MARKETING PLAN Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

MARKETING PLAN - Term Paper Example These are individuals/ groups who wish to be in control of their spending, those who are budget conscious and are always in the lookout for good finds and bargains so they could maximize their budget. They will most likely shop in a supermarket that offers one of the lowest prices. They will be interested in a place that is haven for those who wish to stretch their budget. Target market includes both men and women who are contributing to the earnings of the household. They are the decision makers who are in control of identifying which products to purchase for the daily needs of the house. Secondary target market are the children and younger ones who also have great influence in the purchasing decisions of their parents/ guardians. Wal-mart will retail standard supermarkets, both dry and wet goods. It will carry a wide range of products, from beauty and health care, to kitchen items and food, and even garments and small appliances. It will also have a snack counter where shoppers could stop by while finishing their shopping. It will be offer a one-stop shopping convenience that will provide the customers with all the necessary items they usually shop for when visiting a supermarket. Wal-mart will be a warehouse type of supermarket experience. It will have wide aisles, spacious shopping areas that best suit those who buy items in bulk. The store is designed to make shopping comfortable for its customers. Pricing will be competitive – the management will ensure that the store offers the lowest in the industry. The store will also offer loyalty programs for those who are frequent buyers. It will give additional discounts to members of this loyalty programs. Wal-mart will do promotions through local television and radio advertisements. It will also place occasional advertisements in local newspapers on a regular basis. Wal-mart will also do below-the-line advertising via ad placements in billboards situated in key areas in the cities.

Business Vocabulary Mix Essay Example for Free

Business Vocabulary Mix Essay 1. Instant messaging- a form of communication in which typed text is sent from one person to another over the internet. 2. Spam- unsolicited electronic junk mail or advertisements, sent as an e-mail 3. Emoticon- an expression composed of ordinary characters on a phone or computer that represent the writer’s mood or facial expressions. 4. Signature- a block of text automatically appended at the bottom of e-mails. The text may include the sender’s name, title, etc. 5. Tagline- a slogan or memorable phrase attached to the end of an email that conveys a message from the sender 6. Threads- a series of newsgroup messages dealing with the same subject. 7. Social Networking- the use of a wav space to connect with people who share personal or professional interests 8. E-mail- a message sent electronically from one person to another via links between computers or terminals 9. Blog- a type of web site that displays in chronological order the postings by one or more individuals and usually has links to comments on specific postings 10. Search Engine Optimization- the process of improving the traffic to a web site from search engines 11. Social Norms- the rules that a society uses for appropriate and inappropriate values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors 12. Sexting- the act of sending sexually explicit and/or suggestive content via text messaging. 13. Inflection- Modulation of the voice; change in pitch or tone of voice to help convey meaning. 14. Cyber Bullying- when a child or teen is threatened, harassed or otherwise targeted by another child or teen using a form of technology 15. Flaming- a virtual term for venting emotion or sending inflammatory e-mails. 16. Attachments- Computer files sent along with an e-mail message which can be accessed by the recipient of the e-mail. 17. Snail mail- a term used to refer to letters carried by traditional postal delivery services. 18. Texting- sending brief written messages from one person to another via cellular phones.

Economic Conditions Essay -- essays research papers

To analyze an economy, certain statistics can be used to predict the economy’s future. This is important because it helps prepare people for prosperity or hard times. Certain indicators can be used to determine the future of aggregate demand and others can be used to determine aggregate supply. Using eight aggregate demand indicators and four aggregate supply indicators we developed a prediction for the economy in the near future. Changes in aggregate demand are reflected in changes of GDP. To find valuable indicators of the future aggregate demand is to find statistics that tell about change in the components of GDP (C+I+G+Nx). Aggregate supply is influenced by the costs of production to producers and the advent of new or better factors of production and technologies. The indicators we chose as meaningful are also ones used by the Federal Reserve to determine interest rates, automatically validating them as important. The trade deficit is one of the aggregate demand statistics. It shows the balance between imports and exports of the United States. This is the Nx part of GDP. Recently imports have risen while exports have remained constant, making the trade balance more negative and draining GDP. Consumer Confidence is an important indicator of GDP. This is an index created to reflect the sentiment of consumers and how likely they are to spend. This is the C in GDP. The index of Consumer Confidence has fallen for a fourth month in a row and is at a four year low. This sharp...

Nurse to patient ratio in emergency rooms

The presence of emergency rooms in hospital provides the people with additional service especially in time of need. Emergency situations are given the attention they deserve and the people affected are extended prompt care and treatment in emergency rooms. â€Å"When you need help right away, the best place to go is the nearest hospital emergency room. Also called the ER, this place is open 24 hours a day. Nurses and doctors are there day and night to care for medical problems that need quick attention† (â€Å"What Happens In The Emergency Room†). The presence of doctors, nurses, and equipment are important factors in making the emergency room serve its purpose. Due to the number of emergency situations that occur on a daily basis however, said factors must be assessed in order to determine whether or not emergency rooms still provide ample assistance to people in a given community.One such factor of great importance is the number of nurses assigned to a shift in an eme rgency room. It is important to review how the number of nurses in an emergency room can affect the rendition of service to patients, and ultimately, how it affects mortality of patients in the hospital. Nurses are of value and importance inside the hospital. As correctly stated by Underwood,Nurses in the community are well prepared and well positioned to improve the health and well-being of people living in the community. The available evidence is convincing that nurses in the community have a positive impact on the health of individuals, families, and populations (2003).Admittedly, it is the doctor who orders what type of treatment and prescribes the necessary medication to a certain patient. However, it must be noted that without the nurse, the orders of the doctor will be put to naught since no one will be in charge in the execution of said orders. So also, the basic things preliminary to the treatment of the patient are usually done by the nurse. Thus, it necessary to analyze h ow understaffing of nurses in the emergency room could affect the services these nurses render to the patients who are urgently in need of help. Ultimately, it can be seen that the safety of the patients are dependent on the number of the nurses that are assigned to the emergency room in a given shift.The quality of the services provided and delivered by the nurses depends on the tasks assigned to them and to the number of patients they attend to. Based on studies conducted, increase in the ratio between patients and nurses are advantageous as regards the delivery of health care services to the patients. The opposite is not only disadvantageous to the interests of the patients, but rather, it could lead to deterioration of health or even death on the part of the patients. The staffing of nurses in emergency rooms is an important issue must be addressed. The patient and nurse ratio affects the work load of the nurse, medication errors, waiting time of patients, delivery of care and m ortality. Said issues must be address in order to ensure that emergency rooms are still effective venues for rendering treatment to emergency situations.Increase in the patient to nurse ratio would ensure better rendition of services to patients. Firstly, delays will be prevented by higher ratio between patents and nurses inside the emergency room. Clearly, there are instances where more patients need care and there are only a handful of nurses available at a given shift. In these cases, not all the patients will be attended to promptly. Some would have to wait because the nurses would have to focus on the other patients who are in need of more urgent care or treatment.The other patient, also needing emergency treatment, will necessarily have to wait. As aptly stated,  excessive delays are akin to possible adverse events from the supply side (pressure experienced by the nurses) and from the demand side (waiting patients), both of which factor into the overall quality of care. Acco rdingly, we pose the nurse staffing problem in terms of finding staffing levels that guarantee a bound on a specified probability of excessive delay [†¦]  staffing levels are set to prevent the assistance of patients in need from being delayed longer than a specified time constraint [†¦] (Vericourt and Jennings).It must not be forgotten that emergency rooms are assigned in a hospital in order to provide attention to emergency cases. If patients are made to wait for a long period of time before their ailment can be attended to, then the purpose for which emergency room exists is not being served.  The adverse effect of the delay caused by a decrease in patient to nurse ratio is not limited to having the patient wait for treatment that he or she needs.Ultimately, the health of the patient is adversely affected.  delaying certain procedures can endanger patient health. For instance, the medical guidelines for certain myocardial infarctions recommend the immediate admini stration of aspirin. Delays also give rise to unfinished tasks, either because nurses fail to remember them later or because they abandon them in order to take care of more urgent procedures.In emergency rooms situations, time is always of the essence. Hence, the waiting time of the patient must be lessened, if not absolutely eliminated. The mere fact that the patient sought help from the emergency room means that care and treatment must be urgently administered to him. Having the patient wait due to the limited number of nurses that are available in a given shift means that the patient has to bear with his ailment before he can be attended to. This is contrary to the purpose of emergency rooms.Secondly, the increase in the patient to nurse ratio will clearly eliminate medication errors inadvertently done by nurses. It must be admitted that the number of patients assigned to a nurse at one given time largely affects the performance of the nurse concerned. If patients, more than thos e which one nurse can handle, are assigned to a nurse, there will be difficulty in attending to all of said patients. This could lead to error in administering the proper treatment to be given to a certain patient. Regardless of the competence of the nurses in the hospital, the weight of their work load can actually influence the quality of service that they deliver to the patients.In instances which involved the decrease of the ratio between patient and nurse, medication errors have been made by nurses. The commission of said errors eventually led to complaints from patients due to faulty and low quality of service that has been provided to them. One article recounted that a report from the Department of Health of Massachusetts revealed that â€Å"medical errors and complaints at hospitals have increased by 76 percent in seven years† (Why The Staffing Ratio Law Is Needed†) due to understaffing of nurses in emergency rooms.Thus, it appears that decrease in the ratio bet ween nurse and patient could actually lead to endangering the health of patients. This could also blemish the character and reputation of hospitals in the community because instead of ensuring the health of the patients, they accomplish the opposite.Lastly, and more importantly, the ratio between patient and nurse affects the quality of service given to, and the mortality of patients seeking help from the emergency room. As mentioned earlier, the delay in receiving proper care and the great possibility of errors in medication could adversely affect the health of patients. This is the same reason why a lot of States have resorted to the promulgation of laws involving the fixing of the ratio between patients and clients in the hospital. This is to ensure quality of the care provided to the patients. As correctly pointed out by Vericourt and Jennings,The rationale for implementing these ratios stems from the association between nurse staffing level and patient safety. Research studies suggest a significant connection between nurse workload and clinical outcomes. For instance, Aiken et al. (2002) conclude that the addition of one surgical patient to nurse assignments results in a 7% increase in mortality rates. The purpose of the mandated nurse-to-patient ratios is to provide a consistently high level of patient safety throughout the state. Ostensibly, safety is partially attained through manageable workloads among those who actually provide health care services.If decrease in the ratio between nurses and patients is countenanced, then a lot of patients would suffer because they will not receive the urgent treatment that they need. There is a possibility that their injury or ailment could actually worsen due to errors in treatment or medication. So also, there is a chance that due to lack of timely and proper treatment, death could ensue.The Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Science reports that â€Å"nurse staffing levels affect patient outcomes and safety.† Insufficient monitoring of patients, caused by poor working conditions and the assignment of too few RNs, increases the likelihood of patient deaths and injuries at a time when avoidable medical errors kill up to 98,000 people in U.S. hospitals every year (â€Å"Why The Staffing Ratio Law Is Needed†).This is, unquestionably, a serious issue that must be addressed. As mentioned above, the emergency room is a place where quick attention could be given to patients who are in need. There is a promise that ailments and injuries will be treated right away in order to save the patient. However, due to understaffing of nurses in emergency rooms, it appears that chances of death are even heightened.All the materials related to the issue at hand are in agreement that the fixing of the ratio between patients and nurses is an important issue that deserves attention. Not only does it affect the workload of the nurses, but ultimately, it affects the health and safety of the patients seeking help from the hospital. In a survey conducted, even the nurses themselves agree that understaffing is a serious problem encountered in most hospitals. â€Å"The survey data demonstrate that nurses view understaffing as a serious problem when it comes both to the quality of care that patients receive and to nurse burnout. For example, three in five (59%) hospital nurses say that the staffing level at their hospital is having a negative impact on the quality of care patients receive† (Hart, 2003).In conclusion, emergency rooms and nurses play an important role in the society when it comes to giving urgent care and treatment to patients seeking help. Mere assignment of nurses to emergency rooms is not sufficient. A sufficient number of nurses must be assigned to a certain shift in the emergency room in order to meet the demands of the people in need. Undeniably, nurses play different roles while they are at work.Its goal is to promote and preserve the healt h of populations and is directed to communities, groups, families and individuals across their life span in a continuous rather than episodic process. The role and activities include: care/service provider; educator; consultant; community developer; leader; enabler; advocate; communicator; resource manager/planner; coordinator; team member/collaborator; researcher/evaluator; social marketer; and policy formulator (Underwood, 2003).If said duties are expected of nurses, then it appears that said duties cannot be accomplished if only a few nurses are assigned in a certain shift.   Research proves that decrease in the ratio between nurses and patients affect adversely the performance of nurses. They commit errors in medication and are not able to provide proper care and treatment to all the patients assigned to them. On the other hand, increase in the ratio between nurses and patients ensure that only the best quality service and care will be given to the patient. Proper attention an d adequate attention is ensured because the nurse is able to focus on the patient. Ultimately, in increasing the ratio between nurses and patients, nurses are able to perform their duties efficiently, and the patients receive the care and attention that they deserve. Related article: â€Å"Ati RN Community Health Online Practice 2016 B†REFERENCEKaestner, R. (2006). Nurse-to-Patient Ratios. â€Å"What Happens In the Emergency Room?†. 2007. Nurse to patient ratio in emergency rooms The presence of emergency rooms in hospital provides the people with additional service especially in time of need. Emergency situations are given the attention they deserve and the people affected are extended prompt care and treatment in emergency rooms. â€Å"When you need help right away, the best place to go is the nearest hospital emergency room. Also called the ER, this place is open 24 hours a day. Nurses and doctors are there day and night to care for medical problems that need quick attention† (â€Å"What Happens In The Emergency Room†). The presence of doctors, nurses, and equipment are important factors in making the emergency room serve its purpose. Due to the number of emergency situations that occur on a daily basis however, said factors must be assessed in order to determine whether or not emergency rooms still provide ample assistance to people in a given community.One such factor of great importance is the number of nurses assigned to a shift in an eme rgency room. It is important to review how the number of nurses in an emergency room can affect the rendition of service to patients, and ultimately, how it affects mortality of patients in the hospital. Nurses are of value and importance inside the hospital. As correctly stated by Underwood,Nurses in the community are well prepared and well positioned to improve the health and well-being of people living in the community. The available evidence is convincing that nurses in the community have a positive impact on the health of individuals, families, and populations (2003).Admittedly, it is the doctor who orders what type of treatment and prescribes the necessary medication to a certain patient. However, it must be noted that without the nurse, the orders of the doctor will be put to naught since no one will be in charge in the execution of said orders. So also, the basic things preliminary to the treatment of the patient are usually done by the nurse. Thus, it necessary to analyze h ow understaffing of nurses in the emergency room could affect the services these nurses render to the patients who are urgently in need of help. Ultimately, it can be seen that the safety of the patients are dependent on the number of the nurses that are assigned to the emergency room in a given shift.The quality of the services provided and delivered by the nurses depends on the tasks assigned to them and to the number of patients they attend to. Based on studies conducted, increase in the ratio between patients and nurses are advantageous as regards the delivery of health care services to the patients. The opposite is not only disadvantageous to the interests of the patients, but rather, it could lead to deterioration of health or even death on the part of the patients. The staffing of nurses in emergency rooms is an important issue must be addressed. The patient and nurse ratio affects the work load of the nurse, medication errors, waiting time of patients, delivery of care and m ortality. Said issues must be address in order to ensure that emergency rooms are still effective venues for rendering treatment to emergency situations.Increase in the patient to nurse ratio would ensure better rendition of services to patients. Firstly, delays will be prevented by higher ratio between patents and nurses inside the emergency room. Clearly, there are instances where more patients need care and there are only a handful of nurses available at a given shift. In these cases, not all the patients will be attended to promptly. Some would have to wait because the nurses would have to focus on the other patients who are in need of more urgent care or treatment. The other patient, also needing emergency treatment, will necessarily have to wait.As aptly stated, excessive delays are akin to possible adverse events from the supply side (pressure experienced by the nurses) and from the demand side (waiting patients), both of which factor into the overall quality of care. Accordi ngly, we pose the nurse staffing problem in terms of finding staffing levels that guarantee a bound on a specified probability of excessive delay [†¦]  staffing levels are set to prevent the assistance of patients in need from being delayed longer than a specified time constraint [†¦] (Vericourt and Jennings).It must not be forgotten that emergency rooms are assigned in a hospital in order to provide attention to emergency cases. If patients are made to wait for a long period of time before their ailment can be attended to, then the purpose for which emergency room exists is not being served.The adverse effect of the delay caused by a decrease in patient to nurse ratio is not limited to having the patient wait for treatment that he or she needs. Ultimately, the health of the patient is adversely affected.  delaying certain procedures can endanger patient health. For instance, the medical guidelines for certain myocardial infarctions recommend the immediate administrati on of aspirin. Delays also give rise to unfinished tasks, either because nurses fail to remember them later or because they abandon them in order to take care of more urgent procedures.In emergency rooms situations, time is always of the essence. Hence, the waiting time of the patient must be lessened, if not absolutely eliminated. The mere fact that the patient sought help from the emergency room means that care and treatment must be urgently administered to him. Having the patient wait due to the limited number of nurses that are available in a given shift means that the patient has to bear with his ailment before he can be attended to. This is contrary to the purpose of emergency rooms.Secondly, the increase in the patient to nurse ratio will clearly eliminate medication errors inadvertently done by nurses. It must be admitted that the number of patients assigned to a nurse at one given time largely affects the performance of the nurse concerned. If patients, more than those whic h one nurse can handle, are assigned to a nurse, there will be difficulty in attending to all of said patients. This could lead to error in administering the proper treatment to be given to a certain patient. Regardless of the competence of the nurses in the hospital, the weight of their work load can actually influence the quality of service that they deliver to the patients.In instances which involved the decrease of the ratio between patient and nurse, medication errors have been made by nurses. The commission of said errors eventually led to complaints from patients due to faulty and low quality of service that has been provided to them. One article recounted that a report from the Department of Health of Massachusetts revealed that â€Å"medical errors and complaints at hospitals have increased by 76 percent in seven years† (Why The Staffing Ratio Law Is Needed†) due to understaffing of nurses in emergency rooms.   Thus, it appears that decrease in the ratio betw een nurse and patient could actually lead to endangering the health of patients. This could also blemish the character and reputation of hospitals in the community because instead of ensuring the health of the patients, they accomplish the opposite.Lastly, and more importantly, the ratio between patient and nurse affects the quality of service given to, and the mortality of patients seeking help from the emergency room. As mentioned earlier, the delay in receiving proper care and the great possibility of errors in medication could adversely affect the health of patients. This is the same reason why a lot of States have resorted to the promulgation of laws involving the fixing of the ratio between patients and clients in the hospital. This is to ensure quality of the care provided to the patients. As correctly pointed out by Vericourt and Jennings,The rationale for implementing these ratios stems from the association between nurse staffing level and patient safety. Research studies s uggest a significant connection between nurse workload and clinical outcomes. For instance, Aiken et al. (2002) conclude that the addition of one surgical patient to nurse assignments results in a 7% increase in mortality rates. The purpose of the mandated nurse-to-patient ratios is to provide a consistently high level of patient safety throughout the state. Ostensibly, safety is partially attained through manageable workloads among those who actually provide health care services.If decrease in the ratio between nurses and patients is countenanced, then a lot of patients would suffer because they will not receive the urgent treatment that they need. There is a possibility that their injury or ailment could actually worsen due to errors in treatment or medication. So also, there is a chance that due to lack of timely and proper treatment, death could ensue.The Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Science reports that â€Å"nurse staffing levels affect patient outcomes and safety.† Insufficient monitoring of patients, caused by poor working conditions and the assignment of too few RNs, increases the likelihood of patient deaths and injuries at a time when avoidable medical errors kill up to 98,000 people in U.S. hospitals every year (â€Å"Why The Staffing Ratio Law Is Needed†).This is, unquestionably, a serious issue that must be addressed. As mentioned above, the emergency room is a place where quick attention could be given to patients who are in need. There is a promise that ailments and injuries will be treated right away in order to save the patient. However, due to understaffing of nurses in emergency rooms, it appears that chances of death are even heightened.All the materials related to the issue at hand are in agreement that the fixing of the ratio between patients and nurses is an important issue that deserves attention. Not only does it affect the workload of the nurses, but ultimately, it affects the health and safety of the patients seeking help from the hospital. In a survey conducted, even the nurses themselves agree that understaffing is a serious problem encountered in most hospitals. â€Å"The survey data demonstrate that nurses view understaffing as a serious problem when it comes both to the quality of care that patients receive and to nurse burnout. For example, three in five (59%) hospital nurses say that the staffing level at their hospital is having a negative impact on the quality of care patients receive† (Hart, 2003).In conclusion, emergency rooms and nurses play an important role in the society when it comes to giving urgent care and treatment to patients seeking help. Mere assignment of nurses to emergency rooms is not sufficient. A sufficient number of nurses must be assigned to a certain shift in the emergency room in order to meet the demands of the people in need. Undeniably, nurses play different roles while they are at work.Its goal is to promote and preserve the health of populations and is directed to communities, groups, families and individuals across their life span in a continuous rather than episodic process. The role and activities include: care/service provider; educator; consultant; community developer; leader; enabler; advocate; communicator; resource manager/planner; coordinator; team member/collaborator; researcher/evaluator; social marketer; and policy formulator (Underwood, 2003).If said duties are expected of nurses, then it appears that said duties cannot be accomplished if only a few nurses are assigned in a certain shift.   Research proves that decrease in the ratio between nurses and patients affect adversely the performance of nurses. They commit errors in medication and are not able to provide proper care and treatment to all the patients assigned to them. On the other hand, increase in the ratio between nurses and patients ensure that only the best quality service and care will be given to the patient. Proper attention and adequate attention is ensured because the nurse is able to focus on the patient. Ultimately, in increasing the ratio between nurses and patients, nurses are able to perform their duties efficiently, and the patients receive the care and attention that they deserve.REFERENCEHart, P. (2003). Patient-To-Nurse Staffing Ratios: Perspectives From Hospital Nurses. AFT Healthcare. Kaestner, R. (2006). Nurse-to-Patient Ratios. Tone, B. (1999). Nurse-patient ratios, professionalism and safety. Vericourt and Jennings. Nurse To Patient Rations in Hospital Staffing: a Queuing Perspective. http://faculty.fuqua.duke.edu/~fdv1/bio/ratios3.pdfUnderwood, J. (2003). Value of Nurses In the Community. Canadian Nurses Association, â€Å"What Happens In the Emergency Room?†. 2007. â€Å"Why The Staffing Ration Law Is Needed†. 2005.

ISMIS Online Enrollment USC Cebu

University of San Carols, one of the oldest schools in the Philippines, has experienced a drastic change when it decided to adjust to the modern world run by technology. Manual and traditional enrollment meant students having to go to the campus early to get the schedule they desire to be enrolled in. Long lines of eager students barricading the offices didn't mean proper order in the enrollment system but this was slowly accepted by those who really wished to enroll.The drastic change came when students and faculty of the school decided to adapt to technology by creating a database system which loud allow students to check their grades, assessment, enrollment processes and even the library system from their own homes. With a stable internet connection, any student can connect to the school by entering their ID numbers and passwords.A question arises, though, as to why the proponents chose this topic when the database system called ‘Integrated School Management Information Syst em (ISMS)† received good reviews and is functioning fairly well. The reason is, â€Å"functioning fairly well† does not apply to every part of the system. The flaw comes out in the specific function called he â€Å"Online Enrollment. † The importance of this study is to figure out how ISMS users are satisfied with the performance of this database system.During enrollment season, Carolinians (students of the university) voice out issues about the ISMS not functioning and delaying their chances of getting good courses and practical time schedules. Students cite their sentiments through social networking sites which is why there is not much they can do about it. This study aims to find samples from the student population regarding their satisfaction/dissatisfaction on ISMS. Would they prefer the traditional lining-up-and-filling-up-forms type of enrollment?

Reverend Dimmesdale Essays - English-language Films, Free Essays

Reverend Dimmesdale Essays - English-language Films, Free Essays Reverend Dimmesdale "Life is hard, but accepting that fact makes it easier." this common phrase has been proven true in many people's lives, but is also a harsh fact that Boston's Rev. Dimmesdale, a key character in Nathaniel Hawthorne's the Scarlet Letter, had to face. In this twisted story of deception and adultery set in the Puritan era, Hawthorne introduces Dimmesdale as a weak and cowardly man who refuses to take responsibility for his actions. Yet, he transitions to a person who accepts his sins and the consequences, before it is too late, ultimately finding happiness. At the beginning of the novel, Dimmesdale has established quite a reputation for himself. In discussing individual members of the magistrate, the towns people describe Dimmesdale as a "God fearing" gentleman, "but merciful overmuch (49)". Due to his actions, all of the people respect and look up to the Reverend. Throughout the story, Dimmesdale desperately tries to confess, envying Hester, for her courage, he says, "Happy are you Hester, that wear the scarlet letter openly upon your bosom! (188)" Even at the end of the novel, when finally attempting to confess, people are compelled by his final sermon, raving that "never had a man spoken in so wise, so high, and so holy a spirit, as he that spake this day (p.243)". Proving that he was a very loved and influential man in the small town. In further developing Dimmesdale's character, Hawthorne portrays him as a hypocrite. His outward demeanor deceives the villagers, appearing as a completely holy man. However, before the action of the novel begins, he stumbles into sin, by committing adultery with Hester Pryne, an attractive young woman whose husband has been long absent on a journey, and presumed dead. His cowardly outlook on his sins only causes his troubles to snowball. Abandoning Hester and her illegitimate daughter Pearl, also augmented his problems. Forcing Hester to go and find work around town, an obviously hard task for a single parent. He also abandons them emotionally and physically, rarely there when Hester and Pearl needed him. Innocent little Pearl wonders why Dimmesdale is so afraid of public displays of affection, yet when they are alone, he takes notice of her and Hester; talking to him, Pearl asks" 'Wilt thou stand here with Mother and me, tomorrow noontide?' (p.149)". A question whose answer is unclear for Pearl. In fact, the only way Hester and Pearl receive any kind of support from Dimmesdale is when Hester threatens to tell the truth about his sins. The fact that Dimmesdale is a hypocrite causes him to experience increased torment due to his guilt. Hawthorne's point is beautifully illustrated by Dimmesdale, because if he was not such a highly religious man, then he would not care about his crime. However, he does care, and he inflicts torment on himself, including long periods of fasting, in addition to hours of staring at himself in the mirror, he could also be caught numerous times in his closet, whipping himself and burning the letter "A" on his chest, or at the scaffold in the wee hours of the morning, practicing how he is going to confess the next day. Deluding himself by pretending that his private punishment is adequate. Similarly, there are also some things that go on that are out of Dimmesdale's control. For example, bizarre thoughts and hallucinations take over him. His outward appearance also reflects this. To illustrate, "...his cheek was paler and thinner, and his voice more tremulous than before-when it had now become a constant habit....to press his hand over his heart.. (118)". "He thus typified the constant introspection wherewith he tortured, but could not purify, himself (141)". Proving, once again, that no good came out of his self-inflicted punishment. Even though he was privately repentant at home, his ministerial duties were carried out, attempting to keep his personal life out of the church. Dimmesdale refuses to confess, rationalizing that if he did, he would not be able to continue preaching and doing good deeds for the people; attempting to balance the scale. " 'These men deceive themselves' ", as stated by Dimmesdales's doctor, referring to people who believe that they can balance the scales by "doing good deeds (129)". However, at the conclusion of the novel, Dimmesdale takes an enormous load off of his back when he swallows his pride and finally confesses. After he sees himself transformed into a man that wants to teach children blasphemous words, and to sing and get drunk with visiting

Why does John reject the civilization represented in Brave New World Research Paper Example

Why does John reject the civilization represented in Brave New World Research Paper Example Why does John reject the civilization represented in Brave New World Paper Why does John reject the civilization represented in Brave New World Paper Essay Topic: Back in the World Stories Brave New World Literature John comes from an Indian reservation in New Mexico, and goes to the Brave New world with Bernard Marx who was about to be sent away from there because he was different. Bernard and Lenina brought John because they knew that John was the son of the Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning with Linda. This would humiliate the Directory because having viviparous babies in the Brave New World was seen as disgusting, and no one would ever imagine that the director could have had one himself. John was not accepted in the savage reservation because his mother slept with many men, this was seen as an absurd, but in the Brave New World it was not, Every one belongs to everyone else; having sex with many different people was a moral duty. John was fascinated by the prospect of going to the Brave New World because his mother told him that in the Brave New World people never had problems, because even if they had they would take a drug called Soma, which would make them take a holiday from reality and forget all about them. He was also told about how people travelled by helicopter and he thought that they could really fly. He learned how to read and right superficially, how everything is clean and that no one marries, that there are no nasty smells, that there were boxes where you could see and hear what was happening at the other side of the world and that babies were born in lovely clean bottles He thought that The Other Place was a perfect world, The happiest times were when she told him about the Other Place, such as in Shakespeares stories, which he had read and loved. Unfortunately John had too many high expectations, which were all let down. John had heard so much about the Brave New World, that he was unimpressed when he was taken the Charing T tower and saw the weather department captive balloon. He found it nice, Still, Ariel could put a girdle around the earth in forty minutes, but nothing compared to the greater things he had read about which were done in plays. One of the reasons why John rejected the Brave New World was because of his background. John came from two different places, one of which his mother creates for him; where there are civilized people and modern technology; and the world of the savages where he is considered an outcast and she a whore. John rejects the simplicity of the Brave New World, because things were not as in the Shakespeares stories which he had read, they were much easier. He thinks that without suffering there can be no triumph and with out going through the pain and hardship of a task there can be no proper taste of conquering. John did not like that everything in the Brave New World was not expensive enough, and that everything is conveyed easily for them. He hated the fact that the people valued nothing such as in the Shakespeares stories. John finds the people of the civilized world ridiculous because of the easy way of their life, and despises the fact that they take the drug soma and do not notice that the world has enslaved them all, that horrible film it was ignoble; this is why when he goes to the feelies with Lenina, he hates it and returns home. Huxley makes apparent in his writing that the civilized world is a failure and a disgrace to all man kind. He shows us this by his choice of vocabulary to describe some adults playing a foolish game, and uses the word maggots to explain his views, The green was maggoty with fore-shortened life. He could have used any other word such as an ant, but he does not, because he wants us to think the Brave New World is a bad place. Maggots are revolting creatures that feed on rotting flesh and turn into flies. It was obvious that John was different to the people of the civilized world, Im claiming the right to be happy, people started to make fun of his way of being, so he escapes to a lighthouse. People want him to whip them. He tries to make them go away but it becomes an orgy porgy, which he joins in. He was so disgusted by what the Brave New World did to him that he consequently hanged himself.

Can We Actually Rewrite a Film

Can We Actually Rewrite a Film The term â€Å"rewrite† by definition is to write something again. Its purpose is to correct or improve a piece of writing or a written document. In the academic world, rewriting a piece of document is to write it in a different manner, alter its form and make it concise, amend or carry out necessary improvements. Hashtag: #RewriteAFilmIn5Words Rewrite Is Not Limited to Piece of Writing The term â€Å"rewrite† by definition is to write something again. Its purpose is to correct or improve a piece of writing or a written document. In the academic world, rewriting a piece of document is to write it in a different manner, alter its form and make it concise, amend or carry out necessary improvements. However, is this definition and academic form of â€Å"rewrite† applicable to film? LEARNING MORAL VALUES IN COLLEGE MOVIES In reality, the difference between a film and piece of writing such as books, articles, essays, and other written documents is their form. Films and written documents are actually mediums of communication where authors can transmit ideas to the audience. Moreover, if one would look closely, a film (except actual footage of real-life events of course) is nothing but a visual representation of a written story, images of scripted events, and ideas delivered in an explicit and more understandable form. The advantage, however, is that unlike paperbacks, films leaves nothing to the imagination and therefore complete and more accurate in terms audience comprehension. Therefore, when someone says #RewriteAFilmIn5Words, the person is actually asking you to write a concise five words description of the written ideas successfully transmitted by the film you saw. Now, how would you do that? Since the understanding of ideas transmitted through a film is highly dependent on viewer’s (reader’s for paperbacks) recall and interpretation, slight variation in the rewritten text is expected. However, the rewritten text must reflect the main ideas and objectives of the film otherwise; it is nothing but a deceptive piece of writing. Rewriting Is an Exact Science Rewriting a film is no different from rewriting an article, essay, and other written documents you read and understood. However, rewriting a concise version of an original document or film requires skills or the ability to restructure and write it in your own words without spoiling its main ideas and  objectives. If one would rewrite this article in 10 words, for example, the rewritten text will be something like â€Å"rewriting a film is possible but it must be exact†. Similarly, five words rewrite of the 1994 film â€Å"Shawshank Redemption† should be something like â€Å"Inmates redeemed through mutual respect† rather than simply â€Å"I have a black friend†. The reason is that although the film is undeniably about true friendship, the film’s main idea, and the objective is much more than having a black friend. In fact, the film is sharing some ideas regarding the possibility of imprisonment regardless of innocence, education, and color, friendship between men can flourish through mutual respect, the power of education and knowledge in reducing difficulties in life, the effect of long incarceration on the ability of ex-convicts to start a new life, and others. If there is no word limit, then the rewritten text for this film will be longer, detailed, and precise. WHAT IS THE WORST SONG IN THE WORLD? A film rewrite should be accurate and like a piece of writing, the rewritten text should be different in form, improved, concise but communicating similar ideas and achieving the same objectives as the original work. In practice, rewriting academic text requires a thorough knowledge of the original work, paper formatting, and content restructuring, paraphrasing technique, different writing styles, consistency, and precision. Now, can we actually rewrite a film? Yes! Just apply these skills and you can rewrite a film in any number of words.

Psychological reaserch methods Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Psychological reaserch methods - Essay Example For the purposes of this study, and determining the effect of attention on these elements, perception is defined as that which makes visual information available, and cognition is the uses of that visual information. This is significant in this study because of the questions related to when does perception cease and cognitive processing begin. Subjects were recruited from the New York City public school system, and all were tested with standardized methods to obtain an experimental group which demonstrated moderate reading disability. This was determined by using a selection criterion of scoring between 0.5 SD and 1.0 SD below national mean scores; one parameter of the study was to focus on mild-to-moderate reading disability (rather than severe) given the authors' perception that this group has been neglected in the area of therapeutic efficacy. Informed consent was obtained from both the parents and the children, and was approved by an independent review board. The methodology was to use a battery of standardized attention tests to determine the level of reading disability and, once the parameters had been set, to divide the qualified population into two groups; control and test subject. The control group received no therapy between the initial and final rounds of testing, and the experimental group received 12 one-hour weekly sessions of computer-based reading comprehension therapy. At the end of the 12 week study period, both groups were re-tested and the results compared. The analysis of the study was thorough, and utilized relevant literature and previous studies to provide scope and comment. While the authors recognize the need for further study in various areas, the results indicated that attention skills are measurable, attention therapy improves attention, and that the experimental group outscored the control group. The only additional elements that I might add to this research would be to expand it beyond its limited scope to include the evaluation of other attention deficit factors. The limitations to this study included a relatively small sample size, using an experimental methodology in a first-step study, and the inherent uncertainty related to attention studies generally. I think the researchers were thorough and appropriate, in their methodology, ethical in their application, correct in their analysis, and validated their hypothesis. The study itself was presented logically, clearly, and comports with the standard research reporting regimen of practitioners at this level. References Solan, H.A., Shelley-Tremblay, J., Ficarra, A., Silverman, M., & Larson, S. (2003).Effect of attention therapy on reading comprehen

Use of Motion Pictures in the Painful Deception Essay

Use of Motion Pictures in the Painful Deception - Essay Example A compelling example is Bus 174 done in 2002 by Jose Padilha and Felipe Lacerda. The documentary Bus 174 was prepared from television footages that were taken on live event of a hijacked bus. The documentary aimed at demonstrating the social, legal, and economic injustices experienced by the less fortunate in Brazil. This paper focuses on use of motion pictures in documentaries to depict reality using the documentary Painful Deception by Eric Hufschmid. A compelling documentary is made using a collection of facts about a certain event that is important to the society. A good example of such a documentary is Painful Deception. The United States government asserted that the destruction of Twin Towers, the Pentagon, Building 7, World Trade Centre and other surrounding buildings was a terrorist attack carried out using hijacked planes. However, the motion pictures displayed in Painful Deception documentary completely refute the explanations given by the U.S government. The documentary tries to explain the audience that the happenings of September 11 were a government plan, since the manner of collapse of the buildings completely disagrees with the laws of science as well as those of structural engineering. A Californian engineer called Eric Hufschmid prepared the documentary. He uses his expertise in engineering, laws of science, principles about structures, the views of those who witnessed the collapse and motion pictures to demonstrate the fictitiousness of the collapse. He exposes the controversies behind the occurrence which make a person watching the film realize that indeed, the whole attack was government instigated and not a terrorist attack as the government claimed. The documentary posits that the collapse was carried out using planned demolitions as opposed to what the United States government made the world believe. According to the documentary, all the buildings collapsed as if they were brought down through controlled demolition. The video includes several motion pictures showing the manner in which the buildings collapsed and compares it to that of images of buildings demolished using explosives. Eric disputes the claims that the impact of the planes initiated the collapse of the buildings. He argues that the intensity of the fire was not enough to melt down the heavy steel beams used in the construction of the Twin Towers and Building 7. He affirms that the only possibility was presence of explosives implanted within the building fitted with radio receivers, which could be controlled using a remote gadget. To exe mplify this, he uses motion pictures from actual controlled demolitions done using explosives. He says that the terrorist could not have been responsible of planting the explosives since the process requires time and the buildings were some of the most secure in the world. Another fact exposed was the move to insure the Building 7 just a month before the September 11 attack. The documentary claims that the owner claimed twice the amount of the insurance claiming that the building experienced two separate attacks. Another controversy the documentary tries to enlighten people on is the aircrafts used in the attack. Eric uses motion pictures to demonstrate that it was impossible that Flight 77 hit the Pentagon but instead suggests that a Global Hawk was used in the atta

Racial eqaulity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Racial eqaulity - Essay Example Blacks have been discriminated for a long time in the America history and it is only in the recent past that they have started gaining recognition democratically. Consequently, to ensure survival in such conditions, African American has employed various methods in terms of politics, economics, and cultures. The issue of slavery dominated American politics for a long period and continues to do so today. This paper seeks to discuss racial equality with special consideration to African American. The experience of African American can be traced back from the beginning of slavery.  Firstly, slaves were taken from Africa to America to work on sugar plantations. Slaves were sold to plantation owners where they were forced to work under prevailing conditions of diseases and harsh climate. Moreover, slaves were subjected to these conditions with no pay and food given to them was of poor quality. Additionally the blacks were discriminated in various forms of amenities in America. Usually there were schools for whites and schools for blacks. The quality of education offered in black schools was low as compared to the white schools. In addition, the teachers who were posted to teach the blacks were less qualified. The other significant thing was on the transport sector. The blacks had their own transport system and mixing with the white was regulated. The blacks were also denied the right to vote and various form of presentation in key areas of America’s institutions. In ad dition, churches were discriminatory (Penrice 80-95; Finkelman 395-405). Politics became an important component in America history. Political ideas emerged greatly after the American civil war and revolution. Moreover, voting system depended on the member’s wealth. Additionally, major political changes took place as blacks were allowed to vote and later legislation was passed that gave women right to vote. The blacks were in the forefront during the

RAN Clean Coal Report Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

RAN Clean Coal Report - Case Study Example In times like these, when the needs are growing and the resources are limited people, companies and industries need to come together in order come to terms with the current environmental issues that are depreciating day by day and which if not dealt in time and according may lead to a hazardous tomorrow or who knows there may not be a tomorrow. RAN or the Rainforest Forest Area Network is an organization that works with grass-root level supporters, shareholders and other partner NGOs in cultivating awareness among the masses, different companies and industries regarding issues concerning environment, the proper maintenance of the eco-system and the different ways companies can contribute to the sustainability of a greener future. The report depicts the inner urge of mankind which needs to be aroused within the society to truly break its oil and coal addictions, protect endangered forests, and promote human rights and sustainable finance, with everyone's participation. RAN or the Rainforest Area Network was founded by Randy Hayes in the year 1985 is an environmental organization based in San Francisco, California, USA consisting of 43 staff members from CA, Tokyo, Japan and all other concerned citizens across the globe. The main aim and objective that motivates the organisation and the people attached to it is the creation of a sustainable world which they believe can be created within one's life time if one is committed enough and immediate aggressive measures and actions are taken. Since its initiation RAN has been working with towards the protection of the rainforests by supporting the rights of its inhabitants through the means of education, grassroots organization and nonviolent direct action. By working together with the student groups, indigenous forest communities and NGOs and through the organizations own effective strategies RAN was able to accomplish its mission by organizing campaigns to redirect corporations away from the destruction and exploitation of non-sustainable forest resources (About RAN, 2008). This was RAN's first and one of the many accomplishments that followed, in their endeavor for a better, a greener future and a sustainable world. RAN's take on Clean Coal The latest of the environmental issues that RAN is involved in is coal and finding the truth that lies behind the term "clean coal". Coal is the dirtiest and yet the biggest source of electricity in America. It is the most carbon dioxide-intensive fossil fuel, for every pound of coal that is burnt, three pounds of carbon dioxide gets emitted. Naturally coal mines are the primary source of increasing number of asthma and lung cancer patients. In addition to this the extraction of coal requires strip mining which results in massive amounts of water pollution and generation of toxic wastes. However coal being the America's one of the most important resource for generating wealth and electricity for the present and for the future as well, the lure that it poses is insurmountable. Research and development over the last two decades on "clean coal technology" the term which describes the technologies that are being worked upon in

The LE-PEST C Analysis of Sainsbury Research Paper

The LE-PEST C Analysis of Sainsbury - Research Paper Example This paper illustrates that the food industry in the U.K has not been spared by the world financial crises and the changing economic times, with this in mind that most businesses have to re-evaluate and do their LE-PEST C analyzes. An example of such analysis is that of the J Sainsbury plc. The commercial sector is experiencing a worst financial crisis globally and all business ventures with interests in financial sector like the J Sainsbury plc are affected by the problem. J Sainsbury plc is the topmost food retailer in the United Kingdom, consisting of a series of diversified business venture units that include; supermarkets, JB Beamount, Jacksons stores and an online Sainsbury's business and bank. The major organizations objective is to provide customers with a variety of products and services that meet the diversified customer requirements while at the same time giving the investors good and consistent financial returns on their investments. The business diversity has been aiming at exploiting different aspects of production and different opportunities so as to develop individual capabilities that payback in terms of business success. The company is working had to establish its policy as a tradition to meet the customer requirement bearing in mind that achieving this is of mutual benefit, plus working together with the suppliers to keep up the productions lines running and maintain their presence in the market. It is estimated that J Sainsbury plc employs over 14.8 thousand workers committed to serving their customers. The LE-PEST C is an acronym for analysis of business environmental factors under the following; L- Legal environment, E- Economic environment, P- Political environment, E- Ecological environment, S- Socio-cultural environment, T- Technological aspects, and C- Competitive environmental factors. For the J Sainsbury plc LE-PEST C analysis, it's very critical that recommendations should be drawn based on the conclusion made in the evaluation of t he environmental factors that influence business operation. The British government is said to be planning a change in its financial policies that would reduce problems in liquidity of financial institutions as well as taking care of potential market abuse in the financial services industry. The law in the United Kingdom provides tough regulations on the packaging and labeling of food products. The regulations are government's policies and that any violation of them is punishable by the law.

How do you measure political corruption, and what are the difficulties Assignment

How do you measure political corruption, and what are the difficulties involved - Assignment Example Another important form of this type of corruption is extortion. Here the political persons get involves in various criminal offences for acquiring property, money etc from an individual or institution through illegal means. Political corruption depends on the jurisdiction and country. The practice of political funding differs from places to places. In some places considered as legal and in some places are considered as illegal. In many places government officials have indefinite powers. There the distinction between illegal and legal power is difficult. Institutional corruption is also included in political corruption. The problem of corruption in institute which is associated with the economic support from the government officials who have different interest related with the institution. Political corruption has a negative effect on the good governance and democracy of the country. It reduces the accountability in legislature and election. Corruption in politics hampers the represen tation process in policy making. Political corruption also leads in the compromising the rule of laws. This type of corruption often occurs at the higher levels of the state which a strong impact on politics. Political corruption leads to the improper use and resources misallocation. It influences the political system and government institutions. As a result institutional decay is a common phenomenon in this type of corruption. It is a deviation from ethical code of conduct and written legal norms by the ruling political party. The ruler systematically abuses the rules and regulations of the state to fulfil their personal gains. It is also perceived as an ignorance of principles and rational legal values of the state. The legal base of many authoritarian countries is weak. This helps to grow political corruptions and subjects to the downfall of their political system. Moral, ethical and normative standard are the necessary benchmarks to differentiate legitimacy from legality in

The LE-PEST C Analysis of Sainsbury Research Paper

The LE-PEST C Analysis of Sainsbury - Research Paper Example This paper illustrates that the food industry in the U.K has not been spared by the world financial crises and the changing economic times, with this in mind that most businesses have to re-evaluate and do their LE-PEST C analyzes. An example of such analysis is that of the J Sainsbury plc. The commercial sector is experiencing a worst financial crisis globally and all business ventures with interests in financial sector like the J Sainsbury plc are affected by the problem. J Sainsbury plc is the topmost food retailer in the United Kingdom, consisting of a series of diversified business venture units that include; supermarkets, JB Beamount, Jacksons stores and an online Sainsbury's business and bank. The major organizations objective is to provide customers with a variety of products and services that meet the diversified customer requirements while at the same time giving the investors good and consistent financial returns on their investments. The business diversity has been aiming at exploiting different aspects of production and different opportunities so as to develop individual capabilities that payback in terms of business success. The company is working had to establish its policy as a tradition to meet the customer requirement bearing in mind that achieving this is of mutual benefit, plus working together with the suppliers to keep up the productions lines running and maintain their presence in the market. It is estimated that J Sainsbury plc employs over 14.8 thousand workers committed to serving their customers. The LE-PEST C is an acronym for analysis of business environmental factors under the following; L- Legal environment, E- Economic environment, P- Political environment, E- Ecological environment, S- Socio-cultural environment, T- Technological aspects, and C- Competitive environmental factors. For the J Sainsbury plc LE-PEST C analysis, it's very critical that recommendations should be drawn based on the conclusion made in the evaluation of t he environmental factors that influence business operation. The British government is said to be planning a change in its financial policies that would reduce problems in liquidity of financial institutions as well as taking care of potential market abuse in the financial services industry. The law in the United Kingdom provides tough regulations on the packaging and labeling of food products. The regulations are government's policies and that any violation of them is punishable by the law.

Tthe difference between Chinese and British Consumer Behaviour on Essay

Tthe difference between Chinese and British Consumer Behaviour on coffee consumption - Essay Example The study also examines some of the beliefs, perceptions and causal effects that influence coffee consumption. Answering the ways in which coffee brands have affected the coffee consumption and the overall consumer behaviour will help identify the differences and similarities in consumer behaviour in coffee consumption in China and UK. This chapter discusses the techniques that are used to collect and analyse primary data that will assist in justifying the study conducted in secondary sources. Rationale of research approach The study is conducted by making use of both the primary and the secondary data. This research entails qualitative and quantitative data. The secondary data offers the qualitative data that helps to get more information concerning the coffee consumption and consumer behaviour in China and UK. The reason for choosing to research on literature review is due to the fact that there might be previous studies of the same subject that might help in the study. The seconda ry data will help to gather information that might be hard to gather from primary data. It is also very easy and cheap to use the secondary data as it is readily available and would help answer unanswered questions. Secondary data will offer information that explains the consumer behaviour and what affects it. ... Both the primary and secondary data will help to verify the research hypothesis. Description of the data collection instruments The secondary data that provides the qualitative information is retrieved from secondary sources search as books, research reports and journals. They can also be retrieved from wed portals and electronic journals. These sources provide data that helps to analyse information from the past. They contain literature that are reviewed and have summarized theories from a wide range of sources. The primary data is collected by the use of statistical survey. One of the statistical survey method used in this study is the Likert scale type of questionnaire. It is made up of open-ended type of questions. It is a scaling method of a five point scale that shows the level of agreement with the given statement. The respondents are given a simple task to choose one of the options that range from â€Å"strongly agree, agree, uncertain, disagree and strongly disagree† (Jackson, 2011). The questions which are more of statements are positively structured which means that if the respondents agree to all statements, it will prove that coffee culture has been fully adopted in both countries. Rationale for data collection instruments The Likert scale questionnaire was the best to collect primary data because it would be easy for the respondents to understand the questions and also to answer them. One of the advantages of the Likert scale type of questionnaire is that it is effective, very easy to construct and they are also reliable. They are also very efficient because they are not complicated thus no major errors when collecting the data and administering them is very easy. They help in studying the

Obesity and Fast Food Essay Example for Free

Obesity and Fast Food Essay January 2009 Abstract. We investigate the health consequences of changes in the supply of fast food using the exact geographical location of fast food restaurants. Specifically, we ask how the supply of fast food affects the obesity rates of 3 million school children and the weight gain of over 1 million pregnant women. We find that among 9th grade children, a fast food restaurant within a tenth of a mile of a school is associated with at least a 5. 2 percent increase in obesity rates. There is no discernable effect at . 25 miles and at . 5 miles. Among pregnant women, models with mother fixed effects indicate that a fast food restaurant within a half mile of her residence results in a 2. 5 percent increase in the probability of gaining over 20 kilos. The effect is larger, but less precisely estimated at . 1 miles. In contrast, the presence of non-fast food restaurants is uncorrelated with obesity and weight gain. Moreover, proximity to future fast food restaurants is uncorrelated with current obesity and weight gain, conditional on current proximity to fast food. The implied effects of fast-food on caloric intake are at least one order of magnitude smaller for mothers, which suggests that they are less constrained by travel costs than school children. Our results imply that policies restricting access to fast food near schools could have significant effects on obesity among school children, but similar policies restricting the availability of fast food in residential areas are unlikely to have large effects on adults. The authors thank John Cawley and participants in seminars at the NBER Summer Institute, the 2009 AEA Meetings, the ASSA 2009 Meetings, the Federal Reserve Banks of New York and Chicago, The New School, the Tinbergen Institute, the Rady School at UCSD, and Williams College for helpful comments. We thank Cecilia Machado, Emilia Simeonova, Johannes Schmeider, and Joshua Goodman for excellent research assistance. We thank Glenn Copeland of the Michigan Dept. of Community Health, Katherine Hempstead and Matthew Weinberg of the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, Craig Edelman of the Pennsylvania Dept. of Health, Rachelle Moore of the Texas Dept. of State Health Services, and Gary Sammet and Joseph Shiveley of the Florida Department of Health for their help in accessing the data. The authors are solely responsible for the use that has been made of the data and for the contents of this article. 1 1. Introduction The prevalence of obesity and obesity related diseases has increased rapidly in the U. S. since the mid 1970s. At the same time, the number of fast food restaurants more than doubled over the same time period, while the number of other restaurants grew at a much slower pace according to the Census of Retail Trade (Chou, Grossman, and Saffer, 2004). In the public debate over obesity it is often assumed that the widespread availability of fast food restaurants is an important determinant of the dramatic increases in obesity rates. Policy makers in several cities have responded by restricting the availability or content of fast food, or by requiring posting of the caloric content of the meals (Mcbride, 2008; Mair et al. 2005). But the evidence linking fast food and obesity is not strong. Much of it is based on correlational studies in small data sets. In this paper we seek to identify the causal effect of increases in the supply of fast food restaurants on obesity rates. Specifically, using a detailed dataset on the exact geographical location restaurant establishments, we ask how proximity to fast food affects the obesity rates of 3 million school children and the weight gain of over 1 million pregnant women. For school children, we observe obesity rates for 9th graders in California over several years, and we are therefore able to estimate cross-sectional as well fixed effects models that control for characteristics of schools and neighborhoods. For mothers, we employ the information on weight gain during pregnancy reported in the Vital Statistics data for Michigan, New Jersey, and Texas covering fifteen years. 1 We focus on women who have at least two children so that we can follow a given woman across two pregnancies and estimate models that include mother fixed effects. The design employed in this study allows for a more precise identification of the effect of fast-food on obesity compared to the previous literature (summarized in Section 2). First, we observe information on weight for millions of individuals compared to at most tens of thousand in the standard data sets with weight information such as the NHANES and the BRFSS. This substantially increases the power of our estimates. Second, we exploit very detailed geographical location information, including distances The Vital Statistics data reports only the weight gain and not the weight at the beginning (or end) of the pregnancy. One advantage of focusing on a longitudinal measure of weight gain instead of a measure of weight in levels is that only the recent exposure to fast-food should matter. 1 2 of only one tenth of a mile. By comparing groups of individuals who are at only slightly different distances to a restaurant, we can arguably diminish the impact of unobservable differences in characteristics between the two groups. Third, we have a more precise idea of the timing of exposure than many previous studies: The 9th graders are exposed to fast food near their new school from September until the time of a spring fitness test, while weight gain during pregnancy pertains to the 9 months of pregnancy. While it is clear that fast food is generally unhealthy, it is not obvious a priori that changes in the availability of fast food should be expected to have an impact on health. On the one hand, it is possible that proximity to a fast food restaurant simply leads local consumers to substitute away from unhealthy food prepared at home or consumed in existing restaurants, without significant changes in the overall amount of unhealthy food consumed. On the other hand, proximity to a fast food restaurant could lower the monetary and non-monetary costs of accessing unhealthy food. In addition, proximity to fast food may increase consumption of unhealthy food even in the absence of any decrease in cost if individuals have self-control problems. Ultimately, the effect of changes in the supply of fast food on obesity is an empirical question. We find that among 9th grade children, the presence of a fast-food restaurant within a tenth of a mile of a school is associated with an increase of about 1. 7 percentage points in the fraction of students in a class who are obese relative to the presence at. 25 miles. This effect amounts to a 5. 2 percent increase in the incidence of obesity. Since grade 9 is the first year of high school and the fitness tests take place in the Spring, the period of fast-food exposure is approximately 30 weeks, implying an increased caloric intake of 30 to 100 calories per school-day. The effect is larger in models that include school fixed effects. Consistent with highly non–linear transportation costs, we find no discernable effect at . 25 miles and at . 5 miles. The effect is largest for Hispanic students and female students. Among pregnant women, we find that a fast food restaurant within a half mile of a residence results in 0. 19 percentage points higher probability of gaining over 20kg. This amounts to a 2. 5 percent increase in the probability of gaining over 20 kilos. The effect is larger at . 1 miles, but in contrast to the results for 9th graders, it is still discernable at . 25 miles and at . 5 miles. The increase in weight implies an increased caloric intake of 1 to 4 3 calories per day in the pregnancy period. The effect varies across races and educational levels. It is largest for African American mothers and for mothers with a high school education or less. It is zero for mothers with a college degree or an associate’s degree. Overall, our findings suggest that increases in the supply of fast food restaurants have a significant effect on obesity, at least in some groups. However, it is in principle possible that our estimates reflect unmeasured shifts in the demand for fast food. Fast food chains are likely to open new restaurants where they expect demand to be strong, and higher demand for unhealthy food is almost certainly correlated with higher risk of obesity. The presence of unobserved determinants of obesity that may be correlated with increases in the number of fast food restaurants would lead us to overestimate the role of fast food restaurants. We can not entirely rule out this possibility. However, three pieces of evidence lend some credibility to our interpretation. First, we find that observable characteristics of the schools are not associated with changes in the availability of a fast food in the immediate vicinity of a school. Furthermore, we show that within the geographical area under consideration, fast food restaurants are uniformly distributed over space. Specifically, fast food restaurants are equally likely to be located within . 1, . 25, and . 5 miles of a school. We also find that after conditioning on mother fixed effects, the observable characteristics of mothers that predict high weight gain are negatively (not positively) related to the presence of a fast-food chain, suggesting that any bias in our estimates may be downward, not upward. While these findings do not necessarily imply that changes in the supply of fast food restaurants are orthogonal to unobserved determinants of obesity, they are at least consistent with our identifying assumption. Second, while we find that proximity to a fast food restaurant is associated with increases in obesity rates and weight gains, proximity to non fast food restaurants has no discernible effect on obesity rates or weight gains. This suggests that our estimates are not just capturing increases in the local demand for restaurant establishments. Third, we find that while current proximity to a fast food restaurant affects current obesity rates, proximity to future fast food restaurants, controlling for current proximity, has no effect on current obesity rates and weight gains. Taken together, the weight of the 4 evidence is consistent with a causal effect of fast food restaurants on obesity rates among 9th graders and on weight gains among pregnant women. The results on the impact of fast-food on obesity are consistent with a model in which access to fast-foods increases obesity by lowering food prices or by tempting consumers with self-control problems. 2 Differences in travel costs between students and mothers could explain the different effects of proximity. Ninth graders have higher travel costs in the sense that they are constrained to stay near the school during the school day, and hence are more affected by fast-food restaurants that are very close to the school. For this group, proximity to fast-food has a quite sizeable effect on obesity. In contrast, for pregnant women, proximity to fast-food has a quantitatively small (albeit statistically significant) impact on weight gain. Our results suggest that a ban on fast-foods in the immediate proximity of schools could have a sizeable effect on obesity rates among affected students. However, a similar attempt to reduce access to fast food in residential neighborhoods would be unlikely to have much effect on adult consumers. The remainder of the paper is organized as follows. In Section 2 we review the existing literature. In Section 3 we describe our data sources. In Section 4, we present our econometric models and our empirical findings. Section 5 concludes. 2. Background While the main motivation for focusing on school children and pregnant women is the availability of geographically detailed data on weight measures for a very large sample, they are important groups to study in their own right. Among school aged children 6-19 rates of overweight have soared from about 5% in the early 1970s to 16% in 1999-2002 (Hedley et al. 2004). These rates are of particular concern given that children who are overweight are more likely to be overweight as adults, and are increasingly suffering from diseases associated with obesity while still in childhood (Krebs and Jacobson, 2003). At the same time, the fraction of women gaining over 60 2 Consumers with self-control problems are not as tempted by fatty foods if they first have to incur the transportation cost of walking to a fast-food restaurant. Only when a fast-food is right near the school, the temptation of the fast-food looms large. For an overview of the role of self-control in economic applications, see DellaVigna (2009). A model of cues in consumption (Laibson, 2001) has similar implications: a fast-food that is in immediate proximity from the school is more likely to trigger a cue that leads to over-consumption. 5 pounds during pregnancy doubled between 1989 and 2000 (Lin, forthcoming). Excessive weight gain during pregnancy is often associated with higher rates of hypertension, C-section, and large-for-gestational age infants, as well as with a higher incidence of later maternal obesity (Gunderson and Abrams, 2000; Rooney and Schauberger, 2002; Thorsdottir et al. , 2002; Wanjiku and Raynor, 2004). 3 Moreover, Figure 1 shows that the incidence of low APGAR scores (APGAR scores less than 8), an indicator of poor fetal health, increases sharply with weight gain above about 20 kilograms. Critics of the fast food industry point to several features that may make fast food less healthy than other types of restaurant food (Spurlock, 2004; Schlosser, 2002). These include low monetary and time costs, large portions, and high calorie density of signature menu items. Indeed, energy densities for individual food items are often so high that it would be difficult for individuals consuming them not to exceed their average recommended dietary intakes (Prentice and Jebb, 2003). Some consumers may be particularly vulnerable. In two randomized experimental trials involving 26 obese and 28 lean adolescents, Ebbeling et al. (2004) compared caloric intakes on â€Å"unlimited fast food days† and â€Å"no fast food days†. They found that obese adolescents had higher caloric intakes on the fast food days, but not on the no fast food days. The largest fast food chains are also characterized by aggressive marketing to children. One experimental study of young children 3 to 5 offered them identical pairs of foods and beverages, the only difference being that some of the foods were in McDonald’s packaging. Children were significantly more likely to choose items perceived to be from McDonald’s (Robinson et al.2007). Chou, Grossman, and Rashad (forthcoming) use data from the National Longitudinal Surveys (NLS) 1979 and 1997 cohorts to examine the effect of exposure to fast food advertising on overweight among children and adolescents. In ordinary least squares (OLS) models, they find significant effects in most specifications. 4 3 According to the Centers for Disease Control, obesity and excessive weight gain are independently associated with poor pregnancy outcomes. Recommended weight gain is lower for obese women than in others. (http://www. cdc.gov/pednss/how_to/read_a_data_table/prevalence_tables/birth_outcome. htm) 4 They also estimate instrumental variables (IV) models using the price of advertising as an instrument. However, while they find a significant â€Å"first stage†, they do not report the IV estimates because tests 6 Still, a recent review of the considerable epidemiological literature about the relationship between fast food and obesity (Rosenheck, 2008) concluded that â€Å"Findings from observational studies as yet are unable to demonstrate a causal link between fast food consumption and weight gain or obesity†. Most epidemiological studies have longitudinal designs in which large groups of participants are tracked over a period of time and changes in their body mass index (BMI) are correlated with baseline measures of fast food consumption. These studies typically find a positive link between obesity and fast food consumption. However, existing observational studies cannot rule out potential confounders such as lack of physical activity, consumption of sugary beverages, and so on. food. 5 There is also a rapidly growing economics literature on obesity, reviewed in Philipson and Posner (2008). Economic studies place varying amounts of emphasis on increased caloric consumption as a primary determinant of obesity (a trend that is consistent with the increased availability of fast food). Using data from the NLSY, Lakdawalla and Philipson (2002) conclude that about 40% of the increase in obesity from 1976 to 1994 is attributable to lower food prices (and increased consumption) while the remainder is due to reduced physical activity in market and home production. Bleich et al. (2007) examine data from several developed countries and conclude that increased caloric intake is the main contributor to obesity. Cutler et al. (2003) examine food diaries as well as time use data from the last few decades and conclude that rising obesity is linked to increased caloric intake and not to reduced energy expenditure. 6 7 Moreover, all of these studies rely on self-reported consumption of fast suggest that advertising exposure is not endogenous. They also estimate, but do not report individual fixed effects models, because these models have much larger standard errors than the ones reported. 5 A typical question is of the form â€Å"How often do you eat food from a place like McDonald’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, Burger King or some other fast food restaurant? † 6 They suggest that the increased caloric intake is from greater frequency of snacking, and not from increased portion sizes at restaurants or fattening meals at fast food restaurants. They further suggest that technological change has lowered the time cost of food preparation which in turn has lead to more frequent consumption of food. Finally, they speculate that people with self control problems are over-consuming in response to the fall in the time cost of food preparation. Cawley (1999) discusses a similar behavioral theory of obesity as a consequence of addiction. 7 Courtemanche and Carden examine the impact on obesity of Wal-Mart and warehouse club retailers such as Sam’s club, Costco and BJ’s wholesale club which compete on price. They link store location data to individual data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS. ) They find that non-grocery selling Wal-Mart stores reduce weight while non-grocery selling stores and warehouse clubs either reduce weight or have no effect. Their explanation is that reduced prices for everyday purchases expand real 7 A series of recent papers explicitly focus on fast food restaurants as potential contributors to obesity. Chou et al. (2004) estimate models combining state-level price data with individual demographic and weight data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance surveys and find a positive association between obesity and the per capita number of restaurants (fast food and others) in the state. Rashad, Grossman, and Chou (2005) present similar findings using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys. Anderson and Butcher (2005) investigate the effect of school food policies on the BMI of adolescent students using data from the NLSY97. They assume that variation in financial pressure on schools across counties provides exogenous variation in availability of junk food in the schools. They find that a 10 percentage point increase in the probability of access to junk food at school can lead to about 1 percent increase in students BMI. Anderson, Butcher and Schanzenbach (2007) examine the elasticity of children’s BMI with respect to mother’s BMI and find that it has increased over time, suggesting an increased role for environmental factors in child obesity. Anderson, Butcher, and Levine (2003) find that maternal employment is related to childhood obesity, and speculate that employed mothers might spend more on fast food. Cawley and Liu (2007) use time use data and find that employed women spend less time cooking and are more likely to purchase prepared foods. The paper that is closest to ours is a recent study by Anderson and Matsa (2009) that focuses on the link between eating out and obesity using the presence of Interstate highways in rural areas as an instrument for restaurant density. Interstate highways increase restaurant density for communities adjacent to highways, reducing the travel costs of eating out for people in these communities. They find no evidence of a causal link between restaurants and obesity. Using data from the USDA, they argue that the lack of an effect is due to the presence of selection bias in restaurant patrons –people who eat out also consume more calories when they eat at homeand the fact that large portions at restaurants are offset by lower caloric intake at other times of the day. Our paper differs from Anderson and Matsa (2009) in four important dimensions, and these four differences are likely to explain the difference in our findings. incomes, enabling households to substitute away from cheap unhealthy foods to more expensive but healthier alternatives. 8 (i) First, our data allow us to distinguish between fast food restaurants and other restaurants. We can therefore estimate separately the impact of fast-foods and of other restaurants on obesity. In contrast, Anderson and Matsa do not have data on fast food restaurants and therefore focus on the effect of any restaurant on obesity. This difference turns out to be crucial, because when we estimate the effect of any restaurant on obesity using our data we also find no discernible effect on obesity. (ii) Second, we have a very large sample that allows us to identify even small effects, such as mean increases of 50 grams in the weight gain of mothers during pregnancy. Our estimates of weight gain for mothers are within the confidence interval of Anderson and Matsa’s two stage least squares estimates. Put differently, based on their sample size, our statistically significant estimates would have been considered statistically insignificant. (iii) Third, our data give us the exact location of each restaurant, school and mother. The spatial richness of our data allows us to examine the effect of fast food restaurants on obesity at a very detailed geographical level. For example, we can distinguish the effect at . 1 miles from the effect at . 25 miles. As it turns out, this feature is quite important, because the effects that we find are geographically extremely localized. For example, we find that fast food restaurant have an effect on 9th graders only for distances of . 1 miles or less. By contrast, Anderson and Matsa use a city as the level of geographical analysis. It is not surprising that at this level of aggregation the estimated effect is zero. (iv) Fourth, Anderson and Matsa’s identification strategy differs from ours, since we do not use an instrument for fast-food availability and focus instead on changes in the availability of fast-foods at very close distances. The populations under consideration are also different, and may react differently to proximity to a fast food restaurant. Anderson and Matsa focus on predominantly white rural communities, while we focus on primarily urban 9th graders and urban mothers. We document that the effects vary considerable depending on race, with blacks and Hispanics having the largest effect. Indeed, when Dunn (2008) uses an instrumental variables approach similar to the one used Anderson and Matsa based on proximity to freeways, he finds no effect for rural areas and for 9 whites in suburban areas, but strong effect for blacks and Hispanics. As we show below, we also find stronger effects for minorities. Taken together, these four differences lead us to conclude that the evidence in Anderson and Matsa is consistent with our evidence. 8 In summary, there is strong evidence of correlations between fast food consumption and obesity. It has been more difficult to demonstrate a causal role for fast food. In this paper we tap new data in an attempt to test the causal connection between fast food and obesity. 3. Data Sources and Summary Statistics Data for this project comes from three sources. (a) School Data. Data on children comes from the California public schools for the years 1999 and 2001 to 2007. The observations for 9th graders, which we focus on in this paper, represent 3. 06 million student-year observations. In the spring, California 9th graders are given a fitness assessment, the FITNESSGRAM ®. Data is reported at the class level in the form of the percentage of students who are obese, and who have acceptable levels of abdominal strength, aerobic capacity, flexibility, trunk strength, and upper body strength. Obesity is measured using actual body fat measures, which are considerably more accurate than the usual BMI measure (Cawley and Burkhauser, 2006). Data is also reported for sub-groups within the school (e. g. by race and gender) provided the cells have at least 10 students. Since grade 9 is the first year of high school and the fitness tests take place in the Spring, this impact corresponds to approximately 30 weeks of fast-food exposure. 9 This administrative data set is merged to information about schools (including the percent black, white, Hispanic, and Asian, percent immigrant, pupil/teacher ratios, fraction eligible for free lunch etc. ) from the National Center for Education Statistic’s Common Core of Data, as well as to the Start test scores for the 9th grade. The location of the school was also geocoded using ArcView. Finally, we merged in information. 8 9 See also Brennan and carpenter (2009). In very few cases, a high school is in the same location as a middle school, in which case the estimates reflect a longer-term impact of fast-food. 10 about the nearest Census block group of the school from the 2000 Census including the median earnings, percent high-school degree, percent unemployed, and percent urban. (b) Mothers Data. Data on mothers come from Vital Statistics Natality data from Michigan, New Jersey, and Texas. These data are from birth certificates, and cover all births in these states from 1989 to 2003 (from 1990 in Michigan). For these three states, we were able to gain access to confidential data including mothers names, birth dates, and addresses, which enabled us both to construct a panel data set linking births to the same mother over time, and to geocode her location (again using ArcView). The Natality data are very rich, and include information about the mother’s age, education, race and ethnicity; whether she smoked during pregnancy; the child’s gender, birth order, and gestation; whether it was a multiple birth; and maternal weight gain. We restrict the sample to singleton births and to mothers with at least two births in the sample, for a total of over 3. 5 million births. (c) Restaurant Data. Restaurant data with geo-coding information come from the National Establishment Time Series Database (Dun and Bradstreet). These data are used by all major banks, lending institutions, insurance and finance companies as the primary system for creditworthiness assessment of firms. As such, it is arguably more precise and comprehensive than yellow pages and business directories. 10 We obtained a panel of virtually all firms in Standard Industrial Classification 58 from 1990 to 2006, with names and addresses. Using this data, we constructed several different measures of â€Å"fast food† and â€Å"other restaurants,† as discussed further in Appendix 1. In this paper, the benchmark definition of fast-food restaurants includes only the top-10 fast-food chains, namely, Mc Donalds, Subway, Burger King, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Little Caesars, KFC, Wendy’s, Dominos Pizza, and Jack In The Box. We also show estimates using a broader definition that includes both chain restaurants and independent burger and pizza restaurants. Finally, we also measure the supply of non-fast food restaurants. The definition of â€Å"other restaurants† changes with the definition of fast food. Appendix Table 1 lists the top 10 fast food chains as well as examples of restaurants that we did not classify as fast food. The yellow pages are not intended to be a comprehensive listing of businesses they are a paid advertisement. Companies that do not pay are not listed. 10 11 Matching. Matching was performed using information on latitude and longitude of restaurant location. Specifically, we match the schools and mother’s residence to the closest restaurants using ArcView software. For the school data, we match the results on testing for the spring of year t with restaurant availability in year t-1. For the mother data, we match the data on weight gain during pregnancy with restaurant availability in the year that overlaps the most with the pregnancy. Summary Statistics. Using the data on restaurant, school, and mother’s locations, we constructed indicators for whether there are fast food or other restaurants within . 1, . 25, and . 5 miles of either the school or the mother’s residence. Table 1a shows summary characteristics of the schools data set by distance to a fast food restaurant. Here, as in most of the paper, we use the narrow definition of fast-food, including the top-10 fast-food chains. Relatively few schools are within . 1 miles of a fast food restaurant, and the characteristics of these schools are somewhat different than those of the average California school. Only 7% of schools have a fast food restaurant within . 1 miles, while 65% of all schools have a fast food restaurant within 1/2 of a mile. 11 Schools within . 1 miles of a fast food restaurant have more Hispanic students, a slightly higher fraction of students eligible for free lunch, and lower test scores. They are also located in poorer and more urban areas. The last row indicates that schools near a fast food restaurant have a higher incidence of obese students than the average California school. Table 1b shows a similar summary of the mother data. Again, mothers who live near fast food restaurants have different characteristics than the average mother. They are younger, less educated, more likely to be black or Hispanic, and less likely to be married. 4. Empirical Analysis We begin in Section 4. 1 by describing our econometric models and our identifying assumptions. In Section 4. 2 we show the correlation between restaurant location and student characteristics for the school sample, and the correlation between The average school in our sample had 4 fast foods within 1 mile and 24 other restaurants within the same radius. 11 12 restaurant location and mother characteristics for the mother sample. Our empirical estimates for students and mothers are in Section 4. 3 and 4. 4, respectively. 13 4. 1 Econometric Specifications Our empirical specification for schools is (1) Yst = ? F1st + ? F25st + ? F50st + ? ’ N1st + ? ’ N25st + ? ’ N50st + ? Xst + ? Zst + ds + est where Yst is the fraction of students in school s in a given grade who are obese in year t; F1st is an indicator equal to 1 if there is a fast food restaurant within . 1 mile from the school in year t; F25st is an indicator equal to 1 if there is a fast food restaurant within . 25 miles from the school in year t; F50st is an indicator equal to 1 if there is a fast food restaurant within . 5 mile from the school in year t; N1st, N25st and N50st are similar indicators for the presence of non-fast food restaurants within . 1, . 25 and . 5 miles from the school; ds is a fixed effect for the school. The vectors Xst and Zst include school and neighborhood time-varying characteristics that can potentially affect obesity rates. Specifically, Xst is a vector of school-grade specific characteristics including fraction blacks, fraction native Americans, fraction Hispanic, fraction immigrants, fraction female, fraction eligible for free lunch, whether the school is qualified for Title I funding, pupil/teacher ratio, and 9th grade tests scores, as well as school-district characteristics such as fraction immigrants, fraction of non-English speaking students (LEP/ELL), share of IEP students. Zst is a vector of characteristics of the Census block closest to the school including median income, median earnings, average household size, median rent, median housing value, percent white, percent black, percent Asian, percent.