Taking the Train in France Master Typical French Train Announcements

Youve studied the train related French vocabulary, read my 7 tips you should know before taking the train to France, read my 20 questions and answers to know when traveling by train, so now, lets practice with some typical train announcements in French. â€Å"Le TGV 8330 en provenance de Paris Montparnasse et à   destination de Tours va rentrer en gare voie 6.   Il dessert les gares de ..., et Tours, son terminus. Les rà ©servations sont obligatoires dans ce train. Nous vous rappelons que dà ©sormais, l’à ©tiquetage des bagages est obligatoire. Pour votre sà ©curità ©, à ©loignez-vous de la bordure du quai†. The TGV coming from Paris Montparnasse and going to Tours is going to enter the station track 6. It stops at the stations of... and Tours, it’s final stop. Bookings are needed for this train. We would like to remind you that from now on, writing your name on your luggage is compulsory. For your security, please stay away from the edge of the platform†. â€Å"Bienvenue dans le TER 5506 à   destination de Guingamp. Ce train desservira les gares de Paimpol, ...† Welcome in the TER 5506 going to Guingamp. This train will stop at the following stations: Paimpol, ...† â€Å"Gare de Pontrieux. Une minute d’arrà ªt. Correspondance pour Paris voie A. Pour votre sà ©curità © attention à   l’espace entre le train et la bordure du quai†. Pontrieux station. One minute stop. Connection to Paris on track A. For your security, mind the gap between the train and the platform†. â€Å"À cause de travaux sur la route, nous vous informons que notre TGV va rester en gare pendant 10 minutes. Nous nous excusons pour le retard occasionnà ©Ã¢â‚¬ . Because of roadworks, (we are telling you that) our TFV is going to stay in the station for 10 minutes. Please accept our apologies for the delay†. â€Å"À cause des grà ¨ves, le TGV en provenance de Lyon sera retardà © de 30 minutes. Merci de prendre contact avec un agent de la SNCF pour plus d’informations†. Because of the strikes, the TGV coming from Lyon will be 30 minutes late. Please contact an SNCF agent for more information. â€Å"Mesdames, messieurs, dans quelques instants notre TGV desservira la gare de Pontrieux. Une minute d’arrà ªt. Assurez-vous de ne rien avoir oublià ©.† Ladies and gentlemen, in a few minutes our TGV will enter Pontrieux station. One minute stop. Make sure you don’t forget anything. â€Å"Toute l’à ©quipe de la SNCF vous remercie pour votre confiance et espà ¨re vous revoir trà ¨s bientà ´t sur le rà ©seau†. The SNCF team thanks you for your trust and hopes to see you again very soon on our network. â€Å"Au nom de la SNCF et de l’à ©quipe TGV, je vous souhaite une bonne journà ©e.† On behalf of SNCF and the TGV team, I wish you good day. I post exclusive mini lessons, tips, pictures and more daily on my Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest  pages - so join me there! https://www.facebook.com/frenchtoday https://twitter.com/frenchtoday https://www.pinterest.com/frenchtoday/ Follow these links for more of my taking the train in France related articles: - ​French Train Vocabulary,- 7 Need-to-Know Facts Before You Take the Train in France- 20 Typical QA Youll Use When Taking the Train in France- Master Train Announcements in French- Lets Take the Train Together - Bilingual French English Story​

Human Resource Maintenance - 1722 Words

Human Resource Maintenance Its function includes: 1. Worker Orientation 2. Physical working conditions 3. Motivation 4. Performance evaluation 5. Compensation Administration 6. Management-labor relations amp; movement 1. Worker Orientation It is a procedure for providing new employees with basic background information about the firm. It refers to the assistance given to the newly hired employee in adjusting to the new work environment Importance: there is hardly any graduate from any school or any experienced worker who is fully equipped with the specific knowledge and skills needed for his new job. Hence, the need for orientation. It provides new employees with the basic background information required to†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Evaluation should be discussed privately with the workers by his superior. †¢Negative performance evaluation should be taken seriously by the supervisor. †¢Corrective measures should be initiated immediately Purpose of performance evaluation: †¢To guide decisions on movement among personnel. †¢To determine salary adjustments, pay increase and fringe benefits. †¢To determine training needs. †¢To standardize procedures. †¢Provide basis on career planning. †¢Serve as formal records or evidences in labor management disputes in grievance procedures. 5. Compensation Administration Definition: The equivalent in any form that is given to the individual for his work. †¢It includes the reward structure, its philosophy and bases. TYPES OF REWARD amp; REWARD STRUCTURE †¢Intrinsic – workers’ involvement †¢Extrinsic – direct compensation * Basic salary or wage * Overtime amp; holiday pay * Performance bonuses * Profit sharing and stock options †¢Indirect compensation – protection program, pay for time not worked, services amp; perquisites. †¢Fringe benefits – sick leave, maternity amp; paternity leaves, insurance amp; etc. †¢Non-financial compensation – material amp; physical accoutrements. Employee benefits are non-incentive-oriented compensation, such as health insurance and free parking, and are often used to transfer nontaxed compensation to employees. The three major categories of benefits managed by HRMShow MoreRelatedAmericas Security And National Disaster Relief Missions1300 Words   |  6 Pagesbut the information provided is based on the organization’s real strategic incentives and activities. JR Maintenance Group also known as â€Å"The Group† is one of the oldest Federal companies of its type that is still in business today (MARAD, n.d.). The activities of this company can be traced as far back as World War I (MARAD, n.d.). In its prime this organization was responsible for the maintenance and repair of approximately 800 items of equipment (MARAD, n.d.). Today, the company inventory has beenRead MoreExecutive Summary. This Report Provides The Strategy De1192 Words   |  5 Pagesplumbing companies through customer service, cost, and response. This gives De Mar a unique approach to their service industry. While each of the 10 Operations Management Decisions are important, De Mar utilizes design of goods and services, human resources and job design, and scheduling to improve their strategy of unapparelled customer service. 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The need for Human Resources developed during the industrial ages since the factories were tasked with managing a large number of employees and maintaining their employees safety. During the 20th Century, the Human Resource function expanded to complying with social requirements and the productivity of its employees. At the end of the 20th Century, the Human Resource function focused more on developing theirRead MoreImportance Of Small And Medium Enterprises Essay1442 Words   |  6 Pagesdepartment, Human resources department and customer service department. each department have their own responsibilities and all together they contribute to organization success. IT department also referred as E-commerce handling department takes care of organization website and IT infrastructure. Website work includes website designing, developing and deploying to the production servers so that end user can use it and order through it. 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Gonzalez Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS)-HRM 520 October 21, 2011 Benefast Partners HRIS Package: Flexibility and Focus Increases Performance 1. IDENTIFY THREE CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS THAT BENEFAST PARTNERS SHOULD CONSIDER FOR ITS HRIS SYSTEM. Three critical success factors that Benefast Partners should consider for its HRIS system are as follows: an analysis ofRead MoreI Chose For Fight For My Dream766 Words   |  4 Pagesexperience has made me a stronger person and it definitely will be key for my success in the future. It was the most difficult test in my life and if I could overcome that, I could overcome other challenges in my study as both a human resources student and as a human resources coordinator in the future. The academic accomplishment was not my only achievement. Another accomplishment was actually a professional one. During my university education, I was working as an executive secretary for a medicalRead MoreValley Winery Case1138 Words   |  5 Pagesones that make decisions which could make or break a company. They personify how the company and employees should act. If one is driven towards perfection in sales, many other important areas of the business could be overlooked. For example, maintenance of long term relationships with buyers would be overlooked. If management is pushing the sales reps to just go after the sale at any cost, reps could be looked at as unethical and even too pushy. 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Nazi policies towards women Free Essays

The Weimar republic had given women freedom to do what they wanted , but Hitler believed other wise. Hitler believed in a master race, he wanted to build up a strong army and Aryan race- blonde hair and blue eyes a typical German stereotype. According to the graph 1st published in 1932 the amount of live births was 933,126 Hitler was taken aback by this information, this statistic was not helping his country to build into the strong and powerful nation he so desperately wanted it to be. We will write a custom essay sample on Nazi policies towards women or any similar topic only for you Order Now So he decided to introduce special rules and rewards. He encouraged the women to give up work and focus mainly on having babies and leading a family life. He encouraged them with his famous saying â€Å"kinder keuche kirsch† which meant children, cook and church. These were the things Hitler believed should and would make up a stable and â€Å"strong† family,and,by increasing those aspects – the German women would have more children bring them up with strong believes and make them tough enough to establish the master race As far as rewards go Hitler made a reward scheme he introduced medals for mothers, those who had 4 children were awarded a bronze medal, women with 6 children were awarded a silver medal and women with 8 or more children were awarded with a prestigious gold medal. Hitler gave 20 marks to the fifth child in the family this prospect urged women to reach that target; this was just another example of Hitler’s manifold of ulterior motives. E.g. the Hitler youth – where he got the children to come to extra curricular activities and then brainwashed them with his ambitions and Ideologies In 1936 the Nazis began a breeding experiment called lebensborn , this consisted of fit , healthy , single young Aryan women were encouraged to visit these lebensborn centres were they could meet with SS soldiers and in a bid to encourage couples to have more Aryan children. Any married couples who failed to produce children were encouraged to divorce and try again with another mate. He went even further as to set a anti abortion policy which stated that women had no other option but to keep them, he made it even harder when he shut down all abortion clinics and stopped all contraception from being produced. He did this because he wanted every child conceived to be born so they could help build up the mater race. Women were not encouraged to work but to mainly focus all there time and attention on nurturing their growing family. Job options were restricted and bleak, they were said to be â€Å"incapable of thinking without emotion†. To make this prospect even more attractive he gave newly married couples an interest free loan of 2000 marks as long as they pulled out of their jobs. This was to encourage more children to be made increasing his master race. The Nazis wanted women to have no interest in fashion and make up; it was even frowned upon if women wore trousers. They were expected to be sturdily built and have broad hips – ideal for child bearing The Nazis might have been a bit old fashioned with their views on women but they were not anti women infact Joseph goebbles once said â€Å"the mission of women is to be beautiful and to bring children into the world .This is not as un-modern as it sounds. The female bird preens herself for her mate and hatches eggs for him. In exchange, the male takes care of gathering food, and stands guard and ward off the enemy.† Hitler believed that women were key to the future of the German nation upon which they could build a volksgemainschaft. The volksgemainschaft was one of Hitler’s most important ideas about the future of Germany. Because the Nazis still believed that Germany was still divided due to WW1 and that they could unite it by making the people feel as if they were part of a very important community .this motivated the German people to work together and build up the master race. During the war women got better food rations and better shelter, this was because the Germans couldn’t risk losing women because this would stunt the growth of the vastly rising Aryan race. Despite the Nazis initially driving women out of work they were forced to reinstate their positions due to lack of man – they had gone to fight the war. To conclude Hitler made these policies to firstly Encourage more births and secondly To prevent the weakening of the master race. These policies may seem old fashioned now but the Germans held women in very high regard always making sure they had everything. How to cite Nazi policies towards women, Papers

Marketing Research Essay Example For Students

Marketing Research Essay 1. Product: Boxer shorts A. B. C. Yes D. Political, legal and regulatory, and sociological for conservative societies. It also makes it difficult to advertise. Color and size sensitivity. Some markets less conservative, easier to sell intimate apparel. Almost everyone wears underwear. Different styles are a different state of mind. 2. A. The first step is developing a hypothesis. B. Descriptive Research because its easy and requires minimal resources, and gets a general census. The company also has prior knowledge and the problem is clearly defined. According to Ellas interpretation, she feels that by looking at the advertisement about the Dodge Grand Caravan a person will get all the explanation he/she needs. Her second choice was Volvo which looks like a very nice car, but does not apply to the need of a customer. She would prefer to know the features that the car is offering. She feels that the name of the brand is hidden because its all the way on top and on the edge that it would not be visible to the eye of the customer. Her third choice was Ford Expedition, because looking at the magazine ad she feels that it explains the variation of the car. However, she thinks that the ad does not apply why it was advertised for and that there is not enough description to the car. Her fourth choice was Suzuki, because she claims that the ad itself takes a person attention. Therefore, she also liked that the typeface S and Suzuki overlaps on top of each other. Her Fifth choice was Toyota, because she thinks its a nice looking car, but the theme that was used for this ad is a little bit funny. She feels that way because the theme does not fit to the description of the car. Her suggestion for this ad is to create more ideas, (i.e. the name of the brand should be visible; the slogan should be different in the sense that it should apply to the description of the car). Svetlana Khanimova The second person that I have interviewed is Milana. She is a 22 years old nurse from Brooklyn, N.Y. Milana earns about $50,000 a year she likes to play volleyball and read novels in her spare time. Her first choice was the All new Dodge Grand Caravan, because of two reasons: First of all she said thats its a big family car and it is red color which caught her attention very fast. Second, this model contains a lot of details that can help her get as much information as she needs. Her second choice was Ford Expedition, because it gave her a good impression since she likes to travel a lot and therefore this appearance fulfills her needs. She feels that this car ad claims that it can handle traveling. In addition, it has different models and nice logo. She feels that this advertisement needs to put more information about this model. Her third choice was Suzuki, because the liked the comparison between the Suzuki and the cheetah, which transforms into high speed. In addition, she feels that the car is luxurious and big enough for the family. Also it gives enough information and has a good description of the car. Her forth choice is Volvo; she claims that it is a powerful car and can handle all the roads. She likes what it says on the side Volvo for life, but she also feels that there is not enough information about the features of the car. Her fifth choice is Toyota; she feels that it is not a very successful ad because it doesnt convince her to buy the car. She thinks that the car is too far, it needs to be closer How We Lie Essayand side wise, so that the customer can see the whole model. She also feels that the information that Toyota provides is very limited. Maya is the third person that I have interviewed. She is a 21 female that lives in Brooklyn, N.Y. She is a college student who lives with her parents. Her hobbies include, playing volleyball, basketball, and ice scatting. Mayas first choice was the Dodge Grand Caravan, because it caught her eyes to the information that she needs. For example, it provides the .

The ruined Maid and Cousin Kate Essay Example

The ruined Maid and Cousin Kate Essay How do the poets convey their thoughts and feelings about the plight of women in the nineteenth century? Both poems are based on women who have lost their virtue however the authors have portrayed different Images of what happened to women In the 19th century. In The Ruined Maid Thomas Hardy shows a positive side of how women can get on with life quite well even after losing dignity on the other hand Christina Rosettes author of Cousin Kate shows a totally different outcome that can happen. In the poem The Ruined Maid it is a dialogue of questions and answers teens two characters one which is a country maid and the other character was also a country maid called Amelia but she is ruined (she has lost her dignity) and now works as a prostitute. The dialogue is based about how Amelia used to live in poverty and how she has gained wealth now here is the evidence to prove this You left us in tatters without shoes or socks, and now youve gay bracelets and bright feathers three! This implies that when she was a maid she couldnt afford basic attire whereas now she is rich and can afford to buy anything she wants to. Hardy has made the read to this poem quite like a sing-song whereas the topic of the poem Is actually quite serious. My dear-a raw country girl, such as you be, Cannot quite expect that. You Alan ruined. Said she this evidence Implies that despite being ruined Meal actually seems quite happy even after what has happened to her and Is yet boasting to the other count ry maid making the country maid jealous of her. We will write a custom essay sample on The ruined Maid and Cousin Kate specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The ruined Maid and Cousin Kate specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The ruined Maid and Cousin Kate specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Another technique I have noticed is the repetition of a comment to do with being ruined on the last line of each stanza. Hardys thoughts and feelings throughout the poem seem to be pretty positive as his poem is based on a maid who has lost her virtue dignity and respect and despite all of this she is actually quite happy as she boasts throughout the poem. In contrast the other poem Cousin Kate is in the 1st person of a cottage maid telling her story and it is quite like a ballad really. The persona of this poem Is a cottage maiden who has lost her dignity but with her own choice and with some persuasion from a rich young lord who flatters her, to prove his here Is a quotation below Why did a great lord find me out and praise my flaxen hair this shows that the lord praised her hair which led to more Intense situations and which then the cottage maiden gives in to the rich lord and causes for her the state she is in now. But the rich lord deceives her by then marrying her cousin Kate Nor bought me with his land; this implies that the cousin Kate only marries the rich lord because of his wealth there is also a second evidence supporting this o cousin Kate, my love was true, your love was writ in sand this shows that she compares her cousins love writ in sand which will easily get washed off showing that her love is not true. Rosettes view on women is quite negative as she conveys using her techniques throughout the poem as It shows the other side of what can happen to a women once shes lost her dignity but toward the end It gets quite positive as the cottage maiden says Yet Vive a gift you have not got, and seem not Like to get: this shows that she Is Indicating at her son which Is the Illegitimate child of the rich lord and at the end of the evidence she Implies that her cousin Kate may not be getting. Both poems explore the plight of women after losing their dignity in the 1 9th century. The in both poems there is one character who news the other like in The Ruined Maid it is the country girl who envies Amelia and in the poem Cousin Kate the cottage maiden envies her cousin Kate. Another similarity is that in both poems the women were deceived. The last similarity I have identified is that both of the women turn out to be happy even in the poem Cousin Kate the cottage maiden is actually happy as she has a fair-haired son. The differences in the poems are that they both have different morals such as the moral in The Ruined Maid is that despite anything you can stay happy and that there is always a bright side to be discovered as does Amelia in her life however the poem Cousin Kate it shows how the cottage maiden Just imagines how she could be in place for her cousin and how everything could get better as she shares her moral that you should never give in to something which isnt a good deed. Another difference is that in one poem the ruined person is sad (cousin Kate) and he other she is happy (the Ruined Maid). Overall throughout the nineteenth century the plight of women was very poor as even though they had sex before or outside marriage then so did the men but the men were allowed to marry again and that was it they could gain all there respect back but for a women she could never replace her respect in any shape or form. During the nineteenth century women and men did not get equal rights and adding to all it women could not even inherit their ancestors property if they were not married and if they were married the property loud belong to the husband when it should belong to the woman. In addition once women were ruined they had nowhere to turn to except prostitution as women were not educated and therefore they could not do any Jobs but prostitution. Above all the writers have shown two very different perspectives as to what can happen to women after they got ruined as Thomas Hardy shows a positive perspective and Christina Rosettes shows a negative perspective but overall in both situations the women had no choice whatsoever and they were now valued.

Irony Moll Flanders

Irony Moll Flanders I love but hate, I laugh without a smile, I am ridiculous and respected, hypocrite and honest, a nonsense with reason , a convict and a gentleman. Isn't that the world we live in ? He is using a subtle form of humour by saying things that he does not mean. This situation is odd or amusing because it involves a contrast. Irony kills, laughs, denounces, argues but is hidden behind words to look not so politically incorrect. Daniel Defoe was one of those who wanted to denounce society's incongruities. He used his character, Moll Flanders, as an archetype of 18th century England society depicting the cruelty and the immorality of the time. In this autobiography (the novel is written in the first person) Moll's life seems to be fill of contrasts and ironic situations, but is that not interpretation? This essay will discuss the irony in the novel Moll Flanders taking examples from the book to prove whether or not it should be considered as a ironic novel.Book cover of The fortunes and misf ortunes of the ...Let's have a look at the interpretations that one may have.As a preliminary, it must be noted that Moll has a basically bipartie structure, the first part containing Moll's sexual adventures, the second her life as a thief, her imprisonment, and her transportation to America. The difference here, however, is that Defoe has effected an organic rather than a merely schematic relationship between the two halves. The episode of the two brothers, an episode which is crucial to our understanding of the novel's irony. Moll is seduced by the elder brother of the family in which she is a maid, then is persuaded by him to marry Robin, the younger brother, who loves her and proposed to her. She is a bewildered, passive object in the centre of the...

Risk assessment in auditing of financial statements Research Paper

Risk assessment in auditing of financial statements - Research Paper Example SAS No. 109 was issued in 2006 along with seven other auditing standards. What’s important about these eight (8) auditing standards was their common theme – adherence to risk assessment and the audit response to such an assessment. These eight auditing standards were expected to bring about major changes and to give guidelines and guidance when auditing nonpublic entities (McConnell and Schweiger, 2007). The primary objective of these eight standards was to improve the conduct of audit by the external auditor through requiring the auditors to acquire a deeper understanding of a company’s internal controls so that the auditor is in a better position to â€Å"identify risks of material misstatement of financial statements† (McConnell and Schweiger, 2007). With this primary objective, the issuers hope that there will be better â€Å"linkages between assessed risks and the nature, timing and extent of audit procedures performed in response to those risks† (McConnell and Schweiger, 2007). The first paragraph of SAS No. 109 established the provisions and guidelines for obtaining â€Å"an understanding of the entity and its environment†¦to assess the risk of material misstatement of the financial statements† (AICPA, AU Section 314, 2006). The second paragraph provides brief summaries of the specific sections of the standard. The subsequent paragraphs expound on the summaries provided in the second paragraph. Paragraph 3 lists â€Å"examples of considerations for establishing a sufficient understanding† of the entity (AICPA, AU Section 314, 2006). Paragraph 4 calls on external auditors to â€Å"use professional judgment to determine the extent of the understanding required of the entity and its environment† (AICPA, AU Section 314, 2006). Certain paragraphs of SAS No. 109 outline and explain the risk assessment procedures (i.e, inquiries, analytical procedures and observation) an auditor needs to perform to obtain such an understanding. The

Microeconomics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 13

Microeconomics - Essay Example the loss incurred the bank has to pass forward the effect of this incident to its other customers which are charged higher interest rates on their future loans and their current money deposits receive a lower interest rate return. The money supply of the banks is also diminished due to event of a loan investment that is not recovered. Corporations in America follow similar financial decisions to individuals concerning their outstanding debt. Whenever market conditions are favorable corporations look for ways to refinance their debt. The difference between a corporation and individual is that companies utilize different mechanism to achieve refinancing. Corporate debt can be refinanced by utilizing a bond mechanism. A bond is commercial paper sold in denomination of $1000 to individuals or business which allows the corporation to raise money. The bonds have a fixed interest rate called the coupon rate. If market conditions changed corporation can issue a set of bonds at lower interest rate in order to eliminate its outstanding bonds and pay less money in the long run. Downgrading of debt occurs when the chances of recovering the outstanding debt diminishes because the debtor has not been paying their payment or time. If a loan goes beyond 90 days without a payment being received the debt is said to have gone in default. At this time the chances of collecting the money goes does down significantly. From the perspective of an outsider these financial assets of the bank represent a downgraded asset. The $700 billion bailout plan targeted these types of downgraded assets which the government would buy up to create greater liquidity in the banking system. Another way downgrading of debt occurs is when corporate debt such as bonds are downgraded by agencies such as Moody’s. Moody’s has a system which gives a grade to the commercial paper issued by banks and governments. If the organization is having financial problems the grade of their outstanding debt is

G-Star Visual Merchandising Store Directive Essay

G-Star Visual Merchandising Store Directive - Essay Example Geographic Segmentation†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...4 SWOT Analysis †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..4 Designers †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.5 Trends and Fashion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..6 Visual Merchandising...†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...6 References †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â ‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..10 Executive Summary Christmas season is considered to be the busiest season in terms of shopping. Bardot Retail Store of garments and clothing has planned to launch a new range of designer collection under the brand name of G-Star especially for Christmas season. This collection encompasses products such as apparels, accessories, shoes and other related items for men, women and children. The launch is being commenced particularly for the season of Christmas and will be off in other seasons. By doing the cost-benefit analysis, it is expected that like all previous subdivisions and clothing lines of Bardot, G-star will also prove to be a successful retail business in the fashion industry. It is catering not only current market but is also pre-planned of tapping into the future generation’s choice. ... The store will serve both adults and young. Fresh and new collection prepared and organized by renowned designers will be exhibited. G-star is pursuing for established clothing line business, striving to give tough competition to other retail clothing stores. In addition to local consumers, tourists will also be benefited by the wide variety of garments offered by G-star. Urban clothing line has always been of great interest to consumers and they never hesitate in buying and trying new style of clothes. Target Market Target Market for G-star Apparel brand is selected on the basis of demographic, psychographic, behavioral and geographic features. Normally, in the season of Christmas there comes no major classification of target market as Christmas is an equal opportunity to celebrate for everyone especially in European countries. Further description of target market is given in the subsequent paragraphs i. Demographic Segmentation Demographics cover the variables such as income, gende r, age group, occupation etc. G-star is mainly focusing people who come from an average income group. Individuals who can afford to spend 20% of their income on clothing, accessorizing and personal care are selected as the primary target market. Both the gender, male and female will be part of selected target market. Age groupings that are mainly focused consist of age bracket of 15 to 40 years in order to cater the maximum number of customers. However, special segment of kids’ garments will also be available under this brand. Demographics also cover the type of occupation of the potential customers. This section is covered under the head of income level. ii. Psychographic Segmentation Psychographic segmentation is based upon the psychological aspects

Strategies for Learning Mathematics

Strategies for Learning Mathematics Introduction: This essay focusses on assessing and monitoring the progress of learners using different strategies during the period of ten lessons focussing on two units of mathematics. School X has structured assessment for learning, every lesson is designed in a way that every student is assessed in different ways. The research is focussed on year 7 mathematics lesson. This class is set 2 mostly high ability students however few students should be achieving their targets. Gould and Roffey-Barentsen (2014) provide a useful definition of assessment as having a key role in the planning process as well as delivery of teaching. Assessment serves a number of important uses in that it helps consolidate and check learning as well as providing feedback to those who require it. My school expects me to use a vast number of assessments when teaching. We use many forms of assessment such as, initial, diagnostic, formative, and/or summative to be able to deliver inclusive teaching and learning. I have selected two units 1) surface area and volume of prisms and 2) Ratios and proportions. The purpose of unit 1 is to help students extend their knowledge of area, perimeter, and volume to include surface area. The major goals NCTM proposes are for students to understand quantifiable characteristics of objects and the units, systems, and procedures of measurement. The purpose of unit 2 is that the concepts of ratio and proportionate fundamental to mathematics and important in many other fields of knowledge. Many phenomena can be expressed as some proportional relationship between specific variables (Chaim,Keret,llany, 2012). Literature Review: Monitoring is the skill of effectively overviewing and analysing a learning situation (Headington, 2000). In schools context, professional monitoring systems (Tymms 1999) exist in parallel with the monitoring of learning in the classroom. Assessment is the closer examination of pupils learning (Headington, 2000). It is reporting as a central issue in teaching and learning throughout education as it lacks consistency primarily due to each teacher within the school has adapted a different method of assessment and this is what makes one teacher a good and another poor. In England, since 1988 Education reform act national testing has taken central stage in monitoring standards in schools (Capel, 2009). Assessment for learning is Any assessment for which the first priority is to serve the purpose of promoting students learning'(Black et al, 2003) . AFL aims to close the gap between a students present situation and where they want to be in their knowledge and attainment. Accomplished teach ers plan tasks which support learners to do achieve their targets. Since 2002 there has been an obvious inclination in some assessment strategy reports in the UK to study alternatives to using external exams for summative valuation of pupils performance. Several research studies have shown that the use of assessment to develop pupils future learning makes a substantial difference, not just to pupils attainment, but to their attitude to learning, their engagement with school subjects and their motivation to do well in these subjects (Black and Wiliam 1998). Formative Assessment A key literature investigation of over 250 sources on formative assessment (Black and Wiliam 1998) found that effective assessment practices can play a influential role in the learning experience, moving an average student, for instance, to the top third of the class but only if certain settings are satisfied. Student tasks required to be aligned, or on target, with learning goals, and students need to obtain meaningful and appropriate response on their performance, as well as targeted follow-up work. To adjust their learning effectually, students need to understand three things: (a) the measures on which they will be judged, (b) where they stand on these measures, and (c) how they can improve (Black and Wiliam 1998, p. 143). Formative assessment has been thought of as providing teachers with more frequent evidence of students mastery of standards to help teachers make useful instructional decisions. In this way, formative assessment is intended to enhance student learning. Research carried out by Balck and Wiliam, and also by projects such as Suffolk Advisory service (2001) into feedback and marking indicates that improving learning through formative learning depends on the following five key factors. These are: Modelling Quality: According to (Bourdillon and Storey, 2002) pupils are more successful when they know what they are learning. This means communicating clearly what the pupils will be learning and how they can recognise their success. Therefore, learning intentions can be shared with pupils through modelling and how learning objective is achieved. According to Lee (2006), objectives can be broken down into small steps called success criteria, therefore its easier for pupils to know what that need to achieve and they can measure it at the end of the lesson. Questioning and dialogue with pupils: Clarke(2005) gives a wide range of suggestions for varying the format of questions in classrooms as it is the quickest and easiest way to assess pupils. I have also developed skills in asking questions across the full range of Blooms taxonomy, from simple recall and comprehension to complex evaluative questioning. The key to success in developing fruitful channels of dialogue with pupils about their learning lies in creating a relaxed and trusting overall climate in the classroom, so that pupils are not afraid to answer, contribute to discussions and make public their thinking or volunteer their uncertainties to you and rest of the class (Clarke,2005). It is best to plan questioning strategy, for instant questions on prior learning to setup the major themes of the lesson, also to check learning and to reinforce learning that has taken place. It is also important to plan how questions will be asked, whether from the whole class, just one group or an individual. Sometimes teachers give no time to students to think and accepts answers from those who raise their hands, and some teachers use no hand policy and giving pupils thinking time (Brooks, Abbott, Bills, 2007). Mini white boards: Another formative assessment idea that engages the entire class and provides evidence of student learning is the white board. Teachers can quickly grasp student understanding and adjust how they move forward. According to Black and Wiliam (1998) teachers need to build in opportunities for pupils to express their understanding. Pupils benefit from opportunities of formal feedback through mini white boards, as this gives chance to pupils to express their knowledge and understanding and to articulate their thinking, and also misconceptions can be spotted straight away. The figure below shows how students learning can be assessed through mini white boards. Dialogue and effective feedback through marking According to the National Research Council report How People Learn (Bransford et al. 2000), timely feedback and revision, on activities congruent with learning goals, is extremely important for developing adaptive expertise, learning, transfer and development. Constructive feedback is vital in helping pupils to progress. Nevertheless, one review of the literature on feedback found that two out of every five feedback effects were negative (Black and Wiliam, 1998). According to Ofsted (1996) marking often fails to guide on how work can be improved, as the information about pupils performance received by the teacher is insufficiently used to inform subsequent work. Target settings can address these difficulties, by taking a defect and converting into a target, offering guidance on how to improve. It has been found to increase pupils motivation and sense of purpose and accelerates rate of progress (Black and Wiliam, 1998). I will be marking books every two weeks, giving pupils targets and showing them example questions to help throug positive feedback on the things they have done well. Marking is guidance to pupils so that they can react upon provided feedback and the aim is for the student to reà ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ect upon their mistakes and answer accurately so that adequate notes are made in their exercise books for revision, it must also include dialogue between the teacher and student so that informed feedback is provided which underlines pupils strengths. School x has a strict book checks every three weeks which focuses on timely and constructive dialogue between teachers and pupils. Self-assessment and understanding how to improve Formative assessment achieves its full potential when pupils become engaged with the process through self-assessment. Pupils who become skilled in self-assessment make impressive learning gains. According to one study, pupils were trained to make regular self-assessment over20-week period and that group made double the progress of the group who were not trained for self-assessment. However, Black and wiliam have concluded that self-assessment is too difficult for pupil, unless they are trained in self-assessment and can understand its main purpose and reflect on their learning effectively. Throughout my lessons self-assessment was vital at the end of each lesson, showing what went well and even better if. Summative assessment: Preparing pupils for external exams and assessment has been an increasingly important part of the secondary teachers role. The purpose behind national external assessments has been clearly formulated, to identify individual achievements, strengths and weaknesses in order to help them in next stages, to enable parents to put their childs attainment in context, to make available to public schools attainment and to help school evaluating their own teaching (Bourdillon and Storey, 2002) . Case study and students progress: My case study includes five students selected after observations and from discussions with my mentor, who I will assess. Their names are coded as Student E,F, G, H and I and in the table below I have mentioned why I would like to assess them during this course of study and check if by the end of the research they have achieved their targets. Table 1: Shows the description of students and their current and target grades I have monitored throughout the course of 10 lessons of the above students when the learning outcome does not meet the learning objective for the class or groups or individuals. Such monitoring when analysed, can provide an insight into the teaching and learning which is taking place. The subject monitoring sheet for maths lessons (Figure 2) shows an example of this. The learning of the five targeted students was monitored for a course of two units against learning objectives drawn from national numeracy strategy. The monitoring was coded as follows: Figure 2: Subject monitoring sheet for maths This data shows the results through the formative assessment I have collected. The research proves one of the best ways to check if pupils understanding is to ask questions. During my first few lessons, the typical response was same children continually have their hands up, and usually in order to elicit the right answers , teachers uses the right children, and I did the same in my first 2 lessons. From third lesson I changed my tactics and targeted students who were not participating in the class, or I used to wait for more hands up, and encouraged students to raise hands through E-praise. Student E is very shy, she was reluctant in the beginning to answer, but I encouraged and praised her to answer, since then I can see her raising hands for not all questions but some Students E, F and H has shown significant improvement during target questioning, they were more attentive and responsive. Setting a routine of target questioning resulted in pupils raising their hands up without asking. I cultivated the classroom atmosphere where more and more pupils are prepared to open up and share their thinking about their uncertainties. To accomplish this approach requires full sensitivity, knowledge of your pupils, first-rate interpersonal skills as well as perceptiveness in formulating adroitly posed questions. In my practice, I always start with open end questions to give students a chance to think and then I try to develop a structure in their mind through these questions and then moving on to close end questions to scaffold their understanding. Target questioning helped me to clear misconceptions throughout my lessons. Refereeing to all my lessons, I have used mini white boards instantly in each lesson, introduce a topic, show them at least two questions and then check their understanding on the mini white boards, I get instant feedback from every child. They arent broadcasting that they think they dont understand something, they give me an actual mathematical answer from which I judge the accuracy and target the misconceptions. It is more subtle than directly admitting you cant do something in front of your peers. They allow algebraic answers just as easily as numerical or wordy ones. You know which kids to differentiate for at both ends. For example student E and H along with some other students showed weakness understanding the concept of surface area of prisms, and picked it up their misconceptions through mini white board activity, it was mostly to do with area of a triangle. Therefore, The next lesson I did a revision lesson on same topic so that all misconceptions were cleared, and in lesson 3, both student E and H showed significant strengths. Similarly in lesson 8, student G showed weakness, which I assessed during white board activity and I made sure that student G understands it properly, as I probed targeted questions throughout lesson. This data also helped me to mark students work, so that I can compare the assessment I performed during class through mini white boards and questioning is correct or not. I marked students work and homework. Homework in school x is given twice a week to each year group. According to Ofsted, marking reinforces underachievement and under expectation be being too generous or unfocused. Therefore, I marked with feedback on each mistake as shown in the example below. I modelled the incorrect questions step by step and asked them to do it again. I also made homework spreadsheet, which showed me exactly how many questions students attempted were correct as shown in table below. Table 3: Shows the percentage of correct answers students did in each homework. This table helped me to understand pupils misconceptions and therefore, I gave questions as starter which I saw were most difficult. I also followed students homework by rechecking if they have corrected the mistakes in the following lesson, as the list provided me clear instructions which students book I have to check. By following this routine, Student G made remarkable change in providing her homework with full potential. The class slowly developed the routine of teacher and student dialogue, by making students aware that if I have made any comments, its students responsibility to check it and comment on it, and if the comment is about redoing the questions than it has to be done again. It can be noticed from the table that students homework percentage got better each week. Year 7s were not aware of self-assessment, therefore I briefed them with three key points with: During my first three lessons I used the slide given below, by giving them examples of how they can think and evaluate their learning. Students were questioned to summarize the learning objectives and success criteria before they embark on the task. From lesson four, when people were confident I used the slide below to make them think themselves without giving the example. Students F, H and I books showed clear evidence that they were honest about their reflection and were trying in the next lesson to make their learning better. Figure 6 and 7 shows some examples of pupils reflection Summative assessment was done by unit test after each unit. Before each unit test, a revision lesson was run to clear the misconceptions as the books were marked before the revision to check students understanding, their homeworks and self-assessment. After each unit test, teacher marked the test and made two comments on what students did well at, and two comments what they need to improve on. As shown in the picture 9 below. Students evaluated their performance in the yellow sheets provided by teacher, on their strengths and on action points. A spreadsheet was also created for each question, which helped me to create green pen questions for students and to check which part of unit test students found most difficult, as shown below in table 7. Green pen questions were prepared by teacher, and were allocated to each student according to the action points as illustrated in the figures below of student E and H. These action questions helps them again to reflect on their mistakes and improve their mistakes. The summative assessment results after two unit test I performed with year 7s are shown below which has shown significant improvement in their grades from previous grades, that they have moved a grade higher from their previous targets. Analysis: Analysing the sequence of lessons and assessments methods used during the period of 10 lessons, assessing through questioning and mini white board activity showed very good results as , it showed me clearly students misconceptions and cultivated the culture of engaging and thinking before answering, but when I marked their books, I saw some very obvious mistakes repeated which I pointed during mini white board activity. There is a potential risk of students copy the answers from peers just of the fear of getting pointed for mistakes and they are hesitant to ask questions. Therefore, mini white board activity is a very effective way to assess students understanding and it has shown a tremendous effectivity during all my lessons as it enables to test the depth of students understanding but it is not 100 percent accurate as students sometimes tend to copy from their peers, if they were targeted and the answer was wrong, they potentially can copy answer of next question from their peers to avoid embracement. It is the same case in questioning, mostly gifted students answer questions. Targeted questions help to encourage students to answer questions, as through diagnostic assessments and marking books, teachers knows which student to target. But if the culture of questioning and use of mini white boards remain there, it will help students to try harder and remain attentive throughout lessons. Assessing through marking books gives a very clear idea that how much progress student has made in the class and by doing their homework. Spread sheet of homework helped me and I asked some students to come during break time to clear their misconceptions, I also ran revision lessons where I cleared those concepts and did target questions from less progressing pupils through marking books. During marking books I started a dialogue with students, for example how this question can be made better and by giving them model answers, as soon as pupils got their books back they had to comment on their mistakes, which helped in building an environment of students teachers dialogue. Similarly self-reflection helped students to start thinking about their strengths and weaknesses and it consolidates their learning more. In each lesson they commented about something to improve and what they did well at, it improved the sequence of learning and each lesson showed evident improvement. Since year 7s started to reflect on their learning during my teaching, it is still very confusing for some students what to write but I still encourage them to summarize their learning objective and think before writing. Finally the summative assessment triangulates the research, Students E,F,G,H and I have made tremendous effort through these weeks and shown that through these assessments they have already reached their targets. References Headington, Rita. (2000). Monitoring, assessment, recording, reporting and accountability. London: David Fulton, 8,9 Last name, First initial. (Year published). Title. Edition. (Only include the edition if it is not the first edition) City published: Publisher, Page(s). Gould, Jimm. And Roffey, Jodi. (2014). Achieving your Diploma in Education and Training. Sage publications ltd. Chaim, Keret, IIany, David, Yaffa, Bat-Sheva. (2012).  Ratio and proportion. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers, 1. Cambridge-Community. Getting started with assessment for learning. [online] Available at: URL [http://www.cambridge-community.org.uk/professional-development/gswafl/index.html] Black, P. and Wiliam, D. (1998). Inside the black box: Raising standards through classroom assessment, Phi Delta Kappan 80(2), 139-148. Bransford, J.D., Brown, A.L. and Cocking (2000). The Design of Learning Environments: Assessment-Centered Environments. How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School. Washington, DC, National Academy Press, pp. 131-154. Wilson, M. Scalise, K. 2006, Assessment to Improve Learning in Higher Education: The BEAR Assessment System, Higher Education, vol. 52, no. 4, pp. 635-663. Stiggins, R. 2005, From Formative Assessment to Assessment for Learning: A Path to Success in Standards-Based Schools, The Phi Delta Kappan, vol. 87, no. 4, pp. 324-328

The Importance of Censorship Essay -- Argumentative Persuasive Essays

The Importance of Censorship   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Censorship affects our society in many different ways, it affects the music we listen to, the movies we watch, the books we read, and many other aspects of our everyday lives. Even though many might argue that censorship doesn't really have a place in a society that emphases freedom of speech and the freedom to express oneself, but censorship is an essential and needed part of our growing society, it's needed in the television industry, the Internet, and the music industry. Censorship helps to make our world a better place because it creates a better environment for us to live in.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Censorship is an important and essential part of television. Without the presence of censorship television would be unsuitable for our younger viewers because censorship helps to filter out the appearances of nudity, real life violence, the use of profanity and other obscene gestures during the youth viewing hours. However, during the prime time viewing hours it?s a different story. The method the television stations use is a mere waste of time and money because a little symbol in the corner of the screen is not going to prevent a child from watching the program. The only way this method can work is if the parents/guardian is there to change the channel but let?s be realistic, how many parents/guardians actuarially have the time to monitor everything there children watch. So most children do end up viewing these programs anyway, and whether we like it o...

Death Camp

It all began when a group of old friends decided they wanted to go camping for the weekend. All they wanted was to have a laugh, get drunk and have good last memories of their time together before they went to university in different parts of the country. Camping seemed like a perfect way to say goodbye, or so they thought. Sitting around a warm campfire, toasting marshmellows and sharing memories, they would remember the good times and leave on a good note, the troubles of the past forgotten. Jack and Mike decided to organise a weekend in the New Forest and collected a i30 contribution from their friends to pay for food, drink, fuel and the hire of a minibus. So it was that, one crisp morning in late August, the group of friends met at The Three Compasses in Luton and set off, talking and laughing, for their perfect weekend away. The journey took a few hours due to the volume of traffic on the roads and by the time they reached base camp they were hot, tired and irritable. Determined not to let the weekend get off to a bad start, Jack suggested that they set up camp in the woods then go their separate ways before the barbeque later in the evening. Jack led the group from the carpark to a clearing about half a mile into the dense trees and they began to set up the large ten-man tents. After agreeing to meet back at seven, they split into twos and threes and went off to explore the forest. Everyone was back by half past and got a fire going, crackling merrily as they toasted marshmellows. As the drink was brought out the talking and laughing grew louder and more raucous until most were either asleep or dancing outrageously to Mike's CD collection. The fire flickered, its embers glowing and cinders scattering about the clearing. The deep shadows between the trees were broken by its golden light and different hues of yellow danced across the canvas tents. A wonderful aroma of sweet pinewood burning filled the clearing, mingling with the pungent perfume of wild grasses and flowers. The stars overhead were glittering like diamonds in the velvety night sky. Jack was dancing near to the fire but he was one of the last ones, everyone else had gone into the tents to sleep off the vodka and beer. As his friends decided that they too were ready for bed, Jack went to put out the fire with a bottle of water. In his disorientated state he accidentally picked up a half-drunk bottle of vodka and threw its contents onto the fire. There was a roar and the flames sprang up, licking the night air like a predator hungry for prey. Tongues of flame caught low-hanging branches and they were swallowed up, the pine resin spitting and jumping. Jerked out of his drunkeness, Jack ran to the tents and shouted for everyone to get out and follow him. The ones who listened ran outside, dragging their semi-conscious friends with them. Crashing through the dense undergrowth they headed in the direction of the minibus and clambered aboard. Mike, who had stayed sober enough to drive, sprang into the drivers seat and they sped off down the road. At a nearby laybay they stopped and called the fire brigade from a phonebox. It was only then that they realised several of their friends behind at the mercy of the raging flames. The forest was alight, the trees catching like dry tinder and pillars of orange flame rocketing into the night sky, the pines burning like torches. The people left behind ran drunkenly away from the flames but the fire was spreading at an incredible rate, springing from tree to tree like rampaging tigers. Smoke filled the forest and they choked as they ran, stumbling and falling. Overcome by tiredness and lack of oxygen, they sank down in a clearing by a road, hoping the fire could be stopped before it was too late†¦

Merck & Company, Inc: The Recall of Vioxx Essay

Introduction Geroge W. Merck stated once stated, â€Å"We try never to forget that medicine is for the people. It is not for the profits. The profits follow. Initially, Vioxx was the blockbuster drug that Merck needed due to the upcoming Zocor patent cliff in 2006. With an estimated 27,785 heart attacks and sudden cardiac deaths that could have been avoided if Celebrex had been used instead of Vioxx, Merck faces the possibility of not only having to pay enormous civil and criminal penalties, but also losing the trust of patients. Many parties are partially culpable, but Merck faces the severe uphill battle of regaining a reputation that once served as a market differentiator; in the 1980’s, Merck was voted the â€Å"Most Admired Company in American Business† for seven consecutive years. A critical issue in this case is to analyze the events listed in the case and propose an alternate course of action that may help prevent future deaths from other pharmaceutical drugs while not prohibitively restricting innovative research that could potentially save lives if tested properly. Critical Points and Issues Merck was relying on the success of Vioxx due to Zocor’s expiring patent and the direct competition Vioxx was engaged in with Celebrex, which had a first mover advantage. While Celebrex was also a Cox-2 inhibitor, Vioxx was the only Cox-2 inhibitor proven to be beneficial for ulcers and gastrointestinal bleeding. Once studies came out suggesting that Vioxx contributed to a greater number of cardiovascular problems than naproxen, Merck seemed to opportunistically interpret these results. Furthermore, Merck did not institute any studies that might have found negative cardiovascular results, and management failed to perform a study that focused specifically on the cardiovascular risks of Vioxx. Instead, Merck spent a record amount on advertising the gastrointestinal benefit of the drug in a period of uncertainty. The advertising in the time of uncertainty is really unparalleled, and opens the door to questioning (Appendix). Stakeholder Impacts Merck Merck wanted to discover a drug in the Cox-2 inhibitor class that would compete with another class of drugs known as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS). Cox-2 inhibitors were developed to eliminate the most common side effects of other NSAIDs, ulcers and gastrointestinal bleeding, as an estimated 15,000 people die from GI bleeding annually; Vioxx was designed to treat those high-risk candidates. Vioxx was the only Cox-2 inhibitor proven to have a benefit for ulcers and GI bleeding. Thus, the blockbuster status was created: a stronger drug with a proven benefit for ulcers and gastrointestinal bleeding. As the events unfold in the case, the crucial errors occur prior to the decision to recall the drug on September 30, 2004. After Merck learned that patients had double the risk of heart attack or stroke than if they took placebo and two new competing Cox-2 inhibitors were introduced, Merck decided to pull the drug, but it was already far too late. Dr. Eric Topol, a highly regarded cardiologist conducting research at the Cleveland Clinic, was the first researcher to raise questions about Vioxx. While he concluded that Vioxx produces a risk of heart attack five times greater than naproxen sodium, some believed that Merck’s scientists interpreted the data opportunistically; by saying the difference was due to the protective effect of naproxen, this downplayed the important possibility that Vioxx was contributing to cardiovascular problems. Some scientists say that the protective effect of naproxen argument is implausible, and noted that naproxen would have to be three times as effective as aspirin to account for the difference. While the FDA didn’t buy this argument and issued a warning on all Vioxx labels, many began to wonder if this was the first sign of an unethical deception, cover-up, and manipulation by Merck. Additionally, as the label was added, Merck would later ironically cite the VIGOR study in defense o f Vioxx: it increased the risk only in those patients believe to be a high risk. However, Dr. Gregory D. Curfman, editor of the prominent New England Journal of Medicine noted that it had â€Å"solid evidence that important data on cardiac events was deleted or withheld.† Dr. Curfman argued that the three deleted heart attacks occurred in people who were otherwise at low risk for heart problems, which would ultimately discredit Merck’s claim that is only increased the risk for high-risk patients. The FDA’s mild warning hardly curbed the widespread use of the drug, yet Merck continued to advertise its big benefit to consumers more than any other company in 2000 (Appendx): it causes fewer cases of stomach bleeding. However, this is only a problem for a very small percentage of patients. Thus, there was evidence that hundreds of thousands of people were using the drug that didn’t really benefit from its one advantage. Merck seemed to engage in deceptive marketing practices highlighting this benefit and not the immense risks to compensate for its declining financial situation, nor the fact that the drug was designed specifically for consumers that were in the high-risk gastrointestinal category. In March 2000, management first learned the results from a study of 8,100 rheumatoid arthritis patients that began to take the medication in January. The results from the Vigor study should have alerted management to the potential dangers and risks of using Vioxx. However, since the FDA repeatedly approved the drug, this psychologically this seemed to create the illusion that the drug was safe. While evidence was mounting against the potential risks, in 2000 alone, Merck spent $160 million in direct-to-consumer advertising, the highest that year for all drugs. FDA The FDA has commonly been criticized for requiring superfluous testing. However, others argue that drugs are rushed through testing due to enormous pressure from the drug companies. Even after a drug has been approved, many of the risks are still unknown. The mild warning given by the FDA seemed entirely inappropriate, an action that ultimately prolonged the use of Vioxx for consumers that were not high-risk candidates. In Merck’s defense, it was promoting a product that did in fact reduce pain and gastrointestinal problems; however, it omitted the crucial detail that it increased the risk of cardiovascular problems. The FDA responded by giving Merck a warning, but ultimately, the FDA failed in its ultimate duty to protect the American consumer. Doctors The doctors prescribing the medications failed to sufficiently research the medication and seemed to rely too heavily on the influence of Merck salespeople and/or the general public. If physicians were cognizant that only a small percentage of the population would actually benefit from the fewer gastrointestinal problems, but would expose themselves to a potentially higher risk of developing heart problems, the doctors should have at least informed the patients that NSAIDS might be a safer alternative. The risk-benefit for many patients simply was not justified. The mild warning given by the FDA did not prompt most doctors to research the warning, as essentially all drugs have notable risks. Doctors and patients are also usually affected by the psychological affect of new drugs-these drugs are perceived to be better than existing drugs on the market. Knowing this psychological affect on consumers, the doctors may have felt pressured to prescribe the drug if consumers were asking for it after seeing the advertisements. However, Vioxx was first approved for people with a high risk of GI problems. It is estimated that only about 10% of the prescriptions for Vioxx were most likely for patients that had a high risk of GI problems; the drug was widely overprescribed and was not the optimal treatment for many patients. Patients and Advertising As Merck spent over $500 million advertising Vioxx, many critics try to blame Merck for promoting a product that many believed had a risk that severely outweighed the benefit, especially for patients without a prior history of gastrointestinal problems. An underlying problem in the case is that medicines in America are overused. Many health problems can be avoided by a lifestyle change. Patients need to know that all medications are potentially dangerous and should be used sparingly. However, in the Vioxx case, many consumers were ultimately oblivious about the risk-benefit tradeoff, as it was not mentioned in the advertisements or consultations with physicians. Options and Solution Implementation Considering that Merck adheres to the philosophy of its founder, George Merck, â€Å"medicine is for the people. It is not for the profits,† the course of action taken by modern-day Merck executives followed a path seemingly motivated by financial pressures. The executives seemed to believe that the success of the company was heavily reliant upon Vioxx, and wanted to mitigate any negative associations the drug had with cardiovascular problems. When evidence began to come in showing a potential link between Vioxx and cardiovascular problems, Merck did not run any studies that attempting to reveal the cause of the negative cardiovascular results. Management should have listened to Dr. Deepak Bhatt, a cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic, who proposed a study of Vioxx in patients with severe chest pain to Merck management. Dr. Bhatt commented at the time â€Å"they {Merck} should have done a trial like this. If they {Merck} internally thought this drug was safe in patients with heart disease, there was no reason not to do it.† Management never ordered a test that would directly explain the results of the clinical trial in 2000. The FDA sent Merck a warning letter for minimizing the serious cardiovascular findings. However, a better option would have been for the FDA to put a black-box warning on Vioxx’s label, or stop the direct-to-consumer advertising until the issue was sorted out. Considering Merck operates under the aforementioned motto, Vioxx was not the optimal treatment for the majority of the patients that took the medication. The patients were not aware of this, and Merck’s aggressive marketing campaign reinforced the belief that this was the proper medication for all patients. Many patients were unnecessarily exposed to a risk due to aggressive marketing tactics when other NSIDS would have been the optimal medication for many patients, not to mention at a lower cost. The government should pay for tests that compare new drugs to older drugs. Many older drugs are simply ignored in favor of newer, heavily advertised drugs. Ultimately, it may take several years following approval for side effects to be exposed-a phenomena that could be avoided altogether if this analysis is done. In addition, the patent life of drugs should be extended. Obviously after this tragedy, drug makers should be required to conduct more studies, but the patent life should be extended to mitigate the pressure to rush drugs to market. Another year of testing means another lost year in terms of patent coverage, and many companies feel pressured to rush drugs to market due to the declining exclusivity period. Bringing a drug to market takes roughly 14 years at a cost of $1.3 billion. If companies are forced to go through additional testing, patent lives should be extended to ensure the incentive for future innovation. Additionally, this could help alleviate the pressure placed upon the FDA to rush drugs to market if companies have longer exclusivity periods, allowing the FDA to conduct additional testing that could potentially prevent future problems. Communication Analysis Vioxx was a medication that was designed to alleviate the gastrointestinal problems for high-risk patients. Vioxx was effective for these high-risk patients that did not have weak hearts. The drug should have never been prescribed to 90% of the patients that received the medication. In the end, some people who shouldn’t have been taking the medication died, and the people who could actually benefit from the medication couldn’t use it because it was pulled from the market. Once preliminary evidence began to mount that there was evidence of this potential link, the aggressive advertising should have stopped immediately. Management should have communicated more clearly to the physicians that this medication was primarily for high-risk patients and articulated the cost/benefit more clearly. In addition, ignoring negative evidence seemed to prove management’s confirmation bias. Management’s deceptive promotion of the drug to increase sales has marred the reputation of a company that may never sufficiently recover. The rigidity of management, unethical, and criminal behavior has tarnished a once respected name.

Enjoy the Career to the Full or 10 Grants for Writers You May Also Gain Being at College

Enjoy the Career to the Full or 10 Grants for Writers You May Also Gain Being at College Enjoy the Career to the Full or 10 Grants for Writers You May Also Gain Being at College Being able to write well can be a great benefit to you in your studies. If your writing really impresses the readers, it probably means that writing is not just a useful skill, but your forte. You may not be aware that there are many different grants available for college students who are excellent writers, but with a little research, you can get ahold of extra money for school. Take a look at the following 10 grants for writers that you can apply for while you’re still in college. 1. Artist Trust If you are a resident of the state of Washington and you are skilled in the literary arts, you may be awarded up to $1,500 to develop, continue, or complete a writing project. $7,500 fellowships are also available, so take a close look at all of the opportunities they can suggest you. 2. Sustainable Arts Foundation Award This $2,000 award for parents with at least one child under the age of 18 goes to writers in the fields of fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, long form journalism, playwriting, picture books, early and middle grade fiction, young adult fiction, and the graphic novel. Parenting topics may be mentioned in the submitted portfolio. 3. Speculative Literature Foundation Award Awards for writers in the speculative fiction genre are given to writers who are older, working class, diverse, or who travel for research. Deadlines and the amount of the award varies according to the category, but the application is straightforward and easy to complete. 4. The Awesome Foundation Grant These $1,000 award is given by local Awesome Foundation chapters. It is offered to individuals and groups of people who create amazing works of art in various disciplines decided by the local chapters. Check your location on their site to see what they are looking for. 5. Build Your Own Blog New Writer Scholarship New writers at age 16 and up can apply with new, contradict works. There is no age limit – only a requirement that the writer have never been published (or only published a couple times) and that they are hoping to get noticed. 6. National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowships This government funded award is available for writers of prose and poetry. It’s an impressive $25,000 award that allows the recipient time for writing, research, travel, and general career advancement. 7. Go on Girl! Unpublished Writer Award You can receive a $1,000 scholarship in addition to publication, attending an awards ceremony, and promotion on Go On Girl!’s website if you’re an unpublished black woman with the desire to write creatively. 8. Richard G. Zimmerman Scholarship The National Press Club offers scholarships to students with impressive creative writing abilities and demonstrated involvement in their communities. If you are chosen, you will receive a $1,000 scholarship. 9. Don and Gerel Nicholls Fellowship in Screenwriting New and amateur screenwriters can receive a $35,000 grant as long as they’re over the age of 18 and haven’t made more than $25,000 from screenwriting in any given year. 10. Creative Capital Awards Creative Capital offers awards to a variety of artists including literary artists, giving up to $90,000 in direct project funding and career development services. As you can see, your great writing skills can lead you on to being independent person, who earns money by him/herself at any age. Remember, none of these grants enjoins you on anything. So, why not to try your efforts and take part? If you ever need professional academic help, you can visit our professional grant proposal writing service .

3.European governments have recently passed legislation making it Essay

3.European governments have recently passed legislation making it easier for firms to introduce short-term employment contracts. Evaluate the implications for - Essay Example This old convention, symbolised by an interchange of job security for work done and faithfulness, is being replaced by a new convention wherein employers guarantee to teach workers and enable them to be employed in several firms, but give no assurance of permanent job. The use of short-term contract workers is not restricted to clerical work, but also clinches high-skill profession like engineering, research, computer programming, drafting etc. (Kalleberg; Knoke; Marsden 4) The method of employing provisional short-term contract employees is not a new or an innovative one. IT firms started this method in the mid part of the 1990s and they have been effectively employing contractors since the last decade. But in the last few years, there has been an increasing dependence on contract workers in the fields like medical writing, communications, sales and marketing of the products of pharmaceutical companies. Several huge pharmaceutical as well as biotech firms have understood that it is more lucrative to employ temporary workers on a required basis when compared with keeping costly permanent employees having significantly lesser work. (Contract Employment: A New Paradigm for Pharma and Biotech) Reducing cost has an effect on the size as well as structure of jobs. Companies are able to stimulate a switch of permanent jobs with that of short-term contracts. (Nunziata, L; Stafolani 73) In recent times, there have been labour changes across Europe. It has been argued that the small employment boom that has been witnessed of late in Europe has mainly been due to short-term employment. (Alesina; Giavazzi 9) In France, the law forming the First Employment Contract known as the Contrat Premiere Embauche or CPE was being passed by parliament with regard to an expansive bill relating to equal opportunities. According to the CPE, short-term work contract was to be provided with a 2-year testing

Analyze science lesson Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Analyze science lesson - Essay Example It is flexible so that it frees student to explore diverse possibility. Indirect instructions foster creativity and inter personal skills and abilities, the role of teacher shifts from lecturer to that of facilitator. Interactive Instructional strategy - Discussion and sharing among participants is involved. Experiential learning -Focuses on the participation in an activity. Reactions and observations are shared. Independent Study - Help students become self-sufficient and responsible citizens by enhancing individual potential. Independent study is very flexible, it can be used as the major instructional strategy with the whole class, in combination with other strategies, or it can be used with one or more individuals while another strategy is used with the rest of the class (Core Knowledge Foundation Staff, 2000). This preschool lesson plan deals with the life cycle of plants explaining their different parts. The children are instructed by their teachers to get seeds of different plants like Gram, Pea, Maize and Castor oil. They may take a piece of soil or a pot where sunlight should fall on them. Children are then asked to sow the seeds in soil, water them and observe them daily. They will observe that seeds give rise to two tiny structures one coming upwards in the sunlight, the future stem and the other going inside the soil away from sunlight, the future root. In all of this process direct instructional strategy is implemented. The preschool teacher instructs the students to uproot a small plant and observe the roots. Leaves of different sizes are shown to the children and vital importance of leaves should be told to them. Children are instructed to familiarize themselves with another important organ of the plant â€Å"the stem†. Plants of different heights are brought into observation of the students. Children are instructed to measure the heights with any tool of measurements. Oral language instructions like

Two rhetorical analysis paragraphs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Two rhetorical analysis paragraphs - Essay Example For example, she digs with acute intelligence into assisted killing of patients with long history of depression and stress by sympathetic doctors. Her debate targets such sympathetic doctors who in the name of sympathy end lives when all their patients need is proper mental health care and a little compassion. Acton’s take on the highly complicated subject of assisted suicide is quite intriguing because it leaves readers immersed in intricate thought processes. It also urges readers to question their beliefs about assisted suicide. It motivates many readers to change their opinion and assume that assisted suicide is not actually progressive, rather opposing it makes a person progressive in every literal sense of the word. In context of the Aristotelian Appeals, Acton is found using logical appeals to augment her argument. For example, she is seen making a logical appeal when she provides succinct case studies of patients pertaining to idea being promoted. Acton does not fire a rrow in thin air as she has years of professional experience of helping people with problems. On grounds of such concrete experience, she advocates the idea of opposing assisted suicide as it is actually a way of facilitating untimely demise of a patient with a physical or mental health issue. In contrast to Ana Acton who takes a self-proclaimed progressive approach to the highly controversial subject of assisted suicide, George Dvorsky is seen doing exactly the opposite in his equally insightful and informative article. Information provided by the author in this article can also be characterized as logical because evidence is provided to appeal the case. Also, Dvorsky makes use of ethical appeals in his article and benefits from them to a remarkable extent. For example, the audience is reminded of how ethically and morally responsible they can become by defending people’s right to die. Dvorsky’s stance is that opposing assisted suicide is

Accessorize with a Meaning Essay Example for Free

Accessorize with a Meaning Essay It takes up about two inches on my thick, and short middle finger. It is relatively small, yet has been proven to have great importance and meaning. This dented, imperfect circle fits loosely, and comfortably which allows for the constant usage and handling. It has a unique, and undefined shape that compliments the small circles within the accessory. There is a band of a perfect line of small circles that runs infinite in the exact middle of the accessory. The thirteen small circles sit in the small seats of metal all in unison and order. Sharp, pointed tips that look like the top of a vintage castle, pull the pendants on the outsides of the line, up and back down. If you cut the jewel in half, the sides are symmetrical with equal amount of points and dots. A tight grasp of the pointed edges are painful from the sharp and definite tips. Running your fingers over the piece, feels of rough sand paper rubbing on a wall. It shines bright and sparkly, which catches the attention from many eyes’ including my very own. However, on the inside, the real, steel metal has grown rugged, and dirty from over use, and age. It’s smooth outer covering has worn off, and the whole inside has thinned. It leaves a mark, and patch of dry skin where it lays on my finger every day and night. It smells of the sandwich I had today for lunch, since it is always there when my fingers are supporting my food. Also, smells of the decaying metal after it has been washed under the soapy, warm water. It’s small size and lightweight does not determine it’s meaning to me. In fact, despite the petite appearance it has a large, underlying sentimental theme to my life. I have never owned such a delicate, and special piece in my long 16 years of living. According to my mother, this was due to lack of responsibility and maturity. She could never trust me to guard such a remarkable diamond and actually understand the significance until the night that marked my transformation from a young girl, to a mature woman. This night, my sweet sixteen is with out a doubt was one of the best experiences of my life. This ring, purchased by my mother and grandmother from a small, expensive boutique was to not only be cherished because of it’s beauty, but also as a memory of this night which marked my new found maturity. Without this ring, I think it would change my outlook of a sweet sixteen completely. To most, a sweet sixteen is just a extravagant birthday party with an abundance of family, and friends that give larger gifts. Although, it symbolizes something much greater for a girl, it marks a necessary change in one’s life. My sweet sixteen is a night I want to smell, hear, touch, taste, and feel forever. The ring helps me hold on tight to this special time in my life. The ring’s unique shape also has a symbolical meaning. The line in the middle represents the stability and exactness in my life. Unfortunately, like everyone else, my life consists of many ups and downs. This ring has inflicted an important realization about my life. When I look down at my finger, I look back at the happiness, and joyous memories in my life especially my sixteenth birthday. This reminds me to preserve the happiness within my life, like my family and friends in order to fight off the barriers holding me back from success. I acquire laughter, and smiles through one glimpse of my ring. This is important to hold onto because a life is not worth living without the safety of warm smiles, and special memories. Hardships have become especially evident within my teenage years, so the ring has grown more and more important. I have endured many family and friend issues that inflict drama and undesirable emotions. The ring brings me back to a night filled with strictly fun and togetherness. People question, â€Å"how can a small piece of jewelery hold so much meaning? † Everyone must seek something for comfort and assurance for their own mental health and happiness. For me the ring provides me with the idea of my new found maturity, and happy memory where my family and friends were all able to come together, and share a memorable moment with me. Time has proven to cause separation and change amongst people, with this beautiful ring I will be able to forever remember loved ones and how grateful I am to have shared my sweet sixteen with them.

Denying Treatment To Smokers

Denying Treatment To Smokers For many years, smoking has been one of the most popular topics in our health education. Many people are aware that smoking causes a great deal of diseases ranging form minor cough to deleterious lung cancer. However, many smokers tend to continue their hazardous habit despite advices from health care providers and campaigns from many organisations, hospitals or even local pharmacies. Hence, the question is Should patients who refuse to stop smoking be prevented from getting treatment from National Health Service(NHS) for smoking related diseases? It is a common fact that individuals will take responsibility of their health implications if they have to bear the cost of their own health, but when government body such as the NHS bears the health cost, moral obligations of doctors and NHS are brought to question if they deny these individuals of treatment due to their behaviour. In this discussion we will consider the general outlook of smoking, smokers involved and the pros and cons of denying treatment. Smoking generally has been a norm in our modern culture and is highly popular among men. More interestingly, the practice has begun as early as 5000 BC to 3000 BC in south America when tobacco was first planted [1]. Tobacco is used in medicinal purposes such as analgesic and antiseptic, ritual ceremonies whereby tobacco was offered to the Gods, insecticides in agriculture, drunk as tea, etc [1]. Tobacco was thought to have medicinal properties that can help cure and prevent cancer in the sixteen century. Ironically no one knew of the hazardous consequences of smoking until the early twentieth century. The first evidence of the effects of smoking related disease occurred in 1950 particularly link to lung cancer. Since then more researches and investigations have been carried out on the effects of smoking towards health. By the late twentieth century, much evidence have proven that smoking cigarettes is a major cause of heart disease, COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease), strok e, numerous types of cancer such as lungs, cervix, oral cavity, penis etc. In addition smoking also increase the impotence rate among men and abortion among pregnant mothers. Since then many health care providers as well as government authorities have begun to take serious measures such as launching anti smoking campaigns, increase of tobacco taxation and educating the public on the dangerous effects of smoking. Before we explore further, we must first ask ourselves another relevant question which is Why do smokers continue to smoke despite knowing the bad consequences that will befall their health? According to a survey, 90 per cent of regular smokers have tried to quit on at least one occasion but only 36 per cent had succeeded in maintaining abstinence for a whole year, while relapse rates after a given period of time are almost the same for nicotine as for heroin [2]. In biological terms, it seems that smoking causes an addition for nicotine in the human brain which is rather difficult to overcome by smokers. Furthermore, in campaigns; smoking related disease are usually related to the dangerous lung cancer and common COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) but the risk of circulatory diseases such as Buergers Disease [3] and coronary artery disease are seldom emphasised. For example coronary artery disease patient needs to undergo coronary artery bypass graft surgery [4] where surg eons need to carry out a major operation. In these cases, surgeons usually consider the minimum side effects and maximum benefit of the surgery for a patient. This is rather a tricky part for NHS as major operation usually contributes to a huge amount of medical cost. Apparently NHS spends  £5.2 billion a year to treat smoking related diseases [5]. In addition, circulatory disease also contributes to the highest patient admission in NHS compare to other smoking related diseases with a number of 686,942 patients in year 2007/08 [6]. It is also equivalent to 47.6% of the total admission which is cause by smoking. Furthermore the complications of this surgery are higher among smokers who continue to smoke after surgery than for non smokers. Coming back to the major question, if NHS denies treatment of this kind to smokers who refuse to stop smoking, more opportunities are given to a non smoker with the similar disease to receive treatment as there are more surgeons and hospital beds available to treat them. Moreover the surgery performed is more efficient and effective. In addition, their survival chances are also higher compare to those who continue smoking after surgery [7]. Apparently, smoking at any time of the surgery leads to more infections and impairs tissue healing. Studies have shown that overall complications in knee or hip arthroplasty for those who have quit smoking are 10% compared to 44% in those who continue to smoke [8]. On the other hand, money could be saved and be contributed to other areas such as to the smoking cessation service such as ASH (Action of Smoking and Health). Currently the NHS Stop Smoking Services is spending about  £57.5million in year 2008/09 in pharmacotherapies to help smokers t o quit smoking. Comparatively, 337054 smokers managed to quit smoking by the year 2008/09 through NHS Smoking Cessation Services [9]. Besides, non smokers who are usually the victims in passive smoking may also benefit by getting a cleaner and smoke free environment. However, this move is ethically wrong according to the NHS principles where principle number one states that The NHS will provide a universal and comprehensive service with equal access for all, free at the point of use, based on clinical need, not ability to pay and principle number five states that We will treat every patient with dignity and respect [10]. To summarise both principles, it states that NHS should provide equal treatment to any patient based on their clinical needs and also respect their health care rights regardless of their background to seek medical treatment. Denying treatment from smokers also means that taking health care rights away from them and it is a rather inhuman act to do. Besides, it is also ethically wrong for doctors to deny patients right of treatment as it contradicts with the doctor-patient relationship and it is against the Hippocrates law which states that The health of my patient will be my first consideration [11]. Doctors working under NHS must abide with the oath and carry out their duty to treat their sick patient. Therefore doctors who work for the NHS should not be influence by the situation of NHS to offer treatment to their patients who smokes. In addition, let us view on patients right for treatment; according to the Declaration of Lisbon, The patient has the right to accept or refuse treatment after receiving adequate information [12]. In other words it also means that it is the patients right to decide whether he should receive the treatment and not the authorities such as NHS. In a nutshell, the patient also has the right to be cared for by a physician who is free to make clinical and ethical judgement without any outside interfere nce. Based on the pros and cons, I would like to conclude that it is unfair for NHS to deny treating patients who smoke. This is based on several reasons; firstly, NHS should not discriminate against patients who smoke owing that they knew the health implications of their hazardous habit. Many may argue that smoking related disease is a self inflicted but in most cases the situation is far more complicated than it seems from the surface. For example, smokers may smoke due to several factors such as peer pressure, family problems and cigarette advertisement in the early twentieth century. In addition to that, the addiction to nicotine is similar to heroin. Many have tried to give up smoking but chances of succeeding are slim as they might be shy to consult their health care provider and it is challenging to go against the addiction. Furthermore NHS smoking cessation services was recently set up in the early twenty first century. As humans, we err as well and we should be given an opportuni ty to correct them. Therefore I feel that smokers should be given more time to quit smoking and more anti smoking campaigns should be launched to create more awareness instead of taking a drastic move as to deny treatment to patients who smoke. On the other hand, other alternative ways such as raising tobacco tax is an effective measure to encourage smokers to quit and increases the number of people who never smoked before. Very recently, the UK government is considering to increase the tobacco taxation by 5% and a survey on its effects was carried out by ASH [13]. One of the major advantages in this policy is it help reduce the number of smokers and increase NHS cost saving. In a nutshell, I think it would be better to continue treating patient who smokes as well as to increase tobacco taxation and having more smoking cessation campaigns.