Mental Health for Interpersonal Skills in Interviewing Patient

Question: Talk about theMental Health for Interpersonal Skills in Interviewing Patient. Answer: Nursing is a calling that intensely depends on the correspondence with the patient and other social insurance suppliers. For an important analysis of a sicknesses in a patient, fantastic relational abilities among the medical caretakers is significant. As indicated by Bach Grant, (2015), the collaboration between a medical attendant and a patient must be productive when drawn nearer cautiously to fabricate an affinity and the rest will run easily. Correspondence is the core of any medical caretaker tolerant cooperation. Data should easily stream to impact the investment of either parties. The essentials of correspondence joins a five segment circuit; sender, message, means, beneficiary and a criticism (Arnold Boggs, 2015). Correspondence includes the death of messages from a sender to the beneficiary utilizing a fitting methods. All the members must partake for it to be said to have occurred. To encourage correspondence, I would initially make an affinity that would empower us to continue easily. By first posing the patient a few inquiries disconnected to their infection and guaranteeing him of your promise to his prosperity. By tending to them by his name, Mr. Barry would feel that I am putting forth an attempt to recognize myself with him. It helps fabricate some certainty. I would guarantee that we convey in a language that the two of us comprehend or look for the assistance of a translator if need be. Listening is a basic characteristic in any cooperation with a patient (Bramhall, 2014). A decent audience takes into consideration time for the other individual to put over their contribution without interference. An attendant should utilize open finished inquiries and permit the patient communicate unreservedly. Listening should be a functioning procedure, as in, the individual talking should be capable see that you are tuning in to them. In certain cases, I would hub with understanding and keep in touch. In certain occasions, take notes where important. This will make Mr. Barry see that I am worried about his condition. This will be a method of urging him to give more data about his condition. He needs consolations that something will be done regardless of the way that he as of now feels he is a disaster area Persistence can't be ignored particularly in patients who appear to be apprehensive and intellectually upset. They may will in general offer some vast expressions (Blais, 2015). Some may talk so quick. From the case situation, Mr. Barry has been portrayed as fretful and worried up. He has a great deal hustling in his brain. An underlying endeavor to talk with him is quiet him down. It might require some investment and that underlines the should show restraint toward him. Signs and side effects of mental issue. They can be extensively ordered into passionate and physical signs and indications (Barkley, 2014). Passionate signs spin around the character and the social issue. Physical signs are inspired from the body changes that happen as result of the psychological aggravation. A model is weight reduction. Mr. Barry gives indications of uneasiness. He was seen to be glancing around tensely and appeared to be more eager than different patients. By this specific conduct one can reason that he has a few worries that are not really physical disease (Taylor, 2014). He is by all accounts such a great amount of worried about his family and kids. He feels that there are a few issues that should be tended to yet feels defenseless. His passionate upheaval is likely a result of being saved from the nearby phone organization. He appears to be not able to foresee the future and dubious of what may result with the current situation. He has stresses in any event, for his grown-up youngsters and feels he cannot adapt to their issues He presents with certain interruptions in the every day schedule that he can't control. His eating and dozing designs have been disturbed. His typical routine interruption may result from mental anxieties. An individual can't rest because of uneasiness, stress, torment and inconvenience. Mr. Barry is worried of the thing he can't control. He can't have appropriate rest agonizing over his wellbeing and cash issues. In unpleasant circumstance, the mind discharges synapses that are engaged with stifling the rest and yearning focuses in the cerebrum. The cognizance places are invigorated and there is an expanded thoughtful tone. This mean rest interruptions and a raised degree of awareness. Physical signs, for example, an expanded circulatory strain and a lessening in the body weight per age may likewise be a marker particularly while going with other passionate indications (McGee, 2016). Mr. Barry shows presents with an expanded pulse and verbose brevity of breath. These signs show an expanded in thoughtful tome and a restraint of parasympathetic framework. He additionally presents with a diminished weight for every age. This might be ascribed to the stomach related miracles and the expanded thoughtful surge which builds digestion and breakdown of fats in the body. These signs, however introduced genuinely are a pointer of existing psychological well-being issues. The relationship might be missed if conduct manifestations are not plainly recognized Clinical intercessions. Psychosocial treatment will address his enthusiastic, social and mental measurements so as to address nervousness issue. This mediation incorporates a mind boggling association between the past occasions and their understanding with respect with their impact on the current ones (Ross, 2017). In emotional well-being one may attempt to persuade him that there are as yet different chances to investigate in life past joblessness. Every one of his issues appear to be revolved around the way that he is jobless and fears that he may not be in a situation to help his family successfully. An endeavor ought to be made to make him see the situation as only a test that will empower him be increasingly productive in life issues. He still inside the working age and can make sure about a vocation. It may be a chance to consider he can go into business. He can likewise be urged to make social bonds to assist him with adapting and deflect melancholy that may before long follow without social assistan ce. The tension can likewise be tended to utilizing body mind strategies. Unwinding can be useful to help diminish the heartrate to ordinary. It includes a purposeful exertion to pack ones vitality into tending to the issue that is upsetting. Mr. Barry can profit by a meeting where he is encouraged to rehearse contemplation when he gropes focused. His upset resting example and stomach related bombshells might be counterbalanced therapeutically. These side effects have happened auxiliary to uneasiness issue. Rewarding the essential driver will fathom the auxiliary introductions (Morey, 2015).Pharmacotherapy is normally a subsequent line approach in managing uneasiness after other non-clinical ones. Anxiolytic operators can be regulated by the specialist to reduce these indications. Specific serotonin reuptake inhibitors are the main line drugs. Mr. Barry may profit by this methodology. TCA might be utilized as the subsequent line if the SSRI neglect to work. Venlafaxine is a Serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (Procyshyn, Bezchlibnyk-Butler, Jeffries, 2017). They increment the sum and time which free serotonin is accessible on its receptor. This prompts downregulation of the receptor. Serotonin manages the state of mind and conduct, for example, hunger and rest in a person. this medication is recommended as a solution for uneasiness. The medications impact sets aside some effort to set in. consequently the patient should hang tight for quite a while to take into account it to produce results and lessen the uneasiness. Quiet training. For a moderate discharge case, Mr. Barry should gulp down it. He ought do whatever it takes not to crash them or bite them. The medication is taken with food. In some cases, to make it effectively consumable, one may select to open it up and sprinkle it in food so as to take it in little length stretches (Winner, 2015). This is alright as long as they dont bite it and all the medication is taken at back. Nothing ought to be protected for later utilization. He should attempt to expend the medication at roughly a similar chance to guarantee that remedial focuses are kept up all through. The medication ought to be put away at room temperature away from warmth and dampness. He should keep taking the medication despite the fact that occasionally it might appear as though it isn't working. He ought to take into account some an ideal opportunity for its belongings to set in. in the event that he feels that it isn't working, he ought not cease except if he is exhorted so by the specialist. Unsavory reactions might be watched if the medicine is halted suddenly (Aftab, 2015). Mr. Barry seldom takes liquor. Under this conditions, he ought not take any liquor to maintain a strategic distance from some reactions related with its utilization while taking the drug. He ought to likewise maintain a strategic distance from exercises that expect him to be alarm such a driving. Venlafaxine impedes thinking and response. This may represent a danger to his wellbeing in the event that he is engaged with perilous exercises. Mr. Barry ought to be very much aware of the reactions that are probably going to result once he begins taking the prescription. He ought not be oversensitive to the medication in this way he ought to be cautious to get any indications of hypersensitivity. It might result into a swollen tongue, rash, hives and trouble in relaxing. In the event that such signs are noted, one ought to abstain from utilizing these medications and look for clinical consideration. He ought to know about plausible medication cooperations that might be perilous (Spina, Pisani, de Leon, 2016). In the event that they need to take NSAIDs, they ought to counsel their primary care physician on the one they should take. There is an expanded antiplatelet impact by utilizing it with these medications. This represents an extraordinary threat on the off chance that they are harmed since they may lose a great deal of blood all the while. Different medications that he ought to counsel before taking are: some other antidepressants, anticoagulants and medications to treat headache As per Lader (2015), basic symptoms related with venlafaxine include: changes in vision, discombobulation, migraine

How is humour created and employed in Episode 6 of Blackadder Goes Forth Essays

How is humor made and utilized in Episode 6 of Blackadder Goes Forth Essays How is humor made and utilized in Episode 6 of Blackadder Goes Forth Paper How is humor made and utilized in Episode 6 of Blackadder Goes Forth Paper Exposition Topic: Dark Boy Writing Scene six of Blackadder Goes Forth is called Goodbyeee. It was composed by Ben Elton and Richard Curtis. Goodbyeee is set in World War One, at the clash of the Somme; in the channels. World War one is a troublesome subject yet the scholars chose to add a diverting edge to feature the major issues of war. Blackadder was constantly appeared before the nine oclock watershed subsequently it is appropriate for all times of watchers. There are numerous kinds of amusingness utilized all through projects throughout the years: Firstly the physical world allowing individuals to down. This is frequently houses falling, or vehicles fleeing. A case of this kind of satire is highlighted in The Chuckle Brothers. Furthermore the silly. This sort of funniness is run of the mill in kid's shows, where wounds are rarely perpetual. Regularly utilized in The Simpsons or Tom and Jerry. Thirdly sexual insinuations. This is the place one character will say something honest; this could be Show us your containers love. It is inferred to the crowd this is a sexual remark, however as the camera goes to the female, she would hold two containers of water. Sexual allusions are utilized all through Carry On films. Fourthly parody. Organizations, for example, the Government, or the Royal Family, are made jokes about. Have I Got News for You spins completely around parody. At long last self analysis or self devaluation. For instance, Ronnie Corbett is well known for utilizing this sort of satire. He was continually breaking kids about his own blemishes or un-supported highlights. The principal sort of funniness that is utilized in Goodbyeee is; verbal silliness. Verbal silliness could be plays on words, mockery, affront or jokes. Other than in Blackadder, this sort of funniness is utilized by Frank Skinner and Paul Merton. The second kind of funniness that is utilized in scene six of Blackadder Goes Forth is visual amusingness. It might likewise be known as droll. This could be a custard pie in the face, or somebodys pants tumbling down. Other than in Blackadder, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Laurel and Hardy are renowned for utilizing visual satire in their demonstrations. By and large, Blackadder is known as Black parody. This implies making difficult issues or subjects into something diverting. The difficult issues might be demise, food deficiency or war. The first occasion when we hear verbal cleverness being shown in Goodbyeee, is when Lieutenant George discusses the Pals Battalion that he pursued the war with. All of Georges companions had rather abnormal epithets, e. g. Bumfluff, Jacko and Badger, Sticky and Drippy and Mr Floppy. We hear Lieutenant George reveal to us that he and his companions had beaten the Oxford Tiddlywinkers just the prior week. George at that point proceeds to disclose to us that, shockingly, the entirety of his buddies had kicked the bucket during the war, in spite of the fact that he discusses their demises in brandishing terms. This tells the crowd that George has no genuine idea of war, and despite the fact that he is knowledgeable, he has no genuine learnings; he is very nai ve. Because of his naivety, George resembles a mobile, talking purposeful publicity banner. He is exceptionally nationalistic and utilizes jingoistic language assembled from the publicity at home. The second time we hear verbal funniness, is when Edmund Blackadder, experiences some sudden nerves about doing battle. He concludes that he is going to act like he has mental issues, so as to be sent home. He rehashes words, for example, wooble, clack cackle gibber pah and so on. Clearly Blackadder is frozen of doing battle, in contrast to taught, white collar class Lieutenant George. Blackadder gets that in the event that he goes over the top he faces unavoidable demise. Later on Baldrick shows that he doesnt really know why the war began, a guy called Archie Duke slaughtered an ostrich cause he was ravenous? he questions. The crowd realizes that the war began in light of the fact that Austro-Hungary attacked Germany. We can immediately tell that Baldrick is badly taught, and effortlessly confounded, yet additionally, Baldrick is faithful to anybody in a better situation than himself, I might suspect this since he battles in a war that he doesnt even know why it started. In the following segment of the scene, we are acquainted with General Melchett. He doesn't need to live in the channels; he is a higher positioning individual from the military. Like Lieutenant George, General Melchett is a state funded school kid, who is accomplished, however has no genuine comprehension of war and demise. General Melchett feels that the men who are battling in the war are simply numbers, not lives that are being discarded. He discusses war in brandishing terms we dodged and we weaved and we wove and we damn all around dominated the match 15-4 Earlier in the scene, we hear Baldrick disclose to Blackadder what he has been making espresso from throughout the previous thirteen months; since they came up short on genuine espresso. It had been produced using hot mud, spit, and dandruff. Now in the scene, Baldrick offers Officer Darling some espresso. Being unconscious of what the espresso is really produced using, Officer Darling happily acknowledges, including that he might want a smooth one. This is sensational incongruity in light of the fact that lone the crowd acknowledge what Darling will get in his espresso mug. Baldrick vanishes to make the espresso, the camera cuts from the room, however a frightful guttural clamor can be gotten notification from outside the uncovered. At the point when the camera comes back to the scene, Baldrick gives Darling some espresso; Darling takes one taste and promptly lets it out. This might be amusing, however it is likewise delineating the major issue of proportioning and food deficiency. While verbal cleverness is utilized oftentimes all through the scene, a few references to war are featured by visual amusingness. The principal case of visual diversion we find in the last scene of Blackadder Goes Forth is Baldrick eating a cigarette. Edmund Blackadder had offered the entirety of the respectable men present a cigarette. They all readily acknowledged, and all with the exception of Baldrick, lit their cigarettes and cheerfully puffed away. In any case, Baldrick readily ate his blessing. This is uproarious to watch, yet in addition gives a knowledge into Baldricks character. He is faithful as he doesnt need to decline a blessing from a companion, yet additionally on the grounds that he is most likely starving because of the difficult issue of proportioning during the war. Further on in the scene, another significant issue is featured by visual diversion. Blackadder put two pencils up his noses and a couple of undies on his head; attempting to exhibit that he has gone frantic and ought to be sent home right away. Blackadder had altered his perspective on going over the top; he was terrified of the unavoidable passing that anticipated him there. Blackadder was as a rule genius dynamic, however tragically his arrangement fizzled. Towards the finish of the scene, we see General Melchett conversing with Officer Darling. While Melchett is wearing his sleep time clothing, he is additionally brandishing and surprising looking thing: a hairnet covering his mustache. To the crowd this strengthens the way that they think his is frustrated; a strange character. A great deal of sensational gadgets are utilized to add to the centrality of one explicit piece of the scene. The social and chronicled setting and the difficult issues encompassing war. Sensational gadgets are added to the visual funniness to strengthen the noteworthiness of the scene. For instance, Field Marshall Haig takes a general brush and thumps down a few toy officers off a fake combat zone, and into a dustpan. This sensational gadget implies how senior individuals from the military position, who were not battling on the cutting edge, didnt care what number of men were being butchered by the German warriors. Significant issues, for example, apportioning, water-logged channels, the Christmas Truce and the way that Baldrick didnt even know why the war had started. The major issue of apportioning is featured by the recently referenced espresso scene, including Baldrick and Officer Darling, and Baldrick eating a cigarette. The Somme Public Baths, no running, yelling or insignificant in the shallow end, this engaging discourse that Blackadder discusses into the phone collector is promptly advising the watcher that is would be conceivable to swim in the channels. Again featuring a major issue, this time the issue is water-logged channels. We hear the three primary characters Blackadder, Lieutenant George, and Baldrick discussing the past Christmas, when there had been a truce. The English and German soldiers played football on no-keeps an eye ashore. The gunfire had halted they endeavored to trade cigarette cards, and had broken Christmas welcome for one another. When inquired as to whether he could recall the Christmas Truce, Blackadder answers Remember? How might I overlook? There was no chance I was off-side. This again is adding a diverting edge to a major circumstance. Toward the finish of the scene, the warriors take their situations at the base of the stepping stools that they will move to go over the top. A consistent drumbeat is played; this is proposed to give the impact of a moving toward execution. The whistle is blown and all men advance up the stepping stools and over the top. All the characters holler, the German fighters open fire before theyre even off the stepping stools. The scene changes to slow movement and blasts happen surrounding them. A resounded piano gradually plays the subject tune; this is an emotive gadget, as it makes a solemn environment. The perspective on the warriors on the war zone encompassed by security fencing, gradually changes into the field as it was in 1989. Congested with poppies, grasses and different blossoms;

How Long Does Librium Stay in Your System

How Long Does Librium Stay in Your System Addiction Drug Use Prescription Medications Print How Long Does Librium Stay in Your System? Elimination depends on many different factors By Buddy T facebook twitter Buddy T is an anonymous writer and founding member of the Online Al-Anon Outreach Committee with decades of experience writing about alcoholism. Learn about our editorial policy Buddy T Medically reviewed by Medically reviewed by Steven Gans, MD on December 14, 2015 Steven Gans, MD is board-certified in psychiatry and is an active supervisor, teacher, and mentor at Massachusetts General Hospital. Learn about our Medical Review Board Steven Gans, MD Updated on February 24, 2020 laflor / Getty Images More in Addiction Drug Use Prescription Medications Cocaine Heroin Marijuana Meth Ecstasy/MDMA Hallucinogens Opioids Alcohol Use Addictive Behaviors Nicotine Use Coping and Recovery Librium (chlordiazepoxide) is a type of sedative known as a benzodiazepine used to treat anxiety disorders and alcohol withdrawal, among other things. It was first approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1960, but its popularity has waned in recent years due to the high risk of dependence and addiction. As with other benzodiazepines like Xanax (alprazolam), Klonopin (clonazepam), and Valium (diazepam), Librium has a relatively long half-life, and the time it takes to eliminate the drug from the system can vary from one person to the next. Factors for Drug Elimination Librium has a drug half-life of between 24 and 48 hours, meaning that 50 percent of the drug will have been eliminated from the body with this span of time.?? In order to achieve the therapeutic effects, you need to take Librium for a period of time (known as the loading dose) to gradually build up  to peak concentrations in the blood. When stopping Librium, the time it takes to eliminate all traces of the drug from the body can vary based upon a number of factors, including: Your ageLiver functionBody massDosagePeriod of usageOther drugs in your systemGenetics All of these factors contribute to how quickly or slowly you eliminate Librium from the system. Physiological Factors Librium metabolized the liver and excreted in urine. If your liver is in any way impaired, the clearance of the drug will also be impeded. This can lead to variations in the drug half-life. Age also plays a role because liver function tends to wane as we age.?? As a result, people over 65 end to eliminate Librium at half the rate of someone in their 20s and 30s. Drug clearance is also influenced by your body mass index (BMI), with obese people (BMI 30 and above) taking anywhere from two to three times longer to eliminate Librium than those of normal weight (BMI under 24). Pharmaceutical Factors The higher the dosage and period of usage, the longer it will take to clear Librium from the body. Those who never reach peak concentration will invariably achieve clearance faster than those who do. Beyond the drug itself, Librium clearance may be affected by other drugs you are taking. Librium is primarily cleared from the body with an enzyme known as cytochrome P450 (CYP450) that metabolizes toxins in the liver. If other drugs utilize CYP450 for clearance, this will naturally alter the rate of elimination of both drugs simply because there is less enzyme to go around.?? Genetic Factors Genetics also plays a role in that certain genetic anomalies can impede the synthesis of amino acids, the building blocks of enzymes. This can affect the level of CYP450 metabolism and, in turn, the elimination of Librium from the body. Some of these anomalies are not readily detected or currently unknown by scientists Librium Detection by Test Some tests are able to detect Librium well after drug levels have dropped to undetectable levels for others. The following is an estimated range of times (detection windows) during which Librium can still be reliably detected: Blood tests: 6-48 hoursSaliva test: 1-10 daysUrine test: 1-6 weeksHair follicle test: up to 90 days Withdrawal and Safe Elimination If you decide to stop taking Librium (or have developed a dependence on the drug and need to detox), you should only do so under the direction of your prescribing doctor. If you stop cold turkey, you risk serious withdrawal symptoms, including: AgitationInsomniaTremorsSweatingMuscle achesAbdominal crampsNausea or vomitingDepression and mood swingsTrouble feeling pleasure (dysphoria) Some of these symptoms, like depression and insomnia, can persist for more than a month. To mitigate the risk, doctors will formulate a tapering process wherein the Librium dose is progressively reduced over the course of several weeks. Even if youve only been on Librium for a few weeks, tapering is still advised to reduce the risk of withdrawal symptoms. To help speed the process, you can drink a lot of water to encourage the clearance of the drugs through the kidneys. Exercise can help speed your natural metabolism but should be done under the care of a doctor. Excessive exercise may only exacerbate the stomach aches and nausea commonly experienced after you stop using Librium. Risk of Addiction With Benzodiazepines A Word From Verywell Because Librium is a benzodiazepine, extra care should be taken if an opioid drug is co-prescribed for pain. The FDA has found serious risks associated with the coadministration of these drugs, including the potentially life-threatening depression of the central nervous system. Because of these risks, the FDA has issued its strongest warningâ€"a black box warningâ€"on opioid and benzodiazepine labels. The combined use of these drugs may result in respiratory arrest and death. Alcohol can trigger the same effects and should be avoided if you taking Librium. If you suspect a Librium overdose, call 911 or the National Poison Control Center at 800-222-1222. Why Benzodiazepines Are Classified as Controlled Substances

What Is a Psychoeducational Evaluation

When a child struggles to live up to his or her potential in school, parents, educators, and often the students themselves want to get at the root of the matter. While to some, a child may look lazy on the surface, his or her reluctance to do work or to engage at  school may be the result of a deeper learning disability or a psychological issue that could be interfering with the childs ability to learn. While parents and teachers suspect a student may have a learning issue, only a psychoeducational evaluation conducted by a professional, such as a psychologist or neuropsychologist, can result in a clear diagnosis of a learning disability. This formal evaluation also has the benefit of providing a thorough explanation of all the factors of the childs learning challenges, including cognitive and psychological issues, that could be affecting a child in school. Looking for more information about what a psychoeducational evaluation involves and how the process can help struggling students? Check this out. Evaluation Measurements and Tests Involved An evaluation is usually conducted by a psychologist or other similar professional. Some schools have licensed staff who conduct evaluations (public schools and private schools both often have psychologists who work for the school and who conduct evaluations of students, especially in the elementary and middle school levels), while some schools ask students to be evaluated outside of school. Evaluators try to create a safe, comfortable environment and establish a rapport with a student so that they can make the child feel at ease and get a good read on the student. The evaluator will usually start with an intelligence test such as the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC). First developed in the late 1940s, this test is now in its fifth version (from 2014) and is known as the WISC-V. This version of the WISC evaluation is available as both a paper-and-pencil format and as a digital format on what is called Q-interactive ®. Studies show that the WISC–V delivers more flexibility in assessment as well as more content. This new version gives a more comprehensive snapshot of a childs abilities than its previous versions. Some of the more notable improvements make it easier and faster to identify the issues a student faces and better helps identify learning solutions for the student. Though the validity of intelligence tests has been hotly debated, they are still used to generate four main sub-scores: a verbal comprehension score, a perceptual reasoning score, a working memory score, and a processing speed score. A discrepancy between or among these scores is notable and may be indicative of a childs strengths and weaknesses. For example, a child may score higher in one domain, such as verbal comprehension, and lower in another, indicating why he or she tends to struggle in certain areas. The evaluation, which may last several hours (with some tests administered over several days) may also include achievement tests such as the Woodcock Johnson.  Such tests measure to what degree students have mastered academic skills in areas such as reading, math, writing, and other areas. A discrepancy between intelligence tests and achievement tests may also indicate a specific type of learning issue. Evaluations may also include tests of other cognitive functions, such as memory, language, executive functions (which refer to the ability to plan, organize, and carry out ones tasks), attention, and other functions. In addition, the testing may include some basic psychological assessments. What Does a Finished  Psychoeducational Evaluation Look Like? When an evaluation has been completed, the psychologist will provide the parents (and, with the parents or guardians permission, the school) with a completed evaluation. The evaluation contains a written explanation of the tests administered and the results, and the evaluator also provides a description of how the child approached the tests. In addition, the evaluation includes the data that resulted from each test and notes any diagnoses of learning issues that the child meets. The report should conclude with recommendations to help the student. These recommendations could include  accommodations of the usual school curriculum to help the student, such as providing the student with additional time on tests (for example, if the student has language-based or other disorders that cause her to work more slowly to achieve maximum results). A thorough evaluation also provides insight into any psychological or other factors that are affecting the child in school. The evaluation should never be punitive or stigmatizing in its intent; instead, the evaluation is intended to help students reach their full potential by explaining what is affecting them and suggesting strategies to help the student. Article edited by  Stacy Jagodowski

Mississippi River and Essay - 9274 Words

FIRST INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT OF BUSINESS COMMUNICATION | | | SUBMITTED BY: POOJA SHRESTHA | BBA-BISECTION- A | SEMESTER-1 | 12/6/2011 | | My mother never worked COMPREHENSSSION 1. What kind of work did Martha Smith do while her children were growing up? List some of the chores she performed? The writer Donna Smith-Yackel’s mother did lots of work throughout her life. She was a mother of more than half dozen of children. While her children were growing up she had to do many works, tasks and household chores to sustain or to keep family going. After her marriage, she helped her husband in farming. She learned to set hens, and raise chickens, feed pigs, milk cows, plant and harvest a garden and carry every†¦show more content†¦And even though she had worked so much she isn’t eligible for the death benefit. Style and structure 1. Is the title effective? If so, why? If not, what title can you suggest? The title my mother never worked is very effective. The thesis of the essay is the topic itself. The author’s mother is a hard working woman who has served her family throughout her life doing all sorts of household chores. This essay has an ironical meaning. And due to this it grabs the attention of the reader’s .The first impression of the reader after reading the title is that the mother might be lazy. But after reading the whole essay we come to know that her mother worked hard for her children and family throughout her life. 2. Smith Yackel could have outlined her mother’s life without framing it with the telephone conversation. Why do you think she includes this frame? The essay starts with the telephone conversation the writer could have outline her mother’s life without framing it with the telephone conversation but the writer has included the telephone conversation to make the essay more interesting and effective. If she had started the essay normally then the impression and impact upon the reader’s would not have been so strong. 3. What strategies does Smith Yackel use to indicate the passing of time in her narrative? The passing of the time is clearly mentioned by the writer by mentioning the date or the year. 4. This narrative piles details oneShow MoreRelatedMississippi River and Essay9263 Words   |  38 Pagesentitled for a death benefit. Thesis is not explicitly stated as it is not mentioned in the introduction part or in the conclusion part. 2. This essay appeared in ms magazine and other publications whose audiences are sympathetic to feminist goals? Could it just as easily have appeared in the magazine whose audience was not? Explain. 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Many of the songs carried secret messages of escaping the plantation life. The music told of life experiences as slaves knew them. The stories sung about in their music went back before the Civil War and evenRead MoreMark Twain And Zitkala Sa949 Words   |  4 PagesMark Twain and Zitkala-Sa Essay In the Mark Twain’s and Zitkala-Sa’s stories, they had an aim and idea of cold anti-colonial war against the United States. Mark Twain used Native Americans as the primary and hypocritical element against the United States aggression towards the Indian nations. Twain’s historically updated mind shaped his Missouri and Mississippi Valley s identity that permits accessibility to his protest against global imperialism. Zitkala-Sa critiques express in depth conflictsRead MoreAnalysis Of The Negro Speaks Of Rivers796 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"The Negro Speaks of Rivers† - Langston Hughes â€Å"The Negro Speaks of Rivers† by Langston Hughes is a 10 line lyric poem in free verse. This poem is compiled of 5 stanzas with various line lengths. â€Å"The Negro Speaks of Rivers† doesnt rhyme, however, the repetition of the word â€Å"rivers† insinuates transition. This essay focuses on the importance of the word â€Å"rivers† throughout the poem because it discusses the origins of humanity and the interplay between racism and equality. Hughes discusses theRead MoreT.S. Eliot, Langston Hughes and Modern Poetry852 Words   |  4 PagesStearns Eliot) and Langston Hughes wrote what scholars of today consider, modern poetry. Writers in that time period had their own ideas of what modern poetry should be and many of them claimed that they wrote modern work. According to T.S. Eliot’s essay, â€Å"From Tradition†, modern poetry must consist of a â€Å"tradition[al] matter of much wider significance . . . if [one] want[s] it [he] must obta in it by great labour . . . no poet, no artist of any art, has his complete meaning alone. His significanceRead MoreThe Louisiana Territory And How It Changed America Forever1066 Words   |  5 Pagessettled from the Mississippi River in the east to the Rocky Mountains in the west and from the Gulf of Mexico in the south to the Canadian border in the north. With the Louisiana Purchase the U.S acquired most of that land. How did this land help define the United States of America as a Nation? This essay will discuss the actions leading up to the Acquirement of the Louisiana territory and how it changed America forever. In 1762 France ceded French Louisiana west of the Mississippi River to Spain. TheRead MoreThe Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn By Mark Twain1154 Words   |  5 Pagesto Twains idea in individuality is in the narration, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and is written in the first person, from Huck’s view in the story. Twains points out that Huck is at his best is when he is alone on the raft going down the Mississippi. Isolated, Huck makes decisions on his own, escaping society. Twain clearly suggests that Huck is a better individual by himself. He also touches on Huck’s Loneliness. Introduced as the protagonist in the story, Huck is characterized as a lonelyRead MoreBiography of Mark Twain Essay1175 Words   |  5 PagesMissouri, a port on the Mississippi River, when he was four years old. There he received a public school education. After the death of his father in 1847, Clemens was apprenticed to two Hannibal printers, and in 1851 he began setting type for and contributing sketches to his brother Orions Hannibal Journal. Subsequently he worked as a printer in Keokuk, Iowa; New York City; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and other cities. Later Clemens was a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi River until the American

Urbanization as a Social Problem Free Essays

How is urbanization negatively effecting our society The answer to this question is not a simple one. This essay will not only break down the problems of urbanization in the United States, but it will also tell you some of the attempts made to fix the problem and give some solutions as to how it could possibly be solved in the future. Also when answering this question one must understand that urbanization, can not be stopped, but only contained in a manner that will help the United States to function better as a country. We will write a custom essay sample on Urbanization as a Social Problem or any similar topic only for you Order Now The more densely populated and more heterogeneous a community is, the more accentuated characteristics can be associated with urbanism. Urbanism causes decrease in per capita, and promotes urban violence, political instability, crime and aggressive behavior. Rapid population growth in urban areas also perpetuates poverty. Another major issue being created by this social problem is the breaking of the traditional family structure. Our cities are not working well! Sanitation, safety, transportation, housing, education and even electricity are failing. These are all responsibilities of the government or it is at least their job to regulate these services deemed to be monopolies. And it is a known fact that monopolies deem toward inefficiency. Functionalist look at our cities as a means to profit. Cities are a place where everybody visits, and therefor vendors can raise their prices and profit more on their products. For example, from my own personal experience, I bought a pack of cigarettes for $3. 00 at my local gas station, and when I visited inner city Orlando, I bought the same brand of cigarettes for $4.0 . This is just a minor example, and most of the residents in an urban area are in poverty and have trouble affording the $3. 00 pack if they smoke much less adding a dollar to the already ridiculous cost. In the United States, the breaking of the traditional family structure is an issue that has become increasingly noticeable in recent years, particularly in urbanized areas. The traditional, mom and dad, and children are rarely seen in the inner cities any more. There is a weakened bond of kinship, and declining social family significance as America has transferred industrial, educational and recreational activities to specialized institutions outside of the home. It is depriving families of their most characteristic, historical functions. While individuals pursue their own diverging interests in their educational, vocational, religious and recreational life. With divorce rates rising, delinquency is also becoming more of a problem than before. With single parent families, children lack in the authority department due to the lack of the amount of time their parents have free to raise them. These specialized institutions often help, but can not replace the role of a child s guardian. As long as the divorce rate continues to increase, delinquency will continue to increase in these areas as well. The density of people reinforces effect of numbers in diversifying people and their activities and increasing the complexity of the social structure. The variations of people give rise to segregation of people by race, religious practices, ethnic heritage, as well as economic and social status. Segregation often creates much tension and prejudice between social groups. This can cause physical or mental damage to individuals or society, which means that sometimes people may permanently suffer before any action is taken to solve the problem because the delay in action is most often the result of people underestimating the problems. As for racism and segregation, there is not much that can be done to fix these problems. Individuals will always have their own opinions no matter how ignorant, and the only thing we can do is to hope that these problems die out as we desegregate our communities. People will choose their destination or place of residence according to many different ideals and needs, for example what fits their budget. Political pathology and population growth is closely related because of the population change and this change carries with it a high likelihood of social disruption. Government assumes major responsibility for development attempting to meet rapidly increasing demands for education, housing, agriculture and industrial development, transportation and employment. The government s budget is not distributed equally mainly due to differentiation in areas. Areas with higher income will have higher income and therefor will obviously have a higher budget to work with. Urban areas are usually lacking in the financial department. Therefor they are not able to repair all the problems in which need to be fixed in these areas, such as sanitation, education and many other categories. America has hired approximately fifty percent more teachers in the last few years than have been hired in the past, but the increase in population keeps the classrooms just as large. The effort does not meet the need; thus the problem remains as strong as ever. Due to the overpopulation in urban areas and the lack of employment opportunity, the crime rate is also a huge problem in which they are faced with. Also the lack of the traditional family structure and weakened bonds of kinship weaken the moral of the children growing up in the urban areas. These children grow up in poverty and usually look at crime as a quick and easy way out. The problems in urban areas are far more, than can be handled in any short term efforts. We can only hope to contain them, and attempt to make sure that no more problems arise from the already existing ones. How to cite Urbanization as a Social Problem, Essay examples

Consumer Behavior free essay sample

The target audience for a drink like Gatorade is young adults. Following the research step of the consumer purchasing tree, the next step would be the process of decision-making from the consumers stand point, this will lead to the products ability to serve the customer in form of product availability and people around that may sway the decision-making. The availability of the product when the consumer wants it is also important, for this reason a marketer must consider the who, when, why and where in the consumers decision-making process. Consumer behavior can also be affected by many other factors that will be discussed throughout our report. The most important thing a marketer has to be to segment the market appropriately with a product like Gatorade you have so many other competitors like PowerAde and Vitamin Water, the marketer needs to know which groups of consumers are more likely to purchase this specific product. We will write a custom essay sample on Consumer Behavior or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In Gatorade’s case, the marketers are more likely to target men that are in to sports or men that want to consider themselves as big and strong. Gatorade also needs to determine the positioning of the product in the market in regards to its competitors, there are so many energy drinks out there that Gatorade needs to state how there drink is better than those offered by others. This can only be done by understanding the consumers of the drink and satisfying their wants and needs, so they don’t have to go elsewhere to get what they want and need. Motivation, ability and opportunity are very important aspects of the success for a drink like Gatorade. Motivation is what drives a consumer to take action; a person that is thirsty drives motivates a consumer to find a way to satisfy their thirst. In Gatorade’s case motivation does not take considerable behavior because Gatorade is not an expensive product and one can just go into practically any store and be able to find a bottle of Gatorade. One key factor that affects motivation when it comes to a product like Gatorade is its personal relevance on a consumer’s life, thus a consumer who is health-conscious will likely choose Gatorade because it has approximately 50 calories per 8-oz. erving. It generally comes in large portions, though, so a bottle will have 100 to 200 calories at most. The perceived risk can also determine if a Gatorade drink will be purchased or not, in this case a Gatorade drinker will not consider any of the attributes of the products to be risky; because the bottle contains all its nutritional facts so that lack of information cannot be applied, t he low price also make the product low risk, but one important aspect that may change it is the brand differentiation, â€Å"what makes Gatorade better than the competitors? †. This is the most important task marketers have to convince the buyer. â€Å"Since Gatorade is a product that is basically used to relieve thirst, consumers don’t have many factors that affect their abilities to process information about Gatorade and make decisions about and engage in its buying, usage, and disposition of the drink. The final factor affecting whether motivation results in action is a consumer’s opportunity to engage in a behavior. Time, distractions, and the amount, repetition, and control of information all affect a consumers’ opportunity to process information. Gatorade, like any other product, can be affected by the time pressures of consumers and distractions that might deter or delay them from purchasing a Gatorade bottle; but Gatorade has been successful in using many marketing communications and repeated advertisements to give consumers the opportunity to better learn about Gatorade          What current Gatorade consumers have already learned about previously is referred to as knowledge content. Gatorade has already reached a state in which many people know much about the product, their advertisements and how to shop for Gatorade products. Therefore, Gatorade consumers have high knowledge content about the products of the Gatorade brand. Gatorade has done a significant amount of work over the past couple of years to establish a well-known brand name and brand symbol. Most consumers recognize the brand symbol of a lightning bolt that is displayed in almost all Gatorade bottles. These consumers have also used some or most of Gatorade’s products more than one time. Consumers also need not only knowledge when purchasing a product but also need to use that knowledge to understand what matters the most to them. Consumers look for three essential qualifications when purchasing beverages: safety (expiration), efficiency (taste/flavor), and price/familiarity. Expiration dates don’t necessarily pertain to Gatorade drinks because the drinks have a high shelf life and almost always sell much prior to the expiration dates. However, in the case of an expiration date, blame would be based on the retailer to pull any expired food or beverage product off of their shelves. Taste plays a big role in consumer behavior because people want to drink things that taste good and are good for them. Gatorade offers an array of flavors for their consumers ranging from fruit punch to lemon to mango. The company had also stated from the launch in 1965 that the drinks have electrolytes making the drink provide you with a better performance for a workout. Familiarity is a quality that Gatorade has acquired over the years due to high knowledge content and positive feedback from consumers. Due to the high quality that Gatorade has provided over the years of great tasting beverages, consumers are familiar with the product and tend to repurchase the product. Gatorade has many different purposes but the main objective of Gatorade along with many other performance beverages is to quickly rehydrate one’s body effiecntly and quickly. Marketing has helped Gatorade grow it brand and most consumers tend to believe what is on the bottle without doing extreme research. One way to examine the validity of Gatorade’s claims is by examining experimental. As noted the research has confirmed that for the most part the claims made by Gatorade are true. However it is important to note that Gatorade is not needed for every workout and sometime water works better than Gatorade. What this research provides is a greater sense of satisfaction when a consumer purchases a Gatorade bottle; they believe their evaluations of what Gatorade will offer them will fulfill their needs. Customer satisfaction is important to Gatorade because satisfied customers are more likely to remain customers, be brand loyal, and be committed to the product. Several diversity influences affect consumer behavior, they include: age, gender, the region in which consumers live in, and among subgroups of individuals with unique patterns of ethnicity and religion because of their different traditions, customs, and preferences. Gatorade consumers are usually teens and Gen Y’ers, also known as millenniums. These consumers are media and tech savvy. Gatorade has created a website that has many interactive features; the website is designed to house a wealth of Gatorade-made video content which teens and Gen-Y’ers will spend hours pouring over. And like any other smart brand, Gatorade makes it possible to share the content they make on almost every conceivable platform, such as adding a video to a blog, a Facebook page, or a cell phone. When it comes to gender, Gatorade is marketed to both males and females. It is important to target female, as sports drinks are generally considered a masculine product and athletes are not skewed in terms of gender. Gatorade is also offered in any region where a consumer might live in, as well as to every consumer, regardless of ethnicity and religion. Gatorade was created in 1965 by medical researchers at the University of Florida; Gatorade was made to replenish the University of Florida’s Gators during practices and games. The bright yellow lemon juice and orange lid is a trademark of Gatorade which honors the University of Florida Gators football team. The football team credited Gatorade with their first Orange Bowl win over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in 1967. Since then Gatorade has been associated with sports, specifically football. Products need to have a symbolic role in consumer’s lives because it will greatly increase brand loyalty and repeat purchases. As a group we have realized that Gatorade has accomplished this in many ways. Since the product was introduced in 1965 many football teams have practice the ritual of the â€Å"Gatorade shower† at the end of the game, after a winning game football players grab a Gatorade cooler and dump it onto their coach. Symbolically Gatorade is viewed to many consumers as a special product that is apart in celebrating an athletic achievement. Companies use different marketing implications to achieve a role of symbolism in their products. However, Gatorade achieved its special status at the beginning of its time. The creation of Gatorade is based on true story that is aspiring and true; we believe that all these elements contribute to the symbolism and significance of the Gatorade drink. Gatorade hasn’t had any major lawsuits where their ethics and the social responsibility they have to society have come to question. Consumer Behavior free essay sample Consumer Behavior: Meeting Changes and Challenges LEARNING OBJECTIVES After studying this chapter students should be able: 1. To understand what consumer behavior is and the different types of consumers. 2. To understand the relationship between consumer behavior and the marketing concept, the societal marketing concept, as well as segmentation, targeting, and positioning. 3. To understand the relationship between consumer behavior and customer value, satisfaction, trust and retention. 4. To understand how new technologies are enabling marketers to better satisfy the needs and wants of consumers. To understand how marketers are increasingly able to reach consumers wherever consumers wish to be reached. 6. To understand how the world’s economic condition is leading to consumption instability and change. 7. To understand the makeup and composition of a model of consumer behavior. 8. To understand the structure of this book. CHAPTER SUMMARY The study of consumer behavior enables marketers to understand and predict consumer behavior in the marketplace; it is concerned not only with what consumers buy but also with why, when, where, and how they buy it. We will write a custom essay sample on Consumer Behavior or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Consumer research is the methodology used to study consumer behavior; it takes place at every phase of the consumption process: before the purchase, during the purchase, and after the purchase. The field of consumer behavior is rooted in the marketing concept, a business orientation that evolved in the 1950s through several alternative approaches, referred to, respectively, as the production concept, the product concept, and the selling concept. The three major strategic tools of marketing are market segmentation, targeting, and positioning. The marketing mix consists of a company’s service and/or product offerings to consumers and the pricing, promotion, and distribution methods needed to accomplish the exchange. Consumer behavior is interdisciplinary; that is, it is based on concepts and theories about people that have been developed by scientists in such diverse disciplines as psychology, sociology, social psychology, cultural anthropology, and economics. Skilled marketers make the customer the core of the company’s organizational culture and ensure that all employees view any exchange with a customer as part of a customer relationship, not as a transaction. The three drivers of successful relationships between marketers and customers are customer value, high levels of customer satisfaction, and building a structure for customer retention. Digital technologies allow much greater customization of products, services, and promotional messages than do older marketing tools. They enable marketers to adapt the elements of the marketing mix to consumers’ needs more quickly and efficiently, and to build and maintain relationships with customers on a much greater scale. However, these technologies also represent significant challenges to marketers and to business models that have been used for decades. Consumer behavior has become an integral part of strategic market planning. The belief that ethics and social responsibility should also be integral components of every marketing decision is embodied in a revised marketing concept—the societal marketing concept—that calls on marketers to fulfill the needs of their target markets in ways that improve society as a whole. CHAPTER OUTLINE INTRODUCTION 1. Consumer behavior is defined as the behavior that consumers display in searching for, purchasing, using, evaluating, and disposing of products and services that they expect will satisfy their needs. The sales orientation focus was to sell more of what the manufacturing department was able to produce. a) The orientation shifted from producing to selling. b) At some point, supply increasingly reached a point where it was greater than demand. c) The sales orientation began in the 1930s and extended to the 1950s. 4. In the mid-1950’s there was a shift from the sales orientation to the marketing orientation. a) Businesses realized the importance of focusing on consumers and their preferences. What Is The Marketing Concept *****Use Key Term marketing concept Here; Use Discussion Question #1 Here***** 1. The field of consumer behavior is rooted in a marketing strategy that evolved in the late 1950s. 2. Companies determined, that in order to be successful, they must determine the needs and wants of specific target markets and deliver the desired satisfactions better than the competition. 3. Instead of trying to persuade customers to buy what the firm had already produced, marketing-oriented firms found that it was a lot easier to produce only products they had first confirmed, through research, that consumers wanted. 4. Recently there has been an important modification to the marketing concept called the societal marketing concept. The concept suggests that consumers may respond to their immediate needs or wants, while overlooking what is in their own long-run best interest, or the best interest of their family and neighbors, the best interest of their country or region or the entire planet. b) Enlightened marketers take it upon themselves to remind consumers as to what is in the consumer’s long-run best interest; at the same time they set out what their own company is doing in order to be a good corporate citizen. *****Use Key Term societal marketing concept Here; Use Exercise #2 Here***** Embracing the Marketing Concept 1. It is often important for companies to continuously conduct marketing research studies to monitor consumers’ needs and preferences with respect to the products and services that they currently market and what they might develop in the future. 2. They discovered that consumers were highly complex individuals, subject to a variety of psychological and social needs quite apart from their basic functional needs. a) The needs and priorities of different consumer segments differed dramatically. b) The objectives of a company should be to target different products and services to different market segments in order to better satisfy different needs. In order to design new products and marketing strategies that would fulfill consumer needs, they had to study consumers and their consumption behavior in depth. 3. The term consumer research represents the process and tools used to study consumer behavior. *****Use Key Term consumer research Here; Use Exercise #3 Here***** Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning 1. The focus of the marketing concept is to know consumers current needs, and to secure, a picture of their likely future needs. 2. Market and consumer researchers seek to identify the many similarities and differences that exist among the peoples of the world. 3. The marketer must adapt the image of its product so that each market segment perceives the product as better fulfilling its specific needs than competitive products. a) The three elements of this strategic framework are: market segmentation, targeting, and positioning. 4. Market segmentation is the process of dividing a market into subsets of consumers with common needs or characteristics. 5. Market targeting is the selection of one or more of the segments identified for the  company to pursue. 6. Positioning refers to the development of a distinct image for the product or service in the mind of the consumer, an image that will differentiate the offering from competing ones and faithfully communicate to the target audience that the particular product or service will fulfill their needs better than competing brands. a) Successful positioning centers ar ound two key principles: i)The first principle says that the marketer should communicate the benefits that the product will provide rather than the product’s features. Consumer Behavior free essay sample For example, the success of Creast toothpaste by Procter amp; Gamble, recognized as the best toothpaste by The American Dental Association, was because of it’s consumer learning. Which enables them to add fluoride with the toothpaste. Elements of Consumer Learning Despite their different viewpoints, learning theorists in general agree that in order for learning to occur, certain basic elements must be present. The elements included in most learning theories are motivation, cues, response, and reinforcement. Motivation: The concept of motivation is important to learning theory. Remember, motivation is based on needs and goals. Motivation acts as a spur to learning. The degree of relevance, or involvement, determines the consumer’s level of motivation to search for knowledge or information about a product or service. Uncovering consumer motives is one of the prime tasks of marketers, who then try to teach motivated consumer segments why and how their products will fulfill the consumer’s needs. We will write a custom essay sample on Consumer Behavior or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Cues: If motives serve to stimulate learning, cues are the stimuli that direct these motives. In the marketplace, price, styling, packaging, advertising, and store displays all serve as cues to help consumers fulfill their needs in product-specific ways. Cues serve to direct consumer drives when they are consistent with consumer expectations. Marketers must be careful to provide cues that do not upset those expectations. Response: How individuals react to a drive or cue-how they behave constitutes their response. Learning can occur even when responses are not overt. Reinforcement: Reinforcement increases the likelihood that a specific response will occur in the future as the result of particular cues or stimuli. Theories of consumer learning There are several theories of consumer learning. These are Behavioral Theory of Leaning, Cognitive Theory of Learning, Involvement Theory of Learning , Behavioral Theory of Leaning Behavioral learning theories are sometimes referred to as stimulus-response theories because they are based on the premise that observable responses to external stimuli signal that learning has taken place. Under the behaviorist approach, consumers operate on the environment (e. g. people do things). There are several types of Behavioral learning theories. Such as: * Classical Conditioning * Instrumental Conditioning * Modeling or Observational Learning Classical Conditioning Theory A behavioral learning theory according to which a stimulus is paired with another stimulus that elicits a known response that serves to produce the same response when used alone. Ivan Pavlov, a Russian physiologist, was the first to describe conditioning and to propose it as a general model of how learning occurs. According to Pavlovian theory, conditioned learning occurs when a stimulus that is paired with another stimulus that elicits a known response serves to produce the same response when used alone. Pavlov demonstrated what he meant by conditioned learning in his studies with dogs which is shown below: Strategic Applications of Classical Conditioning Three basic concepts derive from classical conditioning: Repetition, Stimulus generalization, and Stimulus discrimination. Each of these concepts is important to the strategic applications of consumer behavior. Repetition Increases the association between the conditioned and unconditioned stimulus and slows the pace of forgetting. In this advertising wear out is a problem. Stimulus generalization This theory suggests learning does not merely depend on repetition but also on generalization. This helps â€Å"me-too† products to succeed Useful in product extensions. Stimulus discrimination Stimulus discrimination is the opposite of stimulus generalization and results in the selection of a specific stimulus from similar stimuli. This discrimination is the basis of positioning which looks for unique ways to fill needs. Instrumental (Operant) Conditioning A behavioral theory of learning based on a trial-and-error process, with habits forced as the result of positive experiences (reinforcement) resulting from certain responses or behaviors. Like classical conditioning, instrumental conditioning requires a link between a stimulus and a response. This model of learning applies to many situations in which consumers learn about products, services, and retail stores. American psychologist B. F. Skinner is the pioneer in this theory. He distinguished several types of reinforcement in this theory. These are: * Positive Negative * Forgetting * Extinction A Model of Instrumental Conditioning is given below: Observational Learning Observational Learning is a process by which individuals observe how others behave in response to certain stimuli and reinforcements. It is known as modeling or vicarious learning. Consumers often observe how others behave in response to certain situations and the ensuing results tha t occur, and they imitate the positively reinforced behavior when faced with similar situations. An advertisement is shown, where the consumer observes a positive response by two teens. Cognitive Theory of Learning Cognitive Learning Theory holds that the kind of learning most characteristic of human beings is problem solving which enables individuals to gain some control over their environment. Cognitive theories are concerned with how information is processed by the human mind: how it is stored, retained, and retrieved. A simple model of the structure and operation suggests the existence of three separate storage units: the sensory store, the short term store, and the long term store. Information Processing Information Processing relates to cognitive ability and the complexity of the information. Individuals differ in imagery – their ability to form mental images which influences recall. Movement from short-term to long-term storage depends on * Rehearsal * Encoding How consumers store, retain, and retrieve information is shown below: Involvement Theory of Learning Involvement theory proposes that people engage in limited information processing in situations of low importance or relevance to them and in extensive information processing in situations of high relevance. Issues in involvement theory: * Consumer Relevance * Central and Peripheral Routes to Persuasion * Measure of Involvement Consumer Relevance Involvement depends on degree of personal relevance. High involvement is: Very important to the consumer, Provokes extensive problem solving. Central and Peripheral Routes to Persuasion Central route to persuasion: For high involvement purchases, Requires cognitive processing. Peripheral route to persuasion: Low involvement, Consumer less motivated to think, Learning through repetition, visual cues, and holistic perception. Measures of Involvement There are several measures of involvement found by different studies. These are: brand involvement, product involveme CONCLUSION Learning certainly occurs intentionally, as when a problem is recognized and information is acquired about products which might solve the problem. Knowledge of learning principles can be useful in understanding how consumers wants and motives are acquired and how their tastes are developed. Also, appreciation of learning can aid marketers of how frequently to repeat advertising messages and develop brand loyalty. Marketing stretegies are based on communicating with the customers-directly,through advertisements, and indirectly,through product appearance,packaging,price,and distribution chennels. So the successful organizations are interested in every aspect of the learning process. However,despite the fact that learning is all-persasive in our lives, ther is no single theory of how people learn. Instead there are two major school of thought concerning learning process-one views learning as a function mental process,that is cognative learning theory and other views it as obsevable behaviors that occurs as the result of exposure to stimuli, that is behavioral learning theory. These theories offers insights to marketers on how to shape their messages to consumers to bring about desired purchase behavior. Besides,this is important that how marketers use learning theories in their marketing strategies, but it also includes ethical issues with consumer learning.

Interpersonal Relationships free essay sample

Interpersonal relationships can either be defensive or supportive. I find myself being both very many times because I can see things in all different aspects. I try to put myself in the persons shoes in order to determine what would be best in my eyes, A supportive relationship is one where you back up the persons ideas and actions. I believe a manager must always have a supportive relationship with their boss in order to enforce rules in the workplace. If the manager does not enforce their supervisor’s rules then things would go very wrong. A defensive relationship is something we see very often because we all have different opinions. In the workplace especially when working in the healthcare field being defensive can be mistaken for aggression. Having a defensive relationship means that although you work together you have different views and they are expressed. I had a meeting last week where I actually had to speak defensively towards the CEO of the company. We will write a custom essay sample on Interpersonal Relationships or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Our quota was being held against us in a manner that I did not agree with and I advised the manager. Since she did not acknowledge my suggestion I brought it up in our meeting and not only was I acknowledged our quotas are being reviewed. Part of being a successful communicator whether it is defensive or supportive is being assertive. Being assertive is essential in our daily lives especially in the workplace. There are plenty of times when we are trying to submit claims to the insurance company but they require more information. Many times we try to request more information such as letter of medical necessities from the doctors and they refuse because they feel they documented enough. Because we work for them we are not allowed to tell them what to do but this is when being assertive comes in. You advise the doctor that the insurance company is requesting more information than what is in the medical records and that if the letter is not done by a certain time the insurance company will not pay for the services that were rendered. Being assertive means being straight forward and strong with your style of communication without being aggressive or demeaning. Being assertive is like demanding something without the umpgh. I believe I effectively communicate within my interpersonal relationships. I always am assertive when speaking. I stand my ground and make my point clear and aggression is rarely ever used. I do defend my ideas and my points fully with everyone I speak to. Even at home I do not yell at my son unless he has done something truly incorrect. I always talk to him and show him right from wrong and explain why things should be done a certain way. Interpersonal relationships are essential in life. We all need to work together in our everyday lives in order to accommodate one another and not to offend anyone. In the healthcare field we all have the same goals and that is to make sure that the patient gets the care they need while the insurance companies pay the claims for our doctors. The healthcare field is filled with interpersonal relationships. We all depend on one another in order to do our job correctly. The doctor needs the nurse the nurse needs the front desk and everyone needs the billers. In the healthcare field we must use our confidence in order to be assertive. Being confident means knowing and standing for what you believe is right and expressing that. Being assertive means standing your ground without proof and without being aggressive. Although I believe being assertive works much better when there is proof because it shows that you researched what you are discussing. Assertiveness is a need in any field because you must speak your mind in order to communicate effectively and if you work in the healthcare field than being assertive will make you a very successful healthcare professional. Interpersonal Relationships free essay sample Establishing a close relationship with another person appears to be one of the major contributors to happiness. This chapter first distinguishes between interpersonal relationships and impersonal ones. Basically, what makes a relationship interpersonal is interdependency, since in impersonal relationships the communicators are independent. Furthermore, in impersonal relationships, the social role of the person governs, whereas in personal interactions the psychological uniqueness of each person leads the communication. This psychological data characterizes interpersonal relationships. Second comes the explanatory knowledge, where a person becomes able to predict and explain the other’s behavior rather than just describing it. The third factor is the personally established rules stating that interpersonal relationships should go beyond rules of interactions set by social norms, to rules set by the communicators themselves. Adding to those differences, the author sheds light on relationships’ benefits and inconveniences in general. Some improvements are that interpersonal affiliations help alleviate loneliness, gain self-knowledge, enhance self-esteem, maximize pleasure and minimize pain. We will write a custom essay sample on Interpersonal Relationships or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Some of the drawbacks is that those connections put pressure on the partners to reveal themselves, impose significant financial, emotional and temporal obligations. It may also lead to isolation from former friends and present difficulties in dissolving. Next, the chapter discusses a stage model for relationships, providing a general description of their development. It mainly applies in face-to-face relationships. -Contact: it is somewhat a perceptual contact, where one forms a physical and a mental picture of the other, and then initiates an interactional contact through exchanging basic and superficial information and impressions. 2-Involvement: one mutually connects with the other by trying to learn more about him/her. It starts with a testing phase to prove your previous judgments right or wrong. Then goes to reveal oneself in order to intensify the relationship. 3-Intimacy: commitment takes place; the other person becomes the closest companion. Interpersonal commitment is a private one, however the social bonding is when the commitment is made public. The lifetime partnership decided upon in this stage involves three anxieties: security (worries about unfaithfulness), fulfillment (worries about not having an equal relationship) and excitement anxiety (worries about routine and lack of freedom). 4-Deterioration: it is the weakening if the bonds due to intrapersonal dissatisfaction leading to interpersonal deterioration when the two mates grow farther away. The breadth (number of topics relevant to discuss) and depth (degree of personalness) reverse themselves, and conflicts become more common and difficult to resolve. 5-Repair: some partners may try to repair their relationships after deterioration. At first, an intrapersonal repair is needed to analyze what went wrong, and then discuss it with the companion in interpersonal repair. The couple ought to negotiate new agreements and behaviors. 6-Dissolution: here, the bonds are definitely broken. Each begins to manage a separate life, either alone or with someone else, it is an interpersonal separation. Then the separation becomes publicly known once it officially fails every repair. It is important to note the following: -The model is certainly not the only way to look at relationships. -All relationships can be defined by opposite desires that influence the movement from one stage to another. (autonomy vs connection, novelty vs predictability, closeness vs openness) -Each stage offers the opportunity to exit the relationship. Movement through each stage is a gradual process. -Movement from one stage to another largely depends on the communication skills a person has. Moreover, culture and technology affect or even govern relationships. In some cultures, the lifetime partner is chosen by the parents, to satisfy certain family interests. This shows how culture influences the relationship’s purposes and values. It also sets rules for the rights to end a relationship. (C atholicism for example forbids divorce once there are children) and it shapes principles towards accepting or not same-sex unions. As for technology, it has now assumed a major role in developing and maintaining interpersonal relationships. Nonetheless, online relationships have advantages and disadvantages. On one hand, they are safe, they are based on the person’s personality instead of the looks, self disclosure is mainly the road to intimacy, they prone trust and honesty and are an efficient tool for shy people and people with disfigurements to establish relationships. On the other hand, the Net obviously gives opportunity to lie and share unauthentic information, a whole fake identity can easily be made up.

The Day That Changed America essays

The Day That Changed America essays September 11th Two thousand one. Lives were lost, freedom was challenged, and two symbols of liberty were left in ruins. On this very quiet morning of this horrible day, the United States of America was caught off guard. This was the day that changed us all forever. This caused millions of Americans to stop and realize that we were not invincible like we had been trained to think. This was the very day that I realized that there are more important things than what I want. When I first heard that this had happened, I was eating lunch outside. It was my friend that had told me what had happened. And of course not realizing the situation... I went on with lunch laughing and telling jokes as usual. It was little after that I was in for a pretty awful surprise. When I walked into my third period class, I had seen the pentagon burning on one half of the T.V screen and the World Trade Centers which had fallen by this point, in ruins. My stomach had turned inside our and I had a very awful feeling. By fourth period, I was very scared about what else these dirty, evil people were capable of, and being so close to White Sands Missile Range, and knowing that my dad was a State Police officer, I knew that if something ever happened like that, he would be one of the first ones there because thats the kind of man he is. And with that in my head I felt nothing but worry and sorrow for the children whose fathers were lost trying to save others. Till this very day, I still have very deep feelings for those people and I really do wish them the best in life. I could imagine what they have been through but I do know how it feels when your freedom is challenged. And I hope I never have to feel it again. Everybody who put their life on the line that day is considered a hero in my heart and I ...

End of like care in the United States Current Reality and futrue Essay

End of like care in the United States Current Reality and futrue Promise A policy review - Essay Example With age, serious health complications arise. Given the general body weakness and poor immunity, most chronic diseases are terminal to the old. Previous research has proven that open discussion on care treatment between patient and doctor improved the patient satisfaction among the elderly. The old experience less fear and anxiety, they feel an appreciation towards their wishes, and it provides them the opportunity to die with dignity. On the other hand, end life care can be a serious burden to the elderly suffering from chronic illness, it prolongs pain and suffering. It is also a heavy burden when bills ought to be paid to prolong the life that will soon end (Giovanni, 135). Most women than men experience end of life care due to their prolonged life span as compared to the male counter parts, as a result, most elderly women than men end up in nursing homes or homes for the elderly. The negative impact in this is the fact that a majority of this women end up widowed and alone (Giovanni, 135). A majority of the old individuals suffer from cognitive impairment; a condition characterized by memory problems beyond the expected aging process. End of life care program provide the necessary understanding and facilitate memory gain. A majority of the unaware would not handle the situation in the same manner. Older adults dying in countryside areas due to chronic illness are many due to the limited access of health care facilities, lack of transportation, limited social services, and lack of adequate housing. The benefits arising from end of life care to this category of the elderly include household care and respite care (Giovanni, 135). The elderly managed to receive medication and support from any

Internet Marketing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Internet Marketing - Assignment Example Source from website: http://www.toshiba.co.uk/about/index.html Toshiba's strategy has been to support from behind and offer its executives sufficient responsibility in the local offices. It is an enormously focussed and transparent and its commitment to excellence has held it in good stead. Toshiba has products in varied domains. Its primary domain comprises of notebook computer and related equipment and peripherals, mobile phones, home entertainment segment with AV equipment, including digital and flat panel TVs, and portable personal equipment and home appliances. Its major competitors would be Dell, Hp and Compaq in the notebook segments, Sony in home entertainment sector, flat panel TV's and PDA's by Dell. Customers would be retailers and individual consumers. This is a mass marketing segment over the Internet and these target consumers are more probable to end up in a purchase. They are very strong market players in electronic devices & components consisting of semiconductors, electron tubes, opto-electronic devices, LCDs, batteries, printed circuits boards, etc., but it is a more niche marketing segment which may or may not end up doing the purchase over the Internet. Consumers would include high technology operators and business. Another stable sector for Toshiba is the domain that sells industrial apparatus, power generating equipment, transportation equipment, social automation equipment, telecommunication systems, broadcasting systems, elevators & escalators, medical systems, etc. The target segment would be hospitals and medical facilities, municipalities, universities, commercial construction companies. The purchasing power of these consumers need to be very high and often these decisions a thorough product evaluation that may not be possible through the website. The website will be more of a product introduction that may lead to a purchase through an agent after product observation. Evaluation of the site The website is a part of the integrated marketing approach of Toshiba. With the number of Internet users exploding, it is imperative that the website is utilized to generate awareness and business for the company. The website scores on theses counts. It is very well laid out. The look of it is clean and it plays a great part in enhancing the brand and the company, to the professional image they portray. There is consistency in the presentation of information and common standards are maintained in the presentation of the information throughout. The site has a complete list of all the company's products, product information and registration, owner's manuals and service information as well as enabling consumers to purchase accessories and news releases pertaining to the segment. The look and feel of the site is also very simple and seems to encompass all of Toshiba's marketing disciplines. There is sufficient information for the knowledgeable buyer and there were no error messages encountered through the time it was navigated. It is easily navigable and quite user friendly. However, the site seems to have an overload of information and the product categories are all listed together. An individual consumer and the products he wants to buy are very different from a business and

Daoism: The Opposite Of Confucianism

Daoism: The Opposite Of Confucianism Daoism is the reverse and opposite with Confucianism. Actually Diaosim is a religion in which people separate himself from World, Society and live himself in the very small community in a very simple way. Followers never attachà © themselves in any political affairs. These people keep just away from worldly issues .These people follows the Doctrine of Wei-Wei in which they know what to do and how to act. In Confucisum the people believe in peace and harmony buy by doing it they are supposed to involve in the political affairs and become nonviolent person. Daoism is a disciplined organized and systematic religious tradition that has been continuously developing and transforming itself through across Korea , Japan and China for some 2000 years. Now a days it has spread across globe among its followers which includes whole range of ethinicities and cultural backgrounds.Daoism is not having any founder like Buddha, Jesus nor having any key message like gospel or four noble truths.Rather Daoism is having a history of continuous self improvement , self invention. Daoism can be divided in 4 periods:- Proto Daoism Classical Daoism Modern Daoism Contemporary Daoism Daoism is having three core values as:- Simplicity Compassion Humility Above are obtained only by constantly practicing the state of No Mind or Wuji or Emptyness during mediation. The more a person practices Wuji or No Mind. The more of these virtues satisfy themselves of their own accord. The term No-Mind does not mean to be without a mind or to be absent mined. The term no Mind originates from Taoist background and was used by Buddhist. Chan had translated it as no deliberate mind of ones own or no mind of ones own and in a Buddhist Context as the non being of mind. The term No-Mind is never meant nor intended to leave us with the impression that no-mind is never meant nor intended to leave us with the impression that no-mind is against direct inution or awakening to something transdecent. A more pithy meaning for no-mind is no discriminating mind. Such a no discriminating mind is the same as True-Mind. In fact the treatise says : Treatise. says as Indeed , no-mind is nothing other than true mind. Further on the treatise says What is called no-mind is nothing other than a mind free from deluded thought. Answer-2 Buddhism was beginned in India in the 6th century B.C. with the birth of Siddhartha Gautam. In the start when siddharta was born, a sage predicted that he would become a great holy man and teacher. Buddha four noble truths are:- Desire is destroyable Existence is unhappiness Unhappiness is caused by self-fish desire or craving Buddhist observes the Ten Percepts as:- No Killing, Stealing, Lying, Unchaste Acts, Intoxicants ,Gossip, Covetousness, Anger, Idle Pride or Insulting the Buddha or his teachings. No mind or No Thought is delusion free state the supreme enlightment. Only by achievement supreme enhightelement by eliminating even the tiniest from Alayavijna , does not attains no mind and it is when one becomes as Buddha. Sentient being ranging from micro organism at the 7th level of sainthood lives inside the realm of the conscious. Bodhitsav which is above that level and who have attained universal enlightment live in the world of the unconscious. What is No Mind? Let understand in this way -Use Mirror as an analogy because mirror is used in Buddhism in explaining Fundamental Mind, Fundamental Nature, and Original Face. Think delusions as dust, no mind as natural state of mirror. Here that mirror which is spotless is Buddha Nature, Fundamental Nature, and Original Face. No mind can also be described in the term of non extinguishing, non producing. Nonextigush is the phase and state of great ray light of wisdom and non producing is the state without trace of dilusion. Nonproducing is non extinguish is the light and tranquil. If you dust off the mirror, you have this natural state. Answer-3 Hui Neng was a influential figure in the Budhhist History. Neng is the famous sixth patriarch of the mediation tradition or chan , In Japaneese it is called as Zen. According to Hui-Neng :- Inborn mind and Active Mind both are same. Clean Mirror and Dusty Mirror both are same. There is no mind, Mind is not a substance. Since there is no mind as substance, there is nothing to get dirty. Hue Neng refers the metaphor of mind as sun surrounded and covered by clouds. Someone just needs to only clear away the clouds to discover the mind shine brightly. Nonproducing is non extinguish is the light and tranquil. If you dust off the Quanzhen ( Full Perfection) school which was a monastic sect that originated in the 12th Century. It Quanzhen sect indicates blatant Chan effect from its view and code of regulations meditation techniques and layout of its monastic compounds. Wang Chongyang the founder of school along with his insistence and cryptic teaching style on diligent practice for all times, it could even be one of the Huineng disciples. Hui Neng followed method as There is no Bodhi Tree and no stand of mirror bright. Since all is void, where can the dust alight? Hui Neng method refers as roughly, with realization that everything is void.It reduces the realization that there is nothing in the way of enlightment so nothing that needs to be done away with or got through we dont do something to attain unimpeded expression of themselves, while we do nothing. By doing nothing, it means that we stop doing what it was we did before that stopped self realization.

Environmental Revolution

The Next Step Broad Social Change Through Personal Commitment Introduction In the last thirty years, America has witnessed an environmental revolution. New laws like the 1963 Clean Air Act and the 1974 Safe Drinking Water Act forged new ground in political environmentalism. Social phenomena like Earth Day, organized by Dennis Hayes in 1970, and the beginning of large-scale recycling, marked by Oregon's 1972 Bottle Bill, have help change the way Americans think about the environment. As we approach the third millennium, however, we must reconsider our place on the planet and reflect on our efforts and progress towards a sustainable society. As global warming becomes a scientific reality, natural disasters make monthly appearances in the headlines, and communities continue to find their ground-water contaminated by industrial and nuclear waste, we must ask ourselves: are we doing enough? The environmental movement in the past has largely been a social and political phenomenon. While many of us recycle (yet still only 35 percent of us) and take dead batteries to our town's Hazardous Waste Day, most Americans have not made the environment a personal issue. Very few of us have taken the kind of personal life-changing steps that are necessary to create an environmentally sustainable society. It is simply naive to believe that America's present rates of consumption, waste production, and environmental contamination are sustainable. The kind of social change required can only happen when we as individuals embrace the effort in our everyday lives. Only then will corporate America and the government realize that they too must change to maintain their customer base and public support. This kind of personal commitment to change would also create a new social ethic based on the environment under which people and companies who do not care for the earth would be held socially and financially responsible. In six parts, this article will re-examine our place in the environmental movement and investigate exactly what changes we can make in our personal lives to bring about positive change. These areas are transportation, energy, recycling and waste management, toxins and pollution, food, and water. Some of the changes discussed will require sacrifice. But, more important, these changes will often simplify our lives, bring our families and communities closer together, and help us to better understand, revere, and coexist with the world upon which each of us is directly dependent. Transportation The invention of the automobile is one of history's greatest environmental disasters. The automobile decentralized our society. People with cars moved out of the city and drove to work from their suburban homes. Before the automobile, agriculture was local. Food was grown by farmers living in what was soon to be the suburbs, and delivered fresh to markets in the cities. Because of the short distance food had to travel, farmers didn't need to add preservatives or other additives to maintain freshness. Clearly, the automobile, like other harmful inventions, makes our lives easier in many ways, but how often do we consider the environment when weighing these benefits? Fossil fuels account for the automobile's most significant effect on the environment. Not only are the emissions from cars and trucks toxic to every air-breathing organism, but every step of the fossil fuel process, from extraction to disposal, is bad for the environment. According to the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), millions of gallons of untreated water contaminated by the drilling processes are dumped into waterways and oceans annually. Once extracted, fossil fuels are frequently refined on site, burying 179 million tons of toxic waste annually. During transport, an average of 1 million gallons of oil is spilled into the ocean each month. Upon arrival, fossil fuels are usually burned in automobiles or power plants. The average coal-burning power plant burns about 10,000 tons of coal in a single day. With even a low estimate of five per cent waste, that leaves 500 tons of toxic waste produced each day by a single power plant. If used in cars, oil must be refined further, wasting more energy and creating more toxic waste before drivers purchase it. The combustion engines used in cars and trucks emit toxic gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect and acid rain, deplete the ozone layer, and create more than 50% of the smog producing toxins that city-dwellers breathe every day. Even if we disregard the environmental damage caused by fossil fuels, we should recognize that, as a non-renewable energy source, the earth's reserves will eventually run out. Hundreds of millions of years of organic decomposition will be wiped out in a single century. Conservative estimates say we have 30 to 50 years left of oil use. With more and more developing nations rapidly increasing their use of fossil fuels, and the continuing growth rate of fossil fuel use at four times the population growth, our time with fossil fuels could be significantly less. Just imagine the economic and political upheaval a major oil shortage would cause. Simply put, the country that depends on fossil fuels the least will be the most likely to survive the economic strife and wars resulting from global depletion. Fossil fuel consumption is deeply entrenched in the American mode of life. We rely on automobiles for almost all of our transportation needs, enjoy motor boats and jet skis on our vacations, and use gas-burning engines in most of the tools we use in the yard. (Although electricity is another major consumer source of fossil fuel consumption, that will be discussed in the Energy section. Yet we can make numerous changes in our lifestyle that will significantly decrease our personal consumption of fossil fuels. Let's return to America's biggest weakness: the automobile. Simply not driving is the best and most obvious solution to the problem of automobiles. Americans have gotten used to their cars and seldom walk or bicycle even short distances. Gym class became a federal requirement in the 1930s because students were being driven or riding busses to school instead of walking. Americans have also become significantly more overweight since we started driving. Consider your Saturday errands around town. Most errands we make are to destinations less than a few miles away and frequently involve dropping off or picking up something small. These kinds of errands can just as easily be accomplished by walking or bicycling. Your body will thank you, and so will the environment. Public transport, if available, is also a great way to stay out of the car. Consider an area's public transportation system in choosing a place to live, as some cities have significantly better systems than others. When your destination is too far to walk or bicycle, there are still numerous ways to minimize the use of automobiles. If you drive to work, find other people at your company or other companies near you that live in your town and start a carpool. Even carpooling once in a while makes a difference, so don't get discouraged by occasional scheduling conflicts or other obstacles. When running errands, plan ahead to consolidate them into one trip and consider the most efficient route. If possible, park in a central location and walk to multiple destinations. Ask a neighbor or friend if they need to go out (everybody has to go to the grocery store, for example), and share a ride. For every ride you share, the fuel consumption and emissions for that trip are cut in half. There are also many ways that your driving habits effect the fuel efficiency of your car. Try to avoid fast accelerations, for instance. They use significantly more fuel than gradual accelerations. Likewise, avoid driving at excessive speeds. Every car engine has an RPM (revolutions per minute) at which optimal fuel economy is achieved; you'll find it in your car's manual. Check your tachometer and try to maintain that RPM while driving. Minimizing the work-load on your car is another way to increase fuel economy. Remove any unnecessary heavy objects from the car, and avoid using the air conditioner when possible. Finally, turn off your engine if you expect to be idle for even a short while. Starting a modern fuel-injected car uses less gas than idling for 30 seconds. Did you know that warming up your car by letting it idle in the driveway in cold weather actually causes engine damage? This is also when your car's emissions are at their worst. The best and fastest way to heat up a car is by driving it. When it's time to buy a new car, there are many ecological alternatives to the gas guzzling beasts typically driven by Americans. Many compact cars on the market today achieve stunning fuel economy. The four-wheel-drive trucks so popular in today's market get comparatively bad gas mileage and usually carry one person over a paved road. Buy the smallest car you can, and don't buy a larger car for infrequent needs-consider buying a used trailer for infrequent cargo hauls. If you've been putting off the purchase of a motorcycle as whimsical, think again. Many motorcycles (and scooters in particular) achieve significantly better fuel economy compared to even the most fuel-efficient cars, resulting in less over-all consumption and emissions. Maintenance is the final step in minimizing the environmental impact of automobiles. Modern cars have very sophisticated emissions systems and engines that must be finely tuned to achieve maximum efficiency. Regular check-ups for your car will protect your investment and ensure the car is in its best possible working order. The longer you keep your car, the more value from it you receive and the less waste is created and energy spent in the production of a new car. If you have to commute to work every day, consider an electric car. Electric cars have come a long way in price, distance and efficiency, and will soon be available from large manufacturers like Ford and Toyota. Several small companies around the country convert small gas powered cars and trucks to electric, zero-emissions vehicles and sell them for slightly more than a gas-powered car. As electric cars become more common and are manufactured on a large scale, their prices will drop significantly. Many hobbyists, with no prior automotive or electrical expertise, have created their own electric cars from their used gas-powered vehicles. Check your local library for one of the many conversion guides available. Today's electric cars take about four hours to charge, plugged into a standard outlet, and can go anywhere from 50 to 200 miles on a single charge. While you wouldn't want to take an electric car across the country (though this has been done), their distance per charge is plenty for a typical commuter to get to work and back. Most electric car owners keep a gas-powered car around for longer trips. Owners of electric cars generally find the increase in their electric bill minimal compared to the amount they save in gasoline. While electric cars create no emissions themselves, and create almost no waste (even the batteries are recyclable), the electric company is still burning fossil fuels to create the electricity needed to charge the car. Nevertheless, electric companies are capable of converting fossil fuels to energy much more efficiently and with fewer emissions than a gas-powered car. Electric cars also leave room for improvement in any method of large-scale energy production, such as biomass, hydro, and solar (see the Energy section). This section has focused primarily on cars, but Americans also use many other gas-powered engines. The small engines in motor boats and lawn equipment do not have to meet the emissions standards of cars, and thus, emit far more toxins into the air. Consider using a quiet, powerless mulching mower on your lawn if you have one, and an electric weed whacker rather than one that is gas powered. If you enjoy the water, consider learning to sail rather than motoring. Motorized water vehicles not only emit air pollution, they also pollute the water, contribute to sound pollution, and injure fish and other animals in the water. Energy in the Home Automobiles are not the only consumers of fossil fuels or sources of air pollution stemming from our personal lives. According to the EPA, furnaces, hot water heaters, and other fossil fuel burning appliances in American homes produce 20% of all U. S. carbon dioxide, 26% of sulfur dioxide, and 15% of nitrogen oxide emissions, the leading causes of acid rain and global warming. Note that these figures do not take into consideration the power our homes draw from fossil fuel-burning power plants. By making our homes as energy-efficient as possible and minimizing our personal use of electricity, we can significantly reduce our personal impact on the environment. The main sources of power consumption in our homes are the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. Maintaining, repairing, or upgrading these systems will not only save us money, but also reduce the amount of energy needed to run our homes on a day-to-day basis. The EPA's Energy Star Homes program brings environmentally aware developers and manufacturers together to build homes that are better insulated and utilize 90% efficiency or better HVAC systems. If you are looking to build a new home, call their toll-free hotline, (888) STAR-YES, for literature, or save paper and visit their Internet site at www. epa. gov for more information. Unfortunately, building new homes is not an environmentally sound thing to do. New homes require previously undeveloped land or disposal of the property's old construction. Further, new wood and materials must be used unless costly measures are taken to restore materials from an old construction. Beyond environmentally unsound, new construction is many times more expensive and time-consuming than renovation and repair of most existing houses. Even if your house is too costly to upgrade, consider buying an already renovated house or one easily renovated before building new construction. A furnace using heating oil, natural gas, or electricity heats most American homes. Still others use a wood or pellet stove. Of these, electricity is by far the least efficient. One truth of energy conservation is that electricity should not be used to produce heat, whether in a stove, water heater, or central heating. The exception to this is the microwave, which is the most efficient way to heat small amounts of food. Edward Harland's book, ECO~RENOVATION: the ecological home improvement guide, an excellent resource for anyone interested in environmental renovations, provides this revealing chart: Fuel Kg of CO2 Emitted per Useful Kilowatt Delivered (approx. ) Gas 0. 7 Oil 0. 5 Coal 0. 40 Electricity 0. 83 As you can see, electricity is more than twice as polluting as a coal burning furnace. Electricity is even worse if you take into consideration the amount of energy created by nuclear power, which creates nuclear waste instead of carbon dioxide (CO2). There is also a significant amount of energy wasted in cooling power plants and lost in the power grid, which further degrades electricity's viability as an environmentally sound energy source. As the chart shows, natural gas, or methane, is the cleanest burning fuel. While most of the natural gas used in America is drawn from non-renewable reserves, it can be produced renewably through biomass production, a method currently used by China. Methane is produced in massive quantities by decaying waste and agricultural operations, so much that methane is one of the most serious greenhouse gasses. If methane could be captured from these sources, we would be slowing the greenhouse effect and using clean-burning renewable fuel at the same time. For these reasons, if you have an aging or inefficient oil burning furnace, consider converting to an efficient natural gas furnace. Wood or pellet stoves still fuel many homes in America. Wood, if used wisely, is a renewable and relatively clean-burning fuel. While burning wood does produce CO and CO2, new technology allows wood stoves to reuse unspent output by re-burning it before emission. Pellet stoves, quickly replacing log-burning stoves, use pressed recycled paper and wood pulp that look like rabbit pellets. Pellets, while more expensive, are more efficient to burn and take up less space during storage. Before investing in a wood stove, however, be sure to investigate which brands are most efficient and emit the least gases and particulate. Also, wood stoves must be used carefully and maintained properly to avoid inefficient operation, excessive emissions, and leakage of carbon monoxide into the home. The best way to minimize the amount of fuel-produced heat your home requires is to insulate it properly. Insulation is the most important factor in the amount of energy required to heat your home. Consider a hypothetical home with 100% perfect insulation. This home would need to be heated only once, and never again. This puts into perspective the idea that we only need to heat our homes as much as heat escapes to the outside. Most houses in America are poorly insulated at best; only one in four houses have insulated walls. Consider the fuel savings if you increased your home's insulation quality by even 20%, which in many cases is a realistic goal. Initially, insulation costs time and money, but it pays for itself quickly in reduced fuel costs and a warmer, more comfortable home. Unfortunately, the finer points of insulating a home are beyond the scope of this article. An excellent resource on maximizing your home's insulation is Home Insulation by Harry Yost. Your local library should have, if not this book, several books on insulation that will at least get you started. Beyond updating your furnace and insulating your home, consider your personal use of heat in the home. The average American household's temperature during the winter is slowly rising because of increasingly sedentary lifestyles and lighter dress. The healthier we eat and the more exercise we get, the more internal heat our bodies will produce. The more above the outside temperature a home is heated, the less efficient its heating system becomes. If we simply wear more clothes, we will need substantially less heat. Wearing sweaters and slippers, eating nutritious food, and getting plenty of exercise are simple but frequently overlooked ways we can reduce our heating energy needs. Next to furnaces and stoves, the air conditioner is the second most energy-hungry appliance in American homes. Unfortunately, air conditioners rely on lots of electricity, the most polluting form of energy available. The use of air conditioners should be avoided at all costs. If you live in a climate with extreme heat, consider your air conditioner and its placement carefully. The EPA has outlined efficiency standards for most household appliances, air conditioners included. Make sure, if you buy an air conditioner, that it has the EPA's Energy Star mark of approval. This does not mean that the air conditioner is good for the environment, but that it uses its electricity efficiently instead of wasting it as many older models do. If you must have an air conditioner, purchase a small, efficient model and place it in a small, closed-off room where you spend most of your time. Make sure this room does not contain any heat-producing appliances like a washing machine or clothes dryer, and that sunlight does not enter through windows. Under these conditions, air conditioning can be relatively efficient and economical. Central air conditioning, on the other hand, is extremely inefficient and usually goes largely unused. Outside of heating and air conditioning, almost all of the energy used in our homes is electricity. Many Americans take electricity for granted, leaving unused lights and appliances on without thinking. A simple awareness in turning things off can greatly reduce our electric bills. Further, choices can be made in the kinds of lights and appliances we use, and whether they need to be used at all. As for lights, there are several high-efficiency bulbs on the market that, for slightly more money than a typical light bulb, can get by on a fraction of the electricity. Fluorescent lights, for instance, are five times more efficient than incandescent (typical) lights. Standard incandescent light bulbs use electricity to heat a filament that glows to create light, whereas fluorescent lights send very rapid and brief charges of electricity through a filament. The days of flickering long tube fluorescent lights are over. According to Edward Harland, new Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFLs) flicker at more than 20,000 cycles per second (compared to 60 in tube lights), are 30% more energy efficient than tube lights, and come on almost instantly. These lights, while more expensive, will significantly reduce your electricity bill and last five to ten times longer than standard light bulbs. Before even turning on the lights, make the best possible use of natural light in your home. Place your reading chair by a sunny window instead of in a corner facing out a window. Consider adding skylights to your home. These can create a surprising amount of natural light during the day, and contribute to your house's heat during the winter. Mirrors strategically placed on walls can also make better use of light and heat from the sun coming in through the windows. Use only what electric lighting is necessary: low-wattage task lights for individual applications instead of high power lights to illuminate a large area. If you must use outdoor lights, consider purchasing a motion detector that will turn the light on and off only when it senses movement. When purchasing appliances, check to see that they are EPA Energy Star approved. These appliances use energy more efficiently than others. Most refrigerators, for instance, have compressors at their base which produce significant heat and cause the refrigerator to work against itself. During fair weather, consider drying clothes on a line outside instead of using a dryer, which inefficiently uses electricity to heat cold wet clothes. Your clothes will last longer, and you'll see the difference in your electric bill. When undressing at night, ask yourself whether your pants can be worn again before washing. Americans, in particular, tend to balk at this sort of a suggestion. Allowing ourselves to think logically beyond social qualms and customs will allow each of our personal environmental movements to transcend many of our unsustainable habits. If you work in an office or at home, chances are your clothes aren't that dirty at the end of the day. You'll be surprised at the decrease in your weekly laundry load. The last big source of energy consumption in our homes is our favorite appliance of all. The average American household television is on 7 hours and 20 minutes per day, and 98% of all households have at least one television. At 170 watts per hour, that comes to 452,965 watt hours (or 453 kilowatt hours) of television use per year in an average household using one 25†³ television. Look at the breakdown of your electricity bill to put this number into perspective. You'll see that America could save a lot of electricity and money by simply turning off the television. Instead, we can read a book, go for a walk or hike, work in a garden, or talk or play a game with our families. Quite simply, the less television we watch, the richer our lives will be, the less we will spend on electricity, and the more we will be doing for the environment. All of the information in this section has focussed on minimizing the use of energy in the home. Imagine if you could use electricity in your home without burning any fossil fuels and without any monthly electric bills. This is not only possible, but a reality for thousands of Americans. With one initial investment in a photovoltaic system (silicon cells that convert the sun's light into electricity), you can end your dependence on polluting power companies and begin a new life of clean energy self-sufficiency. You can get started with a simple photovoltaic setup for a single zone of your home for less than one thousand dollars, or go all out with a top-of-the-line fully self-sufficient photovoltaic power center for about $13,000. If these prices sound high, consider the savings. If your monthly electric bill is $100, a top-of-the-line system that requires only a moderate degree of energy efficiency would be paid for in less than eleven years. And there is a whole spectrum of cheaper systems that can easily power a typical home. For less than four thousand dollars (paying for itself in about 3 years) the Real Goods Trading Corporation sells a system â€Å"designed to handle all the lighting, entertainment, and small kitchen appliances for a modest, energy-conserving household of one to four people in a full-time home. † This description is taken from the Real Goods Solar Living Source Book, 9th Edition. This seven hundred page tome covers everything from taking care of the land to water conservation and every alternative form of energy from solar to hydro to wind. It is a must-have for anyone who wants to live lightly on the earth, and is available at most major book stores and libraries. Recycling and Waste Management There is no environmentally sound method of dealing with the 200 million tons of municipal solid waste produced in America each year. There are many things we can do, however, to minimize, if not eliminate, our personal 4 1/2lb-a-day contribution to that figure. The now ubiquitous threesome, Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle, still defines what we all must do to bring our personal trash production down to a sustainable level. With the media and certain high-positioned nay-sayers claiming that recycling is worse for the environment than it is good for it, and laws making recycling just another stupid rule rather than a social imperative, perhaps a redux of America's trash situation is called for. Households and other residences produce 100 of the 200 million tons of annually produced garbage in the United States. Most of that goes to land-fills, where it is covered up (if not purposefully sealed to prevent leakage) and starved of the oxygen needed for biodegradation. Here is just a taste of some garbage statistics from Geoffrey C. Saign's well-researched book, Green Essentials: More than 1/2 of U. S. landfills have closed in the past 10 years, and nearly 1/2 of the remaining 5,800 landfills do not meet federal or state standards for human health and environmental protection. More landfills are being closed as they fail to meet 1993 and 1994 guidelines and as communities resist allowing new landfills in their area; 22 states will run out of landfill capacity within 10 years or less. The nation's 10 largest cities use a land area for their garbage that is larger than the state of Indiana. And this is just landfills. Incineration is quickly becoming the chosen method of dealing with garbage. Incineration actually concentrates the toxicity of garbage by mixing volatile chemicals at high temperatures and reducing its harmless biomass content. Approximately 1/4 of the ashes produced in a typical incinerator escape into the atmosphere, where they combine with the toxic gases emitted to cause acid rain, smog, and global warming. The remaining ashes are highly toxic and dumped in landfills or stored in toxic waste facilities. A few states mix this ash with pavement, where it will slowly decompose and leach into the ground. The simple fact is that most of this waste could be recycled or composted instead of burned or buried. Green Essentials offers this breakdown of garbage ingredients by weight: Ingredient % by weight Alternative disposal methods available Paper and paperboard 34% Recyclable Yard trimmings 20% Compostable Plastic 9% Recyclable Food waste 9% Compostable Metals 8% Recyclable Glass 7% Recyclable Wood 4% Compostable, can be used as fuel Rubber and leather 3% Recyclable (tires) Textiles 2% Donate Other 4% As this chart displays, 58% (not counting the 3% for rubber and leather) of our garbage is recyclable; 33% of the remainder could be composted. That means that 91% of all the garbage produced in this country (that's about 182 million tons annually) could be kept out of incinerators and landfills. Even a fraction of this ideal estimate would have a profound impact on the environment. Despite the amazing potential for waste reduction that recycling makes possible, The New York Times joined the media's misinformed recycling myth extravaganza in their June 30th, 1996 article, â€Å"Recycling is Garbage. From the beginning, pessimists and special-interest industries have spread incorrect â€Å"myths† about recycling. These claims frequently charge (among other things) that landfill space is abundant and cheap; there is no market for recycled goods; and recycling doesn't pay for itself. Consider the facts on these three points: Landfill space has become a precious commodity in the U. S. , with many states paying to export trash to other states or countries. Recall Geoffrey Saign's statement that â€Å"22 states will run out of landfill capacity within 10 years or less. The market for recycled goods, while fluctuating like any burgeoning market, has increased with the amount of recycled goods available to create a powerful new industry. According to the Environmental Defense Fund, â€Å"U. S. pulp paper manufacturers have voluntarily built or expanded more than 45 recycled paper mills in the 1990's, and are projected to spend more than $10 billion on such facilities by the end of the decade. † To argue that recycling doesn't pay for itself is like arguing that landfills and incinerators don't pay for themselves-of course they don't. Recycling plants, even in the industry's infancy, cost about as much to operate as conventional disposal methods, but are considerably more environmentally sound (costing less when environmental damage and cleanup costs are considered) and reduce pollution from manufacturing and mining for new production. Recycling is an easy thing to do, and good habit to get into as many towns and cities are requiring their citizens to recycle by law or charging by the pound for non-recycled garbage. First, find out what your town recycles by calling your local waste management facility. If your town or city doesn't recycle or recycles only a few materials, consider getting a â€Å"recycling-only† dump permit for a near-by pro-recycling town or city. Next, reorganize your home's main trash area to include receptacles for all the different materials you will recycle. Food containers like tin cans and bottles should be rinsed to keep your recycling receptacles from smelling. You'll be amazed at the decrease in waste the next time you take out the trash. If we make a commitment to recycle our garbage, we must support the effort on the other end by buying recycled goods. Many products' packaging claims â€Å"100% recyclable. † This is good, but keep in mind that it doesn't mean the material is recycled. Look for the percentage of â€Å"post-consumer waste† to tell you if it is and how much of is recycled. Recycled products like paper and cardboard have come a long way in quality and price. Seventh Generation, a producer of a full line of 100% recycled and earth-friendly household products, posts a convincing advertisement on the side of their bathroom tissue packages: If every household in the U. S. eplaced just one 4-pack of 430 sheet virgin fiber bathroom tissues with 100% recycled ones, we could save 1 million trees, 4. 1 million cubic feet of landfill space (equal to 4,618 full garbage trucks), and 427 million gallons of water (a years supply for 12,300 families of four). About 33% of the garbage we produce, like food scraps and yard trimmings, can be composted. Composting is nature's answer to garbage control, converting organic waste back into the soil it came from. While many people compost to create nutrient-rich soil for their garden, you don't have to be a gardener to compost your organic waste. You should cover your compost pile, but not suffocate it. The organic waste needs plenty of oxygen to feed the microbes that decompose the matter. You can build a box for your compost, or buy one pre-made at your local garden shop. Look for an organic gardening book at your library for instructions on building a