Manage Quality Customer Service Essay

DESCRIPTION OF THE ORGANISATION Telstra Corporation Limited is a Public Company that is ranked number 9 out of the top 2000 companies in Australia stated on Ibis World a Business reporting site (World, Ibis, 2011). The company generates the majority of its income from the Telecommunication Services in Australia industry. Telstra has employed 39,790 people by June, there end of Financial Year 2011. Since 2009 its current CEO, is David Thodey. (Telstra, 2011) The name â€Å"Telstra† is derived from the word Telecommunication Australia. The (TEL) is from Telecommunication and (STRA) from Australia. The creation of this name was trading under â€Å"Telecom Australia† domestically until a constant branding of â€Å"Telstra† was introduced throughout the entire organisation in 1995. (About Telstra Fast Facts,2011). Business Operations †¢ Book and Telephone Directory Publishing in Australia Telecommunications and Other Electrical and Electronic Equipment Wholesaling in Australia Telecommunication Services in Australia Wired Telecommunications Carriers in Australia Mobile Telecommunications Carriers in Australia Internet Service Providers in Australia Online Information Services in Australia Telstra’s Business Units †¢ Telstra Consumer including Country services the metropolitan, regional, rural and remote areas of Australia. It provides telecommunications products and services, for home and mobile phones and devices, to fixed and wireless internet as well as Pay TV services. †¢ Telstra Enterprise & Government (TE&G) is the leading provider of network solutions and services to Enterprise and Governments in Australia. †¢ Telstra Business is another division responsible for serving the needs of Australia’s small to medium enterprises (SME) with fixed phone line, mobile and broadband. Data and Internet solutions can be tailored for business. IDENTIFY THE TARGET CUSTOMER Age of Customer Age Group 55+ 35-44 25-34 45-54 8-24 Customers 2008/09 9.9% 30.6% 23.9% 25.7% 9.8% 2009/10 11.1% 30.5% 24.3% 25.9% 8.2% 2010/11 12.0% 29.9% 24.4% 26.3% 7.4% Telstra provide products and services to Home and Family (residential), Businesses, Government and Wholesale customers. This also includes a Disability Equipment Program for people with a disability and Access for everyone packages for people on a low income. The chart found in a Telstra Sustainability Report (Davies, Paul; Migonneau, Bastein, 2011) shows the percentage of different aged group customers that have been connected with Telstra. Source: (Davies, Paul; Migonneau, Bastein, 2011) KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS Key performance indicators (KPIs) are ways to periodically assess the performances of organisations, business units, and their departments and employees. They measure the process through a SMART criterion by Specific – Measurable – Achievable – Relevant – Time. Monitoring KPI as a whole and through staff performance The Call Centre Activity chart shows the percentage of customers that called and counts for each action that can occur once a call has been queued to a call centre. This is one form of measuring call centre KPI. People must learn to work together, ask for help, training etc. and understand how to relate to one another otherwise the team’s output will be less than it could be. This Call Centre chart generated a report that includes statistics relating to one call centers. The chart report provides information related to how calls are handled by call centers once they have been queued. Successful leaders care for and support colleagues and employees. Treating people with respect, demonstrating integrity, and showing empathy strengthen the development of trust and confidence in the workplace. In order to make your teamwork on their set goals, performance and meet KPI you must demonstrate that you are reliable, honest, and trustworthy and that you walk your talk. They need to see your values in action and that you have their best interests at heart. They need to see that you value openness and  honesty in offering and receiving feedback. SERVICE TARGETS As technology has grown, so has the ease by which information can be generated and presented to management and stakeholders. Today, everyone seems concerned about information overload, From my thorough investigations online I can report that service targets are reported quarterly to identify opportunities for improvement and outline progress of achievement and adjustments if needed are also made at this point. The most informative reports I found online from 2010-2012 on Telstra are: †¢ Financial Results for Half Year ended 31 December 2011 †¢ Telstra Corporation Limited and controlled entities and †¢ Telstra Sustainability Report 2011 They all outline the results of Telstra’s performance, goals and statistics in achieving their customer service/product commitments. When organisations constantly review their service delivery, they gather an enormous amount of data. The data collected is important and crucial to the ongoing survival of the organisation and therefore it must be recorded, maintained and be accessible. The financial report â€Å"Financial Results for Half Year ended 31 December 2011† (Laird, Jason; McKechnie, Nicole, 2012) presented by David Thodey CEO & acting CFO Mark Hall has been published and reports that Telstra announced its strategy continues to deliver financial benefits. Report Statistics & Targets for 2012 Business revenue results discussed by the Directors from Telstra’s â€Å"Financial report half year ended 31 December’ 2011† (Laird, Jason; McKechnie, Nicole ;, 2012) are as follows: †¢ Total revenue increased by -1.1% or $136 million  to $12,419 million †¢ Net Profit After Tax increased by -22.9% or $274 million to $1,468 million In relation to the 2011 Sustainability Report (Davies, Paul; Migonneau, Bastein, 2011) Telstra believes that monitoring, measuring and reporting their progress helps them to improve on their service performance and lists this in figure 3. Figure 3 Telstra’s Values & Priorities For 2012 Source:(Davies, Paul; Migonneau, Bastein, 2011) FEEDBACK ON STAFF PERFORMANCE Telstra’s performance review process incorporates two informal quarterly reviews and a formal annual and half yearly review, targeting business results and leadership. Each team and section of Telstra has reward and recognition schemes in place to reward and encourage top performers. Telstra has a variety of incentive plans, tailored to different sectors of their workforce, which is designed to encourage high performance by rewarding employees for meeting and exceeding performance objectives. Another way of accessing performance is by collating data on customer’s feedback about the individual consultant. All results can be produced through a team email, meeting or coaching. Obtaining a 360-degree feedback will be most valuable in assessing their strengths and weaknesses. The 360degree should be performed and completed by their manager and up to five of their peers with whom they work. This assessment will let the business and employer know what people they work with think about their attitude, performance, and business ethics. Performance Appraisals Determines: †¢ Rewards and/or promotions for an individual who is meeting /exceeding performance †¢ Identify and discuss gaps in skills, knowledge and attitudes that impact on an individual’s performance †¢ Identify and discuss environmental or workplace weaknesses preventing the individual from meeting their goals and objectives and †¢ Identifies an individual’s future training and development needs Most staff members will expect that they will be  required to give feedback at the end of their appraisal. What is important is team members are made to feel that management will actually take notice of their feedback and use it to coach and make any improvements. Live Performance Monitoring I have provided a sample bar chart below from when I worked at Telstra. The chart displays how a team’s Adherence on calls is monitored by the sales teams. As you see the amount of calls answered is the first column which is then followed by the activities that one undertakes while on that call. The red highlighted boxes indicate improvement is required as the KPI target for AHT is 630min and Adherence is 88% while your wrap should be the lowest possible as this is when the call has ended and your phone is sitting in Not Ready status, the key here is finish what you are doing while customer is on the phone & be in READY status for the next call. This Report is also part of the scorecard paying system to calculate any sales bonus Figure 4 Activity Chart Sales Call Centre KPI Targets AHT: 630 Adherence: 88% Source:( Pusca, et al., 2012) Figure 4 shown in this report is my own collection of statistical results I obtained when working at Telstra in 2011/2012. The results are solely only for the purpose of this assignment. Names of Staff members have intentionally been removed for privacy STRATEGIES TO ADAPT CUSTOMER SERVICE The only measure that will connect a business with the relevance of the work a staff member is performing is to find out if customers are happy or not with their service. You need to measure how the customer judges the outcome of the product or service, through a phone or email survey at the end of each business discussion. Telstra have this process in place. The process is completed by asking the customer to stay on the line while at the end of the call while you transfer them through to a questioner/ survey about your performance today. The rating is from 1 (lowest) & 5 (highest) then next they will be ask to provide any feedback. Statistics can be taken via the login of the consultant’s phone that produces a per cent % on how many customers were transferred to the questioner /survey. Customer Survey Satisfaction Result Telstra’s Customer Support Services is also launching an initiative to revisit the handling and processing of customer requests for prompt reliable services and assistance. For the past few years, Telstra have proactively been monitoring the â€Å"First Contact Resolution† (FCR) metric as a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) of 80%. This is a ‘voice of the customer’ driven strategy – reported in a Corporate Responsibility Report (Inc, 2012) we are doing a lot more listening. We are implementing tools and processes that allow us to clearly understand and fix main points for our customers states David Thodey CEO. As well as the phone interaction customers have with staff Telstra has established a new online panel – My Telstra Experience – so that customers can regularly tell them what they think of their experiences and where they need to improve on service. 2 Figure 5 Compliance MTD1F Increase FCR Staff Must: †¢ Set the right expectation to the customer about the call (how long it takes to process the order, keep the customer in the loop) †¢ Follow the correct hold procedure (set the expectation on how long they may need to wait) †¢ To reduce repeat calls within 7 days by giving the right contact numbers to customers i.e. for any IT Support or Bigpond enquiries– please give out the correct number, that way in will not affect your FCR. †¢ When transferring, give the customer the number for the department you are transferring them to. Encourage customers to call the number provided for future reference or in case, the call drops out. SOURCE : (Dave, 2012) Remember to ask – Can you please stay on the line to answer 2 questions regarding my customer service today? FEEDBACK TO MANAGEMENT ON MEETING/EXCEEDING KPI’S Within a call center, there are common business roles. There is Centre Managers for each department, Team Leaders, and Agents. †¢ The Centre Manager will have a number of Team Leaders reporting to them. They will be responsible for the recruitment, development and coaching of those who directly report to them. The Team Leader’s role is to ensure individual agents are performing against targets, reviewing their performance and coaching/training them to do so. The Team Leaders will meet on a regular basis with the Centre Manager to provide feedback and to receive instructions or actions that need to take place. The Team Leader is responsible for keeping their agents informed of what is happening in the centre and anything that may affect the agent’s key tasks or performance targets. It is good management practice to consult and reflect on employees and other managers for feedback on a regular basis. Feedback allows one to gain input from others including, praise, criticism and suggestions for improvement. The Report Providing Performance feedback to Management when their team has achieved KPI is an extraordinary accomplishment. Feedback is backed up with reports and they can include: †¢ Documentation of expected results †¢ Standards of performance †¢ Progress toward achieving of results †¢ How well they were achieved †¢ Examples indicating achievement A report outlines the performance of team and individual staff members and how they have progressed since the last monthly/quarterly report. It will also show a comparison of whether they have improved or dropped in performance and if any training is required to fill gaps. Figure 6 shown in this report is my own collection of statistical results I obtained when working at Telstra in 2011/2012. The results are solely only for the purpose of this assignment. The names of staff members have been removed for privacy A GAP ANALYSIS ON CUSTOMER SERVICE MEASURES The following performance reporting covers the 2011 financial year for Telstra Corporation Limited (Thodey, David; Hall, Mark, 2011). In 2012, Telstra continue to focus on simplifying their business and improving their processes in order to better serve its customers. Telstra’s Primary Goals: †¢ †¢Serve the needs of its customers Improving online services & support Make Telstra a great place to work Reduce Telstra’s TIO complaints Contribute resources – people, money, technology, products, and services To support the communities Strengthen the capability of the nation’s telecommunications infrastructure, and providing a strong foundation for economic growth, productivity improvement, and global competitive advantage. Service Goals Figure 7 Gap Analysis Actual Performance 2011 6.8% Target as of June 2012 7.1% Gap Analysis Corrective Action 1. Customer Satisfaction 2. Improving online service 3. Telstra a great place to work 4. Reduce Telstra’s TIO complaints 5. To support the communities 6. Economic growth Success 0.3% Failed 13% Failed 0% Failed 6% Failed 21% Success 0.7% Listen to customers, undertake a cause analysis when issues arise, & fixing the areas that customers are not happy with i.e. pricing Improved online access for account enquiries on mobile phones & customers to easily manage their account online Launched a new reward & recognition program to recognise individuals & teams Conducted a review of system operations to ensure that privacy of customer information continues to be protected Provide communication technology training through grants, events, online content and DVDs They engage more with community organisations on issues impacting the lives of children and young people 22% 75% 24% 44,000 people $24.80 million 35% 76% 30% 80, 000 people $25,06 million Source: (CSG, Customer Service Guarantee) 1. Telstra reached a 3% per cent improvement in customer satisfaction. Their approach is to be able to connect with the customer, understand and exceed their expectations, respond to and solve customer complaints and fulfil expectations 2. Improving online services and encouraging customers to go online will help reduce call centre call queue and visiting Telstra stores. This should have enhanced the customer experience. Telstra failed by 13% of online customer interaction with staff. 3. In 2012 Telstra’s goal was to  Improved development performance by 1%, they failed 4. The Telecommunications industry Ombudsman (TIO) records complaint issues under several broad categories. Telstra had set a target to reduce TIO complaints by 30% in 2012 though failed by 6% 5. In 2010/11, the total value of Telstra’s social investment was $248 million. Increased numbers of people to be trained to know how to use mobile, internet etc. was set from 44,000 to 62,447. Telstra failed by 21 % 6. A key driver to the increase has also been the focus on improving customer service through investments made to improve the customer experience including improvements to the online Telstra portal and the implementation of the after hours customer service line. CONCLUSION Telstra is Australia’s leading full service telecommunications and information services company. It offers a wide range of fixed and mobile telecommunications, and information products and services across Australia and overseas. Telstra uses its own network infrastructure. In addition, Telstra provides wholesale services to other telecommunications retailers, who then provide services, including voice, broadband and data services, to their own end user customers. Over the past year Telstra has recorded a turnaround in operational results, with strong customer growth. While not meeting majority of their targets, this year’s 2012 achievements must demonstrate real progress against their Service Goals. Telstra still have significant improvements to make and have set targets to improve their Service. In recent years, customer satisfaction in Australian telecommunications has failed to keep up with community expectations and consumers have responded with increasing complaints to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO). Customer Service is an essential factor in maintaining an organisation’s competitive edge in the marketplace. Many organisations are placing greater emphasis on developing a customer service culture and making it a priority. At the end of the day it is the people in the center who are the real influence on customers not the technology or the processes. A company can  have great products, great services, great technology and great processes, but it’s the people that bring it together and make it happen. To establish the right service quality standards is what Telstra need to bring into place. The following points list some standards I had not come across or not been mentioned by Telstra as one of their focuses for improvement †¢ †¢Top management commitment to providing service quality Set, communicate, and reinforce customer-oriented service standards Establish challenging and realistic service quality goals Train managers to be service quality leaders Be receptive to new ways to deliver service quality Standardise repetitive tasks Telstra recorded a 3 per cent improvement in customer satisfaction in 2011/2012, with a reduction in TIO complaints however did not meet the target and failed by 6 per cent they had set out to achieve. To attract and retain customers a business needs to recognise different customers want different things, and they need to provide products, solutions and service to cater to this. To differentiate themselves from their competitors, a business will benefit if they can demonstrate that they can provide the understanding and experience customers are seeking. Overall, the company is a dominant player and for the last five fiscal (financial) years of 2007 to 2011, continued to make up around 60% of the whole Australian communications services market. The significantly improved growth in customers returning to Telstra is tribute to the value in the company’s new mobile plans as well as their network quality. Telstra will continue to roll-out new products for all our customers, from individual to Corporate and Government customers, taking into consideration the feedback of what their customers have told them. They are committed to upholding the legislated Telecommunications Customer Service Guarantee Standard 2011 (â€Å"The CSG Standard†), as amended and issued by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (Thodey, David; Hall, Mark, 2011) The objective of the Customer Service Guarantee is to impose a minimum level of performance on telecommunications carriers and service providers, for specified services, so that the quality of that service should not deteriorate in any way but will improve significantly and should enable consumers to enjoy a reasonable level of service. (ACA, 1999)

Importance of Time Essay

Time is precious. It is invaluable. It is one of the powerful factors. Our life is measured in terms of time. We grow in time, live in time and perish in time. Time is fleeting. It is changing. It never stops. Neither does it wait for anyone. Time once lost is lost for ever. It can never be regained. It can never be captured. It is the most potent factor. Even the strongest and powerful monarchs have been helpless before time. Even they could not command time to stop. So, we should be careful about the importance of time. We should never waste it. We are successful in life only when we make the best use of time. Time is the most influential factor in this world. It is abstract. Everything in this world is commanded and decided by time. Nobody can escape the hold of time. It is the time which gives us the opportunity to make use of it. Those who make best use of time and avail those opportunities grow and rise in life. Those who waste their time lag behind. They fail to make any mark in life. He is the wisest who makes the best use of time. He rises to the great heights who keep pace with the time. â€Å"A stitch in time save nine† is a popular maxim. It highlights the importance of time in life. It means that an act done in time saves from inconvenience and trouble. It brings reward. It is gainful and it saves from hassle and confusion. Unnecessary delay and lazy attitude towards one’s assigned duty is very dangerous. The great men of the world rose to fame, glory and success because they always made best use of their time. They made a mark in time. They became immortal. They are guide and source of inspiration for generations to come. To ensure best use of time in life, one needs to be very punctual. Punctuality avoids inconvenience and tension. It offers great opportunity, which, if struck properly brings big results. Opportunity once lost is hardly regained. Proper use of time brings success and achievements. Doing everything in time should be the guiding principle of life. Man has limited years to live, but there is lots of work to do. So, he should live a purposeful life. He should make maximum use of each and every moment. Time is precious. It should be valued. We should make use of it in best possible way. Just imagine and suppose that there is a bank account that credits your account each morning with $86,400. It carries over no balance from day to day. Every evening the bank deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the day. What would you do? Draw out every cent, of course? Each of us has such a bank account. It’s name is TIME. Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to a good purpose. It carries over no balance. It allows no over draft. Each day it opens a new account for you. Each night it burns the remains of the day. If you fail to use the day’s deposits, the loss is yours. There is no drawing against â€Å"tomorrow. † You must live in the present on today’s deposits. Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in Health, Happiness and Success! The clock is ticking! Make the most of today. To realise the value of ONE YEAR, ask a student who failed a grade. To realise the value of ONE MONTH, ask a mother who has given birth to a premature baby. To realise the value of ONE WEEK, ask the editor of a weekly newspaper. To realise the value of ONE HOUR, ask the lovers who are waiting to meet. To realise the value of ONE MINUTE, ask a person who just missed a train. To realise the value of ONE SECOND, ask someone who just avoided an accident. To realise the value of ONE MILLISECOND, ask the person who won a silver medal at the Olympics. Treasure every moment that you have! And treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time with. And remember time waits for no one. I suggest you to watch the animation movie â€Å"KungFu Panda† in which old tortoise Kung Fu Master advises fat Panda in such words: â€Å"Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That’s why its called the present†.

Reflective statement for Women At Point Zero Essay

To what extent does the student show how his or her understanding of cultural and contextual elements was developed through the interactive oral ? I think time and place are one of the most important settings in the novel since as we know Cairo have a huge amount of unemployment as women at that time didn’t continou their education so having a secondary school certificate didn’t allow Firadus to find a decent job, after she moved from the village to Cairo which led her to prostitution. On the other some Muslims there misunderstand Islam such that her huspand Sheikh Mahmoud used to go to the mosque for every prayer but in the same time he used to beat her up just because she can eat and he cant or because she lives some food on the plate†¦ Since I come from an Arabic background , it was easy to understand how much she suffered to survive life , but it was a bit difficult to understand her mentality because Firdaus is a Muslim and she became a prostitute which is totally forbidden by Islam , at the same time prostitution is illegal in Egypt but still some police men used to go have sex with her every now and then while their actual job is to put her in prison . A connection that I have found similar to my own culture is that women at the age of 17 or 18 usually get married and stop education and that’s what happened to Firdaus. The most interesting technique used in the novel is flashback since once you start reading the book and you know she has killed a man , you really want to know what happened, why and how she killed a man and why did she spit on the picture of every man in the news paper. What I found also interesting is how she narrated her story with every man she met which led her to loathe the patriarch al society she lives in.

Describe and discuss how OSHA makes use of Section 5(a)(1) of the Act Assignment

Describe and discuss how OSHA makes use of Section 5(a)(1) of the Act - Assignment Example 1). For the clause to be invoked, there must be a hazard that is existing although there are consensus standards (as agreed upon) which exposes an employee to potential physical injury or even possibly serious harm such as hospitalization or death. Hazard here means danger, and it is quite subjective but as long as there is potential injury or harm, then a hazardous situation exists. The hazard must be recognized or evident, such as a construction worker who is above a scaffold that is ten feet high but working without a safety belt or no rails were being provided by the construction company. The law requires safety measures (belt or rails) for anyone who works at more than six feet in any construction-related project to prevent accidental falls. A fall at more than six feet height is very likely to cause serious physical harm, such as a broken arm, broken leg or a broken neck (resulting in paralysis) or even much worse, death (if the worker happens to fall head first). Just because no accident has happened yet does not mean a hazard does not exist, and the General Duty Clause is precisely intended to prevent accidents. The employer (construction firm) must provide abatement measures that will reduce or eliminate the hazard from an accidental fall, such as issuing safety belts or building those rails. It is feasible or easily doable by the company but may entail some additional expense on its

Pharmacological Management of Major Depression in Older Adults Using Essay

Pharmacological Management of Major Depression in Older Adults Using Selective Serotonin-Reuptakes Inhibitors - Essay Example They have minimal effect on noradrenalin and dopamine activity, compared to the tricyclics or MAOIs. Some of the drugs, like fluoxetine, have a mood elevating effect when used in healthy individuals. Fluoxetine drug has the longest half-life amongst all approved SSRIs with drug and side effects persisting up to six weeks after the termination of therapy. Introduction Serotonin is an important neurotransmitter, a local hormone in the gut, a component of the platelet clotting process, and is thought to play a role in migraine headache. Serotonin is also one of the mediators of the signs and symptoms of carcinoid syndrome, an usual manifestation of carcinoid tumor, a neoplasm of enterochromaffin cells. Patients with non-operable tumor, take serotonin antagonist for a useful treatment. The diagnosis of depression still rests primarily on the clinical interview. Major depressive disorder (MDD) is characterized by depressed mood most of the time for at least 2 weeks and/ or loss of interes t or pleasure in most activities. Additionally, depression is associated with sleep, as well as diet disturbances and deficits in cognition and energy. Thoughts of guild, worthlessness and suicide are common. Coronary artery disease, diabetes and stroke appear to be more common in depressed patients and depression may considerably worsen the prognosis for patients with a variety of comorbid medical conditions (Katzang, 2009; Rang, 2009; Kaushik, 2011). Reports by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention highlight the fact that antidepressant drugs were the most commonly prescribed medications in the USA. It is observed that American physicians have been increasingly inclined to use antidepressants to treat a host of conditions that patients have been increasingly receptive to their use. Major depression is commonly associated with a variety of medical conditions from chronic pain to coronary artery disease, panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) specifically in older individuals or other related old age diseases which enhances the burden of depressive thoughts and also affects the quality or life. All these reasons paved the way for growth in the use of antidepressants ( Katzang, 2009; Rang, 2009). Comparison of SSRIs with Tricyclic Antidepressants (TCAs) - The first line of antidepressant treatment suggested for elderly population involves SSRIs (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors). There are weak facts for this suggestion as studies carried out highlight the comparative usefulness, protection, acceptability, as well as success of SSRIs and TCAs suggesting that there are a few optional returns of both these drugs over one another. Moreover, there is always a potential danger of falls which is prevalent in elderly patients, hyponatremia, loss of weight and sexual dysfunction, as well as drug-drug interactions. Therefore, SSRIs and TCAs must be prescribed by physician s for elderly patients considering frequency and severity of depression (Herrmann, 2000). Pathophysiology of Major Depression Observations reveal that there is a tremendous shift that has been witnessed for understanding the pathophysiology of major depression. Initially, the amount of monoamines was considered to be the central to the biology of depression. Evidence suggests that neurotrophic and endocrine factors

AT&T and BellSouth merger Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

AT&T and BellSouth merger - Essay Example AT&T and Bellsouth are the two of the world's giant telecommunication company. According to Mark del Bianco, a Communications Attorney who wrote Bumps in the road for AT&T-BellSouth merger, both BellSouth and AT&T own considerable chunks of prime wireless spectrum that is unused and that could quickly and relatively cheaply be used to provide broadband services that would compete with telecom and cable wireline broadband services--in other words, the long-sought "third pipe" to the home or business. The merging of these two companies will give AT&T and BellSouth an edge over their competitors, and in this case, as Atty. Mark del Bianco have written, competitors will no doubt argue that the Federal Communications Commission and the Justice Department should worry about the loss of inter-modal competition that will result if the two companies are permitted to retain this valuable spectrum. While AT&T, being the largest phone company, bought BellSouth, of which, being the 3rd largest phone company, this reduced the phone company into 2 large players and consumers are now alarmed because the constant merging of companies gives them fewer choices, of which case, these companies can immediately shoot up their prices. The proposed merger of AT&T and BellSouth means the death of the Internet and the unmasking of fictional competition between telecom companies, charged two Washington, DC-based consumer groups. The Consumer Federation of America and the Consumer Union urged regulators to reject the $67 billion proposal. (Ed Sutherland, 2006) While the plan gives AT&T to kill the Internet so that they can cableize the Internet connection, Sutherland quoted Gene Kimmelman, Consumer Union vice president for federal and international affairs, which said: "Congress and federal regulators need to look carefully at the lifeless 'competition' their flawed policies have created and reject this merger." Cross selling: Through the merger the companies become enable to sell their products to the customers of the other company. The natural combination of two leading wire line providers and joint owners of Singular speeds progress in integrated wireless/wire line services will improve the services provided to the customers. Financial Benefits: The merger of both the companies will lead to a "financial benefits for stockholders of both companies; an expected net present value of $18 billion in synergies resulting from a more than $2 billion annual run rate in synergies expected in 2008, growing to $3 billion in 2010" (BellSouth Media Room). On the other hand the expected merger will lead to "accrete AT&T

French and American Court System Research Paper - 1

French and American Court System - Research Paper Example The American Court System has basically the same degrees of organization with federal and state courts hearing the case when it is first brought up, a Court of Appeals for appeals made from the decision of the federal and state courts and the Supreme Court which has the final say when the case has not been resolved in the Court of Appeals. (American Bar Association, 2006); ( Wasby, 2000) As compared to the United States where the Supreme Court has the final authority on the interpretation of the Federal Constitution and all statutes and regulations created pursuant to it, the authority in France which has the final say on the interpretation of the law is divided into two: the Conseil dÉtat for administrative cases and the Court of Cassation for civil and criminal cases. The Jury System is a court proceeding where sentencing decision makers are people (note that it is more than one person) who may have no or little education in law and a judge as an arbiter/overseer of the proceedings such as in the United States. This is in contrast to other systems such as a Professional Judge which makes use of a career attorney delegated by the state to become a court’s sentencing decision maker. This is the mode among countries such as Japan and the Philippines. Besides from the jury which employs lay persons (lay in the sense that they may have little education in law), there also exists the lay judge where a layperson (singular) serves as the judge. This system can be found in many tribal communities where religion governs and legal codes and education are not yet well established. The jury is supposed to be the protector of the individual’s rights from the decision of the state by having the case presented to peers or equals of the accused who by being peers can understand the motivation or plight of the accused. Presumably, they are to understand the actions of the accused and judge whether the actions were prudent and acceptable to common values of equals in the same society.

Systems Analysis and Design_Aug13 Assignment - Nancy's Novelty Cakes

Systems Analysis and Design_Aug13 - Nancy's Novelty Cakes - Assignment Example 24 Schedule 24 b) Spreadsheet program 25 Task 3- B Graph 26 Increase in Sales Each Year 26 The above given graph clearly indicates that this investment will bring increase to expected sales. 27 Sales v/s Revenue 27 27 Above given graph demonstrates the relationship between sales and revenue. This graph clearly shows an increase in sales due to the increase in revenue. 27 Task 3- C 27 In this analysis I have shown a relationship between different variables such as the overall sales and total revenue. These relationships are demonstrates over a progress of four years and in a steady fashion. These relationships outline a steady line of increase in sales and overall increase in revenue after 2 years. ... ign 33 References 34 Introduction Nancy’s Novelty Cakes is a small confectionery business, which is expert in making novel and special occasion cakes for customers. Up till now, this company has been using a traditional approach for the management of its business operations. In this scenario, it has developed and maintained a file of cakes designs along with costs associated with those cakes. With the passage of time the management realized that this traditional approach is not useful for the successful management of business operations. Hence, they have decided to develop and implement a new technology based system. In this scenario, Nancy’s Novelty Cakes business is looking for an effective way to replace its old manual system they have had for the last 5 years with a new computerised system. I am a member of IT Company that is specialized in design and development of computerised business systems. Our consultancy firm has won a contract from this client. In this case our team is responsible for the development and implementation of a new technology based system for the better corporate operational and procedures management. This report presents a detailed analysis of some of the important aspects associated with the development and implementation of this new system. This report will discuss the requirements specification and design related aspects of Nancy Nancy’s Novelty Cakes business. This report is divided into different tasks and each task addresses specific topic. Task 1 a) System lifecycle model Software/system development lifecycle or simply the SDLC is a theoretical outline or process that demonstrates the phases or steps required for the development of a software application. In fact, this process outlines all the steps from preliminary feasibility

The Analysis of the Effectiveness of 3 Food Applications Research Paper

The Analysis of the Effectiveness of 3 Food Applications - Research Paper Example Currently, there are a lot of applications with different effects as far as service provisions are concerned. A number of usability issues have also become more prevalent, as the ease with which these applications can be developed and distributed increases. In this paper, three types of food applications available in the market are being reviewed. These are Eat24, Fooducate and Foodspotting. Their effectiveness will be evaluated while stating their strengths and weaknesses thereafter (Lonczak, 2011). First and foremost is the Foodspotting application. This is a renowned visual guide to good food, where one can find and share great dishes, not only in restaurants. In addition to reviewing restaurants, one can find and share their best dishes using photos. If undecided on what to eat, the application can really help. This feature allows the user to determine the nearest best and latest foods around them. One can find a particular food they really miss or even look up to a hotel to find out their best delicacy at that time. Focusing on its application, Foodspotting has proven to be very beneficial, especially to those who are a big fan of food. It allows the user to locate a new restaurant and interesting food dishes to try in their area. It also permits, the user to share their favorite food dishes with interested parties so that they can experience such delicacies. That being said, the strength of this application is easy to figure out. One such strength is that enables the user to locate the best restaurants and dishes in their location of interest. It also enables the user to recommend friends and to see their recommended foods and places. The interface is very attractive and easy to use. With this information, you can be able to criticize local food while applauding others.

Value of Homework Essay Example for Free

Value of Homework Essay Homework can be defined in simple words as â€Å"any task assigned to students by school teachers that are meant to be carried out during non school hours (cooper 1989).†Students are expected to complete their homework time. Completing homework properly helps students with understand their class work, quizzes, tests, and exams. Most parents think their children are getting less homework. Students who are from low income homes should review over their homework. There is a specific time students for each grade should be spending on their homework. All parents want their children to do well in school. Most parents want to know what their children are learning in school and how they’re doing. Parents usually ask their children if they have homework and how much. These days’ parents say that their children are getting less homework, no matter how much their children get. They just want to see their children studying all day. Sometimes children do get less homework but that doesn’t mean they should review over the work. Parents usually tell them that they should review over their work if they finish early. For parents homework is as easy as going down a slide, but for some students, homework is like fishing because it is boring. Students who are from low income homes might not have all the resources that students form high income homes might have, but they should still review over their homework. The more they review the better they will do in school. Students from low income homes should go for extra help if they don’t understand something. Some students might have well educated parents who can help them but if they don’t they should go for extra help. For some low income home students, homework is as hard as a rock because it is hard, and for most high income home students, homework sometimes has easy killing questions. There is a specific time students from each grade should be spending on their homework. Homework is work at home, work at home is homework. Students from high school should spend at least 1  ½ to 2  ½ hours per night on their homework. Middle school students should spend at least less than 1 hour per night, but if students spend more time on their homework than this, they will probably do better, and everything will seem easier for them to understand. As it was mentioned before, homework is very important to get good grades on tests, quizzes, exams, etc. For some students homework is very hard, for some students homework is very easy, and for some students homework is just fine. But students should always keep in mind that homework is the key to get good marks in classes.

Teenagers Using Social Networking Sites Information Technology Essay

Teenagers Using Social Networking Sites Information Technology Essay ICT in personal communication affects many people in the community; they affect a wide range of people including the elderly, young and adults. Everyone use computers as the pin point of their lives; every day they can do: homework, watch TV on demand, listen to music and follow personal interests which may be video editing, composing music and surfing the web, even new jobs are based on ICT, so ICT is becoming a major part of everyday live. Teenagers Using Social Networking Sites Social networking sites have been around from the beginning of 1997, the first social networking site was known as SixDegrees.com which lasted from 1997-2001. There are many new social networking sites and many users use them. Social networking sites affect many teenagers lifes because many teenagers spend a lot of time updating their profile everyday. Some teenagers update their profile every 10 minutes while others just update every week. Social networking sites have been named as problems, as fight for nothing occur within them. People believe that fights occur as people dont like other peoples groups or if two people like the same person. So fights would break out. This would be dangerous as many people would jump to conclusion and would just encourage you to fight them even if you might get seriously hurt. Teenagers who are active in social networking sites will go online frequently and check their page to see if they have received any comments or messages. They can then reply to the comments or just leave it like that. Then they can visit their friends pages and check if there is anything new which They then might visit the sites of their best friends to see if anything new is happening on their friends sites, such as new photos, blog postings, or comments posted by others. They are likely to leave a comment on friends profiles as they cruise by. If they are active in any discussion groups, they also will check out any new postings in these groups. They might add some new materials to their own profile or blog. Positives and Negatives Apart from the social benefits, social networking sites can be used to document school research, promote artistic talents and experiment with other forms of content creation. They provide a way to interact with others who share the same interests and to get constructive feedback on ongoing projects. Most social networking sites are open to all, especially MySpace, which means that your teen could be exposed to harassment, bullying. Cyber-bullying and harassment are most often done by other teens and tend to happen to older girls and to teens of either gender who have a strong online presence. It may take several forms: posting threatening messages posting photos that will cause embarrassment Spreading rumours. Elderly People Using Mobile Phones A mobile is a handheld device which can be used to communicate with. It is wireless as it uses radioactive waves. This means when it receives reception, you can call anyone with it as long as you know their number. Mobile phones have been around for 60 odd years. They advanced from being bricks to very small devices. Mobile phones have many uses: You can contact people Use it as a Sat Nav, to see the location Pass time by playing games on it You can check emails while on the move. Elderly people can use their mobile phones when they are lost and dont know their way home, they can contact relatives and tell them where they are and they can be picked up without any trouble. Elderly people can call up their relatives or friends while they are alone and they can meet up to arrange a party or a reunion. For many years there has been a blank market for mobile phones for the elderly but this is changing, new phones are emerging which have been specifically built for the elderly. These phones do not have all the high-tech functions which new phones have. These phones are plain and simple. Some have an emergency button and these phones are targeted for the elderly. A good example of this type of phone is the Clarity of Live C900. This phone is big, simple and sturdy. This phone is a breakthrough for mobiles for the elderly. It is the starting point of simple phones for the elderly. The advantages of having a mobile phone are that elderly people: Can stay in touch effortlessly Not feel alone in an emergency Being able to appreciate the outdoors and still be connected or available to answer your phone Can let others know where you are so that they are not worried or concerned about you. Disadvantages of Mobile Phones Symptoms caused by the radiation of mobile phones are one of the most argued problems. Many scientists believe that the radiation from the mobile phones may cause the users to have different symptoms such as headache, earaches, blurring of vision and even causing cancer. Though, these problems are still under early research, but we still have to consider this. Research says that, the effects of radiation may affect the elderly more than people in their 30s. The elderly person wouldnt be able to pay for the fee of the contract, so his/her relative has to pay the bill which may be expensive or inexpensive. Male Adult Users of the iPhone and Blackberry The iPhone is the next level of smart phones. It is the first cell phone made by Apple and very high expectations were expected from it; but when it was delivered, the expectations were broken as the iPhone was even better than it was thought to be. The iPhone has a multi-touch display, which means no cramped up keyboard is needed. The iPhone can make calls, play music, navigate the Web, edit photos, and play movies and text message, among many other capabilities. Although many of the iPhones functions can be found in other devices, the iPhone appears to be unique in that it seamlessly blends these abilities together, while also throwing a pack of originality into the mix. The iPhone is ideal for male adult users as it has some very brilliant ideas packed into it. Some of the features the iPhone has: The multi-touch display knows what to do You can surf the net on the iPhone iPhone will offer music, streaming video, podcasts, movies, YouTube, and more You can download music from iTunes and listen to them. The Disadvantages: No video camera; normal camera has no flash Battery might run out quick and is hard to replace No java support Sim card will only work if it is activated for the iPhone. BlackBerry A BlackBerry is a handheld PDA device that is engineered from the ground up for email. If email has become a vital part of your business or personal life, then you would no doubt benefit from using a BlackBerry. Most models now come with a built-in mobile phone, making the BlackBerry an obvious choice for users with the need to access their email from somewhere besides the comfort of a desk chair. BlackBerry smart phones allow you to stay in touch with everything that matters to you while youre on the go: Email, phone, maps, organizer, applications, games, the Internet and more. Advantages of BlackBerry: Supports Java Push emails Blackberry uses standardized MicroUSB connector for synchronization/charging. iPhone has a much larger proprietary 30-pin connector. Most Blackberries have keyboards, so you can actually type fast and with no errors. Blackberry can be synchronized to multiple computers simultaneously, if you have multiple computers. Really neither phone is that much better than the other. The Bold is the best BlackBerry up until now, and it is great for business use. The iPhone is a consumer device, and most of the original problems have already been addressed. It all comes down to what you like and what you really want in a phone. Each phone is great in its own right. Sky + Users The Sky + box incorporates an internal 80Gb hard disc which enables you to pause live TV or record one programme while watching another. You can even instruct the receiver to record episodes from your favourite series, all this without the use of videotapes. The onscreen menu is very easy to use, simply highlight the channel you wish to record and press the record button. It will automatically record at the time the programme starts, plus if you have instructed it to record several other programmes at different times it will record those as well. Advantages: Simple Straightforward to use Able to pause, record, stop and rewind Brilliant picture Disadvantages: Can be expensive Everything you do is recorded onto your database Privacy of information Small children may buy something that they didnt want to; they may have accidently bought it. How ICT has Affected People with Special Needs Disabled people often have great ICT skills that could be used in industry. However, people are often reluctant to employ them because of the fact that they have a disability. People often dont realise that just because somebody has a disability, they are still fully able to work on a computer or in ICT. 20% of the British working age population are disabled so it would be wasteful not to consider their expertise in work. This expertise could be used rather than left to do nothing; even if it is working from home. . The Visually Impaired Visually impaired or blind people cannot do normal tasks, such as read the paper. By being visually impaired or blind, you will not know what you are doing or where you are going. In the old days you could only trust your other senses to work and guide you around, but nowadays there is new technology that will help you. Blind people or the visually impaired can use, something known as, Braille to communicate with other blind or visually impaired people. It was created by Louis Braille and it uses dots as the alphabet. You can also get Braille translations software on computers which will translate Braille and read it out loud and clear in your chosen language, so this makes life easier for you. People who are visually impaired can use screen magnification. This allows you to zoom in on the page and lets you read what it says, as it is much clearer, a monitor that is larger may be helpful. Also, if the person has certain problems with colours then the contrast can be changed on new monitors to specify your needs. Optical Character Recognition (OCR) can also be used to scan documents and then converted into Braille or it can be read out by your computer. This is very useful as letters received by post can be scanned and then read to you. Also there is voice recognition programs which allow you to talk to the computer and the computer would do what you want and it will also automatically word process the speech. There is also speech output software which can read a document from a word processor and will dictate it out. Speech output software can also be used to read websites, menus and other things related to the computer. Technology is always improving and now there is something called the video magnifier. They allow you to place anything on them and it will be automatically magnified and show on a monitor so you can clearly see what it is and what it may say. You can zoom in onto it and read it; if it is a document or book. Hearing Impaired Hearing impairment could affect your everyday life and the things you are able to do. You may not be able to: hear people properly. Hearing impairment affects many old people and also young. Many deaf people can now text and e-mail even if they cant hear. The use of text messages and e-mailing has opened up a new way for deaf people. This gives deaf people or the hearing impaired a new way of communicating with the outside. Deaf people can see so they are able to text as it only involves reading and typing only. Interactive whiteboards can be used for teaching in schools with deaf pupils, interactive whiteboards can be used to show what the pupils have to do and also instructions can be written in as well without needing to listen to the instructions. This allows even deaf pupils to learn in special schools for the deaf. At home new technologies allow the deaf to know when the door bell or phone is ringing. There are extra loud devices, flashing lights, or if on the person then, vibrating alerts, to ensure the deaf that someone is ringing the bell or the phone is ringing. This allows you to respond to the doorbell, without these devices you would not know if the doorbell or phone is ringing when you are at home alone. Transmitters can be placed near to the phone to be notified about so when the transmitter picks up a sound it will activate the flashing lights or vibrating alerts. Special telephones can be used which make the incoming or outgoing speech louder or adjusts the pitch for people with hearing impairment. BT has launched videophones which allow deaf people to communicate with each other using sign language through video. These can be connected to a TV for a larger picture. People with hearing difficulties may find it hard to hear in public places and large rooms such as classrooms. This is caused by poor room sounds. Infrared systems are used to overcome hearing difficulties in larger rooms. Infrared systems replace the sound between the source and the listener with an infrared signal which is not affected by sounds. Mobility Difficulties Computers and ICT can improve the way of life for people with disabilities, giving them independence without having to have help off other people looking after them. It also gives them employment opportunities, and a new way of life which will help them a lot. There is a lot of help available through the internet as it allows many things to happen. Online shopping helps people with a physical or mobility disability to do their weekly shopping and much more through the internet without even having to move out of a seat let alone their own home, the items they purchased would be delivered to their footsteps. Home banking allows people to pay bills and look after their finances from home without having to go down to the bank in person. Computers can be adapted for people who have a physical disability. Using sticky keys the response time of keys pressed be adapted to ignore shaking. Predictive text can be used to predict which word is being typed which can speed up typing of a physically disabled person. You can also get mouth sticks and head pointers for people who can only move their head and they use their head to press keys on the keyboard. You can also get infrared head pointers which can be used to move the screen curser. If somebody has difficulty using a mouse then they can use a roller ball or a joystick as an alternative or a specified keyboard which can control the pointer on the screen. The most effective thing to use, instead of a keyboard, is a touch screen which allows physically impaired people to press buttons directly through the monitor and in some cases even type on the monitor. People with Reading Difficulties Many people with dyslexia find that they have problems with the mechanics of writing which can make them slow and unwilling writers. The effort required will often distract them from thinking about the content of the work and final checking will be harder if their writing is hard to read. Some people find that when using a keyboard and screen they can devote more attention to the content and spelling of their writing. They also find it much easier and less depressing to read and correct their work on the screen. Adaptations and alterations can be made to the standard computer and software to give additional support if this is required. Using spreadsheets, they can give visual aid to pupils with dyslexia as they can be taught visual methods of laying out their work and this means they are less likely to get lost in the process of calculation. ICT in the Community ICT has affected the community in many ways. It has changed our surroundings and what we see. Nowadays we can shop online, book holidays online, search where the landmarks of a country is. We can even communicate with each other within a community online. We can create a forum just for one community and discuss about topics we would like to. Cyber Cafà ©s The idea behind the Cyber Cafà ©s is to provide a public access point where a user can indulge in some surfing of the Internet. Customers are encouraged to stay for as long as possible . . . the longer they stay, the more food/drink they buy and most importantly the more they pay for the use of the Internet. People can go to cyber cafes and use the Internet relatively cheaply. The Internet they use is broadband, which is fast, and people can enjoy tea, coffee, other drinks and food whilst they enjoy the Internet at the same time. Cyber cafes share many of the disadvantages, as libraries such as time restrictions, lack of privacy etc. The cyber cafes are a bit more lenient when it comes to restrictions comparing cafes to the libraries. Hardware is also available in cyber cafes as it is in the libraries. Cyber cafes have their good and bad points. The bad points include the cost. Even though its cheap, in libraries its free to use ICT facilities. Cyber Cafes are a good invention and a re helpful. They are a lot more popular than libraries and seem to becoming a trend. Cyber cafà ©s are often busy places, with many people using the computers and others roaming the grounds. A total lack of privacy becomes difficult to check E-mails, enter passwords or even look at preferred sites. Well, basically, if you need some privacy, then cyber cafà ©s arent very highly recommended. Libraries Public libraries arent just shelves full of books anymore. They are fast becoming the focal point of the local community. Many libraries offer, amongst other services: Internet access for free Again, access is restricted, but at least it doesnt cost a single penny! Search engines to locate books Based on a similar technology to that of online search engines, a database of books is searched across the numerous local libraries. Facilities to host political meetings Due to the facilities to host political and community meetings, many MPs are holding their surgeries at local libraries. Members of libraries can use the ICT facilities there to access Internet and e-mail or even programs such as Microsoft office, which includes PowerPoint, Word, Excel, Access and FrontPage. Using the Internet at libraries can be a waste of time because sometimes the computers maybe slow or busy. When using e-mail it can be frustrating because some of the domains have been blocked, this only affects children mostly. Other computer hardware is available, for example, speakers, scanners or printers. Most libraries also give free access to their ICT equipment. When using the libraries computers, most of the websites for children have been blocked. This is to stop misuse of the computers and noise in the library from children coming in and being noisy talking to each other while on the computer, playing games. There is also not enough privacy on what you maybe doing, for example, when logging on to certain websites someone could see you type in your password. You are also restricted to using ICT because of the times that the library is open and in most libraries time slots of 1-2 hours are given. Libraries ICT equipment is not used to the best of its ability because some of the staff havent been fully trained. This could affect the way some people are put off going to the libraries. Online Forums Online discussion forums are increasingly common in the community. Such forums are usually set up by just a few people. Once the forum becomes more popular, hundreds of people are often found discussing issues of all kinds. You can ask anything you want and somehow people will find an answer and they will reply to your post. Forums can be used for revision. You can ask people what you should revise and they would tell you what you should. There are millions and millions of forum users in the world. Usually, a topic is posted by one person and then replies are posted by other people who visit the forum centre often. As a result, an online community has surfaced, where people can discuss issues with people from all around the world. This type of technology is still new but it is becoming vastly popular. Many people nowadays research their homework and general conceptions of ideas on online forums rather than going to find record books and going to libraries, like people did in the past. Online forums have brought us more together online but separated us from the outside world. We believe in ICT far too much. Some forums may be misleading and wrong, so you have to be careful on which forums you trust and want to research on. CCTV CCTV security cameras are a step up in technology. They are great to help companies protect their businesses and keep safety levels high in the community. CCTV security cameras are a quick and easy way to make the community safer. There are many security cameras everywhere in the community and they make the public feel safer. It also cuts crime down. But they also can cut your privacy down as would be caught on tape without knowing. CCTV security cameras come in all shapes and sizes and picture quality, some these days are able to zoom in and out up to a few miles away. If an incident takes place, its easy enough to check the tapes and find information need for the police. The police then have evidence; which they can use to take action if needed and make the community a safer place to live in. The problem with having CCTV security cameras is it costs a lot of money to capture the whole community, if there are no CCTV cameras then people would take advantage of the areas that are not see able on camera. Another problem with CCTV security cameras in the community is that people think their privacy is being invaded. At the end of the day its only for our safety the CCTV security cameras have been installed. Positioning is crucial though because for example, there is a tree in the way of the camera; it would be pointless having the camera there. The good points about CCTV security cameras are they are great for doi ng their job on catching criminals and warning people there being watched and makes some people feel safer. By Visnu

Sense of Self: Schizophrenia and I Essay -- Biology Essays Research Pa

Sense of Self: Schizophrenia and I In 1911, a Swiss psychiatrist named Eugen Bleuler coined the term "schizophrenia." It originated from the Greek words, schizo, which translates to "split" and phrenia, meaning "mind." When Bleuler conveyed the meaning of this term, it was not to label a person as a "split personality," but rather as a split between what is believed, what is perceived, and what is objectively real (1). Throughout history, the disorder has been confused and misunderstood by the general public. The idea of "split" has led people to equate schizophrenia with multiple personality disorder which is a psychiatric condition that is different and much less common. Bleuler did not want to label schizophrenia as the disorder where a person is split into two personalities; instead he wanted to explain that in schizophrenia, there is a splitting away of the personality from reality. Schizophrenia is a disorder that affects about 1 in 100 people at different stages in their lives and is very difficult to diagnose. It has many symptoms that typically begin to appear around age 18-30 (2). Signs of Schizophrenia can be misread and sometimes overlooked due to the amount of other disorders that share many of the symptoms. Autism is one example. Symptoms can be classified into "negative" and "positive." Negative symptoms could be seen as those that are absent but should be present. Examples of negative symptoms include lack of motivation or apathy, blunted feelings, depression, and social withdrawal (1). Positive symptoms are those that should be present but are absent. Some examples of positive symptoms are hallucinations, delusions, thought disorder, and an altered sense of self (1). It is thought that hallucinations are the... ...eflects their "character" and stands for the thing that makes a person "complete" and "separate," then does that mean that a person feels that who they are has changed when they have this disorder? This question leads to the way that this disorder alters one's "sense of self," by making the individual and those who are close to him or her question the one thing that makes each person unique, their self. WWW Sources and Other Sources 1)Schizophrenia http://www.mentalhealth.com/book/p40-sc01.html#Head_4 2)Schizophrenia http://www.bixler.com/ 3)Flexner, Stuart Berg. The Random House Dictionary: Concise Edition. New York: Random House, 1980. 4)Schizophrenia http://www.mentalhealth.com/mag1/p5h-sc05.html 5) C-Sections Urged for Schizophrenia -prone Mothers http://www.mentalhealth.com/mag1/p51-sc03.html 6)Schizophrenia http://www.bixler.com/

AIDS/HIV Victims Should be Treated With More Respect and Dignity :: essays research papers

Aids Victims Should be Treated With More Respect and Dignity What would you do if someone you love gets infected with HIV? Would you still treat them the same way as before? This kind of question might not come into your mind but in fact, it can happen to anyone. The rate of people who gets infected with HIV is increasing rapidly in our society (Cite). People who are HIV positive have to struggle with their life, living by the day. They are faced with many problems such as scarcity of expensive medicine, dealing with emotional conflict and especially, discrimination. People often treat AIDS victims as if they have no feelings or emotions like other people. We should all support and encourage them to be strong because they are the ones who need it the most. They have already contracted the deadly disease and by discrimination, we will make them feel even worse. Imagine people staring at you like you are some kind of a stranger. I know exactly how it feels like because when I first came to Thailand, people looked at me as if something was wrong with me. One AIDS victim told me that before she was infected with HIV, she had a lot of friends. After she found out she was infected, all her friends slowly abandoned her. None of her friends were supportive or knew the true meaning of friendship. She had said to me, â€Å"AIDS took away all the friends and people I cared for.† Whenever she got close to someone, they would keep a distance from her. They were hostile towards her and treated her like she was something worthless and had no feelings. Put yourself in the shoes of an AIDS victim and you might understand how it feels to be one of them. I would say that AIDS victims are discriminated against and not treated with the respect they deserve. Aids victims should be treated with more respect in public places and accommodations. Many AIDS victims are being treated unequally in places such as the workplace, schools, restaurants, or public facilities. For example, schools do not accept anyone that is HIV positive. They are afraid of putting other students at risk. Also, if certain parents know that there is a student in school who has AIDS, they might protest against the school and might take their children out of the school.

Affirmative Action Essay examples -- Affirmative Action Essays

America is the land of opportunity, but to be fully qualified for the status, it needs to be â€Å"color-blind, race-blind, and gender-blind.† Affirmative Action began as a way to stop discrimination, but as new laws have been added to it, it has become reverse discrimination. Everyone has the opportunity to be a great addition to society. It is an immense injustice for people to say that someone of a different race or gender is not capable of achieving the same status in life as a white male. Through this paper, the concepts of affirmative action will be analyzed and discussed. Affirmative Action began in 1965 when President Johnson signed the Executive Order 11246 in to law. The Executive Order 11246 â€Å"prevents Federal contractors from discriminating against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.† This is when the phrase ‘affirmative action’ was first used, because it â€Å"requires federal contractors to take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are not discriminated against based on race color, religion, sex, or national origin.† When Affirmative Action was created, it only included minorities. In 1967, Johnson decided to expand the program to include women, because women have received some of the same discrimination as men in the workplace. There were also earlier laws that were passed to ensure equal rights. The 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act are two examples of these laws, but they were a little behind considering the Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments to the Constitution were passed much earlier. The Fourteenth amendment guarantees equal protection under the law and the Fifteenth amendment forbid racial discrimination in access to voting. Also, there was the 1866 Civil Rights Act, which was passed one hundred years earlier to ensure equal rights to all men.3 Secretary George Schultz and Arthur Fletcher, a top deputy, were the architects of some federal hiring and contracting regulations that added to the Affirmative Action regulations. In 1969, Schultz and Fletcher created these regulations under the Nixon administration to â€Å"redress the unfair treatment of minorities and women in the workplace.†4 Even though America is the land of freedom, minorities and women did not fully receive these freedoms until the mid 1960’s. The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs... ...been a short-term solution to discrimination, but it has out lived its benefits. It is now encouraging reverse discrimination by setting quotas on the number of minorities required for a firm, contract, or school. America is now ready to become a color-blind society, and judge people on them, not their race or gender.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Works Cited The Census Bureau. www.census.gov. December 2, 2000 Executive Order 11246 - Equal Employment Opportunity (1965. 30 Fed. Reg. 12319) Harris, John F. and Kevin Merida. â€Å"On Affirmative Action, New Perspectives Strain Old Alliances.† Washington Post. April 5, 1995, page A01-2. Morin, Richard and Sharon Warden. â€Å"Americans Vent Anger at Affirmative Action.† Washington Post. March 24, 1995, A01. The Origins of Affirmative Action. www.now.org. December 2, 2000. Regents of the University of California v. Bakke. 438 U.S. 265 (1978) Vote 96. www.vote96.ss.ca.gov/vote96/html/209/. November 13, 2000. www.idfla.com/209/. December 1, 2000. www.idfla.com/tdemog/html December 1, 2000. Affirmative Action Essay examples -- Affirmative Action Essays America is the land of opportunity, but to be fully qualified for the status, it needs to be â€Å"color-blind, race-blind, and gender-blind.† Affirmative Action began as a way to stop discrimination, but as new laws have been added to it, it has become reverse discrimination. Everyone has the opportunity to be a great addition to society. It is an immense injustice for people to say that someone of a different race or gender is not capable of achieving the same status in life as a white male. Through this paper, the concepts of affirmative action will be analyzed and discussed. Affirmative Action began in 1965 when President Johnson signed the Executive Order 11246 in to law. The Executive Order 11246 â€Å"prevents Federal contractors from discriminating against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.† This is when the phrase ‘affirmative action’ was first used, because it â€Å"requires federal contractors to take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are not discriminated against based on race color, religion, sex, or national origin.† When Affirmative Action was created, it only included minorities. In 1967, Johnson decided to expand the program to include women, because women have received some of the same discrimination as men in the workplace. There were also earlier laws that were passed to ensure equal rights. The 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act are two examples of these laws, but they were a little behind considering the Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments to the Constitution were passed much earlier. The Fourteenth amendment guarantees equal protection under the law and the Fifteenth amendment forbid racial discrimination in access to voting. Also, there was the 1866 Civil Rights Act, which was passed one hundred years earlier to ensure equal rights to all men.3 Secretary George Schultz and Arthur Fletcher, a top deputy, were the architects of some federal hiring and contracting regulations that added to the Affirmative Action regulations. In 1969, Schultz and Fletcher created these regulations under the Nixon administration to â€Å"redress the unfair treatment of minorities and women in the workplace.†4 Even though America is the land of freedom, minorities and women did not fully receive these freedoms until the mid 1960’s. The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs... ...been a short-term solution to discrimination, but it has out lived its benefits. It is now encouraging reverse discrimination by setting quotas on the number of minorities required for a firm, contract, or school. America is now ready to become a color-blind society, and judge people on them, not their race or gender.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Works Cited The Census Bureau. www.census.gov. December 2, 2000 Executive Order 11246 - Equal Employment Opportunity (1965. 30 Fed. Reg. 12319) Harris, John F. and Kevin Merida. â€Å"On Affirmative Action, New Perspectives Strain Old Alliances.† Washington Post. April 5, 1995, page A01-2. Morin, Richard and Sharon Warden. â€Å"Americans Vent Anger at Affirmative Action.† Washington Post. March 24, 1995, A01. The Origins of Affirmative Action. www.now.org. December 2, 2000. Regents of the University of California v. Bakke. 438 U.S. 265 (1978) Vote 96. www.vote96.ss.ca.gov/vote96/html/209/. November 13, 2000. www.idfla.com/209/. December 1, 2000. www.idfla.com/tdemog/html December 1, 2000.

Learning How to Become a Massage Therapist Essay

All in all, my massage career was not only financially rewarding but emotionally satisfying as well, knowing that I was helping people overcome their stresses in life and helping them live a healthier life with less pain. It all started with rubbing my grandfather’s feet as a kid. Who knew that I was developing my sense of touch for the relief of stress when competing with my brothers to see who could get my grandfather to fall asleep the fastest by rubbing his feet? I had no idea that in those early days, I would take that knowledge and turn it into a worthwhile career. And yet as satisfying as it was, it was much more taxing on my body than I had anticipated. But becoming a massage therapist wasn’t as easy as just going to school to learn a few strokes. It first took learning Anatomy, Physiology, Kinesiology, and Pathology, then learning various techniques and putting them to practice. The whole process was a bit daunting at first, because at the time, I really didn’t have any knowledge of muscles, bones, ligaments, or tendons much less about the many systems in our bodies, like the cardio vascular system, respiratory system or the endocrine system. The book studying alone took a lot of time, because there was a lot to memorize. I honestly didn’t know that there was going to be that much book learning. But much like Frederick Douglass in Learning to Read and Write, where he said â€Å"When I was sent on errands, I always took my book with me, and by doing one part of my errand quickly, I found time to get a lesson in,† I carried my book with me much everywhere I went so that if I had just a few extra minutes, I could study. Despite all the memorization, the main part to massage therapy was learning the actual so ft tissue manipulation techniques and putting them to good use. The most common type of massage that is practiced in the United States is called Swedish massage. The origin of Swedish massage was developed by Per Henrik Ling (1776-1889), who was a Swedish physiologist, when he developed what he called â€Å"medical gymnastics†, which later became what we call Swedish massage today. The parts to Swedish massage are effleurage, kneading, friction, stretching and tapotement. In  class, we first learned these techniques from our books one part at a time, and one section of the body at a time. We then spent time practicing what we had learned on our fellow students. I won’t lie; it was really nice getting 4 massages a week, even though at the beginning of school, we were still learning proper technique and some other students simply did not know what they were doing. But, there were many times I had fallen asleep during the practical part of class as we each practiced our approach to the various parts of massage. As the weeks and months went by, the learning curve became easier and easier to overcome as everyone became more familiar with all the information in the book and improved their technique from the many hours of practice daily in class. Not only were we practicing the proper movements in massage, but also appropriate positioning of a client to maintain modesty. Yes, because of the very nature of massage, and because the client is usually n aked and vulnerable, part of the learning process was how to flip a client carefully, without exposing them to the entire room, especially since we were in a large room with all of our fellow students. This part was probably the trickiest, considering that a sheet can easily shift as a person is moving and flipping over underneath it and just isn’t as simple as it may seem. Many times, the sheet would get hung up on a body part that ultimately would display someone’s nether regions to the rest of the free world that might be within eyesight. But with practice, it became easier and perhaps like second nature. Perhaps one of the most surprising things about my experience in learning how to become a Massage Therapist was how sore my whole body would be after a week in class. Even though I was pretty fit at the time, and worked out regularly, massage therapy proved to work my muscles in ways that I hadn’t done so before. Not only did my hands hurt, which was expected with all the repetitive motion, but my neck and back as well for the very same reason. By the time I had finished with my internship at the school, I felt like I had been beaten up by tropical storm. However, taking the Texas State Boards for my license was probably the most stressful and taxing event of the entire process in becoming a Massage Therapist. Even though I was very confident in my knowledge for the multiple-choice exam, the one thing that most people had failed in the past was the video portion of the test, to demonstrate proper draping of a client. Thankfully, I didn’t have to flip my client on the table, and the possibility of flashing the  camera was lessoned. In the end, it was a shame that I eventually had to stop working as a Massage Therapist because of an injury in my hands. Carpal tunnel isn’t just a syndrome that affects people who type regularly; it can affect anyone that overuses their wrists or hands. It caused such debilitating pain for me, which made me change a fulfilling career that I took considerable care to learn as much as I could to make me as strong of a Massage Therapist as I could manage.

Fifth Business †Proof Mary Dempster Is a Saint for: Congregation for Causes of Saints Essay

In today’s world, a saint is a very difficult thing to come across; however I believe to have found the perfect candidate for canonization. Her name is Mary Dempster. I believe that the miracles of this woman are real, and not just coincidental, due to her unstable state of mind. Mary was married to a Baptist Parson, named Amasa Dempster in a little village called Deptford. While Mary was carrying her unborn son in her womb, she was hit in the back of the head with a snowball concealing a fairly large rock. The impact of the hit had caused her to go to into labor. Both her and her premature son had fought for their lives. The result of the stress that was put on her, and the immense head trauma caused by the snowball, the poor woman had gone simple. The simplicity of this woman is why I believe why these miracles are real, and are not fabricated or coincidental. Mary’s first miracle was the conversion of the tramp named Joel Surgeoner. Before having met Mary, the man had constantly wandered, committed crimes, and constantly caused trouble. After his interaction with Mary, he said that the way she had given herself to him had inspired him. It had changed him completely. I have met this man, and have seen the charity that he had started, Lifeline Mission. Their goal is to help the needy. He said that the charity was inspired by his generous encounter with Mary Dempster that had turned him to a life of good. The second miracle that Mary performed was raising my twelve year old brother, Willie from the dead. Willie had been sick for quite some time, and it was my turn to watch and take care of him. When I went to go check on him, he was nonresponsive, had no detectable pulse, and when I held a mirror to his nose, the mirror did not fog with breath. Willie was dead. To this day, I still don’t know why my first impulse was to find Mary, but I did. I ran to her, and then with her across the entire village, and when we came back to the room, she simply said his name, stirred him a little, and he had awoken. Mary Dempster had awoken Willie from the dead. The final miracle performed by Mary Dempster is when she appeared to me in Passchendale during the time of the war. I was trapped behind enemy lines, and I was injured and could no longer move. There was a fireball coming at me, and I was sure that I was going to die. Before I became unconscious, the last thing that I saw was the face of Mary Dempster on the Madonna figure. Months later, I awoke in a care facility, and I was alive. I truly believe that it was mary Dempster who had saved me. At the end of this brief, I have included a picture of Willie during the war, as a soldier, proof he had not died at the age of 12. I have included a statement of the recollection of events of that night from Joel Sturgeoner, as well as the picture of the Madonna statue in Passchendale. It is my sincerest hope that you would consider Mary Dempster of Deptford to be a candidate for canonization. My sincerest thanks, Dunstan Ramsay Testimony of Joel Surgeoner: â€Å"The night we last met, I was crazy. I’d tumbled off the freight in the jungle by Deptford and found a fire and seven fellows around it, and they had stew – somebody’d got a rabbit and it was in a pail over the fire with some carrots. Ever eat that? It’s awful, but I wanted some, and after a lot of nastiness they said I could have some after they’d had what they wanted of me. My manhood just couldn’t stand it, and I left them. They laughed at me and said I’d be back when I got good and hungry. Then I met this woman, wandering by herself. I knew she was a town woman. Women tramps are very rare; too much sense, I guess. She was clean and looked like an angel to me, but I threatened her and asked her for money. She hadn’t any; then I grabbed her. She wasn’t much afraid and asked what I wanted. I told her in tramp’s language, and I could see she didn’t understand, but when I started o push her down and grab at her clothes she said, ‘Why are you so rough? ’ and then I started to cry. She held my head to her breast and talked nicely to me, and I cried worse, but the strange thing is I still wanted her. As if only that would put me right, you see? That’s what I said to her. And do you know what she said? She said ‘You may if you promise not to be rough. ’ So I did, and that was when you p eople came hunting her. When I look back now, it’s a wonder that it wasn’t all over with me that moment. But it wasn’t. No, it was glory come into my life. It was as if I had gone right into Hell and through the worst of the fire, and come on a clear, pure pool where I could wash and be clean. I was locked in by my deafness, so I didn’t know much of what was said, but I could see it was a terrible situation for her, and there was nothing I could do. They turned me loose the next morning, and I ran out of that town laughing and shouting like the man who was delivered from devils by Our Lord. As I had been, you see. He worked through that woman, and she is a blessed saint, for what she did for me – I mean it as to say it was a miracle. †

To Document Ella Baker’s Life

To document Ella Baker's life is to recount the history of the civil rights movement. Whenever there was a cause to fight for or a group to organize, this dedicated women was there. Ella was born 1903, she grew up and received her education in North Carolina. Upon and at one time, president of the New York branch Ella went South in the 1950s to help the civil rights movement as it was developing in Alabama. With 30 years of organizing experience under her belt, Ella's advice to Martin Luther King, Jr. nd other leaders of the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955 was invaluable. She stayed South and helped Dr. King set up the headquarters of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference(SCLC). A few years later she played an important part in helping to organize student sit-in demonstrations that were occurring all over the South. This activity led to the formation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), one of the most powerful student-activist movements formed in U. S. history. She also helped to found the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party in 1964, which helped to give African Americans in Mississippi more political power. Ella continued to serve as the â€Å"godmother† and mentor of SNCC as it moved into other human rights issues. Her greatest asset was her ability to organize and mobilize people of all generations. Although her name was not publicized as much as other male leaders, the civil rights movement would not have been the same without her. Shortly before her death in 1986, a documentary titled â€Å"Fundi: The Story of Ella Baker† was aired on public television. Fundi is the Swahili word for a person who passes on skill to a younger generation. It is a fitting description of Ella Baker's legacy. graduating from Shaw University, she moved to New York City just before the Depression of 1929. There she became active in various causes. She worked briefly with the Work Projects Administration (WPA) and then worked to end discrimination in organized labor through the NAACP.

Overtime vs Hiring: A Case Study Essay

Abstract This report aims to address the debate over whether it is more beneficial to hire new employees when faced with shortages, or cover the shifts with overtime. The issue is examined from the viewpoint of Columbia University’s Department of Public Safety, and takes into account factors and costs as found therein. This report includes a graphical comparison of the costs associated with each option, and analyses and discusses the greater expense of hiring. One of the most debated topics in management is whether it is more beneficial to hire new employees or pay overtime to increase production or coverage. Many factors go into this decision, including benefits, duration of the period of extra work needed, and even type of work involved. In Columbia University’s Department of Public Safety, this issue gets more attention than at most places of business. Minimal staffing levels, union regulations, and round-the-clock posts – among other factors – conspire to make this decision one that is faced often. When all factors are considered, is it better for the department to hire new officers when coverage is lacking, or to utilize overtime to staff positions as needed? Executive Summary In almost all instances, it is more cost-efficient to fill gaps in coverage with overtime rather than hiring new officers in this department. This report will examine the factors involved, analyze the financial implications, and discuss exceptions to the findings. Explicit and implicit costs to the department will be discussed, along with their relevance to the decision-making process. This report will also compare the costs of new hires and overtime to find an equilibrium point beyond which the decision should change, and introduce the concept of diminishing returns. Finally, it will summarize the process and discuss application. Definition In Columbia University’s Department of Public Safety, there is a minimum level of on-duty staffing required at all times. Department employees are licensed, uniformed personnel belonging to the Transit Workers’ Union, Local 241. Management is required to ensure sufficient coverage on a daily basis, while conforming to the guidelines of the collective bargaining agreement. Sick time, vacation time, requests for guard services or special details, and emergencies such as natural disasters can create shortages in coverage that need to be addressed. Failure to cover these openings is not an option, and so management is left with two choices: hire additional full-time personnel to cover the openings, or pay overtime – at the rate of one-and-one-half times normal salary. Spending large amounts on overtime raises concerns in multiple areas, such as yearly budget reviews and union negotiations. This report aims to examine the issue in depth, and decide which option is mor e fiscally appropriate in a given situation. Factors and Costs As previously mentioned, there are numerous factors that influence this decision. The following are the most critical points that must be considered: * Department employees are unionized. Due to contractual agreements, the department must maintain all currently occupied positions. Any vacated position must be filled, somewhere in the department; for example, if an officer resigns, the department must fill that vacancy, whether in the same position or laterally, or be found in violation of the collective bargaining agreement. * Note that this is regardless of shortages, and only applies to permanently vacated positions. If the department has three extra officers on a given tour, and one resigns, the department may not continue to operate with two extras; rather, it is necessary to hire a new third extra. If an officer goes out on extended disability, however, it is not contractually necessary to fill that opening. In these cases, the department can cover the shortages, if any, through other means. Hiring remains an option, but the mandate to retain positions applies to newly created positions as well. In effect, if a new officer is hired in this situation, and the disabled officer returns to duty, the department is now obligated to keep both positions filled permanently and has a new minimum level of staffing. * New hires are paid at a rate of 80% salary for the first two years, then 82.5% the third year, 85% the fourth year, then 100% from year five on. * Overtime is paid at one-and-one-half times salary for any work done beyond 40 hours in a week. If an employee works a shift during all 7 days of the pay period, work done on the 7th day is paid at twice salary. * Any mandatory overtime performed without at least one hour of advance notice is paid at double time. This is relevant because when electing to not cover openings with additional personnel, any emergency shortages could lead to mandatory overtime without notice. * Most posts on campus require continuous coverage 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. This means there are three distinct tours with their own unique dynamics for coverage. The 8Ãâ€"4 tour, for example, has the highest concentration of senior officers, meaning they accrue more vacation time than junior officers. The summer months are obviously prime time for vacation picks, and two officers are allowed out at a time during summer. This means that summer vacation time is booked solid on the 8Ãâ€"4, so the tour is perennially short two officers all summer. Also, as a medical research facility in addition to a university campus, there are more posts open during the 8Ãâ€"4 tour than any other. As a result, it makes a difference where the shortage occurs. * Shortages on the night tours are easier to absorb, because there are fewer posts, but there is also night differential to consider: any officer working between 4pm and 8am makes an extra stipend of $1.80 per hour for night differentia l. As a fixed bonus separate from salary, however, night differential has no impact on this decision, as shown later. * New employees must be trained for a minimum period of one month before being able to assume post unsupervised and unassisted. This not only reduces the utility of a new hire for the first month, but also reduces the utility of the officers assigned to train him or her. * The department provides, as a service, officers for hire on campus for special events. The department charges $50 hourly for this service per officer assigned. If there is extra coverage on the tour during which the guard service is requested, an officer may be reassigned from a non-mandatory post, at a significant savings to the department. By using already assigned personnel as opposed to paying overtime for another officer in addition to the scheduled non-mandatory officer, the department can significantly reduce the overtime budget. For the purposes of this report, it will be assumed that no overtime is covered in this way, to preserve an empirical comparison of salary costs. * Officers are paid hourly, and thus are a variable labor cost. If the amount of time worked during a pay period changes, the officer’s salary for that period will change accordingly. For the purposes of this report, it will be assumed that labor costs are fixed. All officers not assigned to overtime always work exactly 40 hours per week, and those assigned to overtime always work in increments of exactly 8 hours per additional shift. Docking pay for tardiness will be disregarded. * The department pays an amount equal to 37.7% of each officer’s salary for his or her benefits package. This payment remains in effect so long as the officer is on the University’s payroll, whether or not he or she actually works or is paid. Officers on vacation, sick leave, or disability still incur this cost. While the cost of benefits itself is highly relevant, and will be used extensively in analysis, the fact that disabled officers still incur this cost even when not being paid by the department is not relevant to this discussion. Measurement In trying to determine how best to fill coverage, the most obvious comparison is between costs of a new hire and overtime. As previously stated, overtime is equal to one-and-one-half times salary (S). Cost of overtime can therefore be represented by the equation COT=h(1.5S), where h represents hours worked. New hires, who incur a cost of 37.7% of their salary, have a cost of CNH=h(1.377S). New hires always have a starting salary of 80% of full pay, while officers working longer than two years have a gradually increasing pay scale. One eight hour shift of salary at the rookie wage scale is equal to $149.20. For a third-year officer, that rises to $153.84, then $158.56 for a fourth-year employee. Finally, upon completion of four years of employment, the wage scale tops out at $186.48. A new hire will always work 5 shifts a week, leading to CNH=5(1.377)(149.2), or CNH=1027.24. COT, on the other hand, varies based on how many shifts of overtime are required that week, and the seniority of the officer performing the overtime. Plotting those equations against each other leaves us with the first graph below, labeled Weekly Salaries, New Hires vs Overtime at Each Level of Seniority. As expected, officers receiving full pay cost significantly more to cover with overtime than any other officer, but even at that escalated rate, there would need to be shortages in excess of 3 positions per week to justify hiring a new officer. For all other levels of seniority, 4 shifts of overtime could be covered per week at a lower cost than one new hire. In order to simplify the situation, this report will henceforth take an average of the salary levels and assume that all officers working overtime earn that rate of pay. Weekly Salaries, New Hires vs Overtime at Each Level of Seniority After applying this assumption, full pay is removed as an outlier, and it becomes always less expensive to fill four shifts of overtime than to hire one new officer. Weekly Salaries, New Hires vs Average Overtime Rate for Day Shift As seen in these graphs, the presence of night differential increases cost equally across the board, and therefore has no impact on this decision. Weekly Salaries, New Hires vs Average Overtime Rate for Night Shifts Analysis The graphs provide striking evidence that new hires are significantly more costly for small to reasonable shortages, seemingly four or fewer per week. However, due to the nature of the department, this is an underestimation. Since all three tours need to be covered, and officers must contractually be assigned to a stable tour, each tour must have its own graph. It is clear in every graph above that if there are five or more shifts of overtime per week, it is always less costly to hire a new officer; this is not completely accurate. During a given stretch, if there were expected to be 6 shifts of overtime that need to be filled each week, but the shifts are distributed evenly, with two shortages per tour per week, hiring one new officer will not account for five tours of overtime, but two. As presented by Bob Thomas (2006, p.13), â€Å"adding officers does not automatically reduce an equivalent number of overtime hours by the amount of the actual hours worked.† Thomas explains that while adding officers reduces overtime, it also raises costs disproportionately in an example of diminishing returns, an effect found mirrored in the previous graphs in this report. In essence, hiring additional officers beyond a certain point will produce reduced utility with each new hire. Hiring additional officers will add utility, but at a much higher cost per unit of utility, creating an inefficient Summary The measurements set forth in this report clearly show that only the most extreme of shortages justifies hiring an additional employee from a cost-effectiveness standpoint, but this is not the only factor to consider. Most important among these is the contractual obligation of the department to hire a new officer each time a position is vacated. Fatigue is a concern that is often raised regarding the use of overtime to fill gaps in coverage. Steve Earley’s report for the Riverside Fire Department (2001, p.14) cited studies finding a correlation between the number of hours worked and work-related injuries. The department has already taken steps to mitigate this, as employees are prohibited from working longer than 16 consecutive hours, and are strongly dissuaded from working 7-day weeks. Overtime is also distributed in a rotation, by seniority, so that no one officer has significantly more overtime opportunities than any other. In conclusion, the data is so compelling that whenever possible, shortages should be covered with overtime rather than hiring. Works Cited Earley, S. (2001). An Analysis of the Utilization of Overtime Versus Hiring Additional Personnel. Riverside, CA. Thomas, B. (2006). Corrections Overtime Planning Study. Olympia, WA.