Joy Ride

Michelle Cronin Professor Radford English 101 8 October 2012 Begging for an Escape â€Å"Joy Ride† is a short story written by Richard Russo. It features a boy, John Dern, and his mother, who both long for an escape from their lives at the time. This story follows the theme that one key aspect the human condition is the search for an escape. At some point in life, most humans wish to escape their past and present state of living. There may be many motivating factors behind this. However, most attempt to escape for one of three main reasons.These include using an escape as a means of finding freedom, an escape to help another person, or just as a temporary move to solve a problem. In this story, John and his mother have all three reasons in the back of their minds as they see their lives disappear in the rearview mirror. John’s mother wants an escape so that she can be free. Free from stress, free from worry, free from her husband†¦ So she leaves a note with a simpl e goodbye and she is off. She takes her son with her and breaks free from the ties that bind her. She believes that this country is big enough for a fresh start for the both of them.She says, â€Å"It’s not only a free country, it’s a big one. Big enough for us to get lost in. We’re bound for freedom, sweetie† (76). John’s mother is trying to explain to him that this country is huge, and that if the two of them try, they can get lost in the freedom. They have the power and the ability to leave, escaping the lifestyle they are in right now. By leaving, they have the opportunity make anything of their future. John’s mother also explains that she wants to be free from the marriage that is slowly ripping her apart.She says, â€Å"It’s just that living with him – being married to him – is just like being covered with these little cuts all the time. There’s no big gash you can show anybody, nothing they’d believ e would really hurt, but these damn little nicks, they suck the blood right out of you† (92). John’s mother would like to be free of her husband’s ties that seem to terrorize her wherever she goes. It appears that he does nothing to cause her extraordinary pain, but the little problems are the ones that hurt her the most. Just being with her husband leaves her with all of these painful thoughts and memories every single day.It’s the little problems that John’s mother is trying so hard to escape. However, her motivation for escape also has to do with John. He needs this escape as much as his mother. John was growing up and falling in with the wrong crowd, making very bad decisions. His â€Å"friends† talk of a trip they took to Old Orchard Beach in Maine. When thinking about this, John decides that he too needs to get out of Camden. â€Å"This is exactly the kind of adventure I feared and longed for† (78). In this quote, John is conveyi ng his need for escape. His mother sees how necessary an escape is and how desperately John needs a new outlook on life.And this is exactly what his mother intends to give him. As they go on their journey, both John and his mother experience a little taste of the freedom they have hungered for. Years later when discussing the trip, his mother explains the real reason behind the joy ride. â€Å"I’ll tell you what I do remember. I remember that the reason for that trip was you. What I remember was the vicious little monster you were becoming† (110). In this quote, John’s mother is revealing her true motive behind their escape. She wanted to give him an experience that would allow him to change the way he was behaving before it became too late.Her son was falling in with the wrong crowd and she wanted him to get out of there as fast as possible before he did something horrible. Whether the escape is permanent or temporary, it remains a memory that will forever be e ngrained in one’s mind. An escape can last anywhere from minutes to a lifetime, but it will remain a memory throughout one’s entire life. For example, when reminiscing, John says â€Å"This whole trip was nothing more than a joy ride, like the one my junior high friends had taken, and now I could understand their reluctance to talk about it.No doubt it had been a shabby thing, devoid of glory† (108). John is saying that their escape had only been a temporary freedom and that it ended shortly after it had begun. In comparing his joy ride with that of his friends, he claims that both did not end up the way they had imagined and that he did not want to talk about it, just as his friends had not wanted to talk about their trip. However, he goes on to say â€Å"More than twenty years now, as I think back on our joy ride that spring, it seems far more remarkable than it did at the time†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (109).He is expressing his sincere thought on the subject in that ev en after decades have passed. Although it seemed to somewhat fail because he and his mother ended up going back to his father at the time, with time, he begins to realize that the trip meant more than he originally thought. No matter how long or short the escape is, the memory will last a lifetime. The word escape can be defined in many ways. The definition that applies most to this story is â€Å"an act of breaking free from confinement or control. † In â€Å"Joy Ride,† John and his mother were begging for an escape from their life.Throughout the actual trip, John’s mother had him convinced that she wanted to escape from her husband. But at the end of the story after years have passed, she explains that the true reason behind the escape was to change the path he was walking. John needed to escape the group he was in. People attempt to escape for many reasons. For John and his mother, it was for freedom, freedom from John’s father, freedom from the expect ations of John’s friends. And although it was not a permanent escape, it will be permanently engrained in the minds of both John and his mother.

The Impact of Social Media Marketing in Marketing Communication Opportunities: in Context of Dell

Table of Content No. | Content| Page Number| 1. | Table of Content| 1| 2. | Abstract| 2| 3. | Introduction| 3| 4. | Literature Review | 4| 5. | Dell Business Model| 7| 6| Impact of Social Media Marketing in Dell Current Communication Process| 8| 7. | Challenges of Social Media Marketing in the Marketing Environment | 11| 8. | Benefits of Social Media Marketing in the Marketing Environment| 13| 9. | Conclusion| 15| 10. | References| 16| 2. Abstract Social media marketing is no longer a foreign to business marketer nowadays. This paper will examine the impact of social media marketing on the marketing communication opportunities in context of Dell in the United States. Basically, this assignment will be begun with the introduction which generally explains about the emergence of social media. Next, several literature reviews will be provided to explain on the marketing communication process and how social media marketing impacted on the Dell current communication process. Then, several challenges and benefits of social media marketing will be illustrated at the end of this paper. Keywords: [social media marketing, marketing communication process, media vehicle, consumers, message] 3. Introduction Undeniably, revolution of socio-technological has significantly changed the ways and means of media consumption. From super-fast digitally empower laptops to mobile eBook readers. All of these aspects have affected how business (brands) and consumers communicate and thus influence the way of marketing communications will be functioning. One of the most significant evolutions when people talk about marketing tools or strategies is the emergence of social media marketing. Fundamentally, social media marketing is a way of connecting with consumers by means of the current technology (i. e. The Internet). As of now, there are more than 800 million active users in Facebook, over 3 billion videos are viewed per day and 100 million people use Twitter every single day. Having all social media channel available for consumers, this provides consumers with plenty of choices in products and services in the market. Alongside, social media marketing has impacted on businesses marketing communication opportunities. 4. Literature Review The emergence of new communication channels via the Internet has tremendously affect businesses way of marketing strategies (Owen and Humphrey, 2009). One of the most significant developments to the marketers is the effects from the Internet evolution from the generation of Web 2. 0 or social media as a media vehicle to deliver the message to the target market (Constantinides et al. 2008). Social media marketing in this context is the opportunities provided for business to communicate with the society, with the help of the organizations’ brand, thus resulting in building a positive connection and develop brand influence through the Internet as the medium of communication (Pandey, 2010). Murphy (2010) mentioned that a good marketing strategy occurs when organization or marketer using the right communication channels or media to send the right message and reac hing the right market. Therefore, it is vital for marketer to understand the communication process when using social media as the media vehicle in the marketing communication. Kotler (n. d. , p. 546) mentioned that there are several elements that involved in the communication process in order to determine effective communication. The major two parties in the communication are the sender (marketer) and receiver (market). Another major communication tool is the media vehicle or media channel which carries the message to the receiver. Alongside the communication parties and media vehicle, there are four major communication functions; encoding, decoding, response and feedback. Finally, the element of noise also interferes in the communication process. Dargiewicz (2010) suggested that in order to communicate in an effective way, the sender must have an understanding of the point of the message, who are the target audience to be reached and how the audience will interpret and respond to the message. Schramm’s model of communication points out that the sender’s ncoding process must be coherent with the target audiences’ decoding process, whereby, the more marketer field of experience overlaps with the target markets’ field of experience, the higher is the effectiveness of process of communication (Dargiewicz, 2010; Holm, 2006). The matches of both parties’ experiences are called the Shared Frame of Reference. Figure 1: Willbur Schramm model Source: Dargiewicsz, K. (2010) Monologue vs Dialogue: How Innovative Social Media Technology Developing Effective Marketing Communication Strategies [online]. Available at http://www. slideshare. et/guywithideas/social-media-dissertation [Accessed 15th December 2011] The high level of trust associated with social media as the media vehicle makes social media is highly acceptable among the target audiences compared to traditional media vehicle such as televisions, newspapers, billboard and etc. (Inklingmedia, n. d. ). Mohr and Nevin (1990), bring up that, the absent of trust may distort the message that is being sent. According to DesignDamage (n. d. ), social media fosters a highly transactional model of communication which it allows two-way communication through the feedback mechanism that traditional media not able to offer. Traditional media vehicles were also argued to be a merely one-way process communication, whereby, the message is not clearly communicated or received by the target audience in most of the time (Dargiewicz, 2010). The Shared Frame of Reference suggested by Willbur Schramm model is integrated with social media because it offers consumers to share their experience in the communication process. Calder and Malthouse (2005) supports that everything that influence the customer’s experience is a potential marketing vehicle. Therefore, in order to illustrate the theory of social media marketing in context of organization, this paper will look at the impact of social media marketing in Dell Corporation in the United States. 5. Dell Business Model The founder of Dell Computer Incorporation is Michael Dell in 1984. Dell’s primary products are personal and office computers and business of Dell also engages in other products such as printers and software. A feature that determines PC companies such as Dell to manage their products is through standardization of PCs. The main benefit of standardization is that it helps Dell to reduce the cost of productions. However, when Dell adopted standardization strategy, it made Dell more generic with other PCs companies such as IBM, Compact and Hewlett-Packard since most of PCs companies had access to the same suppliers such as Intel and Microsoft. Therefore, Dell started a new direct business model based on customization approach that enables computers or laptops to be produced according to customers’ requirements in order to be more competitive. However, standardization approached has still remained in Dell’s business model. The customization approach varies its products from customer to another customer without changing the brand name. Having customization strategy in Dell business model, Dell has to eliminate third party as the middle-man and sell its products directly to the final customer, whether the commercial customers or private users. Such business model allows Dell to reach more clients and business units and cut cost with simplify supply chain. Unfortunately, Dell is facing even a bigger issue to balance out the standardization and customization approach as there is no one perfect method. According to The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (n. d. ), customer is the key economic driver to what Dell is doing. Therefore, Dell extended its approach to engage with their customers through the social media marketing to market their brand and communicate with their customers. 6. Impact of Social Media Marketing on Current Dell Communication Process Many companies including Dell, have realized that social media is a new platform for communication. Dell’s key policy is always being a direct and effective in terms of its communications. Dell and digital communication through the internet was never separated since it started to conduct e-commerce business which selling its customized products directly to the customer. Since Dell engaging the blogosphere in 2006, social media marketing has always been its core communication and marketing strategies. According to Dave (2011), social media efforts at Dell helps to sustain the business objectives such as aim to reduce cost, increase revenue and enhance customers’ satisfaction. According to Blythe (2000), the first key of effective communication is to identify the target audience. Social media marketing provide opportunities for dell to separate their target audiences according to social media channel. For example, Dell Community has a mixture of blogs that reflects several key channels. This includes discussion on education to business consultation. Different range of blogs that provided by Dell ensures that information and discussion would be used to cater several specification of audiences. In a same way, Dell has different kinds of Twitter channels to reflect different purposes. Correspond to Dell Cares, it provides assistance to the customer on any matter related to the Dell’s products. This portrays how Dell has separated its branding strategy and how various Twitter accounts perceived differently by the audiences. Therefore, Dell will be able to encode the right message such marketing campaign, to the specific target audience through the right social media channel. There are many other brands out there in the market today compared to in the past. Dargiewicz (2010) points out that all are trying to communicate a large number of messages to their target audience daily, which interfering the target audience to get the right message across. Thus, social media has changed the communication landscape in providing opportunities for Dell to have a two-way communication with its customers. A good communication is the role of the encoders’ and decoder’s skill and its portrayed by the medium which the encoded message is delivered. Realized the effectiveness of social media as the medium of communication, Direct2Dell was launched by Dell, its very own corporate blog through Twitter. Its social media efforts have provided a two-way asymmetric communications, whereby, target audiences able to provide feedback content such as ratings and reviews with regards to the issues of Dell’s products. Moreover, the feedback provided by the customer is in real-time, whereby, the feedback is come directly from customers and Dell able to value their products. For instance, product that has five-stars rating should stay and two-star ratings should be removed. According to Pickton and Broderick (2001, p. 182), feedback will improve the accuracy of the communication to ensure that message has been correctly received and understood, which is one of the reasons why social media is a powerful communication vehicle in Dell communication process. Plus, the CEO of Dell Computer, emphasized that company must be able to listen and connect with its customers and emergence of social media has provided Dell the opportunity to engage with its customers (Farrelly, 2009). Given the feedback mechanism that social media can offer, Dell’s has taken a major step to establish a â€Å"Social Media Listening Command Center† in order to stay connected with its customers. Channey (2009) points out that listening are no longer an option but rather a new marketing. Listening is crucial in the communication process because it allows Dell to understand what customers want and how customers perceive the brand. Not only did social media marketing allow Dell to understand their customers, , Dell are able to discover about a massive amount of issues that consumers were having with their products through their blog monitoring platform. The system could track each of these and would instantly recognize trends between products, geographic areas, or specific communications with Dell. For instance, Dell proactively approach consumers in the blogosphere and in online community about battery recall, thus allow better response and rectify customer’s problem as quickly as possible. Plus, customers were also able to check whether their battery part of the recall. Furthermore, social media marketing has fostered high Shared Frame of Reference between the sender (marketer) and the receiver (audience) that influence effective communication. Dell has created online designed studio that gives the ability for its customers to change the design of their laptops by choosing a custom switchable lid themselves. Online designed studio has given Dell’s customers the opportunities to virtually experience the outcome of their customization laptop, thus, encourage Shared Frame of Reference between Dell and its customers. In addition, not only did social media marketing fostered high Shared Frame of Reference between the marketer and the audience but also among Dell customers. Dell has launched online community for its existing and potential customers to communicate and exchange information. According to Bazaarvoice (n. d. ), 90 percent of consumers online belief the recommendations from people they know and 70 percent belief the opinions of unknown users because people tend to trust and often seek the advice from another person or group of people over brands. This characteristic enables consumer to gather as much information about Dell’s related products and services before making purchase decision. Shaw et al. (2000, p. 152) added that a positive feedback can turn into a good promotion the brand of the product. This is why social media perceived to have a higher level of trust and it is more acceptable compared to other media. 7. Challenges of Social Media Marketing in the Marketing Environment Social media marketing has certainly influence the communication process of Dell with its consumer. However, there are several challenges that social media is facing in the marketing environment. Social media allows thousands of conversation streams to be addressed per day. Merely representing a team of marketers will not be able to handle such a great amount of conversation. Definitely, the number of marketers is not sufficient and it is more likely that these marketers are not equipped with comprehensively subject matter expertise that required them to communicate and respond at the proper level of reliable conversation. The consequence of ignoring this can be overwhelming. The risks of involving untrained employees to represents on behalf of Dell could jeopardize Dell reputation. Once Dell encouraged its employees to be active on blogs, Dell is exposed to the risk of staff members writing negatively and revealing confidential information about the organization. For example, in 2007, a former employee of Dell had posted a list of tips in a blog for customers who are searching for Dell products (Farrelly, 2009). The employee had no issues with Dell and just wanted to share information for customers such as the best time to purchase and how to get the greatest deal. Therefore, it is essential for Dell to have proper employees that have the ability to monitor and respond to its consumers’ thought. Additionally, due to high transparency in social media, competitors may know the strategies of Dell and consumers are more well-informed about Dell products and pricing strategy. Essentially, the engaging process with customers has always been in charged by the Dell marketing department. However, the trend has changed since the emergence of social media. The consumers are now communicating about the organization’s product with other online users who are not the employees. In fact, 66 percent of brand opinions are generated by customers and 34 percent are by blogger (Dave, 2011). The growing popularity of online communities has allow consumers to exchange information and able to compare with competitors’ prices without any barriers. This means Dell have lost their ability to control over on how and where their products and services are being presented to existing and potential customers. Moreover, any disappointed Dell customer able to share their negative judgment on particular products. The bad feedback posted on Twitter or Facebook can easily go viral as good news. For instance, in 2005, Jeff Jarvis, blogger and famous journalist and professor created a personal blog known as Dell Hell. Jeff had a problem with his Dell computer and frustrated with Dell customer service. Therefore, he expressed his frustration with Dell’s products and customer support on the blog. Dell Hell served as a place for other consumers to express their frustration on Dell. As for Dell, the situation has attracted the attention of other media from The New York Times, Business Week, The Houston Chronicle and many others, thus, reputation of Dell as the well-known brand for PCs was at disaster. Moreover, the social media habit or consumption of the young audience may differ compared to the previous generation. It has been a challenge for the marketers to develop marketing communication strategies in order to sync with this modern language to make sure that the transmitted brand messages are received and properly encoded across different age group. The young audiences who are called â€Å"digital natives† were raised up in the modern technological era. They have been adapted to the development and respond to information in a different way with their predecessors. Different to the young audience, the previous generations are known as â€Å"digital immigrants† because they are exposed with modern technologies only in the later stage compared to the young audience. They have different ways of understanding the language of social media. Therefore, this will be probably a challenge for businesses including Dell to strategize how to get the message across different age group through social media marketing. 8. Benefits of Social Media Marketing Although social media marketing have its disadvantages, it has also brought several values in the marketing environment. Firstly, due to the fact that social media has no barrier for communication; it has encouraged companies like Dell to allow customer participation in their marketing strategies. For example, Dell has created Dell’s IdeaStorm, one of the online Community blogs to encourage conversation with its existing and potential consumers. The benefit that the IdeaStorm is able to give is it allows crowdsourcing from the consumers. This is an effective way for Dell to obtain ideas for their company and more importantly, it provides a sense of belonging from onsumers because their opinion influences the internal decision making, thus increase their loyalty, brand awareness and reaffirm their positioning. Plus, not only social media provide suggestion to Dell, it also help other fellow customers to fix their problem. The process are similar to other social media, whereby, people join the community, recommend their opinions or ideas and then, Dell will respond to the most popular ideas accord ing to the number of votes. In addition, it also provides a free market research for Dell. This is a benefit for Dell because most of surveys conducted are deemed to be ineffective because it only focus on certain groups and also incur higher cost. Finally, social media marketing has also assist Dell in their pricing strategy. Since the consumers are more active in social media, Dell able to get their opinion and forecast the demand and price of their products. Plus, Dell product customization business model through the social media marketing can reduce their sales cycle. Different from short sales cycle, long sales cycles requires people at several stages of the buying process. Ironically, when salespeople are spending their time engaging new businesses and relationship to ensure that customers receive satisfactory answers, he or she is rather unproductive because company only creates money if customers are actually buying the products. This leading up to opportunity cost because the salesperson is not making any deals. Therefore, Dell able to reduce the marketing cost through social media marketing. 9. Conclusion In conclusion, Dell has continuously evaluated its business model to search for rooms of improvement and ways to enhance their customer service. Social media marketing has certainly influenced Dell in their marketing communication process and widened their reach to its existing and potential customers. In the early years of Dell in the blogosphere, Dell has effectively incorporated social media into its marketing and communications strategy and had been awarded for its efforts. Despite of the effort to integrate social media marketing into the business, social media marketing has its drawbacks. Dell cannot afford to put their brand reputation at risk and thus, must find ways to overcome the challenges. Today, Dell US is one f the top companies that is being respected and known as the citizen of the social media. Hence, Dell had applied this new establish knowledge to really change the culture and advance the marketing strategy while constantly being focus and direct with its customers. (3078 words) References 1. Bazaarvoice (n. d. ) Social Commerce Statistics [online]. Available at http://www. bazaarvoice. com/resources/stats [Accessed 16th December 2011] 2. Blythe, J. (2000) The Communication mix. In: Marketing Communications. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited 3. Calder, B. J. and Edward C. M. 2005) Managing Media and Advertising Change with Integrated Marketing, Journal of Advertising Research, Vol 45(4), pp. 356-361 [online]. Available at http://web. ebscohost. com/ehost/detail? sid=fe58d1b1-1a35-4d30-a99d-d1943e084662%40sessionmgr111&vid=1&hid=111&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=buh&AN=20486625 [Accessed at 12th December 2011] 4. Channey, P. (2009) Social Media: Listening is the New Marketing [online]. Available at http://www. practicalecommerce. com/articles/976-Social-Media-Listening-is-the-New-Marketing [Accessed 15th December 2011] 5. Constantinides, E. et al. 2008) Social Media: A New Frontier for Retailer?. European Retail Research, Vol 22, pp. 1-28 [online]. Available at http://www. utwente. nl/mb/nikos/publications/ecpapers/constantinidessocialmedia. pdf [Accessed 14th December 2011] 6 . Dargiewicsz, K. (2010) Monologue vs Dialogue: How Innovative Social Media Technology Developing Effective Marketing Communication Strategies [online]. Available at http://www. slideshare. net/guywithideas/social-media-dissertation [Accessed 15th December 2011] 7. Dave, R. (2011) How to Engage in Social Media: A Dell Perspective [online]. Available at http://i. dell. om/sites/content/business/solutions/power/en/Documents/ps1q11-20110266-socialmedia. pdf [Accessed at 15th December 2011] 8. DesignDamage (n. d. ) The Secret to Social Media Communication [Online]. Available at http://www. designdamage. com/the-secret-to-social-media-communication-success/ [Accessed 12th December 2011] 9. Farelly, J. M. (2009) Digital Communication at Dell. Dartmouth College [Online]. 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Happieness and Success

Happiness to me may be different from what another person may deem as happiness and what success means to me may be different from what another person may deem as success. Happiness and success Is as different to everyone as there are different people In the world. But we all need to ask ourselves â€Å"what Is It that would truly make me happy and what do I need to do to ensure that I am successful? † This is a personal responsibility question that we all need to ask of ourselves at one point in our lives.Herman Cain puts it best saying â€Å"Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. † As a young child and as an only child growing up in Southern California while raised by a single mother I learned a lot and came to realize a few things throughout the years. Out of everything I learned throughout my life one of the things that impacted me the most was watching my mother wake up every day going to work doing a Job that she wasn't happy with doing.A Job she did out of personal spontaneously to me, to provide and to take care of me which I truly appreciate to this day. While watching her do this day In and day out, year In and year out I told myself that â€Å"l do not want to be like that when I get older, I want to be happy with the job that I am doing, no matter what it is, as long as I am happy doing it. † To me being happy with your job is the real measure of success. Alexander Jarful states in his article that, â€Å"you should start by liking what you do.The single most efficient way to increase your productivity is to be happy at work. No system, tool or methodology in the world can beat the productivity boost you get from really, really enjoying your work†. As it was my mother's personal responsibility to take care of me, it's my personal responsibility to be happy and succeed in everything that I do. Now this hasn't always been the case for me while growing up but as I have gotten older and gained more responsibility the more I strive to apply what I have learned to make It happen and apply what I have learned In my dally life.Alexander Jarful gives a list of the 10 most Important reasons why happiness tit your work is the number one productivity booster and these are his 10 reasons:† nappy people work netter wilt toners, nappy people are more creative, nappy people fix problems instead of complaining about them, happy people have more energy, happy people are more optimistic, happy people are way more motivated, happy people get sick less often, happy people learn faster, happy people worry less about making mistakes and consequently make fewer mistakes and happy people make better decisions†.Now those sound like some pretty compelling reasons on why Ewing happy is so important to have when it comes to the Job that one may have. I think it is imperative to try and be happy with work because it clearly affects one's well-being, one's health and one's relationships with friends and coworkers. How could one not be successful while being happy with work? I don't think it's possible. Happiness breeds success and the level of success one has is up to them. Just don't lose happiness as success is gained. I feel it is up to me to make it my goal to be happy with my career.To be happy ND a success later in life with my goals lay out in front of me. I need to have success in college first and try to be happy while going to school, let's face it school is not always the most fun thing to do but I can at least try to be happy doing it. By keeping in mind the end goal which the end goal is graduation so I can really start the process to doing a Job/career I can truly be happy in doing. To me being able to wake up every day being happy or to look forward to going to work would be one of the greatest things I can do in my life.By me being happy in what I'm doing will trickle own to every aspect of my life; from my business, to my family and being successful and making money will all stem from the happiness in my life and career. I want my son to look at me one day and say to his-self â€Å"l want to be like my dad when I grow up. I want to be happy with work and life Just like him. † I want for him to learn from my mistakes as I learned from my mother's mistakes. I also want him to learn from the right decisions that I made in my life. It's my personal responsibility to be successful for myself my family and to be happy while doing it.

Theodore Roosevelt's Military Experience Research Paper

Theodore Roosevelt's Military Experience - Research Paper Example One can never undermine the naval reconstruction undertaken by Theodore Roosevelt. As the Assistant Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt was deeply influenced by naval officer and historian Alfred Thayer Mahan and he rendered remarkable services in establishing a modern navy that could protect the interests of the nation around the globe. In fact, Roosevelt strongly believed in expansionism and he held that â€Å"the United States should build up its navy and start asserting its global power† (Shmoop 9). Even though he served the navy as assistant secretary for only one year Roosevelt took special efforts to develop â€Å"contacts with noted naval strategists, planned future strategies for a naval war with Spain, and appointed George Dewey to command the Asiatic Squadron† (Crucible of Empire-PBS Online). All these efforts culminated in the emergence of Roosevelt as one of the most efficient and tactful of American military officers. Theodore Roosevelt’s war in Cuba ha s elaborately been documented by many authors of history. As the Assistant Secretary of the Navy he prepared the navy ready for any wars and he succeeded in convincing the army that intervention in Cuba is necessary. He convinced his navy men that â€Å"it was the moral duty of the United States to end Spanish misrule in Cuba and to stop at once and forever the despotic tyranny of the Spanish Governor-General, Weyler† (Lewis 120). In his autobiography Roosevelt himself confesses that the war in Cuba was inevitable and that it was motivated by humane motives rather than for political interests. In his autobiography he observes that â€Å"Spain attempted to govern her colonies on archaic principles which rendered her control of them incompatible with the advance of humanity and intolerable to the conscience of mankind† (Roosevelt 159). Thus, Roosevelt sought to wipe out the misery, degradation, devastation and destruction that the Cubans had to endure at the hands of the Spanish imperialists. In 1898 the explosion occurred on the USS Maine in Havana Harbor offered a golden opportunity for Roosevelt to prompt the American government to wage war in Cuba. Roosevelt also motivated his men to assist the Cubans who were waging a very important war to gain independence from Spain since 1895. Roosevelt played a pivotal role in the Spanish-American War, the Battle of Manila Bay and his able leadership at the helm of the First Volunteer Cavalry, nicknamed as the "Rough Riders" won him recognition as well as popularity. The voluntary cavalry men under Roosevelt supplemented the depleted U.S. Army in the war and tuned the war in favor of the US army. Roosevelt and his Rough Riders landed in Cuba on 22 June 1898 and by August the Rough Riders turned the war in favor of the American force. At the battle of San Juan Heights Roosevelt led the army from the forefront and the image of Roosevelt charging up the San Juan Hill in 1898 turned out to be a historical icon in the US history and very soon he assumed the status of a national hero. The question whether Theodore Roosevelt should be awarded the medal of honour evoked a lot of debates in the United States. While his own companions offered testimony for his courage and absolute fearlessness in the battlefield it is doubtful why he was not honoured with the Medal of Honor during his life time itself. There are many historians who hold that

Strategic Training Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Strategic Training Paper - Essay Example Human resource management is also instrumental in determining and utilizing the strategic position of organizations in a competitive environment. Google Inc. is one such organization that uses human resource development as part of its competitive strategy. Its co-founders, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, put every effort to design Googleplex (headquarters complex of Google) as a lively and fun place to work. From a small web firm, Google Inc. has emerged as a dominant industry giant over the past 12 years. Google’s set of available resources and capabilities enables it to build a strategy focused on company’s internal environment rather than following the market trends. According to Robert Grant, â€Å"When the external environment is in a state of flux, the firm itself, in terms of its bundle of resources and capabilities, may be a much more stable basis on which to define its identity†. The firm values its employees with a number of benefits, performance rewards an d is also considering wide expansion to its current human resource. A highly qualified and unique workforce is one of the prime resources of Google Inc. Organizations often tend to systematically evaluate potential employees in terms of setting up future performance targets at the time of hiring. Human resource development plays an important role in achieving cost effective and performance based targets. Rastogi (2000) noted that human capital is an important input for organizations especially for employees’ continuous improvement mainly on knowledge, skills and abilities. Successful integration of business and workforce concerns is the strategic ability distinguishing the organizations from each other. Google as an organization has been able to acquire this ability to a greater extent and thus enjoys a firm competitive advantage. In order to utilize human resources to formulate effective competitive strategy, organizations should improve their ability to recruit, develop and retain employees. Reich (1998) has described human resource development as, "to attract and keep talented people, companies today are not just experimenting with how they approach the competitive marketplace of goods and services; they are also experimenting with how they approach the competitive marketplace of talent†. An organization requires its employees' competence in achieving the present as well as future performance goals. As a company, Google is fully aware of the fact that employees’ commitment and devotion are the keys in developing a long-term competitive strategy. So, Google has its own unique way to encourage and value employed workforce in order to motivate their commitment towards innovative pursuits. For instance, an engineer at Google, Peter Norvig says that few years back the average search took about 3 seconds. Now, it requires around 0.2 seconds, but still it's not fast enough compared to zero second. Despite facing growing criticism over its disti nctive human resource recruitment methodology, the company has managed to maintain its competitive edge. The company's success among other technology giants is undoubtedly due to loyalty and strong commitment of its employees. Google offers a highest remuneration package and other thoughtful set of factors in return to their valuable services. For an organization to implement strategy effectively, it must consider human resource development as key strategic partner. Human resource policies and practices determine the goals and

ART 101 CA MOD 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

ART 101 CA MOD 3 - Essay Example At that time in the 19th century, the impressionists had gone against the rules of painting and some critiques referred to their exhibitions as unfinished sketches, but within a short period, the art was accepted and termed to be more stylish and with a large range of excitable effects. Though this art of impressionism was invented a long time ago, it is still used and highly adored at this present time. Claude Monet was born in Paris in November 1840 and was the founder of the impressionism art. He joined an art school in 1851 where he used to make and sell charcoal caricatures. Later on, he met Jacques-Francois Ochard who became his art tutor and introduced him to using oil paints and outdoor painting. In 1862, Monet became a student of an art scholar called Alfred Sisley in Paris of whom they shared and exchanged ideas on art and together, they brought about the effect of light on paintings with thin strokes of paint, which brought about the art of impressionism. When the painting is up close, there is a clear image of a woman holding an umbrella with a small boy. The boy’s face is not very clear; the circles around his eyes make him appear as if he is wearing glasses. It is clear that the painting is of a sunny and windy day with some cloud cover. The sun is shining from the right, and it is difficult to say where the cloud cover begins or ends. The direction of the wind is not clear. When looking at the woman’s face, the wind appears to be coming from the left blowing against her face and hair. The grass and her dress give the impression that the

WACC Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

WACC - Essay Example On the other hand, understating the WACC will result in overstatement of future cash flows and net present value, causing a negative net present value project to be accepted. If the project is a financing project, meaning that the cash flow at time 0 is positive and the cash flows in future periods are negative, overstating the WACC will result in understatement of future cash flows and overstatement of net present value, causing a negative net present value project to be accepted. On the other hand, understating the WACC will result in overstatement of future cash flows and understatement of net present value, causing a positive net present value project to be rejected. In the discounted payback period approach, WACC is used as the discount rate for deriving the present value of future cash flows if the investment is financed by both debt and equity. The investment is accepted if payback period of the investment is less than the cutoff time. Overstating the WACC will result in understatement of future cash flows and overstatement of payback period, causing a project that pay backs within the target payback period to be rejected. On the other hand, understating the WACC will result in overstatement of future cash flows and understatement of payback period, causing a project that pays back after the target payback period to be accepted. In the internal rate of return approach, WACC is used as the hurdle rate for deciding whether to accept the project. If the project is an investment project, the project is accepted if the internal rate of return exceeds WACC. If the project is a financing project, the project is accepted if the internal rate of return is smaller than WACC. If the project is an investment project, overstating the WACC will result in the internal rate of return smaller than the WACC and an acceptable project to be rejected. On the other hand, understating the WACC will result in the internal rate of return greater than the WACC and an unacceptable project to be accepted. If the project is a financing project, overstating the WACC will result in the internal rate of return smaller than the WACC and an unacceptable project to be accepted. On the other hand, understating the WACC will result in the internal rate of return greater than the WACC and an acceptable project to be rejected. In the profitability index approach, WACC is used as the discount rate for deriving the present value of future cash flows if the investment is financed by both debt and equity. The investment is accepted if ratio of the present value of the future cash flows divided by the amount of investment is greater than 1. Overstating profitability index, causing an acceptable investment to be rejected.

Foster Adoption Agency Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Foster Adoption Agency - Research Proposal Example The intention of starting the organization was to offer a coordinating body that would link the needy children to the adopting firms or the personalities. Concerning the organization’s qualification to handle the work, the founder has relevant educational qualification and experience in child protection. In addition, the management staff consists of people with impeccable knowledge and dedication to serve the purpose. Therefore, they are at a position to carry out the activities relating to adoption more effectively. The founder of the organization together with other co-founders noticed that there was a vacuum between the needy children and the firms and personalities adopting children. Thus, the decision to start the organization was based on the desire to fill this vacuum, and offer the necessary vacuum to those seeking such services. However, due to financial limitations, the company opted to request for grant from California Community Foundation, to facilitate its activities. The founder had contributed $ 6,000, received grants amounting to $ 2,000 from the government. Therefore, in order to fill the budget deficit, the organization has requested $ 12, 000 from California Community Foundation, which was started with the sole objective of enhancing development for the whole community. Foster Adoption Agency is an organization that will be managed by experts in child health, and those who are knowledgeable in laws governing child protection. The founder has a Master’s Degree in child rights and protection, thus best placed to mange such a sensitive organization. Moreover, the people to manage the task of child transfers and coordinate the activities of the organization have proved that they have passion for children and would do everything to make sure that they are safe wherever they are taken (Zimmerman, 1994). Sometimes, the organization would request the involvement of the

Summarise the strategic options that are appropriate to ZARA and make Essay

Summarise the strategic options that are appropriate to ZARA and make definitive for ZARA to sustain its future position in the - Essay Example This difficulty of the imitation is one of the foundations the leadership strategy relies on. Zara has managed to successfully exploit its economic of scale through its size and volume of production. Passemard observes that there is a relationship between firm-size measured in terms of volume of production. Based on this understanding, and considering that Zara sells medium quality fashion clothing at affordable prices, its unit production is minimum. The optimum volume of production is reached when the average cost per unit production is minimal. (Passemard, 2006). Zara has also managed to sustain the leadership strategy because of its volume of production. Passemard, points out that with a high level of production, a company is able to purchase and use specialized manufacturing tools which other small companies are not able to afford (Passemard, 2006). The study indicates that the merchandize in the rain facility has a capacity of only 45,000 folded garments per hour and that this facility has its limitation unless more capacity can be created elsewhere. A further study by Adams observes that cost advantage may be associated with division of labor, which apparently is one of the key ingredients of Zara efficiency of work. The study indicates that at Zara, the design collections are developed by creative teams rather than groups of designers. In general implementation of leadership strategy requires firms that are able to produce relatively simple standardized products and at the same time are able to sell those products at comparatively low prices. This mechanism contrasts other companies who pursue business or corporate strategies from Zara. Zara has managed to keep its low cost production by ensuring that they maintain the supply and provide the variety to the taste of the supplier. The study points that Zara stores is stocked with items tailored to the taste of the local clientele and that one would never end up looking like someone else. According to Adam s, for the cost producer strategy to work best, buyers must be able to use the product in the same way and have much same needs and requirement when buyers are large and have significant bargaining power (Frankl & Rubik, 2000). This is underscored by Porter in his analysis of the buyer power while examining the Porter’s Five forces. Porter points out that this strategy will be efficient if the industry’s product is a standard product which is readily available from variety of sellers. In the case of Zara, there are several outlets providing almost the same ambience all over Northern Spain and the rest of the world. In observation of the Porter Five forces, Zara has been able to protect itself from the rivals, buyers, suppliers, potential entrants and substitutes. The study reveals that Zara has managed to keep off the new entrant by sheer reduction of prices for artificial purposes as well as using its dominance and economies of scale to contain the competitors like GA P. Identify the corporate level strategies In identifying corporate growth strategies, this paper will consider that use of Ansoff matrix. Zara has exploited the use of the matrix.Ansoff matrix portray alternative corporate growth strategies. This strategy explores the present and future potential growth of the business based on the products and markets. While looking at the position of Zara, it is important to points out that

Midterm Policy Paper 8 pages double spaced Essay

Midterm Policy Paper 8 pages double spaced - Essay Example In 1789 the War Department was formed, which centuries later would come to be recognized as the Department of Defense. The Coast Guard which is a section of the Homeland security was later on to be established a year after the establishment of the war Department. In 1947, a decision was undertaken with the sole aim of unifying the various Departments under one roof. This decision led to the formation of the National Military Establishment in the same year. The National Military Establishment replaced the existing War Department at the time, as the war department was transformed to the Department of the Army. In this same year, there was an establishment of the U.S Air Force as it was followed by the creation of the Department of Air Force. Finally, with the senate’s approval and confirmation the existing three military branches of the army that included; the Air Force, the Army and the Navy were delegated under one person, the secretary of Defense who had direct control over t hem. In 1949, there was an amendment undertaken upon the National Security act that advanced one-step ahead by consolidating the national defense structure in a way that the cabinet-level status possessed by the three service secretaries was withdrawn from them. Later on the name National Military Establishment was to be converted and renamed as Department of Defense (U.S. ... This department is said to have evolved with the country as its roots can be traced back in pre-revolutionary times. In modern times, the Department of Defense is headed by Roberts Gates the secretary of Defense. In addition to this, the Department of Defense boosts over 1.4 million work forces under active duty. This department has earned the title of being the largest employer in America. The headquarters of the Department of Defense is based in Pentagon building (U.S. Department of Defense Para 2, 3, & 4). The major mission of the Department of Defense is to ensure that there is provision of military forces required for the sole purpose of deterring a war and above all to offers protection to the security of America. The Department also offers crucial and timely information on matters pertaining to defense policies operations, functions and organizations. Robert Gates History Dr. Robert M. Gates history within the American government circles is vast as the current government is ei ghth in number among the numerous governments he has served. Dr. Gates was sworn in as the 22nd Secretary of Defense in 18th of December 2006. His continued stay in office has earned him a record as the only secretary of Defense in American history to remain in office upon the prerogative of the newly elected president. Before his appointment in his present post, Dr. Gates was the president of the nation’s seventh largest University, the Texas A&M University. Before assuming his role as the president of the Texas A&M University on August 1st 2002, Dr. Gates was an interim Dean of the George Bush School of Government and Public Service from 1999 to 2001 in Texas A&M. Dr. Gates involvement with the Central Intelligence

Handgun control Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Handgun control - Research Paper Example In order to understand gun control legislation, it is necessary to understand the phrase’ a â€Å"responsible citizen†. According to a local police officer, Steve Rusiecki, a responsible citizen is one who is a law-abiding citizen, does not abuse alcohol or drugs, has no felony records, has renounced U.S. citizenship, is legally in the U.S., is not mentally sick, and has not been dishonorably discharged from the military (Savage 1). This description entails all the elements from the Arizona’s concealed carry law and Federal Gun Control Act of 1968. The founding fathers made the second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and it states: â€Å"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† (Savage 2). It was then included into the Bill of Rights. The founding fathers feared the federal government was going to oppress its citizens if they had no means of defend their nations and themselves. The right to possess and use guns was facilitated by Algernon Sidney, Aristotle, John Locke and Cicero. According to Samuel Adams, the militia that is described in the United States Constitution does not only refer to the National Guard or the Army. He suggests this group is comprised of free citizens. In addition, George Manson argues that a well managed militia comprises of Freeholders, Gentlemen and other Freemen (Squires 77). The American Revolutionary War was won with the help of an armed population consisting of militias, continental army, partisans and independent companies. It is, therefore, evident that the Founding Fathers realized that the society can benefit from firearms that are handled by responsible citizens (Squires 77). Many years later after the Revolution War, the government began to introduce regulations on the possession and usage of firearms. The initial measure was concerned with the way in which citizens could carry guns (Harrold 5). For example, in 1850 the Louisiana Supreme Court gave a ruling that the constitution does not guarantee any citizen to carry con cealed arms. However, earlier courts’ rulings asserted that the constitution protected the right of citizens to possess and use concealed weapons (Harrold 4). Just some time before Civil War, most Southern States, passed laws that denied the freed blacks and slaves from possessing firearms. This decision was initially made by Dred Scott Decision. Dred Scott argued that blacks, and slave had no rights to citizenship and they, therefore, have no right to possess and carry guns. The current gun control legislation takes into

Tom Robinson Essay Example for Free

Tom Robinson Essay When people talk about the ideal human being, the person that everyone aspires to be, they all think about different authors and sporting legends. But, the perfect human in my eyes is in fact a black man going by the name of Thomas Robinson. Tom Robinson was a man that was a great friend, excellent worker and now an inspiration to me. He was a person who had strong morals and he never went contradicted these. All these morals that he sustained throughout his short life were all ones that benefited the society, except for the fact that it was due to these morals that he died. He meant and did no harm to anyone in Maycomb and his services to the country were much greater than anyone would expect from someone like him. He did nothing but good to the community. We will all forever be in debt to his soul. Tom was a loyal worker of mine before he passed away. He has been my best worker within days from when I employed him. He would work as hard anyone else I had ever employed if not harder, even though he had only one good arm. When Tom was just twelve, he had gotten his left hand stuck in a cotton gin and tore all the muscles loose from his arm. His arm was destroyed in this accident and it had never been in use since. But remarkably, he still managed to pick cotton faster than many of my other workers. Tom worked so efficiently and in the eight years that he worked for me, not once did he cause any trouble. Not once. My other workers would cause all sorts of problems, but Tom did not cause one. He just ignored them and did the tasks that I had set him, and did them well. Tom was one of only a few men that I could trust with my life. When you asked him to a job for you, he would do it without hesitation and always did that job to an exceptional standard. But this is not why I truly admired him. What made Tom so special and contrast from the rest of society was his ability to not judge the people of Maycomb based on their colour, and this was very rarely found in this small town. He viewed people not as whites and blacks, but as equals. It was something that we as citizens of Maycomb struggled to grasp, but Tom was an exception. He was someone that respected everyone regardless of anything besides what was inside them. If the jury during the trial were like Tom, he would still be alive and with us today. Sadly in the end, Tom Robinsons morals and ethics outweighed his common sense. His will to help others clouded his thought process and he did not realise what he had gotten himself into, until it was too late. Befriending and helping Mayella Ewell was truly out of good will but it was not very wise. I constantly asked him why he was wasting helping her when he could be with his children. He would always say that his children had Helen, but Mayella had no one. This sympathy that he displayed was commendable. If Tom was thinking straight, he would have realised that associating with a white woman was undoubtedly going to end on a sour note. But I guess that was the Tom we all know, never refusing to help anyone, regardless of who they were. His death came as an absolute shock to all of us as we knew that Tom would never harm a fly. Though Tom is physically not with us all today, he will always be kept close to our hearts. His death should also cause the death of something else, prejudice in our country. His death has taught us that the race or colour of an individual does not say anything about an individual; it’s what is inside them. Tom Robinson may have been coloured on the outside, but it certainly did not mean that he was black on the inside. His death has made many more people in Maycomb realise that not all black people are bad. The view of coloured people being inferior needs to be changed and Tom’s death is step forward in achieving this. Hopefully, the death of one innocent man will prevent the death of many more men wrongly accused. This is where Maycomb needs improve to become a better town. Tom’s death will never be done justice, because he did nothing but good to this prejudice country. He was a great man and he did not deserve to die like this. All we can do now is wish Helen and her children the best for the future and hope they manage without the man in the house. Goodbye Tom, we will all miss you so much. May your soul forever rest in peace.

Fault Tree Analysis

Fault Tree Analysis Fault Tree Analysis Fault tree analysis (FTA) is a failure analysis in which an undesired state of a system is analyzed using boolean logic to combine a series of lower-level events. This analysis method is mainly used in the field of safety engineering to quantitatively determine the probability of a safety hazard. An Overview of Basic Concepts This quick subject guide provides an overview of the basic concepts in Fault Tree Analysis (FTA, system analysis) as it applies to system reliability and a directory of some other resources on the subject. History of Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) is another technique for reliability and safety analysis. Bell Telephone Laboratories developed the concept in 1962 for the U.S. Air Force for use with the Minuteman system. It was later adopted and extensively applied by the Boeing Company. Fault tree analysis is one of many symbolic analytical logic techniques found in operations research and in system reliability. Other techniques include Reliability Block Diagrams (RBDs). Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) was originally developed in 1962 at Bell Laboratories by H.A. Watson, under a U.S. Air Force Ballistics Systems Division contract to evaluate the Minuteman I Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) Launch Control System. Following the first published use of FTA in the 1962 Minuteman I Launch Control Safety Study, Boeing and AVCO expanded use of FTA to the entire Minuteman II system in 1963-1964. FTA received extensive coverage at a 1965 System Safety Symposium in Seattle sponsored by Boeing and the University of Washington. Boeing began using FTA for civil aircraft design around 1966. In 1970, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) published a change to 14 CFR 25.1309 airworthiness regulations for transport aircraft in the Federal Register at 35 FR 5665 (1970-04-08). This change adopted failure probability criteria for aircraft systems and equipment and led to widespread use of FTA in civil aviation. Within the nuclear power industry, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission began using probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) methods including FTA in 1975, and significantly expanded PRA research following the 1979 incident at Three Mile Island. This eventually led to the 1981 publication of the NRC Fault Tree Handbook NUREG-0492, and mandatory use of PRA under the NRCs regulatory authority. Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) attempts to model and analyze failure processes of engineering and biological systems. FTA is basically composed of logic diagrams that display the state of the system and is constructed using graphical design techniques. Originally, engineers were responsible for the development of Fault Tree Analysis, as a deep knowledge of the system under analysis is required. Often, FTA is defined as another part, or technique, of reliability engineering. Although both model the same major aspect, they have arisen from two different perspectives. Reliability engineering was, for the most part, developed by mathematicians, while FTA, as stated above, was developed by engineers. Fault Tree Analysis usually involves events from hardware wear out, material failure or malfunctions or combinations of deterministic contributions to the event stemming from assigning a hardware/system failure rate to branches or cut sets. Typically failure rates are carefully derived from substantiated historical data such as mean time between failure of the components, unit, subsystem or function. Predictor data may be assigned. Assigning a software failure rate is elusive and not possible. Since software is a vital contributor and inclusive of the system operation it is assumed the software will function normally as intended. There is no such thing as a software fault tree unless considered in the system context. Software is an instruction set to the hardware or overall system for correct operation. Since basic software events do not fail in the physical sense, attempting to predict manifestation of software faults or coding errors with any reliability or accuracy is impossible, unless assumptions are made. Predicting and assigning human error rates is not the primary intent of a fault tree analysis, but may be attempted to gain some knowledge of what happens with improper human input or intervention at the wrong time. FTA can be used as a valuable design tool, can identify potential accidents, and can eliminate costly design changes. It can also be used as a diagnostic tool, predicting the most likely system failure in a system breakdown. FTA is used in safety engineering and in all major fields of engineering. More on Fault Tree Diagram (FTD) Fault tree diagrams (or negative analytical trees) are logic block diagrams that display the state of a system (top event) in terms of the states of its components (basic events). Like reliability block diagrams (RBDs), fault tree diagrams are also a graphical design technique, and as such provide an alternative to methodology to RBDs. An FTD is built top-down and in term of events rather than blocks. It uses a graphic model of the pathways within a system that can lead to a foreseeable, undesirable loss event (or a failure). The pathways interconnect contributory events and conditions, using standard logic symbols (AND, OR etc). The basic constructs in a fault tree diagram are gates and events, where the events have an identical meaning as a block in an RBD and the gates are the conditions. Fault Trees and Reliability Block Diagrams The most fundamental difference between FTDs and RBDs is that in an RBD one is working in the success space, and thus looks at system successes combinations, while in a fault tree one works in the failure space and looks at system failure combinations. Traditionally, fault trees have been used to access fixed probabilities (i.e. each event that comprises the tree has a fixed probability of occurring) while RBDs may have included time-varying distributions for the success (reliability equation) and other properties, such as repair/restoration distributions. Drawing Fault Trees: Gates and Events Fault trees are built using gates and events (blocks). The two most commonly used gates in a fault tree are the AND and OR gates. As an example, consider two events (or blocks) comprising a Top Event (or a system). If occurrence of either event causes the top event to occur, then these events (blocks) are connected using an OR gate. Alternatively, if both events need to occur to cause the top event to occur, they are connected by an AND gate. As a visualization example, consider the simple case of a system comprised of two components, A and B, and where a failure of either component causes system failure. The system RBD is made up of two blocks in series (see RBD configurations), as shown next: The fault tree diagram for this system includes two basic events connected to an OR gate (which is the Top Event). For the Top Event to occur, either A or B must happen. In other words, failure of A OR B causes the system to fail. Relationships Between Fault Trees and RBDs In general (and with some specific exceptions), a fault tree can be easily converted to an RBD. However, it is generally more difficult to convert an RBD into a fault tree, especially if one allows for highly complex configurations. The following table shows gate symbols commonly used in fault tree diagrams and describes their relationship to an RBD. (The term Classic Fault Tree refers to the definitions as used in the Fault Tree Handbook (NUREG-0492) by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission). Methodology FTA methodology is described in several industry and government standards, including NRC NUREG-0492 for the nuclear power industry, an aerospace-oriented revision to NUREG-0492 for use by NASA, SAE ARP4761 for civil aerospace, MIL-HDBK-338 for military systemsfor military systems. IEC standard IEC61025 is intended for cross-industry use and has been adopted as European Norme EN61025. Since no system is perfect, dealing with a subsystem fault is a necessity, and any working system eventually will have a fault in some place. However, the probability for a complete or partial success is greater than the probability of a complete failure or partial failure. Assembling a FTA is thus not as tedious as assembling a success tree which can turn out to be very time consuming. Because assembling a FTA can be a costly and cumbersome experience, the perfect method is to consider subsystems. In this way dealing with smaller systems can assure less error work probability, less system analysis. Afterward, the subsystems integrate to form the well analyzed big system. An undesired effect is taken as the root (top event) of a tree of logic. There should be only one Top Event and all concerns must tree down from it. Then, each situation that could cause that effect is added to the tree as a series of logic expressions. When fault trees are labeled with actual numbers about failure probabilities (which are often in practice unavailable because of the expense of testing), computer programs can calculate failure probabilities from fault trees. The Tree is usually written out using conventional logic gate symbols. The route through a tree between an event and an initiator in the tree is called a Cut Set. The shortest credible way through the tree from fault to initiating event is called a Minimal Cut Set. Some industries use both Fault Trees and Event Trees. An Event Tree starts from an undesired initiator (loss of critical supply, component failure etc.) and follows possible further system events through to a series of final consequences. As each new event is considered, a new node on the tree is added with a split of probabilities of taking either branch. The probabilities of a range of top events arising from the initial event can then be seen. Classic programs include the Electric Power Research Institutes (EPRI) CAFTA software, which is used by many of the US nuclear power plants and by a majority of US and international aerospace manufacturers, and the Idaho National Laboratorys SAPHIRE, which is used by the U.S. Government to evaluate the safety and reliability of nuclear reactors, the Space Shuttle, and the International Space Station. Outside the US, the software RiskSpectrum is a popular tool for Fault Tree and Event Tree analysis and is licensed for use at almost half of the worlds nuclear power plants for Probabilistic Safety Assessment. Analysis Many different approaches can be used to model a FTA, but the most common and popular way can be summarized in a few steps. Remember that a fault tree is used to analyze a single fault event, and that one and only one event can be analyzed during a single fault tree. Even though the fault may vary dramatically, a FTA follows the same procedure for an event, be it a delay of 0.25 msec for the generation of electrical power, or the random, unintended launch of an ICBM. FTA analysis involves five steps: Define the undesired event to study Definition of the undesired event can be very hard to catch, although some of the events are very easy and obvious to observe. An engineer with a wide knowledge of the design of the system or a system analyst with an engineering background is the best person who can help define and number the undesired events. Undesired events are used then to make the FTA, one event for one FTA; no two events will be used to make one FTA. Obtain an understanding of the system Once the undesired event is selected, all causes with probabilities of affecting the undesired event of 0 or more are studied and analyzed. Getting exact numbers for the probabilities leading to the event is usually impossible for the reason that it may be very costly and time consuming to do so. Computer software is used to study probabilities; this may lead to less costly system analysis. System analysts can help with understanding the overall system. System designers have full knowledge of the system and this knowledge is very important for not missing any cause affecting the undesired event. For the selected event all causes are then numbered and sequenced in the order of occurrence and then are used for the next step which is drawing or constructing the fault tree. Construct the fault tree After selecting the undesired event and having analyzed the system so that we know all the causing effects (and if possible their probabilities) we can now construct the fault tree. Fault tree is based on AND and OR gates which define the major characteristics of the fault tree. Evaluate the fault tree After the fault tree has been assembled for a specific undesired event, it is evaluated and analyzed for any possible improvement or in other words study the risk management and find ways for system improvement. This step is as an introduction for the final step which will be to control the hazards identified. In short, in this step we identify all possible hazards affecting in a direct or indirect way the system. Control the hazards identified This step is very specific and differs largely from one system to another, but the main point will always be that after identifying the hazards all possible methods are pursued to decrease the probability of occurrence. Comparison With Other Analytical Methods FTA is a deductive, top-down method aimed at analyzing the effects of initiating faults and events on a complex system. This contrasts with Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA), which is an inductive, bottom-up analysis method aimed at analyzing the effects of single component or function failures on equipment or subysystems. FTA is very good at showing how resistant a system is to single or multiple initiating faults. It is not good at finding all possible initiating faults. FMEA is good at exhaustively cataloging initiating faults, and identifying their local effects. It is not good at examining multiple failures or their effects at a system level. FTA considers external events, FMEA does not. In civil aerospace the usual practice is to perform both FTA and FMEA, with a Failure Mode Effects Summary (FMES) as the interface between FMEA and FTA. Alternatives to FTA include Dependence Diagram (DD), also known as Reliability Block Diagram (RBD) and Markov Analysis. A Dependence Diagram is equivalent to a Success Tree Analysis (STA), the logical inverse of an FTA, and depicts the system using paths instead of gates. DD and STA produce probability of success (i.e., avoiding a top event) rather than probability of a top event. References Ericson, Clifton (1999). Fault Tree Analysis A History (pdf). Proceedings of the 17th International Systems Safety Conference. http://www.fault-tree.net/papers/ericson-fta-history.pdf. Retrieved 2010-01-17. Rechard, Robert P. (1999). Historical Relationship Between Performance Assessment for Radioactive Waste Disposal and Other Types of Risk Assessment in the United States (pdf). Risk Analysis (Springer Netherlands) 19 (5): 763-807. doi:10.1023/A:1007058325258. SAND99-1147J. http://www.osti.gov/bridge/servlets/purl/759847-JsFRIG/webviewable/. Retrieved 2010-01-22. Winter, Mathias (1995). Software Fault Tree Analysis of an Automated Control System Device Written in ADA (pdf). Masters Thesis (Monterey, CA: Naval Postgraduate School). ADA303377. http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA303377. Retrieved 2010-01-17. Benner, Ludwig (1975). Accident Theory and Accident Investigation. Proceedings of the Society of Air Safety Investigators Annual Seminar. http://www.iprr.org/papers/75iasiatheory.html. Retrieved 2010-01-17. DeLong, Thomas (1970). A Fault Tree Manual (pdf). Masters Thesis (Texas AM University). AD739001. http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=AD739001Location=U2doc=GetTRDoc.pdf. Retrieved 2010-03-09. Eckberg, C. R. (1964). Fault Tree Analysis Program Plan. Seattle, WA: The Boeing Company. D2-30207-1. http://www.dtic.mil/srch/doc?collection=t3id=AD0299561. Retrieved 2010-01-17. Begley, T. F.; Cummings (1968). Fault Tree for Safety. RAC. ADD874448. http://www.dtic.mil/srch/doc?collection=t3id=ADD874448. Retrieved 2010-01-17. Hixenbaugh, A. F. (1968). Fault Tree for Safety. Seattle, WA: The Boeing Company. D6-53604. http://www.dtic.mil/srch/doc?collection=t3id=AD0847015. Retrieved 2010-01-17. Acharya, Sarbes; et. al. (1990) (pdf). Severe Accident Risks: An Assessment for Five U.S. Nuclear Power Plants. Wasthington, DC: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. NUREG-1150. http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr1150/v1/sr1150v1-intro-and-part-1.pdf. Retrieved 2010-01-17. Vesely, W. E.; et. al. (1981) (pdf). Fault Tree Handbook. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. NUREG-0492. http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr0492/sr0492.pdf. Retrieved 2010-01-17. Vesely, William; et. al. (2002) (pdf). Fault Tree Handbook with Aerospace Applications. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/codeq/doctree/fthb.pdf. Retrieved 2010-01-17. 7.9 Fault Tree Analysis (pdf). Electronic Reliability Design Handbook. B. U.S. Department of Defense. 1998. MIL-HDBK-338B. http://www.everyspec.com/MIL-HDBK/MIL-HDBK+(0300+-+0499)/download.php?spec=MIL-HDBK-338B.015041.pdf. Retrieved 2010-01-17. Fault Tree Analysis. Edition 2.0. International Electrotechnical Commission. 2006. IEC61025. ISBN2-8318-8918-9. Long, Allen (pdf), Beauty the Beast Use and Abuse of Fault Tree as a Tool, fault-tree.net, http://www.fault-tree.net/papers/long-beauty-and-beast.pdf, retrieved 16 January 2010.

Role of the Police in Community Policing

Role of the Police in Community Policing Abstract Traditionally, law enforcement is called after a crime has already occurred. Law enforcement is designed to respond to emergency calls requiring a quick response, place criminals under arrest, conduct and follow-up on investigations, as well as routine neighborhood checks. When discussing community-oriented policing (COP), there is a broader police focus which is the prevention of crime and disorder. COP requires a more strategic approach to working in the community as the community and the Police are encouraged to come together and form a partnership in which both (community members and police) share a common goal of making the community safer. This paper is going to discuss the role of the police in community policing such as how and why community policing was developed, the role of the COP officer and how the COP officer and community can work together to make COP effective. The Role of the Police in Community Policing The concept of policing has been in existence for many years. The police are expected to perform many community duties that in the past were the responsibility of the local citizen such as: keeping the peace, handling emergency services, dealing with family problems, and helping during civil emergencies. But now police officers are called in to solve these social problems that citizens create. Due to this role conflict, more departments are adopting new models of policing that reflect this changing role. What is community policing? Community policing is a working relationship, between the police and local residents, with the mission to make the neighborhood a safer and better environment to live in and increase trust in the police (http://www.cops.usdoj.gov). By forming this relationship, the community and police work together on goals such as reducing crime in the neighborhood, reducing fear of crime and improving the quality of life in the community. With the cooperation of both the police and the community, community policing identifies problems of crime and chaos and then involve the community in finding solutions to reduce such and make the community and a better, safer neighborhood to live. Community policing goes beyond traditional policing as the police are no longer the sole protectors of the law and social order as all members of the community take an active part in the effort to enhance the safety and quality of neighborhoods. Community policing can be defined as the collaboration between the police and the community (residents) in which together they can identify and solve community issues. Together the residents and the police can encourage active citizen involvement in policing efforts, focus on issues of ongoing public concern, provide continuity of service to the community, develop, strengthen and/or build groups and organizations so residents can advocate for their own interests (www.cops.usdoj.gov). Although, community oriented policing is a partnership between the police and the community members, the police play a major role as the police officer is the foundation of community-oriented policing (Oliver, 2008). The officer’s goal/purpose is to educate the public about its local police department, maintain or increase public confidence and trust in law enforcement, decrease fear of crime, listening to and addressing citizen concerns, and implementing community programs together with community members in an effort to solve problems. Community oriented policing is also intended to encourage community participation and involvement. The values of community policing include developing lasting community partnerships and problem solving in collaboration with the community along with organizational change within the police department. Instead of only riding through the community responding to calls, some police departments have implemented community policing as a more collaborative approach with the community members in an effort to have better problem solving for the police and teach the citizens ways to better prepare, identify and prevent crime and fear of crime in the community. The police can play an active role in the COP by taking the lead in making sure the community safe. It is believed that if the police demonstrate an interest in the community, they will generate a better response from the community response as the citizens will look at the police more as allies rather than enemies. Below are ways that the police can demonstrate their concern for the community while building trust from the community members. In order for COP to be effective the following partnership tactics must work efficiently: Routine Patrol Routine patrol, whether on foot, car, or horseback, should be part of community outreach strategies to increase police visibility in an effort to reduce fear of crime or as a prevention measure for crime-reduction in a particular hot-spot neighborhood. This will also give the opportunity for the community members and officers to become more familiar with each other and also allow the police to have better insight of the community needs regarding crime deterrence. Information Sharing/Ongoing Communication p94 Community policing advocates for a consistent flow of information between law enforcement and the community, regarding potentially effective solutions to crime and disorder problems and various crime trends and patterns. As a result of sharing information, the police can be more proactive and focused on developing long term solutions to the citizen’s concerns rather than be reactive and wait until they are called to determine how to rectify a known problem Crime Prevention Programs The main objective of community crime prevention is to be proactive and bring awareness to community members/groups that may be a potential target for crime as well as open the lines of communication between the police and the community (Oliver, 2008). In most of the community crime prevention programs, the police facilitate the program, however needs the support of the community to support and participate in the programs in order for the program to be effective and successful. Social control The goal of social control is for the police and community to collaborate and work toward maintaining, enhancing, and restoring social control over the entire community. It is thought that if community members have an attachment or are dedicated to making the community a better and safer place, people would less likely commit a crime than those individuals who are lacking in one or more areas. The above programs should be utilized based on the community members’ needs and their perceptions of the local problems (Oliver, 2008). Whether implemented on their own or with the assistance of the police, the above mentioned programs must be created, implemented, and maintained with the assistance and cooperation of the community in order to remain relevant. In conclusion, Community oriented policing is both a philosophy and an organizational strategy that allows police and community residents to work closely together in new ways to solve the problems of crime, fear of crime, physical and social disorders, and neighborhood deterioration. Community-oriented policing is beneficial not only to the community and the police department but also the police officer (Oliver, 2008). References COPS: Community Oriented Policing Services (nd). Community Policing Defined. Retrieved on February 2, 2014 from http:// www.cops.usdoj.gov Oliver, W. (2008). Community-Oriented Policing. A Systemic Approach to Policing (4th Ed). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey

An Analysis of Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood by Richard Rodri

An Analysis of Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood by Richard Rodriguez Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood by Richard Rodriguez is an essay that shows his readers a part of life that many have never experienced. Rodriguez uses this essay to show how he fights through his childhood to understand English. Speaking clear English will help him to fit in to society. He faces society while forfeiting his happy home life, to try to become a typical English-speaking student.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As a young child, Rodriguez finds comfort and safety in his noisy home full of Spanish sounds. Spanish, is his family's' intimate language that comforts Rodriguez by surrounding him in a web built by the family love and security which is conveyed using the Spanish language. "I recognize you as someone close, like no one outside. You belong with us, in the family, Ricardo.? When the nuns came to the Rodriquez?s house one Saturday morning, the nuns informed the parents that it would be best if they spoke English. Torn with a new since of confusion, his home is turned upside down. His sacred family language, now banished from the home, transforms his web into isolation from his parents. "There was a new silence in the home.? Rodriguez is resentful that it is quiet at the dinner table, or that he can't communicate with his parents about his day as clearly as before. He is heartbroken when he overhears his mother and father speaking Spanish together but suddenly stop w hen they see Rodriguez. Thi...

Leo :: Free Essays

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Leonardo da Vinci was an all around Renaissance Man, who accomplished many things during his life. He was a celebrated painter, sculptor, architect, engineer, scientist and inventor. Innovations of his paintings influenced Italian art a century after his death. His scientific studies such as anatomy, optics, and hydraulics led to the development of modern science.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  He was born in a town in Tuscany, near Florence. His dad was a wealthy Florentine notary, and his mom was peasant woman. In the mid-1460’s his family and he settled in Florence, where he was given the best education that a major intellectual and artistic center could offer. There he rapidly advanced socially and intellectually. At first he became an apprentice for Andrea del Verrocchio, the leading painter and sculptor at that time. Then in 1478 he became an independent master. He was first commissioned to paint an altarpiece for the chapel of the Palazzo Vecchio, the Florentine town hall, which was never executed. Other works that he’s done in his youth are; Benois Madonna, Ginevra de Benci, and the Saint Jerome.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In about 1482 he went to work for Ludaico Sforza, the duke of Milan. He wrote the duke a letter that stated that he could build portable bridges and that he knew the techniques of constructing bombardments and making cannons. He also wrote that he could build ships as good as armored vehicles, catapults, and other war machines. He served as the principle engineer in the duke’s military enterprises and was an active architect of his. While in Milan it was said that he had apprentices and pupils. The most important painting during the early Milan period was The Virgin of the Rocks. Then from 1495 to 1497 he labored on The Last Supper, a mural in the refectory of the Monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan. Leo :: Free Essays   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Leonardo da Vinci was an all around Renaissance Man, who accomplished many things during his life. He was a celebrated painter, sculptor, architect, engineer, scientist and inventor. Innovations of his paintings influenced Italian art a century after his death. His scientific studies such as anatomy, optics, and hydraulics led to the development of modern science.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  He was born in a town in Tuscany, near Florence. His dad was a wealthy Florentine notary, and his mom was peasant woman. In the mid-1460’s his family and he settled in Florence, where he was given the best education that a major intellectual and artistic center could offer. There he rapidly advanced socially and intellectually. At first he became an apprentice for Andrea del Verrocchio, the leading painter and sculptor at that time. Then in 1478 he became an independent master. He was first commissioned to paint an altarpiece for the chapel of the Palazzo Vecchio, the Florentine town hall, which was never executed. Other works that he’s done in his youth are; Benois Madonna, Ginevra de Benci, and the Saint Jerome.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In about 1482 he went to work for Ludaico Sforza, the duke of Milan. He wrote the duke a letter that stated that he could build portable bridges and that he knew the techniques of constructing bombardments and making cannons. He also wrote that he could build ships as good as armored vehicles, catapults, and other war machines. He served as the principle engineer in the duke’s military enterprises and was an active architect of his. While in Milan it was said that he had apprentices and pupils. The most important painting during the early Milan period was The Virgin of the Rocks. Then from 1495 to 1497 he labored on The Last Supper, a mural in the refectory of the Monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan.

For Your World :: essays research papers

For Your World A story consists of many small parts. When these parts are put together they create a piece of literature that conveys a message. This message can be about almost anything. Literature can tell a story about happiness or an experience of love. It all depends on what pieces and how they are placed together which makes a story. Anton Chekhov has written a wonderfully pieced together short story titled â€Å"Misery†. The elements which allow me to understand â€Å"Misery† are narrator point of view, setting, character, and theme.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Setting is the only other device, besides the title, which can set a mood for the story before any characters are introduced. When you place any character in a setting, that setting reflects onto the character. â€Å"Iona Potapov, the sledge driver, is all white like a ghost†¦ His little mare is white and motionless too†¦She is probably lost in thought. Anyone who has been torn away from the plough, from the familiar gray landscapes and cast into this slough, full of monstrous lights, of unceasing uproar and hurrying people†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (69); this quote allows for the reader to build a picture of the scenery. No one would want to have to sit on a sledge for many hours and be covered in snow waiting for someone to come by. The words used to describe Iona’s setting are very carefully picked to create this powerful imagery at the beginning of the story. The city is described as a slough. Slough is defined as a state of deep despair or moral degrada tion. With this deep pit of despair called a town, â€Å"monstrous lights† and â€Å"unceasing uproar† continue all round these two characters. With this as the opening paragraph the story has already started an emotion or feeling inside the readers mind.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  How a story is told can alter the meaning of the story. Finding the right combination of who tells the story if very difficult. When the right order of voices are found it makes the story come alive. It allows for the imagery of the person’s actions and the characters thoughts to be read at the same time. â€Å"Misery† has found this great combination.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Narrators are used show or place a given mood in the story. â€Å"It is a long time since Iona has budged. They came out of the yard before dinner-time and not a single fare yet.† (69) At the start of the story the narrator has started the emotion of sympathy for the main character.

Ovarian Cancer Research Paper Essay

Introduction Ovarian cancer is one of the most common types of cancer among women. It is considered to be one of the most common types of cancer of the female reproductive system. According to McGuire and Markman (2003), â€Å"despite advances in treatment over the last 40 years, ovarian cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed gynaecological malignancy, and causes more deaths than any other cancer of the reproductive system† (p. 4). Despite the fact that ovarian cancer occurs less frequently than uterine cancer, it is more aggressive and can occur at any age. In addition, it does not manifest itself in the first stages, and in most cases are diagnosed only in the later ones. All the malignant ovarian tumors are subdivided into epithelial, germ or stromal cell types (cancer). These cancers have the highest incidence among all other tumors. (Jordan, S., Green, A., & Webb, P. 2006 p.109-116). Signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer â€Å"Ovarian cancer has often been called the â€Å"silent killer† because symptoms are not thought to develop until advanced stages when chance of cure is poor† (Goff, Mandel, Melancon, & Muntz, 2004, p. 2705). That is why the symptoms of ovarian cancer are not specific and can be disguised as other more common diseases, such as diseases of the digestive system or urinary system. The reason for the lack of clearly defined symptoms is that ovarian cancer develops in the abdominal cavity and does not cause discomfort for the patient. The main sign of the presence of most disease is a constant presence of symptoms or their worsening. For example, ovarian cancer symptoms are distinguished by their immutability of the manifestations: they progress gradually. (Goff, B. A., Mandel, L. S., Melancon, C. H., Muntz, H. G., 2004 p. 2705-2712). The main symptoms of ovarian cancer may include the following: 1. Feeling of overeating, swelling or bloating; 2. Urgent need to urinate; 3. Pain or discomfort in the pelvic area. 4. Constant indigestion or nausea; 5. Sudden, unexplained changes of stools, which include diarrhea or constipation; 6. Frequent urination; 7. Appetite loss; 8. Rapid weight loss or rapid weight gain; 9. Increased waist circumference, which can be seen by the fact that the clothing suddenly became small; 10. Pain during intercourse; 11. Permanent weakness; 12. Pain in the lumbar area, abdominal pain. The growing tumor extends through the fallopian tubes, causing the lower abdominal pain on the affected side. The large tumors can compress the large intestine that is manifested in bloating or constipation. (Goff, B. A., Mandel, L. S., Melancon, C. H., Muntz, H. G., 2004, p. 2705-2712). In addition, ovarian cancer is characterized by metastases at the â€Å"gate† of the liver that leads to the development of ascites – an accumulation of fluid in the abdominal cavity due to the compression of the hepatic portal vein. (Goff, B. A., Mandel, L. S., Melancon, C. H., Muntz, H. G., 2004, p. 2705-2712). The later stages (3 and 4) of ovarian cancer are characterized by more severe symptoms, such as intoxication and anemia. The doctors usually can diagnose ovarian cancer for three months after the first symptoms. However, sometimes it is necessary to wait for six months or even more in order to put the final diagnosis. (Goff, B. A., M andel, L. S., Melancon, C. H., Muntz, H. G., 2004, p. 2705-2712). Causes of ovarian cancer Currently, the etiological factors of malignant ovarian tumors are not significantly determined. However, some researches have advanced several hypotheses about the etiology of epithelial ovarian tumors (Modugno et al., 2003, p. 439- 446). The first one being that ovarian cancer usually occurs when a tumor develops in one or both of a woman’s ovaries. (Modugno et al., 2003, p. 439- 446). Another hypothesis is based on the concept of â€Å"incessant ovulation† (early menarche, late menopause, a small number of pregnancies, the shortening of lactation). Remember, the constant ovulations cause serious damage to epithelial inclusions in the ovarian cortex. The following hypothesis shows that ovarian cancer, most often, is caused by the glandular epithelial cells, which produce hormones. Therefore, a violation of hormonal regulation leads to the changes of malignant epithelial cells. Ovarian cancer often develops in the presence of chronic inflammation, benign tumors or ovarian cysts. (Jordan, S., Green, A., & Webb, P., 2006, p. 109-116). Risk factors It is difficult enough to determine the risk factors for ovarian cancer. However, it is believed that the healthy women, who have relatives diagnosed with breast cancer, ovarian cancer or uterine cancer, are at risk of those diseases. Supporting this point of view, Cannistra (2004) states that â€Å"a strong family history of ovarian or breast cancer is the most important risk factor† for women. Too often ovarian cancer develops after menopause. However, the risk is increased only after 60 years. In turn, Cannistra (2004) supports this information and adds that â€Å"the median age of patients with ovarian cancer is 60 years, and the average lifetime risk for women is about 1 in 70†. (p. 2519-2522) Despite the fact that most ovarian cancers are diagnosed in postmenopausal women, the disease can also occur in women who are in the premenopausal period. Women, who have been pregnant at least once, are less likely to have ovarian cancer. The use of birth control pills also reduces this probability. (Kuper, H., Cramer, D. W., & Titus-Ernstoff, L., 2002., p. 455-463). The appearance of cysts is a normal process that occurs during ovulation in women who are premenopausal. However, cysts formed in the postmenopausal period have a great chance to cause cancer. Women are at increased risk if they are having trouble conceiving. Environment factors also affect the incidence of ovarian cancer. (Kuper, H., Cramer, D. W., & Titus-Ernstoff, L., 2002., p. 455-463). Ovarian cancer can be primary, secondary and metastatic. The malignant tumors, which primarily affect the ovary, are known as primary cancer. Secondary ovarian cancer (cystadenocarcinoma) occurs due to the benign or borderline tumors. Metastatic ovarian cancer (Krukenberg tumor) is a spreading of the primary tumor, which is often located in the gastro-intestinal tract, stomach, breast, thyroid or uterus. (Rossing, M. A., Tang, M. C., Flagg, E. W., Weiss, L. K., Wicklund, K. G., & Weiss, N. S.,2006, p. 713-720). Ovarian cancer staging It is possible to trace the following ovarian cancer stages, such as: Stage 1 — limited to one or both ovaries; †¢ 1A) cone ovary is affected, no ascites; †¢ 1B) both ovaries are affected, no ascites; †¢ 1C) appearance of the tumor on the surface of the ovary (s), ascites. Stage 2 — disease spreads in the small pelvis; †¢ 2A) affection of the uterus or fallopian tubes; †¢ 2B) affection of other tissues of the small pelvis; †¢ 2C) tumor on the surface of the ovary (s), ascites. Stage 3 — affection of the peritoneum, metastases in the liver and other organs within the abdomen, affection of groin lymph nodes; †¢ 3A) — microscopic peritoneal metastasis beyond the pelvis; †¢ 3B) — metastasis less than 2 cm in size; †¢ 3C) — metastases more than 2 cm in diameter, involving retroperitoneal and inguinal lymph nodes. Stage 4 — distant metastases. (Rossing, M. A., Tang, M. C., Flagg, E. W., Weiss, L. K., Wicklund, K. G., & Weiss, N. S., 2006., p. 713-720). Thus, these are the basic ovarian cancer stages, which help to find out how widespread ovarian cancer is. Classification of ovarian tumors 1) Surface epithelial-stromal tumors – the largest group of benign epithelial ovarian tumors are cystadenoma. 2) Sex cord-stromal tumors with a minimum number of elements have the structure of sex cord-tech fibroids and may contain small nests or tubules of sex cord-type cells. 3) Germ cell tumors are teratomas, which in most cases are benign. . (Rossing, M. A., Tang, M. C., Flagg, E. W., Weiss, L. K., Wicklund, K. G., & Weiss, N. S., 2006., p. 713-720). Ovarian cancer treatment Ovarian cancer can be suspected by a gynecologist during a standard pelvic examination. However, â€Å"much of the problem is that ovarian cancer is often detected too late. Not everyone has symptoms, and the classic ones—bloating, pelvic pain, difficulty eating and urinary frequency, are easily confused with other maladies† (Johannes, 2010, para. 6). That is why the doctor should regularly check the pelvis and conduct the palpation of the uterus, vagina, tubes, ovaries, bladder, and rectum. In addition, it is essential to use a pelvic organ ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), radionuclide studies (scintigraphy), intestinal endoscopy, as well as a laparoscopic examination of the pelvis with a biopsy. (Zhang, M., Xie, X., Lee, A. H., & Binns, C. W., 2004, p. 83-89). Remember that ovarian cancer does not have any obvious symptoms in the early stages. Therefore, the annual gynecological examination and ultrasonography of the groin area are very important. Main tr eatment usually involves surgery, chemotherapy, and sometimes radiotherapy. Depending on the extent of tumor spread, surgery can be performed in various capacities. The obtained material must be sent for further examination. If the tumor significantly extends, the doctor should conduct the courses of chemotherapy, and then perform surgery. Mainly, surgery is performed in a radical way: the uterus with the tubes, pelvic tissue with lymph nodes, and omentum in the form of an apron are removed completely. Gland contains lymph nodes, which are often affected by metastases. Ovarian cancer has the ability to affect a healthy ovary through the cross metastases. (Rossing, M. A., Tang, M. C., Flagg, E. W., Weiss, L. K., Wicklund, K. G., & Weiss, N. S., 2006., p. 713-720). Therefore, it is very important to remove both ovaries in order to preserve the life of the patient. Taking into consideration the aggressive nature of the disease, chemotherapy is considered to be a required component of ovarian cancer treatment. The standard chemotherapy protocol consists of two major drugs, such as Carboplatin and Taxol. (Kiani, F., Knutsen, S., Singh, P., Ursin, G., & Fraser, G., 2006, p. 137-146). Medication duration, dosage and additional drugs are determined individually: in accordance with the type of tumor, the degree of spreading and other indicators. It is possible to conduct the additional courses of chemotherapy after surgery. Ovarian cancer treatment has its specific nature. It is connected with the fact that the tumor in the ovary cannot be seen. Therefore, in cases when the doctor does not operate the patient, the only way to be sure that the tumor is gone completely is use a high-dose chemotherapy. The main features of chemotherapy for ovarian cancer Chemotherapy is performed in almost all the stages of the disease. Sometimes it is used to fight against the tumor, sometimes to contain the tumor and prevent it’s spreading, sometimes in order to delay the total defeat of the body. In any case, chemotherapy for ovarian cancer is proved as an effective fighting method. Chemotherapy does serious damage to the body, but its main advantage is that the drugs work in the body, and thus blocks the development of the last stage of cancer, as well as the spreading to adjacent organs. Chemotherapy for ovarian cancer has a greater chance of success than radiotherapy, because it comes to the heart of the problem. The most important thing is that chemotherapy can get rid of cancer cells, which have already started to progress, but have not yet appeared in the specific symptoms. In other words, it can nip with the problem in the bud. Thus, if the use of chemotherapy for ovarian cancer is offered, do not refuse to do it. This is one of the few chances that could save your life, and give a reason to hope for the restoration of a normal life and future. In some cases, in addition to chemotherapy, the doctor can prescribe radiotherapy in order to kill the cancer cells. However, it is not commonly used and does not play an important role in the treatment of ovarian cancer. How to prevent the development of ovarian cancer? Every woman should know her vulnerabilities – â€Å"loopholes† through which cancer can penetrate into the body. Loophole 1: Late arrival to the gynecologist The annual preventive gynecological examination is required for all the women. Women, who have ovarian cancer, address to the doctor too late. This is due to the irregular visits to the gynecologist, because of this the initial stages of the disease go unnoticed. At first, cancer progresses usually without any of the characteristic symptoms. Subsequently, women can suffer from uterine bleeding, that doesn’t usually coincide with the period of menstruation and often ignore the abnormality. (Grilli, R., Apolone, G., Marsoni, S., Nicolucci, A., Zola, P., & Liberati, A., 1991, p.50-63). Women need to understand that the existence of such a symptom is a serious cause for concern, because any vaginal bleeding aside from the normal monthly menstruation may indicate a malfunction in the body. Another characteristic which women often ignore is lower abdominal pain. These pains can be short or long, weak, or strong. However, it is not desirable to immediately take analgesics to numb the unpleasant feelings. In such a case, it will be more reasonable to see a gynecologist. In addition, it is important to conduct an ultrasound of the uterus and ovaries. Usually a pelvic examination and ultrasound can detect ovarian cancer at the early stages. (Titus-Ernstoff, L., Rees, J. R., Terry, K. L., & Cramer, D. W., 2010, p. 201-207). The growth of ovarian tumors may be accompanied by low-grade temperature, shivering, and weakness. If you do not have an infectious disease and severe pain, but constant weakness and nausea, it is essential to consult with a gynecologist. (Titus-Ernstoff, L., Rees, J. R., Terry, K. L., & Cramer, D. W., 2010, p. 201-207). Loophole 2: Changes in hormonal balance Many women going through menopause also experience profound changes in the level of sex hormones. â€Å"An excess of female hormones can lead to ovarian tumors and other serious gynecological diseases† (Jordan, S. J., Purdie, D. M., Green, A. C., & Webb, P. M., 2004, p.359-365). The patients, who have had surgery on the uterus and ovaries, are also at increased risk. In addition to various infectious complications, they can also have a hormonal disorder. One of the reasons for ovarian cancer is an excess of sex hormone called gonadotropin, which leads to the development of other hormone-dependent tumors. (Jordan, S. J., Purdie, D. M., Green, A. C., & Webb, P. M., 2004, p.359-365). Therefore, women with hormonal malfunctions should be evaluated by a gynecologist with special attention. Loophole 3: Change of sexual partners and childlessness Sexual promiscuity often leads to frequent abortions. Every abortion is a serious hormonal disruption of the whole female body. The consequences of abortion are infertility, chronic diseases of the uterus and other reproductive organs. Sexual promiscuity can also lead to various infectious diseases of the genital organs. Some of these diseases often increase the risk of ovarian cancer. Nulliparous women suffer from ovarian cancer more often than those who have children. (King, M., Marks, J. H., Mandell, J. B., 2003, p. 643-646). Loophole 4: Unhealthy lifestyles It is known that women, who smoke or drink alcohol, are much more susceptible to ovarian cancer. Cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption weaken their health and therefore they have a higher risk of cancer. â€Å"In recent years, it is possible to trace the appearance of different cosmetics and dietary supplements. They contain the hormonal stimulants, which are very harmful for the female body† (Kiani, F., Knutsen, S., Singh, P., Ursin, G., & Fraser, G., 2006, p.137-146). It is necessary to carefully use such stimulants. Before taking these pills, it is essential to consult your primary care physician or gynecologist. Women, who have menopause, should eat a balanced diet full of vitamins and other nutrients (Kiani, F., Knutsen, S., Singh, P., Ursin, G., & Fraser, G., 2006, p.137-146). Furthermore, personal hygiene is vital to good health. Remember that any chronic diseases, especially concerning the sexual organs, weaken the immune system and increases the risk of tumor deve lopment. However, if diagnosed as having ovarian cancer don’t give up. Remember that timely access to a physician is the key to success. Tumors can be detected by the usual examination and then refined with the help of the ultrasound and analysis. If the disease is detected in an early stage, treatment will be more effective. In such a case, the doctor has the ability to combine surgical and medical treatment, without affecting the uterus and ovaries. Such patients can even get pregnant and give birth to a healthy baby. The later stages of ovarian cancer are characterized by more severe symptoms and can even lead to the complete removal of the ovaries, uterus and other organs affected by the tumor. Unfortunately, the survival rate of these patients is very low, and they often have relapse (McGuire, W.P., & Markman, M. (2003). Conclusion Taking the above-mentioned information into consideration, it is possible to draw a conclusion that ovarian cancer is often called the â€Å"silent killer† because clinically the first manifestations are associated with the spread of the tumor outside the ovary, and sometimes beyond the pelvis. Ovarian cancer can be divided into the following forms, such as primary, secondary, and metastatic. 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