Gang Prevention

Broad Topic: Youth Gangs Narrow Topic: The Prevention of Gangs in Los Angeles Thesis Statement: The Mass Media Influences on Youth Joing Gangs I. Introduction A. Is our youth and teens being influenced by the mass media to join gangs? B. Is the media becoming more violent? C. What options do youth and teens have to prevent joing gangs? II. Body A. Behavior 1. The mass media portrays gang member behavior. 2. Language and dress code are taught to kids at a young age. B. Effects 1. Execution of gang members 2. Getting away without being caughtConclusion A. Community-chosen programs to lure youth, keep them busy and happy, and even motivate them to change their ways. B. The local social conditions in which our youth are raised in larger cultural generate great numbers of violence in individuals. Q1. â€Å"Most cities trying to reduce gang violence deny that they specifically target at-risk kids. As Nanette Smejkal, director of El Paso's parks and recreation department, says, â€Å"From our perspective, all kids are at risk. That's why they need positive programs†(Weintraub).This shows how youth gang prevention provived by the city during the summer to all its recreation centers and parks for kids under the age of 17. Waiving the annual membership fee that proved onerous for many poorer youngsters. Q2. â€Å"It is guns, it is poverty, it is overcrowding, and it is the uniquely American problem of a culture that is infatuated with violence. We love it, we glamorize it, we teach it to our children†(Surette). This demonstrates that our youth and armed aggression is not an American cultural right,and will determine the media's ultimate relationship to youth and violence.We must as a society address everything we can, such as economic inequities, the gun culture, and the glamorization of violence. And, by a slow, painful, generational process of moral leadership and example, we must work to modify the individual, family, and neighborhood factors that viole ntly predispose youth. Q3. â€Å"The debasement of our culture, of which gangsta rap is a big part, has coarsened children in general and put high-risk kids in a dangerous place. Taking drugs,carrying uns, and disrespecting human beings is now not only socially acceptable in many situations, it is downright glamorous†(O’Reilly). This shows how we as a society can reduce one aspect of violence in a violent society and expect real results. Youth violence will not be seriously reduced without violence in other aspects of our culture being addressed. In the same vein, modifying media violence alone will not have much effect but to ignore it will make efforts on other fronts less successful.Despite the fact that the media have limited independent effects on youth violence, we need to expand the focus on them. P1. â€Å"Gangs are violating our children and our community how these kids walk around with these guns,† said Harlem Mothers SAVE co-founder Jackie Rowe-Adams. â€Å"We have to go after these laws on the federal level and go after the NRA and the ATE†(Adams). P2. â€Å"We are in a very dangerous situation because this was right outside of a school and kids were outside in the play area.What we are seeing now is not what we are used to seeing, which is a new phenomenon with conflict between groups from different neighborhoods†(Perkins). P3. â€Å"Kids join [gangs] for various reasons,† Donahue says. â€Å"But I also believe it's a breakdown of the family, and I know everybody paints that picture. But if they were getting that support at home, they wouldn't join the gangs. (Lozada7-14). Title:New weapons in the fight against gangsSource:Parks and Recreation Author:Boris Weintraub Publication Date: November 2009

Advice on feeding children for parents with concerns about their own eating Essay

Many parents have concerns about their own eating and worry about the impact that this may have on feeding their children and on their children’s healthy development. What follows below is some advice about how best to manage feeding children for parents or caregivers with their own concerns about eating. A role model for children1 ? Children copy the behaviours of others. Your children will pick up eating behaviours exhibited by parents, siblings, other family members and friends so try to be a positive role model for your child by eating and enjoying regular meals with them if possible. Give children child-sized portions ? For parents who are limiting their own calorie intake or portion size, they may lose sight of what is an appropriate portion for their growing child. It is important to give children suitable portions, rather than those that are too large or too small. Guidance on portion size can be found here: http://www. nhs. uk/change4life/Documents/pdf/Step_By_Step_Me_Size_Meals. pdf or here: http://www. nhs. uk/change4life/pages/kids-portion-size-tips. aspx.? As a general rule, a portion of fruit or vegetables is the same size as a person’s palm. So, a child-size portion of peas on a dinner plate should be the same size as your child’s palm. Offer a healthy, balanced diet ? Children and adults need a nutritious, balanced diet for optimal development and health. Try to ensure that you are giving your children meals that include: fruit and vegetables; starchy foods (e. g. , rice, pasta, bread, potatoes); meat, fish, eggs and beans; milk and dairy foods; and moderate amounts of food containing fat and sugar (see here: http://www.nhs.k/Livewell/Goodfood/Documents/Eatwellplate. pdf). ? Don’t cut food groups out of your child’s diet (unless they have an allergy / intolerance) and do try to offer a variety of foods across mealtimes. ? Ensure that children have three meals a day, as well as healthy snacks. Research suggests that breakfast is particularly important for school children as it provides them with energy required for the day. Listen to your child ? Children are good regulators of their own levels of hunger and fullness. They will tell you when they are hungry and full. If they are often still hungry 20 minutes after finishing their meal, it may be that the portion size is too small for them. Try not to be too controlling2-5 ? Parents may feel that their child needs to eat all the food on their plate in order to be healthy. Avoid pressuring or forcing your child to eat more than he/she wishes. Pressuring children to eat food can result in the food becoming less liked and children eating less of that food. If your child tells you he/she is full, they probably are. ? Try not to overly restrict your child’s access to (unhealthy) foods. Limiting children’s intake of foods can unintentionally make these foods seem more desirable and children may then eat more of these foods if given free access to them (e. g. , at parties). ? Everything in moderation. Keeping track of what your child eats is good parenting and ensuring that your child eats a balanced diet is encouraged. However, it is important to offer your child a balance of foods from all the food groups to ensure healthy growth and development. Above all remember that food is a fuel. Your child requires a healthy, balanced diet and regular meals and snacks in order to grow and remain healthy.

Dehumanization: Marxism and Modern Era Essay

Dehumanization is the process of stripping away or denying other’s access to basic human qualities or rights. An ideal society would be free of this inequality, however, during the modern era, encouraged by capitalism and free competition, it is difficult to maintain complete equality and fairness. In fact, three books from the reading list, Marx’s Communist Manifesto, Sumner’s essay, What the Social Classes Owe to Each Other, and Primo Levi’s tale of Survival at Auschwitz, truly illustrate how difficult ideas and cultural values of the era make it to eliminate dehumanization. Although, the situations presented in each of the book are very different, they mainly deal with the loss or diminishment of four basic human qualities: the natural value in being human, the uniqueness of the individual, the freedom to act and make decisions, and the equality of status. This paper will analyze not only how these qualities were diminished in each of the cases in the m odern era but also look to see if dehumanization was resisted. Communist Manifesto The Communist Manifesto, written by Karl Marx, attempts to explain the goals of Communism as well as the theories underlying this movement. It argues that class struggle, or the exploitation of one class by another, have been occurring for generations. Marx quotes, â€Å"The history of all hitherto existing society [has been] the history of class struggles† (79). Class relationships are defined by an era’s means of production. However, However, eventually these relationships cease to be compatible with the developing forces of production. At this point, a revolution occurs and a new class emerges as the ruling one. Specifically, the Modern industrial era is characterized by the class conflict between the bourgeoisie and proletariat. The bourgeoisie consisted of employers of laborers or the owners of the means of production. The proletariat represented the wage laborers and they were dehumanized. In fact, the bourgeoisie violated all four of the main human qualities list ed in the introduction. Firs, the fact that there was an economically based class system indicated inequality in status. Second, since the bourgeoisie class employed the proletariat thereby controlling the action and decision of the lower class. Third, the bourgeoisie in he modern era clumped the entire proletariat class together and considered them mere laborers, Fourth, Marx believed that wage laborers working with machinery dehumanized the worker. Human values were diminished since laboring class could be easily replaced by machinery in some instances for more efficiency. Any one of these violations alone can stand as mere inequality; however, when many more of these violations get stacked, inequality becomes a form of dehumanization. Therefore, as production demand increased, the exploitation by the bourgeoisie class of the proletariat class increased. Eventually, this would anger the proletariat class enough to start a revolution and overthrow the bourgeoisie. Marx wrote, â€Å"[The bourgeoisie] is unfit to rule because it is incompetent to assure an existence to its slave within his slavery, because it cannot help letting him sink into such a state, that it has to feed him, instead of being fed by him. Society can no longer live under this bourgeoisie, in other words, its existence is no longer compatible with society† (93). This uprising would be the Proletariat’s form of resistance against dehumanization. However, unlike previous revolution, where powers simply shifted from one class to another, Marx predicts that class will be eliminated altogether and a truly equal and fair state would emerge. Readers can’t help but feel skeptical while reading Marx’s theory due to the â€Å"dictators† present in current day communist countries. However, it is important to know that these current day communist countries only got influenced by Marx’s ideal but did no fully carry out his theoretical society. What the Social Classes Owe to Each Other William Graham Sumner was influenced by Social Darwinists and argued in his writing that helping the poor would only interfere with laws of nature and slow down evolutionary progression. In fact, Sumner argued that a â€Å"poor† or a â€Å"weak† person were merely lazy and they did not exist. Therefore Sumner wrote, â€Å"A maudlin impulse to prolong the lives of the unfit stands in the way of this beneficent purging of the social organism† (45). He would further defend about not giving by writing, â€Å"we all owe to each other good-will, mutual respect, and mutual guarantees of liberty and security. Beyond this nothing can be affirmed as a duty of one group to another in a free state† (49). In addition, he believed that if was unfair how â€Å"if the rich, comfortable, prosperous, virtuous, respectable, educated, and healthy cannot make everybody else as well off as themselves, they are to be brought down to the same misery as others† (62). In another words, Sumner did not think it was fair how the rich were expected to help the poor, and if not was possibly penalized. Unlike the Marx’s Manifesto, the opposing classes are not clearly defined. However, it is still assumed from Sumner’s writing that Sumner values some life over another. For example, when he writes, â€Å"society is constantly excreting its unhealthy, imbecile, slow, vacillating, faithless members to leave room for the deserving† (45). With this remark, and many others similar to it, Sumner dehumanizes people who did not succeed. While, a positive message is being sent by Sumner in a way by encouraging citizens to work hard, Sumner is inconsiderate of those who like the proletariats, have no control over their life due to greedy overbearing employers. The only option that Sumner gives to resist the dehumanization is to keep working hard and do not accept defeat. Survival at Auschwitz Many have heard the accounts of the holocaust before in history class or in other books on the subject; however Levi truly does an excellent job giving the readers detailed glimpse into what it really is like to go from being a free human being, then being stripped down to nothing. His intention for the book was not â€Å"to formulate new accusations [but] rather to furnish documentation for a quiet study of certain aspects of the human mind† (9). This book demonstrates dehumanization at its worst. It was established in the introduction that often times Men and women were treated like animals while getting dehumanized. Yet, the people at Auschwitz were actually getting treated worse than livestock. This is because with livestock at least they were somewhat cared for before they were killed, and even if they weren’t they were killed to serve a higher purpose. On the other hand, the prisoners at the concentration camps were starved, killed, and then deserted. Unlike the other two books, this book contains so much elements of dehumanization that no amount of pages would be enough to capture it all; however, it is important to draw from this book also how people have truly used every inch of their will power to try and maintain their self-value. How did the prisoners resist the urge to admit defeat and continue resist dehumanization? How did they when even â€Å"ordinary moral world† (86) like â€Å"good,† and â€Å"evil begin to get mixed up and the differences between these opposites became unclear? Levi present a man in his story, who may have been physically reduced but who is an insane man and â€Å"a survivor, the most adaptable, the human type most suited to this way of living† (97). Portrayed by this insane man, Elias is a strong message that morals and self-value can adapt and survive even in the most extreme situation. Conclusion Based on the scenarios presented by the three books, and personal understanding of dehumanization, I believe it cannot be absent in modern era society. The degree to which dehumanization can occur is extremely varied, and while we can hope and wait for it to merely pass by, it is better to act. Try to resist dehumanization as much as can, as Levi’s character Elias demonstrated, with strong will power and determination, there are so much we can achieve. Perhaps, while we may not be able to eliminate several factors of unfairness or inequality, we can still treat people with respect and at least eliminate dehumanization.

Emergency response Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Emergency response - Research Paper Example The decisions taken during the response phase in disaster management should help restore order and re-establish a state of normality mainly through rehabilitation and reconstruction. In the United States, the Department of Homeland Security is responsible for planning for and conducting emergency response services (Perry and Lindell, 2003). During the emergency response phase, first responders are posted in the disaster area, while the necessary emergency services are mobilized. Some of the core services during this phase include policing, ambulance and firefighting services. Recent research information shows that although the federal government has put measures in place to aid in efficient response during emergencies, there is much more that needs to be done to ensure that further loss of life and damage to property and the environment does not occur (Waugh and Streib, 2006). During recent times, the government’s response to disasters such as the Florida floods in 2004 and Hurricane Katrina a year later has drawn a lot of criticism from what is seen as lackluster efforts from government to respond to the disasters in time (Sene, 2008). For homeland security, scholars argue that since the country is at risk of domestic and internationals terrorist attacks, more should be done to enable quick response in case a S eptember 11 disaster occurs again (Radvanovsky, and McDougall, 2010). There is general concurrence that a lack of a strong response strategy for terrorism attacks in the country’s emergency management plans can lead to massive loss of lives and property. The Federal Emergency Management Agency or FEMA is the federal organization charged with the responsibility of dealing with emergencies. The agency coordinates government’s efforts in the preparation for, prevention and mitigation of the effects of disasters that occur on American soil (Sene, 2008). The body is also responsible for response and recovery measures from domestic disasters. The

The Companies Act Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

The Companies Act - Essay Example Not only the shareholders and directors of the companies being freshly incorporated but those of the companies that are already in existence need to study the general duties of the directors in the Act. Executive Summary: The companies Act in 2006 are a pioneering law contemporary times that places great moral and social responsibility on the directors of the companies. Definitely, UK has taken the lead in calling for a more mature and responsible behavior on part of the Directors of a company. The Companies Act 2006 replaces the companies of 1985 and 1989. The Act, it is hoped, will usher in an era of the more responsible role for people in business leading to â€Å"enlightened shareholder approach†. The shareholders will hold the directors more accountable for their acts leading to the generation of awareness for the social and physical environment. The government feels that business atmosphere, society, and the environment are inextricably linked to each other and the positive or negative fallout of one affects the others. The registration of companies started in 1848. Earlier in the Companies Act of 1948 originated the â€Å"True and Fair View† (Bucheery, n.d.). This entailed upon the directors to give a true and fair view of the fiscal position of the company and the profit and loss were reflected in the annual balance sheet for the knowledge of shareholders. Later this system was incorporated in the fourth directive of Company Accounts of the European Economic Commission (Flint, 1982). Earlier the refrain in the corporate world was to maximize profits at any cost. But with the world coming together due to globalization and the experience of negative fallouts of the trade and commerce like emission of greenhouse gases, deforestation, and a yawning gap between the developing and the developed world, a need was felt for enactment of a law that required greater business transparency, a commitment to the social and physical environment and reinforcement of confidence of the people in business sys tems.

Are Marketers to Blame for Fat Kids Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Are Marketers to Blame for Fat Kids - Essay Example The researcher states that in accordance with the data of Australian health and fitness survey it identified that 11% of children’s are suffering from overweight problems. These children’s are subjected to more diseases and illness which may affect their quality of life in adulthood. Marketers cannot be blamed for fat children’s. There can be other aspects which can make a child fat one cannot blame just marketing such as parents influence, social factors etc. So parents should try to protect their children’s from having unhealthy food. Parents have vast influence on the diet of children. They are the one who shapes their diet because a child firstly learns to eat from home. Parents have more effect on the child’s diet rather than the marketers. It is believed that marketing of food contributes to the rising level of obesity in children’s, which is partly true. Obesity prevention mostly starts at school life of a child. First years of life th at is from a child age to adult age, requires continuous prevention from parents. These periods are most significant which involves rapid transactions and high plasticity and mainly parents are the one who controls child experiences and environment. The main tasks parents possess in early development points to their child potential are the key targets and likelihood of change in early preventive interventions. Mainly parent’s behavior and their feeding practices affect a Childs eating habits and risk related to obesity. They are the one who is responsible to take preventive measures in case a child becomes too fat. Social media, advertising, television etc cannot be considered as the basic reason for Childs fatness or eating unhealthy food. A report identified that 67.3% of parents are concerned about their children’s having unhealthy food. If a child is not subjected to eat unhealthy food and snacks in a home, he gets habitual of it outside in the society, school etc. because each child has different family patterns than the other. Influence of parents is also subjected to the economic status of the family, in case if the family has low income or parents are not educated, so they would be less concerned about weight-related behaviors. This means children would be watching more TV, consumption of fast food, and junk food every day. This will lead to unhealthy eating and weight problems.

Degrauwe Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Degrauwe - Essay Example The EMF must, therefore, employ a more intelligent approach than that previously employed by its predecessor. During the period the EFSF was in existence, the interest rates charged were extremely high. For instance, in the case of Ireland, the interest rate charged by the EFSF on the Irish rescue program was up to six percent. The effect of this was very unfortunate: first of all, it made the Irish government experience hardship when trying to reduce its budget deficits that would consequently reduce the debt accumulated. Secondly, the EFSF charged Ireland an interest rate that was three percent above what had been charged on Germans, Dutch, and the Austrian government, which is a risk free rate. Simply put, what the EFSF did sent the signal that with such rates there was a risk of default. Meaning, the government of Ireland was not in a position to recover and put its budgetary situation in order. This should explain why the financial market developed mistrust that led to them also charging high risk premiums that consequently led to a high risk of default (Degrauwe p12). It is not easy for governments to borrow money from the Eurozone in their own currencies. This is because there are quite a number of challenges that countries face by going this direction. One major challenge is that the European debt crisis is treated as a series of a country’s individual problem and not as a collective responsibility that has occurred as an outcome of systematic problems in the Eurozone. This makes the economic sovereignty of a member state become vulnerable whenever they are in debt. This is because unfavourable market sentiments can force them to default. This may lead a country to a situation of being in unstable as a consequence of high interest rate. The high interest rate on a country means that domestic lenders will also have to demand high interests on borrowers and this is what leads to economic crisis (Degrauwe p12). Another

Mexican immigration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Mexican immigration - Essay Example The laws certainly apply to all when they are broken. The federal government, to no one’s surprise, has been no help. For example, the Bush administration has long supported some form of amnesty which has enraged those that are opposed to illegal aliens living, working or going to school in the U.S. On the other hand, the administration also endorses the PATRIOT Act which denies constitutionally guaranteed rights to all people and further punishes immigrants in the effort to win the ‘war on terror.’ The ‘right’ answer escapes the government and many others as well because of the issue’s many complexities. This discussion will examine the immigration debate from a legal, economic and social view. It will present the administration’s answer to the problem along with an opposing opinion. It will also speak to laws germane to the debate including a brief review of the PATRIOT Act, the Fifth Amendment regarding due process and the Fourteenth Amendment which relates to automatic citizenship by birth. While on a recent visit to Arizona, President Bush tried to explain his position on immigration. â€Å"Nobody should be given an automatic citizenship. That’s called amnesty.† Bush’s vision of a ‘path to citizenship’ has been characterized by some as too stringent a requirement for hard-working families who only desire to become citizens by some and pure amnesty, a free pass by others. White House Press Secretary Tony Snow explained illegal aliens allowed to stay under the president’s plan will pay fines and back-taxes, avoid criminal activities and maintain continuous employment. They must remain current with payments of current and future taxes and carry a tamper-proof identification. â€Å"And when all of that is done, you get to go to the back of the line, and you wait, what, 11 years or more for a chance to become a citizen, at the end of which you have to

I Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

I - Research Paper Example The advertisement is audacious as well as catchy to the consumer due to the ‘take a look at me’ colors that are used as well as the bold texts located in the fourth chapter (Belch, 2009, p 119). The advertisement is aimed at the girl and women consumers with bold words that say that, ‘Now you have the power’. The main purpose of the advertisement is in the promotion of the gel whose main purpose is in the styling of the lady’s hair which tends to come in different forms as well as is primarily focused on the red color. One of the main purposes of the ‘Now you have the power’ tag is to let or rather assure the consumer that despite the fact that they may not have the ability to change some other countenances of their lives, they can be assured that this gel will be able to change the object aspects of their lives. The latter tends to give the consumer a sense of assurance as well as a trust with the brand that this is a product that is wor th trying out as well as relying on it. One of the channels that I would make use of includes billboards, television advertisements and internet- social media. The reason for the use of the television advertisement is that the product is mainly aimed at a target audience that is not yet decided on the gel that they want to use or want to change the one they use and the largest undecided lot is the younger generation due to the fact that these are times that they tend to try out the things that suit them most in terms of the aspects of beautification. The use of the television advertisements is based on the sense that the younger generations are the ones that are mostly glued to the television sets therefore it will attract them more to use the product. The use of billboards is aimed at research results that show the highest numbers of the target audience residents as well as routes of transportations so as to ensure that they get to see that the product exists. The use of social med ia is based on the earlier said principle that most of the target audience is young. As research shows, most of the younger people tend to spend a lot of their time on the social media which is why it will be most suitable basing this on the sense that if you advertise a product whereby most of the target market is located, you will most likely win their minds. The backlash that would arise would be in the television advertisement basing this on the sense of the chosen time for the run of the advertisement, the target audience’s attention is captured by another show on another station or an issue that might affect the running if the advertisement such as national breaking news. The second advertisement that I selected is one found in the fourth chapter is one that was meant for the purpose of the promotion of Michelin tires. This advertisement is aimed at an audience target that is more likely to purchase the product which in this case is most likely; families, males or any o ther person who owns a car (Belch, 2009, p 124). One of the things that tends to make the advertisement eye catching is the fact that they used the Michelin mascot in their advertisements. The Michelin mascot is a pumped up cartoon version of a stout tire like a man who is saving a bunch of woolly adorable creatures. The advertisement shows a car that is driving along the woods on a night that can be described as

Where we were, Where we are, Where we going Essay Example for Free

Where we were, Where we are, Where we going Essay Introduction In the aftermath of major scandals and bailouts in the United States, the world`s and the public’s confidence in public corporations, has been shaken. With the publicized scandals of Enron and other corporations in the United States, the faith in public corporations fell as fast as the stock market. Investors had no confidence in corporations or in their boards. Measures needed to be taken to form regulations to provide stronger accountability, to prevent these types of scandals from happening and to rebuild the confidence of investors. Corporate governance of publicly traded companies was no longer an option, it became a must. The public and the media demanded laws to protect future investors and shareholders (Colley, Jr, Doyle, Logan, Stettinius, 2005). With most of the world’s financial markets in crisis and recession, the public has become much more aware of corporate executive compensation plans. Executive compensation has been an on-going issue for many years. There has been a great amount of controversy over how executives’ pay structure is designed and who judges, oversees and determines executives’ pay. As the scales get tipped on what executives are getting paid versus employee standard wages, the public is always on the watch for the next corporate scandal. Boards are always challenged by what executives’ pay should be based off of; this could be performance, industry standards or percentage of revenue. Boards need to determine the base salary, benefits or short term and long term options that will be offered (Colley, Jr, Doyle, Logan, Stettinius, 2005). This paper will look at the past trends of executive compensation that lacked disclosure and transparency, current trends that are being used today in pay in the United States and Canada and future trends that should be used when it comes to executive compensation and executive pay methods. This paper will also give some recommendations that Canada should adopt. Past Trends in Executive Compensation From the â€Å"original opening of the New York Stock exchange in 1792 executive compensation† (Bruvik Whitney Gibson, 2011, p. 74) existed. In the early 1900’s stock options of stock awards, stock purchases, stock appreciation rights (cash bonuses) and freestanding dividend equivalents were formed (Bruvik Whitney Gibson, 2011) and still exist today. During this time executive compensation was very private and did not have transparency or regulations. It was not until the market crashed in 1913 that the public was becoming more aware of executive inflated wages, and compensation for executives. In 1933 Securities Act legislation was passed that required disclosure of stock sales to the public. Then came the introduction of laws that limited â€Å"fringes† (perks) this made executive compensation more transparent and created more awareness for the public. But in 1983 Ronald Regan’s administration dropped regulations and this changed the level of transparency once again and this would eventually lead to indiscretions in executive pay. This caused an artificial rise in stock market values and increased misuse of stock options thus the elevation of executive’s salaries. The United States Government`s lower marginal tax to 33%, which changed the quality of management, because as long an executives increased shareholders wealth the salaries of executives had very little regulations (Bruvik Whitney Gibson, 2011). In 2001 the Enron scandal, executives inflated their earnings and overvalued their stock prices when they knew the company was going under. Senior executives cashed their stock options profiting while investor and employees of Enron lost everything. The numerous corporate scandals such as Enron, Jack Welsh CEO of General Electric, TYCO, and WorldCom created distrust in public corporations and â€Å"cost investors billions† (Bruvik Whitney Gibson, 2011, p. 78). In order to increase confidence in public firms, a change was needed in regulations and legislation. This led to the Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX) of 2002. SOX focused on corporate governance issues within a firm and led to rules of practice for boards of directors. Although SOX does not have mandates for executive compensation it does address how the compensation committee should be independent and how they should govern themselves. This has become very critical legislation to aid in ethical practices in public corporation executive compensation (Bruvik Whitney Gibson, 2011). Current Trends in Executive Compensation The main foundation of executive compensation has not changed, it is designed to attract, inspire, motivate and in the end retain the superior talent in the management world. In 2008 a government fund TARP was â€Å"created to purchase troubled assets from financial institutions† (Bruvik Whitney Gibson, 2011, p. 79). TARP funds put restrictions on executive compensation by; restricting paying out bonuses, limiting the â€Å"Golden Parachutes†, denial of benefits and used clawbacks if executive compensation was based on misleading statements (Bruvik Whitney Gibson, 2011). In order to receive TARP funding, firms have to practice the US mandatory â€Å"Say on Pay† which was implemented in January 2011. The United Kingdom has also implemented the â€Å"Say on Pay† concept. The â€Å"Say on Pay† is a concept that â€Å"shareholders should be given a nonbinding vote on board of director’s recommendations on executive pay† (Mangen Magnan, 2012, p. 86). â€Å"Say on Pay† concept â€Å"increases shareholders activism within when it comes to the pay policies and practices† (Geddes, n.d, p. 22). Current trends for public corporations for executive pay is to use polices and committees that structure the compensation. This pay should be transparent and increase the long-term shareholder value. Stock option incentives should be restrictive, meaning they cannot be sold for a set amount of years or until after resignation. Corporations have still not restricted the pay of top executives and the total compensation is still quite elevated compared to that of the regular employee. A great number of firms feel that to retain good quality CEO’s some pay incentives have to be competitive. Corporations feel that â€Å"superior incentives for executives (and traders whose actions can substantially impact an organization) to manage firms in investors longer-term interest† (Romano Bhagat, 2009, p. 1). Corporations continue to struggle with the balance of reward based compensation that ensures future results and increases shareholders wealth in the short and long term (Colley, Jr, Doyle, Logan, Stettinius, 2005). Executive compensation packages will continue to need to be governed by compensation committees to hold the confidence of the public, shareholders and the market. How Canada Measures Up As discussed earlier the United States along with United Kingdom has adopted the mandatory practice of â€Å"Say on Pay† which has increased shareholder involvement in the pay structure of their executives. Canada has not implemented this practice to be mandatory, even though it is, recommended as the best practices for firms. The five big banks in Canada have adopted the â€Å"Say on Pay† methodology (Mangen Magnan, 2012). In January 2012 the Huffington Post stated that Canadian CEO`s are reluctant to discuss that executive compensation has got out of hand in Canada. The article discusses that executives` incomes have continued to increase even though the wages of average Canadians have remained stationary. The article interviewed Fraser Institute’s Niels Veldhuis and he stated â€Å"When you call for a policy that limits CEO pay what you are doing is you’re signaling that we’re going to have even more regulations on how businesses operate here in Canada, and unfortunately, that will cause businesses to relocate or locate elsewhere† (Mendleson, 2012). One could make the assumption that because Canada does not have the volume or the stability that the United States does in the their corporations, that Canada is not implementing stronger regulations because of fear of losing what they have already and want to attract more corporations to Canada. At this time Canada uses a principles-based approach to governance in which standards are set and corporations are encouraged to meet them. Compared to the United States that uses a rules-based approach that requires corporations to meet the practices and legislation (Milne, 2006). In Canada the Canadian Coalition for Good Governance (CCGG) was formed to promote to good governance practices and recently the CCGG released the 2013 executive compensation principles. Corporations need to hold to the following principles: 1. A significant component of executive compensation should be â€Å"at risk† and based on performance. 2. Performance should be based on key business metrics that are aligned with corporate strategy and the period during which risks are being assumed. 3. Executives should build equity in the company to align their interests with those of shareholders. 4. A company may choose to offer pensions, benefits and severance and change-of-control entitlements. When such perquisites are offered, the company should ensure that the benefit entitlements are not excessive. 5. Compensation structure should be simple and easily understood by management, the board and shareholders. 6. Boards and shareholders should actively engage with each other and consider each other’s perspective on executive compensation matters (Moncrieff, 2012). The principles above are the best practices for boards and corporations and are recognized to be the superior standards, but as of yet Canada does not rules or regulations to enforce these practices. The Canadian government at this point has no plan to put caps on executive compensation. At this point the Canada`s tax laws are not in line with the compensation governance and reform is needed (Geddes, n.d). Future Trends for Executive Compensation Corporations, shareholders and boards are faced with meeting higher standards when it comes to executive compensation. This will mean adopting the â€Å"Say on Pay† and this trend is what is needed. Compensation committees must remain independent, transparent and must continue to ensure their programs attract, retain and motivate executive talent. Committees must ensure they are paying for performance that ensures long term profitability and value for both executives and shareholders (Stikeman Elliott, 2009). Recommendations for Canada Canada needs to focus on moving towards rules and regulations and not principles and guidelines. Canada will need to reform their standards to be more unified with the rest of the world`s expectations. If Canada wants to attract more corporations to develop in Canada then they need to be the benchmark of standards and practices and set even higher rules and regulations to maintain level, of integrity. Executive compensation could become out of hand and it cannot just be the banks that maintain the higher standards. Canada needs to adopt the â€Å"Say on Pay† and make it mandatory and also move to regulations that are superior to SOX and align the tax laws to levels that keep up with executive compensation packages. Canada needs to embrace being the ethical governance leaders. Conclusion There will always be unethical practices in executive compensation packages and it is not likely to decrease as long as there is competition and the need to retain talented CEO`s, but Canadian businesses can set higher benchmark when it comes to corporate governance, executive compensation and our regulations and practices for boards of directors. We have to remain ethical, transparent and continue to disclose. This is the only way we are going maintain the public and shareholders confidence and continue to attract investors to invest. References Bruvik, K., Whitney Gibson, J. (2011). The past, presentand future of executive compensation. Business Studies Journal, 3(1), pp. 69-83. Colley, Jr, J. L., Doyle, J. L., Logan, W. G., Stettinius, W. (2005). What is Corporate Goverance? New York, NY: Mcgraw-Hill. Geddes, G. (n.d). Executive pay packages: Compensation planning in light of increased scrutiny. Retrieved 02 08, 2013, from Gowlings: http://www.gowlings.com/knowledgeCentre/publicationPDFs/Executive%20Pay%20Packages%20Compensation%20Planning.pdf Mangen, C., Magnan, M. (2012). Say on Pay: A wolf in sheeps clothing? Academy Of Management Perspectives, 26(2), pp. 86-104. Mendleson, R. (2012, 01 04). Canada CEO Compensation: Companies Hesitant To Debate Executive Pay. Retrieved 02 08, 2013, from The Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/01/04/canada-ceo-compensation-companies-resist-debate_n_1183800.html Milne, J. A. (2006, May). Good corporate governance, good performance. Benefits Compensation Digest, 43(5), 3 4-38. Moncrieff, J. (2012, December 18). CCGG Releases 2013 principles of executive compensation. Retrieved 02 08, 2013, from Canadian Securities Law: http://www.canadiansecuritieslaw.com/2012/12/articles/corporate-governance/ccgg-releases-2013-principles-of-executive-compensation/ Romano, R., Bhagat, S. (2009). Reforming executive compensation: Focusing and committing to the long-term. Faculty Scholarship Series. Stikeman Elliott. (2009). Topics and trends in executive compensation: wealth accumulation analysis. Retrieved 02 08, 2013, from Canadian Securities Law: http://www.canadiansecuritieslaw.com/2009/05/articles/continuous-timely-disclosure/topics-and-trends-in-executive-compensation-wealth-accumulation-analysis/

A Look At Airasia Management Essay

A Look At Airasia Management Essay The transportation service company that we have selected is AirAsia. AirAsias principal activity is to provide air transportation services. Since 2001, AirAsia has broken the travel norms around the globe and become the worlds best airline. AirAsia has gained an award winning and most low-cost airline in Asia. With a fleet of 72 aircraft, AirAsia flies to over 61 domestic and international destinations with 108 routes, and operates over 400 flights daily from centers in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. AirAsia is a very successful low cost carrier. In a very short time, it became a market leader in the Asia region. AirAsias main base is the Low- Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). Through the corporate philosophy of Now Everyone Can Fly, AirAsia has become more popular and many people choosing Air Asia as their preferred choice of transport. AirAsia believes in the no-frills, hassle-free, low fare business concept can bring the business to very successful and feels that keeping costs low requires high efficiency in every part of the business. Apart from the principal activity of providing airline transportation service, AirAsia also involved in the courier service which consists of Delivery-to-Door (directly to the specific destination) and Airport-to-Airport two parts. The rates of such services are cheaper than other couriers by up to 50 percent lower price. It guarantees your courier with more value and savings. Customers can easily access to the service by just a few clicks in the AirAsias website. It is very convenient, efficient and cost saving. Besides, customers can easily track their consignment using the Google Maps. AA16a History of AirAsia AirAsia was established in 1993. Before 2001, AirAsia fail to sufficiently stimulate the market and attract enough passengers from Malaysia Airlines in order to establish its own niche market. On 2 December 2001, because of the failure of establishment, the airline was up to sale and purchased by Tony Fernandess company Tune Air Sdn Bhd. Tony Fernandes then enrolled some of the lending low-cost airline experts to restructure AirAsias business model. He invited some experts to join the executive team. In late 2001, AirAsia was re-launched in Malaysia as a trendy, no-frills operation with three B737 aircraft as a low-fare, low-cost domestic airline. In 2003, AirAsia has already become more attractive in its market demand, subsequently opened a second hub at Senai International Airport in Johor Bahru and launched its first international flight to Bangkok. After that, AirAsia started a Thai subsidiary, added Singapore itself to the destination list, and commenced flights to Indonesia. Airasia start to commence airline service in many other countries in the subsequent years. In the year 2006, Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) was established in Kuala Lumpur International Airport which cost the establishment fee of RM108 million which can handle 10 million passengers a year. After that, AirAsia has hedged 100% of its fuel requirements for the next three years, achieves an aircraft turnaround time of 25 minutes, and has a crew productivity level that is triple more than Malaysia Airlines. It achieves an average aircraft utilization rate of 13 hours per day. AirAsia is currently the largest single customer of the Airbus A320. The company has placed an order of 175 units of the same plane to service its routes and at least 50 of these A320 will be operational by 2013. On 27 December 2006, Air Asias CEO Tony Fernandes unveiled a five-year plan to further enhance its presence in Asia. In the plan, AirAsia will strengthen and enhance its route network by connecting all the existing cities in the region and expanding further into Indonesia, Southern China and India. Hence, with increase frequency and addition of new routes, AirAsia expects passenger volume to hit 18 million by the end of 2007. On 27 September 2008, AirAsia has on its list 106 new routes to be added to its current list of 60 over the next few years. The number of old routes discontinued has not been publicly disclosed. On 12 November 2008, AirAsia abolished fuel surcharges. In doing so, it claimed to be the first airline in the world to abolish fuel surcharges. By May 2008, the airline had flown 55 million cumulative passengers. In 2010, it has the worlds lowest costs for an airline, at the rate of below 2 cents per seat per kilometer. AA01a AirAsia SWOT analysis SWOT analysis is the combined analysis which examines the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats of one company. It is a very important analysis in a company because it can identify the internal (strength and weakness) and external (opportunities and threats) factor for a company in order to achieve their goals and objectives hence to be low cost carrier company in airline industry. To be successful in the company management, a company needs to consider the companys ability and how to integrate it with internal and external factor. Main purpose of the analysis is to identify the internal and external factor that AirAsia need to consider for low cost carrier in airplane industry. Strengths The primary strength of AirAsia is the low cost leader in Asia. The strength of AirAsia is to maintain low cost; whereby they dont have to provide benefits to their workers, but still can maintain the best quality of their fleet. AirAsia has successfully created a low-cost airline mentality among their workforce. The workforce is very flexible and high committed in making AirAsia the lowest cost airline in Asia. AirAsia reduce its cost by attaining efficiency in every part of the business and maintaining simplicity. Therefore every system process must incorporate the best industry practices. The first thing for the low cost apply is the time concept. Time is money. An airline makes money when the aircraft is flying, not when the aircraft is parked.  In order to maintain low cost, AirAsia must consider of high aircraft utilization (which keep the aircraft flying as much as possible) to minimize the time spending on the ground. Secondly, no frills is the factor to achieve low cost. AirAsia only provide those necessities for their customer and reduce the unnecessary cost to be incurred in the fare of airline. For instance, The Company do not provide free food beverages, free seating, ticketless airline are all the activities excluded in order to achieve a more competitive price by wasting money on insignificant services. On the other hand, streamline operations that allow the process making as simple as possible is the key of a successful low cost carrier. The second strength of AirAsia is the excellent utilization of Information Technology (IT). The Low Cost Carrier (LCC) is expected to expand rapidly by attracting more customers to join the market thus increasing the degree of rivalry within the industry. The excellent utilization of IT have directly contributed to their promotional activities, brand building exercise as well keep the cost low by enabling direct purchase of tickets by consumer thus saving on airline agent fees. AirAsia was recognized for being the first airline in the world to introduce SMS and IVR booking solutions to its guests to expand its booking system. AirAsia widely utilizes the internet as a booking and payment channel has kept them to be the leading airline company in Asia. Its comprehensive website at (www. airasia.com), allows guest to book and pay for seats, check flight schedules, and acquire information about the airline. The website is so popular, that approximately 45% of AirAsias business is done th rough internet sales. AirAsia became the first airline in the world to offer a multi-lingual website that comes in 6 languages English, Bahasa Malaysia, Mandarin, Tamil, Thai, and now Bahasa Indonesia. This is also one of the advantages of the company as the website is user friendly as well as enabling company to focus on different market segment especially countries in Asia. On the other hand, the management team of AirAsia is also very good in strategy formulation and execution. This is no doubt a crucial strength for Airasia as company strategy is the core element of a business. To be successful in their long terms objective and their business, AirAsia need to identify their strategic management. Company can easily achieve their vision and mission base on the good management. With good management, company is required to be considered of its ability. The ability of the company can be integrated by the SWOT analysis. Airline industry is a unique and complex industry, thus without a good and right management, its possible that AirAsia could not be able to compete with the complex business environment. AirAsia has a strong management team instead of just a general management. The simply general management involved in the major four functions of planning, organizing, leading and controlling may not be sufficient to support the whole organization. It is more concern in the management internally but rather creating competitiveness. The strategy that management team of AirAsia have formulated was a combined of several proven strategies by other low cost airlines. The strategies included Ryanairs Operational Strategy which emphasis on no frill and landing in secondary air port is a good starting point for the organisation. Other strategies like Southwests People Strategy focus mainly on employee while Easyjets Branding strategy is an excellent idea by linking the organization with other service providers like hotels, car rental and etc. Weaknesses The second part of the internal factor of SWOT analysis is the weaknesses. The main weakness of AirAsia is that they do not have their own maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility. Why AirAsia need maintenance, repair and overhaul facility? It is because since AirAsia is expanding to a huge company and they have huge number of planes need to be serviced in order to ensure the safety of the customer. The lack of own maintenance teams may lead some problems such as renewing contract, misunderstanding of the contact, lack communication, poor quality and delayed services amongst others. On the other hand, they also may not drive the same standards and mission that drives by AirAsia and there is a risk that the confidentiality may be compromised. Thus, without a proper MRO facility, it will affect the productivity and performance of the company causing a hindrance to the road of success of AirAsia. The second weakness of AirAsia is that AirAsia has received a lot of complaint from customers on their service. For examples, flight delays, being charged for more and not able to change flight or get a refund if customers could not make it. Customers are the main source of income for an enterprise especially when it involves services, it is crucial that Airasia set their priority on customers by having the concept of customer first. To maintain a good customer service is essential when competition is getting intense nowadays. When a customer feel unhappy with the services provided to them, it may distort company brand name besides presenting a negative and undesirable image to not only a single customer but a number of them when they are being acknowledge and influent by negative feedbacks through unsatisfied customer. Therefore it is significant for AirAsia to be serious on considering customer complaints and utilized them to improve their services. After reviewing the strengths and weaknesses of AirAsia, we must also consider the external factor of SWOT analysis which is opportunities and threats of Airasia in market place. Opportunities The opportunity of AirAsia is depend on the ever-increasing oil price. The increase of service cost or production cost is the most undesirable result which will decrease the overall return earning of their company. However, the increasing oil price has become another opportunity for AirAsia instead of bringing threat to the company. It is mainly because AirAsia has been emphasized in the low cost strategy and being a low cost leader, although the extra cost of the increase oil price will bring disadvantages to AirAsia, this effect will not be a huge impact to AirAsia, its cost will still be the lowest among all the regional airlines as other airline company also facing the same problem. Thus, AirAsia has a great opportunity to capture some of the existing customers of full service airline and other low cost airlines customers as well. Thus, this opportunity creates a winning position for Airasia when it is a threat for other airline company. Secondly, the ASEAN Open Skies agreement that has been reached is another opportunity for AirAsia. Open Skies is an international policy concept which calls for the liberalization of rules and regulations on international aviation industry especially commercial aviation. ASEAN Open Skies allow unlimited flights among ASEANs regional air carriers beginning December 2008; it allows AirAsia adding Singapore routes which has proven to be high yielding and is expected to deliver sustained profit. This will definitely increase the competition among the regional airlines. Moreover, AirAsia stands at the gate of profitable opportunities, their recent developments and intended expansions will give them a global exposition. As they venture into internet booking and ticketless services for their marketing processes, they would be opened to electronic commerce business solutions for their enterprise, such as SCM, ERP, and EDI etc. Furthermore, the use of internet services for their services would open more opportunities for AirAsia in the process of solving network, communication, and information related problems that could be inherent in the organization. The population of Asian middle class is reaching almost 700 million by 2010 can also creates a larger market and a huge opportunity for all low cost airlines in this region including AirAsia. You can imagine that more and more people would be willing to travel by air; it would bring advantages to AirAsia, however, as well as other company. Threats AirAsia take advantages of lower landing fees at low cost terminal, which is also without airport lounges charges. They also provide E-ticket rather than printed ticket to customer which is cheaper. However, due to the certain rates like airport departure, security charges and landing charges are beyond the control of airline operators, this is a threat to all airlines especially low cost airlines that tries to keep their cost as low as possible. For example, Changi airport in Singapore charges SGD21 for every person who departs from Singapore. This is an extra cost that is compulsory to pay. Different airport charges differently and this might lead to extra uncertain cost for AirAsia. Another threat would be security of their networks. As mentioned above, Airasia is highly depending on their information technology and information system used. For example online booking, customer information and details kept in system may be risky when the security of the networks is susceptible. This will put the company at risk to bear the enormous loss when the information system is being destroyed. The internet is a public domain and as such it is vulnerable to be attacked by hackers or viruses, AirAsia ought to be conscious of these threats and have proper plans and control to prevent any of these to happen. Owning to the facts that most organization are struggling for survival, major players may enter targeted market segment which is profitable. Alternatively, Market segments growth could attract major competition. This will create another threat for AirAsia. AirAsias profit margin is about 30% and this has also already attracted many competitors. Some of the full service airlines have or planning to create a low cost subsidiary to compete directly with AirAsia. For example, Singapore Airlines has created a low cost carrier such as Tiger Airways which is one of their business strategies to gain market value and compete with low cost airline. Therefore it is vital for Airasia to maintain competitive among the rival by upgrading their services consistently. Users perception that high budget airlines may compromise their safety, thus to keep costs low is another threat to AirAsia. AirAsia must have high-quality planning in order to provide customers first-class airline service by ensuring their safety and comforts with an affordable price. AirAsia needs to aware of the market demands and policies for local territories, because economic slowdown could reduce demand for AirAsia. Local Airlines would have easy access to certain information that could aid them; therefore, AirAsia needs to be on constant market audit, market researches and control to keep up with such competition. In conclusion, Swot analysis is a very effective way of identifying strengths and weaknesses, and of  examining the opportunities and threats one tends to face. Carrying out an analysis using  the SWOT framework helps AirAsia to focus activities into areas where one is strong and where  the greatest opportunities lie. SWOT analysis from AirAsia is one of the major components to strengthen the business and allow them to be able to compete with the competitor by possessing a firm position in low cost carrier airline industry. Porters Five Forces Model Power of suppliers In every business industry, suppliers always exist. Power of the suppliers is important as it will affect the industry. Suppliers supply inputs in order to produce goods or services to the customers. Inputs can be referred to raw materials, services such as expertise, components, and labor which are essential to run the firm or to power up the company. In the airline industry, the suppliers are quite influential since there are only two major suppliers which are Airbus and Boeing. Hence there are not many choices for airline industry. Nevertheless, the global economic crisis has limited the new entrant and also reducing the upgrade of planes in the immediate future.    However, both suppliers provide almost same standard aircrafts and hence the switching to AirAsia is low. Moreover, AirAsia placed a large amount of order from Airbus in order to accommodate the heavy demand from the public on its reasonable flights. AirAsia have no problem acquiring airplane from their supplier, AirBus because AirAsia is mainly an AirBuss airplanes user. Its rival, MAS whereas is mainly a Boeings airplanes user. Power of buyers. Besides the compulsory existence of suppliers, buyers are also necessary in the business industry. This is because they are the prerequisite for the company to keep running. Buyers who are also recognizes as the stakeholders are people who demand goods and services from the firm. This tells us that buyer tends to hold bargaining power and this pressurizes firms. Price changes can be sensitive in the competitive market and the consequence might cause firms to lose or gain in revenue. In our case, buyers demand reasonable and affordable flight price from AirAsia. Years after this airlines been incorporated, it successfully satisfy the buyers bargaining power for flights at a low fare by introducing campaign such as Mind Blowing Fair, New Year Sale, 500,000 Free Seats and the latest with Fabulous Fly-Day. AirAsia is first to introduce ticket-less traveling, are nearly accomplish. In this industry, buyers have no bargaining power on price of fare like those in a morning market. In fact, they are often offered cheap fare flight on limited period such Every Friday, 11am-4pm. AirAsia adopted an information technology (IT) similarly to other airlines which called Yield Management System (YMS). Even though this system has affected the price of fare, but it is able to achieve fairness in business to the customers and the firms. As an example, a reservation done at a later date will be charged more than the one done earlier for the same seat. This is to provide advantage in term of lower price for the customers who had put efforts in buying fares earlier. Moreover, high demanded routes or destination tends to be more expensive compare to destinations which are less active. By doing so, AirAsia would be able to cope with total seats demanded by the customers. If price of fares are the same overall, AirAsia would unable to earn from flights which are less popular. The intensity of competitive rivalry The word intensity means the pressure or amount of forces being applied. Thus, this Porters force talks about how competitive are the firms or companies in the business market. In this competitive market, many firms often fall due to their incapability to cope with competitive pressure from the rivals. Those firms will end up losing more than their cost of input or eventually strive into other markets. In order to survive in a competitive market, firm must not fall into dilemma when it comes to advertising, invest in research and development(RD), innovate new yet efficient product and up to date with latest technology. This is because those efforts by least can provide the firm competitive advantages in the market. In Malaysia, there are only two main airlines companies which are operating and dominating in the countrys market, apart from other foreign airlines company. They are AirAsia and Malaysia Airlines (MAS). Firefly is actually a wholly owned airline by MAS. Both of these airlines have been rivals for at least a decade. Thus, it can be concluded that AirAsia is receiving high intensity of competitive pressure from MAS. MAS have always strived to provide comfortable and reasonable fare flights to compete with AirAsia. However, AirAsia is still capable to resist their pressure by providing customers with cheap fare tickets without losing the quality of their services. The main competitive advantage of AirAsia is low cost in providing services. For example, meals during flight are not provided which can save up the cost to provide foods and in return, reducing the cost of fare. Spaces in AirAsias airplanes are fully utilized so that the airplane is able to load more passengers in a single f light. This enables the company to earn more and making them capable to provide cheaper fare flight. AirAsia through its designated system provide customers a comfortable service in booking the flights through internet and mobile. Customers can surf mobile.airasia.com to book flight using mobile or http://www.airasia.com using the internet. Their systematic online electronic ticket ordering process enables them to even cope with mass booking by the customers during day and night. The diagram explains how the system works and notify why the errors are kept to the minimum. It is a computer reservation system (CRM) powered by Navitaires Open Skies technology that includes Internet, call center, and airport departure control functionality. This system has greatly assist AirAsia in achieving success. Even Tony Fernandes, CEO, AirAsia agrees: Navitaires Open Skies technology has truly enabled AirAsias growth from 2 million passengers to 7.7 million passengers in less than two years. Open Skies scaled easily to accommodate our growth. However, I would strongly declare that even though AirAsia indeed is receiving competitive pressure from MAS but, the market or industry itself is not competitive as both of them have already dominate their respective market segments. Threat of New Entrants Barriers to entry are designed to block the way of potential and new entrants from entering a market profitably and to compete with the existing firms. Capital requirements, economy of scale, product differentiation, government and legal barriers are some of the examples of barriers for a new entrant. New entrants to a business will bring a brand new capacity and a desire to gain market share this will apply pressure on prices, costs, and the rate of investment. There is always an underlying pressure for response and alteration for the existing players in a business when there is a new entrance. The competition in a business will be high if it is easy for other companies to enter to this business. As we know the biggest barrier for a new player to enter any business especially airline industry is the cost of entry. Airline industry is a business that requires huge and large investment. Thus, AirAsia has a low threat of new entrants because the airline industry is so saturated that there is barely space for a newcomer even to squeeze its way in. Cost of buying and leasing aircrafts, safety and security measures, customer service, research and development, high manpower and technologies causes the airline industry to become one of the most expensive industries in the world. In this world of today, every primary activity is carried on by specific information technologies especially for business like airline industry. It is extremely costly for a business to implement these information technologies systems. So, this is another barrier for the new players to enter to certain business. For instance, Advanced Planning and Scheduling System (APS) are significant in aviation business. It is costly for a company to implement this system but without implementing and employing the system, no airline as well as AirAsia can run their business smoothly. Air Asia requires APS system to maintain their customers loyalty because APS system is competent in optimizing operational planning and scheduling which enable Air Asia to create new source of cost advantages. As a result, this shows that Air Asia has a high threat of new entrants since those systems are costly to implement. Brand name of existing airlines and frequent fliers point are other barriers to entry. It is really difficult to decoy consumers out of their existing favorite brands. Somehow, an airline with a strong recognition can maintains old customers and lures new customers even though its prices are higher. How does Air Asia do it? Information Technologies (IT) is one of the major that enables Air Asia to offer their customers in lowest possible prices. All airlines industry competes on costs. To maintain and to improve in the current market position as well as new market, AirAsia has implemented the Low Cost Carrier System (LCC) in order to continuously searching for cost advantages. AirAsia has successfully positioned their simple but strong slogan Now Everyone Can Fly in their customers mind by offering lowest possible prices. Lowest possible prices lead to increase in their profit. Its net profit for the second quarter ending 31 December 2004 was reported RM44.4 million, a 322% increase over the previous quarter (AirAsia, 2005). This again shows AirAsia has a high threat for new entrants to enter. Threat of New Substitute Threat of new substitute means the availability of a product that the customer can purchased rather than the industrys product. In other words, substitute product is an alternative of products that offers by other firms that have similar benefits or functions. Profitability of an industry will be affected by the availability of substitutes because customers have the choice to choose. A number of factors such as consumer switching costs, prices and quality of substitute products will determine the presence of threat in this aspect. For local airlines, the threat of substitutes face by AirAsia might be a bit higher than international carriers. Substitutes for air travel to the desired location in a local country include train, car or bus yet time, money, personal preferences and convenience will determining ones decision. Although airlines travel maybe a slightly expensive than by bus or car, the time taken is much faster. Since AirAsia has implemented Low Cost Carrier System which can offers customers in lowest possible price has lead to most of the customers switch to AirAsia as the switching costs is low. AirAsia faced a low threat substitutes for international carriers since there is a low threat of new entrants. Besides, most of the customers choose to travel by air since traveling through air save times. However, in the worldwide market, AirAsia still needs to compete with many existing players such as Cathay Pacific and Japan Airlines. Nevertheless, AirAsia builds and maintains its competitive advantage by offering services at a price that is basically lesser than competitors prices. Above and beyond AirAsia has become the first airline that executed ticketless travelling among its competitors by using computer reservations system. Computer reservation system is a programmed and computerized system that used to store and retrieves information and perform transaction associated to air travel. This assisted AirAsia to perform operation effectively and efficiently. ERP, SCM, CRM In todays globalize economy, information technology (IT) has driven fundamental changes in the nature and application of technology in business. Cross-functional system is the third era of information system, coming after calculation system and functional system. What exactly is the purpose of the system? What benefits will organizations obtain after implementing the system? These questions are so frequently asked that some companies even gave up on executing the cross-functional system as it involves coordinating activities across multiple departments and require workers to comprehensively change the way they used to work. However, cross-functional system will be extremely beneficial if it is applied in the correct manner. A successful application of cross-functional systems is dependent on two factors, people issues and technological issues. People issues include corporate culture, work units and individual decision makers. The important factor in corporate cultures and work units is no doubt cooperation, only by working together managers are able to share information through the system. For efficient decision making, useless or incorrect information in cross-functional systems must also be prevented. Technological issues on the other hand, include information system (IS) elements. Management must compare the advantages of using information system elements such as inputs, processors and outputs with the costs involved. There are plenty of examples regarding cross-functional system, but Supply Chain Management (SCM), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) are the 3 types of enterprise system going to be discussed. Supply Chain Management (SCM) is the current trend in most of the organization, where SCM is define as a set of synchronized decisions and activities utilized to efficiently integrate suppliers, warehouses, transporters, retailers, and customers so that the right product or services is distributed at the right quantities, to the right location and at the right time in order to satisfy customers high demand and minimize any unnecessary cost occurred. SCM core objective is to improve customer service by eliminating waste from the system in all types of form including wasted time. Being able to eliminated wasted time allows the coordination of business processes to be speeded up. Commonly, supply chain contains three flows that organizations need to take into account. First is the material flow, where all physical products including the end-products, raw material and so forth flow along the chain. Information flow consist of all types of data including demand, supply shipment, orders and all sort of information that are required in the supply chain. Lastly is financial flow, involving all transfer of money, payment and credit related data which is vital in the supply chain. On the other hand, a companys supply chain is complicated because it might involve hundreds and even tho

Including children with autism in early childhood settings

Including children with autism in early childhood settings There is no denial that children with autism can be challenging for early childhood educators. Educators might feel perplexed, frustrated or even hurt in spite of their concerted efforts. This essay sets out to discuss the prevalence of autism in New Zealand/Aotearoa, its manifestation and identification, and some basic strategies for educators to successfully include children with autism in the early childhood settings. What is autism? Autism is short for Autism Spectrum Disorders. Autism New Zealand Inc. (2005) gives the following definition: An Autism Spectrum Disorders is a life-long developmental disability affecting social and communication skills. It is defined by New Mexico Public Education Department [NMPED] (2004) as a neurobehavioral syndrome characterized by onset prior to age 3. Characteristics include severe differences in interaction with other people, communication deficits, as well as restricted and stereotyped patterns of interest and behaviours. (p.8). Due to the different severity and manifestation, autism is used to describe all the diagnosis sharing the common characteristics of autism, including Asperger syndrome (difficulty in understanding non-verbal signal but might with normal language development and cognitive development) (Autism New Zealand Inc., 2005). In Aotearoa, 1 person in 100 has autism, including Asperger syndrome. That is an estimation population of 40,000 people. Boys are more likely to have autism 4 times than girls (Autism New Zealand Inc., 2005). Large-scale survey conducted in United States and England suggests autism affect 4.5 out of 1,000 children. Recent estimation even goes up to as high as  ¼% to  ½% of the population. According to epidemiological survey, the latest figure for people with autism worldwide is 1 in every 150 children and 1 in every 83 boys (Autism-world, 2007). Despite the prevalence of autism, its cause remains much unknown. Current research worldwide has identified biological or neurological differences in the brain for the cause of autism, but has not found the explanation for such differences yet (NMPED, 2004). In some cases, the various conditions affecting the brains such as maternal rubella, tuberous sclerosis and encephalitis cause the autism (Autism New Zealand Inc., 2005). However, it is 100 % certain that autism is not caused by bad parenting, mental illness, or poorly behaved children (NMPED, 2004, p.8), nor family income, lifestyle and educational levels (Massachusetts Department of Education [MDoE], 1998). More and more researches have attested to the effectiveness of intensive early intervention for the children with autism (Dawson Osterling, 1997, cited in Woods Wetherby, 2003). It is indicated by researches worldwide that intervention provided in the first three years are most effective (Harris Handleman, 2000, cited in Woods Weatherby, 2003). As more and more children are attending early childhood services, it is imperative for early childhood educators to identify the early signs for autism in children and refer them to special services for thorough and comprehensive diagnosis (NWPED, 2004). Most children with autism have significant social communication/ language delays (NWPED, 2004). Early childhood educators are to be aware of the following early warning signs in the communication areas: no babbling, pointing or gesturing by 12 months; no single words by 16 months; no 2 word spontaneous phrases by 24 months; no response to name; ANY loss of language or social skills at any age (NWPED, 2004; Woods Wetherby, 2003). It is strongly suggested by a multidisciplinary consensus panel endorsed by the American Academy of Neurology and Child Neurology Society and nine professional organisations (Filipek et al., 1999, cited in Woods Wetherby, 2003) that educators resort to immediate further evaluation if they notice any of the mentioned signs in children. Wetherby et al. (2000, cited in Woods Wetherby, 2003)) suggest that parents and professionals need to be conscious especially when children seem to show deficits in joint attention and symbolic communication. Deficits in joint attention means children have difficulties in coordinating attention between people and objects. Signs to look for are identified as below: children have problem in responding to a social partner; children cant shift gaze between people and objects; there is no sharing of affect or emotions with other people; children fail to follow others gaze, point or draw others attention to share experiences. Deficits in symbolic use are characterised by problems in (a) using conventional gestures, (b) understanding and using conventional meanings for words, and (c) using objects functionally and in symbolic play (Woods Wetherby, 2003, p. 181). Children with autism dont use much of conventional gestures, such as waving, showing or pointing as discussed in the deficits of joint attention, nor symbolic gestures like head nodding or miming actions. Instead, idiosyncratic, unconventional or inappropriate behaviours might be detected in them, such as they might be aggressive and throwing tantrums all the time or they might hurt themselves. Children with autism are found to use significantly more syllables with atypical phonation, such as squeals, growls, and yells (Sheinkopf, Mundy, Oller, Steffens, 2000, cited in Woods Wetherby, 2003). For those children with autism who does learn to talk, echolalia that is imitating others speech is often found. Children with autism also show noticeable deficits in make-believe and functional play (Woods Wetherby, 2003). It should be noted children with autism are characterised by a constellation of the above mentioned symptoms: impairments in social and communication skills, limited or lack of joint attention and symbol use. Due to the different developmental ability of each child, the symptoms or diagnostic features might be different from one another. Most importantly, these signs are only significant indicators rather than the decisive factor for the diagnosis (Woods Wetherby, 2003; NWPED, 2004). By now, there is no medical test to diagnose autism, but referral should be made to a paediatrician, a child development service, or specialised early intervention service provider (Ministries of Health and Education, 2008) by the concerned educators after gaining parental consent (New Zealand Tertiary College, 2010). To successfully engage children with autism in early childhood settings, it is pivotal for educators to acknowledge their rights to be included in a supportive environment where they can grow and learn side by side with their peers (Vakil, Welton, OConnor, Kline, 2009, p.322). On the legislation and policy level, Education Act 1989 and Human Rights Act 1993 mandate equal rights for all children with diverse needs, and make it unlawful to discriminate or treat unfairly the children with diverse needs because of their varied needs. In the early childhood sector, it is clearly expressed and stressed in the curriculum framework Te WhÄ riki (Ministry of Education [MoE], 1996) and Quality in Action: Implementing the Revised Statement of Desirable Objectives and Practices (MoE, 1998) that there should be equal learning opportunities for all children irrespective of their ability. In 2000, New Zealand government developed Special Education 2000 to advocate inclusion of children with diverse needs and increasing opportunities for them in the early childhood and school sector (NZTC, 2010). On the personal level, it is the educators responsibility to meet different childrens varied needs when choosing to work with children. To successfully include children with autism begins with educators commitments to inclusion. Children with autism deserve and have the same right as every other child to be included in the early childhood settings. When acknowledging children with autisms rights to be included in the early childhood settings, it is also essential to recognise the challenges and difficulties faced by the educators. Some basic strategies are suggested here to help educators to successfully engage children with autism in their centres. First and foremost, it is crucial for educators to learn about autism and how it affects the childrens thinking, behaviour and learning (Mells, 2002). Children with autism think differently from most of other children. Due to limited comprehension skills, they might find it hard to adjust to changes of environment or activity as they cant predict what might happen next. To enable children with autism to cope with change, educators can devise a set of rules about how things happen focusing on a piece of detail information rather than focusing on the bigger picture (Mells, 2002). Children with autism have greater skills in visual processing than auditory (Friend, 2008, cited in Vakil et al., 2009). Educators can better inform and support them with visual cues (Ganz Flores, 2010). Different children with autism have different intolerable things, or even different intolerable levels to the same thing. Some of them might be highly sensitive to the scrap sound of the chair or the smell of lunch box. It is pivotal for educators to follow childrens leads, get to know them in person and tune in to their individual needs. Educators can find out more about the children with autism referring to the books, relevant guidelines, and websites. It is also wise practice to talk to family and carer who already know a great deal about the individual childs preferences (Mells, 2002; NMPED, 2004). Working in teams and parental involvement are fundamental to the success of the inclusion. Educators need to work in teams with anyone who contribute to the childs programme, such as family/whanau, specialist teachers, specialist service providers (e.g. MoE/GSE staff, special needs specialists), speech-language therapist, occupational therapist, physiotherapist and the teacher aide to share each others expertise and apply consistent strategies for the childs best benefit. The Individual Educational Plan meeting is a great resource for educators. During the meetings, educators can have access to the other specialists information about the individual child and helpful strategies to interact with him/her successfully. Educators can also express his/her concerns and get them sorted out within the team. Meanwhile, educators can share how the child is doing in the early childhood setting to facilitate decision-making within the team (Moltzen, 2005). Another essential element in the success ful inclusion is to work in collaboration with parents/ caregivers, and whanau. It is highly stressed by Mells (2002), Fraser (2005) and Vakil et al., (2009) the importance of parental involvement for the best outcomes of the child. To work in collaboration with parents and family/whanau, educators are to understand and respect their feelings, and to value their voices and choices. Parents go through a range of emotions when they learn about the childs special needs: shock, denial, anger, sadness, detachment, reorganisation and adaptation (Fraser, 2005, p.134). It is important to acknowledge and show understandings to their feelings. Collaboration with parents enables mutual exchange of support and information about the child between educators and parents (Fraser, 2005). Vakil et al., (2009) indicate that educators need to apply family-centred practices: familys concerns, preferences should be valued and attended to; familys involvement should be secured and actively seek to. When interacting with children with autism, it is advocated that educators apply evidence- based practices and developmentally appropriate practices (Vakil et. al., 2009). Evidence-based practices are practices that have been attested by research and can better inform educators what to do to achieve desired outcomes, such as Universal Design for Learning, informal and formal assessments relating to learning, differentiated instruction, and direct explicit instruction (Dunst, Trivett, Cutspec, 2002, cited in Vakil et al., 2009). To successfully engage children with autism, educators need to provide accommodation and modifications, merging special education and general practices to adjust to their needs. It is also vital to apply developmental appropriate practices to make the children feel accepted, cared for, and supported. Children with autism are characterised by triad of impairment in ability to communicate, socialise and think or imagine (Mells, 2002). Irrespective of their ability, children with autism deserve the same right to be included in the early childhood setting with the educators support. Educators need to be aware of the early signs and symptoms, and refer them to relevant services for a thorough and comprehensive diagnosis after discussing the concern with parents. To successfully include children with autism, educators need to commit to inclusive teaching, work in collaboration with other professionals, parents and whanau. Most importantly, educators need to learn about the child in person, and to proactively learn more about effective practice to include the child referring to relevant helpful resources on the ongoing basis.

A Night in Afghanistan Essay -- Personal Narrative, Descriptive Essay

"Shhhh!" my mother whispered as the tanks rumbled by under the cold Afghan night, the stars twinkling above the mountains surrounding us. From our hiding place in the brush along the shoulder of the dirt path through the Khyber Pass, I could see tanks stretching to infinity and, try as I might, I could not find an end to the convoy of trucks. Huddled along with my father, mother, and infant brother and sister, we peered anxiously as the Russian Spetsnaz scouts rolled past us in jeeps ahead of the convoy heading toward the Afghanistan-Pakistan border-the very place our destination lay. My brother began to whimper. My mother began to pray. It seemed as if the line of tanks would never end. Finally, as the last of them rolled by, silence engulfed us. My father had been planning for months for our flight into Pakistan along the Khyber road and we could not stop now. Our nerves were frayed. We had not slept for three days since being smuggled out of the capital and the 15-mile walk across the border might have well been 15 hundred miles. My father stopped for a moment and fished a small, empty... ... Today, that pouch of a few ounces of earth that my father gathered during our last hours in Afghanistan lies on a desk in his study, reminding me of what I have lost, of another place filled with memories that I used to call home. But today, what I call home is in Orange County, California, half a world away from Afghanistan. Perhaps one day I will go back to see what is left after the years of war and strife and once again relax in our old backyard, or go to pick apples in an orchard in the Maymana district. But I will go back only to visit.

Franny and Zooey as Victims :: Franny and Zooey Essays

Franny and Zooey as Victims "We're freaks,the two of us, Franny and I... and both of those bastards are responsible...I could murder both without batting an eyelash... The great teachers, the great emancipators." Childhood memories are ripples of waves crashing serenly throughout my mind. Memories of climbing trees, playing dress-up and other fun-filled reminiscences float through these waters like drift wood. I remember nothing but living in a joyful bliss. My only tragdy was when Barbie's beloved Ken's head fell off. We are all increadibly innocent as children. We will reach out to anyone's hand with out eyes fille with trust. The events of our childhood determines who we are, what we will be, what our future hold. For example, I have recently learned that, in many cases, an abused child will result in a loathsome and abusive adult. The process continues geeneration after generation. This is devestating because his or her child has absolutely no power in controlling the early events of their childhood. An abused child is not at fault of the results of their childhood. A child is easily susceptible to having the rest of his or her life ruined, such as being emotionally scarred. I believe this happened in Franny and Zooey's case as children. They came from a relatively large family, consisting of two parents and seven siblings. The Glass children had a radio talk show called the "Wise Child" when they were younger. Such pressures put upon the children resulted in which Zooey calls "The Wise Child complexes". He believes that they never really left the air. He believes that instead of carrying a normal conversation, he expound on everything and ;therefore, is not able to keep his mouth closed. The two eldest siblings of the Glass children, Seymour and Buddy, have influenced both Franny and Zooey, who are the two youngest in the family. Zooey believes that it is them who have made him and Franny what they are now, "freaks". Because Zooey believes they are responsible, he developed a hatred for his brothers. I believe this hatred evolved from fustration. This fustration could possibly be caused from the seperation he must feel towards Seymour and Buddy. Seymour commited suicide, leaving young Zooey with unanswered questions. Buddy appears to be cutting himself off from his family,or even reality. He lives as a hermit, he is locked away in a cabin with neither heating, electricity, nor a phone. Seymour and Buddy have both put themselves in the same situation toward Franny and Zooey. It seems that Buddy does everything that Seynour did, or tries to.

English Pronoun Chart and Exercises

Subject Pronouns – I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they- function as the subject of a sentence: I live in New York. Do you like playing tennis? He doesn't want to come this evening Object Pronouns – me, you, him, her, it, us, you, them- serve as the object of a verb. Give me the book. He told you to come tonight. She asked him to help. Possessive Pronouns – mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, yours, theirs- show that something belongs to someone. Note that the possessive pronouns are similar to possessive adjectives (my, his, her). The difference is that the object follows the possessive adjective but does not follow the possessive pronoun.For example – Possessive Pronoun: That book is mine. – Possessive Adjective: That is my book. That house is mine. This is hers. those seats are yours Demonstrative Pronouns – this, that, these, those refer to things. ‘this' and ‘these' refer to something that is near. ‘that' and ‘those' refer to things that are farther away. This is my house. That is our car . These are my colleagues . Those are beautiful flowers. A. __Use the correct personal pronouns.Watch the words in brackets. Example: ___ often reads books. (Lisa) Answer: She often reads books. 1) ___is dreaming. (George) 2) ___ is green. (the blackboard) ) ___ are on the wall. (the posters) 4) ___ is running. (the dog) 5) ___are watching TV. (my mother and I) 6) ___ are in the garden. (the flowers) 7) ___ is riding his bike. (Tom) 8) ___ is from Bristol. (Victoria) 9) ___has got a brother. (Diana) 10) Have___ got a computer, Mandy? B. __Choose the correct objective pronouns . Example: I have got a sister. ___ name is Susan. Answer: I have got a sister. Her name is Susan. Hi Daniel, ___ name is John. This is ___ friend Jason. He's 12. ___sister is nine. ___ pet is a budgie. ___name is Dickens. Jason and I go to the same school. There are 450 boys and girls in ___ school.Jason's form teacher is Mrs. Peterson. She has got a pet, too. ___pet is a tortoise. Our form teacher is Mr. Smith. I like ___lessons. He has two dogs. The dogs love to play in ___ garden. Now I have a question for you. What's ___ pet? Yours, John C. __Replace the personal pronouns by possessive pronouns. This book is (you) . The ball is (I) . The blue car is (we) . The ring is (she) . We met Paul and Jane last night. This house is (they) . The luggage is (he) . The pictures are (she) . In our garden is a bird. The nest is (it) . This cat is (we) . This was not my fault. It was (you) .

Parents Are Best Teachers or Role Models Essay

Parenting is one of the most difficult and challenging tasks especially in this present generation. Parents play a very important role in the upbringing of children. They are the first and earliest teachers for the children. I myself as a parent must admit that my son behaves best when I attend to him the most. Though he’s just three years old yet I find that his behaviour is far better when I spend quality and quantity time with him. Parents have the capability of influencing and leading the child from the first day they are born until the age of 18 by being a role model. In other words, parents are the best teachers. Parents teach how to speak, how to behave, the basic etiquettes etc. thus help the child to grow into a morally responsible and sound individual. All the complications, challenges, barriers, obstacles a child encounters in her or his childhood can be overcome if it is correctly approached through their parents. No matter how hard the professional teachers in school strive, to rectify or mould the child, the child’s best place for correction is at home i. e. with the parents. In spite of the fact that teachers play a vital role in child’s life, it is equally important to note that parental leadership supersedes all. The nature’s bond, love and understanding between the child and the parent are so strong that the child can relate to the parents more effectively and they can lead the child to the correct path whenever he or she is wrong. This is equally applicable in academics as well. A child with a parental support and teaching performs far better than a child without it. A child is easily motivated in class when the parents are regularly checking their books and attending to academics. On the other hand, a child without support even if intelligent might not perform so well. Nevertheless, not all parents are best teachers. A parent controlling the child by beating him or her up or using some other negative reinforcement will certainly make the child lose the trust in parents thus weaken the parent-child bond. Similarly, parents with some bad habits will definitely harm the child if they do not give a right role model image to the child. So, it is extremely important that parents must learn to be role model for the child thus leading them by good examples. Besides, parents must also keep up their dedication by being a guiding spirit to their children and supporting them to be great individuals, as they are the assets of the future generation.

Cultural Diversity-Race and Ethnicity 4 Essay

†¢ What information about race and ethnicity in the United States has helped you better understand or relate to specific minority groups? I would have to say that I have learned a lot of information by taking this cultural diversity class. I know that there are minorities in the United States, but I was unaware of many of the discriminations that have happened over the years. I have always thought that we were all equal and that is how I have raised my children. We may come from different backgrounds, have different colors of skin and speak other languages, but we are all people living our lives and trying to become successful. I can now see the challenges that many minority groups have to face in the United States and understand why there are so many different programs available to the minority. o Have you learned something new about your own cultural history? I am about ? Native American and I learned many things about the Native American gaming laws and how that all works. It is interesting to see how the government has stepped up and showed the Native Americans that we want them to be successful and allowed them to produce these successful casino and resorts. I did not realize that many of the casinos are on Native land and there to help the Natives and there reservations. I have never researched much about where I come from or anything about my background, but it was nice to see that there are things that are offered for the wrongs that have been done in the past. I found that the Natives do not hold a grudge and are using what is offered to them to earn money and employee there Natives. Many of them still live on the reservation and are able to work right there on the reservation. †¢ Trends in immigration will continue to shape the face of the United States. What will this face look like in the year 2050? In 2050 I see that there will still be a small amount of discrimitnation in the United States, but there will be many minority groups that have multiplied and will continue to go to college become doctors, teachers, lawyers and so on. There will be no difference in our society as to who is going to help us when we need a doctor or even who is going to teach our childrens children. I feel that if they are taking the time to learn out language and go to school and earn a degree then they should be considered a part of our country and not have to live with discrimination. I know that we cannot change the way people feel and act, but we can start by accepting others ourself and respecting all of the people no matter the race. †¢ How might the country best prepare for the changing race and ethnicity of its current and future citizens? I feel that we need to accept all race and ethnicity into our country. I see that we can learn many things from other people that we may not have thought of ourselves. I feel that we need to educate our citizens so they can see what they are going to expect in the future of the United States. We cannot change who we are or where we come from, but we as citizens can show you why there is no reason to treat any race or ethnicity different from our own. There needs to be education to our children and our future to teach them that we accept all races and ethnicities and they are what form us as a community and society.