Finding Yourself Essay -- Essays Papers

Finding Yourself Hidden under every cloak, every item of clothing, and all makeup lies a body. Under the skin of a body lies a soul, and a mind of thoughts. Reaching further we search for where the thoughts were born. As an embryo we are brought into this world, and raised by our creators. From them we are taught life. Depending on our parents or whoever is raising us we become a person, with thoughts, feelings, emotions, and ideas. Looking deeper it becomes clear that all idea’s exist from aspects we have learned. A single thought is also an embryo, born, and than created by it’s creator. Thoughts exist from teachers and learning and so we are taught the limits humans have, and the opportunities available, all of which exist only because they have been taught. Had the first teacher of life said humans can walk on water, than today’s reality would find us walking on water as a common means of travel. Is it possible that reality is made of thoughts, goals, and than achievements? Years ago when the first rocket took off from Earth astronaut’s were created. It was from a thought that reality changed and allowed for space travel. A thought provokes change, and further development for a race, but where did the thought develop? Almost everything a child learns they are taught. The world becomes a movie to watch and learn from, leaving parents and guardians to be the critic’s. Every child has the choice to become any of the things it observes be...

Importance of Integrity

Integrity is the number one quality of leadership. Integrity in leadership is expressed in terms of constancy and consistency. It is manifested in an absolute devotion to keeping one’s word. The glue that holds all relationships together-including the relationship between the leader and the led—is trust, and trust is based on integrity. Integrity is so important that functioning in our society would be impossible without it. We could not make even a simple purchase without a high level of confidence that the price was honest and that the change was correct. The most successful individuals and companies in America are those with reputations of high integrity among everyone they deal with. This level of integrity builds the confidence that others have in them and enables them to do more business than their competitors whose ethics may be a little shaky. Earl Nightingale once wrote, â€Å"If honesty did not exist, it would have to be invented, as it is the surest way of getting rich. † A study at Harvard University concluded that the most valuable asset that a company has is how it is known to its customers, its reputation. By the same token, your greatest personal asset is the way that you are known to your customers. It is your personal reputation for keeping your word and fulfilling your commitments. Your integrity precedes you and affects all of your interactions with other people. There are several things you can do to move you more rapidly toward becoming the kind of person that you know you are capable of becoming. The first is to decide upon my five most important values in life. Organize them in order of priority. Then I write a brief paragraph defining what each of those values means to me. A value combined with a definition becomes an organizing principle, a statement that I can use to help me make better decisions. It is a measure and standard which enables me to know how closely I am adhering to my innermost beliefs and convictions. Five of my most important values are: helping those who are less fortunate, working hard to reach my goals, being honest and truthful, working with others to get things done, and being the nicest person anyone could meet. I have always been regarded as a leader and that does not come with ease: backlash of the bullies and those who want to bring me down to get where I am will always encounter me, but because of my high integrity and honesty to do what is â€Å"right† I will not retaliate against them. I must go into others shoes, which enables me to help others in more ways than one, because their situations make me emotionally motivated to get them in a better place to be successful. Integrity is hard work, but that work is nothing but rewarding. I’m a leader and I will continue to develop to be the best leader I am to become, by living with integrity every day.

Dream Company Essay

Technology has taken an uprising since the late 20th century to our world today. Everyone essentially owns some sort of technological device from cellphones to computers. Companies like Microsoft, Xerox and Canon have made our lives simpler and possibly much easier, but there was another company waiting to override the norm and push an industry giant to its limits. Apple Incorporated followed an unconventional path to its recent success in the computer industry, despite being consistently dominated by Microsoft. Apple Inc. s a multinational corporation headquartered in Cupertino, California that designs, develops, and sells consumer electronics, computer software, personal computers and portable digital music players, and mobile communications devices and sell a variety of related software, services, peripherals, and networking solutions. Its best-known hardware products are the Mac line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone, and the iPad. Its software includes the OS X and iOS operating systems, the iTunes, the Safari web browser, and the iLife and iWork creativity and production suites. The company was founded on April 1, 1976, and incorporated as Apple Computer, Inc. on January 3, 1977. The word â€Å"Computer† was removed from its name on January 9, 2007, reflecting its shifted focus towards consumer electronics after the introduction of the iPhone. Apple is the world’s second-largest information technology company by revenue after Samsung Electronics and the world’s third-largest mobile phone maker after Samsung and Nokia. Fortune magazine named Apple the most admired company in the United States in 2008, and in the world from 2008 to 2012. However, the company has received criticism for its contractors’ labor practices, and for Apple’s own environmental and business practices. As of November 2012, Apple maintains 394 retail stores in fourteen countries as well as the online Apple Store and iTunes Store. It is the second-largest publicly traded corporation in the world by market capitalization, with an estimated value of US$ 414 billion as of January 2013. As of September 29, 2012; the company had 72,800 permanent full-time employees and 3,300 temporary full-time employees worldwide. Its worldwide annual revenue in 2012 totaled $156 billion. In May 2013, Apple had made it to the top ten of the Fortune 500 list of companies for the first time, taking the 6 position, 11 places up from the previous year Innovative Products Currently, Apple’s iPhone is the yearning of the modern man. Top-notch product design, an intuitive user-interface as well as fancy multimedia internet based services may contribute to its unique market position. Therefore, if not yet accomplished, many software developers are considering getting into the iPhone platform ASAP, serving the market Industry Leaders  For the past three years Apple has been known by fortune as the world’s most admired company. They are known for elegant product design, innovation, customer loyalty, brand-building marketing, and secrecy. Apple Inc. is considered to be as the industry leaders in innovation, design, versatility and customer satisfaction. The products that they introduce every single year a re the best in the challenge. The contenders may have products that are highly dreamed on by them but at a days end more people tend to shine into Apple’s products. The vision that Apple has to make their wonderful products is carried by none. Their products like the iPhone changed the entire mobile industry. iPhone was innovative that many people as well as the rival companies such as Nokia, Samsung and many other companies were mesmerized by the innovation and technological leap the Apple had achieved by introducing this product. Perks For the past three years Apple has been known by fortune as the world’s most admired company. They are known for elegant product design, innovation, customer loyalty, brand-building marketing, and secrecy. The financial statement projected that the company will continue to grow because of their product design to meet the consumer needs. The company has seen an increase in demand of products and service. Based on the company historical and projected future earnings and cash flow growth rates, any person who is looking for a smart short to medium term investment, Apple stock would be the right decision. Its steady growth in earnings and dividends can be viewed as acquiring moderate to risky equity. On December 29, 1994, Apple inventory increased to $1 billion. That was the inventory turnover for Apple. Their total revenue rose from $9. 8 billion in 1996 to above 19. 3 billion in 2006, which is a substantial increase of 96. 43% (Shlinds, 2007. ) On July 19, 2011 Apple, announced financial results for its fiscal 2011 third quarter ended June 25, 2011. The company earned quarterly revenue of $28. 57 billion and earned a quarterly net profit of $7. 31 billion. Those billions of dollars in sales had much to do with the sales of the Macs, iPhone, and iPad. The company sold 3. 95 million Macs during the quarter, a 14% unit increase over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 20. 34 million iPhones in the quarter, representing 142% unit growth over the year-ago quarter. They sold 9. 25 million iPads during the quarter, a 183% unit increase over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 7. 54 million iPod, a 20% unit decline for the year-ago quarter (www. apple. com. ) Macs, iPhone, and iPad sold in numbers greater than the company expect, but the sales from the iPod decreased. Even though the iPod sales dropped, it has dominated the market digital media player and managed to maintain in the United States. This is Apple best quarter ever with revenue up 82% and profits up 125%. Their cash flow has increased 131% year-over-year, with operations of $11. 1 billion. In December 2010, the cost of goods sold of $16. 4 billion was 61. 5% of revenue. The income statement continued to grow at rates rarely seen at a large company. The company continues to deliver to the marketplace and stimulate customer demand for new programs, products, and technological innovations. The company dominant leadership in virtually every product category it competes is an obvious proof of innovation and well-executed market. However, despite its market leadership, Apple management has traditionally under-promised, yet over-delivered on earnings quarter after quarter. This has been the primary means for the stock’s sudden ascent in recent years. Companies that grow faster than the operating cash-flow it generates are usual suspects when it comes to balance sheet maneuvering. Liquidity obviously is not a problem for Apple, but this forces the analysts following the company to scramble and keep raising their targets each time Apple consensus. Cash flow quality and earnings structure better reflect the correlation between stock price and the financial statement. Apple sales growth has been inclining, while Resource and Development spending (excluding previously capitalized software and technology acquired in acquisitions) as a percentage of sales has been declining. Any stock has the potential to be successful, but under-utilized assets or small allocations to develop innovative products which drive future profits would not be helpful on returns on assets/investments. Apple has no competition. Apple creates computers, phones, tablets, music players, operating systems, television set-top boxes, lifestyle and productivity software, professional media software, and wireless routers. They also sell movies and music, and they have an application store that so far has not been challenged. Nokia, Samsung, Sony might compete with Apple hardware, but they depend on Microsoft operating system. Microsoft makes operating system for computers and phones, and they produce office and other software similar to Apple’s, but they lack in hardware. Google with the Android, is not even a single operating system. It is a multitude of operating system versions on multiple devices. If Apple wants to change something on a device, either hardware or operating system, it can just do so. If Nokia, Samsung, or Sony wants to change their operating system, they would have to recieve confirmation from Microsoft. If Microsoft wants to advance their technology, they need buy-in from hardware makers. They make their profits from business-to-business, which mainly consists of selling licenses to its operating system to computer manufacturers and office suites for enterprises. That is not to say that they do not sell to consumers. They have consumer only product lines as the Xbox gaming console, and of course, home user also buy Windows and Office. On the other hand, Apple is primarily a consumer company, and makes most of its profit selling hardware products. This makes the target of Apple’s site much clearer for marketing, selling, and providing support for its products to consumers. The rest of the technology can only play catch up. A quote from Wayne Gretzky who said, â€Å"Good hockey players play where the puck is. Great hockey players skate to where the puck is going to be. Most of the tech industry is struggling to get where the puck was, (Raymond Meyers, 2011. ) In the previous paragraph I mention Apple did not have any competition, but if I had to choose two it would be Microsoft and Google. Apple leads Microsoft and Google in the S&P 500 in this illustration: Apple $401. 82 -$10. 32 (-2. 50%) Google $520. 66 -$18. 54(-3. 44%) Microsoft $ 25. 06 -$0. 93(-3. 50%) Microsoft is steady declining. Microsoft launched windows Vista; Windows users vigorously had rejected that upgrade. Fewer than 10% of windows users had switched and nearly 5% of windows PCs in use were running windows versions older than XP. Mobile device are steady increasing, which Apple has complete control over. Mobile operating systems account for nearly 3% of all Internet. The percentage of Internet usage on mobile devices has been doubling every eight months. The many tasks that PC handled are taking over by mobile devices. Microsoft was ahead almost as long as people were using PC, but technology has advanced into mobile devices. May 26, 2010 illustrated from mobile devices, Microsoft and Apple were about even at a Market cap of $223 billion, but Apple had increased rapidly to $306 billion, while Microsoft decreases to $212 billion. Apple site is generally more user friendly than Microsoft, and offers a much better experience to consumers who use it to check out the latest Apple products. Apple website is much smaller in scale than Microsoft’s site. Apple uses many of white space and subheadings to make everything more readable, yet they keep their website simple by not overusing too many different text. Microsoft hosts many different sites under the Microsoft. com brand, creating a whole ecosystem of sub-sites. Microsoft biggest problem is consistency. There is no global navigation, and there are not many visual clues that tell the user that this is a Microsoft site. Unlike Apple, where the whole site shares one unique visual that mirrors that of their hardware and software, thus creating a powerful brand. Google Android has become the closest smartphone that can stand up to the iPhone dominance. In this graph is shows the sale between smartphones: | Apple has more than three hundred retail stores in ten countries, in addition to an online store that offers its products to the customers across the globe (Apple Inc, 2011). This global network allows the company to develop and launch the products in it markets of America, Asia, and Europe. The company is officially listed as number one company that provides wide range of technology related products in the world after surpassing Microsoft. The company has more than 45,000 employees working on full-time basis and around 3,000 employees worldwide. It was noted that the company had earned the annual sales of around $67 billion US dollars from its worldwide operations (Apple Inc, 2010). The company is listed as one of the most admired companies in the United States and in the World for four consecutive years (Fisher, 2008 Colvin, 2009 Fortune, 2010). Apple products like Mac, iPhone, iPad, and iPod are manufactured in the United States, but the company is outsourcing the production of some of its product parts to the various international and national supply chain partners. For example, iPod are outsourced to its subcontractor in Hong Kong from where it is sent to the outsourced production plant of the company (Linden et al, 2007). The company saves money by outsourcing, but on the other hand, it increases the downsizing and unemployment rate in the United States. Price, place, promotion strategies, product performance, the quality, and reliability of the product, innovative designs as well as the availability of up-to-date software services are factors that can impact the business and profitability of Apple. The focus on manager at this point is the expansion of its smartphones and other media and communication devices. The competitors of Apple have numerous of resources that they can offer the business and consumer products and services similar to Apple’s products at a low price range. Decrease the price on Apple products by creating resources from other companies will attract more customers.

Drawing Funds from the European Union Essay

Drawing Funds from the European Union Introduction            European Union funds are an instrument for implementing its economic and social cohesion policies whose objective is to eliminate the disparities in development levels amongst the EU member states and the relative primitiveness of the most disadvantaged states. The EU funds provide funding for a wide range of projects covering areas such as urban and regional development, employment and social inclusion. The funds also cover agricultural and rural development, maritime developments, innovation and research ventures, and humanitarian aid. It means that municipalities, businesses, ministries, non-profit organizations, learning institutions, the transport industry, and research institutions are eligible to apply for the funds. Management of Funds            Funding, the sole purpose of the EU funds, is supervised in accordance with a set strict rules to ensure that there is total control over how to spend the funds; in a transparent and accountable manner. Twenty-Eight EU commissioners have the definitive responsibility of ensuring that beneficiaries use the funds accordingly. Nonetheless, performing checks and annual audits is a responsibility that lies with the national governments. It is because the funds are mostly managed within the beneficiary states. Management of seventy-six percent of the whole EU budget happens in collaboration with state and regional authorities via a system of shared management. Allotment of Funds The EU provides funds from five categories: The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). European Social Fund (ESF). Cohesion Fund (CF). European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD). The European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF).            These major funds are referred to as Structural Funds. There are other funds that the EU manages directly. These other funds are usually in the form of grants and contracts. There is a common fallacy that ‘money from Brussels’ is available for free and for any purpose. Reality check proves it otherwise because grants from the EU are usually made available for supporting specific objectives. A big chunk of the funds is not given to beneficiaries directly, but through state and regional authorities who are responsible for transparent management of the funds (Council, 2007).            The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF): The aim of the ERDF is strengthening economic and social cohesion in the EU through adjusting imbalances amongst its regions. The ERDF usually centers its attention on some key priority areas known as ‘thematic concentration’: Low-carbon economy Research and innovation Assisting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and The digital agenda            The resource allocation to the priorities usually depends on the category of the region in question. More developed regions focus at least eighty percent of these funds on at least two of these priorities. Transition regions’ focus is for sixty percent of the funds and fifty percent for less developed regions. Additionally, some of the ERDF resources are directed specifically towards low-carbon economy projects; twenty percent for more developed regions, fifteen percent for transition regions and twelve percent for less developed regions. The ERDF also gives special attention to specific territorial attributes. Disadvantaged areas from a geographical point of view, for example, mountainous or sparsely populated areas, gain from this special treatment.            The European Social Fund (ESF): The most important focus of the ESF is improving the job market and education opportunities across member states of the European Union. Improving the social statuses of vulnerable people is also an important aim for the fund. The earmarking of more than â‚ ¬80 billion for investment in human capital in EU member states for the period 2014-2020 attests to it. Other objectives of the fund include: retraining unemployed people, starting special programmes for the disabled and other disadvantaged groups of citizens. In addition: supporting self-employed people who are just starting their businesses, developing employment service institutions and improving the quality of education in learning institutions.            Cohesion Fund (CF): The CF is mostly aimed at member states whose Gross National Income (GNI) per inhabitant is less than 90% of that of EU’s average. Its main aim is to minimize social and economic disparities and promoting sustainable development. The CF is also subject to the same regulations as the ERDF and ESF via the Common Provisions Regulation. For the programming period, 2014-2020, the CF concerns states such as the Czech Republic, Croatia, Latvia, Malta, Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia. The CF allocates approximately â‚ ¬63.4 billion to various economic and social welfare projects. The Cohesion Fund is used to fund trans-European transport networks especially those identified as priorities by the EU. The funds can additionally be used to fund environment-friendly projects. These projects include those that benefit the environment in terms of renewable energy, supporting an inter-modality, and energy efficiency. If audits reveal that a member stat e has excessive public deficit and they are not taking steps to resolve the situation, the Cohesion Fund can be suspended by a Council Decision.            The European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD): The EAFRD covers; bio-energy, organic farming, forest resources, food safety, animal welfare, plant health and rural development programmes (RDPs). The EU requires its member states to build their RDPs upon not less than six set EU priorities. They include: Advancing knowledge transfer and innovation in the agricultural sector, forestry and rural areas. Improving the viability of all types of agriculture, and endorsing innovative farming technologies and sustainable forest management. Encouraging food chain organization, management of risk in agriculture and animal welfare. Protecting and developing ecosystems allied to agriculture and forestry. Shifting towards a low-carbon and climate-conscious economy in the food and agriculture sectors.            Each RDP identifies focus areas to set quantified targets for funds needed. Measures to achieve these targets and their individual fund allocations are paramount. RDPs’ also gets funding from private sectors that share the same ideologies. The implementation of funds is monitored and evaluated in detail.            European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF): The EMFF, formerly European Fisheries Fund (EFF), is used to fund the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). The EMFF gives funding for the fishing industry and communities in the coastal regions. The CFP endeavors to make sure that fishing and aquaculture are sustainable; environmentally, economically and socially. Healthy fish and seafood is also paramount. Though important to maximize catches for business purposes, limits must be put in place. The CFP stipulates that limits should be set such that fish stocks are sustainable in the long-term. The CFP allows EU member states access to its waters and fishing grounds.            To enhance transparency in funding, the European Transparency Initiative was set up. A central web portal was created to collect and show data from all beneficiaries of EU funding; funds received and how the funds are being used. There is also an inventory of EU funding that shows the evaluations done and released by the Evaluation Services of all Twenty-Five EU member states. Applying for Funding in Selected Areas            Enterprise: small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can obtain funding via grants, loans and guarantees. It is mostly through financial intermediaries in their member states. Grants usually account for fifty percent of project costs. Loan guarantees are given to microcredit organizations for loans of up to â‚ ¬25,000.            Non-profit organizations: they include non-governmental and civil society organizations. These organizations are eligible for funding as long as they are active in EU policy regions and a strictly non-profit basis (Council, 2007).            Young people: they are eligible for two types of funding; education and training, and youth funding. The former includes study opportunities through Erasmus+, scholarships for high school graduates, and occupational training in other countries. The latter includes co-funding youth projects that encourage civic involvement, charity work and a wider multicultural outlook.            Researchers: individuals and institutions involved in innovation and research projects are qualified to request for the funds. The European Union will provide roughly â‚ ¬80 billion in its quest to fund research. The funding typically takes the form of grants to finance partly a wide range of research and innovation projects.            Agriculture and fisheries: acquiring funds for such projects involves giving a general introduction, presenting financial reports, and giving information on the planned use of the funds. Direct funding is the most important and common type of funding in the EU member states.            Cultural and audiovisual sector: the main programme in this segment is culture: it has three main goals. They include promoting cross-border mobility of people working in the cultural sector, encouraging circulation of cultural, artistic output, and fostering intercultural dialogue (Evans & Foord, 1999).            Energy: funding is available for a number of sectors including solar and wind energies, bioenergy, renewable energy, clean coal projects and energy efficiency. Funds are also available for Trans-European Energy Networks (TEN-E), whose aim is to enhance transportation networks for electricity and gas across the European member states.            The structural funds and grants from the European Union Funds have impacted the lives of the citizens of its member states immensely. The standards of living of many citizens have risen noticeably due to the array of new employment opportunities created by the funds’ projects. Some of the projects’ success stories are noteworthy and have had a great impact to states and individuals. We will take a look at some examples of projects carried out using the funds so as to take note of their effects to their beneficiaries. ESF in the Czech Republic            The Czech Republic is among the less wealthy nations in the European Union member states. According to regulations, Czech could have drawn approximately â‚ ¬26.7 billion from the ESF in the programming period 2007-2013 in order to raise the standards of living of its people. However, the amount received from the ESF for that period is â‚ ¬3.8 billion. Together with national funding, the tally adds up to over â‚ ¬4.4 billion.            ESF funds help in three activities. The first is advancing education at all levels and enhancing its relevance to the job market. Secondly, the funds are used to enable many people to get employment, especially the disadvantaged. Lastly, they have helped build competitiveness of the Prague region.            The Czech Republic is using the funds to do away with obstacles that; for one reason or another, prevent people from getting a job. These people include; mothers with young children, older people, and the disabled and disadvantaged groups, like those with little or no professional skills. Many ESF projects across the nation are making access to training facilities easier and reducing some practical obstacles to work. Consequently, this is bringing a positive impact by lifting its citizens out of poverty (Fagan, 2005).            ESF funding is also helping improve the quality of education by scrutinizing standards, employing more competent teachers, and teaching job seekers only the needed skills by employers. Events such as science documentary film festivals and meetings with top Czech scientists are being used as platforms to encourage students to consider careers in science and technology. Just like other member states, the Czech Republic is struggling with the unemployment crisis. The ESF fund, however, has gone a long way in helping Czech citizens find jobs attributed to the various employment and educational projects initiated by the funds. Saving Lives: EU Funded Cancer Research Project            Physicians mostly wait for several months to assess whether cancer treatments that they are administering to their patients are actually working. By discovering a new technique that quickly reveals a tumor by checking consumption of glucose, an EU-funded project has reduced the delay. This discovery enables doctors to get more ‘precious’ time to switch to more effective forms of treatment if crucial; potentially saving many lives.            All cancer treatments do not work in every patient’s case. A tumor might reduce rapidly after a treatment, yet its assessment is complex. Several therapies may eliminate the cancer without reducing the size of the tumor. A delay in confirmation by a doctor may mean that by the next treatment, the patient may be a lot weaker, and the cancer advanced further (Eckhouse & Sullivan, 2006). Physicians want to assess immediately if the cancer is affected by a treatment, not just by measuring its size but through metabolic indicators. The EU-funded project, Imaging Lymphoma, has developed such an assessment. The innovation will be important in future cancer treatments as it makes it easier for doctors to treat their patients. Turning Food Waste into Animal Feed            The European Union is the source of 18% of food exports worldwide and with it comes a huge chunk of agricultural waste. This waste costs farmers and taxpayers’ money (Kraemer, Wilkinson, Klasing & Homeyer, 2002). An EU-funded research project NOSHAN wants to convert food waste into animal feed. The objective of the research is to open up new opportunities for farmers and reducing Europe’s dependence on animal feed imports. Additionally, new green jobs in agricultural waste collection and feed manufacturing will be created.            The NOSHAN project aims particularly at turning fruits, vegetables and dairy wastes into animal feed, and at low energy costs. The project is expected to conclude its research in 2016, and by that time, the research team will be able to have the best waste extraction and upgrading techniques. The NOSHAN project presents Europe’s agricultural sector with a prospect of attaining greater agricultural sustainability. The project has been awarded just under â‚ ¬3 million in the programming period 2007-2013. It brings together a University, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), research institutes and other industries. The NOSHAN project could also reduce the ever-increasing competition between food and feed sectors, both of which require water and land (Wolz, Hubbard, Mà ¶llers, Gorton & Buchenrieder, 2012). Revolutionizing the Transport Sector            EU-funded researchers have come up with groundbreaking proposals to prevent railway suicides and decrease disruption of services. If adopted, the proposals could save lives, money and time for railway companies and their passengers. Waiting for a train, and suddenly the service is called off or delayed indefinitely is something that train passengers have become accustomed to in the long run. Perhaps an accident; somebody fell onto the track, or they purposefully stepped in front of the track.            The EU-funded project, RESTRAIL, collected and analyzed the measures put in place by different EU member states to curb suicides and accidental deaths. The outcome of the research was that proposals that can save a lot of lives. Decision makers such as station managers or railway companies should have a set of the most efficient mitigation measures for every event. The tests they have conducted have created a toolbox for consultation on the best practices on each country. RESTRAIL guidelines could help reduce direct and indirect costs linked to railway suicides and accidents. ESF Fund in Slovakia            Slovakia is one of the fastest growing economies in the EU, but it faces several challenges such as high long-term unemployment levels. Nonetheless, Slovakia plans to increase the country’s employment rate to 72% by 2020. Slovakia has received â‚ ¬1.5 billion ESF funding for the period ended 2007-2013. In combination with national co-funding, they have raised a total of â‚ ¬1.76 billion. A variety of projects’ is being supported via the funding. Public employment facilities and services are being improved so as to reach as many slovaks as possible. Since 2007-2011, approximately 24,000 employment opportunities have been created and around 26,000 people have found employment via ESF supported measures.            Projects are also being implemented in the form of flood-dependence-programmes that offer up to 4,500 new jobs in 200 villages. ESF funding is helping reform the education system in Slovakia by ensuring that education is tailored to align with the evolving needs of the society. An example is a project that investigates the interests of young people and matches them to career guidance. ESF funded projects are facilitating the establishment of life-long-learning culture that natures skills of the Slovak citizens throughout their lives. For instance, a Slovak packaging company has used ESF funding to facilitate professional training of new skills, such as in quality and environmental standards, making them more adaptable and well equipped for their future careers.            The Roma people in Slovakia tend to live in segregated settlements and are more exposed to long-term unemployment compared to the average population, and also live in conditions of poverty. Thanks to ESF funding, social workers and assistants have been employed to work closely with them to help improve their circumstances (Guy & Kovats 2006). Setbacks and Doubts on the efficient use of EU Funds            One of the problems with EU funds is that in some cases, the money is allocated to projects that are neither necessary nor productive (Ã…  umpà ­kovà ¡, Pavel & Klazar, 2004). For instance, if a village wants to repair sidewalks in its region and would like to use EU funding for it, it is imperative that they formulate a supporting story. Let’s say, expansion of regional tourism. It means that, in addition to repairing the sidewalk, the money will also be spent to put up some signs with a map of village’s streets, which in the first place is not necessary. Some smart villages can even use the funds to renovate an old library and rename it to the Tourist Information Center, and stow some pamphlets there, in case some tourists do show up.            Another predicament is deformation of industrial and consumer environment. When a firm receives funding to build, say, a grocery store, its neighbors who have the similar business plans receive nothing.            A further problem is that national ministries of some states like say, Slovakia, are reluctant to delegate control of EU funds to lower governance levels. The central governments do not trust the ability of their municipalities and regional authorities to implement the funds timely and effectively. There have been cases where regional authorities have mixed implementation of policies, to say the least. Nevertheless, Slovakia has not been able to create any efficient mechanisms for decision-making and management of public funds (Guy & Kovats, 2006). Conclusion            Funds drawn from the European Union have increased employment opportunities, bolstered the education sectors of beneficiaries and led to the growth of economies. Additionally, funding the transport sector, research and innovation projects have led to groundbreaking discoveries in the agricultural, health and transport sectors among others. The number of lives saved and projected to save by some of these discoveries is amazing. Nonetheless, the funding has not been without a few controversies. Some parties have tried to take advantage of corrupt officials to leverage some money for themselves leading to misuse and undertaking of dubious projects. An honest culture should be created to ensure appropriate use of funds. The European Union funding goal is to ensure that beneficiaries spend money in a transparent, accountable manner. It is thus the duty of all beneficiaries to make it a reality. References Council, T. R. D. (2007). European Union Funding.Eckhouse, S., & Sullivan, R. (2006). A survey of public funding of cancer research in the European Union. PLoS Medicine, 3(7), e267. Evans, G., & Foord, J. (1999). European funding of culture: promoting common culture or regional growth?. Cultural Trends, 9(36), 53-87. Fagan, A. (2005). Taking stock of civil-society development in post-communist Europe: Evidence from the Czech Republic. Democratization, 12(4), 528-547. Guy, W., & Kovats, M. (2006). EU-funded Roma programmes: Lessons from Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. London: Minority Rights Group International. Kraemer, R. A., Wilkinson, D. G., Klasing, A., & von Homeyer, I. (2002). EU Environmental Governance: A Benchmark of Policy Instruments. With a focus on Agriculture, Energy and Transport. Study commissioned by the Belgian Federal Department of the Environment. No. ECOLOGIC, Berlin.Ã…  umpà ­kovà ¡, M., Pavel, J., & Klazar, S. (2004, May). EU funds: absorption capacity and effectiveness of their use, with focus on regional level in the Czech Republic. In Conference proceedings of the 12 th NISPAcee Conference. Wolz, A., Hubbard, C., Mà ¶llers, J., Gorton, M., & Buchenrieder, G. (2012). Patterns behind rural success stories in the European Union: Major lessons of former enlargements (No. 68). Studies on the agricultural and food sector in Central and Eastern Europe. Source document

Domestic Violence In Sports Essay

Throughout history, sports players have been in the public eye. They’re much thought of as the heroic figures to those who desire a career in the league or even the â€Å"die hard† fans who are dedicated. When thinking of the stereotypical traits of a heroic figure as someone who’s trustworthy, honesty and viewed to be an untouchable individual. But as we all know not every story is what some may call â€Å"picture perfect†. People fail to realize that their champion winning sports players we cheer on during game days are just like everyone in the world. The question being how can we establish a connection with ones that real side may barely be shown? In recent weeks, sports media has been booming with tabloids about domestic violence cases of well-known players in their leagues. As we the public become intrigued to see these players fall from their immortal status from committing such a crime thought to be impossible for them. As fans typically only take a glance of their lives on the field; I come to wonder if it’s more of a shock to them or a reality of everyone’s ability to be held equally. Would the standards be different if your position in society didn’t matter as much as the crime that has been committed should? An article published online in USA Today last week, states that even with the multiple controversies going on in the NFL and the nation, is taking much needed action towards players involved in the domestic violence convictions such as. Actions are also being taken in teams like the Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice, was charged with a domestic violence case with an assault his then-fiancà ©e Janay Rice, who was left unconscious for in an elevator. Rice is known to have a clean record, after authorities released the video of Rice and his then fiancà ©e knocked out; the agreement between the NFL and the Ravens to end Rice’s contract following up with an indefinite suspension. This decision was reported by researchers- Erik Brady and Jim Corbett both journalist for USA Today. In addition to the NFL furthers taking action an article by researcher Will Brinson a Senior NFL Writer, writes weekly articles and directs videos for CBS Sports.com. Brinson quotes statement from a memo from Commissioner Roger Goodell to the 32 NFL owners â€Å"The NFL is hiring four women advisors in shaping the league’s stance on domestic violence†, The league is attempting to change the outlook of how it handles domestic  violence with the hopes of being looked at for an earnest effort towards change. Goodell wrote, â€Å"Because domestic violence and sexual assault are broad societal issues, we have engaged leading experts to provide specialized advice and guidance in ensuring that the NFL’s programs reflect the most current and effective approaches.† In addition to Goodell’s memo, he also stated a plan for the four women such as Lisa Friel, the former Sex Crime Prosecution Unit in New York County District Attorney’s Office to be one of the women to peruse the NFL’s efforts. Domestic violence is the behavior used by one person in a relationship to control the other. This violence takes place in many forms and can happen all the time or once in a while. Although both men and women are susceptible to abuse, the most common cases are known to be found dealing with women who have been in some form neglected or abused. In studies cases of domestic violence have been on the rise, meaning more cases of not just celebrities but people all around the nat ion. As the talk rises of domestic violence cases pertaining to sports people see this as tragedy and a new cause to crime that has been happening for decades. It’s taken little pity on the actual victim but more on the player who is at fault. In the SBNation article written by Stephen â€Å"Poseour† Blake, stating that most fans are leaning towards defending team players rather than raising awareness for those who have been emotionally and physically impacted by the crime done. When do we ask ourselves, is supporting something worth it? With a personal belief that we should live by the rules of treating everyone with fairness and honesty as fans indicate sports players to be. In conclusion, I think that athletes are treated to an alternate standard compared to everyone because more is invested into their successful than their downfall. More cases of domestic violence are becoming better known to the public; especially in sports mostly pertaining to players in the NFL league. My feelings towards this topic are that even with fame of being known for a talent is a very rare accomplishment that’s few get to achieve. People still need to realize that no matter how famous a person becomes their still accountable for their actions. Personally I think that more should be done to the person accused of the crime just as equally for someone who isn’t on the fame radar. Punishment shouldn’t have a limit just because this person is well- known. Alon g with fans treating the victims more like the criminals instead of the players. When in reality  being a â€Å"die hard† fan doesn’t always mean supporting what’s wrong.

Legal and Ethical Tensions Between Maintaining Confidentiality and Sharing Information Essay

Criteria: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3-Review the groups and individuals whose communication needs you must address in your work role. Explain how you support effective communication within your work role. Analyse the barriers and challenges to communication within your work role. Being able to communicate is a major feature of being human. Throughout the working day we absorb information and pass this on to other people. Communication is vitally important if a team is to work effectively. Almost everything I do at work relies on communication. Communication is the basis of interaction and skills in speaking, writing and specially, listening are essential when working with children and adults in my setting. The interaction and communication I carry out within my setting are with children, colleagues, deputy, manager, parents and other agencies and professionals. As I am interacting with diverse group of people each day, I need to use a variety of communication skills depending on the position of th e person/children and the context in which the communication take place. I have to be aware of the fact that I need to use appropriate language and terminology for my message to be understood. For example, talking to a child who is hurt -my approach to him/her will be empathic while talking to a medical staff might require just a delivery of impersonal information. When talking to children I must get down to their level, observe and listen carefully to what they are saying/asking, keeping eye contact during the conversation, asking short questions and wait patiently for their answer. When I communicate with adults, an important point to remember always is the fact that sometimes the person in front of me might go through personal crisis or is feeling upset in some way so this requires excellent skills to make sure I’m making the person in front of me(colleague, parent) felling supported and valued. Read more:Â  Maintaining an Individual’s Confidentiality and Disclosing Concerns Essay To support an effective communication with my team we have regularly meetings (weekly meetings when we talk about planning the week, a new topic, activities, about children and their development, concerns are raised from the team members), appraisals are in plan, delegation of work, checking of the reports, setting of objectives that are SMART involving all members of my team and also motivating my team by supporting, trusting and encouraging them to get the job done. For me to be able to support others to become good communicators, it is necessary that I will be an effective role model and to reflect effectively on how I am delivering the messages. If I support all my communication accepting and valuing the people with whom I interact in the expression of warmth and non-judgemental attitude, I will improve my communication skills no end. An effective communication can be supported by me as a leader by ensuring that my staff are all aware of the need to be flexible in the way in which they communicate within varied contexts and to engage in communication which is empathic (to ‘put yourself in the shoes of others’) and values the people with whom they interact. Sometimes often, however, the communication is challenged and breaks down. Communication can sometimes be not effective because of difference in culture, difficulties in own life (making it difficult to concentrate), negative feelings about the person I am speaking to or getting upset about what they are saying-leading to conflict, not listening effectively, tiredness, feeling unwell, noise, inappropriate environment. Some of my colleagues with whom I work are perfectionists, who like to see that everything is completed in a precise way while others feels that, as long as the job is done, the end result does not have to be perfect. An example in my setting is about displaying the children work: some of us believe that children’s work should be displayed attractively but does not have to be perfect but some of us consider differently. A very important aspect of the communication is body-language and non-verbal communication. This is one of things that we often do not pay enough attention-our body language. Argyle (1978) pointed out that non-verbal communication can have as much as five times the impact on a person’s understanding compare to the words spoken. Therefore, it is vital I ensure that my body actions match my speech in order to get my message across. My ability to respect and accept diversity it is very important as we live in a multi-cultural society and there are also differences in the values that people hold. Each colleague have a different type of character, just like myself, others have their own feelings, values and attitudes and sometimes these may clash with how we see the world. I may not share their views but, as a leader in my setting I do have to show tolerance of these views. There are four important key steps that can be identifying when dealing with any conflict: 1. describe the actual conflict and define it well; 2. listen actively to all parties to fully understand the issues 3. emphasise the benefit of finding a way forward 4. reaching an agreement According to Craine (2007) ‘people facing change often go through a cycle of emotions similar to those experienced when faced with the death of a loved one’. If I want to understand and communicate well with my team members I must listen to each one of them to what they are saying. Active listening shows that the staff members have been heard. Communication and encouraging the people to share their thoughts and concerns are always better than allowing situations to fester. Regularly team meetings is a way to decrease potential conflict.

SUPERIOR CUISINE PORTFOLIO Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

SUPERIOR CUISINE PORTFOLIO - Essay Example He was known to be a lover of gourmet food and lavish banquets. Some of the directions we see in French culinary style including serving methods were effected mainly during his time. In the seventeenth century the regions near its borders, Italy and Holland, largely influenced French cuisine for example. Due to the Italian influence French cuisine at that time was nowhere near the delicate culinary style that it is today. As is typical of Italian cuisine, the French cuisine also showed excessive use and taste of sugar, salt with strong spices. Louis the XIV was determined to present French cuisine as a delicate and exotic cuisine and thereby transform France into a culinary capital in the eyes of the world. The staple base in most of the food that was eaten at that time was still bread among the peasants in the region. Louis the XIV, love for the culinary arts was aimed at bringing gourmet food to the peasants and he held many lavish banquets where the people received an education on French cuisine and treated as a form of Art. There was a drive to make food from fresh ingredients and herbs in place of strong and taste overwhelming spices. He also wanted all the components of the cuisine to be developed and perfected in France. This was his way of showing off the aristocracy of France as a nation. To enforce this that era saw a lot of ban of foreign ingredients. He also had a passion for gardening and urged the people to also grow their own vegetables and make the cuisine richer in taste by using fresh ingredients. Many innovations were effected because of the ban in foreign imports. Although France was unified as a nation it was a build up of people with varying cultural heritages and influences. Therefore people started producing ingredients that they were used to and familiar with. Due to proximity with other nations, the cuisine of population that lived near the border regions showed strong