wheelchair :: essays research papers

The Technological Environment   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Invacare Corporation is the leading manufacturer and distributor of non-acute health care products. The company designs, manufactures and distributes an extensive line of health care products for the non-acute care environment, including the home health care, retail and extended care markets. Invacare continuously revises and expands its product lines to meet changing market demands and currently offers over 25,000 home health care and medical equipment provider locations throughout the world.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Several factors will contribute to the growth in the sales of domestic home medical equipment products. Life expectancy has continued to increase over the years and the growth in the population over 65 will increase in the coming years. The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) states that the average life expectancy for men and women who reach the age of 65 is now 81 and 84. The DHHS also reports that people age 65 or older represent the vast majority of home health care patients and will increase from 12% of the population in 2000 to 20% of the population by the year 2050. A large percentage of people using home and community based health care services are 65 years of age or older. To serve and gain business from this growing population Invacare will need to address their present and future product lines.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Medical equipment has become increasingly adaptable for use in the home due to technological advances. Patients are discharged earlier form hospitals than in previous years, which lengthens recovery periods outside of the hospital. In addition continuing medical advances prolong the lives of adults and children, which increases the demand for home medical care equipment. To address this growing market Invacare has come out with several new products. The HomeFill II Patient Convenience Pack ML4 is an all new portable oxygen supply system that is lightweight and easy to transport for oxygen patients. Patients can fill their cylinders themselves in their own home, which gives them freedom and independence – they no longer have to wait for cylinder deliveries.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A new bariatrics program offers complete solutions approach for the bariatric provider and their clients and features the full line of Invacare bariatric products. Making it easy to find the right product, the bariatric catalog employs color coding to sort products by weight capacity. The Invacare Full Electric Low Bed was designed for situations where rails are not desirable or appropriate, but injuries from falling out of bed are still a concern.

Public Vrs. Private Essay -- essays papers

Public Vrs. Private The Eternal Question: Public or Private Consider this, you drive into the parking lot of the public school and see the same five squad cars as every day, business as usual you think. You and your friends walk up to the door and wait in line for the metal detectors. You put your keys in the tray and walk through the detector, it goes off. Two cops walk up to check your backpack. Pager in the pocket got to go back to the car and put it away. Back through the metal detectors and they do not go off, thank God. You go to first period, sit in your seat and the teacher locks the door. The drug dogs must be coming today. Second period and the dogs are still here, there must be something wrong. Third period starts and the class files in. The teacher is about to start and in walks the cops, they walk straight in your direction and up to the kid next to you. The kid stands; the cop puts the hand cuffs on him and escorts him out. Oh, well! There goes another one. Next is gym where your locker has no pad lock because last week t wo girls got into a fight and one beat the other one with your lock. The rest of the day is pretty usual, a couple of fights and a test. Sound extreme? Not for the students of Bloom High School, this is a good day. In the same town a mile away there is a Private Catholic High School; this is their day. I drive to school and pull up; in my Mercedes in the parking lot, there is an Escalade in front of me and a Porche behind me, and I hate having a cheap car. I park the car and file into school, walk in the front door and to my locker to put my books away. There is the drug dealer with another customer at the locker next to me, "Hi, Andy". Oh, no! Here comes a nun, better tuck my shirt in. To late, another detention, but on the up side here comes Jon; he is so hot it is too bad he does steroids. I go through a usual day, some quizzes and a test. At 2:20pm, schools over, back outside to the car and drive to Andy's. I guess everyone is following me today. Hey look at all the squad c ars at Bloom, I wonder who got busted today? I sit down on the couch and talk while everyone else smokes a blunt. Now it is time to go, I will see everyone at the party tonight. I have to go do homework; after all it is only Tuesday. So which is better for a student, private school or public school? I know first hand what it is ... ... that is required. Which high school to attend is a big decision and one that is often made by the parents, but I do not see any reason why a parent who can afford a private school would want to put their child through a public school when the private school is obviously the better choice. There are many students who have made it through college from a public school and who have made it through high school and gone on to have great jobs, but the odds are in definite favor of us. Bibliography: Works Cited Anyon, Jean. "Social Class and The Hidden Curriculum of Work." Rereading America. Ed. Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen, and Bonnie Lisle. Boston:Bedford, 2001. 162-73. Heaney, Karen. "Which is Better? A Private or State Education." Spark Learning Institution. 2 Oct. 2001. "Pros and Cons of Educational Options." 20 Feb. 2000. 1 Oct. 2001. Ramirez, A.Y. "Fred". '"Parent Involvement is like Apple Pie' A look at Paternal Involvement in Two States." High School Journal 85.1 (2001): 1-9. 5 Nov. 2001. "Report Card for all Illinois Public Schools: Bloom High School". 1 Aug. 2001. "Report Card for all Illinois Public Schools: Lincoln-Way High School". 1 Aug. 2001.

Pepsi America Case Study Essay

1. The following listed factors made PepsiAmericas to adopt a more aggressive attitude towards the utilization of transaction data to run the business. * Growth in product variety from 35-40 to nearly 400, * Lowering of PAS profit margins, * Recession in U.S economy, * Decline of U.S market for carbonated soft drinks, * National Clients like CVS, Wal-Mart and Mobil Gas Stations preference of highly centralized procurement arrangements, * Hard to track product flow on various process like distribution, sales, raw materials and so on. PepsiAmericas Before Its Investment in BI| PepsiAmericas After Its Investment in BI| Operations: 1. Manual and much of human efforts. 2. Operation like supply was time consuming and hard to perform. 3. Operation like supply was not meeting the requirement or was over.| Operations: 1. Automatic Operations were performed that reduced time and effort. 2. IT tool like SCM helped to meet customer requirement. 3. Tools like MM helped to manage material flow along with supply.| Management and Control: 1. Process and manpower management was tough due to large in quantity. 2. Distributors were unable to fetch retailers’ requirement. 3. Material cost  was high and profit margin was going down. 4. PAS was unable to communicate with its business processes as a platform.| Management and Control: 1. ERP helped to bring all the business processes under one umbrella. 2. ERM helped to manage employee resource. 3. Tool like CRM helped to get customer information and satisfaction. 4. SDM helped to management sales and distribution based real time need data.| Planning, Corporate Learning, and Innovation: 1. Supply used to be based on distributors’ past flow. 2. System planning was made by senior managers without the use of IT tools. 3. Had lots of challenge in business.| Planning, Corporate Learning, and Innovation: 1. Use of SCM, helped to lower down the distribution cost. 2. The ERP use reduced the raw material cost. 3. Profit margin became high.| 4. The role of Decision Support Systems (DSS) on enabling the success of PepsiAmericas can be * Supported in business and organizational decision-making activities. * Helped to compile useful information form raw data, documents, personal knowledge and business models. * Made automated decision processes possible. * Quick respond based on real time. * Task oriented service. * Avoided mistakes and maintained Customer Relationship. Listed are the benefits features of DSS enhanced management and control based on long-term strategic planning within the firm. * Back-end-transaction system with real-time data will tune up the business for long term. * Contribution on the continuous improvement of ongoing firm business processes and services. * Knowledge in CRM, SCM, and data-driven decision making. * Continuous data mining within the business.

Terri Schiavo

Nurs 2500: Ethical, Legal and Moral aspects of Nursing School of Advanced Nursing Education The University of The West Indies Melissa Balbosa Craigwell 811005170 Biography of Terri Schiavo On the 25th February 1990, 26-year-old Terri Schiavo suffered severe brain damage when her heart stopped for five minutes. In June of 1990, Michael Schiavo, Terri’s husband, was appointed her plenary guardian by the courts. In September of 1993, Michael Schiavo authorized the nursing home she resides in to write a DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) order for Terri.Schiavo spent the following years in rehabilitation centers and nursing homes but never regained higher brain function. In 1998 her husband, Michael Schiavo, filed a legal petition to have Schiavo's feeding tube removed, saying that his wife had told him before her medical crisis that she would not want to be artificially kept alive in such a situation. Terri Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, fought this request. Florida judge Georg e W. Greer ruled in 2000 that Schiavo was â€Å"beyond all doubt† in a persistent vegetative state and that her husband could discontinue life support.But as legal appeals in the case continued, the case became widely known as some religious groups and pro-life activists began to insist that Schiavo should be kept alive. Schiavo's feeding tube was removed in 2003, but reinserted six days later when the Florida legislature passed â€Å"Terri's Law,† which allowed the state's governor to issue a stay in such cases. The law was later ruled invalid by the courts. At this time, there may also have appeared to be a conflict of interest, as Michael had two children with a long-term girlfriend.In March of 2005 Schiavo's feeding tube was again removed, and the case became a greater public sensation when the U. S. Congress was called into special emergency session to pass a bill allowing federal courts to review the case, with President George W. Bush flying from Texas to Washin gton especially to sign the bill into law. However, federal judges and the U. S. Supreme Court refused to intervene. After two weeks without food and water, Schiavo died of dehydration on the 31st March 2005 at the age of 41.Some the ethical issues involved in this case include; autonomy, beneficence and non-maleficence, justice, religious views – Roman Catholic – sanctity of life, no advance directives, Terri’s pre incapacitation verbal comments, and conflict of interest (familial, financial and institutional). The patient had severe brain damage. This followed a history of a sudden collapse secondary to cardiac arrest which resulted in prolonged cerebral hypoxia. She was diagnosed as being in a persistent vegetative state. Prognosis for patients in this state is poor. This condition is deemed to be chronic and irreversible.The goal of treatment is to alleviate pain and suffering. The probability of success cannot truly be determined as the patient is unable to communicate. In this case rehabilitative efforts were found to be unsuccessful, and a court order was issued for life support to be ended. The patient benefits from medical care through treatment that alleviates any pain or distress. Nursing care also seeks to alleviate pain and distress through palliative care which seeks to provide comfort and maintain dignity. Harm is avoided when there are no conscious efforts to hasten or prolong death.Terri Schiavo was not mentally capable and, therefore, not legally competent. The evidence of her incapacity lay in her inability to communicate. Buchanan 2004, stated that legal competence is specific to the task at hand. It requires the mental capacities to reason and deliberate, hold appropriate values and goals, appreciate one's circumstances, understand information one is given and communicate a choice. If the patient were found to be competent, then according to Michael Schiavo, she would be asking for treatment to be withheld and ongoing treatment to be withdrawn.A patient’s ability to self-govern is grounded in cognition (Fine, 2005). So, assuming she had the mental capacity to make her own decisions, her autonomy would have been respected and her decision upheld by the legal system. As a part of informed consent, all information would have been given to the patient concerning benefits and risks specific to her circumstances. She would have voluntarily indicated her understanding of treatment options available and given her consent in a written or oral form or possibly by some type of implied behaviour.In her incapacitated state, the appropriate surrogate should, by moral and ethical standards be her husband Michael Schiavo and indeed, he was her court appointed guardian. Butts and Rich (2008) defines a surrogate as a court appointed individual who has the authority to make decisions on behalf of the patient. The question as to whether Mr. Schiavo used appropriate standards in his decision making can be meas ured against the principles for proxy decisions with incompetent patients as set out by Olick (2001).These principles in relation to Terri Schiavo say that competent patients have a right to refuse life sustaining treatment, and he testified in court that prior to her collapse she verbalized that she did not wish to live like that, to be a burden to anyone. Incompetent patients have the same rights they are, however, exercised differently. No right is absolute, instances in which a patient’s right to refuse life support is outweighed by societal interests is rare, this case was one of those rare instances.Withholding and withdrawing treatments from a terminally ill or permanently unconscious patient, does not constitute killing or assisted suicide. Terri was not diagnosed to be either terminally ill or permanently unconscious. A subjective standard of implementing the patient’s wishes should have been used, and it was. It is recorded that the patient while competent cl early made her wishes known through informal conversations with several individuals, including her husband. There were no advance directives to rely on for guidance in this case.Local processes of review in the clinical setting in order to facilitate the resolution of disagreements were denied by Mr. Schiavo, therefore, recourse to the courts which should have been rare were frequent. This analysis indicates that appropriate standards for decision making were utilized. Whether they were adequately utilized can be debated. Advance directives, as discussed by Butts and Rich (2008), include the use of formal, written legal documents, which may take one of three forms; a living will, a medical care directive or a durable power of attorney.None of these, however, were used to express the patient’s preferences. Terri had been medically assessed to be in a persistent vegetative state, with no higher brain function. In this state, it was judged that she would have been unable to coop erate with medical treatment. To say that she may have been unwilling would be denying her medical diagnosis, suggesting that she did have the higher brain power necessary to choose between quality and quantity of life. In summary, I do not believe that the patient’s right to choose was being respected to the extent possible in ethics and in law.This is reflected in the absence of compliance with several of the principles for proxy decisions. These would be; the attempt to enable her to express her wishes, respecting society’s interest for the continuation of life support, facilitating patient review to determine capacity and competence and finally not withholding and not withdrawing treatment from a patient who was not terminally ill or permanently unconscious. The New England Journal of Medicine (1994) discusses the prospect of return to a normal life with treatment. ‘Therapy aimed at reversing the persistent vegetative state has not been successful.There have been occasional reports of a benefit from dopamine agonists or dextroamphetamine, but the benefit has been modest at best, direct electrical stimulation of the mesencephalic reticular formation, nonspecific thalamic nuclei, or dorsal columns has been attempted experimentally in patients in a vegetative state, with claims of recovered consciousness in a few instances. The quality of the recovered state was not described in detail, however, and these approaches remain experimental. Overall, there is no published evidence that coma sensory stimulation improves the clinical outcome in patients in a persistent vegetative state. It continues to note that ’If the decision is to treat the patient aggressively, diligent medical treatment and nursing care are required to prevent and treat the complications that are likely or inevitable in states of severe brain damage. The survival of patients in a persistent vegetative state is, to some degree, related to the quality and intensity of the medical treatment and nursing care that they receive. Preventive care is foremost. Daily exercises in a range of movements slow the formation of limb contractures, which otherwise become particularly severe in patients in a persistent vegetative state.Daily skin care and frequent repositioning of the patient prevent decubitus ulcers. A tracheostomy may be required to maintain airway patency and prevent aspiration pneumonia. Bladder and bowel care is desirable for hygienic reasons. Since pulmonary and urinary tract infections are common, appropriate monitoring and, if necessary, treatment with antibiotics are required. Placement of nasogastric, gastrostomy, or jejunostomy feeding tubes is usually necessary to maintain adequate nutrition and hydration. ‘The outcome probability at 12 months was determined in patients who remained in a vegetative state at 3 months and at 6 months. In addition, the probability of functional recovery was determined for two possible outcomes: goo d recovery or recovery with moderate disability, and recovery with severe disability. On the basis of these probabilities, a persistent vegetative state can be judged to be permanent 12 months after a traumatic injury in adults and children; recovery after this time is exceedingly rare and almost always involves a severe disability.In adults and children with nontraumatic injuries, a persistent vegetative state can be considered to be permanent after three months; recovery does occur, but it is rare and at best associated with moderate or severe disability. ’ NEJM (1994) ‘Patients with a good recovery have the capacity to resume normal occupational and social activities, although there may be minor physical or mental deficits or symptoms. Patients with moderate disability are independent and can resume almost all activities of daily living.They are disabled to the extent that they can no longer participate in a variety of social and work activities. Patients with severe disability are no longer capable of engaging in most previous personal, social, and work activities. Such patients have limited communication skills and abnormal behavioral and emotional responses. They are partially or totally dependent on assistance from others in performing the activities of daily living. ’ NEJM (1994) A bias does exist, according to Viswanathan et al. (2012), a reporting bias is the difference between reported and unreported findings.This would have made a big difference to the results obtained from any form of continuous assessments at the hospice. Based on the very minimal treatment options chosen by Michael Schiavo, reflective in a refusal to allow physiotherapy, oral hygiene or antibiotic administration, we may deduce that a continuation of life, with contractures, infections and poor dental state would be undesirable. There was a plan to discontinue life support by having her feeding tube removed. There was also a DNR order in place. The reason for both of these actions was to prevent prolongation of her death.The documentation suggests that there were plans for palliative care, as Butts and Rich (2008) points out that palliative care includes the choice to forego, withhold or to withdraw treatment, it also includes DNR orders. Palliative care does not hasten or prolong death, but provides relief from pain and suffering and maintains dignity in the dying experience. Michael Schiavo had a long-term girlfriend, with whom he had fathered two children, according to Funaro (2007). There may have existed a conflict of interest in balancing the affairs of his new family with the needs of his wife. He claimed that a part of him had moved, yet he still oved his wife so much that he was willing to fight to carry out her wishes. This conflict may have had an influence on his decisions. Provider issues that may have influenced treatment decisions, lie in the fact that the institution in which Terri was being cared for was one in which end -of-life management was carried out. The treatment provided by the hospice staff would only have recommended palliative care. Are there financial and economic factors? Yes. Fine (2005) tells us that ‘Families may bankrupt themselves caring for patients in a persistent vegetative state, at which point Medicaid steps in.Medical costs are the leading factor in bankruptcy. her parents objected to her being supported by government funds. The hospice caring for Terri Schiavo provided $9. 5 million of charity care to patients in the past year. Another question of distributive justice relates to insurance. Can a society that cannot find enough resources to insure the 44 million persons (25% of whom are children) with no government or private health insurance really afford to maintain patients in a persistent vegetative state at a cost of $40,000 to $100,000 each per year? The lack of health insurance costs lives.According to the Institute of Medicine, 18,000 deaths per year are direct ly attributable to a lack of health insurance. ’ Terri Schiavo had been a devout Roman Catholic, Lynn (2005) this religion upholds the sanctity of life. It was difficult for her parents to believe that she would not have wanted to hold on to life at all costs. They questioned whether Terri would have wanted to be starved to death. Their’s and by extension Terri’s prior existence was a culture of life. There are limits on confidentiality, the incompetent patient still has a right to privacy and confidentiality. This right should be upheld by the legal guardian.Treatment decisions are largely affected by the laws that govern options for patients to be able to choose to accept or refuse care, and for legal guardians to make decisions on their behalf when they are not able to. A great deal of clinical teaching and research is involved on an ongoing basis. It brings about new information and better ways of managing conditions. Yes there was a conflict of interest on the part of the institution. Lynn (2005) ‘regulations generally prohibit a hospice from taking a patient who is not terminally ill and expected to live longer than six months to a year.But Felos was chairman of the board of directors of the hospice at the time, according to the non-profit’s annual reports, and was likely able to arrange for her admission. He subsequently stepped down from the post. ’ George Felos was Michael Schiavo’s attorney. The committee’s specific findings related to this case are as follows; ‘decisions near the end of life, whether to maintain a treatment that may not be beneficial or to withdraw or withhold a life-sustaining treatment, should be effectively handled in the majority of cases by the primary treatment team.Ethics consultations are available and can be particularly valuable in cases of uncertainty or conflict. Palliative care consultations are available in cases of uncertainty or when needed to help manage c omplex symptoms, including physical, psychological, social, and spiritual suffering. Such suffering is often at the root of many an apparent conflict, and when the suffering is properly addressed, the conflict resolves.When these efforts fail to resolve conflict over decisions near the end of life, the rule of law suggests that the conflict be resolved in a court and not in legislative deliberations for a single patient. At the end of all of the medical, legal, and ethical argument, it is most important to remember that no matter how certain any of us may be of our analysis, decisions near the end of life should never be easy. We must remind ourselves that true wisdom comes with the acknowledgment of uncertainty and admitting that we cannot know all there is to know.This uncertainty is neither an excuse to engage in endless moral relativism or to engage in intellectual nihilism, refusing to search for the best possible solution or the least terrible outcome for a troubling moral pro blem. ’ Fine (2005). In light of the above discussions, with heavy emphasis on the seven principles for proxy decisions with incompetent patients, the committee has decided against the removal of the feeding tube. The rationale for this decision, lies mainly in the fact that these principles were not upheld as best as they could have been.As shown in the above discourse, a thorough attempt had not been made to closely follow these principles. As such, the committee recommends that the feeding tube not be removed. In conclusion, there is no traditional moral obligation to provide non-beneficial treatments based upon the classic goals of medicine, which are, according to Hippocrates, â€Å"the complete removal of the distress of the sick, the alleviation of the more violent diseases, and the refusal to undertake to cure cases in which disease has already won mastery, knowing that everything is not possible to medicine†.There is a traditional duty to relieve suffering, ni cely restated by Sir William Osler 1849-1919: â€Å"To cure sometimes, to relieve often, to comfort always. † References Author unknown, 2004, Terri Schiavo Biography (Medical Patient), J R Soc Med; 97(9): 415–420. PMCID: PMC1079581, retrieved from www. infoplease. com/biography/var/terrischiavo. html Fine, R. , 2005, From Quinlan to Schiavo: medical, ethical, and legal issues in severe brain injury, retrieved from www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov †º †¦ Funaro, S. 007, Why didn't Michael Schiavo seek a divorce? , retrieved from www. legalzoom. com/planning-your-estate/living-wills/why-didn Lynn, D. 2005, Life and Death Tug of War-The Whole Terri Schiavo Story, retrieved from www. wnd. com/2005/03/29516/ – 115k, Published: 03/24/2005 at 1:00 AM New England Journal of Medicine, 1994, Medical Aspects of the Persistent Vegetative State, N Engl J Med 1994; 330:1572-1579 DOI: 10. 1056/NEJM199406023302206, retrieved from www. nejm. org/doi/full/10. 1056/NEJM199406023 302206 Olick, R. S. 2001.Taking advance directives seriously: Prospective autonomy and decisions near the end of life. Washington, DC: Georgetown university Press, p. 30. Viswanathan M, Ansari MT, Berkman ND, Chang S, Hartling L, McPheeters LM, Santaguida PL, Shamliyan T, Singh K, Tsertsvadze A, Treadwell JR. , 2012, Assessing the Risk of Bias of Individual Studies in Systematic Reviews of Health Care Intervention, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Methods Guide for Comparative Effectiveness Reviews, retrieved from effectivehealthcare. ahrq. gov/index. cfm/search-for-guides-rev – 148k

Affirmative Action Debate and Economics

Yuching Lin ECON 395 The Affirmative Action Debate Affirmative Action has recently become the center of a major public debate in the United States, which has led to the emergence of numerous studies on its efficiency, costs, and benefits. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ended wage and employment discrimination based on gender and race, significantly decreasing the gap between minorities and non-minorities. Minorities made major progress from the 1960s up through the early 1970s due to Affirmative Action (Jones, Jr. 1985). However, for the past few decades, the progress that minorities have made in terms of income, employment and education has largely stagnated. California, Michigan, Nebraska, and Washington State have recently banned racial advantage in employment and college admissions, and Proposition 209 of California has disallowed the preferential treatment of minorities, with opponents of Affirmative Action lobbying for more widespread b ans on similar policies while supporters argue fiercely against the removal of Affirmative Action policies.As can be seen, Affirmative Action’s status in the United States now is very dynamic due to shifting court decisions and policy plans. Additionally, returns to education have been increasing in recent decades, and as a result, income inequality has also increased – the growing demand for highly skilled workers (workers with high levels of post-secondary education) and the stagnancy of American education (with the added fact that high quality colleges have become even higher quality and even more selective while lower tier colleges have decreased in quality) has led to ever-increasing wages for the highly skilled.This â€Å"Skill Biased Technological Change† has led to a widening income gap between the rich and the poor. Naturally, this considerably affects black and Hispanic minorities, who are more likely than non-minorities to be part of the working class or below the poverty line, which raises the stakes in the debate on Affirmative Action. Today, both sides on the debate can bolster their arguments with evidence provided by economic and social research on the policies. But there are additional questions to be answered – is Affirmative Action justified on moral grounds? Can we balance economic efficiency with equity?Is Affirmative Action the best policy for addressing racial inequalities? Do policies that increase diversity result in positive externalities such as reduced prejudice and indirect benefits beyond education and career success? One will discover that, after thorough analysis of research concerning Affirmative Action, it is still difficult to form a definitive conclusion on the results of the policies. Nevertheless, there is much to learn from the research that has been conducted as of present, and one can now better steer research in a direction that will uncover the real benefits and shortcomings of Affirmative Action.To begin with, the debate on the efficiency of Affirmative Action policies is still very much unsettled. Opponents claim that they actually result in several negative effects on the minorities the policies are intended to benefit, arguing that minority students admitted into overly competitive programs are more likely to drop out than mismatched non-minority students due to the increased competition, which would actually worsen the income gap since black income has been shown to decrease even more than white income after dropping out of college (Loury, 1995).A proposed â€Å"stigma hypothesis† suggests that â€Å"preferential treatment perpetuates the impression of inferiority† while simultaneously lowering incentives for high academic effort from minorities (Murray, 1994). And yet another underperformance hypothesis by Steele (1990) suggests that blacks’ academic performance suffers when they are aware that normal standards are lowered in order to accomm odate them.However, there exists no research with strong, conclusive results that support these claims – in contrast, the â€Å"race difference in graduation rates is no larger at the most selective institutions,† and blacks have been shown to benefit from the increased admission to selective universities (Holzer and Neumark, 2000). A study by Cortes (2010) on the Texas Top 10% Plan claims that the banning of Affirmative Action actually increases college dropout rates for minorities and finds that the mismatch hypothesis is inaccurate.Because quantifying the economic benefits of Affirmative Action is exceedingly complicated, comparing the total costs and benefits of the policy becomes exceptionally difficult for policy-makers. Holzer and Neumark (2000) note that university admissions policies are not necessarily economically efficient to begin with, which further complicates matters since researchers do not have a definitive point of efficiency to which they can compar e the results of Affirmative Action.Administrative costs and externalities must also be factored into the models, when economists have not yet even managed to create a viable model for the effects of Affirmative Action policies. For example, minority students in medical school are less likely to reach as high a level of expertise as non-minorities, but they are more likely to treat minority patients, generating a positive externality (Holzer and Neumark, 2000). Another point made in the debate on Affirmative Action is that diversity may improve the educational quality of a university.Many educators believe that diversity in colleges is inherently beneficial – students can learn from other students whose experiences and backgrounds give them a whole different set of views and capabilities. Several studies have actually correlated increased diversity in student bodies with improvements in issues such as racial prejudice and bias, although results vary depending on study design, extent and type of diversity, and the issue of interest (Bowman, 2010).Even so, other researchers are likely to reject such evidence since variables such as attitudes, inter-racial relations, and even school quality (as a result of increased diversity) are difficult to define and accurately quantify (Holzer and Neumark, 2000). Research has often demonstrated very unclear results, usually only weakly suggesting a few conclusions while also providing sometimes conflicting conclusions; one study on the effects of diverse student bodies found that there was no effect on post-college earnings, an increase in satisfaction with college experiences, and a decrease in community service (Hinrichs, 2011).Interestingly, a recent study in college admissions based on merit, race, and legacy suggests that the removal of race-preferential treatment may actually decrease the ability of the student body since colleges may be inclined to increase legacy-based admissions due to the current economic cl imate (Li and Weisman, 2011). However, they do also propose that there is a possibility that colleges would need to eliminate all preferences barring merit in order to produce the most-able student body.Overall, it is generally agreed that more accurate methods for measuring school quality and the quality of school inputs are necessary if more conclusive results on education differentials’ effects on unobserved skills, attitudes, and racial income inequality are to be found. While it is without a doubt that Affirmative Action increases admission and employment rates for minorities, there is much speculation as to whether it is the most effective policy. Researchers are not confident yet of how different variables interact to affect income, employment rates, and other indicators of success.As a result, one will often find seemingly conflicting data as exemplified by Card and Krueger’s (1992) findings that â€Å"5-20% of the post 1960 black gains were due to improved sc hool quality† while Smith and Welch (1989) claimed that 20-25% of black gains were a result of improved school quantity, which they asserted should be the focus of educational policies. Moreover, it is well known that employers often discriminate based on race, whether purposefully or unconsciously, and that this significantly impacts labor market outcomes.Affirmative Action can only do so much to address employment discrimination – in some models, the issue of negative racial stereotypes can be exacerbated by the application of such policies (Holzer and Neumark, 2000). In addition, some suggest targeting education inequalities in primary and secondary education as opposed to implementing race-preferential treatment in post-secondary education as a more efficient and equitable policy, although efforts such as NCLB have only slightly improved primary and secondary education inequalities.The primary and secondary education quality in the United States is in dire need of i mprovement already; high school graduation rates have stagnated, and school quality is falling behind when compared to the educational systems of other developed countries. There also exist other complicated variables that need to be addressed in order to close the income gaps between minorities and non-minorities such as the inheritance of learning abilities/behavior, ghetto culture, and the underclass (Jencks, 1993). As one can expect, research concerning controversial issues often suffers from researcher bias.Economic research typically entails numerous variables and methods in order to reach conclusions, and more often than not, results are varied and ambiguous, especially in this particular branch concerning Affirmative Action. It is a simple matter to selectively exclude certain results in order to make it appear as if a research study conclusively supports or rejects Affirmative Action as a beneficial policy, should one wish to do so. Literature searches can quickly turn up v ery obviously biased articles with weak evidence and unreasonable claims.Furthermore, past research has indicated that the types of models used in studies can have a significant impact on the results, further obfuscating the conclusions on the effectiveness of the policies. In fact, as of present, research on the policies has resulted in mostly ambiguous conclusions, although it is of my opinion that studies in general very slightly lean toward suggesting that Affirmative Action is beneficial as a whole – research studies that conclusively reject Affirmative Action as a viable policy are few and far between, and it is even difficult to find studies that demonstrate significant negative effects.In order to obtain more accurate data, researchers would optimally be able to create experimental studies with control and treatment groups, but this is very unlikely to occur due to the unethical properties of such studies. Clearly, it has become even more imperative that researchers i mprove models on the efficiency of Affirmative Action policies in order to obtain more reliable data to demonstrate with greater confidence the effects of the policy. Of course, these topics only cover the economic justifications for Affirmative Action, which is clearly also a matter of social justice.There is an endless cycle of philosophy-based debates on the policy – should we as a society aim for equity or efficiency? If we are willing to sacrifice some efficiency for equity, how much is optimal? There is also the question of whether society has a responsibility to â€Å"[remedy] the present effects of past discrimination,† which begins another entire debate about the responsibility of people today for wrongs committed by ancestors (Jones Jr. , 1985).Some also believe that Affirmative Action devalues the achievements of minorities since credit may be given to race-preferential treatment instead of to the individuals who accomplish those feats; this can lead to furt her racial prejudice and bias, possibly encouraging the continuation of racial discrimination in job employment. There are also suggestions that perhaps policies ought to focus on helping the part of the minority population with low socioeconomic status so as to avoid situations in which wealthy black students may be given preferential treatment over more qualified white students living below the poverty line.The debate over Affirmative Action for women is also just as controversial, for women also suffer from income inequality, but they still receive the same advantages that their male siblings receive. Therefore, one can argue that women are not put at a disadvantage early on in life and that they should not require preferential treatment in admissions or employment. In fact, women who benefit from Affirmative Action are much less likely than racial minorities to be lower-qualified and less-skilled, suggesting that implementing a preferential treatment policy may be inequitable in this case.Even more abstract of an argument is the claim that men and women will never reach perfect equality since they inherently desire different careers and hold differing aspirations for lifetime achievements. As can be seen, there is literally a myriad of issues that factor into the debate on Affirmative Action. The field of research concerning the topic is beset by the typical problems plaguing education and economics research – education quality and educational inputs to schools are difficult to measure, as are the effects on income, employment rates, job characteristics, etc. The lack of experimental data lends no help.The effects of nationally implemented legislation are difficult to track and quantify because of differences over time and across states (Altonji and Blank, 1999). Compiling data at a national level is also vastly time-consuming and challenging. Though neither side has conclusive evidence that supports their argument, studies that reveal tentative con clusions on the effects of Affirmative Action policies are emerging, and models are slowly approaching real-world utility. As research continues, hopefully the accumulation of data and models will allow researchers to uncover the true effects of Affirmative Action.References Altonji, Joseph G. and Rebecca M. Blank. 1999. â€Å"Race and Gender in the Labor Market. † In Handbook of Labor Economics, edited by Orley Ashenfelter and David E. Card, 3143- 3259. San Diego: Elsevier B. V. Bowman, Nicholas A. 2010. â€Å"College Diversity Experiences and Cognitive Development: A Meta Analysis. † Review of Educational Research 80(1):4-33. Card, David and Alan B. Krueger. 1992. â€Å"School quality and black-white relative earnings: a direct assessment. † Quarterly Journal of Economics 107:151-200. Cortes, Kalena E. 2010. â€Å"Do Bans on Affirmative Action Hurt Minority Students?Evidence from the Texas Top 10% Plan. † Economics of Education Review 29(6):1110-1124. D ong, Li and Dennis L. Weisman. â€Å"Why Preferences in College Admissions May Yield a More- Able Student Body. † Economics of Education Review 30(4):724-728. Hinrichs, Peter. 2011. â€Å"The Effects of Attending a Diverse College. † Economics of Education Review 30(2):332-241. Holzer, Harry and David Neumark. 2000. â€Å"Assessing Affirmative Action,† Journal of Economic Literature 38:483-568. Jencks, C. 1993. Rethinking Social Policy: Race, Poverty, and the Underclass. New York: HarperPerennial. Jones Jr. , James E. 1985. The Genesis and Present Status of Affirmative Action in Employment: Economic, Legal, and Political Realities. † Iowa Law Review 70:901-923. Loury, Linda D. and David Garman. 1995. â€Å"College Selectivity and Earnings. † Journal of Labor Economics 13:289-208. Murray, Charles. 1994. â€Å"Affirmative Racism,† In Debating Affirmative Action: Race, Gender, Ethnicity, and the Politics of Inclusion, edited by Nicolaus Mills. 1 91-208. New York: Delta. Steele, Shelby. 1990. The Content of Our Character. New York: St. Martin’s Press. Smith, James P. and Finish Welch. 1989. â€Å"Black Economic Progress after Myrdal. † Journal of Economic Literature 27:519-564.

Reduction Plan on Vehicle Emission in Rural Areas Term Paper

Reduction Plan on Vehicle Emission in Rural Areas - Term Paper Example The way of doing business in almost all of the industries has experienced major shifts. The effects of globalization have made the world a smaller place to live in as the citizens today have a much wider reach. The effects of globalization have literally written-off the geographical borders of the national as well as international boundaries. Such factors have invariably increased competition. On the one hand, it is true that the competition has proved beneficial for the customers as it has reduced the price and time lag but on the other hand, globalization also has many ill-effects as it increases use of machines and equipment as well as vehicles. Such increase invariably has positive contributions toward the greatest challenge of the present world like global warming. The increased purchasing power of the people contributes toward the higher standard of living. Such standards call for greater use of vehicles. And there is no doubt that the United States is one of the most developed nations of the world. Such greater usage of vehicles is not only affecting the busy city and the urban areas but also the rural counterparts of the country. Located in the mid-western region of the United States of America, Iowa is no doubt one of the prominent states of the country. As per the census of the United States, the state mostly comprises of the urban population with the figure of more than 60% as of 2000. Also, the growth in the urban population is more as it has grown by around 8% in the period between 2000 to 2008 (Iowa Data Center, n.d.). It is often perceived that the state of Iowa that is located at the heartland of the United States has agriculture as one of the major occupations for its citizens but the fact is that the main sources of occupation include manufacturing, finance, biotechnology, and government services. It can be said that the state of Iowa has a diversified economy.  

Emerging technologies in education Research Paper

Emerging technologies in education - Research Paper Example Creating new strategies to enhance learning is beginning to develop with technologies that are being made available. There are several theories and strategies that are combining to create different learning channels for students.Defining the technology that is used as well as how this relates to learning outcomes is one which is gaining a different understanding for building into a society that can produce learning while enhancing the community. The development that is now based on teaching traditionally and with the concept of using emerging technologies is creating new methods and theories that can be used to enhance the learning experience. Changes in Learning The ability to teach and learn is one that was originally depicted by what is now known as traditional learning. With this concept, there was a general environment which was inclusive of a lecturer combined with a textbook and writing used to show the knowledge. Memorization of materials, tests and quizzes are also a part of traditional learning theories. This has altered with technology as well as with a different understanding of what is occurring for those that are working into a field of learning. The concepts have created what is known as blended learning, which combines the use of technology with traditional concepts to assist with the way in which individuals are able to build into the learning environment. This particular pedagogy is one which is based on emerging e-learning applications with the traditional methods of working with teachers and gathering information. The blended learning framework is furthered by the type of technology used and the ways in which teachers can enhance these components (Bonk et al, 2006). The blended learning and the movement outside of the traditional aspects of learning are one of the forms that are emerging with technology. The concept which is used to move out of the traditional styles of learning is combined with the way in which technology is transforming th e expectations of younger generations. New information models are required because of the amount of information available as well as the possibilities of learning more in-depth options for different subjects. The ability of moving into continuous information creation as well as the information sharing that is forming is providing more alternatives to learning content. In image 1, there is an understanding of how information is now changing with approach for different learning alternatives. Image 1: Information Fragmentation and Coherence (Siemens, Tittenberger, 2009). The first column as representative of traditional learning and the second as the information today is defined by the way in which information is given today. More information sources and scattered information is creating a need for technology to be immersed with different ways of teaching and the ability to interpret and make sense of the information that is available. The use of technology is then changing what is ass ociated with the main approaches to learning as well as the needs in teaching because of the amount of information available (Siemens, Tittenberger, 2009). The Internet and Learning The changes in learning with technology are influenced by software programs for schools. However, there is also a massive set of changes that are occurring with learning because of the Internet and the applications which are available online. The main way in which this has changed is Web 2.0, the second generation of the Internet. This offers interactions for those online and also allows the information to be altered by community input, comments and responses from various portals. Those that are working with learning are able to use the Internet and leverage Web 2.0 to change the way in which learning is available. The nature of learning is altering with this available, specifically because it draws in different learning styles, specifically through hands – on and interactive activities as well as speaking