Outline & Evaluate the Functionalist Approach to Crime & Deviance Essay Example for Free

Outline Evaluate the Functionalist Approach to Crime Deviance Essay This question includes assessment of your understanding of the connections between crime and deviance and sociological theory. Functionalist explanations of deviance begin with society as a whole looking for the origins of deviance in the nature of society, not the biological or psychological make up of an individual. Functionalists favour quantative methods to look at society, using statistics to see society as a whole, rather than looking at the individuals effect on society. The majority of Functionalists ideas on crime derive from the work of Durkheim. Durkheim believes that crime in inevitable because not every member of society shares the same values and norms; every society has crime, particularly the most advanced industrial societies. Crime is seen as not only inevitable, but functional to society because it allows for change, which is vital for society to function. Durkheim argues that crime brings society together, as in the case of the Soham murders. From this point of view it can be questioned what the function of punishment is, Durkheim believes punishment is a form of social control and act as a signal to people. A.K Cohen developed Durkheims ideas further, providing further possible functions of deviance. Firstly deviance can act as a safety valve providing an expression of discontent. Cohen uses the example of prostitution, he believes this protects the institution of the family and provides a release from the stress of family life without undermining family stability because the relationship between prostitute and client has no emotional attachments. In other words it is fine for a man to use a prostitute, but not to have an affair because that would jeopardise the family! Cohen believes that deviance acts as a warning device too indicate that an aspect of society is malfunctioning, thus drawing attention to it and allowing the problem to be resolved. An example of this is the Los Angeles riots that drew attention to the mistreatment of blacks, likewise the Steven Lawrence case. Durkheim and Cohens work is important because it moved ideas away from biological and psychological explanations for deviance, rather seeing it being society itself creating crime. However, other sociologists believe the functions are too narrow and class differences are not examined.

She-Wolf Essay Example for Free

She-Wolf Essay 1.) The short story â€Å"She-Wolf† written by Giovanni Verga, depicts the tragic life of a man named Nanni who unfortunately meets a psychotic and possibly possessed girl named Pina. Pina quickly falls in love with Nanni because he is very handsome and big hearted. In an epic twist Nanni states he does not care for her, but would want her daughter for wedlock instead. In a plot to actually be with Nanni anyway Pina said he may have her daughter; even if it’s against her own will, in the condition that they take her house and allow her to stay there with them. Nanni began to hate and dread the she-wolfs evil visage, but mostly her eyes for they revealed the evils of hell itself. He told her if she returned he would slay her and when he went to take her out her evil gaze once again took control of his body and he is unable to kill her and never will be able too. In the end she got what she wanted, she has Nanni forever under her control. The purpose of this text could be to fore-warn men about women and how evil they can be. 2.) The main prevalent theme would undoubtedly be love, this was very effective in helping the reader comprehend the mood, purpose, and mainly plot. The she-wolf has fallen deeply in love with Nanni, yet he does not share the same feeling for he wants her daughter. This causes Pina to form a passionate jealousy and even hatred towards them. Thus Pina decided she would take his soul, slowly day by day, and with every look into her hollow eyes he lost a piece of himself. This happened until he was completely taken over by her will. 3.) Utilize context clues to infer the significance of the reiteration of the statement-â€Å"her eyes as black as coal† throughout the story. * The author uses this method to signify that she is a supernatural being, perhaps a demon or succubus type of creature. When one looks into the hollow eyes of a demon they will witness evils beyond comprehension and possibly be driven to the point of insanity almost instantaneously if they are not in fact possessed at first glance. The reiteration is used to show the substantial effect of her eyes.

A Review On VBNC Bacteria

A Review On VBNC Bacteria Viable but Non-Culturable (VBNC) state is a unique survival strategy of many bacteria in environment in response to adverse environmental conditions. VBNC bacteria cant be cultured on routine microbiological media but they remain viable and retain their virulent capacity too. VBNC bacteria can be resuscitated when provided with appropriate conditions. A good number of bacteria including many human pathogens have been reported to enter VBNC state. Though, there was disputes on the existence of VBNC in past, extensive molecular studies have resolved most of them and VBNC has been accepted as distinct survival state by all. VBNC bacteria are considered as threats to public health and food safety due to their non-detectability and virulence as food and water have been reported to be contaminated with pathogens at VBNC state though conventional methods declared them as safe and clean. A number of outbreaks have also been reported where VBNC bacteria has been implicated as causative agent. Further molecular and combinatorial research in conjunction with predictive modeling are needed to elucidate the mechanisms and to identify the critical points to tackle the threat posed by VBNC bacteria with regard to public health and food safety. Key words: VBNC, Pathogen, public health, Food safety, Detection Introduction The cells that form colony in specific media are the culturable cells. Viable means metabolically or physiologically active. So the cells those are metabolically or physiologically active but cant be cultured on specific media are the viable but non-culturable cells (VBNC) (Bogosian Bourneuf, 2001). Most microorganisms growing in nature have yet to be cultured in the laboratory. In fact less than 1% of the microorganisms in natural water and soil samples are cultured in viable count procedures (Barcian Arana, 2009). In 1982, Prof. Rita Colwell and co-workers introduced the term Viable But Non-Culturable Bacterial Cells (VBNC) to distinguish particular cells that could not form colonies on solid media but obtained metabolic activity and the ability to elongate after the administration of nutrients (Xu et al., 1982). According to Oliver (1995), VBNC can be defined as a metabolically active bacterial cell that crossed a threshold in this way, for known or unknown reasons and become unable to multiply in or on a medium normally supporting its growth. Most of the bacteria that enter VBNC state are gram negative species belonging to the gamma subclass of the Proteobacteria branch, except for Rhizobium, Agrobacterium and Helicobacter-Campylobacter species (Oliver, 2000). History Debra Bashford and colleagues announced that they had recovered Vibrio cholerae from streams and drainage ditches, including sites with negligible chance of sewage contamination. Around the same lime, Rita Colwell was also finding Vibrio cholerae in Maryland. She and her coworkers showed that both this bacterium and E. coli, incubated in artificial sea water remained viable but lost the capacity to form colonies on culture media (Colwell Grimes, 2000). Soon Salmonella enteritidis, Shigella sonnie and Legionella pneumophila joined the list of organisms known to be capable of entering a state in which they failed to show up on nutrient agar yet took up substrates and signaled in other ways that they were certainly not dead. The use of laboratory media to recover and enumerate bacteria and lo link them with or absolve them from pathological and other activities became obsolete by the new discoveries and a term VBNC (viable but non-culturable) came (McDougald et al., 1998). VBNC Microorganisms that do not grow in culture methods, but which are still metabolically active and capable of causing infections in animals and plants are said to be in VBNC state. Traditional laboratory culture conditions methods cannot meet the requirements of VBNC organisms to resume growth (Yamamoto, 2000). Semi-starved bacteria usually resume growth immediately when appropriate nutrients conditions are provided. Viable but non-culturable cells will not resume growth even when nutrients are provided (NystrÃÆ'-m, 2001). VBNC cells exhibit active metabolism in the form of respiration or fermentation, incorporate radioactive substrates, and have active protein synthesis but cannot be cultured or grown on conventional laboratory media. They have been detected by observing discrepancies between plate count enumeration of bacterial population and direct staining and microscopic counts (Sachidanandham Gin, 2009). These cells may be of particular problems in the environment if they are pathogens, for example, viable but non-culturable cells of Vibrio cholerae, Enteropathogenic E. coli, Legionella pneumophila and various other bacteria have been shown to regain culturability after they have entered the intestinal tracts of animals (Colwell et al., 1996). The VBNC state is defined as a state of dormancy triggered by environmental harsh conditions, such as nutrient starvation (Cook Bolster, 2007), temperature (Besnard et al., 2002), osmotic stress (Asakura et al., 2008), oxygen availability (Kana et al., 2008), several food preservatives (Quirà ³s et al., 2009), heavy metals (Ghezzi Steck, 1999), exposure to white light (Gourmelon et al., 1994) and decontaminating processes, as pasteurization of milk (Gunasekera et al., 2002) and chlorination of wastewater (Oliver, 2005). VBNC state is believed to be a unique survival strategy of bacteria in response to environmental stresses (Oliver, 2010). It is also considered as an important reservoir of many human pathogens in the environment (Lleo et al., 2007). VBNC state has been a matter of dispute for ling since its inception, due to the difficulty of differentiation of VBNC cells dormant cells through resuscitation phenotypic studies, recent molecular studies, data of which supported the existence of VBNC state, the dispute has mostly been put to rest (Barer and Harwood, 1999). VBNC Pathogens Following list includes but not limited to pathogenic bacteria that can enter VBNC state (Oliver, 2010)- Aeromonas hydrophila, Agrobacterium tumefaciens, Burkholderia cepacia, Campylobacter jejuni, Enterobacter aerogenes, Enterobacter cloacae, Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli (including EHEC), Helicobacter pylori, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Legionella pneumophila, Listeria monocytogenes, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhi, Salmonella typhimurium, Shigella dysenteriae, Shigella flexneri, Shigella sonnei, Streptococcus faecalis, Vibrio alginolyticus, Vibrio cholerae, Vibrio harveyi, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Vibrio vulnificus (types 1 and 2) Characteristics of Bacteria in VBNC state 1. Maintain apparent cell integrity; 2. possession of some form of measurable cellular activity (Lai et al., 2009); 3. possess apparent capacity to regain culturability (Anuchin et al., 2009); 4. respond to external stimulus by specific gene expression (kell et al., 1998); 5. low metabolic activity (oliver, 2005); 6. Exhibit dwarfing (Costa et al., 1999); 7. reduced nutrient transport; 8. High ATP level and high membrane potential (Signoretto et al., 2000); 9. extensive modifications in cytoplasmic membrane fatty acid compositions (Day Oliver, 2004); 10. Changes in cell wall peptidoglycan such as increasing cross linking, increasing muropeptides bearing covalently bound lipoprotein shortening of average length of glycan strands (signoretto et al., 2002); 11. Higher autolytic capability than exponentially growing cells; 12. Plasmids are retained; 13. changed antibiotic sensitivity as metabolic activity is lower, most bacteria at VBNC state demonstrate high antibiotic resistance (Ol iver, 2010); 14. Changes in outer-membrane protein profile (Muela et al., 2008); 15. Continuous gene expression (Maalej et al., 2004) etc. Conditions stimulating VBNC state In the environment, bacterial cells can enter VBNC state may be due to- 1. Lack of nutrients; 2. Lack of temperatures; 3. High pressure; 4. Sharp changes in pH or salinity (Cunningham et al., 2009); 5.damage to or lack of an essential cellular component; 6. DNA damage; 7. activation of lysogenic phages or suicide genes such as sok/hak or autolysins (Aizenman et al., 1996); 8. Nutrient starvation; 9. incubation outside the normal temperature range of growth; 10. elevated or lower osmotic concentrations; 11. oxygen concentrations (Mascher et al., 2000); 12. food preservatives; 13. Heavy metals (Del Campo et al., 2009); 14. exposure to white light; 15. pasteurization of milk (Gunasekara et al., 2002); 16. chlorination of wastewater (Oliver, 2005) etc. Public health significance of VBNC Though virulence of bacteria in VBNC state is still not very clear, many believed that pathogens in VBNC state are unable to induce infection/disease but still retain their virulent properties has potential to cause disease infection following resuscitation and resume of active metabolic state, which occurs when they pass through host animal (Baffone et al., 2003). The VBNC state appears to be the common to many bacteria especially those which have aquatic habitats, and may represent a mechanism to survive adverse environmental factors as temperature, salinity etc. or have a means of inducing cross protection against other adverse factors (Du et al., 2007). Among these bacteria entering this state are many significant human pathogens and indicator bacteria of these pathogens; such cells may represent a public health hazard and may be a factor in human health and/or disease (Rivers Steck, 2001). Even today, it is still not possible to cultivate most bacterial species directly from the environmental samples or after exposure of previously culturable cells to environmental conditions unfavorable for growth and multiplication in vitro. The passage of VBNC through an appropriate animal host will induce return of culturability. Even these VBNC bacteria retain their pathogenicity and may trigger life in vivo and thus cause severe disease (Sardessai, 2005). Under normal condition it is not possible to culture or detect VBNC. Many diagnostic laboratory set up does not have sufficient molecular facilities to detect VBNC. In case of food and water quality control test, such VBNC may not be detected. Even some indicator of some pathogenic bacteria undergoes VBNC state and may remain undetected (Signoretto et al., 2004). Upon consuming such food or after drinking such water, one may be infected by those VBNC that can trigger life as well as pathogenicity (Adams et al., 2003). Thus, environmental and clinical samples no longer can be considered free from pathogens if culturing yields negative results. For the general public, the presence of VBNC in water and food may be related to low-grade infections or so called aseptic infection. For example, Vibrio cholerae O1 in the surface water remain as non-culturable state. These water sources are used for domestic purpose regularly and posed a risk of infection (Edwards, 2000). When conditions are not favorable for growth then it transforms to the non-culturable state in association with crustacean copepods. Persistence of Vibrio cholerae in water in the VBNC state is an important public health factor, since detection will not be successful if only conventional cultural methods are used (Barer et al., 1993). Similarly, Shigella can undergo VBNC state in water but become a threat when enter in human body. Thus it is important to recognize that non-culturable bacteria are capable of producing diseases. The first evidence of pathogenicity of non-culturable cells was the demonstration of fluid accumulation in rabbit ileal loop assay (RICA) by VBNC Vibrio cholerae O1, followed by human volunteer experiments (Amel et al., 2008). VBNC E. coli non-culturable cells were re-isolated after passage through rabbit ileal loops 4 days post inoculation and chick embryos died when injected with non-culturable cells of Legionella pneumophila, led to the conclusion that VBNC pathogens remain potentially pathogenic. So, VBNC has a huge significance in public health care (Cappelier et al., 2007). Previous studies indicated that a good number of pathogenic bacteria can survive food water treatment processes persist as well as retain virulence in processed food, pasteurized milk, potable water environment (Colwell et al., 2000). Many evidences suggested that recurrent urinary tract infections in many individuals are caused by uropathogenic E. coli cells which remain in VBNC state (Anderson et al., 2004) thus resistant to antibiotic treatment cause reinfection when resuscitate back to active metabolic state (Steck, 2001; Mulvey et al., 2001). Studies also showed that uropathogenic E. coli retain enteropathogenicity at VBNC state through continued production of enterotoxin (Pommepuy et al., 1996). Nilsson et al. (2002) showed that VBNC Helicobacter pylori cells can express virulence factors such as cagA, vacA and vreA. All these above evidence proved that many deathly pathogenic strains not only enter but also persist survive in VBNC state in environment most of them remain infectious as well. VBNC state of foodborne bacteria- a challenge in food safety Many evidences suggested presence of VBNC bacteria in food (Ordax et al., 2009). For example, in stored wine, acetic acid and lactic acid bacteria entered VBNC state as consequence of lack of oxygen and presence of sulphites, respectfully (Millet and Lonvaud-Funel, 2000). Food and its surrounding environment is a complex system, in which physic-chemical characterisitcs (pH, aw, chemical composition) and environmental factors (storage temperature and time, decontamination treatments, packaging under modified atmosphere) act simultaneously on contaminating bacteria (Sun et al., 2008). For example, it has been demonstrated that refrigerated pasteurized grapefruit juice induced VBNC state in E. coli O157:H7 and S. typhimurium within 24 hours of incubation (Nicolo et al., 2011). Again, Gunasekera et al. (2002) reported that in pasteurized milk which have undergone thermal treatment, contaminating bacteria such as E. coli and Pseudomonas putida enter into VBNC state but retained transcription and translation machineries. Several foodborne outbreaks has been reported in Japan, where pathogen such as Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica (Asakura et al., 2002) and E. coli O157 (Makino et al., 2000) in food in VBNC state were responsible for the outbreak. Therefore, the role of food and treatment for food preservation in induction of VBNC state has to be elucidated. Predicitve models offered by biomathematics and bioinformatics would be very helpful tools, in order to evaluate the possibility that, under certain conditions, pathogen bacteria contaminating a tipology of food may enter the VBNC state (Fakruddin et al., 2012). Methods of detection of VBNC bacteria 1. Bright Field Microscopy with Nalidixic acid For detection of Bright-field or light microscopic is usually used. Cell division inhibitor such as nalidixic acid (20-40 mg/L) is used to stop cell division. After such treatment the viable cells, which actively growing, will be appeared as lengthen and the non-viable/ metabolically inactive cell will remain as it is. The cells are then observed under microscope. Viable cells will be seen as elongated whereas VBNC/ dormant cells will be seen as oval and large. 2. Fluorescent Microscopy Various fluorescent staining procedures are used in combination with other procedure to determine VBNC organisms. Frequently used stains are Acridine orange, 4,6- Diamino-2-phenyl indole (DAPI), Fluorescein isothiocyanante (FITC), Indophenyl-nitrophenyl-phenyl tetrazolium chloride (INT), 5-cyano-2,3-ditolyl tetrazolium chloride (CTC) etc (Villarino et al., 2000). Table: Fluorescent dyes used for detection of VBNC bacteria Dye Mechanism Reaction Acridine orange Acridine orange stain cells depending on the ratio of DNA to protein in the cells Actively reproducing cells appear green but slow-grower or non-reproducing cells at time of staining appear orange Di-amino-phenyl-indole (DAPI) Living cells look green under fluorescent microscope Indophenyl-nitrophenyl-phenyl tetrazolium chloride (INT) INT deposit red dye in cells that have active dehydrogenase and thus determine which of the observed cells are metabolically active INT react with dehydrogenase enzyme to produce formazone and red color, thus living cells appear red. Nalidixic acid (NA) Lengthen metabolically active cells, VBNC cells remain as it is Cells that are dividing appear to be longer in size than VBNC Fluorescein isothiocyanante (FITC) Enzyme activity in living cell FITC stain living cells violet or blue In recent years, a new differential staining assay, the BacLight ® Live/Dead assay, has been developed. The assay allows to simultaneously count total and viable (metabolically active) cells, by using two nucleic acid stains, that is green-fluorescent SYTO ® 9 stain and red-fluorescent propidium iodide stain. SYTO ® 9 propidium iodide has significant difference in their cell membrane penetration capability. SYTO ® 9 stains both live and dead bacteria whereas propidium iodide penetrates only bacteria having damaged membranes. When used together, propidium iodide reduces SYTO ® 9 fluorescence in staining dead bacteria with damaged membranes. As a result, viable bacteria with intact membranes fluoresce green while dead bacteria with damaged membranes fluoresce red (Rowan, 2011). 3. Gene probe / oligonucleotide probe / hybridization: Molecular analysis can also be used to study non-culturable microorganisms in nature. Oligonucleotide probes of l8-20 nucleotides are proving most useful because they hybridize rapidly to specific DNA sequences of target organisms. These gene probes can reveal closely related organisms or organisms with similar functional capabilities. Especially useful for the analyses of rRNA that demonstrate the presence of diverse microbial populations whose phylogenetic relationships can be ascertained by comparison with rRNA sequences from previously described microorganisms (Josephson et al., 1993). Blotting: There are different types of blotting such as colony blot, slot blot, dot blot and southern blot. The principle of blotting is the use of radio- or non-radioactive or fluorescence labeled probe (DNA/RNA/Antibody) to detect VBNC cells directly from the environmental samples. Fluorescent in situ Hybridization (FISH): In situ hybridization is an alternative format for hybridization probes in which fluorescence labeled DNA or RNA probes are hybridized with target nucleic acids in whole, permeabilized cells. The application of this method to the detection of single microbial cells by using rRNA-targeted probes in combination with epifluorescent microscopy has been developed. This is done through selective targeting of regions of rRNA, which consist of conserved and variable nucleotide regions. By choosing the appropriate rRNA probe sequence, FISH can be used to detect all bacterial cells (a universal probe) or a single population of cells (a strain specific probe) of VBNC. It has lower sensitivity and cannot distinguish live and dead cells. 4. Molecular techniques: Hybridization probes and DNA/RNA amplification: Hybridization probes are nucleic acids (DNA/RNA) which have been (a) chemically or radioactively labeled and are used to detect complementary target DNA/RNA. Hybridization assay DNA/ RNA probes form a stable double stranded structure with target nucleic acid via H-bonding between complementary bases. Amplification of targets: DNA Based methods: Specific amplification of DNA targets in bulk DNA extracts from environmental and clinical samples permits detection of specific organisms or groups of related organisms without the need to cultivate them. DNA recovery procedures do not discriminate between culturable and non-culturable forms of the target organisms- all cells with intact amplification targets will be detected. Confocal laser microscopy in combination with fluorescence-based hybridization assays, also provide a more sensitive method for detecting and identifying VBNC organisms. RNA based methods: Due to the failure of distinguishing between dead or live cells by DNA-based methods, the mRNA level may be a valuable estimate of gene expression and/or cell viability under different conditions (Lleo et al., 2000). RT-PCR: RT-PCR (Reverse Transcriptase PCR) can distinguish between Live and dead cell. This is possible because this is an mRNA based method and mRNA is short lived (half-life less than 1 minute), mRNA is only present in metabolically active cells, not found in nature after the cell death. By this method we can study community relationship and can also detect non-culturable but active or live cells. DNase enzyme is used during the isolation of RNA from environmental samples. Reverse transcriptase and random primers are added to the reaction mixture and the RNA in the sample (both RNA and rRNA) is transcribed into DNA. PCR is then use to amplify the specific sequence of interest (Pai et al., 2000). Is the concept of VBNC is a misnomer? By extending the concept of bacterial self-suicide scientists tried to explain what happens when cells are exposed to chemical and physical injury (Forsman et al., 2000). Thus VBNC organisms came alongside with those, which do not grow in ordinary media but which do grow when offered selective or enrichment media. They said, Such cells are not un-culturable they wrote We are simply failing to provide appropriate conditions to support culture (Sinton, 2006). The reasons, which made the term, VBNC a misnomer are as follow: 1. VBNC bacteria semi-starved bacteria very often mimic each other. Semi-starved bacteria resume growth if provided with appropriate nutrients conditions. But viable but non-culturable bacteria do not resume growth even though nutrients are provided. VBNC cells become too starved to grow on nutrient rich medium directly. This phenomenon resembles a widely accepted condition termed substrate accelerated death (Heim et al., 2002). These starved VBNC cells require an adjustment period to allow phenotypic adaptation back to normal growth state (Epstein, 2009). Sudden shift to nutrient enriched media imbalances metabolic networks of the cells resulting formation of DNA damage agents such as super-oxide free radicals causing cell death (Barer Harwood, 1997). 2. There is yet no complete and perfect media to isolate arid culture all the organisms from environment. 3. Cells are usually-injured or stressed or starved condition in natural environment. So complete system has been devised to enrich or resuscitated the VBNC cells. Culture condition that can be applied in laboratory is not sufficient to recover all microorganisms i.e. yet it is not possible to provide or stimulate exact environmental conditions in the laboratory. Conclusion From the above discussions, it is evident that a number of non-spore forming human pathogenic bacteria enter VBNC state with maintained cellular structure biology persistent gene expression but remain non-culturable by traditional cultural techniques. Thet can survive revert to culturable conditions when provided with appropriate conditions. It is also evident that VBNC bacteria pose significant threat to both public health and food safety. Further research is needed to elucidate the mechanism to combat the threat of VBNC in future.

Analysis the admission policy of primary and secondary schools in the U

1. Introduction The value and role of â€Å"knowledge† is different in every culture but good basic education is essential in every culture. Primary and secondary education in UK (up to 16) is compulsory for all children. However, there were a limited number of high quality schools and these are oversubscribed application. That created problem of â€Å"distributing† pupils between schools (Hurst and Sugden, 2011). So a practical and effective admission policy has great influence on the quality of basic education. The purpose of writing this report is to argue for the reliability and effectiveness of current enrolment policy. According to this report, it will help admission policy designer to solve the problems and prove the benefits of this policy to parents. This report includes four parts. First of all, there is a brief introduction of evolution of the basic education admission policy. After that, the status of current selection process will be discussed. Thirdly, the advantage and the problems will be evaluated. The last part of this report will show some suggestion for solving the problems, like improving the quality of local schools and punishing â€Å"address cheats†. 2. History Admission policy has undergone a series of changes and developments since Butler’s 1944 Education Act set up compulsory primary (5-11 years) and secondary (11-15 years) schools. At that time, the selection process is 11-plus examination (Mcnay and Ozga, 1985). In the United Kingdom, the 11-plus is an examination administered to some students in their last year of primary education, governing admission to various types of secondary school. The name derives from the age group for secondary entry: 11–12 years. The 11-plus examination usually consisted of three pa... ...dren who study in a local area school will have a better quality of the school and family education owing to the connection between schools and communities. In addition, it also gives equally opportunity access to the good school and good solution for preventing childhood obesity. On the contrary, it leads to a fierce competition for the good quality schools which is recognized as the primary cause of the high house price near good schools. Another fact is that increasing number of parents cheat in the application to the secondary schools. According to the analysis above, improve the quality of the local schools can be an effective way to substantial lessening of competition for good schools. To some extent, strong policy and strict supervision can prevent cheating in application. There recommendations can help the enrollment policy be more effective and fair.

My Philosophy of Education Essay -- Teaching Philosophy Education Essa

My Philosophy of Education A child’s education is one of the most important, if not the most important, aspects of his or her life. With this in mind, teachers are very influential characters. Therefore it is essential that teachers develop their educational philosophy and their educational goals before making the big step from being a student to being a teacher. I would now like to present my educational philosophy and goals. I will do this by combining the thoughts of Rousseau, Plato/Socrates, Sophistry/Foucault, Pragmatism/Progressivism and interpreting and creating it into my own. First, I would like to share my thoughts on the nature of human beings. I agree with Plato and Socrates in the sense that most human beings (students) are not alike and are therefore sorted into groups. I do not believe, however, that it is my right or responsibility to sort students into my own defined groups. This proves to be unfair and provides no sense of autonomy to the students. In today’s society, mainly the students do the sorting process, themselves, into what we know as â€Å"peer groups†. This is why I also agree with the Pragmatists and Progressivists’ view in which they believe that human beings are social as well as experiencing, exploring, and thinking individuals. In addition, I feel that students are innocent with a capacity for good or evil and the environment determines their direction, as does Rousseau. Unfortunately, the environments surrounding children today are not always conductive for learning; therefore, I want to present m y classroom as a safe, positive, and conductive atmosphere. Next, I want to examine the nature of knowledge. I strongly agree with Rousseau’s view of knowledge. I... ...the classroom and to begin building upon my teaching experience. I do not plan to stop there; I plan to further my education every chance that I get by taking more classes, going to seminars, and so on. I feel that a good teacher is one that never stops learning; one’s education is never ending. However, I have a strong feeling that I will learn so much more once I become part of a classroom filled with little ones awaiting my every word and watching my every move. Yes, teaching is a heavy responsibility and should not be taken lightly; but I am ready. In conclusion, I cannot choose one philosopher that I agree with 100%. But I do think highly of Rousseau’s philosophy of education. Furthermore, with a strong education foundation, I feel that I will be able to attain my goals as a teacher through that of the various philosophies presented in this paper.

Minority Marketing

There are various environmental factors that must be considered in the designing of the marketing strategy.   The microenvironment, as part of the company’s marketing environment, consists of factors that directly impact the company and its ability to serve.   The macroenvironment, on the other hand, includes the larger societal and cultural forces that affect the microenvironment (Multicultural Marketing). Another name for minority marketing is multicultural marketing, which entails communication with diverse cultures or market segments that belong to diverse backgrounds as well as settings.   Cultures determine how members of society think, feel, and act (Haralambos and Holborn, 1995).   Hence, culture also determines the tastes of people in products that they would actually purchase. As a matter of fact, cultural values of a society are reflected in the members’ views of organizations, products, services, and other environmental entities.   Therefore, it is essential for a company planning to market to minorities to gain an understanding of the culture of the minorities in question.   Only by understanding the culture and values of the minorities may the organization be able to provide its targeted consumers with the products and services they would eventually buy. Through advertising and public relations with segmented media, an organization may come into contact with any diverse group that it wants to target through its marketing strategy.   By placing an ad or article in the language of a minority group, the company may easily get its message across.   Experts indicate that it makes very good business sense to include the people of color, different age groups, genders, in addition to people with disabilities, in advertisements as  well as other marketing materials.   This strategy allows for powerful, nonverbal communication which goes deep into the mind of the consumer (Multicultural Marketing). It is also essential for organizations to take into account the meaning of differing cultural universes (Dr. Michael Hurd).   As an example, the American Motor Corporation named its product, the â€Å"Matador,† only to realize later that to Puerto Ricans, the word means â€Å"killer.†Ã‚   Another example revealing the significance of understanding cultural universes has to do with ethics. In this case, a 30-second advertising spot proved to be an expensive error on the part of Doubletree Hotels Corporation, seeing that it was deemed as offensive to the Arab community, portraying the staff of the hotel wearing Arab-style clothing and bowing to guests.   This ad segment was interpreted as the staff worshipping or imploring visitors.   As the majority of Arabs worship the one true God, the ad was seen to ridicule them (International Business Customs). Organizations cannot assume that all people of the nation would have the same cultural values.   Rather, it is ethical to take into account the societal and religious practices as well as beliefs of the people that the organization targets in its marketing strategy as potential customers.   After all, the marketing mix is meant to satisfy customers.   Therefore, it is of the essence for the organization to analyze the what, where, when, and how of consumer behavior.   The social factor is very important in the consumer’s decision to make a purchase.   This factor is influenced by opinion leaders, the consumer’s family, reference groups, culture and social class. Understanding different cultures helps an organization to produce that which a particular market segment demands.   Given that Chinese Americans have a strong preference for communicating in their native language, a company that wants to target Chinese Americans may  want to write the name of its product on marketing literature in both English and Chinese.   According to research, the Hispanics too have a preference to communicate in their own language.   Sixty eight percent of Hispanics in Houston indicated that they prefer to watch Spanish language television.   Hence, an organization that wants to target Hispanic Americans may want to spend more of its marketing funds on ads that would be run on Spanish language television (Qaddumi, 1999). Back in 1998, research further revealed that given the Chinese emphasis on new technology, at least 72.1% of Chinese American families have access to computes and at least 53% have access to the Internet.   Hence, it is easy to target Chinese American consumers through Internet marketing (Chinese American, 1998).   What is more, a majority of Hispanic Americans indicated that food coupons had a great influence on their purchasing decisions. Once again, marketing research based on minorities as the target consumers of an organization, can work wonders for the organization.   Every minority group has differing needs with relevance to its cultural practices.   An organization that includes ethical considerations with special reference to minority groups, is more likely to satisfy its target consumers with its marketing approach, seeing that this organization is not bound to ridicule its consumers instead of pleasing them. One very successful organization targeting minorities through its media campaigns is Southwest Airlines.   The fourth largest major airline in the United States especially targets African Americans as well as Hispanics.   The result? – Today, Southwest Airlines is a model organization that everybody would like to study in terms of marketing strategy. References â€Å"Chinese American Social Behavior Index.† (1998, Jan 24). Asian Trends. Online. Internet. 26 Jul. 2001. Churchill, Richard. (2001, April 2). â€Å"Southwest Airlines Powering a Sales Liftoff – Southwest Airlines Co. advertising targets African-Americans.† Brandweek. â€Å"Dr. Michael Hurd on Effective Therapy.† Dr. Hurd’s Website. Online. Internet. 25 Jul. 2001. Haralambos, Michael, and Holborn, Martin. (1995). Sociology—Themes and Perspectives. 4th ed. London: Collins Educational. â€Å"International Business Customs† Eglobal Greetings. Online. Internet. 21 Jun. 2001. 6.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"Multicultural Marketing.† About the Human Internet. Online. Internet. 25 Jul. 2001. 7.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Qaddumi, Thora. (1999, September 15). â€Å"’Impact’: Houston Hispanic market is ripe for Marketing.† Houston Business Journal. Online. Internet. 25 Jul. 2001.

A Fast Way to a Fast Food Essay

According to a recent survey, the UK is particularly fond of fast food. Many people turn to fast food as it is quick, convenient, and relatively cheap even though there are many concerns over public health and obesity. With a large number of fast food chains available, how do likes of McDonald’s, Subway, and Pret. A merger maintain their market share at a time when people are cutting back on their spending? In the 10 largest UK cities, the number of fast-food outlets increased by 8,2 percent, to 1.456 in 2009 (the highest growth occurred in London, Edinburgh, and Glasgow). Among the UK’s biggest chains, Subway grew faster than others. The number of Subway restaurants increased by 25,9 percent to 734 in 2009. In the same year, Domino’s pizza (DPZ) increased its outlets by 19,8 percent to 260 and E A T increased its outlets by 17,8 percent to 86. The growth of these chains is considered as a success particularly when competing against other giant chains such as McDonald’s, Burger King, KFC, and Wimpy’s. Although fast food chains provide quick and efficient service, their operation models are different. In the traditional model, like Mc Donald’s, customers enter the restaurant, study the menu panels for a short period, and stand in the shortest line (behind the many counters). When the customer reaches the front of the line, he or she places an order, pays at the register, and collects the food within few minutes. When, a customer requests a nonstandard item, for example a burger with no tomatoes or extra bacon and cheese, the order is not available in the prestocked food area. The counterperson calls the order in to the production area. The item is then prepared to order as a priority. The waiting time is a bit longer in this case. Not all fast food chains in the UK follow the same customer service operational model. They have tried some innovative ideas to serve customers quicker and have more options and flexibility. In Subway, sandwich is prepared right in front of the customer, where the customer can select what type of bread, size, and sandwich fillings. The sandwich is normally ready in a couple of minutes and passed to the customer as soon as the customer pays for the food. Domino’z Pizza offers home delivery for a wide range of its pizzas, which can be personalized as well, in less than 20 minutes, while it does not charge for the delivery. Pizza Hut offers an open buffet as part of its service, to reduce the workload on its staff and give its customers more options with less price. In Pret A Manger and EAT, a set of sandwiches, salads, and desserts are assembled each day and stocked in the front of the shop where the customers select and pay for their meals. The stock level is then replenished during the day in line with demand. The aim is to continually meet the high quality and freshness standards. If any of the product assembled that day have not sold by the time the store closes, they are given to local charities rather than being stored and sold the following day.