Surgical Site Infections

Surgical Site Infections Elizabeth Griffor HCA 375 Continuous Quality Monitoring & Accreditation Instructor: Annajane Schnapp October 27, 2012 I chose to do my paper on the hospital-acquired condition of surgical site infections. In this paper I will discuss what a surgical site infection is, why it is considered preventable, the legal implications related to the patient, the role disclosure plays, accreditation expectations, and analyze the cost of continuous quality monitoring as it relates to quality.Surgical site infections account for 40 % of all hospital-acquired infections ( HAIs) and are unnecessary and largely preventable. Use of antibiotics is fundamental in preventing surgical site infection and includes three core elements: 1. appropriate selection, 2. timing of the first dose, 3. and discontinuation postoperatively. It used to be the standard practice to â€Å"shave and prep† a patient prior to surgery, but a study done in 1992 revealed that surgical site infectio ns were 50% lower in surgery patients whose hair was removed with clippers rather than a razor.One of the most common complaints from surgery patients is being cold in the holding area, operating room, and the post anesthesia care unit ( PACU) . This is uncomfortable and can increase risk of complications; such as surgical site infections. Glucose control is also important as a method for decreasing surgical site infections ( Frances, 2005). Guidelines for preventing surgical site infection are at the preoperative stage, intraoperative stage, and postoperative stage. They are as follows: 1. Preoperative stage: Patient preparation- Identify and treat all infections before surgery; postpone surgery if possible until infection is resolved. * Do not remove hair by the incision site unless it interferes with the operation; use electric clippers immediately before surgery if hair must be removed. * Have patients bathe or shower with an antiseptic the day of the surgery or the night before . * Thoroughly wash and clean at and around the incision site to remove gross contamination. * Keep hospital stays as short as possible to limit the patient’s exposure to nosocomial infections.Antimicrobial prophylaxis- * Work with the physician, pharmacist, and administer a prophylactic antibiotic only if it is indicated; antibiotic chosen should be effective against common pathogens that cause surgical site infections. * I. V. administration of the antibiotic should be timed so it is concentrated when the incision is made. * Do not use Vancomycin for antimicrobial prophylaxis routinely. Surgical team preparation- * Keep fingernails short, no artificial nails; bacteria and fungi can colonize on your hands if you wear artificial nails. Surgical team members who have signs or symptoms of an infectious illness need to promptly report this to their manager and occupational health service personnel. * Surgical team members that have draining skin lesions should be relieved from d uty until infection has been ruled out, they have had therapy, or the infection is gone. * It is also suggested that no hand or arm jewelry be worn, as well as nail polish. 2. Intraoperative stage: Ventilation- * Maintain ventilation in the operating room and maintain a minimum of 15 air changes per hour. Keep the operating door closed as much as possible. * Limit the number of staff entering the operating room. Surfaces and equipment- * Clean surfaces or equipment with hospital disinfectant if they are soiled with blood or body fluids before the next operation. * Do not perform special cleaning or closing of operating room after contaminated or dirty operations. * Sterilize all surgical equipment according to guidelines. * Assemble sterile equipment and solutions just before using them. Surgical attire- * Before entering the operating room, a surgical mask and hood that covers he hair on the face or head must be worn. * Sterile surgical gloves must be worn, putting them on after a sterile gown. * Shoe covers are not necessary for preventing surgical site infections. Vascular access- * Adhere to the rules of asepsis when placing intravascular devices and administering I. V. drugs. 3. Postoperative stage: Incision care- * Use a sterile dressing for 24-48 hours on an incision after surgery. * Wash your hands before and after any contact with the surgical site, even when changing the dressing. Use a sterile technique when changing dressings. * Teach the patient and family about incision care, signs or symptoms of surgical site infection, and when to report any symptoms (Adams, 2001). Following these guidelines can effectively reduce or prevent surgical site infections. Although nothing is 100% full proof, surgical site infections can be reduced and prevented in most situations. If an infection is not present at the time of admission and becomes evident after 48 hours of hospitalization; it is considered to be hospital acquired.Following the above mentioned guidel ines indicates quality health care practices. By using these techniques, surgical site infections will be prevented and reduced resulting in quality care; benefiting both the patient and the hospital. A legal implication related to a patient developing a surgical site infection, results in more cost to the hospital, less profit, and leaves them open to possible lawsuits. Hospital acquired infections affect 1. 7 million hospitalizations, cost $ 8. 1 billion to treat, and lead to 2. 3 million total days of hospitalization.Infections are the fourth most expense in hospitals, costing $ 252,600 per hospital on average, and each afflicted patient requires $ 24,500 more in care on average as a result. Examples of lawsuits filed due to hospital infections are as follows: July 2008, couple awarded $ 2. 58 million after the patient contracted a deadly type of staph infection ( MRSA), resulting in the loss of a kidney, and an amputated leg and foot. November 2008, jury awarded $ 13. 5 million to a woman’s family after she died of an infection aused by flesh-eating bacteria; contracted during cancer treatment. And November 2008, a woman reached a confidential settlement of $ 16 million when a hospital failed to detect a flesh-eating bacteria, before and after she gave birth, resulting in the loss of three limbs and several organs ( Gaffey, 2010). According to the AMA’s code of ethics, it is a requirement that a physician should at all times deal honestly and openly with patients concerning medical errors. Several doctors cite the risk of litigation as grounds for caution when discussing medical errors.Practicing defensive medicine such as ordering more tests or consults has become the norm to avoid malpractice suits. 94% of physicians say they would inform a patient if a mistake was made that caused an injury. Concern regarding legal liability which might result from telling the truth should not affect a physician’s honesty with a patient according to the AMA’s Code of Medical Ethics, however some skeptics maintain that it is easier to brag about virtue, than actually follow it ( Rice,2002).For the most part physicians agree that honesty is the best policy. Many doctors in a survey confessed to errors such as; prescribing the wrong medications, wrong dosage, misinterpreting x-rays, misinterpreting lab reports, etc†¦ One physician stated that being upfront about his mistakes, talking to the family, and apologizing probably avoided a lawsuit. Most doctors agree that it is better to be upfront about a mistake for several reasons, they are: 1. That it always comes out eventually, 2. Dishonesty causes more damage and loses the public’s trust, 3.Honesty decreases the chance of being sued, as well as it is the right thing to do, and 4. They want their patients or family to hear it from them first ( Rice, 2002). Communicating with the patient or family, educating them on the procedure and signs or symptoms to look for can prevent surgical site infections. Being open and honest with the patient and their family when an error occurs can possibly help to avoid a lawsuit. Honesty is always the best policy when providing quality health care.In October 2008, CMS announced that it would no longer pay for hospital-acquired conditions. It is their view that if a hospital has a good standard of practice and multidisciplinary care guidelines that these events should not happen and can easily be prevented. This is not to penalize health care, but to improve the safety of patient care and improve the quality of care by establishing standards of care and protocols. The Joint Commission has also implemented similar reporting and nonpayment initiatives to improve safety and improve the quality of care ( Lisa, 2009).The Joint Commissions new national patient safety goal to prevent surgical site infections includes a requirement to look for surgical site infections for up to 30 days after a procedure. The Center for Disease Control ( CDC) estimates that between 12% and 84% of surgical site infections are found after patients are discharged from the hospital. Joint Commission surveyors will be looking to see if the following protocols are being followed: * Hospital educates health care workers involved in surgical procedures about healthcare –associated infections, surgical site infections, and the importance of prevention. Before all surgical procedures, the hospital educates patients/family about surgical site infection prevention. * Hospital implements policies and practices aimed at reducing surgical site infections. * Hospital conducts periodic risk assessments for surgical site infections. * Measurement strategies follow evidence-based guidelines and surgical site infections are measured for the first 30 days after surgery. * Hospital supplies surgical site infection rate data and prevention outcome to leaders, practitioners, nursing staff, and other clinicians. Antimicrobial ag ents for prophylaxis used for a particular procedure or disease are administered according to standards and guidelines. * Administer I. V. antimicrobial prophylaxis within one hour before incision. * Discontinue the prophylactic antimicrobial agent within 24 hours after surgery. * When hair removal is necessary, use clippers or depilatories ( Hospital Infection Control, 2008). Localized improvement occurs when a team is developed to look at a specific problem; such as the rate of surgical site infections. Organizational learning occurs when this process is ocumented and results in the development of policies that are implemented; such as a protocol for preventing surgical site infections. Process reengineering occurs when a major investment blends internal and external resources to make changes; such as being accredited by the Joint Commission and following their guidelines for prevention of surgical site infections. Evidence-based medicine involves the selection of the best clinica l practices; implementing surgical site infection control guidelines or protocol to reduce cost and increase profit (Sollecito & Johnson, 2013).The most effective strategies for improving health care quality are: clinician-directed audit and feedback, clinical decision support systems, specialty outreach programmes, continuing professional education based on interactive small-group case discussions, and patient-mediated clinician reminders. Pay-for-performance strategies directed to clinician groups and organizational process redesign are modestly effective ( Scott, 2009). In my opinion using the organizational learning strategy would generate the best outcome and cost the least to implement.Having a team put together to gather data on surgical site infections and implementing a protocol or guidelines to follow to prevent these events would result in less cost and increased profit. In conclusion, surgical site infections are for the most part preventable. Following protocols or guid elines can greatly reduce surgical site infections. Educating staff, patients, and their families, can have a big impact on preventing surgical site infections and implementing these strategies reduces cost and increases profit. References: Adams, A. 2001). Preventing surgical site infection ( SSI): Guidelines at a glance. Nursing Management, 32 (8), 46-46. Retrieved from http://search. proquest. com/docview/231438710? accountid= 32521. Frances, A. G. ( 2005). Best-practice protocol is: Preventing surgical site infection. Nursing Management, 36 (11), 20-26. Retrieved from http://search. proquest. com/docview/ 231393974? accountid=32521. Gaffey, A. D. RN, MSN, CPHRM, FASHRM. ( 2010). Legal Implications of Healthcare- Acquired Infections. Retrieved from http://www. ahe. rg/ahe/conference/2010/content /092910/a. Lisa, M. S. ( 2009). Compliance with CMS â€Å" never events† billing requirements. Journal of Health Care Compliance, 11 (5), 33-36. Retrieved from http://search. proqu est. com/ docview/227916352? accountid=32521. Rice, B. (2002). Medical errors: Is honesty ever optional? Medical Economics, 79 ( 19), 63-72. Retrieved from http://search. proquest. com/docview/227734141? accountid=32521. Scott, I. (2009). What are the most effective strategies for improving quality and safety of healthcare?Internal Medicine Journal, 39 (6), 389-400. Doi:http://dx. doi. org/ 10. 1111/j. 1445-5994. 2008. 01798. x. Sollecito, W. A. & Johnson, J. K. (2013). Continuous quality improvement in health Care (4th ed). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. ISBN: 9780763781545. The joint commission update for infection control: SSI goal: Look for infections a month after procedure. (2008). Hospital Infection Control, Retrieved from http://search. Proquest. com/docview/758852362? accountid=32521.

Photography in Social Media Essay

In theory, social networks can be used to boost confidence and make a person feel closer to his or her peers in their social lives. Teenagers in this day and age no longer live in a world of handwritten notes passed back and forth in class. They are living social lives on a completely public forum. The youth of this generation have the access to take a picture of anything they wish and have the ability to post the picture to any social networking site for the world to see. With technology advancing, it is becoming easier and easier to document life through technology and can be done as simply as a flick of the wrist. Photography has had a significant impact on the social lives of today’s youth. To understand this impact on the youth, people have to look at the evolution of photography. The history of photography dates back to 1000 A.D., when a man by the name of Alhazen invented the pinhole camera (Bellis). Ever sine this marvelous invention, the art of photography has grown. When the ability of taking pictures was first introduced to the world, few people could afford it so in the beginning it wasn’t very popular. Today, it is seldom heard of that a household does not own one or more cameras. The way technology has advanced over the years, most cell phones today even have cameras built in them. As a result of the growing popularity the physical camera advanced to meet the demands of its new found audiences (Bellis). Social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook are guaranteed to have millions of visitors daily. With all of these visitors, advertisors have an excellent place to do what they do best; advertise. They do this by selecting a photo that is appealing to a particular audience and providing a brief description on how that photo relates to their product or services and how the reader could benefit from this. How the picture is displayed is crucial to the overall benefit of the advertisement so it is imperitive that a good photographer is used in order to make sure the photo is as attractive as possible. Advertising is the best way for businesses to reach out to the youth in order to make a profit and keep the economy flowing as smoothly as it can. Although advertising through social media is not the only way to do it, it is the most common and most effective (â€Å"The Social Media Advertising Ecosystem Explained†). Clearly picture advertisments are needed on social  networking sites to keep the sites funded while selling a product to keep the businesses funded. Photo editing is a crucial step in the creating of the final photograph. It is required that a photographer has basic knowledge of photo editing if one wants to be successful. The most important part of a photo shoot is the work it involves after the photos have been shot! Post processing photo editing has become the anthem for many professional photographers (â€Å"What Is Photo Editing?†). To achieve above work standards, the photo editing professionals have to use the correct software. There are many different kinds of software that have been introduced for professional editors. Photo editing gives people the ability of re-sizing and cropping their picture, changing the exposure and contrast of their picture, special effects and many more features depending on the editing software. Photo editing is a beautiful process that can remove unwanted blemishes and any unwanted objects from digital photos (â€Å"What Is Photo Editing?†). A photo editor is in charge of what th e final photograph will look like. If the editors are successful, the photo will appear to be un-edited, but will display a beautiful flawless image. Photo editing is an essential part of photography. Once the photos have been edited, it opens up many possibilitys on the web. There are multiple social networking sites that use photography and photo editing as their main purpose. Snapchat, Instgram, and Tumblr all include photography in social media. All of these social networking sites impact the social lives of today’s youth. The users of these sites are allowed to judge the other users photos by virtually â€Å"liking† them or writing their own opinions on the photo by leaving a comment on it. This can be subliminally considered a social ranking to teens who are looking for positive attention. This is one way that Social Media impacts the lives of today’s youth. A big impact on today’s youth is snapchat. Snapchat is a new way to share moments with friends. Snapchat is a photo messaging application developed by Stanford University students. In addition to photos, a short video can be sent. Snap an ugly selfie or a video, add a caption, and send it to a friend or maybe a few. They will receive it,  laugh, and then the snap disappears forever. The captions in the videos and pictures can only be as long as the screen is wide. If a user would like to fit more text on the screen, they would either tilt the device sideways so the text bar is longer, or write the words using the draw tool on snapchat. The color of the pen can be changed. Account users take a photo, send it to someone and ten-seconds later it has disappeared forever. No saving them, no forwarding them on. The app is designed to capture a moment and share it in an impermanent way, like speech. The image might be a little grainy, and users may not look their best, but that’s the point. It’s about the moment, a connection between friends, and not just a pretty picture although in the newest udpate filters were added so now editing is even allowed on Snapchat. On average, about 20 million snapchats are sent a day. Snapchat has a big impact on the social lives of today’s youth. There are multiple types of social networking sites that deal with photography and impact the social lives of today’s youth significantly such as, Instagram. Many teens and adults post images to a social networking site called Instagram. Instagram is an online photo-sharing, video-sharing and social networking service that enables its users to take pictures and videos, apply digital filters to them, and share them on a variety of social networking services, such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Flickr. Many teens and adults post pictures to Instagram using simple editing tool s such as filters to give their photos more of an â€Å"artsy† feel (â€Å"Picture to Pedophile†). â€Å"Instagrammers† post any photo they wish to display in the hopes of getting a multiple number of â€Å"likes† on that particular photo. It is almost like a social ranking in the teen social life. Sometimes photos are of the places they have been, or the things that they desire, or the food that they are consuming, and sometimes of themselves. Pictures on Instagram of the account creator are called â€Å"selfies†. The problem here is that the photos are very publicly available and are assigned to their user account (Picture to Pedophile). With teens living their social lives on a completely public forum, parents need to inform their children about privacy settings and internet safety. Instagram greatly impacts the social lives of today’s youth. Simply put, Tumblr is an image blogging site. With over 15 billion page views a month, Tumblr is a very addicting site to teens and youth in this day and age. Tumblr users post interesting photos, videos, and other  media to their followers, who can then share it with their followers as well. Tumblr has played a signiï ¬ cant role in shaping an individual’s identity and personality towards themselves and society via photo representation. The Tumblr environment has remarkably transformed the perspectives of adolescents’ own appearance and is one of the main contributors for the desire of teenagers to conform and stick to what is supposedly the norm of the status quo. Tumblr’s heavy emphasis on visual media, therefor, Tumblr is a photography based site that significantly impacts the social lives of today’s youth. Seeing as these personal photos are being publically broadcasted across the cyber world, many dangers come into play. â€Å"Catfishing† is a form of identity theft in which an online user is not who they claim to be. They steal pictures and try to represent the displayed person in order to gain something. This has become such a big issue recently that producers at MTV have made a TV show about noticing the signs of a person claiming to be someone they are not. As soon as a picture is posted online, it can be stolen and used by anyone who can view it. Once a picture is online, it is no longer private, even if the owner is unaware somebody else is using it. Online safety is a big issue when it comes to personal photographs (â€Å"Picture to Pediphile†). As the prevalence of online social networking grows so do psychologist’s concerns aboutInternet communications and its overall effect on adolescent social development. For example, while positive feedback on a photo would most likely cause a boost in self esteem, a negative type of feedback would contrarily do the opposite and cause a decrease in self esteem. Although a self esteem boost seems like a good thing, it can also have a negative effect on a teenager. â€Å"Too many compliments can all go straight to their ego and eventually it will be so big there will not be any room for their original personality.† A harsh case of criticism will also end up with negative effects as well. Cyber bullying is a major contributor to depression in young social networkers. The publicity and freedom of judgment on these uploaded photos can have major effect on how a young person feels towards themselves and how they act. This  is one of the most important ways that photography im pacts the social lives of the youth. While social networking does indeed have an effect on the youth of today, the photography that is involved with social networking plays an even bigger role in how the youth is effected. What would Facebook be without profile pictures and photo albums and the critics who judge them in the comment section? Would there even be Instagram or Snapchat? How would a teenager get the much needed self-esteem boost from a friendly compliment on a recently uploaded photo? Photography in social media and it’s effect on the youth is much larger than what most people realize. Works Cited Bellis, Mary. â€Å"History of Photography and the Camera.† About.com Inventors. About.com, 05 Mar. 2014. Web. 06 Apr. 2014. â€Å"The Social Media Advertising Ecosystem Explained.† Business Insider. N.p., 8 June 2013. Web. 6 Apr. 2014. . Munni, Rokaiya Y. â€Å"What Is Photo Editing?† Photo Editing and Photoshop Clipping Path Services What Is Photo Editing Comments. N.p., 1 Aug. 2012. Web. 06 Apr. 2014. . Birdsong, Toni. â€Å"Picture to Pedophile: The Danger of Instagram and Kik Messenger.† McAfee Picture to Pedophile The Danger of Instagram and Kik Messenger Comments. McAfee, 4 June 2013. Web. 06 Apr. 2014. .

Opinion of Shared Governance Essay

What is your opinion of shared governance? â€Å"In shared governance, as in nursing, the primary resources for practice are the providers themselves. Thus, to control practice, nurses must have influence over themselves as a professional group,† ( Hess, R. 2011. P.3). I believe when shared governance is actually thoroughly exercised, nurses claim the power they can have by utilizing leadership and optimal practice. I strongly believe this mindset can greatly improve job satisfaction and patient care outcomes. List short-term and long-term advantages and barriers to this type of model. Short-term: sense of empowerment, nurses can influence the processes, staff becomes accountable for their actions Long-term: improves communication and cooperation/teamwork, promotes compromise, since everyone is involved staff learns to listen to other viewpoints. Compared to other types of organizational structures, is a shared governance model better for nursing? I do believe that shared governance is a better model for structure in nursing. This model promotes democracy and teamwork while others tell you what your goals are; shared governance encourages staff to brainstorm their own goals which fosters pride and compliancy. â€Å"Shared governance is collaboration, whether in scheduling staff, educating new staff, or implementing evidence-based practice. It involves teamwork, problem-solving, and accountability, with the goals of improved staff satisfaction, productivity, and patient outcomes. It is working together to make decisions that affect nursing practice and patient care. It is working with other disciplines for the good of the patient. It is collaborating to improve nursing practice,† (Bonsall, L. 2011. p.1) How do Magnet hospitals fit into the shared governance model? Magnet hospitals and shared governance share many characteristics including excellent teamwork, low nurse burnout/turnover rates, and optimal patient outcomes. Each encourages the nurse to express opinions and listen to others’ as well. Open mindedness is coupled with high standard of practice. These two are highly motivational. Resources: Bonsall, L. (2011). What is Shared Governance? Nursing’sCenter in the Round. Retrieved from

Global Success of Gores Culture Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 122

Global Success of Gores Culture - Case Study Example The approach ensures efficiency and uniqueness in its products; hence, acting as a competitive strategy. Â  Gore has modified its core values to suit its different operations. It has made sure that the codes are employee friendly so that they can act as motivators. For example, one of the company’s core objectives is to ‘Make money and have fun’ (Hill and Jones 2013). The objective describes a culture that employees will have fun while conducting their money-making operation, leading to the success of the firm. Â  The Gore culture has four guiding principles that include commitment, freedom, waterline, and fairness. An employee should make and keep guiding commitments that will guide them in their operations. The ‘waterline ensures that employees consult other associated before making decisions that they are not a 100% sure may be rational. Freedom and fairness ensure that employees share, encourage, and assist each other in gaining more knowledge about their activities. Â  The culture also stipulates that current global competitions require firms to enhance the degree of coordination among employees in the development and production sectors (Hill and Jones 2013). Collaborative leadership and cutting-edge technology are also used as competition strategies. Firms should also adopt innovative human resources practices to ensure employee satisfaction.

A Journal opinion article Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

A Journal opinion article - Essay Example The first three months of the year experienced decline in spending by domestic household in the United States as reported by the commerce department. The decline in consumption dropped from the estimated 3.6 percent to 2.6percent as the CNBC reported. The commerce department reported massive decline spending in crucial sectors, notably the service sector based on the report by CNBC, consumers decreased their spending in legal services, health care and more so in personal care. One of the major causes of the consumption decline could have been the new taxation law. The increase in the social security tax at the beginning of the year could have limited the extent to which households spend within the first quarter. The tax increase lowered directly the amount of income that households would take home at end of the day. After taxation, consumers were left with only meager income; these consumers choose to concentrate on basic commodities only (Morrissey 1). As opposed to earlier projecti ons that had showed increase in the amount export for first quarter, the latest report indicated otherwise. The department of commence statistics indicated that export decreased indeed to 1.1percent while imports also declined to 0.4 percent. The decrease in export translated to limited foreign currency at the disposal of the government for the country to trade with other countries. Consequently, the fall in imports resulted to decrease in foreign revenue. Both reductions in export and import negative effects on the country’s gross domestic product and contributed to the drop in the figure that had been projected for the first quarter to be 2.4percent (Morrissey 1). Amid concerns that the government was cutting its spending, consumers could have become more reserved in their spending. Government spending cut could lead to increase in the prices of commodities that had been earlier subsidized. A decrease in government’s spending could also result to households paying fo r basic services that were being catered for by the state prior to cut in spending. Vis a Vis the speculation of the government cutting its spending motivated a decline in consumption by consumers that further led to drop in the GDP of the first quarter. However, according to the wall street journal, the cut in governments spending which took effect in first month of the first quarter led to direct deduction of 0.9 percent off the growth rate (BBC 1). Due to economical globalization of the world, there existed unprecedented events all over the world that were bound to destabilize the projected GDP by department of commerce. Economic instability in states such as china and European countries could have contributed to gravitation of the united states GDP to 1.8 percent. With globalization, no single economy can exist in solitary in the 21st century. Hence, through globalization, the myriad of macroeconomics factors derailing the Chinese economy and euro zone states such as Greece adve rsely influenced the bilateral trade between these countries. The decrease in the annual economic growth of china triggered the decline in trade between the two countries. On the other hand, the worsening conditions of euro zone states such as Greece continued to shift trade further away from the European countries causing down surge in the amount of investments by Americans in the oversees (BBC 1). Though the department of com

How has Modern advances changed welding technology since anicent times Essay

How has Modern advances changed welding technology since anicent times - Essay Example It is a dangerous process and precautions must be taken in order to avoid electric shock, burns, vision damage, exposure to UV radiation, and inhalation of toxic fumes and gases. Welding process traces its historic development from the ancient times. Therefore, this paper will delve into the changes technology has made in welding from the ancient times to the present. Welding traces its roots from the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. During the Bronze Age, small round golden boxes were made by pressure welding of lap joints together. It is believed that these golden boxes were made over two thousand years ago. Currently, the golden boxes have been put on exhibition at the National Museum in Ireland. On the other hand, during the Iron Age, people from the Eastern Mediterranean and Egyptians learnt the art of welding pieces of iron together. They made tools and weapons using forge welding operations. The art of blacksmithing developed to a high degree during the Middle Ages period. Several tools and weapons made from iron were welded by hammering. Blacksmithing entails working with extremely hot steel, a hammer and an anvil to make items. After the steel has been heated, it becomes malleable making it easy to punch and twist. It is the twisting and punching that shapes the metal. After shaping, it is cooled to harden the shape. Sometimes it is taken ba ck to the fire for reheating for further shaping and bending. While doing this, a blacksmith should use tongs handle the metals since they are extremely hot to be handled by bare hands. The process of forging metals and blacksmithing was extremely dangerous. This is ascribed to the fact that the blacksmith’s fires can be very hot, and it is mandatory to stoke them constantly in order to maintain the high temperatures. Therefore, blacksmiths had to observe caution while working in order not to burn their bodies or places of work. Secondly, blacksmiths

Response Week 11 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Response Week 11 - Essay Example As noted from this event, he does not only have a lot of money and techniques to bribe law enforcement officials from both sides of the border, he also has supporters who are not hired by him. It is not hard to see why ordinary Mexican citizens would be supporting him if he has been keeping their streets safe from other drug cartels members. This just shows the level of insecurity that the Mexican citizens are facing, since they would rather have a drug lord protecting them than law enforcement agencies. This also proves that it would be hopeless not to have El Chapo extradited to United States. Even though most people who have lost their loved ones to death because of this man are happy to see him behind bars, Salazar is right to point out of the harsh reality. This man is still too powerful. Supposedly the Mexican government manages to extradite him, which I believe is necessary, there will still be a problem. As noted by Patricia Adler, Peter Alder and O’Brien (2012), page 390, the war on drugs exists because people fail to see their harmful effects. This means that even if both governments decide to sentence him to death, drug smuggling, human trafficking and people will still be killed by other drug smugglers. When a CEO from a company gets fired, the company does not stop its operations because other CEOs get hired. As much as the two governments want the man gone for good, it is important for law enforcement agencies to remember one thing. The solution to the war on drugs is ultimately a structural one where people will learn that they are part of what it takes to defeat the war. Hastings, D. (2014, February 27). Hundreds march in Mexico for release of drug lord Joaquin El Chapo Guzman. New York Daily News. Retrieved from

Critical success factors (MBA) Assignment Essay

Critical success factors (MBA) Assignment - Essay Example This paper will review the literature on what are the key factors that determine success of any project. The term success factor itself has been defined different by different researchers. While Clarke (1999) refers to it as ‘key success factors’, Belassi and Tukel (1996) call it the critical success/failure factor. Cooke Davies (2002) calls them merely ‘success factors. According to Torp et al. (2004, pp2) noticed â€Å"CSFs to projects moved from a mechanistic approach to success determination which was relying on purely technical system and the traditional Cost-Time-Quality constraints to a combination of social and technical systems†. Cooke-Davies further clarifies that project success is more difficult than project management success because the goals and methods are liable to change. Project success is measured against the overall objectives of the project while project management success is measured against the cost, time, quality and performance. Cooke-Davies further distinguishes between success criteria and success factors. People also differ on the number of success factors that are critical for project success. Daniel (1961), in an article published in Harvard Business Review, highlighted the type of information needed to support top management activities. He recognized the significance of non-financial data in order to achieve organizational goals and suggested that an organization’s information system should be centered on providing three to six success factors that help an organization achieve success. Rockhard in 1979 defined critical success factor (CSF) as the limited number of areas in which satisfactory results will ensure successful competitive performance for the individual, department, or organization (ESCC, 2006). He stressed that CSFs are the few key areas which have to be just right for the organization to flourish and for the manager to achieve

What are the organisational benefits of performance review Essay

What are the organisational benefits of performance review - Essay Example While these individuals may differ on how and when performance reviews should be conducted they are all united on the point that such reviews and the review process itself is an essential part of employee growth which in turn leads to the growth of the company. Jack Welch served as the CEO of General Electric for more than two decades and links performance reviews to the overall mission of the company. Welch (2005, Pg. 16) says that â€Å"Every decision or initiative was linked to the mission. We publicly rewarded people who drove the mission and let go of people who couldn’t deal with it for whatever reason.† GE’s own mission, when Welch was running the company, was to be the most competitive company in the world which fits with the two pronged approach of rewarding and doing the utmost to keep the best talent within the company and letting go of those who do not perform to a certain level. Such tactics could only be employed when effective performance review processes are in place and GE’s system for performance reviews has been lauded by critics and copied verbatim by the competition simply because it is one of the best. The current issues faced by our organisation are mostly concerned with the human resource management of the company. Before an outline of these issues as well as a discussion of the problems is made, it must be noted that none of these issues are large enough to cripple the company but they do make the management process more difficult. Additionally, all these issues come with simple solutions and if those solutions are applied with careful consideration there should be no reason why the company can not gain competitive advantages over time. The central issue for the company comes from the fact that many of our senior managers and other personnel have little or no formal training in management which leads to a lack of

Cases and Materials on the Law of Restitution Assignment

Cases and Materials on the Law of Restitution - Assignment Example In normal parlance, English did not cognize a law of restitution footed on the cannons of reversing unjust enrichment. It is to be noted, the passing comment made by the great judges like Lord Wright in Fibrosa and Lord Mansfield in Moses v Macferlan was mostly uncared for the restitution till 1966. (Gilliker 2007:101). Goff and Jones in 1966 published â€Å"the Law of Restitution† which assaulted the customary English approach and tried to show that, looking across both equity and common law, there is a coherent English law of restitution, which is footed on the cannon of putting back unjust enrichment. The above authors viewed the law of restitution as belonging alongside tort and contract as a third branch of the law of obligations. Slowly, Goff and Jones’s findings gained momentum in legal practitioners, academia and judges, thereby ending in the acknowledgment by House of Lords the law of restitution in Lipkin Gorman v Karpnale Ltd in 1991, which can be considered as Donoghue v Stevenson1 of the law of Restitution. In Woolwich Equitable Building Society v IRC, the cannon of unjust enrichment was relied upon by the Lordships to deliver a sweeping decision that in case of payment demanded by a public authority ultra vis, a claimant is entitled as of right to restitution against the same. Thereafter, unambiguous reference to unjust enrichment as the source of the claims made by judges at all categories in various cases in the UK. (Burrows, Mthe Kendrick & Edelman 2007:1). English courts have generally been reluctant to acknowledge restitution as a separate norm of recovery due to the availability of the substitute legal remedies under common law like recovery such recoveries and quantum valebat and the doctrine of waiver that is available inequitable and tort claims. Nonetheless, the law of restitution is often confused through the English courts’ synthesis of equity and contract founded reliefs vindicated under the head of restitution. I t is to be noted that the inherent issues with the restitution footed claims are the doctrinal complexity of measuring the notion of unjust enrichment. In the case Westdeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale v Islington LBC, the underlying aim of restitution has frequently been puzzled with equitable trust law notions, thereby increasing the perplexity in this domain of law as corroborated by the main issue in the above case being swap litigation. (Burrows et al 2007:40). The English courts have given for the claims under restitution a synthetic â€Å"quasi-contract† hypothesis, which is damned for being â€Å"intrinsically hollow, mirroring a vague concept. The core issue in applying the quasi-contract rationale is that in restitution claims, the defendants were being demanded to make payment on the footage of wrongdoing without any backing doctrinal rationale for making such damage payment to the claimant under logical legal standards.

SIX STEPS OF MARKETING RESEARCH Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

SIX STEPS OF MARKETING RESEARCH - Essay Example Marketing research specifies the information required to address these issues, designs the methods for collecting information, manages and implements the data collection process, analyzes, and communicates the findings and their implications." (Introduction to Marketing Research) "Is collected for the first time. It is original and collected for a specific purpose, or to solve a specific problem. It is expensive, and time consuming, but is more focused than secondary research. There are many ways to conduct primary research. We consider some of them." (Introduction to Marketing Research) 2. Mystery Shopping: "Companies will set up mystery shopping campaigns on an organizations behalf. Often used in banking, retailing, travel, cafes and restaurants, and many other customers focused organizations, mystery shoppers will enter, posing as real customers. They collect data on customer service and the customer experience. Findings are reported back to the commissioning organization. There are many issues surrounding the ethics of such an approach to research." (Introduction to Marketing Research) Now what is means by 'Secondary Data Collection Procedure in Marketing Research According to a definition "is data which has been collected by individuals or agencies for purposes other than those of our particular research study. For example, if a government department has conducted a survey of, say, family food expenditures, then a food manufacturer might use this data in the organization's evaluations of the total potential market for a new product. Similarly, statistics prepared by a ministry on agricultural production will prove useful to a whole host of people and organizations, including those marketing agricultural supplies". (Secondary Source Information) However, in order to achieve this ob objective, there are certain ways as follows: 1. By applying the secondary data collection, sometimes it replaces primary sources, because the secondary data solves most of the problems facing. 2. A real secondary data is more simple and cheaper if compared with the primary data, while by applying the secondary gives more fruitful result than primary sources. 3. While adapting to collect information by applying secondary data, it consumes less time than adapting to primary source. 4. You can get more perfect and accurate information by adapting to secondary source, more than adapting

Euthanasia Pros And Cons Essay Example for Free

Euthanasia Pros And Cons Essay Introduction Health becomes everyone concerns since it influence our today’s activities. People who get sick will likely not feel up to do any activities and therefore reduce their effectiveness. This is the underlying reason why we witness growing number of nutrition supplement in recent days. The aims of such growth are to give our bodies additional synthetic foods to replace the natural ones that we should take but do not have time for it. Since cure takes lots of money and time, today people understand the need to take preventive instead of curative actions. However, at some cases, there are patients who cannot stand having a great suffer and they decide to end their life by medical practice called euthanasia. Euthanasia exists as one of medical approaches, which is commonly conducted in some countries. It is not supported by decree but some rules agree to a standard defense from general practitioners that have remained to official principles. This depends on charitableness of the demand and relievable-ness of the pain. Considering than euthanasia is debatable from the point of ethical view, therefore, the research statement of this paper is â€Å"amidst the endless debates over the practice of euthanasia, what are ethical arguments that both support and cons it.† Concerning the ethical issues, this paper will elaborate three ethical argument of euthanasia. Three Arguments of Euthanasia 2.1  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Background of Euthanasia Euthanasia is the process or practice to end the life of a person who suffers from a severe disease by committing an unusual medical treatment. The objective of euthanasia is to end the pain of a person who has a terminal disease or devastating illness. Many people consider it as a medically accepted murder since, at some places; a general practitioner may legally decide not to extend the patient’s life. Many organizations oppose the practice of euthanasia by encouraging the use of advance medical technology, which has been used to lengthen the lives of patients who are continuing great suffering (â€Å"Euthanasia†). Technological progresses in medication have enabled to lengthen life in patients with no optimism of revival. The negative consideration of euthanasia has occurred because of the practice of using extraordinary means to save life. Under such circumstances, the positive consideration of performing euthanasia has come to mention acts that aggressively cause death. In practice, Euthanasia uses some methods such as antibiotics, drugs, or surgery in large quantity but eventually lethal pain medication is supplied. Euthanasia is an ordinary practice among U.S. hospitals and general practitioners (â€Å"Euthanasia and End-of-Life Decisions†). There are, in general, two methods of euthanasia: active or passive. Active euthanasia refers to the practice where a general practitioner simply put to death a person who suffers from terminal conditions. Meanwhile, passive euthanasia brings up any action of letting the patient to die, which may comprise failing to give needed medicine. Both of active and passive euthanasia can be voluntary, non-voluntary, or involuntary (â€Å"Euthanasia†). Ethical View of Euthanasia Oxford Advanced Learner’ Dictionary defines ethic as a system of moral principles and rule of conduct[1]. In the case of euthanasia, moral principle might apply not only for the patient but also for the medical industry in general. Concerning the ethical view, Gillon (1994) explains there are four ethical principles that are related to health care: respect autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and promote justice. In the case of euthanasia, we will discuss the role of three principles; they are respect autonomy, non-maleficence, and promote justice. 2.2.1  Ã‚  Ã‚   Respect Autonomy In the respect autonomy, the principle underlines the important to educate, communicate, respect, and empower. We found that autonomy becomes sensitive issues in the practice of euthanasia since it is both important and controversial since there is controversy between the medical ethics to strive for making people staying alive and the intention of family or individual to end someone’s life due to severe diseases that someone attains (Gillon, 1994). The importance of euthanasia has been found to play significant role in today’s health care industry although it generates a conflict between rights of individual and the family. In addition, people who support euthanasia have capitalized on people that confuse, and fear about the use of modern life-lengthening technologies. Being capable of deciding the time and manner of person’s death regardless the destiny is showed as the definitive freedom. On the other hand, a choice to take person’s life or to let a doctor to take life a suffering patient is very dissimilar from a choice to refuse extraordinary oppressive cure (â€Å"Euthanasia and Physician Assisted Suicide†).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Furthermore, people must be cautious of those who force to end the lives of the elderly people and the severe patients. If people ever make a decision that break quality of life, they should provide good reasons for ending the life. There is dissimilarity between permitting nature to take its path and aggressively helping death. The term of euthanasia becomes famous in society since it is a kind of â€Å"death with self-respect† or helping suicide (â€Å"Euthanasia and Physician Assisted Suicide†). Non- maleficence In the non-maleficence, the ethical view is to do no avoidable harm both to individuals and to groups (Gillon, 1994). In line with this view, the euthanasia may be seen as unethical practice since medically, any patients still have opportunity to heal and medical technology may help to lengthen life of patients with severe diseases. They also start to speculate whether they have the rights to get for themselves or their fellowmen an easy death, which will curtail suffering and appear to them more in agreement with human self-respect (â€Å"Declaration on Euthanasia†). Many people argue in the some states in answering the question of what comprises aggressively causing death and what comprises only permitting death to happen obviously. In a more extensive meaning, both shortest killing and â€Å"letting a patient to pass away,† where the movements required saving a life are not simply to be taken (â€Å"Euthanasia and End-of-Life Decisions†). Legalizing euthanasia would also contravene some public confidences about human rights and equal opportunity. Some of them declare human absolute rights to stay life, to have autonomy and the happiness. If people’s rights to stay alive are reduced in value, the other rights will have no sense. Peoples, who stand for the attentions of elderly and disable people, and those who suffer AIDS or other incurable sicknesses, by current medical technology, are reasonably feared of having judged to be killed by euthanasia method (â€Å"Euthanasia and End-of-Life Decisions†). Promote Justice. The third ethical view is the promote justice. It simply explains fair distribution of resources, respect for rights and respect for morally acceptable laws. One problem in euthanasia case is that it â€Å"is not fair.† We (the elderly or patients with severe diseases) are not â€Å"created equal†. Under such circumstances, the doctor has to try to create a level playing field, in the interests of justice (Gillon, 1994).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Concerning the promote of justice, some states in the U.S face constituent vote schemes and â€Å"legislation statements† trying to legalize euthanasia and help suicide. Public judgment concerning this subject has become more significant because extensive maintain could extremely well smooth the progress of the legalization of these policies in other states (â€Å"Declaration on Euthanasia†). A recent survey reveals that almost all of Americans support the practice of euthanasia. However, advanced research has illustrated that there are important disparities in levels of support for euthanasia across different social groups. Lately, these approaches have been accepting more awareness since they can control the legislation and recognize how to be concerned about the patients in the future (â€Å"Euthanasia suicide mercy-killing right-to-die physician assisted†). The regulation distinguishes that euthanasia is a practice that had been tolerated for many years in which it allows the practice of euthanasia and medical doctors who help to end someone life under some conditions. The conditions are the patient’s suffering is intolerable with no hope of recovery, the patients who ask for euthanasia must be voluntary and persevere over time, and the patient must be completely conscious of his/her situation, hopes and choices. Conclusion Euthanasia is the process or practice to end the life of a person who suffers from a severe disease by committing an unusual medical treatment. The objective of euthanasia is to end the pain of a person who has a terminal disease or devastating illness. Many people consider it as a medically accepted murder since, at some places; a general practitioner may legally decide not to extend the patient’s life. The practice of euthanasia is still debatable from the point of ethical view. This paper reveals three ethical view of its practice based on Gillon (1994), the three ethical views that we discuss in this paper are respect autonomy, non-maleficence, and promote justice. Works Cited â€Å"Euthanasia suicide mercy-killing right-to-die physician assisted.† 2005. Retrieved October 15, 2006 from http://www.euthanasia.com â€Å"Euthanasia and Physician Assisted Suicide.† 2004. Retrieved October 15, 2006 from http://www.religioustolerance.org/euthanas.htm â€Å"Euthanasia.† 2005. Retrieved October 15, 2006 http://ethics.acusd.edu/euthanasia.html â€Å"Euthanasia and End-of-Life Decisions.† 2004. Retrieved October 15, 2006 fromhttp://ethics.acusd.edu/Applied/Euthanasia/ â€Å"Euthanasia.† 2005. Retrieved October 15, 2006 from http://www.nrlc.org/euthanasia/index.html â€Å"Declaration on Euthanasia.† 1980. Retrieved October 15, 2006 from http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19800505_euthanasia_en.html Gillon R. Medical ethics: four principles plus attention to scope. BMJ 1994; 309: 184-188 Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (4th ed.).(1989). [1] Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (4th ed.).(1989).

Concepts in Creative Accounting

Concepts in Creative Accounting Creative Accounting is usually depicted as a smeared subject and hence considered as an adverse deed. It is quite common that as and when the words â€Å"Creative Accounting† are indicated, the thinking that surfaces in one’s head is that of manipulation, dishonesty and fraud. It is apparent that if at all any error appears when resorting to Creative Accounting; it is not because that the tool is faulty, but the user is to be blamed. Progressively more companies have avoided disasters by adopting Creative Accounting and there are also numerous instances of companies which could wriggle out of adversities by using it. If creative accounting adheres to ethical and legal standards as well as the generally acceptedInternational Journal of accounting principles (GAAP), they can produce enormousprofits to the business and its shareholders or help strive through tough and challenging periods. Furthermore, attempting to completely illegalise it is impractical and narrows the gr owth of the accounting profession with such restrictions. Alternatively, educating accountants on ethical behavior and promoting professionalism could be a better solution. In 2008, Hooper, Davey, Liyanarachchi, Prescott has defined Creative accounting as a method whereby accountants use their understanding of accounting rules to manipulate the figures stated in the financial statement of a business. Basically it deals with various matters of conclusions and perseverance of conflicts between perplexing approaches to the presentation of the consequences of financial dealings and transactions. In 2008, Hooper et al. opined that on a wider perspective creative accounting can be considered as worthy provided an accountant puts this tool in use with a judgement based on sturdy moral and ethical footing to objectively portray the performance of a company. Nevertheless, creative accounting can also be construed as an evil accounting exercise, as there are negative zones that permit literally ‘creative accounting’. A pertinent instance for this is the common practice of submitting a well looking report to the shareholders without violating the boundaries of the letter of the law (Hooper et al., 2008). The lack of rigidity within the criteria and law compromises probabilities for manipulation and distortion; activities that may be considered unethical by most of humanity. In 1995, Breton and Taffler stated that it is a hard task for individual shareholders to distinguish the facts and the results of accounting manipulation because of lack of personal expertise, unresponsiveness or a reluctance to undertake a meticulous scrutiny. This botch on the stakeholders’ part is not a serious issue as far as the market proficiency is concerned. While concluding their research, Breton and Taffler opined that though there is certainly a scarcity of creative accounting strategies in the perspective analysts, the number of accounting professionals required is relatively low â€Å"for the market as a whole appropriately to process window dressed numbers†. However, in 1999, Healy and Wahlen backed with reports stated that creative accounting prior to equity issues does have an impact on share prices, vividly establishing that the potential investors do not necessarily take interest in creative accounting. The major areas where creative accounting can make vital contributions are: governing elasticity, lack of rules, an opportunity for managerial judgment in respect of expectations about the future, the scheduling of some dealings, the use of simulated businesses and lastly the reclassification and presentation of financial results. Accounting regulations normally allows policy options; valuation of asset is a good instance for it. International Accounting Standards offer a selection between carrying non current assets at either depreciated historical or cost revalued amounts. It is up to the Business entities to change their accounting policies depending on the situation on ground. Schipper stated in 1989 that any change in policy is comparatively noticeable in the year in which it is adapted; but in the following years such changes may not be easily distinguishable. There are several areas which are not amply covered by proper regulations. One good example for this is relating to accounting regulations for various stock options. No clear cut mandatory guidelines are set as yet in this area. Even in some of the developed countries such as Spain; accounting regulations in some areas are extremely scant. The crediting process and the size of the pension liabilities and certain norms for accounting financial instruments can be stated as some of the examples. There is opportunity for managerial judgement for appraisal in discretionary areas. In 1988, Mc Nichols and Wilson took bad debts provision as an example and examined the discretionary and non-discretionary elements in it. In order to render a good look to the accounts, the Management can decide upon the timing of even genuine transactions. For instance, if a company has made an investment at historic cost which can be vended for a higher price, being the current value. It is the prerogative of the managers of the business to opt as to which year they sell off the investment so as to show an increased profit in the financial statements. Artificial business transactions may be incorporated to manipulate balance sheet amounts and to hobble profits between different accounting periods. This can be accomplished with the tacit connivance of a third party; such as banks, which is willing to enter into two or more correlated deals. A vivid example for this can be found in an agreement for selling an asset to a bank and then lease the said asset for the rest of its life span. The sale value under such a sale and leaseback agreement can be inclined above or below the present value of the asset as the variance can be remunerated for by reduced or increased rentals. These are poorly researched in the literature. In 2001, Gramlich et al. suggested that companies may manipulate balance sheets to reclassify liabilities so as to report a more rosy liquidity and leverage ratios. The presentation of financial numbers provides a distinct style of creative accounting that is based on cognitive reference points. In the year 2000, Niskanen and Keloharju described that â€Å"the idea behind this behaviour is that humans may perceive a profit of, say, 301 million as abnormally larger than a profit of 298 million†. There were many other studies such as one undertaken by van Caneghem in 2002 have clearly showed that some trivial fiddling of figures does happen in order to achieve some noteworthy landmarks. In 2002 Naser and Pendlebury questioned senior business auditors about their involvement of creative accounting. According to them a substantial proportion of all types of companies use creative accounting procedures to certain magnitude. Several research studies scrutinized a specific aspect or practice of creative accounting. The entire studies confirmed that creative accounting using a precise technique. In 1976 Barnea et al. explained classificatory smoothing with the deployment of extraordinary items and their results, founded on a study of 62 US companies, indicate that classificatory smoothing does happen. A large number of accounting appraisals and estimates are allowed by IFRSs. Thefeature of accounting estimates is that the amount considered for a preciseelement reflected on the financial statements is not an exact figure. Mulford and Comiskey (2002:64, 26) is of the view that the areas of flexibility within the IFRSs could indicate the areas of creative accounting. According to Baralexis (2004:440) since the IFRSs is an essential condition for creative accounting, there are two types of creative accounting the legitimate and the illegitimate. It is very hard to differentiatebetween creative accounting and the realistic application of business judgement. When all the aspects discussed above is taken into consideration, the very question automatically raised would be as to why flexibility is allowedwithin the IFRSs in the first place if the menace of manipulation of financialinformation is apparent. Healy and Wahlen (1999:366) opined that the financial statements are the best evidence for the knowledge of a manager about his company. They further stated that accounting standards should allow managers to make judgements and thereby conveying the necessary data to the users of financial reports which could possiblyenhance the worth of accounting.Mr. Arthur Levit, the former chairman of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) defends the practice of flexibility in accounting standards with the following observation:â€Å"Flexibility in accounting allows it to keep pace with business innovations.† (Levitt 1998:16).McBarnet and Whelan (1999:39) noted that in the UK, where the use of IFRSs is extensively prevalent toprepare financia l statements, the emphasis is on principles rather than on rules.They maintain that doctrines are considered as the only means to seize the intricacy ofaccounting. THE EFFECT OF ESTIMATES IN FINANCIAL STATEMENTS BY ELIZABETH JOHANNA RAUBENHEIMER Creative accounting is of great assistance to sustain or increase theshare value by maintaining debt level to lower risk and bypresenting enhanced profits in the financial statements. Due to the high share price, the company will be able to amass new capital easily and will be of immense help during takeover efforts. There are some authors who is of the view that delaying tactics resorted by management in publishing the financial figures to the market with an ulterior motive to extract some benefits from the delay can be described as creative accounting. However, if the management’s objective is not to hurt the interest of the investors, such actions cannot be termed as fraudulent. Use or Abuse of Creative Accounting Techniques Normally, businesses choose to portray a stable trend of growth in profit instead of displaying explosive profits with a chain of intense increases and drops. It can be achieved by setting unreasonably high provisions for liabilities against assets in bright years to enable a reduction in these provisions thereby improving the profits in bad years. The supporters of this tactic is of the view that it is a measure against the ‘short-termism of adjudging an asset on the basis of the profits earned in the immediate ensuing years. This approach also shuns high anticipations during bright periods so that the management is not embarrassed when the performance is not that good as expected in the following years. It is contended against this backdrop that if the business environment of a firm is indeed explosive or impulsive; then the stakeholders have every right to be aware of this fact so that income smoothing may obscure enduring fluct uations in the profit movement. In 1991, Revsine contemplated the issue and opined that both managers and investors are benefited from loose accounting standards that allow managers with autonomy in scheduling the reporting of income. He went on to add that accounting as a system has the principal duty to constantly checking the agreements between managers and other agencies such as financial institutions, monitor the market mechanisms to ensure that they are operating effectively, be alert so that the accounting manipulation potentials can be detected in time and reflected accordingly in the pricing and contract decisions. The works on the morals of prejudice in accounting policy choice is appraised at the macro level of the accounting watchdog. Correspondingly, these literatures can be applied to the prejudice in accounting policy options at the micro level of the administration of businesses that is inherent in creative accounting. It is very interesting to analyse the two contrasting stands propounded by Ruland and Revsine. A close scrutiny of the opinion of Ruland reveals that he makes an obvious differentiation between the deontological and teleological views. According to him, deontological views are moral rules which apply to actual actions and the teleological views are that any action should be adjudged on the basis of the moral substance of the results. Revsine appears to be more lenient towards teleological perspective of accounting in the private sector so that the managers have the liberty to opt the alternatives provided in ‘loose’ standards to attain their preferred goal. However, when he talks about deontological view of accounting in the public sector; he advocates more stringent criterions to avert such manipulation. Obviously, we tend to question whether the existence or non-existence of market restraints and controls excuses such moral contradiction. Ruland further explained the d ifference between a positive obligation to present an unbiased accounts and a negative responsibility where managers are duty bound to explain the states of affairs they fail to avert. We can conclude that Ruland accords precedence to the positives whereas in Revsines scheme of things, all results are reckoned to be linked with the manner of contracting and price-setting and the difference is not recognized. The duty to refrain would involve eluding the prejudices intrinsic in creative accounting while the duty to act would encompass following the magnitudes to be accomplished by creative accounting. In 1995, Leung and Cooper conducted a survey of 1500 accountants in Australia and established three ethical problems faced most frequently were conflict of interest, clients’ insistence to manipulate accounts and clients’ eagerness to evade tax. However, two surveys undertaken in USA on attitudes to creative accounting; both highlighted a variance in accountants’ attitudes to creative accounting contingent on whether it results from misuse of accounting regulations or from the manipulation of business dealings. Further researches by Fischer and Rosenzweig in 1995 discovered that MBA and accounting students were more cynical than accounting professionals of manipulated transactions. On the other hand, accounting practitioners were severely criticizing the abuse of accounting rules than the students. Similarly, Merchant and Rockness in 1994 through their extensive studies established that accountants were relentlessly criticizing when presented with various scenari os of creative accounting. They also pointed out that the accountants lashed out at abuse of accounting rules and they were less critical about manipulation of transactions. An attempt was made by Fischer and Rosenzweig to propose two probable reasons for accountants attitudes. First and foremost, accountants may resort to a rule-based approach to ethics instead of its impact on the users of the accounts. Secondly, accountants consider manipulation of accounting rules is their prerogative and within their purview and as such call for an ethical judgement, while the manipulation of business transactions falling under the domain of management and hence the same ethical scanner is not applied. Merchant and Rockness also stated that a variance in accountants attitudes towards creative accounting is greatly influenced by the impetus of management. It has been noticed that creative accounting founded on blatant self-centered motives invite greater censure than the impetus for promoting the interest of the company. Anyone, be it an accountant or a manager, who dares to adopt a position against creative accounting would certainly face a lot of pressure as any ot her whistleblower or dissenter. There were some extreme instances where loss of reputation was the result for failing to act. Apparently, accounting professionals and managers are required to exercise a fair amount of discretion and judgment on a regular basis and as such it is imperative for them to have a thorough knowledge of ethical sensitivity relating to various creative accounting practices. There could be extensive pressure put on managers and accountants to involve themselves in creative accounting. In order to satisfy the shareholders and to impress the stock market, companies might compel accountants and managers to twist the quarterly financial reports to appear them attractive. Even the accountants and managers may have concern that the management might evaluate their performance without according much weightage to the precision of the financial statements prepared by them; but as to how far the statements are in favour of the management. Therefore, the practicing accountants are required to possess adequate knowledge, good discretion and judgement, sound moral values and courage to face and wi thstand the pressure from the management side. Hence, if the curriculum for accountants and managers can instill ethical sensitivity to creative accounting, it could perhaps assist in reducing their penchant to involve in these malpractices. Attitudes of Students and Accounting Practitioners Concerning the Ethical Acceptability of Earnings Management To conclude, the evidence suggests that creative accounting is a very effective tool. However, if it is not used wisely or falls in the possession of the wrong people, it will have negative impact rather than contributing value addition. If creative accounting adheres to ethical and legal standards as well as the generally acceptedInternational Journal of accounting principles (GAAP), they can produce enormousprofits to the business and its shareholders or help strive through tough and challenging periods. Furthermore, attempting to completely illegalise it is impractical and narrows the growth of the accounting profession with such restrictions. On the other hand, if accountants are educated on the importance of ethical behavior and professionalism is promoted, this could help solve the problem.

Guidance in Early Childhood Education: The Use of Toys

Guidance in Early Childhood Education: The Use of Toys Teaching involves a fine balance between what legislature states should be provided for students and the creativity of each teacher. Today, the way which these two elements work together to serve students best will be examined along with a talk about how maths toys can assist us in our work. The curriculum guidance for the foundation stage was distributed to schools with nursery and reception classes. This guidance includes six areas of learning which form the basis of the foundation stage curriculum. These areas include personal, social and emotional development; communication, language and literacy; mathematical development; knowledge and understanding of the world; physical development; and creative development. These six areas were created so that practitioners can effectively meet the needs of a diverse student population with a variety of needs. The hope of all practitioners who follow the curriculum guide is that all individual children’s needs are met, whether it is th at a child needs increased individualized assistance or is in need of a gifted program. Principles of the curriculum guidance direct all individuals who interact with children to help facilitate learning in various environments. Doing so causes greater understanding between both school personnel and caretakers. In effect, it also allows the teacher to better understand the needs of the family, thus, reduces various forms of exclusion. For instance, if the family has another child at home with special needs who is immobile; teachers are better able to understand why parents are unable to come to every school program (Curriculum guidance for the foundation stage, p.12). The curriculum guidance format also heavily emphasizes the need for practitioners to focus on children’s individuality and emphasize what is unique and special about each child. In some instances, we as teachers become frustrated with unique personalities or the different methods some children use to understand curriculum. However, the curriculum guidance specifically says that we should embrace these idiosyncrasies. In line with this idea is another point made in the curriculum guidance documentation. It states that â€Å"no child [is] excluded or disadvantaged because of ethnicity, culture or religion, home language, family background, special educational needs, disability, gender or ability†. Instead, it goes on to say that practitioners should learn more about each child’s ethnic, faith and cultural heritage and home experiences so that they can be used to create an environment of familiarity for the child. For instance, a familiar custom can be employed with in the classroom to increase familiarity for one child while teaching multiculturalism. It is amazing how little familiar notions such as this can promote not only comfort in a new environment but can also facilitate increased self-confidence (Curriculum guidance for the foundation stage, p12-14). Every Which Way We Can: A Literacy and Social Inclusion Position Paper discusses policy, school, home and community issues relating to children’s literacy and learning. The authors discuss the many ways children can have access to literacy and education so that no child is excluded from receiving a strong education. They also discuss the importance of involvement in policymaking and how there is much work to be done in this area to advocate for inclusion (Bird and Akerman, 2005). The DfES regarding Excellence and Enjoyment is another document that specifies best practice in education with children. This article states that an effective combination for learning includes elements of both excellence in teaching and enjoyment in learning. Excellence in teaching includes challenging yet engaging teaching, while enjoyment comes from the child being given the opportunity to engage in learning in the mental and physical environment that suits him best. If a child is very playful, then play could be a useful tool in teaching him. If he learns best with visual tools, he can be given the option to pictorially draw out a solution (DfES Excellence and Enjoyment, p.6-8). Excellence and Enjoyment also charges practitioners to â€Å"take ownership of the curriculum, shaping it and making it their own†. This is encouraging to hear, especially because a curriculum is already set and a teacher sometimes feels that room for creativity is limited. However, when we hear that we can take ownership of the curriculum and mold it through a practitioner’s creative and playful eyes, it feels as though there is great possibility to generate other ideas from it. Another important aspect of effective implementation of the Curriculum guidance is of course practitioners who truly understand curriculum requirements and have the ability to effectively implement them. Not only is it important that practitioners understand the curriculum, but that they also understand a child’s development in midst of the curriculum. This is a very significant point and the rest of the presentation will be focused on how curriculum and child development meet to produce a fruitful and educationally creative environment for children (Curriculum guide for the foundation stage, p. 13-15). It is well-documented that children learn best when they are manipulating objects or participating vibrant discussion. Play and discussion are key factors in learning. Through play and discussion, children make great discoveries, are allowed to create hypotheses that may or may not always be correct and explore new ideas. There is a freedom and carefree attitude in play that allows creativity to flow naturally. The practitioner’s role then, is to gently guide the play and discussion without overtaking it. Play becomes vital, particularly when working with children on the curriculum guidance point, Mathematical Development. Creative and unique methods must be employed in teaching young ones. There are currently hundreds of toys available on the market that aid in learning various school subjects. Many of them are focused around mathematical concepts and learning. Various maths toys stress different functions, whether it is addition, subtraction, or even just learning the maths symbols (Perry Dockett, 2001, p. 1-3). Toys in learning become a common language between teacher and student. They are indispensable in the learning environment and can be utilized in several different ways. For maths particularly, many toys can be created right in the classroom without few or no materials. For instance, the class could sing a number song together. The class could also make shapes with pencils and glue. While applying the glue, children could count the number of pencils being used. There are many examples such as these that could facilitate mathematical development. The important part of utilizing toys is to present the toy or game as engaging and fun. This should not be a difficult task to do, being that children already have a propensity to be drawn to toys (Perry Dockett, 2001, p. 1-3). Some toys are available for free online while others could become quite expensive. Many could easily be created in the classroom or at home. Some examples of online games include Numeracy Powerpoints, Number Poem and Five Little Ducks. These games do not require payment or any materials. Most of the games available online are placed there by parents and teachers who have utilized these games and found positive results (Brooker, 2003, p. 4; Conoley et. al., 2006, p47-48). It is important to take some aspects into consideration when looking for educational maths toys. Most importantly, question whether the toy is really teaching the child about maths. Sometimes, although toys are geared toward children, they are not attractive to children. Second, make sure that the toy is suitable to the age range you are working with. Question whether it encapsulates the mix of children in your classroom. Will the child struggling most be attracted by this game? Will the advanced child be bored? Third, can the child recreate the game at home or in other environments? Every parent cannot afford some of the toys on the market. Therefore, it is important to consider whether parents can recreate it. If this is not possible and you would like to continue to use the game at school, are there other games that parents can create at home for the child that can assist in learning? In considering parents’ financial limitations, you can accommodate them in other ways and still ensure that all students are learning the same concepts (Brooker, 2003, p. 4). This type of questioning, by the way, is an example of using the inclusion framework at all times when working with students. As long as we as professionals continue to always think and play, we allow this same mind frame in our students. References Akerman, R. (2005). NRDC Policy Paper 2 – Every Child Matters: A response from the National Literacy Trust. www.literacytrust.org.uk/socialinclusion Bird, V. and Akerman, R. (2005) Every Which Way We Can: A Literacy and Social Inclusion Position Paper, London: National Literacy Trust. Brooker, L. (2003).Integrating New Technologies in UK Classrooms: Lessons for Teachers from Early Years Practitioners.Childhood Education, (79). Conoley, J., Moore, G., Croom, B., Flowers, J. (2006). A toy or a teaching tool? The use of audience response systems in the classroom. Techniques: Connecting Education and Careers, 46-48. DfES (2003). Excellence and Enjoyment. Perry, B. Dockett, S. (2001). Playing with maths. APMC, 6(2). QCA (2003). Curriculum guidance for the foundation stage. http://www.everychildmatters.gov.uk

Realm of Labor Essay -- Labor History, Technological Revolution

Separation can develop from anywhere or anyone over periods of time since people’s needs, desires, and goals are very diverse. The variety of people with dissimilar interest can cause tensions among groups, especially in the modern age. There are three categories that contributed to the physical and abstract separation all within the realm of labor: workers versus machines, skilled versus unskilled labors or workers, and immigrant versus non-immigrant workers. These three all intertwine and connect to one another under the world of labor. Along with lectures, historians and writers Herbert G. Gutman, J.M. Roberts, Ann L. Stoler, and Rudyard Kipling addressed the causes and consequences brought about from the three categories, which led to separation. The effects divided workers among themselves, thus created the idea of separation. Before the modern age, workers generally created their own products by hand, but this type of labor process has changed drastically with the rise of new technology and resources. Due to this change, workers were unconnected to their products; since they were no longer involved in the production, they were essentially separated from the creation. During the Industrial Revolution and the Second Industrial Revolution, otherwise known as the Technological Revolution, the rise of technology brought in new machinery that replaced workers. Machines controlled workers; as mentioned in lecture, workers lost all control when they were part of the assembly line. Also in Charlie Chaplin's film, Modern Times, workers had little or no control over the pace of the work, and the smallest distractions can slow down production. This was how workers and labor were described in the mechanized world. Herbert G. Gutman exp... ...inctively divided people; immigrants came in to work and better their lives and lives of their family, but instead were discriminated against and driven out. What make people different in society can result in the process of separation; it can be positive in terms of originality for an individual, but disastrous in the workplace. Separation in labor was proven to cause tensions among workers who were skilled, unskilled, immigrants, and non-immigrants. The division among them was both physical and abstract; the machines separated them as well as race and their own views. People were forced to unite and work together, but their differences created isolation and an inefficient work environment. It is inevitable to group diverse people in one place without conflicts. Separation was analyzed as an outcome of how people work, behave, and interact with others in society.

Corporal Punishment of Children Should be Banned Essay -- Spanking Chi

The term corporal punishment is defined as the use of physical force with the intention of causing a child to experience pain, but not injury, "for the purpose of correction or control of the child’s behavior" ("A Report" 18). In America, parents' use of corporal punishment in homes have been defined legally by the states as â€Å"encompassing ‘reasonable’ force with some states adding qualifiers that it must also be ‘appropriate’ (AL, AK, AZ, CA, CC), ‘moderate’ (AR, DE, SC, SD), or ‘necessary’ (MT, NH, NY, OR, TX, WI). Three states see the need to clarify that corporal punishment is limited to ‘nondeadly force’ (AK, NY, TX)† (Gershoff, "Corporal" 540). Currently, over 90% of US families report having used corporal punishment as a means of discipline at some time ("Physical"). Parental corporal punishment is usually restricted to physical contact "with an open hand, and to contact on extremities or buttoc ks", as in spanking, strapping, smacking, beating, or whipping (Remus 22). Behaviors that do cause risk injury (e.g., punching, kicking, burning) are considered physical abuse (Gershoff, "Corporal" 540). Parents punish their children physically for discipline. However, parents' corporal punishment may inadvertently result in child physical abuse administered by their anger. Sometimes they even intended to harm a child. In my opinion, physical abuse can be a potential outcome of corporal punishment. Parents' use of corporal punishment in homes are likely to have few intended positive effects and many unintended negative effects. Besides, hitting children frequently may worsen parent-child relationship as well as children's future character flaw. In this case, corporal punishment of children in homes needs to be outlawed in America. Fi... ...b. 20 Nov. 2014. Robinson, B.A. Religious Tolerance. DoubleClick, 11 Apr. 2002. Web. 29 Nov. 2014. "Should Spanking Be Banned?" stophitting. The Center for Effective Discipline. Jun. 2008. Web. 16 Nov. 2014. Straus, Murray A. "Spanking and the Making of a Violent Society". Pediatrics 98.4 (1996) 834-836. Print. Straus, Murray A., and Glenda Kaufman Kantor. "Corporal Punishment Of Adolescents By Parents: A Risk Factor In The Epidemiology Of Depression.." Adolescence 29.115 (1994): 543. Web. 20 Nov. 2014. "To Spank or Not to Spank?" stophitting. The Center for Effective Discipline. Jun. 2008. Web. 6 Dec. 2014. Williams, Walter E. " Making a Case for Corporal Punishment." Inside of the News 13 Sep. 1999. Web. 29 Nov. 2014. Wegner, Paul D. "Discipline In The Book Of Proverbs: 'To Spank Or Not To Spank?'" Jets 48.4 (2005): 715-732. Web. 16 Nov. 2014.

What Techniques Does F. Scott Fitzgerald Use When Describing the Lights and Colors of Gatsby’s Party?

Fitzgerald uses many different literary techniques and vivid when describing the lights and colours of the party to exaggerate the sense of how bright the lights and colours of his parties are. He seems to say that the brightness of the lights at Gatsby’s party are equivalent to the those of the sun. He writes that â€Å"the light grows brighter as the earth lurches away from the sun† he is talking about the sun going down and everything becoming darker, however he then says that â€Å"the light grows brighter† which suggests that as the sunlight goes away Gatsby’s lights go up so high that they balance out the light lost from the sun going down. This shoes us just how bright Gatsby’s lights really are, they are bright enough to replace the sun when it has gone down. That gives an impression of the party keeping the night alive and moving which gives a sort of life to the light that Gatsby has at his party. Fitzgerald then goes on to talk of light and colour in a lot less positive way than he previously has. he describes the guest’s clothes as â€Å"gaudy with primary colours† which is describing how bright and colourful even the guests are at Gatsby’s parties. The guests clothes are not nice and even though they consist of very simple primary colours they even manage to overdo this with them then being described as â€Å"gaudy†, which means that they are just too bright. This description is strikingly similar to the description of the light at Gatsby’s parties. We get the sense that although both of them are very simple they are just too over indulgent and bright. This also reflects on the guests personalities with all of them trying to be the brightest of them all. Gatsby uses this description i think to try and tell us that everything at Gatsby’s parties scream bright lights and colours not just the lights themselves. I think this is somewhat to help the reader with later descriptions that he makes about light and colour so that they understand that he may not be literally talking about the lights or the colours but about another aspect of the party.

Mistake vs. Misrepresentation

In brief: Mistake vs Misrepresentation †¢ A mistake is inadvertent and only an error on the part of the person committing it while misrepresentation is often wilful or intentional, done with the intention of gaining wrongfully. The main difference between Mistake and Misrepresentation is that in the case of Mistake one or both parties to a contract or what was intended to be a contract unintentionally or unknowingly made statements not intended to mislead the other. Therefore fraud cannot be implied from these statements or circumstances. At Common law, a mistake can affect the validity of a contract â€Å"operative mistake†, making it null and void. In the case of misrepresentation, false statements of facts are required to be made which knowingly or unknowingly could amount to fraud and remedy or rescission may apply. In the modern law, misrepresentation is classed as fraudulent, negligent or wholly innocent. Fraudulent misrepresentation Definition Fraudulent† in this sense was defined by Lord Herschell in Derry v Peek (1889) 14 App Cas 337 as a false statement that is â€Å"made (i) knowingly, or (ii) without belief in its truth, or (iii) recklessly, careless as to whether it be true of false. † The essence of fraud is the absence of honest belief; in Derry v Peek , a share prospectus falsely stated that the company had the right to use mechanical power to draw trams, without explaining that governmental consent was requir ed for this. In fact, the directors honestly believed that obtaining consent was a pure formality, although it was ultimately refused. The House of Lords held that there had been no fraudulent misrepresentation. Lord Herschell however did point out that though unreasonableness of the grounds of belief is not deceitful, it is evidence from which deceit may be inferred. There are many cases, â€Å"where the fact that an alleged belief was destitute of all reasonable foundation would suffice of itself to convince the court that it was not really entertained, and that the representation was a fraudulent one. † On the other hand, there need be no intention to defraud. An intention to deceive (with no intention to cause the claimant loss) is sufficient. Negligent misrepresentation Negligent mis-statement at common law Until 1963, damages could only be claimed for misrepresentation where it was fraudulent. All non-fraudulent misrepresentations were classed as â€Å"innocent† and damages were not available for such innocent misrepresentations. In 1963, the House of Lords stated, obiter, in Hedley Byrne Co Ltd v Heller Partners Ltd [1964] AC 465 that in certain circumstances damages may be recoverable in tort for negligent mis-statement causing financial loss. The liability depends on a duty of care arising from a â€Å"special relationship† between the parties. It is now clear that a party can claim damages under the principle in Hedley Byrne where a negligent mis-statement has induced him to enter a contract; Esso Petroleum Co Ltd v Mardon (1976) QB 801. Broadly speaking, the special relationship will only arise where the maker of the statement possesses knowledge or skill relevant to the subject matter of the contract and can reasonably foresee that the other party will rely on the statement. Negligent misrepresentation under the Misrepresentation Act 1967 Section 2(1) of the Act of 1967 introduced, for the first time, a statutory claim for damages for non-fraudulent misrepresentation. Section 2(1) provides that where a person has entered a contract after a misrepresentation has been made to him by another part thereto and a result thereof he has suffered loss, then, if the person making the misrepresentation would be liable to damages in respect thereof had the misrepresentation been made fraudulently, that person shall be so liable notwithstanding that the misrepresentation was not made fraudulently, unless he proves that he had reasonable ground to believe and did believe up to the time the contract was made that the facts represented were true. It should be noted that the sub-section assumes all non-fraudulent statements to be negligent and puts the burden on the maker of the statement to disprove negligence. Wholly innocent misrepresentation We have seen that before 1963, the word â€Å"innocent† was used to describe all misrepresentations that were not fraudulent. In the light of Hedley Byrne and s. 2(1) of the Act of 1967, the word innocent may now be used to refer to a statement made by a person who has reasonable grounds for believing in its truth. To avoid confusion, â€Å"wholly innocent† is a better description.

Fist Pumping Their Way To The Top Essay

â€Å"Gym, Tanning, Laundry†, these three words have become increasingly popular among teenagers because of MTV’s hit reality television show, Jersey Shore. Television shows and their stars can become very influential to many of their viewers. Many of these viewers strive to be like these stars and mimic their style and attitude, in hopes of living the same careless lifestyle that has made these stars known around the world. Unfortunately, these television shows don’t always portray certain aspects of life realistically, and therefore send a false message that can be very deceiving. Studies show that television shows tend to follow several popular trends that do indeed portray the wrong reality. Harry F. Water’s article, â€Å"Life According to TV†, analyzes the different trends that television shows and movies in popular culture tend to follow. Harry Water’s focuses on George Gerbner’s research on the scientific examination of television far beyond familiar children-and-violence arguments. He describes television’s reality warp dealing with sex, age, race, work, health and crime. Water’s states in his article, â€Å"People over 65, too, are grossly underrepresented on television. Correspondingly, heavy-viewing Annenberg respondents believe that the elderly are a vanishing breed and that they make up a smaller proportion of the population today than they did 20 years ago. In fact, they form the nation’s most rapidly expanding age group† (Waters, 1982). Jersey Shore is a reality television show similar to that of â€Å"The Real World† and markets binge drinking, partying, fake tanning, and sleeping all day. It seems that the drama-driven cast seems to be promoting a careless way of life, and in fact might be rubbing off on its viewers. Elderly people are rarely seen on the show, and the stars are constantly shown going out with other young people, and going to bars and clubs that consist of other people around their age group. Even though some of the stars on the show are in their 30’s, they still live a constant partying lifestyle and act as though they are still young and essentially do not have to grow up yet. Teenagers watching this show can see this lifestyle as normal and strive to live their life the same way. The stars in the show live in a nice house and are constantly spending money, even though they only work at a pizza, ice cream and t-shirt company. In reality, these types of jobs would not cover the type of expenses these lifestyles come with. This lifestyle is extremely glamorized and in reality, someone living the same lifestyle as these stars would not be living nearly as luxuriously as they do, due to the success rate they have gained from the show. Many of these stars are on the front of magazines and all over different television talk shows because their show has become so successful and is increasing in fans. Some worry that viewers might have more motivation to be like these casts members and partake in inappropriate activities in hopes that they too will get famous. David Showalter a columnist for New Jersey newsroom says that, â€Å"MTV’s ‘Jersey Shore’ success is a cultural phenomenon† (Showalter, 2011), and for the most part he is absolutely correct. Jersey Shore has been a huge success, but for what? Partying? Another aspect of life that television shows often times portray unrealistically is health. Water’s states in his article, â€Å"Although video characters exist almost entirely on junk food and quaff alcohol 15 times more often than water, they manage to remain slim, healthy and beautiful.† Jersey Shore is centered almost entirely on partying and living that partying lifestyle- partying all night and recovering for half of the next day in order to be ready to do it again. However, the majority of the cast appears to be extremely well fit. This can confuse viewers because constant partying and binge drinking daily can be extremely harmful to one’s health. Even though going to the gym is part of these cast members daily routine, it does not make up for their excessive partying and will eventually catch up to them, when the viewers are no longer watching. These stars go out almost every night and are constantly shown belligerent to the point where they can’t walk and are starting fights in clubs and other public places, and for some reason young teenagers are seeing this as something cool to participate in. In an interview by Steven Guarino, he states, â€Å"Alcoholism is promoted on the Jersey Shore so much that it could influence younger viewers to drink irresponsibly.† The motive and center of the show is clearly the stars ongoing party lifestyle and their crazy drunken endeavors. The Situation, one of the cast members, has even stated in the first season on the first episode, â€Å"You can hate on me all you want to, but what can you possibly say to somebody that looks like Rambo, pretty much, with his shirt off.† Therefore, although the stars are constantly drinking and eating poorly, they still remain slim and good-looking, when in reality most people would be looking the complete opposite. Walter’s article also states, â€Å"Frequent TV watchers, the Annenberg investigators found, eat more, drink more, exercise less and possess an almost mystical faith in the curative powers of medical science.† When watching television shows, sometimes we get hooked and start to believe and agree with these stars way of life, not noticing the reality of it and allowing ourselves to get sucked into popular culture. Tanning is another major part of the popular Jersey Shore lifestyle. As we know, fake tanning can be very harmful to our skin, and cause skin cancer. However, the Jersey Shore characters act as if it is a way of life. Waters also states in his article, â€Å"Television may well be the single most pervasive source of health information. And it’s over idealized images of medical people, coupled with its complacency about unhealthy life-styles, leaves both patients and doctors vulnerable to disappointment, frustration and even litigation† (Waters, 1982). Despite what children have heard from their parents or other people, the un-healthy diets they see on television can appear healthy to them because they seem to be working for these reality TV stars and consequently can end up being more influential than what they’ve heard. Snooki, one of the show’s main characters, recently said on a Jay Leno show, that she’d like to change the world by installing cancer-causing tanning beds â€Å"in everybody’s homes.† Every member on the show tans in a tanning bed daily as a consistent part of their daily lives, and considers being tan as one of the main things one must do in order to be good looking. The cast members are very forward about this and seem to see nothing wrong with it. The Situation states in the second episode of the first season, â€Å"I wait till the last minute to shave, I wait till the last minute to put my shirt on ‘cause you feel fresh. These are rules to live by, shave last minute, haircut the day-of, maybe some tanning and the gym. You gotta do the guido handbook.† These quotes seem to be aiming towards the casts members’ hopes to influence viewers to live these similar lifestyles and to shoot to look like them, even if it’s not what’s best for the viewers’ health and unfortunately television shows continue to influence people in the wrong way. Although Jersey Shore seems to capture every negative aspect of reality television and continues to be unrealistic, it somehow remains the most viewed series on MTV. The third season finale delivered 4.8 million viewers; almost triple the audience who watched the season premiere on December 3 (Martin). It is clear that the Jersey Shore phenomenon is continuing to grow and become more widespread than ever before. This can be very troubling to parents and the messages being sent to young teenagers is influencing them in a very negative way, while showing them unrealistic â€Å"reality television†. With popular culture becoming more and more deceiving, viewers can forget to question who they are really taking after.