Education Systems Around the World Essay

The United States excels in the creative aspect of schooling whereas Chinese students are much better at receiving direct instruction. Japanese students have very high test scores and a very high university attendance, but in Australia more students go into vocational schools or the workforce after high school. (Noel 99,102,103)The differences of education systems in the United States, China, Japan and Australia have created testable strengths and weaknesses. No country has found a perfect balance but each system has evolved to create workers suited to its respective nation. The United States is predominantly influenced by creativity but not as strongly in math and science. Expansions upon creative thought have brought in new products introduced to the market. (Noel, 36) In U. S. President Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address, Obama emphasizes the importance of specialized creative schools and additional funding of the arts in K-12 public schools, which was spelled out in his the â€Å"Reinvestment of Arts Education† Plan. Obama states, â€Å"The first step in winning the future is encouraging American innovation. None of us can predict with certainty what the next big industry will be or where the new jobs will come from. Thirty years ago, we couldn’t know that something called the internet would lead to an economic revolution. What we can do –– what America does better than anyone else –– is spark the creativity and imagination of our people. But if we want to win the future then we also have to win the race to educate our kids†¦ And so the question is whether all of us –– as citizens, and as parents –– are willing to do what’s necessary to give every child a chance to succeed. † (Noel, 65) The U. S. President sees the specialization, the pronounced freedom of creativity that America has been able to maintain for many years and how they have benefitted from it. The promotion of this frame of mind will allow ideas to surge and new technologies continue to be made. Although America is pleased with all this innovation, the United States consistently test low in both math and science compared to other nations. Notable author, Douglas Noel reports that the average scores of American students in international comparisons have â€Å"†¦often been below the average of developed countries. It the OECD’s Program for International Student Assessment 2003, 15 year olds ranked 24th of 38 in mathematics, 19th of 38 in science, 12th of 38 in reading, and 26th of 38 in problem solving. † (Noel 80, 81, 82) With the majority of American students so far behind it is cause for concern as to whether the U. S. will continue to falter and what impact it will have on the future. Part of the problem with high schools is that with such a large country it is going to be that much more difficult to maintain a moderate academic curriculum. This problem was attempted to be solved with the â€Å"No Child Left Behind† Act but it is still inconclusive whether it is effective or not. (Noel, pp. 70) Dr. Schmidt, who oversees the research effort into the TIMSS results, says the actual cause for the failures appears to be weak math and science curricula in U. S. middle schools. He explains, â€Å"The public schools lack focus; instead of concentrating on education, they dabble in social re-engineering†. Not only are public schools the general blame but so are the curricula, the teacher and even the textbooks. But there is some good news; despite the â€Å"bad grades† in comparison to the world the United States makes up for their low-testing high schools with 19 of the top 25 universities in the world. People from around the world come to American Universities to become some of the most influential thinkers in the world. The immigration of intelligent people in the form of students from various other countries is, said by Bill Gates, to be â€Å"†¦our most powerful import. † (Noel 4, 5, 10, 77, 80) Although the United States lacks in math and science it is gung-ho in innovative fields, we see the complete opposite pros and cons experienced in China. The education foundation in China has been reformed since the rise of Deng Xiaoping (1978-89) and made significant progress; however, the large population of China produces great promise as well as great concern. (Chinese Education & Society) Since the end of the Cultural Revolution (1966–76), the education system in China has been geared toward economic modernization. The Great Leap Forward (1958–60) and the Socialist Education Movement (1962–65) sought to end deeply rooted academic elitism, to narrow social and cultural gaps between workers and peasants and between urban and rural populations, and to â€Å"rectify† the tendency of scholars and intellectuals to disdain manual labor. During the Cultural Revolution, universal fostering of social equality was an overriding priority. The post-Mao Zedong Chinese Communist Party leadership viewed education as the foundation of China. The reorientation of educational priorities paralleled Deng Xiaoping’s strategy for economic development. For this reason the Central Government has prioritized basic education as a key field of infrastructure construction and educational development. (Zhang) The Chinese government’s aim for the development of China’s basic education system was to approach or attain the level of moderately-developed countries by 2010, of which has been accomplished. Chinese higher education has continued to evolve. Since the late 1980s, tremendous economic development in China has stimulated reforms in higher education that have resulted in remarkable improvements. (Chinese Education and Society) The UNESCO world higher education report of June 2003 pointed out that the student population of China’s schools of higher learning had doubled in a very short period of time and had become the world’s largest. (Agelasto) In the beginning of the Enlightenment period, European science began to explode with new inventions and ideas. By this time, China had already invented the first compass, printing press and use of gunpowder (which were used for fireworks). (Chinese Education & Society) Today, there is not much to be said in terms of new technology in China. Much of the new tech now comes from the United States and Japan. (Noel, 3) Nonetheless, China does have the advantage (and disadvantage) of an enormous population. Innovative ideas and technology have not been prominent in China’s recent years. (Agelasto) With a population of over one billion people, China needs to find a way to bridge the productivity gap between emerging markets and the developed world; to truly transform themselves into innovative, energetic economies. Professor Xu Jialu, director of the College of Chinese. Language and Culture at Beijing University, told a meeting of university presidents in Hong Kong that China had achieved great success over the past 30 years. Jialu states, â€Å"Our overall economic output, which is fundamental to social advancement, is already ranked third in the world,† he said, â€Å"However, to sustain this extraordinary economic growth, China needs to nurture huge additional numbers of creative and talented people to maintain economic proficiency. † (Xue) China’s history and economy are what have shaped their education systems. China has transcended itself from a richly inventive, educated society to a Communist standard of economic modernization. Now that they have achieved an ideal economy, education will most likely be reformed again to the forefront; just as the tiny island to their East has done – Japan. Japan marvels its education prowess but has Japanese students stressing to meet high standards. Without including the devastating effects of the recent Earthquake-Tsunami incident that occurred in the spring of 2011, Japan has maintained extraordinarily high test results while enjoying a technologically advanced society. Japan continuously ranks the top 5 in international test scores. (Noel, 88) The test scores remain high because their primary and secondary schooling is decidedly efficient. As of 2005, more than 2. 8 million students were enrolled in 726 universities. (Gainey) The influx of students is explained through the emphasis on the importance of University level instruction. The Japanese workforce is now better equipped to manage career-related problems that require higher thought. As with all good things, the advancements have come at a great cost. In Japan, suicide is the leading cause of death among men aged 20-44 and women 15-34. Suicide in Japan is also somewhat romanticized as a traditional way of preserving one’s honor and avoiding shame. (Noel, 76) The National Police Agency informs that suicides in Japan topped 30,000 for the ninth consecutive year in 2006. In their suicide notes, 91 of them mentioned problems at school, an increase of 28. 2 percent from 2005 — the largest number since 1998 when the survey of this category began. (Gainey) With or without suicide notes, police attributed school-related problems to 242 suicides, nine more than in 2005. (Gainey) For many children, school has become a stressful environment to survive in. The social pressures to succeed help many students to succeed but the pressure is too much for others. Many countries strive for educational excellence whereas countries such as Australia are of a more relaxed nature. The educational system in Australia is a radical contrast to its Asian counterparts. Rather than attending a university, vocational training has become the beacon of education for students in Australia. Schooling beyond vocational training is difficult, costly and highly ostracized. (Horin) The training for vocational jobs requires less education than four year degree programs. They are also significantly less expensive – less than half of the cost of any of their Universities. Aussie student enrollment in a bachelor’s degree program spiked at 27% in 2010 while vocational enrollment maintains a continuous rise from 31% in 2000 to 35% in 2010. (Australia’s Guide to Education) This continuous incline of vocational training communicates the direction of progression of Australia’s youth, where the requirement of a bachelor’s degree appears to be unneeded in their society. Unfortunately, reports of low standards of education are on par with uneducated societies. 25% of Australian students do not complete grade 12 in Australia compared to 20 percent in the other 18 comparable countries such as Canada, Ireland, Austria, and Iceland. Scholastic apathy is hurting their workforce because considering the frequency in the number of high school drop outs every year they will see the rise of a serious problem emerging. The students that leave go to find jobs only to find more and more being taken by their fellow dropout colleagues. (Horin)Whether or not Australia is moving to make changes is unclear but once the dip shows itself evermore significant there will likely be public intervention which would be either expand the Australian job market or find a way to keep their students in the classrooms. We see that each country holds its own scholastic emphasis. The United States imports some of the best thinkers in the entire world. As China’s economy rises, its large population of workers stays busy generating revenue to invest more into education for the future. Japan has ranked the elite in scores by making education top priority. Australia currently enjoys significantly fewer educational burdens without much consequence in getting a job. Whether it is the progression of creative thought or early-on vocational training all these countries have their own specific sets of academic values specifically designed to best suit their current endeavors. Works Cited Agelasto, Michael. Higher Education in Post-Mao China. Hong Kong University Press, 1998. ISBN 9622094503. Print. 1 October, 2011. The quality of Chinese education and its advantages and disadvantages in economic prowess and student development. 2. â€Å"Educational Systems in Australia. † Australia’s Guide to Education. Nov. 2006. Web. 25 Sept. 2011. . Includes primary and secondary education in Australia and comparative statistics in contrast to other countries such as the United States. Also talks about vocational training programs. 3. Gainey, Peter. â€Å"The Japanese Education System: Globalisation and International Education. † Advanced Placement Source. EBSCO, Sept. 2002. Publication. 1 Oct. 2011. An overview of Japan’s education system and the impact on its students. Specifies the difficulties of secondary education and above. Horin, Adele. â€Å"Must try harder: Australia’s inequitable education system. † Sydney Morning Herald, The 02 Dec. 2006: 31. Newspaper Source Plus. EBSCO. Web. 17 Oct. 2011. An investigation of Australia’s education system which focuses on the lack of quality of education, including vocational school and international education/vocational training quality. 5. Noel, Douglas. Impact of Social Reform and Education on Sociological Development: a Comparison Of Education Systems Around the World. [S. l. ]: Xlibris, 2010. Print. 25 Sept. 2011. Compares education systems in every major country. Gives insight to literacy statistics, test scores and controversy. Asserts the notion of â€Å"better† or â€Å"needs improvement† comparisons against some countries, the United States, being one of low ratings. 6. â€Å"Various Documents Related to Chinese Education. † Chinese Education & Society 39, no. 6 (November 2006): 45-66. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost. Database. 25 Sept. 2011. The history of education in China. Over the years, China has had to reform its education system many times due to emperor dynasties, the Japanese invasion of Nanjing and the Communist Revolution. Even in the present many changes are being made. 7. Xue, Xing Hua Da. â€Å"Chinese Education & Society. † Education Research Complete. EBSCO, Nov. 2006. Article publication. 25 Sept. 2011. Chinese education and how it statistically compares to other countries such as the United States and Japan. It also relates to Chinese student frustrations in academic curriculum. Zhang, Yu. â€Å"Private Education in China: Issues and Prospects† Perspectives, Volume 4, No. 4, Dec. 31, 2003. Print. 25, Sept. 2011. The history of China and their education system from Communist China to present day and informs readers its current position in the world economy as a reliable result of Deng Xiopeng’s reformation.

A Severed Head by Iris Murdoch Essay

Iris Murdoch constructs the novel, considered widely to have ushered in the Sexual Revolution of the 60s and 70s in England, with a first person male character, Martin Lynch-Gibbon. Martin is an upper class wine merchant, and it is with him that the novel begins, as we are given a picture of him lying in bed with his younger lover, Georgie, a student at Oxford, in the bliss of a vigorous, sexually driven relationship alongside a stable and convenient marriage. However, it is soon after this, when upon returning home, that his pampered wife Antonia tells him that she has been in love with his psychoanalyst and a family friend, Palmer Anderson. They wish to continue their cordial relationship with Martin, though Antonia has decided to seek divorce and marry Palmer. Martin falls back on his relationship with Georgie Hands, though we are given a sense at this point in the story, that the vigor is no more to be found, and it is reminiscent of something like Florentino’s womanizing in an attempt to rationalize the meaning of the loss he has suffered in Marquez’ ‘Love in the Time of Cholera’. It is Fermina’s rejection that drives him into a situation of bankruptcy, and it is here too that Martin tries to keep the different pieces together, though with a sense of loss that had made his relationship with Georgie complete. This missing part is his sense of security, his marriage of convenience, and a wife that he is otherwise indifferent to, Antonia. It is also the sense of having lost her to his friend, when he had taken for granted that fact that his ‘maleness’ in his liaison with Georgie had made him something of an artifact, a severed head to be held onto by the anthropologist; A man who would not lose his wife’s attentions. As a wine merchant, he chooses whiskey as a preference, and as a Marquezian lover, misinterprets his own charm. What is to be understood is that Antonia can only be truly free when she has broken out of the construct in which she finds herself pampered, materially lack of want, but missing a sort of impulsive romanticizing that will give her otherwise mundane life an aesthetic appeal. She needs to be tested for her love, and this can only happen when another male is involved, preferable someone close to and trusted by Martin himself. Thus, the betrayal is complete. Martin refuses to acknowledge the ethical impunity involved in his affairs with college girls, and the in his brazen pursuit and courting of Honor Klien. His decision to break into her house tells us again that his impulses will bring him no romantic merit, but only add to the tragicomic reality of a middle age well off man looking for sensual adventure but in a society that is already so riddled with misplaced and mismatched relationships, that each encounter will reveal a murkier reality to him. His breaking into Honor’s house finds her in bed with her half brother. This can only mean chaos for him. In his infatuation, childlike advances steadily give him a sense of failure, and slowly, acceptance. Martin is shown in a hedonistic light, and so are the other characters at different times in the novel. The pursuit of pleasure is seen as worthwhile in itself, though whether it conforms to conventions, or places them in opposition to a strangely rebellious modernity, is where Murdoch toys with the idea of a new sexual order to replace what England had come to be known for throughout the 17th to 19th centuries. At different times, the characters try to assert that they are independent agents, and by virtue of being so, they must naturally seek pleasure as their objective. Freud’s theories of motivation in human nature is a slight variant of this belief, and slowly we com to be acquainted with Freudian ideas, as relationships are confused, partners become parents and love finds expression in incest. Martin’s tragicomedy is reflected in several instances. For example when he moves out of their comfortable London home, move into a flat, and then moves back to their old residence. It seems as though his attempt to deal with the changes around him find expression in behaviour that he cannot himself explain. It was later that the pain came, a pain unutterably obscure and confused like that induced by some deprivation in childhood. (Oedipus complex) The familiar world of ways and objects within which I had lived for so long received me no more; and our lovely house had put on suddenly the air of a superior antique shop. The things in it no longer cohered together. It was odd that the pain worked first and most immediately through things, as if they had at once become the sad symbols of a loss which in its entirety I could not yet face. (p. 33) Here we get a glimpse of how childhood maturity plays a role in his relationships even as a 41 yr old adult with a fine business prospect. The deprivation that Martin claims to have a sense of, qualifies as Freud’s notion of the subjection of id, the subconscious, by the ego, conditioning. Martin’s frantic relocation, his breaking into Honor Klien’s home, are all an instance of hysteria, as is his self absorption when he is shown lying in bed with Georgie at the beginning of the novel. Such characterization has given critics the impression that Murdoch has adapted this book for the stage. The plot is simple and it is presented straightforwardly. Ethical questions come up in different discourses, but there is the impression at the end of the book that all the characters are flawed, through together, round and flat, in a given space. We as readers, watch them run around in different directions, emotionally, and sometimes come up against each other. To say that â€Å"the proper value is whatever gives you pleasure† is to say that â€Å"the proper value is whatever you happen to value†. Indeed, people begin to value different things at different times in the novel, and each change in heart raises moral questions. The symbol of the severed head, something that greatly fascinates Honor Klien, as a Lecturer of Anthropology, is something that Martin finds himself becoming. A severed head such as primitive tribes and old alchemists used to use anointing it with oil and putting a morsel of gold upon its tongue to make it utter prophecies. † He feels his adornment is something artificial that has been used to beautify a disgusting and decayed object. Toward the end of this novel two of the main characters (Honor Klein & Martin Lynch-Gibbon) are speaking after Martin discovers a secret about Honor, and she says to him â€Å"because of what I am and because of what you saw I am a terrible object of fascination for you. I am a severed head such as primitive tribes and old alchemists used to use, anointing it with oil and putting a morsel of gold upon its tongue to make it utter prophecies. And who knows but that long acquaintance with a severed head might not lead to strange knowledge. For such knowledge one would have paid enough. But that is remote from love and remote from ordinary life. As real people we do not exist for each other. † (182) The severed head can also be seen as a symbol of the Castration anxiety. It would be the father who would do the severing, against the son’s anxiety to dominate, especially in illicit sexual relations with the mother. In this context, the castration anxiety transmutes into a sort of mangled turnaround situation, when in the randomness of sexual anxiety, complexes are reversed and uncoordinated. Murdoch draws a close sketch of the other, the victim of the castration, though in this sense it is not so much the protagonists attempt at keeping the terms of association in equilibrium, the careful examination of loss and damage control. The male has been castrated, now he must survive in a world where he had thought that his emotionally charged liaisons with younger women would give him magnanimity over his nuptial vows. This is the irony which has been reversed on him, he is the fallen woman, the Lady who has stepped beyond the boundaries, and who must now experience perdition, a cleansing. Honor Klien is also an agency in the plot of the novel. It is her who discloses that liaisons between Georgie, Martin, his brother Alexander, Antonia and Palmer. Her affecting an introduction between Georgie and Alexander is the final destabilizing factor in Martin’s life, when he is sure that he has lost Antonia and Honor is beyond his grasp, the his final relationship with Georgie is put to threat. Honor seems like the feminist crusader, in her battle to bring sexual freedom to the women around her, an attitude that can find easy significance by her position as Georgie’s teacher at Oxford. Antonia easily fits as her aide; when Honor goes on to tell her and Palmer about Martin’s relations with Georgie that he has tried so hard to keep hidden even after he has symbolically broken away from his London high society moorings. Thus, she must act as the agent who forces upon him the task of reflection, thus reinterpreting his own history and that of the women around him. As Tagore said of each of his female characters, particularly of his protagonists, that they must go through the test of fire to be able to prove their existence in a society that demands absolute obedience from thinking women. Murdoch, as a female writer coming up in the coffee table age when sexuality was beginning to be openly discussed in the London circles, seems to offer a similar retribution of her male first person characters, to which she has attributed the female gaze. The gaze is an important cultural symbol that is seen in Tennyson’s poem, ‘The Lady of Shallot’. The lady can see the masculine space only through a glass mirror, while the man sees the lady, only later and in her death, and passes a flippant remark on her glassy countenance. She, in fact, has become the mirror herself. Martin similarly is an embodiment of the emotional turmoil that his class witnessed as a whole, and the failure of on man would go on to symbolize the failure of his entire class. Thus, while a crusader works on both ends of the sexuality debate, one is the pragmatic woman of the 20th century, while the other is the new man confused by changing roles and mores. Murdoch uses other recognizable symbols as well. The weather often corresponds with the moods of her characters. The dense fog over London is symbolic of his trance like inability to not bring his life back on his own terms. His acceptance towards the end of the novel has something of a Stephen Blackpool in him; through there is no fatalism to his relationships and the nature of his life. He must struggle, though only with himself, to bring about an external transformation. A severed head is sometimes seen as a satire, or a farcical novel, where people and customs are shown in an ironic stance to give us alternating points of view. It is because of this that it is so hard to pass a judgment on any of the characters in the novel. It occupies the grey mass between what we know and whet we are afraid to find out.

Operations Management at HOLLY FARM Essay

1. Introduction This consultancy report is prepared for Holly Farm in order to improve its future business. In the second part of this report; ‘Evaluation of Current Operations and Gillian’s Business Strategy’ and ‘Conclusion’, Holly Farm’s operations will be critically evaluated in the aspect of current and future potential capacity constraints and any other operational problems. Also, I will discuss the feasibility of Gillian Giles’ strategy for the business there. In the last part; ‘Recommendations and Action Plan’, I will show a recommended alternative strategy for the business and several solutions for alleviating its constraints. 2. Evaluation of Current Operations and Gillian’s Business Strategy 2.1 Gillian’s Aims and Objectives 2.1.1 Sales Forecast According to Gillian’s forecasts, while there will be an increase in farm shop sales by 50%, there will be a decline in retail shops sales by 13.3% in 2004 (Table 1). However, these forecasts are unlikely to come true. Firstly, its retail shops sales has increased by 75% on average of each year, and its farm shop sales has increased by 28% on average each year for the latest five years. It may be unreasonable that she dramatically changes these recent growth trends on her forecast without any factors that could impact on both channels. Secondly, since the ice cream market in the UK is mature and stable (Table 2), sudden changes of previous trend hardly happen excepting entering strong new players into the region, spoiling the farm’s reputation hugely and investing tremendously on the marketing for its farm shop. Moreover, in terms of Holly Farm’s managing on its farm visitors, this sudden change of the number of visitors could lead to collapses of its operations. These reasons discussed above clearly show that Gillian’s demand forecast is not reliable. Hence, they have to forecast in the other way. 2.1.2 Line Extension Gillian wishes to increase the number of ice cream flavours from four to ten. However, this line extension can cause the following problems. First of all, many products of relatively lower demand items would be abolished due to their expiration dates. In 1999, the Ice Cream Alliance published the date of top ten ice cream flavour in the UK in 1998 (Table 3). I can assume that, when Holly Farm produced all of these ten items, the share of each item in their products would be the same as the market shares of each flavour ice cream in the whole market. The items that total demands are less than 1,516 litres per annum, hence below the fourth position, should not be produced because it is obvious that the items would be abolished due to their expiration dates (Table 4, Calculation 1). Moreover, in the case of retail sales, the minimum annual demand for each item is 3,035 litres (Calculation 1). Secondly, also major of the raw materials would be thrown away before they are used. Since the periods that are needed raw materials to be completed to use are longer than maximum storage times allowed, even strawberry flavour for strawberry; 2nd item and chocolate flavour for chocolate; 3rd item could be abolished before being completed to use. Much more could raisins for rum and raisin; 5th, lemon sorbet for lemon sorbet; 8th, banana flavour for banana; 9th and tropical fruits for tropical fruits; 10th be (Table 5). Finally, the line extension would result in higher cost through frequent changing items and smaller amount of production than maximum production in most items. For example, when the different item from before one is produced, the production line should be carefully cleaned up beforehand in order to avoid producing different colour or flavouring ice creams from their original specifications. In fact, it takes one hour to clean the ice cream making machine between flavours in Holly Farm. This careful clean-up tends to cause higher cost and lower productivity. Furthermore, smaller amount of production will lead to higher fixed cost per production unit and, as a result, will result in higher total cost. 2.2 Capacity Constraints 2.2.1 Production Line Although it is clear that Holly Farm has a crucial capacity constraint on its production line, Gillian has hesitated to tackle this problem, as a result, has abandoned the growth strategy in spite of the recent sustainable growth trend of its annual revenue. In order to proceed the growth strategy, she should try to solve the problem. For instance, she should negotiate with its employees for the expansion of working days in a week from 4 days to 5, 6 or 7 days in the busy period. While Holly Farm groped about the probability of producing the different volumes of packages of ice cream for responding special orders for the local catering trade, I would recommend that they stop attempting to do this. Wasting a lot of ice cream, taking 2 or 3 hours to set the dispenser up and being demanded low justify my statement enough. If they continued this trial, more serious capacity constraints would be caused. 2.2.2 Milking Parlour According to this case, the number of visitors who want to see the milking parlour on a busy day in2003 was 206. However, the capacity of the gallery for watching milking parlour is 200 visitors per day (Calculation 2). It could be said that they are about going over the capacity in 2003. Moreover, Gillian wishes to increase the number of farm visitors in 2004 by 50%. The problem would grow in 2004. The problem in milking parlour is not ignorable. 33% of total revenue of Holly Farm, including paying visitor sales; 11% and entrance fee; 22%, is provided from farm visitors, and 27% of total revenue of the farm is related to its milking parlour (Table 6). This incident clearly shows that if the milking parlour made visitors dissatisfied, the revenue of the farm would decline seriously. Therefore, without any solution for the capacity constraint related to milking parlour, the farm would neither be successful nor survive in the near future. Apart from the capacity constraints, the milking parlour has queuing problems. This case mentioned that about 100 people visited the gallery from 4 pm to 5 pm on a busy day. Then I have already mentioned above that 206 people visited the gallery on a busy day (Calculation 2). Thus about half of the visitors arrived there within only one hour. As a result, a queue is made before starting the milking parlour and is not solved the queue for a while. The queuing problem easily leads to customer dissatisfactions and could result in serious decline in its total revenue as I warned above. 2.2.3 Distribution According to this case, Gillian delivers ice cream to retail customers by the delivery van once a week, and the delivery van has a capacity of 500 litres of ice cream and does not have a freezer. While the average maximum temperature in the warmest month in the UK from 1971 to 2000 was less than 20 degree centigrade (Met Office, 2003), the temperature on the van could be much than 30 degree centigrade. Moreover, attempting to deliver all ice cream for that week at once tends to lead to longer duration of delivery. As a result, melting ice cream would be accelerated. It means that these facts cause over half of corporate customer complains in 2003, which regard melting ice cream. This problem may be one major reason why Gillian forecasted that retail sales in 2004 decrease by 13.3 %. However, it is more reasonable to tackle and solve the problem in order to meet market demand than to forecast wrong in order to avoid the problem. 2.3 Other Problems 2.3.1 Raw Material Stock Control This case mentioned that Holly Farm has currently ordered raw materials on an ad hoc basis when an operative feels that the materials are required. While  it maybe true that the quantities of the raw materials the farm uses are so small that the farm hardly has any other better ways to control them properly than one an ad hoc basis, their way to deal with stocks is obviously unsuitable because companies are to have raw material stocks in order mainly to have a buffer for productions, response to unexpected larger or smaller demands and take advantage of price discounts on large order. In fact, they have had several experiences unwanted stocks and short stocks of materials and flavour. The former led to unnecessary cash outs, the later caused disruption, rescheduling of productions and re-timing of maintenance periods (Waters, 2002). 2.3.2 Inventory control of final products Holly Farm did not control its stock level of final product in 2003. As a consequence, a short stock occurred at the end of September (Figure 1). Short stock of final products is more serious than one of raw materials. While it directly causes retailers’ loss from their sales, its indirect effects are more widespread, including lost goodwill, loss of reputation and loss of potential future sales (Waters, 2002). Moreover, from January to February, there was a minus cash flow caused by overstock, hence, by overproduction (Figure 1). If the farm had not retained enough cash to supplement this negative cash flow, they would have had to raise money. However, potential cash suppliers such as banks, building societies and individual investors would not be willing to lend or give money to the farm because of the farm’s mismanagement of cash. 3. Conclusion As I discussed above, Holly farm has many problems in its operations. These problems seem to be appearing through its current remarkable growth. Holly Farm is at a turning point. Should they grow with huge investment? Should they cover up their problems with sacrificing their bright future? In the next part of this report, I will give several suggestions to their problems. 4. Recommendations and Action Plan 4.1 Business Aims and Objectives 4.1.1 Sales Forecast Since Gillian understands Holly Farm has a number of capacity constraints, she seemed to decide not to take the growth strategy but to take the profit focusing strategy, which is feasible by expanding the share of its farm shop sales in its total revenue only on the assumption that it is possible to increase in the number of its farm visitors and to accept all of the visitors. Nevertheless, neither a significant rise in the number of the farm visitors is probable, nor ignoring growth opportunities for its retail sales is reasonable. Therefore, I would like to propose to adopt the growth strategy to Holly Farm with several solutions to capacity constraints. By linear regression (Waters, 2002), the annual sales of retail shops, the farm shop and total are calculated at 93.0, 32.5 and 125.5 thousands pound, respectively (Table 1, Figure 2). In this case, both correlation coefficients of retail shop sales and farm shop sales are above 0.9500. Thus these forecasts can be said to be reliable in terms of the linear regression. However, when Holly Farm adopts this forecast, they have to mention the following things. First, the forecast by linear regression is based only on historical data. Thus it is assumed that the future trend is referred to the past one. Then, because the trend is recognised as linear one without any particular reason, if the trend were based on the different pattern such as logarithmic, exponential and moving average, the forecast could become failure. Furthermore, the forecast does not include any expertise. Therefore, it could be a vulnerable argument in terms of environmental changes. In any case, due to the risk of the forecast’s failure and the huge impact of the sales forecast on the following plan, I strongly recommend that Holly Farm and its consultants again discuss on the sales forecast of 2004 before proceeding the plan. 4.1.2 Line Extension As a result of the discussion in the section 2.1.2, I recommend Holly Farm not to expand its production line from four items in 2003 to ten items in 2004. All of the problems I mentioned, which are related to the expiration dates of final products and raw materials, can cause unexpected cost up. Besides the discussion above, the argument over whether or not they should decrease the number of items from four is also controversial because the demand of the other items than top one is still so low that keeping these items is hardly justified. However, I propose Holly Farm to keep the number of items four based on the following discussions. First, while it is no problem for Holly Farm to have only one item if they did business only on their farm shop, in order to expand their sales on retail channels, keeping several items is inevitable for the marketing reasons. Second, even when they sale ice cream on their farm shop, only one item may not be attractive for their customers. Finally, in terms of accountability of companies, it is difficult to explain why they abolished the items to their customers unless they prove keeping the items that they stopped selling is harmful for the business. By keeping the number of items at four, Holly Farm can keep the stock level of final products of each item more than 1,516 litre per annum (Table 7). Although the problems over raw materials’ stock level still remain, the solution for these items will be discussed in section4.3.1. 4.2 Capacity Constraints 4.2.1 Production Line The process line of ice cream in Holly Farm consists of batch processes, an industrial manufacturing method in which several separate serial and, or parallel operations are carried out to produce a product, in contrast to continuous process (Williams et al, 2001). Hence, the capacity of the line is limited by the one of the bottle neck process. In this case, the bottle neck process is the ageing process, a continuous freezing process in the ice  cream machine, and one batch capacity of the process is 350 litres. Moreover, the process takes 8 hours. In order to increase in the capacity, they have to make the machine bigger or to shorten the time. Nevertheless, since it is hard for Holly Farm to make any big investment, they do not have any other way than one to give up to improving capacity of the process line in a short-term. As the alternatives to increase in the annual production, there are contract-out and extension of operation days from 4 days per week to 5, 6 or 7 days per week. Because of Holly Farm’s difficulties in disclosure of its own original recipes to the counterpart due to its conservative corporate culture, the risk of rise in total cost and capacity constraints of whole ice cream manufacturers in the busy time, it would be hard for Holly Farm to contract out its ice cream production. Therefore, I propose extensions of operation days as solution for capacity constraints of the production line. 4.2.2 Milking Parlour I propose the following three solutions for the capacity constraint and queuing problems in the milking parlour. Firstly, abolishment of explanatory tape through headphones would be effective. It is obvious that the tape makes a bottle neck of a series of processes in the gallery. By replacing the tape through headphones to one not through headphone but merely broadcasted in the gallery and waiting room (Figure 3), service time per visitor would be shortened, and the capacity of the gallery could be improved. Secondly, arrangement of visiting time to the gallery would alleviate its queuing problem. For example, the farm divided the duration of the milking parlour into five; 4.30 pm – 5.00pm, 5.00pm – 5.30 pm, 5.30pm – 6.00 pm, 6.00 pm – 6.30 pm, 6.30 pm – 7.00 pm. When visitors enter to the farm, it allocates them into each time block. While there are vacancies in the time block visitors want, it is good idea that visitors choose which block they are in. Finally, queuing entertainments are effective to allay customer dissatisfactions. For instance, while visitors are in a queue, the scene of milking parlour will be broadcasted on a TV screen of the waiting room. This solution can be expected to make service time shorter at the same time to make customer dissatisfactions reduced. 4.2.3 Distribution In order to carry out growth strategy I proposed in section 4.1.1, solving problems in distribution is essential because bigger burden on distribution is inevitable for the strategy. Hence, I recommend that Holly Farm uses a delivery van equipped with a freezer of about 1,000 litres and replaces old one by it. I assume that the farm rent a VW LT35 Chiller / Freezer Van from a rental company (Figure 4). The monthly rent of the van should be considered  £1,911 as a variable cost. 4.3 Other Problems 4.3.1 Raw Material Stock Control I propose that minimum order quantities of strawberry and chocolate flavour decrease from current 1,000 ml to 400 ml, because the farm could not complete using them within their maximum storage time allowed in 2004(Table 8). While the reorder costs for these items will be charged three times as much as usual ones, the cost of the raw material that will be abolished, hence, abolishment cost can be eliminated. Even though the cost down will be almost offset by reorder charges, this action would be essential in aspect of green issues. Since Holly Farm has used relatively large amount of milk powder, box and cardboard, I recommend these raw material orders at the economic order quantities (Waters, 2002). When they assume that the farm attempted to order these raw materials at minimum order quantities in 2004, the cost down is expected to be more than 2,000 pound per annum (Table 9). In terms of the time to place orders, I propose the reorders of raw materials based on the reorder level (Waters, 2002). When calculating the reorder levels of each items, I assumed that demands can be equally divided into each day. The reorder levels of raw materials are shown in Table 10. This control method is not considered any uncertainties about consumption of raw materials, in other words, production schedule of ice cream. However, since the farm has not taken any flexible scheduling method for its production; Just-in-Time, MRP, MRPII (Waters, 2002) and so on, it is thought that there is no problem. 4.3.2 Inventory control of final products In the farm, production of ice cream has been carrying out based on a fixed schedule. Thus it is crucial to hedge the risk regarding uncertainties of future demands. Therefore, I propose the final product stock control based on the safety stock level considered standard deviation as future uncertainties (Waters, 2002). Since the uncertainties in each month are different, the levels should be varied (Table 11). I assume that the main factor that affects to ice cream demand is weather including temperature. Thus the safety stock levels of each month are calculated by standard deviations of five months including before and after each two months. This method is not as safe as periodic review approach is. However, the approach can be reasonable because the risk of unexpected change of demand was controlled below 5%. 4.4 Aggregate Planning Based on sales forecast of each month (Table 12), I made an aggregate plan for Holly Farm in 2004 (Table 13). In order to meet all forecast demand without any big investment in its production line and to eliminate unnecessary stocks, I recommend them to take the policy of chase demand production (Waters, 2002) (Figure 5). While this is not only the best policy but also only one policy for the farm at the present time due to its capacity constraints, they have to operate carefully because it can be very  difficult to organise. By taking this policy, they can keep the stock level relatively low (Figure 6). 4.5 Cash Flow Analysis Basing on an assumption that Holly Farm has to pay 50% more money for overtime works of part-time workers than usual ones, I analysed cash flow of the farm ( Figure 5 Demand and Production in 2004 Figure 6 Stock Level Control Table 14). 14% of the total cash out,  £9,958/anum out of  £91,158/anum, will be spent for extra payment for overtime in 2004. Hence, the farm should start considering expanding the capacity its production line when the sales forecast comes true. Compared with the actual cash flow in 2003 and the cash flow forecast based on Gillian’s plan in 2004, the cash flow in 2004 will be relatively allocated among each month equally. Especially, even between January and May, there will be few negative cash flows ( Figure 7). The farm’s credit during the term can be improved. In terms of cash flow during the year, although the cash flow on my proposal is less than one on Gillian’s plan, the cash position will be better than one in 2003. 4.6 Break Even Analysis The profitability on my plan is not improved from 2003 result due to an increase in the percentage of the variable cost in the annual revenue. The main reason for the decreased profitability is the serious increase in extra payment for overtimes. While the break even point on my plan drops from 2003 result, the reason is a remarkable increase in total revenue in 2004. The margin of safety to unexpected decrease in total sales would be improved. The break even point on my plan is higher than one based on Gillian’s  optimistic plan. The reason is that Gillian assumed that they can increase farm shop sales with a  £1 margin per litre of ice cream and  £2 entrance fees (Table 15, Figure 8). However, as I mentioned in section 4.1.1, her forecast is unreliable. Therefore, the farm should withstand against the unprofitability in 2004 and should keep its growth strategy. Euromonitor plc. (2003) Euromonitor market research: Ice cream in the United Kingdom. London. Met Office (2003) UK Climate and Weather Statistics: 1971 – 2000 Averages [Online]. Available from: http://www.met-office.gov.uk/climate/uk/averages/19712000/areal/uk.html [Accessed 27th December 2003]. Office for National Statistic (2003) New Earnings Survey 2003 [Online]. Available from: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=5749 [Accessed 29th December 2003]. SMV Commercials of Yeovil (2003) SMV Commercials website: Vehicle rental [Online]. Available from: http://www.smvcommercials.co.uk/code/vehiclerental.asp?vehicle=13 [Accessed 28th December 2003]. Waters, D. (2002) Operations Management: Producing Goods and Services. 2nd edition. London, Prentice Hall. Williams, T. and Rathwell, G. (2001) Glossary: Enterprise Integration and Communications Systems [Online]. Last updated on 29th May 2001. Available from: http://www.pera.net/Tools/Glossary/Enterprise_Integration/Glossary_B.html [Accessed 27th December 2003].

Application Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Application Assignment - Essay Example From my research it has revealed that when students communicate with their teachers via e-mails and there is a correspondence they view this as a good way of creating student teacher relationship. On the other hand if the teacher communicates with the students via e-mails and there is a correspondence then the teacher views this as way of fostering efficient teacher student relationship. Students have been noted to communicate with their teachers for a number of reasons and some of these reasons includes; Relational aspect. This is described as a bid to try and foster a professional relationship with the teacher. Students do this to familiarize with their teacher and know him well. The other one is the functional aspect .It involves the student giving explanation to the teacher providing reading materials and other syllabus homework and assignments to the students. Another reason why students communicate with their teachers is the participatory reason. Here the student wishes to show their interest and involvement in the class as well as their work. Another one is that of making excuses. In this reason the students try to give out reasons why they have not completed their assignments on time or why they are absent from their lectures or any other reason which might be involved or might arise in the course of their studies. The other reason definitely is expected to be noted is sycophancy. Some students like to make impressions to the teacher to gain some favours.These are mostly called in school circles teachers pets who are not very much liked by other students. After looking at the reasons above one can conclude that student teacher relationship is very important to the two parties. This is because teaching as profession is a relational vocation which cannot be successful without teacher and student having a good relationship. It can not be refuted that teacher student relationship is a contributing factor to the students’ classroom work success and ou t of the classroom as well. From the discussion above we can note some points which can enhance student teacher relationship. They include; One means of maintaining student teacher relationship is that both of them should reach out to each other personally. This will boost their relationship as they get to meet and talk to each and discuss matters affecting them both.( Martin & Myers, 2006).this should mostly occur after classes or outside the classroom. The communication of outside the class helps students to discuss many topics with the teacher as well as getting to know each other on the social font this helps boost the confidence of the student and strengthens student teacher relationship (Fusani, 1994). In the course of outside class discussion which is known as extra class communication (ECC) it gives room for a large coverage of the syllabus as the teacher can attend to almost every students special needs and personal queries as opposed to doing as a group in the class.ECC al so brings out the positive change in the student teacher relationship as their contact between the two which brings them closer to each other (Jaasma and Koper, 1999). After engaging in ECC students tends to gauge what their relationship has yielded and base their studies mostly on the outcome of their engagements. And after some research it was noted that those students who perceive that ECC was beneficial to them they tend to embrace it and moves on with it. But those who

Leadership and Decision making styles Assignment

Leadership and Decision making styles - Assignment Example Such reasons make the proposed merger to be a technical quality decision since the consequences of failure are actually very significant. The significance can be quantified in cash form. If the purchase decision had to be made, Masayoshi Son needed to work closely with his management team to help him achieve a successful outcome. In this case, therefore, a successful outcome depends on the team’s commitment. The team that will be charged with the duties of aligning the two companies, coming together through a merger, will have a lot of alignment work to do. They will need to ensure that a thorough market research is carried out to position the new company well in the competitive market environment. It means, they will need to make good strategic decisions that will ensure the company is removed from its worse state to a better promising state. Considering that two companies are coming together to form one company with a bad financial structure, it would require the management to work together with a well-informed and coagulated team that would ensure that they to bring the both sides of the companies to work together. Without the commitment of the team, negat ive performance of the new company must be expected for several years. A buy-in is, therefore, necessary for the solution to work. There is sufficient information about T-Mobile to allow Masayoshi Son to make decision on his own. However, for a clear decision, it is necessary that the Chairman should involve qualified analysts to ascertain the actual position of the T-Mobile in terms of capital structure, financial status, debt structure as well as the viability to exploit the merger. The information to be used to make a decision can therefore be accessed easily. But, it is necessary for the Chairman to consult with the experts before making the decision. In this case, the problem is not well-structured to

Book report - Jack Welch - Winning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Book report - Jack Welch - Winning - Essay Example The first section of the book, Underneath It All, uncovers the essence and reason for the founding and creation of any particular company. A business cannot run without the mission/vision statements but if candidly discussed and shared with every member of the organization, reaping the rewards will become more effective. Welch describes the mission statement as an important tool to set the company values in motion. Without a concrete mission formulated by the upper management, the values which motivate and empower the rest of the hierarchy will be lost (Welch, 2005). Values are the driving force behind the mission and they may not prove to be successful if every employee’s input is not included. This step will only reinforce the mission and hold each member of the company accountable to those values. These tools cannot be used effectively without the beauty of open-mindedness. Welch further suggests that candor is one tool which is never fully used because the more it is used, the more it is needed. Enabling a culture of candor in an organization opens several avenues of communication, ideas and frankness pushing the company into the winning position. After defining the boundaries, the company head needs to manage his group according to the beliefs he has imbibed. With this premise, Welch introduces the second section, Your Company, which discusses the principles of hiring and firing, people and crisis management, change and leadership. Being a first-class leader means following the eight rules of leadership with some examples such as confidence-building for the team, positive energy along with optimism and not to let the position get to your head. Managing Human Resources is what distinguishes the successes of companies. Elevating the HR Manager’s position and importance to that of the company’s CFO is the key to effective people management (Welch, 2005). Using what Welch describes as the 4-E (and 1-P) test for a winning team which

Women in the work place (is there still glass ceiling Essay

Women in the work place (is there still glass ceiling - Essay Example Seek sponsors and mentors: Mentors should always be able to couch or train you in areas of difficulty or less knowledge by just following their footsteps. They do not necessarily have to be people in high management levels. Those in the top may not have time for you. Sponsors are top or senior level persons or leaders who can make decisions in an organization. They must be willing to advocate for you. Be a risk taker: Adjust your attitude towards failure and never get scared. Keep venturing into several opportunities to improve your knowledge and experience. Have confidence and take time for personal networking for back up incase of a stumble. Develop emotional intelligence: You must bear self-awareness and learn to listen before you react. â€Å"Seek first to understand and then to be understood – Stephen Covey†. Ethics and your code of conduct mean a lot to the people that surround you. People always want to work with someone who has integrity, caring and

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The Role America's Federal Reserve Played in Contributing to the Actions Leading to the 2008 Financial Crises - Essay Example While the Federal Reserve is a cornerstone institution of the United States, critics have argued that in the long-term the Fed is actually bad for the economy. This research evaluates the extent that the Federal Reserve contributed to the actions leading to the 2008 financial crises. Analysis One of the most prominent critics of the Federal Reserve has been former Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul. Paul’s perspective follows a line of logic that is directly related to the way the Fed functions. Paul indicates that when the American economy is lagging the Federal Reserve infuses new currency into the system. This new currency results in lowered interest rates. The lowered interest rates correspondingly result in capitalist expansion, as business and individuals increasingly engage in borrowing practices. The problem, as Paul indicates, is that such practices are artificial and don’t reflect the economies’ true and proper functioning. Paul has seminally no ted, â€Å"When central banks like the Fed manage money they are engaging in price fixing, which leads not to prosperity but to disaster† (Paul 2011). ... Kibbe (2011) argues that many Austrian economists predicted the 2008 financial crisis. Kibbe contrasts the Keynesian school of economics, which attempts to implement mathematical models in predicting future economic movements, with the Austrian school that argues later economic shifts can only be understood by examining human behavior. Similar to Ron Paul, Kibbe makes a number of sensational statements regarding the impact the Federal Reserve had on the financial crisis. In both perspectives their criticism is less about specific policy measures the Fed took, but rather with the entire existence of the Fed; as such, they believe that any actions this institution makes is ultimately bad for the economy. Just like Paul, Kibbe (2011) notes, â€Å"we would not experience such dramatic economic swings were it not for monetary policies that distort real prices and encourage improper investment decisions. Boom and bust cycles are inevitable when government interventions confuse market part icipants.† When one couples Kibbe’s perspective regarding boom and busts with statements made by the United States government leading up to the financial meltdown startling consideration emerges. For instance, he notes that Treasury Secretary Paulson said in 2007 that the global economy was at the strongest he had seen it in his career. Additionally, he states â€Å"Between 2001 and 2004, the Federal Reserve injected new credit into the economy, pushing interest rates to their lowest level since the late 1970s. As a result, the economy was booming just a few short years ago† (Kibbe 2011). Still, one recognizes that Kibbe provides little empirical evidence for the predictions of the Austrian economists against the failure of the Keynesian predictive models.

Research report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Research report - Essay Example This is since they do not have the same intellectual level as the analyst on the given subject. The author of the report needs to match the material with the interests of his/her audience. This can keep them interested through the presentation process. Without an exceptional presentation, the audience may find the material uninteresting (Lannon, 2007). Another reason why a researcher needs to think of his/her audience is the fact that their need for that information is vital. Therefore, a researcher has the capacity to influence the audience through the report (Lannon, 2007). The presentation needs to suit them perfectly. There is first the elimination of unnecessary detail. The audience needs to understand the motive of the research. Getting straight to the point is one way to do this. The audience may be lost while trying to decipher the main point of the research, hence losing interest. Another step is addressing the audience directly during the presentation (Gerson & Gerson, 2005). This can be of help since the audience need to feel as part of the report. Moreover, the language should suit the audience to make them understand better. This is to prevent losing them in the long run due to tough grammar. Keeping it short, precise, and to the point can help the audience appreciate the report, and the researcher. They do not need to get lost in the presentation of the findings. Hence; the reason to keep the presentation short (Gerson & Gerson, 2005). In conclusion, an exceptional report relies heavily on the presentation of the findings. If there is a poor presentation, then the research was in vain. It makes the researcher lose morale even though he/she might have decent material (Blicq, 2003). Following such steps, one is likely to have his/her audience interested in what they are

Eastern Philosophy Essay Example for Free

Eastern Philosophy Essay Compare and contrast the Hindu doctrine of Atman-Brahman with the Buddhist notion of non-atman. What was the Buddha reacting against? Is Buddhism to be considered a religion or a philosophy? Hindus strongly believe that in an uncreated, eternal, infinite, transcendent, and all-embracing principle, which, comprising in itself being and non-being, is the sole reality, the ultimate cause and foundation, source, and goal of all existence. This sole magnanimous reality is called brahman. As the All, brahman causes the universe and all beings to emanate from its core and morphs itself into the universe, or assumes its guise. Brahman is in every matter in this world and is the â€Å"Self† (atman) of all living beings. Brahman plays crucial roles such as the creator, preserver, or transformer, and â€Å"reabsorber† of all matters. Yet it is Being in per se, without attributes and qualities, hence impersonal, it may also be conceived of as a personal high God, usually as Vishnu or Siva. This fundamental belief in and the essentially religious search for ultimate reality which implies â€Å"The One that is the all† have continued almost unaltered for more than 50 centuries and have been the central focus and core of Indias spiritual life (www. rystalinks. com/hindu). Siddhartha Gautama also called the Buddha, and Vardhamana called Mahavira â€Å"the great teacher of Jainism† . Several heterodox teachers who organized bands of ascetic followers. Every group mandated itself to follow a certain code of conduct. They received generous support from prominent families and merchants. The latter were growing in wealth and influence, and most of them were searching for alternative forms of religious activity that would give them a more significant role than did orthodox Brahmanism or that would be less expensive to support. Which, in a way, was considered an opposition to doctrines and teachings of Brahmanism. It is suffice to say that Buddhism has similarities with Brahmanism yet at odds with one another (www. crystalinks. com/hindu). Buddhism is considered as a religion for Buddhists yet a philosophy for some. It is a set of doctrines and teachings that is usually describe as a religion. Compared to other religions, other Buddhists allege that Buddhism is not a religion per se, which is a contradiction of their faith to their chosen religion. Other sects say that it is a mere philosophy that are bounded by the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, the one who founded Buddhism. Buddhism is called Buddha Dharma and Dhamma as well, which is defined as the â€Å"Teachings of the Awakened One† in Pali and Sanskrit which are ancient Buddhist texts. This was the reaction of the Buddha during his spiritual quest: experimented with extreme asceticism, which at that time was seen as a powerful spiritual practice such as fasting, holding the breath, and exposure of the body to pain e found, however, that these ascetic practices brought no genuine spiritual benefits and in fact, being based on self-hatred, that they were counterproductive. After renouncing the principles of asceticism and concentrating instead upon meditaion and Anapanasati as well Gautama is believed to have discovered what Buddhists call the Middle Way which is path of moderation that lies in between the extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification. It lead s to the Four Noble Truths and eventually to the Eight Fold Path which will constitute the attainment of Nirvana. Discuss the Buddist teachings on the nature of the Middle Way as a strictly moral doctrine. What constitutes the path of virtue. What are the Four Noble Truths and how does one obtain Nirvana through the cessation of desire? The main principle of Buddhist doctrine is the called the Middle Way which was discovered by the Buddha prior to his bodhi or enlightenment. The Middle Way or Middle Path has a handful of definitions. Usually it is charaterized by the practice of non-extremism and a path of moderation away from the extremes of self-indulgence and opposing self-mortification. It is considered in taking a middle ground between specific metaphysical perspectives as well. Which things ultimately either exist or do not exist. An explanation of the state of Nirvana and ultimate enlightenment where all dualities amalgamate and cease to exist as separate entities. The essence of the Middle way as a strictly moral doctrine is bounded by the path of virtue which is called as the Eight Fold Path as well. Buddhist doctrine, stated by the Buddha in his first sermon near Benares, India. The path is regarded as the way for individuals to deal with the problems named in the Four Noble Truths The path consists of right understanding (faith in the Buddhist view of existence), right thought (the resolve to practice the faith), right speech (avoidance of falsehoods, slander, and abuse), right action (abstention from taking life, stealing, and improper sexual behavior), right livelihood (rejection of occupations not in keeping with Buddhist principles), right effort (development of good mental states), right mindfulness (awareness of body, feelings, and thought), and right concentration (meditation). It is also called the Middle Path, because it steers a course between sensuality and asceticism. Following the Path leads to escape from suffering and attainment of Nirvana (Britannica. com). The Path of Virtue if imminet will lead to the emergence of the Eight Fold Path after the cessation of the Four Noble Truths, which after it culminates will eventually lead to the attainment of Nirvana The Buddhist doctrine of the Middle way guides this conviction and belief by an apt understanding of The Eight Fold Path as a means of attaining the state of Nirvana. Furthermore, The doctrines are essential and crucial in order for a being to not only understand the very essence of Nirvana but what culminates after the attainment of such state as well. The Buddhist Doctrine implored by the Buddha in his initial teachings are significant towards the road to Nirvana. The four noble truths constitute a means of attaining nirvana which is not plausible for some. Dukkha or the nature of suffering is actually the noble truth of suffering that implies that birth is suffering per se and other physiological notions are suffering as well. An amalgamation from what is displeasing is suffering, thus separation from what it pleasing is suffering and not to achieve what one desires is suffering. A sufferings origin or Samudaya is the noble realization of the origin of suffering. This yearning leads to a renewed existence that will be accompanied by delight and lust which leads to the craving of sensual pleasure then craving for existence and eventually, the craving for destruction. Cessation of suffering or Nirodha is the noble truth for the abrupt cessation of suffering. It is regardless of the cessation of the similar crasving, te giving up, and finally the relinquishing of it, the freedom and not the non-reliance from it. The fourth noble truth is The Way or Magga which leads to the cessation of suffering. It is the noble truth of the way which leads to he cessation of suffering. The Eightfold Path namely: that is, right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration as well. These are the four great truths of Buddhinsm. Dukkha implies that all existence is afflicted with suffering. Second, Samudaya identifies desire, thirst, or craving as the source of suffering, which intangibly binds beings to samsara or the cycle of existence. Nirodha asserts that cessation of craving will bring suffering to a halt. Finally, The Eightfold Path which culminates the four noble truths implies he omission of suffering and the escape from samsara. These Four Noble Truths are bounded to the idea of Nirvana in which one can attain a state of â€Å"finitude that will lead to absolute reality of positive and negative efforts that may lead to the attainment of Nirvana. Discuss the Buddist doctrine of non-atman (non-substantiality). How does it comprise the three Marks of Existence and what does it mean to say that all form is emptiness. Hint:`There is Nirvana but no-one attains it. In order to achieve Nirvana, one must endure the three marks of existence namely: Dukkha, Anicca, and Anatta. These three are bounded by the Buddhist notion that after meditation they will conclude all the physical and mundane matters. Dukkha, for its part, is striving for what a person desires while enduring suffering and torment yet after an ordeal you might find happiness in achieving what one desires. Eventually, boredom which is a form of suffering will divert a person from such boredom by indulging in a pursuit of new forms of pleasure. Boredom is a result of a ramification of our interest in a matter which a person desires which captivated us at first. Anicca is the inconstant and impermanent per se. Each person can undergo by the use of our senses which is dependent on the right conditions for its existence. Everything is constantly changing and is always in sporadic influx. Matters are constantly coming into being as well as ceasing to be. The crucial point is that a phenomena may arise and cease due to complex states and conditions that do not occur within our whims. Though we have a finite ability to generate a change to our possessions, previous experience tells us that our feeble attempts have no guarantees that the outcome of the efforts will also be according to our â€Å"liking†. Lastly, Annata is the unceasing change of permanent essence which is conceived through the virtue of existence. A human beings personality is an orthodox appelation applied to the consortium of physical and mental components which each is mandated to a constant influx yet there is not central essence or core which is similar to a â€Å"bundle theory† of mind and soul. Nirvana is the finite state of the Mahayana ideology. It the state in which the attempt to grasp reality is halted in a holistic way, by means of the realization of its impossibility. Evidently, it is and preposterous and absurd to presume that nirvana per se as a state to be achieved. Nirvana is not the state of coming to terms with reality due to the fact that such state cannot generate either a positive or negative aura. In its negative nature, Nirvana is said to be as â€Å"no waves† and â€Å"blowing out†, implying that achieving such state would mean tranquility of ones existence. Yet these statements offer minimal attributes of nirvana. Nirvana as â€Å"finite† is an anti-thesis to positive attributes and words such as eternal and omnipresent though its positive comprehension is bound by intellect. Buddha, for his part, will never answer question in a postive manner regarding the notions of nirvana. Considering it is not out of sheer prudence but practicality as well. Coming into terms with â€Å"finitude† eventually concludes nirvana that is an absolute reality. By directing awareness away from finitude and towards the intuitive core of the brain, an individual consciously grips reality. The negative part of the effort are not sufficient enough to realize Nirvana. Nirvana is not present and will not be realized by grasping finitude yet the Buddha suggested that it is possible and effortless to achieve Nirvana by the means of directing awareness and channeling its energy internally through positive efforts. There is a deliberate mistake in which the belief of the right motivation culminates the achievement of nirvana, in which samsara or finitude is part of nirvana which s infinitude and coming into terms with samsara will embody achieving nirvana in an apt manner. The notion of renouncing Nirvana is a deliberate and evident contradiction because it obviously contradicts it very purpose. Such misguided attribute is a sheer reflection of the Buddhist meditation practice of sitting without being occupied by preconceived notions. Renouncing nirvana with the apparent purpose of eventually realizing nirvana is a deliberate contradiction.

Office Space: Bureaucracy in the Workplace

Office Space: Bureaucracy in the Workplace The 1999 film, Office Space, characterizes an unhappy employee that works for a generic software company named Initech, which is structured as a bureaucracy. The main character, Peter Gibbons, eventually gets fed up by his job and the pressured environment in the workplace as a result of the bureaucratic environment. As a result of being fed up, Peter decides to rebel with the help of his two friends, Samir and Michael Bolton, and devise a computer program to steal from the company in small decimal amounts, but accidentally end up stealing a large amount. Meanwhile, the company decides to promote him while Peter is rebelling against the company. Bureaucracy, as defined by Max Weber, has six elements: first, the element of specialization of the job each worker does; second, bureaucracy has a rule of many by the few in which only one or a few people have rule of authority; third, bureaucracy has rules and regulations that the workers must follow; fourth, it is the characteristic of technical competence; fifth, it is the component of impersonality; finally, sixth, bureaucracy has formal written communication and official documentation. Webers characteristics of bureaucracy are shown to be in agreement with what is shown in the film. The first element is shown through the employees of Office Space. It is shown that each employee of Initech has a specific role that they contribute in the workplace. For example, Peter Gibbons, Michael Bolton, and Samir are all part of the computer programming component of the company while Lumbergh and the seven bosses that Peter has are part of the management component of the company. The purpose of having different people to complete different aspects of a company is to increase efficiency, however, the movie also shows that the computer programmers write the bank software to save space, such as taking out two digits (97 instead of 1997), but they have to go back into the program and change thousands of numbers so all of them only have two digits instead of four, which, in itself, is inefficient but it still emphasizes that only the computer programmers in the company have to do that, and that is what their job/contribution is in the company. The second element address that there is only one of few people that have rule of authority in the company, and in the film, this rulers would be Lumbergh and the seven other bosses that are part of management. But in these eight bosses, there is a hierarchy of management, giving the company a pyramid-like structure. The pyramid was Lumbergh up at the top, then Peter Gibbons, then Michael Bolton, then Samir, and then Milton, who would be at the very bottom of the food chain, with no authority in any situation or over anyone. This pyramid also contributes to the blatant difference in salary, as the film shows the employees general, family cars while Lumbergh had a Porsche in the same parking lot. Rules and regulations, as the third element of bureaucracy, are shown in the film in the very popular TPS Report scene of the movie in which Dom Portwood confronts Peter Gibbons: Dom Portwood: Hi, Peter. Whats happening? We need to talk about your TPS reports. Peter Gibbons: Yeah. The coversheet. I know, I know. Uh, Bill talked to me about it. Dom Portwood: Yeah. Did you get that memo? Peter Gibbons: Yeah. I got the memo. And I understand the policy. And the problem is just that I forgot the one time. And Ive already taken care of it so its not even really a problem anymore. Dom Portwood: Ah! Yeah. Its just were putting new coversheets on all the TPS reports before they go out now. So if you could go ahead and try to remember to do that from now on, thatd be great. All right! (credit: IMDB Office Space Quotes) This scene in the film is showing how Dom Portwood, the vice president reprimands Peter for not using the correct cover sheet on a report even though there had been a memo detailing the new procedure. Even when Peter said that it was a simple mistake and that he had a copy of the memo Portwood insists on sending another copy of the memo. This shows that the bureaucracy must follow a strict set of rules and regulations in order to be successful, and the management must make it clear that such mistakes will not be accepted in order to keep the important of rules and regulations high in priority. The fourth aspect of bureaucracy is the technical competence. In the movie, the two consultants are brought into the company to assess the efficiency and competence of each employee in the role that they are in, and they do this so the companys efficiency can be increased. This is interesting because it would seem that a company is run on many people, in many different departments, to successfully run a company, however they are laying off employees to increase efficiency, but that is really just the code phrase for downsizing. Peter, for example, is probably the antithesis of efficiency and competence because he says to one of the consultants that he stares at his desk and gets about 15 minutes of work done in an actual week. The fifth element is impersonality, which means that corporations and bosses dont actually consider getting to know their employees important. They, instead, write impersonal memos to their employees, and do not identify them as individuals. For example. Samir has been working in Initech for five years, and his name is still mispronounced. And the bosses, especially Lumbergh, are always just saying things like, did you see the memo, instead of addressing the person they are talking to. The final element is the need to officialize and formalize all documentation in the office. This also falls under the category of rules and regulations because the need to document everything is overemphasized, such as in the example in which Peter forgot a coversheet and how that little issue became over exaggerated enough for the vice-president to come and point it out. Examples of official documentation in Office Space include TPS reports, memos, files, and personal records of each employee that the company keeps, but nothing is really personal about that file just an impersonal set of information of each employee. Overall, the 1999 film cleverly points out the flaws of a highly bureaucratized work environment, and Webers Theory of Bureaucracy is also portrayed in the film. Teaching assistant: Developing child learning Teaching assistant: Developing child learning Historically, teaching assistants, or auxiliaries as they were sometimes formerly known, were non teaching adults who helped qualified teachers by carrying out day to day preparatory and administrative tasks and providing pastoral care to children. (Clayton. 1993) However, in 1998, the Local Government Chronicle published a summary of a Green Paper, (LGC, 1998), in which they outlined proposals for employing a greater number of support staff 20,000 by the year 2002 in order to provide more support for teachers. The summary also announced the governments suggestions for a more effective use of, and better training for, teaching assistants and other school support staff which, along with a subsequent OfSTED review, (2002a, p6) declared the need for training that would, match any proposed structure of qualifications and to facilitate career progression. The implementation of national occupational standards for teaching assistants, approved in 2001, and the HLTA status introduced in 20 03, (TDA, 2008) offered committed support staff the opportunity to progress and acquire the skills to become more accomplished educators. Working as a teaching assistant started to become a career and so began the real debate about the role of the teaching assistant. As with many job titles within the working environment, the title teaching assistant is often interpreted in a variety of ways but one common theme I have encountered, when questioning educational staff, is that all teaching assistants have the potential to be facilitators of learning and therefore are essential elements in the development of learning for children. How the facilitation is carried out, however, is less clear and open to individual interpretation by both employers and employees. In order to support the learning of all children, teaching assistants, like any educator, need to have a good understanding of how children learn. In the book, Teaching and Learning in the Early Years, Whitebread (2008, chapter 1) discusses Piagets ideas that children need to feel and hold control over their learning. Whitebread continues by exploring Vygotsys claims that it is the role of the adult to provide opportunities for social interaction and to support the child in moving out of their comfort zone or level of actual development and towards their potential via their zone of proximal development. To do this, a teaching assistant must understand how to promote curiosity amongst children while providing opportunities for discussion and exploration. With current class sizes in the region of up to 30 pupils, a class teacher will often be unable to engage in this vital aspect of developing childrens learning and so it is essential that supporting adults are equipped with the skills to scaffold learning and to provide opportunities for them to develop the language needed to be able to discuss and explain their ideas. (Bruner 1983, cited in Peabody Journal of Education, pp 64-66) Recently I was fortunate to be part of an initiative to promote reading amongst a group of reluctant pupils who had formulated an opinion that reading was a chore to be undertaken with animosity and only when instructed to do so. Upon investigation, it was obvious that these children had encountered a variety of barriers that had influenced their attitude and ability to read. My role was that of the enabling adult as described by Chambers (1991). By providing them with an opportunity to share and discuss each others reading experiences I was able to promote and inspire in them a willingness and enjoyment of reading. The outcome of this quickly became apparent in their understanding of written text. The children also began writing with enthusiasm, using their own knowledge and experiences; as a result, they had taken control of their own learning. The childrens vocal responses demonstrated that they felt empowered by the fact that they were directly responsible for the progress that t hey were making and they continue to enjoy our weekly discussions about their reading and progress. The children mentioned do not have special educational needs, as is often the case for pupils being supported by a teaching assistant. Children with SEN require a higher level of support and this has, traditionally, been provided by teaching assistants. (Alborz et al, 2009a) This has previously been an area for debate with The Daily Telegraph (2009) publishing an article claiming that research shows that, Pupils make less progress in classrooms where schools employ more teaching assistants. This article states that teaching assistants often support lower attaining pupils, resulting in them being less supported by a qualified teacher and to them making limited progress. The article does not, however, take into account the training of the teaching assistants. While reviewing the impact of workforce remodeling, a report by OfSTED (2004) stated that when a teaching assistant is appointed to work with carefully chosen pupils and is provided with the appropriate training to do so effective ly, the pupils make significant progress. This is, of course, as well as the obvious benefits of providing the teacher with more time to focus on other pupils. Having worked alongside several teaching assistants employed to support children with SEN I have witnessed the immeasurable benefit to the pupil and the class as a whole. The teaching assistants enabled the pupils to be included in a mainstream classroom and access the curriculum, while allowing the class teacher to support the majority of the pupils. Their support involved the re-enforcing of the whole class teaching, giving the pupil the confidence to participate in class discussions, simplification of vocabulary, offering praise and encouragement and feedback on the completed task. Following the lesson, the teaching assistant also provided the teacher with assessment and monitoring feedback to enable assessment of and for learning. This assessment has become a vital aspect of the role of the teaching assistant and supports the teacher and pupil by enabling differentiation and personalised learning to become every day practice. (OfSTED, 2002b) Guidance published by the NFER (2002, cited in Department for Education and Skills, 2005, p.22) found that when teachers and teaching assistants work in partnership, the results are a more effective level of teaching and learning. An example of this is a scenario I have experienced recently where a teaching assistant supported the learning of the majority of the class while the class teacher focused on the children with SEN. As a result of the teacher and teaching assistant having spent time working together to plan the lesson, the teaching assistant was able to support the learning objectives and assist pupils in their achievement of them. Teaching assistants can also, when included in the planning of a lesson, actively participate in the delivery of the lesson providing an alternative viewpoint or by playing a character in role. One such example was provided by my colleague who, upon realising that many of the pupils within the class had misunderstood a key concept, pretended to be confused and raised a hand to ask for clarification. As a result, pupils developed a clearer understanding of the lesson and therefore, the teaching assistant had played an important role in developing their learning. By implementing a combination of all of these approaches and with effective training and guidance, teaching assistants can provide invaluable support for all children within any lesson. Teaching assistants also support behaviour management within classes and can provide an alternative level of perception within the classroom. In daily Literacy lessons, I have observed a teaching assistant supporting a pupil with ADHD and have no doubt that without her presence, the class teacher would have to spend a large proportion of the lesson settling the child and addressing low level distractions. Personal experience has shown me that children with emotional or behavioural difficulties are often more responsive towards a teaching assistant with whom they can forge a positive adult / child relationship. This can contribute towards the social and emotional wellbeing of the child as outlined by Alborz et al. (2009b). Besides the opportunity to support childrens learning during lesson time, teaching assistants continue to carry out a multitude of administrative tasks in order to support the class teacher and the school as a whole. The National Agreement, (ATL et al. 2003, p.2), implemented as part of the governments workforce remodelling initiative, states that teachers should not spend their time carrying out administrative responsibilities that do not make full use of their skills and expertise but that these tasks should be carried out by support staff. The agreement outlines twenty-one tasks that teaching staff should not be required to carry out including the preparation of classroom resources, photocopying, the collection of monies for educational visit and the preparation and setting up of displays. These tasks must also, therefore, be considered the responsibility of the teaching assistant. Each and every one of the administrative tasks has an impact on the educational environment and ther efore contributes towards supporting the development of childrens learning. In practice, however, the need for teaching assistants to be more involved in the delivery of lessons surely means that they too will have less time for carrying out administrative duties which in turn might relay these duties back into the hands of the teachers. In my experience, teaching assistants often offer unconditional support for the school in which they are employed. Many carry out duties beyond their working hours providing curriculum enrichment activities and regularly being at the forefront of fund raising events. They frequently are able to provide a connection between local communities and their schools as they often live in close proximity to their workplace. This is a non essential yet valuable part of their role as it enables teaching staff to be aware of local issues and provides a link between parents and schools. (Lipsett, 2008) In conclusion, the role of the teaching assistant has evolved significantly over recent years and can offer committed individuals with a recognised career that is both progressive and rewarding. With appropriate professional development opportunities, a teaching assistant can give invaluable support to individuals and groups of pupils, teaching staff, parents and schools. By providing pastoral care, administrative support and personalised learning they can, as outlined in the Governments Every Child Matters initiative (DfES, 2003), promote enjoyment and achievement in a safe, nurturing environment; contribute to the academic and emotional wellbeing of all children; help them to become successful members of the school and wider community.

DH-106 Comet Investigation

DH-106 Comet Investigation The Comet was the worlds first commercial jet airliner flying double the speeds of propelling planes and blew the worlds mind with speed class and disasters to come from flaws only engineers would notice. With three major accidents in just 2 years.[1] Small tears would be found and the shape of the window and thin shell would ultimately take the toll [2]of these major accidents. 1 Introduction 2 Abstract 3 Table of contents 4 Introduction 5 Background 6 Investigation 7 Finding and recommendations 8 The impact 9 The conclusion 10 Sources The DH-106 Comet was the worlds first commercial civilian airliner to hit the major mainstream and grab the worlds attention. The plane had four ghost jet engines near the main body of the plain. The plain nearly doubled the average speed per hour to the fastest propeller plane on the market. This meant trips could be gnarly cut in half and allow for my rides per day, making aviation have a large interest to the public and gained doubled the amount of passengers in just two years of its entry blowing out U.S business and shooting for the dream of making british planes world wide. De Havilland was founded in 1920 as british airways company and joined with Hawker Siddeley in 1964. Geoffrey De Havilland had pulled some money in with his friends and personal investments to seek out his dream of creating his own plane. The first production plane was the DH.18 and later the The comet had faced three major accidents in just 2 years killing 99 people in total. The dates were: May 2nd 1953- flight 783 leaves calcutta Airport to Delhi flying as BOAC. The plain will only hold for for 6 minutes before being caught in a sever thunderstorm.the plain had only reached 7,500 feet before ripping apart January 10th 1954- 781 will depart from ciampino airport. Leaving from rome. Captions would talk over the radio and right in mid sentence would be cut off, the plane would rip apart and all would die in the plane. April 8 1954-left ciampino airport got about 40 minutes in the air at around 35,000 feet in the air before just ripping apart killing everyone. Planes were recovered by the british navy and put back together for research and better understanding of how the accident went down. Water testing would also be tested to see is the the pressure was the cause of these tragedies. While being tested new materials would be tested such as cold working but would never be implemented for the commercial plane. Cold working is when you make metal extremely cold and then the metal is flattened to make it stronger like a hay bale or bricks. While investigators were rebuilding the planes peace by peace they noticed there were large stress tears by the windows on top of the plane and on the passenger windows. Later on after the three accidents this would be taken into consideration and eventually windows would be shaped more oval rather than square. The material would be the next huge notice. Around the windows were rivets that held the window in place and the very thin metal frame. When the plane is pressurized the metal will contract and expand leading to stress fractures and eventually tears. So when the cabin is having pressure applied on both sides the metal would give and the plane would rip apart like a tissue and kill everyone in a giant fireball. Much stricter regulations were imposed for the industry implying that if any imperfections were implied that the plane be holdted till ready or replaced. Details were huge and everything is to be checked with what paint is used to down right the way wiring is stored. To engineering tech specialist are the ones who give this inspection. They look for loose wires, flat tires, chips in the paint or metal or any other imperfections. Details were looked over for interest of money and not totally understanding totaly what was going on with this new technology. When accidents happen planes were not properly investigated not having proper fixes actually implied till a disaster had already been placed. Time to detail was the downfall of these disasters and if the engineers had payed more attention these accidents and implied there minds, they could have prevented set recorders of failure and set a safer name in the industry.

I Will be an Asian Newscaster :: Autobiography Essay, Personal Narrative

â€Å"This is Sandy Le, reporting from Channel 7 News.† In five years, I see myself as a newscaster broadcasting to my local Bay Area. I will be following in the footsteps of a well-known Vietnamese news anchor named Thuy Vu. She has helped open a door for other Vietnamese people to expand their career options in American society. As a newscaster, I will expand my knowledge of different cultures and take advantage of the many opportunities to learn about what lies outside my own community. Her inspiration will help me excel in this, my chosen career. Thuy Vu came from Vietnam. Traveling thousands of miles by boat, she escaped Vietnam with her family when Saigon fell to the communists toward the end of the Vietnam War. In America, she gained a general education and then went to UC Berkeley where she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Rhetoric. She started her journalism career in public radio at KQED-FM in San Francisco, and then moved to National Public Radio. Eventually, she worked at several Bay Area news stations as a reporter. In August 2000, she joined ABC7 and became a co-anchor on Sunday Morning News at 7am and 9am. She also generously donates her time to community groups, often emceeing fundraisers, giving keynote speeches, or judging competitions. Over the years, she has received numerous awards from her hard work in radio and journalism, and was honored Best Reporter in the Bay Area by American Women in Radio and Television. She also won two national awards from the Asian American Journalists Association, one for a multi-part series on post-war life in her homeland of Vietnam. These were just a few awards among many that she has accumulated or have been nominated for. When I wanted to be a reporter, I noticed only a few Vietnamese working in the media. Eventually, I will want to contribute to the number of Vietnamese faces in the media with my own presence. I’ve always wanted to be a reporter who travels around discovering interesting stories about the community and bringing them to others’ attention. I find media communication is one of the best resources for expressing news and current events. I Will be an Asian Newscaster :: Autobiography Essay, Personal Narrative â€Å"This is Sandy Le, reporting from Channel 7 News.† In five years, I see myself as a newscaster broadcasting to my local Bay Area. I will be following in the footsteps of a well-known Vietnamese news anchor named Thuy Vu. She has helped open a door for other Vietnamese people to expand their career options in American society. As a newscaster, I will expand my knowledge of different cultures and take advantage of the many opportunities to learn about what lies outside my own community. Her inspiration will help me excel in this, my chosen career. Thuy Vu came from Vietnam. Traveling thousands of miles by boat, she escaped Vietnam with her family when Saigon fell to the communists toward the end of the Vietnam War. In America, she gained a general education and then went to UC Berkeley where she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Rhetoric. She started her journalism career in public radio at KQED-FM in San Francisco, and then moved to National Public Radio. Eventually, she worked at several Bay Area news stations as a reporter. In August 2000, she joined ABC7 and became a co-anchor on Sunday Morning News at 7am and 9am. She also generously donates her time to community groups, often emceeing fundraisers, giving keynote speeches, or judging competitions. Over the years, she has received numerous awards from her hard work in radio and journalism, and was honored Best Reporter in the Bay Area by American Women in Radio and Television. She also won two national awards from the Asian American Journalists Association, one for a multi-part series on post-war life in her homeland of Vietnam. These were just a few awards among many that she has accumulated or have been nominated for. When I wanted to be a reporter, I noticed only a few Vietnamese working in the media. Eventually, I will want to contribute to the number of Vietnamese faces in the media with my own presence. I’ve always wanted to be a reporter who travels around discovering interesting stories about the community and bringing them to others’ attention. I find media communication is one of the best resources for expressing news and current events.