Knowledge and Assessment Essay

1. Understand the principles & requirements of assessment 1. 1explain the functions of assessment in learning and development Determining level of knowledge & understanding †¢ Ensuring that learning is taking place †¢ Checking progress †¢ Adhering to course criteria 1. 2define the key concepts and principles of assessment 1. Explain the functions of assessment in learning and development. Assessment is carried out to evaluate that learning has taken place. It measures the learner’s attainment of knowledge and skills in their particular learning area. Assessment encourages learners to ask questions on anything they have not fully understood, as learners know that they will have to prove their knowledge and understanding during assessment to the standards of the awarding body. The anticipated outcome of assessment is that the learner will complete assessment to City and Guild standards within the time frame stated, with no assistance and show through answering questions that they have full understanding of the subject. 2. Define the key concepts and principles of assessment. Assessment has to remain fair, consistent and valid to ensure all learners have an equal and fair chance of receiving a fair assessment. An assessor cannot be swayed 1. 3 explain the responsibilities of the assessor The role of the assessor is to assess the learner’s knowledge and performance in a range of tasks. This includes, ? Ensuring that the learner has demonstrated competence and knowledge in the assessment to the standard of City and Guilds criteria. ? Assessments need to be planned between the assessor and each learner; the learner needs to be fully aware of his/her responsibilities in the collection and presentation of evidence. ? The assessor then needs to observe the learners performance in their workplace or similar environment and can ask questions to confirm a learners understanding. ? Accurate and constructive feedback needs to be given to the†¦ 1. 4 identify the regulations and requirements relevant to assessment in own area of practice 2. Understand different types of assessment methods 2. 1 compare the strengths and limitations of a range of assessment methods with reference to the needs of individual learners 3. Understand how to plan assessment 3. 1 summarise key factors to consider when planning assessment 3. 2 evaluate the benefits of using a holistic approach to assessment 3. 3 explain how to plan a holistic approach to assessment 3. 4 summarise the types of risks that may be involved in assessment in own area of responsibility 3. 5 explain how to minimise risks through the planning process 4. Understand how to involve learners & others in assessment 4. 1 explain the importance of involving the learner and others in the assessment process 4. 2 summarise types of information that should be made available to learners and others involved in the assessment process. 4. 3 explain how peer and self-assessment can be used effectively to promote learner involvement and personal responsibility in the assessment of l earning 4. 4 explain how assessment arrangements can be adapted to meet the needs of individual learners 5. Understand how to make assessment decisions 5. 1 explain how to judge whether evidence is: †¢Sufficient †¢Authentic †¢Current 5. 2 explain how to ensure that assessment decisions are: †¢Made against specific criteria †¢Valid †¢Reliable †¢Fair 6. Understand Quality Assurance of the assessment process. 6. 1 evaluate the importance of quality assurance in the assessment process 6. 2 summarise quality assurance and standardisation procedures in own area of practice 6. 3 summarise the procedures to follow when there are disputes concerning assessment in own area of practice 7. Understand how to manage information relating to assessment 7. 1 explain the importance of following procedures for the management of information relating to assessment 7. 2 explain how feedback & questioning contribute to the assessment process 8. Understand the legal & good practice requirements in relation to assessment 8. 1 explain legal issues, policies and procedures relevant to assessment, including those for confidentiality, health, safety and welfare 8. 2 explain the contribution that technology can make to the assessment process 8. 3 evaluate requirements for equality and diversity and, where appropriate, bilingualism in relation to assessment 8. 4 explain the value of reflective practice and continuing professional development in the assessment process.

Worldview Assignment

I. Worldview is the manner in which an individual (or society) philosophy in regards to life and their environment. Each person, due to upbringing or life experiences, has a manner in which they interpret the environment around them. Due to these differences, every person’s perception of the world is different. While some worldviews may share common interests, none are the same. II. 1. The Question of Origin – The Christian Worldview of Origin speaks of the manner in which God created the earth and all that lives. This can be detailed in the book of Genesis 1:1:31 (ESV) â€Å"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, â€Å"Let there be light,† and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. † 2. The Question of Identity – The Christian Worldview of Identity is that God created us to his image and likeness, and in this way we are made to represent Him and honor Him.This can be detailed in Genesis 1:27 (ESV) â€Å"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them† and Matthew 5:48 (ESV) â€Å"You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. † 3. The Question of Meaning/Purpose – The Christian Worldview of Meaning and Purpose is that we must strive to develop and strengthen our relationship with God. This can be described under 2 Timothy 3:16 (ESV) â€Å"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness†. 4. The Question of Morality –The Christian Worldview of Morality lies in the fact that as we must b e righteous, forgiving and always do the right thing for the right reason. This is detailed in Romans 13:8-10 where it says â€Å"Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, â€Å"You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,† and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: â€Å"You shall love your neighbor as yourself. † Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. 5. The Question of Destiny – The Christian Worldview of Destiny states that God predetermines our destiny and that failure is not a permanent state, since redemption is always possible. This can be seen in Psalm 138:8 (ESV) â€Å"The  Lord  will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O  Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands. † III. Part Three: How might/should a biblical worldview influe nce the way you [Refer specifically to how biblical worldview beliefs influence your answer] choose only two of these: 6. think about, treat, and speak to others on a daily basis? Biblical Christian Worldviews influence my daily habits in positive ways that have made me more ethical and less judgmental. As a Christian, our identity is defined as being in likeness with our creator. God forgives, teaches and loves us as we are, and I in turn, try to do the same to everyone I encounter. Further, the morality aspect of our Christian Worldview asks that I be truthful and do everything for the right reason. My worldview beliefs keep me grounded and my spirit in peace.

Illegal Street Racing

Illegal Street Racing Hi today I will be talking to you about illegal street racing. The purpose of this speech is to persuade you not to illegally street racing. The specific purpose is to persuade you not to illegally street race because of the dangers. I will be talking to you about the things that can happen while street racing, some facts about illegally street racing, things that have happened to some people, And lastly some things you can do to prevent street racing. Well I know some of you are wondering what is wrong with illegal street racing. For starters illegally street racing is against the law. And I know some of you are like so is popping fireworks in sirten states but fireworks doesn’t kill 37,000 people yearly in the United States of America. Street racers either drive their car with excessive speed on public roads causes deadly accidents or get crushed at illegal racing events. Car accidents are the leading cause of death of youth aged 16 to 20. The total of street racing fatalities was 72 in 2001. Street racing drivers can be arrested for months losing their license to drive to drive permanently and their cars will be impounded. Police pursuit accidents have an average of 300 to 400 deaths per year. More people die from street racing than in gangs. More people die from street racing than wrong way driving. In 2001, the National Highway Safety Administration reported that the police listed street racing racing as a factor in 135 fatal crashes. According to the California office of traffic safety, more than 800 citations for illegal street racing were issued in 2001. In San Diego, where the street racing problem has been termed â€Å"epidemic†, 16 death and 31 injuries were directly related to illegal racing in 2001. In Florida in 2011, 216 citations were issued for racing on the highway. When the sun goes down, drivers say illegal racing takes off on Tulsa streets. Tulsa police say a Friday night accident that injured four people was the result of street racing. A car racing southbound on Yale Avenue hit another driver turning onto the Creek Turnpike. Driver, David Morreau says he races for the thrill, â€Å" You get a pretty good adrenaline rush. It feels good,† but says he doesn’t race on Tulsa streets. Morreau thinks racing should stay on the track. Don Falleti lives near Memorial Drive. Police say it's another hot spot for street racing. â€Å"Friday nights and Saturday nights if you want a thrill just come on over at 9:30 or 10 o’clock at night,† Falleti said. Both drivers say they see no end in sight. â€Å" If you are going to do it, you can’t stop people from doing it. People are always going to do it, â€Å" Morreau said. Police warn if you are cought street racing you could end up with a reckless driving ticket that would cost $365. 00plus court costs and a higher insurance rate. . Street racing is a global problem that affects us all regardless of participation. More of our young people illegally street race than older. Street racing can be prevented by just going to were you need to go. People can stop street racing by playing video games. If you want to street race I advise you race a drag track. So I have hope you want illegally street race. So I have told you about the thing that can happen while street racing, some facts, things that have happened to people, and lastly thing you can do instead of illegally street racing. Thank you and have a great day

Violations under American Disability Act Case Study

Violations under American Disability Act - Case Study Example The foregoing violations shall be discussed individually. First, the American Disability Act (ADA) â€Å"applies to disabilities that affect a major life activity, and those areas of coverage are vision, mental and motor skills, ability to care for one’s self and commute to employment†. In the case of Miss Clark, the fact that she is blind has been known to the company for a long time, as she holds the Vice-President position. Even though she is suffering from visual impairment, it did not prevent her from fulfilling her duties and responsibilities as the Vice-President of the company. However, due to her physical disability, the company refused to promote her to the position of Senior Vice-President because they think that she is not capable enough to carry-out the functions of an SVP. In spite of this physical defect, she has remained loyal to the company and worked for them in several years. Without a doubt, there is a clear violation of the law when the employer pre vented the career advancement of Miss Clark by denying her of the position of the Senior Vice-President. ... f the major life activities of such individual; Second: A record of such impairment, or being regarded as having such impairment; and Third: Accordingly, to fall within this definition, one must have an actual disability, have a record of disability or be regarded of having one. Verily, in the light of the justifications provided by law, Miss Clark has a valid cause of action against her employer as the above requisites have been complied with and she can file a claim against her employer. The employers must take judicial of the fact that both the state laws and the federal laws give protection to employees who have been victims of discrimination because of a disability, and entitles them to file claims for damages. This is pursuant to the principle of â€Å"disparate treatment enunciated in the case of Raytheon Vs. Hernandez (540 U.S. 44 (2003)  298 F.3d 1030), where the Supreme Court held that in addition that disparate impact claims are also available to workers based on facial ly neutral policies that impact qualified individuals with disabilities differently than workers without disabilities†. Another glaring violation committed by her employer is against the provisions of â€Å"The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, or ERISA. The law was enacted to â€Å"protect the employees’ justified expectation of receiving the benefits their employers promise them, and ensures that employees will not be left empty-handed once employers have guaranteed them certain benefits upon retirement† (Bennet-Alexander and Hartman 742). Under ERISA, Miss Clark has a legal standing to sue her employer for illegally termination when she was forced to resign and accept diminished retirement benefit package being offered by the company, which she later on refused for violations

The nature of financial information analysis Essay

The nature of financial information analysis - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that Financial Information Analysis reflects the developments by addressing the natural world and function of accounting information in the past and present society, with specific reference to technological change. The increasing focuses particularly primary accounting documents, analysis, presentation, and Annual Reporting which propels it to the justifiable level. The main aim apparently is to endow users with the skills required to fathom the information content relevant and other accounting related materials. These functions facilitate corporate governance on creative accounting, the relevant pronouncement in regulatory structures that have been rewritten to add new insight, and emphasis. Information analysis is an art which is highly subjective exercise where skills, experience, and intuition of users account the very critical factor of consideration. The core mandate of accounting reporting, therefore, is to gather information about a n organizations strategy, its operations, and future prospects in relation to commercial, environmental and social context. This is meant to be an organization's most important reporting tool addressing how the business activities are trading and to which extent is the state of affairs in regard to the financial position. In other words, the following performance areas of concern are addressed; what is financial efficiency, liquidity, and its gearing status as well as the expectation of the shareholder in return to their money invested. Its pertinent aim is to create a formula for accounting for sustainability, bringing together governance, social, environmental and finance in a cohesive way. Financial information need to achieve financial development, sustainability and improved performance while reporting on their overall performance. In fact, it exposed some businesses to their bare minimum since companies are able to reveal most of their financial details while yet they did not achieve better performance that they expected. This therefore necessitated the need for a new framework for critical analysis in reporting that would boost their performance through better modalities of information review. The process of creating an integrated management information system has been faced with a number of setbacks. This has been brought about by a number of challenges such as the existences of different rules and regulations governing the various jurisdictions in the international society. Therefore for a report to be standardized there is a need for such report or rules in reporting to be applied across the boards (PETERSON, & FABOZZI, 2012). This has been a problem because the international communities have a different set of laws that govern them and as such some reporting guidelines may not be acceptable to extents within a given jurisdictions. This greatly affects the process of creating an integral report since the committee has to compromise or look for alternative ideas or methods that can be generally accepted across the boards and one that is all inclusive. It may also mean that some jurisdictions may have to be guided by a different guideline on international reporting requir ements (SMULLEN, 1995). Since the idea of financial information analysis was relatively new, it goes without saying that

Attraction and mating Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Attraction and mating - Essay Example Some of the most fundamental issues examined within biological sciences relate to the core concepts of attraction and mating. In general terms mating is understood as the coming together of two opposite sex organisms into a form of copulation that results in reproduction. Attraction is broadly understood as the process wherein these individual creates attract the opposite sex organism that they will copulate with in the act of mating. While these are broad understandings of this terminology, there is also a large amount of scientific research that goes into understanding these elements in terms of the differences and specific elements within species. This essay considers these elements from a variety of perspectives in order to come to a greater understanding of their key elements. In terms of attraction there are a number of broad issues that scientists have identified as key concepts within this field of understanding. One of the primary elements of attraction that has been identif ied is the idea of symmetry. Symmetry is the scientifically research construct wherein animals are more drawn to the symmetrical nature of other animals’ faces and bodies. The theoretical understanding behind this concept is that strong symmetry demonstrates that individuals have demonstrated the ability to go through the development process in a strong fashion and as a result are healthy and demonstrate fertility for mating. A biologist at the University of Mexico stated, "It makes sense to use symmetry variation in mate choice," said evolutionary biologist Randy Thornhill of the University of New Mexico" If you choose a perfectly symmetrical partner and reproduce with them, your offspring will have a better chance of being symmetric and able to deal with perturbations" (Carey 2007). Research has been conducted that has demonstrated that individuals with more symmetrical faces are perceived as more attractive by members of the opposite sex. The exact numbers of sexual partne rs vary between men and women, with research indicating symmetry being a more important part of a man’s composition than a woman’s. Another central element of attraction is body shape. In these regards, the waist to hip ratio, or the WHR as it has been referred is one of the primary aspects in these regards. Scientists have even measured the waist to hip ratio that has been shown to be the most effective in attractive members of the opposite sex; in these regards, it has been demonstrated that a waist to hip ratio of .7 is the most effective ratio in which to attract members of the opposite sex. In terms of men, there is what is referred to as the Adonis index. This feature considers that women are most attracted to broad shoulders and a V-neck body shape wherein from the torso to the pelvis a V neck tapers of through muscle and skeletal structure. In addition to this element men are also judged by their waist to hip ratio. In these regards, the most effective waist to hip ratio for men is slightly larger than that of women. For men the ideal ratio is between .8 and 1.0. While there are a number of elements that scientists have attempted to discern in the waist to hip ratio’s relation to attractiveness, research has focused on a few specific points. One of the primary determinants is the belief that the waist to hip ratio functions to allow potential partners know if the individual will have enough energy to be able to care for their offspring. For women, this involves a complex interaction between estrogen and fat deposits that send signals to the opposite sex as to if they will have the proper energy necessary for reproduction and offspring care. For men, this relation is between testosterone and fat deposits. It’s been demonstrated that individuals residing in this ideal waist to hip ratio face less challenges with diseases, such as cardiovascular and other such complications; women in this range have also been demonstrated to ha ve an easier time during pregnancy. There also exists elements of related to attraction and

Marriage in Reformed China Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Marriage in Reformed China - Essay Example In China, marriage reform began in 1949. Women’s rights were a personal interest of Mao Zedong's, and a common issue amongst intellectuals. Up until this time arranged or forced marriages, concubinage and the inability to get a divorce influenced the lives of many women. Chairman Mao enacted the New Marriage Law of 1950 which marked a radical change from existing patriarchal Chinese marriage traditions. Through the marriage law of 1950, everybody in China was given freedom to choose his or her partner in marriage. However, meeting potential mates especially in the countryside was not easy, hence low chances of getting a marriage partner (Niida, 2010, p.2). There was limited privacy for courtship and in the villages, flirting or close conversation between unmarried women and men was not allowed. Parents usually proposed or chose matches for their daughters and sons. This was because, even with the new law, marriages were between families rather than just between individuals. So cial classes Social class refers to grouping of people based on their economic status. In China social class was one of determining factors in 1950’s .This is because marriage was taken to be an affair of the two marrying parties and their parents at such a time. Moreover, it was expectation of the society that the two marrying parties came from the same class in terms of social status. In a situation in which the two matches came from different social classes it was expected that the groom’s family was of a higher status as compared to bride’s status. The New Marriage Law, enacted by Mao himself, removed previous restrictions on marriage such as kin prohibitions, in order to further the notion of â€Å"Free-choice Marriage.† Now individuals were free to marry based on their own preference and not the opinion of others, race, social status, occupation or property (Croll, 1981). Furthermore, a significant change was seen in marriages in the1960’s si nce inherited wealth which was a significant figure was eliminated. This occurred because prior to the law, marriages were often a political or financial alignment between two families, designed to further the interests of both. The changes in law meant that people of varied social classes could marry one another. However, was still expected that the groom should be of a higher social class than the bride. Eventually new criteria for the ideal marriage partner were often socially created based on political consciousness, although relationships and marriages were still sometimes formed on other ideas. Zhitong dahoe or a political and ideological agreement became a sought after quality in potential relationships. Many magazines and periodicals of the time began supporting the idea that one’s spouse should share similar political views, attitude towards work, style of life and quality of thinking. Such philosophies paved the way for what anthropologists call heterogamous marriag es between people of varying professions like laborers and educated professionals (Croll, 1981). Marriage choice and the establishment of alliances have been attributed to problems of stratification and socio-economic differentiation in China for years. Anthropologists and social theorists differenciate between closed marriage systems that suggest a spouse be chosen from one or more designated socio-economic categories and open marriage system that allow almost much anything except for incestuous relationships (Watson,

Philosophers Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Philosophers - Research Paper Example According to Bennabi, religion is important if the equation Man + Soil + Time = Civilization(Benlahcene, 2013). He argued that Man was at the center of the process of civilization and that without him, the other elements would not hold. In line with verse 13:11 of the Quran, he also argued that to change the society, Muslims must first seek to change their spiritual condition. Bennabi’s philosophy was based on a deep understanding of Islam not just as a religion, but also as a civilization. He sought to philosophically explain the origins of the decline of Islam and propose solutions. His early life in a devout Islamic family had prepared him for such a mission. Ibn Khaldun is largely considered the most important philosopher and scholar in Muslim History(Rapoport, 2011). Ibn Khaldun was born to a wealthy family in 1332. He received a traditional education. His first teacher was his father, a scholar who avoided politics even though he came from a ruling family. Then, under different scholars, he memorized the Quran and learned Arabic grammar, Hadith, philology, rhetoric, jurisprudence and poetry. Ibn Khaldun pursued studies until the age of nineteen when a major plague struck the country. After the plague, Ibn Tafrakin, the ruler of Tunis, hired Khaldun as the seal bearer of the ruler’s captive, Sultan Abu lshaq. This appointment set the stage for Khaldun’s political career. In a work known as the Muqaddima, translated â€Å"The Introduction to History†, Khaldun offers a synthesis of the methodological and cultural knowledge that an effective historian must possess. In the book, he presents a cyclical model of how dynasties evolved in the ancient world (Rapoport, 2011). First, tribal ties were very strong and played an important role in the formation of new empires in the ancient Arab world. He posited that it was the

Managerial accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Managerial accounting - Essay Example mpanies and the worlds top-5 accounting firms, have resulted in lawsuits and bankruptcies, as well as government rescue efforts, to the detriment of many investors and taxpayers. Some of these companies were formerly prestigious financial institutions with huge capital and with global reach such as Citigroup, JP Morgan, and AIG. This paper seeks to study this recent phenomenon with a view to identifying what would perhaps be a good long-term solution. The generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) have been tagged as one of the fundamental causes of the recent financial and banking crisis that originated in the United States and sent shock waves throughout the world. According to the Accounting Dictionary, the GAAP consists of â€Å"standards, conventions, and rules accountants follow in recording and summarizing transactions, and in the preparation of financial statements.† There is no central authority that promulgates the rules of GAAP; instead the Securities and Exchange Commission accepts and enforces the compiled issuances from FASB, AICPA, and other sources. The Accounting Principles Board (APB) of AICPA defines GAAP as encompassing â€Å"the conventions, rules, and procedures necessary to define accepted accounting practice at a particular time,† and that the principles are derived from â€Å"experiences and reason† that have proved useful.(AICPA, 1970, cited in Wolk et al., 1997). Voluminous rul es under GAAP have been issued over the years, and the complexity of these rules which have not been consistently organized around fixed and commonly agreed principles have not increased our understanding of financial reports. In fact, they have fostered a lack of clarity and transparency. Although the GAAP are designed for the preparation of financial statements for external users, internal decision makers also use them for various purposes including decisions regarding promotions and year-end bonuses to its executives. Management has some leeways to impact

Global Impact Essay Example for Free

Global Impact Essay One of the main attractions of Daylesford, Melbourne is its picturesque, Victorian feel, a legacy of its first settlers. Giving the region a European feel, tourists flock to the area to take in its atmosphere, especially when spas antique and crafts shops and natural therapy centers started to populate the area. A regional park as well as natural springs abounding the area is also an added bonus. Suffice to say, tourism is a main industry for Daylesford, Melbourne. Given this perspective, it is a fair assumption that the region only had to tap these existing resources without much capital, and voila, a thriving tourism industry. Others might argue that there are costs involved in running this kind of industry, but we are under the assumption that whoever coined the place as tourist destinations did not have to capitalize on molding nature according to their preference; it was already there in the first place. There is a need to look into the different aspects of tourism, particularly Daylesford, Melbourne to determine how tourism impacts its citizen’s way of life and standard of living, and see whether tourism is worth the cost on the environment as per benefit. Natural Advantages and Disadvantages Tourism is a two-edged sword. A well-known tourist destination such as Daylesford, Melbourne will benefit from the increase of tourist visiting the area through increase in employment relative to increase in infrastructure development. Other forms of employment will also be available, given that tourism caters to various needs of different people. Locals will experience easier access to livelihood opportunities, thus increasing their average standard of living. Yet, this increase in employment will attract people from other places, not for the sights being promoted by the place but because of employment opportunities. This could result, in an increase in the local population, not necessarily bad if it’s in moderation, but anything more, will congest the naturally quant villages. Not to mention that population increase also increases pollution as well as environmental damages. Employment Generated There are a number of job opportunities that opens when tourism is a big business. In this case, spas and natural therapy centers, means a big boom for the medical industry. People who comes into the area, expects good medical services as well as amenities. Vacation houses and bed and breakfasts also benefits from the influx of tourist visiting the area, providing more jobs for the locals, as well as employing the services of the food industry in area. According to a study conducted by Deloitte Touche, International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and Overseas Development Institute (ODI): Limited evidence suggests that domestic/regional tourism and independent travel can create proportionately more local economic opportunities than international packaged tourism†¦Within the tourism industry, the informal sector is often where the poor and women can maximize benefits. (p. 10-11) To expound on this conclusions, the study also mentioned that part of tourism advantages, as a product, it is consumed at the point of production, where other opportunities for enterprising souls are created. It is a labor intensive industry, where there is great opportunity for women in the workforce. Needing very little capital, as its main stock is nature-based; it is a diverse industry that can build upon a wide resource base, where participation of the informal sector is also widely accepted. Changes at the local level to accommodate visitor needs In the case of Daylesford, Melbourne, tourism is indeed an important factor in its economy as well as the rest of Victoria region. In a 2006 brief of the Liberal Party Plans and Policy for the Victoria General Election, tourism was identified as one of the major areas where there will be massive development should they win. Accordingly, Daylesford, Melbourne was identified as one of the areas that need to be focused on. Mentioned in the brief, was that a special attention will be given to recognize the special needs and individuality of rural economies such as Daylesford. (p. 7) According to an article from Media Release last September 27, 2007, the government of Victoria was releasing a considerable amount of money to produce to market tourism in Daylesford. As an offshoot of the tourism industry, the government would like to focus on promoting the area as a destination for gourmet food and wine. It certainly has the appeal and the atmosphere for it. Environmental issues including pollution, traffic and crowding Despite the mentioned beneficial effects of the tourism industry, there are drawbacks. Pollution for instance and it also takes its toll on nature if not managed properly. As mentioned before, the need for employment will draw people to a thriving industry, increasing population, thus, pollution. Offshoot industries can also cause much damage to the environment, where this also leads to pollution. As it is, the environment’s greatest enemy is people itself. People cause traffic, and their bad habits leads to more pollution. Also, the constant wear and tear on the environment, because it is a necessity to cater to tourist’s needs, leaves much to be desired. Many changes will have to occur. Sometimes these changes, causes the decline of what was once beautiful and awe-inspiring. Indeed, tourism is a two-edged sword. Both sides have their considerable argument. Although, there is a way for these arguments to meet half-way, by saying that sustainable development; even in tourism is important. There is a pressing need to preserve and maintain the environment, as well as create new opportunities for the economy to prosper. Sustainability is even more needed in this industry because, on all sides of the economy, the environment is where all industry anchors and depends. REFERENCES: Travelmate. Daylesford Victoria. Retrieved October 23, 2008 from http://www. travelmate. com. au/Places/Places. asp? TownName=Daylesford_\_VIC UK Department for International Development. Bennett, O. , Roe, D. , Ashley C. (1999). Sustainable Tourism andPoverty Elimination Study. Retrieved October 23, 2008 from http://www. propoortourism. org. uk/dfid_report. pdf Victoria Online. Daylesford and Macedonian Ranges Tourism Funding Boost. Retrieved October 23, 2008 from http://www. legislation. vic. gov. au/domino/Web_Notes/newmedia. nsf Victoria Liberal. The Liberal Party’s Policy and Plans for Victoria for the 2006 State Election Building on Success: A Plan for Victoria’s Tourism Industry. Retrieved October 23, 2008 from http://www. vic. liberal. org. au/documents/Tourism_Policy. pdf. pdf

The medical coding

The medical coding The Performance of Medical Coding What responsibilities are required in Medical Coding? How is Medical Coding beneficial in the healthcare industry? Herzing University (2009) says, â€Å"Medical Coding is the act of billing patients and health insurances for the medical checkup they received.† Medical Coding is one of the most valuable careers in the Healthcare industry. However, this profession requires important guidelines, such as assigning proper health-related codes, understanding coding language, and meeting the terms of the compliance rule. Moreover, as a productive benefit in this line of work, many employers allow medical coders to enter codes from home. The first rule that applies to Medical Coding is the importance of code assignments. After a patient is seen by a physician in an office or hospital room, the medical coders job is to assign the appropriate health diagnosis code on the claim form. The claim form is to be submitted to the patients insurance company for reimbursement purposes; claims are submitted to insurance companies so that doctors will be paid for the services rendered in the office as well. Upon submitting the claim form(s), it is important for the medical coder to assign the correct code(s) to ensure a timely payment process. If the code(s) are incorrect, this will cause the claim to be denied and payment will not be released until the issue is corrected. Herzing University (2009) comments that â€Å"Every medical diagnosis or procedure that is done in a medical office should have a health-related code assigned to it. The medical coder is accountable for assigning the correct code for each procedure that is per formed on a patient.† In addition, AHIMA (2009) predicts that â€Å"the excellence of medical services depend on if a medical coder assigns codes accurately and in a timely fashion.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  In Medical Coding, the first and foremost responsibility is to make certain that the payment reviews and funds flow effectively. Scichilone (2008) also points out that â€Å"the timely completion of assigned codes depends on the accuracy of the coding process.† Therefore, assigning proper codes for medical procedures are essential because it will guarantee timely payment to medical providers and their patients. Another rule that applies to Medical Coding is the understanding of coding language. Where does the resource of coding come from? Who maintains the health-related coding system? The American Health Information Management Association (2009) clarifies that â€Å"the resources for the health-related coding are maintained by a particular group of organizations. These groups are responsible for the updates and or changes for the coding process. The National Center for Health Services, is in charge of the ICD-9-CM codes, whereas, The American Medical Association is responsible for the CPT codes.† What is the coding language and why is it used in Medical Coding? In Medical Coding, an ICD-9-CM code is entered on a claim to code a patient†s diagnosis received from the physician. In addition, there may be more than one diagnostic code on a claim form. A CPT code is entered on a claim to code a procedure that was performed on the patient(s). There may be more that one procedure cod e entered on the claim form as well. For simplicity principle, the codes assigned convey what types of service(s) were provided and why the procedure was done. Rogoski (2004) adds that â€Å"[t]here are two major coding [organizations that are responsible for the coding language],..: the ICD-9-CM diagnosis and procedure codes that are maintained by the federal government, and the CPT procedure codes that are maintained by the American Medical Association.† For verification purposes, American Medical Association (2009) define the definition of the diagnosis code ICD-9-CM is â€Å"The International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification,† while (CDC, 2009) notes that the CPT procedure code means â€Å"Current Procedural Terminology.† The most important rule that applies to Medical Coding is the consistency of data entries. Being that coding information is updated on a quarterly and yearly basis by the health care organizations, it is important for the medical coder to enter the updated or revised codes accordingly. Entering the correct diagnosis and procedure code(s) is essential because the code(s) determine how and why reimbursement or payment is requested. During the coding process, it is imperative for the coder to obtain the up-to-date information on medical services covered by the patients insurance company to avoid questionable outcomes. In other words, the services that are covered under a carrier should match what is documented in the compliance guidelines and if the coding or documentation is not consistent with the specific guidelines, this can develop into an investigation and claim rejections. AHIMA (2009) contends that, â€Å"Entering the appropriate data according to the compliance rule is very im portant in the coding process. Whether the codes are entered correctly or not, it will in one way or another, affect both the quality of the statistics and the fulfillment to the regulations.† For that reason, to stay current with the array of coding rules, the Medical Coder should always consult with the healthcare guidelines upon entering the code(s) on a claim form ensure the quality of medical information. Furthermore, to ensure data consistency according to the compliance rule, meticulous medical coding software has been utilized to assist the medical coders during the coding process. â€Å"Computer-Assistance Coding† is how (Scichilone, 2009) describes the software. Even though coding can be complicated especially when trying to remember and stay up to date with guidelines, the use of medical coding software will promote thorough and affirmative results. Scichilone (2009) explains that â€Å"[t]hose little numbers or alpha-numeric [series] are one of the reasons the compliance [organization] exists.† The coding process is to note what type of medical service was provided and the reason for the office visit. To acquire efficiency, new software has been executed to help providers concerning data consistency guidelines. Medical coders can use this specific computer software to produce organized health codes for evaluation.† Not only does this medical coding software assist in positive reviews from the compliance group, it encourages moral standards as well. As an added guideline precaution, healthcare providers are should distribute the compliance rule list within its facilities to ensure proper and precise coding. The list should include a detailed medical coding policy that must be adhered by accordingly. One author (Stegman, 2009) notes that â€Å"[f]or many clinical areas with commonly provided services, very specific coding and billing guidelines exist to assist the provider in reporting accurate and honest claims Ideally, the provider should have a coding compliance policy document withthe following [factors]† Instructions on how to assign codes for new medical procedures; Instructions on how to correct inaccurate codes that were previously assigned; Code of conduct requirements linked to the Healthcare service provided, Annual or semi-annual training in Healthcare compliance guiding principles, Disciplinary steps taken if failure to comply with the guidelines occur, and Helpful contact phone number to seek out additional or unclear information.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the Medical Coding position, these issues should provide helpful healthcare solutions when it comes to assigning medical codes for claim submission. By following these procedures, this will develop data quality within the healthcare environment because of the consistency assignment entries. Stegman (2008) agrees with these methods by saying that â€Å"coding experts are likely to sustain the importance of accurate and consistent coding traditions to deliver quality health care Medical coders should continue to improve their coding skills to stay current with the coding regulations The Medical Coder must maintain and follow the coding guidelines to avoid improper results with insurance companies and patients. If these compliance guidelines are not available by the provider, the medical coder(s) may have a difficult time assigning consistent codes. Stegman (2008) points out that â€Å"[w]hen coding challenges arise, and unresolved documentation inconsistencies are present, the selection of the most accurate and compliant codes may be more difficult, particularly if the codingstaff are not aware of the [moral coding standards].† If the preceding coding process for Medical Coding is carried out appropriately according to the compliance guidelines, this will ensure data excellence. Finally, while Medical Coding maintains specific guidelines to ensure effective results in the healthcare industry, many people are pursuing this type of work to take advantage of the flexible productive benefits. Many employers are allowing Medical Coding to be managed from home. To ensure that a Medical Coder generates efficient productivity from home, the â€Å"Computer-Assistance Coding† medical software that (Scichilone, 2009) described earlier, would be a very beneficial technology tool in the healthcare industry. Many health providers are providing its medical coders to work from home; working flexible hours and increase productivity are a couple of reasons why working from home is available. Flexible productivity (2004) states that â€Å"many healthcare corporations are engrossed with the productive benefits of flexibility working from home. By minimizing the demand of office space and reducing commuting time, the medical coder will gain flexible productive time and p ossibly get to manage their work-life obligations.† While the Medical Coder manages the medical software that was provided by their employer, on their home computer, the programmed software will generate assignment codes that are consistent with the compliance regulations. Scichilone (2009) says that the coding software will â€Å"increase productivity in code assignment [, provide] consistent application of reporting rules and guidelines [,] and monitor[the] evaluation features for coding accuracy reviews.† Consequently, utilizing the coding software will provide added advantages in Medical Coding. In conclusion, since Medical Coding requires specific guidelines for the healthcare industry to follow, it is imperative to abide by the compliance rules to avoid poor data standards. By entering accurate and thorough health-related data into the medical database, and obtaining a clear understanding of coding language and their resources, this cause of action will help the flow of the reimbursement process run effectively; as an added advantage, Medical Coding can be accomplished in the comfort of the medical coders home by way of compliance-ready medical software. References AHIMA About Medical Coding Medical Records: (2009). Coding. Retrieved November 26, 2009 from http://www.ahima.org/coding/index.asp AHIMA Medical Coding Guidelines:Data Quality and Compliance (2009). . Retrieved December 9 2009 from http://www.ahima.org/coding/compliance.asp AHIMA Medical Coding Resources (2009). Coding Resources. Retrieved December 7, 2009 from http://www.ahima.org/coding/coding_resources.asp AMA CPT Code Information and Education (2009). American medical association. Retrieved November 28, 2009 from http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/no-index/physician-resources/3884.shtml CDC ICD-9-CM International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (2009). Centers for disease control and prevention. Retrieved November 26, 2009 from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/icd/icd9cm.htm Flexible productivity.(2004). International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management,53(5/6),476-477. Retrieved November 30, 2009, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID:695572871). Medical Billing and Insurance Coding Overview (2009). Herzing university online. Retrieved November 23, 2009 from http://www.herzingonline.edu/programs/medical-billing-and-insurance-coding Richard R Rogoski. (2004,September). If Youre Not Coding, Youre Not Billing.Health Management Technology,25(9),14, 16, 18. Retrieved December 7, 2009, from ABI/INFORM Complete. (Document ID:687678731). Scichilone,R.(2009,July). Are We There Yet? Compliance-Ready Computer-Assisted Coding.Journal of Health Care Compliance,11(4),55-56,69-70. Retrieved December 7, 2009, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID:1822883141). Scichilone,R.(2008,July). Enhanced Compliance Results by Improving the Code Assignment Process.Journal of Health Care Compliance,10(4),61-64. Retrieved December 5, 2009, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID:1670291831). Stegman,M..(2009,September). Managing Billing Interpretations in a Compliance Environment.Journal of Health Care Compliance,11(5),65-66,77-78. Retrieved December 7, 2009, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID:1882772921).

Energy Production Essay -- Environment, Natural Gas

In today’s society, it’s nearly impossible to open a newspaper, fire up a computer, or hold a conversation that isn’t someway related to energy. Since the beginning of the industrial revolution over a century and a half ago, nothing has been more pivotal to mankind’s rise to power as the apex species of planet earth. Had our ancestors not discovered the potential of using million year old plant and animal remains to create combustible power, the world would look very different. There is no denying that energy production is one of, if not, the most important developments in human history. After a hundred and fifty years of recklessly burning oil and coal, we find ourselves having to deal with the literal mess unforeseen by our industrious forefathers. No longer can the repercussions of our unsustainable addiction to fossil fuels be ignored nor can we defer the task of finding a solution to the next generation of humans. â€Å"Energy use and its cost are rising worldwide, most countries remain dependent on oil imports, and little progress has been made toward curbing climate change† (Deutch 2011). This inconvenient truth has left governments, environmentalists, and consumers scrambling to develop a way to provide massive amounts of energy at an affordable cost while significantly reducing our harmful carbon emissions. In a perfect world alternative, clean energy should have been pursued intensively when true magnitude of oil instability was first revealed in the 1970’s but better late than never. There are dozens, if not hundreds of oil and coal alternatives that are being considered, however, while many options look promising in theory the overwhelming majority of them such as: wind, solar, and biofuel just aren’t economically feas... ...to guide the design of the study. The initial research results from the study are expected until the end of 2012 with a goal for a report in 2014. ANH International. "About Us | ANH International." Welcome to Alliance for Natural Health International | ANH International. 03 Mar. 2011. Web. 03 Mar. 2011. . ANH-USA 1. "A Huge Fracking Mess." Welcome to the Alliance for Natural Health - USA. 23 Feb. 2011. Web. 03 Mar. 2011. . ANH-USA 2. "Campaigns." Welcome to the Alliance for Natural Health - USA. 03 Mar. 2011. Web. 03 Mar. 2011. . ANH-USA 3. "Overview." Welcome to the Alliance for Natural Health - USA. 03 Mar. 2011. Web. 03 Mar. 2011. .

Confucianism Essay -- essays research papers

Confucianism Mencius vs Hsun Tzu   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Is man naturally good or is he evil? This question has not only been pondered by countless philosophers, but also by religious leaders around the world. Most often a single religious faith believes in either one or the other, and often these beliefs tend to create a certain world-view which dictates much of the faith. However, in some cases such as the one I will be discussing, two religious dignitaries do not agree and the repercussions of this can be found throughout the religion. The two men are Mencius, an early pupil of Confucius and Hsun Tzu, a later follower of the same faith. Mencius believed that each man, born of woman, would be naturally good and Hsun Tzu believed almost the complete opposite. Through Mencius and Hsun Tzu’s differing beliefs on human nature a completely different world view was formed for each and it’s effect on their ideas and more importantly a young religion were apparent.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã ‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Before venturing into the essay, however, I would like to consider where this religion originated, and the meanings for it’s existence as to better equip us to understand it’s views. Confucianism as a religion was founded by Confucius, a man. It involves no superior beings other than man himself, and deals specifically with the interactions between fellow men. It also specializes on the actions a government (King) should take for it’s people. The religion was founded by Confucian himself, he lived from 551 B.C.E. to approximately 479 B.C.E.. He was just a man with an opinion. His opinion sprung from his unhappiness with society and the fall it had taken from what it had been. It had changed to an empire where values were ignored, and the past was just that, the past. He foresaw a proud China with values restored, and humility made once again important. Confucian’s main ideas were to adapt the good things from the past to the technology of t oday. The “good things'; he speaks of are a government where the King is like a loving father to the people, where the King would protect his people and the people in turn would follow the King.   Ã‚  ... ... only an idea but a standard to be followed for all Chinese youth. An easy way to see the differences between Mencius and Hsun Tzu is this, Mencius believed that nature was good and nurture was important only to re-enforce what was already there. While Hsun Tzu believed that nature was bad and that the nurturing effects of teaching and work were the only way to overcome mans natural disadvantage. Their constantly disagreeing nature has forced many Confucian’s to examine their faith more independently and made Confucianism a religion for the thinkers, not just the faithful worshipers.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Conclusion, the works of Mencius and Hsun Tzu drastically altered how many people though of the Confucian tradition and how governments of the time were run. By the end of their lives Confucianism was a strong and stable religion that has survived even up to now, and it’s beliefs continue to grow as the world does. Influential speakers like this show various parallels to saints and profits in the Catholic faith and maybe even miniature representations of Gods in faiths like Hinduism. Their impact was at least as large as any of those. Footnotes

Literature and the Middle Ages Essay -- Middle Age Literature

Literature and the Middle Ages The Renaissance invented the Middle Ages in order to define itself; the Enlightenment perpetuated them in order to admire itself; and the Romantics revived them in order to escape from themselves. In their widest ramifications 'the Middle Ages' thus constitute one of the most prevalent cultural myths of the modern world. -- Brian Stock, Listening for the Text. The Middle Ages is a time of hypothesis wherein one of the most hypothetical concepts is time. The present essay addresses time as a conceptual and historical problem, in literary, religious, and practical terms. The interested student will find here valuable information on the origins of French literature, how the Middle Ages got its name, theological and everyday measurements of time, and the relationships of myth and fiction to genealogy in the founding of aristocratic families and feudal dynasties. Somewhere between the fall of the Roman Empire and the Renaissance there was a middle time. During this period, the French language was born from the cradle of latinity. The ninth century, in fact, provides us with the first testimonies of what will become the language of French literature. Indeed, in the year 813, the emergence of the importance and widespread use of vernacular language in Europe is marked by the Council of Tours which, by giving priests the right to pronounce sermons in the common tongue ("rusticam"), particularly in French ("gallicam") and German ("teudiscam"), sought to mediate a crisis in preaching by closing the linguistic gap that had developed between the clergy and the lay people. Moreover, on 14 February 842, the Strasbourg Oaths renewed the military and political alliance between Louis the German a... ...500. Vol. XI/1 of Grundriss der Romanischen Literaturen des Mittelalters. Eds. Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht, et al. Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universittsverlag, 1986. 135-156. Duggan, Joseph J. "The Experience of Time as a Fundamental Element of the Stock of Knowledge in Medieval Society." In Gumbrecht, et al. 127-134. Eco, Umberto. Travels in Hyperreality. Trans. William Weaver. San Diego, New York, London: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1986. Edelman, Nathan. "The Early Uses of Medium Aevum, Moyen Age, Middle Ages." The Eye of the Beholder. Ed. Jules Brody. Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1974. 58-81. Gourï ¿ ½vitch, Aaron J. Les Catï ¿ ½gories de la culture mï ¿ ½diï ¿ ½vale. Trans. Hï ¿ ½lï ¿ ½ne Courtin, Nina Godneff. Paris: Gallimard, 1983. Stock, Brian. Listening for the Text: On the Uses of the Past. Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1990.

Health Information Exchange: Benefits and Concerns Essay

Health Information Exchange is the electronic transmission exchange from one health care professional to another. Health Information Exchange allows health care professionals and patients to appropriately access and securely share patient’s medical information electronically. Our industry is been working hard in the process and development of this new process, for the benefit of the patient and healthcare professionals. Some individuals with access to HIE are physicians, nurses, pharmacists, medical assistants, medical biller and coders and so forth. It is important to have an understanding about different health care professionals having access to the patient medical record. HIE benefits include: Provides improvement for quality and safety of patient care by reducing prescription and medical errors. The education and orientation to patients’ involvement in their own health care. Increases efficiency by eliminating unnecessary paperwork. Provides caregivers with clinical decision support tools for more effective care and treatment. Eliminates redundant or unnecessary testing. Improves public health reporting and monitoring. Creates a potential loop for feedback between health-related research and actual practice. Facilitates efficient deployment of emerging technology and health care services. Provides the backbone of technical infrastructure for leverage by national and State-level initiatives. Provides a basic level of interoperability among electronic health records (EHRs) maintained by individual physicians and organizations. Reduces health related costs (The benefits & risks of health information exchange & health information technology. (n.d.). The first step in EHR implementation is to conduct an assessment of your current practice and its goals, needs, and financial and technical readiness. Your practice can design an implementation plan that meets the specific needs of your practice. Eligible health care professionals and eligible hospitals must use certified EHR technology in order to achieve meaningful use and qualify for incentive payments. It is important in an EHR when working in the implementation process to involve, training, mock â€Å"go-live,† and pilot testing for system improvement. (HIE benefits) The final phase of EHR implementation includes successfully attesting to demonstrating meaningful use of EHRs, and reassessing what you have learned from training and everyday use of the system implementation to continue improving workflows that achieve the individual practice’s goals. The process and steps to follow on an HER system, most health care providers are covered entities, and thus, need HIPAA responsibilities for individually identifiable health information. Your leadership especially emphasizing the importance of protecting patient health information is vital to your privacy and security activities. HIPAA requires covered providers to designate an individual for both a privacy and a security officer on their staff and delegate the responsibility of security system in a practice. Documentation shows why and where you have security measures in place, how you created them, and what you do to monitor them. Create a paper or electronic folder for your practice medical records. The Center of Medicare Services advises all providers that attest for the EHR incentive programs to retain all relevant records that support attestation. These records will be essential if you ever are audited for compliance with HIPAA or an EHR incentive program. (Anthony, R. (2013, September 19). Cms and ehealth.) Risk Analysis Plan compares your current security measures to what is legally and  pragmatically required to safeguard patient health information. The risk analysis identifies high priority threats and vulnerabilities on EHR. You or a security risk professional can conduct your practice’s risk analysis, but you either way you will want to know what to expect. Often, basic security measures can be highly effective and affordable. Using your risk analysis results, discuss and develop an action plan to mitigate the identified risks. The plan should have five components: administrative, physical, and technical safeguards; policies and procedures; and organizational standards. (Health information exchange: Is your privacy protected?. (2012, July) Every practice should develop a Risk Management Plan. It is the practice responsibility to develop written and up-to-date policies and procedures about how your practice protects e-PHI. All these records should be retained on all outdated policies and procedures for future audits on your practice. For the security of patient health information (PHI), your workforce must know how to implement your policies, procedures, and security audits. HIPAA requires you as a covered provider to train your workforce on policies and procedures. Also, your staff must receive formal training on breach notification. (Health information exchange: Is your privacy protected? (2012, July) Your patients may be concerned about confidentiality and security of health information on an EHR. Emphasize the benefits of EHRs to them as patients, perhaps using patient education materials available in the Privacy & Security Resources section. Do not register and attest for an EHR Incentive program until you have conducted your security risk analysis (or reassessment) and corrected any deficiencies identified during the risk analysis. Document these changes/corrections. Providers participating in the EHR Incentive Program can be audited. When you attest to meaningful use, it is a legal statement that you have met specific standards, including that you protect ePHI. Work with your EHR vendor(s) to let them know that protecting patient health information and meeting your HIPAA privacy and security responsibilities regarding electronic health in formation in your EHR is one of your major goals. Involve your practice staff and any other partners that you have to help streamline this process. HIPAA privacy regulations Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (â€Å"HIPAA†). The Privacy Rule standards address the use and disclosure of individuals’ health information—called â€Å"protected health information† by organizations subject to the Privacy Rule — called â€Å"covered entities,† as well as standards for individuals’ privacy rights to understand and control how their health information is used. Within HHS, the Office for Civil Rights (â€Å"OCR†) has responsibility for implementing and enforcing the Privacy Rule with respect to voluntary compliance activities and civil money penalties. HITECH The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, enacted as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, was signed into law on February 17, 2009, to promote the adoption and meaningful use of health information technology. Subtitle D of the HITECH Act addresses the privacy and security concerns associated with the electronic transmission of health information, in part, through several provisions that strengthen the civil and criminal enforcement of the HIPAA rules. Standards & Interoperability The work promoting the adoption and uptake of health information technology is the key to ensuring the goals of the HITECH Act. But work being done to ensure that the technical standards and specifications are in place to support this technology is also critical to the development and success of a fully functional nationwide health IT ecosystem. Some of the Risks of HIE include: Identity Theft Although health information benefits from all the security measures developed in other economic areas such as defense and finance, it has the same risks these other areas have experienced. Identity theft can occur with both paper files and electronic files, but a breach of electronic files may affect more records than a breach of paper files. Errors Just like a paper health record, if the health care provider does not enter the correct information, that information remains in the health record until it is corrected. Electronic information can provide checks and balances that  paper health records cannot. Hackers Electronic health care information benefits from the security measure developed by other industries. Health care is the last frontier of information technology, so anti-hacking security measures from other economic areas are already used. However, hackers will continue to try to break security codes just like they do in other electronic systems. Encryption Covered entities must encrypt protected health information when it â€Å"is a reasonable and appropriate safeguard.† When the HIPAA Security Rule was implemented in 2002, encryption was high in cost and challenging to use. The result is that many covered entities still do not encrypt their data. With the enormous amount of personal medical information that will be moving around electronically as HIE gets underway and spreads, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) needs to make encryption a requirement and set standards for its use in all practices. Personal mobile devices Smartphones, tablets and USB drives are ubiquitous. Health care providers often use their own unsecured devices to record and transmit unencrypted work-related health information. The speed with which such devices have been adopted is well ahead of policies that govern their use. According to a number of recent studies, the vulnerability of mobile devices is already playing a significant role in medical data breaches. The cloud That is, remote servers where more and more businesses are moving their data—will be essential in an era of electronic health information exchange, if for no other reason than the staggering quantities of data that digitizing the medical records of the entire U.S. population will create. Health care providers may also want to host their patient portals on cloud-based servers. Patient portals are websites where patients can access their medical records and exchange email with their providers. Cloud services are developing more quickly than laws or regulations can address. As a patient you’re unlikely to know where your medical records actually reside. And you’re forced to rely on the security practices of others to  protect the privacy of your information. The Privacy Rule gives you, with few exceptions, the right to inspect, review, and receive a copy of your medical records and billing records that are held by health plans and health care providers covered by the Privacy Rule. Only you or your personal representative has the right to access your records. A health care provider or health plan may send copies of your records to another provider or health plan as needed for treatment or payment or as authorized by you. However, the Privacy Rule does not require the health care provider or health plan to share information with other providers or plans. You do not have the right to access a provider’s psychotherapy notes. Psychotherapy notes are notes taken by a mental health professional during a conversation with the patient and kept separate from the patient’s medical and billing records. The Privacy Rule also does not permit the provider to make most disclosures of psychotherapy notes about you without your authorization . Because HIE’s primary purpose is to improve the quality of medical care, your health care providers’ priorities are to gain and allow access to a comprehensive record of your medical history. When the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) finalizes its â€Å"accounting of disclosures† rule, providers that maintain EHRs will have to account to you for all disclosures of your personal health information that it makes for purposes of treatment, payment, and business operations for three years prior to the date of your request. (Health information exchange brief examines privacy and security concerns. (2012, June 13). Until HHS’ rule is final, you can get an accounting that goes back six years prior to your request, but this DOES NOT include disclosures for treatment, payment, or business operations. Therefore the disclosures you are currently able to get may seem largely incomplete and irrelevant to the purposes for which you want them. You also have access to your own medical records (apart from psychotherapy notes about you), but you must request them directly from your providers. It is not possible to request your records through an HIE. It has to be in person from the practice you are requesting medical records from. However, your doctor should be able to give you—or will soon be able to give you—what’s called a Continuity of Care Record (CCR) after each visit. The CCR is a summary of the most relevant and up-to-date facts about your care and treatment with that provider. A CCR can be helpful for you, and can also  provide a current snapshot of your medical status for the next doctor you visit. A CCR may be transmitted either on paper or electronically. HIE is a tremendous tool to utilize in the healthcare industry. However, different challenges still existing now days. Effective and Affordable Technology is a big issue and the primary problem. HIE required costly network, connections hardware, software and so forth. Some practices including hospitals can’t afford the cost of technology. Providers are trying to save in cost of information transmission and are always looking for inexpensive vendors. Practices are also working on overcoming these obstacles, but are very hard to overcome. HIEs can support care management by making it possible to generate patient reports for use at the point of care. It may also be easier to identify patients who are not following a prescribed care regimen or not meeting its goals, and to measure how well providers are delivering recommended care. This all goes along with the government’s goal of shifting the health care payment model from one of fee for service to payment based on outcomes; that is, not just whether you saw a doctor but whether you benefited from seeing her. The goals of HIE are to improve the quality of care and make delivering it more efficient and cost-effective. Once electronic medical records are available everywhere, for all patients, though, it is inevitable that more people will want access to this data. It is a goldmine for medical research and all kinds of statistical analysis, for example. Conclusion HIE will continue providing planning and implementation within health care organizations. We must comply as HIM professionals providing the best of our knowledge to contribute in this process. Also we need to follow HIPPA policies and procedures in our place of employment and commit ourselves to meet our goal which is providing the best on patient care. The more we work as a team; at the end of the road it will be easier on us to have our job done and accurate at the end of the road. Avoiding errors is also our responsibility as an HIM professionals. Let’s not focus on productivity, which is important, but also let’s put ourselves in the patient’s situation. We are also patient’s and we like to have things done the right way. References Rhodes, H. (2013, August 05). Seven unintended consequences of electronic HIE. Retrieved from http://www.healthit.gov/policy-researchers-implementers/reports HIE benefits. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.healthit.gov/providers-professionals/health-information-exchange/hie-benefits The benefits & risks of health information exchange & health information technology. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.nchica.org/GetInvolved/CACHI/HIEbenefits-risks.htm Anthony, R. (2013, September 19). Cms and ehealth. Retrieved from http://www.cms.gov/eHealth/downloads/Webinar_eHealth_September19_CMSeHealthOverview.pdf Health information exchange: Is your privacy protected?. (2012, July). Retrieved from https://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fsC6/CA-medical-HIE Health information exchange brief examines privacy and security concerns. (2012, June 13). Retrieved from https://www.cdt.org/pr_statement/health-information-exchange-brief-examines-privacy-and-security-concerns

Commentary on Sonnet ¨Atlantis¨

â€Å"Around 350 BC, Plato wrote about a beautiful island in the Atlantic Ocean that went under the ocean waves in one day and one night†. â€Å"Atlantis – A Lost Sonnet† by Eavan Boland does not follow from head to toe the standards of a sonnet, being able to identify it by the length of 14 lines and its GG rhyme scheme at the end. This poem is able to move from a question about Atlantis to a memory of the author and finally to the overall meaning about memories. Boland is able to create a close and personal atmosphere throughout this sonnet through a first person narrator, the use of word choice and rhetorical questions. It is the type of narrator in a poem that helps the reader identify itself with. In this case, â€Å"Atlantis† is written in first person, meaning that the reader relates to the character`s personal thoughts and feelings. At the beginning of the poem she emphasizes the word â€Å"I† in relation to her thoughts about the myth of the missing city, â€Å"How on earth did it happen, I used to wonder†(1). In this way making the reader enter and try to understand the authors view on this surreal event. While at the centre she changes the use of the word â€Å"I† to describe her feeling, â€Å"I miss our old city — †¦ you and I meeting†(7-8). Explaining a major change in the meaning of the poem since she is no longer talking about Atlantis but if not on her past love, someone she misses. Being able to compare them both since their overall meaning of lost and disappeared forever is the same. Moreover, Boland chooses to further on explain the meaning in her poem based on the simple word choice that compares both scenarios. Straightforward words like under, missed and drowned are used in this poem because of their double meaning:† one fine day gone under? (4) †¦ Surely a great city must have been missed? (6) †¦ ave their sorrow a name and drowned it. † (14). At the end we see how this words flow perfectly with both ideas. Given that Atlantis is recognized as a city that drowned and left no evidence, we say it is hidden underneath the ocean. This idea of disappearing is a perfect example that the author is able to connect to her personal emotions of someone she really misses and will never come back to her life which would actually make the reader think about how the author decided to use this city as a representation of her now gone lover. So why is a rhetorical question applied in this sonnet? It is primarily to chieve a stronger and direct statement with no need of answering the question. In this poem there are two questions at the start and middle part; â€Å"one fine day gone under? (4)†¦ Surely a great city must have been missed? † (6), both of this are talking about Atlantis. In a sort of way, the author is being sarcastic because neither she nor we will ever know the true answer since it is a legend with thousands of explanations but neither one is 100% accurate. At the end, this types of questions cause the reader to connect to her judgments in a stronger way since they would also want to know how a city may disappear right under our noses. As a final point, the message of this powerful poem is understood in its last two most important lines, â€Å"to convey that what is gone is gone forever and never found it. And so, in the best traditions of †¦ where we come from, they gave their sorrow a name and drowned it. † (12-14). Boland?s simple rhyme, imagery, and use of personification create the final resolution of the author’s feelings and thoughts towards a past which cannot be recovered except with your memory.

Hotel Hilton

The Hilton Worldwide Performance Advantage is an integrated system of innovative solutions and advanced technologies that work together to drive increased business and keep costs down, without comprising quality. Together, these seven services provide access to the latest tools, technologies, forward-thinking strategies, and the most influential people in the industry to create an unrivaled competitive advantage. Hilton Performance Advantage Benefits The Hilton Performance Advantage combines the power of scale, access, reputation, and innovation—delivered by the world’s premier hospitality company.Our system provides powerful resources across our portfolio of brands, delivering leading edge solutions to consistently drive profits and efficiencies. This solution creates a higher share of wallet, guest loyalty, and leading innovation making it easier for on-site personnel to focus on delivering a superior guest experience. Hilton Performance Advantage Services Hilton HHon orsâ„ ¢ Hilton HHonors is the award-winning guest-loyalty program for Hilton Worldwide’s ten distinct hotel brands, honoring its 27 million members by allowing them to turn points into experiences worth sharing.Learn more Hilton Worldwide Sales (HWS) A team of professionals are ready to help you build influential customer relationships and meet the demands of today’s Corporate, Group, and Leisure travelers. Hilton Reservations & Customer Care (HRCC) Experienced team members provide 24-hour, multi-language global coverage in an effort to support and deliver business to your property. Global Online Services Reach travelers at every opportunity with the latest mobile, search, and online channels that place your property at their fingertips.Revenue Management Consolidated Center (RMCC) Revenue Management supports you in maximizing market share through price optimization, inventory & channel management. Information Technology (IT) Technology is the foundation of the Hilt on Performance Advantage, offering both you and your guests access to technology solutions such as reservations, Internet access, and entertainment. Hilton Supply Management (HSM) Our seasoned team secures you the best pricing, highest quality, and fastest delivery of the products and services your Hilton property needs.

Case Study on Pepsi

IntroductionThis project aim is to analyze the diversification strategy of PepsiCo in 2008. PepsiCo is the largest food and beverage business in the world. The benefits of PepsiCo’s diversification strategies are identified. The business strategy is analyzed to determine its efficacy across PepsiCo’s consumer business segments and product portfolio. The value chain match ups are determined and analyzed to ascertain their relevance to the success of PepsiCo’s strategy. The competitive strengths of PepsiCo’s three structural divisions and six reporting segments are assessed and related to relevant theories and strategy tools.Summary of the casePepsiCo is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Purchase, New York, United States, with interests in the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of grain-based snack foods, beverages, and other products. PepsiCo is a world leader in convenient foods and beverages, with revenues of about $39.5 billio n and over 142,000 employees.The company’s portfolio of businesses in 2008 included Frito-Lay salty snacks, Quaker chewy granola bars, Pepsi soft drink products, Tropicana orange juice, Lipton Brisk tea, Gatorade, Propel, SoBe, Quaker Oatmeal, Cap’n Crunch, Aquatint, Rice-A-Roni, Aunt Jemima pan cake mix, and many other regularly consumed products. The company consists of the snack business of Frito-Lay North America and the beverage and food businesses of PepsiCo Beverages and Foods, which includes PepsiCo Beverages North America (Pepsi-Cola North America and Gatorade/Tropicana North America) and Quaker Foods North America. PepsiCo International includes the snack businesses of Frito-Lay International and beverage businesses of PepsiCo Beverages International. PepsiCo brands are available in nearly 200 countries and territories.Many of PepsiCo's brand names are over 100-years-old, but the corporation is relatively young. PepsiCo was established in 1965 through the mer ger of Pepsi-Cola and Frito-Lay. Tropicana was acquired in 1998 and PepsiCo merged with The Quaker Oats Company, including Gatorade, in 2001. PepsiCo’s success is the result of superior products, high standards of performance,  distinctive competitive strategies and the high integrity of our people.VisionThe vision of PepsiCo is to be a responsible company that supports continuous improvement of all areas across the globe in which they operate. These areas include the environment, social, and economic conditions creating a better future then the present.MissionPepsiCo’s mission is to be the world's premier consumer Products Company focused on convenient foods and beverages. They seek to produce healthy financial rewards to investors as they provide opportunities for growth and enrichment to their employees, their business partners and the communities in which they operate. And in everything they do, they strive for honesty, fairness and integrity.SWOT AnalysisStrengt hsBranding – One of PepsiCo’s top brands is of course Pepsi, one of the most recognized brands of the world, ranked according to Interbrand. As of 2008 it ranked 26th amongst top 100 global brands.Pepsi generates more than $15,000 million of annual sales. Pepsi is joined in broad recognition by such PepsiCo brands as Diet Pepsi, Gatorade Mountain Dew, Thirst Quencher, Lay’s Potato Chips, Lipton Teas (PepsiCo/Unilever Partnership), Tropicana Beverages, Fritos Corn, Tostitos Tortilla Chips, Doritos Tortilla Chips, Aquafina Bottled Water, Cheetos Cheese Flavored Snacks, Quaker Foods and Snacks, Ruffles Potato Chips, Mirinda, Tostitos Tortilla Chips, and Sierra Mist.The strength of these brands is evident in PepsiCo’s presence in over 200 countries. The company has the largest market share in the US beverage at 39%, and snack food market at 25%. Such brand dominance insures loyalty and repetitive sales which contributes to over $15 million in annual sales for the company.Finance -As one of the leading beverage and food distributors and producers in the world,PepsiCo obviously has very strong financial backing and has been performing especially well. Their basic financial statement is very promising with revenues above Coca-Cola and the highest PepsiCo has ever seen, as well as low debt and liabilities.20 PepsiCo has shown and average of six percent growth since the year 2000 and has accomplished many growth goals by acquired and manufacturing a wide range of products.The pure size of PepsiCo is a competitive advantage because they produce so many commonly used products throughout the world and are minimally leveraged by market ups and downs.Illustrating this point is their increasing ROE, ROA, and ROI ratios that have experienced great increases over the past several years where soda sales have declined Diversification – PepsiCo’s diversification is obvious in that the fact that each of its top 18 brands generates annual s ales of over $1,000 million. PepsiCo’s arsenal also includes ready-to-drink teas, juice drinks, bottled water, as well as breakfast cereals, cakes and cake mixes.This broad product base plus a multi-channel distribution system serve to help insulate PepsiCo from shifting business climates.Distribution – The company delivers its products directly from manufacturing plants and warehouses to customer warehouses and retail stores. This is part of a three pronged approach which also includes employees making direct store deliveries of snacks and beverages and the use of third party distribution services.WeaknessesOverdependence on Wal-Mart – Sales to Wal-Mart represent approximately 12% of PepsiCo’s total net revenue. Wal-Mart is PepsiCo’s largest customer. As a result PepsiCo’s fortunes are influenced by the business strategy of Wal-Mart specifically its emphasis on private-label sales which produce a higher profit margin than national brands. W al-Mart’s low price themes put pressure on PepsiCo to hold down prices.Overdependence on US Markets – Despite its international presence, 52% of its revenues originate in the US. This concentration does leave PepsiCo somewhat vulnerable to the impact of changing economic conditions, and labor strikes. Large US customers could exploit PepsiCo’s lack of bargaining power and negatively impact its revenues.Low Productivity – In 2008 PepsiCo had approximately 198,000 employees. Its revenue per employee was $219,439, which was lower than its competitors. This may indicate comparatively low productivity on the part of PepsiCo employees.Image Damage Due to Product Recall – Recently (2008) salmonella contamination forced PepsiCo to pull Aunt Jemima pancake and waffle mix from retail shelves. This followed incidents of exploding Diet Pepsi cans in 2007. Such occurrences damage company image and reduce consumer confidence in PepsiCo products. OpportunitiesBro adening of Product Base – PepsiCo is seeking to address one of its potential weaknesses; dependency on US markets by acquiring Russia’s leading Juice Company, Lebedyansky, and V Wwater in the United Kingdom. It continues to broaden its product base by introducing TrueNorth Nut Snacks and increasing its Lipton Tea venture with Unilever. These recent initiatives will enable PepsiCo to adjust to the changing lifestyles of its consumers.International Expansion – PepsiCo is in the midst of making a $1, 000 million investment in China, and a $500 million investment in India. Both initiatives are part of its expansion into international markets and a lessening of its dependence on US sales. In addition the company plans on major capital initiatives in Brazil and Mexico.Growing Savory Snack and Bottled Water market in US – PepsiCo is positioned well to capitalize on the growing bottle water market which is projected to be worth over $24 million by 2012. Products such as Aquafina, and Propel are well established products and in a position to ride the upward crest. PepsiCo products such as, Doritos tortilla chips, Cheetos cheese flavored snacks, Tostitos tortilla chips, Fritos corn chips, Ruffles potato chips, Sun Chips multigrain snacks, Rold Gold pretzels, Santitas are also benefiting from a growing savory snack market which is projected to grow as much as 27% by 2013, representing an increase of $28 million.ThreatsDecline in Carbonated Drink Sales – Soft drink sales are projected to decline by as much as 2.7% by 2012, down $ 63,459 million in value. PepsiCo is in the process of diversification, but is likely to feel the impact of the projected decline.Potential Negative Impact of Government Regulations – It is anticipated that government initiatives related to environmental, health and safety may have the potential to negatively impact PepsiCo. For example, manufacturing, marketing, and distribution of food products may be al tered as a result of state, federal or local dictates. Preliminary studies on acrylamide seem to suggest that it may cause cancer in laboratory animals when consumed in significant amounts. If the company has to comply with a related regulation and add warning labels or place warnings in certain locations where its products are sold, a negative impact may result for PepsiCo.Intense Competition – The Coca-Cola Company is PepsiCo’s primary competitors. But others include Nestlà ©, Groupe Danone and Kraft Foods. Intense competition may influence pricing, advertising, sales promotion initiatives undertaken by PepsiCo. Resently Coca-Cola passed PepsiCo in Juice sales.Potential Disruption Due to Labor Unrest – Based upon recent history, PepsiCo may be vulnerable to strikes and other labor disputes. In 2008 a strike in India shut down production for nearly an entire month. This disrupted both manufacturing and distribution.PepsiCo’s ProblemNegligence on employe es – One of the main lacking components of PepsiCo’s values is their employees. Of the many concerns they have about the consumer and clients, little is said about the way employees are treated and what expectations and responsibilities are towards them. Programs exist that help employee’s take part in the community, and also future employees by offering school programs and scholarships. However, little effort is directed towards the responsibility of the company to employees. Coinciding with their values, objectives, and commitment, employees are left out of the  grand scheme and mayeven be considered a means to an end. The limited focus on employees may be a problemin the long-run due to retention issues and resulting lack of quality.Poor business strategy – PepsiCo’s business strategies were working out very well for them except for in their international operations. The international segment had relatively low profit margins which meant that PepsiCo needed to implement a new organizational structure that would better utilize strategic fits between the company’s international operations Low Productivity – In 2008 PepsiCo had approximately 198,000 employees. Its revenue per employee was $219,439, which was lower than its competitors. This may indicate comparatively low productivity on the part of PepsiCo employees.Image Damage Due to Product Recall – Recently (2008) salmonella contamination forced PepsiCo to pull Aunt Jemima pancake and waffle mix from retail shelves. This followed incidents of exploding Diet Pepsi cans in 2007. Such occurrences damage company image and reduce consumer confidence in PepsiCo products.Conclusion and RecommendationOverall PepsiCo is a successful company with substantial revenue, and a large footprint in the marketplace. PepsiCo should continue to expand their growth and take advantage of potential opportunities by continuing to improve on areas at the corporate top level , in the markets that they currently are in, and in new markets and market segments that they wish to expand into and at last PepsiCo should become more proactive in the health food/product market place rather than being reactive to the market trends. They need to improve their responsiveness and future projections to market trends and changes that can therefore allude to different product segments and target markets.

Financial Overview For the Global Venture PowerPoint Presentation

Financial Overview For the Global Venture - PowerPoint Presentation Example Times have changed and the world has become a global village where internet should be used as an effective tool for marketing the product and managing other resources while making sure that its done in a careful manner in order to avoid cybercrime or theft of confidential information to the competitors. The mission statement of Company A focuses on being the market leader in energy drinks industry while operating in an effective and profitable manner and at the same time providing an organizational culture that supports employees input and gives them their deserved recognition. Company A intends to work on SMART goals that mean being Specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time-based and at the same time developing the objectives of growth, business development and fulfilling their obligations to society.SWOT analysis of Brazil demonstrates that they the major strengths of Brazil lie in high economic growth and fully developed infrastructures which are crucial for any new start- up company or a product launch. Weaknesses lie in complex regulatory mechanisms, fluctuations in the business cycle and complicated foreign investment policies. On the other hand, economic stability and abundance of hydroelectricity are considered to be the main opportunities in the Brazilian market. Lastly, two major threats include HIV which although is declining but still has a huge absolute number and high-interest rates.Based on the analysis, Brazil appears to be a profitable market/economy for Company A to launch their energy drink.

Economics of carbon cap and trade Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Economics of carbon cap and trade - Essay Example al Protection Agency (EPA) is charged with responsibility of providing the federal and the central government with adequate information on the level of emissions as well as the greatest contributors towards such emissions. Some of the enactments include carbon tax, emission standards, fuel economy standard as well as carbon cap and trade (Ramseur, 205). Carbon cap and trade refers to a system of emission control that uses financial incentives with an aim of encouraging firms and organizations to minimize the level of carbon dioxide that they emit to the atmosphere. A major regulatory body such as the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sets a general limit or a cap of carbon dioxide emissions in a particular year then assigns the figure to the major polluters based on the level that they are likely to emit. The firms that wish to emit more than their cap allows will be forced to buy permits from those firms that are currently emitting less than they are allowed to emit into the atmosphere. The permits are either bought directly from the companies or are bought and sold through electronic exchanges. This program has proved successful in the European Union countries resulting in huge revenues being raised by those governments thus boosting their economies as well as regulating the amount of carbon emissions. However in the United States, only few states have been able to implement it and the main concern being raised currently is whether the central government can adopt and implement it in the entire nation. The regulation has brought about sharp criticism from some members of the political class even as some seem to be in support of it. There are several implications that must be considered carefully before the program is established and therefore this research aims at considering the economic implications of the project. Economic conditions entail the manner by which implementation of carbon cap and trade policy will affect the economy in

The concept of 'Xeno-racism' in the context of the 'war against Essay

The concept of 'Xeno-racism' in the context of the 'war against terror' - Essay Example Unfortunately, human beings also have the tendency to see change as the enemy, as a threat to their identity and their survival, and they rail against it. With the twenty-first century, the world has witnessed a rise in fear on all sides of the globe, one that pits humans against humans, country against country, and religion against religion. From a NATO perspective, the Cold War has given way to the War on Terror. Today, developed countries fear terrorist attacks from Islamic fundamentalists, while many in the Middle East fear amoral, mindless consumerism and even bellicose, forcible take-overs spawned from developed countries. So it is the same old story that has been told and retold for centuries. It is the same story, reframed in new terms, using new verbiage, yet the message and meaning are the same. Yesterday's racism becomes today's supposedly "legitimate" concerns about the financial liability of the poor immigrant, the unpredictability and potential danger of the deranged religious fanatics, and the threat of pervasive immorality. Although this is a multi-faceted and complex issue, for the purposes of this paper, the Western xeno-racist perspective will be defined and addressed in the context of the war on terror, and its usage as a basis for justification for xeno-racist policies on the part of Western governments, especially in regard to Muslim people, will be analysed. At the heart of racism lie the instinctive fears and desires of human beings. Whatever excuses people might use to explain their racist remarks and attitudes, the crux of the matter is that they fear that a foreign people coming into their land might somehow threaten their survival. This fear is intensified by the basic human desire to create order, which is projected into national identities and societal structures. These structures and identities are threatened by change, represented by the foreigner. Furthermore, these self-definitions are maintained by the ability of people to define themselves as different and distinct from "the other", the stranger. When these strangers desire to move across national borders or otherwise impact a country and its people, fear is often the result. It is the fear of change, the threat to national identity, and the potential fear of being overtaken by the foreigners that drives people to reject immigrants and to deny them entrance2. Science has proven that there is no such thing as multiple races, yet the belief in race persists. "Race", being a social construct, "has no inherent or fixed meaning. What "race" is emerges within specific historical, economic, and political situations and is whatever racists have the social power to define it as. It is an open-ended political category constituted out of struggle3. Indeed, it is one of the great ironies of modern life that while race is a complete fiction, it continues to drive social structure and political action4. Furthermore, although it is no longer socially acceptable to be outright racist, claiming that a person of a certain color or country of origin is automatically inferior, human beings have not altogether discarded the boundaries they have built around themselves. Likewise, it is no longer considered rational to be afraid of a stranger simply because they are unknown, a condition referred to as xenophobia, and yet the human fear of the other and the huma n desire to create national identity and order has not succumbed to science and rationality so easily. So, in the place of xenophobia and