The Global Environment of Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

The Global Environment of Business - Essay Example He decided to venture into employment as a freelance designer and simultaneously opened a sportswear company that collapsed in less than a year due to financial inefficiencies. He then joined Jordache fashion house as a designer as a blue jeans designer where he was able to meet Murjani. On his part, Mohan Murjani was hansdling a failing business and was in need of a new idea. Although he was one of the main brains behind the blue jeans craze in the 70s, his own venture, the Gloria Vanderbilt Jeans was not doing quite well. He sought Hilfiger to design for his company; the Murjani International. His move was targeted at resurrecting the jeans craze that was once a Phenomenon in the 1970s. Furthermore, he wanted to introduce new clothing designs that were less expensive and with a high appeal to the youthful generation. 1988, Murjani, Hilfiger and two other investors bought out Murjani International due to its financial woes and changed the name to Tommy Hilfiger.They moved their head quarters to Hong Kong due to the business connections of one of the partners in Asia. This business venture clicked and sales begun to come quickly and they eventually joined the New York Stock exchange in 1992 although this came to an end in 2006 as it was privatized by the Apax partner fund in London. Consequently, their headquarters were relocated to the Netherlands. Currently, it is considered to be one of the most successful fashion brands in the world. Its profits are believed to be around the region of $1.8 billion per annum. It is rated as one of the most creative and influential design companies in the modern times. Their logo is considered to be one of the most recognizable in the world. Almost each an every adult can be able to recognize the blue, red and white colors of the logo. For this reason, he has been able to expand his local and international appeal through his ever improving and unique

What is Hegel's critique of Kant in Reason as Testing Laws Is Hegel Essay

What is Hegel's critique of Kant in Reason as Testing Laws Is Hegel fair to Kant - Essay Example For Kant the categorical imperative is important mainly because it "determines the will independently of the sensuous motives of which ordinary moral deliberation is suspect."2 Therefore for him there is a marked difference between acting honestly for ones own sake and acting honestly with the belief that truth is a "universal requirement" the latter of which relates to categorical imperative.3 For Kant duty requires more than the universal form of action and he brings out these ideas and notions of the categorical imperative which Kant claims are "merely so many formulations of precisely the same law."Also for him the categorical imperative contains an end which functions as the single limiting condition of moral action. 4 Thus in his book the Formula of the End, Kant says "Act in such a way that you always treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, never simply as a means, but always at the same time as an end" Kant goes on to clarify further that if humans are to be treated as "ends in themselves" then each individual should be allowed to choose their own ends at the same time. Furthermore he claims that misleading someone (by lying to them) for a particular Design is the way of using that other person as means rather than an end. Therefore the assertion not to treat humanity as a means but an end, i.e. when they choose to help you themselves. Hegel's criticism of Kant Hegel has made some interesting criticisms of the emptiness that seems to surround the Categorical Imperative when he says that "The criterion of law which Reason possesses within itself, fits every case equally well, and is thus in fact no criterion at all."5 However in the... What is Hegel's critique of Kant in "Reason as Testing Laws† Is Hegel fair to Kant? For Hegel this idea is fruitless in many respects as he thinks that even immoral behaviour would qualify under the test given by Kant' and that there no formulation of a universal set of duties .Thus Hegel's criticism of Kant largely concerns Kant's so called formalism as has been discussed by Julian. Before discussing Hegel's critique of Kant it would be useful to explain the ideas of Kant who expresses interest in the relationship between reason and experience. For Kant knowledge begins with experience in a rather chronological sense. For Kant empirical knowledge should be a "compound of that which we receive through impressions and that which our faculty of cognition supplies from itself". And that reason should become the tool that isolates knowledge from everything empirical from it. Julian has pointed out that Hegel believes that Kant’s idea of a duty does not produce an â€Å"immanent list of duties;†. To be fair this is not one of Kant's objectives at all and it can be safely said that Hegel is missing the point of Kant’s claim, because devising such a list is not possible at all due to people’s differing notions of what morality or duties should be like.In this regard I would like to give the example of local conventions in certain areas. The notion of hospitality in Asian countries allows anyone to be welcome in another’s house and there is hardly any concept of â€Å"unauthorized entrance† as in the case of western countries.

Trafficking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Trafficking - Essay Example (Outshoorn, J., 2005) As the years progressed, sex workers have found points in trafficking regulations, existing or newly-implemented, which do not serve to alleviate their working conditions, which sometimes even cause more emotional and psychological damage and, which prevents them from having a better life. On the other hand, whenever in a trafficking debate, advocates of anti-prostitution measures stress the importance of human rights, morality and the need for implementation of stricter regulation on prostitution or the abolishment of such, if possible. Anti-prostitution followers insist that consent is irrelevant in trafficking of persons, specifically women, for sexual exploitation. When the human being is reduced to a body, objectified to sexually service another, whether or not there is consent, violation of the human being has taken place. (Barry, K., 1995) Prostitution, â€Å"consensual† or not, supports and is supported by social, economic, and political inequalities. (Balos, B., 2004) Consent shouldn’t be used as an excuse to mitigate the crime of trafficking or prostitution. It violates women’s human rights. Trafficked women are beaten, raped and sexually abused. They are â€Å"subject to starvation, forced use of drugs and alcohol, burning with cigarettes, isolation in dark rooms, being beaten and threats to themselves or their families.† (Balos, B., 2004) Because they lack the proper documents, trafficked women live in fear of authorities who have also been known to abuse their position by for cing themselves on the women. UN peacekeeping operations were rocked by a sex abuse scandal in the Congo that caused the organization to reexamine current training policy. (Trafficking in Persons Report, 2006) Apparently, refugees, including many minors, were victims of sex abuse crimes by dozens of peacekeepers on a mission in Congo. Changes in the training policy should be done to keep the peacekeepers in line. In addition, the women are

Hybrid Electric Cars, Combustion Engine driven cars and their Impact on Environment Essay Example for Free

Hybrid Electric Cars, Combustion Engine driven cars and their Impact on Environment Essay Fig. 1. Estimated grows of Planet Earth Population But the expected grow of automobiles will grow much rapidly. The growth will be caused mainly with inevitable living standard improving in many countries like Africa, South Asia and South America together with enlarging of population in these regions. The estimated grows of automobiles over whole Earth is shown in Fig. 2. From comparison of both figures results that the population may grow between years 2000 to 2050 from 6 to 10 milliards that means 1. 7 times, but the expected vehicle number will grow from 0. 7 to 2. 5 milliards that is 3. 6 times. This work was supported by Research Center of Combustion Engines and Automobile Technology. 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 1980 Rada1 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030 years Fig. 3. Total world production of CO2 These problems are so serious that they became very important theme of international discussions. Results of these discussions were settled in the Kyoto Protocol. Kyoto Protocol is an agreement made under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Automobiles produce approximately a half of the total world production of CO2. Let us imagine that a good new car produces approximately 160 g of CO2 pro each km. There are many possibilities how to diminish this terrible amount. Electric hybrid cars are produced in enlarging numbers and they reach enlarging popularity between customers. They bring a new possibility how to diminish the world CO2 production. II. ELECTRIC HYBRID CAR SYSTEMS Hybrid electric vehicles combine electric and internal combustion engine drive. Hybrid electric vehicles combine the zero pollution benefits of electric motors with the high fuel energy density benefits of the thermal engine. Hybrid electric drives adjust the combustion engine load and revolutions into the point of best motor efficiency and lowest motor emissions. [1], [4], [6], [7]. A. Basic Drive Configurations Series hybrid drive in Fig. 4 presents a combination of different energy sources. In the picture the energy sources are the combustion engine and the battery. The internal combustion engine ICE propels a generator. Total power in form of the generator electric power and the battery electric power are summed in the traction motor. There is no mechanical connection between ICE and wheels. internal combustion engine generator ICE gear box GB battery traction motor TM BAT ICE Fig. 5 Parallel hybrid drive G battery Combined switched hybrid drive in Fig. 6 is based on series hybrid drive with mechanical coupling using a clutch between generator and traction motor. It is series hybrid drive when the clutch is off. BAT traction motor internal combustion engine ICE TM generator G battery BAT coupling Fig. 4. Series hybrid drive Battery acts as energy buffer. Advantage of series hybrid drive is the possibility to operate the thermal engine ICE in optimal revolutions quite free from the car velocity. That results in low specific fuel consumption and in low gas emission for any traction load and car velocity. Efficiency of energy conversions in the system must be taken in account. Parallel hybrid drive in Fig. 5 is a combination of ICE and electric traction motor on the same shaft. Traction motor is supplied by battery and its output is separated from the ICE output. Final traction torque is sum of both motors torque. Power transmission is more effective than in series hybrid drive because the mechanical ICE output is not transformed in electrical output. But the ICE cannot work in optimal load regime because its speed is not free from the car velocity. traction motor internal combustion engine TM Fig. 6. Combined switched hybrid drive The generator supplies the electric energy to the traction motor. When the car speed and ICE speed and power are high but the difference between ICE speed and car speed is small, it is better to operate the scheme as parallel hybrid drive and the clutch is on in such a case. On this regime the ICE power and speed are high and the ICE can operate with small output changes. The difference between desired traction output and ICE optimal output is stored in or discharged from the accumulator. The drive is depicted in Fig. 9. It consists with gasoline engine, double rotor DC generator, and traction motor. traction motor Combined hybrid with planetary gear in Fig. 7 is a topology where mechanical power splitting is used. The splitting is performed in the planetary gear. In this scheme the generator rotates with speed, which is difference between the ICE and car speed. This solution allows splitting the ICE output into two parts. rotating stator control unit generator ~ ~ generator gasoline engine traction motor ICE planet gear Fig. 7. Combined hybrid with planetary grar The first part is proportional to the difference between the ICE and car speed and the second is proportional to the car speed. The first part is transformed into electric energy in the generator and supplied to the traction motor. The second part is transferred by the output planet shaft directly to car wheels. This scheme allows controlling the engine speed and torque and this is the way how to minimize fuel consumption. Electric power splitting drive using DC machines was used on Czechoslovak express motor cars in the year 1936. The patent document was emitted in Czechoslovakia with Nr 53 735 on 25. February 1936. [1], [2], [3]. DC machines were usual on railway vehicles at that time. The vehicle was called :†Slovenska Strela† and remained in service till the year 1950. It should be reconstructed and modernized later on. But electrification of the main railway connection between Prague-Kosice replaced this very interesting vehicle with express electric locomotives. Fig. 8. Express railway car â€Å"Slovenska Strela† clutch rotor output shaft Fig. 9. Electric power splitting drive of express car â€Å"Slovenska Strela† The ICE drives a DC generator which â€Å"stator† and rotor can rotate separately. The â€Å"stator† is firmly coupled with the ICE shaft. The rotor is coupled with car wheels. On the car shaft is mounted a DC electric traction motor supplied by the voltage induced in the generator. The splitting is performed in the generator. The relative speed between generator â€Å"stator† and rotor is difference between the ICE and car speeds. This solution allows split the ICE output into two parts. The first part is proportional to the difference between the ICE and car speed and the second is proportional to the car speed. The first part is transformed into electric energy in the generator and supplied to the traction motor. The second part is transferred directly by means of electromagnetic torque in the generator air gap to the car wheels. This scheme allows controlling the ICE speed independently from the car speed and this is the way how to minimize fuel consumption. Model of Electric Power Splitting Drive Using AC Machines was implemented in the laboratory of Josef Bozek Research Center of Engine and Automotive Technology at the Technical University in Prague. The physical model of the drive is seen in Fig. 10. It is experimental electric hybrid car drive of a small power. [5], [9], [11], [13], [14], [15]. The output is 7. 5 kW, 0 – 6000 min-1.. Electronic converters and supercapacitor EC are integrated in the circuit between electric power divider SPGM and traction motor TM. The super capacitor as a peak energy storage has 100F, 56V and 400 A. It is able to accept the kinetic energy during braking the vehicle of the mass 1500kg from the velocity 60km/hour and regenerate it during next speeding up. Principle of the system is depicted in Fig. 10. The combustion engine COM ENG drives the electric power divider SGPM. The power divider is a special double rotor synchronous permanent magnet generator. The first rotor is firmly connected with the combustion engine shaft. The second rotor is firmly connected with the traction motor TM and with car wheels. The traction motor is supplied with electric power induced by differential velocity between first and second rotors. Parameters of this electric power (voltage, current and frequency) are changed in electronic converter in EC. Power of the combustion engine is divided into two parts. used for evaluation and comparison of car’s performance, pollution production, efficiencies etc. Simulations were performed on New European Driving Cycle NEDC. The NEDC is shown in Fig. 11. Total distance 10,9km Speed (km/hour) EC ELM CLUTCH COM ENG TM SGPM base Fig. 10. Physical model of Electric Splitting Drive Using AC Machines The incoming power P1=T1* ? 1 is the power of combustion engine producing torque T1 at angular velocity ? 1. Torque T1 is transferred with electromagnetic force to the second rotor, rotating at angular velocity ? 2 which is the same as car velocity. Power transmitted to car wheels by this torque is therefore Pm=T1*? 2. Remaining power is induced by magnetic field into the electric winding arranged on the second rotor. Neglecting losses this power is Pel=P1-Pm=T1*(? 1-? 2). Power Pel is transferred via electronic converter in EC to the traction motor TM and finally added to power Pm on car wheels. Incoming power P1 from combustion engine is by this technique divided into two parts Pm and Pel. Combustion engine can rotate with angular velocity which does not depend from the car velocity III. SIMULATION OF FUEL CONSUMPTION OF HYBRID ELECTRIC CARS Main advantage of electric hybrid cars is the diminishing of fuel consumption. The production of CO2 depends on the fuel consumption and on the working conditions of the ICE. The working conditions of the ICE are much better in electric hybrid cars than in conventional cars generally. Simulations were done with the mathematical model of Electric Power Splitting Drive Using AC Machines. Measured parameters and features obtained in the laboratory [11], [13], [14] were used for the simulation. The mathematical model of a conventional car and hybrid electric car with electric power divider was established in [15] [16] Comparisons of this art are usualy done on different standard driving cycles. Standard driving cycle represents a driving pattern of a certain geographic region (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific). These driving cycles are Time (s) Fig. 11 New European Driving Cycle Parameters of compared cars and results of simulation are shown in Tab. 1 TABLE I SIMULATION RESULTS Vehicle type, manufacturer Driving Cycle Total mass (kg) Specific Consumption during total NEDC (l/100km). Total emissions CO2 (g) Specific emissions (g/km) First case Second case NEDC Skoda 1. 2HTP NEDC 1450 1120 5. 1 5. 9 1333 1540 122. 9 142 Model Fabia Two cases are shown. In both of them the New European Driving Cycle was simulated. Case first: Hybrid electric car with electric power divider. The mass of the car respects the additional mass of electric part of the powertrain. Case second: Conventional car Skoda Fabia 1. 2 HTP. The results shown in Tab. 1 allow to make following conclusions: When comparing fuel consumption and CO2 emissions between hybrid car with electric power divider versus conventional car of the same class (that means the same primary ICE engine power and respecting additional mass of the electric powertrain machines), we can conclude that the fuel consumption and CO2 emissions are significantly lower at the hybrid car. Hybridization of such cars brings not only fuel savings but also is much more environmentally friendly. I. CONCLUSION The production of dangerous greenhouse gas emissions and consumption of world energy resources become a serious problem. Especially CO2 emissions can influence the climate stability of Planet Earth. The automobile business contributes to this development a lot. But the automobile technology has space to be improved. The electric and hybrid electric vehicles can contribute to diminishing of fuel consumption and green gases production. The hybrid electric vehicles makes it possible to operate the combustion engine in more suitable regimes with better fuel combustion conditions. Some hybrid systems even enable to operate the combustion engine in best relation between power and revolutions. Systems with power dividers allow the engine to operate in revolutions that are quite independent from the car velocity. Simulations were done with the mathematical model of Electric Power Splitting Drive Using AC Machines. Measured parameters and features obtained in the laboratory were used for the simulation. Simulations were performed on New European Driving Cycle NEDC. Results of one commercial car and one hybrid electric car with electric power divider are published. Fuel consumption of the hybrid car on the new European Driving Cycle was 5,1 l/km. The commercial car consumed 5,9 l/km. The hybrid car consumption is 13. 6% lower then at commercial car. Similar numbers were obtained with respect to CO2 production. The hybrid car produced 1333 g CO2 on the New European Driving Cycle. Commercial car produced 1540 g CO2. Hybrid car with electric power divider produced 13. 5% less CO2 . REFERENCES [1] V. Klima : Electro-mechanic drive DELKA and its comparison with Dieselelectric drive. (Elektro mechanicky pohon DELKA a jeho srovnani s normalnim Diesel-elektrickym pohonem. ) Elektrotechnicky obzor 1949, Nr. 19, Pg. 489-496 [2] J. Sousedik : Patent document Czechoslovakia Nr 53 735 from 25. February 1936. [3] J. Bilek: Electric drive of motor cars â€Å"Slovenska strela† (Elektricka vyzbroj motorovych vozu â€Å"Slovenska strela†). Elektrotechnicky obzor 1937, Nr16, Pg249-253, Nr. 21 Pg. 331-336. [4] J. Mierlo: Simulation software for comparison and design of electric, hybrid electric and internal combustion vehicles with respect to energy, emission and performances. Vrije Universiteit Brussel. [5] Z. Cerovsky, P. Mindl, S. Fligl, Z. Halamka and P. Hanus: Power Electronics in Automotive Hybrid Drives, 10th International Electronics and Motion Control Conference EPE-PEMC Cavtat- Dubrovnik Croatia, September 2002, ISBN 953-184-047-4 [6] T. Denton : Automobile Electrical and Electronic Systems, SAE International ISBN 0 340 73195 8. [7] Michael H. Wesbrook: The Electric and Hybrid Electric Car, The Institution of Electrical Engineers, 2001, London [9] Lettl, J. , Fligl, S. : Matrix Converter in Hybrid Drives. Proceedings of 8th International Conference â€Å"Problems of Present-day Electrotechnics PPE 2004†, vol. 3, pp. 77-80, Ukraine, Kyiv, June 7-10, 2004, ISSN 0204-3599. [10] Lettl, J. , Fligl, S. : Matrix Converter Control System. Progress In Electromagnetics Research Symposium PIERS 2005 Proceedings, pp. 395-398, China, Hangzhou, August 22-26, 2005, ISBN 1-933077-07-7. [11] Cerovsky Z. , Mindl P. : Super-capacitor in hybrid drive. International Symposium on Electric Machinery in Prague ISEM 2003 , str. 110-111, ISBN 80-01- 02828-3 [12] Zdenek,J. : „Vibrationless Drive Controller Software Designâ€Å". Proc. of XI. int.symp. ISEM2003. Sept. 2003. Prague, pp. 158-165. [13] Cerovsky,Z. Mindl,P. : Hybrid Drive with Supercapacitor Energy Storage, FISITA Conference Barcelona. F193m 2004. [14] Cerovsky Z. , Mindl P. : Efficiency of Hybrid Electric Vehicle Powertrain using Electric Power-Splitting Synchronous Generator with Permanent Magnets. IPEC-Niigata 2005 [15] Mildorf M. : Mathematical model of a drive and fuel consumption of hybrid vehicle. Diploma thesis. 2007, Czech Techn. Uni. Prague. Faculty of El. Eng. [16] Simkova L. : Mathematical model of hybrid car. Bachelor thesis 2004. Czech Techn. Uni. Prague. Phaculty of El. Eng.

Heroes and the Journey Home Essays -- Hero Muir Adams Roosevelt Essays

Heroes and the Journey Home A hero is someone who works to change things toward a certain ideal or succeeds in making change, usually to the benefit of many others besides him or herself. Heroes come in just about every form and almost every group or cause has its heroes. One of the definitions for a hero is that they are someone who is "admired for qualities and achievements and is regarded as an ideal or model."(New World Dictionary, 657) There have been many men and women who I consider to be heroes for the National Parks, because they sought change, preservation, appreciation and protection for our National Parks. Most of the heroes that I have focused on used a form of art or a skill to draw people to want to experience the wilderness, and in turn protect it. These heroes for the Parks include John Muir, Ansel Adams, Theodore Roosevelt, and the many boatwomen of the Canyon Country, particularly Georgie White. All of these heroes sought to establish, preserve or improve the parks, for the benefit of the public, so that anyone could experience and understand the love affair with the wilderness that they so loved. They saw these expanses of raw wilderness, and felt that they should be passed on to and enjoyed by everyone for generations to come. They also sought to educate people by using their own forms of expression and influence such as writings and photographs of these natural treasures. Their motivations were not just in the public interest, but also had more selfish goals in mind. All of these people felt it necessary to fight for the protection of the parks because they had formed intimate bonds with the places that they tried to save. Edward Abbey, yet another hero of the parks, expressed it best by calling it the... ...e in some way they all believed that it is important to find a home for your spirit; that place in your mind must exist, and when you find it, it will seem as though heaven has come to Earth. Works Cited 1. Roosevelt, Theodore. "A Speech at the Grand Canyon." New York Sun 7 May 1903 Taken from Filler, Daniel. "Conservation as the Guardian of Democracy". <http://pantheon.cis.yale.edu/~thomast/essays/filler/filler.html> 2. Abbey, Edward. Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness. New York: Ballantine Books, 1968 3. Teal, Louise. Boatwomen of the Grand Canyon: Breaking into the Current. Tucson: U of Arizona Press, 1994 4. Library of Congress. "Today in History: July 19". <http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/jul19.html> 5. Muir, John. Our National Parks. Madison: U of Wisconsin Press, 1981 6. The New World Dictionary 7. Video: John Muir

Making Choices Guide Essay

As we age our bodies and lives take on many different changes. Some of these changes are for the better and then there are changes that are not so much in our favor. Our health status is the one thing that can vary from time-to-time as we age, and for this we have to prepare ourselves for the many possibilities of needing long term care (LTC). Once the need for LTC is evident, there are many decisions to be made, and a long list of things to take into consideration. Finances, costs, demographics, and independence, are just a few variables to consider when choosing where you or a loved one will be spending the next chapter in life. Finances are the most important variable to take into consideration, mainly because plain and simple; the care is going to cost. Whether a LTC facility or a person’s home is going to be the place where the care is delivered, there will be some expenses accrued. Personal income, annuities, long term care insurance, savings, government programs (Medi care & Medicaid), Veteran’s Benefits, and reverse mortgages are just a few payment options available for LTC. There are more payment options becoming available through new financial products as our populace ages. When it comes to the costs of delivering the care, and where it is to be delivered, a lot of things come into play. Residing in a LTC facility brings about a multitude of expenditures compared to staying at home or aging in place. In 2010, semi-private rooms averaged about $200 a day in a nursing home, and about $230 for a private room, and a one bedroom apartment in an assisted living facility averaged about $3,300 a month. Those costs are not all inclusive. There is usually a cost for added services such as private laundry, additional activities or programs. According to LongTermCare.gov (n.d.), it is wise to think now about how your  current residence and community will support your needs as you age and require long term care services. Staying at home or aging in place has its expenses too. A home owner’s expenses are a little less costly if they had their home built to their satisfaction to begin with. This eliminates having major work done on the home to accommodate the need for LTC. The adding of handrails and ramps, throughout the home is much cheaper than living in a LTC facility for a month. Another advantage of aging in place is the caregiver could be free of charge if it is a friend or relative. On the other hand, the cost of home health aides and homemakers range from $19 to $22 per hour. There are also programs to assist those who choose to age in place. One program is The Older Americans Act. According to LongTermCare.gov (n.d.),The Older Americans Act is a Federal program designed to organize, coordinate, and provide home- and community-based services to older adults and their families. These services and programs assist the elderly and older adults in remaining independently in their communities. Local transportation services, in-home personal care, meals delivered for the homebound (and available in the community), and homemaker services are just a few of the programs and services available through the Older American Act. These services are also extended to Native Americans. Having the feeling of belonging where you are is a comfortable feeling. When making the decision on where you plan to live your next chapter of life, it is important to keep in mind to find somewhere comfortable and familiar to you. Nothing is more familiar to a person than where they are – home. . Here is where the demographics can come into play. Most individuals are familiar with their communities and the people within them, so it is a little easier to locate services and programs in the area. Community-based programs are mostly targeted to help the elderly, disabled, and older adults to reestablish and preserve their optimal level of self-care, while preventing and prolonging unsuitable and unwanted institutionalization. According to Gibson, (1995 – 2014), these programs stress partnership with the participant, family, caregiver, primary care physician, and the community in working toward maintaining personal independence. An outstanding and reliable social support system can be a valuable asset, regardless of where your next chapter in life may take place. Having family, friends, and the support of others (staff if in a  facility) can have a positive impact and influence on the individual receiving the LTC. Regular visits and communication can also influence positive motivation. According to AHRQ (2006), social support and interaction within the facility also relate to quality of life satisfaction and reduced isolation and depressive symptoms, which is important for independent individuals. Other variables that can affect a couple’s or individual’s choice on a LTC facility includes whether or not the facility is Alzheimer’s friendly. If the individual who is needing the care has Alzheimer’s, you would want to make sure the staff are properly trained to care for them. Other things to consider is whether or not there is a wing or ward for individuals with Alzheimer’s., or if the facility is safeguarded for these individuals to roam around indoors and out. .It is important to know the staff to resident ratio. There need to be enough staff to service the residents at all times. Visiting is a variable to be considered also. Not only having family and friends visit, but if the individual’s mobility is at a doable level, are they able to do an outing with a family member or friend?  When the time comes to make the choice of where your next chapter in life is going to be spent, be sure to thoroughly research your options. Make sure that the services and programs you choose are not only available now, but also available for the future. There is an endless list of variables to consider. You would want to make sure the facility and staff are licensed and certified to provide the care needed. It is also important to know if the facility has full access to the medical care needed. A very important variable is behavior management. Knowing how the facility deals with various types of behaviors is significant to another resident’s safety. Question the facility as to whether they use chemical or physical restraints, or if the individual is shut off from the main area. These are just some of the variables and questions to consider. Keep asking questions until you are fully satisfied and happy with the answers. When older adults and the elderly are devoted and participating personally in their care, they tend to be more satisfied with where they are and the decisions they have made to get to that point.  References AHRQ, (December, 2006), Factors Important to Consumers When Choosing Residential Care, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (DHH), Retrieved from http://www.ahrq.gov/professionals/systems/long-term- care/resources/facilities/ltcscan/ltc5.html Gibson, H., (1995 – 2014), Choosing Well: Long-Term Care Facilities, Today’s Caregiver, Retrieved from http://caregiver.com/channels/ltc/ articles/choosing_well_ltc_facilities.htm LiveStrong Foundation, (n.d.), Assisted Living and Nursing Home Facilities, Retrieved from http://www.livestrong.org/we-can-help/managing-your-life-during-treatment/assisted-living-and-nursing-home-facilities/ LongTermCare.gov, (n.d.), Costs & how to pay, Retrieved from http://longtermcare.gov/costs-how-to-pay/

Praying for Sheetrock: A Work of Nonfiction Essay

So emphatic is Melissa Fay Greene that Praying for Sheetrock is a work of nonfiction that she includes the phrase as a part of the title. Perhaps she feared that her use of novelistic techniques might lead the reader astray into believing that the stories she tells, the history she recounts, are imagined or distorted. Without resorting to journalese, she employs some of the reporter’s tricks to make her work more immediate: background stories, anecdotes of local color, repetition, and just enough narrative tension to push her tale forward. Consciously or subconsciously, she absorbs and uses to great effect some of the techniques Truman Capote developed for In Cold Blood (1966). She re-creates conversations without unnecessary asides and, more important, in the language she heard in McIntosh County. This skillful use of dialect establishes character in ways that expository description could not. Her own narrative voice is distinctive, assured, often poetic, as in her introduction to the place about which she writes: â€Å"McIntosh County, on the flowery coast of Georgia-small, isolated, lovely.† She never forgets that it is home to the men and women, black and white who help tell her story. She says, â€Å"If the Messiah were to arrive today, this cloudless, radiant county would be magnificent enough to receive Him.† Its beauty, however, is deceptive. The grinding poverty of its residents is all too real and ugly, and, until recently, the corruption so pervasive that the county’s name was synonymous in the state with good-old-boy political chicanery. For example, one of the effective ploys to keep the black citizenry in line was to allow them to plunder wrecked transport trucks on busy U.S. 17. From the aftermath of just such a wreck, the book gets its title, and for a people as dependent on miracles as on the economy to get by, God took on the epithet of â€Å"Sheetrock- Deliverer.† Finally one man, a disabled black boilermaker named Thurnell Alston, decided his community could no longer depend on the whims of God or the vagaries of white men for justice. The men and women of McIntosh County had lived so long under a time- honored, not always benevolent despotism that, at least on this local level, Alston was revolutionary in thinking that law could be impartial and that each man and woman deserved a voice in deciding how he or she would be governed. If  McIntosh County resembled a feudal realm, it was because the sheriff, Tom Poppell, had made himself lord and master, and under him certain whites and one or two chosen blacks as his nobles. Poor blacks and whites were, pure and simple, the serfs, destined to await the largesse of Sheriff Poppell and the other elec ted white officials. Yet, as the author describes the place, it was peaceful for the inhabitants, if not for the unlucky transients who stopped enroute to Florida: â€Å"For most of this century, there was a strange racial calm in the county, consisting in part of good manners, in part of intimidation, and in part because the Sheriff cared less about the colors black and white than he did about the color green, and the sound it made shuffled, dealt out and redealt, folded and pocketed beside the wrecked trucks and inside the local truckstop, prostitution houses, clip joints, and warehouse sheds after hours.† It was a place, then, where everyone knew what was going on and, in general, accepted it, a place where problems for the old were taken to the church and for the young to the juke joint. Greene emphasizes that special local circumstances, at least particularly Southern ones, dictated that â€Å"when angry groups of blacks and whites faced each other, everyone would know everyone else’s names and addresses, and know their mamas.† They would also all be armed to the teeth, a dangerous stalemate that ironically forestalled violence. The confrontation came when a white deputy, annoyed by the drunken bantering of courtship, shot a black man in the mouth and threw him in jail without medical attention. The black community, abuzz with the news, came together in protest, and the Civil Rights movement in McIntosh County was born. Its undisputed leader was Thurnell Alston, who along with Sammie Pinkney, a retired policeofficer, and Nathaniel Grovner, a preacher, brought the tactics of protest and confrontation to bear on a system of patronage controlled by Sheriff Poppell. He had actually employed black deputies and had â€Å"allowed† blacks to register to vote in the past. He depended on their voting in a bloc for his hand- picked candidates after 1966. Until that time, he manipulated the process so that no black man or woman could have been elected to the county commission, but he was a wily and astute politician who thought that he could control the shape of the inevitable  changes he saw elsewhere when they came to â€Å"his† county. In that year, his black candidate, a 78-year-old man, was elected to the commission so that federal minority participation guidelines were satisfied. Poppell guaranteed federal funding of county projects, and although he was never indicted for any crime, some of those funds are said to have lined his and his relatives’ pockets. Sheriff Poppell already had, therefore, a respected black churchman, Deacon Thorpe, on the commission, and when Thurnell Alston ran against him the year after the shooting, the at-large voters returned the sheriff’s yes-man to office. Once again, Poppell proved his clout. Among other things he controlled in the county was the selection of grand juries, and soon after the first election Alston lost, these white men exercised what they thought would be a routine bit of county business by appointing the brother of the county grand jury’s foreman to the county board of education. â€Å"And to create that opening, they displaced Chatham Jones, the only black member of the board of education. Thus, operating out of a system of patronage and nepotism, the all-white grand jury created in its own likeness the all-white school board to preside over the majority-black public schools.† The grand jury also had the responsibility of selecting trial juries, and in such fashion, the system took vengeance on blacks who had demonstrated a raw, as-yet undisciplined, power after the shooting. The black community organized, and its leaders contacted lawyers with the state’s legal-aid network, the Georgia Legal Services Program. These â€Å"young, upper-middle-class, mostly urban, mostly Yankee lawyers,† most of whom were white and nearly all of whom shared the messianic idealism of early 1970’s radicalism, were eager to help once they realized that enfranchised blacks-the county had roughly 44 percent of its blacks registered to vote-could effectively be cut out of local politics even when they constituted a majority of the population. With help from the legal-aid attorneys, the black community eventually won a series of suits that by 1979 stipulated a random, nondiscriminatory jury selection process and that divided Darien, the county seat, into two wards, one of which is majority black, and McIntosh County into four districts, two of which are majority black. To achieve these ends, the black community transformed itself into an activist, cohesive bloc not at all reluctant to use tactics of confrontation, including boycotts, that had been successful elsewhere. They had a charismatic leader in Thurnell Alston, who appeared to relish the challenge. He became the first independent black man, untethered to the Poppell political machine, to be elected to the county commission. Greene’s description of that long, hot election day in August, 1978, combines levity with suspense to emphasize the historic nature of the occasion. She says that the celebration that night, one she recounts in vivid, you-are-there prose, was over a principle, hardfought and won, â€Å"the principle that if a person is freezing to death in the winter, she shouldn’t have to pray for sheetrock. Municipal services ought to provide her with some. â€Å"Equally momentous for this backwater of Georgia-and, probably, Greene does not give it the weight it deserves in her chronology-was the opening of the final stretch of Interstate 95 through the county. Along U.S. 17, the no-tell motels, the clip joints, the gambling dens, the rough bars dried up from lack of business and went away, and, suddenly, it was less necessary, less profitable, to control county politics in order to assure that highway robbery remained legal. Or, as Greene puts it more poetically, â€Å"The old highway became a long, hot daydream of Florida.†Meanwhile, Alston annoyed his fellow commissioners by pushing a social program while they wrangled over attracting industry, paving roads, and promoting business. His accomplishments may appear small compared to changes elsewhere, but for the rural, isolated county, they were extraordinary. In his decade in office, ignoring, defying the sheriff at every turn, taking the issues to the public, he oversaw the creation of a hospital authority and a physician-staffed medical building deep in the county. He brought plumbing and water to settlements where people used outhouses and wells. He arranged for renovation assistance programs that aided homeowners in adding bathrooms to their cabins. He saw that a multipurpose building was built for the antebellum black community on Sapelo Island. He attracted a grant to build a mental facility out in the county. He did all these things without help or hindrance from the sheriff, who was too smart not to read the writing on the wall. Local politics in Georgia are notoriously byzantine in their good-old-boy machinations, and so in a peculiar twist of fate, Thurnell Alston, in his capacity as county commissioner, served as a pallbearer at Poppell’s funeral in 1979. It is fitting death-of-an-era symbolism, especially seen against the interstate’s eclipsing of commerce, legal and otherwise, along the busiest road through the county. Had the story ended here, Praying for Sheetrock would have been a compelling study of current events, one that could be universalized to what was happening across the South. Unfortunately, the story has a coda, one equally relevant to what is happening all across the country. Thurnell Alston and his wife, Rebecca, lost a child in a mindless accident. They drifted apart, and Alston became embittered, indifferent, and eventually, careless. A local spokesman against drugs, he was nevertheless nabbed in a sting operation and sentenced to five years in prison for conspiracy to possess cocaine with intent to distribute and for using a telephone to facilitate the sale of drugs. In spite of what some in the county saw as ultimate treason to his own people, Thurnell Alston had helped effect great changes in McIntosh County. In 1992, two members of the McIntosh county commission were black, the chairman, elected on an at-large basis, was white. Two members of Darien’s city council were black; the mayor, again elected at-large, was white. Half of the county’s deputy sheriffs were black, as was half of Darien’s police force. In 1989, two black women were elected in at-large countywide elections to positions as superintendent of schools and tax commissioner. Praying for Sheetrock, among other honors, was nominee for one of the National Book Awards. It is worthy of all the critical and popular praise it has received. Beautifully written, perfectly paced, and authentic in voice and action, the book is a model history, one less gifted writers will have  trouble emulating. Its greatest success is in dramatizing one small chapter of important, very human, history. McIntosh County’s people, for the most part, are still desperately poor, and in spite of the well-deserved attention stirred by this book, the county is still an economic wasteland. Yet its people, true to their traditions, still pray for help to a busy God. More practically, they have learned that they have the United States Constitution on their side as well. references Atlantic Journal Constitution. September 22, 1991, p. N8. Chicago Tribune. December 1, 1991, VI, p. 3. The Christian Science Monitor. December 2, 1991, p. 13. Commonweal. CXVIII, December 6, 1991, p. 722. Library Journal. CXVI, October 15, 1991, p. 106. Los Angeles Times Book Review. December 15, 1991, p. 1. The Nation. CCLIII, December 23, 1991, p. 821. The New York Times Book Review. XCVI, November 3, 1991, p. 7. Publishers Weekly. CCXXXVIII, August 16, 1991, p. 40. The Washington Post Book World. XXI, November 24, 1991, p. 3.