Career Interest Profiler and Competencies Results

Moore The following paper will discuss the ways in which understanding my competencies will help me to improve my group communication skills. I will discuss how knowing these competencies help me become a better communicator in groups while helping me determine sources of conflict in group communication. I will review with you the result of my Career Interest Profiler. By understanding my competencies I am better able to determine where my strengths and weaknesses lye.The results of my competencies show that my strengths are researching, taking initiative, innovating, adapting to change, coping with pressure, and applying expertise. I believe that the assessment was accurate. Knowing where my strengths are will help me become a better communicator by giving me the confidence that a person receives from knowing one's self. One of my strengths is being able to cope with pressure and being a people person I could use this to help defuse a situation by asking questions o help clarify a p ossible misunderstanding or suggest addition ideas that may be more acceptable to the group as a whole.By using my strengths to move communication along in a positive and productive manner can help avoid possible conflict. My Career Interest Profiler results states that I am conventional, enterprising, and social. It points out that some of the fields of study I could possibly excel in are freight forwarding, Associates/BBS in Criminal Justice, Master's and Doctorate in Business, and BBS/Psychology. I am currently enrolled in Bachelor of Science in Accounting which was not listed in any of the recommended career hoicks for me.I find it interesting that accounting did not fall as one of my choices since I have been in the field for over a decade. In conclusion, this paper discussed the ways in which understanding my competencies will help me to improve my group communication skills, how knowing these competencies help me become a better communicator in groups while helping me determi ne sources of conflict in group communication. While I may not have agreed with the Career Builder Profiler I felt that they were able to inform me of other career options if I so choose to follow its advice.

Ethical Issues with Illegaly Downloading Music

For years now people have found ways to take music off the Internet and put it onto their own computer, iPod, or blank CD. It all started in 1999 with the creation of Napster. Napster introduced a revolutionary new idea that was to forever change the way people thought about music: peer to peer file sharing. Peer to peer file sharing, often abbreviated as simply p2p, allows different users swap songs, with no regards for copyright infringement.Now the most popular way to take music off the Internet is to use one of many YouTube to mp3 converter sites These sits allow you to copy a URL from a YouTube video and paste it into a text box on the YouTube to mp3 site which will then convert the video into a music file that is downloaded onto your computer. Many people have different feeling about using these new YouTube to mp3 sites and using older sites similar to Napster. Either way, using sites like that is simply taking music off the web at no cost to oneself. I will go on to defend the idea that illegally downloading music is stealing.Illegally downloading music is no different then going into a store and taking a CD right off the shelf and walking out without paying. I will base my defense on the concept that the artists and the people involved in the music industry have rights. Whenever a song is downloaded off the Internet illegally it is a violation of the artists and the people involved in the music industry’s rights. My first premise is that artists and people in the music industry have the right to be compensated for their hard work. Most artists dream to make it big one day and be paid for the songs that they write and sing.When a person puts in the hard work that it takes to make it to the top they should be compensated for their efforts. However, the artists do not make the music and hit records all on their own. There are many people behind the scenes that contribute to the making of albums. For example there are the people who control the audio equipment and run the recording studio. Everyone involved in the music industry has the right to be compensated for the work that they have done. It is not right for someone to essential go to work, make a product, and then have someone else take it free of charge.My second premise is that illegally downloading music is a form of stealing. Taking something that does not belong to you is against the law. Taking someone thing that has a known money value and not paying one cent is down right stealing. One credible analysis by the Institute for Policy Innovation concludes that global music piracy causes $12. 5 billion of economic losses every year, 71,060 U. S. jobs lost, a loss of $2. 7 billion in workers' earnings, and a loss of $422 million in tax revenues, $291 million in personal income tax and $131 million in lost corporate income and production taxes.So not only are revenues are being affected by this music theft but jobs are being stolen away as well. Some people feel that the artists do not deserve all of the money that it costs to purchase one of their albums or even a single song off of iTunes. When you see pictures, videos, and interviews of music artists they do not look or sound like they are struggling to get by. Now-a-days artists are making profits off of country and worldwide concert tours. Some are even paid for personal appearances. Others have teamed up with various brand names and started endorsing their products while being paid to do so.To the average person it does not feel like taking songs off the Internet is actually affecting the artists themselves. If these famous artists are living the good life it should not matter that the average Joe saves a few dollars and downloads music off the internet. To contour the argument that artists have other ways of making money I will approach the issue in two ways. First of all stealing is stealing. Taking something that does not belong to you is wrong and will always be viewed as wrong. It does n ot matter what is being stolen or whom it is being stolen from.Second of all, as I have mentioned earlier, the artist are not the only people involved in the creating of songs and albums. As the Internet grows and the vast number of illegal downloads grows with it peoples jobs are shrinking. Less and less artists will be able to make music if the up and comers are not making any money to live off of. If new artists are forced to find other ways of making money their music career may never take off. If the number of people making music decreases so will the need for so many behind the scenes people.Overall illegally downloading music off the Internet is what it is, stealing. These actions not only affect the artists but so many more people that we do not always consider. Some feel that it is ok the take music from these famous artists but if it continues less and less music will be created, causing the high percentage of unemployment to only grow larger. When you steal from someone y ou are using him or her as a means to an end. No one should be used as a means to an end, especially when it comes to his or her livelihood.

Advertising Mixture of Art and Science Essay

Advertising allows us to communicate a salient message to a large group of consumers faster than any other form of communication. It allows us to truly connect with the consumer; it gives us an opportunity to develop an ongoing relationship between the consumer and a brand. At its best, advertising will create a sense of urgency for the consumer, awareness often honest and accurate that there are products, places, styles or sensibilities that cry out for action or attention. Advertising is a compendium of all communications that consumer sees, feels, touches, hears, smells, and so on. If they are walking through a store, the packaging on particular product is advertising. If they are at home, the direct mail they receive in their mailbox, the e-mails and pop-ups on their computers, or the images they see on television are advertising. The logos on the NASCAR autos or even the t-shirts with every name known to mankind are advertising Advertising A Mixture Of Art And Science: Advertising is a fine balance between art and science. The science part of it is consuming information, but the true challenge is translating these facts into a relevant strategy, into an original, creative execution, and generating the right communication stream. Explanation: Advertising is a mix of science and art. Most companies approach marketing problems in the same way we all do a certain level of copy testing, using qualitative and/or quantitative research techniques. That is the science side of it. The art is in the ideas. It s in being able to see something that others don t see and to develop creative ideas around it. There s a lot of art to that. There are some fundamental rules which successful advertising must follow. First, need to understand the brand which about to take on. Ask questions such as: What are its core equities? Who are the brand s consumers? From there, we need to understand the consumers and observe how that brand fits into their lives and their day-to-day routines. Once we have got that, we can develop a strong, critical consumer insight. Then marry that insight with the core equities of the brand. That way the insight becomes brand-centric. After that, provide a strong creative brief that helps the creative understand the brand, the arriers the brand might face, and exactly what it is that the advertising should do. In reviewing the creative s ideas, it is important that keep in mind whether they really deliver on the marketing strategy. We need to set aside our own tastes and put our self in the consumer s shoes, because nine times out of 10 you aren t the target consumer anyway. Ask, Will this idea connect to the consumer? Once we ve completed the review, take the ideas to the client. WE have to listen to the client, because its job is to protect the core equities of the brand. The client needs to feel comfortable, but also needs to judge the idea the way you did will it connect? You need to cut through the clutter, engage the consumers, and persuade them to take an action or purchase the product. At the end of the process, we need to get the results and learn from them. If the process worked well, understand what made it successful and keep it going. To succeed in the advertising business, we must be able to see opportunity in the abstract and then, you must make it real. Advertising is a part art, part science, and perhaps even a greater measure of discipline. If you don t have a disciplined approach to developing a strategic platform, it will be impossible to produce quality material over a long period of time. The essential tactics for this type of disciplined approach are many: Hiring, training, firing, strategy development, creative development, media development, account service, research; how you follow up with your clients on a day to day basis; the processes you use within your agency; the financial discipline you have within your company; how you approach developing a real partnership with the client; how you approach developing an understanding of their products or services. So, discipline isn’t something that s nice if we have time for it; it s mandatory. We can t just wing it. In years past, advertising agencies have had the reputations of being free-thinking, free-wheeling, free-spending bastions of creative largesse where folks think, do and create great things all day long. But anyone who has worked in the business knows that the creative part is the figurative tip of the iceberg: It only represents about 10% of what we do. The rest of the time is spent learning, researching, understanding, and massaging information so that we can actually deliver a message that makes sense and produces results. Conclusion: Advertising has been described as something that interrupts someone s attention long enough to be able to sell them something. Fundamentally, you are imposing yourself intruding upon someone s time and finding a way to connect with a passive mind in a very brief period to help inform or intrigue with something that has value to that person. That’s what advertising is. The art relates to the entertainment qualities, which are there to capture interest. The science is in the ability to understand what you are going to do when you have those two or three seconds of attention. The science involves having an understanding of people and human nature; understanding the qualities of a product, a brand, a category, or a specific offering and being able to frame it properly.

European law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

European law - Essay Example ibutor Lyon in France is 40% of the market and therefore there could be an issue of collective dominance1 of BMC and Lyon that may well arise in this case and invoke the provisions of Article 81(1) restricting competition in the internal market. Article 14(2) of the EC Treaty defines the internal market as â€Å"an area without frontiers in which the free movement of goods, persons, services and capital is ensured in accordance with the provisions of this treaty.† On this basis, it may therefore be stated that any measure that has the cumulative effective of restricting the free movement of goods (in this case cars) within the internal market which is comprised of the European states including UK, France and Germany could be deemed to be violative of EU law. However EC competition law is based upon the Treaty of Rome which requires that certain objectives be taken into consideration in so far as implementing Community law is concerned, such as for example Article 6 for environmental protection, article 127 for employment or article 153.2 for consumer protection. Such factors therefore allow for a fairly flexible interpretation of competition law, as in the case of Metro SB-Großmà ¤rkte GmbH & Co. KG v Commission. 2 Monti has also pointed out several other examples of goals that have been considered in implementing competition law, either directly or indirectly and identifies some of these goals as regional development, industrial policy, protection of employment, protection of the environment and market integration.3 Such exemptions may however, not always apply. For example, in the case of A BrunsteinergmbH and Autohaus Hilgert gmbH v BMW,4 the Court held that where the exemptions listed under Article 81(3) of the EC Treaty were not satisfied, then contractual terms between two undertakings that were restrictive of competition could be deemed to be liable under the provisions of Article 81(1). A major issue in this case was the application of Regulation EC No:

Use of Digital Media by disabled student for education Essay

Use of Digital Media by disabled student for education - Essay Example Another has been the application of multimedia technologies within official learning situation for academic functions, mainly â€Å"English language literacy† (Davis, p. 48, 2005). A stress on the part of multimedia within ‘special’ schooling is logical, making an allowance for the fragmentary well-politicised competition on whether to teach young deaf and dumb individuals in a bilingual setting by means of a â€Å"signed language† (Council for Exceptional Children, p. 192, 2005). On the other hand, the rising significance of communal as well as participatory media during the free time of Westerners implies that such applications of Web 2.0 are as well worth investigating. These have started to be a little educational reports of the keen implementation of â€Å"v-logging by sign language users† (Council for Exceptional Children, p. 201, 2005). Web 2.0 has been identified by its aptitude to ‘control cooperative aptitude’ by offering prospects for users to make, become accustomed, â€Å"mash up and share text, photos and video† (Friend & Bursuck, p. 93, 2011). In addition to its well-acknowledged participatory potential, its re-prominence on visual (as contrasting to written) communication is of exacting concern for dumb and deaf people. It has been recommended that disabled students are a â€Å"visual variety of the human race† (Friend & Bursuck, p. 124, 2011), and the visually affluent offers fresh prospects for visually affluent types of communication, most significantly by means of signed languages. The main significance of signed languages for disabled people individuality proposes that the visual features of interactive multimedia might put forward prospects of safeguarding, development as well as changes within those individualities. Simultaneously, the visual features of the Web 2.0 are us ually audio-visual, such that the more and more affluent resources of the â€Å"net offer† (Smith et al, p. 193, 2011) prospective obstructions in addition to ways to

Can the EU become an influential player in international political Essay

Can the EU become an influential player in international political economy - Essay Example 24). This paper will discuss EU and how it is an influential player in international political economy. European Union is a multinational government that is changing the initial role of the nation-state and sovereignty in the entire Europe. EU was formed willingly by several states that had similar goals and is unique in its design and idea to the European continent (Breherton & Vogler, 2002, pp. 213). EU is a unique economic and political partnership between twenty-eight countries that occupy much of the continent. The initial mission of the European Union was to encourage cooperation among the countries after the World War II and was presumed that the countries that were trading together were unlikely to attack each other. European Union has brought about so many advantages to the states that are members. The economic advantages include enabling the member states move capital and goods from place to place within the EU (Arull, 2004, pp. 505). In addition, the Entrepreneurs are free to give their services anywhere within the European Union, which is made possible since the European Union operates under a unified set of economic laws. These advantages have been designed to create a competitive marketplace and reduce the prices for the consumer especially those within the member states. European Union came up with one currency that is common in all the states; Euro, hence making it possible for the trade to take place between the countries. The European Union takes a step further and provides its members with protection against the challenges of volatility and inflation in the monetary market (Lucarelli & Fioramonti, 2010, pp. 64-68). Being part of the European Union also encompasses political advantages for the member states. As a member of the multinational organization, the countries are able to wield more influence on the world stage. The workers are protected from exploitive practices through the working tie directive that is controlled

Media Communication and Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Media Communication and Culture - Essay Example The industry has had its fair share of troubles and triumphs. Being cyclical in nature, there is no primary framework for success because demand and strategies alter through Economic conditions. Industry analysts contend that the most favorable barometer for the industry is Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The basis of the argument is that downturns within the industry coincide with economic recessions. As technology advances and as the price of technology seems to keep escalating, communication media find ways to create game changing, revolutionary and cost-effective techniques. Media in turn look for ways to satisfy customer demands and to create competitive pricing options for commercial purposes. In other words, it is the demand of media and their strategies that create the competitive structure in which they develop their products. Needless to say, media still conduct their own market research through consolidating with their customers to find the best products to develop for the best solution. According to marketing and advertising rules and guidelines, consumers always impress upon the advertisements they see.

His 7 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

His 7 - Essay Example These trading outposts later served the Chinese and Arab markets as well. There were several Indian ports from where large ships sailed towards east to Khruse. In the sixteen and seventeenth century pepper became the main South East Asian cash crop and by 1510 Sumatra and Malaya were producing about 2500 tones of pepper a year in contrast to 3600 tones exported by Kerala in South India (Tarling, 122). As time passed the need for other spices along with pepper kept on increasing. The increase in South East Asian production all went almost to fill the growing demands of Europe, and then the Portuguese intervened via the Indian Ocean. When the English and Dutch arrived South East Asia became the major source of world spices and the centre of competition for Portuguese, English, Dutch, Chinese and Indian buyers. The price levels were high throughout the period. The period since 1570-1630 was a prosperous time for Japan when the country unified and it increased its trade license to a numb er of countries. In order to improve economic activities in the region few associations were formed including Asian Pacific Economic Corporation (APEC) and Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). It has signed different trade agreements in order to boost the South East Asia's economy. As early as 13th century globalization was carried out in South East Asia via the l

Race, Gender, and Work Experiences Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Race, Gender, and Work Experiences - Essay Example Various social clusters of individuals are classified according to their assignments, manner of conduct, and also the way of dressing. People are also grouped according to their level of income, status, influence, and supremacy within the society. There is a notion that there are jobs that suits women and those that suit men. It is important to point out that gender inequality has been prevalent in the work places (Satzewich 4). I work in a car mechanical repair shop as a receptionist in Edmonton, Canada. According to the Gender Gap Report of 2013, Canada is positioned at position 23 in terms of gender inequality and position 9 in gender inequality on the basis of economic involvement and opportunity. The 2010 NHS statistical data showed that the average level of income of native immigrants with a certificate, diploma, or degree certain was $55, 825, while that of native non immigrants averaged $69, 999. NHS statistics in 2011 showed that the average income of individuals who were not a visible minority averaged $ 42,196 while that of visible minorities were lower. For instance the average income of Chinese was found to be $34, 301 (SOC 260 Lecture 7). Handy jobs as car repairs are considered the jobs of men. Society believes that a female can only have less demanding roles as sitting behind a desk all day answering calls. In my place of work, most workers are male. I have only one female colleague who works as a receptionist too. In my opinion, female workers have better social skills as compared to men that enable them to deal with customers effectively. It is important to consider the fact that gender inequality has been prevalent almost everywhere in the world. Gender inequality is supported by a number of theories. For instance, ladies are structured on a particular aspect within the society. They are considered to be affectionate and less proficient. This theory is referred to as ambivalent sexism. Therefore, women end up being labeled with a lot of sympathy while men are considered skilled. Men are conventionally considered officious and dominant. (Linda and Brooks 185). There are many social problems associated with inequal ity within the society. As a result of discrimination, some people may result to delinquent behaviors. Research has shown that places with high levels of inequality have high levels of crime related incidences. Other associated problems include eating disorders leading to obesity, and also mental illnesses (Linda and Brooks 197). Traditionally, women were required to stay at home and perfume household chores such as cooking, washing, and looking after children. Men, on the other hand, spent their whole day working in the farms and earning a livelihood in order to take care of their families. Conventionally, work is considered a result of history. Various jobs were designed in a way that does not allow an individual to be involved in other duties such as looking after children and other household activities. This is because these jobs are very demanding and multitasking would affect the quality of work. Society requires women to bear children, breast feed them, and look after them (D emaiter and Adams 33). Many job descriptions in the modern world lack provisions for these feminine activities. How Race and ethnicity affects experiences in the workplace The ethnic background of an individual plays an important role in how s/he is treated in the work place. I am a Chinese by race and ethnicity. It is evident that i have tried to lessen

Health and safety Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Health and safety - Essay Example We specialize in manufacturing and supplying all kinds of chemicals for retail and mass consumption, and have been doing so for the last 60 years. Our biggest clients are industries which use most of our products, but retail consumption also forms a significant component of our corporate strategy. We produce organic and industrial chemicals, ceramic products, petrochemicals, agrochemicals, polymers, elastomers, explosives (including ammonium nitrate and nitroglycerin), oleochemicals, fragrances, and flavors. We have a presence in 16 countries, with our biggest markets being the United States and Canada, although Latin America also contributes greatly to our overall growth and success. Because of our sheer size, we employ over 20,000 workers in the 16 countries in which we have a presence. These workers perform a wide range of duties ranging from casual labor to administrative work. Others are also employed in the supply and distribution segment, playing a crucial role in taking our p roducts to our customers. Over the last two years we have embarked on an ambitious expansion program that has helped us to not only grow existing markets but also push into new markets and frontiers. The program has been a huge success considering that only the first phase has been implemented. We intend to roll out the second and final phase in the next month and finish its implementation in two years. Statement of Intent First, I already mentioned that our company manufactures chemicals for industrial and retail consumption. It is well known that chemicals, especially industrial chemicals, are not only very volatile and dangerous, but also highly sensitive. They can cause great damage if mishandled in any way or stored in a manner that makes them more hazardous than they already are. Workers are also predisposed to the dangers of these chemicals since they are the ones charged with handling them during manufacturing, packaging, storage, and distribution. Those workers who do not c ome into contact with these chemicals are also vulnerable indirectly because they spend some time around them. I must say that since we are primarily a manufacturing company, the working conditions of our employees are critical to the success of our business. More importantly, the health and safety conditions of our employees form the backbone of current and future success of the company. We have put in place measures that comply with the requirements of various government agencies like OSHA (occupational safety and health administration), NISH (national institute for occupational safety and health), and the chemical safety board. In addition to this, we regularly cooperate with the aforementioned agencies in order to ensure that we are constantly in compliance with the necessary regulations. This has enabled the company to consistently score highly in industry ratings that are published every year, and used to classify those companies that have best complied with health and safety requirements and made their plants and workplaces safe for all their employees. From a health and safety perspective, the company considers the following things important: a) Safe Working Conditions Our employees are our most valued assets, and therefore we know it would be foolish to let them work in poor and unsafe conditions. We are focused on making our employees feel as comfortable as possible (despite the potential dangers in their

Environment Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Environment - Research Paper Example The people hunted animals, fished, herded cattle, and grew food. Hence, nature enabled Man’s survival. Modern years have witnessed an increasingly great divide between nature and mankind in part due to a rational development of language that seems to have made its indigenous roots indistinguishable. So the transformation in our relationship with nature throughout history is marked by a development in newer modes of communication and expression. As mankind made its progress towards civilization, he distanced himself from his primitive roots that sought everything from nature. And they developed language so much to erase its historical roots in the natural context. Hence, although language traces its origination from animism, it cannot be returned to its original form because human developments over the years have contributed to changes that cannot be reverted back to basic pictorial communication. Philosophers have sought to explain the downfall of nature and the human being’s alienation of ecological world around us. Starting from Greek thinkers till the present times, philosophers have attempted to find the reasons for Man’s isolation is his links with nature. It is thought that Man’s changing ideas regarding the world including his emphasis on non-sensorial realm resulted in society’s mistrust of sensory experience thus increasing the distance between Man and nature. The gap between Man and nature is considered to have caused by the mental landscape and context that was created by civilizations in order to harbor the separation of Man from nature. Two of the oldest civilizations that led towards separation are the Hebrew and the Greek civilizations. The Hebrew civilization, according to Abram, planted the seeds of spirituality and religiosity as a dominant concept over nature (95). The Greek civilization on the other hand promoted ideas and phil osophy thereby raising the divide that eventually led to the estrangement

Axia College of University of Phoenix Essay Example for Free

Axia College of University of Phoenix Essay The purpose and meaning of life, is to live it in the most meaningful way a person can. I work hard on this daily, and try to show the younger generation that life can be so beautiful in a lot of positive ways if you lead it the way you want it. My personal narrative will be away to express myself like I have not done before by using theories in my readings. I am a thirty-year-old man who is very energetic, outgoing, hard working that not only values my life, but everyone else’s as well. The past five years of my life have been a five-part movie that could have big as the Lord of the Rings series. I started school, two businesses, regular job I got promoted, and bought a new house. I have had to take a back seat on being there for all my family, and friends like I am use to, because for once I had to utilize time for myself. My meaning of life stayed the same thru out these years; I think these things have made me more mature on things, and to love myself a little more. The major thing that made me really evolve in the past 5 years I believe is starting school. Six years prior to me starting at UOP I dropped out of college, because I had no clue what I wanted to use my skills for, I was very lost, unhappy, and I was doing nothing for myself it was for everyone else. That single event by enrolling back in school changed my personality over night for the better. The next day I started weeding people out of my life that where imputing nothing but negatives in it. That was defiantly the turning point for me without a doubt. This event came at the right time also in my life since I was in a very dark place at the time, so I guess you can say it was meant to be. Then I started two business ventures that I had wanted to start which proved to me that I could do something for myself to benefit my life and stability. I now have more than enough responsibilities that I did not have before, like keeping my business in order supplies to maintaining my customer relationships. My new house has been the biggest ordeal and not in a bad way it has been extremely difficult to get it to my standards, and since I am so busy I have not taking time just for my house. These challenging changes in my life now are very hard to deal with, but I would not make any changes at all, because this is the happiest I have been. I have been hard on myself, but not to the point of stressing. Happiness proves to be an interesting window through which to view continuity and change in personality (McAdams, 2006). With that said it shows in my everyday life that no matter what I am faced with today my life is a lot better now than then. I took a lot growing up without a father from not being able to afford things I wanted to not having the self-confidence in myself to make change. When you receive that unexpected high grade on a tough assignment, you are likely to feel good, and your well-being shoots way up (McAdams, 2006). Starting my businesses, buying the house, and getting promoted where some very tough assignments in the past five years, but I feel so much better about who I am with a better well being. What roles have religion, race, culture, family, and gender played in the development of my personality, well the major thing that played a role was family. My family pushed me so much to a point where failing would not be expectable in any manner. My girlfriend has never stopped believing in me she always said I will be somebody, and no one can take that from me. My race, and religion beliefs did not have a huge factor in any part of this, but my personality got me sixty percent of what I have today. Looking back on the past seeing the transition that has taking place in my life from five years ago is something in itself to boost my ego. Five years ago without UOP I can honestly say that there is no way I would be where I am now. Life is a wonderful thing to have, we make our own destiny, and being rich or poor should not make us who we are, but being in love with life and our good talents that we possess should play a huge part of what we are. McAdams, D. (2006). The person: a new introduction to personality psychology. (4th ed. ). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley Sons.

Customary International Law

Customary International Law The concept of â€Å"international law† has fuelled academic debate regarding its interpretation, parameters and whether it in fact hinders measures to maintain international order, by virtue of the fact that there is a dichotomy between theory and the reality of the formation of customary international law as suggested by the above statement. Indeed it has been commented that the â€Å"demise of custom as a source of international law has been widely forecasted because both the nature and the relative importance of customs constituent elements are contentious†. Conversely, it has been propounded that customary international law is nevertheless significant as a source of law particularly in the international human rights arena. For example, the codification of conventions, and case law of the International Court of Justice (IJC) have been cited as contributing to the â€Å"resurrection† of customary international law. However, notwithstanding the theoretical importance of international law making in areas such as human rights and as a check on autocratic power, these measures are only as effective as their practical enforceability, which some commentators have challenged in light of competing political interests at international level, which will be the focus of this analysis. Hedley Bull described international law as a â€Å"body of rules which binds states and other agents in world politics in their relations with one another and is considered to have the status of law†. However, many commentators have questioned whether this theoretical ideal of â€Å"international law making† is actually reflected in fact by â€Å"the existence of any set of rules governing interstate relations, secondly, its entitlement to be called â€Å"law† and, thirdly, its effectiveness in controlling states in â€Å"real life† situations†. Notwithstanding the contention as to whether the term â€Å"law† is applicable to the social contract in the international arena, it is argued that there are in force some general principles of law â€Å"which states regard as binding on one another†. For example, the fundamental principles governing international relations include the right to self-determination of peoples, prohibition of the threat or use of force, peaceful settlement of disputes and respect for human rights, international cooperation and good faith. As such, Antonio Cassesse observes that: â€Å"The principles at issue possess tremendous importance, for they represent the only set standards on which States are not fundamentally divided. They constitute the core â€Å"rules of the game† on which all States basically agree and which allow a modicum of relatively smooth international relations†. However, Cassesse statements, whilst undoubtedly justified on the basis of member state commitment as signatories to international treaties and conventions, ignore the conflicts creates by the law making process which arguably make â€Å"little more than a manifestation of divisions in power between states of different political and economic importance,† which is further compounded by the conflict between the sources of international law under customary law and various treaties and charters. Indeed Anthony Carty observes that there is in no complete system of international law to provide resolutions to disputes in contemporary international relations. Cartys assertions are rooted in the premise that states continue to operate as â€Å"states of nature†, with no unequivocal demarcation of rights under international law, further compounded by ad hoc, unilateral interpretation by member states. Moreover, the lack of a cohesive international legal system evidenced by inconsistencies in concepts of customary law results in a â€Å"clash between international law and measures deemed necessary to maintain a balance of power†. This is particularly evidenced by the law relating to legitimate use of force in the international arena. The 1945 United Nations Charter (the Charter), which is considered to be a source of international law, was implemented to address the post Second World War concerns of preventing repeat atrocities. The preamble to the Charter asserted its primary objective as â€Å"saving succeeding generations from the scourge of war† and implementing a framework to facilitate peaceful dispute resolution in international relations. Furthermore, the Charter imposed a prohibition on the use of unilateral force by member states, which was viewed as a radical measure in international law making. However, the theoretical milestone in international law has been cited by some as a false dawn, compounded by the continued uncertainty as to the boundaries of Article 2(4) in practice, leading to Dixon to question its efficacy as a protectionist measure. Moreover, Reisman has argued that in any event, â€Å"Article 2(4) was never an independent ethical imperative of pacifism†. This is further supported by the proviso that â€Å"unilateral force must not be inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations†, which is further compounded by conflicting right of member states to self defence under Article 51 of the Charter. The intrinsic uncertainty facilitated by the drafting of Article 2(4) creates scope for discretion by the reference to â€Å"purpose of the United Nations†. As such, the Charter effectively grants scope for member state unilateral interpretation, whilst simultaneously justifying any use of force as complying with the â€Å"purpose† of the United Nations. Furthermore, the continuation of post holocaust conflicts question the efficacy of Article 2(4) as a protection mechanism on illegitimate force in international conflict, thereby facilitating scope for potential abuse of political and economic objectives without effective sanction, further bolstered by the Article 51 right to self defence. Moreover, notwithstanding the objectives of the ICJ, in practice its decisions have been criticised for lacking consistency, highlighting the problem of after the event decisions to determine whether force used was legal. The role of the SC in having the power to â€Å"determine the existence of any threat to the peace, breach of peace, or act of aggression† and implement measures that may include force, has been further utilised as highlighting the dichotomy between theory and practice in international law making. The machinations of the SC are intricate, with many arguing that powerful member states within the SC create an imbalance of power in using the SC to further their political desires. This is further compounded by the fact that states which are not signatories to the UN fall outside the jurisdiction of SC decisions and are subject to convoluted principles of international customary law. As such, this creates scope for selective enforcement of international law, compounded by the conflict between applicability of Charter principles and established principles of customary law, which is inherently problematic in practice. Whilst Dixon and McCorquodale argue that some principles of customary law apply irrespective of the Charter provisions, other commentators assert that the Charter â€Å"heralded a new beginning†, thereby limiting the scope of customary law in this context. This conflict between Charter and customary law in the context of legitimate force is a breeding ground for abuse, enabling furtherance of political goals by exploiting the uncertainty. For example, in the case of Nicaragua v USA, the ICJ stated that the Charter right to self defence was derived from customary law and that the SC had final veto over what constituted legitimate self defence. MacClean suggests that this decision suggests that the Charter supersedes customary law, which in the absence of any binding definition of â€Å"armed attack† or what constitutes justifiable self defence, enables international law to effectively be used to legitimise potential abuses of power with extreme uses of force as self defence, shrouded in the veil of accountability by ad hoc decisions of the ICJ after the event. A prime example of this is the ICJ opinion as to â€Å"whether the threat or use of nuclear weapons in any circumstances is permitted under international law†. The ICJ skated around the issue, repeating the prohibition on use of force contrary to Article 2(4) of the Charter and customary law, yet failed to expressly determine whether a preemptive nuclear attack would be unlawful. This clearly creates potential for abuse in the absence of any coherent guidelines, which is further evidenced by the crime of aggression, which has remained controversial as a legal concept in international law, often criticised for being â€Å"intertwined with political elements†. The implementation of the Rome Statute, UN Charter and International Criminal Court was hailed as a historical milestone for protection of human rights against aggression in the international arena. However, in order for any crime of aggression to be effective, it is vital to define what constitutes an act of aggression. However, member states have consistently bypassed implementing a binding definition of what constitutes an act of aggression since the UN Charter was introduced, thereby indicating a distinct gap between theory and the reality of formation of customary law. Furthermore, the lack of binding definition is perpetuated by the lack of delineation between state and individual liability and what is meant by the term â€Å"individual† for the purpose of establishing state liability. Article 39 of the Charter addresses crimes of aggression by the state and not individuals and therefore failure to define â€Å"act of the individual† clearly undermines the theoretical purpose of the crime of aggression as a check on autocratic power. The mechanics of war are inherently complex and the notion of excessive force will clearly vary from one state to another. This in itself highlights the gap between theory and formation of customary law on the international plane, as the problem of having any absolute legal framework will intrinsically be unable to account for the complexities of war at international level. Furthermore, the limited nature of a binding definitive framework also lends itself to exploitation by member states intended to serve their political and economic motivations. This is further limited by the fact that in aggression, the leadership requirement for establishing liability is inherently restricted by the practical difficulty faced by member states in bringing leaders of their state to account, again highlighting the gap between theory and practice. This was evidenced in the case of R v Jones where the House of Lords rejected the appellants claim that the Iraq war constituted an illegal act of aggression under the Charter. In rejecting the appeal, Lord Bingham asserted that â€Å"the crime of aggression is not a crime in the domestic law of England and Wales†. The judicial rationale in the Jones case was rooted in the notion that floodgate claims facilitating anarchy would result from enabling such a claim. Moreover, Lord Bingham stated that the international law crime of aggression was not a crime under national law and that it was â€Å"not for judges to decide what conduct should be treated as lying so far outside the bounds of what is acceptable in our society so as to attract criminal penalties.† This dictum again highlights the dichotomy between theory and law, which in itself lends itself to the use of international law as a tool in furthering political and social power. The Jones decision further begs the question as to the usefulness of the Charter in practice if the crime of aggression under international law is claimed to be unenforceable at national level due to national courts asserting lack of jurisdiction. Moreover, the Charter expressly grants a power of veto to the Security Council (SC) to determine what constitutes an act of aggression. Article 39 of the Charter enables the SC to make recommendations and decide what punitive measures shall be imposed to maintain or restore peace. Notwithstanding the attempts of UN Resolution 3314 to move towards a binding definition of aggression, the debates preceding the Resolution led to compromise in order to appease political disagreements and facilitate amity amongst member states. As such, ambiguous wording remained, compounding the continued uncertainty as to what actually constitutes an act of aggression. Additionally, it has been observed that certain UN member states are clearly more influential, which creates the contradictory situation whereby decisions left to be determined by the SC could potentially result in selective enforcement of international law with some states being subject to harsh measures to restore peace, whilst turning a blind eye to others. This undermines the purpose of the Charter and equality of the rule of law, with the ironic result that those in power can evade accountability. For example, Megret argues that the deficiency in the international law concepts of aggression have enabled the Bush administration to evolve ad hoc concepts of self defence justified as being necessary in the war on terror, thereby compromising the rule of law. In conclusion, the historical importance of the development of international law making through customary principles and various treaties cannot be ignored. However, the theoretical ideal is significantly undermined by gaps between theory and enforcement in practice, which is particularly evidenced in the law of aggression and use of force by the lack of consistent rules and purposeful ambiguity in Charter provisions intended to assuage political conflict and promote member state agreement. However, this has resulted in ad hoc decision making in the international arena often after the event, which undermines the purpose of international law as an effective mechanism to resolve international conflict and protect human rights abuses. Moreover, the inherent ambiguity and lack of precedent has arguably enabled powerful states to use international law to legitimise excessive force, further compounded by the conflict between customary law and the Charter in this context. As such, measures need to be taken to clarify a coherent legal framework with effective sanction if international law makers are to render member states subject to the rule of law in practice. Only then can international law making be â€Å"more than a manifestation of divisions in power between states of different political and economic importance†.

Human resources Essay -- Business Management Studies

Human resources Human resources is concerned with the employees who work for the organisation. Wise organisations regard staff as the most important resources. Other resources include money, equipment, buildings, land and, materials, however, if the employees are not motivated and only do the minimum work that us requires, then all the money or equipment in the world won’t make the business successful. On the other hand if the employees are keen to do their best, are well trained and committed to the aims of the business, them most organisations will be successful, this is why employees or human resources are so important. The main activities is the human resources function: - The recruitment, retention and dismissal of staff. - The training, development and promotion of staff. - The monitoring and maintenance of the good working conditions. - Health and safety. - Liaison with employee organisations and trade unions. Denbenhams department store human resources policies RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION POLICY & PROCEDURE POLICY The recruitment and selection decision is of prime importance as the vehicle for obtaining the best possible person-to-job fit which will, when aggregated, contribute significantly towards the Company's effectiveness. It is also becoming increasingly important, as the Company evolves and changes, that new recruits show a willingness to learn, adaptability and ability to work as part of a team. The Recruitment & Selection procedure should help managers to ensure that these criteria are addressed. The Company Recruitment and Selection Policy will: - be fair and consistent; - be non-discriminatory on the grounds of sex, race, age, religion or disability; - conform to statutory regulations and agreed best practice. To ensure that these policy aims are achieved, all appointing managers will receive training in effective recruitment and selection. PROCEDURE THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS The following procedure should be used when a post is to be filled. The appointing manager must: Define the job. If it is an existing post, is an exact replacement required or is this an opportunity to revise the requirements. If it is a newly established post be clear on the exact requirements, draw up a job description and consult the appropriate Director / Human Resources Department in relation t... ...ventative measures. Each level of management shall conduct its undertaking in a manner so as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons not in the Company's employ are not exposed to risks to their health and safety. Every employee shall take reasonable care for his/her own health and safety and for that of all other people who may be affected by their acts or omissions at work. Failure to comply with this policy or with any health or safety requirement by Debenhams shall render any employee(s) responsible liable to disciplinary action, which may include dismissal. All Executives and Managers are responsible for following through to conclusion any particular matter, which gives rise to a risk to the Health and Safety of employees or customers. Health and Safety at Work is a mutual objective of both the Company's management and employees. The Company shall regard its health and safety functions equal to all other functions and therefore will expect the co-operation of all employees. This Health and Safety statement shall be circulated to all employees and displayed on all notice boards in order to ensure full awareness of its contents.

Outsourcing of America Essay -- Ethics Employment Economics Essays

Outsourcing of America In an increasingly globalize society, it is nothing new to hear about product development and assembly going abroad. Factory jobs have been moved to other nations for decades, and more recently, customer call centers are being relocated to foreign nations. With the current downturn in the economy, people are looking to at this situation in an increasingly negative way. Not all work that moved abroad ended in satisfaction, yet the trend appears to be spreading to new jobs and industries. With the growing population of college educated in foreign nations, software development jobs are shipping overseas. With many incentives associated with outsourcing to various countries versus keeping jobs in the country, companies are laying-off employees and closing down offices. We will discuss the effects that this trend has on people here in the United States, its effect on people in the foreign nations, and explore the ethics behind the shifting jobs to other nations. A Look at Outsourcing Outsourcing is a growing trend, but the term can encompass many development strategies. Software outsourcing is: 1.) the contracting (or subcontracting) with an external organization for the development of complete or partial software products, 2.) the purchase of packaged or customized package software products, or 3.) activities to aid in the software development life cycle[1]. The efforts that are not outsourced are called in-house efforts. In-house efforts ate those efforts that are completely developed within the customer organization. Many organizations have information technology (IT), prototyping, applications, or otherwise-names departments responsible for in-house applications development. Introducing a littl... ...outsourcing. [1] Brian G Herman, â€Å"A Decision Support tool to Categorize the Applicability of Outsourcing Strategies to Specific Software Development Projects and Goals,† diss., Arizona State University, 1999, pg.2 [2] Herman, pg 2-6 [3] Herman pg .7 [4] Herman pg 13 [5] Jyoti Thottam, â€Å"Is Your Job Going Abroad?,† Time, March 1,2004, 6 [6] Jaikumar Vijayan, â€Å"India Inc., Still Going Strong : Other countries are nipping at its heels, but India remains the premier offshore destination,† ComputerWorld, September 2003 [7] Thottam [8] Vijayan [9] Stacy Collett, â€Å"Singapore: Small but powerful, † ComputerWorld, September 2003 [10] Alan S. Horowitz, â€Å"Canada: Safe, secure and 'near-shore' : It's the safe 'near-shore' option, though it's a little pricey,† ComputerWorld, September 2003 [11] Thottam [12] Thottam [13] Thottam [14] Thottam

International economic institutions serve western

International economic institutions serve western interests. Do you agree? The international economic institutions refer to the Bretton Woods institutions which are the IMF and World Bank which were created after World War 2 and GATT was also created after the war and later became the WTO. I agree with the statement, due to the disproportionate amount of power held by Western countries compared to the rest of the world and the fact that these institutions attempt to press or force western neo-Liberal values on the rest of the world. In this essay I will go through each individual economic institution explaining how they serve western interests and how recent reforms have attempted to curb western powers within these institutions and then I will later discuss how these institutions play out in terms of international political theories. The international monetary fund was set up in 1944 to head off any future world economic crisis similar in magnitude to the great depression and to manage the Bretton Wood’s fixed exchange rates. However over the decades it has gained the reputation of being the lender of last resort and have attempted to enforce neo-Liberal principles on countries who take the loans. This is shown clearly through the procedure of the Structural adjustment programme where it aims to create â€Å"a business climate attractive to investors †. They do this through prescribing Washington consensus politics which involves opening up markets to foreign competition, close down unprofitable markets; reduce public expenditure and privatisation programmes. This has served western interests as this opens up new market for western countries to exploit, as shown in Ghana where it â€Å"used to be self reliant on r... ...ns would act in their self interest when using IGO’s. Realists focus on the fact that liberals tend to overlook power politics which would be played out within these IGO’s. For Marxists they view the failure of IGO’s to spread wealth equally as the failings of the capitalist system where only the rich can gain and by allowing the poor to stay poor due to the greed of capitalism. Overall it is clear that in the past and currently the west have dominated the international financial institutions in order to serve western interests. However the west have started to lose grip of all three of these institutions as the emergence of the BRIC’s have forced the west’s hand, as they have hinted that they would create their own IMF . So I foresee a more balanced international institutions or the west facing BRIC led rival organisations in the form of the BRIC’s own versions.

Difference between functional and dysfunctional conflict Essay

Functional Conflict Susie Steel is a vice president in a real estate development firm called Hearts Development. She has spent enormous amounts of energy cultivating a relationship with a local town regarding an available plot of land. Susie would like to purchase the land to build townhomes for sale. She has developed an excellent relationship with the town politicians and community members. An issue has developed over the planned usage of the land, though. The town will sell the land to Susie’s company but feels that townhomes would be bad for the overall community. They’re concerned with the additional cost and burden of kids that the townhomes would bring into the community. Susie understands the community’s concern and wants a win-win situation to occur. She feels that this issue will be a functional conflict due to the fact that the disagreement will bring a positive end result to both parties. Positive results of functional conflict include: Awareness of both sides of issues Improvement of working conditions due to accomplishing solutions together Solving issues together to improve overall morale Making innovations and improvements within an organization In Susie’s case, constructive criticism and discussion resulted in a compromise and a solution between the parties. Susie understood the town’s concern but needed to find something to build that would bring revenue for the company. Through their joint meetings, the end solution was for Hearts Development to build a retirement community, which would only have citizens 55 and over living in the town. This would eliminate the issue of having more young people come into town and burden the school system.

A Causative Agent of Food-borne Poisoning

Bacillus cereus is an aerobic and facultative anaerobic, gram-positive bacteria causing toxin-mediated food poisoning. Optimum temperature for its growth is 30-37Â °C. However, it can also tolerate a wide range of temperature; some strains can grow up to 55Â °C while others can grow at temperatures as low as 4 to 5Â °C (Microbial Pathogen Datasheets, 2001). Many strains from dairy products are able to thrive at lower temperatures. The minimum pH requirement for growth is 4. 3, while maximum pH is around 9. 3.This bacterial population grows best in the presence of oxygen (Microbial Pathogen Datasheets, 2001). Nevertheless, since this species is facultative anaerobic it also grows well in anaerobic conditions (Louisiana Office of Public Health, 2004). Toxin production has been found to be much lower under anaerobic conditions. Bacillus cereus is a spore-forming micro-organism which occurs naturally in most foods. It causes two different and distinct forms of food poisoning: an emeti c illness and a diarrhoeal illness (Louisiana Office of Public Health, 2004).Bacillus cereus causes food-borne emetic illness by producing a highly stable toxin that survives high temperatures and exposure to trypsin, pepsin and pH extremes. Bacillus cereus levels in foods associated with emetic form of food poisoning have ranged from 1,000 to 50 billion colony-forming units (cfu)/gram (Louisiana Office of Public Health, 2004). High numbers of bacterial population have been also detected in faecal samples from affected persons. Diarrhoeal illness is mediated by a heat- and acid-labile enterotoxin produced during growth of vegetative cells in the small intestine (Granum, 1994).Four different enterotoxins have been characterized. Two are protein complexes such as non-haemolytic enterotoxin (NHE) and haemolysin BL (HBL) and two are enterotoxic proteins such as enterotoxin T (bc-D-ENT) and cytotoxin K (Lund, DeBuyser & Granum, 2000). The occurrence of the diarrhoeal-type syndrome has be en largely reported in the US and Europe, where the disease has been greatly associated with foods such as meat, vegetable, poultry, desserts and sauces (Giannella and Brasile, 1979).Prevalence of the vomiting type syndrome has been reported in the United Kingdom, Canada and USA, food borne poisoning is commonly associated with the consumption of cooked fried rice (Mortimer and McCann, 1974). Serotyping studies conducted by Taylor and Gilbert (1975) showed that strains from incidents of food poisoning in US and Europe characterised by a longer incubation period and with diarrhoea as the main symptom have provided serotypes 2, 6, 8, 9 and 10, whereas those which caused the rice-associated emetic illness in United Kingdom, Canada and USA were serotypes 1, 3 or 5.Bacillus cereus food poisoning is mostly associated with rice dishes, and sporadically with other food stuffs such as meat, vegetable, pasta, dairy products, sauces, soups and sweet pastries. Bacillus cereus food-borne poisoni ng is also associated with pudding, cream, spices, dry milk, dry potatoes and spaghetti sauces. Bacterial contamination of the food product by the large occurs prior to cooking. Even after cooking the microbial population thrives because vegetative forms can grow over a wide range of temperatures from 25Â °C to 42Â °C and are also capable of producing endotoxins.Endospores have the ability to survive extremely high and low temperatures. When they are allowed to cool fairly gradually, they once again begin to germinate and multiply. Spores are highly resistant to dry heat than moist heat. Emetic toxins are also extremely resistant to heat. They can survive 90 min at 126Â °C, while diarrhoeal toxins are inactivated at 56Â °C in 5 min. Clinical Description Bacillus cereus is widely known as the etiological agent of food-borne poisoning, causing both gastrointestinal and non-gastrointestinal diseases.Both diarrhoea and emesis can be clearly distinguished by their clinical features. Diarrhoea is provoked by heat-labile enterotoxins, while emesis is caused by a heat-stable depsipeptide toxin called cereulide (Ehling, Fricker & Scherer, 2004). The clinical syndromes associated with the diarrhoeal form of illness are longer incubation about 6 to 24 hours period, very watery diarrhoea (similar to that of C. perfringens), presence of moderate to severe abdominal cramps, nausea and vomiting in some patients, duration of illness ranges from a minimum of 20 hours to a maximum of 36 hours.Clinical features associated with the emetic form of illness are shorter incubation period of about 1 to 6 hours, presence of vomiting and abdominal cramps; diarrhoea is not severe and is present in only about a third of affected individuals (similar to poisoning by S. aureus), duration of sickness ranges from 8 to 10 hours. In both types of syndromes, fever is exceptional and disease is usually docile. Bacillus cereus also can cause other diseases such as local skin and wound infectio ns, ocular infections, fulminant liver failure.Invasive disease, including bacteraemia, endocarditis, osteomyelitis, pneumonia, brain abscess, and meningitis are also caused by Bacillus cereus. Ocular involvement includes panophthalmitis, endophthalmitis, and keratitis (Louisiana Office of Public Health, 2004). Apart, it can bring about other infections namely, pneumonia, meningitis, encephalitis, in addition to brain and liver abscesses (Drobniewski, 1993). It is a rare cause of endocarditis (Fowler et al. 2005) reported in patients with prosthetic heart valves, rheumatic heart disease, intravenous drug use (IVDU), and in patient with leukaemia.Food Poisoning by other Bacillus species Toxic food poisoning is not only caused by Bacillus cereus, several other Bacillus species have also been implicated in food poisoning incidents. The most important species are B. subtilis and B. licheniformis. These organisms are capable of producing an extremely heat-stable toxin which seems very si milar to the emetic type produced by B. cereus (Kramer and Gilbert, 1989). These species are widely associated with food products like meat, vegetable, flour, pastry, sausage rolls, meat pies and pastries, curries and various ethnic dishes with rice, and stuffed poultry.Bacillus subtilis is associated mainly with meat, vegetables in pastry, poultry products, and occasionally with bakery items such as bread, crumpets, sandwiches, and ethnic meat or seafood dishes. Food poisoning syndrome associated with B. subtilis causes acute onset nausea, vomiting and stomach cramps, incubation range is 2-5 hours, often with diarrhoea. Poisoning due to B. licheniformis shows the following symptoms; diarrhoea is more common than vomiting, incubation period is about 8 hours. Another species which was isolated in high numbers from rice associated with a food poisoning outbreak was B.pumilus. Symptoms were consistent with those similar for food poisoning by other Bacillus species than B. cereus. C. pe rfringens food poisoning produces a heat-labile toxin which caused predominantly lower gastrointestinal (diarrheal) disease about 12 hours after ingestion much similar to the diarrheal type syndrome caused by B. cereus. Case Studies In August 2003, five children of a Belgian family became sick after eating pasta salad. The pasta salad prepared on a Friday was taken to picnic on Saturday. The leftovers had been stored in the refrigerator.The following Monday evening the pasta was served for supper to the children. Since the pasta had an unusual odour three children (aged 14, 10 and 9) did not eat much, they ate very little quantities. After 6 hours the youngest child (aged 7) started vomiting and complained of respiratory distress. She was immediately rushed to the hospital. Upon arrival at the hospital the other 3 children also felt nauseous and started vomiting. The condition of all the children began to worsen; hence they were transported to the University Hospital in Leuven.Howev er, during transfer, the child (aged 7) had severe pulmonary haemorrhage, quickly followed by coma, diffuse bleeding, and severe muscle cramps. She died within 20 minutes, at 13 hours after the intake of pasta. Autopsy report revealed the presence of Bacillus cereus in her gut content. The other 3 children were kept under treatment for 8 days and they gradually recovered (Dierick et al. 2005). This case elucidated the probable severity of the emetic illness, also stressing on the importance of sufficient refrigeration of cooked food. Some B.cereus strains are known to be sychrotrophic and these strains have the maximum emetic toxin production between 12 and 15Â °C. In the present case, the temperature of the refrigerator where the pasta salad was stored was 14Â °C. This probably allowed B. cereus strains to multiply quickly to attain a count of more than 108 CFU/g in 3 days along with a very high toxin production (Dierick et al. 2005). Food borne poisoning was reported in a milita ry camp in Jurong, Singapore. This food poisoning outbreak involved 19 army personnel who became unwell after breakfast.All these army personnel had been served fried rice by a food stall in a civilian canteen. The illness was characterized by vomiting (89. 5%), abdominal cramps (52. 6%), diarrhoea (47. 4%), headache (47. 4%) and fever (10. 5%) (Tay, Goh & Tan, 1982). The incubation time extended from 13/4 hours to 51/2 hours. Bacillus cereus was detected in the vomitus of the affected soldiers (Tay, Goh & Tan, 1982). This makes it clear that Bacillus cereus is a causative agent for the food borne poisoning resulting in emetic and diarrhoeal illness. This species contaminates food products, especially cooked rice and refrigerated products.It is therefore essential to follow proper cooking and refrigeration methods. Proper cooking and storage of foods, especially rice cooked for later use, will facilitate to thwart food borne epidemics. For the most part B. cereus food borne outbreak is an outcome of eating cooked foods which are cooled slowly and stored the wrong way. Generally food should be stored at temperatures higher than 60Â °C or quickly chilled to less than 10Â °C immediately after cooking. Bibliography Dierick, K. , Coillie, E. V. , Swiecicka, I. , Meyfroidt, G. , Devlieger, H. , Meulemans, A. , Hoedemaekers, G., Fourie, L. , Heyndrickx, M. & Mahillon, J. (2005). Fatal Family Outbreak of Bacillus cereus-Associated Food Poisoning. Journal of Clinical Microbiology, Aug. 2005, 43(8), pp. 4277–4279. Drobniewski, F. A. (1993): Bacillus Cereus and related species. Clin Microbiol Rev. 6(4), pp. 324-38. Ehling-Schulz, M. , Fricker, M. & Scherer, S. (2004). Bacillus cereus, the causative agent of an emetic type of food-borne illness. Mol. Nutr. Food Res. 48, pp. 479–487. Fowler, V. G. Jr. , Miro, J. M. , Hoen, B. , Cabell, C. H. , Abrutyn, E. , Rubinstein, E. , Corey, G. R. , Spelman, D. , Bradley, S.F. , Barsic, B. , Pappas, P. A. , Anstrom, K . J. , Wray, D. , Fortes, C. Q. , Anguera, I. , Athan, E. , Jones, P. , Meer, J. T. van der, Elliott, T. S. , Levine, D. P. & Bayer, A. S. (2005) Staphylococcus aureus endocarditis: a consequence of medical progress. JAMA. 2005 Jun 22. 293(24), pp. 3012-21. Giannella, R. A. and Brasile, L. A. (1979). Hospital foodborne outbreak of diarrhea caused by Bacillus cereus. Clinical, epidemiological and microbiological studies. J Infect Dis. 139, pp. 366 – 370. Granum, P. E. (1994). Bacillus cereus and its toxins. J. Appl. Bacteriol. Suppl.23, pp. 61S–66S. Kramer, J. M. & Gilbert, R. J. (1989) Bacillus cereus and other Bacillus species. In Foodborne Bacterial Pathogens, Doyle MP, ed. Marcel Dekker Inc. New York. pp 21-70. Louisiana Office of PublicHealth. (2004). Bacillus cereus – Toxi-infection. Infectious Disease Epidemiology Section- Infectious Disease Control Manual. Available from: http://www. dhh. louisiana. gov/offices/miscdocs/docs-249/Manual/BacillusCereusManua l. pdf Lund, T. , DeBuyser, M. L. & Granum, P. E. (2000). A new cytotoxin from Bacillus cereus that may cause necrotic enteritis. Mol. Microbiol.38, pp. 254–261. Mortimer, P. R. and McCann, G. (1974). Food poisoning episodes associated with Bacillus cereus in fried rice. Lancet. 1, pp. 1403 – 1405. Microbial Pathogen Datasheets. Bacillus cereus. (2001). May 2001. Retrieved from: www. nzfsa. govt. nz/science/data-sheets/bacillus-cereus. pdf Tay, L. , Goh, K. T. and Tan, S. E. (1982). An outbreak of Bacillus cereus food poisoning. Singapore Medical Journal. 23(4), pp. 214 – 217. Taylor, A. J. and Gilbert, R. J. (1975). Bacillus cereus food poisoning: A provisional serotyping scheme. J. Med. Microbiol. 8, pp. 543 – 550.

The Death Penalty: Right or Wrong?

The Death Penalty: Right or Wrong? The death penalty is one of the main solutions to prevent crime rates in different states. It should be legalized in all fifty states, to avert from crime, keep repeat offenders off of the streets, and to reduce taxpayers the cost of keeping those found guilty of immoral crimes in prison low. The death penalty can, in fact, prevent outrageous crimes from being committed when it is lawful in a state.Social scientists have stated, â€Å"The act of general deterrence, which is when the punishment dissuaded potential criminals from committing crimes, keeps criminals from going through with crimes† (Baird and Rosenbaum). Heinous crimes have been reduced highly in the states that have a capital punishment law such as Texas. Not only does it keep criminals from going through with the crimes, it causes the offenders to suffer for their wrong actions. Many states have passed the law of the death penalty, while other states, such as New York, claim tha t it is morally wrong and does not solve the problem.Though I can concur with the states that have not passed the law, by putting these deviant people to death, it will cause safer environments for the innocent. For a particular state such as Texas to be able to say they have less crime due to a solution is impressive; every state should want to have the ability to say the same. In Austin, Texas, the population is 768,970, the violence crime is 5. 23, and the murder and nonnegligent manslaughter is 0. 03 (Miller).Though the population is less in Buffalo, New York, with a population of 268,655, there is more crime here. The violence crime is 14. 59 while the murder and nonnegligent manslaughter is 0. 22 (Miller). There has to be a reason why crime is so high in New York and not as high in Texas; the answer is most likely the death penalty. Though it is a very dirty job to execute these criminals, it is ultimately more helpful then harmful. Part of what the death penalty is doing is s etting an example for those people who are also doing crime to consider their actions first. Evidence for capital punishment’s general deterrent effect comes from three sources: logic, firsthand reporters, and social science research† (Cassell and Bedau 189). Logic supports the conclusion that the death penalty is the most effective deterrent for some kinds of murders, those that require reflection and forethought by persons of reasonable intelligence and unimpaired mental faculties. Firsthand reports from criminals and victims confirm our logical intuition that the death penalty deters (Cassell and Bedau 190).Senator Dianne Feinstein recounted her experience in the 1960s sentencing of a women convicted of robbery in the first degree. She asked the women why was the gun that she brought unloaded, the women replayed, â€Å"So I would not panic, kill somebody, and get the death penalty† (Cassell and Bedau 190). This is a great example of how the death penalty does cause people to question their actions before they go through with them. Even if this was the only case where a life was saved, one innocent life is worth putting to death a psycho killer.Texas is one of many states showing the greatest relative improvements overtime due to the death penalty. Not only does the death penalty deter crimes but it also saves innocent lives. Individuals against the death penalty argue that it is not the cause of less crime, all the death penalty is, is murder. In reality, it has been proven otherwise that it does, in fact, save innocent lives. By keeping the criminals in prisons their whole lives, we are faced with other possible problems such as: breaking out of jail, killing of prison guards or other inmates. Statistical studies and common sense aside, it's undeniable that the death penalty saves some lives: those of the prison guards and other inmates who would otherwise be killed by murderers serving life sentences without parole, and of people who m ight otherwise encounter murderous escapees† (Stuart). States such as New York believe it is immorally wrong to execute criminals and they are better off â€Å"rotting† in prison. Yes, in certain cases, they deserve life in prison with no parole over the death penalty, but they are those other cases that deserve more harsh punishment.While capital punishment is a good thing to have, it is also not something we can mess up to wrongly accuse someone. In the movie Green Mile, crazy Bill deserved to die. He was evil and always trying to plot a way to break out or attack one of the guards. If he was successful in doing so, one of them could have been killed, or he would have been free to hurt and kill many other people. The way he raped and killed those girls was disgusting and he should never be able to affect any others. John, on the other hand, did not deserve to die.His whole case was a misunderstanding; he was caught trying to save the young girls while everyone thought he was the murderer. John’s case is exactly why the government needs to look deep into every situation before putting them on death row. Being put on death row is a long and dreadful process. In spite of this, â€Å"Public polls regularly reveal that at least fifty percent of the American people are in favor of the death penalty for crimes of murder† (Cassell and Bedau 20). The other fifty percent needs to look past the killing of one deviant person and look at all the lives that are being saved.John McAdams said it perfectly, â€Å"If we execute murderers and there is in fact no deterrent effect, we have killed a bunch of murderers. If we fail to execute murderers, and doing so would in fact have deterred other murders, we have allowed the killing of a bunch of innocent victims. I would much rather risk the former. This, to me, is not a tough call. † He is basically saying that by executing murderers to deter crime, it is better to kill them with no affects th en not kill them and allow criminals to go through with their crime.Many Americans argue not only about the death penalty not deterring but also the expense of it. A 1991 study of the Texas criminal justice system estimated the cost of appealing capital murder at $2,316,655 (Baird and Rosenbaum 109). Some expenses include money for the trial, state appeals, federal appeals and death row housing. In contrast, the cost of housing a prisoner in a Texas maximum security prison single cell for 40 years is estimated at 750,000 (Baird and Rosenbaum 109).Advocators that are against capital punishment argue that the death penalty is more expensive because of the appeals then life in prison without parole. Supporters of the death penalty, however, point out that, while they advocate proper review of the cases, both the lengthy time and the high expense result from innumerable appeals, many over â€Å"technicalities† which have little or nothing to do with the question of guilt or innoc ence, and do little more than jam up nations court system. If these â€Å"frivolous† appeals were eliminated, the procedure would neither take so long nor cost so much.After going over the math for the costs of both life with out parole and executions, there is still an issue with the space all of the inmates will be taking up. â€Å"The prison and jail population have risen to two million over the past decade† (Reynolds). By putting more and more people on life without parole is just causing there to be less room for people who did less of a harmful crime. What is the point of keeping them around when they are just going to die eventually anyway? If they did something really severe, then they deserve to die. They are waiting in rison for nothing, no hope to leave those prison walls. It might sound cruel to use that as a solution to the problem of an increasing amount of inmates in prison, but in defense, they are living for nothing. They wake up everyday with no goals , drive, or improvements that need to be made. They are not moving forward with their lives because they are only awaiting their deaths, while taking up space in the prisons that could possibly be for people that will eventually be free. Americans also argue that mostly everyone on death row is minorities.As of December 2005, there were thirty-seven prisoners under a sentence of death in the federal system. Of these prisoners, 43. 2 percent were white, while 54. 1 percent were African-American (Muhlhausen). The fact that African Americans are a majority of federal prisoners on death row and a minority in the overall United States population may lead some to conclude that the federal system discriminates against African-Americans. However, there is little rigorous evidence that such disparities exist in the federal system.African Americans make up thirteen percent of the nations monthly drug users, they represent thirty-five percent of those arrested for drug possessions, fifty-three percent of those convicted of drug offenses, and seventy-five percent of those convicted of drug offenses category (Cassell and Bedau 95). In reality, the reason African Americans are normally the ones to be in trouble with the government is usually because of the areas the majority of them grew up in. Racial minorities in the United States are also disproportionately poor.Because they are poor, they are faced with trying to survive and they will do whatever means necessary, including murder. Looking back on history, all executions were being done in public. They were hanged in the middle of the town for everyone to witness the killing of these criminals. The reason the executions were being done in public was because it was centered around the issue of deterrence. It was to inhibit anyone contemplating the same deed as the condemned (Baird and Rosenbaum 110). The people only saw what the government was doing, and saw it as cruel and inhuman.Because they did not also witness what t he criminal did they started to believe the government was wrong and it caused the government to look bad. â€Å"Granting his [Timothy McVeigh] request [for a public execution] allows the moral distinction between him and the rest of us to slip away. It makes it look as if we are all just as bloodthirsty as he† (ProCon). In other words, while this act is being done in the open, it makes the public believe that the government is just as much of a criminal as the one being executed. Now, we go about the death penalty in a different way.Today executions are done with a limited audience, the way it should be. Because the killer took a family’s loved one away, those family members should have the right to watch the criminal be persecuted. Opponents of Capital punishment are also wondering if state-sponsored killing is the best way for victims' family members to cope with their tragedy. â€Å"Life without the possibility of parole is severe, swift and less costly than the d eath penalty and allows victims' families to move on with their lives and healing† (â€Å"Death Penalty Cases†).Yes, it is a dreadful memory for the victim’s families to relive but it is worth the suffering for a little in order to make sure this criminal never has another opportunity to hurt another life. After the case is closed and the criminal is put to death the families of the victim will be able to have a sense of closure. Just like the sick man in Green Mile, Billy, raped and brutally killed two very young girls who did not deserve what he did to them. Although they killed the wrong man, John, the family of the two girls was there to witness it.While he was being put to death, the family was able to have a sense of relief that this man was not going to keep his life and get away with what he did. Though it does not bring the victim back, it is the next best solution and it will help the families sleep better at night knowing they got what they deserved, t he right consequences for their actions. In every murder case, the victims never have a voice to fight for themselves and to make sure the murderer gets what he rightfully deserves. It is the family of the victims’ responsibility to be that voice that fights for the victim, because their voice was taken from them.For example, Kenneth Allen McDuss raped, tortured, and murdered at least nine women in Texas in the early 1990s, and probably many more (Cassell and Bedau 183). The facts of just one such killing will reveal the horror of his crimes. On December 29, 1991, in Austin, Texas, McDuss and his accomplice manhandled 28-year-old Colleen Reed into the back of a car driven by this accomplice. Reed screamed in terror for him to let her go but McDuss forced her in the car and tied her hands behind her back. While the accomplice drove to a secluded location, McDuss began to strike and rape the defenseless women in the back seat.After he was done with the violation, he decided to puff cigarettes into a cherry glow, and inserted them into her vagina. Finally, as Reed begged for her life, he killed her by crushing her neck. He later says, â€Å"Killing a woman is like killing a chicken†¦they both squawk† (Cassell and Bedau 184). For a man to say that is utterly disturbing and horrific. Any man who violates and kills a woman for whatever reason deserves to have his own life taken away. Because of her aggressive family who became her voice when she did not have one, he was executed in 1998 (Cassell and Bedau 184).What exactly are we defending by abolishing the death penalty? States such as New York are allowing these monsters to go on living and possibly have the chance to walk free again. Twenty years prior to the rape and murder of Colleen Reed, McDuss was sentenced to death but was able to escape his sentence. He was released in 1989 by Texas authorities who indirectly caused him to finish his killing spree (Cassell and Bedau 184). If he was execu ted to begin with, all of the women he murdered would have been able to die normal, peaceful deaths home with their family and loved ones.By allowing sick criminals the ability to keep living, we are killing many more innocent lives, possibly one of our siblings, parents’ cousins or best friends. Bringing ourselves to agree to murder someone may seem unfair or morally wrong, but it needs to be our job to put the safety of our environment before our personal feelings. Some Americans view capital punishment as morally and ethically wrong; they equate the death penalty with legalized murder, and asks: â€Å"If the premeditated killing of another human being is wrong, how does the premeditated killing of the murderer make it right?Should not society repudiate the death penalty and emphasize mercy rather than revenge? † (Sarat 160). These questions asked by death penalty opponents are legitimate questions for society to consider. The debate surrounding the death penalty inc ludes discussion of the sanctity of human life, personal responsibility, and the role of the state in administering justice. Yet, for all this complexity, the death penalty remains primarily a form of punishment. It assumes that human life is sacred, and that the killers who take the lives of their victims forfeit the rights to their own.Capital punishment is viewed differently in every state in America. While states such as Texas are advocates of the death penalty, other states such as New York refuse to pass the law that allows the government to kill. Opponents of the death penalty argue about the affect it has on the victims’ families, the cost, deterrence, those wrongfully convicted and race discrimination. Though some of these are valid points, after doing research it is very fair and in all of these cases, they did not give the victim a choice so therefore we should not give them one.

Effect of Patient Preferred Music on Pain in Postoperative Patients

The relief of acute pain in adult postoperative patients continues to be a common problem despite the use of pharmacologic therapies. Unrelieved pain can cause various effects including: increased heart rate and blood pressure; increased need for oxygen; tachypnea; increased susceptibility to infection; and anxiety/fear (Swift, 2018). Nurses strive to provide the best care for their patients and this includes finding alternative ways to help with unrelieved pain. Providing music as an adjunct to the standard of care for pain has been shown to reduce acute pain in postoperative patients (Comeaux & Steele-Moses, 2013; Nilsson, Rawal, & Unosson, 2003; Zografakis-Sfakiankakis et al., 2017). The following research proposal intended for the institutional review board (IRB) will discuss the purpose of the study; background and significance; participants and methodology; recruitment; participant confidentiality; participant safety; consent process; risks and burdens; benefits; cost and payment; data and document security; and follow-up and dissemination of results.Purpose of StudyThe purpose of this study is to determine whether allowing patients to listen to their preferred choice of music compared to providing them with pre-selected instrumental music is more effective, when used as an adjunct to the standard of care for pain, on reducing the perception of pain in the adult postoperative patient.Background and SignificanceThe review of literature w as conducted by utilizing the following databases: Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Google, Nursing Times, and Research Gate. Search terms included: music therapy, music, acute pain and postoperative pain. The review of literature proved that music, when used as an adjunct to pharmacologic therapy, is effective in reducing postoperative pain. Pain is an expected outcome of a surgical procedure, however unrelieved postoperative pain can lead to complications, delayed healing and, if not dealt with effectively, can become chronic (Swift, 2018, p. 25). According to Nilsson, Rawal, and Unosson, (2003) the best practice for postoperative pain control management should include both pharmacological and non-pharmacological methods (p. 700). Comeaux and Steele-Moses (2013) reported â€Å"According to the Joanna Briggs Institute (2009), music therapy as a non-pharmacological adjuvant to opioid analgesia is best practice in the management of pain and anxiety† (p. 313). In their own study, Comeaux and Steele-Moses (2013) found that the use of music therapy improved patient satisfaction of pain management in the postoperative period (p. 314). Another study also found that using music as an intervention tool in the acute postoperative period could be useful in promoting patient's comfort and improving perception of pain (Zografakis-Sfakiankakis et al., 2017). Nilsson et al. (2003) reported that â€Å"Music is a non-pharmacological technique, that is inexpensive, non-invasive and has no side-effects that have been shown to reduce postoperative pain† (p. 700). Music therapy has been beneficial in treating patients with a wide range of diagnoses and is effective in reducing patients' perception of anxiety and pain as well as the need for analgesia (American Music Therapy Association, 2010). While it has been proven that music can reduce postoperative pain, the preceding studies used pre-selected instrumental or classical music, there is limited research available in the clinical setting on the effects music has on pain with regards to providing patients with preferred music choices compared to providing them with pre-selected music. inlay and Anil (2015) conducted a cold pressor test study to induce experimental pain to determine the impact of music type on pain and stated that â€Å"Simply listening to music may not be sufficiently effective for managing pain if the music is not enjoyable for the listener†¦the more likable the music is to the individual, the better the effects of music listening on the pain† (p. 56). Therefore, it is important for nurses to know which type of music to implement, preferred or pre-selected, as an adjunct to reduce unrelieved postoperative pain.Participants and MethodologyThis study will be conducted as an experimental prospective randomized clinical trial in a Level II Trauma Center that has a complete team of general, specialty and trauma surgeons who perform a broad range of multiple surgeries daily. The anticipated number of participants is between 150 and 200 in a 2 month period. The inclusion criteria includes all patients age 18 or over who will be having an ele ctive surgical procedure done, have an anticipated stay of 3 days or more, are alert and oriented and able to read and write English (for questionnaire purposes). Exclusion criteria includes any patient with hearing loss or hearing deficit making it difficult to hear the music. Data will be collected by placing participants into two study groups, the study group (preferred music choice) and the control group (pre-selected music). Using Zografakis-Sfakiankakis' (2017) random selection algorithm participants, if they meet the inclusion criteria, will be selected by the following: on a typical surgical day, half of the patients, the 1st and 3rd patient or every other, will be included in the study group and then the 2nd and the 4th and so on will be included in the control group. A questionnaire will be given to all participants, since both groups with be listening to some type of music, and will include questions about demographic data including: gender, age, race, type of surgical procedure. The remaining questions will ask the participant to rate their pain using the numeric rating scale (0-10) before the start of and after listening to at least 30 minutes of music; what type of analgesic what administered for their pain; If any other non-pharmacologic intervention took place (i.e. repositioning or application of ice); what was the patient doing before, during and after listening to music (i.e. lying in bed, up in chair, walking in room/hall, talking with visitor, reading etc.); and the date and total time listened to music between each pain medication administration (with at least 30 minutes per session). The study group will be given an easy to use MP3 player with FM radio capability and will also be able to request their preferred songs and music to be downloaded to the device by the nurse researchers. The control group will also be given an easy to use MP3 player, without FM radio capability, that is loaded with pre-selected, by nurse researchers, instrumental/classical music. All groups will be provided with earphones to use in order to prevent disruption to other patients.RecruitmentUpon check-in at the hospital for their elective surgery prospective participants, who meet the inclusion criteria, will be asked if they would like to be involved in a voluntary research study during their hospitalization. The researchers will introduce themselves, including their credentials, and will verbally inform the individual that the study is trying to determine the effects that music has, in addition to receiving the standard of care for pain, on reducing postoperative pain. They will be informed that MP3 players as wells as earphones will be provided to them and that they will be required to fill out questionnaires during the study. Participants will be informed on how their information will be kept confidential, the risks and benefits of this study and after which will be encouraged to ask questions.Participant ConfidentialityTo ensure participant confidentiality and anonymity participants will be assigned a number that will be included on their questionnaires. The number that they are assigned will be determined by the order in which they leave the post anesthesia care unit (PACU). When leaving the PACU the nurse will give the known participants a manila folder that will contain the numbered questionnaires, MP3 player and instructions on use. The first paper that the participant will see when opening the folder will include a statement to them ensuring that the information that is collected from this study from them will not be divulged to others without permission. The instructions will inform the participants to place all questionnaires and MP3 player back in the envelope upon discharge, seal it and then leave it in the designated locked box at the nurses' station.Participant SafetyListening to music is beneficial, not harmful and non-invasive. Participants will still receive the standard of care for pain. Therefore, in this study there is no risk for harm or harmful deception as both groups will be provided with a music intervention, either preferred choice or pre-selected, along with the standard of care for pain. There is no anticipated adverse events seen in implementing the intervention of music listening.Consent ProcessAs part of the recruitment process, which includes providing information about the study, its pr ocedures and allowing for questions, participants who have met the inclusion criteria will be informed that their participation in this study is voluntary and that if they choose to participate that they can withdraw at any time without consequences. The other components of the informed consent will include: basis for selection; duration of participation; risks and benefits; confidentiality of records; names of investigators and contact person; statement of voluntary participation and then signature lines which will indicate consent. Even though signatures will be obtained at the time of recruitment for informed consent, the researcher will not know the identity of the participant once the study begins as they will be assigned numbers randomly as they leave the PACU. All participants will be alert and oriented consenting adults. The participants will also be informed that once this study is finished that it is the goal to have it published in a journal for medical professionals to use as evidence for best practice.Risks and BurdensAs stated earlier, there is to harmful effects or risks in the intervention of listening to music. However, potential burdens of this study could possibly occur when filling out the questionnaire. The participants will have to take time and effort to fill out the questionnaire each time they use the music therapy along with taking prescribed medication. This can pose as a possible inconvenience for them as they will be in a perceived state of pain.BenefitsThere are many potential benefits to the participants who take part in this study. As stated earlier music therapy has been beneficial in treating patients with a wide range of diagnoses and is effective in reducing patients' perception of anxiety and pain as well as t he need for analgesia (American Music Therapy Association, 2010). According to the American Music Therapy Association (2010) in addition to the reduction of pain and anxiety participants may experience: improved respiration, lower blood pressure, improved cardiac output, reduced heart rate, and relaxed muscle tension (p. 4). Furthermore, the results of this study can be beneficial in providing nurses and other healthcare providers with knowledge about the best type of music to use, along with the standard of care, in reducing unrelieved pain for their patients. This information can be shared and may be beneficial as an alternative to reducing pain in various other types of patient populations as well.Cost and PaymentThere will be no cost to the participants of this study as the MP3 players and the earphones will be provided to them by the researchers. No incentives will be given in recruitment or for participation in this study.Data and Document SecurityDocuments for this study will be kept by the patient in the provided manila folder. Once the par ticipant is discharged the sealed manila folder will be turned in by placing it in the designated locked box at the nurses' station. The folders will be picked up on a daily basis. Only the nurse researchers will have access to the locked box as well as the questionnaires. All questionnaire collected from the hospital will then be kept in a locked filing cabinet when not being used by the researchers. The data collected including informed consent will be kept for a period of 3 years.Follow-Up and Dissemination of ResultsParticipants will be given the researchers contact information and will have the option to contact the researchers after 3 months to either get the results of the study or be given an approximate date of when the results will be available. Upon completion of this study the aim is to present the research results at various presentations, submit the research results for peer review and then ultimately spread the knowledge and the evidence-based intervention through publication in a peer-reviewed journal.ConclusionIn conclusion, we have discussed the purpose of the study; background and significance; participants and methodology; recruitment; participant confidentiality; participant safety; consent process; risks and burdens; benefits; cost and payment; data and document security; and follow-up and dissemination of results. Researchers involved in this study welcome the critical evaluation of the IRB in order to ensure that the study will be conducted in a strong, ethical and legal manor.