Ethnic group Essay Example for Free

Ethnic group Essay Prejudice is an opinion or judgement without due examination toward one side of a question from other considerations than those belonging to. Or we can say that prejudice is a bias on the part of judge, juror or witness which interferes with fairness of judgement. Prejudice involves negative feelings when they are in the presence of or even think about members of the group. Prejudice often involves stereotypes, suggesting that all members of a group behave in certain ways and have certain characteristics. Therefore, prejudice has both cognitive and affective components. Affective component is the positive or negative attitude/ feeling. Beside the cognitive component contains stereotypes. Prejudice will be dealt as a single set of dynamics that function to dehumanize people who are identifiably different in some way from the people whose perceptions are limited by the dysfunction we called prejudice. This approach is taken for two reasons. First, it is easily defensible through the uderstanding of the dynamics of prejudices and second the continued separation and classification of prejudices according to the superficial categories of those who are prejudiced is a disservice to those who are the targets of discrimination and a distortion of reality. Much of prejudice stems from our pre-judging other people’s habits, customs, ways of speaking and value. We often do this with no basic for the judgement other that the fact that they (the customs, values, ways of speaking, etc) are different form our own. When we are confines to a single culture, it’s incredibly difficult to see that one’s way is not the only way, that one’s truth is not the only possible way in which things are done. To travel around the world and seeing the variousity of culture may become the nicest thing to do for reducing prejudice. There is no better way to be convinced of this than to go to another country where millions people are doing something different from you. Another way to reduce prejudice is to make a friend with many background culture. From that, we can learn that we are all different and we have to accept that differences. By accepting and learning that differences, the number of prejudicing people will be decrease. Prejudice reduction refers to a collectionof techniques designed to break down these destructive stereotypes. Most often prejudice reduction programs take place on a small scale for example in workshops which bring together people from different groups to help them develop a better mutual understanding. At times, efforts are made to reduce prejudice among the general population. This can be done with wide spread media efforts and public education programs often implemented during the grade school years. In both small scale and large scale efforts, a first step which is critical to the success of these programs is an ability to overcome the many communications problems cited elsewhere in this training program. This is because a great deal of prejudice arises from simple misunderstandings and the tendency to make worse case assumptions in the absence of reliable information. At the workshop level, facilitators can help people explore their stereotypes, and learn to communicate with each other in a more open, trusting, and receptive way. At the community or societal level, misunderstandings can be addressed through carefully crafted public media campaigns and/or education programs designed to counter common stereotypes and present all groups in their best possible light. Still, correcting poor communication may is not usually enough to overcome prejudice. Better communication may simply prove that the parties do, in fact, hold each other in mutual contempt, or that they are, indeed, trying to undermine each others interests. Often such hostility is the result of escalation processes which transform relatively minor provocations into intense confrontations. For this reason strategies for limiting escalation are also an essential component of effective prejudice reduction. This also can be attempted in workshop settings or at the larger, community level. On the other hand, we will talk about stereotypes. Stereotypes are generalizations or assumptions that people make about the characteristics of all members of a grup based on image that often wrong about what people in that group are like. Most stereotypes probably tend to convey a negative impression. By stereotyping we infer that a person has a whole range characteristics and abilities that we assume all members of that group have. Researches have found that stereotypes exist of different races, cultures or ethnic groups. Although the terms race, culture and ethnic groups have different meanings, we shall take them to mean roughly the same thing at the moment. Not surprisingly, racial stereotypes always seem to favor the race of the holder and belittle other races. It is probably true saying that every ethnic group has racial stereotypes of other groups which can be seen to benefit each group because it helps in the long run to identify with one’s own ethnic group and so find protection and promote safety and success of the group. A brief description of stereotyping includes: grouping people together based on their race, ethnicity, religion, languange, customs, appearance, gender or culture; denying people rights because of the group belong to; believing that one’s own group is superior beside other groups are inferior. And the ways to reduce stereotyping includes: promoting first hand knowledge through personal experiences; putting one self in another’s shoes and considering multiple perspectives; working toward a meaningful goal with others when all share equal status. It will naturally be difficult to change stereotypes and prejudice, because such change will need to overcome all of the cognitive processes such as biased information search, interpretation and memory behavioral confirmation, as well as social processes, such as pressures to conform to the beliefs of others, all of which work to maintain stereotypes intact. Nevertheless, social psychologists have developed numoerous theories about when and why stereotypes will or won’t change and some interventions have been effective at changing stereotypes. In general, there are three types of change in beliefs that can help reduce negative intergroup encounters. Perhaps the most obvious change involves creating more positve perceptions of the group as a whole. When we reduce an individual’s level of prejudice or change his or her stereotypes to be more positive. But change does not always have to involve becoming more positive about the group. If we change the perceptions of the variability of a group such that the individual no longer believes that all of the group members are the same, we have also reduce stereotyping, even if the beliefs have not become more positve overall. Finally, we will have been succesful if we have been able to reduce the tendency for an individual to use social categories when judging others, with the result that they are more likely individuate others instead.

Banks Mat Review Essay Example for Free

Banks Mat Review Essay Robert Banks and Bernice M. Ledbetter believe the subject of leadership to be one worth exploring, and they do so in their book much to our profit. In this short book, Banks and Ledbetter begin by presenting the overall question they want to answer: Do Christians core convictions shape their views and practices of leadership or are they affected by wider cultural assumptions? [1]The book begins by exploring the many reasons for the increased interest in leadership today. The authors offer a plethora of reasons, not withholding the greatly increased pace of change, and they also set out some other factors for understanding leadership, including the comparison and contrast between a ‘leader’ and the qualities of ‘leadership’. Banks and Ledbetter take great care to ask challenging questions. This practice aids in the development of the book. In the opening chapters they begin by defining leadership as involving a person, group, or organization who shows the way in an area of life. [2] The authors also provide a strong distinction between management and leadership while also showing the importance of these two roles to work together. The foundation of the writing is supported by the claims towards the importance  of the study of leadership. Banks and Ledbetter continue on to explore leadership in a wider range of historical and Biblical contexts. They work from religious and Christian perspectives and work outward towards cultural influences. The authors share insight as it relates to the biblical, historical and contemporary perspectives, covering the accounts of the Apostle Paul, historical models such as the Benedictine tradition, Lutheran, Presbyterian and Pentecostal. They continue by exploring trait, contingency and transformational leadership. Chapters three and four provide the most specific writings on the topic of leadership. In these chapters Banks and Ledbetter draw attention to the raw spiritual, theological, and religious concepts of leadership. Here the authors conduct a case study of a significant author of leadership material, Stephen Covey. It is revealed that many readers are influenced by his Mormon faith without truly understanding or discerning the undertones.[3] This continues with an exploration of other perceived authorities on the topic of leadership. One such study is of Laura Beth Jones, an woman writer with increasing influence as it relates to leadership. Chapter five addresses how to translate practices of leadership into individual context through the use of three basic yet important values: faithfulness, integrity, and a servant-like attitude. Exploration of these three traits is undergirder with discussion of authors such as Robert Greenleaf. He is one of many leaders who brought into popular leadership thinking the idea of ‘servant leadership’.The book closes by offering examples in the form of case-studies. These studies provide deeper insight into the foundational qualities of successful leaders over the span of several years and many different context. This offers the reader a broader view of leadership by showing its success in many different forms and context. CONCRETE RESPONSE While reading through each chapter I was challenged to consider the conflicts I have faced that came as the result of lacking a manager to accompany my leadership. As a pastor, I am a natural leader. I tend to seek out change while searching for ways to constantly make things better and more efficient. About two years ago I was in a conflict with several of the leaders in our church. The conflict revolved around our misunderstanding of  each others approach and roles in leadership. As an proponent of change, I was offended by their seeming lack of faith in pursuing a broader reach in ministry and our effectiveness in the community. As managers, they were more apt to move slowly and could only visualize the problems that would need to be addressed in order to achieve the vision that was laid forth by me. After studying the viewpoints of Banks and Ledbetter I can now see how we could have easily been on the same page and shared the same goal while simply looking from distinct perspectives. I have now began to wonder how many other relationships could have been mended by simply understanding the role that each party played. I have a tendency to assume that others will automatically view things in the same way that I have. This has often led to great disappointment or great feelings of being misunderstood. In this way my passion can easily become focused on the wrong thing and people could easily become the target of that passion. REFLECTION While the book does a great job of exploring the topic of leadership, because of the breadth and depth of the topic many questions remain. Taking into account the authors definitions of managers and leaders, how do the two roles successfully communicate their intentions to one another? It is very possible for the two roles to coexist with proper acknowledgment of one another. How do the two operate together effectively without disrespecting or disregarding the importance of each role. Also, how does one know which leadership style works best in a given context? Does it take an extended period of trial and error to discover the proper styles? How do followers or even managers respond to a constantly changing leadership style? This book could have been greatly improved with a more comprehensive study of the specified leadership topics. The writing feels much like a generic overview of very important topics. While well written and engaging, I am left wanting as it relates to determining how to not only incorporate the leadership styles but also choose the style that is most fitting. This book feels like a movie that ended too soon. Leaving readers wondering what do with the brief information provided. ACTION With a fresh view of the information given by Banks and Ledbetter, I now have the information needed to implement a healthier leadership style that includes a clarity of my role as an agent of change. This plan is broken into two distinct parts. First, to properly identify the contexts that guide the view of leadership within the leadership team of the church that I pastor. What types of leaders have they encountered in the past? Are they open to change or resistant to it? This objective will be accomplished through the scheduling of one on one meetings with each leader. These meeting will allow me the opportunity to engage each leader in a meaningful conversation about the leadership styles they are most comfortable with. With this information I will be equipped to better serve these leaders by communicating with them in a way that they are most likely to receive. This is based upon Banks and Ledbetters observation of the broad idea of leadership many people carry. Secondly, I will create a comprehensive list of the core beliefs that will guide our leadership team. For those considering becoming parts of our church, how do they know the values that determine our decision making as leaders? This list will answer that question. It will become the core values for current and even future leaders. This comprehensive list will incorporate biblical teachings from Jesus as well as the Apostle Pauls qualifications from 1 Peter and the epistles to Timothy. By outlining these core values, we create accountability, an attribute that could also allow for congregants and members alike to feel more comfortable engaging with the vision of our church by being secure in the direction and the values that guide us. BIBLIOGRAPHY Banks, Robert and Ledbetter, Bernice â€Å"Reviewing Leadership: A Chriatian Evaluation of Current Approaches†, Grand Rapids, MI Baker Publishing Group 2004

Pathophysiology of breast cancer

Pathophysiology of breast cancer Cancer is a process in which normal cells go through stages that eventually change them to abnormal cells that multiply out of control. Breast cancer is a malignant growth that begins in the tissue of breast. It is most common cancer in women, but it can also appear in men. As per the W.H.O. survey 5, 19,000 deaths happen around the world per year. In 2008, Breast cancer incidence was estimated that 1.38 million folks suffered with breast cancer throughout the world. In 2008, it was estimated that nearly 3, 32,000 in Europe and 1,82,460 in US were registered with new cases. The incidence of breast cancer in India is on the rise and is rapidly becoming the number one cancer in females. One in twenty two women in India is likely to suffer from breast cancer during their lifetime, but this figure is more in developed countries like America and UK (one in eight being victim). In 2005, International Association of Cancer Research survey showed that there will be 2,50,000 of breast cancer patients that will be seen in India by 2015, A net 3% increase per year (80 new cases per 1,00,000 population per year). PATHOPHYSIOLOGY OF BREAST CANCER: Breast cancers arise from a sequence that begins with an increase in the number of breast cells to the emergence of atypical breast cells followed by carcinoma in situ and finally invasive cancer. Breast cancer occurs due to interaction between the environment and a defective gene. When cells became cancerous they lost ability to stop dividing, to attach to other cells and to stay where they belong. Some mutations can cause cancer such as p-53, BRCA1 and BRCA2. These mutations are either inherited or acquired after birth. Other mutations also cause breast cancer which is deterring the P13K/AKT pathway; these are helpful in apoptosis so that the pathway is stuck in the on position and cancer cells do not commit suicide. Breast cancers are many types which are mainly invasive (infiltrating) breast cancer, non-invasive(ductal, lobular), estrogen fueled, inflammatory and metastatic breast cancer, in these types ductal carcinoma and invasive breast cancers are more common types accounting for about 15% and 80% respectively. CLINICAL SYMPTOMS: Lump or swelling in the armpit. Changes in breast size or shape. Dimpling or puckering of the skin thickening and dimpling skin is sometimes called orange peel. Inverted nipple nipple turns inwards. Crusting or scaling on the nipple. THERAPEUTIC APPROACHES FOR BREAST CANCER: In the present era we have different approaches are there to reduce the breast cancer effect in patients. The treatment of breast cancer is merely dependent on stages of breast cancer, prognosis and risk of recurrence. It is usually treated with breast conserving surgery and then may be with radiation or chemotherapy or both. In case of hormone positive cancers are treated with hormone therapy. Surgery is usually the first line of attack against breast cancer and depends on many factors. Lumpectomy, Mastectomy, lymph node removal and breast reconstruction are comes under the surgery. Chemotherapy treatment uses medicine to weaken and destroy cancer cells in the body, including cells at the original cancer site and any cancer cells that may have spread to another part of the body. It is used to treat early stage invasive breast cancer and advanced stage breast cancer, in some cases chemotherapy is give before surgery to shrink the cancer. In many cases a combination of two or more med icines will be used as chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer. Hormone therapy medicine treats either by lowering the amount of the hormone estrogen in the body or by blocking the action of estrogen on breast cancer cells. Hormonal therapy medicines can also be used to reduce the growth of advanced stage or metastic hormone receptor positive breast cancers and early stage hormone receptor positive breast cancers. Hormonal therapy medicines are not effective against hormone receptor negative breast cancers. RISK FACTORS FOR BREAST CANCER: Many factors can influence a womans getting breast cancer but having one or more risk factors does not necessarily mean that a women will get breast cancer. It is important to remember that breast cancer can also occur in women who have no identifiable risk factors. There are many risk factors are responsible for breast cancer, these are classified into three categories Strong risk factors Moderate risk factors Other risk factors Strong risk factors AGE: The primary risk factor for breast cancer in most women is older age. Overall, 85 percent of cases occur in women 50 years of age and older, while only 5 percent of breast cancers develop in women younger than age 40. Family history: Women who have a family history of breast cancer are at a higher risk for breast cancer than those who do not have such a history. Mainly two autosomal dominant genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2 are responsible for breast cancer. Previous breast cancer: If women had breast cancer in one of the breast previously then there is more possibility of developing cancer in the other breast. This is basically due to hereditary mutation of BRCA gene Moderate risk factors Mammographic density: Women whose mammograms showing many dense areas of tissue in the breast have higher risk of acquiring breast cancer than women showing only fat tissue in her mammogram. Biopsy abnormalities: Women whose previous breast biopsy result showed abnormal proliferation like excessive growth of glandular tissue have an increased tendency of acquiring breast cancer than non proliferative benign breast conditions like fibrocystic changes. Radiation: For the treatment of other cancers a women who have received high doses of radiation therapy on the chest are more prevalence to breast cancer than women who have not exposed to radiation. Other risk factors Hormones: Throughout a womens life breast tissue remain sensitive to hormonal changes that includes during each menstrual cycle, pregnancy and lactation. Increased exposure of estrogen is more porn to breast cancer in women because estrogen stimulates glandular proliferation in breast. Pregnancy and breast feeding: Women who gives child birth at or after the age of 30 have double the chances and women who never given birth have triple the chances of getting breast cancers. Hormone replacement therapy: women aging 50 to 79 who undergo hormone replacement therapy, a combination of estorogen and progesterone for approximately 5 years have increased risk of breast cancer development. Alchol: A women who drink alcohol of two units per day have 8% chances of developing breast cancer than women consuming one unit per day. Increased alcohol consumption increases estrogen levels causing breast cancer. Miscellaneous factors: It may include women of high socio economic status, women working in night shifts exposing to light, race or different ethnic groups like black women and women who smoke have increased tendency of acquiring breast cancer. Women who have other diagnosed cancers of endometrium, ovary or colon have increased chances of getting breast cancer. DIAGNOSTIC TOOLS FOR BREAST CANCER: Evaluation of breast complaints and screening for breast cancer accounts for a significant part of primary care. These screening techniques are useful in determining the possibility of cancer. Generally triple test is used to diagnose the breast cancer; it means clinical breast examination, mammography and fine needle aspiration cytology. Other techniques for evaluation of breast cancer are ultrasonopgraphy, core needle biopsy and genetic tests to evaluate the BRCA mutagenic genes. There are many biomarkers are there to evaluate the breast cancer most of them are useful for early detection some are useful to assess the prognosis of the disease. Risk biomarkers are those associated with increased cancer risk and include mammographic abnormalities, proliferative breast disease with or without atypia, and inherited germ line abnormalities. Prognostic biomarkers provide information regarding outcome irrespective of therapy, while predictive biomarkers give evidence regarding response to therapy. Mammography: It is performed to evaluate the breast lumps or as a screening tool. It is usually recommended as part of the evaluation in women older than 35 years who have a breast mass to help evaluate the mass and to search for other lesions. Mammographic findings propose cancer include increased density, irregular border, speculation, and clustered irregular microcalcification. There have been eight major trials of mammography screening. The observed change in breast cancer mortality has varied widely among these studies but the difference is only in randomization techniques, quality of mammograms, and duration of follow-up and evolving treatments during the trial. To assess the Mammographic density is allied with risk of breast cancer and portrays the effects of different reading conditions on the detection of changes in mammographic features. The subjects were recruited from who were participated in NBSS(National Breast Screening Study) program. The trial was randomized into two groups and subjects were allocated based on age, menopause conditions. i.e. one group contains who had undergone menopause after entry (n=202) and called it as prepostmenopausal group and another group contains who had not (n=202), called it as premenopausal group. By using a computer assisted method they obtained memmogram in each individual. Through the one year they collected mammographs in four reading methods of randomization. They assessed mammographic measures of total, dense and non-dense areas, percent density and associated variance to evaluate the mean effect of the menopause. The result of trial shows mehod-1 gave the largest mean period difference; method -4 gave the least mean period among the four mammographic measures. Finally the result shows that mammographic density is the most reliable and sensitive method for the detection of changes. There is variation in the composition of tissue and also radiographic properties of fat, stroma and epithelium in the breasts of the radiographic appearance from one woman to the other. Literature studies have shown more density of breast is associated with increased breast cancers. Wolfe explained the relativity between variation of mammographic density and the risk of breast cancer. Women have four to six times higher risk of getting breast cancer with more than 75% of density. An extended mammographic density may make difficult to detect breast cancer by mammography. During screen tests it will increase the risk of development of cancer. The reason for the study was to relate mammographic density in base line mammogram and the increased development of breast cancer. The NBSS conducted a screening test with mammography and physical examination. The SMPBC with mammography and OBSP with mammography and physical examination. A cause control study in which the subjects who had histolog ically verified breast cancer were included and subjects whose diagnose of the breast cancer with less than 12 months were excluded. Through radiologist and computer assisted method the mammographic density was examined. The image of unaffected breast of case patient with image of control subjects were examined in a multiviewer in a set of 100 images. The statistical result showed that women with 10% of mammogram density had lesser risk of developing breast cancer than women with 75% of density. Increased risk of breast cancer persisted for minimum of 8 years either detected by screening or other methods. It was less in older women than in younger. 26% breast cancer and 50% of cancers detected in less than 12 months after negative screening test in women younger than age of 56. The study concluded increased risk of breast cancer is seen with higher mammographic density detected by screening or between screening tests. CONCLUSION: The incidence of breast cancer is rising in every country of the world especially in developing countries such as India. This is because more and more women in India are beginning to work outside their homes, food habbits, life styles and shorter duration of breast feeding and late age at first childbirth. Early detection of breast cancer has possibility to save the lives. Weve different biomarkers to detect breast cancer. Mammography is not generally useful in women younger than 35 years who present with a lump. It is performed as an adjunct to the physical examination in evaluating as a screening tool in breast cancer. Mammography is not sufficient to exclude cancer in the evaluation of a palpable mass. Ultrasonography is very useful for evaluating breast lumps and in further defining mammographic abnormalities. It is especially useful in women younger than 35 years.

Internet - Fight for Survival of E-Commerce :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

The Fight for Survival of E-Commerce      Ã‚   Abstract:   How can e-businesses be successful in the new millennia?   This paper looks at both the industry-wide and individual company trends that are developing, from what it takes to remain competitive, to public assurance in security.    It hasn't been an easy year for e-commerce.   With so many e-businesses failing, and just as many emerging, the key to survival has been the attraction and retention of customers.   Different companies need different approaches, however, with one being the use of online coupons.   At the same time, the industry is getting a better image as security is addressed - more specifically, the confidence of buying online with credit cards.      Creating and retaining a customer base on the Internet is not an easy task.   Different companies need to have different approaches, depending on what their product is, and who their competitors are.   To analyze these companies, we split them into type types - the niche competitor and the direct competitor.    The niche competitor is exactly what its name implies.   These are the companies with a specific niche - their customer base comes from the fact that they offer a one-of-a-kind service.   An example of this is the online auction site Ebay.   Ebay provides a service that when first introduced, was non-existent on the Internet.   Today, there is no other online auction site that even begins to rival Ebay in either its number of users and/or hits per day.   Boasting over 10 million registered users as of December of 1999, Ebay had over 3 million items listed for sale in an excess of 3,000 categories that very same month [3]. PC Data Online, a service that rates websites by the amount of traffic received, placed Ebay 8th in their monthly Top 100.   No other auction-oriented site appeared on the list [6].   For a niche competitor to be successful against similar niche competitors, however, it must offer both a good product and good advertisement.   Ebay succeeded by satura ting the market with advertisements early and quickly, and by providing an easy to use and attractive interface.   Ebay's early competitors did not do so well - while Ebay advertised on television, most did not, and most auction sites simply did not look as good as Ebay's.   Even today, Yahoo! Auctions pales in comparison to Ebay, aesthetically.   Indeed, Ebay is both a well-tuned site and household name and thus has been able to fend off and retain customers from would-be competitors such as Yahoo! Auctions, and AuctioNet.

The Shinto vs. Genesis Creation Story Essay -- Scripture Analysis

â€Å"And God said let there be light, and there was light†¦Ã¢â‚¬  according to the Genesis story, an entity which bears no tangible face or bodily structure created the world with nothing more than a swift tongue. It bore the shape of the earth, the plentiful bounty of the soil, the beauty of animals, and the wonder known as humanity all within the time span of seven days. It created the notion of societal law, moral principle, and a reverence for a deity by loyal subjects. And it instituted a harsh rule of law which instigated the idea that if any part of you, mind or body, were to disobey it, you would be punished in the now and in the after. Nonetheless, the Christian telling of how our world came to be, although following a path negligent of the idea of a multilateral approach to understanding God, seems to carry some similarities to that of Shintoism. Or differences? The Shinto creation story is a work of art in and of itself, not to mention it takes on the idea that mul tiple humanoid deities, not an unidentified mass of spiritual benevolence, created this world. In addition, we take on a different approach to creation, in which rather than things being born out of spoken word, our world was actually artistically created by two master creators of land and sea, Izanagi no Mikoto and Izanami no Mikoto . First, let us analyze the particulars of the Christian Genesis story as to begin formulating the basis of comparison and contrast. We shall look at the two parts of Genesis, the first discussing the formulation of earth and its inner particulars, in concert with the first few verses associated with the second part of Genesis, which touches on the creation of the first man and woman: â€Å"Light is commanded to appear†¦ the light is divided ... ...ase of the world of Christians, who view God as a supreme being bound to a code of law which serves to protect their interests and ensure that their life is respected and continued. Works Cited 1) New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: The Zondervan Corporation, 2001. Print. 2) Shimazono, Susumu. 2005. "State Shinto and the Religious Structure of Modern Japan." Journal Of The American Academy Of Religion 73, no. 4: 1077-1098. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed April 23, 2012). 3) Rutgers University, "Genesis." Accessed April 21, 2012. http://crab.rutgers.edu/~goertzel/genesis.html. 4) "Shinto." BBC News. BBC. Web. 21 Apr. 2012. . 5) Leeming, David Adams. 2010. Creation Myths of the World : An Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO, 2010. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost), EBSCOhost (accessed April 21, 2012).

The Positive Impact of Legalizing Marijuana Essay -- Drugs Legalize Le

The Positive Impact of Legalizing Marijuana For many years, the United States government has prohibited drugs such as marijuana from sale in the marketplace. Yet, with prohibition, marijuana use has decreased only minimally. Because of prohibition, the media has publicized only the bad aspects of marijuana use. What many people do not realize are the many positive aspects of marijuana legalization, including new medical cures, cleaner and more efficient industry, and reduced marijuana usage. Marijuana, as most people commonly know it, is really a plant called hemp, or 'cannabis sativa'. There are other plants called hemp, but cannabis hemp is the most useful of these plants. 'Hemp' is any durable plant used since prehistory for many purposes. Cannabis is the most durable of the hemp plants, and it produces the toughest cloth, named 'canvass'. The cannabis plant also produces three other very important products that other plants do not (in usable form): seed, pulp, and medicine. To understand why hemp is illegal, it is necessar y that we take a look at the law prohibiting hemp today. The law that prohibits hemp is called the "Comprehensive Drug Abuse and Control Act of 1970". The Comprehensive Drug Abuse and Control Act of 1970 (Public Law 91-513) overhauled the nation's drug regulation apparatus. Title II of the law, known as the Controlled Substances Act, established criteria for determining which drugs should be controlled, mechanisms for reducing the availability of controlled drugs, and a structure of penalties for illegal distribution and possession of controlled drugs. Marijuana, hashish, and THC are listed in Schedule I, the most restrictive classification. We also have to understand the reasons why marijuana, the drug,... ...dystonia can also attest to benefits derived from smoking marijuana. In 1981, it was reported that patients with idiopathic dystonia improved when they smoked marijuana. This is a group of disorders characterized by abnormal movements and postures resulting from prolonged spasms or muscle contractions. Animal studies confirmed that cannabinoids might have antidysotonic properties, and scientists undertook another human experiment in 1986 that showed the same results. There are many uses for marijuana, and many are unexplored. Actually, some are explored in depth because of interest, and others are left behind. There are probably many other uses that have not been found because of the lack of experimentation on the drug as a whole. If the drug is legalized, there will be much more research done on the drug, and hopefully the drug will begin to be approved for use.

Project Management Student

Table of contents Contents page number Executive summary Introduction Problem identification Case analysis Question 1 Question 2 Question 3 Question 4 Conclusion and Recommendations Bibliography EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Polk County is a scarcely populated County in the state. The roads are in a very poor condition and the Transportation Department supervisor, JR has been tasked to manage all the three projects: * The entrance to the Big John’s superstore ELK Mountain road * Bridge on County road 1045 The writer will analyse the case, evaluate the alternatives and propose a solution for the case that would benefit the Polk County Transportation Department to execute their projects effectively. Various models and literature will be used to motivate the assertions. INTRODUCTION Polk County is the largest county in the state it is governed by three-member Board of commissioners: Harold, Richardson and Thomas.The state faces a challenge of delivering critical projects which involve impro vements to the local roads which at the current state have put the local residents as well as tourists at risk because they are dilapidated, worn out and inadequate for purpose generally being unsafe for use. This challenge is due to many projects competing over limited resources. The three projects are: * The entrance to Big John’s Superstore * Elk Mountain road Crockett Creek bridge on the country road 1045 near prison The reasecher will analyse the case evaluate it, systematically prioritise the steps to be taken on the approach to successfully propose a solution which will benefit the Transportation Department, Polk municipality and ultimately the community at large. Various shortfalls are evident in the current Polk county municipality. The researcher will discuss them in depth with reference to various models and literatures as well as assumptions to back up the recommendations, below are the identified shortfalls: * No poor project office Funds are very limited to kick start projects that would add value to the community and improve their safety. * The tax is minimal to sustain the developments * Insuffient or no fundraising initiatives * High rate of crime As depicted on the case, there are three projects at hand and below is the gathered information on each project. Body governing the county The following individuals comprise the Polk County administration team NAME | DESTINATION/ STATUS| Thomas| Commissioner retired| Herald| Commissioner retired|Richardson| commissioner| JR| Supervisor- Transport Department| Joe| Former head of Transport Department| Unnamed | Current Senator| Zachary | Transport Department intern (civil engineering)| PROJECT 1 THE ENTRANCE TO THE BIG JOHN’s SUPERSTORE * It is off a two lane high at the base of the hill * It is difficult for cars travelling in the opposite direction until they come over the crest * This makes it difficult for the cars turning left into the store and those pulling out of the parking lot. * A number of accidents have occurred The number of cars travelling on the road has increased over the last three years since the store opened * Several residents have raised concerns at the commissioners meetings in the past * JR had approached the store manager about helping to pay for road improvements to widen the roads to add a turning lane or install a traffic light. * The manager replied that they are barely making any profit and if they do not make profit corporate headquarters will close it down and a lot of people will lose their jobs therefore they cannot afford to assist * Many people go to the store because there are no other shopping malls in the countyPROJECT 2 WIDENING AND REPAIR OF ELK MOUNTAIN ROAD IN THE NORTHWESTERN PART OF THE COUNTY * The winters have taken their toll on the road and left it with large deep potholes * The increase in unemployment in the county has led to an increase in independent loggers using the road to bring logs from Elk Mountain to severa l saw mills, including Ye Olde Saw mill in the adjacent county. The lack of repair over the years and the heavy trucks are causing the road to deteriorate even faster Both commissioners, Thomas and Richardson have seen the worsening condition of the road: they use it frequently to go hunting and fishing on ELK Mountain. * Each has received an earful of complaints from friends who use the road. * Zachary also knows how bad the road is from personal experience as he was nearly sideswiped by the logging truck and was forced off the resulting in his car’s low hanging tail pipe and muffler ripped off as he hit a large pothole.PROJECT 3 CROCKETT CREEK BRIDGE ON COUNTY ROAD 1045 NEAR THE PRISON * It is the main road to the state correctional Institution in the south western past of the county. * The bridge barely passed the last state inspection four years ago. * Each spring during the winter thaw Crockett Creek threatens to wash the bridge. * If the bridge is washed out or closed, the detour would be nearly 15 miles for people who work at the prison. * The largest employer in the county is the state correctional institution for female offenders located in the south western part of the county.A project is an endeavour to accomplish a specific objective through a unique set of interrelated tasks and the effective utilisation of resources (Clement and Gido, 2012; 4) It has a clear objective of what is to be accomplished and this is usually defined in the form of deliverable, schedule and budget. A project utilises various resources to carry out interdependent task that need to be accomplished in a certain sequence in order to achieve a project objective within a specific time frame. A project has a sponsor who provides the funds necessary to accomplish the project.A project usually has challenges because it is constrained by many factors including scope, quality budget and risks. 1. SITUATION ANALYSIS 1. 1. NO PROPER PROJECT OFFICE Polk County is the largest cou nty in the state with a shallow structure of Authority. This is evident as the line of command is very short from the top, senator, commissioner to bottom lower management this could be of advantage as there is rapid communication hence close interactions and therefore easy delivery of organisational / municipality goals strategy. JR is the supervisor for the county Transportation Department.The case states that county roads have progressively deteriorated and several critical projects need to be done. He works with his summer intern Zachary and is concerned that if the does not present a good case for the at least one of the project, then the commissioners probably would not fund any of the project. It is evident that JR is struggling as he cannot apply himself explicitly on the tasks at hand as he lack the skills, methodologies that would easily aid to address the projects smoothly, this therefore calls for the introduction of project management office in the municipality 1. 2PROJ ECT MANAGEMENT OFFICEProject management is defined by the PMBOK as†¦. ’the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques in order to meet stakeholder’s needs and expectation from a project. ’ (Burke, 2011; 18) 1. 3GENERIC ROLES OF A PROJECT MANAGEMENT OFFICE 1. 3. 1The project management office’s aim is to link individual project to the organisation’s dynamic strategic intent through a focused discipline of project management. 1. 3. 2The project management office is established to act as support and reporting channel between projects and senior management without removing the accountability or authority of project managers. . 3. 4The project management office provides top management with a consolidated view on all projects within the organisation and thus assists top management in ensuring that all projects are aligned with the strategic direction of the organisation. 1. 3. 5The project management office will provide value-added assis tance to all its identified customers in the organisation. 1. 3. 6The project management office will enable support and facilitate project disciplines with a: * A project life cycle Programme/project management * Project management training * Prioritisation support * Project start-up workshops and project administration ‘With the budget situation JR is worried that none of the projects may get done’, the case reads, this emphasises how the department is financially constrained and several projects are competing over this limited funds. The project management office is equipped with tools and techniques which provide a systematic approach on every project. The PMBOK states ‘†¦.Because projects are unique and involve a certain degree of risk, companies performing projects will generally subdivide their project into several project phases to provide better management control. Collectively these project phases are called the project lifecycle’. (Burke, 201 1; 40) The general project life cycle has four phases: * Concept or initiation phase * Design or planning phase * Implementation or performing phase * Commissioning and handover or closing phase In the initiating phase, projects are identified and selected. They are then authorised using a document referred to as a project charter.The planning phase includes defining the project scope, identifying resources developing a schedule and budget and identifying risks all of which makes up a baseline plan for doing the project work. In the performing phase the plan is executed and work tasks are carried out to produce all the project deliverables and to accomplish the project objective. During this phase the project progress is monitored and controlled to assure the work remains on schedule and within budget, the scope is fully completed according to specifications and all the deliverables meet the acceptance criteria.Also any changes need to be documented, approved and incorporated into a n updated baseline plan if necessary. In the closing phase the project evaluations are conducted lessons learned are identified and documented to help improve performance on future projects and project document are organised and archived. (Clement and Gido, 2012; 9) Phases in a project lifecycle are interrelated which means the previous phase should be successfully completed before progressing to the next phase.In this particular case, JR, the supervisor at a Transportation Department is struggling to make a selection on a project to perform first since there are limited funds. The main focus of this case is based on the initiation phase of the project lifecycle and because of the interrelation of the phases; it has to be successfully completed to move forward to the next phase of project. The initiation phase of the project lifecycle starts with recognising a need, problem or opportunity for which the project or projects are identified to address.Projects are identified in various ways: during an organisation strategic planning, as part of its normal operations, in a response to unexpected events or as a group of individuals deciding to organise a project to address a particular need. It is important to try to quantify the need to help evaluate whether the expected benefits from implementing a project outweigh the costs or consequences of conducting the project. Once the magnitude and the expected benefit or improvement has been estimated the cost for a project to implement the improvement. The transportation epartment of Polk County identified several needs but have limited funds and people available to pursue the projects to address those identified needs. In this case the department must go through a decision making process to prioritise and select the project that will result in the greatest overall benefit. Project selection is making a commitment for the future. The execution of a project will tie up the company resources and as an opportunity cost, the selection of one project may preclude your company from pursuing another (perhaps more profitable) project.We live in a world of finite resources and so cannot carry out all the projects we may want or need. Therefore a process is required to select and rank projects on the basis of their beneficial change to a company. (Burke, 2011: 66). The steps in the project selection process include: * develop a set of criteria against which the project will be evaluated * list assumptions that will be used on the basis of each project * Gather data and information for each project to help ensure an intelligent decision regarding project selection.Methods of gathering this information could include surveys, focus groups, interviews or analysis of available reports * Evaluate each project against criteria. Once all the data and information have been collected analysed and summarised for each potential project it should be given to all the people responsible for performing the evaluation. It is beneficial to the have several individuals in the evaluation and selection process in order to get various viewpoints.Each person on the evaluation and selection committee should have a different background and experience to bring to the decision making process, (Clement and Gido, 2012:35) emphasises that although it may take longer and be more stressful to gain group consensus on projects priorities and selections it will most likely be a better quality decision than if the decision is made by just one individual. The committee may develop a set of evaluation criteria with some type of rating system (such as Low-Medium-High, 1 to 5) against which to rate each potential project against each criterion.Various models can be used in project selection. The main purpose of these models is to aid decision making leading to project selection. The models include: * Numeric models * Non- numeric models A numeric model is usually financially focused and quantifies the project in terms of tim e to repay the investment or return on investment while non-numeric models look at a much wider view of the project considering items such as market share, relocation or environmental issues. Most importantly the models must evaluate projects by how well they meet the company’s strategic goals and corporate mission. 2.NUMERIC MODELS The numeric selection models may be subdivided into financial models and scoring models. The financial models are: * Payback period * Return on investment * Net present value * Internal rate of return Companies tend to prefer financial models and often select solely on profitability. 2. 1SCORING MODELS The numeric models mostly have common limitation, they only look at the financial element of the project. In an attempt to broaden the selection criteria, (Burke, 2011:79) suggest ‘a scoring model called the factor model, which uses multiple criteria to evaluate the project will be introduced’.The factor model simply lists a number of d esirable factors on a project selection pro-forma along with columns to show the rating of each factor. A weighted column can be added to increase the score of important factors while reducing the scoring of the less important. The advantages of using a scoring model are; * It encourages objectivity in decision making * It uses multiple selection criteria to widen the range of evaluation * It uses the simple structure therefore easy to use It uses selection factors structured by senior management, this implies that they reflect the company’s goal and objectives * It makes it easy to change factors. * It uses weighted scoring to reflect the factor’s differential importance * It is not biased towards short run projects favoured by financial models. * It is a weighted model which can also be used as a flag to improve projects by identifying the variance between the factor score and the maximum possible score The disadvantages of using a scoring model are: If the factors a re not weighted they will all equal importance * A simple model may encourage the developments of long lists that could introduce trivia factors and therefore waste management time. Assuming that the county Transportation Department has a budget of hundred million pula (P100  000) to allocate over the three project the researcher has used a scoring model to score some desirable factors on each project. This analysis and evaluation determines which project is critical and assist the project manager to prioritise effectively on which project to perform first followed by others.The figure below shows the factor scoring model for a county Transportation Department. SCORING FACTOR MODEL – PROPOSED SOLUTION| | FACTORS| PROJECT 1| PROJECT 2| PROJECT 3| 1. BENEFITS| 8| 9| 9| alignment to organisation strategy, mission, visions, values|   | 4| 4| 4| impact (organisational Department County)|   | 4| 5| 5|   |   |   |   | 2. COSTS| 4| 6| 8| budget (impact on budget)| 2| 3| 4| expenditure| 2| 3| 4| |   |   |   | 3. TIME| 7| 6| 7| delivery(how long will it take to deliver value to the community| 4| 3| 3| start- up (when can the project start)| 3| 3| 4|   |   |   | 4. RISKS| 5| 7| 9| safety and health (stakeholder and community| 3| 4| 5| environment| 2| 3| 4| |   |   |   | 5 RESOURCES| 7| 7| 8| capacity (at your disposal)| 4| 4| 4| availability| 3| 3| 4| |   |   |   | 6. STAKEHOLDERS| 5| 6| 9| commitment| 2| 3| 4| reputation| 3| 3| 5| TOTAL| 36| 41| 50| PERCENTAGE| 60| 68. 33| 83. 33| Key 5= very good weighting 4= good 0-40% low priority 3=fair 41-60% average priority 2= poor 61- 80% high priority 1= very poor 81- 100%very high priorityA priority list of projects from the model depicts Crockett Creek Bridge on road 1045 will progress under the current budget, if enough funds will be secured. ELK mountain road will follow then lastly the entrance to the Big John’s superstore. Therefore the researcher recommends that the cou nty Transport Department should adopt the project management approach by introducing a project management office. The project management office will be merged into the current county municipality opening structure to undertake all the projects across all departments with expertise.A project will be allocated a project manager and through his knowledge and skills. A methodological approach of project management will be applied. From project initiation phase are identified and selected through planning phase which involves defining the project scope, identifying resources, developing a schedule and budget and identifying resources development risks to the performing phase whereby the plan is execute and finally the closing phase/ project handover where the project lifecycle terminates.This methodological approach would be suitable for Polk County Transportation Department as projects would be executed effectively and effectively. To generate funds for the county, the commissioners can come up with initiatives like introducing road levy, introducing toll gates as well as adjusting tax higher so as to acquire funds for local developments. The crime rate is also igh as the case states that the largest employer is the state correctional institution for female offender, therefore prison as an offenders rehabilitation centre with skills they acquire during their serving period, prisoners can produce goods that can be sold to the local community to generate funds which could assist with the developments. CONCLUSION Polk County faces a problem of under development or road improvement because of limited funds. Multiple projects have been identified to address the current situation, besides the limited funds inadequate skills and lack of proper facilities have been identified.The writer analysed the case, quantified case data, evaluated it and suggests that introduction of project management office in the Polk county municipality would highly benefit the organisation as a proper systematic methodology of project management will be used to tackle and manage all projects effectively and also various fund raising initiatives will be implemented to raise money for the local government for developments. BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Burke, R. 2011, Project Management Techniques, ( College Edition), China, Burke Publishing 2. Clements, J. P. and Gido J. 2012 Effective Project Management Fifth Edition, Canada. Joe Sabatino