Conservation of heritage site of dhaka city

Background of the study Dacha, one of the oldest cities of Bangladesh, has a glorious history of over 400 years. Because of the location and strategic advantage, it was the hub of central activities and administrative activities during various historic periods. The Buddhist and Hindu kingdoms, the Fagan Ruling prior, the McHugh Ruling Period, the British Colonialism, the partition of Bengal, the Liberation War and the contemporary era have enriched Dacha's history and the testimonies of those periods have remarkable significance in the nation's identity.With the passage of time, Dacha has gone through changes to keep pace with the modern globalizes world but yet some testimonies of different historic periods remain. RAJAH has enlisted 93 historic sites of Dacha of different historic periods and published in a gazette form in 2009 but proper measures have not been taken from government initiative to conserve majority of these sites after enlistment. As a result the condition of many o f these historic sites are formidable in respect to structural condition, illegal occupancy, incompatible structures, lack of maintenance.In this study, we have tried to identify the location and present notation of these 93 enlisted heritage sites and develop some proposals and policies for the proper conservation of these sites. There have been many researches on the heritage sites of Dacha but majority of these researches focus on the sites that have gone through proper conservation measures and are maintained well. Many of the enlisted heritage sites are in deplorable condition and are in a way to ruin but do not get any attention from planning authorities.The distinction of this study from previously conducted researches is that it has covered and highlighted the heritage ties that are in a relatively deplorable condition beside the sites that are in a better condition. An overall guiding policy and framework have been proposed for the conservation of these legacies of the coun try. 1. 2 Methodology Figure 1. 1 : Methodology of the Study Project Selection: At the very first stage, the project was selected through the course teachers under the course â€Å"Urban Planning Studio†. It was about the Conservation of the Heritage sites of Bangladesh.Formulation of Objectives: The objectives of study were formulated to achieve the goal. Preparation of literature review: Literature view has been prepared by studying international rules and regulations for conservation, criteria for conservation, different acts and policies. Laws of Bangladesh also has been studied for conservation. Three cases of conserved sites from foreign countries have been studied. Selection of Study area: RAJAH enlisted 93 sites were distributed among nine groups. Each group was assign to survey ten sites.Data collection through field survey: Data and information were collected though field survey. The location of the heritage sites, their ownership status, conservation status and use s were identified. Selection of sites for detailed survey and analysis: Three sites were selected for detail survey analysis from previous ten sites. Data collection of selected sites: Data and information were collected of selected three sites. Primary data: Primary data were collected though field survey. Local people and owners were interviewed and photographs were taken through this process.Secondary data: Secondary data were collected though visiting different Government offices, private organizations and internet. Problems identification: Different problems and issues were identified through survey and analysis. Determination of leslies and proposals: Policies and proposals were generated and determined considering the prospects and problems regarding the sites. Final Presentation and Report Submission: Finally a presentation has been prepared and report has been submitted. 1. 3 Objectives 1. To study location and present condition of the historic sites of Dacha city. . To det ermine some proposals for the conservation of selected sites. 1. 4 Rationale of the study: Historic site conservation is very significant an issue to bring variability and uphold the historic magnificence while planning an urban area. So, a defined study on inspiration of the heritage sites for formulating comprehensive guidelines based on the identified issues is Justifiable. 1. 5 Scopes and Limitations While conducting the study some scopes of the study were identified as well as some limitations were faced.Scopes To identify the present state of the heritage sites, detail survey have been performed and secondary sources have been gone through carefully. The owners of the sites have also been interacted to sort out the problems underlying in conservation of sites. The analysis has helped to formulate the policies and proposals for the maintenance of the historic sites. If any project is planned in future by government or private sector for the conservation of heritage sites, the f indings of this study would help to a great extent. Limitations Extracting of data regarding the heritage sites requires much time.Because of time limitation, the analysis could not be done in a greater scale. For conducting the survey it was necessary to visit the study area several times which caused problems with expense issues. In some cases, the owners were not that much willing to provide information. Accessibility to some sites was very poor because of the poor infrastructure and transport modes. Getting information from government authorities was difficult because of their resource limitation. No systematic database is maintained in most of the government authorities.Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW â€Å"The cultural heritage may be defined as the entire corpus of material signs – either artistic or symbolic – handed on by the past to each culture and, therefore, to the whole of humankind. † (CICERO, 1990, p. 4) 2. 1 Criteria for Conservation 2. 1. 1 General criteria Scholars and organizations have established criteria to assign a site or structure as heritage site based on various parameters. Countries worldwide have developed their own assessment criteria for heritage conservation considering these conventional parameters as well as taking into account the particular issues of own regions.World Heritage Trust has fixed six criteria (Aesthetic, Typical, Scarcity, Historical role, Enhancement of adjacent areas, Superlatives) the fulfillment of one or more of which would make a site worthy of conservation. Reign (1902) categorized the parameters in basic five typologies- Age, Historical, Commemorative, Use, Newness. Lips (1984) emphasizes five aspects (Economic, Aesthetic, Associative-symbolic, and Informational) for assigning a site as a heritage site.Burr Charter proposes for assigning a site as a cultural heritage when it has any or more than one of these values: Social (including spiritual, political, national, other cultural), Scie ntific, Aesthetic, Historic (Mason, n. D. ). Age, historical legacy, special architectural fabric of some particular period, rarity, human settlement of traditional indigenous communities are some very common criteria observed in the conservation principles of most of the countries' act. Regarding age of the buildings, majority of nations' isolation call for conservation of structures erected before 100 years or more.In Scotland, buildings erected before 1840; in Germany, those places which have survived for at least 50 years; in South Africa, structures older than 60 years; in Egypt, historic sites more than 100 years old; in Pakistan, structures of at least 75 years; in England, historic sites erected before 1st July 1948 are recommended to be enlisted as heritage sites (English Heritage, n. D. ). Conservation of religious icons, like- ancient churches, mosques, cathedral, temples, cemetery, tomb, monastery, holds significant importance for conservation in the acts of majority of countries.Conservation of ancient mines, caves, forts and palaces are very common worldwide. 2. 1. 2 Country wise Special Criteria Some nations have unique historical background or cultural identity which plays an important role in their fixing of criteria for heritage conservation. In Nepal, the religion has a great impact in the conservation criteria of cultural heritage. In some countries, the places that have association of the historical or religious leaders are conserved for the spiritual and historic significance. According to AncientMonuments Protection Act of Nepal, † Archaeological Object means the object made and used by human being in prehistorically period or handwritten genealogy, scribed or inscribed idol, temple of god or goddess, Buddhist cenotaph, statue, thanks, things used in royal palace†. (Department of Archaeology, 1956) South Africa has a remarkable history of slavery and this holds a vital place in their assessment criteria of a site to be in con sideration of conservation (SAHARA, 2013). In South Africa and England, the assessment criteria have been set bringing all the historical monuments under three grades or categories.In South Africa, Monuments of having importance at national level are assigned in Grade I and monuments having significance at provincial level fall in Grade II and the remaining ones with exemplary architectural interest fall in Grade Ill. English Heritage,a public body of the British Government in England, classifies the heritage sites of England in three categories: Grade I (buildings of exceptional interest), Grade II* (particularly important buildings of more than special interest), Grade â€Å"(buildings of national importance and of special interests)(English Heritage, n. D. ).In India, INTACT also categorizes the sites for conservation in two groups according to priority for conservation. Priority has been given to out-of-town developments meaning that town centers, local trade and small scale co mmercial enterprises are under threat (INTACT, n. D. ). In China, the ancient trees are also assumed as cultural property and are recommended to conserve. In September 2002, when the Municipality of Beijing issued a plan for protecting cultural property and relics within the municipality's borders, it included a provision for protection of â€Å"ancient and famous trees† (Durra, 2004). Norway Act Concerning the Cultural Heritage, tress of special significance are recommended to conserve(Ministry of Environment, 1978). 2. 2 Principles 2. 2. 1 Publishing of enlisted buildings in gazette form In most of the country, the list of the heritage sites is published in a gazette form to inform the general people. The list is also published in a number of renowned newspapers to get people informed. In Norway, notice is given in the Norwegian Gazette and in at least two newspapers for public inspection.In Nepal, the list of selected heritage sites is published in a gazette form (Departme nt of Archaeology, 956). 2. 2. 2 Ownership, acquisition and maintenance Regarding ownership, owners are encouraged to conserve the heritage sites leaving it to original owner based on the condition of its proper maintenance in many countries. In some cases, government acquires the historic buildings from owners when there is lack of proper maintenance or vulnerability of its demolition. In Nepal, acquisition of historic sites is observed.In Section 5, the Chief Archaeology Officer has been empowered to cause the owners of ancient monument to enter into a deed of responsibility for Supervision of the monument, responsibility of the monument ND duties of its watchman (Department of Archaeology, 1956). In India, the central government may acquire the protected monument under provisions of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 if a protected monument is in danger of being destroyed, injured, misused, or allowed to fall into decay.In Section 2(C) of Indian's The Ancient Monuments and Archaeolog ical Sites and Remains Act, it has been stated that owner's right can be restricted for ensuring the proper maintenance of a historic site (Gazette of India, 1958). In case of private ownership, an agreement is signed between the owner and the government for the proper protection of the monument. In Australia, The Minister enters into an agreement (a heritage agreement) on behalf of the Territory with the owner of a heritage place or object (Department of Lands, Planning and the Environment, 2011). . 2. 3 Tax incentive for conserving heritage sites TAR (Transfer of Development Right is a very effective measure in motivating the owners of the heritage site to leave the heritage site in government's acquisition for its proper safeguard. Conservation projects in Hong Kong and Australia gives evidence of effectiveness of TAR in motivating the private owners. Tax reductions and ax incentives can be effective instrument to encourage the owners of the historic monuments to conserve the his toric building.In Germany, the owner of a general building who lets his property has a depreciation of tax of only 2 % per annum. The owner of a historic building has for eight years a depreciation of 9 % per annum and for the following four years a depreciation of 7 % per annum (RISC Research, 2007). 2. 2. 4 Construction compatibility Compatible construction and maintenance of environment within a particular extent of the enlisted site is observed in the legislation of many countries.In article 7 of Ireland's Law on the Protection of Historical and Cultural Properties, it has been mentioned that no person can build or allow another to construct a building within the registered limits of an archaeological area, without the permission of the Institute of Archaeology (Office of Attorney General, 2004). In Pakistan, the zone for compatible construction around a historic site is fit (Antiquities Act, 1975). To protect a historic structure from disturbance in Norway, a zone shall extend from the visible or known perimeter as far as necessary around an automatically protected monument r site.The area shall be encircled in each case by the concerned authority (Ministry of Environment, 1978). In India the prohibited area is mm and more mm beyond it is also included for reconstruction, repair or renovation compared to the main site (Gazette of India, 1958). 2. 2. 5 Alteration of heritage site Addition, destruction or alteration is strongly discouraged in majority of country's legislation. If done so, provision of punishment is kept in most of the country's act.However, if any such measure for alteration is to be undertaken, taking consent from planning authority is a must. In Policy BE 8 and Policy BE 12 of Planning Policy Statements of Ireland, it has been stated that the planning department can permit for any alteration when the new development is in sympathy with the characteristic built form of the area and the scale, form, materials and detailing of the developmen t respects the characteristics of adjoining buildings in the area. The environmental aspects have also been considered (Planning, Archaeology and the Built Heritage, 1999).In Germany, it is mandatory to seek permission from the state authorities for all proposed changes to the building, or demolitions and any change that does not eave resemblance with the original form cannot be done. For example, no modern large windows are allowed in a historic building (RISC Research, 2007). According to England's legislation, new work or alteration in England to a significant place is acceptable if the alteration ensures no material harm to the values of the place and the value of the place is reinforced or further revealed (English Heritage, 2008).Some countries' acts have provision for replacement or alteration of features of heritage sites if the feature is in an almost ruined state. But the condition of minimum intervention to the originality of the heritage site is persistently applicable i n these scenarios. If repair of a historic structure by stabilization, consolidation, and conservation proves no satisfactory result, the next level of intervention involves replacement.This replacement has to very limited and is applicable in kind of extensively deteriorated or missing parts of features when there are surviving prototypes (for example, brackets, dentals, steps, plaster, or portions of slate or tile roofing). The replacement material needs to match the old both physically and visually, I. E. , wood with wood, etc (Weeks, et al. 1995). In special cases, permission can be given for demolishing a building but this is very rare a scenario. In Ireland, The Planning Department does not permit the demolition of a listed building unless there are exceptional reasons.Proper reasoning has to be Justified before demolishing about why the building cannot be retained in its original or a reasonably modified form (The Planning Service, 1999). 2. 2. 6 Penalty for damage Any damage or attempt to harm the heritage site calls for severe punishment in most of the country's legislations. According to Indian's legislation, any person who moves NY antiquity shall be punishable with fine which may extend to five thousand rupees; and the court conviction a person of any such contravention may by order such person to restore the antiquity to the place from which it was moved(Gazette of India, 1958).Section 51 of National Archives and records service of South Africa Act calls for guilt fines up to a maximum amount of ROI 000 for infringement of the terms of Act and heritage resources authority is responsible for punishment (SAHARA,1996). 2. 3 Strategies for Conservation The common tools used in different countries for conserving a historical site involve obliteration, restoration, replication, adaptive reuse and preservation. Restoration is a process where any alteration from the original form is removed and the structure is returned in exactly its original form.It is the toughest form of conservation and can only be carried out when there is substantial physical and documentary or oral evidence to retain the authenticity of the structure. Rehabilitation and renovation are more flexible conservation approaches. Rehabilitation has to be undertaken to make decrepit buildings usable again by bringing necessary modifications in the interior art and leaving the exterior part in the original form.Preservation should be considered as the primary treatment when the historic place's materials, features and spaces are essentially intact and thus convey the historic significance without extensive repair or replacement (Canada's Historic Places, 2010). Adaptive reuse refers to the utilization of buildings other built structures and sites of value for purposes other than that for which they were intended originally (Australia COSMOS, 2013). Relocation is also a conservation tool which is applied in very rare cases. In Egypt, relocation of a heritage site is d one only if the site is in danger of natural hazard.Otherwise conservation has to be done in the original place (Nashua, et al. , n. D. ). 2. 4 Institutional Arrangement for Conservation For conserving the historical monuments, a strong institutional framework and coordination among the authorities is found in western and some of the Asian countries. The conservation procedures from the very beginning of assessment and declaration of the site as a historical monument towards the protection of the site from decay is done by Archaeology Department of the nation and the planning omission or planning department of the government.The institutional framework for heritage conservation involves the following steps: Figure 2. 1 : Planning process methodology for institutional framework Source: Mason ( n. D. ) 2. 4. 1 Government agencies, central and local government In Norway, Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage Management is a government agency manages cultural heritages at national level whereas County Municipalities are responsible for the management at regional level.The State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SASH) is responsible for historical site conservation in China. In Singapore, AURA (Urban Redevelopment Authority) is designated as the national conservation authority charged with powers under the Planning Act to issue conservation guidelines, advise the Minister for National Development on getting areas for conservation and grant planning permission for restoration works apart from serving as the national planning authority(Legislative Council Secretariat, n. D. . The responsibility is distributed between the central and the local government in Ireland as the entire procedure of conserving and managing the historic sites becomes difficult and complex if only the central government is involved. The Minister has responsibility for formulating national policy in relation to the physical heritage and for the implementation of the National Monuments A cts. Physical planning is implemented at local government level, under the policy direction of the Minister (Packard, 2001).In South Africa, heritage resources are managed by the levels of government closest to the community (SAHARA, 1996). The Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage Management is responsible for the management of cultural heritage in Norway on the national level. At the regional level the county municipalities are responsible for the management in their county. For archaeological excavations there are five chartered archeological museums authority (Ministry of Environment, 1978).Regarding coordination among the agencies of government, Philippines shows a good collaboration and management understanding among the agencies. The cultural agencies and other national government agencies (The Department of Tourism, the Intramural Administration, The Department of Public Works and Highways, The National Commission on Indigenous People, The UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines, The Office of the special Envoy of Transnational Crimes) consult, coordinate and work closely tit the commission in the implementation of their respective programs/pro]sects (Congress of Philippines, 2009). . 4. 2 International organizations International organizations also extend their assistance to manage the entire process of conservation or undertaking any measures needed for conservation in form of technical and financial assistance. UNESCO, International Centre for the Study of the Preservation & Restoration of Cultural Properties (CICERO), The World Heritage Trust, International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (â€Å"C) are some international organizations playing vigorous role in promoting the cultural heritages worldwide( UNESCO, n. D. ). 2. 4. Private and autonomous organizations Some private and autonomous organizations are also observed to play important role in conservation of the historical legacies. In Nepal, an organizatio n named Ought Corporation, an autonomous organization of government of Nepal has a major role in looking after the proper protection of the private ancient monuments. In South Africa, The national system for the management of heritage resources (SAHARA) and in India, The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACT) have a vital role in raising heritage awareness among people and in taking care of the historical structures( INTACT, n. . ). 2. 4. 4 Involvement of professionals In some instances, committee is formed by multi-disciplinary team of experts to provide technical assistance in the entire procedure of conservation. In Afghanistan, a committee is formed and named the Archeological Committee consisting of two archaeologists, scientifically competent member, one historian, a lecturer from the Faculty of Social Sciences from the University of Kabul, one engineer or architect according to the Law of Protection of Historic and Cultural properties (Ministry of Justic e, 2004).For discovering the defects of cultural heritages, five-yearly inspections are undertaken before irreversible damage occurs involving specialist professional specially conservation architects (Kent, n. D). According to legislation of England, if a local planning authority does not have the full range of expertise to assess the financial Justification and the assessment of proper development, it will be necessary to involve external consultants (English Heritage, 2012). 2. 4. Public- Private Partnership Public private partnership is effective way to undertake and manage the entire procedure of conservation measures.In Nepal, public participation is encouraged to manage and look after the conserved sites watchman (Department of Archeology, 1956). 2. 5 Financial Arrangement for Conservation Funding for the conservation of heritage sites usually comes from owners' initiatives, public funding, international donation, private associations, grants and loans. In Egypt, Together wit h public funds, there are international donations assisting conservation of heritage sites. Salvage of Nubian Monuments was assisted by the UNESCO in the sixties (26 million dollars) and Infertile tomb by Getty (1 million dollar) (Nashua, et al. N. D. ). There are two principal programs of aid available in Ireland. L) Tax relief program for expenditure on approved heritage buildings, gardens and objects in respect of repair, maintenance or restoration. 2) Grant aid program for the conservation of the architectural heritage which is administered through local planning authorities . This scheme was initiated in 1999 with budget of E. 9 million. Grants available under this scheme are small, within a range of E 500-10000 although grants of up to E20000 may be provided in exceptional circumstances (Packard, n. . ). In Norway, all or some of the costs are met by the State and decision regarding this funding is taken by the Minister. Where less extensive private projects are involved, all or part of the costs is met by the State, if these costs impose much burden for the initiator of the project (Ministry of Environment, 1978). In Section 77 of England's Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas act it has been mentioned State makes grants or loans for the purposes of defraying the whole or part of expenditure required for conservation works.Other grant sources than State's grant may be available from the Heritage Lottery Fund, local authorities, heritage groups and amenity societies (Kent, n. D. ). In Nepal, renovation of the private and public monuments is done by ‘Town Development Fund'. Amount may be received as donation or grant from Government or any person or organization, international organization, foreign government or entrance fee (Department of Archeology, 1956) The funding agencies which assist INTACT in India to undertake any conservation of cultural heritage sites include: Gag Khan Program, Australian High Commission,Helen Hamlin Trust, UK,INTACT ( I-J) Trust, Maharani Museum Trust, Jodhpurs, UNESCO, World Monument Watch, Unit Foundation ,Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Spain (MACE),Patella Heritage Society, Ministry of Tourism, Department of Archaeology, UNCUT, Shinbone Japan, University of Allahabad, Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd. University of Hawaii's at Manna,Department of Cultural Heritage, Government of Kananga, Archaeological Survey of India ,Ministry of Culture, ,Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Human Resource Development, ,Ministry of Railways( INTACT, n. D. ). 2. 6 Conservation in Bangladesh The Antiquities Act, 1976 has been followed so far for the conservation of the heritage sites. The other legal provisions are Immovable Antiquities Preservation Rules 1976, The Archaeological Works Code 1938, and The Manual of Conservation of 1922(Department of Archaeology, n. . ). 2. 6. 1 Criteria and Principles Immovable antiquity has been defined in Antiquities Act as â€Å"any urban site, str eet, group of buildings or public square of special value which the Central Government, being of the opinion that its preservation is a matter of public interest by reason of its arrangement, architecture or materials of construction, by deification in the official Gazette, declares to be an immovable antiquity for the purposes of this Act† Criteria for Conservation (Department of Archaeology, 1968, p. ) The Department of Archaeology of Bangladesh considers enlisting a historic or archaeological edifice only if it is 100 years old as per provision in the Antiquities Act (Ancient Monuments Preservation Act of 1904). But the committee formed for enlistment of historic sites on behalf of ARRACK enlisted an edifice considering historical, architectural, political, aesthetic and cultural value even if it is not 100 ears old(The Daily Star, 2008).The conservation practice in Bangladesh is archaeological preservation and it is based on the legislations introduced in 1922 by Sir John Marshall, the founder director General of Archaeological Survey of India (Wisped, n. D. ). Conservation, Acquisition, Penalty For the decision regarding conservation, an advisory committee is stated to take the responsibility which consists of director, two members of parliament, and three other persons having special knowledge about antiquities.The committee would give decision about a property the owner of which cannot be traced. Section 7 of Antiquities Act demonstrates that provincial Government can acquire a land or any part of the land that contains antiquities under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (1 of 1894) for public purpose after getting direction from the Central Government.Section 16 of the Act calls fir compulsory acquisition of an immovable antiquity if it is in danger of decay. A protected immovable property cannot be used for any other purpose than its preservation and administration. In Section 20 of the Act, provision for penalty for counterfeiting or damaging anti quities has been kept, but what pacific punishment would be given has not been clarified (Department of Archaeology, 1968).Though TAR (Transfer of development Right) is very effective to persuade and encourage private owners to cooperate in government's move of conserving heritage sites, it has not been introduced in Bangladesh till 2008(The Daily star, 2008). Change and Compatibility In Dacha Metropolitan Building Rules (Impart Norman Abdominal), it has been stated for any change, development, extension or destruction of building, a written statement is needed from the authority. The authority can permit entirely or partly

My task is to create a music video that hasn’t been released on the general market

My task is to create a music video that hasn't been released on the general market. This will be done in a group of four consisting of Courtney, Lisa, Tamica and myself. We need to all decide on what song we are going to produce which is no longer than five minutes long. We need to write a narrative synopsis, this will show how the song relates to the images. Also we will need a detailed storyboard because it will help us out on how to shoot the scenes. We all need to decide on locations, props, costumes, castings and soundtracks that we are going to use in our music video. We must do all arrangements in good time management. The song is called ‘separated' and is singed by an artist called Usher Raymond. It's a song sang by usher to his girl. The academic bit, this is done by analyzing our video and see if the genre and conventions plus how media language fits the music video. In this video I will need to contribute in my role as a lead singer Usher, and also help out in planning plus research with the group, give ideas on locations and to be on time on deadlines. In our group everyone needs to know what they're doing and help out on props, costumes and be on time and know their part. My group and I have chosen the solo artist Usher Raymond because we like the lyrics he uses in the song; it's very different from other songs. Also his lyrics can be formed in to images for our music video â€Å"separated†. Usher Raymond was born on the 14th October 1978 in Chattanooga. He is a young R&B singer. Usher is one of the few who can boast of real star quality. He performed at the American Music Awards as part of the all-star recording collaboration Black Men United. The first single to be taken from the album, â€Å"You Make Me Wanna†, was typical of the smooth ballads on offer. Usher was more successful in the UK, where the single debuted at number 2 in February 2001. He returned to the top of the US charts in July with â€Å"U Remind Me†, which premiered the transatlantic hit album 8701. The single â€Å"U Got It Bad† also reached the number 1 position in 2002. We will be using varies of techniques to make this video so that it fits it conventions and also genre. Using similar filming techniques like camera angles will do this and lighting effects also the location of shots need to be accurate would help a lot. In order to make this music video a success we must use certain skills of marketing techniques. The music video needs to be marketed well. This means we need know what customers to target. We need to brand our music video so it could become popular and known form it. There are many genres of music and for us to do well we need to know our genre of music inside out. We need to know what's going to be in and what props we need also how we could do stuff so that our video fits its genre. To match audience's expectation we would need the video to have conventions that follows other pop music videos. These could be fancy cars, big mansions, the high life, boy meets girl, relationship breaking up or clips of them having fun back in the days. Some of pop artists examples are puff daddy, Nelly, Sean Paul. Our music video is going to be targeted at young teenagers. We believe they are our audience for these kinds of songs, also they would find them as pop idols. We would advertise the new single on TV, radio, newspapers and Internet. The TV is because many teenagers plus adults watch it. The radio is a main advertiser for songs because many people have radios in their cars, personal stereos, work place, homes and phones. People will here the single on the radio and if they liked it they would purchase it. Also playing music on the radio would give us a wider range of audiences and may boost our sales up. My group and I have chosen the solo artist Usher Raymond because we like the lyrics he uses in the song; also his lyrics can be formed in to images for our music video â€Å"separated†. Usher Raymond was born on the 14th October 1978 in Chattanooga. He is a young R&B singer. Usher is one of the few who can boast of real star quality. He performed at the American Music Awards as part of the all-star recording collaboration Black Men United. The first single to be taken from the album, â€Å"You Make Me Wanna†, was typical of the smooth ballads on offer. Usher was more successful in the UK, where the single debuted at number 2 in February 2001. He returned to the top of the US charts in July with â€Å"U Remind Me†, which premiered the transatlantic hit album 8701. The single â€Å"U Got It Bad† also reached the number 1 position in 2002. We have previous marketing techniques that we have discussed and analysed so we can use these techniques to make the video a success. Some of our previous marketing techniques discussed were on how where and how to advertise our music videos and also how to target our main audiences. The channels that we have chosen to broadcast the video on We have chosen to broadcast our video on certain channels like: THE BOX – we chose this channel is because this channel is a national wide all music video channel reaching over 20 million homes in the United States giving us a wide audience. It is also available in the United Kingdom. Specializing in rock, pop, R&B, hip-hop, Latin, and country. Over 170 individual boxes are located throughout the country, which allows each area to have its own custom local play list of videos to choose from. This will be mainly targeted at the seven years old to thirty year old age groups. Also we chose the MTV main channel. The reason we chose this channels is because it is a music channel, which is on a 24-hour video music network. MTV is an advertiser-supported, basic cable service of MTV networks. We would use this channel for promoting our music. By linking the video to a wider audience we would have more sales in records. A good example is to feature another famous artist in to the song from a different genre. ‘U R L' (Usher Record Label) is going to the record label. The label is going to have a picture of usher on it this will make the video sexually attractive to female customers. This will increase the sales. In the video the artist is showing he wants to break up with his girlfriend. Tamica plays the girl featured in the video. Usher sings he wants to be separate from her. Initial ideas that we have come up with are on how to structure each scene of the video, we are going to film each sentence in the song and for the chorus we are going to play the same scene each time. In the video each scene would go along with the music. This should look good and professional. In the video every scene is going to illustrate song lyrics. This is going to be done by having each sentence of the song being represented by an object, scenery, person/s and facial expressions. Our storyboards are going to help us a lot in making the video look realistic. This is because the storyboard will help us by illustrating to us how to achieve the right look and feel of the music videos, also what camera angles we want and lighting. When editing the video we must make sure the words of the song are in the right time of the videoing. If not done correctly then the video wouldn't look very effective. In our group we have decided that I am going to be the solo artist Usher, Courtney is going to the camera woman, Lisa is going to be casting in our video and Tamica is going to be the women in the video (Usher's Girl). My role is going to be difficult but I can achieve it by rehearsing the scenes and working together as a team. I need to make my music video look as real as possible so I can feel I have achieved making my video successfully.

Public relations campaign for Shell FuelSave Essay

Public relations campaign for Shell FuelSave - Essay Example Shell is present in more than 90 countries worldwide, has 93,000 full-time employees, and maintains a fuel retail network of around 43,000 service stations Royal Dutch Shell C (2001). In 2010, Shell was able to produce 3.3 million barrels of oil equivalent per day while it generated earnings of $20.5 billion Royal Dutch Shell C (2001). It spent $23.7 billion on net capital investment while it spent over $1.0 billion on research and development (R&D). The business operations of Shell are classified under three major categories—upstream, downstream, and projects and technology. Firstly, Shell Upstream is involved in the search and recovery of oil and natural gas; and the extraction of heavy oil from oil sands for conversion into synthetic crudes Royal Dutch Shell C (2001). Secondly, Shell Downstream is involved in the manufacturing, supplying, and marketing of oil products and chemicals worldwide. Businesses under manufacturing and supply include â€Å"refineries, chemical plan ts, and the supply and distribution of feedstocks and other products†. ... II. The Launch of FuelSave Maingrade Fuels With the company’s emphasis on bringing innovation into its fuel products, Shell launched its maingrade unleaded and diesel fuels under the name FuelSave. According to Royal Dutch Shell C (2001), the primary attributes of the product banked on a highly unique feature called the â€Å"Advanced Efficiency Improver† which was designed to improve the fuel economy of every car by lubricating areas in the engine where normal engine oils cannot reach, as stated by Royal Dutch Shell D (2011). Through this, FuelSave Unleaded and FuelSave Diesel promised to help its drivers â€Å"Save up to one liter per tank†. By bolstering the idea of fuel saving, Shell intended to contribute its important share in solving the worldwide problem on ballooning fuel demand. Although the big idea of saving seemed appealing to any vehicle driver, FuelSave caters to a specific and well-defined target market. Defined by their practicality and a mindset that is driven by wanting to get the maximum benefit in all the products they use, these fuel customers are commonly called Smart Drivers. They are customers who are very sensitive to changes in price, but critically analyze the value in the products they buy, as concluded by IBM Business Consulting Services (2005). To them, fuel is slowly becoming a luxury more than a necessity due to the continued increase in price. Since abandoning their car and taking the public transportation is not an option, the only choice for them is to shoulder the hiking fuel prices. However, they may become occasional switchers especially when they do not get the value they expect from their fuel purchase, as summarized by Manzano (2005). In this light, it can be said that although these

Personal statement for admission Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Personal statement for admission - Essay Example My father disowned me at birth due to ethnic differences so I had to be brought up by a single parent. There was a lot of ethnic chaos in my country at the time which forced me to miss the first stages of education but that did not kill my dream and passion for learning. My mother used to tell me that I will be an academic guru since I have always demonstrated insatiable thirst for education. When other children were playing with toys, I was always drawing images on the ground or doing mathematical problems. My book and my pen were my most favorite friends. This hasn’t changed much since I still posses the same education enthusiasm I had years ago when I was a small child. Sometimes the ethnic war became very intensive that I had to spend three days in hideouts without food to avoid getting killed. Learning in this environment was very challenging. It was practically impossible to move through the streets with northern and southern communities fighting and killing one another. Deafening sounds of bombs and grenades was a common phenomenon. However life took a positive twist of events when my grandfather came to my rescue and took me the whole family to France. Life in France was a better but problems still ensued. Many of my relatives did not have permanent jobs thus we always struggled to get good food and shelter. Attending prestigious learning institutions was a dream beyond our ability thus I had to attend an average performing school. My mother died in a road accident leaving me as an orphan. These traumatic experiences greatly affected my learning in school. The only hope I had was my inherent ability to handle difficult situations. These fatefu l events were a learning experience that trained me to be more tolerant, liberal and open minded. My passion for education earned me respect from my neighbors who agreed to assist me in paying for school

Develop an ethics program for a company X Essay - 1

Develop an ethics program for a company X - Essay Example Excel Finance offers financial services to clients from all backgrounds in the region of Los Angeles where employees are expected to demonstrate high ethical standards. Firstly, at Excel Finance, it is unacceptable to report for duty late. Obviously, as a financial institution, Excel Finance would like to show that every detail is met. According to the instructions on the entrance, Excel Finance opens its doors exactly at eight o’clock in the morning. Therefore, it means that if employees report late, there are chances of opening the business late. This will create the wrong integrity about the company in the eyes of the highly esteemed clients (Brink, 2011). In addition to observing punctuality, the employees of Excel Finance are expected to communicate with the customers in English language unless where impossible. Politeness while addressing the client is imperative, and any report by client of a staff’s rudeness will be extensively investigated after which disciplinary actions may be taken. Concerning use of company equipment- telephones and other utilities-, every employee is expected to exercise responsibility. Usage of company telephones and another equipment for purposes not related to the business is not allowed, and the staff could be penalized if this is contravened. In regard to handling money from clients, all employees at Excel Finance are expected to issue a document indicating receipt or issuance of the same. No staff is allowed to receive money from customers without a purpose. For cashiers, all money must reflect in the client’s account as soon as they are done with depositing. As for the loan officers, assessment of customer’s business has to be done before approving a loan. Also, ensure that all the spaces that ought to be filled by the client have been filled without exception. All staffs are expected to show respect

Gangs and gang behavior - week 8 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Gangs and gang behavior - week 8 - Essay Example The Mexikanemi gang is highly organized, as evidence suggests that its members operate under a paramilitary structure (Shelden, Tracy & Brown, 2013). The gang’s structure comprises of three components. They include the connections they have with other non-members, prospects and its members. It has lieutenants, soldiers and sergeants. The gang members are mostly involved in serious criminal offenses such as murder, drug trafficking and robbery among other crimes (Walker, 2014). Currently, the gang is still active in prisons and on the streets. For example, in the last 4 years, the gang members had murder and racketeering charges where the members also executed people. Unlike other gangs in prisons or on American streets, the gang does not have gang allies. It is only in alliance with drug cartels in San Antonia and Laredo. The gang conflicts with other gangs such as the Texas Syndicate and New Mexican Mafia. It requires all of its members to remain loyal and a potential member has to kill someone to become a gang member. Those who want to get out can only do so if they die, hence the term â€Å"blood in, blood out† among its members (Shelden, Tracy & Brown, 2013). The use of drugs and homosexuality are all

Buddhism Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Buddhism - Research Paper Example His followers believe him to have become an enlightened person who knew about the subtle realities of life and discovered that the reason there exists suffering is due to a constant desire to either crave for something or avert something (Ba Khin & Confalonieri, 1999, 168). According to the Buddha, if one took control of such desires completely, one would end his suffering and become awakened and would have reached the state known as nirvana (Ba Khin & Confalonieri, 1999, 168). This brings me to my research statement which would be to discover whether Buddhism seems to revolve around the life and teachings of the Buddha alone or the ultimate end of suffering by controlling craving and ignorance is the main motive of following this religion? Since Buddhism took shape from Asia it still remains to garner the most following from this part of the world, however it is observed to be practiced the world over. It is not easy to estimate the number of Buddhists currently in the whole world s ince it is practiced differently in some parts of the world. Since at the time of the Buddha there were no methods to write, all the teachings of the Buddha were memorized and passed down through disciples and followers. Later on the teachings were gathered and written down. Due to this fact, different schools of thought in Buddhism differ on the perfect formula to attain liberation from the suffering of the world, the authenticity of various teachings and scriptures as well as ensuing practices? Three basic pillars serve as the foundation of Buddhist teachings and are known as the Three Jewels: the Buddha, the Dharma (the teachings), and the Sangha (the community) (Kozak, 2011, 66). All Buddhists need to follow and adhere by the three jewels and their religion is considered incomplete without fully adhering to these concepts. Other practices may include renouncing the material world to follow on the path of their founder, and developing mindfulness of their surroundings through the practice of meditation. 2. Life of the Buddha According to various narratives, Siddhartha Gautama was a young prince about whom an astrologer once prophesized that he would renounce worldly lifestyle to become a holy man, if he saw life outside his palace (Zamosky, 2007, 7). In an attempt to avert this, his father the king, prevented his son from leaving until Siddhartha Gautama finally ventured out of the palace at the age of 29 and saw the suffering outside his palatial life (Zamosky, 2007, 8). His encounters made him abandon royal life and set out to discover spirituality. He soon found out that craving for something or the other was the main cause of suffering in humans, thus when this cause know as ‘craving’ is controlled, so is suffering. 3. Causes of Suffering and its Solution a. The Four Noble Truths According to various historians, the ‘Four Noble Truths’ were one of the primary teachings imparted by Gautama Buddha to his disciples after he had re ached Nirvana. On close observation it becomes apparent that they contain the same theme located in the Buddha's teachings: Everyone encounters suffering in life in one way or another. Craving for something is the desire to become happy with the acquisition of that thing. Another version of craving is when you seek to avoid something and that is known as aversion. Both craving and aversion lead to eventual suffering. The only way to end suffering is to stop

Give 1 or 2 examples of how evaluation of a theory can help you Article

Give 1 or 2 examples of how evaluation of a theory can help you understand the importance of theory in nursing - Article Example As an example, when a nurse wants to understand how to better work with patients, there are many theories that provide a model of how this work can be done. As an example, Brant, Beck and Miaskowski (2010) evaluated the Theory of Symptom Management (TSM) and provided insight on why this evaluation was important. The authors state that understanding more about the interventions that are used in TSM provide a better way for nurses to develop other interventions. In this case, understanding a few ways that symptoms of some diseases are managed, can bring about other ways of managing these diseases. Another reason that theories are important to understand is because it can lead nurses to the discovery of other diseases and how to handle them. As an example, Boggatz and Dassen (2011) provide information on a conceptual model for understanding why older people use nursing care. Their study is important because it showed what to look for when working with older people. They point out that seeking care is a self-care process in some respects, so it becomes more important to understand older people’s motivation for seeking care. This information can also provide reasons that older people do not seek treatment. Brant, J., Beck, S., & Miaskowski, C. (2010). Building dynamic models and theories to advance the science of symptom management research. Journal Of Advanced Nursing, 66(1), 228-240. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2648.2009.05179.x Marlaine, C. S. (2001). Analysis and evaluation of contemporary nursing knowledge: Nursing models and theories. Nursing and Health Care Perspectives, 22(2), 92-92. Retrieved from

The Al Qaida Transnational Terrorist Network Essay

The Al Qaida Transnational Terrorist Network - Essay Example But the larger issue revolved around the nature of terrorism itself and its emerging modus operandi. Whether the 11 September attacks in the United States were the delayed manifestation of Oplan Bojinka, as some believe, or whether they were an isolated plan, it is clear that terrorism--and particularly that form of terrorism practiced by al Qaeda --has fundamentally changed. Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the United States has achieved significant successes in its war on terrorism. Removing the Taliban government in Afghanistan, thereby eliminating al Qaeda's sanctuary and training camps, has broken an important link in the process that once provided al Qaeda's leadership with a continuing flow of recruits. Toppling the Taliban also demonstrated American resolve and international support, and it underscored the considerable risk run by governments that provide assistance to terrorists. From the summary in above, I would like to gradually come down to particular research of Al Qaeda terrorist organization. I will first discuss the historical and statistical facts about organization, than make the insights into organizational motivations and strategy finally will come out with conclusions as for the possible ways of dealing with future possible attacks. History Al Qaeda was a product of the struggle to reject the Soviet Union from Afghanistan. Portrayed as a holy war, that campaign brought together volunteers and financial contributors from throughout the Islamic world. Muslims from Algeria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Southeast Asia, and beyond fought side by side, forging relationships and creating a cadre of veterans who shared a powerful life experience, a more global view, and a heady sense of confidence underscored by the Soviet Union's ultimate withdrawal and subsequent collapse, for which they assumed credit. Instead of being welcomed home as heroes, however, the returning veterans of the Afghan campaign were watched by suspicious regimes who worried that the religious fervour of the fighters posed a political threat. Isolated at home, they became ready recruits for new campaigns. There were ample reasons and opportunities to continue the fight: the Gulf War and the consequent arrival of American troops in Saudi Arabia; the continued repression of Islamic challenges to local regimes; armed struggles in Algeria, Egypt, the newly independent Muslim republics of the former Soviet Union, Kashmir, the Philippines, and Bosnia; the forces of globalization that seemed threatening to all local cultures; and the continuing civil war in Afghanistan. Organizational survival, the natural desire to continue in meaningful activity, and the rewards of status and an inflated self-image contributed powerful incentives to continue the fight. The subsequent victories of a like-minded Taliban guaranteed safe haven for the militants and their training camps, which graduated thousands of additional volunteers (Cullison, Higgins, 2001). What Osama bin Laden and his associates contributed to this potent but unfocused force was a sense of vision, mission, and strategy that combined 20th century theory of a unified Islamic polity with restoration of the Islamic Caliphate that, at its height, stretched

Report on employability position Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Report on employability position - Essay Example The word â€Å"employability† is simply pertaining to each individual’s capabilities of being able to be hired for the job post a person wishes to apply. The concept of employability does not necessarily stop with the idea of being hire but also a person’s ability to maintain his/her competitiveness in order to maintain such employment for a long period of time. Considering this point-of-view, employability would somehow indirectly refer to the qualities and skills each person has in order to be able to outstandingly perform a particular task. Globalization has somehow triggered the market competition within the labour market. In order to compete effectively with other small and medium enterprises (SMEs) or large multinational companies, HR managers are being challenged to maintain a number of self-efficient employees who are capable of multi-tasking in order to keep the overhead or cost of labour as low as possible. qualification requirement from each job post has become more complex in the sense that job applicants who were able to acquire multiple skills and has the ability to easily cope with the continuously changing demand in the labour market are the ones who could easily be hired for their preferred job post. For this reason, each person has to consider the knowledge, skills, and attitude (KSAs) they have acquired over the years in order to learn more about their individual employability for a potential employment. Employability of each individual is more than the academic backgrounds they have acquired from school and universities. Specifically the knowledge of each person outside the scope of academic subjects and attitude are equally important to enable a person be hired or be able to maintain their preferred employment. For example: The job of a bar tender does not stop with having knowledge about mixing cocktail drinks. In most cases, it also requires special skills like juggling some empty bottles as a form of

Escalating Costs of Social Health Insurance Essay Example for Free

Escalating Costs of Social Health Insurance Essay Unlike any other country in the world, the United States continually experience rising cost of healthcare provision. Wolfe (1999) reports that healthcare costs has been increasing at a high rate for decades, it is estimated that every 40 months, the share of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) spent on healthcare goes up by 1 percent. Health expenditure which stood at 12. 3 percent of GDP in 1990 increased to 16. 0 percent of GDP in 2006 and is projected to reach 20 percent in the next 7 years. Between 2005 and 2006 alone, healthcare spending increased by 6. 7 percent, exceeding nominal GDP growth by 0. 6 percent, to a whooping $2. 1 trillion, representing an estimated $7,000 spending per person (Kuttner 2008; Catlin et al 2008). Various factors including inflation, aging population and advances in medical technology has been indicted as been responsible for the global increase in health expenditures, however, the American situation appears to be peculiar. Kuttner (2008) contends that the proliferation of new technologies, poor diet, lack of exercise, the tendency for supply (physicians, hospitals, tests, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and novel treatments) to generate demand and the culture of the American litigation, resulting in excessive malpractice litigations and the practice of defensive medicine, all adds together to ensure that the country experiences the largest and fastest growth in health expenditures, while at the same time, defeating efforts at cost containments. Like every other developed country, health insurance systems, especially social health insurance systems constitute the primarily methods of health financing (Carrin and James, 2004). This arrangement ensures that most of the cost of healthcare are paid by third parties, either through public establishments, as in social (public) health insurance systems, or by private bodies, as in private health insurance system, or in some cases, a mixture of both (Wolfe, 1999). The mixture of private and social health insurance is present in almost every country, with variations in their coverage. While in most European countries, social health insurance is deeply ingrained in societal fabric and provides the largest source of funding and insurance coverage (Saltman, 2004), the vast majority of Americans receive their health insurance coverage through employer based private insurance, with the rest of the country covered by any of the several public health insurance programs (Glover et al 2003). It is estimated that employer private health insurance covers approximately 63 percent of the population, with 51 percent of these amount covered by their own employers, while the remaining 41 percent are covered as a workers dependent; 14 percent are covered by public programs, 5 percent covered by individual insurance policies while an estimated 17 percent of the population are uncovered by any insurance (Devi, 2005). Medicare is largely regarded as the primary national (social) health insurance program in the United States, providing coverage for an estimated 44 million Americans over the age of 65. It is also estimated that Medicare provides health insurance coverage for about 7 million Americans under the age of 65 who have a disability or chronic condition (Fact Sheet, 2007). Social health insurance is a vital part of any countrys health care and health financing program, in some part of Europe, there is a general contention that social health insurance is not just an insurance arrangement, but a way of life, they are seen as a part of a social incomes policy that seek to redistribute wealth and health risk evenly amongst the population, however, the rising costs of these systems, not just in the United States but across the modern world, threatens the system. Before an analysis of the costs and factors driving costs of social health insurance systems, especially in America and in other European countries, it is important to first briefly describe the underlying principles of the social health insurance system and its difference from the private health insurance programs. This will be followed by a description of the United States Medicare program and some social health insurance programs in selected European countries and then a look at the costs of these programs. Steps taken towards cutting costs of the social insurance programs and the differences in cost cutting approaches between the United States and European Union countries will be examined. Lastly, future approaches that could help ameliorate the financial challenges facing the United States public insurance programs shall be recommended. Social Health Insurance Social health insurance, in its basic principle, in any society achieves a set of societal objectives through its peculiar form of financial cross subsidies, which covers redistribution from the healthy to the ill, from the well off to the less well off, from the young to the old and from the individual to the family. This redistributive focus of any social health insurance program distinguishes it from what is nominally regarded as insurance, thus, in several societies, it entrenches solidarity, income redistribution and is thus seen as a key part of a broader structure of social security and income support that sits at the heart of civil society (Saltman, 2004:5) Saltman and Dubois (2004) contend that although Germany is considered the source of the modern day form of social health insurance, when it codified existing voluntary structures into compulsory state supervised legislation in 1883, the history of social health insurance (SHI) dates back longer to the medieval guilds in the late Middle Ages. However, they agreed that the structure and organization of SHI over time has considerably evolved; the number of people covered has increased from a small number of workers in particular trades to a larger portion of the population, the central concept SHI has evolved from wage replacement a death benefit into payment for and or provision of outpatient physician services, inpatient hospital care and drugs; thirdly, the administrative structure of SHI has also evolved from cooperative workers association to state mandated legislative character, beginning with Germany in 1883 and the most recent, 1996 in Switzerland. Structurally, social health insurance everywhere possesses three common characteristics. Social health insurance programs are administered privately in both funding and in the provision of health services; as a result of their private administration, social health programs are self regulating, and lastly, as a consequence of their independence and self regulation, social health insurance programs are relatively stable, both in organizational and financial terms (Saltman, 2004). As a fall out of these structural characteristics, social health insurance posses several core components that differentiate them from private health insurance programs. Under SHI, the raising of funds is tied to income of beneficiaries, usually in the form of a transparent and fixed percentage of wages. As a result, contributions are risk independent and thus encourage maximal risk pooling. Also, collection and administration of revenues for the program are handled by not-for-profit and sometimes, state run funds and these funds are usually managed by board members that are usually representative and elected. The United States Medicare program posses most or all of the characteristics of a social health insurance program. For over 40 years, the program has successfully provided healthcare access for the elderly and millions of people with disability. It is regarded as the nations single largest health insurance program and it covers a wide range of the society for a broad range of health services. For example, Potetz (2008) report that one out of ever five dollars spent on healthcare in 2006 came through the Medicare program. The program is also reported to fund, at least, one third of all hospital stays, nationally. In most European countries too, national, public (social) health insurance programs reportedly covers a large proportion of the population, in most cases, reaching up to 100 percent coverage. Saltman and others (2004) reports that in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switzerland and from 1995, Israel, all have health insurance systems where (public) social health programs plays predominant roles in organization and funding of health care services, where between 60 to 100 percent of the population are mandatorily covered. They further argue that even countries like Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom, Greece and Portugal that have a tax funded National Health Service schemes, segments of SHI based healthcare funding also exists. Explaining the difference between social health insurance programs and private health insurance, Thomson and Mossialos (2004) contend that private health insurance play very insignificant role in the health systems of several European countries, either in terms of funding or access to healthcare. Unlike in the United States where more than 60 percent of the population are covered by private employer based insurance, private health insurance programs covers a relatively small proportion of the population and accounts for less than 5 percent of the total health spending, with the exception of France, Germany and the Netherlands. The most common difference between social and private health insurance includes eligibility, risk pooling and benefits. For social health insurance programs, contributions are mostly based on a fixed or varying proportion of wages, without regard for risks, thus a wider proportion of the people are eligible and benefits i. e. health services offered are broader with less out of pocket costs (Thomson and Mossialos, 2004; Saltman 2004). For private health insurance, the reverse is the case in most situations. Especially in for-profit private health insurance systems, contributions are adjusted according to risks and for the most part high risks individuals are rejected or expected to pay higher premiums. Consequently, eligibility requirements are strict; out of pocket expenses might be higher, while services provided vary significantly across programs, depending on an array of factors. Depending on the generally functions and services offered by private health insurance, the relation to social health insurance can be substitutive, complementary or supplementary. Substitutive private health insurance programs provides insurance covers that is otherwise available from the public programs purchased by individuals or groups who are excluded from the SHI. The larger proportion of the US society is excluded from the public insurance programs, which are usually available to the elderly, the disabled or the very poor, the rest of the population must rely on private employer based insurance. However, in European countries with effective SHI, only certain individuals with income above a certain upper threshold are excluded from the public insurance program e. g. in Netherlands and Germany, while the rest of the population are eligible. Complementary private health insurance programs provide cover for services not fully covered by the SHI programs or totally excluded, the Medicare + Choice plans is an example of such covers. Lastly, supplementary private health insurance provides cover for faster access and also increased consumer choices for individuals who can afford it (Thomson and Mossialos, 2004). Eligibility and Coverage  The United States Medicare program is essentially for the elderly, thus, individuals are eligible for Medicare coverage if they are citizens of the United States or have been a permanent legal resident for five continues years and over 65 years old. Individuals younger than 65 years of age can also be eligible for Medicare coverage if they are disabled and have been on the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or the Railroad Retirement Board benefits for a period of two years. Further, individuals with end state renal disease (ESRD) or Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) known as Lou Gehrig’s disease also qualifies for Medicare coverage. However, many people with disability do not qualify for SSDI benefits and by extension, Medicare. To qualify for these benefits, disabled individuals must have a family member under age 65 who have a work history which included Federal Income Contribution Act tax (FICA), an individual may also qualifies for SSDI on the FICA contributions of a parent as a Childhood Disability Beneficiary (CDB) or as a disabled spouse of a deceased spouse. Whichever qualification route applicable, an individual qualifies for Medicare two years after he/she starts receiving the SSDI benefits, except for the Lou Gehrig’s disease where Medicare benefits starts in the first month SSDI payments are received or in the case of the ESRD where Medicare benefits starts within three months of the first dialysis (Fact Sheet, 2007). As of 2007, it is estimated that Medicare provides cover and health services to about 43 million Americans. This figure is expected to double to 77 million by 2031 when the baby boomers of the post World War II period start to retire. However, as mentioned previously, SHI in European countries offer universal coverage that is mandatory in some countries. Coverage for these countries varies from 63 percent in Netherlands to 100 percent coverage in France, Israel and Switzerland. In most of these countries, it is usually the highest income groups that are either allowed or required by law to leave the social health programs for private health insurance (Saltman, 2004:7). Benefits Benefits for Medicare members have continually been modified. The original program has two parts, Medicare Part A and part B. The Part A program known as Hospital Insurance, covers hospital stays with stays in skilled nursing facilities for limited periods if certain qualifying criteria are met. Such criteria include the length of hospital stay, which most be three days, at least, excluding the discharge day and stay in skilled nursing facility must be for conditions diagnosed during the hospitalization. Medicare Part A allows up to a maximum of 100day stay in skilled nursing facilities, with the first 20 days completely paid for by Medicare and the remaining 80days paid in part and requiring a co-payment from the beneficiary. The Medicare Part B covers services and products not covered by Part A, but on an outpatient basis. The benefits under this coverage includes physician and nursing services, laboratory diagnostic tests, influenza and pneumonia vaccinations x-rays and blood transfusions. Other services include renal dialysis, outpatient hospital procedures, Immunosuppressive drugs for organ transplant recipients, chemotherapy, limited ambulance transportation and other outpatient medical treatments carried out in a physicians office. This coverage, to some extent, also includes medical equipments like walkers, wheelchairs and mobility scooters for individuals with mobility problems, while prosthetic devices, such as breast prosthesis after mastectomy or eye glasses after cataract surgery are also covered. The recently added Part C and D of the Medicare benefits slightly deviate from the original Medicare concept. After the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 came into effect, Medicare beneficiaries were allowed the option of receiving their Medicare benefits through private health insurance plans if they do not want to go through the original Medicare plans. These became known as Medicare + Choice as beneficiaries could choose any private health insurance plans and have it paid for by Medicare. The Medicare + Choice or Part C arrangement later became known as the Medicare Advantage Plan after the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 came into effect. The Part D plan, on the other hand, covers mainly prescription drugs and anyone in the original Plan A or B is eligible for this plan. However, in other to receive the benefits of the Plan D, a beneficiary must enroll and be approved for a Stand-alone Prescription Drug Plan (PDP) or Medicare Advantage plan with prescription drug coverage (MA-PD). However, because Plan D is effectively operated by private health insurance companies, there are no standardized benefits, like the plan A and B; the private insurance companies could choose to cover some drugs or classes of drugs and not cover others, with the exception of drugs excluded from Medicare coverage. Beneficiaries are therefore restricted to the drugs coverage of the plans they choose (Merlis, 2008; Potetz, 2008). Contributions towards Social Health Insurance Medicare financing, like social health insurance everywhere, is financed through a complex mix of taxes, contributions, co-payments and the likes. The most important source of financing for the Medicare expenditures is through the payroll tax imposed by the Federal Insurance Contributions Act and the Self-Employment Contributions Act of 1954, while other sources of financing includes general revenue through income taxes, a tax on Social Security benefits, and payments from states required for the Medicare drug benefits which started in 2006. In addition to these, beneficiaries also contribute directly to Medicare financing through premiums, deductibles and co-insurance. It is reported that income cases, physician do charge beneficiaries an additional out-of -pocket balance billing to cover for services rendered (Potetz, 2008). The federal payroll taxes are paid by the working population or by the beneficiaries throughout their work history. The tax equals 2. 9 percent of gross wages, with half (1. 45 percent) deducted from the workers salary and the other half paid by the employer. Initially, there was a ceiling on the maximum amount any single person can contribute; however, beginning from 1994, the maximum limit was removed. Self employed people who do not have an employer to cover the other half of their taxes are mandated by law to pay the full 2. 9 percent of their estimated earnings. However, the contributions from the beneficiaries vary considerably depending on the plan and also range from premiums, deductibles, co-payments or in some cases, the balance billing mentioned previously.

This Years Underwater Madness Essay Example for Free

This Years Underwater Madness Essay The film chosen is called Shark Tale a story bout the little fish with a big dream. Actors Courtesy of DreamWorks This animated film created by Dream Works has chosen only the very best for such a film, featuring: * Will smith as the voice of Oscar in the film. * The award winning Robert De Niro with his strong role as the voice of Don Lino The don of the great white Sharks. * The Oscar winning Renà ©e Zellweger, here as the voice of Angie. * The beautiful Angelina as the voice of Lola. * Jack Black in his very comical role as the voice of Lenny. * Martin Scorsese as the voice of Sykes. The running time is 90 minutes (1hr 30mins). Certified PG (Parental Guidance) The cartoon images in Shark Tale are well presented, with the anthropomorphic fish taking on the facial characteristics of their voice actors. The Plot The film is about a fish with no money and high aspirations and all he wants to do is earn money and become famous, we see Will Smiths Oscar imagine himself on billboards and in movies because thats all he sees and when meeting a very beautiful fish Angelina Jolie named Lola his dreams become even more important because her interest in guys involves how heavy their wallet is. He carries this too far when placing a bet on a horse when he thinks a race is fixed, placing 5,000 clams (the underwater currency) he loses the bet and the person he owed money to has his hit man deal with him, before they can get to him sharks turn up, one being a vegetarian cant eat him, his brother son of the Don gets hit bye an anchor. My Personal Opinion I thought this film was very entertaining and quite comical it had a spark to it and was very good for the little children, they would adore a film like this one, especially it being released after Finding Nemo it gave it some competition though Finding Nemo did come out on top. Comedy even on the emotional parts all round good film must be watched and great for the family.

The Vision Of Dominos Pizza Commerce Essay

The Vision Of Dominos Pizza Commerce Essay Dominos Pizza is the well known company that delivers pizza and operates through a network of company-owned and franchise-owned stores in the United States and international markets including Malaysia, India, Canada, and Australia. Dominos Pizza was started out small by brothers Tom and James Monaghan at Michigan, United States with just one store called DomiNicks in 1960. After the few years, James Monaghan trades his half of the business to Tom Monaghan and Tom changed the company name to Dominos Pizza in 1965. Dominos Pizza today is the second-largest pizza chain in the United States and has more than 10,000 owned and franchised stores in the United States and more than 65 international markets. The Dominos menu features a variety of Italian-American entrees and slide dishes such as pizza, pasta, bread bowls, salads, chicken wing, and breadsticks. Having so many retail shop and variety type of food means keeping the stock and logistic is not easy task. Dominos Pizza sure have some unique way on keep it supply chain running smooth and tidy. Vision The vision of Dominos Pizza is, illustrates a company of exceptional people on a mission to be the best pizza delivery company in the world.(Dominos Pizza, 2008) Mission The mission of Dominos Pizza is, committed to an inclusive culture which values the contributions of their customers, team members, suppliers, and neighbors. 2.0 Strength of Dominos Pizza Effective inventory management Dominos Pizza took a major advantage in supply chain efficiency in 2002 when it centralized inventory management operations at its headquarters. The centralized operation allowed the company to standardize sourcing, planning, inventory management and replenishment on each distribution center across the national network. Dominos pizza is using software from Prescient Applied Intelligence; a provider of supply chain and advanced commerce solutions to help them achieve the centralized inventory management operations. In this operation, the entire distribution operation uses only 9 planners with the help of the Prescient Applied Intelligence software. The Prescient distribution planning suite works as modules for inventory and demand planning optimized order management and advanced time-phase replenishment. However, the centralized operation needs support from a new method because Dominos have a lot of retail stores around the world, the size of the distribution centers are quite small c ompare to other company. And still not only receive all ingredients and supplies, but they also prepare the dough, so it can be shipped fresh to the stores. Domino introduces matched receipts to demand module to help solve this problem. The idea is made by the Prescient Applied Intelligence software. The system monitor inventory on each distribution center and determines which product have higher demand. The data is gathering through the company PeopleSoft enterprise resource planning system and then combine with Prescient Applied Intelligence software. When the stock in the distribution center is not enough to meet the need of the retail store, the raw material will be ordered more. If the supply is adequate, the stock will not be order and the next order will be consider what was placed on the prior order and go through the same process. Though this way, the freshness of the stock also can be preserve and increase the food quality. Besides that, Dominos want its truck with smaller quantities of multiple items and let the staggered ordering system to balance inbound receipts just the way Dominos need them. Dominos also can build bigger warehouse or distribution center to keep more stocks so it can reduce to cost from ordering and reduce labor cost on daily routine in the distribution center. Automation Benefits Dominos also have a system that automates much of the standard ordering and replenishment planning, instead of spending three-quarters of the week manually putting orders together. This helps the Dominos planners to focus more time and attention on making better strategic decisions. For instance, planner review previous data indentify exception and learn the accuracy from the prior week. Planners can skip unnecessary job and make direct adjustments with this. Then the order is transmitted to Dominos ERP system and on the next day after receiving the order confirmation, planner can simply repeat the process for freight orders. Dominos growing ranks of retail stores are being replenished with a 24-hour service guarantee, even during the heaviest promotion periods, while the network of compact distribution center operates at lean levels few companies can match. This system had gain Domino a lot of advantage on preserving better stocks level and maintaining it. Delivery Tactic In the highly competitive pizza business, Dominos have to create various strategies to make sure itself comparable with other pizza company. With their long time experience on pizza business, they know that time take for the food arrive to customer door is crucial. Dominos Pizza introduced a 30 minutes delivery guarantees and free delivery idea. Dominos is the only pizza company that guarantees customers order will arrive within 30 minutes with free delivery. If the order cannot make it within 30 minutes, then Dominos Pizza will give you a free Regular Pizza Voucher. When delivering pizza, Dominos use a special heat wave bags to keep the pizzas hot during transit. These deals have significantly attracted customer to consume at dominos pizza. Dominos GPS (Great Pizza Service) Tracker Domino also creates a unique service that call Domino GPS Tracker. This GPS tracker had provides a step-by-step update on the status of customer order when customer is online order the pizza. Customer can login with username and password or customers phone number to track the online order. The GPS tracker will shows seven steps throughout the food preparation and delivery process for give customers convenient. The seven steps of tracker are including Order placed, Preparing, Baking, Boxing, Packing, Ready for delivery and the last one is delivering. This GPS tracker can gain competitive advantage because this system makes the more customers friendly and convenient to customer. 4.0 Conclusion Dominos Pizza is a great pizza company to be study. It had proved itself as a world leading pizza company as it has a lot of advantage against other pizza company. The competitive advantages are including Effective inventory management, Automation Benefits, Delivery Tactic and Dominos GPS (Great Pizza Service) Tracker. Dominos pizza has done a great job on satisfying customer needs and maintaining it pizza quality. However, through this assignment, we have learnt how Dominos Pizza gain competitive advantages compare to another pizza seller. This also will give us increase a lot of knowledge about the business logistics operations that we might face in the future.

Faith, Belief and Healing Essay -- Research Essays Term Papers

Faith, Belief and Healing I became interested in researching faith healing as a means of understanding belief and the idea of the brain healing the body. I knew a little about Christian based faith healing: the evangelical preachers on T.V. who smack the heads of the skeptical, and then they fall backwards, unconscious, and are healed, but I wanted to learn more specific information about the general practice of faith healing. What are the different forms faith healing takes? What are the underlying beliefs of the proponents of this form of belief and healing? How are these people portrayed and delivered over the Internet? Is there anything substantive to the notion of faith healing? What I found was a mix of strange ideas, which I simultaneously believed and scoffed at, depending upon their contexts and the information used to back their claims up. To begin with, I learned about a type of faith healing performed in the Philippines called psychic surgery. It is an ancient practice that was used to relieve pain and promote healing. However, the context it finds itself in today is much more complex than that. To begin with, let me describe what might occur in a session, because it does not embody exactly what the name implies, although many believe it to. There is a lot of "laying of the hands, balancing of magnetic forces, and massaging with divinely sanctioned oils;" these are the pre-"surgery" activities that are performed while "awaiting spiritual guidance." (1) At the meeting of actor Andy Kaufman and a psychic surgeon, the actor was hoping to have his lung cancer removed. After the surgeon received "divine intervention," he appeared to have pulled out "the offending material" in the midst of a lot of blood. (1) Howeve... ...ershadow the truth: which is that belief cannot cure organic diseases existing independently from mind-control, however closely tied the mind and body are to each other. References 1)The Facts About Faith Healing, ever heard of psychic surgery? read this!!! some pretty weird stuff http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro02/web3/www.quackwatch.com01QuackeryRelatedTopics/faith.html 2)Natural Hygiene: Nobody Knows, Understands, or Practices it. Why?, kind of fanatical support of Natural Hygiene http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro02/web3/www.healself.org/alternative.html 3)Deborah Elizabeth Shepherd, interesting piece on a fundamentalist Christian family who lost their daughter due to their faith in God and desire to forego medical intervention until it was too late http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro02/web3/www.geocities.com/robbi01/

Physics in Video Games :: physics video game computer

There are a few different physics engines that programmers use now for their games. There are 2 main physics engines that programmers use: Havok, and Math Engine. A Physics Engine is the code that game companies buy or Build to put in their code. The code is already written and they just have to implement the code in their program. The thing about Physics in video games is that none of it has to be realistic. Most of the physics in older games aren't close to being realistic for there were way too many equations the program would have to solve and it would slow it down. There are arguments that go on that unrealistic games are more fun, or realistic games are more fun. Video Games have been around for over thirty years now. A lot have changed in the way programs work. When they first came out Video Games weren't that powerful because the hardware couldn't support it. Now the possibilities are almost endless. Games have changed so much. From Games like Asteroids that was made in 1979. With Asteroids being only a small program with some computations going on. To current games like Half-life 2. With so many physics computations going on. They try to make this game the most realistic game. Out there. The current trend in video games is to make them more and more realistic. The more realistic they make the game. The more equations the program has to do, so the program is a lot bigger and needs a lot more power to do everything the game wants. There is a lot of lines of code in video games. There are teams of people who work on games now. Here is some example of how code is implemented into programs to make it look like you are jumping. I got this example from the web site http://www.gamedev.net/reference/articles/article694.asp this is pseudo-code that can be used for if you were having the character in the game jump straight up. Joe.postion.y = 0; (Or wherever floor is) Joe.velocity.y = 0; Joe.acceleration = 10; Joe.jumping = NO; Loop If (jump key is pressed) { Joe.velocity.y = 100; Joe.jumping = YES; } if (Joe.jumping == YES) /* Move Joe if we are jumping */ { Joe.velocity.y = Joe.velocity.y - Joe.acceleration Joe.

Elevating the Voice of the Patient Essay -- Nursing Essays

In any healthcare setting, a patient should be able to influence their own care and treatment. However, there may be particular obstacles that may prevent a patient from voicing their opinions regarding their care and treatment. The purpose of this essay is to discuss three barriers: how a patient can overcome not being empowered; staff having limited knowledge and insufficient training regarding certain mental health issues and poor communication. These barriers will be related to recent clinical experience. The aim of this essay is to consider how each of these barriers diminished the voice of the patient and how these were overcome. Empowerment is a relatively new concept in healthcare; it follows the theory that every person should be entitled to make decisions about their own healthcare (Gohde, 2011). It is important that a patient can feel empowered – that they can feel instrumental in their own care – so that they may begin to recover. In previous years, patients were passive recipients of care (Latvala, 2000) but now they are more active in making decisions about their care. Patient empowerment is vital in promoting a positive outcome for a nurse – patient relationship (Spence Lashinger, 2010). An example of patient empowerment is the experience of Emily, who is a twenty-five year old female with a diagnosis of anorexia nervosa. Emily was diagnosed eight years ago and subsequently is well known to her local NHS Psychiatric Services. Emily was recently admitted into a Psychiatric Admissions Ward at her local NHS hospital under a Compulsory Treatment Order (Scottish Government, 2004) afte r attempting suicide following an episode of severe starvation. When the student nurse commenced placement at the ward in which Emily h... ...an Eating Disorders Review (8) page 293-300 Sanfter JL (2011) â€Å"Quality of Life in Relation to Psychosocial Risk Variables for Eating Disorders in Women and Men† Eating Behaviours 12 (2) page 136-142 Scottish Government (2004) The New Mental Health Act – What’s It All About? A Short Introduction. Available online at www.scotland.gov.uk/publications/2004/01/18753/31686, first accessed 28/04/2011 Sheldon LK (2009) â€Å"Communication for Nurses†, Second Edition, London, James and Bartlett, page 81-82 Snell L, Crowe M, Jordan J (2010) â€Å"Maintaining a Therapeutic Connection: Nursing in an Inpatient Eating Disorders Unit† Journal of Clinical Nursing 19 (3-4) page 358 Spence Laschinger HK (2010) â€Å"Towards a Comprehensive Theory of Nurse – Patient Empowerment: Applying Kanter’s Empowerment Theory to Patient Care† Journal of Nursing Management. 18 (1) page 4-13

Business Messages Essay

In a traditional workplace, memos are the usual form of business messages that are sent from officers to employees. With the advent of technology, the issuance of memorandums is often limited to topics of general interest, like organizational meetings or policy changes. If I were a lead engineer in Cards4U, I’d maximize the use of faster and more efficient tools to aid me in communicating with other members of the team, as well as company executives and potential customers.   That means e-mails will be the primary source of communication among the team members, since sending and receiving messages take only a few seconds to a few minutes.   E-mail communications are convenient, does not need to be too formal, and can be accessed anytime, anywhere.   The memos will be utilized to inform the CEO or customers regarding product presentations and updates. Since I’m a lead engineer in a creative design group, presentations using PowerPoint or Flash would be very useful in showcasing latest designs and innovations.   Reports are also necessary to document the progress, activities, and changes in the production department.   Face to face meetings with customers are important to establish rapport and get them to buy your designs, or get their feedback. If face-to-face meeting is not possible, conference calls can also be used.   Meeting the CEO for updates and developments would also require face-to-face encounters.   However, if the chief executive initiated conversation using e-mails, then, I should take his lead and reply using the same medium.   But if the message were sent through the more formal memorandum, then the reply would also be of that kind. More importantly, in any type of business communication that I would send, the messages should be concise, direct to the point, and professional. References Business/Professional Writing.(1995-2004). OWL at Purdue University.   Retrieved December 4, 2007, from:   http://owl.english.purdue.edu/workshops/pp/index.html#business Ramsey, L. (2005). Business E-mail Messages & Professionalism.   Retrieved December 4, 2007, from, http://website101.com/email_e-mail/e-mail_business-etiquette.html Kotelnikov, V. Effective Business Communication. Retrieved December 4, 2007, from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.1000ventures.com/business_guide/crosscuttings/biz_communication_main.html

Unforgettable Memories of A Weekend in New York

Mum handed my sis and me our passports and boarding tickets, hugged us tightly for what seemed worry five minutes, and waved goodbye to us as trickled down her cheeks. It sounds strange to say this in effect(p) I couldnt s transgress smiling, and neither could Sarah, my 19-year-old baby who was my guardian for the weekend. She was such a laugh, and continuously had something sportsmanny to say ab out everything. I knew it was going to be a fun and unfor find outtable weekend. The plane was due to give-up the ghost from Heathrow to in the buff York at iodin that Fri mean solar day aft(prenominal)noon of the 13th October.As we sit down laugh a joking the departures lounge our feather numerate was displayed on the huge picture screen, and next to it the word Boarding flashed. It was time to leave. We picked up hand luggage and headed towards gate number 13. Typical I said to myself in my head, Out of all 50 render I we have to board done the unluckiest number of them a ll Still, Im non a very superstitious person Im just not that keen on flying. Anyway, I didnt let onto my sister almost my nerves, shed provided make me tang worse We had been sit down on the plane for about 3 minutes, and only four to go.Like see about memories? Read also tr wish-wash memoryEveryone sat nigh us had been drinking and so they were all bouncing and laughing and joking about, that made me feel slightly more relaxed save I still couldnt wait to get saturnine the plane. I sat in my merchantman and watched the film Almost Famous I was surprise by size of the television and how they fitted in the seat, my sister just laughed at me and told me I needed to get out more. in the lead I knew it, it was time to land. I level(p) my seatbelt and began to feel slightly nauseous as the plane began to descend. We finally get and by and by approximately 10 minutes we were allowed to get up and head to the accesss.As I stepped run into the plane the ice refrigerat ing air hit me and I captive my arms a orotund myself to help sting warm. The pilot had said as we landed that it was around -20C merely I hadnt established how cold that was. We caught a yellow hack writer to our motel and got straight into bed. We had a long day ahead. I woke up at 8 and we walked to a local cafeteria for a beigel and cup of c onwardee. I was amazed at everything the surroundings, everything was so different from tail end home. setoff stop, the Empire State Building, get a good view of the whole typeset ok? I replied to my sister with a nod and a laugh as we looked around to see everyone staring.I dont value everyone in the cafeteria was that impressed that she managed to spit out half her bagel as she asked me that question, plainly I effectuate it amusing and we vicious about laughing together. We caught a nag to the building and entered a repeal which took us halfway up the building, we then had to trade in to another lift because the building is so tall that having only one lift would cause the cables to snap. Being told this by the draw and quarter didnt exactly help with my fear of heights. Finally, we reached the top and the view was just breathtaking. I had neer seen anything interchangeable it.I stood there taciturn for about thirty minutes, and looked out oer the city for miles. I t was a surreal experience and views that imprinted my mind. Next up, we had to match a ferry to Statton Island to see the world-famous Statue of Liberty. I took pictures but I knew the photos wouldnt show the amaze statue that stood for me. We caught a ferry okay to the mainland and walked around Time Square. It held a resemblance to Piccadilly Circus, but was somewhat more exciting. We both looked uniform typical tourists with our huge bags, maps and cameras but everyone around was friendly and helped us with directions.It was getting advanced in the afternoon and we had been snitchping for an hour or so and ended up in a nail bar. We sat there giggling together as we slurped our burnt umber milkshakes and had our nails painted. By 9. 30pm we were both shattered but my sister said there was one work thing we had to do. I had no idea where we were going and all I can remember is it is somewhere off Fifth Avenue but we before long arrived at a huge outback(a) ice rink. I was so aflame I couldnt wait to try skating. We skated for about an hour, it was nevertheless colder being on the ice but we both managed to skate round at least once without falling over each other.We laughed so a good deal and everyone around us laughed at us too but we didnt care. After that we headed back to the hotel. I collapsed onto the bed still dressed to kill(p) in my clothes and was out like a light. I slept like a log and didnt wake until the alarm went off at 7 that morning. We headed to the same cafeteria once more for our morning bagel and coffee. Soon after that we hit the shops for some serious shopping. The woof of clothes and gadgets was never ending, each shop we entered I had to buy something.After a good few hours shopping we visited St Patrickss Cathedral, it was a big tourist attraction -there were a lot of English and Irish populate around there, but it wasnt really that harmonic to us so we didnt stay long. The last place we had left to visit was landed estate Zero, we felt that as we were in New York we had to go and pay our respects. The area was ruin and very emotional. The memorial listed all the name calling of those who had died in the tragedy and I found it really upsetting and felt homesick, even though I had only been off two days.My sister hugged me and said to me allow it make you realise what youve got and dont take it for granted. This is wherefore you have to live life to the good and take every opportunity that comes along. Its not every day you get taken for a weekend shopping in New York is it? she then smiled at me and gave me a kiss on the cheek. She wa s always resourceful of putting a smile back on my face, no matter how I felt. My sister had always been known as a joker and so to try out her say something like this really meant a lot. We got back to the hotel mid-afternoon and packed up our bags.Our shoot departed at 6 that flush and we were on our way home. We landed at Heathrow at 1 in the morning. I had slept for most of the plane and car journeying home. I walked in the front of the door of my house and inhaled deeply, it smelt of home, and I smiled to myself. The vacation was really fun and it had taught me a lot, it brought me impendent to my sister and the advice she gave me at ground nil give stay with me forever, and the new experiences will stay with me forever too. I trust to return back there in the near future, to relive my happy memories.