The Quest For Progress Is The Center Of Every Great...

Throughout human history the quest for progress was always the center of every great civilization. The history of mankind and the conquest of energy are inseparable. First, the needs were modest: heating, cooking and perhaps illuminating. The energy was mainly related to the control of fire-. Then, developing societies were quickly forced to use other forms of energy. They were relied on human and animal power for construction, transport, travel, agriculture etc... The navigation is also an important step since, besides the human energy of the rowers, the use of the wind becomes essential for centuries. The mills are also used that energy as well. The mid-nineteenth century saw the advent and development of industrial civilization through the use of machines and the exploitation of new energy sources where vapor energy was first used then finally electricity provided by fossil fuels with coal and oil (later gas). Fossil fuel energies allow to design autonomous vehicles carrying their own source of energy (locomotives, automobiles and airplanes). During the twentieth century to our time, the growth of humanity energy needs is accelerating with an exponential rhythm. Electricity has become a must for many industries and our domestic uses. Fossil fuels are used heavily with the consequences we now know about global warming due to the emission of carbon dioxide when it is burned. The most significant and highly publicized geopolitical event in recent history was the rapidShow MoreRelatedA Psychologically Fascinating Tool For The Classroom1199 Words   |  5 PagesCreed Series can help someone learn about history and solve puzzles while enjoying every moment of it. Games today like Lara Croft’s Tomb Raider, make you think as you work towards a quest. It makes you solve puzzles that are sometimes mind boggling and irritating. When you do solve the puzzle, you get rewarded with further progress in the game or a clue to your next objective. In Sid Meier’s famous Civilization series, the game teaches you about world history and economics as you move on to buildRead MoreAfricana Studies Should Not Be Limited To Studying The1750 Words   |  7 Pagessimple everyday life budgeting and planning ahead. Studying business as part of the program can introduce students to the possibilities of creating their own business which will result in more black owned businesses. Judiciary practices can be of great advantage to blacks, through these course blacks can be taught their right from a justice systems perspective and that their race does not exclude them from the law. Especially now, in times where black men are being stripped of their rig hts duringRead MoreHurdles Impeding Development of Pakistan2259 Words   |  10 PagesWhat are development issues in Pakistan identify the obsession hurdles impeding development of Pakistan? Scarred from birth, Pakistans quest for survival has been as compelling as it has been uncertain. Pakistan cycled through a number of phases of development through its beginning Political, Social and Economic crises. The politicians were corrupt, interested in maintaining their political power and securing the interests of the elite, so to have them as the representative authority did notRead More Columbus and the New World Discovery Essay4487 Words   |  18 PagesThough both the continent and the country bear anothers name, Columbus has been surpassed in nomenclatural popularity in the United States only by the great George Washington - and Washington is itself located in the District of Columbia. I make this observation as a native of Columbus, Ohio, the largest of many municipalities called after the great explorer. The preeminent university in the city in which I now live is Columbia - not to mention such other North American institutions as the ColumbiaRead MoreThe New World2 171 Words   |  9 Pagescentury established the foundations for the current vastly interdependent international society. European Exploration intentionally reshaped the balance of power, in favor of European civilization. Stemming from the Iberian Peninsula, the Age of Exploration began extending the influence of European nations to every corner of the globe. Driven to establish a flourishing empire through means of expanded commerce, Spain quickly followed Portuguese methodology and developed a world class fleet. UponRead MoreTaking a Look at Brazil2817 Words   |  11 PagesThe Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition defines Culture as the â€Å"shared patterns of behaviors and interactions, cognitive constructs, and affective understanding that are learned through a process of socialization. These shared patterns identify the members of a culture group while also distinguishing those of another group.† (Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition) In an article called Cultural Factor Highly Influences On Consumers Their Buying Behavior – In IndianRead MoreImportance of Education Knowledge in Islam10950 Words   |  44 Pages[pic] Importance of Education Knowledge in Islam The Importance of Education To seek knowledge is a sacred duty; it is obligatory on every Muslim, male and female. The first word revealed of the Qur’an was Iqra READ! Seek knowledge! Educate yourselves! Be educated. Religious and Secular (not religious) Knowledge There are two kinds of knowledge which are very important for a human being. Secular knowledge (non-religious knowledge) is for day to day problem-solvingRead MoreChicano Murals in Los Angeles3931 Words   |  16 Pagesgovernment commissioned a vast number of mural projects to transmit its revisionist history of the country, and celebrate the empowerment of the underclass in their recent victory. Predominate themes were cultural reclamation, history, pre-conquest civilization, anti-colonialism, anti-bourgeoisie sentiment, celebration of the working class, and highlighting the beauty and struggle of life as a Mexican. This movement moved north, across the border into California as the artists moved and government fundingRead More history of surfing Essay3388 Words   |  14 Pagessurfing isn’t a competition. True, even most surfers refer to it as an â€Å"extreme sport†, but the truth is, we do so because it’s impossible to create a word that completely describes surfing. It is an experience in its own class, a spiritual conquest quest, searching for the perfect wave. Surfing has come a long way since it was first conceived (roughly 1500 years ago). From the Polynesian â€Å"watermen† and Hawaiian Kings, to the European takeover in Hawaii and surfings American debut in the early twentiethRead Moreghjfg6018 Words   |  25 Pagesnineteenth and twentieth century matter, indeed. The ancient world would have laughed at such a distinction. The Middle Age regarded skin color with mild curiosity; and even up into the eighteenth century we were hammering our national manikins into one, great, Universal Man, with fine frenzy which ignored color and race even more than birth. Today we have changed all that, and the world in a sudden, emotional conversion has discovered that it is white and by that token, wonderful! This assumption that

Mandatory Dui Laws And / Or Technology Should Be Enacted

Let’s drink and drive so we can crash and kill innocent people. Driving while under the influence of alcohol is called drunk driving (DUI), which is against the law. The National Traffic Safety Administration (NTSA) estimates that almost 40% of traffic deaths caused by accidents in the United States are caused by drunk drivers. Some people think that there should be tougher penalties for repeaters of DUI and we should have zero tolerance for drinking and driving. Others believe that tougher laws are not needed. Some people feel like the social drinkers are being punished more than the drunk drivers who keep getting DUI’s (ProQuest Staff). This paper will examine the pros, cons, and my view point on whether tougher DUI laws and/or technology should be enacted. For starters, many argue that tougher penalties or better technology will stop people from drinking while driving. To begin with, technology can help reduce the amount of drunk driving accidents. Firstly David Strickland, National Highway Safety Administrator, argues that human error creates 90% of all crashes. Secondly, the NHSA adds that insurance companies and car makers are working on a technology that will keep drunk drivers’ cars from starting. Finally, Jerry Hirsch of the Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety states that 10,000 people were killed last year in alcohol-related incidents. That’s almost one-third of all traffic accidents due to drunk drivers (Hirsch). Next, decreasing the limit from 0.08 to

Essay on Comparing Two Articles on Teen Binge Drinking

Comparing Two Articles on Teen Binge Drinking The article How to Manage Teen Drinking (the smart way), written by Jeffery Kluger and the article Getting Stupid, written by Bernie Wuethrich are both articles about teenage binge drinking. The two articles are very similar and different at the same time, while together rhetorically appealing to the logos. Combined they give a good background on teenage binge drinking. Both articles have many similarities; both agree that binge drinking is a problem among adolescents across the country. Binge drinking is defined by both articles as, â€Å"five or more drinks in a row for boys and four or more drinks in a row for girls† (Wuethrich, p.58-59). Both articles agree that one major†¦show more content†¦It was written to give suggestions on how to lower the amount of teenage binge drinking. One solution that Middlebury College in Vermont has thought of would be to lower the drinking age. This technique would be useful because kids would be able to drink in more open environments and not have to hide what they are inevitably going to do. This is productive because in the open environments, they can be monitored and if anything goes wrong a responsible person will be there to help. This idea of an 18 year old drinking age is not too plausible because if a state were to lower the drinking age, the federal government would take away mill ions of dollars in highway funding. The federal government has good reason to take away funding. This is because The University of Michigan conducted a study when the drinking age was raised from 18 to 21 years old, in the early 1980’s. The study found that, â€Å"The change also contributed to a 58% drop in alcohol-related deaths among 15- to 20-year olds since 1982† (Kluger, p.43). According to Getting Stupid the reason why so many adolescent kids binge drink is because when they are drunk, dopamine is released in the prefrontal cortex, which gives you a feeling of pleasure. Teens want this pleasure to reoccur, so they drink again. After a long period of usage a tolerance is built and more alcohol is needed to receive the same pleasure, which leads to binge drinking (Wuethrich, p.62). TheShow MoreRelatedThroughout History, The United States Has Taken On Several1288 Words   |  6 Pagesminimum legal drinking age that vary in age as well as in state and federal enforcement of the limit. To this day, there is quite a bit of controversy surrounding the subject because advocates of higher, lower, and limitless age regulations all provide decent arguments towards their suggested policies. Regardless of the policy, they all have the same aim: reduce alcohol addiction, binge drinking, drunk driving, and other alcohol related public health risks. The current minimum legal drinking age hasRead MoreThose Who Fight For Their Country And Risk Their Lives1753 Words   |  8 Pagesalcoholic beverage. During the Roaring Twenties, before the National Minimum Legal Drinking Age Act of 1984, Prohibition set in and ratified the 18th Amendment. This closed many taverns, bars, and saloons in the United States; which drove alcohol underground, this started the underground alcohol trade. Eventually, the Prohibition was repealed and drinking was legal again for those of age and stipulations. The Minimum Legal Drinking Age (MLDA) is a term widely used to describe the age at which the legal consumptionRead More Designated Driver Program Proposal Essay2465 Words   |  10 Pagesdriver program would benefit the University of Denver community, comprised of students, faculty, staff, and administration. The structure of the University of Denver community makes our initiative very challenging, but also very feasible. Comparing DU to the 8 Ingredients of a Community, from John Gardner?s On Leadership, the dynamics of our community play an integral role in our ability to accomplish our goal of creating a designated driver program. The Eight Ingredients of a Community areRead MoreThe Media and Its Role Today3347 Words   |  14 Pageslives by encouraging healthy, realistic attitudes towards weight and diet. 2.4 Violence Let’s face it, the media is cool, whatever is being done on television is being emulated by the public. For example fashion trends, smoking habits, binge drinking and premarital sex. But what happens when violence as seen on television is being seen as the way to solve problems? Violence these days is on the rise. People think it is alright to solve problems using violence. For example solve a feud byRead MoreEarly Childhood Through Middle Adulthood And The Effects Of Obesity5776 Words   |  24 Pagesnegatively impacted by obesity in epidemic proportions. Early Childhood and Obesity Early child is categorized as beginning at age two through age seven. In normal childhood development in this age group children experience changes in their physical appearance, cognitive development and social development. The physical changes in this age group are rapid. They grow about two and a half inches taller and again approximately five to seven pounds annually. They lose their baby fat giving a slender appearanceRead MoreConsumer Lifestyle in Singapore35714 Words   |  143 Pagesof Food Calories per Day 2011 ....... 22 Drinking Habits ........................................................................................................................... 23 Attitudes Towards Drinking ..................................................................................................... 23 Drinking Inside the Home ....................................................................................................... 24 Drinking Outside the Home .........................Read MoreMaterial Protected Under International And Federal Copyright Laws And Treaties8891 Words   |  36 Pagesvery serious public health crisis of overweight and obesity. Nearly one-third of all adults are now classified as obese, a figure that has more than doubled over the last 30 years. Children are getting heavier as well. The percentage of children and teens that are overweight has more than doubled in the past 30 years. Today, about 17 percent of American children ages 2 to 19 are overweight. Health risks associated with being overweight or obese include 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterolRead MoreMarketing Mistakes and Successes175322 Words   |  702 Pagesexamined only notable mistakes, and based on your favorable comments about recent editions, I have again included some well-known successes. While mistakes provide valuable learning insights, we can also learn from successes and find nuggets by comparing the unsuccessful with the successful. With the addition of Google and Starbucks, we have moved Entrepreneurial Adventures up to the front of the book. We have continued Marketing Wars, which many of you recommended, and reinstated Comebacks ofRead MoreDeveloping Management Skills404131 Words   |  1617 PagesConflict 375 SKILL LEARNING 376 Interpersonal Conflict Management 376 Mixed Feelings About Conflict 376 Diagnosing the Type of Interpersonal Conflict 378 Conflict Focus 378 Conflict Source 380 Selecting the Appropriate Conflict Management Approach 383 Comparing Conflict Management and Negotiation Strategies 386 Selection Factors 386 Resolving Interpersonal Confrontations Using the Collaborative Approach A General Framework for Collaborative Problem Solving 391 The Four Phases of Collaborative Problem Solving

Chasing Zero Essay - 1065 Words

Chasing Zero is a documentary which was meant to both educate the viewer on the prevalence of medical harm as well as to enlighten both the public and health care providers on the preventability of these events (Discovery, 2010). The documentary expounded on the fact each year more people die each year from a preventable medical error than die due to breast cancer, motor vehicle accidents or AIDS (Institute of Medicine, 1999). Medical harm can result from adverse drug events, surgical injuries, wrong-site surgery, suicides, restraint-related injuries, falls, burns, pressure ulcers and mistaken patient identities (Institute of Medicine, 1999). Incidences of medical error have been reported in the media for many years. The most startling†¦show more content†¦One of the most critical factors which contribute to the number of preventable cases of healthcare harm is the culture of silence surrounding these cases. The fear of medical providers to report incidences is related to the possibility of punishment and liability due to a medical error (Discovery, 2010). The criminalization of some acts of medical error has resulted in job dismissal, criminal charges and jail time for some healthcare workers. This is despite the fact that the system they are working in helped to create the situation which led to the error in the first place. Human error, due to fatigue and system errors can result in deadly consequences, but by criminalizing the error it effectively shuts down the ability to correct the root problem. Healthcare workers, working at all levels within the medical system, can provide valuable input on how to improve the processes and prevent harm from occurring (Discovery, 2010). Healthcare workers are not the only ones fearful of exposing medical errors. The medical institutes themselves operate behind a wall of silence. The IOM first recommended a national medical error reporting system in 1999 and despite attempts by then President Clinton, the American Medical Association and the American Hospital Association successfully lobbied against it (Dyess, 2009). As of 2009, only 20 states have a mandatory medical error reporting system and only a fraction of estimatedShow MoreRelatedCrashing in a Back Door969 Words   |  4 Pagesextinguish those on fire as their flesh melted away regardless. Inside the wreckage Zero checked for Danas life signs. The tick pod she had taken refuge in was designed to withstand severe impacts, although not specifically being hit with a planet. When her vitals checked out he did a quick manual test with Scott, moving his arms and legs, inspecting for damages. The worst of his previous wounds had already healed and Zero put the zombie at about ninety percent efficiency. The ship on the other handRead MoreThe Great Gatsby : An American Nightmare1226 Words   |  5 PagesAmerican Dream Fitzgerald was not living for himself. He was living for others—for wealth and status—which led to the debacle that was the latter part of his existence. F. Scott Fitzgerald â€Å"died believing himself a failure,† having spent his whole life chasing a lie: the American Dream (Bruccoli). The boom of consumerism and obsession with excess during the 1920s indirectly victimised George Wilson. Characterised as â€Å"spiritless [and] anaemic,† the debilitating effects of endless hours of labour intensiveRead MoreIntroduction. In Modern Era, Being A Professional Nurse1534 Words   |  7 Pagesthe clinical setting. While watching the documentary, Chasing Zero (Denham, 2010), it is eyeopening to the fact that malpractices can happen at any moment in the clinical setting, even without a nurse’s awareness. This movie taught the nursing students studying Fundamentals of Nursing that nurses must take responsibility for not only their actions, but also for the unsafe situations nurses are put to practice in. For example, during Chasing Zero (Denham, 2010), one of the nurses was working over herRead MoreArticle Report On Growth Hackers 749 Words   |  3 PagesShare this article on Digg 1 Share this article on Reddit Share this article on Pinterest 1 Expert Author Daniel Bhatt Introduction A man was running walking to his destination and came across a mountain. He could hear the sounds of those who were chasing him. The mountain like a colossus stood defiantly in his path. All that he had was a rope and no equipment to climb the mountain. It was either climb the mountain or risk being caught. There was no other way to reach his destination. He looked atRead MoreWhy Shouldn’t We Lower the Blood Alcohol Rate? Essay838 Words   |  4 Pagesworthy purposes? For example, with a strict BAC, the same number of officers will be chasing a lot more criminals. While an officer is busy on arresting someone with only .05 levels, who makes very little danger, the officer would not be able to chase someone with a .10 or even .15 levels, who caused much more danger problems. The National Transportation Safety Board states that their goal is to Reaching Zero. They believe that it is wonderful to ensure that no one ever dies in an alcoholic accidentRead MoreEssay On Understanding Your Mind728 Words   |  3 Pagesit seamlessly into our style. But there’s a darker side... we begin to judge our work against these others and in a quest to be better, and somehow find a way to generate an income, or even make a living at it, we start chasing things, things like technology, which have zero influence on our abilities and wont make us better. I wrote this book to show you and tell you through anecdotes and my personal experiences, the most important parts of being successful creative doesn’t involve technologyRead MoreAlternate Energy : Alexander Gibbs806 Words   |  4 Pagesor there will be severe consequences in our future. Carbon emissions are changing the planet for the worse. Energy production (mostly coal) is producing a one third of the US s global warming emissions. Renewable sources produce little to zero percent. The balance of coal and renewable energy in the U.S. needs to be evened out with renewable techniques. Statistics from the Union of Concerned Scientist’s â€Å"Benefits of Renewable Energy Use† show that wind emits .02 to .04 lbs. CO2E/kWh (carbonRead More`` Rent Seeking And The Marking Of An Unequal Society `` By Joseph E. 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Based on these definitions, the Clinton administration can be seen as the latter. They focused in on how they could most benefit, pushing back on becoming involved in RwandaRead MoreEssay on Is There Help For Sex Offenders?973 Words   |  4 Pagesfree world. Their odd and risky behaviors would have been a huge siren within the program. Had the program been in effect maybe Opal would be able to do all the thing s sixteen year old high school girls are experiencing: getting a driver’s license, chasing after boys, stressing over tests; but instead the only things left of Opal’s are her purple Barbie shoes found at one of the sites where her severed body was scattered. Had the program been implemented professionals would have likely found something

The Silver Linings Playbook Chapter 2 Free Essays

He Does Not Preach Pessimism My workout is interrupted midday, when Mom descends the basement stairs and says I have an appointment with Dr. Patel. I ask if I can go later that night, after I have completed my daily weights routine, but Mom says I’ll have to go back to the bad place in Baltimore if I do not keep my appointments with Dr. We will write a custom essay sample on The Silver Linings Playbook Chapter 2 or any similar topic only for you Order Now Patel, and she even references the court ruling, telling me I can read the paperwork if I don’t believe her. So I shower, and then Mom drives me to Dr. Patel’s office, which is the first floor of a big house in Voorhees, just off Haddonfield – Berlin Road. When we arrive, I take a seat in the waiting room as Mom fills out some more paperwork. By now, ten trees must have been cut down just to document my mental health, which Nikki will hate hearing, as she is an avid environmentalist who gave me at least one tree in the rain forest every Christmas – which was really only a piece of paper stating I owned the tree – and I do feel bad now for making fun of those gifts and won’t ever poke fun at the diminishing rain forest in the future when Nikki comes back. As I sit there flipping through a Sports Illustrated, listening to the easy-listening station Dr. Patel pumps into his waiting room, suddenly I’m hearing sexy synthesizer chords, faint highhat taps, the kick drum thumping out an erotic heartbeat, the twinkling of fairy dust, and then the evil bright soprano saxophone. You know the title: â€Å"Songbird.† And I’m out of my seat, screaming, kicking chairs, flipping the coffee table, picking up piles of magazines and throwing them against the wall, yelling, â€Å"It’s not fair! I won’t tolerate any tricks! I’m not an emotional lab rat!† And then a small Indian man – maybe only five feet tall, wearing a cable-knit sweater in August, suit pants, and shiny white tennis shoes – is calmly asking me what’s wrong. â€Å"Turn off that music!† I yell. â€Å"Shut it off! Right now!† The tiny man is Dr. Patel, I realize, because he tells his secretary to turn off the music, and when she obeys, Kenny G is out of my head and I stop yelling. I cover my face with my hands so no one will see me crying, and after a minute or so, my mother begins rubbing my back. So much silence – and then Dr. Patel asks me into his office. I follow him reluctantly as Mom helps the secretary clean up the mess I made. His office is pleasantly strange. Two leather recliners face each other, and spider-looking plants – long vines full of white-and-green leaves – hang down from the ceiling to frame the bay window that overlooks a stone birdbath and a garden of colorful flowers. But there is absolutely nothing else in the room except a box of tissues on the short length of floor between the recliners. The floor is a shiny yellow hardwood, and the ceiling and walls are painted to look like the sky – real-looking clouds float all around the office, which I take as a good omen, since I love clouds. A single light occupies the center of the ceiling, like a glowing upside-down vanilla-icing cake, but the ceiling around the light is painted to look like the sun. Friendly rays shoot out from the center. I have to admit I feel calm as soon as I enter Dr. Patel’s office and do not really mind anymore that I heard the Kenny G song. Dr. Patel asks me which recliner I want to relax in. I pick the black over the brown and immediately regret my decision, thinking that choosing black makes me seem more depressed than if I had chosen brown, and really, I’m not depressed at all. When Dr. Patel sits down, he pulls the lever on the side of his chair, which makes the footrest rise. He leans back and laces his fingers behind his tiny head, as if he were about to watch a ball game. â€Å"Relax,† he says. â€Å"And no Dr. Patel. Call me Cliff. I like to keep sessions informal. Friendly, right?† He seems nice enough, so I pull my lever, lean back, and try to relax. â€Å"So,† he says. â€Å"The Kenny G song really got to you. I can’t say I’m a fan either, but †¦Ã¢â‚¬  I close my eyes, hum a single note, and silently count to ten, blanking my mind. When I open my eyes, he says, â€Å"You want to talk about Kenny G?† I close my eyes, hum a single note, and silently count to ten, blanking my mind. â€Å"Okay. Want to tell me about Nikki?† â€Å"Why do you want to know about Nikki?† I say, too defensively, I admit. â€Å"If I am going to help you, Pat, I need to know you, right? Your mother tells me you wish to be reunited with Nikki, that this is your biggest life goal – so I figure we best start there.† I begin to feel better because he does not say a reunion is out of the question, which seems to imply that Dr. Patel feels as though reconciling with my wife is still possible. â€Å"Nikki? She’s great,† I say, and then smile, feeling the warmth that fills my chest whenever I say her name, whenever I see her face in my mind. â€Å"She’s the best thing that ever happened to me. I love her more than life itself. And I just can’t wait until apart time is over.† â€Å"Apart time?† â€Å"Yeah. Apart time.† â€Å"What is apart time?† â€Å"A few months ago I agreed to give Nikki some space, and she agreed to come back to me when she felt like she had worked out her own issues enough so we could be together again. So we are sort of separated, but only temporarily.† â€Å"Why did you separate?† â€Å"Mostly because I didn’t appreciate her and was a workaholic – chairing the Jefferson High School History Department and coaching three sports. I was never home, and she got lonely. Also I sort of let my appearance go, to the point where I was maybe ten to seventy pounds overweight, but I’m working on all that and am now more than willing to go into couples counseling like she wanted me to, because I’m a changed man.† â€Å"Did you set a date?† â€Å"A date?† â€Å"For the end of apart time.† â€Å"No.† â€Å"So apart time is something that will go on indefinitely?† â€Å"Theoretically, I guess – yes. Especially since I’m not allowed to contact Nikki or her family.† â€Å"Why’s that?† â€Å"Umm †¦ I don’t know, really. I mean – I love my in-laws as much as I love Nikki. But it doesn’t matter, because I’m thinking that Nikki will be back sooner than later, and then she’ll straighten everything out with her parents.† â€Å"On what do you base your thinking?† he asks, but nicely, with a friendly smile on his face. â€Å"I believe in happy endings,† I tell him. â€Å"And it feels like this movie has gone on for the right amount of time.† â€Å"Movie?† Dr. Patel says, and I think he would look exactly like Gandhi if he had those wire-rim glasses and a shaved head, which is weird, especially since we are in leather recliners in such a bright, happy room and well, Gandhi is dead, right? â€Å"Yeah,† I say. â€Å"Haven’t you ever noticed that life is like a series of movies?† â€Å"No. Tell me.† â€Å"Well, you have adventures. All start out with troubles, but then you admit your problems and become a better person by working really hard, which is what fertilizes the happy ending and allows it to bloom – just like the end of all the Rocky films, Rudy, The Karate Kid, the Star Wars and Indiana Jones trilogies, and The Goonies, which are my favorite films, even though I have sworn off movies until Nikki returns, because now my own life is the movie I will watch, and well, it’s always on. Plus I know it’s almost time for the happy ending, when Nikki will come back, because I have improved myself so very much through physical fitness and medication and therapy.† â€Å"Oh, I see.† Dr. Patel smiles. â€Å"I like happy endings too, Pat.† â€Å"So you agree with me. You think my wife will come back soon?† â€Å"Time will tell,† Dr. Patel says, and I know right then that Cliff and I are going to get along, because he does not preach pessimism like Dr. Timbers and the staff at the bad place; Cliff doesn’t say I need to face what he thinks is my reality. â€Å"It’s funny, because all the other therapists I’ve seen said that Nikki wouldn’t be back. Even after I told them about the life improvements I have been making, how I am bettering myself, they still were always ‘hating on me,’ which is an expression I learned from my black friend Danny.† â€Å"People can be cruel,† he says with a sympathetic look that makes me trust him even more. And right then I realize that he is not writing down all my words in a file, which I really appreciate, let me tell you. I tell him I like the room, and we talk about my love of clouds and how most people lose the ability to see silver linings even though they are always there above us almost every day. I ask him questions about his family, just to be nice, and it turns out he has a daughter whose high school field hockey team is ranked second in South Jersey. Also he has a son in elementary school who wants to be a ventriloquist and even practices nightly with a wooden dummy named Grover Cleveland, who, incidentally, was also the only U.S. president to serve two terms that were not back-to-back. I don’t really get why Cliff’s son named his wooden dummy after our twenty-second and twenty-fourth president, although I do not say so. Next, Cliff says he has a wife named Sonja, who painted the room so beautifully, which leads to our discussion about how great women are and how it’s important to treasure your woman while you have her because if you don’t, you can lose her pretty quickly – as God really wants us to appreciate our women. I tell Cliff I hope he never has to experience apart time, and he says he hopes my apart time will end soon, which is a pretty nice thing to say. Before I leave, Cliff says he will be changing my medication, which could lead to some unwanted side effects, and that I have to report any discomfort or sleeplessness or anxiety or anything else to my mother immediately – because it might take some time for him to find the right combination of drugs – and I promise him I will. On the drive home I tell my mother I really like Dr. Cliff Patel and am feeling much more hopeful about my therapy. I thank her for getting me out of the bad place, saying Nikki is far more likely to come to Collingswood than to a mental institution, and when I say this, Mom starts to cry, which is so strange. She even pulls off the road, rests her head against the steering wheel, and with the engine running, she cries for a long time – sniffling and trembling and making crying noises. So I rub her back, like she did for me in Dr. Patel’s office when that certain song came on, and after ten minutes or so, she simply stops crying and drives me home. To make up for the hour I spent sitting around with Cliff, I work out until late in the evening, and when I go to bed, my father is still in his office with the door shut, so another day passes without my talking to Dad. I think it’s strange to live in a house with someone you cannot talk to – especially when that someone is your father – and the thought makes me a little sad. Since Mom has not been to the library yet, I have nothing to read. So I close my eyes and think about Nikki until she comes to be with me in my dreams – like always. How to cite The Silver Linings Playbook Chapter 2, Essay examples

Social Networks in Business Tourism

Question: Discuss about the Social Networks in Business Tourism. Answer: Introduction The project aims to bring focus on the advantages and the disadvantages of using social media for marketing specifically in tourism sector. Today, sales has become a topic relevant to behavioural science, many studies have revealed that most of buying decisions may be just based on psychological reasons rather than rational thinking, cost and benefits analysis etc. Burst of social media has increased competitiveness in tourism industry. Business opportunities are more than how the industry has responded though. The tourism sector is just waking up to the power of the social media. Along with a smart phone, savvy English, bling photos and well-dressed people, travel diaries have popped up on every platform of social media (Bryman and Bell, 2015). The powerful combination of social networking and social media has been the most dramatic development over recent years. Social media has been crucial as a game changer in any business. Social media helps practice social networking. Posts by avid users gain visibility by all the sharing done with network contacts who are mainly acquaintances and friends. A single post has potential to spread over millions and millions of contacts and even their contact and further on. People may like what they see and simply talk about it or further share. Social media also provides the necessary flexibility to communicate at personal as well as professional levels. As many people open their pages as business pages where along with the flexibility to answer informally and act informally professional advices or suggestions are freely shared, content as well as knowledge is shared (Bryman and Bell, 2015). How tourism functioned earlier was either out of risk or strictly on word of mouth. Owing to the absence of internet, smart phones, basically the technology to inspire and influence decision making in an instant, everything was time bound. The industry too learned the same pace and moved slowly (Lacka and Chong, 2016, p. 83) However as is evident, technology has overtaken the lives of people and the tourism has still not picked up the same pace. This is not same with the shared sectors like aviation, hotel industry etc. People book tickets in an instant over internet and get travelling. But how will the tourism know that over the next 6 months the footfall of people could simply see a steep rise owing to excellent experience a honeymoon couple had and now their friends are all stirred to hit the place with their beaus or families (Zikmund et al. 2013). Tourism mostly is still stuck on as is scenarios. Instead of preparing to amaze the people who decided to flock to a locality, they s imply would be preparing for those who arrived and doing their momentary best. The approach could be more prepared. Assume, tourism of a particular nation is hyperactive on marketing over social media platforms and collects huge data for analysis. Upon analysis, they found out that there is potential for $14 million as business (Ladkin and Buhalis, 2016, p. 328). There are already huge number of people who are interested in an upcoming sports event about to take place in the country. They probably need a push. The tourism ministry could start activities like internet polling, adverts on pages, rolling out TV advertisement, print advertisements, opening a competition to win free tickets etc. and simply pick more interest of people (Jackson, 2015). Man loves to ape and realizing that many people are talking about the same things indulge himself as well. He will talk about it in his friends circle and may be; motivate more people who were unaware of the event to look it up. Maximum hits, eyeball counts are all data in social media, they would then be targeted and the tourism would attempt to lure them to be part of the event. Apart from this, as many footfalls in the country would be direct and indirect resultant of marketing activities both on social media and off it but business in the country increases with advent of tourists (Sainaghi et al. 2017, p. 41). This is the power of social media or marketing on social platforms at present age which is still to be tapped by the industry (Trochim et al.2015). Most of the west have realised the potential and over the past decade have even reaped its benefits. TripAdvisor as an organization today stands as the worlds largest social travel website. However, it did not intend to venture into the business it is in today in its start-up days. After being founded, it wanted to run a business very much on lines of AOL, to become an internet company. It faced tremendous issues with funding and even after a long time post opening its doors for business it had hardly made a deal (Madi, 2016, p. 627). As with many start-ups, it faced similar questions as to we are doing fine without you, why should I buy from you? Unfortunately the 9/11 event became a game changer for this organization (Sigala, 2017, p. 351). There were lot of people who were interested and even used its dummy travel website, the owners simply chose to make use of the opportunity. So, as fate would have it and mostly, owing to its own endeavours in adapting to changes, TripAdvisor became one of the early adopters of user generated content. Today TripAdvisor is one website people vis it before making their travelling plans or even choosing a destination for holiday or an eat-out. Rapid involvement of TripAdvisor on social media and engaging marketing tools catapulted the business to its current position (Jordan et al. 2016). Tourism faces challenges as on today on following grounds intangibility of services, increasing information as well as interdependence among different organizations to provide unique services. Almost everything that needs to be known is available on the internet, people have stated experiences of even visiting a small shack and how the food was or how delightful the ambience was (Zahra, 2016, p. 4). Information is available and interested customers just need to look around and reach out to the experienced person who is more than willing to help out. Tourism doles out leisure, fun, relaxation, enjoyment, peace or adventure. To different people different meanings. For such an intangible service, great experiences more of which could be talked about to lure customers or sell better post the vacation as word of mouth is a challenge the industry faces without having an amazing platform like social media (Zhang et al. 2017, p. 231). People can watch each online videos and aspire to do the same things themselves on their visit. Social media is useful for their unique ability of attracting customers through detailed, pointed, and member generated content, engaging through social interactions, and retaining them through relation building with other online members (Okazaki et al. 2017, p. 111). Tourism brings people together just like social media and some of the top benefits tourism sector could gain are: Better chance at understanding the customer. Social media platforms collect data and listen to the conversations. This way organizations can advertise the related content on pages Checking for competition All competitors are online, checking competitor activity online. Important Intel of whats going on and what is not going on helps formulate a strategy for the organizations own marketing efforts (Varkaris and Neuhofer, 2017, p. 333). Better interaction with customers hard selling is a strict no-no but engaging people by good content that encourages interaction Identifying the brand lovers people who have appreciated and loved the services/product will share the content created by the organization. Especially in tourism, word of mouth is a key way to get more business (Caron and Light, 2016, p. 33). Delivering good customer service promptly answering questions and sorting issues if any increases visibility of great customer service the organization has to offer Certain disadvantages could be: Time intensive as understood, social media is interactive. Social media managers spend almost entire day on various platforms and picking up keywords to start a conversation, divert it, focus on info or bring in more attention to the content. This is time engaging. Even two way interactions that to answer queries takes up time. Two-way interactions require commitment as well. Hence, focused workforce to manage all this needs to be deployed by organizations in the industry to monitor communications over social platforms and build long term relationships (Stewart and Wilson, 2016, p. 641). May be intrusive some people on social media network also feel advertisements as encroachment to their privacy. People feel that what they do online should be their business and they should not be targeted just for seeing related marketing content. Marketing on social media solely depends on data collected. People checking out flight rates over various websites for 2 destinations may make them a target, no matter which website they visit there may be sponsored advertisements of the seen content following them and therefore users feel unsafe to share details (Sano, 2016, p.193). Marketing attempts are met with bitterness in such cases with this type of audience Feedback cannot be controlled Sometimes people get nasty while giving comments, unhappy customers post images of their experiences. Social media needs constant monitoring and quick responses to neutralize the effects Unmatched followers the business may be local with fans who are very distant. Targeted paid advertising needs to be carried out by the marketing team to reach the actual customers All in all, social media allows people to speak about their great as well as not so great experiences. Platforms such as Facebook provide instant ways to reach out to millions of people, twitter helps word spread quickly, platforms such as LinkedIn allow interested business professional to network (Li et al. 2017, p. 61). Such platforms allow power of becoming a critic to common people, by using platforms such as YouTube, people shoot and upload videos to show the world what in it for them. People share what they ate, how the dish looked like, what extra experiences they got by taking that extra mile, how was the hotel, their coffee, their lift, bathrooms etc. lot of other info. People can also connect to strangers on such media platforms and ask queries or take suggestions, everything happens just instantly. The tourism industry needs to take note of how peoples trends are before taking a trip and post making their tri and accordingly make business strategies. As soon as a decision is taken to take a vacation, the decision usually leads to planning phase, referred to as pre-trip. The potential customer would start looking out for places to visit that would best suit his/her budget (Bilgihan et al. 2016, p. 288). The value chain starts with the decision and trip planning, pre-trip: the need to travel arises, At this point the e-tourist looks for information on the market that best suit his needs. The interested party may ask around and take suggestions from near and dear ones as well to finalize. Once all options are properly evaluated, the decision is made and the matter closed. Finally, all steps would be taken now to reach the destination such as hotel booking, travel arrangements, stay arrangements etc. Upon reaching the destination the actual experience of the vacation starts for the tourist. This stage also involves all leisure activities that accompanied to complete the travel experience. In the last phase, namely the post-travel phase, the satisfaction with the travel experience is evaluated. The tourist would now reminisce the experience and utilizes every opportunity to relive the moments, as much as he could even over social media platforms (Kim et al. 2016, p. 99) He would talk about his experience and express his ideas, notions, advices or even opinions on a destination or tourist service that he received. All of this does not just leave tourist who uses the internet for travel, but converts him into a prescriber and critic for others who are about to tread the same path as well. Conclusion It is vivid that with growing technology and internet as a platform, social media is becoming stronger and catchy. Even virtual reality has a lot of powerful content which makes the customers feel they are at a different location is existent. The various advantages and disadvantages mentioned of doing business using social networking is for all too see but there have been success stories of organizations who have gained momentum in their business because they invested appropriately and made proper planning and strategized to use the platform to reach new heights, gain new business dimensions and create an example. People using social media platforms are always hooked on to new content. Knowing has become a need. 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