School Driver Essay Example for Free

School Driver Essay My aunt, a school driver, she has a problem of picking the student up to school. She lives in Belvedere Garden, and picks student to the school in Shek Lei Estate (the map is on the last page). In order to save the cost by shorten the distance to the school, she asked me to solve the problem for her. By the virtue of keen competition, she couldnt charge for the high fees from the students. Besides, the fuel is very costly and variable. Thus, her income becomes unstable. She tries to solve it by picks up more students from different places, but the routes will be more complex and the time does not allow her to do so. She has to pick 50 students up from 12 places, there are 10 seats left and therefore she can only save the cost by pick more students up from these 12 places but not the other places. I also found her driving routes have a great problem, she didnt choose the fastest way. So I will choose the fastest routes for her. She has to drive 4 times per school day 1. From BG to SLE (through all places in shortest routes) 2. From SLE to BG (fastest routes to back home) 3. From BG to SLE (fastest routes to back to school) 4. From SLE to BG (through all the places in shortest routes). I have asked her where the 12 places were, how much profits she earns totally per month and how much the costs are. Here is the information: The name of the twelve place: Belevedere Garden Phase 3 (BG) Tsuen King Garden (TKG) Clague Garden Estate (CGE) Discovery Park (DP) Water Side Plaza (WSP) Luk Leung Sun Chuen (LYSC) Pa Tin Pa Tsuen (PTPT) Kwai Yin Court (KYC) Lei Muk Chuen Estate (LMSE) Shek Yam Estate (SYE) Shek Yam East Estate (SYEE) Shek Lei Estate (SLE) The distances between the places: Second drive: After sending the students to the school, my aunt will then go back home (From SLE to BG). Her original route is showed below: BGi DPi KYCi SLE 5km Third drive: She has to pick up the students again after the school (From BG to SLE). Her original route is showed below: Â  BG 13. 09km The total distance of the whole drive is 12. 6 + 5 + 5 + 13. 09=35. 69km There are 22 school days average per month, which means the total distance of one month is 35. 69 x 22 = 785km. In HK, the cost of the fees are 15p per km average, thus her original cost per month is 785 x 15p = i 118 and her income is i 810. So her actual income decreases to i 810 i 118 = i 692 Now I am going to find out the shortest routes of four drives. For the first drive and the last drive, I solve the problem by showing all possible ways as she has to go through all 12 places. The second and the third drive, I do only find the shortest routes and therefore I will use the Dijkstras algorithm. There are 52 way in the first drive and 66 ways in the fourth drive. Possible ways for first drive: BGi TKGi PTPTi Therefore, the new total distance per month is (12. 12 + 4. 93 + 4. 93 + 12. 6) x 22 = 761km The new cost is 761 x 15p = i 114 So her actual income increases to i 810 i 114 = i 696 If my aunt is willing to use this my methods, she could save i 4 a month (i 696 i 692 = i 4) Evaluation As a result, I saved i 4 for my aunt. In England, people may think that i 4 is just a little amount of money. However, i 4 in Hong Kong and China you can help many poor. They may get warm and full by buying food, clean water and clothes. I suggested my aunt that she could save more by delete the second and the third drives. It saves almost i 33 more (4. 93 x 2 x 22 x 15p ). It would spend her leisure at home during the resting time but save her more money. She could also earn more by picking more students from those 12 places. The cost cannot save so much because the routes in Hong Kong are not very long but complex, Hong Kong is just a point in the map only. In addition, she picks students up from 2 districts only and therefore the roads are shorter. The time is a problem as well, she is not allowed to pick more students. Otherwise, all of the students will be late for school and their parents will complain her. In the first drive and fourth drive, I have found out the shortest routes by showing all possible. Actually, its very difficult to find out and its take me a long time. When I was doing it, I needed to check many times whether I had showed all the possible or not. Besides, its easy to make mistakes when I was calculating the distance of the possible routes. In the second and the third drive, I used Djkstras algorithm to find out the shortest easily. It is very convenience and hard to make a mistake. This is the best method for me which I have learned. I impacted my aunt as well and she found it is useful.

The Success Of A Natura Cosmetics

The Success Of A Natura Cosmetics In order to analyze the success of a Natura cosmetics, there are many factors to be mentioned. In my opinion, two main reasons which should be listed are the effectiveness of relationship between Natura and organizations relating to its operation and its learning, innovation activities. Firstly, it is not difficult to realize that Naturas relationship strategy works very effectively. According to the case study, this companys main operations including production, logistics and research and development are situated in Sao Paulo. When there is a new order, the stock status will be checked immediately by the stock management system. In no more than one day from the purchase order, the finished products are delivered to the sales representatives home. With 26 delivery partners as well as postal service, Naturals products will be transported to its representatives no longer than six days in spite of far destinations (Natura case study). Clearly, in order to ensure the quality of the products and good services for the customers, the connection between separate parts in a whole group must be strong. It requires all bodies to have to cooperate and contribute to the effectiveness of the common duties. One concentration of Naturas relationship strategy is on sales representat ives. They are seen as the companys consultants who are well-trained, autonomous female salespersons and mostly are housewives having good relationship with potential customers such as friends, office staff, independent professionalsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ One special thing here is that Natura does not have to pay direct employment costs for this force. This method will help the company save a large amount of money to invest in other activities. Also it will encourage Natura to expand its market without being worried about reducing profit margins. Using this way, the advantages will belong to not only Natura but also sales force. They do not receive a direct salary amount but the commission for sold products is the highest in the industry, which including 30% margin of end consumer prices and premium prices (Natura case study). Obviously, this way is based on the ability to sell products of each sales representative and it creates motivation for them to try more because of themselves as wel l as the company. Another strength of its management is organizational cultural. Openness, transparency and respects for its stakeholders ( Natura case study) are the words to describe this operating environment. They are ready to give challenge to middle management who are believed to be ambitious and highly qualified. This force is able to take great and out of imagination success for the company. Additionally, the policy for new talents is positive. Natura wants to fulfill both from inside and outside sources. They takes time to develop potential talents and headhunt as well. As a result, the manager force will be diversified. With customers, Natura has a such different approach. A customer going to Natura means that she is buying belief . The company does not talk about market demands but captures their emotions, feelings. By this way, when a customer sees an advertisement of Natura, she will think that this product is born for her, and Natura helps her have a better life throug h selling it. It is impossible to deny the effectiveness of this marketing philosophy. About the quality of products, Natura persuades customers by using natural and sustainable ingredients. For example, Ekos product line comprises of Brazilian berries and plants, such as guarana, brazil nuts, mate verde and cocoaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦( Natura case study). In recent years, cosmetics consumers mostly believe that products extracted from the nature will have good effects on the skin and no side-effect. With information about materials from reserves in the rainforests and savannahs, clearly Ekos is easier to be appreciated from the public. One important thing of Naturas relationship strategy is to participate in environmental issues. This action demonstrates that Natura not only operates to make profits but contributes to the development of society as well. Otherwise, it will bring positive image in public for the company and create its good connection with the customers, government. Such act ivities, such as Rainforest Education and Recovery Project, Rio de Janeiro Botanical Gardensà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ are specific examples of maintaining garden and regenerating damaged forest ecosystems (Natura case study). Secondly, Naturas operational pathway is the process of learning and innovation. Staring from a small laboratory and cosmetics store, the company made a bid step in the market by studying the experience of Avon- the then leader in the world. In 1974, Natura decided to operate following direct sales model. The result of this strategy was the expansion at low to moderate cost. With a new company, learning from successful and well-known brand name is very important and this gives useful lessons for Natura at that time. Besides, the success of Natura also comes from its innovation and product development. Every year, the company spent about 2.9% annual net revenues in research and development (RD) to launch and improve approximately 153 products (Natura case study). Natura also buys patents, technology from research centers in Brazil and outside. Their concentration is placed on skin care and environment-friendly products. In conclusion, effective relationship strategy as well as learning and innovation activities are two main factors of the success of Natura internationally. Task 2: using relevant theoretical models and with examples from the case study- evaluate the companys internationalization strategy in the period 1982 2005. Answer: In the period 1982 2005, it has seen the development of Natura in cosmetics international market. Along with the expansion into different areas from the near to the far, this company changed the operational strategies gradually and more effectively. It demonstrates that the companys market commitment as well as internationalization level has increased simultaneously in this period. As a result, in order to assess Naturas internationalization strategy from 1982 to 2005, I decide to choose the Uppsala model which emphasizes increasing commitment towards abroad market when the firms experience goes up (Svend Hollensen, 2007). In the year1982, it saw the first endeavor of Natura to distribute its products to foreign customers. The company used an independent distributor in Chile. However, the result for this action was terrible. The operation was stopped after it operated in a short term. The reason for this failure is that Natura did not have careful preparation. Clearly going international is an important issue for any firms which want to develop. One of the most vital conditions for success is that the company should have a proper plan and it must come from its actual demand. At this time, Naturas expansion abroad was driven by impulse. (Naturas case study). Maybe it could not create enough motivation for working attitude and successful ambition. The second cause is that the company had no enough information about the market (Naturas case study). Knowledge such as politics, culture, distance differences between markets à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ always should be obtained by the firms in the case they really need t o succeed. Additionally, personnel and financial problems happened when the company went to Portugal and Florida. And lessons due to lack of experience was given to Natura. Accordingly, market commitment or internationalization level in this situation is rather low. Until the 1990s, Naturas action of going abroad occurred again. Contrast with the last time, the company planned carefully. And this time, a great advantage of the Government policy favored to development way of Natura. Brazil and other South and Central American nations took favorable change in politics and macroeconomics. With potential markets of Natura such as, Mexico, Argentinaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ were attempting to cooperate commercially with Brazil and their economy were growing positively. Besides that, the attitude of high appreciation of beauty and better understanding of cosmetics has made an increase in demand for beauty products. It can not be denied that many favorable conditions have come to Natura (Natura case study). From this time, the success of the company in various markets has gone. Three specific examples for effective internationalization strategy are Argentina, French and Mexico. Argentina and Brazil are two nations in the same Latin America area. The geographic d istance between them is not so far. And Natura took the first step to this market in 1994 but until 2001 the large mark occurred. In December 2001, this economy was thrown into crisis because of currency devaluation of about 40%. While its competitors tried to go up prices, Natura kept it stable. The company has just increased it only when local salary changed in the better way (Natura case study) and this information was announced publicly to the customers. By reducing cost and remaining price, the company got good impression on Argentinean market and help the process of building the brand here. The strategy brought the win situation for Natura. In three years later, there was a growth of six- factor revenue which is a wonderful number. The main method that the company applied to sell products in Argentina in this period is direct selling through sales consultants force. The number of consultants went up nearly three times from 7000 in 2002 to 20000 in 2005. Obviously, Natura has g ot good result with participation strategy into Argentinean market. The second one should be mentioned in internationalization strategy of Natura is France. It can be said that from Argentina to France there is a development of both geographic diversification, internationalization and market commitment. The distance from France to Brazil is much larger than that of the remainder. Actually, located in two different continents, there is not same characteristics in the beauty product custom. Hence, Seabra said that France has historically been a source of knowledge and raw material for our products as well as a source of inspiration. About the way of sales, Natura discontinued using traditional model which is direct sales and changed to retail store. It is an increase in size of investment in marketing and organization. In stead of a point of sales, in 2005 the company designed a two storey flagship store where are used for sampling products, promotion events and is seen as displaceme nt place of Naturas belief and vision (Natura case study). This is an evidence to show the companys market commitment is on upward. Another point is the change in Naturas product packaging and size. Making its products suitable for the host markets demand demonstrates effort to occupy the market share and internationalize. Moving to Mexican market, it has seen a more progressive step in the strategy of Natura. And it seems to have leapfrog stage here. In the year 2003 which is prior of two years compared to the time of entrant in France, Natura came backs to the nearer market with many similar characteristics of economy, demographics and passion for beauty products (Natura case study). In Mexico, the company developed the experience in France to a new model hybrid model. Building Naturas House, it can combine the strengths of both direct sales model and store chain. Here sales representatives can interchange experience, be trained professional skills, keep in touch with brand and even receive sample. Also in this country, the company takes an initiative in new marketing tools. An example of this is magalogue. This combination between magazine and catalogue is applied to give Naturas products and special offerings, articles about health and beauty problem. So, in comparison with French market, Naturas investment in Mexico takes more attempt. Change from a store chain to Naturas House is an example. It requires both market-specific knowledge and general knowledge. And resources should be employed more efficiently, especially human resource. All these elements explain that there is an upward trend of market commitment, internationalization when Natura enters Mexican market. Generally, Naturas internationalization strategy was successful in the period 1990s to 2005, but ineffective in the year 1980s. Task 3: using relevant theory, argue the case either for against Natura adopting a model (or models) of international market entry that differs from the direct sales/ distribution model employed. Answer: Coming back to international cosmetics market since the year 1990s, Natura has gradually succeeded with several adjustment of market entry policies. Two specific evidences are Maison Natura in France and Casa Natura in Mexico. These models show that the level of geographic diversification, market commitment and internationalization (The Uppsala internationalization model) of Natura has increased as well as their international market entry method has changed in comparison with direct sales model ever -used. Moreover, in order to go international more dramatically, Natura should employ an appropriate market entry strategy. In my opinion, it can be Hierarchical model with resident sales representatives in foreign target market. Firstly, it should be mentioned the direct sales model that Natura used to employ to provide products to its customers. The current demand for the companys cosmetics are met through the force of 483000 active sales representatives in Brazil and 36000 agents abroad, who are well-trained and flexible consultants . And mostly orders from customers are placed via Web and telephones. However, with French market of which Paris has been known as a holy city of fashion and beauty products, to attract much attention from the public, Natura innovated its traditional way. The company decided to open a two-storey flagship store which was called as Maison Natura in 2005. This store takes the duty of more than a point of sales, where can be seen to display Naturas belief and vision. Also here samples are given to customers or promotion events happen (Natura case study). There is an improvement in the way Natura enters to the market and persuades potential buyers. With this retail store, Natura has to spend more investment than its direct distribution. It is for the organization, marketing and even personnelà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦For example, the company had to build a store and make it become a place served for many purposes. It is so different from a call centre which can only receive purchase orders. Besides that, to adapt to this competitive environment, Natura modified its pr oducts packaging and size. It can not be denied these activities were able to help Natura get a foothold in France. And the reasons were that the company prepared carefully market specific knowledge and made market commitment. From that, Natura seems to be more suitable for an international market entry model which requires more responsibility and competence. And about Mexican market, it is still another increase in market commitment as well as internationalization. However, there is leapfrog stage herein. The distance from Mexico to Brazil is smaller than that of France and the time of entering Mexican market is sooner two years (2003) but internationalization process goes up. Having some advantages of similar characteristics of economy, demographics, passion for cosmetics, Natural also faced the issue of late participation (Natura case study). Hence, in order to get success, it seemed to request the company to adjust a new strategy. The solution given was that Natura House which has strengths of both pure direct sales model and retail store. There sales consultants can help each other with experience and it can be place for exhibitions, training speeches or product testing, offerings. Clearly, advantage of direct sales model which is the strong relationship between end user and sales representative, and those of retail chain which are c lose relationship among sales consultants and multi-purpose place are combined. Not only the company invested in finance to establish this hybrid model at large towns and areas with many buildings, but also at Natura House, new marketing tools were employed at the first time to remind the public about the companys brand (Natura case study). For example, the company tried issuing magalogue. By this way, Natura could supply both its product, special offerings and health, cosmetics articles as well. It can be considered that Naturas attempts of organizational and marketing change demonstrates their ambition to get a step into Mexican cosmetics market and occupy a certain market share. Also the approach was done professionally step by step. Importantly, it did differ from direct sales model Natura used to use. Far from these two markets, in the following years, the company wants to attack new potential large ones, such as the UK, the US, Russia and so on. Only in the United States, in 2004, the value of sales of cosmetics and toiletries in 2004 was 45.6 billions US$, made up 19.7% of total market share. Or In United Kingdom and Russia, the numbers were 11.6 billions US$ (5%) and 6.4 billions US$ (2.8%) respectively (table 1 of Natura case study). However, with these countries, the main retail channel methods are not the same with Brazil. While in Brazil, sales through direct sales gained the remarkable proportion of 27.4% in 2004, in Western Europe, that percentage was only 4.7%. In these regions, the most common methods are different each others. ( Table 2 of Natura case study). From the factors which have already mentioned, in my opinion Natura should move to apply a new international market entry Hierarchical mode. With current conditions, it can open resident sales representatives in the host country. Rather similar to models employed in France and Mexico, the company can build a place of many functions served for sales and marketing activities. These can be a showroom, an information centre for customers, after-sales service centre, a training centre for sales consultants, a place for sample receivingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Sales and service department should be located in the host countries because it will be easier to know thoroughly about local passion and demand in comparison with doing from distance. When being familiar with local market, Natura can open sales subsidiaries. At this business office method, the company can be take tax advantage but it must take more responsibilities and autonomy. Besides, research and development, production, marketing depar tments are still situated in Brazil. It seems to be face a large amount of difficulties to change abroad assumed that other conditions do not change. Task 4: Naturas production facilities are located in Brazil. Assess whether this decision is correct in terms of strategy and logistics distribution given the companys portfolio of domestic, regional and international markets. Answer: Since the establishment in 1969, Natura has experienced different growth periods. First period from 1969 to1981, the company tried to build the brand and take expansion in domestic market. In 1982, Natura signed a contract with an independent distributor in Chile in order to expand abroad. However, this plan failed financially. Until the 1990s, once again Natura went internationally according to the open policy of the government and has got success step by step. Although Natura has changed their activities dramatically compared to the foundation time, production facilities has still situated in Brazil. One issue is given is that this decision is suitable for the development of Natura in following years? Firstly, with current situation, in my view placing all production facilities in Brazil is a reasonable decision. Brazil is the place where Natura was born. As a result, the companys products are manufactured usually have characteristics suitable for Brazilian demand. So along with the development of this brand, a stable market share in Brazil has been occupied. For any companies, they will penetrate into foreign markets once gaining or becoming familiar with its home market. This will be a strong basis for the company to attack another. About Natura, its Brazilian market share in 2003 was 11.3%, positioned the second leading cosmetics and toiletries company in Brazil (Table 3 of Natura case study). Moreover, this country has a large advantage of material sources of production for the company. In recent years, Natura has focused their operation on the products using sustainable ingredients. And Brazils diversity is a profuse supply source. Fulfilling these natural materials for the p roduction in the home country, clearly the company has bigger advantages over its competitors. They can save cost of transportation, import tax and preferential policies for domestic companies to use inside materials. Additionally, the traditional markets of this company are Argentina, Mexico, and so on. These countries are not far from Brazil and most of them are in the same area with many similar characteristics. So production facilities in Brazil and using active sales representatives force to distribute the products to the customers in these nations may not create serious problems of transportation cost. Another reason to support for production facilities in Brazil is the effectiveness of the current operations. When a customer place an order, in 24 next hours finished product is made to be transported to the sales representatives home. It is due to the close cooperation among different department and automated system. Immediately after having a new order, the stock status is ch ecked by the stock management system, and materials are collected to production facilities. Final steps are packaging and labeling. Total time for the whole process is no more than one day. After that, with 26 delivery partner, products are delivered to its representative within 2 days in Sao Paulo or no longer than 6 days for far destinations (Natura case study). It can be said that the operational process works actually efficiently to ensure delivery plan. This punctuality has supported placing production facilities in the origin country of products. From these points, that Naturas beauty products are manufactured in Brazil is appropriate. However, this decision will continue to be agreed in the future when plan of making Natura brand become commonplace with global audience? First problem can occur when moving production abroad is the cost. Compared to most of other countries in the same South American area and Europe, labor cost here is much cheaper. One of the reasons is that their population is the fifth leading in the world and still young or in labor ages (Wikipedia information). If Natura choose a country which labor price is high, finished products price will increase dramatically and the competitiveness will decrease. In addition, begin operating at a new location, there are two ways for material issue. The first solution is to find the new source. However, it is not simple to carry out because main ingredients for the companys cosmetics are from the nature, especially from Brazils biodiversity. The second one is to trans port materials from Brazil to the manufacture place. Maybe it is an impractical solution due to a large amount of disadvantages. It can be denied that transportation as well as import tax will make it go up. It also can result from import policy which procedures or regulations in the host country do not encourage to import such materials. Also Natura should take into account the origin country of products. It is not true that all customers evaluate equally with the same brand but different production places It is considered frequently that the customer have preference for the products from well-known nations for high technology and long term tradition of this kind of commodities. As a result, when deciding to choose a new manufacture location, the managers need to investigate the customers desire. About distribution network, currently Natura still uses direct sales model through active sales representative force. They are seen as Naturas consultant who are mainly well trained housew ives and receive orders via Web and calls (Natura case study). So the company does not have to pay direct employment cost but high commission for every product sold. With current conditions this retail channel still works efficiently. But if there is a change in production facilities, it is still good? Last but not least, logistics issue can meet obstacles in the case of moving manufacture location abroad if that policy there is still close. It can come from various regulations about import export documents or the quality of transportation system is modern enough to support Naturaa activities or inventory, storage problems, packaging and so on. Nowadays to get high profits, generally multinational companies invest in developing country, but they have to accept certain risks related to low quality of logistics. Hence, Natura ought to consider the ability of goods to move between nations. In conclusion, with current affecting factors, Natura seems to keep production facility situate in Brazil. In the far future, along with long term strategy and improvement outside, a change maybe reasonable if they are supportive.

Existentialism in Franz Kafkas The Metamorphosis and The Hunger Artist

Existentialism in The Metamorphosis and The Hunger Artist       Existentialism is a philosophy dealing with man's aloneness in the universe. Either there is no God or else God stands apart from man, leaving him free will to make his own choices. From this basic idea of man being alone in an uncertain and purposeless world, many related ideas have developed. One great worry of existentialist writers is that life is becoming too complicated and too impersonal. People become more and more involved with their work, which is taking them away from their friends, family, and culture. However, these provide the only "meaning" that life could possibly have. One author prominently known for his work with existential ideas was Franz Kafka. Kafka, who wrote from the mid-1910's until the early 1920's, took the ideas of existentialism and interwove them so well into his novels and short stories that they became a trademark of his writing. Two of his stories are good examples of this philosophy: The Metamorphosis and "The Hunger Artist."    In The Metamorphosis, Gregor, the protagonist, works as a salesman. He doesn't like his job but works very hard, making his job his life. When he wakes up one morning having turned into a dung beetle (or perhaps a cockroach?) during the night, he thinks only about how he is going to get to work, not how it happened or what he can do about it. The hunger artist is also completely dedicated to his job, which is fasting. To him it is an art, one which he works at day and night. All of his thoughts focus on how he can improve himself. At the end of forty days (which was the fasting limit set by his manager), he always asks himself, "Why stop now when [I am] in [my] best fasting for... ...    In both stories, Kafka deals with existentialist ideas. He touches on the view that society is becoming too complicated, too impersonal, and suggests that in our compulsion for work we are getting out of touch with each other. When we start treating humans as inanimate objects instead of people, the results are disastrous. Although Kafka makes these dismal observations, he also provides for a brighter future. Although humans as a group are becoming less and less personal, he seems to say, an optimistic future is possible if individuals will only stop and examine themselves and their relationships with other people.    WORKS CITED Kafka, Franz. "The Hunger Artist." In The Collected Short Stories of Franz Kafka. Ed. Nahum Glatzer. London: Penguin, 1983. ---. The Metamorphosis. Trans. Stanley Corngold. New York: Bantam, 1972.      

Pez :: essays research papers

Pez was invented in 1927 in Vienna, Austria by an already accomplished candyman named Edward Haas III. The word "Pez" comes from the German word for peppermint, which is phefferminz. You take the first, middle, and last letters, put them together and you get Pez. When Edward Haas first invented Pez it was originally a breath mint for adult smokers, thus the first dispenser which came along in 1947, naturally, looked like a cigarette lighter. In 1952 Edward Haas brought his business to America and did extensive research with his products and the way children had grown attached to them. So in 1952 the first fruit flavored Pez was introduced along with the first Pez dispensers with character heads on them. The first flavors of Pez included cherry, lemon, orange and strawberry. These were the flavors that Edward thought the children would like the most. DispensersIn 1947 when the first Pez dispenser was invented it looked like a cigarette lighter and the "characters" that we know Pez by were not introduced until 1952. It is not certain, but some experts think that Mickey Mouse, and several other Disney characters were the first to appear on the top of dispensers. The top selling dispensers of all times are Mickey Mouse, Santa, and Dino the dinosaur from the Flinstones. Since the beginning of dispensers, over 275 different characters have been featured on top of a dispenser. Before 1987 dispensers did not have "feet". Feet are the two tabs on the bottom of the dispenser that help it stand up straight. The new Pez "regulars" are a remake of the first dispenser that looked like the cigarette lighter. The new regulars have no feet. Pez dispensers are made in and imported from Austria, Czech Republic, China, Hungry, Hong Kong, Yugoslavia, and Slovenia. The dispensers are sold at local Toys R Us, K-mart, Walmart, Wallgreens, Target, Eckard Drug, Family Dollar, Dollar Tree, and many other stores. Some dispensers like Bubble Man are only available through Special order direct from the Pez Candy Co. The most money ever paid for a single Pez dispenser was $3,600 brought at auction for a Big Top Elephant dispenser. Dispenser TagsThere are two different types of tags on Pez dispensers. The first type is the patent number. Pez first applied for a patent in 1968, and received the number 2.620.061. The patent number is located on the bottom left side of the dispenser.

Essay --

Aliza Lichy Ms. Hoff American Government 1/15/2014 The Importance of a Strong Middle Class Having a strong middle class indicates that America’s democracy will be effervescent and its economy will be beneficial, which will lead to the notion of precisely what America is all about. The setback is that the weakness of America’s middle class not only harms those affected by it, but all other individuals living in the U.S as well. America’s incomes are deteriorating or weakening, while items necessary to live increase in cost, and the probabilities of falling behind are beginning to develop. It is important that the gap between the upper class and the lower class is condensed, this way a strong middle class will be emitted. The modern persona of middle class citizens in America derives from the post World War II era. In 1944, the GI Bill was created to provide returning veterans with money to cover college, business, and home mortgages. This money gave servicemen the opportunity to afford a home of their own for the first time ever resulting in the vast pr oliferation of residential construction. This was how American subdivision commenced (Suddath). The fault in the subdivision initiated when the strong gap between the upper class and the lower class formed due to income inequality, race and gender disparities, education, and technology. The American government is working to rejuvenate the middle class and shorten the gap between the upper and lower class. In 2012, Vice President Joe Biden stated, "America's middle class is hurting, it is our charge to get the middle class — the backbone of this country — up and running again" (â€Å"A Strong† n.d.). The revitalization of America’s middle class is possible. In order to do so, the costs ... ...ny other ways that income is received consistently. Race and gender disparities are also a cause of the gap. The â€Å"gender earnings gap† in America as well as the â€Å"Gender Wage Gap† are other names for the difference in a male and females income year round. This information is gathered and used by economists and federal agencies as part of the current population survey. In 2010 the median income of year round workers was $42,800 for men, compared to $34,700 for women. The ratio of money earned was 0.81, reaching a somewhat higher ratio than that of 2008. The female-to-male earnings ratio of 0.81 means that, in 2009, female FTYR workers earned 19% less than male FTYR workers. The determination of the difference in income does not include the experience, education, skill, qualification, and more of the males and females as long as its full time (â€Å"Income inequality†).

Mental Health issues in Adults Essay

Mental health is defined in Healthy People 2020 as encompassing the ability to engage in productive activities and fulfilling relationships with other people, to adapt to change and to cope with adversity (USDHHS, 2010). In the United States nearly 57.7 Million adults (18 years and above) suffer from a mental health disorder in a given year and 6% of the population suffers from a serious mental illness (NIMH, 2010). The purpose of this paper is to look into the perspective of how best one can advocate for mental health disorder as a population health issue through various strategies including policy change. Population Health Issue and Population Affected Mental health disorders have no boundaries and affect all people without regard to gender, race or age. They are the leading cause of disability in North America (WHO, 2008b). Despite the staggering number of people with mental health disorders, only 25% obtain help in any part of the health care system, while the majority receives no specialty mental health care. It is unrealistic to have a goal of â€Å"decreasing the prevalence of mental illness† because mental illness by its nature is a complex bio psychosocial disorder and any stressful event in life may be the cause of mental health problem and everyone is susceptible to it. According to Byers et al. the number of people age 55 and above suffering from mood or anxiety disorders has been increasing for the last two decades and it has a trend of doubling itself every five years. This alarming trend will soon become a public health crisis as a large number of â€Å"baby boomer† generation ages. The increasing number of returning veterans is also another dimension to this crisis. A study conducted by RAND Corporation found that nearly twenty percent of servicemen and women returning from recent wars have some form of mental health condition (RAND, 2008). The estimated societal costs for the veterans based on prevalence and two years of treatment is estimated between $4.0 to 6.2 million. Advocacy Programs Researched in This Area The impact of mental illness on overall health and productivity in the US is often under recognized. There are many reasons for this under recognition; mainly the misunderstanding of the illness itself, lack of resources, stigma, or lack of social support can be cited. The World Health Organization (WHO) in recognition of the need for adequate resources launched a mental health initiative called Mental Health Global Action Program (mhGAP) to raise awareness and address a variety unmet needs. Other than WHO, consumer advocacy groups such as the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) deserve the credit for the advances made in the treatment of mental illness. The Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Act otherwise known as the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) was signed into law in 2008. The main goal of this Act is to eliminate unequal health treatment practice that has kept individuals from seeking mental health care for a long time. The way this law works it that it does not force group health plans to cover mental health benefits, however when plans cover mental health, it requires that they provide full and equal benefit in a way that is no more restrictive than all other medical and surgical procedures covered by the plan. Effective Attributes of the Programs MHPAEA has had quite an impact on the population since it went in effect in 2010. For starter, the statute does not require for employers to buy mental health benefits and employers with less than 50 employees are exempt of this statute. The second important point is that MHPAEA stipulates that any State law that provides greater protections than MHPAEA may continue to remain in effect. The last stipulation is great because it stops the Federal law (MHPAEA) from overriding a State law assuming that it protects its constituents better. Unfortunately some employers have taken MHPAEA as an excuse to drop mental health benefits in its entirety. The Screen Writers Guild was the first employer to announce its decision to drop mental health coverage for its 12000 employees. Some employers followed suit citing rising cost of insurance and burden on employers. NAMI argues cutting mental health benefits has higher cost to employers. According to NAMI most mental illnesses are highly treatable. For example, the most common mental illness in the United States is depression. The prevalence of depression is estimated to be 1 in 10 individuals of which 75% do not get the diagnosis nor the treatment. 72% are estimated to be in the workforce. NAMI estimates the indirect loss to employers amounts to 79 billion per year out of which 63 billion reflect loss of productivity due to mental illness. Mental illness causes more days of work loss and work impairement than chronic conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, asthma, arthritis, back pain and heart disease (NAMI, 2012). NAMI also claims that within two weeks of treatment 70 to 90% of individuals with depressions see a significant reduction of symptoms with and improved quality of life therefore it would be wise for employers to provide employees mental health coverage than incur costs for absenteeism. Health Advocacy Plan and Objectives for the Policy Implemented The very first step of making a health advocacy plan is to review and understand the existing health plans and be able to establish how they impact on the patients, health care providers and other stakeholders like insurers and the leaders (Jonas & Kovner, 2011). The next step is to establish the pros and cons of having such health plans (Jonas & Kovner, 2011). This would then influence a particular advocacy plan and the objectives of the policy. The objectives should take into account the prime position played by politicians in policy change (Alberta Heath Services, 2009). To effectively advocate for mental health, one needs to understand what is actually available. The facts are as follows: The US Department of Health and Human Services estimates that 47 Million of Americans are uninsured and out of this number 25% of them suffer from mental health or substance abuse disorder or a combination of the two. 1/3 of insured individuals have no coverage of both including outpatient therapy visits and inpatient crisis intervention. Then there is MHPAEA that exempts small groups therefore individuals insured under small group market may not have mental health coverage (unless the employer chose to provide one). The HHS estimates that about 95 percent of those with small group market coverage have substance abuse and mental health benefits (HHS, 2012). Communication to Various Stakeholders Communication in the public health sector can be done in several forms including through the mass media, seminars, schools, and churches and depending on the situation, place and target group, several methods can be used including posters, speeches, skits and literature among others. As a policy oriented approach, it divides the target audience into primary, secondary and tertiary. The primary target addresses the organizations, groups and people with the power to effect change. The secondary target is represented by those who can be mobilized to participate in the implementation. The tertiary target is the general public (Alberta Heath Services, 2009). In effect, therefore, mass media as means of advocacy help the organizations and the general public to make better health choices. The approach of communication NAMI took is to involve all three targets. The tertiary target i.e. the general public has also been the focus of NAMI especially because of the link between mental illness and substance abuse. Efforts to raise awareness are underway especially in the DC metro area where frequent walks organized by NAMI are happening. The aim of NAMI walks is to raise awareness of mental health and well-being in communities and to improve the general understanding of the illness, and reduce the misunderstandings and stigma associated with it. NAMI educates and trains practitioners and patients of the different pathways to recovery. Health practitioners, especially nurses get a larger opportunity to educate about the disease in their area of practice and also be the voices for the patients who do not have a voice. Data and Evidence to Substantiate Proposed Need The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), which is commonly referred to as the ObamaCare, has become regarded as a historical law ever since it was signed into the law in March 23rd, 2010 by President Obama (American Public Health Association, 2013). ACA built on the structures of MHPAEA to expand coverage of mental health and substance use disorder for more than 62 million Americans in the following three ways: 1.Essential Health Benefits Mental health and substance use disorders will be part of all individual and small group market â€Å"non-grandfathered† insurance plans (essential health benefits) effective January 1st 2014. â€Å"non-grandfathered† means plans that were not in existence before ACA was signed into law. This statute ensures that at least 5.1 million individuals (3.9 million currently covered in the individual market and 1.2 covered in small group plans) and will gain either mental health or substance use disorder coverage or both. 2.Parity in the Individual and Small Group Markets Under the ACA and the MHPAEA 7.1 million Americans currently covered in the individual market who currently have some mental health and substance use disorder benefits will have access to coverage of Essential Health Benefits comparable to their general and surgical medical coverage. 3.Increasing Access to Quality Health Care Finally, the ACA will expand essential health benefits insurance coverage to an estimated 27 million uninsured Americans through access to insurance market places and CMS. The essential Health Benefits packages includes mental health services In total, the Affordable Care Act will expand federal parity protection to at least 62 million Americans. Application of Attributes of Effective Advocacy Programs to Proposed Campaign Among many other health-care policies that have proved to be workable, Obamacare turned out to have adequate advantages that can be borrowed and applied in this campaign. Obamacare health policy emphasizes on quality health-care and not quantity. For instance, doctors and other health-care professionals are paid according to the quality of health service they provide (Obama Care Facts, 2013). Obamacare also highlights the importance of non-discrimination in the provision of health services across the entire population, thus ensuring uniformity in its application. One yet another vital attribute that is also of importance is the reduction of costs for preventive health-care options. This ensures that options explored by the general public are not exploitative and overburdening to them (Obama Care Facts, 2013). Obamacare has also been to a greater degree people-driven, as the citizenry have been effective in pushing their political leaders to support the health plan (Obama Care Facts, 2013). It does not take rocket science to know that mental health and substance abuse disorder patients would benefit tremendously from such a program. Impact of Existing Laws or Regulations The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act legislation contained several health reforms provisions that were already being rooted for by a number of health stakeholders including American Public Health Association (APHA) and other population health experts (APHA, 2013). Following the enactment of the Affordable Care Act, there has been a shift from the focus on treatment of the sick to the focus on promoting people’s health (APHA, 2013). The ACA and HP2020 have a common goal which is to create social and physical environments that promote health and wellness in all populations. The ACA will be effective in January 2014, so far the program looks very promising and the statute have been found to have very little impact on the employer-based insurance with a projected slight increase (2.7% only), especially with regard to the high end employers. However, there appears to be a decrease for the low end employers (Blumberg et al., 2012) contrary to what the critics of ACA are speculating. Analysis of Methods Used to Influence Policy Makers According to Milstead (2013), for nurses to succeed in advocating for the enactment of new and better policies, it is imperative that they strike a working relationship with the government agencies, officers as well as with the elected officials. This way the nurses have the chance to be recognized as having what it takes to effect policies concerning population health issues, and this will thus be included in making decisions concerning population health matters (Milstead, 2013). Establishing such a cordial relationship would be instrumental in helping both parties, namely the nurses and the policy makers to be able to review existing health policies and enact better campaigns (Milstead, 2013). Other than striking a rapport with the political leaders, the nurses should also strive to enhance their understanding of the policy-making process through the nursing internships that were already put in place by the nursing organizations (Milstead, 2013). Anticipated Obstacles and Strategies According to the online article by Alberta Health Services (2009), several challenges abound when it comes to advocating for population health. The leading and most obvious problem lies in the main aim of advocacy, which is to effect legislations that would then lead to changes in policies. This is the case since the policy change is highly a political issue whose process results in public tensions (Alberta Health Services, 2009). Almost all legislative changes and implementations are funded by the public resources, and, therefore, any suggested changes are often contested (Alberta Health Services, 2009). Further still, these changes often have economic consequences as well. As a result, more often than not population health advocates together with the like-minded politicians and members of the public of good will find themselves at the receiving end on the part of various interest groups who wish to maintain the status quo (Alberta Health Services, 2009). Obamacare, which seeks to provide preventive services also covered in insurance plans and to ascertain that people with insurance covers are not dropped while sick, has for instance, faced several obstacles mainly from the stakeholders in the insurance industry (Obama Care Facts, 2013). Anybody who wishes to conduct a successful advocacy for mental health and substance abuse disorders must be prepared to deal with all these obstacles, especially given that most insurance companies would be less willing to cover against mental health. View as multi-pages

A Scholar Word

I admit that there are pros and cons of the activity but the negative side outweighs the positive. Voter's education is a big help for the community especially for the first time voters. We couldn't deny the fact that this community service including the youth profiling are beneficial for our society. But, Just like what Vive said, there are negative sides of the story First, instead of having our summer Job and summer class or even on-the-Job training, we are subdued by this activity.The community service will only take a few days or even hours of our time, but that could also be a time for rest after work or after school or even a time for our family after a long strenuous semester. But that won't happen because any of the statement above is not an excuse of not taking the community service. We are scholars, not robots, we also have a life to live. Second, the reason why we are in this scholarship is because somehow, some of us could not afford the whole tuition of the program we c hoose, for short we are not that rich.That's why spending even a few peso on our account without it being reimbursed is a big deal for us. Third, the way of grouping us is somehow a good thing because it teaches us owe to socialize with different kinds of people but the problem is throwing these group of people in an unknown barraging that even the Google map could not locate is like throwing scavengers in a remote island waiting to be devoured by sharks and beasts.And lastly, the common issue of all is that maybe the reason why we haven't hugged this community service unlike the other activities that we greatly enjoyed is that the foundation of this activity, starting from the orientation, is not right, not proper. Being yelled at the very first meeting is not a great way to start anything and it's a bit degrading for us scholars. We represent the youth that's why we a loud and active, and restraining us from doing so is improper and unprofessional especially if not all of us are i nvolve in the noisy rumble.This is an intellectual criticism, hope you won't take it personally. I am not speaking in the voice of a selfish, self righteous and self centered scholar, but rather I'm speaking in the voice of those unuttered cries of the scholars who are afraid to speak out what's in their mind with the fear of losing their scholarship. This is not a complain, this is a reflection. A Scholar Word By Babying