Brahms Symphony No.3 Programme Note

â€Å"Many music lovers will prefer the titanic force of the first symphony; others the untroubled charm of the second, but the third strikes me at being artistically the most nearly perfect. † – Edward Hanslick, music critic. Brahms’ third symphony was long awaited by his fans, after a six year break from his second symphony. It is neither forceful, nor charming. It is a strange, non-traditional work. Its opening is reminiscent of Schumann’s â€Å"Rhenish†, making us wonder, why? Is it an homage to his friend? Or is it yet another alleged reference to Clara Schumann?The premier was one to remember. On December 2nd, 1883, under the conducting of Hans Richter, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra debuted the symphony to fans and hecklers alike. Even with the death of long time enemy Richard Wagner the feud lingered on. Wagner fans chose that night to attempt an interference. However, it was unsuccessful and the show was a hit. After the premier, Brahms polished the score several times before releasing a final copy in may of 1884. There are many strange attributes to this relatively short piece.The first obvious one is the third movement; it is a poco allegretto, which is unusual for the time period. The other is the repeated use of an F- Ab – F motive, which gives a diminished sound that is completely unexpected. The motive (F – Ab – F) is said to be derived from a saying of Brahms’ close friend Joseph Joachim, â€Å"Free, but lonely† or â€Å"Frei aber einsam†. Taking the first three letters of each word you get F- A- E. This short motive Brahms, Schumann and Dietrich used to compose a violin sonata in honor of their friend.Brahms later declared himself â€Å"Free, but happy† or â€Å"Frei aber froh†. This gives us the motive F – A – F. Why, then, does Brahms choose to use an Ab instead of natural A? Probably because the Ab gives his harmony a non–tradit ional sound. Instead of the regular chord progression he uses an F major chord to a diminished 7th. This should resolve to a C major, but instead it goes back to F major. It then slides to an F minor chord, and then to an unexpected Db minor chord before another diminished 7th, finally resolving to C major, as it should.This motive is heard throughout the symphony, whether quite obvious as in the first three bars, or in the bass line as in bars 4-6. This unusual chord progression also explains why the last movement is in F minor, instead of the expected F major. The final movement of this piece leads you to think of dark, dramatic struggle due to the F minor. Rather than a tragic ending, he lets the clouds part and brings back the motive of F – Ab – F, and finishes his symphony as it began.The finale is lyrical, passionate and rich in melody. The motive is quoted just before the recapitulation and the symphony ends very peacefully. Julie White Symphony No. 3, Free Scor es at The International Music Score Library Project. Leonard Burkat; notes for the 1998 recording (Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra) Kamien R, (2000) Johannes Brahms. In Music: An Appreciation (9th edition, P. 352) McGraw- Hill Walter Frisch. Brahms: The Four Symphonies, New Haven: Yale University Press (2003) : 91 – 114

Water and Acetic Acid

Do the following problems in your lab notebook. Be sure to specify the knowns & unknowns, the formulas used, show your work with labeled units and round you’re answers to the appropriate significant figures. 15-1 Molarity Problems: (M = moles/ liter ) 1. What is the molar concentration of a 415 ml solution containing 0. 745 moles of HCl? (A: 1. 80 M HCl) 2. What is the molar concentration of an acetic acid (CH3COOH) solution containing 3. 21 moles in 4. 50 liters? (A: 0. 713 M) 3. How many moles of KI are present in 125 ml of 0. 500 M KI? (A: 0. 0625 mol KI) 4. How many moles of ammonia (NH3) are present in . 360 L of 2. 3 M NH3 solution in water? (A: 0. 767 mol NH3) 5. How many liters of water are required to prepare a solution of 7. 25 M MgCl2 from 4. 89 moles of MgCl2? (A: 0. 674 L) 6. What is the molarity of a solution prepared by adding 58. 5 g of NaCl to 230 ml of H2O?(A: 4. 3 M NaCl) 7. What is the molarity of a KNO3 solution prepared by adding 151. 5g of KNO3 to 300ml of H2O? (A: 5. 00 M KNO3) 8. How many grams of NaOH are required to prepare 2. 0 liters of 2. 5 M NaOH solution in water? (A: 200g NaOH) 9. What is the molarity of a soltuion prepared by dissolving 5. 68 g of NaOH in enough water to make 400. ml of solution? (A: 0. 55M) 10. If a 2. 34 g sample of dry ice, CO2, is dropped into a sealed 500 ml bottle of orange cool aid, and the CO2 gas released dissolves virtually completely in the cool-aid, what is the approximate concentration of CO2 in the now carbonated cool aid? (A: 0. 1 M) 11. How many grams of HCl are required to prepare 250 ml of a 0. 158M solution? (A: 1. 5g) 12. Vinegar is a solution of acetic acid. What is the molarity of the solution produced when 125g of acetic acid (C2H4O2) is dissolved in sufficient water to prepare 1. 50 L of solution? (A: 1. 39M)13. How many grams of bromine, Br2, are needed to prepare 0. 500 L of a 0. 100M solution in water? (A: 0. 799g) Lab Prep: Calculate the number of grams of Ni(NO3)2*6H2O requir ed to mix up 50. 0 ml of 0. 40 M. (Hint: The gram formula mass of Ni(NO3)2*6H2O is ) 15-2 Dilution Problems: M1V1 = M2V2, V2 is the TOTAL volume after dilution) 1. What is the molarity of the new solution when 500 ml of H20 are added to 500 ml of 1. 0M HNO3? (A: 0. 5 M HNO3) 2. What is the molarity of the new solution when 200 ml of 10. 5M HCl is diluted with water to a total of 1 liter? (A: 2. 1 M HCl) 3. If you want to mix up a total volume of 2. 0 L of 3. 5 M NaCl, what volume of 5. 0 M NaCl should you start with? A: 1. 4 L)4. A 52ml of sodium cyanide poison leaked from a bottle into a bucket of water that originally contained 427 ml of water. The concentration of poison in the bucket was found to be 0. 85 M after the leak. What must be the concentration of the poison in the leaky bottle? (A: 7. 8M) 5. How much water will one need to add to dilute 100 ml of 10 % SDS to 1 % SDS? (A: 900 ml H2O) 6. If you dilute 25 ml of 4. 0 % CaCl2 to a total of 100ml what is the final concentrat ion? (A: 1. 0 % CaCl2)Lab Prep: Calculate the volume of 0. 40 M Ni(NO3)2 needed to prepare 10. 0 ml of each of the following diluted solutions: . 0. 080 M b. 0. 16 M c. 0. 24 Md. 0. 32 M 15-3 % Concentration (% = g/100ml) 1. Mr. Harry's new baby is sick and not nursing well. The doctor suggests pedialyte which is a dilute sugar solution along with vitamin C. If there are 25 grams of dextrose in every 1. 0 L, what is the percent concentration? (A: 2. 5%) 2. Infant Tylenol contains 80 mg of acetominophen for every 0. 8 ml. What is its percent concentration? (A: 10%) 3. Vinegar is sold at the grocery store with a concentration of 5. 0 % acetic acid. How many grams of acetic acid are in every fluid ounce? (Hint: ml –> fl. oz? ) (A: 1. 5 g) 4.Robitussin cough medicine contains the following ingredients per teaspoonful (5 ml): 100 mg guaifenesin and 10 mg dextromethorphan hydrobromide. What is the percentage concentration for each ingredient? (A: 2 % guaifenesin, . 2 % dex †¦. . ) 15-4 Parts Per Million (PPM = mg/L) 1. LD50 is a designation for the level of dosage required to kill 50% of the test subjects – usually lab rats. If it takes only . 063 grams of arsenic in a 1. 0 liter volume to kill 50 % of a sample of test rats, what is the LD50 for arsenic in parts per million? (A: 63 ppm) 2. A water purifier claims that it removes 95% of the lead ions from your drinking water.If your water normally carries . 125 grams per liter of lead, what would be the concentration in ppm found in a glass of water you might drink from? (A: 6. 2 ppm) 3. If an adrenaline rush can be experienced when your blood contains only 5. 4 ppm of the hormone, what total mass of adrenaline is required in the blood of a person who has 6. 5 liters of blood total for the hormone to kick in? (A: 35. 1 mg) 4. A tanker of mercury (I) chloride, HgCl, carrying 150 tons crashes off the Washington coast. What total volume of sea water must the cargo mix with to dilute it down below the t hreshold of 4 ppm? (A: 3. 4 x 1010 L)

Owner-Manager Types Essay

Cranfield School of Management has been studying the behaviour of entrepreneurs and their relationship with key staff in some thousands of growing UK companies. Cranfield study has concluded that it is the entrepreneurs themselves who are the most likely to be the biggest stumbling block to the growth and development of their own company. Cranfield grouped entrepreneurs into four dominant types of relationship with their staff, mainly: Heroes, Artisans, Meddlers and Strategists. Past Cranfield studies shows that most small firms do not think very much about their future strategy. In fact, less than a third of small and medium enterprises across Europe set their objectives in terms of profit and margins. This is somewhat surprising as profit and profitability are the key measures of business success. However, as over two-thirds of owner-managed companies with a turnover of i 10 million do not have a plan at all, it should come as no surprise that few entrepreneurs are strategists. Other research has uncovered the shocking fact that 60 per cent of senior staff in small firms leave within two years of their appointment. Some of these early departures can be put down to poor recruitment. The researchers studied two important elements of this relationship. The first element studied was how much time the owner-manager spent on routine management tasks such as marketing, selling, analysing figures, reviewing budgets or arbitrating between managers. The second one examines what level of business skills has been attained by the key staff. Heroes Probably the Heroes undertake one management function such as sales or production. The Heroes’ time is now spent on managing the business. As the level of business skill throughout their employees is still relatively low, the Heroes will take the lead in starting routine management procedures. They will introduce ideas from the courses they attend to the firm and be the only persons who really understand them. That is the reason why they will be considered as Heroes from the rest of the employees. Unfortunately, this leads to the Heroes taking the Herculean role on their hands. In this case, allocating operations to the employees is relatively simple as the working skills in most businesses are either readily available in the local community or the people can be trained up without too much difficulty. On the other hand, passing out routine management tasks will almost always require that the owner or manager trains up his own management teams. There are few well trained managers available to the small company because of two main reasons. Firstly, the overall pool of such people is small as training in the small business sector until recently has been almost exclusively concentrated on the Entrepreneur. Secondly, well trained managers usually seek jobs in larger firms with more opportunities for advancement and more resources to practice the â€Å"art of management† on. The Heroes have a high capacity for improving the firm performance but still have low growth prospects when compared to their market. They have no time for strategic thinking and no depth of management to handle growth effectively. Artisans In the Cranfield model, the Artisans are characterized by low occupation with routine management tasks. The reason is that most of their time is spent producing a product or delivering a service. The level of business skills in the company is also low as most of the Artisan’s staff is employed helping in â€Å"production† or performing primary duties, such as book-keeping or selling. Artisans can include professional firms, such as architects and surveyors, manufacturers, sub-contractors or small building firms, owners of small retail chains such as chemists, video stores and proprietors of hotels and restaurants. Little time is available either for routine management tasks such as examining performance or reassessing methods. Every hour that can be sold is sold and little time is left over to either improve the quality or profitability of today’s business or to consider strategy for tomorrow. The Artisans have low growth prospects in relation to their market. Their training and development needs are to raise their awareness of the management significance as a business task of equal importance with daily revenue earning. Meddlers The Meddler increases the level of management skills either by training or recruitment but then fails to delegate routine management tasks. At this stage, according to the Cranfield model, the owner-managers probably have no operative responsibilities and have assumed the role of managing directors. Typically, they spend much time anticipating subordinates, introducing more refined, but largely unnecessary management systems. They also go on courses or read books that make them even more well-informed and sometimes better at routine management tasks than their own employees, who anyway are by now doing a perfectly satisfactory job of managing today’s business. They get in early and leave late and practice â€Å"management by walking about†. The Meddlers’ problem is that they cannot delegate routine management tasks because they feel useless. They have been used to a 70-90 hour week with only 10 days holiday each year. Once their management team is in place and trained, they are out of a job. Until they reduce their involvement with routine management tasks, they will limit the growth capacity of this firm for two reasons. Firstly, their management team will not take on more duties if the reward for taking on the last lot of responsibility was being irritated and criticised. Secondly, they are too busy checking on people to develop sound strategies for growth. Strategists The Strategists are the most desirable type of entrepreneurs to develop a growing business. They develop the management skills of their team to the highest appropriate level and in depth. They may introduce a staff duty to help their line managers in such areas as personnel and market research. This will free-up their key managers to think strategically too. They will dedicate roughly a third of their time to management tasks such as monitoring performance, co-ordinating activities, resolving conflict and helping to manage today’s business. A third of their time will be spent motivating, counselling, developing management teams and helping them to manage change. This activity is aimed at improving the existing business. The final third of their time will be devoted on developing strategic thinking to form the shape of the future business. Their training needs will be to continuously update their core leadership and motivation skills and to increase their depth of knowledge on strategic issues, acquisition or divestment activity and financing sources. Relationship between the Owner-Manager and His Key Staff in a Growing Firm The natural path of development for the relationship between the owner-manager and his team is to pass from Artisan to Hero to Meddler and for the lucky few to become Strategists. Why Family Businesses Die The family business is deeply rooted in the sense of pride of the owner like most of other forms. Schein (1998) said that this is reinforced by a desire for autonomy which forms part of the five â€Å"career anchors†. This becomes possible with the combination of vision, energy and dedication. Moorman and Halloran (1993) stated that there are more businesses that fail than they succeed in this competitive market place. Twenty-four from one hundred start-ups fail in the U. S. , within the first two years and more than sixty within the first six years. This happens due to lack of planning and preparation which is the most common reason. The second is the lack of creativity which is important to survive. Some businesses offering the same product may succeed because they are doing something better and more innovative than competition. The â€Å"Copy Cat† approach lacks creative skills to turn its product into a unique selling proposition. This can be harmful for family businesses.

The Coca-Cola Financial Accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Coca-Cola Financial Accounting - Essay Example Vertical analysis. The assets have increased significantly from 34% to 35% because the company invested more. The short term investment rose from 7% to 9% raising the assets turnover. In addition more assets were held for sale by the company and this increased the total assets significantly. The total equity reduced significantly from 37% to 33%.This was because of the reduced shareholders who run away due to low prices of share and dividends. The shareholders reduced by 4 % and this affected the total equity significantlyHorizontal analysis. In 2014 when revenues were 95% of the base year amounts, cost of goods sold was less—only 93% of the base year amount. There has been a degree in revenue from 98% to 95% because the company has decreased the prices of the products and the brand. The selling price of the products was reduced due to the lower costs of production. In addition, the inventory cost could have declined significantly. This has significantly affected the net incom e which has reduced from 95% in 3013 to 78% in 2014.The Gross margin has increased significantly over years and this means that the business is doing well and its rising in profitability as the year’s progresses. This also implies that the company has a lot of money to spend on other business operations including marketing as compared to other companies.The company is not facing liquidity issues since the working capital ratio is more than one. Normally, a ratio that is less than 1 makes a company to face liquidity issues.

The Implications of American Outsourcing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Implications of American Outsourcing - Essay Example Over the years the American economy has taken a drastic turn for the worse, especially in the realm of job sustainability. In a study conducted by the University of California, "14 million white-collar jobs are vulnerable to being outsourced offshore" (Roberts, 2005). These include jobs requiring a high-level of skill including "information technology, accounting, architecture, advanced engineering design, news reporting, stock analysis, and medical and legal services" (Roberts, 2005). According to another study done by EconEdlink, America's unemployment rate has increased alarmingly since 2001, after having experienced a period of substantial lows throughout the mid-90s. After that the unemployment rate remained somewhat steady, with a spiked increase between 2003 and 2004 followed by occasional yet not extremely noteworthy decreases. (See Figure 1 & 2 for a visual depiction of this phenomenon). How can outsourcing be justified in the face of such figures To make matters worse, many of the persons displaced by outsourcing are those who have spent a great deal of time, money and energy at colleges or other academic institutions trying to acquire specialized skills. When education can no longer offer assurance for an individual's financial future, "the value of the investment in training, and in the individual, to promote growth in America's society, and economy, is diminished" (Torrance, 2006). In fact, it is not too uncommon to hear IT graduates mumble about how there are so few jobs available because the jobs they were trained to do are now being exported (Torrance, 2006). Consequently, professional workers affected by outsourcing must consider either negotiating lower wages or changing their vocation completely. The former option seems unrealistic especially considering "businesses who are outsourcing can set a minimum wage in developing countries that would never be accep ted as a minimum wage in America" (Torrance, 2006). The latter option only exists as long as there are industries that are willing to do business primarily in the United States. If other companies also believe outsourcing will improve their profitability, then where can the American worker turn Outsourcing proponents argue that even though outsourcing may take a few jobs away initially, in the long run it will put more money in America's pocket by lowering the cost of consumer goods and services. It will help create a sector of jobs more reliant on management and creativity than a fulfillment of 'worker-ant' responsibilities. All of this could be true as long as some form of employment remains available for Americans to earn money for spending. However, if everyone outsources it will get to the point that reduced costs won't matter because Americans simply won't have the money to

Compare and contrast Schnitzlers and Freuds interpretations of Essay

Compare and contrast Schnitzlers and Freuds interpretations of character - Essay Example At one point, Freud believed that the psychoanalysis brought an opening for the horizons of understanding characters of art; while on the other hand it has been observed that Schnitzler was more concerned about the experiences of protagonists. Many written works by both Arthur Schnitzler and Sigmund Freud brought in-depth assessment of protagonists or characters in the art work. This paper also presents differing viewpoints that further back up the statement regarding interpretation of characters. Arthur Schnitzler and Sigmund Freud have both contributed their respective assessment and understanding regarding character in fin de sià ¨cle in Vienna. Herein, it is extremely significant to understand the change that was noted during fin de sià ¨cle in Vienna. It will not be incorrect to state that fin de sià ¨cle in Vienna (a French title for the turn of century), social degeneration where new thoughts regarding subject matters were being introduced. These new concepts had direct impact on associations between members of the society1. Critics and writers of fin de sià ¨cle in Vienna pointed out that Schnitzler has been curious about his characters that he created in his different literary works. It was due to this reason that presented a great deal of his art work to bring his abstract view regarding characters into a proper definition. In the same fashion, one can easily notice that Sigmund Freud has also presented an in-depth assessment of character by coming up with major psychoanalytical study of his characters through psychoanalysis2. As per various critics, it has been noted that there are vast similarities between the work of Sigmund Freud and Arthur Schnitzler. The reason behind such a claim is that both the assessors of characters were from the same city who merely acknowledges each other’s work through the help of letters3. The major difference at this point between the works of Freud and Schnitzler which was peculiar is none other

Wynn Las Vegas Environmental Analysis Assignment

Wynn Las Vegas Environmental Analysis - Assignment Example Growing number of visitors provides an opportunity to Wynn Las Vegas. For example, they can offer more creative, luxurious, economical and mesmerizing hospitality services to the potential clients for Wynn Resorts. For example, they can offer additional concession or attached offer if a new client first time avails and enjoys the hospitality services in the Resort. Switch, Las Vegas-based technology firm, plans to create more jobs in Las Vegas by bringing more technological investment to Las Vegas (Komenda, 2015). This increase would directly benefit to hospitality firms, such as Wynn Resorts, as the availability of the latest technology will enable them to access more customer data and that data can be further processed for churning out the customer trends which can be used to increase the frequency of customers by looking into their tastes, choices and expectations from the firms operating in the hospitality industry. Technology offers faster and greater access to information. For example, faster and greater access to information will enable the potential customers to choose the most economical offer and rate. And this could lead to decrease in occupancy ratio. Nightlife has become a modern trend in Las Vegas. It has become a common habit of residents and visitors to enjoy nightlife in Las Vegas as many entertainment places are open throughout night. And this trend has become a cultural part of Las Vegas. Wynn Resorts should avail this new trend of nightlife structure by providing attractive entertainment services and offers to the current and potential customers. For example, double offer can be provided in which availing and paying for one service would bring access to the attached service with that purchase. Through this double offer, Wynn can increase its occupancy ratio and can attract more clients. Porter’s five forces model is consisted of threat of substitutes, bargaining power of buyers, suppliers,

Data analysis report Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Data analysis report - Assignment Example One of the considerations is the human belief on what the likely outcomes might be and how they may influence the decisions. The stronger the belief that the likely outcomes has an impact which is more favourable, the stronger the willingness/attitude to perform a certain behaviour. Another consideration is the expectations of others and how they might influence ones decisions. This boils down to peer pressure meaning that a certain age group may be influenced by another group, or rather, an individual in a certain age bracket may be influenced by what the other is the said group do. Further, the presence of certain factors which may have an impact on making the various decisions is another consideration taken into account. A combination of the above three considerations gives rise to behavioural intentions. According to Ajzen (1987; 1991; 2002; 2005 and 2008); Kimiecik (1992) and Beck and Ajzen (1991), the more favourable a certain attitude is and it’s accompanying social pre ssure, the stronger the intentions to make the decision. If a person has a personal control of the over the various behaviours, then it is assumed that he/she can perform or make decisions based on the availability of opportunities. However, as Beck and Ajzen (1991) puts it, changing only one belief has no sufficient evidence that attitude will change. Through their argument, a change in one belief may affect anticipated change in another belief. In support of Beck and Ajzen assertions, Godin (1993) believes that balancing the total aggregate of the three beliefs towards a positive direction is the only assurance of attitude change towards making a decision. To Madden, Ellen and Ajzen (1992), one can change the existing beliefs and which affect the implementation of certain behaviours by giving new information leading to the formation of new beliefs which are likely to tilt the balance towards certain behaviour. However, Madden, Ellen and Ajzen (1992) point out that the information given should be as accurate as possible and should be given to all without discrimination if a valid and reliable conclusion is to be made from the findings. This is so because, it is also possible to change believes by giving powerful false information relevant to the believes. This in the short term may produce a change which may not be felt in the long run. At last, the individuals retreat back to the original beliefs prior to the powerful false information. The other important factor is the understanding that the intentions may not always result into attitude change towards behaviour. In this regard, it is always important to link the two so that perceived outcomes can be properly linked producing results (Raats, Shepherd and Sparks 1993). Research Design To gain a deeper understanding of the roles of certain factors which influence the formation of consumer purchase intentions, a study was undertaken. A sample of 150 participants took part. 74 were from the UK while the remaini ng 76 were from Germany. The study data was collected using a questionnaire

Separation of church and state Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Separation of church and state - Essay Example The religious beliefs have however had a visible role in the national culture, as well as in the daily American lifestyle. Should the separation of religions and the state hold? If so why should the state and religion be separated? If no, why should there not be a wall between the state and the church? Thesis statement: There should be a wall between the church and the state. The freedom of religion, as in the constitution of the land bars the government from creating any laws that either proclaim any religion as the one of choice or forbid the existence of any. This brings in freedom to individual citizens to be able to be part of any religious organization or none at all. The freedom is translated to public schools where no school is supposed to base its education on a religious perspective. This serves to maintain respect of individual beliefs. In this regard, most schools totally avoid religious connotations to anything. The respect realized, due to the governments stand is there fore a vital stimulant to healthy cohabiting as people would not feel offended fro belonging to a certain religious wing or not belonging to one. Government’s stand on there being a wall between the church and the state is necessary in downplaying religious discriminations and interference, necessary for peaceful coexistence. Due to this prevailing freedom, government properties such as buildings or any other venues are not allowed to discriminate against any entities that would seek to use the facilities, based on their religious affiliations. The government, however, protects the citizens from individuals who would try breaking the law on religious grounds. The government, as well, ensures that religion is not used as a basis to deny others of the basic rights such as voting, tenancy etc. The freedom of religion prohibits the government from interfering with the practice of any religion or imposing of policies that can interfere with the running of the religions. With the a bove points in focus, the government’s delineation from religious activities is vital in creating room for citizens of many backgrounds to coexist peacefully. From a political stand, the establishment of the separation-of-the-church-from-the-state clause in the constitution was very essential maintaining sobriety in the use of state funds. The clause acts to bar any religious organization from using government resources for their interest or to push their agenda. In this regard, a religion, irrespective of the majority public backing cannot enforce their ideas to their benefit, through the use of government resources. The clause, therefore seeks to tame the more popular religions from exhibiting control or dominance over the less popular religions. The neutrality of the government, hence, allows people to freely exercise their beliefs. The clause prevents those who may wish to force a particular belief on others from doing so. Such cases are students being forced to pray in s chool irrespective of their affiliations, people who may wish to erect religious monuments in government property or sticking to various religious accords in public. The clause allows the government to support programs that might have religious affiliations, but have a public advantage. Such a program is the school voucher program that grants vouchers to students to attend private schools that are religious in nature. Such funding, though might seem to have religious backing by the government, is

Critically analyze how successful the British government's use of Essay - 1

Critically analyze how successful the British government's use of Spending Reviews has been as a way of making government more - Essay Example From the chart it is evident that in the past government’s total expenditure persistently exceeded, often to a great extent, public sector revenues, forcing it to resort to borrowings. This situation is necessarily a temporary measure, because prolonged reliance on increasing levels of borrowing increases the default risk to the firm or the government. To ensure a sustainable financial approach, it is therefore important to control expenditures, for which an effective and responsive spending assessment process must be adopted. SRs and PES: How the SR system compares to the old PES system Before 1992, the level of government spending was ascertained through what are called annual Public Expenditure Surveys (PESs). The approach was fragmented and piecemeal because the Treasury negotiated bilaterally with each department. This prevented the government from developing a strategic outlook on the overall level of public spending and the balance or prioritization among its components . Another element that the PES was unable to do was to account for cyclicities among spending – that is, it does not distinguish which spending is cyclical and which is non-cyclical. This caused the total spending to ‘creep up’. ... s by lengthening the duration between PESs to three years, managing aggregate public spending in a top-down approach by specifying a ‘control total’ (i.e., government’s total planned spending), and distinguishing between DELs (departmental expenditure limits) and AMEs (annually managed expenditures). DELs cover those expenditures which government argues can be controlled, while AMEs are expenditures driven by demand which the government cannot effectively plan for, such as social security payments, debt interest, and the spending by local authorities. The Labour government came into power in 1997, and a year later the control totals system was replaced with a system that required departmental spending to be fixed for three years in Spending Review (SRs). There had been five such spending reviews, shown in the following diagram. Before each SR, the Economic and Fiscal Strategy Report determines the Total Managed Expenditure (TME), which is the expenditure by the en tire public sector and derived from the National Accounts. It is the TME which is divided into the two components earlier described, the DELs and the AME, and the DELs are thereafter allocated by departments. Both the DEL and the AME are divided each into capital spending, or spending that increases the public sector’s fixed assets, and resource spending which is spending on everything else. The Labour government criticized the control total method of budgeting under the 1992 framework as preventing departments from efficiently spending and investing money, based on the following reasons: (1) The control totals over three years is of an ‘indicative’ nature – that is, control totals for the second and third years are only advisory in nature, and may be, as they have often been, increased when felt

Suburban Sprawl (Environmental Issue) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Suburban Sprawl (Environmental Issue) - Essay Example These hazards being talked about refer not to only to body health issues but a rapid jump in mental health issues, prompting the former vice president of the U.S Al Gore to comment that the urban spread is like â€Å"cookie-cutter monster.†(Brooking Inst, 1998). While supporters of urban lifestyles contend â€Å"consumers prefer lower density neighborhoods and that sprawl does not necessarily increase traffic.† (Moore, Henderson, 1998). Nevertheless there is evidence that urban sprawl is one of the primary contributing factors to the specter of inner city degeneration. By pulling economic resources out of communities that are already existing and diffusing it into new and unconnected developments away from the current core, older communities get neglected and are led to ruin. These new developments are subsidized heavily to create newer roads, water and sewer infrastructure, new schools and enhanced spending on police and fire protection. While urban spread directly inf luences new lawns using ever more water and the use of chemical fertilizers as well as pesticides, it displaces native plants, which have not needed constant watering. It could be concluded that Sprawl wastes tax payers’ money With the population of the world exceeding 6 billion already and progressing toward doubling by the 22nd century, it is estimated that 95% of the new inhabitants of the planet earth will be living in urban areas. When compared to the fact that only 15% of the world lived in urban areas as recently as 1990, the task to manage urban sprawl is both vital and urgent. If not the exponential growth in urban dwellers combined with Socio-economical, geopolitical factors, with the certainty of limited land availability and in -efficient planning is certain to create cities that devour land used for other purposes historically directly influencing equally important aspects such as food security. Combating urban sprawl has two major forms of endeavor both, which i nclude detailed planning. â€Å"The first, the French/British/European tradition, considers urban planning a matter of public health and focuses on strong land- use regulation, public-sector investment, and civic design. The second tradition, born in North America, focuses on zoning and subdivision regulations within a context of strong private property rights† (Calthorpe, 2001)). Peter Calthorpe a New Urbanism thinker and architect illustrates the differences in these two styles by flavoring the European model a more ecological model and the North American planning model a more mechanically motivated model. The European model appears to be the antecedent to the concept called smart growth, and the other of developing efficiencies through zoning. The search for solutions to urban sprawl has given birth to various special-interest groups that promote a concept termed SMART growth at all levels federal, state, and local government. This might look nostalgic with a promotion of return to the city lifestyles of the last two centuries. Living in smaller apartments or smaller land plots with the emphasis on limiting transportation to bicycles or simply walking. Smart growth can be defined as the prevention of urban sprawl through meticulous planning with associated restriction to

William Shakespeare Biography Essay Example for Free

William Shakespeare Biography Essay Who was William Shakespeare? Where was he born? Where did he go to school? How did William Shakespeare live his life from the beginning to the ending? William Shakespeare’s life became a great mystery with lack of evidence to support any findings. His schooling, his family and parents will be revealed in my paper. Who were William Shakespeare’s parents? The parents of Mr. Shakespeare were John Shakespeare and Mary Arden Shakespeare. Mary Arden married William Shakespeare in 1557. Mary was the favorite of eight daughters of the widowed Robert Arden (Absolute Shakespeare, 2000-2005). William Shakespeare’s parents were both uneducated. John Shakespeare had become the Mayor of Stratford were William Shakespeare was born; which I will go into that later in my paper. Mary was never taught to read or write even though she came from a well prominent family (Life Story of William,1999 ). John Shakespeare was born in 1531 while Mary Arden was born in 1540 with a nine year age difference between the both of them. Mary Arden was from a catholic family, while John Shakespeare lived a life as a farmer. The marriage between John and Mary Arden was much of a talked about event (William Shakespeare Site-Map,2005 ). Both came from two different lifestyles with John as a farmer and Mary from a wealthy family it was not likely that the two would grow to love each other the way they did. William Shakespeare was born in 1564, eight years after his mother and father were married. He was born in Stratford, a town south of Warwickshire, England. As nobody really knows his place of birth was at his family home supposedly. William Shakespeare’s education is somewhat of a mystery. There are no records of him attending school, but we know from archives that he did. William Shakespeare started school at the age of seven and stopped going to school at the age of fourteen. He attended King Edward IV grammar school and received very little education there. The school is also known as â€Å" The Kings New School† (William Shakespeare Site-Map,2005). There are also rumors that at the age of eleven William Shakespeare went to grammar school in Stratford, which I assume would be â€Å"The Kings New School†. He studied theatre, acting, as well as Latin literature and history. When Shakespeare left school, which the age is still unknown, he went to work with his father and there is talk that he did take up teaching, but there are no known documentaries of that happening (Literature Network,2006). William Shakespeare met Anne Hathaway in Stratford, England. Shakespeare being eighteen years of age, and Anne Hathaway being twenty-six years old, an eight year difference existed between the two, similar to William Shakespeare’s parents with an age difference of nine years. Anne’s parents were both deceased and she lived with her brothers. Around the time she met Shakespeare she became pregnant, which caused an uproar back then and was talked about. Not being married and bringing a child into this world out of wedlock was not looked upon as something great. On November twenty-seventh 1582 the court issued a marriage license to Shakespeare and Hathaway and they were married on November twenty-eighth 1582, William being eighteen and Hathaway twenty-six years of age. It is believed that Anne Hathaway was William Shakespeare’s first love, but with the pregnancy he was forced into a marriage that he was not ready for. With William Shakespeare being a â€Å"teenage father† he may have felt the pressure of doing right and feeling somewhat overwhelmed with pressure from his family, wife and society to be married. He was out of work with no money to support his wife and child and now unable to attend a University of his choice (In search of Shakespeare,2003 ). Shakespeare and Hathaway went on to have three children in total. A girl named Susanna, and two years later twins: a boy and a girl named Hamnet and Judith. What occurred in Shakespeare’s life between 1583 and 1592, is unknown. It was and still is a mystery. But as archives do reveal Shakespeare was in London in 1592 and was known as the greatest playwright anyone had ever known of. The nine years between is just another mystery that nobody can figure out(Shakespeare Online, Actor and Playwright,1999-2010 ). There is no doubt as of today that William Shakespeare is the greatest writer of English Literature. His plays have been made into movies, books have been written, music has been conducted and published, and if your real lucky you might even be able to see a play of one of his greatest stories  ever told; in which I have seen many movies and read many books. Here are some of my favorite stories ever written; Othello, The Moon of Venice, The Taming of the Shrew, Twelfth Night or What You Will, Julius Caesar, Richard III, Macbeth (which was a favorite in high school), Midsummer Night’s Dream ( I have read that book), Henry V, Hamlet, which I might add Mel Gibson did very well playing that part, and my most favorite love story of all time, Romeo and Juliet. As you can see the title says it all. His mind went to the extreme and with such little education he just knew what his passion was and went for it. William Shakespeare’s children, as mentioned earlier, Susanna, Hamnet and Judith had a much different life of the great English Poet. William Shakespeare’s first born, Susanna, was raised by her mother, Anne. When Susanna turned twenty-four she was to marry a prosperous medical doctor. The wedding was held on June 5th 1607. Susanna had a baby girl eight months after her wedding, so this was William and Anne’s first grandchild (Children and Grandchildren,2005). Shakespeare and Hathaway’s son Hamnet was also raised by his mother. Little is known on the life of Hamnet since it was cut so short. There are no records that he ever attended school, which with his family background, I’m sure there was some type of education. In the late 1500’s an outbreak of the Bubonic Plague occurred, otherwise known as â€Å"Black Death or Black Plague. † Hamnet contracted this deadly disease of unknown sources and died at the age of eleven years old. He was buried where Shakespeare was born, in Stratford, England on the eleventh day of August in 1596 (Children and Grandchildren,2005). Judith the twin of Hamnet was to marry Thomas Quiney who came from a good family. Judith was thirty-one and Thomas was twenty-seven. They were married in Stratford, England on the tenth of February of 1616. A scandalous breakout occurred after the marriage that Quiney had made another girl pregnant. On March 12th the marriage was excommunicated (Children and Grandchildren,2005). The grandchildren of Shakespeare and Hathaway were many. Judith had three children, and Susanna had one daughter. Judith’s sons all died tragically, and very young. All of them boys, first son died at six months old, second son died at the age of twenty-one from the Black Plague, and her other son died the same month from the Black Plague, which would of been in January of 1639. On Judith’s side nobody survived the Shakespeare line. Susanna’s daughter Elizabeth was the only grandchild William Shakespeare ever knew (Children and Grandchildren,2005). William Shakespeare died on the twenty-third of April in 1616 of an illness that to this very day is still a mystery. He was buried on April twenty-fifth at the Holy Trinity Church in Stratford, England. Shakespeare just weeks before his death made his last will and testament. This will involved many people in his life. It started with his daughter Judith, sister Joan, Joan’s three sons, which were his nephews, his granddaughter Elizabeth, to the poor of Stratford, his friends, and his wife Anne. To his first born Susanna and son-in-law Dr. John Hall he left the most of his assets too. Dr. John Hall was the only one who oversaw his final days and treated Mr. William Shakespeare (The Last Will and Testament,2005). I believed he knew he was going to die, maybe just had a sense or a feeling so that is why he started his will weeks before his death, but never told anyone. After all of my research conducted on William Shakespeare I believe he was a great man. He had a hard start at life but with little to no education to having a child with an older woman at the young age of eighteen and being out of work and with very little hope of his future he managed to beat the odds that were against him. With his knowledge, determination and confidence he overcame all of his setbacks to become one of the world’s greatest English poet. To this very day his poems and stories are still taught in middle schools, high schools and college. References Absolute Shakespeare. 200-2005. Shakespeare’s Biography. Website: http://absoluteshakespeare. com/trivia/biography/shakespeare_biography. htm The Early Life Story of William Shakespeare Stratford, England, 1564-1569. Who was William Shakespeare’s parents. 1999. Website: http://www. englishhistory. info/Shakespeare/index. html The Parents of William Shakespeare. 2005. William Shakespeare Site-Map. Website: http://www. william-shakespeare. info/william-shakespeare-biography-mother- and-father. htm The Literature Network. 2006. William Shakespeare. Website: http://www. online-literature. com/shakespeare/ In Search of Shakespeare. 2003. William marries Anne Hathaway. Website: http://www. pbs. org/shakespeare/events/event92. html Shakespeare Online. 1999-2010. Shakespeare the Actor and Playwright. Website: http://www. shakespeare-online. com/biography/shakespeareparents. html William Shakespeare His Children Grandchildren. 2005. William Shakespeare Site-Map. Website: http://www. william-shakespeare. info/william-shakespeare-children-and- grandchildren. htm The Last Will and Testament of William Shakespeare. 2005. William Shakespeare Site-Map. Website: http://www. william-shakespeare. info/william-shakespeare-the-will. htm.

Effect of the Financial Crisis on the Automotive Industry

Effect of the Financial Crisis on the Automotive Industry Globalization refers to the shedding down of the walls of distrust and the barriers of suspicion in between countries to make a bridge where ideas and beliefs can cross the borders. We are divided into different worlds, and therefore could never have managed to deal with deadly epidemics and natural holocausts which have time and again challenged us. Globalization has strengthened the nexus and has helped us to understand each others need in a better way. Globalization has helped us to break the walls that separated us and have restricted our natural identity of being fellow human beings. It is true that the impact of globalization is clearly visible and affects the politics and economy of the country but it also affects the mindset of the people and their way of thinking. Globalization has made way for free trade and business and has communication between various parts of the world. It was made a world a better place to live in. Recently with the recession hitting the market, there has been doubts in many peoples mind weather globalization has made our lives better or not? Had the impact not been that great if the world was not that connected? Especially in the Automotive Industry with such heavy dependence on the Big three companies in the United States. There had been a sudden collapse in this sector which had made it difficult for car manufactures world over. The car industry, which is seen as a barometer of the world economy, is storming itself into deep recession, with sales and profits dipping(BBC News). Manufacturing plants are closing, jobs are being axed, share prices of the car companies are tumbling and production being cut back. The economic meltdown has taken its toll in almost all the industrial sectors across the globe. While the scale of the crash was unprecedented, so was the coordinated response by the Government and Banks in providing to get the financial markets industry working again and also to gain back the consumer confidence. The 2008-2009 automotive industry crises were an integral part of the global financial recession. The crisis affected the European and Asian automobile manufactures, but it was primary felt in the U.S automobile manufacturing industry. It also had an impact on Canada by the virtue of Automotive Products trade agreement. The Automotive industry was mainly weakened by the increase in the prices of the automotive fuels which is linked to the 2003-2008 energy crisis which dint encourage the purchase of low fuel economy vehicles such as the sports utility vehicles(SUVs) and the pickup trucks(MSNBC News). With the increase in the popularity and having high profit margins of these vehicles have motivated the Americas â€Å"Big Three† automakers also know as Detroit, General Motors, Chrysler and Ford to produce vehicles in this segment.   With the fuel-efficient models presented to the consumers, sales began to go down. The pressure on the prices of raw material being so much it had turned the credit crunch by the 2008. The US automakers suffered from considerably higher labour cost than their other counter parts including salaries, benefits, healthcare and pension. A letter to the CEOs of the Big Three automakers were sent by the Democratic Congressional party leaders Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid to present a â€Å"credible restructuring plan† involving â€Å"significant sacrifice and major changes of doing work† At the beginning, U.S sales fell down to 32% which brought down the car sales of General Motors by 45%, Ford by 30% and Chrysler by 35%. GM and Ford both having their components manufactured from India, with such a steep fall in the sale of cars it made a tremendous impact on the auto components manufactured in India. A cut in the production made them to cut down their orders of the car components manufactures. India is a strong and growing economy but the hit of recession has put red marks on the entire balance sheet of the Indian economy. The business analysts have reported that the Indian car industry had recorded a continuous growth of about 17.2% over the past few years. But with the hit of recession it has brought the growth down to about 7-8%. Be it Tata Motors or Maruti Suzuki or even Mercedes-Benz the market has gone down to a negative terrain. In addition, the uncertainty in exchange rate and increase in the dollar value against the Indian rupee has caused the slowdown. Increased dollar value has lead to an increase in the landed cost of imported machine tools and even the raw materials needed for production by approximately 14%. Steel and alloy prices have also not reduced which have forced the car manufactures to increase their car prices. To make the matters even worse is that the steel manufactures across the country are looking for re-imposition of custom duty on steel. Seeing the drop in the production numbers the State Bank of India has reduced the interest rates on loans in February, 2009. In 2008, the Chinese government had reduced the automotive taxes in order to encourage flagging sales. In January 2009, Chery a Chinese auto manufacturer reported unprecedented monthly sales. With the weak US economy in 2008, Japanese automaker Toyota recorded a double digit decline in sales. Toyota declared that it had expected a first time loss of $1.7billion in 70 years. Its sales saw a dip of 33.9% and that of Honda motor by 31.6%. In December, 2008 Japans second largest car manufacturer Suzuki Motor Corporation announced that it will cut down the production in Japan by 30,000 units due to the shortage in the demand. The company is likely to face its first plunge in the profit after eight years. Mitsubishi Motors because of the fall in demand had to cut their production requirements. It was roughly reduced by 110,000 vehicles in this year because of the fall in the sales of Japan, the U.S and the Europe. Japans car sales will fall to the lowest in about 31years according to the countries automobile manufactures. Toyotas President Katsuaki Watanabe said the Impact on the company from the struggling global economy has been â€Å"faster, wider and deeper than expected†. On 4th November, 2009, Toyota announced that it was pulling out from Formula One, ending the teams sports involvement. The crisis even affected the South Korean automakers, in December 2008, Hyundai Motor Company had reduced production in the plants at U.S, India, China and Turkey because of the sluggish demand. Amid the global financial crisis the company in an earlier projection had missed about 4.8 million units for 2008.they shortened factory operations and froze the wages of the administrative workers. South Koreas fourth largest automakers, SsangYong Motor, owned by SAIC (Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation) the Chinese automobile manufacturer is the worst affected in the crisis as they manufacture mainly high petrol consuming SUVs. The car maker incurred its straight fourth quarterly loss by the end of 2008 with losses amounting to $20.8 million in the third quarter. Also the sales dropped from 63% to about 3,835 vehicles. In Europe the sales of the car have so drastically reduced that consideration was being given to give monetary support for the automotive industry, particularly in France, Germany and Italy. French automobile manufacturer PSA Peugeot Citroen sales dropped by 17% in the last quarter of 2008, as a result it planned to cut 2700 jobs. In February 2009, PSA announced a cut of 11,000 jobs worldwide. Renault also saw a steep dip in sales in 2008. There was a dip in profits by 78% compared to the previous year. European sales fell 4% and worldwide the sales fell by 7% forcing Renault to abandon their growth targets of 2009. Fiat in Italy announced its temporary closure by a month. Alfa Romeos main plant of cars will be shut for four weeks. In January 2009 Fiat announced a 19% dip in revenues in the last quarter of 2008. Spanish automobile manufacturer SEAT cut their production at Martorell plant by 5% due to fall in its sales. In the United Kingdom, Jaguar Land Rover, now owned by Tata Motors, was demanding a $1.5 billion loan from the government to manage with the credit crisis. Nissan Motors UK announced that it was to get rid of 1200 jobs from its Washington factory near Sunderland due to the automotive industry crisis. The Canadian auto industry is closely related to the U.S due to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and is in similar trouble. Canada has about 3500 car dealers which employ 140,000 people, are at the risk of losing their jobs from the financial crisis. Chrysler Canada demanded for $1 billion in support, making it the only Canadian arm of the Big Three to call for any dollar request. The CTF has opposed the bailout for the Canadian subsidiaries $3.5 CAD billion for the Big Three. The CTF noted that federal and provincial governments have already spent $782-million in the past five years. On December 20th, government of Canada and the province of Ontario offered a loan of about $3.3 billion on the auto industry. Under the loan GM got about $3 billion and Chrysler got the rest. Ford only asked for small amount of credit but they will not be participating in the bailout. Chrysler vice-chairman and president and Fords chief of manufacturing said that the â€Å"GM-CAW deal wa s insufficient† signifying that they will break the pattern set by the GM. Chrysler may also pull back from Canada if it fails to achieve substantial cost saving from the CAW. In March 2009, the Canadian federal and Ontario governments jointly discarded the restructuring plans given by the GM and Chrysler. This came a day later when US President Barack Obama had rejected the restructuring plans of the parent companies. As recession was seeing in all parts of the world it was most affected in the United States. In November 2008, there was a hearing by the United States Senate in the presence of the heads of Chrysler, General Motor and Ford. They all demanded an aid of about $25 billion if they were to evade bankruptcy. The Republican Senators were reluctant to give aid; some even suggested that bankruptcy would be the best option as it would help the manufactures free from the deal between them and the unions. General Motors share prices steep down to the lowest since the Great Depression. Ford share prices also fell considerably. On 2nd December, 2008, the Big Three submitted a revised plan to the Congress which included more drastic measures. The total bailout aid demanded had now increased to about $34 billion, giving a gloomier image of what would happen if the Congress will not give aid. Chrysler required $7 billion by the end of the month just to continue the business, while Ford required $4 b illion immediately. In an interview with the President Barack Obama said, ‘the last thing I want to see happen is for the auto industry to disappear, but Im concerned that we dont put $10 billion or $20 billion or $30 billion into an industry, and then six months to a year later, they come back hat in hand and say, ‘Give me more. Under the Obama administration the idea of the car czar was approved and an agreement was reached on about $15 billion in emergency loans to the auto industry. On 18th February, 2009 Chrysler and General Motors again approached the U.S government on obtaining a second of $21.6 billion, of which General Motors asked for $16.6 billion, while Chrysler took $5billion. General Motors also agreed in line to reduce 47,000 jobs, close 5 plants and axe 12 car models. Chrysler managed to cut 3,000 jobs and reduce one shift from production and axe 3 car models. Ford was able to stand on its own but General Motors and Chrysler had to file for bankruptcy. On 30th April, 2009 Chrysler filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11after the talks with all the leaders had broken down. On 14th May, 2009 Chrysler announced to shut 25% of its U.S operations as a part of the restructuring process. On 1st June, 2009 General Motors filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after the deals with the bond holders had failed. The application to the court in the New York marked the biggest collapse of an industrial company in the U.S. The restructuring process will involve a loss of about 20,000 jobs in the U.S. they also announced that nine other plants will be shut down while three more will be idle. It was the largest ever industrial bankruptcy in American history. In the new GM, in line with the financial regulation planned out by the U.S treasury, the federal government will take 60% of the ownership stake and the Canadian government about 12.5% along with the united auto workers getting a 17.5% share and the unsecured bondholders getting about 10% of the equity. Chapter 11 bankruptcies would allow Detroit to reorganize but not cause the massive job losses feared by some, Any bailout of the auto industry is really a bailout for the health benefits of the UAW [United Auto Workers]. Thats a ll it is. stated by Wharton finance professor Jeremy Siegel, author of the book The Future of Investors. There have been made arguments made which feel that there was no need to file for the Chapter 11 bankruptcy. This will be a visible shift in the consumer choice to choose a car as they may not be able to depend so easily from the bankrupted companies, as there will be no warranty of the vehicles. G.M also states that the bankruptcy will also cause a loss of a lot of jobs and make it difficult for the governments as they will not be able to get so many jobs. The bankruptcy served as a blessing in disguise for the Big Three as it helped them to void the outrageous union contracts and escape them from under worker obligations which were entered decades ago. It will also allow the automobile industry to be more competitive than before and be more sustainable. The government of America has also committed that it will help in the restructuring process of the auto industry as a whole and will wants the consumers to ensure on the cars they buy and also the suppliers to support them to weather the storm. The Administration will help stabilize the industry by the following ways: protection of consumer warrantees, supplier support program, unlocking the flow of credit for the consumers and dealers. The hit of the crisis at the automobile industry affected the whole world economy. The crises have not only caused problems for the car manufactures but also squeezed the car component manufactures. The component suppliers are an important part of the car industry that contributes 70% in the production of the car. The car component manufacturing companies are impacting the overall car industry in a big way. There were thousands of people being jobless and slowly people had no money with them to even buy a car. This drastically affected not only the sales of United Stated but the world over. Globalization played a crucial role in spreading this crisis world over as the automobile industry is highly dependent on United States and Canada for its manufacturing. Recession has hit the world economy through globalization causing problems not only in the auto industry but in every sector. There are millions of people world over who are jobless now as so many plants world over have been effected. Even with the inflation increasing such heights workers all over are facing pay-cuts which have made it difficult for them to survive. There is a constant pressure on the employees working as there is a fear of products being outsourced from the developing nations at a cheaper rate. Although because of globalization it has marked a new civilization which has enabled the people to stay in touch with each other and making the world a smaller place. But still it has a lot of evils which we cant overlook and we have to make sure that something is done to ensure that from the future such a thing is not repeated. There should be some measures or restrictions imposed to insure that if anything major happens either in Europe, India or even United States it should not cause problems for the whole economy. Unemployment, social degeneration and the main problems of globalization which people must be aware of that globalization is a one way tale. None the less, it is hoped that even after such an impact on the industry, the whole automotive industry which has stood the test in the previous recessions as well will bounce back once again. REFERENCES: BBC NEWS. Jorn Madslien,Business reporter, BBC News Car companies look beyond recession(online) Available from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7674505.stm MSNBC News. Gas prices put Detroit Big Three in crisis mode(online) Available from: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24896359/

Effective Job Performance Tools

Effective Job Performance Tools Running head: EFFECTIVE PERFORMANCE TOOL1 Obispo, Stacey L. Effective Performance Tool The job performance tool selected for mental health care counselor evaluated performance on core competencies needed to conduct the job effectively and on organizational goals. The competencies were depicted through the US Department of Labor’s job description of mental health care workers and from KSAOs derived from The National Center for O*NET Development on mental health counselors. The formatting of the performance review consists of 4 Parts. Part 1 covers the prior review period and encompasses organizational goals and key responsibilities the mental health care worker was independently in charge of. Part 2 covers core competencies for the job of mental health counselor. These competencies include clinical evaluation, use of counseling theory and techniques, crisis management, law and ethics, billing and insurance and professionalism. Within these competencies evaluation of task focus, trait focus, and competency focus is made. Part 3 encompasses future goals to be compl eted by the next review period for the mental health care worker. These goals are focused on supporting the objectives of the organization and its mission and client needs. Although Part 3 is not scored, it sets expectations for goals to be accomplished along with a timeframe to do so base on the level of priority. These goals are then graded on the next year’s review in Part 1. Part 4 includes developmental goals and opportunities for the mental health care counselor. The goals in Part 4 reference the following: performance advancement, performance enrichment, and career development or professional growth. The performance tool was created to measure performance and productivity through specific job tasks, traits, and competencies needed to perform the job role of mental health counselor. The performance tool was selected because it measured performance based on the job role and also performance based on organizational goals. The author felt the performance tool was comprehensive because it ensured the organizational goals and needs were being met in Part1 while ensuring specific traits, tasks and competencies were being met in Part2. The performance tool guides the employee in understanding where the organization is heading because it gives the mental health counselor specific goals that are tied with those of the organization in Part 3. These goals are measured in the next performance review period as Part 1. Furthermore, Part 3 allows the employee to be a part of setting future goals. Although Part 4 does not measure performance it is a great feature because it gives the employee an opportunity to express what areas they may need developmental support in or express their desires for career progression. Part 4 allows the organization a way to help develop the employee in areas that may need improvement and allows them a way to strategically plan what employees may be willing to fulfill other positions as they become available The performance appraisal of Mental Health Counselor will be evaluated by utilizing a 5 point scale. The value on the scale is to be circled besides the side item that is being rated. The definition of the scale is below. Overall Rating For Parts 1 2 Job performance goals and job achievement factors determined by manager or supervisor. Manager/Supervisor Signature__________________________________________ Employee Signature ___________________________________________________ The performance appraisal consists of two parts. Part 1 covers performance contributions towards organizational goals /key responsibilities. These goals and responsibilities were established at the beginning of the new review period. New goals should be remarked within this section. Part1: Last Review Period’s Organizational Goals (University of California Berkeley, 2015): Part 2: Core Competencies needed to perform the job function of Mental Health counselor. Part: 3 Future Goals: Write performance goals for the current performance period to be evaluated .These separate goals should support those of the organization. The priority will be indicated (i.e. High-Medium-Low) for each goal based on organization goals, mission, and customer need (University of California Berkeley, 2015): Part 4: Development Plan Document developmental goals and opportunities for the Mental Health Care Counselor in the box bellow. Developmental goals should reference the following: performance advancement, performance enrichment, and career development or professional growth (University of California Berkeley, 2015). References National Center for O*NET Development. 21-1014.00. O*NET OnLine. Retrieved February 3, 2015, from http://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/21-1014.00 University of California Berkeley. (2015). Annual performance review: Professional staff. Retrieved from http://hrweb.berkeley.edu/performance-management/forms University of Toledo. (n.d.). Clinical mental health counselor final evaluation: Department of counselor education and school psychology. Retrieved from http://https://www.utoledo.edu//Intern_Clinical_Evaluati... US Department of Labor. (2014, January 8). Mental health counselors and marriage and family therapist. Retrieved from http://www.bls.gov/ooh/community-and-social-service/mental-health-counselors-and-marriage-and-family-therapists.htm#tab-1 Appendix The following is the job description of Mental Health Counselor as described by the US Department of Labor (2014): Help individuals manage and overcome emotional disorders and problems with their family relationships. Ask questions and listen to clients in order to help identify clients problems so that strategies can be developed to improve clients lives. Evaluate, diagnose and treat emotional and mental disorders. Inspire clients to talk about their experiences and emotions Aid clients in adjusting to changes in life and processing reactions Guide clients in creating strategies and skills to cope and change behavior Support clients in making decisions about their future Synchronize treatment with psychiatrist and social workers Refer clients to other services and resourced within the community that the mental health counselor cannot treat. Use counseling theory and techniques to help clients Help clients overcome disorders and help those that cannot overcome disorders manage them. Work with insurance companies for payment Address issues of self- esteem addiction, and substance abuse The following is KSAOs are defined for mental health counselors by The National Center for O*NET Development’s site: Knowledge required for the position was defined by knowing: psychology, therapy and counseling, English knowledge, customer and personal service, sociology and anthropology, clerical, education and training, philosophy and theology, law and government, and administration and management. Skills were defined as active listening, social perceptiveness, speaking, critical thinking, judgment and decision making, monitoring, writing, reading comprehension, and persuasion. Abilities included: oral comprehension, oral expression, problem sensitivity, inductive reasoning, written comprehension, written expression, deductive reasoning, speech clarity, speech recognition, and fluency of ideas. Other characteristics needed for the job role include: education which requires the completion of graduate school such as a maters’ degree, Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. The job role requires extensive skill, knowledge, and at least 5 years of experience. Individuals that are social, artistic and investigative are a good fit for the position. The following includes tasks defined for mental health counselors by The National Center for O*NET Development’s site: Maintain privacy of records linking to clients treatment, inspires clientele to talk about their feelings and converse about what is occurring in their lives Aid clients in developing insight into themselves and their relationships Gather facts regarding clients over discussions, surveillance or assessments Evaluate patients for risk of suicide attempts, document and maintain client-related paperwork such as patient diagnostic accounts, and notes regarding progress Record ,report, and maintain all mandatory treatment reports and reports Advise clients independently or in group sessions, to support overcoming dependencies, modifying to life, or making changes Chaperone clients in the development of strategies or skills so they can deal with their problems Execute crisis interventions with clients. Create and implement treatment plans founded on knowledge and clinical experience.

Documents Reflect History :: History

Documents Reflect History Written documents reflect what has happened. Actions that may have happened in history, give historical documents a reason to be. Although actions may not have occurred to cause documents to be written, they may have been just to prevent them from happening. The Declaration of Independence clearly states that the American colonists felt that having a political break with Great Britain would be needed. This was stated because the American colonists were getting tired of the high taxes and having their government ruled by a king living across an ocean. The Constitution of the United States became a document because the people who formatted the Constitution wanted to make a government strong enough to secure the rights of citizens and fight back with the country against its enemies. They wanted this because they wanted to be able to stand up against anyone or anything that came against the government. One of the purposes for the Constitution being written was to make laws and establish courts that are fair. This purpose was stated because if courts are not fair and laws are not just, then it will be as if we were still under the tyrannical rule of the King of England. The Martin Luther King Jr. â€Å"I Have A Dream† speech is a historical document. This document is known to be a new phase of the civil rights movement beginning in 1960, initiated by a new generation of African Americans and extremely supported by young liberal Caucasians. Many events occurred to give reasoning for this document to be written. Segregation took place and Martin Luther King Jr. stood up for what he believed in. He stated that the African Americans were not free and were not treated equal, as they should be. He specifically states, â€Å"There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights.† This document was written because Martin Luther King Jr. felt the same as many other African Americans, hoping that someday all the racism will vanish and the racist will realize that everyone should get a chance at being treated equally. Of Civil Government by John Locke (1932-1704) became a document stating that we, the people, should take only what we deserve and to not depend on someone else to help you get what you want. Also, we being equal means that we should not hart or harm another in their life, health, liberty, or possessions.

A Meteor will Strike the Earth and Destroy All Life Forms Essay

A Meteor will Strike the Earth and Destroy All Life Forms â€Å"With millions and millions of meteors hurtling around in our solar system, there’s always a chance that one could hit Earth at any moment. But what would be the consequences and how would the Earth be affected if one does happen to hit? If an object from space hit the sea, a huge tidal wave would be formed, hundreds of meters high, which would leave most of the world under water for a period of time, destroying and killing everything in it’s way. This would have a catastrophic effect on the Earth, as most people would be killed, and leaving countries powerless, unable to do anything. Crops would also be destroyed, starvation would kill all of the survivors, homes would be washed away leaving no shelters, and without hospitals or medication disease would spread quickly killing even more people. As it can be seen, the effects of a meteorite hitting the sea would only cause a temporary, yet catastrophic flooding. Though a direct impact on the ice caps could cause a larger scale of destruction. The caps would melt, increasing the sea level a few hundred meters high. On the other hand, if an object from space hit land, it would cause a huge amount of dust and dirt to be thrown into the atmosphere. This dust would stay in the atmosphere for many years and would block out the sun, causing the Earth to fall into a darkness, as well as leaving many consequences on the planet. Crops would fail due to the lack of light, which would cause massive starvation and death. It would be difficult to breathe without special masks to filter out the dust. With no sunlight or heat, being able to penetrate the atmosphere, the overall world temperature would fall dramatically, causing a possible ice age to occur.† - â€Å"Death in June† (Discover; page 16). With all the facts and governmental resource, there is a good chance that a meteor could hit the earth at any moment causing the world to end!   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Over the millions of years that Earth has existed, there have been billions of meteors that hit, but of all the ones that hit, scientists concluded that they were not Earth threatening. The most recent meteor that struck Earth, that caused serious damage, was on the morning on June 30, 1908 in Siberia. When it hit, it had the force of a 20-megaton nuclear bomb. The collision caused nearly a t... ...ll 100 or more people. They also feel that 1,000 people or more would get killed once in every 1,000,000 years due to a meteor. Just to warn you, there hasn’t been a major strike that killed that many people or left serious damage to Earth in a few million years. The last time a meteor caused great damage was in prehistoric time when a meteor weighting about 132,000 pounds landed in Southwest Africa. That meteor is the biggest one that scientists ever found on Earth. Sadly for us though, there are millions of meteors that are hundreds of times bigger then the one that hit in Southwest Africa. Just imagine the damage that could occur if one does hit!   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In conclusion, a meteor will hit the Earth in the near future destroying the human race and every other form of life on Earth. It probably won’t happen in the next ten years, but maybe somewhere between the next hundred to thousand years. There have been many meteors that have struck the Earth’s surface, and there’s still millions of huge ones out there. Probably the only good news regarding a meteor hitting the Earth, is that both the Government and NASA are working on many ideas to prevent it from happening.

Exemplification Essay

Exemplification Essay I once heard a story about a restaurant manager named Jerry. Jerry was the type of guy that always was in a good mood no matter what. He was a natural motivator. When one of his employees would come in hating life he would be help them to look on the positive side of the situation. One of his other employees was curious, so one day he went up to Jerry and asked, â€Å"I don’t get it man, how can you be in a good positive mood all of the time. How do you do it? † Jerry replied, â€Å"Each morning I get up and I have a decision to make: to be in a good mood or to be in a bad mood. I choose to be in a good one. Every time something bad happens I can choose blame it on myself or I can choose to learn from the situation. † â€Å"It’s not that easy. † The employee protested. â€Å"Yeah it is. † Jerry said. â€Å"Life is all about the choices that you make and how you handle them, you choose to be in a good mood or to be in a bad mood. Bottom line: Attitude is everything. † The employee reflected on Jerry’s example. Later he left the restaurant business to start a business of his own. He lost touch with Jerry but would often use his teachings in his everyday choices in his life. A number of years later he heard that Jerry had left the back door open to his restaurant and he was robbed at gunpoint. While Jerry was opening the safe he was shaking and he slipped. One of the robbers, on edge, shot Jerry and they scurried away. Luckily, he wasn’t lying out for too long for an ambulance to come rush Jerry to the hospital; Jerry survived. Six months after the robbery the old employee met up with Jerry and had asked him about the incident. Jerry replied, â€Å"The Paramedics in the Ambulance were great. They kept on telling me that I was going to be fine until they handed me over to the doctors, that’s when I got worried. The doctors and the nurses eyes read that I was a dead man, not likely to survive. A nurse asked, â€Å"Do you have any allergies? †. I had a choice to make, to live or to die, to be in a good mood or a bad mood. â€Å"Yes† I replied to the nurse. The doctors stopped what they were doing waiting for my answer. â€Å"Bullets! † During their laughter they I told them â€Å"I’m not dead yet, make sure I don’t die. † Jerry lived by the outstanding skill of the doctors, but also due to his attitude. On July 19, 2011 my dad taught me the greatest lesson that I could ever be taught. Every year my paternal side of the family has a reunion in Capitol Reef National park, Southern Utah. My dad came up with the idea that we should leave a couple days earlier and ride our road bikes ahead of the rest of the family. Knowing me, he knew I was â€Å"in†. I just had had a friend move in with me because his family moved to Kentucky and he wanted to finish his senior year at our high school. He joined us on the ride. We started to do some training rides to get ready for the two hundred mile trek of which we were about to embark. July 19: woke up, ate a banana and oatmeal, got dressed in biking gear, took the first pedal and off we went. There were two different routes we could have taken: east of the lake or west of the lake. We chose to go west to avoid the traffic and the higher risk. When we reached the west side of the lake there was a head wind, so we started to draft off of each other. Every five minutes we would rotate who was in lead. It was my turn to lead, my dad following me, and my friend Kallen following him. Kallen’s headphones fell out of his ears and got wrapped up in his front wheels. While drafting he reached down to clear the remains of his headphones and his arm got sucked into the spokes which made him flip over the handle bars. I didn’t notice over the sound of my music that he had crashed but my dad did hear the accident and waved me down to go back. We frantically signaled a car down. A nice lady stepped out and offered to take Kallen to the hospital. My dad and I continued on our way. We reached the other side of the lake and I got a flat tire, which was my second for the day and I was already upset that we lost Kallen. We patched the flat and continued on our ride. Anger was just bottling up inside of me as we entered the next town. When we arrived we sat down to eat. It was about 3 o’clock and we still had seventy miles to go which added to my anger. After lunch we rode over to a park to use the public bathrooms. I take a short cut through a little dirt field. I used the restroom and hopped back on my bike to begin riding again and my tire was flat, again. â€Å"AHHH! †, I screamed. We went and sat on the grass to patch it. My attitude has not only has affected me, but has affected my dad too. â€Å"You better get in a better mood† he said†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦because you are acting like a little baby. You have a choice to make; be in a good mood or a bad one, because we are going to finish this ride whether you want to or not. † I was shocked. My dad had never talked to me like that before. I realized that attitude is everything. We rode into the dark that night till we reached one hundred and twenty miles and the next day we biked the remaining 80 and made it to Capitol Reef. July 19 is my birthday. It had to have been the worst but also the best birthday that I have ever had. Your attitude towards something can change your life. Whether it is as big as saving your life or as small as changing your mood such as finishing a biking trip with your dad. It will stick with you and make you a better person and a happy person. Bottom line: Attitude is Everything. Exemplification Essay Exemplification Essay I once heard a story about a restaurant manager named Jerry. Jerry was the type of guy that always was in a good mood no matter what. He was a natural motivator. When one of his employees would come in hating life he would be help them to look on the positive side of the situation. One of his other employees was curious, so one day he went up to Jerry and asked, â€Å"I don’t get it man, how can you be in a good positive mood all of the time. How do you do it? † Jerry replied, â€Å"Each morning I get up and I have a decision to make: to be in a good mood or to be in a bad mood. I choose to be in a good one. Every time something bad happens I can choose blame it on myself or I can choose to learn from the situation. † â€Å"It’s not that easy. † The employee protested. â€Å"Yeah it is. † Jerry said. â€Å"Life is all about the choices that you make and how you handle them, you choose to be in a good mood or to be in a bad mood. Bottom line: Attitude is everything. † The employee reflected on Jerry’s example. Later he left the restaurant business to start a business of his own. He lost touch with Jerry but would often use his teachings in his everyday choices in his life. A number of years later he heard that Jerry had left the back door open to his restaurant and he was robbed at gunpoint. While Jerry was opening the safe he was shaking and he slipped. One of the robbers, on edge, shot Jerry and they scurried away. Luckily, he wasn’t lying out for too long for an ambulance to come rush Jerry to the hospital; Jerry survived. Six months after the robbery the old employee met up with Jerry and had asked him about the incident. Jerry replied, â€Å"The Paramedics in the Ambulance were great. They kept on telling me that I was going to be fine until they handed me over to the doctors, that’s when I got worried. The doctors and the nurses eyes read that I was a dead man, not likely to survive. A nurse asked, â€Å"Do you have any allergies? †. I had a choice to make, to live or to die, to be in a good mood or a bad mood. â€Å"Yes† I replied to the nurse. The doctors stopped what they were doing waiting for my answer. â€Å"Bullets! † During their laughter they I told them â€Å"I’m not dead yet, make sure I don’t die. † Jerry lived by the outstanding skill of the doctors, but also due to his attitude. On July 19, 2011 my dad taught me the greatest lesson that I could ever be taught. Every year my paternal side of the family has a reunion in Capitol Reef National park, Southern Utah. My dad came up with the idea that we should leave a couple days earlier and ride our road bikes ahead of the rest of the family. Knowing me, he knew I was â€Å"in†. I just had had a friend move in with me because his family moved to Kentucky and he wanted to finish his senior year at our high school. He joined us on the ride. We started to do some training rides to get ready for the two hundred mile trek of which we were about to embark. July 19: woke up, ate a banana and oatmeal, got dressed in biking gear, took the first pedal and off we went. There were two different routes we could have taken: east of the lake or west of the lake. We chose to go west to avoid the traffic and the higher risk. When we reached the west side of the lake there was a head wind, so we started to draft off of each other. Every five minutes we would rotate who was in lead. It was my turn to lead, my dad following me, and my friend Kallen following him. Kallen’s headphones fell out of his ears and got wrapped up in his front wheels. While drafting he reached down to clear the remains of his headphones and his arm got sucked into the spokes which made him flip over the handle bars. I didn’t notice over the sound of my music that he had crashed but my dad did hear the accident and waved me down to go back. We frantically signaled a car down. A nice lady stepped out and offered to take Kallen to the hospital. My dad and I continued on our way. We reached the other side of the lake and I got a flat tire, which was my second for the day and I was already upset that we lost Kallen. We patched the flat and continued on our ride. Anger was just bottling up inside of me as we entered the next town. When we arrived we sat down to eat. It was about 3 o’clock and we still had seventy miles to go which added to my anger. After lunch we rode over to a park to use the public bathrooms. I take a short cut through a little dirt field. I used the restroom and hopped back on my bike to begin riding again and my tire was flat, again. â€Å"AHHH! †, I screamed. We went and sat on the grass to patch it. My attitude has not only has affected me, but has affected my dad too. â€Å"You better get in a better mood† he said†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦because you are acting like a little baby. You have a choice to make; be in a good mood or a bad one, because we are going to finish this ride whether you want to or not. † I was shocked. My dad had never talked to me like that before. I realized that attitude is everything. We rode into the dark that night till we reached one hundred and twenty miles and the next day we biked the remaining 80 and made it to Capitol Reef. July 19 is my birthday. It had to have been the worst but also the best birthday that I have ever had. Your attitude towards something can change your life. Whether it is as big as saving your life or as small as changing your mood such as finishing a biking trip with your dad. It will stick with you and make you a better person and a happy person. Bottom line: Attitude is Everything.

Impact of Technology on Our Society Essay

When we speak of the impact of technology on society, we always talk about the positive effects of technology and about how technology has made life easy. We talk about the Internet as an information resource and a communication platform and conveniently ignore the fact that an overexposure to it leads to Internet addiction. We often discuss how technology has made life easy but easily forget that it has made us overly dependent on it. Have you thought of the impact of technology from this point of view? I am sure, most of you haven’t. Let us look at this aspect of technology here. Think of the days when there were no computers and no modern means of transport. Human life was highly restricted due to the unavailability of technological applications. Daily life involved a lot of physical activity. Life of the common man was not as luxurious as that of modern times, but he was more active. Exercise was integrated into routine physical activities. It was contrary to the sedentary lifestyle of today, which leaves no time for exercise and fills days with inactivity and laze. Today we don’t want to, and thanks to technology, don’t even need to, walk, move around or exert physically to get things done. We have the world is at our fingertips. We think of technology as a boon to society. I am afraid; it’s not completely a boon. The Internet has bred many unethical practices like hacking, spamming and phishing. Internet crime is on the rise. The Internet, being an open platform lacks regulation. There is no regulation on the content displayed on websites. Internet gambling has become an addiction for many. Overexposure to the Internet has taken its toll. In this virtual world, you can be who you are not, you can be virtually living even after you die. Isn’t this weird? Children are spending all their time playing online and less or almost no time playing on the ground. Youngsters are spending most of their time social networking, missing on the joys of real social life. Think of the days when there were no online messengers, no emails and no cell phones. Indeed cellular technology made it possible for us to communicate over wireless media. Web communication facilities have worked wonders in speeding long-distance communication. On the other hand, they have deprived mankind of the warmth of personal contact. Emails replaced handwritten letters and communication lost its personal touch. With the means of communication so easily accessible, that magic in waiting to reach someone and the excitement that followed have vanished. Moreover, we have become excessively dependent on technology. Is so much of dependency good? Is it right to rely on machines to such an extent? Is it right to depend on computers rather than relying on human intellect? Computer technology and robotics are trying to substitute for human intellect. With the fast advancing technology, we have started harnessing artificial intelligence in many fields. Where is the digital divide going to take us? How is our ‘tomorrow’ going to be? ‘Machines replacing human beings’ does not portray a rosy picture, does it? It can lead to serious issues like unemployment and crime. An excessive use of machines in every field can result in an under-utilization of human brains. Over time, we may even lose our intellectual abilities. You know of the declining mathematical abilities in children due to use of calculators since school, don’t you? The impact of technology on society is deep. It is both positive and negative. Technology has largely influenced every aspect of living. It has made life easy, but so easy that it may lose its charm one day. One can cherish an accomplishment only if it comes after effort. But everything has become so easily available due to technology that it has lost its value. There is a certain kind of enjoyment in achieving things after striving for them. But with everything a few clicks away, there is no striving, there’s only striking. With the developments in technology, we may be able to enjoy all the pricey luxuries in life but at the cost of losing its priceless joys.

Incident Response Essay

The emergency services (Police, Fire and Ambulance) have to respond to all emergency situations, but they have different roles and responsibilities and they have graded response policies. All emergencies are graded by the call handler according to the information from the caller and not by the way the incident is reported. If a caller dials 999 believing an incident is an emergency the call handler will assess the information and then decide whether it is top priority or if the incident does actually require an emergency response. Call handlers work under the supervision of team managers and incident managers. The standards of fire cover all fire services in the United Kingdom and were set originally in the 1930’s but were established in 1958 by the Home Office. They were more clearly defined and revised in 1974 and again in 1985. Fire risk assessment, until the current year, has been based upon this guidance, which consists of a prose description of the risk categories and a formula designed to determine a points rating or fire grading of premises. When the risk category of an area had been determined, the criteria set by the Home Office demanded that the fire service response to emergency calls, met minimum requirements in terms of speed and weight of attack. Grading of incidents by the Fire service is split into 5 categories: Category ‘A’ Built up areas in large cities containing large commercial and industrial premises or high rise property where there is a strong chance of fire spread. The recommended minimum first attendance was three pumps, two to attend within five minutes and one within eight minutes, to be achieved on at least 75% of occasions. Category ‘B’ Refers to large cities and towns with multi-storey buildings, including large areas of residential housing as well as industrial estates with high-risk occupants. The recommended minimum first attendance was two pumps, one to arrive within five minutes and the other within eight minutes, to be achieved on at least 75% of occasions. Category ‘C’ Refers to the outskirts of larger towns and the built-up areas of smaller towns and extensive areas of residential dwellings such as terraced houses  and semi-detached houses, blocks of flats as well as light industry/commercial properties. The recommended minimum first attendance was one pump within eight to ten minutes, to be achieved on at least 75% of occasions. Category ‘D’ Consisting of rural property, villages and farms and all areas that do not come under categories A-C. The recommended minimum first attendance was one pump within 20 minutes, to be achieved on 75% of occasions. Rural and remote is a separate category and has no pre-determined response time. The majority of Merseyside (91%) is classed as C or D risk. http://www.gloucestershire.police.uk/foi/Information%20Classes/Policies/item11547.pdf Grading of incidents by the police in England and wales are graded as ‘emergency ‘or ‘non-emergency’ in four grades. Grade 1 is the emergency response. An emergency contact will result in immediate police response. It involves circumstances where an incident is reported to the police which is currently taking place and there is a risk of danger to life, the use or immediate threat or use of violence or serious injury to a person or property. Criminal conduct will be dealt with as an emergency if the crime is going to be serious and is in progress, an offender has just been disturbed at the scene or the offender has been detained and there is a high risk that he is a threat to the general public. When the incident involves traffic collision it will be classed as an emergency if it involves or is likely to involve serious personal injury and also if the road is blocked due to the collision and if there is a dangerous or excessive build up of traffic. Also if the call handler who takes the call feels strongly that the incident should be classed as an emergency. The urban response time for this Grade is 10 minutes and the rural response time is 17 minutes. Grade 2 is classed as a Priority response. The call handler feels that the incident is important or urgent but does not need an emergency response. This could include incidents such as a concern for someone’s welfare, an offender has been detained but is not a threat to anyone, a road traffic accident that has injuries or has caused a serious obstruction, a witness may be lost or a person is suffering distress and is believed to be vulnerable. Resourses for a Grade 2 incident should be sent as soon as is safely possible and  within 15 minutes. Grade 3 is classed as a scheduled response. This is when the needs of the caller can be best achieved by scheduling a response. This could be when the response time is not critical when apprehending offenders or a better quality of policing can be given if it is dealt with by a scheduled response by a police officer or even by that person attending the police station. Incidents should be resolved to satisfaction level of caller as soon as possible and must be within 48 hours of first call. Grade 4 is classed as Resolution without deployment. This is used when an incident can be re solved through telephone advice, help desk, frequently asked questions or other appropriate agencies or services. The caller is advised of an agreed call-back time and to be as soon as possible and within 24 hours. Grading of incidents by the Ambulance Service are placed in three categories, this grading also applies to urgent calls from GPs and other health professionals, as well as calls from the general public. Category A is Priority. This is when an incident is considered to be immediately life-threatening examples are when a person is suffering with chest pains/cardiac arrest, unconscious/fainting or has breathing problems. The response time for a category A is within 8 minutes or less. Category B is where an incident is serious but not immediately life-threatening, examples are when someone has fallen or has serious bleeding, a sick person with no priority symptoms or overdose/poisoning. The response time for category B is within 14 minutes in urban areas and within 19 minutes in rural areas. Category C is when an incident is not serious or life-threatening, examples when someone has fallen over and assistance is required, and a sick person with a range of non-serious conditions such as d iarrhoea or someone with abdominal/back pains. In 2000 the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) became responsible for assessing the training and standards of all drivers who drive emergency response vehicles which are fitted with blue lights and sirens. When talking to other agencies the DSA drew up the Blue Light Users Working Party Expectations Document. This document contained a list of the expectations that drivers of emergency response vehicles should meet before being allowed  to drive these vehicles. This document was accepted by the three main emergency services (police, fire and ambulance). This document includes performance criteria and knowledge and consists of these three elements. All emergency drivers need to be over the age of 18 and in good health also must not have any motoring convictions against their name and this is checked every three years. Element one is the ability to assess the need for an emergency response. Element two is the ability to drive the vehicle safely to emergencies and element three is the ability to show the correct attitude when responding to emergencies. Police Service Drivers have to meet the standards set by the DSA but the police service also have their own driving centres. At the driving centres police are trained and graded according to National Training Standards, which is then approved by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO). The type of driver training depends on the job role of that police officer. Police drivers can be graded as Standard response drivers, advanced drivers or pursuit drivers. Advanced drivers and pursuit drivers have intense training and they use high powered vehicles and advanced techniques for responding quickly and safely to emergencies. Fire Service Drivers The fire service also has its own driver training centres where drivers are trained to the standards met by their Fire Authority. To drive an Emergency Fire Appliance drivers must hold a Large Goods Vehicle (LGV) Licence and have received the necessary training and assessments. Only then can they be allowed to drive when responding to emergency situations provided the vehicle is fitted with audible/visual warning devices. Ambulance Service Drivers need to hold C1 (medium sized vehicle) and D1 (minibus) licences and receive the appropriate training by the DSA. Although some Ambulance Services especially in London state that ambulance drivers must hold a LGV licence. Ambulance driver training and assessments are usually carried out by independent driver training centres and not the Ambulance Service. Drivers of emergency vehicles also have to understand that bad driving can cause accidents. Drivers of emergency vehicles are not above the law even when attending emergencies they have to show that whilst going to an emergency they drove with care and attention and did not drive in a dangerous way, if they were foun d to have driven dangerously then they can be prosecuted in the same way as a member of the general public can. Also if the driver is convicted of a  serious traffic offence they may be disqualified from driving both emergency and privately owned vehicles. To reduce the danger to themselves and the general public the drivers of emergency vehicles must use their sirens and blue flashing lights to warn other road users as well as pedestrians and cyclists that their vehicle is responding to an emergency. Flashing blue lights and sirens should only be used when attending emergencies although police drivers can use flashing blue lights and sirens when attempting to stop another driver. Drivers of emergency vehicles have to follow the same traffic laws as everyone else, but when using flashing blue lights and sirens they are exempt from a number of motoring rules which means they can go through a red traffic light, pass to the right of a keep left sign, drive on a motorway hard shoulder even against the direction of the traffic and not follow the speed limit. The Highway Code is a book of rules which all drivers have to abide by the Highway Code makes no special rules for the emergency services other than for members of the general public to listen for the sirens and look for the blue flashing lights and to let them pass safely but still taking notice of all traffic signs. During unsociable hours consideration is given to the use of sirens especially around residential areas, unless conditions are bad and they need to use their siren. Blue lights would only be used as they are visible to road users at night. When there is an advantage to a silent approach then driving is altered and speed reduced. Members of the Public service are often judged harshly from the public, when it comes down to the pursuing of stolen vehicles. Although the public services do a good job when they pursuing stolen vehicles or on their way to an emergency incident there have been cases where their have been incidents where it has affected the public services. Example At 11.20 on the 19th of May 2008, Haley Adamson a 16 year old school girl was struck by a police car going 70mph whilst she was crossing a road in a residential area in Newcastle which had a 30mph speed limit. Hayley died immediately from the impact of the police car. The police car was being driven in pursuit of a vehicle that had just been registered on the police number plate recognition system. At the time of the incident the driver Pc