside other gun advocacy groups, filed a lawsuit towards the ban. The law, according to the NRA, is impeding towards a matter that for all intents and purposes should be regulated by the state. San Francisco Superior Court Judge James Warren had sided with the NRA despite the city trying to appeal to the courts and failed. Political Victory Fund The NRA Political Victory Fund (NRA-PVF) plays the role of the NRA organizations political action group. The PVF would rank various political candidates, in spite of party attachment, based on their voting accounts, open statements and reactions towards a PVF questionnaire. These results are then entered into a record, which potential voters are able to search by using zip codes. Constitution As mentioned above the NRA considers the right to keep and bear arms to be a civil right that is protected by the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution. Consequently the National Rifle Association (NRA) is doing everything in its power to make sure no American citizen would forget what the Second Amendment stands for; The statement that was approved by the Congress: A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.-Congress The statement that was ratified by the States and authenticated by the Secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson: A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.-Thomas Jefferson In laymans terms, this amendment states that the American citizens have the right to own a gun. But the world is perceptibly poles apart than it was in the 18th century, and many politicians believe that firearm possession should be restricted and regulated especially with the increase of firearm violence putting more pressure on every side. The NRA however isnt pushing for complete freedom in regards to public ownership of guns, but they are concerned that some of these new gun legislation would infringe upon the citizens civil rights. Civil rights after all defines itself as a class of rights that protects an individuals freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, in addition to ensure ones ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression. Organizational structure and system of administration The National Rifle Association is overseen through a board of directors, usually reaching to be about 75 people. The board is in charge of picking the president, who will act as the organizations representative, from among their members. Among the groups most noteworthy leaders was actor and advocate Charlton Heston, who had stepped down in April 2003 after discovering that he had developed Alzheimers disease. The NRAs sixtieth and present president is Ron Schmeits, who has held the position of first vice president prior to replacing John C. Sigler in May 2009. Sandra Froman has held the post from 2005-2007. Marion P. Hammer, who is surprisingly the groups first female president, had served the organization from the year 1995 to 1998. Both Froman and Hammer currently still serve on the board of directors who are also charged with the task of appointing an executive vice president, which is currently held by Wayne La Pierre, Jr. La Pierre functions as the chief executive officer, whil e Chris W. Cox embraces the position of executive director of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action, along with Kayne Robinson who is the current executive director of NRA General Operations. The present NRA Headquarters can be found situated at 11250 Waples Mill Road, Fairfax , Virginia, United States. Historical development until present Founding The National Rifle Association was founded shortly at the very end of the American Civil War, but it was only several decades after Samuel Colt had opened the first private gun manufacturing facility in 1836. Samuel Colts company had allowed firearms to be fashioned on a hefty scale, leading to the majority use of firearms as sensible and leisure devices. Civil War General, Ambrose Burnside, who was also a U.S. Senator at the time and the former governor of Rhode Island, became the NRAs first president. Burnside was no stranger to firearms, due to both the Union and the Confederacy ramping up the mass production of weapons throughout the early 1860s. The Civil War is the apex that launched America into a new epoch in terms of arsenal, and the National Rifle Association has since stepped up to become a leader in said rising trade. Early Years Near the end of the 19th century, industrial units were producing weapons at reasonable prices, creating widespread individual ownership of weaponry. The NRA trained many of these new gun owners, frequently men who were in the army. The organization at this point in time, was not concerned with public policy; very little lobbying were done, and they were more concerned with developing gun safety classes for the masses. The groups first rifle range, situated on Long Island, was granted by the New York stage legislature. In 1903 Congress set up the National Board for the Promotion of Rifle Practice, now known as the Civilian Marksmanship Program, in which the NRA volunteered to help to run. Congress eventually gave additional artillery to NRA-sponsored rifle clubs, permitting the association to develop westward. Due to an overwhelming awareness in the NRAs shooting programs, the faction had to be expanded to a new facility that was created near a Lake Erie in Ohio. WWII Era In the year 1934 the NRA formed its Legislative Affairs Division with the intent to take upon the grounds of protecting the Second Amendment of the Constitution. The NRA at that point was not involved in lobbying, but the group did mail out legislative facts and summaries to their members, who are capable of taking subsequent action. The NRA offered its services to the government during World War II; the organization even encouraged its members to serve as guard members during the war. The association went on to develop training materials for industrial security, and helped to gather more than 7,000 firearms for Britains defence against a possible invasion from Germany. Post WWII The mood of the association transformed after the second world war, as the NRA began to accommodate the more leisure sportsman. The NRA came out in support of the Gun Control Act of 1968, which forbade the exchange of artillery. In 1980 the group sanctioned a presidential contender, Ronald Reagan, for the first time. To further its defence of gun rights, the NRA ultimately fashioned the Institute for Legislative Action, or ILA, in 1975. In 1997 the NRA began publication of The American Guardian to appeal to a more conventional audience and focus less on the technical feature of firearms; the publication was renamed to Americas 1st Freedom in the year 2000. NRAs present shooting range, Camp Perry, is now currently the dwelling of the yearly National Matches, an NRA marksmanship competition that sees more than 6,000 people competing against each other every year. Achievements and failures In addition to helping to overturn Proposition H in San Francisco and supporting Act 275 in Louisiana the NRA can boast a number of political and legislative victories. The NRAs Political Victory Fund endorsed several candidates in races in Virginia in November of 2009-Bob McDonnell for governor, Ken Cuccinello for attorney general and Bill Bolling for lieutenant governor. All three candidates won their relevant races, as well as 58 out of the 59 nominees in the Virginia House of Delegates who were endorsed by the PVF. In nationwide congressional races in 2008, 230 of the 271 candidates (85%) endorsed by the PVF were triumphant. In addition, the PVF attained an 84% achievement rate in thousands of state legislative races the same year. Despite these amazing numbers of political and legislative victories, the NRA still faces a huge amount of failures on their part. For years the NRA has had a net positive ranking with the community. No longer. A recent poll from Public Policy Polling found that in the period following the Sandy Hook massacre, support for the firearm advocacy association cut down from 48 percent to 42 percent, at the same time as negative views amplified from 41 percent to 45 percent. With the recent rise of terror and violence that centres around firearms being easily accessible to purchase to anyone with the means to do so, the NRA has failed to convince the public that it is alright to indulge in purchases that not only is a given right to the people by the people, in regards to bearing in arms under the code of personal safety but also that by letting the government control the rights in weapon purchasing ownership, will equal to the masses being submitted to a tyrannical ruling. Many have pointe d out that the organizations actions may perhaps have a secondary agenda which involves the 12 billion dollar gun industry; their alliance has allowed firearm makers and firearm distributors broad, and unparalleled, protection from a wave of legal responsibility lawsuits related to gun violence in Americas cities. Is the nations most powerful gun lobby are mostly looking out for its foundation constituency, the approximate 80 million Americans who owns a gun? Or is the group acting on behalf of those that make and sell those guns? According to a 2012 poll conducted by GOP pollster Frank Luntz for Mayors Against Illegal Guns, 74 percent of NRA members actually support the mandatory background checks for all gun purchases, a position that the NRA has stridently opposed. Theres a big difference between the NRAs rank and file and the NRAs Washington lobbyists, who live and breathe for a different purpose, Mark Glaze, the executive director of the gun control group, said. In short NRA has failed to live up to the pedestal that they have initially carved, their recent statements has shown contradictions in their objectives such as promoting firearm safety; events like the Sandy Hook carnage made it apparent that there is no association between the NRAs defence of semi-automatic weapons that can fire off dozens of rounds in a few seconds which was the weapon of choice by the Sandy Hook killer, and the artillery that the daily gun owners require for hunting or for their personal safety. A nations safety is jeopardize when its civilians is allowed to own high-capacity guns and magazines designed and manufactured for mass-killings of humans without any background security check done towards them. Future development On January 16, 2013, in response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting and other overwhelming national tragedies, President Obama had announced a preparation for improving the control of firearms in the United States, along with providing better admission to mental health services. The plan had included proposals for new laws meant to be passed by Congress, as well as a sequence of executive actions that does not require Congressional endorsement. The goal of the proposed actions was to discover a way to make it a little bit more complicated for individuals who have no legal right to have a gun for them to obtain it. While the senate may have voted down the first part which is background checks on firearm buyers, the recent surge of anger and public frustration has proven that more and more people are raising up to be against gun crimes and unlawful ownerships. This could lead to more trouble for the NRAs current standings and their future developments which is to continue opposing for the most part the new gun-control legislation. The NRA instead calls as an alternative, for stricter enforcement of active laws such as segregation of convicted felons and violent criminals from possessing firearms and the improved sentencing for gun-related crimes. The NRA also would also still be continuing to advocate for the practice of concealed carry and takes stronger standings on non-firearm hunting issues, such as supporting wildlife management programs that would allow hunting. This is also in addition to opposing restrictions on devices like crossbows and leg hold traps. As part of their response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting incident, the NRA has reached out towards the United States Congress to fund suitable funds for a program that aims to provide armed law enforcement representatives that would guard students in every learning in stitute as part of their future ventures; this is in addition to another future formation of a program that would advocate areas of security, building design, access control, information technology, and student and teacher training for the very best practices.

Teen Suicide Risk Factors and Prevention :: Teenage Suicide Essays

Introduction A teenager is a transitional stage of physical and mental human development that occurs between childhood and adulthood. Teen life is not just a fun stage. A teenager stage is also a stage full of responsibility. (Arnett, Jeffrey) As they grow, they discover and learn new things. We develop our skills and we met new people. We go to school to study; they met friends and sometimes have a special someone. How can these people affect their lives? What can push them to do unexpected things? A couple of years ago, it is not normal to hear news that a teen commits suicide because the way they live is different from the way we live right now. But now, as news flashes the television, almost every month someone commits suicide. It is alarming because the number of people who commits suicide is increasing. Suicide is one of the options of some teenagers to solve their different agenda. Another thing is teenagers did not realize what are the opportunities they are losing. Because of their simple problem that supposed to be solved easily. Teenagers nowadays are fund of seeking happiness that lead them to disappointment. They always expect joy not knowing the opposite thing that can happen. Sometimes they are doing different things to have a perfect life that they are wanting for. For them it can be obtained from their own capability but more often by others. Some of us think that being a teenager is the most precious stage in our lives but that is not true all the times, we should know first our limitations and people around us. It is not always good hurting someone or in other word â€Å"bullying someone". They are also humans like us and we are created equally, physically and emotionally. Poor teenagers often commit suicide because they can’t handle the pain other causing to them. They keep the pain with them not telling their parents because they do not want trouble for them. In this research statement it can easily identify the commonly causes why teenagers commit suicide. Does the society affect the teenagers that’s why they tried ending up their own life and also we will know all the possible solutions and proper treatment they should have before doing this kind of crime. This research brings various significances to various people. Particularly, this paper is significant to the students, to the parents, to the future researchers and to the teachers.

Gangs in Class :: Classrooms School Violence Essays

Gangs in Class Even before I arrived at the gilded gates of Dunn Middle School in South Trenton, I knew I would expect to encounter gang members, gang references and possibly even gang violence within the brick walls of this school for 6-8th graders. It is a scary thought that every prospective teacher has had cross her mind at least once in her teacher preparation program: â€Å"Will there be gang members in my school, in my classroom? What will I do? What can I do†. During my first day at my JPE site my suspicions were turned into a reality. Within my two classes I have two affirmed gang members and several students suspected of gang affiliation. Both of the affirmed members have since been removed from school due to their participation in a fight which caused serious harm to another student in the school. I can’t help but feel at once relieved that I don’t have to ‘deal’ with these students and then sad at the thought that these two bright youn g men may be forever lost to mainstream society. Even more, what about the remaining boys associated with gangs left in my classroom; will they come to the same fate? Here presented are an overview of youth gang membership today and some thoughts on why kids today so readily join in. As will be discussed, there is something we as administrators and educators can do when gang membership becomes a concern or problem in our schools; perhaps more importantly though, there are ways we can prevent the problem from even arising. There are several types of gangs which prevail in modern America. There are street gangs, copycat gangs, pretend gangs, cliques and delinquent groups to name a few. Luckily, most middle school aged students involved with gang behavior are involved with the less serious forms including delinquent groups and pretend gangs. Those students who are more susceptible to joining gangs are becoming harder and harder to identify. â€Å"Memberships tend to cross ethnic lines and have more female involvement than ever before† (National 5). Previously, gangs were thought to be limited to black or Hispanic male youths in low income communities but even the socioeconomic status of gangs has changed.

Health is the greatest wealth Essay

Nobody would deny the importance of health. If a person suffers from any disorder, his mind suffers with it and he is not be able to make much progress in career, in getting knowledge and so on. Besides, people with bad health are unfit to person required duties in social and family life. There are certain lows in different spheres of life, the lows of health deserve particular attention. They are very simple and even a child can learn them. One of the most essential lows of health is perfect cleanliness. Taking a bath or having a shower every day is a must. Because the human skin is full of minute pores, cells, blood vessels and nerves. It should always be clean because it breathes the way the lungs do. Besides, it’s always very pleasant to look at one who is tidy and clean. That’s why there should be an indisputable rule for everyone: to keep one’s skin clean, to brush the teeth thoroughly, to have the hair neatly combed, the finger-nails in order. Then a person should keep in his mind that a constant supply of pure fresh air is one of the main conditions for having a good health. But unfortunately, the ecological situation in many reasons is threatening, that’s why people should go to the countryside for the fresh air as often as they can. Everybody should keep in his mind that exercises warm, invigorate and purify the body. The best way of getting exercises is to engaged in some work that’s useful and at the same time interesting to the mind. Some people work very late. And they continue working at home. Late hours are very harmful to the health because they exhaust the nervous system. People should keep to the following principle: â€Å"Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise† What and how much people eat is also a great importance. Our body is continually wasting and needs to be repaired by fresh substance that’s why food should be taken with due regard to the exercise and waste of the body. I can give you some pieces of advice how to eat in the right way, be moderate in eating: don’t overeat, never swallow your food wholesale and abstain from everything that intoxicates, always remember about the evils of intemperance of alcohol. Taking into consideration all things mentioned above we must remember that moderation in eating and drinking, reasonable hours of labor and study, regular exercises, rest, cleanliness lay the foundations for food, health and long life. But, unfortunately, in real life many people can’t or don’t want to keep his health in perfect condition for this or that reason. This fact results in shortened longevity of people. Human health is a fragile structure, influenced by many inner and outer factors. That’s why it should be permanently taking care of. People suffer from different disease starting with the common cold, flu, mumps, insomnia, nose-bleed, dandruff, hiccup and from the more serious one’s sick as heart-attacks, strokes, cancer and AIDS. Many people think that the common old isn’t a very serious disease, but they are mistaken because in every case of being ill-cold viruses weaken the immune system. Unfortunately, there is no cure for the common cold as so far because cold viruses are every changing and there is a great variety of them. Some people don’t pay much attention to minor elements until they became chronic ones. Then, these people go to see the doctor, complain, spend a lot of time and money for medical treatment and, if there is luck, recover. The others prefer not to get ill at all and so take preventive measures by attending fitness clubs, eating healthy food and spending their holidays in  mountain camps or by the rivers. This sort of life-style is cheaper and becomes more and more popular in the West as well as in Russia. Fitness, no doubt, wins the battle with medical clinics, as not to lose health is better than to lose and find again. If you decided to join a fitness club or gym, you should consider many things, connected with the following questions: Are the instructors qualified? Is there someone on hand who knows how to give the first aid? Are the facilities clean? Is the equipment well maintained? Is the staff pleasant and helpful? Fitness in general is for everyone; children, men and women of all ages, but you should always consult your doctor before undertaking any exercise problem. Those people, who can’t effort attending fitness club for this or that reason may jog in the morning or to go to a swimming pool at least once a week. Even if a person is healthy there is no guaranty that he might fall ill or his relatives or his friends might fall ill, that’s why we all should know how to help or to deliver the first aid. First aid is terribly important and you can save lives if the right action is taken. If someone isn’t breathing, you must give them artificial respiration. If the person is bleeding, the bleeding must be stopped. Medical help must of course be sought and someone must decide whether the victim can be taken to hospital, or whether, given the nature of their particular accident, the victim should be left alone. On the subject of burns, for example, some people put cream or grease or butter on, and this in fact makes the burn hotter. If it is a minor burn, the best thing to do is put the burnt area under the cold tap, or slowly pour on iced water. This should be done for about ten minutes, and it stops  the heat from spreading. However, if it’s a bad burn, a third-degree burn, don’t touch it; you really should get for this kind of burn expert help immediately. Cover the burn very lightly with something clean like a sheet or a handkerchief and then go straight to a hospital. In road accidents first of all you should check that the victims are breathing. I mean if they’re not, give artificial respiration. The most common injuries in car accidents in fact are fractures and bleeding, so the second thing to do is stop the bleeding. Thirdly very important, don’t move the victim unless it’s absolutely necessary. I mean, if any bones are broken, the injury could be made much worse by moving the victim. You should keep them warm, loosen any tight clothing, and try to reassure them. They’ll probably be suffering from shock, so just stay with them until expert help arrives. In everyday life if you have a headache, heartache, toothache, backache, earache or bad pain in the stomach, if you complain of a sore throat or a bad cough, if you run a high temperature and have a bad cold in your head, or if you suffer from a high or low blood pressure, you should consult a doctor. The doctor will examine your throat, feel your pulse, test your blood pressure, take your temperature, sound your heart and lungs, test your eyes, check your teeth or have your chest X-rayed. After that he will prescribe some treatment, pills, tablets or some other medicine which you can buy at the chemist’s. He will recommend you to stay in bed for some time, because there might be serious complications. The only thing you have to do is to follow his recommendations. Nowdays it becomes more and more popular to use herbal remedy or holistic medicine in treating different disease. The advantage of herbal medicine is that it does not contain any chemical ingredients, thus, it may be applied to almost everyone with few restrictions. As for the holistic medicine in terms of health care it means looking at the whole body, the whole person when it comes to treating people. Modern medicine treats the symptoms and not the course of the illness. Drugs and surgery can remove the symptoms, but not the course. Besides, holistic medicine takes into account not only symptoms, but also the age, habits, motions and life-style of the individual and tries to built an overall picture. Holistic medicine doesn’t prescribe drugs because it tries to prevent illness because prevention is better then cure. A good diet with lots of fresh food, not processed food with its preservatives and chemicals is essential; a health life style without too much pressure and worry about and lots of exercise and rest, not to much, not to little-these are the things that will prevent illness.

An account of the change in power between Kingshaw and Hooper in chapter eight Essay

Throughout the book up till chapter eight we have come across many battles between Hooper and Kingshaw. One of the battles the boys have is one which is who gains the power over the other. So in this chapter I will be analysing every element where either Kingshaw or Hooper wins the power over the other. Hooper is the first to accumulate the power because he makes out that he has a father who dearly loves him and that he would buy anything for him and Kingshaw knows that his mother doesn’t feel the same about him. He also makes himself to be more knowledgeable than Kingshaw because he wins the discussion on the prices of watches can be more than fifty pounds but Kingshaw does not believe a watch can cost more than fifty pounds. The next discussion though Kingshaw wins as he demonstrates his understanding on nature to prove that smoke kills midge bites and it is not the fire that makes the midges depart. Kingshaw wins control as he picks up a long wide stick thinking to hit Hooper but he resists since Hooper said, â€Å"You’d better try and not hit me†, after his eyes had widened after Kingshaw had picked up the stick. This shows that Hooper was frightened of Kingshaw and felt vulnerable other wise he wouldn’t have said such a comment. Hooper though fights back and wins control of the power as he irritates Kingshaw by saying that, â€Å"Has your mother gone after a lot of people† and following on from that comment he says â€Å"That’s why you came here. You didn’t come think it was anything else, did you? She wants to be married to my father. He’s rich†. Kingshaw is furious by the comments Hooper makes and he wishes that he had hit Hooper with the stick he had picked up earlier. Kingshaw can hardly defend the comments and can only come up with a feeble remark of, † Liar, liar, liar. Your father isn’t anything, she doesn’t even like you father. She hates him.† Hooper continues to frustrate Hooper by making many statements about why his mother wants to be married with his father. Hooper is now firmly in control and Kingshaw feels now hatred for his mother and he blames his fathers death for having to move around peoples houses and not having enough money. Kingshaw regains power after Hooper is having nightmares and he is whimpering in his sleep and talking about his mother. Kingshaw try’s to wake Hooper by quietly speaking to Hooper but because Hooper continued to sob, Kingshaw hits Hooper across the face with the palm of his hand, this causes Hooper to awaken though he was oblivious to the fact that he had been hit by Kingshaw. This scenario enables Kingshaw to have control, as Hooper is vulnerable because he is whimpering and he stated his head is hurting. Kingshaw continues to build his power as Hooper later pleads with him not to leave him alone and go away to look for the way out. Hooper is shown as frightened individual. He uses lines such as, â€Å"You’re not to go away and leave me.† To plead with Kingshaw. Later though Kingshaw succumbed all the power he had built up as he says to Hooper, â€Å"I wouldn’t have really hit you†, and also â€Å"look you needn’t worry, Hooper, we’ve both got to stay here till they come for us†. These two lines by Kingshaw let Hooper have all the power and Hooper ends the chapter with the power as he began it.

Risk Management and Service User

Anita Byrne ACV5222 UNIT 504 DEVELOP HEALTH AND SAFETY AND RISK MANAGEMENT POLICIES, PROCEDURES AND PRACTICES IN HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE OR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE SETTINGS (M1) 1,1 understand the current legislative frame and organisational health, safety and risk management policies, procedures and practices that are relevant to health and social care or children and young peoples setting. As an organisation that manages health and safety we recognise that the relationship between controlling risks and general health is at the very centre of the business itself.The starting point for managing health and safety in the workplace which: †¢ demonstrates the practices commitment to health and safety and sets out aims and objectives in relation to this †¢ identifies the individual health and safety roles and responsibilities and the communication channels with-in the practice †¢ Summarises the practical way in which health and safety is managed and objectives met. The org anisation is required to have a health and safety policy in place in order to comply with the health and safety at work act 1974.The act is the primary piece of health and safety legislation within the UK. It is an enabling act often referred to as the umbrella act, which means that regulations can be introduced with-out eh need for additional primary legislation. The Health and Safety at Work Act also says that employers must, so far as is reasonably practicable provide †¢ a safe place to work †¢ a safe environment and adequate welfare facilities †¢ safe equipment and systems of work safe arrangements for using, handling, storing and transporting articles and substances associated with work †¢ sufficient information, instruction, training and supervision for employee The act is supported by many other regulations and pieces of legislation, one of the most significant being the Management of Health and Safety at Work regulations (MHSWR) 1999. A crucial element of these regulations is the requirement for employers to have in place systems to manage health and safety.The technique of risk assessment – used to identify hazards, evaluate risks, support planning and put effective control measures in place – underpins such systems. In recent years, the risk management has been influence by the growing awareness of the number of errors, incidents and near misses that happen in social care practice and the effect of the safety of service user’s and the consequence has been the development of service user safety initiatives which have given a ‘service user focus’ to the management of risk within the social care setting.The health and safety at work act underpins this aim and clearly describes the employer’s duty of care not only for staff but towards the persons other than employees such as service user’s, attached staff visitors, and member of the public, contractors and delivery personnel. The princi pals and duties outlined in this policy apply, therefore, to anyone affected by the practices activities. 1. 2 nalyse how policies, procedures and practices in own setting meet health, safety and risk management requirements. The main piece of legislation affecting the management of health & safety is the Health & safety act at work 1974. This act provides a framework for ensuring the Health & safety of all employees in any work activity. It also provides for the Health & safety of anyone: †¢ Risk assessments with the working environment †¢ Adult protection & safe guarding †¢ Person centre planning & risk managementWhen working in line with the organisations policies and procedures to ensure that the staff team create a safe working environment and service user care plans and risk management plans don’t impact on their freedom of choice but they ensure that they are safe with the life style they choose to live, I need to balance those choices against our risk m anagement plans for example we have a service user who lives in her own flat within the complex of the home and feels that her bed is to high and asked her family to put the mattress on a pile of bricks rather than have the bed frame lowered.When staff discovered this, they informed senior staff who tried to explain why their actions could not be allowed to carry on as staff who helps the service user make her bed may sustain an injury. The family could not see that we have a legal requirement to work within the safety of the health and safety legislation. I did suggest that we highlight a repair/maintenance job for the bed to be lowered that is safe to use for both the service user and staff.Also within the workplace before an activity can be undertaken we are required to complete a risk assessment and any areas where we need to put safety measures in to limit the potential risks then this must be done before the activity can take place as well as demonstrating that we need to moni tor staff’s working practices and review and update the risk assessment at the appropriate times. In delivering a registered care service all staff must have mandatory health and safety training before completing any given task whether this be fire safety, food hygiene, manual handling, infection control, first aid etc. f staff have not received this training then they cannot complete the task, thus ensuring that all service user’s welfare are giving top priority in line with quality and safety outcomes. As the acting registered care manager I need to complete regular health and safety audits and maintain clear records to demonstrate competence and that we are meeting the requirements of the law. At times when carrying out an audit I have noticed that a food safety check as not been completed or a fire test got missed and in line with my roles and responsibilities I must address my findings with the senior team, the kitchen staff etc.This will be done in our staff and team meetings. Minutes of these meetings will be taken and stored in the named files so that they can be used for further audits and inspections that are required in line with our policies and procedures, duty of care and relevant legislation. 4. 3 evaluate own practice in promoting a balanced approach to risk assessment. A good standard of record keeping is imperative to support our quality audits and framework for our risk management plans, risk assessment and person centre practice to lead a lifestyle of their choice.When evaluating our own practice and our documentation I will look at:- †¢ Policies, protocols and guidelines to keep staff and management informed †¢ Information regarding, health and safety, care delivery and CQC outcomes for best practice and positive outcomes for service users †¢ Information about systems, for example risk management plans, incident reporting. Complaints. Service user care plans Other ways to evaluate own practice is through regula r audits and regulatory inspections which enables a systematic assessment or estimation of the process or outcome of a work activity, to determine whether it is : Effective: making progress towards a particular goal †¢ Efficient: achieving a particular target with the least effort †¢ Economic: achieving a successful outcome with the minimum cost Essentially audits measure what the staff team are doing against what they should be doing. Internal and external audits involve systematically looking at the procedures within the practice that are used for diagnosis, care and support measures to our service user that enable them to lead a life of their choice, by examining how associated resources are used and nvestigating the effect carer has on the outcome and quality of life for the service user. Conversely, research is concerned with the identification of best practice, where a audit establishes, whether agreed best practice is being followed, and according to Smith (1992) Re search is concerned with discovering the right thing to do:† audit with ensuring that it is done right â€Å" and that we are involving service users in line with our person centred approach.Another system that we use to evaluate our practice for promoting a person centred practice that includes a balance approach to risk management is in our statutory care review meetings where the service user, their family, staff and other professionals will review the care plan and risk management plans to ensure that we are sill meeting the service user needs and that they are happy with the level of activities and levels of support they are receiving.Also these meetings may raise concerns and these concerns will be addressed to ensure that safety and wellbeing of the service user is being met either from staff within the home or by others. These changes will be recorded in their care plan and reviewed in line with our evaluation procedures. Any changes to a service users care plan will be discussed in our daily handover sessions and staff meetings to make sure that all staff who support the service user know of these changes and the additional resources and support that is being put in by the people who are supporting the service user.As the manager I will also use staff meetings, supervisions and training sessions to evaluate my own and others within the teams performance to ensure that we are meetings our health and safety requirements as well as promoting a person centred approach that ensure a balanced approach to risk assessments that cover the working activities in running a registered care home. 4. 4 analyse how helping others to understand the balance between risk and rights improves practice.To analyse and help to understand the balance of service users and the public involvement is part of everyday practice in the NHS (DH 2005b) who have identified a number of principles that underpin the delivery of resident – led services. PRINICIPLES OF RISK AN D RIGHTS FOR IMPROVMENTS HAVE BEEN TO UNDERPIN THE DELIVERY OF RESIDENT LED SERVICES †¢ Provide residents with the correct information and choices that allow them to feel in control – understanding that they are the best judge of their life/how they wish to live their life †¢ Ensure everyone receives not just high quality care, but care with consideration for their needs at all times. Treat people as human beings and as individuals, not just people to be processed †¢ Ensure people always feel valued by the service and are treated with respect, dignity, and compassion †¢ Explain what’s happening if things go wrong and why, and agree a way forward At the home when we complete our risk management plans we will involve the service user, their family and others who maybe supporting them from the wider community. I will discuss each task and outline any concerns that we may have and how these concerns can be addressed without imposing on the service users rights, dignity, choice etc. ut I must make sure that I protect the service user and the staff in carrying out the task etc. I feel this process of informing others, discussing the issues can go a long way in helping others to understand why things can be done and or cannot be undertaken unless additional measures are put in place. This process also assists others in seeing where the potential risk of harm may take place and why we are constantly reviewing our work activities and the abilities of the service users to cooperate with staff when carrying out an activity etc.The same process will be used in staff meetings to ensure that the team can fully understand their roles and responsibilities and reasons why additional measures have been put in place. Also when staff understand the culture of the organisation and the home they themselves will undertake the process without thinking and therefore ensure that the working environment is safe for everyone. By allowing others to unders tand the balance between risks and rights, you improve practice because they know what is acceptable and what isn’t.This makes work more positive and makes the care that is given more effective and more suitable to the service users that require it. By helping others to do this, you are helping them improve their job, and helping them develop with their own knowledge, which they can pass on to other employers; this is peer learning. 5. 1 obtain feedback on health, safety and risk management policies, procedures and practices form individuals and others. The polices, procedures and practices at the home have been developed, reviewed and updated in line with health and safety legislation and our CQC registration requirements.This ensures that the homes working practices are monitored, audited and inspected throughout the year and feedback from the records and reports are discussed and recommendations are implemented. These are reviewed yearly by the organisation and any feedbac k given is used to promote and improve the services within the home. The context of feedback can be used as a learning tool. The practice of over-learning produces reinforcement of a sense of achievement before moving on to the next stage, it can enable a person to move towards independence in a particular skill.The principles of feedback include beginning and ending with positive comments, any suggestion for development that focus on negative aspects of the skills should be included in the middle. The reason for that learning is closely associated with self-esteem and motivation for ensuring that the working environment is safe. CQC’s the essential standards of quality and safety consist of 28 outcomes that are set out in two pieces of legislation: The health and social care Act 2008 (regulated activities) Regulation 2012 and the Care Quality Commission (registration) regulations 2009 and for each regulation, there is an associated outcome – the xperiences that will b e expected of healthcare professionals as a result of the service and care provided and feedback for each outcome must be addressed by the manager. I will also get feedback from various health and safety contractors, visitor’s to the home who carry out regular maintenance work within the home, environmental health inspections etc. With all these visits to the home I will receive feedback on our good practice and compliance as well as areas in which we need to improve upon and non-compliances.This feedback is important to ensure that the team and I meet the required standards and that the home and our activities are undertaken in a safe manor. 5. 2. evaluate the health and safety and risk management policies and procedures and practices within the work setting At the Manor House, we have numerous policies and procedures in place, all spread over a wide variety. They include – †¢ Accident and Incident Reporting and Investigation †¢ Asbestos †¢ Building Mai ntenance †¢ Care Services Construction Management ~ Site Access and Surveying †¢ Consultation and Communication †¢ Contractors †¢ Electrical Safety †¢ Fire Safety †¢ First Aid †¢ Food Hygiene ~ Safety in Food Preparation Areas †¢ Gas Safety †¢ Grounds Maintenance †¢ Handling and Disposal of Waste †¢ Hazardous Substances ~ COSHH, Radon †¢ Health and Safety Information and Training †¢ Health and Safety Management ~ Monitory and Review, Inspections and Surveys †¢ Health and Wellbeing at Work ~ Alcohol, Drugs, CommunicableDisease, Immunisation, Pre-employment medical, Pregnant Women, Smoking, Stress, Work related absenteeism and Young persons. †¢ Manual handling †¢ Office safety ~ display screen equipment †¢ Personal Protective Equipment †¢ Personal safety, violence and lone working †¢ Property management ~ security and visitors, workplace standards, welfare facilities †¢ Risk Assessment †¢ Safe use and maintenance of equipment at work ~ lifts and lifting equipment, vehicles at work †¢ Sheltered schemes †¢ Water management †¢ Other guidance †¢ Definitions †¢ Amendment record Accidents and incidents – index of incident records form, RIDDOR reporting form, servite incident reporting form, care services residents incident reporting form o Workplace moving and handling assessments – moving and handling operations preliminary risk assessment form, moving and handling operations risk assessment form, moving and handling care plan o Workplace risk assessments and young person at work risk assessments – scheme/office/kitchen/staff room workplace risk assessment forms, copy of schemes contractors risk assessments or method statements, young persons at work risk assessment form, new and expectant mothers risk assessment, night worker health assessment form o Moving and handling equipment inspection record, moving and handling equipment inspection record, moving and handling equipment defects record o First aid records – first aid record sheet, first aid kit maintenance defects record o Water treatment records (including temperature monitory, flushing and de-scaling) – shower/spray flushing and de-scaling record sheet, water temperature record sheet o Food safety records – fridge and freezer temperature record sheet o Electrical test records (portable appliances and building installation – visual electrical inspection of void properties form, portable electrical equipment visual inspection record sheet, record of portable test, redundant equipment disposal form, dopy of building installation report and certificate o DSE assessment records Asbestos survey reports – scheme asbestos survey report o Gas safety records – record of reasonable steps taken (when no access granted) form, regional committee report on the progress of gas safety inspections form, gas servici ng report, copy of gas certificate o Control of substances hazardous to health assessments and safety data sheets – copies of safety data sheets for every cleaning product used at the scheme o Health and safety audit and survey reports – health and safety survey form, schemes health and safety audit report completed by the health and safety team o Passenger lift inspection records – copy of certificate, passenger lift inspection and insurance reports o Personal protective equipment maintenance records – reports o Lone worker alarm maintenance record – reports Remote alarm/pendant checks – pendant check form, remote alarm check form o 3rd party forms o Waste o Pest o Business continuity arrangements The positives of having all these policies, procedures and risk managements in place is that it covers everything, meaning that we know what is considered wrong and what is considered correct. The negatives are that because there are so many in pl ace, some can be left out or not remembered, leaving the work setting unsuitable for service users perhaps, or leaving the standard of care low; but because we have them all, and are all used frequently, they are all understood, this is a positive out of the negative situation. SEE AC 1. 2 5. :- identify areas of policies, procedures and practice that need improvement to ensure safety and protection in the work setting Here, there are few areas of policies and procedures of/and practice that may need improvement, this is because they are good, but not at the best standard I think they could be. These are: health and safety audits, the medication rounds, maintenance of equipment and staff training. The medication rounds could be improved by making them faster, or by having more staff working on it, to increase the speed of residents getting their required medication. The maintenance of equipment could be improved by having it done sooner rather than later, so there isn’t as mu ch of an issue if the equipment is required and cant be used as it isn’t working.Health and safety audits can be improved by making them more frequent and detailed, so you can understand the issues more and also notice where the good aspects are. Staff training can be improved by making it more important and motivational, and by making it more frequent to allow better development of career work. 5. 4 recommend changes to policies. procedures and practice that ensure safety and protection in the work setting The changes that I recommend would only be improvements, and the improvements would be to make the policies and procedures more ‘spread out’, so they cover more areas of the work setting, so everything has a policy or procedure to make it more effective and reliable.Reviewing the policies and procedures would be a start to see where the changes could happen and be recommended, to ensure safety I would recommend a change to the health and safety act policy, to give it a wider variety of protection of the work setting, to add more ‘safer’ equipment and make the environment safer, by having less dangerous objects around that could be harmful in anyway to a resident, visitor or staff member. I would recommend a change in the frequency of procedures dealing with forms and assessments, to make sure everything is checked frequently, to make sure there are no problems or issues that are missed if they are only checked every now and then, this would be like risk assessments, fire safety, equipment checks or kitchen assessments etc. There isn’t a lot I would recommend to change, but if I had to, it would be most likely to do with frequency or variety.