Managing Cultural Diversity Essay

The following paper brie y debates the rhetoric of managing diversity and considers whether managing diversity is a distinct approach to managing people or a means of diluting equal opportunities in UK organizations. With respect to the realities of the concepts in UK organizations, empirical data from a survey of sixty UK human resource professionals and general line managers is presented. We pose a number of cautionary questions, including what does it matter and to whom? By doing so we intend to encourage further critique and challenges in respect to the concept of managing diversity in organizations. Keywords: Managing diversity, equal opportunities, HRM/D, rhetoric, reality Introduction Today the workforce does not look, think, or act like any workforce of the past, nor does it hold the same values, have the same experiences, or pursue the same needs and desires (Jamieson and O’ Mara 1991). The composition of today’ s workforce has changed signi cantly in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, culture, education, disabilities, and values. Running parallel to these changes is the shift in thinking by human resource theorists and practitioners with regard to addressing equality in the workplace (Cooper and White 1995; Liff and Wacjman 1996). This shift is underpinned by the emergence of the business case argument for equal opportunities, as opposed to the persuasive debate for social justice or equal opportunities as ‘ correcting an imbalance, an injustice or a mistake’ (Thomas 1990). There is now a view that, after twenty years of the ‘ stick’ of legal compliance (which has achieved little), the ‘ carrot’ of underpinning the business case for equal opportunities will perhaps achieve more (Dickens 1994). The business case argument for equal opportunities in organizations is often termed ‘ managing or valuing diversity’ , but, as with most contemporary Human Resource Development International ISSN 1367-8868 print/ISSN 1469–8374 online  © 2000 Taylor & Francis Ltd http://www. tandf. co. uk/journals 420 Peer-Reviewed Articles anagement issues, the underlying principles and interpretation of this concept are open to mass interpretation, criticism, and indeed misunderstanding. D. Miller (1996) argues that the significant widening of the meaning of equal opportunities has brought with it more complex and confusing messages for employers and practitioners. By drawing on literature and empirical data, we consider whether man aging diversity is a distinct approach to managing people or a means of diluting equal opportunities in UK organizations and pose a number of cautionary questions, including: what does it matter and to whom? By doing so, we intend to encourage further critique and challenges in respect to the concept of managing diversity in organizations. What is managing diversity? Thomas (2000) argues that, with the growing number of mergers and acquisitions, workforce diversity will become more of a priority for organizations and, therefore, in the future, people will become clearer on what diversity is and how to manage it. As with the debates surrounding de nitions of human resource management and development (HRM/D), managing diversity as a concept means different things to different people. It can relate to the issue of national cultures inside a multinational organization (Hofstede 1984); it can relate to the further development of equal opportunities or to a distinct method of integrating different parts of an organization and/or managing people strategically. Much of the literature regarding managing diversity relates to the US experience, where the concept is particularly popular; a re ection perhaps of the more pronounced diversity of workforce composition (Cassell 1996). In a recent report 1999), a Department of Education in America described managing and valuing diversity as a key component of effective people management, arguing that it focuses on improving the performance of the organization and promotes practices that enhance the productivity of all staff. Their dimensions of diversity include gender, race, culture, age, family/carer status, religion, and disability. The de nition provided also embraces a range of individual skills, educational quali cations, work experience and background, languages, and other relevant attributes and experiences which differentiate individuals.

Ethical Issue on the Internet

Ethical issues relating to the use of the Internet and the implications for managers and business practice. by Mihai C. Orzan Abstract When we address the topic of ethical issues on the Internet we are generally referring at two different matters: privacy and intellectual property. Each has been examined extensively in the last five years, since the Internet explosive intrusion in everyday life activities, each has an important number of sub fields that require special attention from managers and other business professionals.The purpose of this paper is to to make a short presentation of most relevant developments pertaining Internet ethical issues in direct connection with the business world. The Privacy debate is centered on the arguments regarding citizens’ right to privacy granted or implied by laws on one hand and companies approach on â€Å"customer data, considered an asset to sell for profits† (Choi, 2000, p. 317) on the other hand. Privacy on the Internet is ex ploding as a topic of public concern these days. A recent Internet survey showed that 4 out of 5 users have major concerns regarding various privacy threats when they’re online.Yet only 6% of them have actually experienced privacy abuses. Those who are not yet on the Net cite privacy as the main reason they have chosen not to become Internet users. If electronic commerce is going to thrive, this fear is going to have to be dealt with by laws and by industry practices and this paper attempts to give a thorough description of the major computer ethics trends of the moment. The other major source of concern for business world as well as the majority of Internet users is copyright control.Serious question come from both approaches on this matter: what information available on the Internet can I freely use and how can one protect the hardly earned information that he posts on a website. In fact, â€Å"The Internet has been characterized as the largest threat to copyright since it s inception. It is awash in information, much of it with varying degrees of copyright protection. † (O’Mahoney, 2001). Copyrighted issue constitutes an important part of this paper and it details most of the present concerns of intellectual property. 1 Privacy Everyone has the right to know what information is collected and how it will be used and to accept or decline the collection or dissemination of this information– particularly financial and medical information. † President George W. Bush. Privacy has become a major concern on the Internet. According to (Ferrell, Leclair & Fraedrich, 1997), â€Å"the extraordinary growth of the Internet has created a number of privacy issues that society has never encountered before and therefore has been slow to address. † Opinions have been expressed and actions were taken in order to resolve these matters in one way or another.In an interview earlier this year United States President George W. Bush (Miller, 2 001) expressed numerous and informed concerns regarding privacy issues, including access, security, and use of personal information. He promised to ensure actions that will meet consumer demands for privacy protection and advocated â€Å"opt- in† policies for mailing lists. He concluded the interview by stating: â€Å"I share many people's concerns that, with the advent of the Internet, personal privacy is increasingly at risk, and I am committed to protecting personal privacy for everyone. Privacy issues on the Internet relate to two major concerns. The first concern is users’ ability to control the rate, type, and sequence of the information they view. Spam, or unsolicited commercial e- mail, is a control concern because it violates privacy and steals resources. A second concern relates to the ability of users to address and understand how organizations collect and use personal information on the Internet. Many 2 Web sites require visitors to identify themselves and provide information about their wants and needs.Some Web sites track visitors’ â€Å"footsteps† through the site by storing a cookie, or identifying string of text, on their computers. The use of cookies can be an ethical issue, especially because many users have no idea that this transfer of information is even occurring. Internet privacy is an important ethical issue because most organizations engaging in e- commerce have not yet developed policies and codes of conduct to encourage responsible behavior. Spamming â€Å"Junk e- mail and spam are both terms for advertising and e- mail sent to you which you did not ask for and which you do not want†, (Elbel, 2001).However, spam is a more generic term that includes broadcast posting to newsgroups as well as individuals. And spamming is very costly for the end users: recent surveys showed that various forms of spam consume up to 15% of Internet bandwidth. According to a recent European Union study â€Å"junk email costs all of us some 9. 4 billion (US) dollars per year, and many major ISPs say that spam adds 20% of the cost of their service†, (Elbel, 2001). As you can see spamming is a very profitable endeavor and have grown over the years to assume a number of different forms.Thus, we can distinguish: v Unsolicited e- mail is any email message received where the recipient did not specifically ask to receive it. It might not be always an abuse. v Bulk e- mail is any group of messages sent via e- mail, with substantially identical content, to a large number of addresses at once. Many ISPs specify a threshold for bulk e- mail to be 25 or more recipients within a 24- hour period. Once again, bulk e- mail itself is not necessarily abuse of the e- mail system. 3 Unsolicited Commercial E- mail (UCE) is a form of e- mail containing commercial information that has been sent to a recipient who did not ask to receive it. Several ISPs specify that sending even one UCE is a violation of privacy. v Make Money Fast (MMF) are e- mail messages that â€Å"guarantee immediate, incredible profits! â€Å", including such schemes as chain letters. v Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) are e- mail messages that â€Å"guarantee incredible profits! â€Å", right after you send them an â€Å"initial investment† and recruit others. v Mailbomb is probably the most harmful type of spamming.It takes the form of email packages delivered repeatedly to the same address until the mailbox is overloaded, or perhaps even the system that hosts the mailbox crashes. Mailbombs generally take one of two forms. A mailbox might be targeted to receive hundreds or thousands of messages, making it difficult or impossible for the victim to use their own mailbox, possibly subjects them to additional charges for storage space, and might cause them to miss messages entirely due to overflow. This is seen as a denial- of- service attack, perhaps also harassment.Another form of mailbombing is to forge subscripti on requests to many mailing lists, all for one recipient. The result is a huge barrage of email arriving in the victim's e- mail box, all of it unwanted, but â€Å"legitimate†. There are several ways to escape spamming, but none will guarantee 100 percent reliability. First, a complaint to the ISPs that originated and forwarded the spam is required. It is also recommended to switch to an ISP that uses one or all of the anti- spam databases available (RBL, RSS, and DUL). About 40% of the Internet is using these services, with good success.Also, it is important that you never, under any circumstance, reply to junk e- mail, even if it is to send a â€Å"remove† request. Most spammers ignore such 4 responses, or worse, add you to their list of validated e- mail addresses that they sell. Also, getting removed doesn't keep you from being added the next time they mine for addresses, nor will it get you off other copies of the list that have been sold or traded to others. Fina lly, we should note that there are voices that argue that spamming is a legitimate form of expression and restricting it would be a First Amendment infringement.Even more, has been suggested that â€Å"junk e- mail (also called â€Å"bulk† e- mail and â€Å"spam†) should be legally protected†, (D’Ambrosio, 2000). Tracking a user on the Internet Data about individuals is collected in a wide variety of ways, including information provided on application forms, credit/debit card transactions, and cookies. Many users expect that such activities are anonymous, but unfortunately they are far from being so. It is possible to record many online activities, including which newsgroups or files a subscriber has accessed and which web sites a subscriber has visited.This information can be collected both by a subscriber's own service provider (available in the request headers of browsers) and by agents of remote sites which a subscriber visits. But the most popular fo rm of collecting data about web surfers is the cookie. These are short pieces of data used by web servers to help identify web users. The cookie is stored on the user's computer, but contrary to popular belief it is not an executable program and cannot do anything harmful to the machine. Cookies are used by Internet shopping sites to keep track of users and their shopping carts.When someone first visits an Internet shopping site, they are sent a cookie containing the name (ID number) of a shopping cart and other useful tags. Another use of cookies is to create customized home 5 pages. A cookie is sent to the user’s browser for each of the items they expect to see on their custom home page. One of the less admirable uses of cookies, and the one that is causing all the controversy, is its use as a device for tracking the browsing and buying habits of individual web users.On a single web site or a group of web sites within a single subdomain, cookies can be used to see what web pages you visit and how often you visit them. However, such concerns can be easily addressed by setting the browser to not accept cookies or use one of the new cookie blocking packages that offer selective cookie access. Note that blocking all cookies prevents some online services from working. Also, preventing the browser from accepting cookies does not confer anonymity; it just makes it more difficult to be tracked on the Web. Related to cookies, but more damaging is the activity known as â€Å"prying†.Many of the commercial online services will automatically download graphics and program upgrades to the user's home computer. News reports have documented the fact that certain online services have admitted to both accidental and intentional prying into the memory of home computers signing on to the service. In some cases, personal files have been copied and collected by the online services. Use of Personal Information You can find out simple directory information about peopl e on a variety of web sites, like Switchboard, Whowhere, Four11, Bigfoot.These contain information retrieved from telephone books. And most of these sites allow someone who doesn’t want to be listed in their databases to have his/her information removed. But beyond the free services there are the fee- based services where one can find out a great deal about 6 individuals on the Internet. There are services like as KnowX, Informus, Infotel, CDB, Infotek, Information America, and Lexis- Nexis that offer subscription based services and give access either through the Internet or through their own telephone networks.The information they provide is primarily from public records like records of court cases, both civil and criminal (not the full text, not yet anyway, but an index of cases), bankruptcies, judgments and liens, property records, such as county tax assessors files, professional license information, if regulated by the state, Dept of Motor Vehicle data from many states, v oter registration data from many states, stock investments, if you own 15% or more of a company’s stock, and many more other sources.Data warehouses built with this kind of sensitive personal information (including â€Å"browsing patterns,† also known as â€Å"transaction- generated information†) are the lifeblood of many enterprises that need to locate their customers with direct mailing (or e- mailing) campaigns. It may also create the potential for â€Å"junk e- mail† and other marketing uses. Additionally, this information may be embarrassing for users who have accessed sensitive or controversial materials online. In theory, individuals (data subjects) are routinely asked if they would permit their information to be used by the information collector.Application forms usually include a clause stating that personal information provided may be used for marketing and other purposes. This is the principle of informed consent, meaning that if the individual does not so request that his/her data not to be used for such purposes, it is assumed that he/she had given permission. The alternative principle, of affirmative consent, where an individual is required to give permission for each and every occasion on which a data user wishes to make use of an individual’s data, becomes extremely expensive and complex and is seldom practiced.The Federal Trade Commission is urging commercial web site operators to make public their information collection practices in privacy policies posted on web sites. 7 Many web sites now post information about their information- collection practices. You can look for a privacy â€Å"seal of approval,† such as TRUSTe, Council of Better Business Bureaus (BBB), American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, WebTrust, and others on the first page of the web site. Those that participate in such programs agree to post their privacy policies and submit to audits of their privacy practices in order to display the logo.There are several technologies that help online users protect their privacy. v Encryption is a method of scrambling an e- mail message or file so that it is unintelligible to anyone who does not know how to unscramble it. Thus, private information may be encrypted, and then transmitted, stored or distributed without fear that outsiders will have access to its content. Various strong encryption programs, such as PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) and RSA (RSA Data Security) are available online.Because encryption prevents unauthorized access, law enforcement agencies have expressed concerns over the use of this technology, and Congress has considered legislation to create a â€Å"back door† to allow law enforcement officials to decipher encrypted messages. Federal law limits exporting certain types of encryption code or descriptive information to other countries and file them under the same ammo type as nuclear weapons. v Anonymous remailers. Because it is relatively easy to determine the name and email address of anyone who posts messages or sends e- mail, the practice of using anonymous remailing programs has become more common.These programs receive e- mail, strip off all identifying information, and then forward the mail to the appropriate address. v Memory protection software. Software security programs are now available which help prevent unauthorized access to files on the home computer. For 8 example, one program encrypts every directory with a different password so that to access any directory you must log in first. Then, if an online service provider tries to read any private files, it would be denied access. These programs may include an â€Å"audit trail† that records all activity on the computer's drives.Censorship and Blocking Software â€Å"With its recent explosive growth, the Internet now faces a problem inherent in all media that serve diverse audiences: not all materials are appropriate for every audience† (Resni ck & Miller, 1996). Any rules or laws about distribution, however, will be too restrictive from some perspectives, yet not restrictive enough from others. Apparently it might be easier to meet diverse needs by controlling reception rather than distribution. In the TV industry, this realization has led to the V- chip, a system for blocking reception based on labels embedded in the broadcast stream.On the Internet, the solution might be considered even better, with richer labels that reflect diverse viewpoints, and more flexible selection criteria. Not everyone needs to block reception of the same materials. Parents may not wish to expose their children to sexual or violent images, businesses may want to prevent their employees from visiting recreational sites during hours of peak network usage, and governments may want to restrict reception of materials that are legal in other countries but not in their own.The blocking solution with the largest acceptance at this moment is PICS (Pla tform for Internet Content Selection). Its labels are supposed to be able to describe any aspect of a document or a Web site. As was natural to be expected, PICS labels started out as an attempt to block web pages that were not compliant with indecency 9 laws. As one of its initiators said, â€Å"the original impetus for PICS was to allow parents and teachers to screen materials they felt were inappropriate for children using the Net†, (Weinberger, 1997).At this moment, Microsoft, Netscape, SurfWatch, CyberPatrol, and other software vendors have PICS- compatible products, while AOL, AT WorldNet, CompuServe, and Prodigy provide free blocking software that is PICS- compliant. Intellectual Property Intellectual Property concerns the protection of â€Å"all products created or designed by human intellect – book, songs, poems, trademarks, blueprints†¦and software† (Davidson, 2000, p. 9). The copying of software programs, although nominally protected by copyright laws, is certainly widespread. Much of the argument about IP lies in the deontological dichotomy between rights and duties†, (Davidson, 2000, p. 12). Software producers claim that they have the right to protect the fruit of their endeavors, and have the right to be compensated for the resources spend in the development process, while consumers claim that they have the right to use a product for which they have paid and expect that the product will be free of defects. This should lead to competitively priced products with superior quality, providing value for money. 10 Copyright, Patents, and TrademarksAccording to prof. Johnson (2000) â€Å"as computing resources become more and more prevalent, computer software becomes easier and easier to access, and as such, easier and easier to copy†, (p. 124). Protection for one’s work, from a legal point of view, requires copyright, patents, and trademarks for sensible and strategic information. The best approach is to hav e a combination of trade secret protection, copyright laws, and trademark laws for the product in question because these are cheap, effective, and fast ways of protecting a software product from being pirated.Copyright Issues Copyrighted works on the net include news stories, software, novels, screenplays, graphics, pictures, Usenet messages and even e- mail. â€Å"In fact, the frightening reality is that almost everything on the Net is protected by copyright law† (O’Mahoney, 2001). Software and manuals, as novels and other literary works, are protected under copyright laws. In simple terms, this guarantees the copyright owner, the author in most cases, the exclusive rights to the reproduction and distribution of his intellectual property.Thus, copyright law guarantees the owner of the intellectual property the same types of rights that patent law guarantees the owner of an invention or other piece of seemingly more tangible physical property. Computer software and dat a are intellectual property, and as such are covered by copyright law. The problems start when people cannot, or will not, make the mental transition from physical to intellectual property. While most people would not steal books from a bookstore or a software package from a dealer's showroom, 11 ven if they knew they would not be caught, many of the same people would not hesitate copying a computer program from a demo or from their friends and colleagues. The only free software is the one places in the public domain, also known as freeware. For the rest of the software products the user must abide by the license agreements which usually come with a program and places restrictions upon reproducing and distributing the software, including such things as loaning the software to a friend or colleague and making duplicates for classroom or network use. Some licenses even go so far as to restrict use to a specific computer.In most cases, however, the user does have the right to make a ba ckup copy of the software for archival purposes. In theory, any use of a software package which falls outside of the limits of the license agreement renders the user, and quite often the user's company or institution, liable to prosecution. A computer program is defined in the copyright law as â€Å"a set of statements or instructions to be used directly or indirectly in a computer in order to bring about a certain result. † Copyright protection begins at the time a work is created in fixed form; no act other than creation of the work is required to obtain a copyright for the work.According to (Yoches and Levine, 1989) â€Å"the scope of copyright protection for a computer program's expression may extend beyond its literal code to the structure, sequence and organization of the program. † Another debated and important aspect of software copyright involves the use of databases, data warehouses, and other forms of data collections. Under traditional concepts of literary copyright, the data contained in a compilation, and the selection of the data, may sometimes not be protected from copying. Only the coordination and arrangement of the database may be protected, and even then there must be some originality to the collection and arrangement for it to be protected†, (Losey, 1995). 12 There are essentially three ways to legally protect computer databases: copyright, trade secret and contract. Raw facts in a database may not be protected by copyright, regardless of the time or expense that went into locating them. However, in many databases the data itself, or the particular expressions of the facts, may have been created by the author. In such cases the data has originality and can be protected.Even if the contents are raw facts, not new materials created by the author, the compilation aspects of the database (selection, coordination and arrangement) may still receive copyright protection. A trade secret is â€Å"knowledge which a person or com pany acquires through its own efforts and which has some value to it† (Losey, 1995). Typically, this knowledge is kept secret from competitors because it is felt that this information provides some type of competitive advantage. Since a computer database is a compilation that derives economic value, it is a type of intellectual property that has frequently received trade secrecy protection.Finally, the owner of a database can require that any purchaser enter into a written contract as a condition of purchase of the database. That written agreement could expressly provide that the purchaser will not disclose the content to anyone but authorized users, nor make any copies or unauthorized use of the information. Typically this takes the form of a License Agreement between the owner/licensor of the database and the user/licensee of the database. Protect your site against theft It might be useful to know that a link is a URL, a fact not unlike a street address, and is therefore not copyrightable.However, a URL list may be copyrightable under a 13 compilation copyright if it contains some originality. The Internet was created on the basis of being able to attach hypertext links to any other location on the Web. Consequently, by putting yourself on the Internet, â€Å"you have given implied permission to others to link to your Web page, and everyone else on the Web is deemed to have given you implied permission to link to their Web pages† (O’Mahoney, 2001). The two primary methods of protection are technical countermeasures and legal protection.Technical countermeasures include strategies such as digital watermarking and spiders that search the Internet for copies of your pages or graphics. These strategies tend to be difficult, expensive, and user- unfriendly. The primary vehicle for legal protection is copyright. This is by far the easiest and most popular form of protection in use today. In implementing a copyright strategy, there are three ite ms that you should consider: v Ownership: before trying to copyright your website, a clear understanding of what exactly it is considered to be copyrighted is required.There are many elements to a website, including text, graphics, scripts, data, and code. If everything was created from scratch for the website, ownership is not an issue. However, if someone else created text, or some clip art was downloaded from another website, or scanned photographs from archives were used, or a web design firm was hired to load all informational content into an attractive package, then ownership of the respective elements is shared with the original creators, unless otherwise stated in contracts and licenses. Copyright notice: it is generally a good idea to put a copyright notice on your website. It used to be that in order to be afforded any copyright protection whatsoever, one needed to put the world on notice by attaching a copyright notice to the work. While this is no longer the case, it is still customary to attach a 14 copyright notice on copyrighted works in order to be eligible for certain types of damages. The copyright notice consists of at least elements that include the copyright symbol and/or the term â€Å"Copyright†, the year of copyright, and the name of the copyright holder. Registration: register your copyright with the Copyright Office. Although the Copyright Act gives protection just for creating your work and reducing it to a tangible form, that protection proved somewhat illusory in some cases when registration was overlooked. Patents and Trademarks â€Å"A recognized brand name or trademark represents the goodwill that has been built into the product or service†, (Eldenbrock & Borwankar, 1996). Consumers tend to associate the recognized brand name or trademark with certain characteristics that are specific to that name or mark.Therefore, companies often spend millions of dollars annually for safeguarding the investment in the related in tellectual property rights. Trademark laws protect the name of the software, not the software itself. Some examples include: â€Å"Lotus 1- 2- 3†, â€Å"Apple â€Å", â€Å"D- BASE†, â€Å"WordPerfect†, and many others. Copyright protection protects the expression of an idea, not the idea itself. A patent protects the idea itself. There are two major drawbacks to patents. They take a lot of money and a lot of time (usually two or more years).Computer games are rarely patent protected because the shelf life for a game is usually no more than six months. 15 Fair Use â€Å"When the fair use doctrine applies to a specific use of a work, the person making fair use of the work does not need to seek permission from the copyright owner or to compensate the copyright owner for the use of the work†, (Lehman, 1998). The fair use is a form of limitation of the exclusive rights of copyright owners for purposes such as criticism, comments, news reporting, teaching (i ncluding the possibility to make multiple copies of a copyrighted work for classroom use), scholarships, or research.In order to determine whether the use made of a work in any particular case is not a copyright infringement, Smith’s (2001) Copyright Implementation Manual offers the following guidelines: 1. the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes; 2. the nature of the copyrighted work; 3. the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and 4. the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors. Those creators and authors who wish to dedicate their works to the public domain may, of course, do so notwithstanding the availability of protection under the Copyrigh t Act. 16 Libel and Defamation â€Å"We know that as the Internet grows, there will be more and more lawsuits involving libel and defamation. † said attorney David H. Donaldson, editor of Legal Bytes, â€Å"The only question is if the number of cases will grow steadily or if there will be an explosion of lawsuits all at once. The Internet has been used to harass, slander, threat and these online activities led to arrests, successful sues (because have used netnews to slander and for delivering inappropriate screen saver images) and other forms of legal punishments. The most frequent form of libel on the Internet is flaming, defined as â€Å"the practice of sending extremely critical, derogatory, and often vulgar e- mail messages, or newsgroup postings to other users on the Internet or online services† (O’Brien, 2002, pp. 326).Famous cases of racism or defamation have turned the attention at the gaps in legislation regarding Internet crime. Sexual explicit web p ages are responsible for another stir in social awareness regarding Internet- related legal void. Sometimes even a â€Å"link to another's page could be defamatory and may subject someone to legal liability†, (INET Legal Networks, 2001), if it links to a page where offensive or illegal content is present and if you do not give strong warning to the web surfer about the consequences of his/her â€Å"click†.There are a number of features unique to the Internet that distinguish it from any other medium and have â€Å"led to the current re- examination of existing libel laws to allow for their possible evolution and ultimately their application in the cyberspace†, (Potts & Harris, 1996). These features include its global nature (more than 125 countries are linked via Internet), which raised questions about jurisdiction, repeated publication every time a 17 page is updated/viewed, and the possibility to enforce judgments.Another Internet specific aspect is its highly interactive nature, which decreases the effectiveness of later corrections, but empowers the ability to reply, which might be considered more gratifying, immediate and potent than launching a libel action. Accessibility is another feature of the Internet, which distinguishes it from traditional print or broadcast media. The relatively low cost of connecting to the Internet and even of establishing one's own website means that the opportunity for defamation has increased exponentially. Now, on the Internet everyone can be a publisher and can be sued as a publisher.Internet anonymity means that users do not have to reveal their true identity in order to send email or post messages on bulletin boards. This feature, coupled with the ability to access the Internet in the privacy and seclusion of one's own home or office and the interactive, responsive nature of communications on the Internet, has resulted in users being far less inhibited about the contents of their messages than in any other form of media. Computer Crime One of the biggest threats for the online community comes from various ways in which a computers network in general and the Internet in special might be used to support computer crime.The list of such actions is vast as â€Å"criminals are doing everything from stealing intellectual property and committing fraud to unleashing viruses and committing acts of cyber terrorism† (Sager, Hamm, Gross, Carey & Hoff, 2000) and a few of the most dangerous and common ones have already entered the general IT folklore. The Association of Information Technology Professionals defined computer crime as including â€Å"unauthorized use, access, modification, and destruction of hardware, software, data, or network resources; unauthorized release of information; unauthorized copying of 18 oftware; denying an end user access to his or her own hardware, software, data, or network resources; using or conspiring to use computer or network resources to illegally obtain information or tangible property. † Software piracy Software piracy is the illegal copying of computer software. It is also considered the computer industry's worst problem and, according to the specialists, has become a household crime. â€Å"People who wouldn't think of sneaking merchandise out of a store or burgling a house regularly obtain copies of computer programs that they haven't paid for†, (Hard- Davis, 2001).Software piracy is fought by legal means (licenses, copyright, trademarks and patents, and lawsuits, when all else fails). According to Zwass (1997), â€Å"deterrent controls (legal sanctions) and preventive controls (increasing the cost of piracy by technological means) can be used to combat software piracy. † Information technology is a key driver in the globalization and growth of the world economy. In a recent study of worldwide software market (International Data Corporation, 1999) the total worldwide package software market has been st imated at $135 billion. Worldwide expenditures on software are expected to increase to about $220 billion by the year 2002. The U. S. software industry is reaping the benefits of this hyper growth, having captured 70% of global software sales. According to (Software Publishers Association, 1998), the worldwide revenues of business- based PC applications was $17. 2 billion, but global revenue losses due to piracy in the business application software market were calculated at $11. 4 billion.This is very similar to the report of (International Research and Planning, 2001)’s Business Software Alliance (BSA), a watchdog group representing the world’s leading software manufacturers, which announced the results of 19 its sixth annual benchmark survey on global software piracy. The independent study highlights the serious impact of copyright infringement with piracy losses nearing $11. 8 billion worldwide in 2000. Figure 1 shows an interesting correlation between the national piracy rates compiled by the SPA with the per capita GNP for 65 countries in the year 1997.Higher software piracy rates are heavily skewed towards countries with low per capita GNP. The effect of GNP is much more pronounced for the countries with GNPs less than $6,000, as shown in Figure 2. Each $1,000 increase in per capita GNP is associated with a nearly 6% decrease in the piracy rate. These results indicate a significant income effect on the global piracy rates, particularly in the poorer segments of the world. The different ways of illegally copying computer software can be broken down into five basic ways of pirating. Counterfeiting is duplicating and selling unauthorized copies of software in such a manner as to try to pass off the illegal copy as if it were a legitimate copy produced by or authorized by the publisher. v Softlifting is the purchasing of a single licensed copy of software and loading it on several machines, contrary to the terms of the license agreement. This i ncludes sharing software with friends and co- workers. v Hard- disk loading is selling computers pre- loaded with illegal software. v Bulletin-board piracy is putting software on a bulletin- board service for nyone to copy or copying software from a bullet in- board service that is not shareware or freeware. v Software rental is the renting of software for temporary use. An interesting study regarding software piracy in academic environment was conducted at the Faculty of Business at the City University of Hong Kong (Moores & 20 Dhillon, 2000). A total of 243 usable responses were received, of which 122 were female and 121 were male. As shown in Figure 3, 81% of the respondents report they buy pirated software on a regular basis, with a significant minority (29%) buying every month, and 3% even reporting they buy several times a week.The most popular pirated software bought was spreadsheets, followed by programming languages, databases, word processors, and statistical packages. Oth er software mentioned included e- mail, graphics, and game software. Only 7% claim to have never bought pirated software. Illegal Information The Internet was designed as an inherently insecure communications vehicle. This allowed an impressive number of security gaps that led to numerous hacking techniques. Probably the most famous one at this moment is the denial of service attack, that led to the shutdown of many famous Internet sites, including Yahoo! , eBay, Amazon, and CNN.Other hacking tactics include spoofing (faking an web page to trick users into giving away critical information), Trojan horses (programs that are planted on user’s machine without his knowledge), logic bombs (instructions in computer programs that triggers malicious acts), and password crackers. According to Givens (2001), â€Å"Identity thieves are able to shop online anonymously using the identities of others. Web- based information brokers sell sensitive personal data, including Social Security n umbers, relatively cheaply. † In December 1999 300,000 credit card numbers were stolen from the online music retailer CD Universe database.That’s way it is considered a federal crime to possess 15 ore more access devices like cellular activation codes, account passwords, and credit card numbers. 21 Beside the theft that these kinds of devices enable, such actions lead to loss of trust from customers to such services that have been the target of hacking. It is also illegal in many states to have pornographic related material on your machine, and in some cases mere possession of child pornography is punishable by many years in jail. As mentioned before, possession or export of certain types of cryptographic techniques is a very serious federal crime.AMA Code of Ethics of Marketing on the Internet â€Å"All professionals find a code of ethics is useful to guide them through the sometimes thorny issues that confront them† (Klampert, 1998). Codes of ethics are an orga nized, written set of rules that describe expected behaviors. There are many such codes in Information Systems (ACM, IEEE, British Computer Society), but none of them has overall recognition. Most institutions that provide Internet access have formulated policies and procedures regarding the fair use of their facilities.The most frequent policies are grouped under the following categories: a Code for Ethical Computer Use (usually a written policy an institution has developed to describe ethical use of their computer system), an E- mail Privacy Policy, and an Internet Access Policy. One of the most representative such codes for the Internet community is the one that has been imposed by the American Marketing Association for its members. Below there are a few of the most interesting requirements, as they can be found in the latest edition of (AMA, 2001) Code of Ethics for Marketing on the Internet: 2 Adherence to all applicable laws and regulations with no use of Internet marketing th at would be illegal, if conducted by mail, telephone, fax or other media. Organizational commitment to ethical Internet practices communicated to employees, customers and relevant stakeholders. Information collected from customers should be confidential and used only for expressed purposes. All data, especially confidential customer data, should be safeguarded against unauthorized access. The expressed wishes of others should be respected with regard to the receipt of unsolicited e-mail messages.Information obtained from the Internet sources should be properly authorized and documented. Marketers should treat access to accounts, passwords, and other information as confidential, and only examine or disclose content when authorized by a responsible party. The integrity of others' information systems should be respected with regard to placement of information, advertising or messages. Conclusions This R paper gives a general overview of the most debated ethical issues related to the us e of Internet and their implications for managers and business practice.However, there are several other less critical aspects that should be considered by a very thorough revision and some very interesting papers on these subjects are listed in Appendix C. These aspects include unauthorized use of computer resources at work, accessing individuals’ private e- mail and telephone conversations and computer records by the companies they work for and other forms of computer monitoring, challenges to 23 work conditions and individuality that are brought about by computer systems, mistaken computer matching of individuals, and many, many more.To protect themselves and the people they work with, information professionals need to be as professional as they can be and, sometimes, must decline a project if clients insist that they do something they have moral objections about. Ethical considerations are inherent for any IT professional. Moral behavior, including acting with integrity, increasing personal competence, setting high standards of personal performance, accepting responsibility for your actions, avoiding computer crime, and increasing the security of computer systems developed are just a few of many such considerations.Overall, I believe that there is a critical need for heightened debate on professional ethics in Information Systems. 24 Appendix A Figure 1. Per capita GNP and piracy rates. Figure 2. Piracy rates and per capita GNP less than $6000 25 Figure 3. Frequency of pirated software. 26 Appendix B Cited Works 1. Choi, S. – Y. & Whinston, A. B. (2000). The Internet Economy: Technology and Practice. Austin, TX: SmartEcon Publishing. 2. D’Ambrosio, J. (2000,. January). Should â€Å"Junk† E- mail Be Legally Protected? [online]. Available: http://www. fmew. com/archive/junk/. October 26, 2001). 3. Davidson, Robert (2000, April). Professional Ethics in Information Systems: A Personal Perspective. Communications of the AIS, Vol. 3, Article 8. 4. Elbel, F. (2001, October 23). Junk E- mail and Spam. [online]. Available: http://www. ecofuture. org/jmemail. html. (October 26, 2001). 5. Elderbrock, David and Borwankar, Nitin. (1996). Building Successful Internet Businesses: The Essential Sourcebook for Creating Businesses on the Net. Foster City, CA: IDG Books Worldwide. 6. Ferrell, O. C. , Leclair, D. T. , & Fraedrich, J. P. (1997, October).Integrity Management : A Guide to Managing Legal and Ethical Issues in the Workplace. O’Collins Corp. 7. Givens, Beth. (2001, March). A Review of Current Privacy Issues. [online]. Available: http://www. privacyrights. org/ar/Privacy- IssuesList. htm. (October 26, 2001). 8. Hard- Davis, G. (2001, March). Internet Piracy Exposed. Alameda, CA:Sybex. 27 9. INET Legal Networks (2001). Defamation – Law for Internet [online]. Available: http://www. lawforinternet. com/subject_defamation. php3? searchkys=defamation =topdefamation. html. (October 26, 2001). 10.Internationa l Data Corporation (1999, February 10). Distribution of Worldwide Software Revenues Vary Dramatically [online]. Available: www. idcresearch. com/Press/default. htm. (October 26, 2001). 11. International Research and Planning. (2001, May). Sixth Annual BSA Global Software Piracy Study. [online]. Available: http://www. bsa. org/resources/200105- 21. 55. pdf. (October 26, 2001). 12. Johnson, Mark B. (2000, January). Software Piracy: Stopping It Before It Stops You. Proceedings of the sixteenth ACM SIGUCCS Conference on User Services. pp. 124- 131. 13. Klampert, Elizabeth (1998, July 13).Business Ethics for Information Professionals. Proceedings of the AALL 1998 Conference on Independent Law Librarian Program, Anaheim, CA. 14. Lehman, B. A. , (1998). The Conference on Fair Use: final report to the commissioner on the conclusion of the Conference on Fair Use. Washington, DC: Office of Public Affairs U. S. Patent and Trademark Office. 15. Losey, Ralph C. (1995). Practical and Legal Protec tion of Computer Databases [online]. Available: http://www. eff. org/Intellectual_property/database_protection. paper. (October 25, 2001). 16. Miller, M. J. (2001, February 6).Bush’s Privacy Plan. PC Magazine, Vol. 20, No. 3. 28 17. Moores, T & Dhillon, G. (2000, December). Software Piracy: A View from Hong Kong. Communication of the ACM, Vol. 28, No. 10, p. 88- 93. 18. O’Brien, J. A. (2002). Management Information Systems: Managing Information Technology in the E- Business Enterprise. New York, NY: McGraw- Hill. 19. O’Mahoney, B. (2001). Copyright Website [online]. Available: http://www. benedict. com/digital/digital. asp. (October 26, 2001). 20. Potts, David & Harris, S. (1996, May 16). Defamation on the Internet [online]. Available: http://owl. nglish. purdue. edu/handouts/research/r_apa. html. (October 26, 2001). 21. Resnick, P. & Miller, J. (1996). PICS: Internet Access Controls Without Censorship. Communications of the ACM, Vol. 39, No. 10, pp. 87- 93. 22. Sager, Ira, Hamm, Steve, Gross, Neil, Carey, John and Hoff, Robert. (2000, February 21). Business Week. 23. Smith, Steve. (2001, May). Copyright Implementation Manual [online]. Available: http://www. groton. k12. ct. us/mts/cimhp01. htm. (December 1, 2001). 24. Software Publishers Association (1998). SPA's Report on Global Software Piracy [online]. Available: www. pa. org/piracy/98report. htm. (October 26, 2001). 25. Weinberger, J. (1997, March). Rating the Net. Hastings Communications and Entertainment Law Journal, Vol. 19. 26. Yoches, E. Robert & Levine, Arthur J. (1989, May). Basic principles of copyright protection for computer software. Communications of the ACM Vol. 32 No. 5. pp. 544. 27. Zwass, Vladimir. (1997, Spring). Editorial Introduction. Journal of Management Information Systems, Vol. 13, No. 4, pp. 3- 6. 29 Appendix C Bibliography 1. American Marketing Association (2001). Full Text of the AMA Code of Ethics [online].Available: http://www. ama. org/about/ama/fulleth. a sp. (October 26, 2001). 2. Berman, J. & Weitzner, D. (1995). User Control: Renewing the Democratic Heart of the First Amendment in the Age of Interactive Media. Yale Law Journal, Vol. 104, pp. 1619. 3. BRINT Institute. (2001). Intelectual Property: Copyright, Trademarks and Patents. [online]. Available: http://www. brint. com/IntellP. htm. (October 26, 2001). 4. British Computer Society. (2000). British Computer Society Code of Practice [online]. Available: http://www. bcs. org. uk/aboutbcs/cop. htm. (November 30, 2001). 5. CETUS. (1995).Fair Use: A Statement of Principle [online]. Available: http://www. cetus. org/fair4. html. (December 1, 2001). 6. Cheng, H. K. , Sims, R. R. , and Teegen, H. (1999, Spring). To Purchase or to Private Software: An Empirical Study. Journal of Management Information Systems Vol. 13, No. 4, p. 49- 60. 7. Gopal, R. D. , & Sanders, G. L. (1997, Spring). Preventive and Deterrent Controls for Software Piracy. Journal of Management Information Systems Vol. 13 No. 4. pp. 29- 47. 30 8. Hinman, Lawrence M. (2001, September 15). Ethic Updates [online]. Available: http://ethics. acusd. edu/index. tml. (October 25, 2001). 9. Jamison, B. , Gold, J. & Jamison, W. (1997). Electronic Selling: 23 Steps to ESelling Profits. New York, NY: McGraw Hill. 10. Lending, D. & Slaughter, S. A. (2001, April). Research in progress: the effects of ethical climate on attitudes and behaviors toward software piracy. Proceedings of the 2001 ACM SIGCPR conference on Computer personnel research. p. 198- 200. 11. Limayem, Moez, Khalifa, Mohamed , Chin, Wynne W. (1999, January). Factors Motivating Software Piracy. Proceeding of the 20th international conference on Information Systems, p. 124- 13. 12.Scott, Thomas J. , Kallman, Ernest A. , Lelewer, Debra. (1994 November). Ethical Issues Involving the Internet. Proceedings of the conference on Ethics in the computer age. pp. 31- 32. 13. Thong, J. Y. L. , & Yap, C. – S. (1998, Summer). Testing and Ethical Decisi onMaking Theory: The Case of Softlifting. Journal of Management Information Systems Vo. 15, No. 1. pp. 213- 237. 14. U. S. Department of Energy Computer Incident Advisory Capability Information Bulletin. (1998, March 12). Internet Cookies. [online]. Available: http://ciac. llnl. gov/ciac/bulletins/i- 034. shtml. (October 26, 2001). 31

Read Articles and point out important points Essay

Read Articles and point out important points - Essay Example In addition, values and protocols that exist in the current culture that are viewed as essential for the required change must be reinforced and utilized. It is equally important to promote a participative environment by minimizing resistances to change. Let the members have time to internalize the change and provide coping mechanisms during the transitional stress while dealing accordingly with burden members of the organization. Finally, the momentum of change must be maintained by constantly and publicly recognizing the new behaviors and achievements, especially on the individual level. Change can be based on economic value and organizational capability. The economic value is usually measured by shareholder value while organizational capability rests on the development of corporate culture and is measured by employee’s commitment and learning behavior. The hard approach (economic value) normally involves heavy use of economic incentives, drastic layoffs, downsizing, and restructuring. In contrast, soft approach (organizational capability) involves feedback systems, reflective management and participative environment. The six dimensions of corporate change are goals, leadership, focus, process, reward system, and use of consultants. The challenge for leaders is how economic value and organizational capability theories must be combined and applied in the dimensions of corporate change. In this synergy of theories, change can happen by increasing productivity while enriching your corporate culture with intelligent and practical use of resources and external entities. This can be implemented through flexible and collaborative effort, to some extent, of executives with much knowledge and dedication to direct and immerse to the level of their subordinates. In a knowledge-based economy, in which value creation depends increasingly

What attributes of eco-labels are important to consumers Essay

What attributes of eco-labels are important to consumers - Essay Example The authors used an online discrete choice/ choice-based conjoint to investigate the drivers that influence consumer preference on over eco-labels (Delmas & Lessem, 2014). Consumers cannot assess the environmental qualities of a product until it arrives at the market. The presence of eco-labels seeks to bridge this information gap between manufacturers and consumers by presenting the ingredients and environmental qualities of a certified product. The environmental attributes of a product are essential to consumers since they influence their purchasing decisions. Eco-labels influence consumers’ preferences on products. A research that used a discrete choice experiment and a latent class choice model to investigate the significance of consumers’ preference for wine back labels and identify the correlation of these labels relative to price confirmed this (Mueller, Lockshin, Saltman, & Blanford, 2010). The research established that simple eco-labels statements derive positive customer response while eco-labels with difficult messages like the chemical ingredients of a product derives negative responses (Mueller, Lockshin, Saltman, & Blanford, 2010). More so, the presence of private benefits in eco-labeled products derives positive consumer responses (Delmas & Lessem, 2014). Such benefits may include health benefits, increased durability, and high quality. In this context, such factors will affect consumer’s willingness to buy cleaning products. Health attribute influences consumer preferences for eco-labeled products. Developed countries like America offer eco-labels health claims through independent agencies. Various studies derive that most consumers always prefer healthier products. The increased customers’ demand for healthier food products has led to the use of eco-labeling (McCluskey & Loureiro, 2003). The authors conducted an empirical study on consumer preferences and willingness to buy various types of food

Security Framework Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Security Framework - Research Paper Example Most computer network threats come from the internet and are done intentionally because people for malicious intentions develop them. The use of the ISO 27000 Series security framework is, therefore, an endeavor by individuals as well as organizations to protect their information and other digital assets from assaults from the internet. The measures stipulated in the ISO 27000 Series framework measures will involve various steps, the most important of these steps being an individual’s understanding of the different forms of cyber-attacks that they are likely to encounter (Ma, Schmidt and Pearson 58). Once one has knowledge of this, then it is his or her responsibility to ensure that they have put in place the best security system they can get their hands on. There exist diverse types of hazards and these can be regarded as to be of unstable levels and risks to an individual’s personal information in their computers. The higher the possibility of an attack, the more prog ressive the security system, that is to be put in place to ensure that the threat is minimized. The ISO 27000 security framework activities involve measures to prevent threats ranging from malicious codes, also known as malware and spyware, to computer viruses. Some of these viruses are so serious that they have the ability to erase entire operating systems of computers. These viruses also facilitate hackers to have right of entry to all the data stored in the infected computers, ensuring that they have access to information, which can be used for their own gain. It is necessary for individuals and companies to avoid such invasion into their computer systems by having the best security framework (Serrhini and Moussa 159). Measures taken involve the acquisition of antivirus software that is reliable, frequent checking of software to ensure that they are secure from attacks. The computer software should be updated frequently to assure they are working in full capacity. Thus, it vital for organizations to ensure all departments are conscious of their ISO 27000 security framework because it is not known when a threat is likely to be encountered. Borders have relevance in tackling information security, and looking at borders, domains of various countries interact because they do not have borders, therefore, the domains of a nation will be related to the nation’s willingness to assert sovereignty in the domains. With the detection of threats at the various nation states, it is possible to retain legitimate response actions by the state and this will be an important actor of the border in ensuring they continue being relevant. In cyber space, the territorial borders broadly define sovereignty of a specific nation irrespective of the domain and ability to locate domains physically. Despite the borders becoming insignificant when carrying out legal commerce, they are highly significant when carrying out policing actions of transnational threats. In China, there is a severe internet information security because there is a leakage of information and this requires protection of privacy and other personal data should be strengthened because internet abuse has become unscrupulous. Sufficient protection of private data in China is lacking and this is because of the existence of loopholes in the safety of public information because of ineffective management mechanism (Veiga and Eloff 361). The reasons behind mismanagement of public informa

John McCain's Proposal for Health Care Reform Essay

John McCain's Proposal for Health Care Reform - Essay Example McCain believes in allowing every American to keep their health insurance as they move from job to job or job to home. McCain believes in strengthening health care quality by promoting research and development of new treatment models, improving technology and providing best information for Americans. (www.johnmccain.com). John McCain's health reform proposal is an attempt to address the inefficiencies. The McCain proposal consists of three components. The first component is that the current implicit tax subsidy provided for employer-based coverage would be eliminated. For a worker receiving health coverage through his/her employer, the premium would be treated as part of the worker's "income" and taxed under the personal income tax. In place of this subsidy, consumers would receive a refundable tax credit if they obtain health insurance. The size of the credit would be $5000 for persons purchasing family coverage, and $2500 for persons purchasing individual coverage. This first component will make health care affordable and accessible for all since they receive a substantial refundable tax credit. The second component is that the non-group market for health... "community rating" laws). States also vary in whether they mandate coverage for different types of medical expenses. This second component will allow Americans to choose the most affordable and the most efficient health coverage plan from health care providers from other states. This plan will push health coverage rates down as the suppliers of health coverage plans compete for new consumers across state lines. This plan also pushes health companies to offer a wider range of health services for the same costs in order to retain their old customers and attract new ones. The third component is that the federal government would provide funding for states to each administer in the form of a Guaranteed Access Plan. This plan puts a premium on accessibility for all Americans and their families in all of the states.This plan will also make insurance more affordable as it would expand competition and "put families in charge of their health care dollars which will lead to expansions of health savings accounts and other high-deductible plans. References: Collins, S. R., & Kriss, J. L. (2008). Envisioning the future: The 2008 presidential candidates' health reform proposals (The Commonwealth Fund Publication No. 1092). Retrieved February 23, 2008, from http://www. commonwealthfund.org/publications/publications_show.htmdoc_id=647708 Ginsburg, P. B. (2008). PERSPECTIVE: Don't break out the champagne: Continued slowing of health care spending growth unlikely to last. Health Affairs, 27(1), 30-32. John McCain website. Available at

Love Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 8

Love - Essay Example This is because the generation and interpretation of the various chemicals substances signaling our feeling and understanding of love takes place in the brain. I will be analytically illuminating the different kinds of love as defined by the oxford dictionary. The oxford dictionary defines four different kinds of love which expressed by humans i.e. agape, philia, storge/affection and Eros. Affection is used in reference to the strong feeling of affection towards someone or something. This kind of love is usually expressed among members of the same family; it is the love felt and shown by parents towards their own children, the feelings of love expressed among children and towards their parents. This is also the kind of love felt between friends and sometimes it culminates into romantic relationships in which the couples become best friends. This type of love is usually unconditional, sacrificial and drives people at forgiveness hence assuring them of comfort and safety. Eros or romantic love on the other hand is defined as referring to the strong feeling of affection towards someone you are sexually attracted to. it is characterized by intense feelings of passion which arouse romance and makes one use the phrase â€Å"I love You.† in other words it is the love that culminates in sex and love making between the partners and unless moved to a higher notch it may fade with time since it centers mostly on the self. In case the person expressing the love for some reason stops feeling good about the relationship then they may stop showing their emotions to the partners. This is the kind of love that culminates into marriage between the two people if the emotions are taken beyond sexual satisfaction to seek companionship. Agape refers to a kind of unconditional love which looks past the surface and accommodates the other person as they are regardless of their shortcomings and flaws. It is what we all strive to have and show

Dementia and Antipsychotic Drugs Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Dementia and Antipsychotic Drugs - Assignment Example A review of literature on the use of antipsychotic drugs reveals a high prevalence of the said factor in the United States. When cases of dementia are diagnosed, the physician has to first eliminate other treatment options for the symptoms before antipsychotic drugs are prescribed. However, for some symptoms such as restlessness and aggression, it has been noted that nursing home providers decide to apply antipsychotic medication to calm the patients without considering other forms of treatment. Estimates indicate that many physicians use antipsychotic drugs with dementia patients as a first resort without considering other non-drug ways of managing the symptoms. One of the main concerns that research shows is that there are cases of overprescriptions in nursing homes – a fact that can be attributed to the symptomatic behavior of the patients. With the new policy on the use of antipsychotic drug to manage dementia patients, the number of patients prescribed with antipsychotic medication to manage their symptoms is expected to reduce significantly. Snowden, Sato and Roy-Byrne (2003) indicate that the training and education accorded to health and nursing home providers will be effective in reducing cases of improper prescriptions of antipsychotic drugs to dementia patients. Furthermore, it can be shown that the claims from Medicare for antipsychotic drugs, especially atypical drugs, have been on the increase, and close investigation revealed that the claims were not warranted.

The Face in the Mirror and Sticks and Stones and such-like Essay Example for Free

The Face in the Mirror and Sticks and Stones and such-like Essay Identity is presented through the contents of belonging, values and beliefs. A person’s identity constantly changes and develops in time, depending on aspects of ethnicity, self-image and connection to a person or place. It is this which â€Å"builds† the qualities of identity. Prime examples of expressing the intricate nature of identity is clearly seen through Alice Pung’s short stories â€Å"The Face in the Mirror† and â€Å"Sticks and Stones and such-like† alongside Paul Keating’s memorable eulogy speech â€Å"The Unknown Soldier†. In Pung’s short story â€Å"The Face in the Mirror†, the author explores how ethnicity illustrates how a person’s relationship in the world creates a sense of identity. The idea is seen in the quote: â€Å"For much of my childhood, my Asian-ness was pushed to a crevice in the back of my mind. My friends were white, my family was white, my world was white.† The female protagonist conveys her cultural identity, through the use of a compound word, describing her â€Å"Asian-ness† persona as being part of a white family. Pung also uses the technique of repetition, demonstrated through the word â€Å"white† coupled with the metaphor of â€Å"my world was white† to depict the fact that her whole lifestyle, revolves around â€Å"white† customs, as she neglects her original cultural origin being â€Å"made in Korea†. Through this, the audience are made to empathize for the protagonist as she is forced into neglecting her asian background. Hence, further reinforcing Pung’s concept of how ethnicity can be an aspect of identity. Another way Pung demonstrated her concept of identity is through the use of the technique accumulation, in conjunction with rhetorical question in the short stories ‘Face in the Mirror’. For example. Accumulation is found where Pung lists â€Å"a name, a place, a date and temperature.† She follows this technique with the rhetorical question â€Å"but, what did it all mean?†. Pung uses these techniques to utilize the fact that the protagonist strives to find out more on her self, which illustrates how identity can be achieved through ones ethnicity. In Pung’s short story ‘Sticks and stones and such like’, she establishes her concept of identity through the use of a series of language techniques throughout the text, one of these techniques, would be the use of a metaphor in conjunction with the use of accumulation. The author does this, to strongly utilize her concept. These techniques are found in the quote ‘All talking frantically and loudly in English, Hindi, Kannada, Konkani: Every sentence a masala of different vocabularies†. The metaphor being a ‘masala of different vocabularies’, and accumulation being the list of the different languages. The persona refers to the list of different languages as a ‘masala’, which in her culture means ‘a variety of different spices’. This is done to further reinforce the cultural gap, which conveys how the persona feels a disconnection of identity due to a different ethnicity. Therefore impacting her sense of identity. In addition to ‘Stick’s and Stones and Such-like’, the author has further demonstrated her concept of identity by the use of language techniques describing the connection to the person and their self image. These techniques used by the author are allusion and short sentences, which is demonstrated in the quote, â€Å"Sticks and Stones and Such-like, I’ve been called a lot of things†. This allusion is is an expression which alludes to a different text, â€Å"Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me†. This technique indicates the connection between their name and personal identity, although the technique of short sentences portrays the author’s intentions of rising above other people’s perceptions of identity through one’s name. Therefore, a sense of reassurance is achieved. In the related text â€Å"Unknown Soldier† written by Paul Keating. The author uses a series of techniques in order to portray the concept of how a sense of identity can be reached through ones connection to a person or place. â€Å"He is all of them. And he is one of us†. Short sentences are being used in this text to provide an impacting atmosphere to the audience. This relates to identity placing the soldier within a group rather than being anonymous, as the title suggests. Throughout the first stanza, the composer has used repetition repeating the phrase, â€Å"we do not know† in regards to factors of family, religion and ethnicity which have been lost, showing that he was not only a soldier, but a man, creating a sense of identity. In regards to identity, it emphasis’ the several factors of shaping and changing who a person is. The idea of self-image is seen in the quote, â€Å"Out of the war came a lesson†¦It was a lesson about ordinary people, and the lesson was that they were not ordinary†. Irony is seen in this quote, contradicting itself that the soldiers which fought in War were not like everyone else, rather being perceived of having a â€Å"heroic† status in other peoples eyes. The effect of this ironic statement allows the audience to contemplate the impact an individual has on their own self-image. This shows the concept of self-understanding, as without a distinguished self-perception or image. The three texts analysed all share the themes of belonging, values and beliefs, showing that the aspects of ethnicity, relationships and self-image all aid in proving that who you see yourself as an individual can change and develop over time, establishing this through the use of various techniques.

The Effects of Mouthwash on Pea Seeds Germination Essay Example for Free

The Effects of Mouthwash on Pea Seeds Germination Essay Purpose: The purpose of the pea seeds germination lab is to determine whether pea seeds will sprout with the absence of a complete water solution and replaced by Listerine Mouthwash. Water is the most basic and useful, natural resources for all living things. Water is extremely responsible for carrying all life functions within the cell. Life cannot exist on earth without the presence of water. In this lab we will investigate to see if seeds can germinate with a substance which its inactive ingredient is water. Since seeds require water in order for its embryo to rise up, one may conclude that mouthwash which contains a small regiment of water molecules can indeed provide for the environment of seed germination. One concept that will also be determined is whether a dormant seed can sprout under a fairly good temperature, the right amount of oxygen, and a mouthwash solution. In this lab, the experiment will distinguish whether a seed would sprout meeting only some of its requirements. Another purpose that will be examined is the mutual effects of germinating seeds in mouthwash. The seeds’ tendency to respond to their environment will also be put into account. The discovery of how seeds will react in a water solution and a mouthwash solution (shape and color) will definitely be seen throughout the experimental lab. To determine how the seed may change its shape or its color there must be thorough evaluations made upon the seed’s appearance. HYPOTHESIS: After examining some of the key aspects in which seeds must adhere to in order to go through the process of germination one can state a proposed idea that seeds will not sprout within a Listerine Mouthwash solution. After acknowledging the fact that pea seeds are very specific in their type of environment that they need to germinate, there is no way in which the seeds will sprout in abnormal conditions. The act of germinating seeds in mouthwash will cause the seeds to remain or become dormant, the seed’s resting stage. In a more detailed description of why mouthwash would not be the best solution for the seed to absorb during the process of seed germination, is that the chemicals found in mouthwash like menthol, methyl salicylate, and etc. can cause harmful effects on the seed’s ability to sprout. These harsh chemical reactants can produce havoc within the cell’s interior. Mouthwash may also cause the endosperm to remain inside the seed which will make the seed very resistant to germinate. METHODS/PROCEDURES: In the beginning of the experiment, pea seeds were used in order to perform the experiment. It was extremely important to acquire good, dry, and viable seeds so the process of germination could occur. A handful of these healthy seeds worked best in assisting the experiment. The seeds ability to germinate was a vital information needed to determine the outcome of the experiment. The second step of the experiment was to soak the seeds in water overnight. This action was made to prepare the seeds for germination and making them more softer and less rigid. The seeds were placed in a bowl and were covered by tin foil. It was set up on the refrigerator to minimize any outside interference that may come to it. After a full night of absorbing the water, the seeds were ready to start the next stage. The third step that was taken was germinating the seeds. Two sets of paper towels were used to germinate the batch of seeds. The handful of seeds were split into two groups, one being the controlled group and the other being the experimental group. One of the paper towels were soaked in 3 tablespoons of water and the other was soaked in 3 tablespoons of Listerine Mouthwash. The amount of each solution remained the same in order to have a controlled experiment in which any changes that occurred in the dependent variable could be traced by only the independent variable. Having different measurements of quantity can affect the outcome. To make sure that a group of seeds did not have a difference in the amount of solution added, measuring them was very vital. The seeds that were labeled as the control treatments were placed on the towel soaked in H2O. The second batch of seeds labeled as the experimental group was placed on the towel soaked in mouthwash. Then, after that, the two towels with the seeds in it were folded and placed in separate zip-lock bags. The two zip lock bags sat on the dresser of my room for weeks. Having the seeds in a nice and warm temperature is better than, having them in an extreme temperature range that would hurt the seeds tremendously (seeds are very particular in the kind of environment they are in). In the first six days, the number of seeds that sprouted was accounted for in each bag. Another problem I accounted was knowing if all the seeds remained in the â€Å"seed sandwich†. Perhaps one seed could have dropped to the floor. To overcome this problem, I had to count and make sure that the amount of seeds were still there from the previous day. This was the entire procedure conducted. OBSERVATIONS/DATA: Throughout the six days of experimentation, the two batches of seeds were showing extremely different outcomes. Their response toward the water solution was different from their response toward the mouthwash solution. The seeds that germinated with water responded positively. The seeds germinated in Listerine Mouthwash responded negatively. On day 1, the seeds in a water solution sprouted. Little hypocotyl structures emerged from the seed coat, which showed signs of germination. About a centimeter long, 21out of 27 seeds germinated with their little, tiny structures sticking out. At the edge of the hypocotyl was a thin leafy structure known as the radicle. The seeds germinated rather quickly in just a day. Unfortunately, the seeds found in the mouth wash solution did not sprout at all and still held its green, brownish color. On day 2, the seeds’ stems grew longer. Their radicles extended a little longer like over 1 cm. This time, 24 out of 27 seeds germinated. The seeds in the mouthwash solution did not sprout at all. None of the seeds showed any signs of germination. One thing was quite weird during my last trial. Signs of shedding appeared in the seeds found in the mouthwash solution. One seed seem to be stripping its coat off. This observation showed up in only one of the trials, therefore it probably happened by chance. Both groups of seeds received nearly the same amount of that specific solution, which showed that the controlled group did not get a greater advantage over the other group. On day 3,the stems grew longer in the controlled group and the same outcomes remained in the experimental group. On days 4, 5, and 6, the seed grew accordingly. Their radicles became even longer with their bright green appearance. The seeds were fully germinated and ready to be put in the soil to germinate.

Implementation Of Marketing Strategies In Marvel Inc

Implementation Of Marketing Strategies In Marvel Inc Ronald Perelman an investor brought Marvel and caused a decline in late 1990s when Marvel filed for bankruptcy. This caused chaos in the company and battles were common among the various parties. But like Marvels characters a savior called Toy Biz, Inc came to the rescue and on October 1, 1998 they acquired Marvel Entertainment Group and named it Marvel Enterprises, Inc. After this change the company started to perform and the future was looking better. At present it is owned by The Walt Disney Company and known as Marvel Entertainment, LLC. Marvel provides its services through the means of comics, T.V., movies, toys, video games, etc. and has created a universe of great characters for the audiences. Marvels Characters Profile Marvel has 8000 various characters in all and each of these characters has helped to create Marvel Entertainment, LLC, therefore in this section some of the valuable characters of the company will be identified and what they brought to Marvel. The most famous characters in the Marvel Universe are Spiderman, Wolverine, The Hulk, Captain America the Punisher; these are considered to be among the top 10 comic characters ever (Albert, 2010). Five of Marvels characters are among the top 10 and in terms of market share for the year 2010 Marvel has acquired 45.52% of unit share and 40.66% for dollar share (Doran, 2010), which makes them number one in the world. In addition T.V. and movies have also helped in the popularity of the characters, as due to the release of Spider-Man Trilogy, X-Men Trilogy, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, X-Men Origin: Wolverine, etc. in the movie section and The Avengers: Earths Mightiest Heroes, Iron Man Armored Adventure, Wolverine and the X-Men, The Spectacular Spider-Man, etc. have been ruling the T.V. (Marvel Characters, Inc., 2010). Among the five top Marvel characters Spider-Man is considered to be the most popular as the story line has been innovating through the years. The popularity of this character is so huge that every kid and adult appreciates this character and this craze has grown with the release of several comics, T.V. shows, action figures, movies, video games, etc. The story of Spider-Man begins by Peter Parker being bit by a spider that ends up causing a mutation in him, which giving him extra-ordinary powers like climbing walls, shooting webs and a spider sense. The actual cause for this characters popularity was the character Peter Parker (Spider Man) who has issues like every other teenage boy and is also in love with one of the lead characters Mary Jane Watson and together it created not just a superhero story but also a love story that helped to attract teenagers. As for the other characters they also have similar story lines e.g. The Hulk and Captain also got their powers due to mutation, where as Wolverine is a Mutant himself and The Punisher takes revenge for the loss of his loved ones. In terms of villains that Marvel has created characters like Magneto, Doctor Doom, Galactus, Loki, Dark Phoenix and Kingpin, which are also among the top 10 comic book villains. As can be seen in the above table Marvel holds the market in this aspect as well and these characters have also played a major role in the popularity of the comics as people love to see their heroes defeating the most powerful villains. Marvel has always tried to give exactly what their market demands, whether it is their heroes, villains or story line and this has given them great success. Market Segmentation and Distribution Plans Comics Books The most famous characters have been the Spider-Man, X-Men and Fantastic Four and have also provided huge revenues. The major segments could be identified as male teenagers and young adults. These comic books were distributed using three ways which were direct market, mass market and subscription sales basis. The direct market distributers consisted of comic book specialty stores who had a large carrying capacity that could take as many products as Marvel liked; this was also lions share to the net revenue. The mass market consisted of bookstores and newsstands and these were distributed in huge stores like Wal-Mart and Target but offered a limited selection of comics. The subscription sales basis was a concept where the target market could directly purchase comics from Marvel for a subscription fee which tends to be on monthly or yearly basis. In 2003 Marvel sold almost 3.6 million copies and this were divided among the kids teens market and young adult market. The figure below wil l identify the market share of the market segments on the comic books in terms of percentage which is 56% for Young Adults and 44% for Kids and Teens. Figure : Comics Market Segment sales for 2003 Toys Manufacturing Toys are not the major revenue provider for Marvel but play a critical role towards loyalty as the major market for these products are kids from the age of four to twelve and collectors who increase the market value of the products especially action figures. Marvel sold the entire characters toy manufacturing license to TBW a Hong Kong based independent company for a royalty fee of 15% but this was with the exception of Spider-Man who rights belonged to Sony. The marketing and even the sales of these toys were done by Marvel themselves. With exception of some few selected figures that were sold through specialty stores and comic-book stores the figures were sold using the means of retailers, mass merchandisers, mall-order companies and variety stores. In terms of market segmentation kids accounted for 80% and the other 20% were collectors and this will be shown using a pie chart. Figure : Toys Market Segment in terms of Market Share Licensing Motion Pictures Marvel licensed all of their major characters to Movie Companies some of them being Spider-Man to Sony, X-Men to 20th Century Fox, The Hulk to Universal, The Punisher to Lions Gate, etc. and with exception of The Punisher all the other major characters were box office hits. The Movie that has made the most gross revenue was Spider-Man whose production cost was $139M where as the gross revenue was $404M in US and $822M worldwide. In relation to the rights the various studio determine the release timing and strategy but Marvel retained the merchandising rights and never contributed to the movie production marketing expenses. The revenue sharing consisted of 7% to 16% on gross revenue and 50% on the operating profit minus production costs, costs of prints, advertising expenditures, and distribution fees. In terms of market segmentation all of the motion pictures are R or PG-13 rated and this meant that the major segment consisted of Adults above the age of 18, as for the other segments they would teens between the age of 13 and 17. Other Media These are mainly DVD, video games, and also licensing to theme parks, shopping malls and special events. In relation to DVD a certain number of characters appeared in Lions Gate animated DVD and as for video games licensing Marvel have several licensing contracts with various game creators like Activision, Encore, Universal Games, THQ, and Electronic Arts (EA). In terms of market segmentation these were similar to motion pictures and were mainly teenagers and adults. Strategy and Recommendation In this section specific strategy with some recommendations will be mentioned which would help Marvel Enterprises, Inc. to grow and improve their present strategies. Comic-Book Publications At present Marvel is ranked as the best comic book publisher with market share above 40% and some of their recent growth has been due to the Avengers, Siege, Secret Avengers, and Uncanny X-Men and most of their new releases sold for $3.99 which is $1 more than their usual prices which means that even though prices increased the readers were willing to pay for them. In the above table it can be noticed that DC has many more comics in the list than Marvel but in actual The Avenger made huge sales which contributed to the increase in market share of the company. Marvel underperformed with the sales of graphic novels trade paperbacks as DC was able to achieve three of the top five spots (Doran, 2010). This clearly means that Marvel need to reconsider their strategy and they should consider bringing back Wolverine, Spider Man, The Hulk, etc. and even though Deadpool and Iron Man have been in the top ten they still are not one of the major sales characters for Marvel (Doran, 2010). Marvel at present is trying to bring some of the older and non famous characters in to the picture but the issue is that these characters have never been able to attract the market in the past so even considering bringing them would be to some extent risky but instead Marvel could consider making special appearances from some of the more famous characters like Spider Man, Wolverine, The Hulk, etc. and this intern would give the newer character some much needed support to become famous. Toy Production Toys play an important role in creating customer loyalty as kids and adults alike can read or watch their favorite characters and as long as there is nothing new but when it comes to toys and action figures there will always be a continues demand for it, thus it is important to focus more on trying to bring new toys to the market. The most sold toy for Marvel in a decade has been The Hulk Hands which sold 4 million units in 2003 but the thing to notice is that after the release of The Hulk Hands no other toy as mad an impact on the sales, thus Marvel might consider creating newer toys that could be in the same standard as The Hulk Hands. Another strategic issue is their toy makers as at present Marvel produces all their toys from one Toy Company and this is also the reason why there is no new creative ideas coming forth as after some period of time every company exhausts their creativity and resources, consequently the right decision for Marvel would be to change their producers or m ay be even have more than one producers for various characters and this will force competitions between the producers to make newer and better products one of the products that could work is making trading cards like Baseball, WWE, Yu Gi Oh, etc., this is an easy method to keep the children and youngsters interested in the characters. In addition to that the company could also hire an external company to keep a track of the quality and durability of the products this will help to keep the company on their toes thus driving them to success. Motion Pictures Marvel has sold rights of Spider Man, Iron Man, The Hulk, X-Men, etc. to various studios and there are many more characters that have been expected to make the re-entry in the movie industry like Thor, Captain America, Ghost Rider, Deadpool, Magneto, etc. but the issue here is that due to whatever reasons the movies are releasing at an extremely slow pace which to some extent is causing a fall in the market share and according to speculations the major reasons for releasing some of these characters is to make the movie The Avengers which includes some of the most famous characters of Marvel but the issue would be that it would take at least three years for the release as there are at least 3 more characters that have to be released. So a valuable recommendation would be to try to force the studios to release these movies at a quicker pace or to give the rights of the other remaining characters to the other studios as most of these characters could be released at the same time period. Other Recommendation Marvel has to first embrace that DC comics may not be performing well at present but their misfortunes could change quickly thus Marvel needs to understand that DCs major hope in terms of movies, comics and T.V. are Superman and Batman. Batman has recently gained a large market due to the release of The Dark Knight which has shifted the movie market in their favor and this is mainly due to their villain The Joker played by Heath Ledger. On the bright side Marvel has also released several movies that have created interest in the market but to tackle this problem Marvel will need to try and release the Avengers which seems to be the only story in their arsenal that could shift the whole market and at the same time release toys and video games which will help the market growth. Another recommendation would be to take more interest in the companies that are producing their characters whether through toys or movies as any mistake from the companies could truly damage their characters imag e and having control on what goes on in the movie and the toy company would be one of the better options for them and this could easily be done by sending one of their creative personals to be involved in the products.

Essay --

The sonnet is a form of poetry that is vastly used among poets. There are usually two types of sonnets in poetry, the Shakespearean sonnet and the Italian sonnet. Sonnets are typically defined as poems made up of 14 lines that rhyme in a specific way. William Butler Yeats’ â€Å"Leda and the Swan† is an example of an Italian sonnet. It consists of 14 lines and the rhyme scheme is ABABCDCDEFGEFG. In his poem, Yeats’ uses the sonnet form in many traditional ways. However Yeats’ also revises the sonnet form in order to help readers understand the main theme of the poem, which is rape. The poem starts off very surprising. In the first stanza, the speaker says, â€Å"A sudden blow: the great wings still/ Above the staggering girl, her thighs caressed/ By the dark webs, her nape caught in his bill/ He holds her helpless breast upon his breast† (1-4). Right away the speaker seems surprised. The girl wasn’t expecting a blow anytime soon and was knocked down. She seems disoriented and unsure of what’s going on. The bird is described as having â€Å"great wings.† This diction makes him seem powerful. Furthermore, he is above Leda and starts caressing her thighs. She seems helpless at this point. In line three of the poem, the swan grabs her neck with his bill. Then, he holds her closer so that their breasts can touch. The language here creates a very intimate setting. In addition to that, Leda’s breast is described as helpless. It seems that she can’t do anything and must let the rape continue. The way the poem is being told in the first stanza seems to allude to the myth of Leda and the Swan in Greek mythology. It seems that Yeats’ wants to portray the swan as the Greek god Zeus in the poem. In the second stanza, the speaker asks two questions. The spe... ...tead of foreshadowing the future. The speaker wonders if she knew what was going on while she was being raped and the consequences of Zeus’ actions. Furthermore, since this is an Italian sonnet, it is divided into two sections. The first section consists of the first eight lines and is called the octave. The second section is called the subset and consists of the final six lines of the poem. In the poem, the first part talks about Leda being raped by the powerful swan. She is helpless and even though she struggles, she cannot escape. This part of the poem focuses on Leda’s view of the situation. In the subset, the swan finally finishes raping Leda and the poem moves on to address what exactly has happened. In the subset, the speaker narrates the consequences of the rape. These consequences include the burning of the city of Troy and the Trojan War. In conclusion,

A Home on the Range :: Personal Narrative West Papers

A Home on the Range I swear that I spent my entire childhood waiting for Ray and Mary-Beth Garson. I would rock back and forth on the plush golden chair to the right of my Grandpa's and look out towards the golden Wyoming hills and the hay stack, waiting for their trailer to come bouncing down into the yard of the Dodds Family Gatecreek Ranch. Once they were in sight, I would dash outside and pretend to be busying myself with the saddles or sprucing up the area around the barn. It was never clear how many horses they would bring, but they always brought April and that was all that mattered. She was my horse. When my mother would tell Ray how much I loved April, he would just look down at his feet, smile and say, "She's a good horse." This time, however, I was not waiting for Ray and Mary-Beth by the window. I actually was busy in the yard, preparing a barbeque on our new grill from Kmart. In summers long past, we would have gone up to the picnic grounds to have dinner, but this time because it was just my mother and I we decided to stay at the house. There were no cousins, aunts, uncles, or siblings milling about, making trips to and from the house with the food and friends. There were no horses in the now terribly overgrown and rundown corral and there were no cows in the meadow behind the house. An elaborate meal was not on deck; it was just burgers, salad, and a Dominos pizza that Mary-Beth brought from town. I had not been to the Ranch since the death of my grandmother, four years earlier. She died on the eve of the millennium, perhaps not wanting to embark into the 21st century, after living through three open-heart surgeries, and the loss of a child and two husbands. Her one true source of joy came from Roger, my mother's half brother, the product of her first marriage which ended when her husband's plane was shot down during World War II. Roger was her prince and she showered him with more love than my grandfather, Thomas Dodds, would ever experience. Tensions had always run high between Roger and the rest of the family, but they came to a climax after my grandmother's death.

Holidays in Vietnam Speaking topic Essay

HOLIDAYS IN VIETNAM (Cà ¡c Ngà  y Lá »â€¦ á »Å¾ Viá »â€¡t Nam) Liberation Day/Reunification Day – April 30 (Ngà  y Giá º £i phà ³ng miá » n Nam thá »â€˜ng nhá º ¥t Ä‘á º ¥t nÆ °Ã¡ »â€ºc) International Workers’ Day – May 1 (Ngà  y Quá »â€˜c tá º ¿ Lao Ä‘á »â„¢ng) National Day (Vietnam) – September 2 (Quá »â€˜c khà ¡nh) New Year – January 1 (Tá º ¿t DÆ °Ã† ¡ng Lá »â€¹ch) Tá º ¿t (Vietnamese New Year) (Tá º ¿t Nguyà ªn Ä Ãƒ ¡n) Hung Kings Commemorations – 10th day of the 3rd lunar month (Giá »â€" tá »â€¢ Hà ¹ng VÆ °Ã† ¡ng) Hung Kings’ Temple Festival (Lá »â€¦ há »â„¢i Ä Ã¡ » n Hà ¹ng) Communist Party of Viet Nam Foundation Anniversary – February 3 (Ngà  y thà  nh lá º ­p Ä Ã¡ º £ng) International Women’s Day – March 8 (Quá »â€˜c tá º ¿ Phá » ¥ ná » ¯) Dien Bien Phu Victory Day – May 7 (Ngà  y Chiá º ¿n thá º ¯ng Ä iá »â€¡n Biá »â€¡n Phá » §) President Ho Chi Minh’s Birthday – May 19 (Ngà  y sinh Chá » § tá »â€¹ch Há »â€œ Chà ­ Minh) International Children’s Day – June 1 (Ngà  y quá »â€˜c tá º ¿ thiá º ¿u nhi) Vietnamese Family Day – June 28 (Ngà  y gia Ä‘Ã ¬nh Viá »â€¡t Nam) Remembrance Day (Day for Martyrs and Wounded Soldiers) – July 27 (Ngà  y thÆ °Ã† ¡ng binh liá »â€¡t sÄ ©) August Revolution Commemoration Day – August 19 (Ngà  y cà ¡ch má º ¡ng thà ¡ng Capital Liberation Day – October 10 (Ngà  y giá º £i phà ³ng thá » § Ä‘Ã ´) Vietnamese Women’s Day – October 20 (Ngà  y phá » ¥ ná » ¯ Viá »â€¡t Nam) Teacher’s Day – November 20 (Ngà  y Nhà   già ¡o Viá »â€¡t Nam) SPEAKING TOPICS 1. The differences between Vietnamese culture and American culture that you recognize from movies and books. 2. A special holiday in Vietnam that you like the most. 3. Introduce a holiday or a traditional custom that represents your hometown. 4. Supposed you are talking with a foreign friend and you would like to introduce a special thing of Vietnamese culture (clothes, food, music, and so on). What would it be?