Economy of Ancient Athens Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Economy of Ancient Athens - Research Paper Example Hellenistic period corresponds with the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the annexation of the original Greek by Rome (Oliver, 2007). Athens is considered as the cultural centre of the Ancient World. During this period, Athens city was no longer in imperial power and struggled to maintain the existing territory overseas in Cleruchies and Attica (Amemiya, 2007). Military and political dynamics influenced the economy of Athens during this period by making it more fragile. The ongoing war in Attica required the Athenians to protect their grain reserves. The Athens significantly contributed to financing the city and defense from enemies (Oliver, 2007). Thesis statement: the Ancient Athens economy had a dual system of financing that included taxation and private contributions that were geared at financing the grain supplies during famines and wars. The Hellenistic period in Athens ranges between 322 BC and lost of the Athenian naval power in 229 BC during the Lamian war. The Lam ian war (323 B.C – 322 B.C) was fought by a coalition of cities including Athens and led to the Macedonian victory and death of Alexander the Great. ... The loss of the Athenian naval power and subsequent loss of Mounychia during early Hellenistic period shifted the available resources to the defense of the rural areas in order to protect the local grain production (Rostovzeff, 1967). The defeat also limited the capability of Athens to import grains due to diminished revenues and increasing aggression with the neighboring grain producing states and cities. The Athenian authorities were eager to develop a military with a clear command, infrastructures and enough manpower to counter any threats to the countryside grain reserves (Amemiya, 2007). In this case, the defeat limited the grain production capacity since many men were forced to join the military and defend the local grain production (Jones, 1940). The trade policy was aimed at securing vital commodities such as timber and grain and also providing revenue. The Ancient Athenian state was closely intertwined in political, social and economic circumstances and sought to promote tra de in order to secure imports (Amemiya, 2007). Athens started honoring elite native citizens and also foreign potentates who provided large scale trade thus declining the power of the demos (Jones, 1940). Majority of the people were small scale farmers that were largely subsistence but they bought goods like metals which they could not produce. The agricultural foods produced were grains, vegetables and olives (Rostovzeff, 1967). The Hellenistic monarchies in Athens raised enough grains for their own consumption and also export. However, natural disasters and droughts sometimes damaged the harvest thus leading to a severe shortage of grain. The Athens paid for their grain through exporting olive oil and wine that found a lucrative market in

PGCE- Primary Teaching Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

PGCE- Primary Teaching - Personal Statement Example addition to my vocational qualifications in advertising, PR and Media, I would make to the position a proven ability to deal successfully and tactfully with children and colleagues. Although my course does not involve a subject in the national curriculum, I still possess a basis for primary teaching. Throughout my course, I have had to write advertisements and participate in field practical that have enhanced my communication skills. I can replicate this training in a classroom setting to capture children’s attention and have them respond appropriately. The nature of my advertising, PR and Media degree course has prepared me adequately for this position as there are areas that aid my understanding people’s thought processes when presented with information. Media training and advertisement has helped me understand the mechanics of communicating with wide and varied age groups. The learned PR skills will come handy in understanding children and develop strategies to aid learning. In addition to my strong theoretical basis for the course, I obtained practical experience for teaching. While on a three-week placement abroad, I observed that a teachers approach to the class has a far reaching effect on the learner’s ability. For example, a teacher often changed the ways he taught a class to maintain the interest of the children in those activities. She encouraged and celebrated children who were experiencing difficulties in certain activities. The motivation spurred them to try harder, and they succeeded in many cases. Her positive attitude reflected in children, giving them confidence in themselves hence an active learning environment. I had the opportunity to guide the class in story telling which preceded an ICT lesson that would require class discussions. It was evident that some children are happy to participate in this environment while others were not quite as keen. It is, therefore, imperative that teaching practitioners design strategies that would

Georgia Voluntary Payment Doctrine Essay Example for Free

Georgia Voluntary Payment Doctrine Essay The Georgia Voluntary Payment Doctrine is a policy that has been used in Georgia law since the 19th Century. It has been exercised so long that this policy has codified a statute. Because it dates back two centuries when business deals were completed on one’s word, face-to-face and with a hand shake, it causes one to question if it has outdated itself and should still be used to decide court cases in today’s business world. According to Dan Kolber of the Atlanta Business Chronicle, â€Å"the statute says when money is paid through ignorance of the law and there is no fraud or mistake of facts, then the payment is deemed voluntary and cannot be recovered. Filing a protest at the time of payment does not change this rule. † This law has been the deciding factor in many cases which some say have resulted in outrageous outcomes. In order for the Voluntary Payment Doctrine to be enforced there are three conditions that must be met. The first is that the payment is made through ignorance of the law or where all material facts are known. The person asking for reimbursement must prove that the payment was not made voluntarily because not all material facts were known at the time the payment was made. No one is excused from a law just because he is unaware that it exists. Secondly, the person to whom this payment is made must not have collected it fraudulently. And, lastly the payment must not have been made under duress, such as to release a person from detention or to prevent the immediate seizure of property. The person cannot be forced or coerced to make the payment. (AGG Authority on Real Estate, Winter, 2006) This statute has returned favorable outcomes for many. One particular Georgia case is that of an insurance company who lost its bid to recover overpayments made to medical providers. Mr. Seaton D. Purdom who was involved in the lawsuit supports it with this doctrine. He feels â€Å"It promotes commercial stability. It allows people to receive payments on account and treat them as payments, instead of escrow deposits. (Atlanta Business Chronicle) In this case, Cotton et al. v. Med-Cor Health Information Solutions, Inc. , Smith et al. vs. PMSI, L. P. , Yarbrough et al. v. PMSI, L. P. , and Lawrence et al. v.  Smart Professional Copy Corporation sets patients at various Atlanta hospitals against corporations who were responsible for photocopying medical records of patients and delivering them to authorized persons. Defendants performed the photocopying and delivery services and inflicted charges ranging from $1. 04 to $7. 60 per page. Plaintiff’s attorneys held that these charges were made in violation of the Health Records Act as they exceeded the limit of â€Å"reasonable costs of copying and mailing the records. † (Lawskills. com). They sought to recover these overpayments under the Georgia Voluntary Payment Doctrine. As noted above the Georgia Voluntary Payment Doctrine requires that payments of claims be made where all of the facts are not known and there is misplaced confidence or deception by the other party and payments cannot be recovered unless under an urgent necessity to release personal property. In this case both parties agreed that all material facts were known when payments were made so they did not meet the first requirement of the law. The plaintiffs maintained the defendants practiced a falsehood on them by providing records the hospital was supposed to provide and billed them excessively and more than the hospital was allowed to charge. The court found that this falsehood is not what caused the plaintiffs to make payments which they sought to recover. Then the plaintiffs argued the payments were made through misplaced confidence. Again the court found they had no facts on which these excuses could be found. Plaintiffs claimed they made the payments because they would have otherwise risked collection activity that would have hurt their credit and the court found this not to be an urgent necessity. Because the court felt they did not meet any of the requirements of the Georgia Voluntary Payment Doctrine, the plaintiffs were unable to recover any payment. However, the plaintiffs were able to recover under the Georgia Health Care Act. The court found the photocopying companies were agents of the hospital and were required under the Georgia Health Care Act to limit the cost of copying and mailing records to a reasonable amount. The plaintiffs therefore received payments of the charges deemed excessive. (Lawskills. com Georgia Caselaw) In the case S09G1664. SouthStar Energy Services, LLC v. Ellison et al. the Georgia Voluntary Payment Doctrine was applied to the claims of the customers of Georgia Natural Gas. In 2006 after the Natural Gas Consumer Relief Act was passed, the Georgia Natural Gas Company modified its billing procedures for its customers. The company developed a new standard plan and altered the method of computing the plan. (Forthcoming Opinions, SCOG Blog). The customers, Charles Ellison and Susan Bresler represented by the Atlanta law firm Strickland Brockington Lewis sued the Natural Gas Company â€Å"under a private right of action in the Gas Act. † The plaintiffs sought to recoup their overpayments charged through the defendant’s violations of the Natural Gas Competition and Deregulation Act (Natural Gas Act). The defendant asked the court to dismiss the case due to the plaintiff’s failure to establish a reasonable claim on which repayment should be given. A trial court granted a motion to dismiss the case, but an appeal was filed and the Court of Appeals reversed the trial court decision. In the appeal the appellees disclosed several actions by the Natural Gas Company that violated different sections of the Natural Gas Act, such as charging more for natural gas than the published marketed price. The gas company attorneys argued that the plaintiffs had made payment of their bill voluntarily, thus relieving the gas company from any wrong nor requiring them to make restitution. In March, 2010 the Georgia Supreme Court confirmed its agreement with the Court of appeals stating that the purpose of the Georgia Natural Gas Act is to protect the natural gas customer and granted the plaintiff the right to sue for damages. This decision opens the door for the plaintiff to proceed with action to recover overpayment and damages from the gas company. Wall Street Investment Fraud Lawyer Blog) Although neither of these cases was decided based on the Georgia Voluntary Payment Doctrine, the plaintiffs were allowed to continue to seek their claims for their overpayments under another law. In each of these cases the attorneys for the plaintiffs sought recovery of payment under other Acts. The plaintiffs in the Cotton v. Med-Cor Health Information Solutions, Inc. et al case have recovered overpayment while the Georgia Supreme Court has made a ruling that removed the Georgia Voluntary Payment Doctrine as a defense in the case of SouthStar Energy Services v. Ellison. This ruling allows the plaintiffs in this case to proceed with their lawsuit against SouthStar. In 2000 a case was tried in Georgia in which cable subscribers who failed to make their cable payments on time were charged late fees. This group of cable customers sought to recover these penalty fees claiming they were unenforceable fines. These subscribers had voluntarily paid the additional late fees. Under the Georgia Voluntary Payment Doctrine a payment is considered â€Å"voluntary† if it is paid in ignorance of the law. Therefore, in this case the Court ruled that the payments were paid â€Å"voluntarily† by the simple fact the subscribers admitted they did not know the late penalty fees were unenforceable and was in fact ignorance of the law. (AGG Authority on Real Estate, Winter, 2006) The Georgia Voluntary Payment Doctrine is a statute that has been used throughout the last two centuries. As has been shown in these three cases it can be a help to one’s case or a disadvantage. It is a law that is used by large companies that seems to take advantage of the general public as most common folk are generally not very well versed in the law.

The Health Effects of Smoking to Maori and Non-Maori Clients

The Health Effects of Smoking to Maori and Non-Maori Clients INTRODUCTION: The top leading cause of death for Maori and Non-Maori according to the Ministry of Health are Ischemic Heart Disease, Lung Cancer, Cerebrovascular Disease, and Diabetes. (Major causes of death (all ages) | Ministry of Health NZ, n.d.) The leading cause of Lung Cancer is smoking with an 80-90 percent ratio. This is an important topic to investigate for me because this is a life-threatening matter that only one can control, with the help of the family, friends and the organization, New Zealand can be a smoking free environment. Being the top 2 leading cause of death to Maori ethnic, it is a calling for me to focus on this paper by educating them on this matter. This paper primarily aims to decrease the mortality rate of lung cancer by improving the health awareness of the effects of smoking in the body, raise awareness of lung cancer and its symptoms, what are the Maori perception towards smoking, how to overcome the bad habit of smoking and to be aware of what the programs are that the government has to offer with regards to minimizing smoking. Health Effects of Smoking 1. Lung Cancer 2. Smoking is either the direct cause or a contributing factor in 30% Cancer: Esophageal Cancer Head and Neck Cancer Cervical, Ovarian, Breast Cancer Prostate Cancer 3. The effects of a second hand smoking B. The different insights of the Maori and Non Maori towards smoking, origin as to why Maori smoke C. Different programs to stop smoking 1. Nicotine Replacement Therapy 2. Practice Relaxation Techniques 3. Call for Reinforcements 4. Go online for Supports D. Smoke Free by 2025 A. Health Effects of Smoking 1. The usual questions that we are running at the back of our mind are questions like how do we get lung cancer or why is it the top 5 leading cause of death to Maori and non Maori people? We all know that cancer can be genetic and can also be acquired if we have bad habits like eating carcinogenic foods and with lung cancer the risk factors would be smoking and air pollution. I have asked some people as to why do they smoke and their usual answers are smoking helps them cope up with the stressful life they have, may it be from work or at home, smoking for some others would make them relieve and relax. Sometimes youth experienced peer pressure or out of curiosity they’ll do it. But the harmful effects that the chemicals inside a cigarette are obviously not being mind. When we play with fire and our hand got burn, we will actually put away our hand from the fire and perhaps put the fire off unlike smoking it will affect our body in a long term process but once it will scar our lungs that would be irreversible to cure. Our body would be experiencing a lot of physical reactions to every smoke we puff. This chemical highly affects the blood pressure, and increases pulse rate which can lead to palpitations and heart burns thus leads to disturbance in the entire body. There are over 4000 chemical compounds present in cigarette smoke at around 40 plus chemicals are known to be carcinogenic while 200 of it are poisonous ones. Examples of these compounds are carcinogens, benzene, formaldehyde, pesticides, TSNAs, vinyl chloride, toxic metals, arsenic, and cadmium. These chemicals are very toxic which can cause cancer cells. Lung Cancer is the uncontrolled abnormal cell growths that start on attacking one lung or both lungs. The abnormal cells don’t convert to normal cells but rather they rapidly divide and formed into tumor cells. A Passivesmokingmeans you inhale the smoke of one person that smoke which leads to air pollution and increases the risk of lung cancer, but it is still much less percentage than if you smoke yourself. The effect to reduce lung cancer is through prevention, early detection and treatment. 2. Smoking is one risk factor that causes head, neck, esophageal, breast, cervical, ovarian and prostate cancer. According to the American Cancer Society, â€Å"smoking a pack a day doubles your risk factor for cancer.† DNA cells will be damage when smoke is inhaled in the body. My grandfather died of tongue cancer and he actually smoke like a pack of cigarettes each day. And before he died when he was still in the hospital he told my dad who was a smoker before that â€Å"if you love yourself and love my daughter (which is my mom) you need to quit smoking† so right there and then my dad never smoke again. Eighty-five percent of head and neck cancers are linked to tobacco use. Smoking can accelerate cancerous changes in the cervix due to HPV. While women who smoked for 25 years or more and were still smoking had twice the risk of developing ovarian cancer as those who never smoked. Fatty tissues in your breast can be the resting place of carcinogenic compounds who smoke thus links smoking triggers breast cancer. Prostate cancer is simply the uncontrolled and abnormal growth of cells in the prostate which cigarettes has carcinogenic compounds that triggers cancer cells and attacks any part of the body that are weak. (Eldridge,L. (n.d.). Health Effects of Smoking). This are the symptoms that you should watch out for and go direct consult your GP. 3. Passive smoking is the process where you breathe other people’s smoke or when you inhale somebody’s smoke. Back in the Philippines I myself have experienced this situation were all our neighbors are a chain smokers and I kept on telling them to smoke a little bit farther because my baby and I can smell the smoke. We have one of the worst air pollution back in our country thus leads to several of diseases like PTB, COPD, Lung cancer and Pneumonia. As an emergency nurse, I have witnessed a lot of patience who suffered from shortness of breath, coughing or vomiting blood and when I have assessed their habits one thing are common they are active smokers or victim of second hand smokers. That is why when I first step in New Zealand I fell in love with it not just because of its nature but it has a clean fresh air. Lung cancer and second hand smoking has been scientifically connected and linked since mid-1980s and the studies shows that there is a 20 percent increased risk of developing lung cancer to non-smoker who is exposed to second hand smoking. Just 30 minutes of exposure is enough to decrease blood flow to the heart. Around 350 New Zealanders are killed by others peoples tobacco smoke each year. Second hand smoke has been the cause of coronary heart disease, lung cancer, acute stroke, nasal sinus cancer, eye and nasal irritation. An adult who have never tried smoking and is living with a smoker has a 15 percent higher risk of death than those who are living in a smoke free household. Maori children are exposed greatly to second hand smoke than non Maori children. It was Captain James Cook who introduced smoking to Maori in the late 1700s. The Maori thought of him as a demon because his face was smoking and with fire so they poured water on him to check if the fire would go out and if not then he is a demon that needs to be killed. Tobacco is not a Maori tradition, but they became a heavy smoker when they adopted what was introduced to them. Compare to other ethnic groups in New Zealand, smoking to Moari is common most especially to areas in deprivation. In the 19th century most Maori women were painted or photograph with a pipe at hand while Pakeha women is seen with tobacco is unacceptable. In 1899 the MÄ ori newspaperTe Puke ki Hikurangi, the smoke products are used by men, women and the youth for Maori while the Pakeha rule only older men are allowed to smoke while women and young women are not allowed at all. (MÄ ori use of tobacco – MÄ ori smoking, alcohol and drugs – tÃ…Â «peka, waipiro me te taruk ino – Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand. (n.d.). Around 800 Maori dies each year because of the different diseases caused by smoking tobacco. There has been a 10 percent health gap inequality between Maori and non-Maori due to smoking. The Maori ethnic group actually spends around $260 million in cigarette taxes each year. The Moari leaders are straight forward although the community still control there decision or has a final say to their destiny. But the Maori principle will need mass mobilization and support to realize the benefits from such a commitment. (The Issues Health Secondhand Smoke CanTobacco. (n.d.). Programs to help stop Smoking are: Nicotine Replacement Therapy- it is an invaluable aid to help people to quit smoking. If you are a heavy smoker and wanted to quit, NRT is an helpful material because it gives a cessation somewhat like when you’re smoking. It includes a patch, gum, lozenges which the government of New Zealand offers low cost of NRT. Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) is a proven efficacious and safe aid for smoking cessation. However, initiation of NRT use remains low, and among those who do use the products insufficient dosages and early termination is common. Practice Relaxation Techniques- Cardio exercises helps you relax and divert yourself from the cravings you are feeling and you must also give your mouth something to chew on like sugarless gum, or hard candy, raw carrots, or celery nuts or something crunchy and satisfying. Calls for reinforcements- this is a program were you ask counseling or someone’s help for moral support most especially from your family, friends and a support group. A chat on the phone or face to face conversation and talk about your cravings or other good things to laugh about. Go for online supports- there are a lot of online sites that would assist an individual who wants to quit smoking. Reading blogs and other successful stories of people who successfully finished the programs would help uplift the spirit of a beginner. Some sites are www.orakeihealth.com, ngati hine health trust in whangarei, koriri marae hauora in wellington and many more. Expressing yourself to others and reading articles to other story relaxes you and can encourage you push through the program process. A motivation to push forward for a better health. Smoke free environment by 2025 is the government programs and their goals are not to ban the cigarettes but tobacco will be difficult to sell and supply. They will increase the tobacco tax per annum. Extend smoke free areas like inside the cars with children, parks and sport fields, bus stops and other transport settings. This will protect the people from the exposure of the second hand smoking. The goal is attainable if everyone would cooperate in attending smoke free events, encouraging and supporting more people to quit, reaching out and giving education to family, school, community and organizations. Tell Maori and Non Moari to not smoke around children and teach children that smoking is harmful to the body. (Smokefree 2025 | Smokefree. (n.d.). Conclusion: The Maori ethnic has the highest incident rate of lung cancer and other diseases caused by smoking because majority of them have embraced smoking as part of their culture when introduced by the British colony. They have been living as a group or tribe in ancient days and today they’re living in an extended form family therefore if one family member is smoking it highly affects the smoker and the family member in a way of second had smoking and children seeing their family member smoke would think that smoking is acceptable and healthy. As a healthcare manager I would highly suggest that health education would be implemented to every facility or company twice a year. This would help the community reach out to each and everyone with no exception to its race, gender, age and social status. Health awareness would slowly help Maori individual accept and adopt that smoking is dangerous to our health. There has been an equal and fair treatment with regards to health care programs as far as I have researched. May it be a citizen or resident of New Zealand, a Maori or non Maori the service has been made for their convenience. Some facilities have even interpreters to help cater the needs of individual. I have observed that some bus stops, train stations don’t have no smoking signs which the public can smoke freely and that can harm other people. To help achieve the governments program of Smokefree by 2025 as an individual we should help our family members, friends, and colleagues educate them and help them go through the program on quitting smoking. References: Major Causes of Death (all ages). (n.d.). RetrievedOctober2014, from http://www.health.govt.nz/nz-health-statistics/health-statistics-and-data-sets/maori-health-data-and-stats/tatau-kahukura-maori-health-chart-book/nga-mana-hauora-tutohu-health-status-indicators/major-causes-death-all-ages Eldridge,L. (n.d.). Health Effects of Smoking. Retrieved from http://http://lungcancer.about.com/od/causesoflungcance1/a/effectsofsmoking.htm The Issues Health Secondhand Smoke CanTobacco. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.cantobacco.org.nz/the-issues/health/secondhand-smoke MÄ ori use of tobacco – MÄ ori smoking, alcohol and drugs – tÃ…Â «peka, waipiro me te tarukino – Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand. (n.d.). InTe Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand – Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand is building a comprehensive guide to our peoples, natural environment, history, culture, economy and society. Retrieved from http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/maori-smoking-alcohol-and-drugs-tupeka-waipiro-me-te-tarukino/page-1 Smokefree 2025 | Smokefree. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://smokefree.org.nz/smokefree-2025 http://youtu.be/9LF7qoJdEXc

A Comparison Between ?Traveling through the dark? and ?A Noiseless, Pa

A Comparison Between â€Å"Traveling through the dark† and â€Å"A Noiseless, Patient Spider† William Stafford’s "Traveling through the dark" is beautifully written poem that expresses one of life’s most challenging aspects. It is the story of a man’s solitary struggle to deal with a tragic event that he encounters. Driving down a narrow mountain road, â€Å"Traveling through the dark,† the narrator of the poem encounters a deer. This line might fool the reader into believing the poem has a happy theme however, the first word of the second line reverses this belief. The deer is actually â€Å"dead on the edge of the Wilson River Road† (2, 911). The traveler decides to send the deer over the edge of the canyon, because â€Å"to swerve might make more dead† (4, 911). This line indicates that if he fails or â€Å"swerves† in his decision, the deer could cause an accident on the narrow road that might cost more lives. The narrator proceeds with his unfortunate task. He approaches the deer and observes that it is a recent killing. He drags her off to the side of the road, noting that she is â€Å"large in the belly† (8, 911). The narrator soon discovers that the deer is pregnant, and that her fawn is still alive. At this moment he hesitates, distraught over the decision he knows he must make. Faced by the implications of this decision, the narrator considers his surroundings: his car stares ahead into the darkness with its lowered parking lights, purring its steady engine; he stands â€Å"in the glare of the warm exhaust turning red,† (15, 912) and can â€Å"hear the wilderness listen† (16, 911). All of these describe the anxiety he feels about his responsibility. The personified car is expectantly awaiting his decision, eager to get moving again. The wilderness takes on human abilities also, silently witnessing the outcome it knows must be, but wishing it was otherwise. As the narrator ponders all of this, the taillights of the car illuminate him in their red light. This is reflective of the heightened emotions he is experiencing, but also brings to mind the bloody fate of the deer and her unborn fawn. The narrator thinks â€Å"hard for us all† (17,912) and proceeds with the task he had committed to since the beginning. He pushes the deer and her unb orn fawn over the edge into the river. There is much more to â€Å"Traveling through the dark† than its literal story. The ... ... wishes to underline this point by making the thread that the spider will use to launch itself into the air drawn out to an extreme. The spider is tireless in its quest, and so too is the soul. The soul, like the spider, is flinging out a "gossamer thread to catch somewhere" (10, 810). And like the spider, the soul is willing and able to wait until the moment shall arrive that is just right to begin its travels. However, like the spider's fragile silk, this bridge is also frail and prone to breakage from a careless act or an unheeding nature. So, in spite of the careful and deliberate act of flinging out a filament to catch on some unknown "sphere", it is possible that the soul may never reach its destination. For Whitman, that is both the excitement and the scariness of it all. Perhaps he is communicating to the reader the idea that though one may never get to where one is going, still, the journey is very important. Although by the language and the elements within these two poems seem very different, the interpretation suggests that they both discuss man’s journey through life. The physical in one, and the spiritual in the other.

Health Care Inequities for Aboriginal Women Essay -- Health, Access to

Health care inequities for Aboriginal women There are 1.1 million Aboriginal peoples living in Canada as of 1996 and 408,100 of them are women (Statistics Canada, 2000; Dion Stout et al, 2001). More than half live in urban centres and two thirds of those reside in Western Canada (Hanselmann, 2001). Vancouver is comprised of 28,000 Aboriginal people representing 7% of the population (Joseph, 1999). Of this total population, 70% live in Vancouver’s poorest neighbourhood which is the Downtown Eastside (DTES). Health care inequities can be elucidated by the research that identifies the social, economic and political ideologies that reflect aspects of cultural safety (Crandon, 1986; O’Neil, 1989 as cited in Browne & Fiske, 2001). There are various factors that affect the mistreatment of aboriginal peoples as they access health care in local health care facilities such as hospitals and clinics. Aboriginal women face many barriers and are discriminated against as a result based on their visible minority status such as race, gender and class (Gerber, 1990; Dion Stout, 1996; Voyageur, 1996 as cited in Browne & Fiske, 2001). A study done on Aboriginal peoples in Northern B.C. showed high rates of unemployment, underemployment and dependency on social welfare monies (Browne & Fiske, 2001). This continued political economic marginalisation of aboriginal peoples widens the gap between the colonizers and the colonized. The existence of racial profiling of aboriginal peoples by â€Å"Indian s tatus† often fuels more stigmatization of these people because other Canadians who do not see the benefits of compensations received with having this status often can be resentful in what they may perceive is another compensation to aboriginal peoples. The re... ...ir personal encounters with Aboriginal classmates that they might have had in high school. Life experiences, parental upbringing, ethnic roots, social status and education all shape nursing practices. Nurses and other health care professionals are trained in institutions that fail to recognise the socio-political injustices that occur in health care settings. In addition to this, their experiences in their work and in their personal lives and communities, they already have opinions about certain groups of people. â€Å"Cultural safety would encourage nurses to question popular notions of culture and cultural differences, to be more aware of the dominant social assumptions that misrepresent certain people and groups, and to reflect critically on the wider social discourses that inevitably influence nurses’ interpretive perspectives and practices† (Browne, 2009, p. 21).

Porter Generic Stratey Essay

The key drivers of competitive advantage are cost leadership and differentiation product †¢COMPETITIVE STRATEGY- the means by which an organisation seeks to achieve and sustain a competitive advantage†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Porter suggests that competitive strategy means taking an offensive or defensive action to create a defendable position to cope with the competitive forces- this would lead to greater returns †¢Porter suggests that a firm’s strengths fall into two headngs; cost advantage and differentiation. By applying these strengths in a broad or narrow focus, three generic strategies result: COST LEADERSHIP, DIFFERENTIATION AND FOCUS†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦they are generic because they are not specific to a firm or industry. †¢4 strategies to gain a competitive advantage: COST LEADERSHIP-(superior profits through lower costs), DIFFERENTIATION-(higher profits by adding value the products areas that are of real significance for customers who are willing to pay a premium price), FOCUS STRATEGY-(concentrate on a specific area on the market) †¢COST LEADERSHIP- concentrates on becoming the lowest cost producer through economies of scale. With this, the organisation can compete on price with the potential to earn higher unit profits. Cost reduction provides the focus for the orgaisations strategy. Competitive advantage is achieved by driving costs down. There is room for only one cost leader †¢Firms that succeed in cost leadership have the following strengths: access to capital to make big investment, design skills, high level of expertise in manufacturing process, efficient distribution channels †¦. EXAMPLES- RYANAIR, TOYOTA, TESCO, AND WALMART †¢Cost leadership is often seen as a strategy that aims to attract customers with low prices made by low costs†¦.. ut this doesn’t necessarily mean the lowest selling price, but due to low costs, the profit margins are higher †¢DIFFERENTIATION- this strategy calls for a development of a product or service that offers unique and valued attribute by customers. The customers believe that the product is different than rivals. – the uniqueness gives a product added value which enables companies to charge a higher price premium. Successful differentiation- differentiating products from competitiors, charging a higher price†¦. an base differentiation on omage, durability, after-sales customer service/ needs strong R&D †¢HOWEVER, adding value increases a firms cost base for a product which reduces the unit profit margin- these costs can only be recouped if the consumer is willing to pay the premium price. Also, customers must recognise these differences†¦. EXAMPLES: BMW, MIELE (HIGHER QUALITY DOMESTIC APPLIANCES), BANG AND OLUFSEN, MERC, ETC †¢Benefit – a chance of charging a premium price, demand for differentiated less elastic, above average profits, additional barriers to entry? Risks – difficult to sustain, higher costs, risk of creating differences, comsumers may become too price sensitive, compititors who attain a focus strategy may achieve greater differentiation. †¢FOCUS STRATEGY- Like differentiation, but organisation concentrates on one or more segments of the market, this may offer the firm more security for achieving its competitive advantage†¦. However there are specific requirements for the focus strategy†¦. Firms benefit form specialisation, differentiation on a lower scale, so the costs are lower than full scale differentiation