Health Is the Wealth

Life is not merely to be alive but to be healthy and wealthy. Virgil says that † The greatest wealth is health† A spanish proverb says that † A man who is too busy to take care of his health is like a mechanic too busy to take care of his tools†. Two things which is always on our mind is Health and Wealth. They are of utmost importance to all of us. Health and Wealth decide the quality of life we lead. If we want to lead a happy life, wealth and health are both important. Wealth is the ability of fully experiencing life. It is true that wealth will not make a person good, but there is nobody who wants to be poor, just for being good. And as Benjamin Franklin says â€Å"Wealth is not his, that has it, but his that enjoys it†. However, there is a tendency of large number of people to run after wealth. They work to gather more and more wealth. Inthe process they ignore their health. They do not take care in eating food at the right time. In the process of gathering more wealth, they also undergo a lot of stress. So many people spend their health in gaining wealth and then spend their wealth to regain their health. Money can buy a tonic but not health, we have to do a number of things to maintain our health . Now because of lack of exercises and proper food and stress the wealth may increase but health begins to suffer. It has been proved that overwork without care for health leads to a number of diseases. Disease like stomach ulcer, obesity are due to bad eating habits. Lack of exercises and stress leads to high cholesterol, Blood pressure and heart problems. So it is better to take care of your health. If we have health, we probably will be happy and if we have both health and happiness we have all the wealth we need. Health and intellect are two blessings of life. Happiness lies first of all in health. Mahatma gandhi says that it is health that is the real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver. Taking care of one's health should be a continuous process. We should follow a routine of exercises and proper food. It is said that exercise if persued continuously help us to gain strength. We should also follow a diet that is beneficial for our health. Going on diet does not mean limiting your food. We should aim at improving the quality of our food intake. Buddha says that the secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn the past but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly. An Arabian proverb says that he who has health has hope and he who has hope has everything. To get rich never risk your health. For it is the truth that † HEALTH is the WEALTH of all WEALTH†

Hardy’s use of symbolism and characters in Tess of the D’urbervilles Essay

The roles of rustic characters in Tess of the D’urbervilles are used in many concepts to express Tess’ superiority in the book. Throughout the novel Hardy emphasis his love of the character Tess, he has always made Tess stand out, for example in the opening when we first meet Tess she is described as the most beautiful dancer their but he has also added the red ribbon so she stands out in the crowd of white dresses. Tess of the D’urbervilles, like the other major works by Thomas Hardy, anticipates the twentieth century in regard to the nature and treatment of its subject matter. Tess is the twelfth novel published by Hardy. He began the novel in 1889 it was rejected by several other periodicals from July to December 1891. It was finally published in December 1891. The novel questions societies sexual mores by compassionately portraying a heroine who is seduced by the son of her employer and who thus is not considered pure and chaste women by the rest of the society. Upon its publication, Tess encountered brutally hostile reviews; although it is now considered a major work of fiction, the poor reception of Tess and Jude the Obscure precipitated Thomas Hardy’s transition from writing fiction to poetry. Tess of the D’urbervilles deals with several significant contemporary subjects for Hardy, including struggles of religious belief that occurred during Hardy’s lifetime Hardy was largely influenced by the Oxford movement a spiritual movement involving extremely devout thinking and actions. Hardy’s family members were primarily orthodox Christians and hardy himself considered entering the clergy, as did many of his relatives. Yet hardy eventually abandoned his devout faith in god based on the scientific advances of his contemporises, including most prominently Darwin’s on the origin of species. Hardy’s own religious experiences can thus be seen in the character of Angel Clare, who resists the conservative religious experiences beliefs of his parents to take a more religious and secular view of philosophy. The novel also reflects Hardy’s preoccupation with social class that continues through his novels. Hardy had connections in both the working class and the upper class, but felt that he belonged to neither. This is reflected in the pessimism contained in Tess of the D’urbervilles toward the chances for Tess to ascend in society and Angel’s precarious position as neither a member of the upper class nor a working person equivalent to his fellow milkers at Talbothays. Again, like Angel Clare, Thomas Hardy Found himself torn between different social spheres with which he could not fully align himself. Tess of the D’urbervilles reflects that divide. It was the stories he heard from his mother and grandmother he used in his story about secret baptisms, he witnessed a hanging of a woman who killed her husband for being unfaithful. Hardy was well of but still joined in, in all the country activities, he uses events from his background e.g. the wild country dancing; where he often played his violin he uses this in describing the dancing in Chaseborough. His affinity with nature and the rural environment is used very often in the novel because of his love of the countryside and his home life being around nature and animals he grew to love it and describes it with such emotional attachment when he talks about the season, which he has combined with symbolism. Hardy disliked anything new, and continued telling use this throughout the book since the beginning when Tess goes to Alec’s house he describes it as a ‘crimson brick lodge’ hardy always uses symbolism to represent things red (crimson) is a sign of danger and warning. And also mentioned ‘everything looked like new money-like the last coin issued from the mint. He doesn’t like anything new and states from the beginning that he doesn’t like the idea of Tess going to Alec at his house. Hardy describes the countryside and the season as a sign of symbolism like spring is a happy and cheerful season when good things happen and then when its cold, bad and misfortune takes place. He describes the old and traditional ways of Marlett with joy and happiness, he like the club walking because he describes the evening and the spring. He dislike the combine harvester by the industrial revolution because it destroys the nature and life; he writes that the animals ‘huddled together, friends and foes, till the last few yards of upright whet fell also under the teeth of the veering reaper and they where everyone put to death by the sticks and stones of the harvester’ he describes the whole thing in a negative attitude he calls the threshing machine at Flintomb Ash a ‘ red tyrant’. Hardy in some cases does make rustic characters friendly, sympathetic and kind e.g. whilst harvesting when the children brought Tess her baby they respected her and were sympathetic towards her. Also when her father made a fool of himself at the beginning they don’t laugh or sneer but understand their difficulties. When Tess returns to Trantridge her friends help cheer her up, also when Izzy tells Angel that Tess loves him more than anyone else. He makes them hard working to show they are better than urban dwellers like at the harvest field and farms. The brothers of Angel are not the rustic characters that hardy made the village people but more of upper class well of children who fell to higher than the rest of the village folk to talk part in dancing in public because they feel it is wrong and are afraid that someone may see them and know who they are. The family of Tess are almost the same, they don’t care about anybody but themselves and all they want after finding out that they are from a rich family is to have the money and well fair that will come from it. They don’t care for what they do to Tess to make her do what they want, and the children are only passengers on the shiftless house of the Durbeyfield going nowhere with no future. There are many other roles to the rustic characters the good and bad one the one who are kind, the ones who are jealous and hateful, some that have humour and make you laugh like the treacle and Car. The rustic characters are used to make Tess stand out more like the milk maids all like Angel but they say that Tess is pretty and that Angel likes her but they are not jealous, they accept her and are still her friend. When Car has treacle on her back she doesn’t like the fact that Tess is laughing at her because she is the favourite of Alec, also they say ‘ very well, miss Independence’ meaning that she is strong and won’t let others do the work for her and not many where like her. This does change the way we look at Tess she is made most superior than the others, made to stand out against all odds. The seasons changing symbolise the future events and the mood of the character. Like the faint luminous fog on page 86 just before the rape, this symbolises danger is up ahead and the fog is blinding Tess from the truth, and what’s about to happen. In the novel it stops her from seeing where they are going, so inevitably Alec uses this to his advantage to seduce her without realising. On page 3 it is spring everything is happy cheerful and people are safe and happy nothing can go wrong in May. Page 131 it is spring, which was the happiest time in Tess’ life so, it predicts that it is a new start it predicts a happy future for her. Page 90 when she is about to be rapped it writes that the chase was wrapped in thick darkness now she is totally blinded from all that is about to come, and all that is going to change her life. Tess is very careful in the things she does; the atmosphere around her reflects how she feels, and also the seasons. The dead leaves that she was lying on while she slept before the rape. This tells use that no matter what she doesn’t feel safe she likes the country life with the simple everyday living. She doesn’t trust the world beyond Trantridge, we see this in the way she feels living Trantridge for the first time. The colours are used to warn use of the future and certain characters. Darkness is used in the triangular tent door Alec comes out of darkness, which shows that his intensions are dark and evil. For example ‘darkness and silence ruled everywhere around’ when they where in the woods before the rape. Blue narcotic haze, it almost blinded her from what he’s thinking of almost drugging her unconscious of her present situation. Red is a sign of danger warns readers that something is going to happen. White is the sign of purity and fairness. The first time she leaves with Alec he writes ‘behind the green valley of her birth, before, a grey country of which she knew nothing’. Describes the journey to his home green-past, grey-future, green is what is good and full of life, safe. Grey is when she leaves her green happy life in to a grey bleak one. Red is the sign of danger and a warning. It is used throughout this book it starts with her wearing a red ribbon I believe this represents the fact that she is pretty and pure but the future ahead is full of struggle and danger. Hardy mentions that Alec has red smooth lips this states seduction. The crimson brick lodge-red, new, Hardy doesn’t like new non-country things at Alec’s house. Strawberries- red and always a symbol of seduction, so his intensions of giving her these are clear at his house the first time thy meet. The blood red ray- it means because she is blinded by the smoke she is blurred from the figure who is a dangerous person in her life while she eats. Overall Hardy has used rustic characters in many ways, to emphasis the fact that Tess is his favourite, to make her more superior then the that fact that she was educated till the 6th grade, which is something not many people where. The characters are also there for comfort and humour. Hardy uses symbolism to show danger, predict the future and show passing of seasons and show intensions of characters. In the book he also uses extended metaphors one example is the shiftless house of the Durbeyfields, this extended metaphor of the shiftless house talks about the children’s life in the house which has no destination how they have no choice or future entirely dependent on the choices of the two adults for there pleasure, their necessities, their health, even their existence. The image that is given is of a unstable complicated family with parents and the only choice the children have is to follow nothing else they can do except help when they get older, its no future for them in the ‘shiftless house of the Durbeyfields’. The extended metaphor when she is getting raped it talks about atmosphere, what she’s lost and then finds reason why it was done to her. It talks about no one looking out for her where was god. Where was the providence in her faith? Tess is his favourite character without a doubt he presents her in a light which finds her very favourable to him. Tess can be classed as a tragedy in the Shakespearean scene because basic flaws e.g. pride, guilt, stubbornness and excessive loyalty.

Jcg Global Air Services

UV1317 Rev. Jan. 6, 2009 JCG GLOBAL AIR SERVICES Sam Bursk set about the task of preparing a fuel plan for his upcoming four-leg flight to Boston, the New York City area, Dallas, and back. Like the other 13 corporate pilots he worked with, Bursk enjoyed flying a lot more than doing paperwork. But unlike some of his colleagues, Bursk rather enjoyed the challenge of constructing a fuel plan. JCG Global Air Services JCG Global Air Services (AS) operated four aircraft to serve the transportation needs of the corporate headquarters of the JCG Company.Located on a 1,415-acre campus in Moline, Illinois, the headquarters housed the executive and administrative staff of JCG’s divisions along with a wide array of company-wide functions. Close to 2,400 JCG employees worked at headquarters. Company executives routinely used AS to fly to company factories, marketing facilities, and customer locations throughout the world. The company’s largest and most expensive aircraft, the Gulfst ream GV, had a range of 6,000 nautical miles. Purchased in 2001, it was flown throughout the world including the growth areas of India and China.It could carry up to 13 passengers, a flight attendant, and two or three pilots. It burned fuel at a rate of approximately 450 gallons per hour. The firm owned and operated two Cessna Citation X aircraft (CE750), which it had purchased in 2002 and 2004. The CE750 (Figure 1) was the fastest nonmilitary plane in the world and often went from Moline to as far as South America, Europe, and Western Russia—a larger range than most small jets. Its fuel burn rate of 310 gallons per hour coupled with its 13,000-pound-capacity tank meant that Figure 1.Cessna Citation X aircraft.  © Bryan Correira (used with permission) http://www. flickr. com/photos/bcorreira/2540324650/ This case was written by Richard S. Reynolds Professor Phillip E. Pfeifer as a basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate effective or ineffective handling of an a dministrative situation. Names have been disguised. Copyright ? 2008 by the University of Virginia Darden School Foundation, Charlottesville, VA. All rights reserved. To order copies, send an e-mail to [email  protected] com.No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the permission of the Darden School. Rev. 1/09. Purchased by ersin koc ([email  protected] com) on March 07, 2013 -2- UV1317 it required a fuel stop to reach these more distant destinations. It carried up to eight passengers and two pilots. The company’s newest aircraft was a 2006 Cessna Citation Sovereign (CE680).Used only within North America, this craft carried up to eight passengers and burned fuel at approximately 270 gallons per hour. Each of the four aircraft was budgeted for 650 flight hours per year, and AS had an annua l budget of $22 million—less than 0. 1% of company sales. The department consisted of 14 pilots (including the department manager and two pilot managers), six maintenance technicians, and four support staff members who were responsible for scheduling and office support.The Upcoming Flight In two days, the CEO and CFO of the JCG Corporation had a trip scheduled from Moline, to Boston, the New York City area, Dallas, and then back to Moline. The purpose of the trip was to pick up some key analysts and mutual fund managers in Boston and New York and show them the new JCG factory in Dallas and the new JCG distribution center in Moline. They would be picking up two passengers in Boston and four in New York.As usual, AS would use the airport in Teterboro, New Jersey, as their destination in the New York City area; it was the closest airport to Wall Street, Manhattan, and the Lincoln Tunnel. Each U. S. airport carried a four-letter identifier beginning with the letter K. The upcomin g four-leg flight would go from KMLI to KBOS to KTEB to KDAL and back to KMLI. Pilots at AS were responsible for creating and filing their own flight plans with the U. S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). One element of the flight plan was the takeoff and landing weight of the aircraft.To calculate these, one started with the basic operating weight (BOW) of the craft and added the weight of the passengers and fuel. The BOW included the structure of the aircraft, a stocked galley, emergency equipment, and the crew. The only weight components that varied from flight to flight were passengers and fuel. The only component that varied from takeoff to landing on a given flight was fuel. (For the purposes of this case study, we ignore the possibility of executive skydiving. )Tinkering with Tankering This meant that one of Bursk’s first tasks was to determine a fueling plan for the upcoming flights. Coming up with a fuel plan was not a joyful task for pilots because there was no straightforward way to calculate how much fuel to take on or â€Å"upload† at the beginning of each leg. One question was whether or not to â€Å"tanker. † Tankering referred to a practice in which extra fuel was uploaded initially to avoid having to purchase higher-priced fuel at destination airports. AS operated its own fuel farm at Moline,Purchased by ersin koc ([email  protected] com) on March 07, 2013 -3- UV1317 which kept its fuel costs low. Fuel at Moline at the time cost $3. 97 a gallon. In contrast, fuel purchased at KBOS cost $8. 35 a gallon. As a simple example of tankering, Bursk could decide to upload enough fuel at KMLI to carry him through both of the first two legs, thereby avoiding buying fuel at KBOS. In essence, AS would carry or tanker from KMLI the fuel needed to fly from KBOS to KTEB. One factor that worked against tankering was ramp fees.Ramp fees were fixed fees charged to each landing jet by the destination airport’s general-aviation terminal; the fees covered the costs of operating the terminal. The ramp fee at KBOS was $800. The fee was waived with the purchase of 500 or more gallons of fuel. To begin the process of constructing a fuel plan, Bursk assembled the information in Exhibit 1. The fuel burn numbers were fairly easy to calculate based on flight miles and aircraft. (The burn numbers included the fuel used during taxiing at the departing airport. Although the calculation was more complicated than just multiplying miles by average gallons per mile (because extra fuel was used at takeoff), most pilots could do the calculation in their heads. Fuel prices, ramp fees, and minimum gallons needed to waive the ramp fees could all be found on the Internet. In addition to the cost of fuel and ramp fees, Bursk needed to consider the limitations of the CE750 (Exhibit 2). The fuel tank capacity was a firm physical limit, and the departure ramp and landing weight limits were structural limits developed by the manufac turer and approved by the FAA during aircraft certification.To calculate departing ramp or arrival weight, Bursk added BOW to the weight of the fuel and the weight of the passengers (passenger weight calculations were based on a company-mandated figure of 200 pounds per person, including luggage). There were two final considerations. The company specified that aircraft always land with at least 2,400 pounds of fuel. Any fuel plan Bursk developed would have to be one in which the weight of fuel at arrival met or exceeded 2,400 pounds. This â€Å"safety stock† was there to ensure jets had enough fuel to make it to an alternate airport should there be bad weather at the destination airport.The second consideration was that the company dictated immediately bringing the fuel level up to 7,000 pounds upon arrival back at KMLI. The rationale for this was that the aircraft would always be ready to go at a moment’s notice. This meant that Bursk’s fuel plan should begin w ith the CE750 containing 7,000 pounds of fuel. (For flights using the larger Gulfstream GV aircraft, the policy was to always land with at least 4,500 pounds of fuel and bring its fuel level up to 8,700 pounds upon arrival at KMLI. As Bursk prepared to put pencil to paper to create a fuel plan for the upcoming KMLI to KBOS to KTEB to KDAL to KMLI trip, he paused to ponder why aircraft gauges measured fuel in pounds and yet fuel was sold in gallons. Like every other pilot at AS, he knew the importance of the number 6. 7—the weight in pounds of a gallon of jet fuel. Purchased by ersin koc ([email  protected] com) on March 07, 2013 -4Exhibit 1 JCG GLOBAL AIR SERVICES Flight Details UV1317 Leg 1 2 3 4 Depart KMLI KBOS KTEB KDAL Arrive KBOS KTEB KDAL KMLI Miles 890 176 1,202 628 Duration (hrs:mins) 2:00 0:40 2:55 1:35Fuel burn including taxi (pounds) 4,800 2,000 5,300 3,100 Fuel price ($/gallon) $3. 97 $8. 35 $7. 47 $6. 01 Ramp fee $800 $450 $400 Minimum gallons to waive fee 500 300 350 Exhibit 2 JCG GLOBAL AIR SERVICES Aircraft Limitations (in pounds) Aircraft Maximum Ramp Weight Maximum Landing Weight BOW* Fuel Tank Capacity CE750 36,400 31,800 22,200 13,000 GV 90,900 75,300 48,800 41,300 *BOW = basic operating weight of the aircraft, including crew and excluding the weight of fuel and passengers. Purchased by ersin koc ([email  protected] com) on March 07, 2013

Autobiograhy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

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Evaluate change management in Telecommunications sector omantel in Essay

Evaluate change management in Telecommunications sector omantel in Sultanate of Oman - Essay Example For example, a country with many international companies and businesses could be perceived as an economically progressing organization that employs highly technical and skilled employees. This indicates that the country is highly advanced and privatizations of government owned corporations indicate a liberalization of government economic and trade policies. However, not all organizations keep up with the social, economic and political changes in the country, there are those who remain in touch with methods and resist change. But if an organization wants to achieve progress and growth, it must remember that change is inevitable. Change in the organizational structure, management and use of technology indicates that the organization is moving towards better measures of effectiveness and paving its way towards progress and prosperity. â€Å"Change will not disappear nor dissipate; technology, civilizations and creative thoughts will maintain their ever-accelerating dive onwards† (Paton & McCalman 2008, p. 5). As with any process involving transition and transformation, change in the structure and strategies of an organization is often met with negativity and apprehension. Even if the change is for the greater good of the company, there will always be those who will remain anxious about its consequences. Organizational change is brought about by a number of factors; this could be from mergers and acquisitions, a government take-over or the privatization of the organization. The anxiety provoking aspect in any organizational change is not actually the transformation of the organization or the change in management but the fact that the employees have to leave their old ways of doing things; it is the learning of new tasks, new protocols and new operating procedures that threaten employees. By definition, change means discarding the old and embracing the new, and the new may not always be accepted and appreciated by the employees. â€Å"Traditionally, analysis of organizational change has been built around the organism metaphor in which organizations are analyzed as if they were living organisms operating in an environment to which they need to adapt to ensure survival† (Lesson 37: Organizational Change n.d., p. 1). Anxiety and apprehension to some extent is the natural reaction to change, as our body responds to external stimuli both physically and psychologically. This response or reaction to change is welcomed by the agents of change as an opportunity to make the employees aware of the undertakings taking place in the organization. It is the time when questions could be answered, when professional thirsts could be quenched, when fears and doubts could be placated and when employees are engaged as advocates of the process of change as they now possess the knowledge and information that they can share with other employees who face the same challenges. Change Management in an organization is all about the actions necessary for an o rganization to recognize, organize, execute and take

Havoc Mouldings Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

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Clash of science and religion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

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Lean implementation in chinese manufacturing SMEs Essay

Lean implementation in chinese manufacturing SMEs - Essay Example I will spend all the holidays and time other than module attendance and other post module assignment project on the research work. Moreover, when my supervisor will not be available then i will try to improve the work already done as per last meeting with supervisor. The minimum time required to complete the project is 6 months, in which sample selection limitation will persist Despite it being easier to implement lean manufacturing in SMEs, its implementation is quite different from large companies and as such most SMEs usually face some obstacles in implementing the method successfully. The main barrier for SMEs is the lack of support and knowledge from top management with regard to the method. In addition, both employees and management tend to have a resistant towards change and new practices, which hinder the implementation of lean management. Most SMEs also have some constraints in resources, both operational and financial resources that will help in their path of becoming lean. Another obstacle is the instability in production schedules and cooperation from suppliers in most SMEs that makes it difficult to carry out lean manufacturing practices (Nordin & Deros, 2013). As Womack, Jones & Roos (1990) concluded in their study, lean manufacturing can be implemented by any company anywhere in the world in all industries and it regarded to benefit both small and large organisations regardless of the size factor. Several scholars, which have dealt with the concept of lean management, have stressed that when implementing this method, SMEs should not start with massive financial investment in lean practices but should go slow. One of the proposed framework by Herron and Braiden (2007) pointed out that, SMEs should focus on five basic practices as the stepping stone towards developing lean manufacturing in a company that include quality circle,

Varying Activity Preferences Essay Example for Free

Varying Activity Preferences Essay I have found that a persons culture has an impact on which physical activities individuals participate in to stay healthy. There is a definite difference in the types of activities that everyone participates in, when culture is taken into account. It has a significant effect on what activities individual’s prefer. I interviewed three people about what kind of background they have, there age, and activities they do to stay in shape to prove it. The first person I interviewed was Harris Plourde a 37 year old born and raised Canadian. Harris says I love the speed of the sport. Not just of the players, but how fast things change. I realized that you have to be constantly on your toes. Also, unlike like basketball, football and soccer, I find hockey requires refined abilities and skills. Theres no other sport that you have to skate or use a stick. Everyone is born with the natural ability to throw or kick, but hockey skills are learned. He also says that hockey is very popular in Canada. He plays whenever he gets the chance. The next person I interviewed is Alex Torres a 17 year old high school senior, told me why he loved soccer so much, â€Å"soccer is actually a lot of fun. You have more planning and you don’t get hurt as much as you think. In fact you have to be more flexible then powerful to play the game.† I asked him if he thought that his heritage liked football more than other sports and he said, â€Å"Yes, because it was the only sport we could really play when we lived in Mà ©xico, all my friends there play it too.† Alex is very active, and has participated in many soccer games. My that interview was with Dakota Hall. He is a 19 year old American high school graduate. He loves American football. He actually wants to play professionally someday. He said he doesn’t stop talking and thinking about football. American Football is very popular here in the U.S. Dakota says â€Å"American Football is the best sport ever! I can’t believe there isn’t anything else like it in other countries. To me Football really shows how truly strong a player is. That’s why I want to be a professional football player.† He is very active in the sport and he exercises every day. In conclusion it is clear to say, from the information above, that the culture that one comes from, can effect what kinds of activities that one will like to take part in. And are culture is what makes us unique. And every sport is unique to certain cultures, and with each sport comes with its own mental and fiscally benefit that will keep us healthy. You can still find an exercise plan that suits your life and her interests within any culture.

British Post War Mass Housing Cultural Studies Essay

British Post War Mass Housing Cultural Studies Essay In this essay, I will focus primarily on housing constructed during the decade or so after the end of the Second World War as part of the progressive, experimental establishment of the Welfare State in Britain. Although housing was constructed speculatively by private developers on a fairly wide scale with varying degrees of success (Span schemes like New Ash Green in Kent, by Eric Lyons being an obvious and commonly cited success story), it is social housing which is linked most fascinatingly to the evolving socio-economic landscape in Britain, as I shall demonstrate. Housing provision by the end of the war, particularly in urban centres, was considered inadequate, not only in quantity, but in quality as well. War damage had impacted the quantity of housing stock, but additionally, much obsolete housing had been earmarked for demolition since before the war. Nicholas Taylor, writing in the AR in 1967, in a discussion of what he called the failure of housing in the postwar period, cites the negative [postwar] reaction to the boom towns of the industrial revolution as the reason for this. In particular, he says, [we] have aimed to prevent epidemic diseases cholera, dysentery, rickets, scurvy, typhoid, all diseases which were propagated by overcrowding, by bad sanitation, by inadequate facilities for the preparation of food and by the pollution of homes from adjoining factories. Clearly, a commitment to addressing these public health issues must be commended what I will be discussing is whether the attempt to do so through the medium of housing, and specifically social housing, can be considered successful. It is important to understand at the outset the politically progressive nature of housing policy in the period, embedded as it is in the establishment of the Welfare State, which is based on the principles of, equality of opportunity, equitable distribution of wealth, and public responsibility for those unable to avail themselves of the minimal provisions for a good life.[1] Architecturally, the modernist desire expressed by Le Corbusier to provide an environment that was spiritually fulfilling, creating harmony between people and their surroundings and freeing communities from the misery of poor housing[2] was perfectly in sync with the prevailing political commitment to decisively break away from unsanitary, overcrowded slums. I propose to discuss a handful of iconic/ notorious case studies of 50s and 60s mass housing, as they excite passionately polarized opinion and act as symbols for the wider debate. The first is Park Hill in Sheffield, built in 1960, which according to the Architectural Review (in 2011) marked the peak performance of Sheffields city architects office as run by J.K. Lewis Womersley, regarded by [Nikolaus] Pevsner as an outfit of national importance.[3] This building proved popular with its residents, who loved their flats and soon formed an effective association. It was also much lauded in architectural circlesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Its size and hillside location made it the prime example of streets in the air nationally, and for a decade or so it thronged with international visitors.[4] However, decline set in as the ideal of equality was eroded [and] social housing became the ghetto of a suppressed underclass, and the more active, capable and employed were encouraged to buy themselves out, leaving the disadvantaged in possession. This is the key trend not only in this case, but across the country, and my desire is to understand whether this was a reflection on poor architecture, changes in society, or both. In the case of Park Hill, a recent initiative, privately funded by the developer Urban Splash, to redevelop the building, has provoked fresh debate over its merits. A blog on the Guardian website[5] on the subject exemplifies this. One poster expressed typical views (my italics): As a foreigner from Leeds who has lived in Sheffield for 30 years I can support those who report that the people of Sheffield did not want Park Hill kept, and were mystified by the listing and bemused by the amounts of money, some of it public money, being spent on this eyesore. The bright coloured panels are not an improvement. Anyone in Sheffield with the money to buy one of the penthouses would be much better advised to spend it in one of Sheffields leafy and affluent suburbs, of which we have many, which also often enjoy superb views, as Sheffield is very hilly. This poster neatly expresses a popular verdict on dense, large scale urban social housing projects of the period, in which as long ago as 1967, It [was] easier to count the few unbroken panes of armoured glass on the staircases than the multitude which are cracked and splintered, and where economy on materials and inadequacy of detailing can be assessed as objective weaknesses, but what is perhaps more importantà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ is the subjective hatred of the tenants for the rough shuttered concrete that is thrust upon them.[6] Descriptions of inhumane proportions, undefined wastes, and, above all, women return[ing] from the shops to be blown about amid the appalling dinginess of rough shuttered concrete[7] (my italics) crop up again and again in discussing schemes like Park Hill, Robin Hood Gardens, Red Road etc. The posters views on the preferability of leafy and affluent suburbs to dense urban apartment typology for those who can afford it also reflect a lingering psychological scar in the popular psyche left by the memory of the descent of estates like Park Hill from source[s] of intense municipal socialist pride to dilapidated sink estate[s][8], as though by their very nature they preclude the presence of a functional, prosperous community. Is this the case? If it is, how could surveys at Park Hill show that through the 1970s residents remained consistently loyal and generally happy.[9] What caused the slide of schemes like Park Hill into dysfunctionality? The homebuilding drive, founded on the vision of spiritually uplifting accommodation for all, continued but à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the vision was damaged by lack of reform in the 1960s. Rather than opening up [the] low cost-balanced rented sector to supply the needs of a more wealthy and mobile population, it narrowed to serve the restricted needs of welfare housing.[10] This was a key error, and precipitated a vicious circle of decline. The 60s was a period of economic optimism, in which comparative affluence was accessible to many more families than previously. An aspirational desire among those in social housing developed to graduate to home ownership. Very large council estates, tower blocks in the cities and restrictive letting policies contrasted with the variety of choices available for home ownership. From the 1960s, the welfare characteristic (residualisation) of council housing began to develop as a stigma from which home ownership was the natural escape.[11] The original dream of social housing as a living tapestry of a mixed community[12] was replaced instead by welfare housing, which established a low cost rented stock but created deep social problems and lost the affections of the electorate. A different political vision could have avoided this. Pre-war restrictions, limiting public housing to the working classes had been repealed in the 1949 Housing Act, opening up a universally accessible rented council house sector. If public housing had remained just that, rather than seguing into welfare housing, the vicious circle of decline would have lacked the conditions to come into being. The living tapestry of a mixed community could have remained. With Park Hill and its cousins populated as a matter of new policy increasingly by those on welfare, however, financial structures of dependency [were] deliberately imposed on social housing[13]. An alienated quality grew as residents of the schemes became increasingly cast adrift from mainstream society. A further strand to this narrative was playing out in the form of a shift in the structure of the economy in Britain. Sheffield grew up producing steel, in the 18th century knives and tools, in the 19th century heavy industry, with a high population of low paid but skilled manual workers. As the 1970s drew to an end and Thatcher came to power, the shift in policy away from provision of affordable social housing accelerated against a backdrop of an increasingly deindustrialized economy. The original inhabitants of the Park Hill and schemes like it, who had once been a proud working class, increasingly found themselves unemployed and without prospects of employment. It is certainly arguable that problems in residualized estates in decline, like Park Hill would have been exacerbated by the scale of social problems developing independently of housing policy. In the public imagination, then, the built fabric of the postwar years has not only become synonymous with social failure and breakdown, it is perceived as a cause of it. Failed buildings are pulled down, and it is easy to speculate that they are being made scapegoats for wider problems. Can an architectural defense be mounted for schemes like Park Hill, or Robin Hood Gardens? The latter is similar to the former a serpentine, high density block, this time inserted into an area of bomb damaged terraces (the standard grain of working class England) in London. What the Smithsons [architects] wanted to achieve was intended to maintain community dynamics [of the bombed out terraces] rather than to replace them with something entirely different. However, what they had not expected, as Kenneth Frampton pointed out in his book Modern Architecture, a Critical History, was that three principal features of the by-law street would be absent in their proposed blocks: first, the dynamics associated with dwellings on both sides of a street, secondly, the community life associated with the street at ground level, and thirdly, the backyard, which played a crucial role in by-law housing and the life of its communities. [14] Robin Hood Gardens, then, contained inherently flawed logic. But the flaws were shared by Park Hill, which prospered during a period when it wasnt handicapped by other factors. [Park Hill] is commonly described as the largest listed building in Europe and the largest listed brutalist or 60s building. In fact, says Owen Hatherley, its none of those things, with all those titles being taken by Londons Barbican estate: a place that, like Park Hill, is full of bare concrete, open space, urban density, walkways, social and the separation of pedestrian and car. One is a problem that apparently had to be solved; the other one of Londons most prestigious addresses. Why? The obvious reason is that one is council housing and the other, from the very start, was built as private housing. Accordingly, the Barbican has always been cleaned and cared for; Park Hill has been left to rot.[15] Physically, the Barbican is a close relative of a Park Hill, or a Robin Hood Gardens. Socially, though it bears more resemblance to Park Lane. This constitutes evidence against the argument that the decline into dysfunction of large, dense postwar urban social housing developments was an inevitable consequence of poor design. Further support from this position comes from a comparison between Park Hill and many of todays luxury apartment developments. Park Hill was accused of being disconnected from the surrounding fabric, isolating its inhabitants from the life of the city at large but what of the urban regeneration of the last few years in the light of the financial crisis? What do the speculative redevelopments of inner cities look like now? They have become the new ruins of Great Britain. These places have ruination in abundance: partly because of the way they were invariably surrounded by the derelict and un-regenerated, whether rotting industrial remnants or the giant retail and entertainment sheds of the 80s and 90s; partly because they were often so badly built, with pieces of render and wood frequently flaking off within less than a year of completion; but partly because they were so often empty, in every sense. Empty of architectural inspiration, empty of social hope or idealism, and often empty of people, Clarence Dock and Glasgow Harbour had a hard time filling their minimalist microflats with either buyers or buy-to-let investors.[16] We can begin to see that although marketed and branded differently, contemporary developer led, aspirational urban regeneration, may in fact suffer from similar or worse problems relating to its context as the maligned social schemes of the postwar period. Think of Glasgow Harbour, stranded by the Clyde and cut off from the city by the Clydeside Expressway. Worse, analysis of the flats themselves reveals a shocking inferiority in terms of space standards in contemporary developments compared to the 60s schemes. The logic was straightforward says the Architectural Review in its analysis of Park Hills original planning principles: a slab block up to 13 stories high and about 10m wide would permit a habitable room each side and centrally serviced bathrooms, while gallery access was preferred to a double loaded corridor. By making maisonettes with internal staircases it was possible for one gallery to serve 3 floors. Greatest design ingenuity went into planning interlocking flats of different sizes, making best use of the limited spaceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. [space standards] now seem generous, in relation to the products of mass house builders[17]. This, they note, is still valid logic if you accept the inevitability of flats for high densities in urban situations, as exist in cities worldwide. Even much admired contemporary schemes, like the Panter Hudspith development at Bear Lane in London, feature double loaded internal deck access, permitting only single aspect flats, with cramped accommodation yet their skin is considered attractive, and they are praised, despite inferior circulation and planning principles. Before concluding, I wish to note that whilst I have tried to demonstrate that it is impossible to blame the general failure of British postwar social housing on its architecture, there is still a world of difference in quality between the Red Road scheme, for example, and a Lasdun or Lubetkin scheme. Lasdun, even within tight budgetary constraints and a density target set by the local council of 200 people per square acre, managed to apply intelligence and subtlety to his designs for Keeling House, Bethnal Green in 1958 for example: the scale of the 14 floors was purposely designed to reflect the two storey brick terraces around it, essentially like a row of houses tipped up on its end.[18] This is architecture as we are taught it thoughtful, embedded in context. We should remember as well that Park Hill is no simple monolith inserted carelessly into Sheffield ­. Its very form is a response to specific topography, with its well known horizontal roof datum capping a 13 storey str ucture at the bottom of the hill and nuzzling into a street of Victorian villas at four storeys at the top. In conclusion, there is never an excuse for bad design although the fact that mass social housing in Britain ultimately failed is, in the end, not due to design at all, but to policy.

Strategies to Develop Patient Centred Care

Strategies to Develop Patient Centred Care Sneha Praveen MIS Practicum Final Report Analysis of online patient reviews and its effect on healthcare providers Introduction With the advent of social media, online forums have become a major platform where users share their views and these platforms affect all the involved stakeholders sometimes positively and sometimes adversely. Word of mouth has become an important tool for publicity and sometimes a bad review posted without ulterior motives can do much damage. Most of such reviews and posts that we read on platforms like twitter, Facebook and online forums affect our decision making as we tend to trust judgment of others. But healthcare as an industry is still not very patient centric and not enough importance is given to patient’s opinion. This case is even more valid in the context of USA as there is no official channel for patients to leave their reviews and experience about a healthcare provider. This is very surprising as all other industries food, retail, and consumer industries revolve around what customers have to say and millions of dollars are spend on â€Å"customer satisfaction†, whereas, healthcare industry still relies on their processes without bothering to collect feedback from patients they serve. The main reason accredited to this could be that as payers, insurance companies and as service providers, physicians play the most important role. Patients in this context are mere subjects of treatment who are assumed to be not very vigilant of their own health condition. But is this situation same all around the world? And if not, then US healthcare needs to adapt and learn from such countries to improve its care and service quality. One such online forum implemented in the United Kingdom is â€Å"Patient Opinion†. This forum acts as a bridge between patients and healthcare providers to help improve the healthcare quality provided by National Health Service (NHS) to its citizens. In this paper, I will analyze data collected from patient opinion forum and present by findings answering how USA can benefit from a review outlet like Patient Opinion and how this forum has helped NHS to improve their quality and service. Why Patient-Centric Care: It is well proven that any industry benefits from customer reviews and helps in reducing cost and improve service. Slowly, healthcare needs to move towards Patient-centered care which supports active involvement of patients and care givers. It means being responsive to patient’s preferences, needs and feedback to ensure that service quality improves and slowly there is more involvement of patient in healthcare delivery and design. [1] A patient centered care has below attributes [2]: Whole-person care. Coordination and communication Patient support and empowerment Ready access Autonomy A patient centered care focus on guiding patients by giving them information about options and risks. It means considering patient’s preferences and background and valuing their feedback. According to 2001 Institute of Medicine a focus on patient centered care is one of the factors constituting high quality health care. Source: http://hcca-act.blogspot.com/2011_11_01_archive.html The current system is physician centered which means that effective care is defined by physician’s standards and skills instead of centering on patient’s satisfaction from the service rendered. For example- orthopedic surgeons use the Harris Hip score to judge the success of a hip replacement. This was designed solely by physicians and does not include any feedback from patients to include their satisfaction from the procedure [3]. Thus, it is impossible to correctly define the output of any model in healthcare until the patient experience has been taken into account for. What Patients Want Most tools that we use to judge patient satisfaction or outcome of a medical service cannot be accurately quantified. Also, the success metric for a medical care varies from physician and patient’s point of view. An example of such tools was administered by Steward.et al in 2000 where many physician-patient interactions were audio taped and patients rated these conversations. After analysis, it was deduced that patients recovered faster, had better emotional health and perceived the care as satisfactory if the care was patient-centered. The faith of patients on their healthcare providers increased when there emotional needs were taken care of by the physicians leading to less number of diagnostic tests and fewer referrals. A similar methodology can also be used to study physician empathy. Researchers at Jefferson University developed the Jefferson scale to test physician’s empathy where physicians rated their own empathy but this scale could not be used to judge patient satisfaction. Thus, a new scale called Jefferson Scale of Patient’s perception of Physician Empathy was used which judges patient’s rating of physician’s empathy which correlated to patient’s satisfaction. Mostly what patients want is a relationship of empathy with physicians, who can help them communicate with the problem and develop a personal relationship with them. The perception of care is different from physicians and patient’s point of view and we need to move our focus from â€Å"what’s the matter† with our patients to â€Å"what matters† to our patients. [1] Hindrance in achieving true patient centric care One of the most crucial factors stopping US in achieving true patient centric care is the current reimbursement system and focus on physician practice model. There is no measure in US to gauge the quality of care, empathy and relationship of a physician with patients. Reimbursement is not correlated to these factors, instead it is based on per patient encounter. Due to this, primary care physicians focus on increasing the volume of patients and reduce the time spent with each patient. Most physicians are in a hurry and under stress which leads to misdiagnosis, useless tests and referrals, decrease in quality of care and a very formal relationship between physician and patients. [6] Next important factor is that physicians employed by hospitals are incentivized or prized depending on number of patients that they bring but there is no measure to the quality of care they impart. The volume of patients precede quality because the financial benefits are huge e.g.- Each lab tests physicians’ order, each referrals they make, benefits hospitals in terms of huge monetary benefits which in turn becomes a basis of primary care physician’s salaries. Thus, understandably what drives physicians is to employ methods to increase volume of patients, decrease time spent with each patient and other ways to monetize each patient-physician interaction. [3] The third hindrance is hospitals hiring generalists called hospitalists to provide care to patients with the goal of reducing patient days per admission. This might lead to improve in care for a certain amount of time but the reason behind hiring such individuals is not to improve patient care but instead to benefit hospitals financially. The Patient Centric Approach model Patient Centered Medical Home Patient Centric medical home helps address the patient centric approach by emphasizing on high quality patient care and lower the healthcare cost. They reorganize primary care practice by recognizing the importance of patient’s experience and works on system based approach to transform health services being offered. PCMH centers their service on elderly with acute care needs, patients with physical disabilities and with specific preferences in terms of culture and values. The care offered is comprehensive and designed to meet patients’ needs including physical and mental attention, chronic care and long term assistance like help in performing daily ablutions for patients with functional limitations. [8] Accountable Care Organizations ACOs have been set up with the goal of ensuring high quality of care is given to patients at the right time to prevent medical errors and reduce medical costs. Mostly ACOs are formed by group of doctors and hospitals who voluntarily come together to serve Medicare patients. [9] The basic promise that ACOs hold is to have patient centered care and treat patients with empathy, care and work towards avoiding unnecessary costs and develop a personal relationship with patients. Thus, government should incentivize formation of more ACOs to ensure more patient- centric approach. Strategic IT investment IT is the obvious answer to increase efficiency, reduce medical errors and improve quality of care in US. Though there are many facets of IT that can be used, use of Electronic Health Records (EHR) and Electronic Medical records (EMR) are the most important tools to use. EMRs are digitized version of patient record keeping for a physicians. EMR has been instrumental in reducing medical costs overtime by enabling better interactions between departments and monitoring patient’s visiting time and medical information. Patients can also log on and know about their health records and be better prepared. EHRs stores patient’s records so that if needed emergency departments can access it before giving them any medicines. This saves the cost of duplicate tests because all the data needed to prescribe medicines are present in EHRs. Feedback and review model: Patient Opinion Patient opinion was founded in 2005 and is the leading feedback platform for healthcare in UK. They allow patients to write their reviews/ stories about their experience and tag the particular provider. Other users can then favorite the post if they have experience the same thing. Patient Opinion also has an analytical engine which does sentiment analysis for each hospital and show what areas need improvement and which departments received positive reviews. The hospitals can read these reviews posted about them and respond to the complaints and praises. This helps them to improve their quality of care and address the issues raised by patients. Patient Opinion is a social enterprise and a NGO which is independent of NHS but share the same values. It is funded through user subscriptions, healthcare providers and healthcare Commission. Providers subscribing to Patient Opinion get the access to all patient feeds and can respond to the reviews. Though, use of patient opinion by patients is free. Patient Opinion is available across England but not (yet) the rest of the UK. It covers all acute trusts. As of today, 600 hospitals are registered with patient opinion and working together to improve the healthcare quality in UK. [5] How Patient Opinion fits the review model: It allows patients to give feedback on their health services and to see what others are talking about. It also acts as a platform to hear and respond to reviews and complaints posted by patients. They can compare their ratings with other hospitals and find out which of their departments are doing good and bad. All the opinions are reviewed before publication and editorial policies are public. The critical reviews are marked and directed to the healthcare providers while maintaining patient identity. Below are some feedback posted by patients for â€Å"King’s Mill Hospital† over a period of 2 weeks: Taking â€Å"King’s Mill Hospital† as our example for this study, let us look at some figures which help us better understand the Patient Opinion model: *Data collected is for the month of April: Analysis: Analysis: As of now, for the entire Patient Opinion database, feedback opinion so far is around 50% positive, 30% mixed and around 20% critical. Below is data of number of posts till date: In the last month, of all the posts, 53% had a response from hospital staff and 6% of responses actually lead to change. The numbers do look small but in the larger picture, it is an incremental change which slowly is changing the face of UK healthcare. Conclusion: Patient centric healthcare is the answer to the problems of rising cost and low quality of healthcare in USA. A patient centered communication gives more satisfaction to patients and increase their faith on the physician and treatment. Emotional health is better when patients feel that they have a personal equation with their physicians and their preferences, culture and values are being considered while treatment. It is very important to increase emphasis on physician’s empathy towards patients and introduce feedback model to increase efficiency of hospitals. Patient Opinion is bringing change into the healthcare scenario of UK by making patient reviews an important tool of decision making. Hospitals are responding to these reviews, trying to make amends and improve the quality of care. Currently, healthcare of USA is financially driven and patients are not treated as a valued customer. In future, if we want the healthcare cost to go down and expect better service, it is very important to bring the focus on patients and build the system around them. References: [1] Jo Anne L. Earp, Elizabeth A. French, Melissa B. Gilkey: Patient Advocacy for Health Care Quality [2] Bechtel, Christine.If You Build it, Will They Come? Designing Truly Patient-Centered Health Care.Health Affairs [3] http://healthaffairs.org/blog/2012/01/24/patient-centered-care-what-it-means-and-how-to-get-there/ [4] Moira Stewart, Judith Belle Brown, Allan Donner, Ian R. McWhinney, Julian Oates, Wayne W. Weston, John Jordan, The Impact of Patient-Centered Care on Outcomes [5] https://www.patientopinion.org.uk/info/about [6] Improving Patient Opinion Mining through Multi-step Classification, Lei Xia, Anna Lisa Gentile, James Munro, Josà © Iria [7] http://www.ncqa.org/Programs/Recognition/PatientCenteredMedicalHomePCMH.aspx [8] Ensuring That Patient-Centered Medical Homes Effectively Serve Patients With Complex Health Needs, AHRQ [9] http://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Medicare-Fee-for-Service-Payment/ACO/ [10] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC64755/

Bay of pigs :: essays research papers

The Bay of Pigs Invasion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  By late 1958 Castro was still fighting a guerilla war against the Fulgencio Batista. Before he came to power, there was an incident between his troops and some vacationing American troops from the nearby American naval base at Guantanamo Bay. During the incident some U.S. Marines were held captive by Castro’s forces but were later released after a ransom was secretly paid. Because of what happened the United States and the chief of U.S. Naval Operations, Admiral Burke, wanted to send in the Marines to destroy Castro's forces but Secretary of State Foster Dulles didn’t want any of that to happen.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Castro overthrew Batista in 1959. Originally Castro was not a communist. Fearful of Castro's revolution, people with money, like doctors, lawyers, and the Mafia, left Cuba for the United States. To prevent the loss of more capital Castro's solution was to nationalize some of the businesses in Cuba. In the process of nationalizing some business he came into conflict with American interests .U.S. businesses were taken over, and the process of socialization began with little if any talk of compromise. There were also rumors of Cuban involvement in trying to invade Panama, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic and by this time Castro had been turn down by the United States for any aid. Being rejected by the Americans, he met with foreign minister Anasta Mikoyan to secure a $100 million loan from the Soviet Union. It was then that the American Intelligence and Foreign Relations communities decided that Castro was leaning towards communism and had to be dealt with.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the spring of 1960, President Eisenhower approved a plan to send small groups of American trained, Cuban exiles, to work underground as guerrillas to overthrow Castro. By the fall, the plan was changed to a full invasion with air support by exile Cubans in American supplied planes. The group was to be trained in Panama, but with the growth of the operation and the quickening pace of events in Cuba, it was decided to move things to a base in Guatemala. The plan was rushed. The man in charge of the operation was CIA’s Deputy Director Richard Bissell. President Kennedy could have stopped the invasion or at least slowed it down if he wanted to, but he probably didn't do so for his own reasons. For one, his campaign called for some form of action against Cuba , and to back out now would mean having groups of Cuban exiles going around talking about how the U. Bay of pigs :: essays research papers The Bay of Pigs Invasion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  By late 1958 Castro was still fighting a guerilla war against the Fulgencio Batista. Before he came to power, there was an incident between his troops and some vacationing American troops from the nearby American naval base at Guantanamo Bay. During the incident some U.S. Marines were held captive by Castro’s forces but were later released after a ransom was secretly paid. Because of what happened the United States and the chief of U.S. Naval Operations, Admiral Burke, wanted to send in the Marines to destroy Castro's forces but Secretary of State Foster Dulles didn’t want any of that to happen.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Castro overthrew Batista in 1959. Originally Castro was not a communist. Fearful of Castro's revolution, people with money, like doctors, lawyers, and the Mafia, left Cuba for the United States. To prevent the loss of more capital Castro's solution was to nationalize some of the businesses in Cuba. In the process of nationalizing some business he came into conflict with American interests .U.S. businesses were taken over, and the process of socialization began with little if any talk of compromise. There were also rumors of Cuban involvement in trying to invade Panama, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic and by this time Castro had been turn down by the United States for any aid. Being rejected by the Americans, he met with foreign minister Anasta Mikoyan to secure a $100 million loan from the Soviet Union. It was then that the American Intelligence and Foreign Relations communities decided that Castro was leaning towards communism and had to be dealt with.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the spring of 1960, President Eisenhower approved a plan to send small groups of American trained, Cuban exiles, to work underground as guerrillas to overthrow Castro. By the fall, the plan was changed to a full invasion with air support by exile Cubans in American supplied planes. The group was to be trained in Panama, but with the growth of the operation and the quickening pace of events in Cuba, it was decided to move things to a base in Guatemala. The plan was rushed. The man in charge of the operation was CIA’s Deputy Director Richard Bissell. President Kennedy could have stopped the invasion or at least slowed it down if he wanted to, but he probably didn't do so for his own reasons. For one, his campaign called for some form of action against Cuba , and to back out now would mean having groups of Cuban exiles going around talking about how the U.

Recommendations To Make The Organization More Competitive :: Business Analysis

The more competitive corporations are in markets, the less the strategies are available to any corporation. All corporations become reactive rather than proactive, unable to impose their will on the market. They cannot control price, they cannot differentiate their product. Competition denies them the resources to acquire other enterprises. In reality cost positions differ, often significantly, and products are perceived to be different, sometimes so different that some are branded. This generates both the scope and resources needed for acquisitions, aggressive price behavior or a major marketing campaign. The specific recommendations the Board is seeking are how: A. to make the organization more competitive: The main outcome of having a competitive strategy advantage is clear. Such an advantage translates into the positive outcomes of a profits earned by our corporation with above average for the industry, instead of a loss less than that earned by others. It does not necessarily mean an above-normal profit since this depends on the nature of our industry. It is easy to recognize when competitive advantage exists, when an our corporation, is competing with another corporation, for the same customers in the same market, is able to earn either a realized, or potential, profit which is higher than that of competitors, or a loss which is smaller. Provided the accounting is accurate, it is not difficult to identify the corporation with a competitive advantage. The result of a better financial performance is made possible by the key characteristic of any competitive advantage, the greater utility or value given to the customer by an enterprise. Customers buy our service either in greater numbe rs or at a higher price because of this greater advantage. Competitive advantage is then the ability to better satisfy our customers than competitors could. The causes of the existence of such an advantage reflect the combined ability to recognize opportunity and therefore position the corporation accordingly, and produce what is wanted at a cost and therefore a price which is acceptable. Both these abilities are the result of the appropriate application of the core competencies possessed by the corporation. B. to provide high quality customer services: The corporation realization of entrepreneurial goals requires, for its success, adequate, even high-quality management inputs. Many of these management inputs involve specialist knowledge of functional areas. The proportion of entrepreneurs and managers required within an enterprise, or indeed the desirable blend of these characteristics within the same individuals, can vary markedly. Recommendations To Make The Organization More Competitive :: Business Analysis The more competitive corporations are in markets, the less the strategies are available to any corporation. All corporations become reactive rather than proactive, unable to impose their will on the market. They cannot control price, they cannot differentiate their product. Competition denies them the resources to acquire other enterprises. In reality cost positions differ, often significantly, and products are perceived to be different, sometimes so different that some are branded. This generates both the scope and resources needed for acquisitions, aggressive price behavior or a major marketing campaign. The specific recommendations the Board is seeking are how: A. to make the organization more competitive: The main outcome of having a competitive strategy advantage is clear. Such an advantage translates into the positive outcomes of a profits earned by our corporation with above average for the industry, instead of a loss less than that earned by others. It does not necessarily mean an above-normal profit since this depends on the nature of our industry. It is easy to recognize when competitive advantage exists, when an our corporation, is competing with another corporation, for the same customers in the same market, is able to earn either a realized, or potential, profit which is higher than that of competitors, or a loss which is smaller. Provided the accounting is accurate, it is not difficult to identify the corporation with a competitive advantage. The result of a better financial performance is made possible by the key characteristic of any competitive advantage, the greater utility or value given to the customer by an enterprise. Customers buy our service either in greater numbe rs or at a higher price because of this greater advantage. Competitive advantage is then the ability to better satisfy our customers than competitors could. The causes of the existence of such an advantage reflect the combined ability to recognize opportunity and therefore position the corporation accordingly, and produce what is wanted at a cost and therefore a price which is acceptable. Both these abilities are the result of the appropriate application of the core competencies possessed by the corporation. B. to provide high quality customer services: The corporation realization of entrepreneurial goals requires, for its success, adequate, even high-quality management inputs. Many of these management inputs involve specialist knowledge of functional areas. The proportion of entrepreneurs and managers required within an enterprise, or indeed the desirable blend of these characteristics within the same individuals, can vary markedly.

Reaction Paper About a Play

Reyjin C. Balas Nov. 16, 2012 DAM5PROFES1 BS-Industrial Design Page 1 DULAANG FILIPINO Presents â€Å" E † The Dulaang Filipino is the College’s resident theater company. It is empowered to educate its audience on various social issues afflicting today’s society. This theatrical show was held at the 5F School of Design and Arts Theater (DLS-CSB SDA Campus). In this play, the story began in a musical way, showing their creative costumes, sounds, colourful lighings, all the characters were dancing, singing, saying out loud their dialogues one by one. The story was all about the mystery that was happening behind the so called â€Å"greatest show on Earth. There was this general manager of the world's largest railroad circus who has a number of problems on his hands for the upcoming season. Then there is his maid that knows all what was happening in their place. Other main characters in the story were the two agents who tried to solve the problem / mystery up to the end of the story, it wasn’t solved by the two. Up to the end of the story, I was still confused about the story and the characters because there was also a killing part where there were parts of the human body that were thrown everywhere on the stage, those hands, feet and the head that was taken off, I don’t know who’s head was that, but that part was very creepy for me, the light effects helped a lot because there was also a smoke effect and the color of the lights at that time was red. What I liked the most in the show was the roles of the two agents. I was amazed on the way they deliver their dialogues, kung ako ang nasa lugar nila, siguro malilito at Balas 2 mabubulol na ako sa pagsasalita. The second that I liked was the part that almost all of them were walking and dancing while wearing roller blades and they’re even on the stage. May part na kinabahan ako dahil baka may biglang mahulog sa platform na gawa nila, may mga maliliit din na gulong kasi ung ilalim. The third thing that I liked was that they got my full attention for the whole time of play, and I liked their costumes, colourful and creative, even though other props were not that made well and if I’m going to rate it out of ten, I will give them an eight.

‘Of Mice and Men’ is a famous novel written by John Steinbeck Essay

‘Of Mice and Men’ is a famous novel written by John Steinbeck; Steinbeck was born in 1902 in Salinas Valley, California and he set ‘Of Mice and Men’ during the Great Depression. He based the storyline on his personal experiences and ventures. The novel was later adapted into a motion picture starring John Malkovich and Gary Sinise. This essay will examine various aspects of the film; the films treatment of the story, characterisation, camera work, symbolism, special effects and the use of music. The film does not follow the book exactly as several scenes from the novel have been edited to add climax and tension. For example some important aspects of the book have been changed. The first change is George and Lennie going into the boss’ house to meet him instead of the boss meeting them in the bunkhouse; George doesn’t scold Lennie for talking in front of the boss when he strictly told not to say a word; George is introduced to Slim over dinner but in the book they first meet in the bunkhouse; George comes into Crooks’ room to get Lennie while in the book Candy joins Lennie and Crooks and they all discuss the dream, then even Crooks starts to believe in the dream and asks if he can be part of it. Some scenes from the book are not included at all, for example Curley’s wife doesn’t threaten Crooks in the film whereas in the book she threatens to frame Crooks for rape purely out of spite because the men reject her company. The hallucinations that Lennie has of Aunt Clara and the rabbit telling him how bad he has been in the last chapter of the novel are not portrayed in the film and when Slim and the other men console George after he has killed Lennie is not shown in the film either. Although some scenes have been cut from the original storyline others scenes have been added to the film. For example the opening of the film which shows the girl running in the red dress and the men chasing George and Lennie (this is only hinted at in the book); the train scene where George and Lennie jump on the train escaping to Salinas Valley and grabbing their work tickets in town; the work scenes which show the power of Lennie’s strength; Curley’s wife talking to George alone in the barn; Curley practicing his boxing skills on his punching bag and George and Lennie speaking to Curley’s wife after they have just left Crooks’ room. This treatment of the story shows us that not all scenes in a novel makes a good or interesting scene in a film so a novel can not just be filmed as it is, it often needs changing to make it a film the audience wants to watch. In film the director usually tries to bring a romantic element into the film to keep the audience guessing, will the couple get together or not? For example, there is an underlying sexual tension between George and Curley’s wife in a couple of scenes. The characterisation is fairly faithful to the way they are described in the book. The way Lennie is portrayed is as a large, tall man with the strength of a giant. He is shown to be innocent like a child but as strong as an ox. The actor playing Lennie, John Malkovich matches Lennie’s description in the book, â€Å"A huge man, shapeless of face, with large, pale eyes, with wide, sloping shoulders†. Gary Sinise also fits George’s physical description, â€Å"Small and quick, dark of face, with restless eyes and sharp, strong features†. He is shown to be the brains and Lennie the brawn. He is like the responsible father of Lennie, always taking care of him and trying to keep him out of trouble e.g. the scene where George gets Lennie out of Weed because he got into serious trouble for touching a woman’s red dress. Candy, the swamper, is faithful to his description in the book, â€Å"A tall, stoop-shouldered old man† and so is his character. Curley, the Boss’ son is described as, â€Å"A thin young man with a brown face, with brown eyes and a head of tightly curled hair† (hence the name) but the actor in the film has straight hair. However some characters differ from the way they are described in the book. In the book Slim, the jerk line skinner, is described as â€Å"Prince of the ranch†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦he moved with a majesty only achieved by royalty and master craftsmen† and he has a lot of authority and respect among all the ranch men in fact, â€Å"His authority was so great his word was taken on any subject, be it politics or love†. In the film his authority and respect doesn’t come across as much as it does in the book. The actor playing Slim didn’t look the way the reader would have imagined him, â€Å"His long, black, damp hair straight back. His hatchet face was ageless. His hands, large and lean, were as delicate in their action as those of a temple dancer†. Curley’s wife is physically the same as how she is described in the book. However, the audience has more sympathy for her in the film than in the book because she doesn’t threaten Crooks in the same vindictive, spiteful way. Her vulnerability is also highlighted when she is seen breaking down in tears after Curley has broken her records. In addition Crooks, the stable buck, (his nickname is derived from his crooked spine) is much more bent over then the audience would have expected. He is crueller than in the book e.g. he enjoys tormenting Lennie about George possibly not returning ever again therefore is seen to be quite malicious. The camera work is very cleverly done and emphasises certain aspects of the story very well e.g. the close up of Lennie crushing Curley’s hand and the close up of Lennie breaking Curley’s wife’s neck, make the scenes more dramatic. The lighting affects the mood of the story like the semi-darkness in the barn when Lennie kills the puppy and the bunkhouse when Carlson takes Candy’s old dog to be shot display a sombre mood. The golden glow of the men playing horseshoes outdoors displays a happy and optimistic mood. There are also several interesting special effects used in the film to intensify the drama. For example the fight between Curley and Lennie is exciting to watch as you see the blood dripping from Curley’s crushed hand, the killing of Curley’s wife as she panics and he breaks her neck and the shooting of Lennie when George shoots him in the back of the head. Most scenes in the film symbolise things for different characters for instance the dark side of the men’s lives when they are on the train and the light flickers symbolises an uncertain future ahead, violence could flare at any time. It could also symbolise a gloomy, depressing future. Scenes with a lot of light symbolise happier times, signs of hope or the men just enjoying life for a change. The ‘rabbits’ symbolise the dream and a symbol for Lennie of a better life. The ‘dead mouse’ symbolises death and a sense of foreboding (that something bad is about to happen). Music is a key element in any movie because it helps to build up tension e.g. the famous theme tune of ‘Jaws’ or the music used in ‘Physco’ as the person is being murdered the beat is set by every stab. Music also shows the mood and is there to accompany the action on screen e.g. when the men are chasing George and Lennie at the beginning of the film the music gets louder and louder. In contrast to this is the use of complete silence to set the mood e.g. when they are on the train and when they are hiding in the ditch. The silence can represent calm or tension. The music when they are discussing the ‘Dream’ is very relaxing and soothing, which again reflects the mood. Overall the novel is a tragedy because you feel sympathy for George because he had to kill his friend who had become like a brother to him. The film relays the novel, keeping along the lines of the story but is still a film worth watching even if the audience has not read the book. This is because the director has altered and added scenes to include tension, drama and climax. People who have read the book would be satisfied that the characters and storyline follow the book almost to every aspect.

Detailed assessment of The Toy Essay

Introduction I am a student at †¦.College and I am doing The Early Childhood care and education Course FETAC Level 5. One of mandatory modules in this course is Early Childhood Education and Play and The Toy Critique assignment is part of that. I have to choose a toy and write detailed assessment about it. My chosen toy is The Memo Locomotives Puzzle made by Goki. Goki is the name of the brand for high-quality wooden toys at a fair price, ensuring that excellent toys remain affordable. Memo Locomotives puzzle is set of 32 wooden tiles with 4 different, attractive locomotives and comes in hard cardboard box. Each locomotive is in different colour. To connect pieces together child has to look at colours, pictures and shapes, like square and diamond. Aim, Objectives, Rationale My aim of this assignment is to choose a toy that is suitable for children in age group 0-6 years and to assess and to examine it under various headings. I will critique it fewer than 40 criteria points and discuss the toy specific to P.I.L.E.S and the role of the adult in supporting play. I will write up and evaluate my findings and give conclusion and recommendations at the end. I chose to critique Memo Locomotive Puzzle for this assignment because it is a toy that my family members had played with for few years and children really loves it. I have learned that play is not only enjoyable, but it has a value to learning and development as well. It is in play that young children encounter their own learning situations. Play facilitates social skills and helps children to see things from other people’s point of view. Play helps to strengthen the imagination of children and it is  necessary in cognitive development. Through play, children develop a greater ability to concentrate (Flood and Hardy, 2013, pg 47). Aistear recognises the value of play in early learning and development. Section 3 of the Good Practise Guidelines deals with the subject of play and its role in the early childhood curriculum (Flood and Hardy, 2013, p 165) Aistear recognises the enormous body of research that shows that young children (particularly those aged 0-6) learn most effectively through play and that more directive methods do not work but actually curb children’s natural desire to explore and discover (Flood and Hardy, 2013, pg 92). Going through this assignment I want to find out for what type of play and what stage of play. The Memo Locomotive Puzzle is suitable and I want to see how it stands up in relation not only to play but to learning and developmental values too. I will look at adult’s role in play activities regarding this toy and if there are any changes to be made to improve the toy. I will state my conclusion and give my recommendations at the end. List of criteria 1. Name of toy? Puzzle and Memo Locomotives. 2. What is the price range? It can be bought online at amazon.co.uk and it costs 24 euro, shipping is included. 3. What is a brand for it? The brand is Goki. 4. Who is a toy manufacturer? It is Gollnest & Kiesel KG, Germany. 5. Is it ready available? Yes, it is and can be bought online at amazon.co.uk. 6. At what age group is it suitable? It is suitable for children from 2 years of age up to 6 years of age. 7. Is it suitable for boys or girls? It can be played by boys and girls. 8. Does it suit all cultures? Yes, it does. 9. Is it suitable for children with special needs? Yes, it is. There could be some difficulties to use the puzzle if child has specific movement restrictions. 10. Does it suit single or multiple players? It can be played by single child or up to four children. There are 4 locomotive sets in the box and up to 4 children can play with it at the same time. 11. Is it aesthetically pleasing? Yes, it definitely is. The puzzle comes in four bright, contemporary colours: red, blue, yellow and green. There are lovely, colourful, attractive motifs of animals and children illustrated on it. 12. Is it educational? Yes, it is. It promotes physical, intellectual, language, emotional and social development. 13. Does it help to develop language? Yes, it does. Child names colours, shapes and animals and talks about pictures that appear when pieces are connected. 14. Does it develop motor skills? Yes, it does. It is a great builder of fine motor skills as a child has to connect pieces without a glitch to get a complete picture. 15. Does it encourage imaginative play? No, it does not. This toy is more suitable for manipulation type of play. 16. Does this toy have any sensory benefits to the child? Yes, it does. Wood has individual character, smell and texture. This awakens the natural senses and kelps the child to recognize and understand natural materials. 17. What size is it? Does it need a special storage? The puzzle comes in hard cardboard box sized 21x8x5 cm and does not need a special storage; can be easily put on the shelf. 18. Does it require batteries or does it need to be charged? No, it does not require batteries or charging. 19. From what kind of material is it made of? It is a wooden toy. 20. Is it durable? Yes, it is very durable. The puzzle is made from sturdy wood, so it is very hard to cause any damage to it while it is used in playing activities. 21. What kind of texture does it have? It has smooth, even and solid surface with warm feeling. 22. Is it waterproof? It is not waterproof. But I had experienced that a small amount of water does not cause any damage to the toy. 23. Is it washable or does it need special cleaning? It is not washable and does not need special cleaning. It can be cleaned with dump cloth. 24. Is it for use indoor or outdoor? It is for indoor use, but can be played outdoors as well, if it is not too wet. 25. Is it moveable? Yes, it is. Child can move it, for example, from table to ground very easily. 26. Is it portable? Yes, it is. It comes in nice box with lid and is lightweight. 27. Is it qualitative? Yes, it is. My family members have used this game for more than three years and it still looks and feels the same as it was whet it was brand new. Material is qualitative and sturdy and printings have stayed on place till now. 28. Is it good value for money? Yes, it is. 29. Are parts of it replaceable? No, they are not. 30. Are there levels of difficulty? No, there are not. But adults can make them up, like, asking the child to connect pieces by looking at colours. When child has appreciated it, adult can encourage the child to connect pieces matching the shapes. 31. Are there add-on packs available for it? No, there are no add-on packs available. 32. Is it suitable for multiple purposes? No, it is not. But, if the child has an imagination, he can find another function, for example, use wooden pieces as a part of construction project. 33. Is there a special instruction or programming required? The toy does not require programming or special instruction. 34. Does it require an upgrade? No, it does not require an upgrade. 35. Does it need an adult supervision? It does not require an adult supervision. 36. Is it safe for children? Yes, it is. It is fully tested and certified to meet all safety requirements. It has CE marking. 37. Is there choking risk? No, there is no choking risk. Each piece of puzzle is in size 5Ãâ€"7.7 cm and big enough to be safe for even a very small child. 38. Is it flammable? No, it is not flammable. But it will burn if put in flame, because it is a wooden toy. 39. Does it have a guarantee? No, it does not. But it can be returned to Amazon.co.uk within 30 days of delivery for a full refund. 40. Is it recyclable? Yes, it is. It is made from wood and wood is a natural made material which can be subjected to recycling. 41. Are there reviews about the toy? No, I couldn’t find any reviews about this particular toy. Detailed assessment of the Toy Initially I found out for what type of play my chosen toy can be used for. There are several types of play, but to my chosen Locomotives Puzzle fits Manipulative type of play that is under Physical form of play by Moyles’s forms of play (Beaver et al, 2001, p471). Manipulative play involves practising and refining motor skills. This type of play enhances physical dexterity and hand-eye co-ordination. Over time children need to experience a range of different levels of manipulation if they are to refine their motor skills. This type of play includes manipulating objects and materials (NCCA, 2009, pg 54) Manipulative play includes using puzzles, threading, playdough, carpentry, construction sets and blocks (Department of Education, Training and Employment, 2012, pg2). In this type of play the child has to manipulate with puzzle pieces by lifting, turning and placing them. This  toy can be a part of Intellectual play as well as it helps child to discover and learn colours, shapes and counting and has a benefit to memory skills. This toy can be tested under five areas of benefits to development that links with Aistear’s themes. Aistear recognises the enormous body of research that shows that young children (particularly those aged 0-6) learn most effectively through play and that more directive methods do not work but actually curb children’s natural desire to explore and discover. This section describes how play benefits all five areas of development: intellectual, language, emotional and social (PILES). This links with Aistear’s four themes: wellbeing, identity and belonging, communicating, and exploring and thinking (Flood and Hardy, 2013, p 165). I will look closer how my chosen toy can benefit all five areas of children development. Physical Development: Wellbeing Physical play is very important and essential to children development. Physical play (†¦) promotes gross-motor skills. Children develop balance and increase co0ordinaton trough practising skills such as running, jumping, climbing, skipping, walking on tip-toe, hopping, pedalling, etc. Physical play also promotes health and wellbeing because it increases appetite and tires children so that they sleep well. Physical development also involves the development and refinement of fine-motor skills; creative and construction play are both particularly beneficial in this area (Flood and Hardy, 2013, pg 92). Physical development and health is also one of Key Developmental Indicators (KDIs) that â€Å"together form a framework that guides teachers in the planning process of beneficial learning experiences for the children in their care† ( Flood and Hardy, 2013, pg 61). There are 4 KDIs that relate to physical development and health. This toy is valuable to fine-motor skills. Small-muscle or fine-motor development also is included in the physical development of a child, and deals with such areas as smiling, picking up a fork or tying a shoe. Small-muscle development is evident as infants grasp cereal to put in their mouths and is enhanced by activities such as picking up blocks or drawing with crayons (Brotherson, 2006, pg 2). Playing with The Memo Locomotives Puzzle the child has to lift and turn pieces, and sort them in groups. Children have to do accurate movements to connect pieces thus getting the complete picture of the train.  Children develop control and strength in their fingers by doing that. These things are very essential to educational process at later stage, for example, to handwriting and drawing practise. Intellectual Development: Exploring and Thinking Intellectual, cognitive development takes a big part in children’s overall development. Cognitive development includes the development of each of the following: imagination, creativity, memory skills, concentration skills, problem-solving skills, concept information (Flood, 2013, pg 96). And playing has important role in intellectual development. Through play children can explore and think about a wide range of concepts in a non-threatening way. Play cannot be ‘wrong’ so children are much more likely to take risks with their learning when they are engaged in play (Flood et al, 2013, pg 93). Through play with The Memo Locomotives Puzzle children can explore colours and shapes. This toy helps children to improve their sorting skills, because they have to sort out pieces by colours at the start to make each train. Children will get 8 pieces for each train after sorting them by colours. Now they will be able to sort those 8 pieces in pairs by connecting shapes and by linking pairs together they will get complete train. Each time by playing with it children train their memory skills by remembering which piece has to be taken to make complete diamond shape and which one is needed to make the monkey and bananas picture. Children can learn or improve their counting skill. For example, for a small child teacher/parent can count each piece that child has placed and soon child will start to count together with teacher/parent. Language Development: Communicating The definition of language is: â€Å"Language is any form of communication, be it spoken, written or signed. Language consists of words and system of combining them† (Flood and Hardy, 2013, pg 122) The memo Locomotives Puzzle can give benefits to language development by naming colours, shapes, animals and other parts of pictures. Because of Puzzle’s bright and vivid printings it has a big value to teaching child the right name of exact colour. Besides that, game can be played up to 4 children and by communicating and explaining the rules to each other they will improve they language skills.  Virtually all types of play involve communication. Children negotiate their roles, talk about what they are doing and talk about their plans for what will happen next. (†¦) When playing games with rules, children have to explain rules to newcomers. (Flood and Hardy, 2013, pg 93) Children will learn new words and they will learn new ways how to put words in sentences. Teacher/parent can be a companion to child if he’s playing alone and communicate with him during play thus helping to improve his language development through play. Emotional Development: Identity and Belonging, and Communicating Emotional development involves children learning to deal with their emotions (both negative and positive) in a healthy way. Emotional development also involves the promotion of a positive self-image and high self-esteem. (Flood and Hardy, 203, pg 93) Play is important part of emotional development and The Memo Locomotives Puzzle can help in that. During play with this toy children have to deal with emotions like anger and frustration when something does not work the way children wish to or pride and happiness when they got it right. Those good emotions promote positive self-esteem, child is happy about himself, for example, he is proud he did his train set first or he did his one carefully and at the end it looks nicer than other ones. Children learn to share their emotional with adult and peers, like; child learns not only to show but to talk about his emotions. Emotional regulation is an important part of emotional development (Flood, 2013, pg 175). During play with The Memo Locomotives Puzzle teacher/parent can observe children and help them deal with their negative emotions, like they can teach how to deal with frustration when it is hard for child to find right piece of puzzle. Social Development: Identity and Belonging, and Communicating Social development basically involves the development of three related skills: (1) the ability to interact effectively with others, (2) learning and understanding the norms of the society in which the child lives and (3) moral development. Play can be a very effective way for children to learn and perfect these skills (Flood and Hardy, 2013, pg 94). The Memo Locomotives Puzzle can help children to interact effectively with others. They have to communicate while playing by handing pieces to each other,  helping find the right piece for each other. They have to learn to share The Locomotive’s sets and wait for their turn. They will learn to ask for a piece nicely and use phrases like ‘thank you’ and ‘you are welcome’ thus learning and teaching to each other good manners. Children learn to understand the norms of society by doing that. â€Å"Social norms are descriptions of ‘rules’ about people’s behaviour, beliefs, attitudes and values within a society or social group† (Flood, 2013, pg 151). It is very important to select not only the right type of play to promote child’s development but to make sure that the play will match his stage of development also. Most of theorists of play, like Maria Montessori, Friedrich Froebel, Steiner Waldorf, Sigmund Freud, Jean Piaget and Rudolph Steiner, have identified stages of development. For example, Rudolf Steiner distributed 3 different stages: 0-7 years, 7-14 years and 14-18 years (Flood et al, 2013, pg 42-43). The Memo Locomotives Puzzle is suitable for children in age group 2-6 and fits under first stage (0-7) years by Steiner’s concept: The first seven years of children’s lives are of greatest importance. (†¦) Children conquer the skills of movement, speech, gesture and communication. (†¦) Children absorb every aspect of their environment and they are open to external influences also. The focus at this point is on learning by doing (Flood and Hardy, 2013, pg 42-43). I already have clarified that my chosen toy helps to improve children’s basic knowledge in physical, intellectual, language, social and emotional development and it means that age group marked on The Memo Locomotives Puzzle’s label match the concrete toy. Detailed assessment of the role of the adult There are two styles of play that are relevant to adult’s role in children playing activities. They are structured play and free play. Structured play is planned, guided and led by adults. Structured play can be useful but there is a risk that if it is too adult-led children can lose interest. (†¦) Adults can provide support by demonstrating skills that the child can then try out for themselves. (†¦) Some theorists advocated a very structured approach. Montessori advocated that certain skills should be very clearly demonstrated by the adult, with the child carefully watching so that  they could then copy exactly what the adult had done (Food and Hardy, 2013, pg 87, 88) Free play is not adult-led. Adults provide equipment, materials and resources for free play, but they do not direct it any way. Advocates of free play believe that children learn much more from this style of play than from structured play, since they are more motivated by having created it themselves (Flood and Hardy, 013, pg 88). The Memo Locomotives Puzzle needs adult participation to improve children development in all five areas of benefits to development. Adult participation is essential to help children by naming colours or shapes, showing which colour or shape are the one that has been named. Therefore adult attendance is not essential all the time. Children can be left with the toy by themselves thus giving them time to practise their object manipulating skills and memory. Adult has to observe children while playing and make a decision when to intervene and when to stand back. Adult must intervene and help in communication thus helping to develop children’s social and communication skills, like helping to resolve conflicts and to solve problems in peaceful manner. I like Janet Moyles concept and I believe it suits the best regarding adult role to play with The Memo Locomotives puzzle. The concept for which she (Janet Moyles) is best known is the spiral of play or spiral of learning. The spiral of play describes how children move in and out of different modes of play: direct play to free, and back again (Flood and Hardy, 2013, pg 105). Adult observes to children playing and decides when and if he/she is required to intervene in the play to support it. Evaluation I consider results of my assignment as positive and valuable. I found out a lot about my chosen toy’s benefits to children learning through play. I discovered for what type of play this toy would suit the best and how adult can support children in play with it. Conclusion My aim was to find out can The Memo Locomotives Puzzle be supportive in learning through play and give any benefits to children’s development. I  introduced with my chosen toy and did description of the toy including 40 assessment criteria and described the toy under five areas of benefits to children’s development. I also looked at adult role in play with The Memo Locomotives Puzzle. I found out that toy is educational and fun. I found that The Memo Locomotives Puzzle fits under manipulative type of play. The toy can be useful in all five areas of benefits to development: physical, intellectual, language, social and emotional development. I believe that manufacturer has positioned this toy under the right age group because of children’s developmental stages and age stages. I discovered that for this toy looking at adult role better suits structured style of play with adult stepping in and out giving children time for free play as well. Overall I looked at toy from many aspects and found this toy suitable for children’s learning through play. Recommendations My list of advantages and disadvantages: Advantages Disadvantages Attractive for children Age group toy is suitable for Benefits all five areas of children development Material for storage box is not quite durable Affordable High quality Made of natural material In overall I really like this toy. I have experienced that children love this toy and it is attractive for them. There are only two things I would recommend to change about it: 1) Although the toy comes in good hardboard box, I would recommend using wooden box instead. The hardboard box can be destroyed in a second if child steps on it and it would make storage very impractical. I believe it would lead to lost pieces. I agree that wooden box  would make the toy a bit more expensive, but it would make the toy last longer. If there are no pieces lost, this toy really last for many years because of its durability. 2) I would recommend to manufacturer to change an age group that toy is suitable for. Because of my own experience I can say that this toy is really attractive to children aged 2-4. Children at age 5-6 lost their interest after the first time playing with it. They already know colours and they know shapes and they got along very quickly, level of difficulty is too easy for them. All the other aspects, like durability, bright and vivid colours, lovely printings. I believe, are very good regarding this toy. I like about this toy that it is really educational and attractive for children and I would highly recommend it to parents and teachers for children aged 2-4. References Beaver, M., Brewster, J., jones, P., Keene, A., Neaum, S., and Tallack, J., 2001, Babies and children, Diploma in childcare and education, United Kingdom: Nelson Thornes Brotherson Sean, Bright beginnings #8, 2006, US: NDSU Extension Service Department of Education, Training and Employment, 2012, Giving children a flying start, Australia: Queensland Government Flood E., Hardy C., 2013, Early Childhood Education & Play, Dublin: Gill and MacMillan Flood, E., 2013, Child Development, Dublin: Gill and MacMillan NCCA, Aisthear: The Early Childhood Curriculum Framework, 2009, Ireland: NCCA