Life and Ministry of A. J. Tomlinson

Ambrose J. Tomlinson (1865-1943) belonged to a moderately wealthy family from Westfield, Indiana.   His family conducted business, and so the young Tomlinson, after finishing his studies at the prominent Westfield Academy, tried his hand at business as well.   His life in the huge Quaker community was serene to begin with.   In the rural community, Tomlinson was able to connect with a few religious people who strengthened his interest in the Gospel (Hunter, 2003).Tomlinson’s neighbors in Westfield included two African-American families.   Each summer the African-American families in addition to some of the freed slaves attended camp meetings of people of color.   White worshippers were attracted to the meetings as well.   Even Tomlinson happened to attend some of these meetings.   Soon he was introduced by a man named J. B. Mitchell to Charles G. Finney, a revivalist.   In the year 1894, Tomlinson and Mitchell co-founded the Book and Tract Company which took th em both on short trips to Appalachia.   Tomlinson was introduced to Frank Sandford, the founder of the Shiloh community, and other religious figures around this time (Hunter).Tomlinson’s understanding of religion was enhanced as he encountered important religious personalities.   The Acts 2 commune practiced by the Shiloh community, for example, provided a model for his family to imitate.   In the year 1899, Tomlinson and his family came across the Fire-Baptized Holiness Association of B. H. Irwin (Hunter).   By this time Tomlinson had been eagerly seeking out â€Å"locations where special visitations of the Holy Spirit were occurring (Nienkirchen, 1992, p. 32).†Ã‚   According to Nienkirchen, the goal of Tomlinson was â€Å"to find the true ‘Church of God’ where the preaching of the word was being confirmed by miracles, signs, and wonders, together with gifts of the Holy Spirit according to the pattern of Acts (p. 32).†Ã‚   The Church of God for All Nations describes Tomlinson’s success in eventually finding the Church of God:According to prophecy, the Church (Zion) was ordained to arise from the grave of the Dark  Ages among the Gentiles in the Last Days (Isaiah 60:1-3; Isaiah 52:1).   This occurred on June  13, 1903, in Cherokee County, North Carolina, when Prophet A. J. Tomlinson found the body  of people whom God had chosen to be the resurrection Church of God in its infancy this side  of the Dark Ages.   It was in this same year that the Wright Brothers arose from the earth by  the invention of the airplane, a material witness to what God was doing spiritually (Isaiah  60:8).  Prior to this time, A. J. Tomlinson was a colporteur for the American Bible Society,  distributing Bibles and religious literature throughout the southeastern United States.He also  printed and distributed his first publication called â€Å"Samson's Foxes.†Ã‚   God began to move  upon him to find the bod y of people who would be the Church of the Last Days.   After  investigating many groups, he scripturally determined the one which God had chosen.   It was  the remains of a small union of churches which in 1886 became an association under the  guidance and direction of R. G. Spurling and came to be known as the Christian Union.   It had  dwindled into a small group in Camp Creek, however, because of the tragedies of heresy and  fanaticism which had crept in to destroy the flock.   In 1902 the name was changed from  Christian Union to Holiness Church.   The fellowship, consisting of some twenty members,  was abiding under the name of Holiness Church when A. J. Tomlinson was moved by God to approach them for fellowship (â€Å"Church of God History†).One morning of June 1903, Tomlinson climbed the Prayer Mountain in Cherokee County, North Carolina, to pray for the guidance of God.   Subsequently he was led by the Holy Spirit to join the Church of God t hat he had already discovered.   As Tomlinson was being led by the Holy Spirit, the Wright Brothers were trying hard to fly in another corner of North Carolina.   This acted as a sign for Tomlinson.   Moreover, his anointed leadership role became apparent to the others as well around the same time.   Tomlinson was made the pastor of the little community of believers almost immediately.   He was eventually recognized as a chosen one of God.   The Church was destined to grow under his guidance, until it was considered essential to arrange a General Assembly in the year 1906.   The General Assembly mainly consisted of the ministry.   After the meeting, the Church was able to grow further and its operations became more formalized.   The name of Tomlinson’s Church was eventually changed to Church of God in the year 1907 (â€Å"Church of God History†).Tomlinson noted that he felt â€Å"more fully awakened† in the year 1907 (Hunter).   Soon after, h e was granted the title of General Moderator of the Church of God.   In the year 1910, he was named General Overseer of the Church.   Four years later, the man’s appointment was acknowledged as perpetual.   In the year 1918, his life changed once again as his nation suffered from influenza and the Church was unable to convene a general conference.   From 1919, the state of affairs of the Church began to face a downturn, as the democratic government tried to disrupt its operation.In 1922, the democratic government was able to draw up a constitution to subjugate Tomlinson to the total control as well as limitations imposed by the laws of the land.   Tomlinson realized that this move on the part of the government was designed to control the â€Å"Theocratic Government (â€Å"Church of God History†).†Ã‚   From that point on, the man tried to do his utmost to make corrections in the functioning of the Church.   Because the financial records of the Church were not organized, however, the government expressed its doubts and suspicions about the conduct of the General Overseer.   Nevertheless, Tomlinson assumed complete responsibility for the financial affairs of his Church.   He was ultimately impeached in the year 1923 (â€Å"Church of God History†).Being a man of God, Tomlinson had failed to properly attend to the monetary affairs of the Church, as he had preferred to attend to the Holy Spirit.   Although he lost his position as the General Overseer of the Church, he could not lose his anointing from God.   Thus, the man remained loyal to the â€Å"Theocratic Government† as well as his appointment from God to lead people in faith (â€Å"Church of God History†).   Tomlinson performed these God-assigned duties with vigor and tenacity.   He even tried to reform the Church â€Å"by a principle well supported in Jeremiah 18:1-11 (â€Å"Church of God History†).†Ã‚   He had been impeached in J une.   By September he was able to get the Church of God to publish a periodical called The White Wing Messenger (â€Å"Church of God History†).Unsurprisingly, the Church of God began to flourish once more under the leadership of Tomlinson.   Although it had been persecuted, the Church also began to experience financial prosperity.   Most importantly, it was able to increase its understanding of prophetic truth through the guidance of Tomlinson.   The flag of the Church was â€Å"revealed according to Psalms 60:4 (â€Å"Church of God History†).†Ã‚   Soon after the United States Patent Office had granted recognition to the flag, in the year 1939, Tomlinson heard of a young minister named Grady R. Kent, who had been severely persecuted in Egan, Georgia.   Tomlinson invited Kent to pastor a local church in Cleveland.   Once he realized that Kent was a successful preacher, Tomlinson taught him about many prophetic passages.   The Church of Prophecy Mak ers Association was formed in the year 1941.   Shortly before his death in 1943, Tomlinson appointed Kent as its general secretary (â€Å"Church of God History†).Thus, Tomlinson fulfilled his responsibilities toward the Church until the very end of his term on earth.   Franklin D. Roosevelt, the president of the United States, was one of the many people who expressed their condolences at the demise of the great minister.   Tomlinson had been largely responsible for the â€Å"overspread of Pentecostalism† during the twentieth century (â€Å"Church of God History†).   Most importantly, however, he was responsible for helping countless people expand their knowledge about the Gospel.   Milton, his younger son, who was appointed as the General Overseer of the Church of God, is not known to have possessed the qualities of his father (â€Å"Church of God History†).   After all, Tomlinson had nurtured a special relationship with God that had granted h im special privileges in connection with the Holy Spirit, and ultimately with the Body of Christ.ReferencesHunter, H. D. (2003, Winter/Spring). A. J. Tomlinson’s Journey Toward Racial Reconciliation.Church of God History and Heritage.Nienkirchen, C. W. (1992). A. B. Simpson and the Pentecostal Movement. Peabody, MA:Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.

Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc.

According to a case study cited by Staudt and Stranz (2009), Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc is an agricultural cooperative owned by more than 750 cranberry growers in the United States and Canada. The company produces canned and bottled juice, juice drinks and food products at distribution centers in Bordentown, New Jersey; Kenosha, Wisconsin; Sulphur Springs, Texas; and Henderson, Nevada. August is usually a challenging month for Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc., when the Lakeville, Massachusetts-based firm has to pump up volume to meet the surge in demand for upcoming holiday season.Ocean Spray was managing its transportation operations internally, but the company decided that focusing on its core competency would allow them to maintain leadership in the shelf-stable juice drink category. The company believes centralizing its transportation operations and bringing all into uniformity while expanding into new markets will be beneficial for their company. Although Ocean Spray’s tra nsportation capabilities to be able to support the expansion of their logistic network can be challenging, investing in a third-party logistics provider will allow the focus of core competency and revamping of transportation logistics.Benefits of 3PLThe result of an increasing trend toward outsourcing of logistic activities, shippers have been faced with the inevitability of selecting an appropriate third-party logistics provider (Soh, 2009). The process of finding the best suitable 3PL provider that fits user and company requirements can be very challenging. Likewise, Ocean Spray’s expansion of logistics network allows the 3PL to manage distribution, packing, warehousing and assembling. Through their combined resources and knowledge, they can help to maximize profitability and reliability. One of the advantages of having a 3PL provider is having a large amount of resource network (Langley, 2012). According to an article, 3PLs have a large network available that has many adva ntages over supply chains that are in-house.By using the resource network of a 3PL, the steps of a supply chain are able to be executed in a cost effective and efficient manner. Also, the ability of a 3PL to leverage relationships and volume discounts can result in the fastest service  possible. It allows a company like Ocean Spray to benefit from many resources that are not available to them. Similarly, it lets them build solid relationships and networks that could lead to prospective services and resources in the future. A survey states, 3PLs are primarily meeting shippers’ expectations and an average of 86% of shipper respondents view their 3PL relationships very successful (Langley, 2012).The second advantage of having 3PL providers is the scalability and flexibility. Many companies are obviously looking to expand their organization and increase their revenue, so having the flexibility from their 3PL providers allows them to be stress free. 3PL providers has the ability to scale transportation and space according to the needs of the company’s inventory. They are able to enhance the growth of the company into new locations that companies never had access to. This can definitely benefit Ocean Spray’s company as its main goal is to expand their logistic network to other locations. An article states, sixteen companies reported revenue data and collectively, these companies generated in excess of $23 billion in North American revenues during the year 2009 due to the fact of having 3PL providers (Lieb, 2010). Furthermore, three CEOs said their companies had been very profitable and some classified their companies as marginally profitable (Lieb, 2010).The third advantage of having 3PL providers is the ability for continuous optimization. 3PL providers have the resources to make improvements and adjustments to each link in the supply chain. They make sure that all company and user needs are met by using the most cost effective, efficient and fastest methods available. An article states, 3PLs allow shippers to conserve costs and resources, while also helping to provide higher service levels (Patridge, 2008). Similarly, Verizon company uses 3PL provider, New Breed to develop an automated warehouse fulfillment solution that provides same-day processing of its direcct-to consumer orders (Patridge, 2008).The 3PL operates of Verizon’s three distribution centers, offering real-time visibility to orders and inventory by tracking every serialized unit. Moreover, New Breed ships 20,500 consumer orders daily for Verizon with 99.9 percent accuracy while 100 percent of orders that arrive before 5 p.m are  shipped the same day (Patridge, 2008). A customer even states, a call made to Verizon on Monday afternoon regarding a replacement of battery was quickly sent by tuesday morning (Patridge, 2008). This clearly indicates the fast and effectiveness of 3PLs into a company’s operations.Challenges of 3PLAlthough, 3PL prov iders are beneficial for many companies, they can also cause various challenges to customers. Quality is one of the main things that causes the downfall of customer satisfaction (Hudaziak, 2012). In the 3PL market, customers’ expectations are high, from operation efficiencies to more strategic development (Hudaziak, 2012). Hence, the need to eliminate any extra internal waste and inefficiencies of 3PL processes needs to be established so that the level of customer satisfaction and overall performance can increase (Hudaziak, 2012). Also, the change of inventory policy causes the loss of client business or ownership (Hudaziak, 2012). Thus, 3PLs have no room for errors as it can cause a delay in shipment. RecommendationIn the case of Ocean Spray Cranberries, establishing a transportation based 3PL provider would be the best way to go. In fact, Ocean Spray did give Exel providers the opportunity to ship their products and also awarded them with exceptional service and on-time del iveries. Ocean Spray, appreciated the dedication and commitment service that Excel provides every day. Thus, the only recommendation would be to keep the strong relationship between the company and their carriers as it’s important to understand one another when it comes business and customer requirements.

What is the definition of policy Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

What is the definition of policy - Coursework Example licies have had a significant impact on the nursing field worldwide since she was among the first to offer or advocate for a full public health care system. Clear and well thought out policies are vital especially in times of rapid change in the health care field to advocate for improved communication within organizations so as to advance public health. Policies determine the care accorded to families, communities or individuals when accessing health care services. Thus, policy is primarily defined as a course of action which is followed by an institution, government or business to achieve the desired goal. According to Parahoo (2014) health policy is defined as both the private and public policies which are directly linked to the provision of health services. The primary purpose for the formulation of policies is to safeguard the health of the public. Thus, policies basically serve as a management tool for risk management while promoting health. McDonald (2006) states that Nightingale’s holistic approach to the concept of health focused on critical elements that mainly influenced health. These are good child care, safe childbirth, good nutrition, decent housing and access to clean air and water. Thus, policies enhance and increases safety in nursing practice (parahoo,

Ethical Marketing and Tobacco Advertising Essay

Ethical Marketing and Tobacco Advertising - Essay Example Because of their powerful role in the society, governments and the legislatures of different nations and states impose rules and regulations to ensure that such power is not used wrongfully. Moroever, there is a growing demand on businesses to maintain higher ethical standards in all of their practises (Lantos 2001). The tobacco industry provides a classic setting to study the ethicality of marketing practices in general (Sundaram & Mitra 2007). This is especially that it is believed that â€Å"the cigarette is the only legally available product in the United States that when used as directed, will kill the user and injure others (Snell 2005). The future of the tobacco industry depends on maintaining current users and recruiting new users to replace older smokers who quit or die from tobacco-related diseases (Kreslake, et al,2008, p.1685). As such, every day in the United States, the tobacco industry spends almost $42 million on advertisements and promotions, and between 2002 and 2003 the industry increased its spending by $2.7 billion (Facts A La Carte 2007). The usual way of the government to effectively reduce the use of tobacco products is to ban smoking in restaurants and impose higher taxes on tobacco products (Doohee et al 2004). This paper will explain the basic ethics in marketing based on the related literature gathered and the current marketing strategies of the tobacco industry and a brief evaluation on the two sides of their ideas. For George Brenkert (2008), marketing a product is not about obtaining profit. For him marketing is a moral activity embodying central ethical values and principles. Marketers are expected to have limited but positive sympathies toward others (Robin and Reidenbach 1993). In Brenkert’s book Marketing Ethics, he addressed in a clear and pragmatic manner the ethical questions, misunderstandings, and challenges that marketing raises. He tried to confront standard marketing views and offered

Health Administarion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 9

Health Administarion - Essay Example Identifying ones intentions in a way to ensure â€Å"what one has to say goes along with what one wants to accomplish in the communication plan† (Booher, 2007; p.11). After this, one should identify the message addressees. When the audience is known, it becomes a little easier when planning a communication plan this is because different audiences require different messages. The next thing to consider is the message, where one should check on the content in regard to the audience, the ambiance one wants to create for the audience, the language which should match that of the audience and lastly the channel to be used in the communication which should be placed where the audience is likely to come across it (Booher, 2007; p.19). A good communication plan will take into consideration the resources to be used which should be reasonable. If one is going to spend money or any other form of resource, one should ensure that the plan will be worth the expense. The fifth thing is that one must always be ready for any mistake that should occur which could cost in plan for effective communication (Booher 31). What follows is the creation of media representatives to help in conveying the messages. Of importance is also preparation of a plan of action that entails spreading of the message. The last thing to do is to gauge the plan so that one can make changes as they arise. In this way miscommunication will be

Cause and effect Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 11

Cause and effect - Essay Example Some economists believe the crisis to be a result of economic cycles which are impossible to resist. There is, however, another theory, which considers the crisis to be a result of a new policy of credit accommodation. That is also the theory the paper focuses on. Most banks and mortgage lenders offered 100 percent financing of a price for a house (or even more). As a comparison, most world banks currently finance approximately 85 percent of a price. This was a really advantageous credit for borrowers – they received an opportunity not only to buy a house, but also to renovate it. However, such a loan was quite risky for lenders. A house could have been sold only for lower price in case a borrower failed to pay the loan back. Thus, the investment becomes lossmaking. However, the number of such deals was constantly increasing. As a result, both banks and estate agencies were financed by investment banks. Another factor was that mortgage rate was not stable. It was dependent on LIBOR, the average interest rate that the average leading bank would be charged if borrowing from other banks (Bischoff & McGagh, 2012). Benefits are obvious – borrowers expected their loan interest rate to decrease in case general situation is being improving. On the other hand, lenders expected it to grow together with the percentage. Thus, mortgage-lending system of the US in 2006-2008 was dependent on LIBOR index. It was acceptable when the index was a little bit increasing or slightly decreasing, though both parties were interested in its stability. However, LIBOR index turned to be quite changeable and instable in practice. It was about 6 percent by the end of 2007. What is more, it was continuously growing. As a result, borrowers were unable to pay back their loans. Investment banks bore thumping damages. That is how the US mortgage crisis appeared. Its effects may be felt even now. That is what set off chain reaction of

Legal issues in criminal procedure Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Legal issues in criminal procedure - Essay Example The fourth amendment defines a search as a substantive breach of personal right of privacy. Further, application of technology to advance police activities with respect to search have been considered as searches. This was held in the case of Kyllo v United States. Use of police dog for detection is also considered as a search unless the dog sniffs from a far distance. The use of a police dog can, therefore, be considered as a technological act to constitute a search.The general rule is that searches are supposed to be made after a warrant has been issued by a court. There are, however, exemptions to this rule and the police can legally search a personal vehicle without a warrant. Such exemptions include â€Å"searches with consent, special need beyond law, exigent circumstances, stop and frisk and motor vehicle† searches. All these exemptions allow the police to make a legal search on Tom’s vehicle. There was, for example, an initial consent, by the suspects, for the se arch. Further, the actual detection of a suspicious material in the car trunk was an instant event. The police can also argue that it was a stop and frisk exercise since the car driver behaved suspiciously in a deserted area. The law also allows the police to make searches on vehicles on transit. Based on these arguments, the court is likely to uphold the search as legal. Under this principle, the law provides that a suspect’s immediate environment can be searched to prevent the suspect from obtaining and possibly interfering with evidence.

Strategic Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 5

Strategic Management - Essay Example With this concern, the prime target of this paper is to determine the significance of research based view for strategic management. This study would provide a brief overview about the conception of strategic management and its importance. Moreover, the role of strategic management in helping a university in the quest for competitive advantage and the illustration of certain real as well as relevant examples would also be discussed in this paper. Importance of Resource Based View for Strategic Management In order to determine the significance of resource based view particularly for strategic management, it can be stated that resource based view can be duly considered as one of the perspectives that provide a rationale concerning how the different facets of human resourcess (HR) support an organisation to accomplish a greater competitive advantage (Cornell University ILR School, 2001). According to the resource based approach or view, the characteristics of the employees seem to be cri tical issues in the arena of strategic management. ... Research-based view of strategic management gives a clear idea of why different sorts of HR practices lead towards raising competitive advantage of a particular firm (Von Pock, 2007). Conception and Importance Of Strategic Management The conception of strategic management is regarded as an effective and significant management tool which supports an organisation in performing better job tasks (Analoui & Karami, 2003). There are different models or procedures that are used in the strategic management process of any particular organisation. In a similar regard, the procedures comprise identifying, analysing, formulating the recognised problems in a more descriptive way and finally evaluating as well as providing solutions to mitigate the problems identified. In order to determine the significance of strategic management, an organisation can achieve its expected business targets through proper conduct of strategic management. In the context of strategic management, mission as well as vis ion represents the fulfilment of organisational objectives. Moreover, the notion of strategic managements provides a clear idea about the strategic mission and vision of an organisation. Through the approach of strategic management, an organisation can properly identify its strengths along with weaknesses. The importance of strategic management is that it allows an organisation to be more active in performing various operational functions. For various organisations, it is quite necessary to implement a proper strategy because it helps them to comply with the requirements of the customers and most significantly to mitigate any sort of problem or complexity. The aspect of strategic

You decide ( should be relevant financial accounting class ) Research Paper

You decide ( should be relevant financial accounting class ) - Research Paper Example Financial statements are, therefore, the financial results that are presented in the form of reports to represent the financial condition of the organization (AccountingTools 1). Financial statements are useful in various ways. These statements are very useful in the course of determining the ability of a business as far as raising cash and cash equivalents, is concerned. It also concerns the various uses and the sources of such cash. The statements are also very useful in determining whether a business can pay back its debts (Philip 2). The information of this nature can be of much importance to the creditors to find out whether the business can pay back the money they would like to lend to it. The statements also assist the organization to be able to track financial trends and use the trends to spot any profitability issues. From the financial statements, financial ratios can also be derived to help in showing the indications about the condition of the business. Financial statements are also critical in investigating certain transactions that are carried out in the business. This paper is, therefore, aimed at investigating the types of financial statements that are commonly used, their purposes and components. There are various types of financial statements that exist. However, the commonly used financial statements are three and include a balance sheet, income statement and statement of cash flow. Financial statements need to be formatted in accordance with the major accounting frameworks when the statements are intended to be supplied to the external users such as lenders and investors. This will make it easy for the external persons to be able to understand the statements without any personalized guidance. The frameworks give a leeway on how the financial statements can be structured. To this effect, statements issued by different firms in the same industry have some particular differences in appearance. Such guidelines are not

Article pertaining to a change in the supply demand,pricing of a Essay

Article pertaining to a change in the supply demand,pricing of a particular product or service - Essay Example During the height of fighting in January 2003, the price of cocoa on world commodity exchanges more than doubled surpassing $2,700 a ton. While it has fallen back to about $1,700 a ton now that a tentative peace prevails, it remains historically high. (Cocoa was trading for about $1,000 a ton before the outbreak of the war). Chocolate companies have already passed some of the added cost to the consumers. In 2003, Nestle increased its chocolate prices by 10% while Hershey’s and Mars raised the wholesale price of some of their most popular candy bars y a similar amount. Swiss chocolate maker, Lindt, Kellogg’s Keebler, and Kraft’s Nabisco have also raised prices. The war has also set back attempts by the world’s large chocolate companies to curb the use of child labor and help improve the lives of the people in the Ivory Coast by teaching them new farming techniques and business practices. Worse still for the Ivory Coast, where the incomes of six million people – about 35% of the population – are linked to cocoa farming, is that chocolate companies may begin rethinking their reliance on the country amid fears of continuing political instability. â€Å"If things don’t improve,† says Anne Prendergast, an analyst with the commodities trading firm Refco in New York, â€Å"over the next five years one may see a gradual erosion of production from the Ivory Coast.† In the succeeding weeks the rebels and the government have made progress toward peace. The next several months are critical. If the Ivory Coast can begin to mend its shredded political and social fabric, it may be able to undo the damage already don to its cocoa economy. But if unrest continues, the situation could become dire for both the country’s cocoa farmers and the world’s chocolate companies. The war turned any of the major cocoa centers in the western part of the Ivory Coast in the battlefields. Farmers abandoned

Questions Essay Example for Free

Questions Essay 1.) It cannot be denied that the Catholic Church greatly affected the development of the Science of Astronomy or it would be more appropriate to say that the Catholic Church hinders the development of Astronomy. In the early times, the Church persecuted those who are trying to seek the reality about the universe, the outer space and those found in it such as Galileo, Tycho Brahe and the likes.   Because of the power of the Church at that time, many who seek the truth in the field of astronomy had been de-motivated. There are only few persons who were willing to oppose the church and to continue their work in the field of astronomy. Others, after finding something that contradict the views and beliefs of the Church, kept their findings for themselves, not letting the world of their discoveries because of the fear of persecution. As a result, there had been few published books or articles regarding developments in the field of astronomy that contradicts the view of the church. Thus, the church really hinders the development of astronomy because it contradicts their beliefs and teachings and was creating doubts in the perfection of the universe. It took a very long time to be able to accept developments and new knowledge in astronomy. 2.) Tides refer to the alternating rise and fall of sea level within a day. What causes the sea level to change? It is actually the gravitational attraction of the sun and moon that cause waters of the ocean to swell and recede at different parts of the earth. The earth and the moon are two great masses that have a significant gravitational pull on each other. This keeps the moon in orbit around the earth, and it is also what causes tides to occur in the ocean. The fact that there are two tide cycles a day instead of just one can be cogently explained. Although we commonly think of the moon as revolving around the Earth they both revolve around their common center of gravity. The revolution of the earth and the moon about their own center of gravity counterbalanced the gravitational attraction between them. This balance in between the centrifugal force and the gravitational force between the earth and the moon appear exactly at their centers, in the center of the earth and the moon. The earth experiences gravitational and centrifugal forces resulting in the earth’s water to assume ellipsoidal. As the earth turns upon its own axis in about 24 hours, a point on the earth moves through areas with these different forces acting on it. In one rotation (one day), a point on earth travels from an area of high tide, where the earth’s water is being pulled outward, to an area of low tide where the earth’s water is being pulled inward, trough another area of high tide which is the opposite pull to another area of low tide. Then it will return to its point of origin at high tide. Thus, two high tides and low tides can be observed instead of just one in a day. 3.)  Johannes Kepler was born in Wurttemberg in 1571 and died in 1630. He received an excellent and wide-ranging education in Lutheran Schools and at the University of Tubingen. He hoped to follow a carrier in the church, but he wrote paper on an astronomical subject that came to the attention of Tycho Brahe, now at Prague, and Tycho invited the young man to join him as his assistant. After much soul searching, Kepler accepted, and when Tycho died the next year, in 1601, Kepler was appointed imperial mathematician in his place and inherited Tycho’s large body of accurate astronomical observations. Kepler’s greatest contribution was a set of three laws of planetary motion that solved the problem of epicycles and eccentric orbits once and for all. The first of the new laws made a substantial change in the Aristotelian system, for it asserted that planetary motion is not uniformly circular. The planets do not travel in eccentric circles around the sun, but in ellipses, with the sun at one of the two foci of the ellipse. Kepler’s ellipses were very close to circles, which explained why the previous assumption of circular orbits had adequately explained the phenomena as long as observations remained relatively inaccurate. The new assumption was correct within the limits of observational accuracy of the time and required no further adjustments, no eccentricities, no epicycles, and no tricks of any kind. Kepler’s second law of planetary motion asserted that a radius vector joining a planet to the sun sweeps out equal areas in equal time. What this mean is that in a certain time, a planet will travel more quickly along its orbit when it is closer to the sun than when it is farther away from it. This brilliant insight, a major inspiration to Newton, applies to all bodies moving in fields of force, not just planets. It explained most of the discrepancies between astronomical theory and observation. The third law asserted a mathematical relation between the periods of revolution and of the planets and their distance from the sun. Discovering this law was a remarkable achievement considering the primitive instruments Kepler had at his proposal. Kepler spent many years not only advancing his ideas about these laws and preparing Tycho’s tables of observation for publication, but also mulling over what he recognized as the great remaining unsolved problem of planetary motion: the motivation whereby the planets revolved around the sun. What holds the planets in their orbits and what drives them ever forward.

Effect of sugar price increases on food sellers

Effect of sugar price increases on food sellers The consumers in Malaysia have variety of menus for their daily diet, and sugar is one of the most important ingredients. Thus the market of sugar is an important factor to Malaysias economy. At the end of 2009, the government intended to decrease the subsidy of sugar. The purpose of this proposal was to promote a healthier lifestyle.  [1]  The cheap price of sugar has lead to overconsumption. There is 105% increase in overweight or obese Malaysians from 1996 to 2006.  [2]  Early 2010, the government has increased the price of sugar by RM0.20. However the increment was not because of the decrement sugars subsidy but it was because the increase in price of raw commodity.  [3]  In 16th July 2010, government decrease the sugar subsidy by RM0.25. This is one part in Malaysias subsidy rationalisation process. When the price of sugar in Malaysia was being compared to sugar price in other region, it was proven that sugars price in Malaysia is much lowered. Compared to sugar price in Thailand which is RM2.60, Malaysia is only RM1.90. It does not surprise us at all when Malaysias subsidised goods were being smuggled to neighbouring countries.  [4]   The government would have to spend RM1.26 billion if the price of sugar maintain at RM1.45 per kilogram. As the price of sugar had increased to RM1.90 per kilogram, the subsidies now worth almost RM1 billion only. Government only need to spend RM0.80 for every kilogram of sugar.  [5]  The government spending is reduced and through this rationalisation process has gave many benefits to Malaysia which will be discussed later. Although there were many benefits were gained, the increased in sugars price gives large impact to the food industry and the consumers. However, this research will focus on the impacts of increase in sugars price to the small food sellers in Shah Alam. I chose to do this research in Shah Alam mainly because I want to study on how the increase in price of sugar affects an industrial area. In Malaysia, there is only four main sugar factory; one of them is in Shah Alam which is Central Sugar Refinery (CSR). The research would be interesting to conduct, since the supply can easily distribute to the consumers. This factor, in theory, should have created a more efficient market for the food industries. Besides that, increment in price of sugar likely to be happen again in the future time as the government wants to decrease the sugars subsidy gradually. So, by doing this research, I can educate the society to prepare themselves on the consequences that they might face in the future. In the beginning of the research, I am expecting the food sellers in Shah Alam to be slightly affected by the increase in price of sugar. The food sellers will increase the price of their product and the demand of their product will decrease. 2.0 The Research 2.1 Objectives This research main aim is to study the effects of increase in price of sugar to food sellers in Shah Alam. Yet, in completing the investigation, this research has a few objectives that need to be obtain in order to answer the research question. To determine the effect of increase in the price of sugar to its supply, costs and income of the food sellers. To identify the demand of the sugar after the price of sugar has increased. To investigate the causes of sugar shortages in Shah Alam. To investigate the condition and operation of the market of sugar after four months of price of sugar has increased. To find any recommendation on this issue. 2.2 Hypothesis The hypothesis is: In the short run the food sellers in Shah Alam were only slightly affected by the increase in price of sugar. The food sellers will increase the price of their product and the demand of their product will decrease. 2.3 Methods Three methods had been chosen to be used in this research. Each method was done specifically to obtain the objectives that had been set before. Interview The first method chosen is through interview. The interview was done to investigate the supply-side after the price of sugar has increased. It involved ten food sellers and two grocery retailers in Shah Alam and six bakeries had been chosen for the interview. The result is assumed to represent the whole area of Shah Alam. The aim of the interviews is to achieve the first, second, third and fourth objective (2.1.1, 2.1.2, 2.1.3, 2.1.4 and 2.1.5). The questions to be asked for interviews can be referred in Appendix A. Surveys Aside than the interview, a survey was done also to achieve the second objective (2.1.2). The survey was in the form of questionnaires and involved residents around Shah Alam which were chosen randomly (Appendix B). Secondary research The last method chosen through the secondary research; which were through internet and library research. This method was conducted to achieve the fourth objective (2.1.4 and 2.1.5). 2.4 Theoretical Framework The theories that support the aims of this study are as below: Theory / Term Definition Law of Demand As the price of a product falls, the quantity demanded of the product will usually increase, ceteris paribus  [6]  . Law of Supply As the price of product rises, the quantity supplied of the product will usually increase, ceteris paribus. Elasticity of demand A measure of how much the demand of a product changes when there is a change in one of the factors that determine demand. Price elasticity of demand (PED) A measure of how much the quantity demanded of a product changes when there is a change in the price of the product. Elastic demand PED is greater than one and less than infinity. A change in the price of the products leads to a greater than proportionate change in the quantity demanded of it. Inelastic demand The value of PED less than one and greater than zero. A change in the price of the product leads to a proportionally smaller change in the quantity demanded of it. Subsidy An amount of money paid by the government to a firm, per unit of output. 2.5 Scope of Research This research will study the market mechanism of sugar and food around Shah Alam (microeconomics). The demand of sugar is studied to determine whether removal of subsidy has impact on it. This research will focus on the demand side and supply side of food to study the implications of increase in sugars price. 3.0 Data Collection and Analysis The following results obtained from the research done. The results are based on the surveys and interviews that represent the whole community of food sellers and bakers in Shah Alam. 3.1 The supply side of the food market sold by the food sellers The supply curve for the food Effect increment of price of sugar on 1st January to the supply of food: The supply curve of Graph 1 has shifted to left, which caused the lowering supply of food by the food sellers in Shah Alam. The reduction is approximated to be 10%. However, there were 10% increments in the supply of food after four months shown by Graph 2. Average price of food (RM) S2 P2 pP S1 P1 0 Q2 10% Q1 Average quantity of food Graph 1: Supply of food after the price of sugar increased on 1st January 2010 Average price of food (RM) S2 S3 P3 P2 Q2 10% Q3 Average quantity of food Graph 2 : Supply of food after four months of the increment of price of sugar on 1st January 2010 On 16th July 2010, when the price of sugar increased, the food sellers increased their food supply about 25%. The price of food. To take the price of food as example could be difficult because there are ranges of food. Hence I chose Teh Tarik as example. Teh Tarik is a type of drink that is popular in Malaysia. It is actually a type of tea that is made by special technique by Malaysian and being drink by all races in Malaysia. Period of time Before 1st January 2010 1st January 2010 16th July 2010 Price of teh tarik, RM per glass 1.20 1.50 1.80 Table 1: The increase in price of food The price of food continue to increase because to the increment on the cost of production. Income of the food sellers Due to the severity of the situation in the market during the increase in price of sugar, all the income of the food sellers has decreased. The average decrement in income faced by them was 20% after the price of sugar had increased on 1st January. After four months, the average increment in income is 20% back to the equilibrium  [7]  . Then when the price of sugar increased again on 16th July, the average decrement in income was 30%. After one month, the average increment in income is 20% (Refer Graph 3) The costs of production. From the interview, all samples reported an increment in the costs of production. The costs had increased for 13.8% after the price of sugar had increased on 1st January and the increment shown by Graph 5. When the price of sugar increased in 16th July, the cost increased to 10.1% from the previous cost. This cost is variable cost  [8]  . The market is considered to be short run (1st Jan) and long run (16th July). (Refer Graph 4). Cost, RM 10.1% AVC3 13.8% AVC2 AVC1 Graph 4: The average variable cost of production Average quantity of food The detail on the cost is shown in Appendix A. 3.1.5 Measures taken by food sellers to overcome the problem. The measures taken by the food sellers to overcome the cost experienced are:- Increase the price of the product Decrease the quantity of product being sold Decrease the amount of sugar in the product Extent the sales time 3.2 The demand side of the food market The demand shows the significance effect of increase in price of sugar to the food market and the sugar market itself. 3.2.1 The demand for sugar when the price of sugar increased. The demand for sugar has increased when the price of sugar increased on 1st January. Even though, the price of sugar increase again in 16th January, the demand for sugar continue to increased. Hence the demand curve shifted to the right for both situations. Price of sugar, RM/kg P D1 D2 0 Q1 Q2 Quantity of sugar, kg Graph 6 : The demand for sugar when the price of sugar increased. 3.2.2 The demand of food after the sugar price had increase When the price of sugar increased on 1st January, the demand of food decreased. However after four months, the food demand was back to normal. Then on 16th July, although the price of sugar continued to decrease, the demand of food at Shah Alam also continue to increase. The increment was about 15%. 4.0 Evaluation In this section, we will investigate the behaviour of the demand and supply and how exactly it had affected the food retailers and bakers in Shah Alam when the price of sugar increased. 4.1 The market mechanism of sugar when the price of sugar had increased The demand of sugar continued to increase after 1st Jan and 16th July even though the price had increased. The consumption of sugar in Malaysia is about 1.3 tonnes and up to two million tonnes of refined sugar is produced annually  [9]  . The PED  [10]  for sugar after 1st Jan is 2.175. This indicates that the sugar has inelastic demand. According to the theory, if a product has elastic demand, then if price is raised, the quantity demanded will fall by more in comparison and so the total revenue gained by the firm will fall. However, the demand of sugar continued to increase; was not following the theory. Government noticed that the demand of sugar was not affected by the increased in price. Then they proceed with rationalisation subsidy and increased the price of sugar by RM0.25 on 16th July. New PED was created which was 0.66. The new PED indicating that demand of sugar was inelastic and this also gave a signal to the government that the market of sugar was back to normal. Sugar is a necessity product therefore it should have inelastic demand. The increment on price of sugar on 16th July was a first step for rationalisation subsidy programme. The government continued with this programme and on 4th December, the price of sugar was increased again.  [11]   Price of sugar, RM/kg 1.90 1.65 a D b c Q2 Q1 Quantity of sugar, kg Graph 7: The demand of sugar Based on the Graph 7, if a good has inelastic demand, before the price is raised, the revenue gained is equal to revenue box b+revenue box c. After the price is increased, revenue box c is loss and revenue box a is gained in return. Thus holding in this theory, government is expected to decrease the sugars subsidy, increase the total revenue and at the same time, hopefully decrease the consumption of sugar to promote healthier lifestyle. After 1st Jan, the increase in price of sugar gave a shocking experience to citizen in Shah Alam even around Malaysia itself. In short run, the behaviour of the market was not stable. Mostly this was because consumers are afraid if the price of sugar is going to increase and sugar shortages are likely to happen. Malaysia offers the lowest price of sugar in the region and hence sugar are being smuggles to countries nearby. (see Table 2) Country Price of sugar (RM) Malaysia 2.10 Indonesia 3.50 Singapore 3.80 Thailand 2.80 Table 2: Different price of sugar among different countries in the region on September 2010.  [12]   In the long run (16th July), the demand of sugar continued to increase but proportionally. Consumer knows about rationalisation programme and the quantity demanded continued to increase because of festive season. 4.2 Importance of rationalisation of subsidy In 2008, sugar has not been subsidised. It started in 2009 when the price of raw sugar increased from US$220 per metric tonne to US$440. Earlier 2010 the government decided to remove the subsidy gradually as the price of raw sugar increased to US$660.  [13]   Price of sugar (RM) S + subsidy (3) S + subsidy (2) S 1.65 1.90 3.00 S + subsidy (1) S + subsidy (1) P3 1.45 Graph 7: Removal of subsidy on sugar 0 Qe Q3 Q2 Q1 Based on Graph 7, subsidy was first given (S+subsidy(1)) and then it was reduced gradually. Consumers are indirectly affected as the government will use tax revenues to fund the subsidies and involves an opportunity cost in terms of reduced government spending on other things. Importance of removal of subsidy. The benefit of subsidy is manipulated by the wealthy, foreigners and large firms. The large firms manipulate the use of subsidies and better off compared to the poor citizen. Reduce deficit and national debt. Thus achieve the development goals. Malaysia have to import 99% sugar supply.  [14]  According to the law of demand, when the price of a good increased, the quantity demanded of the good will fall. Therefore when the subsidy is reduced, the sugar demand will decrease, hence the imports will decrease too. Thus the amount of deficit will fall. From 1998 to 2009, the deficit increased from RM5 billion to RM47 billion. The national debt is rising to RM362 billion. If the government debt continues to increase at rate of 12% per annum, Malaysia could go bankrupt by 2019 (RM1158 billion debt) and ended up like Greece. In order to save the country, Malaysia needs to increase its GDP  [15]  and reduce government expenditure. Government spent RM74 billion in 2009 for subsidy and RM3.4 billion was for food. When sugars subsidy is removed gradually by RM0.20 until 2012, by 2014, Malaysia will save RM1237 million. Deficit and debt will be reduced by RM103 billion in five years.  [16]   Reduce opportunity cost and use the spending in other sectors or even for merit goods. Part of New Economic Model and 10th Malaysia Plan. Improve competitiveness and ensure optimal utilization of resources.  [17]   Malaysias competitive index has improved from 18th to 10th.  [18]   4.3 Food market mechanism when the price of sugar increased in short run. Average price of food, RM S1 S2 E3 P3 E1 Q1 E2 P2 P1 D2 D1 Average quantity of food, Q 10% Q1 Q3 Q2 Graph 8: Average demand and average supply of the market of food when the price of sugar increased in 1st January E1 was the equilibrium of the market of food when the price of sugar is not increased while E2 and E3 shows the new equilibrium when the price of sugar increased. The movement of D1 and S1 looks insignificant; however the reduction is big enough to cause the income of the food retailers to decrease significantly. There was 10% decrement for both supply and demand. This was caused by three factors which are substitutes, real income and government policies (campaign). Average price of food, RM There are wide range types of foods; hence there are a lot of substitutes (determinants). When the price of food increased, consumers tend to find other substitutes even in short run. This caused the demand curve to shift to the left from D1 to D2. The second factor was real income of consumers decreased; purchasing power decreases. When the price of sugar increased, many goods increase their price due to production cost increased. CPI  [19]  mostly for all types of goods increased (Refer Appendix C). Therefore real income of consumer decreased and they choose to decrease the amount of food to buy and rather cook by themselves. The third factor was government policies (campaign). One of the main objectives of government to increase the price of sugar was to create awareness among consumer to decrease the amount of sugar consumed. This was also the objectives of 5M campaign which to decrease the amount of sugar consumed. From this campaign, the consumer a void from buying ready food because the food sold contains a lot of sugar and it is not healthy. 4.4 Food market mechanism when the price of sugar increased in long run. The second increment of sugar is accepted as a long run increment because the consumer was aware of rationalisation subsidy programme. Price of food, RM E1 S1 S1 P3 E2 Q5 Q4 Q3 Q1 15% 25% 25% 25% 25% 25% D2 S2 D1 P2 P1 D1 Average quantity of food, Q Q2 Graph 9: The demand and supply side of food when the price of sugar increased on 16th July The graph shows that the demand and supply curve shift to the right. The supply increased by 25% while the demand increased by 15%. This is due to festive season (seasonal changes) stated earlier. The consumer had to increase their demand for food as it were necessity for them. Aware of this situation, the food sellers increased the food supply to generate more income. From the surveys conducted the public are aware of the increment in the price of sugar and of course the price of food. Most of them decreased the act of buying food because there are a lot of choices in Shah Alam. There are many wet markets, supermarkets and hypermarkets. The consumer can buy raw materials and cook their food themselves and save their money.(Appendix C) However, when the festive season came, there are traditions in Malaysia where there are markets that sell variety of ready foods in this season. Therefore many consumers increased their consumption of foods because of the festive season. In addition, Malaysian has the habit of accepting government plan even though at the beginning they were not satisfied. As time passes by, they accept it as they know it is for their own good; hence the market mechanism of food is back to normal in long run. 4.5 The burdens that increased price of sugar had caused to the food sellers. From the interviews conducted, the increased price of sugar affects the income of the food sellers and increases the cost of productions. Average price of food, RM D2 D1 S1 S2 P1 E1 E2 P1 Loss of income Average quantity of food, Q Q2 Q1 Graph 9: Income of the food sellers At the beginning, the income of the food sellers was 0P1E1Q1. This was the equilibrium level of income of the food sellers. At this level, the food sellers can support all type of costs. The food retailers live a comfortable life until their income decreased to 0P1E2Q2. The grey area is around 20% percentage loss from the real income. The food sellers had to decrease their expenditure because of less income. Not even the price of sugar has increased but other materials that needed for production of food also increased. The technology used could not be repair and no replacement investment  [20]  could be carried out. The sellers need to decrease their living expenses to resort the loss income. They also might need to use their savings especially the sellers that handle small business, hawkers. They will faced big impact as they did not gain a lot of income compared to larger business. Competition increased as food sellers compete to minimize the cost to lower the price of food, thus increase demand. The sellers reported that they did not agree by the decision of the government especially when the price of sugar increased. There were rumours that the government will increase the price of sugar again, hence the consumers were afraid and thus panic buying happened and the demand of sugar increased. This caused shortages. This affects the food sellers as they cannot find the supply of sugar. For small food sellers who used to buy sugar at mini market had to travel to find other suppliers as shortages of sugar happened. Even at the hypermarket, sugar supply is limited and each people restricted to buy only 2kg of sugar. This has increased the cost of production and also affects their emotion and the productivity. They even had to increase the price as geographical mobility affects pricing. In addition, inflation  [21]  (increased in CPI) gave additional burdens to the food sellers (Refer Appendix D) as the price of other products increases (increase in cost of production). Some of the food sellers need to lay off their workers and this caused unemployment rate to increase (Refer Appendix E) The food sellers had to take few measures to repair this situation. Among the measures taken, they had to extend the sales times and this actually burdened them as the labour cost increased. When they follow the government campaign to decrease the amount of sugar, this change the taste of the product and caused the taste of the consumer changed too. Mostly the measures taken do not help them but since food is a necessity and due to festive season, the demand increased. After four months, the demand increased heading towards equilibrium and so does the supply curve. The income increased as it was nothing happen. Fortunately, festive season came and the demand for food increased significantly. This helps the food sellers to gain back their loss profit. Aside from that, 50% of the consumer did not agree that by increasing the price of sugar, the citizen will decrease the consumption of sugar while the other half agree that by increasing the price of sugar, consumption of sugar will decrease. Not many consumers are aware that government decreased the subsidy to decrease the national debt. This shows that public is unaware of the countrys situation. Incomplete flow of information is one of the reasons of market failure. Therefore government interventions are needed to create awareness so that the public could help the country to increase the national income. On the other hand, the research made by the government reported that out of 191 592 Malaysians, 115 703 agree with subsidy rationalisation and 124 750 agree the subsidies should reduced in 3-5 years.  [22]   5.0 Conclusion Clearly this research has answered the research question. The food sellers did experience a lot of problems when the price of sugar increased. Shah Alam is the capital city and there is a sugar factory but the food sellers still faced sugar shortages. The cost of production increased the income are lowered. Their emotion are affected but only in short run. The living expenses being reduced and their way of life changed. Although, there were few measures taken, it still cannot fix the problems. Fortunately, the market of food had recovered by itself and fixed the problems faced. The demand increased and the income of food sellers increased. The loss is recovered. Government should be aware of the impact that could cause the food sellers and should give awareness to the consumer the problems faced by the country (See Appendix F for recommendation). The consumer should understand the burden faced by the food sellers and do not blame them when the price of their product increased. Maybe the consumer could decrease the consumption of import good and increase the consumption of local good instead, then reduce the deficit and hence to help the country. Consumers also can change the way their life by consuming less sugar or substitute with other type of sugar example brown sugar or any artificial sugar on market. (See Appendix G for sugar substitutes). With this sugar shortages will decrease and substitutes could promote healthier lifestyle. Nevertheless the balance of payments is now become more stable. The deficit already reduced (see Appendix H ) and the current account balance increased  [23]  (see Appendix H and I). However, the GDP growth rate annually decreased. This might due to decrease in government spending. Still, this situation is surprising because rationalisation subsidy programme should increase the GDP but contrary situation happened (see Appendix J). Further research can be done to investigate the reasons of this situation and market mechanism around Malaysia should be study especially the rural areas so that comparison can be made. 6.0 Limitations In this research, the exact figure could not be attained. The food sellers do not want to co-operate due to confidentiality. The workers also could not co-operate due to working policies that not allow any interviews. On the other occasion, the respondents do give response but the answers might incorrect, they simply answer it because the answer looks true. This research was carried out in Shah Alam, therefore the data could not represent all population. This research does not specific on one type of food. Hence the data might be inaccurate. However from the observation make, the data is reliable. Time constraint hindered the research progress.

The international evidence base for healthcare commissioning

The international evidence base for healthcare commissioning According to the Department of Health (2006) healthcare commissioning is more than just procurement of services. Effective commissioning is about care that adds maximum value for patients in a system that promotes fairness, inclusion and respect from all the sections of the society. The following essay focuses on the international evidence base for healthcare commissioning, explaining the healthcare commissioning of Finland, Sweden, Europe, New Zealand, Arizona and United States and the challenges for healthcare commissioning within the context of economic recession and the ways in which these challenges might be addressed. The fundamental aims of healthcare commissioning includes service improvement, decreasing costs wherever feasible, better patient outcomes, and NHS priorities should be taken into account for all commissioning activities (InPharm, 2010). The cycle of commissioning is fragmented into 3 segments: Strategic planning (the beginning of the cycle), procuring services and monitoring and evaluation. Various NHS tools for supporting the PCTs are available like Better Care Better Value indicators, NHS indicators etc. By restructuring the patient pathway at the first time, we improve clinical quality, decrease expensive readmissions, better staff and patient satisfaction and in turn generate savings which can be used for various services (Peskett, 2009). After the NHS reforms in England, the PCT were considered as the main commissioners of healthcare (Peskett, 2009).. In addition to the NHS providers and NHS Foundation Trusts (FTs), the independent and third sectors were also considered as the main healthcare commissioners. The Operating Framework (Department of Health, 2007a) of 2008/2009 focused mainly on world class commissioning which defines the commissioners skills and competencies for commissioning healthcare successfully from a variety of providers. According to Ham (2009) market like mechanisms has been applied to the health reforms in England. In the emerging market it will be of critical importance for the commissioners of care to manage equivalent with the providers. The government has laid down plans for establishing world class commissioning but evidence shows that commissioning is not done consistently in any of the systems. World class commissioning if developed might not be successful because of lack of potential in absence of other modifications in the making of reforms like payment modes and autonomous providers. An alternative to this would be to develop competing integrated systems. World class commissioning (WCC) is metamorphosing the means through which services are commissioned, resulting in improved health consequences and reducing health inequalities adding life to years and years to life (NHS: Department of Health, 2009). The Department of Health along with the NHS launched WCC in December 2007 which aims to d evelop World class commissioners of NHS-funded services. The NHS in England had designed a 10 year program of reform to handle long standing weaknesses in performance which they are halfway through (Ham, 2008). The commissioners of care play a critical role in negotiating similar terms with providers and use the resources efficiently for improving the health and performance of health services. In the early 1990s commissioning was a weak link in the internal market and it is risky if the history is repeated again. Many countries worldwide have drawn attention towards healthcare commissioning for bringing reforms. The traditional systems which have integrated financing and planning of healthcare (eg the UK, New Zealand and Sweden) have experienced the detachment of commissioning from provision since the early 1990s. The roles of insurers and providers have been strengthened due to traditional partition like Germany, Netherlands and US. Experience of commissioning in Europe: (Ham, 2008) It was found that commissioning in Europe had substantial diversity in context to organization that do purchasing. The type of organization like the central or regional government, municipalities that can act as purchaser, market concentrations and the way of interaction differs from country to country. Variations are also observed in their funding sources and jurisdictions. The function of the purchasers was merely carried out in the challenging surrounding despite of the tangled European health policy debates because of the market based reforms. Figureas and colleagues stressed that a fundamental lesson from European experience is that a broad systems approach for purchasing and various components are required by policy makers. Experience of commissioning in Finland: The Healthcare Commissioning system in Finland is micro level, non-competitive and within the local government (Benson, 2011). For an average of 11,000 populations there are about 448 municipal councils which are responsible for purchasing. Each of these 448 councils is valid for a period of 4 years and an executive board is appointed which leads to democratic linkage between the citizens and health commissioners. The councils are authorized to commission secondary or tertiary services of their choice themselves or by merging with other councils. Experience of commissioning in Sweden: The Swedish healthcare system comprises of 3 levels of government: the central government, county councils and municipalities (The Commonwealth Fund, 2010). The local government is responsible for the ways in which services are delivered considering the local conditions and precedence whereas the central government accounts for the overall goals and regulations of the healthcare system. Thus at local level the delivery system varies because of this decentralization. The central and local taxation is held responsible for public funding of healthcare services. The financing of prescription drug subsidies is provided by the central government. It also provides funding by grants apportioned using a risk adjusted capitation pattern to county councils and municipalities. Financing of primary and mental healthcare and specialist services is provided by the 21 county councils whereas home care and services and nursing home care services are provided by the 289 municipalities. The private sector covers about 5% of the population and it provides easy access to care for patients. The 21 county councils are responsible for the organization of primary care services. For residents within a devoted geographical area, the primary care is provided by the health centers. But there have been significant changes in the model and now the residents can choose their provider and physician. A new law holding an alternative for the population and primary care privatization has been implemented from January 2010. The various modes for payment of private primary care providers are taxation, topped up with fee-for-service and targeted payments. The residents can now directly go to the hospitals or the private specialists. Experience of commissioning in New Zealand: There was a separation of purchaser and provider roles in New Zealands healthcare system from 1993 to 2000 (Ham, 2008). From a recent study both the positive and negative side of purchasing and contracting in New Zealand were highlighted. The drawback was that it was difficult to co-relate providers performance and negotiate contracts because of insufficient data on cost, volume and quality. An antagonistic environment was appreciated because of legalistic approach to contracting. It was difficult to sustain long term contracts or conjunctive relationships because the competition law concerns were not even whereas on the positive side because of purchasing the purchasers and providers focused more on costs and volumes of services and specified the categories and levels of services supplied. According to the providers written contracts would encourage them to focus on improvement of quality of care. Ashton and colleagues have summarized the New Zealand healthcare as: contracting has amended the providers direction on costs and volumes, increased the clarity of services and greater emphasis on methods for improving quality. New Zealands healthcare faces the challenge whether the profit of contracting maintained with simultaneously declining the transaction costs. Experience of commissioning in United States: In United States, indemnity insurance was used for financing and delivery of healthcare (Ham, 2008). Patients selected their providers and the providers charged the insurers by paying fees for services. Hence the patient had a flexible choice and the providers prevailed. Because of increase in healthcare managed care approach was developed in the US in the 1980s and 1990s which was based on the funding authority playing a significant role as commissioners. Evidence suggests that managed care temporarily curbed the increasing healthcare costs in the US. But managed care led to fee-for-service providers. In spite of the evidence, a reinvention movement known as consumer directed healthcare movement took place in the health insurance industry. Experience of commissioning in Arizona: The healthcare commissioning system in Arizona (USA) known as Arizona Healthcare Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) was launched in 1982 (Benson, 2011). Arizona had two tier arrangements: AHCCCS covers about million Medicare and Medicaid from a number of purchasers. The purchasers are liable to commission health services operationally for 35,000 to 200,000 people known as members or lives and they purchase services from various providers. In order to sustain the contract or win, the AHCCCS has to produce detailed bids every 5 years and not all the health plans covered under AHCCCS are for profit organizations. The Department of Healths (2007d) recently published documents suggests that the world class commissioners will (Peskett, 2009): Run the NHS locally Function along with the community partners Both patient and public involvement will be there Merge with clinicians Organize and assess knowledge and needs respectively Accelerate the market Enhance innovation and improvement Draw upon some sound financial investment Supervise the local health system One of the ways of addressing one end of the spectrum is PBC which challenges the PCTs for having the proper governance arrangements and bringing awareness about absolute clarity between responsibilities and boundaries. CHALLENGES FOR HEALTHCARE COMMISSIONING: According to Le Grand (1999), commissioning problems were due to very weak incentives and very strong constraints (NHS CONFEDERATION, 2010). History says that commissioning had failed in the internal market in the 1990s and hence there is risk if repeated again (Ham 2008). Weak commissioning is because of the tendency to focus less on PCTs and PBC and giving importance to national, specialized and joint commissioning. Healthcare commissioning has become weak because of the following reasons: In publicly financed systems purchasing of health services is quite difficult Inability to control the referrals and activity of GPs in general Insufficient power against the number of providers, especially the Foundation Trusts (FTs) for shaping the market Curtailment of clinical engagement and base for decisions related to healthcare commissioning Lack of ability to comprehend an issue and perform in analysis of requirement and demand, managing budget, risk taking etc. There is hardly any evidence which suggests that commissioning has made a symbolic or strategic impact in secondary care services (Smith, et al., 2004). Healthcare commissioning is perplexed and postulating and requires both technical as well as managerial skills (Peskett, 2009). Ham (2008), quoting Mays and Hands (2000) defines Healthcare commissioning as complicated, unclear, not exhibiting information symmetry between buyer and seller, lengthy training mandatory and is based on long term relationships between patients and professionals. Often there is misunderstanding among the commissioners and providers, clinicians and managers, and sometimes between the primary and secondary care commissioners which builds up stress, hence a prominent degree of competence and communication skill is mandatory. The challenges for healthcare commissioning were revealed by the UKs Department of Health Independent Sector Program, particularly for assessment of governance arrangements and identification of high standards of healthcare providers (Peskett, 2009). A successful care pathway commissioning requires an acquaintance and proficiency of the clinical intakes, turnouts and consequences as well as organizational skills for process management and patient journey. Pertinent inter and intra-organizational governance arrangements should be verified. Evidence suggests that healthcare commissioners will need not only time but also stability and persistence of management and organization, if a sustainable progress is required for betterment of local services (Smith, et al., 2005). The recently developed primary care commissioning organizations focuses internally in their initial stages and in future with the secondary care and other providers. The factors which facilitate effective commissioning may also pose to be the greatest challenge. One of these includes for engaging the GPs a set of incentives is created, for patient with long term conditions new forms of seamless services being developed and eventually making an absolute effect on the broader healthcare system, which was difficult for the primary care commissioning to achieve. From a survey conducted recently a conclusion was drawn that about 50% of GPs did not show interest in commissioning budget (Smith, et al., 2005). The GPs would thus have power and would play the role of managers but the power was not distributed equally among the doctors. It has been suggested that an important incentive within fund holding and total purchasing would lead to changes and might improve the services as well, if there were profits during the practice process. In order to engage all the GPs into budget commissioning more strident incentives would be required. If a new NHS market is developed then it will offer sharper incentives so that the GPs and nurses can become practice based commissioners. Hence services could be purchased from new providers of primary care and diagnostics by a commissioning budget. For the non NHS providers, there arises a possibility that the primary care should demand increasingly for budget commissioning and thus become equivalent to the NHS GP s and nurses. (Peskett, 2009) Separation of managerial and clinical goals led to failure with no clinical leadership. Negative targets had detrimental consequences and if the financial flow encouraged efficiency and not effectiveness it leads to failure of service. A culture of collaboration would be helpful rather than competition with command and control ethos. The managers and the organization should be responsible enough to provide commercial expertise, infrastructure and information and the clinicians should provide specialist and knowledge related to healthcare. Weak and ineffective engagement of clinicians of primary and secondary care would lead to crucial Primary Care Trust Commissioning. Commissioning fails if there is lack of resources, capacity and capability and an ability to sustain long duration relationship. Commissioning organizations also require robust governance system in business transactions for ensuring no conflicts of interests. Lack of time, personnel, resources and diffic ult long term relationship were the challenges that Healthcare commissioning had faced (Checkaland, et al., 2009). The four major challenges faced by healthcare commissioning are (Boyd, 2010): Ameliorating the health of the patients Assuring a high quality standard of care in healthcare arena Supervising costs and savings. It includes preventing and managing falls, assessment of risk and saving tax payers money. Managing the transition to clinical commissioning (Boyd, 2010)The key responsibilities of healthcare commissioning includes buying high quality services throughout the care pathway in order to meet the needs of common people and making decisions for not purchasing services. The detailed information regarding organizations engaged in pathway, from primary care to tertiary care is available to the commissioning team and their aim is to fit together all the parts of care pathway to provide a holistic care. Foundations for effective commissioning are as follows: improving outcomes, patient empowerment, evidence based practice, community mobilization and sustainability (Royal College of General Practitioners, n.d.). If these foundations are not taken into consideration carefully then it might lead to difficulty in commissioning health services. Payment by Results (PBR) plays a massive role for achieving efficiency gains in commissioning decisions (InPharm, 2010). A key challenge to an efficacious healthcare commissioning is that there is an absence of general/global, apparent/definite commissioning procedure for the NHS. Several factors are taken into consideration for establishing a business case and introducing it to the decision makers for authorization. These factors includes financing the services, route of commissioning whether the prevailed services be improved or put a tender, assessment of both the NHS and patient needs and views of patient. According to Baird, et al. (2010) one of the various challenges that the healthcare commissioning had was the size and performance in commissioning organizations, both in the NHS as well as internationally. It was concluded that small commissioning organizations would struggle more if they took the responsibility of commissioning the entire spectrum of healthcare and there was negligible relationship between performance and size of commissioners. The providers would also face a number of challenges (NHS CONFEDERATION, 2010). These include: Handling the PCTSs during their transition phase Making commitments for the next 2-3 years about services and financial plans Understanding the new GP consortia and their managers Making arrangements for contract with multiple consortia behaving individually and in networks Ascertaining that the PCTs vital statutory activities are being taken into account even during a major organizational transition. The challenges of Healthcare commissioning might be addressed by focusing more on clinical leadership (NHS CONFEDERATION, 2010). For the local needs and services, the consortia will develop a real, risk adjusted, capital budget. The consortia will be held responsible for economic risk, service execution and health outcomes. Amongst the local system, the consortia will have an outstanding position. Therefore it should be capable of attracting a powerful management and have clout. Gray (2001) says that these challenges are difficult to address because it is not possible to decrease hospital care expenses and divert it into budgets of primary care drugs. Accessibility to diagnostic service costs might be prohibited which is subjected internally within the provider unit and not to external contracts. Savings within the hospital can be redirected to hospital care by professionals in any other service. Conclusion: Healthcare commissioning personifies the improvement in quality of healthcare and it is responsible for publicizing the national healthcare standards, assessing the organizations performance and comparing it with other organizations, solving the problems when it is not possible to resolve it locally and looking into severe service failure. According to Sobanja (2009) commissioning is defined as the act of committing resources, particularly but not limited to the health and social care sectors, with the aim of improving health, reducing inequalities, and enhancing patient experience. Many countries throughout the world are now concentrating on healthcare commissioning. Experience and evidence available from Europe, United States and New Zealand suggests that commissioning is not done systematically in any of the systems. There have been innovations in all the systems but again there are illustrations of barriers and limitations of effective commissioning. Commissioning tends to be dif ficult may be due to the nature of healthcare and the expectation of the healthcare commissioners to have a high level of technical and managerial skills. Payment system, incentive, market organization and regulation influence the impact of commissioners. The concluding point to stress is that there is only one element called commissioning in the health reforms and its impact will be affected by how different elements are carried forward. Hence it can be concluded that even if world class commissioning is enhanced it may not reach the standards and fall short of its potential due to lack of variations in system design.

The 1948 Tucker Torpedo Essay -- Business Analysis

Every so often a man or women has an idea that is innovative, amazing or in some cases far ahead of its time. Unfortunately it is far too common that these ideas are lost or stifled by people who are afraid of the change they may bring. Since people also tend to believe if something seems too good to be true it probably is, these ideas may not get enough good attention until it is too late. Preston Tucker was one of these innovative people with a great idea. In 1944 he began work on a car that was safe, reliable, and groundbreaking. So far ahead of its time it made the wrong people nervous. The car was first christened as the Tucker Torpedo but due to concerns over torpedo not sounding safe, it was changed to the Tucker 1948. These amazing cars turned out to be one of the most revolutionary automobiles ever made and would have remained so if it weren’t for a slander campaign by the United States government. Preston Tucker’s dream above all other things was to make a safe car. Because of this the Tucker 1948 had many revolutionary safety features. Some of these features wouldn't be used for some time by other manufacturers. Every detail mattered so with safety being most important the engineers designed some new components. The instrument panel had all the controls within easy reach of the steering wheel and the dashboard was padded. The initial plans for the car also included a steering wheel that would retract in an accident. Kenneth Lyman even filed Patent number 2511165 for it on Dec 5, 1947 on behalf of the Tucker Corporation (Lyman, n.d.). This device unfortunately never had a chance to make it into the 50 vehicles produced. Even though it was symbolic of the innovative ideas they had. Some of them due to time constraints... ...e of Challenges and Changes (pp. 264–265). Lincolnwood, Illinois, United States: Publications International, Ltd. Lyman, Kenneth E.. (n.d.). COLLAPSIBLE VEHICLE STEERING COLUMN - Google Patent Search. Retrieved March 2, 2010, from http://www.google.com/patents?id=tCpwAAAAEBAJ&zoom=4&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q=&f=false. Pearson, C. T. (1960). The Indomitable Tin Goose. Minneapolis, MN: Motorbooks International Publishers & Wholesalers Inc. The Showroom of Automotive History: 1948 Tucker. (n.d.). . Retrieved February 18, 2010, from http://www.hfmgv.org/exhibits/showroom/1948/tucker.html. Tucker, P. (1948, June 15). Open Letter. The Official Tucker Club of America . Retrieved February 18, 2010, from http://www.tuckerclub.org/html/openletter.html. Windsor, H. H. (1947, September). Popular Mechanics. Popular Mechanics, 88(September 1947), 136-138 236 240.

Broken Angel :: essays research papers

Broken Angel by Francine Pascal Broken Angel by Francine Pascal is a story about Angel Desmond who is at the racetrack and has gambled away all of his money. His girlfriend Tia Ramirez and her friend Conner McDermott are looking for him. They find him at the racetrack and Tia gets very angry with Angel when she finds out he has lost all of his money. Angel dreads telling his parents, because he lost his whole savings account which was for college. He graduated form El Carro is supposed to go to Stanford in the spring. His parents are really excited about it.Angel stayed up late that night thinking about what happened. The next morning his mom offers to take him to get a small refrigerator for his dorm room at Stanford. He cannot take the pressure anymore so he tells his parents he does not have any money. Then he tells them what happened and they are very disappointed in him. His father fires him from his job at the garage that his father owns. Tia and Conner meet ant the cafà © and try to think of ways to help Angel. Finally when everything seems hopeless Conner thinks of a good idea. Conner’s mom is in all kinds of charities that give out scholarships at the end of school. Conner said he would ask his mom to put in some good words for Angel. Conner goes to ask his mom to help Angel. He is very nervous because she is usually drunk. She is an alcoholic. He finally gets his nerve up and knocks on her bedroom door. He walks in and she is cleaned up and sober. It was a big shock to Conner. His mom calls a few people for Angel and makes a few dinner dates.Tia goes to Angel’s house to tell him the good news. He comes to the door smiling from ear to ear. He said he has got good news for her. She tells him the news about Conner’s mom trying to get him a scholarship. He tells her tell Conner to just forget it. He is not going to college. He tells Tia he is going to stay with her. She tells him he cannot because he has worked so hard to go to Stanf ord. He then tells Tia she does not love him because she is pushing him away.

Computers and I :: Personal Narrative Writing

Computers and I Computers are linked to almost every aspect of life. I was shown computer technology back in my early grade school years. Teachers would shuffle a pack of twenty kids at a time into a confined room filled with the new computer technology. The only thing I remember using computers for all through elementary school was to play Oregon Trail, which was like an un-evolved Nintendo game. I didn’t understand why all the adults guarded and respected the computers as if precious materials when all I used them for was to play games. Little did I know that the computer would create an unavoidable effect on my life. As I grew older and wiser I began to understand the practical use of the computer technology. I began typing my reports instead of trying to write them really really neat in pen. The typing and printing technology turned out to work really well for school related purposes; it was much easier and quicker than writing in pen. Computers weren’t foolproof though and I figured that out in high school when I accidentally erased one of my lengthy reports. Luckily I had decided to write my first draft the old fashioned way: with a pencil. Despite the forethought typing a whole report over again was still time consuming and aggravating. There was no way around re-typing my report either; as computers became increasingly available teachers demanded typed papers. Computers had already made changes in the way I spent my time. An aspect of computer technology that I found most amazing was the Internet. In college I began to utilize the Internet for purposes of self-education. The Internet has helped me gather much reference material for my artwork as well as opening me up to the whole world of contemporary art that existed on the Internet. I was exposed to a countless number of artists of whose work I would have never been able to see without the use of Internet. Now when I have a general guestion about a subject I simply look it up on the Internet. I began to realize that the Internet opened up a new world for everyone with access to it. Eventually everyone was using computers and the Internet on a regular basis.

Objective of Education Is Learning

‘The Objective of Education Is Learning' *'The Objective of Education Is Learning, Not Teaching'* *In their book,** *Turning Learning Right Side Up: Putting Education Back on Track*, authors Russell L. Ackoff and Daniel Greenberg point out that today's education system is seriously flawed — it focuses on teaching rather than learning. â€Å"Why should children — or adults — be asked to do something computers and related equipment can do much better than they can? † the authors ask in the following excerpt from the book. â€Å"Why doesn't education focus on what humans can do better than the machines and instruments they create? * â€Å"Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth learning can be taught. † — Oscar Wilde Traditional education focuses on teaching, not learning. It incorrectly assumes that for every ounce of teaching there is an ounce of learning by those who are taught. However, most of what we learn before, during, and after attending schools is learned without its being taught to us. A child learns such fundamental things as how to walk, talk, eat, dress, and so on without being taught these things. But are there intrinsic barriers to learning?Adults learn most of what they use at work or at leisure while at work or leisure. Most of what is taught in classroom settings is forgotten, and much or what is remembered is irrelevant. In most schools, memorization is mistaken for learning. Most of what is remembered is remembered only for a short time, but then is quickly forgotten. (How many remember how to take a square root or ever have a need to? ) Furthermore, even young children are aware of the fact that most of what is expected of them in school can better be done by computers, recording machines, cameras, and so on.They are treated as poor surrogates ; for such machines and instruments. Why should children — or adults, for that m atter — be asked to do something computers and related equipment can do much better than they can? Why doesn't education focus on what humans can do better than the machines and instruments they create? When those who have taught others are asked who in the classes learned most, virtually all of them say, â€Å"The teacher. † It is apparent to those who have taught that teaching is a better way to learn than being taught. Teaching enables the teacher to discover what one thinks about the subject being taught.Schools are upside down: Students should be teaching and faculty learning. After lecturing to undergraduates at a major university, I was accosted by a student who had attended the lecture. After some complimentary remarks, he asked, â€Å"How long ago did you teach your first class? † I responded, â€Å"In September of 1941. † â€Å"Wow! † The student said. â€Å"You mean to say you have been teaching for more than 60 years? † â€Å"Ye s. † â€Å"When did you last teach a course in a subject that existed when you were a student? † This difficult question required some thought. After a pause, I said, â€Å"September of 1951. â€Å"Wow! You mean to say that everything you have taught in more than 50 years was not taught *to* you; you had to learn on your own? † â€Å"Right. † â€Å"You must be a pretty good learner. † I modestly agreed. The student then said, â€Å"What a shame you're not that good a teacher. † The student had it right; what most faculty members are good at, if anything, is learning rather than teaching. Recall that in the one-room > schoolhouse, students taught students. The teacher served as a guide and a resource but not as one who force-fed content into students' minds. *Ways of Learning*There are many different ways of learning; teaching is only one of them. We learn a great deal on our own, in independent study or play. We learn a great deal interactin g with others informally — sharing what we are learning with others and vice versa. We learn a great deal by doing, through trial and error. Long before there were schools as we know them, there was apprenticeship — learning how to do something by trying it under the guidance of one who knows how. For example, one can learn more architecture by having to design and build one's own house than by taking any number of courses on the subject.When physicians are asked whether they leaned more in classes or during their internship, without exception they answer, â€Å"Internship. † In the educational process, students should be offered a wide variety of ways to learn, among which they could choose or with which they could experiment. They do not have to learn different things the same way. They should learn at a very early stage of â€Å"schooling† that learning how to learn is largely their responsibility — with the help they seek but that is not impose d on them. The objective of education is learning, not teaching.There are two ways that teaching is a powerful tool of learning. Let's abandon for the moment the loaded word teaching, which is unfortunately all too closely linked to the notion of â€Å"talking at† or â€Å"lecturing,† and use instead the rather awkward phrase explaining something to someone else who wants to find out about it. One aspect of explaining something is getting yourself up to snuff on whatever it is that you are trying to explain. I can't very well explain to you how Newton accounted for planetary motion if ; I haven't boned up on my Newtonian mechanics first.This is a problem we all face all the time, when we are expected to explain something. (Wife asks, â€Å"How do we get to Valley Forge from home? † And husband, who does not want to admit he has no idea at all, excuses himself to go to the bathroom; he quickly Googles Mapquest to find out. ) This is one sense in which the one who explains learns the most, because the person to whom the explanation is made can afford to forget the explanation promptly in most cases; but the explainers will find it sticking in their minds a lot longer, because they struggled to gain an understanding in the first place in a form clear enough to explain.The second aspect of explaining something that leaves the explainer more enriched, and with a much deeper understanding of the subject, is this: To satisfy the person being addressed, to the point where that person can nod his head and say, â€Å"Ah, yes, now I understand! † explainers must not only get the matter to fit comfortably into their own worldview, into their own personal frame of reference for understanding the world around them, they also have to figure out how to link their frame of reference to the > world view of the person receiving the explanation, so that the explanation can make sense to that person, too.This involves an intense effort on the part of th e explainer to get into the other person's mind, so to speak, and that exercise is at the heart of learning in general. For, by practicing repeatedly how to create links between my mind and another's, I am reaching the very core of the art of learning from the ambient culture. Without that skill, I can only learn from direct experience; with that skill, I can learn > from the experience of the whole world. Thus, whenever I struggle to explain something to someone else, and succeed in doing so, I am advancing my ability to learn from others, too. Learning through Explanation* This aspect of learning through explanation has been overlooked by most commentators. And that is a shame, because both aspects of learning are what makes the age mixing that takes place in the world at large such a valuable educational tool. Younger kids are always seeking answers from older kids –sometimes just slightly older kids (the seven-year old tapping the presumed life wisdom of the so-much-more- experienced nine year old), often much older kids.The older kids love it, and their abilities are exercised mightily in these interactions. They have to figure out what it is that they understand > about the question being raised, and they have to figure out how to make their understanding comprehensible to the younger kids. The same process occurs over and over again in the world at large; this is why it is so important to keep communities multi-aged, and why it is so destructive to learning, and to the development of culture in general, to segregate certain ages (children, old people) from others.What went on in the one-room schoolhouse is much like what I have been talking about. In fact, I am not sure that the adult teacher in the one-room schoolhouse was always viewed as the best authority on any given subject! Long ago, I had an experience that illustrates that point perfectly. When our oldest son was eight years old, he hung around (and virtually worshiped) a very brilliant 1 3-year-old named Ernie, who loved science. Our son was curious about everything in the world.One day he asked me to explain some physical phenomenon that lay within the realm of what we have come to call â€Å"physics†; being a former professor of physics, I was considered a > reasonable person to ask. So, I gave him an answer — the â€Å"right† answer, the one he would have found in books. He was greatly annoyed. â€Å"That's not right! † he shouted, and when I expressed surprise at his response, and asked him why he would say so, his answer was immediate: â€Å"Ernie said so and so, which is totally different, and Ernie knows. It was an enlightening and delightful experience for me. It was clear that his faith in Ernie had been developed over a long time, from long experience with Ernie's unfailing ability to build a bridge between their minds — perhaps more successfully, > at least in certain areas, than I had been. One might wonder how on eart h learning came to be seen primarily a result of teaching. Until quite recently, the world's great teachers were understood to be people who had something fresh to say about something to people who were interested in hearing their message.Moses, Socrates, Aristotle, Jesus — these were people who had original insights, and people came from far and wide to find out what those insights were. One can see most clearly in Plato's dialogues that people did not come to Socrates to â€Å"learn philosophy,† but rather to hear Socrates' version of philosophy (and his wicked and witty attacks on other people's versions), just as they went to other philosophers to hear (and learn) their versions. In other words, teaching was understood as public exposure of an individual's perspective, which anyone could take or leave, depending on whether they cared about it.No one in his right mind thought that the only way you could become a philosopher was by taking a course from one of those g uys. On the contrary, you were expected to come up with your own original worldview if you aspired to the title of philosopher. This was true of any and every aspect of knowledge; you figured out how to learn it, and you exposed yourself to people who were willing to make their understanding public if you thought it could be a worthwhile part of your endeavor.That is the basis for the formation of universities in the Middle Ages — places where thinkers were willing to spend their time making their thoughts public. The only ones who got to stay were the ones whom other people (â€Å"students†) found relevant enough to their own personal quests to make listening to them worthwhile. By the way, this attitude toward teaching has not disappeared. When quantum theory was being developed in the second quarter of the twentieth century, aspiring atomic physicists traveled to the various places where different theorists were developing their thoughts, often in radically differen t directions.Students traveled to Bohr's institute to find out how he viewed quantum theory, then to Heisenberg, to Einstein, to Schrodinger, to Dirac, and so on. What was true of physics was equally true of art, architecture†¦ you name it. It is still true today. One does not go to Pei to learn â€Å"architecture†; one goes to learn how he does it — that is, to see him â€Å"teach† by telling and showing you his approach. Schools should enable people to go where they want to go, not where others want them to. *Malaise of Mass Education* The trouble began when mass education was introduced. It was necessary To decide what skills and knowledge everyone has to have to be a productive citizen of a developed country in the industrial age – To make sure the way this information is defined and standardized, to fit into the standardization required by the industrial culture – To develop the means of describing and communicating the standardized infor mation (textbooks, curricula) – To train people to comprehend the standardized material and master the means of transmitting it (teacher training, pedagogy) – To create places where the trainees (children) and the trainers (unfortunately called teachers, which gives them a status they do not deserve) can meet — so-called schools (again a term stolen from a much different milieu, endowing these new institutions with a dignity they also do not deserve) – And, to provide the coercive backing necessary to carry out this major cultural and social upheaval In keeping with all historic attempts to revolutionize the social order, The elite leaders who formulated the strategy, and those who implemented it, perverted the language, using terms that had attracted a great deal of respect in new ways that turned their meanings upside down, but helped make the new order palatable to a public that didn't quite catch on. Every word — *teacher, student, school, disc ipline,* and so on — took on meanings diametrically opposed to what they had originally meant. Consider this one example from my recent experience. I attended a conference of school counselors, where the latest ideas in the realm of student counseling were being presented.I went to a session on the development of self-discipline and responsibility, wondering what these concepts mean to people embedded in traditional schooling. To me, self-discipline means the ability to pursue one's goals without outside coercion; responsibility means taking appropriate action on one's own initiative, without being goaded by others. To the people presenting the session, both concepts had to do solely with the child's ability to do his or her assigned class work. They explained that a guidance counselor's proper function was to get students to understand that responsible behavior meant doing their homework in a timely and effective manner, as prescribed, and self-discipline meant the determina tion to get that homework done. George Orwell was winking in the back of the room.Today, there are two worlds that use the word *education* with opposite meanings: one world consists of the schools and colleges (and even graduate schools) of our education complex, in which standardization prevails. In that world, an industrial training mega-structure strives to turn out identical replicas of a product called â€Å"people educated for the twenty-first century†; the second is the world of information, knowledge, and wisdom, in which the real population of the world resides when not incarcerated in schools. In that world, learning takes place like it always did, and teaching consists of imparting one's wisdom, among other things, to voluntary listeners.