Sustainable agriculture Essay Example for Free

Sustainable agriculture Essay Organic foods are becoming more available in all types of stores where food is sold. Nowadays, instead of scouring many stores looking for organic foods, they have become available for purchase in everyday shopping locations such as Vons, Ralphs, as well as Target and Wal-Mart. With most of the population being consumed with healthier eating and fitness, eating organic foods is a step people make in bettering oneself. Additionally, it is essential to protect our planet in as many ways as possible. Organic foods have grown nationally, are healthier and safer to consume than conventionally farmed foods, and are beneficial to the environment. Originally, there was no such thing as organic or conventional foods. All farming was organic as there were no pesticides available. However, as the demand for foods increased, farmers had to figure out how to increase the production of their product, as well as preserving the food to be available for longer periods of time; therefore pesticides were born. The term organic foods is defined by the article Is Organic Food Better For You, as â€Å"crops [that] must be produced without conventional pesticides (including herbicides), synthetic fertilizers, sewage sludge, bioengineering, or ionizing radiation. †(1) Basically the article is saying that organic foods must be grown naturally without any â€Å"help†. This implies that farmers can use natural elements but nothing man made. Robin Parnes emphasizes that â€Å"organic food, [is] defined by how it cannot be made rather than how it can be made† (Parnes 2). Parnes is insisting that it is more important to state what cannot be used to ensure an authentic organic product. This is because what is NOT in a product is what makes it organic, not what IS in it.A common misconception about organic foods is that they are â€Å"natural†. This is not true. According to Parnes, â€Å"Natural foods can include organic foods, but not all natural foods are organic†. The essence of Parnes’ statement is the misconception is just that, a misconception, with the fact foods may be classified as â€Å"natural† but not classified as organic. Food that has been minimally processed and contains no preservatives is referred to by the food industry as â€Å"natural† (2). Given that the definition of organic food is very similar, it’s understandable why the two would be lumped together as one. However, the main difference as stated by Laurel Vukovic, is that foods must contain at least 95 percent organic ingredients in order to be classified organic (50). Organic farms are not always â€Å"small family farms† like consumers would think. Shapin states, Earthbound Farm, a large organic producer, was once a small â€Å"two-and-a- half acre raspberry-and-baby-greens farm†. Like most great things, the company grew and they now have large farms in nine different counties in the states of California, Arizona, Colorado, and even farms in three Mexican states. When organic farming first started in 1993, the owners of Earthbound Farm were asked by Costco, their first client, to drop the term organic because they were afraid their customers would be â€Å"intimidated† and not want to buy the product, because the entire concept was too new. In 2004 Earthbound’s farms had grown nationally with twenty-six thousand acres and is now â€Å"available in supermarkets in every state of the Union† (Shapin). Organic foods today have become a more common household name and consumers are flocking to buy more of it. Katherine DiMatteo states that there has been a â€Å"strong 20%-a-year growth rate since 1990† (qtd. in Is Organic Food Better For You?). DiMatteo is explaining that organic farming is becoming more in demand as people look more to eating right. Parnes supports this fact by stating that â€Å"according to the Food Marketing Institute, more than half of Americans now buy organic food at least once a month† (1). Considering that organic foods used to be very difficult to find and most people were not concerned with eating organic, this is a huge change. This supports the fact that people want to be healthier and eat better. According to Jennifer Alsever, this change is represented by organic foods replacing sugary foods and sodas in some vending machines in Chicago (8). With all the health problems affecting consumers today, people are searching for more healthy alternatives and â€Å"junk food† seems to be disappearing. Consumers have become awakened by their bad food choices and with all of the information on the news and tv today, telling people how rich organic produce is in vitamins and minerals, they are looking to nature for ways to improve their body and overall health. It has been proven that vitamin C and certain antioxidants can help with different diseases, such as â€Å"aging, cardiovascular disease, and cancer† as stated in Is Organic Better For You (3). This article also states that letting nutrient rich organic foods sit for too long in the refrigerator can actually cause the vitamins to deplete by oxidation, therefore losing the benefit. (3). So if you buy organic for the higher vitamins and nutrients, it is important to eat it as soon as possible, so that the benefit you paid a little extra for does not get â€Å"wasted†. Organic food not only helps our bodies, by reducing diseases and supplying us with needed nutrients, it can also help protect the environment. When conventional farming machines pollute the earth, this affects us as well. The air we breathe is polluted, as well as the ground by chemicals and pesticides. Even those who eat organic, can still be affected by conventional farming because of the harmful effects to the environment. Pesticides that are put on plants collect in the soil of the land as well as in water nearby conventional farms. People then drink this water and are exposed to the chemicals. In the article Is Organic Food Better For You, DiMatteo asserts that by eliminating the use of these pesticides and fertilizers in the organic production system, we are not contributing any further to this pollution (3). In making this comment, DiMatteo argues that the pesticides used in conventional farming is one cause to the pollution of our planet. She believes that replacing conventional farming with organic farming is one way to improve our plants health. When buying organic, the only thought which usually comes to mind is food. Yet, there are also organic hair products and skin products. One might believe that these products cannot harm or help our bodies, when in fact these are just as important, if not more important. According to Laurel Vukovic, these chemicals are â€Å"absorbed through the skin and scalp can be even more harmful than those ingested, because [they are notdetoxified by the liver and] pass directly into the bloodstream and fat cells† (48). Basically, she is stating that there is no way to fight off the effects of toxins contracted through hair and skin products. When toxins are ingested there is a detoxification process whereas when they are applied they are directly absorbed. Therefore, it is even more important to purchase products that are organic when trying to live a complete healthy life. Organic farming is a way to not only improve our health internally but externally as well, by protecting the environment. Organic foods take us back to the way food was before the big corporations got involved and â€Å"tainted† the product. It is safer to consume foods (as well as use products) that lack the harsh chemicals and pesticides. Our society is â€Å"obsessed† with pushing food to last longer than nature intended and this is a big reason pesticides were developed. Unfortunately, there is a price to pay for keeping food fresh longer. This price is being paid not only by our bodies, but by our environment as well. WORKS CITED Alsever, Jennifer. â€Å"No Twinkies? Vending Machines Go Organic. † Going Green. NBCNews. com, 12 Jan 2011. Web. 13 Feb. 2013. Ciampa, Linda.â€Å"The Organic Debate: Healthier or Not? † In-Depth Specials. CNN. com. Web. 10 Feb. 2013. â€Å"Is Organic Food Better for You? Here’s How to Decide If it’s Worth The High Price. † Food Recipes. WebMD. Web. 10 Feb. 2013. Parnes, Robin Brett. â€Å"How Organic Food Works. † How Stuff Works. Web. 11 Feb. 2013. Shapin, Steven. Organic Food and Farming Has Drawbacks. The Local Food Movement. Ed. Amy Francis. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2010. At Issue. Gale Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 12 Feb. 2013. Vukovic, Laurel. â€Å"A Shopper’s Guide to Organics†. Better Nutrition. Organic Directory, Sep. 2008. PDF fiile. 12. Feb 2013.

Essentials of Tourism and Hospitality Operations

Essentials of Tourism and Hospitality Operations Assignment title: Essentials of tourism and Hospitality operations Introduction The dynamism around the world has many reasons. Tourism organizations are working in order to make all corners of the world easy to visit. The globalization as defined by Scholte J. (2000),†A world wide process of spreading objects and experiences to people at all the corners of the earth (e.g. spreading computing, television, etc.)†, lead the tourism to merge. A hotel is an organization that plays a major role in the tourism and hospitality operations. It has several departments with specific roles. Examples of these are: Front office, food and beverage, housekeeping, maintenance and security. All these departments work together, for the guest to have a good stay. This team work contributes to make more profit for the hotel. States Huyssten et al (2001) This assignment is focus on the front office and housekeeping and based on researches from different writers and the pepper club hotel. Pepper club is a five star hotel located into Cape Town on 167, loop street. Pepper club has 210 bedrooms, a fitness room, an Odeon cinema, a bar called paparazzi, a restaurant called Sinatra, penthouse with swimming pool. Pepper club hotel is not far from the wonderful table mountain. Their future plans are to develop all the sectors of the hotel. Hassanien et al (2010) recommends that a hotel should consider updating facilities and all the sectors of the hotel. The front office The front office is the front of the house. This is the department that welcomes the guest and helps him for checking in and out. The front office manager is responsible of all the activities in the front office and for training all the workers in this department. In order to maintain the standard, he has to make sure of selecting good personnel, easy to be trained and quick learners. This people should work with high manners and behaviors in a professionalism way. Gillespie (2007). Many services are organized in the front office, such as reception, switchboard, reservation, concierge, potter, casher and guest relation. The same, as listed, at pepper club, these are the services organized in front office. But at pepper club, the potter is working under the concierge and it is called concierge and pottering. Reception A receptionist is the person who is handling guest’s check-in and giving him information about the entire department in the hotel. â€Å"A well-functioning reception gives the guest a good impression of the hotel. This helps to establish the hotel’s image and reputation, as well as to encourage the guest to return in the future†.page107, Baker et al (1994). Being the first person to meet the guests on checking in or when he/she walks in for any information, the receptionist should be able to give a good impression to the guest with a nice smile, a tone of voice, though the first impression last. Baker et al (1998) At pepper club, the reception is the first service to interact with the guest when arriving at the hotel. The main duties are: welcoming and checking-in of a new arrival, selling the facilities of the hotel, providing guest information for other services of the front office and other departments of the hotel. For a group arrival, at pepper club, the reception has to prepare documentations that will be required by the guests. Envelopes are prepared with letters inside to explain facilities to the guests in the language they understand Switch board As similar to Kappa et al (1997), this is the controller of the calls from outside and sends them to the relevant department or room. The person working here should be able to listen and speak clearly to the phone and have a good telephone manner. At pepper club, the switchboard does the same. But it also help in switching calls from one service or department to another, in case, if the caller does not know the number of the relevant service or department. Reservation In the same idea with Henning, R. (2003), there are many ways of doing reservation. This can be done through internet (web site, e-mail, twitter, face book), telephone, fax, walk in. As we advertise the hotel we must be able to handle with reservations in any way that it comes to us. There for we should have trained personnel who can professionally handle it. According to Gillespie (2007), all the workers should behave professionally when doing their duties. There are procedures to follow to make a reservation, and these are the same for everyone. There are not special enquiries for any reservation. It is very imperative to have a reservation chart so we will not keep the guest waiting while we are busy looking for information to give him. â€Å"The most important administrative document is the reservation chart†. Henning, R. (2003) This should be checked to see if there are available rooms. Taylor, M. et al (1999) identifies two ways of making reservation, as follow: -Advance reservation: At pepper club the person working in this area makes bookings, deal with agencies and writes queries. In planning and preparing the guest’s needs, the advance reservation is preferable, because it gives you more time to do so. This idea is also supported by Taylor et al (1999). The reservation in advance is better because nothing will be in rush, you know already about the guest arrival and you expect him to arrive. If it comes that you find out about the reason of the guest’s trip, you will be able to prepare decoration for such event. For example a booking for a honey moon, I will organize a decor according to the event. -same day reservation: This kind of reservation should be handled with lots of care. States Whyte, S.(2006), some tourists arrive in town with nowhere to sleep and start to look for accommodation, calling here and there. A guest, who calls for same day reservation, should pay in advance and his referral source and preferences should be recorded. The person who’s doing reservation uses two types of reservation system. At pepper club they use the electronic system and the manual system. The electronic system used at pepper club is opera system, for any reservation on line. The manual system used at pepper club is the reservation chat. Hunters, G. et al (2010) states, â€Å"An operation system of reservation enquiries tracks availability and rates and provide management and supervisors with essential reports.† page 369 Check-in and out This will be explained according to the pepper club’s way. After arriving and entering inside the building, the guest has to present his/her passport. A registration card recorder will be given to him to fill up (home address, mobile number, etc†¦) and the receptionist will make a copy of it. After that he signs and binds himself to the rules of the hotel. The receptionist will ask the guest’s credit card for the credit card authorization for any extras or incident that can happen during his stay. The guest will always be accompanied to his room, by an associate. He will receive a call, from reception within 20 minutes of arrival. No guest will ever be roomed in unmade accommodation. Should there be early arrivals that cannot be accommodate immediately, areas will be arranged with coffee, tea, Danish, newspaper and the availability of telephones/email for the guest in the lounge area. On checking out all the bills will be printed and presented to the guest. If ther e is any change to give to the guest that will be ready, for the guest will not have to wait. Everything should be done the night before the departure day of the guest. The potter will carry the luggage from the room to the car. Concierge At pepper club the concierge is focus on all guest’s services, he is responsible of all the potters. The concierge is locating the guest sites to visit, organizing transport, he also get all the deliveries for the guest from outside. Huyssten et al (2001) identifies that, the concierge is the person who links the guest to the outside services, such as tourism agencies. Being, in charge of the guest satisfaction, he consults to make itinerary. Potter At pepper club, the potter is working under the concierge but having specific duties such as: caring the luggage for the guest to and from the room. Rooming the guest when he checks- in. Huyssten et al (2001) support this idea saying, when the guest is checking out, the potter has to make sure that the guest did not forget anything behind and he should check the room if there is any damage and report to the reception. If the guest booked the hotel’s car, the potter is the one who will be in charge to go with the car and the guest from the airport. Cashiering At pepper club, the cashier is dealing with all the cash in the hotel. He also deal with end of shift, balance the total cash, credit card transaction and foreign currency. Huyssten et al (2001) share the same idea with pepper club, saying that, he closes the specific transactions taken for the day and get generally get checked to see it balances. Guest relation At pepper club, the guest relation is the guest assistance provider. He gets closer to the guest, provides assistance for him, sold guest’s problems and make the guest feel comfortable offering him personal service. Denney et al (2007) says, to provide assistance he has to know the guest’s preference, request, there for, programs can be designed, where by all guest’s requests, preference, will be logged. The link The link between the front office and other department is to make each department aware about what is happening or what is going to happen about the guest’s need, concern and what he expect from the hotel. Because each department has got responsibilities, for the guest to have a good stay. The food and beverage for example, has to know about the arrival to prepare food and drink according to the number and preference if there is any. The room service should also be kept in touch, for; the guest can request any service in the room. If it is about fixing anything the maintenance should be aware. Huyssten et al (2001) identifies that, the front office is the link between the guest and all the departments. Guest cycle The front office department has got large responsibilities to support guest’s services. There for the front office operations are largely defined by the type and number of transactions made during different stages of the guest’s stay. As mentioned by Baker et al (1994), a typical stay will be divided into 4 stages: pre-arrival, arrival, occupancy and departure. At pepper club the guest cycle is considered as the guest journey through the hotel, from the reservation (pre-arrival), arrival (check-in), occupancy (enjoying), to departure (check-out). Agreeing with 4 phases of the guest cycle, but after departure, still the hotel will follow up to know about the feedback. Did he enjoy his stay in our hotel? I will suggest a fifth phase which is the feedback. Methods of payment The method of payment is the way which the guest handles his payment through. There are different methods of payment. Each guest has his way of payment which is easy or possible for him. Some of these methods are: cash, credit cards, travelers’ cheques, cheques, credit facilities, travel agency voucher. Huyssten et al (2001) This applies also at pepper club, this methods of payment are experienced in the same way. Daily banking According to the pepper club way, all charges, postings, payments dealt with during the shift must balance with opera. At the end of the day, the audit casher closes the baking but before that he/she has to check all the balances on opera. Housekeeping Keeping the house is to maintain it in a good state. The housekeeping plays a major role to develop the economy of the hotel. By keeping the establishment and all the furniture clean, the housekeeping saves as many costs as possible. Branson, Lennox (1998) Role of the housekeeping The role is basically, cleaning and maintaining the standard. Make sure that all the public areas are clean. Branson, Lennox (1998) states, in any establishment, the housekeeping is the department that works to make people feel comfortable staying in the building. At pepper club the housekeeping should service daily the suites, during late morning and early afternoon or at the guest convenience. Essential high quality toiletries will be provided and the turn down service will be prepare in the early evening. An overnight laundry service will be also offered. A daily pre-shift meeting will be held by the executive housekeeper. This will cover the previous day’s inspections, cleaning procedures, wearing of uniforms and guest relations. Furniture As the hotel is receiving guests from different background, countries and cultural traditions, each guest should be comfortable to stay in our hotel. Henning et al (1999) states that, â€Å"furnishing should look comfortable and welcoming, so that guests can feel that they can relax there. Use as much upholstered furniture as possible.† All furniture should be according to the standard of the hotel and the status of the room where the item will be used. I agree with Branson, Lennox (1998) saying, it will be very important that the item should be easily movable. Cleanliness Cleaning is to maintain the good state of the house hygienically and by appearance. Cleaning keeps the house and all the furniture against deterioration. For all the linen used in different sectors in the hotel, the housekeeping is responsible of keeping them clean and ready to be used. In the same idea with Branson, Lennox (1998), kitchen, bar, restaurant, banqueting, etc, the supervisor or manager of these relevant sectors should keep a happy atmosphere between him and the housekeeper to ensure that all the linens are exchanged on time. What happen at pepper club is the suites will be serviced daily, during late morning and early afternoon or at the guest convenience. Essential high quality toiletries will be provided and the turn down service will be prepare in the early evening. The hotel will also offer an overnight laundry service. *Turndown All suites must be serviced nightly; bed turned down with sheet folded, on the entry side, at a 450angle. Curtains closed, one or two lamp turned one according to the procedure. Room attendant to replace all dirty towels with clean ones, toilet articles rearranged, toilet papers refolded. Bath to be cleaned, friction towels placed on floor at each bedside, gowns and good night amenity placed at bedside, any loose clothing or shoes should neatly folded and hung in closet, fresh ice should be brought in and placed in room with mineral water and fresh lemon slice. The turn down service will not start before 7:00 pm. *laundry and valet As an extra added service to the hotel, pressing is to be made available throughout the day. This service is available seven days a week with the quickest possible return. As a guest will be taken to his/her suite on arrival, the associate will ask if there is any immediate pressing to be done and take some to the valet. Guest pressing will be done immediately. Suits and dresses are to be returned in wicker baskets with a paper inlay. *Public rest rooms They must be checked every 15 minutes by the public areas attendant, as the hotel is also judged by the rest rooms. Both hand cloths and paper cloths will be provided. *Pool procedures The houseman will arrange and rearrange, however necessary, throughout the day, the pool area as uniform as possible. He will clean the pool before it opens in the morning and at the close in the evening. The pool area will be policed during the day for cigarette butts, paper container, etc. The houseman will arrange lounge chairs for guests and ensure necessary towels are available. At night he will leave the pool deck thoroughly clean and rearrange the furniture as per standard set-up. Magazines, lotions, tanning oils, sunglasses, baseball caps with logo will be available for sale. Inspection To inspect is to control if the level of the cleaning performance reaches the standard. Though a cleaning schedule should be designed to specify who is doing what, when and how. For Henning (2007), the supervisor or the executive housekeeper will check-up to appreciate or correct if necessary. Security To secure is to keep out of danger. In a hotel, it is very important for all the staff to mind the security, as it is not only one person’s matter. Danger could come from any sector, so everyone working in the hotel should be able to report suspicious movement or any hazard around the building. â€Å"Security is not the prerogative of any one person in an establishment †¦Staff should realized the necessity of not giving information regarding internal matters†.page54 Branson, Lennox (1998) Conclusion Economic, politic, religious, social, cultural, etc, these may be reason of the dynamism around the world. Spreading objects and experiences to people at all the corners of the world, makes people move around. Our assignment was showing a good welcoming procedures, to people visiting our place. From different writers and the pepper club hotel, we can understand the major role of the hotel within tourism and hospitality operations. One of its departments was subject of our studies. We are so glad finishing explaining and describing the front office and housekeeping and their role within a hotel. We are great full to the pepper club hotel staff for their assistance which was very helpful. It could be difficult for us to complete this assignment without their help. All the ideas in this assignment did not come from us, the books we red from different writers were also very helpful. References -Baker, S., Bradley, P. and Huyton, J. (1994) Principles of front office operations: Hospitality press, Australian edition, London -Baker, S., Bradley, P. and Huyton, J. (1998) Principles of front office operations: Hospitality press pty ltd, Australian Material, London -Baker, K. and Huyton, J. (2001) Hospitality Management and Introduction: Hospitality press, LOndon -Denney, G., Rutherford, Ph., D., Micheal, J. and O’fallon (2007) Hotel Management and Operations, 4th edition, John Wiley and sons inc., London -Clayton, W., Barrows and Powers, T. (2009) Introduction to the hospitality industry, 7th edition, John Wiley and sons inc. Amazon, USA -Henning, R., Koster, C. and Wilense, C.(1999)Your own guest house, J.L. Van Shaik publishers. -Hunters, G., Tinton, T. and Mannall, C. (1999) Hospitality supervision level 3 S/NVQ, Cengage learning EMEA, LOndon -Taylor, M. and Taylor, R. (1999) Start and run a bed and breakfast: Self-consil press, London -Whyte, S. (2006) Starting and running a BB : How to books, London -Henning, R. (2004) Effective guest house management : Juta co ltd Cape Town -Kappa, M., M., Nitschke, A. and Shappert, B., P (1997) Housekeeping management: American hotel and lodging association .Canada -Branson, J., C. and Lennox, M. (1998)Hotel, hostel and hospital housekeeping : copyright Joan C. Branson and Margaret Lennox -Henning, R. (2007) Guest house management : Juta co ltd, Cape Town -Hassanien, A., Dale, C. and Clarke, A. (2010) Hospitality business development: Ahmed, H., Crispin D. Alan C. published by elsivier ltd, London -Gillespie, A. (2007) Shutters hospitality studies: Shutter shooter publishers Pty, Ltd, Pietermaritzburg area, South Africa. -Huyssten, H., V., Nanny, R., Diedericks, T., Steyn, M. and Steynberg, M. (2001) Hotel-keeping and catering to day: Nasou, Cape Town Suzi , Mujingila CTH no. 76480 Front office and Housekeeping. [Type text]Page 1

Equality diversity and rights

Equality diversity and rights Equality diversity and rights I have done my presentation on equality diversity and rights I have chosen to do my presentation on a care home setting. I will be looking at the different aspects of care that is available at the care home and the possible barriers of care that may or may not be over come. I will also be looking at acts that are in place to protect the service user against abuse. I will also look closely at the safety measures they have in place to care for the service user and make sure that the service user is happy and is being cared for according to the care value base. There are 3 ways that people can refer to care these are: self referral when the patient itself brings their selfs forward for care third party referrals this is when friends or family one someone else brings the patient forward to care as they may this he or she may be incapable of looking after their selves. There will be an assessment of the patient to see whether they are in need of help with the care of their selves. If they dont want to go into care then things to consider will be their human rights (1998) and also other peoples human rights, so they have to either be a danger to their selves or the public (PUBLIC SAFETY ACT, 2002) Professional referral- when a doctor or someone who is an expert in the line of work refers patients in to care for a variety of reasons, i.e. Dementia. Practice should be regulated by the ethics in patient referrals act of 1989. Effective communication this is important in making sure the service user is happy also taking in to account their opinions and letting them express their selves by verbal and non verbal communication, also to make sure that someone is there to listen to the service users issues. There might be some service users who might not feel comfortable talking so maybe there could   suggestion boxes around the care home and also meeting with the service users every few weeks to see whether they are satisfied and to see if they have any thoughts about how to improve the care home, There could also be activities going on such as bingo and trips and events out for the service users. This would keep them occupied and meet their social needs; and also have a chance to communicate with the carers. There could also be a notice board with notices that allow news and up coming events to be known to the residences that may not be in a sociable mood that week this allows them to get involved in the a ctivities that are going on, this stops them from being socially excluded. Diversity (race, belief) and also equality Rights to individuality- everyone should have the right to express themselves in the way that they want to. Everyone should have the right to express their selves at the care home by maybe doing different activities that could take place each day such as bingo or arts and crafts this would give the service user the freedom to choose what they wanted to do .I think decision making should be left to the service user this should be down to what they eat what they ware their independence should be maintained unless it is no other way services user should also have the right to practice their religion without prejudice Effects of discrimination (this can be a bad opinion or feeling formed in advance without any real reason thought, in the care home by a carer and it that can lead to unfair discrimination of a person making a difference in which way a person is treated) which can lead to abuse towards the client (This may affect the client badly by them being socially excluded from the group as they feel low on their self-esteem. This will just lead to oppression of the client. Acts that protect the service user Legalisation comes about by media, pressure groups and MPs bringing up an idea like equality in care homes. Then people recognize that this becomes an issue of equal opportunity. The assembly discusses this and then the government research and write a report on this matter. Then the civil services make a suggestion such as: passing an act to protect people who are of different ethnicities. The government produces a green paper, which people have access to, they debate about the matter, the civil services passes on findings of the debate to the government who then produce a white paper which then creates further debates about the matter, the house of parliament debates proposals the proposals get the royal asset which then finally leads to legalisation of the matter. The sources of equality in law are the British courts, British parliaments European Union and the European courts. The British court passes case law and the British parliament passes acts of parliament. The European Union passes directives ad regulations and the European courts passes case laws. These are all then become into one equality law. These laws are the put into care settings by charters organisational policies and codes of practice There are 3 different European laws affecting individuals these are: Regulations this is the strongest law out of the three and must be carried out by all the members of the state straight away. Directives applied by members of the state to make their laws related to all the other members of the state. There are laws such as the race relations act 1976; this was amended in the year 2003 this protects the clients against unjust treatments due to their racial ethnicity. The act defines discrimination as less favourable treatment according to racial ground .This plans to promote racial individuality as a positive thing. Section 3 on the 2006 act summarises: peoples ability to achieve their potential is not stopped by prejudice or discrimination; there is respect for and protection of each individuals human rights; there is respect for the dignity and worth of every individual; every individual has an equal opportunity to participate in society; and There is mutual respect between groups based on understanding and valuing diversity and on shared respect for equality and human rights. There are also bodies such as the;Equality and Human Rights Commission who was established under the 2006 equality act. Empowerment residents have the choice to do what they want when they want they are given a choice of when to be woken up in the morning and what time they want to have breakfast and to be given a choice on what they want to eat also they should be able to have snacks at anytime throughout the day Care value base- this is a mixture of: Promoting anti discriminatory practice Maintaining confidentiality ofinformation Promoting and supporting individuals personal beliefs and identities Promoting effective communication and relationships Providing individuals care Empowerment The care value base came around 1992; and it can apply to any age group that is in a care environment. Bibliography Armstrong F and Barton L (1999) Disability Human Rights and Education Open University Press Bagilhole B (1997) Equal Opportunities and Social Policy Addison Wesley Longman Limited Moonie M (2004) Diversity and Rights in Care Heinemann Educational Publishers Shakespeare T (2006) Disability Rights and Wrongs Routledge

Ecstasy :: essays papers

Ecstasy MDMA, or Ecstasy, was first made in a lab in Germany in 1912. The German pharmaceutical company E. Merck patented it in 1914, not as a medicine, but as a chemical for making more useful drugs later on. MDMA was forgotten until 1953, when the United States Army funded a secret University of Michigan study to develop chemical weapons. After learning that MDMA was non-toxic, the government put it back on the shelf. Rumor says that the drug was tested for mind control purposes, or as a â€Å"truth drug†, but there is not actual evidence of that. In 1978, Alexander Shulgin wrote a book detailing the MDMA experience called Phenethylamines I Have Known and Loved: A Chemical Love Story. Many psychiatrists took Shulgin's findings seriously enough to combine MDMA with sessions with their patients' normal therapy. In the early '80s, MDMA made its way from the doctor's office to the dance floor from a Texas entrepreneur who synthesized the drug in a lab. He re-named it "Ecstasy" and sold it for $20 a hit—legally—in Dallas-Fort Worth clubs. But, the Drug Enforcement Agency worked quickly to outlaw MDMA, and Ecstasy officially became an illegal drug in 1985. What Ecstasy does is simple. It combines two opposite effects, stimulation and relaxation, but in also provides a small quality of empathy. Psychotherapist RD Laing took MDMA in Esalen, California, in 1984 when it was still legal. He said, "It made me feel how all of us would like to feel we are anyway . . . smooth and open hearted, not soggy, sentimental or stupid.† Another psychologist described it as providing a "brief, fleeting moment of sanity". Most people describe the feeling like being in love. The most common feelings experienced are empathy, openness, peace and caring. However, there have been cases in which the user has a decrease in defensiveness, fear or paranoia, sense of separation from others, aggression, and obsessive behavior. Side effects of Ecstasy can range from mildly uncomfortable to life threatening physical and emotional reactions. Your temperature goes up when you take Ecstasy, like a fever. Dancing in a hot warehouse doesn't help your body cool off, so it's no surprise that one of the most common Ecstasy-related injuries is heatstroke. Along with high body temperature, you sweat and urinate a lot if you take Ecstasy.

Stock Price Valuation and Beta Calculation Essay -- Finance

There are many choices in the market for the investors to generate more money and income with the capital that they able to invest. These tools are categorized into many different types of market such as equity market, bond market, and mortgage market, according to their characteristics. The markets are well-growing and establishing all around world due to the people’s awareness of investment, the globalization, the governments’ policies, and the change of technology. Equity market is one of the well performing markets. The companies raise fund from the public by listing themselves in the stock exchanges. Such objective can be done by distributing the common stock, preferred stock, and convertible securities. The voting rights, priority claim, ownership, and types of compensation are determined by their characteristics. The investors will purchase the stocks based on their requirements and preferences. Two types of market are found in the stock markets, which are the p rimary and secondary market. The primary market enables the companies to gather the funds directly from the investors when the secondary market provides the liquidity to the shares by enabling the investors to trade among themselves. Stock price valuation In Malaysia, the only stock exchange is the Bursa Malaysia. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI), also known as the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI, is the main stock index. The basket consists of the 30 largest market capitalization companies in Malaysia (The Edge Malaysia, 2009). 70 % of the market capitalization for the local bourse is made up by these 30 companies (The Edge Malaysia, 2009). Its performance will signal the investors about the market condition in Malaysia. Next, Genting Berhad (GENTING, 3182) is ... ...sdate=2012-03- 29&lang= Bloomberg.(n.d.). Genting Bhd. Retrieved April 5, 2012 from http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/GENT:MK Bursa Malaysia. (n.d.). FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI. Retrieved April 5, 2012 from http://www.bursamalaysia.com/website/bm/market_information/fbm_klci.html Genting Berhad. (n.d.). Annual report. Retrieved April 5, 2012 from http://www.genting.com/annualreports/gb/2010/gb2010_02_11.pdf Genting Berhad. (n.d.). Group profile. Retrieved April 5, 2012 from http://www.genting.com/groupprofile/gent.htm Palm oil traders await price forecasts seen as bullish. The Star Online. Retrieved April 5, 2012 from http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/3/5/business/20120305141244&sec= business Yahoo!.(n.d.), FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (^KLSE). Retrieved April 5, 2012 from http://finance.yahoo.com/q/hp?s=%5EKLSE&a=01&b=17&c=2012&d=02&e=29&f=20 12&g=d

Art of War By Sun Tzu Reaction Paper Essay

Sun Tzu has developed a tactics on how to handle war properly with strategy and tactics. In his book Sun Tzu about the art of war I learned a lot of techniques on how to wage and win a war. He elaborated a lot of ways how to defeat our enemy but for me not all of his writings about war are applicable knowing that time and situation are changing. For me there are no external wisdom can tell us how to act because even previous successful models and theories are not effective anymore in the realities of the present scenario. But still I learned a lot from Sun Tzu like how to become a good and effective general I can relate this on my affiliation as an officer in JSWAP and as a class president because as a leader we should make strategy or plans that will help us achieved our goals. Like being a general they must be wise enough to create, organize and train their soldiers in order defeat there enemy. There are certain guidelines and rules which Sun Tzu developed based on his experienced on war. The first and most important area of waging a war is planning in this area the general must be critical thinker in laying his plans on how to defeat their enemies. Like my experiences as a student before taking an exam at school I always plan how to pass the exam so I study and do some readings and part of planning knows if my learning and knowledge is good enough to pass the exam. Like in war the general must know if they can defeat their enemy or they will be defeated by their enemy. Analysis and logic at this stage is pretty import and essential. The leader must have a good instinct in knowing that either they win or lose the battle. The troops must be well trained and always ready Sun Tzu mention that it is good that the soldiers must have keen mood because it has a good impact in defeating their enemies. Like in my studies I only do my assignment and task well if I’m in the mood because our mood have an impact in all we do. When I was reading the Art of War by Sun Tzu there are question the keep popping up in my mind, is this writing relevant to women and if during their time women our part in the battle as a warrior. Is it possible that women  can be a general or a commander especially in our present society and what are the different in men and women as a general? After a few minutes of analyzing I arrived in a certain truth that women can also be a general in their own ways because the main principle of Sun Tzu is to win a war without warfare. It’s just like mothers who discipline their child without using violence but only use the model of punishment and reinforcement. I can also relate this Art of War by Sun Tzu in our subject who also deals with management but in different ways like Art of War it talks about how to have effective management in waging a war. I can also relate it in my daily life struggles because sometimes in war or in our own life we choose to surrender and retreat but I believed that it does not mean that I am weak. Sometimes I need to surrender or retreat when it seems I have big probability of losing a battle by our problem or our enemy. When I decide to surrender or retreat it only signifies that I have better plans in defeating my enemies. Sometimes when we know that we cannot win a fight we should retreat and find other ways on how to defeat our enemy in short we need to give time in our training to make us more stronger and make sure that we have enough resources, strategy and as well as manpower in order to defeat all our enemy and may odds favour our battle.

Empiricism & human knowledge Essay

Empiricism is a notion that is derived from epistemology studies in philosophy that is centered on nature and limitation of our human knowledge (Kenny 36). The proponents in empiricism school of thought assert that the main source of human knowledge is through our sensational experience. In other words, what a man may claim to know is purely from experience with environment (Kenny 218). However, approaching this argument holistically need to consider some fundamental questions that prove worth informing the argument: What is the nature of propositional knowledge? How can we gain knowledge? And what are the limits of our knowledge? These question though less informative and may not give the full parameters and modality of the argument, it help to move further and creates a well investigative argument. In this regard, the paper central thesis shall be: Does all our knowledge come from experience? If not, where does it come from? And how can we prove that as necessary truth? The question of human knowledge derivation in field of epistemology has been a controversial issue with both rationalists and empiricists pulling toward each others side. However, as the paper shall be concluding it shall be quite evident that no side can stand alone in the proving ground for human knowledge. Since upon exploring each side of the competing explanations, it comes out clearly that human experience is necessary component in attaining knowledge yet at the same time its insufficient condition that can facilitate knowledge gaining. Therefore, this validates the essence that empiricism can not be self explanatory subject content without input and insight from rationalism school of thought (Kenny 41). In regard to Philosophical argument of empiricism, two juxtaposing positions do assist to answer this question. I find it difficult to neither accept nor deny the fact that empiricists assert that our knowledge comes from our experience because we are born as a ‘tabula rasa’. This is the light that some phenomenon experience can not be affirmed by sense experience alone. For instance, when a blue candle is placed on the table and observes with eyes and affirmed that it is a candle since the sense tells and confirm its solid and hard; then when the same candle is placed close to the flame and melts down; using the same sight observation it is difficult to affirm that the liquefied wax is the same blue candle. Basing on this example, it becomes challenging to entrust the experience as a source of understanding that strange phenomenon that challenges our senses to derive knowledge (Bonjour 273). Therefore, in such case rationalist gain a score in the sense that is only through reason that the individual observing the instance can affirm that the liquid was is the same candle in liquid form. Contrary at the same time the knowledge of changing states of wax shall be gained through sight and not reason, though reason facilitate construction and conceptualization of such concept. Evidently the two competing positions have a problem. According to Aune’s (1970) presentation of Plato’s dialogue â€Å"meno† give me an interesting position in his attempt to support rationalism that instead gives insight to validity of empiricism. Plato gave an example aimed at asserting that he met a slave boy who had mathematical knowledge (basic arithmetic); this should be innate. This is because according to him, knowledge from reason is eternal and do not change while that fro experience does. Using that example it is not true that lack of mathematical knowledge to that slave boy validates lack of mathematical experience. This is in the sense that even abstract mathematical concepts are centered on real figures or objects that does exist. For instance, the relationship given by Pythagoras’ theorem is a proposition that expresses a relation between the sides of a right angled triangle. Thus, the knowledge of these kinds of propositions can be discovered purely by thinking but an individual must in his or her earlier stages of learning been exposed or seen the figure of a right angled triangle, which is something that actually exists in the universe. On the contrary, the propositional knowledge about relation of sides of height, base and hypotenuse can be discovered purely by thinking, without the need to attend to anything that actually exists in the universe. This implies that empiricism is the basis on which reason can advance the knowledge gained primary to other higher understanding forms in such arenas as the sciences of geometry, algebra, and arithmetic. On the other hand, matters of fact as a second category object of human reason cannot be established like matters of relations as individuals lack strong grounding to think them as true. Instead, the opposite of every matter of fact is possible since it does not imply a contradiction and is easily conceived by our minds. For example, saying â€Å"the sun will rise tomorrow† is logical and has no more contradictions to saying â€Å"the sun will not rise tomorrow†. Basically, saying that the sun will not rise tomorrow is no less logical a proposition and implies no more contradiction, than the assertion that it will rise. As a result, it will be futile to try and prove its falsehood. If it can be proven false, it would imply a contradiction, and could never be clearly conceived by the mind. Thus, empiricism scores in knowledge that regards maters of fact as opposed to the knowledge of the relational of ideas. Human knowledge acquisition does not need prior reasoning to acquire, but comes from our experience of finding, connecting and inferring that particular objects are constantly associated with one other. For example, if a man is presented with an object that is new to him, no amount of reasoning about its perceptible qualities will enable him to discover it rather than observing, touching and smelling it so that he can conform to already formed knowledge base, or accommodate it as a new object discovered (Hume 173). If next time the same person comes into contact with this object again, thinking can help to connect the object to the past event and claim to know the object. This can be demonstrated by a stranger to fire and moving water; from the light and warmth of fire, one cannot assume that they can be burnt or cannot infer that the fluidity and transparency of water can drown him or her respectively. Thus, such knowledge can only be established if there are incidences that an individual was burnt by fire or drawn fast moving water, which forms the basis of knowledge which is taught. Based on this example, it follows that the qualities of an object that appear to the senses cannot reveal the causes or effect nor can reason, unaided by experience, ever draw any conclusion about real existence which constructs our knowledge. Consequently, it can be seen that experience enables us to know the cause-effect relation which enables us construct the knowledge base. For example, when burnt by fire, one will know its effect and when seeing someone light a fire, one will understand the cause. The reasoning faculty should be seen as the tool that aids in connecting past and present events and facilitate the making of inferences to already existing knowledge derived from experience. From the arguments it is however increased my difficult to neither assert nor deny the thoughts that emanate from empiricism school of thought. Thus, it is evident that experience is necessary to our knowledge acquisition but insufficient mechanism in knowledge gaining and application to different situation. It is in this line of thought that I assert that experience is truly a source of our knowledge for instance language acquisition which a basic foundation of other knowledge acquisition. In conclusion, from various argument discussed and exemplary illustrations the proposition that knowledge discoverable not by reason but by experience is true. Firstly, there are past examples of objects that were once unknown to us and from experience, we now know what would arise from those objects. This is totally in contrast to the objects we have never been in contact with. Secondly, events that are not much like the common course of nature are also known only by experience. For example, without prior knowledge, nobody could guess that magnets attract or gunpowder explodes. Thirdly, when an effect is believed to depend on a secret structure of parts, we tend to attribute all our knowledge of it to experience.Yet, we highly depend on the reason for the connecting, construction, affirming and making inferences. Work cited Aune, B. , Rationalism, Empiricism and Pragmatism: An Introduction, New York: Random House, 1970. Bonjour, L. , In Defense of Pure Reason, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998. Hume, D. , An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding: Indianapolis, Bobbs- Merrill, 1955 Kenny, A. , Rationalism, Empiricism and Idealism, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986.