Learning Team Internal and External Factors Paper Essay Example for Free

Learning Team Internal and External Factors Paper Essay Amongst today’s societies The McDonalds Corporations is considered one of many; that has successfully in so many ways used a combination of various marketing strategies and skills to become a globally known successful origination. McDonalds a global business in most countries around the world can also face a lot of challenges and issues. The McDonalds Corporations has learned and brought about changes according to the needs of its consumers per hour and should always remain flexible to changes within the environment that deals with current customer trends, government and or legal restrictions, and the development of technology. The McDonalds Corporations technology structural and also its financial assets of the company are perfect marketing positions. McDonalds without a doubt is completely abundant with many aspects in structure, finance and of course technology. To help, identify and implement majority of these assets within the proper directions towards the improvement of the corporations would be all that is needed. The McDonalds Corporations overall is producing their main product, creating items within their own kitchen, and cooking on their own grills. This means the use of equipment, certain control devices, the regulation of temperature, the business point-of sales system, inventory process, financial and communication information are all linked into different technology that impacts the corporation. Now with public awareness of technology and cultures more people are starting to become a little more health conscious, and have access to finding out about certain quality ingredients, and knowing the lack of minerals that may have an overall negative impact on what all fast foods have done to those who consume them. Along with maximizing knowledge on internal and external factors this will have a large impact on the four major function of management within a corporation. The McDonalds Corporations has goals that are reflected in its mission statement to become for some customers a favorite place to eat. There are several internal and external factor’s McDonald’s faces in the decision they made to go Global. External f actors  for the decision to go Global include the following. 1.)The growing heath trends of consumers 2.)The ability to expand into new markets such as India and China 3.)The diversification and purchase of other fast food restaurants 4.)The global growth of the fast food industry 5.)Worldwide deregulation (Salem, Abdullah, 2009) These external factors impacted the four functions of management for McDonald’s managers, by forcing management to adjust the planning function and information to include a mission that was based on a global demand and competition. The organizing function of management with in McDonalds was also affected by the decision to go global. Management now has to organize information, people, and financial resources crossed countries and cultures to achieve one common goal. The function a leading for a management changed also. Now, styles and type of leading and motiving had to be localized and customized around the culture rather than one specialized way of doing things. Controlling or measuring achievements in with in the global industry also changed as franchisees are now faced with measuring success based on others in different markets. Internal factors also played a part in McDonald’s decision to go global and those factors have also affected the four functions of manageme nt for their managers. Some internal factors include: 1.)The desire for a strong brand name, image, and reputation 2.)A large market share 3.)The desire for a global presence 4.)A stronger financial performance and position 5.)Introduction of new products 6.)Customer focus (Salem, Abdullah, 2009) These internal factors also had an effect on the planning, organizing, leading, and controlling functions of management within McDonald’s. Competing in a Global market makes managers think, act, gather and process information on a larger scale to achieve a goal. Diversity The evolution of McDonald’s Corporation toward diversity as a business objective began in the late 1970’s, when the corporation officially  established an Affirmative Action Department, which today is known as the Diversity Initiative Department (Anonymous, 2005). Numerous factors can affect the four major functions of management; this section will focus on how diversity can affect planning, organizing, leading and controlling within the McDonalds Corporation. Diversity in the workplace is more than a person’s race or ethnic background it also includes personality, gender, education, position in the organization, etc. The major obstacle for McDonald’s management continues to be age, gender, ethnic background and education. Diversity management involves a three-stage process: (Tetteh, 2014) †¢Identification Stage †¢Implementation Stage †¢Maintenance Stage McDonald’s management must identify where the diversity mixture is and decided on the appropriate action to ensure workplace harmony and productivity. This will be accomplished through proper training and communication with all employees. Learning to effectively communicate with the various groups within each location will be very important to the success of the team within each restaurant. Implementing effective processes that ensure each diverse group is accommodated is crucial to the process. McDonalds as a corporation does a great job helping and engaging their management and employee’s to ensure proper implementation by offering education and career development seminars, various gender based seminars, second language courses etc. Maintain and improving these processes will ensure that McDonald’s stays current and relevant to the groups each manager has identified within their department. McDonald’s continually re-evaluates its initiatives to ensure they are in line with their business and current employee base. McDonalds ensures diversity is properly managed within their organization by including diversity in the business planning process. This allows the company and its managers to treat diversity as an initiative rather than a program; it’s naturally incorporated into the business plan (Anonymous, 2005). Ethics When it comes the Functions of Management, you must condsider which parts may be corrupted by ethical issues. Two areas that maybe prone to be affected  are the Leading and Organizing Funtions. In building a dynamic organization you must find a diverse group of people, with different ethical baskgrouds, to fill the different postions in it. You would also want to get them up to speed with you organizations ethical views. If you take a company like McDonald’s you can find out what they do to ensure this. Now McDonalds is committed to conducting business ethically and in compliance with the letter and spirit of the law. This commitment is reflected in McDonalds Values. Inherent in each value is our commitment to be ethical, truthful and dependable and this is reflected through their Standards of Business Conduct, which serves as a guide to making good decisions and conducting business ethically. Each year McDonalds employees are required to re-certify that they have read and will abide by the standards that McDonalds has set through the Standards of Business Conduct. Employees complete regular training on the Standards, anti-bribery laws, and various other laws, regulations and company-specific policies. McDonalds and its employees in all countries must comply with the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (McDonalds: Standards Of Business Conduct For Employees, n.d.). References Salem, F., Abdullah, M., (2009) McDonalds case study. http://www.scribd.com/doc/16050821/McDonalds-Case-Study McDonalds: Standards of Business Conduct for Employees. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/investors/corporate_governance/codes_of_conduct/standards_of_business_conduct.html Bateman, T. S., Snell, S. A. (2011). Management: Leading collaborating in a competitive world (9th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin. Anonymous, . (2005, November). Diversity at McDonalds: A way of life. Nations Restaurant News, 1(), 92, 94-95 Tetteh, Vanessa A. (2014, January 1). Diversity in the Workplace. Research Starters, p. 1.

Organizations And Behavior Essay Example for Free

Organizations And Behavior Essay Introduction Management is an important activity in the performance of an organization.   Management involves integrated activities which together ensue that there is effective planning, control, and organization of recourses to lead the organization to achieve its goals and objectives. This means that managers need to have a wide range of information pertaining to different  Ã‚   departments in the organization. In this paper we are going to discus different management perspectives through accomplishment of different tasks.   The paper will look into organization structure can culture, motivation of employees, working with others in teams and groups, and organization leadership and management. Task 1 Comparing organization structure and culture of McDonalds and King George Pizza in Canada The fast food is one of the most competitive industries in the world.   The fast food industry has been recording higher rates of growth in North America including U.S and Canada than any other part of the world. MacDonald is a major player in the North American fast food industry while King George Pizza is one of small fast food establishment in British Columbia. Although the two companies operate in the same industry, there are a lot of similarity and differences in the organization structure and culture. This is based on the difference that comes as result of difference in their operation. McDonald organization structure is based on the size of its operation  Ã‚   which means that the structure has to adapt to the franchise nature of its operation (Haas and Wotruba 2003, p. 92). On the other hand, King Georges Pizza is a local restaurant operating just one branch in British Columbia. The culture between the two organization is also similar and at the same time with some differences. One of the key successes of MacDonald in the fast food industry has been its strong customer oriented culture. McDonald has adopted a market oriented culture which ensures that the company understands its consumers very well.   On the other hand, King George Pizza has also adopted a market oriented culture but its marketing activities have not been well targeted to the consumers like those of McDonalds. Due to its larger size of operation, MacDonald has adopted a bureaucratic structure that allows for standardization of its operations. The company has adopted tall structure in order to provide for standardization of operations and decision making process. On the hand, King George Pizza has adopted a pre-bureaucratic structure which lacks standardization with management strategies meant to meet the operational needs of the small establishment. The success of McDonalds has been cemented on it culture and organization structure. Since it was established, the company has taken consumer oriented hospitality culture that keeps customers coming for more.   McDonald is one of the companies which use a huge part of their revenues on customer service and advertisement in order to create good relationship with its customers. Apart from the customer oriented culture, the leadership of the company is democratic and ensures inclusion of employees in the decision making process.   The company takes its employees as the most important capital asset  Ã‚   for its growth.   Therefore McDonald employees are well motivated.   The structure of the organization has ensured standardized operations in all its establishments. Although there is management control from the head office, the franchises are given freedom in decision making process to make decisions which fits their operation (Haas and Wotruba 2003, p. 92). On the other hand, the King George Pizza has adopted an organization culture and structure that fits its operation. Like MacDonald, the company has a strong consumer oriented culture and although it does not have a customer service department, the employees have been well trained on customer service.   This has ensured the continued flow of customer to the small establishment in a competitive fast food market. At the same time, the company has adopted the right structure for its small operations. This structure ensures that there is strong control of the operation of the establishment by the management. Task 2 – Approaches to Management and Leadership Management approaches and how they can be implemented Management is one of the most important factions in the organization. Management involves playing key roles of planning and organizing the resources for the organization to lead it to achieve the set goals. Research has documented a correlation between the effectiveness of the management and the overall performance of the organization. There are different approaches to management depending on the kind of organization that one is dealing with (Haas and Wotruba 2003, p. 92).  Ã‚  Ã‚   One of the most common approaches to management is the project management.   This approach ahs been used for decades although it has been undergoing several changes in the recent past. Under this approach, the management takes the organization as a project that has specific goals and objectives to achieve. Therefore the guiding principle in the management is the requirements of the project and the fulfillment of the mission needs of the organization. This approach therefore assumes that the organization runs in cycles like a project and in each cycle, there are specific objectives that have to be leading the achievement of the overall goal.   However, this approach is  Ã‚   more focused on the technical mission or the technical aspects of the projection and various plans of action  Ã‚   and milestones to be achieved are the guiding pillars for the organization. Under this approach, the management takes into consideration activities like team building, budgeting, tracking the tasks as assigned to different individuals in the organization, reviewing individual performance, and many others. The success of the project or the organization is based on the way it meets its deliverables on the stipulated time and the set budget. This means that this approach is a bit rigid and set to details. To implement this approach, the management has to understand the goals and objectives of the organization and then formulate the necessary plan that will lead the organization to achieve the set goals and objectives. Another common management approach is the Balanced score card approach. This is a strategic planning and management system which is widely used in business, government, non-profit organization, and in other organizations with an aim of aligning the acclivities of the business with the vision and the overall growth strategy.   This approach is also aimed at improving the internal and external communications and toe monitor the progress in the performance of the organization in light of the set goals. This management approach is also focused on the drivers for the future growth and performance of the organization.   To achieve this, the management prioritizes the projects or initiatives which are likely to assist the organization to achieve these goals.   In order to implement this approach, the management has to view organization from four different perspectives including the learning and growth perspective, the business process perspective, the customer perspective, and financial perspective (Haas and Wotruba 2003, p. 92). Operational change As the U.S economy recede, most companies have been forced to undergo operations changes which are meant to reduce the cost of operation to align with the changing economic condition. The U.S Automotive industry which is on its knees due to threats of bankruptcy has seen a number of players in the industry under various operational changes in order to reduce the cost of operation. With the large burden of meeting the high labor cost, General Motors is one of the companies which as restructured its operation in a number of ways in order to cut its cost. Although the changes have emanated from the economical factors which may be beyond the control of the company, it has result to massive layoff and closing down of its plants in order to reduce the cost of operation. However, this has not gone well with UAW which is the trade union representing automotive workers in the US. The issues for confrontation has been the agreement that were made earlier between the company and the worker and even in the current financial crisis, the UAW has refused to let the deal go. Apparently the company could have retained some of the labor force and lowered the rate of pay per hour. At this time we can say the company is in a crisis. Managing change during a crisis is one of the most difficult tasks for any organization. At the time of crisis the organization needs to have a strong leadership style that does not compromise on the need to bring the organization back to its feet. Therefore authoritative leadership should be used to manage the current restructuring taking place in Ford General Motors. Authoritative leadership would minimize the number of time the management ha s to engage with the employees and the unions since the union has failed to recognize the current financial situation of the company. Task 3 – Motivational Theories In the 20th century management, the organizational assets were the most important capital for an organization. However, this has drastically changed in the 21st century and employees have become the most important capital for any organization. A well motivated workforce  Ã‚   can help an organization to have a competitive edge in the market which other organizations may find difficult to replicate.  Ã‚   One of the most important factors in human resource management is to ensure the overall satisfaction of the employees.  Ã‚   The main duty of human resource management is to ensure that employees are represented in the management and their affairs are taken care of. Motivation of the employees is one of the human resource practices that have been shown to increase employee satisfaction and therefore low rate of employee turnover and higher retention. Different organizations have taken different approaches to employee motivation (Weightman 2008, p. 45).   Research has documented that  Ã‚   despite the varied methods of employees motivation, monetary incentives remains the most effective.   Employee motivation can be described using behavioral and social approach. According to the behavioral approach, the management needs to have a clear understanding of the employees including the incentives and rewards that are used to motivate employees in the company.   In this case the managers have a duty of identifying the specific behavior that need to be reinforced in employees. These may include outstanding performance of the employee, punctuality, neatness, accuracy in completion of tasks and others. Any employee who shows improvements in these behaviors need to be rewarded to reinforce the development of those positive behaviors. On the other hand, social approaches include the integration of the cognitive and the behavioral aspects.   This theory view motivation as a factor produced by two forces including the expectation of the individual to succeed at work and the need to gain vicarious experience. Once the management recognizes the individual expectations, then they should provide the approach environment that will help the individual employee to achieve these. According the Maslow hierarchy of needs, we have different needs in our life that has to be fulfilled. The Maslow hierarchy therefore assumes that there are those basic needs that have to be met for the employees to the motivated.   The Maslow hierarchy of needs can be used to categorize how employees have different needs that have to be met for them to be motivated (Weightman 2008, p. 45).   .   The Maslow hierarchy theory starts with the basic needs up to social need. At the bottom there is physiological needs, safety, social, esteem, and self actualization a the top This means that it is important to recognize the specific needs of the employee that has to be met first according their hierarchy of needs. According to this theory, there are some basic needs that have to be met and in our life, we struggle to meet these needs. This means that our quest in life is to climb up the Maslow hierarchy to meet these needs.   Therefore if such needs are not satisfied, then individual motivation will arise from to satisfy them.   In line with fulfillment of these needs, a business therefore needs to offer different incentives to the workers in order to fulfill the different need as they progress up the ladder. Another theory of motivation is the two factor theory of Hertzberg.   Also known as hygiene theory,  Ã‚   it emphasizes more on the factors in the working environment which causes satisfaction and dissatisfaction.   The following table lists the top six factors which cause dissatisfaction and the top six factors causing satisfaction. Factors leading to dissatisfaction Leading to satisfaction Company policy Achievement Supervision Recognition Relationship with the boss Work itself Work conditions Responsibility Salary Advancement Relationship with peers Growth Like Maslow, Hertzberg reasoned that there are different individual needs which can be satisfied by money while there are others which cannot be satisfied by money. He argued that physiological needs or basic needs should be satisfied first while the other physiological needs should be satisfied later (Weightman 2008, p. 45).   . The implications of Hertzberg theory assert that the management should not only meet the hygiene factor to avoid the dissatisfaction of employees but they must also provide other factors which intrinsic to work in order to have satisfied employees. For example IBM, which is one of the most prosperous ICT companies in the world, has taken various strategies including flexible working schedules, pay per performance, and others in order to motivate their employees. The company takes an order from a client and allocates it to the worker who then works closely with the client to ensure that they meet all the technological challenges given by the client. Task 4 – Working with others, teamwork, groups and group dynamics Difference between teams and groups In many instances, we tend to use the work group and team interchangeably. However there are many differences between a tem and a group in the real application of the two.   In management we usually stress the importance of team building and not group building. This is because the strength of a team depends on the common purpose and the connectivity of the individual members. On the other hand, the strength of a group come the volume or the willingness to carry out the command given by the leader. In real application, it is very easy to form a group rather than a team. A group can be formed   by individuals of different   types and background but eventually it will be very difficult to achieve the commonality between the group members.   It is very difficult to build consensus in a group for a leader that it is in a team.   Unlike a group which is simple to form, a team is quite difficult to form.    The members of a team are not selected on the ground of commonality but on the ground of compatibility in different  Ã‚   complementary skills. For example a business team can be made up of an accountant, a salesman, secretary, and others.   Every member plays a different role but which are integrated to achieve a common goal. Unlike in a group, there is no room for conflicts in a team. The role of teams in a small and a big organization differs in some aspects although all the teams have the same role of achieving a set goal. However, teams in a small organization may be easier to form and evaluate and their process of work may be simpler due to the size of their operation. On the other hand, teams in a larger organization may take time to form since all members have to be consulted. Their process of work may be a bit difficult since they have a large operation to cover. Application of Tuckman and Jensen team development model Tuckman and Jensen present us with four stages which define group development.   Although the process can be subconscious, the four stages present the process which all groups go through in their formation. The first stage is the forming stage in which the individual behavior is defined by the desire to be accepted by other members of the team (McGrath and Tschan 2004, p. 61).   At this stage, serious issues, feelings, controversy, or conflict are usually avoided.   The individuals get more focused on adapting to their roles and gather information about others. The next stage is storming stage in which the group remains good to the other only when important issues are addressed.   There are minor confrontations which are dealt with or are ignored. These conflicts are related to work or relationship in the group.   The next stage is the norming stage in which the rules of engagement for the group member are established. At this stage, members understands the other well and the experience the efforts and experience of the other. However, individuals at this stage are resistance to change especially from outside for fear of group break up (McGrath and Tschan 2004, p. 61). The last stage is the performing stage which not many groups usually reach this stage.   This stage is characterized by interdependence and flexibility and every group member understand their role and trust each other. The group identity, loyalty and the performance are high as members become task oriented. How communication methods can affect team performance in a large multi national organization. Communication is one of the most important factors for optimum performance of an organization.   The communication process helps the organizations to pass important operation details from one department to the other. The communication structure in an organization is also very important since determines the flow of information from the management to the employees.   The  Ã‚   communication structure in an organization should ensure the smooth flow of information between the dyad in the work place. However, communication methods can affect team performance in multinational organizations. In most multinational organizations, the teams may be allocated to a certain function far away from the managements of the organization. This means that the team may be faced with the difficulty of enquiring important details regarding their duties from the management. At the same time, there is a high likelihood that the team will be made up of individuals using different languages. This means that the team will require an interpreter for it to function effectively (McGrath and Tschan 2004, p. 61). While forming teams for multinational organizations, language barrier should be one of the most important factors to consider. Bibligraphy: Haas, R.W. Wotruba, T.R 2003, Management: Concepts, Practice and Cases, Texas: Business Publications, Inc McGrath, J. E., Tschan, F 2004, Temporal matters in social psychology: Examining the role of time in the lives of groups and individuals. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association Weightman, J 2008, The Employee Motivation Audit, Cambridge Strategy Publications

Observation and Evaluation of a Teachers Lesson

Observation and Evaluation of a Teachers Lesson Describe the group characteristics (number and types of students, grade level, course description, etc.) of the observed classroom. There are 25 elementary school students in the classroom. The teacher is teaching multicultural students in an English Language Learners program. As the teacher explains how to distribute class material her instructions were made in English and Spanish. This indicates that some of her students are from Hispanic origin. Describe the tone of the observed teachers interactions with students. The teachers tone is firm and clear. The firmness of the teachers voice establishes the role she takes as the leader of the class. The clear tone allows the students to understand instructions given by their teacher. The firm and clear tone establishes the way the teacher interacts with students based on a teacher centered instruction. The teacher provides the students with information and the students are the receiver of that information. 2. Analysis, Exploration, and Reasoning Explain how the observed teacher builds the confidence of students with diverse backgrounds. The English Language Learners teacher assisted one of her student as she explained how to distribute class material for their next activity. She assisted the students by communicating effectively in Spanish to guide the student to properly distribute class material. This method helps students from diverse backgrounds the opportunity to build their confidence by encouraging them participate during an activity. When a student has a clear understanding of the instructions they are able to complete the task successful. This helps students to interact with their class environment in a positive way as they start building their self confidence. Describe the level of student engagement with the observed lesson. The students in the video are highly engaged. For example, the students are seating at their chairs and seating up straight as they listen actively to their teacher instructions. The students use eye contact to let their teacher know they are paying attention as she explains how to distribute materials. By staying quiet and facing forward is another indication they are engaged with the teachers instruction during their lesson. 3. Connections to Other Effective Teaching Practices Connect one pedagogical strategy observed in the lesson to building the confidence of students with diverse backgrounds. In the video the students are organized in small group discussions called cooperative learning. Cooperative Learning is a systematic pedagogical strategy that encourages small groups of students to work together for the achievement of a common goal (George Mason University, n.d., para.10). Students from diverse backgrounds are often hesitant to share ideas with the entire classroom due to the lack of confidence. Small group discussion allows the opportunity for students to contribute ideas and develop a bond among their group members. In the video the students in the cooperative groups were laughing as they interacted with one another. Children from diverse backgrounds learn to work as a team, develop social skills and start building their confidence through cooperative learning. 4. Evaluation Assess the effectiveness of the strategies the observed teacher used to build the confidence of students with diverse backgrounds. The first strategy viewed in the video was the way the teacher interacted with her diverse students through her tone. The teacher centered method was used through the teachers tone of voice as she established her role as the leader. The purpose of this role is to effectively build a respectful relationship between teacher and student. As this relationship develops, students from diverse backgrounds will begin to build a bond of trust with their teacher. This bond influences a positive impact in a students self esteem, confidence, and it motivates them to participate in class activities. The second strategy viewed in the video was the teachers explanation on the importance of understanding and learning from her diverse students bring into the classroom. For example Teach me how it is that you say it because I want to make the connection between what you know and what we know. We want to make sure that you feel good about who you are. When a teacher demonstrates respect and wiliness to learn from their diverse students, it helps students to appreciate themselves more. Through that appreciation students will feel valued and respected which will contribute to their confidence. The final strategy is cooperative learning. Cooperative learning allows students to interact with other students in a smaller group rather than sharing it with the entire class. Students from diverse backgrounds can build their confidence through team work, sharing ideas, and creating bonds as they work in groups. This foundation of confidence can lead to participating and sharing ideas in a class discussion. Explain the thinking process you went through to complete this evaluation. A teachers relationship with their students, a teachers method of teaching and cooperative learning method was the strategies I focused on to complete this evaluation. The first thing I focused on was the teacher and student relationship. Seen in the video the interaction between teacher and students was established through the teachers role as a leader and the way she included her students during the distribution of material by speaking in English and Spanish. The relationship a teacher has with their students is very important. It leads to respect, trust, and it encourages students to seek further education. The second things I focused on was the teachers explanation why she taught the way she did. For example, We dont want you to lose what you are and who you are. When a teacher shows respect and willing to learn from their students it leads to building a positive relationship in the classroom. The last thing was exploring the importance of cooperative learning. I realized this me thod is great opportunity for students to develop a positive interaction with peers and a healthy impact on their confidence. All of these strategies contribute to a students confidence, motivates students to succeed and genuinely build a bond among peers.

Malaria :: essays research papers fc

The Disease†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   That lead everyone in for a great awaking.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Malaria in humans is caused by a protozoon of the genus Plasmodium and the four subspecies, falciparum, vivax, malariae, and ovale. The species that causes the greatest illness and death in Africa is P. falciparum. The disease is transmitted by the bites of mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles, of which the Anopheles gambiae complex (the most efficient) is responsible for the transmission of disease in Africa. Fever is the main symptom of malaria. The most severe manifestations are cerebral malaria (mainly in children and persons without previous immunity), anemia (mainly in children and pregnant women), and kidney and other organ dysfunction (e.g., respiratory distress syndrome). Persons repeatedly exposed to the disease acquire a considerable degree of clinical immunity, which is unstable and disappears after a year away from the endemic-disease environment. Immunity reappears after malarial bouts if the person returns to an endemic-disease zone. Most likely to die of malaria are persons without previous immunity, primarily children or persons from parts of the same country (e.g., high altitudes) where transmission is absent, or persons from more industrialized countries where the disease does not exist. Why Is Malaria Reemerging? Do you think that when that thought they got everyone that had Malaria it was over? Well I think you knoe that’s no where this titie nor paragraph. In the last decade, the prevalence of malaria has been escalating at an alarming rate, especially in Africa. An estimated 300 to 500 million cases each year cause 1.5 to 2.7 million deaths, more than 90% in children under 5 years of age in Africa. Malaria has been estimated to cause 2.3% of global disease and 9% of disease in Africa; it ranks third among major infectious disease threats in Africa after pneumococcal acute respiratory infections (3.5%) and tuberculosis (TB) (2.8%). Cases in Africa account for approximately 90% of malaria cases in the world. Between 1994 and 1996, malaria epidemics in 14 countries of sub-Saharan Africa caused an unacceptably high number of deaths, many in areas previously free of the disease. Adolescents and young adults are now dying of severe forms of the disease. Air travel has brought the threat o f the disease to the doorsteps of industrialized countries, with an increasing incidence of imported cases and deaths from malaria by visitors to endemic-disease regions.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A number of factors appear to

Teens and Sex - Teenage Sex :: Argumentative Persuasive Topics

Teenage Sex    Sexually active teenagers, in America, are a significant problem we must look at. A question that rings in the minds of teenagers everywhere is when to have sex. Our Catholic teachings, instruct us to wait until one is in a loving marriage to have sex. Not only is the church preaching abstinence, but now public schools are also teaching students on the advantages of abstinence. Premarital sex is a growing, and important issue. Premarital sex is usually the cause of sexually transmitted diseases, teen pregnancy, and deep, emotions of regret.    Sexually transmitted diseases flourish in a society of premarital sex, where teens have many sex partners. A direct result of this, is STD's becoming more abundant among the population. One reason for the plague of STD's is the misuse of contraceptives by teens. Many teens believe that condoms, or the pill prohibit the spread of herpes, AIDS, or other diseases, but in fact, they do not stop the spread, and no where do the products state that they do stop the spread of STDs. Three million new cases of sexually transmitted diseases among teens are reported each year. Many teens that believe nothing is wrong in committing premarital sex have intercourse with many different teens through the ages of 15 and 19, and increase the chance of spreading sexually transmitted diseases each time. With sexual intercourse on the rise with high school students, and its acceptance among the public, even more teens are having sex now, to the point that every eleven seconds a teen has sex fo r their first time. Seventy percent of these students say they were socially pressured into having sex. If society has the power to pressuring teens to have sex, society ought to use that power to educate teems about the dangers of premarital sex.    Sex before marriage has also been one of the major causes of teen pregnancy. Teens often think that pregnancy just cannot happen to them, yet teen pregnancy grows each year, and shows no stop. Carelessness is the significant factor in teen pregnancy, whether the carelessness is in contraceptive use, or choosing of a partner. Teens just use different forms of contraceptives and birth control incorrectly.

Domus Aurea, Golden House Of N :: essays research papers fc

The Domus Aurea, Golden House of Nero In AD 64, Nero set fire to the city of Rome. The exact reasons he did it are not fully known. It is thought that he partly did for poetic or artistic purposes, or for the purpose of clearing away a city that had currently dissatisfied him. In its place however he did rebuild a better Rome, for the most part that is. A large portion, and arguably too large of a portion, was expropriated for the use of his own residence to be called the Domus Aurea. This is translated: The Golden House, and so, the residence is called: The Golden House of Nero. While the Domus Aurea had rather unjustified reasoning behind it, it is one of the greatest architectural achievements of the ancient world. Nero’s residence before his Golden House, was the Domus Transitoria. This was by now means any small living space. It was considered to be a mansion in itself. This palace linked to the Imperial Gardens of Maecenas on the Esquiline hill. It also spanned up the Velian slope beside the Forum (Grant 164). However this structure was not destroyed in the fire of 64. However it did clear out a valley behind it making room for Nero’s future house. Promptly after the fire construction was begun on Nero’s Golden House. It would continue until AD 68 (Wheeler 142). In fact the Domus Transitoria would soon become part of the new Domus Aurea. The architects of this great project were more engineers than they were architects. Their names were Severus and Celer (Picard 116). They were more like Italian bosses heading up a team of technicians who came to Rome in hordes due to their recent fire. However, these engineers main goal was to make the estate look bigger and be bigger without actually expanding. They accomplished by working on it from the inside out, utilizing paintings on walls that gave the impression of going on for infinity. It is an under statement to refer to these buildings as houses at all though. They were clearly much more than this, in even their smallest proportions. The Domus Aurea itself was a series of buildings and landscapes designed to give the impression of a vast park in a relatively small area for such a thing (Picard 116). The idea behind this was that you would create something more beautiful for the beholder if your creation was beautiful for how you used the earth.

Tom Clancy’s Net Force: Changing of the Guards Book Report

Tom Clancy’s Net Force: Changing of the Guards Book Report Looking for a book that will wake you up and make you wonder about the covert world of computer crime and computer crime-fighters? Look no further! Tom Clancy’s Net Force: Changing of the Guards is a book that will keep you reading until you fall asleep! Changing of the Guards, written by Steve Perry and Larry Segriff is set in the Net Force world, which was created by Tom Clancy and Steve Pieczenik. Set in 2013, ten years after it was written, it is our world just with much more advanced computer systems and technological devices. It is based around Net Force HQ, a â€Å"secret† base much like the FBI has at Quantico, that a government agency is based out of to detect and end computer crime. There are a few major players in the series and a few villains unique to this novel. Alex Michaels is the head of Net Force, who is stepping down from that position. Tom Thorn is the officer who is taking his place. Jay Gridley is the best computer operator on the good side of the law. John Howard is the head of military operations, who is also stepping down. Abe Kent is taking his place. A few of their wives play minor roles in the story. Sam Cox is the main villain of the novel, who, he and his company are worth billions of dollars, and he was a soviet spy in his youth. Eduard Natadze is a Georgian hitman for Cox who is a serious classical guitar player. This story is set up in the common style; bad guy appears, bad guy appears to win, bad guy gets defeated. In the beginning, Jay is working in decrypting a list of old soviet spies. Cox orders Natadze to capture Jay, but the plan he comes up with goes bad and Jay ends up getting hit with a bullet fragment in the head. He goes into a coma that is deeper than it should be because of a past injury. While he is in the coma, Alex, Tom, John, and Abe hunt for Natadze. However, they can not find any leads. Things seem dire, until Jay wakes himself out of the coma he is in. He, along with a few sudden realizations, manage to hunt down Natadze. However, they can not connect him to Cox with evidence that will hold up in court. To take Cox down, they trick Natadze into thinking Cox tried to kill him so he would kill Cox. My favorite part of the book is the coma. Jay is stuck in a coma, and he realizes this, so he devises a plan. He woke up from the last coma by strengthening the brain waves from alpha to beta to theta to delta waves. Each step requires more concentration. To do this, in the dreamlike coma, he creates an event like he does with VR simms, or virtual reality simulations. He creates a strong man competition in his mind, where he challenges the four wave strengths. He defeats Alpha easily. Beta also falls easily before him. Theta is the first real challenge, and he barely defeats him. As he challenges Delta, he realizes that he needs to focus on the challenge, not on defeating Delta. Doing so enables him to create delta waves in his brain and wake himself up out of the coma. There is one main underlying idea in this story. At the end, after Natadze is tricked into killing his boss, Jay finishes decrypting the list of soviet agents. On this list, that Cox was supposedly on, he is not listed! The idea behind this could be interpreted in two different ways. One is criminal activity never pays off. The other is let sleeping dogs lie, for if you kick it, it will wake up and bite you. This book is a must read for any Tom Clancy fan. It is set in the Net Force setting that is comparable to the original â€Å"Jack Ryan† series. It is written very well, and it will not disappoint anyone who likes Tom Clancy. However, I would not recommend this book unless you have read the whole series up to this book. There are more than a few things that, unless you have read the series, you will not get. This book was written with Clancy fans in mind. While there is a large series put out by Clancy that is continuously being lengthened, there are many people that are daunted by the size of his books, and many that have finished all of his books. This book was written with these people in mind, as it is written in Clancy’s style but it is only 318 pages. If I could save any one character in this book from disaster, it would be the very minor character, Tyrone, Alex Michaels son. I identify with him, as in this book and other books, he goes through struggles like I have. He also goes through more than any teenager should need to. He shoots and kills an assassin that is trying to kill his dads coworker and his pregnant wife. This books ending is wonderful. I love how the evil peon, (Natadze), gets away while the evil kingpin, (Cox), dies. In most books, the minion dies and the kingpin gets away. Also, I like how the good guy, (Thorn), bends the law to make sure that Cox does not get away. The person that I would like to have as a friend is Jay Gridley. He does not care about himself, he only cares about his country, his family, and his friends. If there were more people like him in the world, not only would the world IQ average go up, the world would be a better place. The book Tom Clancy’s Net Force: Changing of the Guards Book Report is a great book that will hook you in and not let you free until you finish it. A must read for all Clancy fans, it has characters that go much deeper than just a name.