Death is Definitely Not Justified With Physician-Assisted Suicide Essay

Doctors dedicate their blood, sweat and tears to achieve the ultimate goal of their profession – to preserve the health and well-being of their patients. Doctors positively intervene with life processes in order to maintain and preserve the lives of many people. However, when doctors negatively intervene with a natural process like death, problems can arise because they are caught in a dilemma of whether to forego life and help end the suffering or to preserve it and torment the patients suffering with terminal illnesses. This is why, physician-assisted suicide is not just perceived solely as a medical problem because it also involves legal, ethical, social, personal, and financial considerations. Physician-assisted suicide remained as one of the most controversial types of euthanasia because it violates the Hippocratic Oath. Physician-assisted suicide literally means that the physician provides the medication for suicide to a competent patient who is capable of carrying it out. It is not just morally reprehensible for a physician, or any medical practitioner, to assist the patient to conduct this procedure because it negates their responsibility to preserve life, physician-assisted suicide also devalues the life of the patient as their fate is put entirely in the hands of a human being. Indeed, there exists an unprecedented debate over physician-assisted suicide (also called euthanasia) because involves medical professionals, as well as the patients and their families. The arguments range from determining the dignity of the patients, the quality of their lives, their mental state, and sometimes their usefulness to society. For example, the patient who is in a vegetative state is considered dead by some but not by others, and this case presents substantial moral and ethical problems. The Oxford Dictionary of English (2005) defines euthanasia as â€Å"the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease or in an irreversible coma†. However, euthanasia means much more than a â€Å"painless death†, or the means of procuring it, or the action of inducing it. The definition specifies only the manner of death, and if this were all that was needed to achieve it — a murderer, who is careful to drug his victim to death, could claim that he or she did an act of euthanasia. We find this ridiculous because we take it for granted that euthanasia is â€Å"death† itself, not just the manner of death. How can someone administer a â€Å"medical procedure† to the one who dies in the end? The spate of recent public and philosophical controversy has been over voluntary active euthanasia (VAE), especially physician-assisted suicide. Supporters of VAE argue that there are cases in which relief from suffering supersedes all other consequences and that respect for autonomy obligates society to respect the decisions of those who elect euthanasia. If competent patients have a legal and moral right to refuse treatment that brings about their deaths, there is a similar right to enlist the assistance of physicians or others to help patients cause their deaths by an active means. Usually, supporters of VAE primarily look to circumstances in which (1) a condition has become overwhelmingly burdensome for a patient, (2) pain management for the patient is inadequate, and (3) only a physician seems capable of bringing relief (Dworkin, Frey & Bok, 1998). A much publicized case of physician-assisted suicide came into the headlines when it shocked people with the bizarre activities of Dr. Jack Kevorkian in early 1990s (or â€Å"Dr Death† as the media have dubbed him) in the USA. Dr. Kevorkian, a retired pathologist, assisted over forty people to commit suicide in recent years in circumstances, which were somewhat beyond normal from regular medical practice. These people travelled to Kevorkian from all over the USA to seek his assistance in suicide. Kevorkian assisted their death by ending their suffering. He even attached his patients at the back of a dilapidated Volkswagen van, where a â€Å"suicide machine† can be found. This machine automatically injects patients with lethal doses of drugs, as patients themselves activate it. Despite being prosecuted for assisted suicide on several occasions, Kevorkian escaped conviction and continued his personal campaign for relaxation of the law in his peculiar way. It was only when he moved from assistance in suicide to euthanasia that he was finally convicted. He filmed himself administering a lethal injection, and the film helped secure his conviction for murder (Keown 2002, p. 31). Of course, his actions provoked discussion of the thin line separating passive euthanasia, which is legal in this country, and active euthanasia. Opponents of Kevorkian’s actions state that he is practicing physician-assisted suicide, which is illegal. Proponents of Kevorkian’s actions argue that the patient’s right to control his or her medical treatment is sufficient justification for assisted suicide. Unfortunately, most Americans seem to agree with physician-assisted suicide. A nationwide survey by the Gallup poll in 2004 showed that 69% of Americans believed that physicians should be allowed to help terminally ill patients in severe pain commit suicide. These results were consistent with those of Gallup polls over the past two years, where â€Å"Americans have shown slightly higher levels of support for doctors ending patients’ lives by painless means than for assisting patients to commit suicide† (Lyons, 2004). Allen et al. (2006) suggest about the reasons for these statistics. They said that â€Å"one explanation could be the increase in education and awareness of advances in both medical technology and research on various chronic diseases†. As more Americans are becoming more aware of the devastating psychological effects of disease on a person’s well being; â€Å"they may be more willing to make informed decisions on end-of-life care†. Armed with knowledge of how painful and grueling pains that patients suffer, Americans think that sometimes the best option for a terminally ill patient is physician-assisted suicide or some other form of euthanasia. Strangely enough, a group of doctors also support physician-assisted suicide. Known as the Hemlock Society, these doctors advocate the legalization of euthanasia (Snyder, 2001). This organization believes that the final decision to terminate life ultimately is one’s own, although it does not encourage suicide for emotional, traumatic, or financial reasons, or in the absence of terminal illness. Conversely, the National Hospice Organization supports a patient’s right to choose, but believes that hospice care is a better choice than euthanasia or assisted suicide (Snyder, 2001). Despite the salient points made by the supporters of physician-assisted suicide, we should not forget that this process essentially negates the purpose of a doctor’s profession. The Hippocratic Oath, which dates back in the 400 B. C. E. states that â€Å"I will give no deadly medicine to anyone if asked, nor suggest any such counsel†. Not only that it is in clear opposition to the oath of their profession, it is also morally and ethically reprehensible. According to Somerville (2006), there are two major reasons why people should not allow euthanasia to be legalized. First reason is purely relying on principle that it is not right for one human to intentionally kill another (with the exception of justified self-defense cases, or in the defense of others). Somerville (2006) stated that the second reason is utilitarian, as legalizing physician-assisted death has harmful effects and risks to people and society. In fact, the harms and risks far outweigh any benefits of physician-assisted suicide. While Mak, Elwyn & Finlay (2006) reasoned that â€Å"most studies of euthanasia have been quantitative, focusing primarily on attitudes of healthcare professionals, relatives, and the public†. Most people perceive pain as the major reason for requesting euthanasia, while other factors that convince people to choose it are impairment of functions, dependency, being a big burden, being isolated to people, depression, losing hope, and losing autonomy or control. This is why, Mak, Elwyn & Finlay (2006) thought that legalizing euthanasia is a â€Å"premature† move when research evidence from the perspectives of those who desire euthanasia is not yet proven to be necessary. The researchers suggested that there needs to be additional qualitative patient-based studies in order to broaden the physician’s understanding of patients. They deemed that there should be the â€Å"inclusion of medical humanities, experiential learning, and reflective practice into medical education should help ensure doctors have better communication skills and attitudes†. Thus, doctors and healthcare professionals should focus in examining ways to improve cure and care at all levels so that they can trash out the â€Å"side effects of poor end of life care†. In this way, physician-assisted suicide would not be necessity anymore. In 1997, the U. S. Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution does not guarantee Americans a right to physician-assisted suicide and returned the issue to the state legislatures for continued debate. In its decision, the Court placed emphasis on the American tradition of condemning suicide and valuing human life. In its ruling, the Court made it clear that the states have a legitimate interest in banning physician-assisted suicide, but it also left it open to them to legalize the practice. As a result, the practice has been legalized in Oregon. Although the law is rather unequivocal in regard to the practice of active euthanasia, the court decisions have been quite ambiguous. This may be a proper stance for the law in that its adamant negative position provides a deterrent to all considerations of the practice and forces deliberation of the merits on a case-by-case basis. But under what circumstances is euthanasia justifiable? Is it permissible to kill the terminally ill? How about those who are not terminally ill but have only lost their appetite for life? Even if society decides that citizens have a right not only to life, liberty, and property but also to death, what part do health care practitioners play in this right? Would the role of physician who conducts euthanasia have a chilling effect on the medical profession? What law cannot answer, ethics and morality could provide the answers of what needs to be done by health professionals when faced with a difficult dilemma, such as physician-assisted suicide. As medical practitioners, medical code of ethics should not just become theoretical concepts, because ethics are important references in the application of one’s moral and value system to a career in health care. Ethics involves more than just â€Å"common sense†, which is an approach for making decisions that most people in society use. Ethics goes way beyond this: It requires a critical thinking approach that examines important considerations such as fairness for all consumers, the impact of the decision on society, and the future implications of the decision. In the end, as doctors, the central issue remains caring for the dignity of the patient, which involves respecting the patient’s wishes, protecting the integrity of the profession, and sparing the life of a person under all conditions which are generally understood to be extremely burdensome. Thus, all forms of physician-assisted suicide are ethically and morally reprehensible because it promotes intentional killing. This principle does not require the preservation of life at all costs, which is essentially the role of all physicians.

Discuss and critically appraise how personal experience informed the political thought of Mary Wollstonecraft

Mary Wollstonecraft has been seen to be the founder of feminism, with radical ideas in terms of education, marriage and female emancipation. However it is necessary to consider what shaped those ideas, which lead to the emergence of feminism. It is necessary to consider what circumstances events and ideas circulating at the time influenced the politic thoughts of Mary Wollstonecraft. In order to understand what formed the basis of Mary's thoughts we will need to identify their thoughts in the context of a number of factors. Mary's ideas could be regarded as liberal feminism. Her ideas focused mainly around the individual woman and her rights. Her proposals were mainly for women's equality with men. Mary believed women should be treated like men and placed a lot of focus around women's education as being inferior to men's when in fact women were as intellectual as men and therefore should have a more equal education. Her reasoning for this was based around the idea that women need to be well educated to be successful mothers. Mary also emphasized in her writing the need for sexual freedom and argued how marriage could be dangerous to women as it leads to further oppression. Equality was needed in domestic relationships. However all though initially her focus was on equality for women it eventually shifted to equality of humanity. It needs to be contemplated that there are a number of influences in the ideas outlined above these include Mary's own personal experiences, social change and other events occurring at that time. Many people suggest that Mary's political views are ‘grounded in experience'; her personal life explains much about her proposals for women's equality, education, marriage and humanity. 1 Mary had a very varied background, she moved house six times in total with each time representing a downward social and economic mobility. This gave her insight into in to regional, class and gender divisions of eighteenth century Britain, enabling Mary to perceive class inequalities in society, and campaign for equality of every class rather than just women. In addition to this it could also be argued that another way in which her personal experience shaped her views on class inequalities was working for the kingsborough's, which allowed her to observe the lives of an affluent aristocratic family compared to the lower classes. This shaped her political thought in terms of her â€Å"resentment of the power and emptiness of privileged lives†2 and the injustice faced by the working classes. However It could be argued that Mary Wollstonecraft ideas were centred round achieving equality for middleclass women as much of her work is focused on how disadvantaged so called ladies of leisure are in having mere existences rather than equality faced by working class men and women. Mary still regarded women's domestic role as acceptable she believed women should still have the role of caring for children, family and other domestic duties; â€Å"mothers should stay at home and care for their children†. 3 It could be argued that this was because of the role she had to play in regards to her position in the family. For example, Mary had to leave her job as a lady's companion in 1781 to go back home to nurse her mother, which was considered as a female's role in her family. It is evident that her ideas of equal education were actually to enable women to become better mothers (she still saw women in a domesticated role), which could have stemmed from experience in her family of having such roles. Conversely it could be considered that her ideas for women still looking after children could be due to the values of society at the present time. A great deal of Mary's political thought was based around the education of girls. In her book entitled â€Å"Thoughts on the education of daughters† she reflects concern on adequacy of female education. She believed that women were constrained in their education compared with boys and it should therefore be more rational. It could be said that these ideas about the inadequacy of girl's education were based around her experiences of education. Mary attended a local day school for girls. Her school discouraged ‘to high notions' and attended to housewifery and morals to make girls such as Mary marriageable. It could be assumed Mary was an intelligent girl and she found her education â€Å"short and inadequate†3 this may have influenced her view about how inadequate women's education was and pushed her to campaign for reforming women's education. Mary gained knowledge in male dominated areas such as arithmetic, which showed to her that women could be just as capable as having the same knowledge as men. However it could be contended that rather than personal experience influencing her ideas on education her class ideology directed her ideas on reforming education. This could be shown in Mary's belief of selected education where the mechanically minded children should be placed in separate schools to those of superior abilities5, which was a typical attitude of the middle/upper classes. In her book ‘A vindication of the rights of women' Mary highlights her views on the subordination of women in society. Mary argues against the social forces that keep women ignorant and the superficiality they are encouraged to engage in6this enables men to remain dominant over women as women become physically and economically dependant on men. Mary believed that women needed freedom as they were being dominated by male patriarchy and in this sense were open to abuse by males. It seems apparent that the above ideas and assertions on male abuse and dominance of women stemmed from her own life experiences and those of her female relations as she witnessed male abuse to family around her; As a young girl Mary used to be subjected to witnessing her fathers drunken violence against her mother. By viewing her mothers abuse and helplessness Mary came to realise the lack of protection available to women. Her past experiences of her and her family may have also influenced her views on relations with males including marriage. In a letter to George Blood in 1789 Mary describes marriage as â€Å"legal prostitution†6. Mary had witnessed cruelty of men to her mother, sister and friend fanny in their marriages. She believed that her sister condition of ill health was due to the mistreatment of her husband; she took steps to help Eliza arrange legal separation. â€Å"On three different occasions Mary did see the lives of women ruined by cruel dissipated, husbands† (Bouten 1922:131). Witnessing the abuse faced by three people close to her in their marriages may have guided her ideas on marriage which she regarded as slavery and influenced her decision not to marry through most of her life. Alternatively it could be said that her ideas arose from the laws of society at the time, as there was little recourse from the victims of abuse. The laws also gave rights to the husband and took them away from women at the same time in the procedure of marriage. The norms of society may have therefore informed Mary's political thought as it made obvious inequalities in marriage and the dominance of women. There were some aspects of feminism that Wollstonecraft didn't consider such as legal property rights of women and voting rights. This may be due to her not experiencing these issues in her life, which further confirms her ideas were based around her personal experiences. However it has to be considered that her personal experience was not the only factor contributing to her political thought. In the 18th Century Mary was subjected to experiencing and participating in a series of social revolutions both in Britain and in France. One was enlightenment, which put reason as the focus of human identity and as the main justification of rights. 7 This may have influenced Mary's political ideas as she based her argument for equal rights on the fact that both men and women had the same human identity, which echoes the ideas of enlightenment. Britain was also experiencing rapid change with the industrial revolution. These rapid periods of change may have influenced Mary to challenge the existing social order regarding the position of women as traditional institutions and conceptions were being outgrown; â€Å"The time was ripe for an intellectual questioning of society†8. Although Wollstonecraft's feminist thought went against the traditional ideas of sexual opinion reflected in 18th century Britain, it could be argued that her political ideas actually reflected the spirit of innovation around at the time; â€Å"the century prior to the rights of women had seen a steady flow of writings by enlightened literati of both sexes arguing for higher valuation of woman's characters and an enhancement of female intellect and status†. In which case it could be said that Mary's political thought was informed by changes in society. It also has to be considered that the late eighteenth century there was an expansion in literature as a profession for women. 9 This may have encouraged the thoughts of Mary's, which may have developed due to her writing. It is possible that the French Revolution that begun in 1789 with its struggle for social justice also influenced her political ideas especially in terms of her ideas on the rights of humanity. Prior to the French revolution Mary concentrated on the rights and freedom of women, but later on changed her focus towards the rights of humanity as a whole including men, This lead to her considering the rights of women in terms of the rights of men. â€Å"Her vindication was that of men but in relation to men, the human race, and the entire human experience† 10. Therefore it could be argued that the revolution influenced the change of Mary's political ideals from concentrating on women to human kind. On the other hand it could be argued that the French Revolution did not influence Mary's ideas, which were primarily based on equality for women, as the new constitution of France did nothing to remove the inequalities between men and women. Many supporters of social justice in the French revolution were the most active opponents of women's rights. 11 Religion is another possible factor outside Wollstonecraft's personal experience that may have influenced her political thought. Wollstonecraft believed that education would make women more virtuous. This could be regarded as one of the reasons for her views on education of girls. Mary believed education would give women the chance to prove in the reality of good and evil and she put her faith in to the goodness of god. 12 Alternatively there is also reason to suggest that Mary Wollstonecraft wasn't religious as she rejected many religious doctrines such as pacifism of Christ. An alternative argument regarding the reasons behind Wollstonecraft's feminist thought is put forward by Freudian Psychiatrists. They argue the basis of her political thought was due to her hatred of men. â€Å"Hers was hatred of creatures that seemed capable of doing everything while women seemed to her capable to her of doing nothing†13 They therefore argue her feminist thoughts arose out of her illness of being neurotic and compulsive. 7 However it could be argued that Freudian analysis is subjective and therefore has no objective basis for explaining reasoning for Wollstonecraft's political ideas. Overall it is clear Mary had many painful experiences and experiences of social changes in her life, which helped shape her political views. Therefore it can be attained that personal factors influenced political thought, although it also has to be taken into account that her political thought was also influenced by outside factors such as social change and institutions such as religion. This coincides with concept of the â€Å"personal is political† where the experience of our personal lives are defined by broader political settings. To feminism personal experience such as that encountered by Mary can be seen as a valid way of knowing the social world and deriving political thought. However it could be argued that the experiences of Mary didn't provide a sufficient claim of truth, as it doesn't necessarily mean that Mary has political insight. Therefore it could be said that this isn't the most objective way to gain an insight into the political sphere of society.

Alzheimer’s disease Essay Example for Free (#3)

Alzheimer’s disease Essay What causes Alzheimer’s disease neurologically? This question came to my mind when I was watching the movie ‘The Notebook’ for the fifth time. Unusual for a guy, I love romantic genre movies and I was wondering why Alzheimer causes short and long term memory loss. I also had an interest on the Alzheimer’s disease after watching the movie ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ where the protagonist tries to fix the neurology nerve system to heal his father’s Alzheimer. What causes Alzheimer’s disease neurologically? I think the core reason of the Alzheimer’s disease lie on the nerve pathway signal transmission. I think the nerve pathway signal transmission system is same as all of the body functional system and as it grows older and older, the functioning of the specific nerve pathway signal transmission for memories weakens and decreases. #4 Making predictions based on this model If the problem of the Alzheimer’s disease is in the nerve pathway signal transmission, then the Alzheimer’s disease is indeed a neurological problem. If we can find out the way to re-ignite the signal or heal the receiving or sending parts of the neurological nerve signal system, then we will be able to delay the process of the disease or even fix it permanently. I do not know the system of the central neurological nerve system of the human nor the treatment of the Alzheimer’s disease. However, to find out numerous people with and without the disease should complete the cause of the Alzheimer’s disease. Run a MRI test on brain of the participants and compare the MRI results with the people with and without the Alzheimer’s disease. If it shows some difference showing the weakening or decreasing of the nerve pathway signal transmission then we can conclude that the neurological nerve pathway signal transmission is the cause of the Alzheimer’s disease. However, we can’t be sure that that is the only causes of the Alzheimer’s disease so we will have to create more experiments. Alzheimer disease is a neurological disease and it is one of the many forms of dementia. The researches says that the Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia since its percentage is over half of the total dementia cases. My question was ‘what causes the Alzheimer’s disease neurologically?’ so I decided to first go research about the neuroscience of the human body since the Alzheimer’s disease is primarily the degenerating of the signal pathway system in the brain. The human have a special cell called the neurons in the nervous system and these cells communicate with other cells by synapses. This is the most basic difference between a normal cell and a neuron. Synapses signal can be either chemical or electrical and they are just membrane-to-membrane junctions with such molecular machinery that produces rapid transmission of signals. There isn’t just one neuron in human. In fact, there are hundreds of different types with differ ent functions and shapes. So all these information led me to an another question of ‘what kind of neurons are related to the Alzheimer’s disease?’ I found out that Alzheimer’s kills neurons due to the accumulation of proteins in the brain. That is why the Alzheimer’s diseases are called the neurodegenerative diseases. I couldn’t specifically find the exact neurons that are related to the Alzheimer’s disease but I found out that the Alzheimer’s kills these neurons in the brain by proteinaceous plaques. An article by ‘Journal of Neuroscience’ did a research on A-beta, a peptide that surrounds the dying neurons in certain regions of the brain. The research said they weren’t sure if the A-Beta is the protein that kills the neurons. A-Beta becomes toxic when it forms an oligomer. Oligomer means a molecule that consists of a few monomer units. A-Beta oligomers are bad for neurons because it causes the neurons to re-enter the cell cycle. This is bad because once the brain neurons become adult cells, these are not supposed to divide. This is why neuronal cancers are very rare because the neurons cells don’t divide once it reaches adulthood. Then the articles went into deeper matters with mouse models so I stopped my research of A-Beta here. It says that the cause for the Alzheimer’s disease is essentially unknown and all of these researches are part of the hypotheses. There are many hypotheses including the cholinergic and the amyloid hypotheses. But the A-Beta is the most recent hypotheses in the field of  science since the A-Beta theory was updated in 2009. Then, I took my TA’s advice and went to find the biology behind the transmission of nerve impulses. Neurons have a part called the dendrites and this is where the neuron fires a correct impulse to another neuron through the axon. Axon is a long projection that connects nerve cells. Just like a normal cell, the neurons have cell membranes as well. When the neuron is not transmitting impulse, the reason is in its cell membrane. When the neuron cell is polarized, that is when the neuron is inactive. The outside of the cell contains excess sodium ions and the inside of the cell contains excess potassium ions. However, the inside of the cell is negative due to other negatively charged protein and nucleic acid molecules inside the cell. There are Na+/K+ pumps on the membranes and it is permeable! When the neuron gets stimulated, the sodium ions flow in to the cell and the neuron gets depolarized. When the neuron reaches the complete depolarization, impulse is transmitted through the axon and thus makes the cell active. When the impulse fires from a neuron, the other neuron at the end of the axon depolarizes and calcium ions are allowed to enter the cell. Then a chemical called a neurotransmitter is released into the synapse. The neurotransmitter then binds to proteins on the neuron membrane to receive the impulse. The proteins are the receptors of the many different neurotransmitter and the neurotransmitters does have specific receptor proteins. It is logical that when the neurons die from proteins of the Alzheimer’s disease, the synapses and impulse decreases and decreases. Therefore, I began to have questions about the effect and the symptoms of the Alzheimer’s disease due to the death of many neurons. Alzheimer’s disease equals the loss of neurons and synapses in the cerebral cortex. The most common effect and symptom of the Alzheimer’s disease is the loss of memory and mental skills. The chance of getting an Alzheimer’s disease is higher for older populations. The symptoms advance as the time passes. The speed of the progress of the disorder differs from person to person but most of them start with forgetfulness. It is probably the neuron transmission failure. As the brain neuron dies, the mental state of the human weakens and decreases. When the Alzheimer’s disease attacks the frontal lobe of the brain, the person’s mood swing can be dangerously unstable. It is because the frontal lobe controls the feeling and the behavior of a person. The person can also have problems  with washing and cleaning him/herself because another function of the frontal lobe of the brain is to plan things based on what is wrong and what is right. Also 40% of the Alzheimer’s patients have low appetite in food and have significant weight loss because as the neuron dies, the olfactory and taste nerves fails. All of these symptoms are all directly connected to the problems with the brain neurons. So my first starting question of ‘what causes Alzheimer’s disease neurologically?’ was answered. A simple but sophisticated disruption of a tiny neuron cells in the brain causes the Alzheimer’s disease. Then I began to think if there are any treatment researches going on in the field of biology. I found one research that caught my eyes and it was stem cells. Professor Kim of the Chung-Ang University in South Korea successfully restored a mouse’s brain function by transplanting a human nerve stem cell. He was able to transplant a stem cell containing acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter, and the articles said that the mouse restored its brain function to a normal state. Professor Kim’s work is also announced in an international journal called ‘Cell Transplantation.’ #7 Repeat (Modify, extend or reject) ‘What is the specific molecule (possibly a protein) that affects the neuron of the brains so it causes the Alzheimer’s disease neurologically?’ and ‘How will transplanting stem cell containing a neurotransmitter called ‘Acetycholine’ affect the human Alzheimer’s disease?’ These are my two refined questions after my exploration of the Alzheimer’s disease. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nervous_system#Neurons http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alzheimer’s_disease http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/understanding-the-transmission-of-nerve-impulses.html http://scienceblogs.com/purepedantry/2009/02/12/how-does-alzheimers-kill-neuro/ (Authors: N.H. Varvel, K. Bhaskar, A.R. Patil, S.W. Pimplikar, K. Herrup, B.T. Lamb) http://voices.yahoo.com/the-dreadful-effects-alzheimers-disease-116725.html?cat=70 (Publisher: Carl Kolchack, freelance article writer) http://blog.naver.com/vitaminmd?Redirect=Log&logNo=110133967592 (Publisher: Vitamin MD) http://www.medworld.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=63612 (Youn Sang Yong Reporter) Alzheimer’s disease. (2016, Jun 14).

Ethnic Segregation and Its Effects in America Assignment

Ethnic Segregation and Its Effects in America - Assignment Example From the American mapping, New York leads among the most segregated large cities with a great degree of racial diversity which intensifies the high rate of ethic segregation in the city. Ethnic segregation in the US is mainly seen in the residential settings. Research shows that the whites are populated in one area while the backs, Asians and Latino have their own separate residential sites. The whites are mainly found clustered together with few other races in their midst. Birth weight segregation similarly has high degree regarding the segregation as it separates the Asians, blacks, whites and Latino from each other. Many places are known by the originality of the persons. Racial diversity impacts negatively on the American residents. Research shows that the African American residents have problems in accessing good quality jobs or even lack them in the long run. Researches shows that the spatial segregation of blacks from the whites led to segregated modes of employments and hence race based employment which leads to varied economic status and thus high poverty rates among the blacks as compared to the whites. Ethnic segregation similarly leads to health segregation. Research shows that the blacks are prone to very poor health conditions as perceived from the birth results. The discriminated persons similarly have limited access to the health facilities which diminishes their health conditions.

15 summaries Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

15 summaries - Assignment Example As such, people need to embrace strife, misery, and folly as harbingers that foster a greater good. Author Voltaire Francois discusses ignorance, philosophy, as well as self-conceit of humanity in his essay â€Å"Micromegas.† In this essay, the author undertakes a satirical exploration in his research about the philosophy principles paraded by humanity, alongside their ignorance and self-conceit towards various aspects of life. Author Voltaire Francois discusses through a satirical approach government corruption, religious doctrines, as well as the injustices and folly perpetrated by the French society in his essay â€Å"The Huron.† In this essay, he explores the above concepts through disusing the story of one man from the tribe of Huron transported to Paris city. Author Voltaire Francois discusses in his essay â€Å"The man of Forty Crowns,† the author Voltaire discusses the various concepts of a crown, and how monarchial hereditariness passes on power from one generation to another. He asserts that some poor leadership traits may sometimes pass on from one lineage to the next during such practices Author Voltaire Francois discusses in â€Å"The Sage and the Atheist,† Voltaire explores the different perspectives of religion and the effect that each has on the belief, faith, and religious practices of an individual, and an entire community at large. A sage is a holy person, while an atheist does not believe in the existence of any supernatural powers controlling the lives and doings of men. Author Voltaire Francois discusses in â€Å"The World as it goes,† Voltaire discusses the vision of Babuoc. In this excerpt, the author explores how the King commissioned his faithful servant, Babuoc to go and visit a far away country in Persia then bring back a report on the under dealings within the city, using his spirit of discernment, as well as the power to inspire confidence. Author Voltaire Francois discusses in â€Å"the study of nature,† Voltaire asserts

Evaluation of the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) Using Chinese Dissertation

Evaluation of the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) Using Chinese Stock Market Data - Dissertation Example 23). It is worth noting that numerous empirical studies that have conducted in line with evaluating the model have proved to be in harmony with the CAPM principles; nonetheless, some of the similar evaluations have contradicted the model. Therefore, this paper aims at studying if the CAPM principles hold for the China Stock Exchange. Among other things to be included in the analysis, include: i. Whether higher beta results to higher expected returns ii. Whether the zero or average intercept is equal to risk free rate and the SML slope is equal to the average risk premium iii. Whether there is an existence of linearity between the expected returns and the stock beta. The monthly stock returns of some of the firms listed in the Chinese Stock Exchange are used in the analysis. The data was obtained from January 2009 to December 2012; hence, the analysis targets a period of four years. To test the CAPM principles in this stock market, the study will employ the use of approach methods con tributed for by Black, Jensen, and Scholes as per the year 1972; described as the time series test. Additionally, the study shall employ the use of the 1973 Fama and MacBeth cross sectional test. From the analysis of the Chinese Stock exchange data for the period of four year in line with the above methods, it is apparent that this duty did not hold up fully with the CAPM principles. ... Introduction Since the CAPM’s introduction, numerous efforts have since emerged to determine the validity of the principles of the CAPM model. These evaluation studies to determine the validity of the CAPM principles have led to a unique valuable contribution and breakthrough to the global financial economics. Despite these contributions, it is worth noting that some empirical studies to validate the same principles have since differed with application and validity of the CAPM principles and its application in the analysis of the world financial economics (Velasco, 2001; pg. 182). Nonetheless, other studies have proved to be in harmony with the same study. The differences in these studies depicts a significant stimulating factor to the study; hence, calling for a deep enhancement of the CAPM principles in line with evaluating the principles of the model using data from the Chinese Stock Exchange. 1.0.1. Brief Understanding of CAPM The significant contributions of the financial economics theory was realized in the 1960s when numerous researchers including William Sharpe used the Markowitz’s portfolio theory as his ground to develop price formation theory for the financial assets. This price formation theory is what emerged to be known as the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM). It is worth noting that the theory of the Markowitz’s portfolio analyzes the optimization of wealth invest in assets in variation to their risks and returns as well as providing the view on how the underlying risks can be reduced. The CAPM formation or foundation states that investors are in a position to choose to expose their businesses to a reasonable amount risk through a series of combined

Behaviours and Responsibilities for Males and Females Essay

Behaviours and Responsibilities for Males and Females - Essay Example Personally, many of the things taught at home from the moment I was still young like how a man and a woman should act themselves in the society. Parents from the past are strongly adhering to the rules about gender, especially the religious ones for they tend to educate their children based on how their culture dictates the necessary things to do. For example, the culture in the past taught men and women that marriage should be for a man and a woman. There must be no such thing as marriage for same sex. However, this perspective has changed over time. Teaching about the things telling us that there should be no sexual relationship between people of the same sex was explicit to me. Nowadays, many of the people who claimed to be homosexuals may think that the rule in the past about marriage sounds unfair on their part. This is the reason why many of them nowadays are trying to establish another rule that would be able to give them freedom for their desire and so on. At some point, the rules in the past taught me how I should establish my life today. There are some consequences in being part of this rule, because after all, I found that I am being part of the society as a whole, where it matters a lot how the society defines what is good and what is bad. As an adult, it is easy now to understand what is good and bad, and to be explicit about it, there are some things that the society is trying to establish in each of us, but defying them would make someone deviant at some point. This is the reality of life. That is why, at some point, for as long as there is no harm that it can contribute to the society, being deviant, defying what is norm, makes me sometimes free to express myself at some point. That is my individuality, making me unique and someone different from the rest.

Marketing Communication Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Marketing Communication Plan - Essay Example (Varey 2002) It is a challenge because of the fact that every day newer modes of communication are being invented and more rapid to that is the accelerated rate of using these modes creatively. Those marketers who still rely solely on the traditional methods and deny any chances of creativity in the marketing communication, they are ultimately at a high risk, in most of the cases, of being left behind by the more creative marketing communication plans, which are capable of appealing the customers in more efficient manner, provided the claims in these communication plans are supported by the product availability and quality. (Taylor 2004) The knowledge society is not the only dimension that the marketers need to consider, rather there are multiple dimensions that need to be considered and duly taken care of while conceiving, developing and implementing the communication plan. These factors include the changing behaviours and preference of the target audience, the need of the product, availability of alternatives, communication plans of the competitors and so on. Thus it is imperative for the marketing communication planner to take into account all these factors while developing a marketing communication plan. (Hooley et. al 1984) In the beginning, this plan will analyze the market situation with reference to the abovementioned products. Various dimensions of the market will analyzed in this regard, such as, consumer demand, search behaviour, brand loyalty, market characteristics and definition, sales and suppliers' market shares, market dynamics (innovation, new entry and price trends), product innovation, manufacturing and trade, entry conditions and price trends. Analyzing the market situation is very essential to build an effective communication strategy, thus this would occupy most of the space and will be referred frequently in the later parts of the report. After the analysis part, the second step would be the development of the objectives for the marketing communication. This will include both, the marketing goals and the objectives and would be aligned with the situation of the market already analyzed. Afterwards, we will develop the statement of strategy. This strategy statement will identify and hi ghlight relevant public, logic, and communication channel, type of medium and timing of each strategy. Once the statement of strategy has been developed, our next step would be to sketch the profile of the target audience and each targeted segment of the market from the dimensions which are of the key significance to the marketers and those who implement the marketing communication plans. Afterwards, we will explore and analyze various tactics and plan of marketing action plan. After this, we would move to description of the concerned 3 Ms of the production (which includes, man and women, money and monitoring). Lastly, critical path of these activities will be developed in order to ensure successful and effective implementation of the plan. Analysis of the Market Situation Consumer demand In a recent market research report by

Term paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Term paper - Essay Example Towards the end of the 20th Century, widespread use of computers commenced in Western nations like Europe and North America. At first, computers belonged to the elite members of a society. With time, economics of demand and supply led to massive production of cheap computers for the general public (Wendy, 98). Today, use of computers is not restricted to specific corners of the world. Today, even communities in remote African and Asian villages have access to computers. Aside from accessing the computers, most people in these villages possess conceptual skills regarding the use of internet and other popular computer applications (Dike, 01). This widespread availability and application of computers created a computerized global village. The age of global computerization has benefits and setbacks in relatively equal measures. One benefit involves ease of communication. In the past, exchange of messages between distant persons would involve traversing the long distances between communicating parties, which was not only financially costly, but also time-consuming. Nowadays, global computerization enables two parties to conduct their social, economic or political interactions in an economically efficient manner (Smith and Angelica, 21). Irrespective of their physical locations, business partners or politicians can enter into mutually beneficial agreements through the internet. In this regard, global computerization has led to convenience in exchange of messages, hence enhancing human activities. Global computerization is not without concerns of disadvantages. Significant decline in ethics features as one setback of the computerized global village. Admittedly, widespread use of computers did not cause a correspondingly widespread advancement of ethics (Carr, 28). Traditional settings in either social or economic environments upheld ethical standards because physical interactions remained dominant. Nowadays, there are increasing

Research/analyze the contemporary globalization of one place Research Paper

/analyze the contemporary globalization of one place - Research Paper Example This paper will give detailed proofs of how shanghai has undergone globalization and expanded from being local to international levels. The main mission of this paper is to enhance a better contact with shanghai. The underlying premise depicts that Shanghai is a rich city for Globalization. Instead of viewing globalization as an external factor influencing Shanghai, this paper will show how globalization is inherent in the city of Shanghai and that the investigation of the distinctive features of Shanghai starting from the abandoned factories which are now viewed as creative clusters, to the Lilong architectures, luxury malls and street peddlers lights up the world globalization both in the past and the future. The main factors that have led to shanghai globalization are the tourism attractions, the Shanghai’s resurgence, competition of the Chinese cities and the tale of two cities (shanghai and Hong Kong). There are other unmentioned factors that have seen shanghai in to globalization. Shanghai is a global city which sees itself as the city of the future. This continued belief of the Shanghai globalization is driven by the history of the city. With this in mind, questions like can shanghai reanimate the cosmopolitanism of its past? Will its attempts of fostering a culture of creativity succeed? Can it bear an urban golden age that is energetic and innovative enough to influence the rest of the world just like New York or London arise. First shanghai will be viewed as a model of development and trading partner for India. (Liu, 786). Secondly, the city will be regarded as one of the important zones of economic opportunity within the larger Chinese world. Without the global business networks of the Taiwanese, Hong Kong and the Chinese American entrepreneurs, shanghai city would not have risen to higher levels. Additionally, the city will be viewed as a magnet for the migration within the country of China. Back in the old

Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. Essay Example for Free

Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. Essay Company A wholly-owned subsidiary of Belgium-based Anheuser–Busch InBev, is the largest brewing company in the United States. The company operates 12 breweries in the United States and nearly 20 in other countries. It was, until December 2009, also one of Americas largest theme park operators; operating ten theme parks across the United States through the companys family entertainment division, Busch Entertainment Corporation. It is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. AB’s objectives as a corporation are: * To increase domestic beer segment volume and per barrel profitability which, when combined with market share growth will provide the source for earnings per share growth and improvement in return on capital employed. * To provide a great tasting fresh beer to our consumers by limiting self life to 110 days, and providing a â€Å"born on date† on all our products. * To build a high-performing, diverse workforce, while providing a safe, productive and rewarding work environment, in which all our employees can benefit. * To be a good corporate citizen and good neighbor in every community where we do business and promote the responsible consumption of our products. * To preserve and protect the environment and support communities where we do business, by complying with all applicable environmental laws, regulations, and permits. Products and Services Anheuser-Buschs best known beers include brands such as Budweiser, Busch, Michelob, Bud Light, and Natural Light. The company also produces more than 100 beers, import beers, specialty beers, nonalcoholic brews, malt liquors ( such as King Cobra and Hurricane), and flavored malt beverages (e.g. the Bacardi Silver family and Tequiza). Currently, the number 1 ranked beer in America is Bud Light. The company introduced a flavored 12% abv malt liquor under the name Spykes in 2007. It was sold in colorful, 2-ounce bottles. Available flavors included mango, lime, melon and chocolate. Free public tours of the brewery are given. The tour takes visitors through the complex, and those of the legal age can enjoy two free glasses of any Anheuser-Busch product in the Hospitality Room after the tour. Tourists can see beer being made in a working part of the brewery (from behind plexiglas shields). The company keeps a rotation of its famous Budweiser Clydesdales at its headquarters, and visitors to the brewery can observe the Clydesdales in their exercise field and see their places in the carriage house. Some of the herd is kept at the company farm in St. Louis County. The farm, known as Grants Farm (having been owned by former President Ulysses S. Grant at one time), is home to a menagerie of animals. Since 2008, approximately half of the Budweiser Clydesdales are kept at the Warmsprings Ranch. Introduction/History Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. traces its roots to 1852 and the Bavarian Brewery in St. Louis. The struggling brewery was acquired by Eberhard Anheuser, a successful soap manufacturer, in 1860 Anheuser had no experience in the brewing business, but his son-in-law did. Adolphus Busch, a successful German businessman, joined his father-in-law in the business in the 1860s and took on increasing responsibility. Through new technologies and modern marketing practices, he transformed the local brewery into an industry leader. In the early 1870s, Adolphus Busch became the first American brewer to use pasteurization, which allowed beer to be shipped long distances without spoiling. By the mid 1870s and early 1880s, he introduced artificial refrigeration, refrigerated railcars and rail-side icehouses. These technological innovations allowed the company to grow and distribute beer across the country. Budweiser was the first national beer brand, introduced in 1876. Twenty years later, Busch introduced Michelob, America’s first specialty beer. To market his beers, Busch used traditional, proven selling methods but in a far more organized and deliberate manner than his competitors. He pioneered the use of giveaways and premiums, and used his brewery as a show place for the public to visit. When Eberhard Anheuser died in 1880, Adolphus became president of the brewery. In 1901, the company broke the 1 million barrels of beer sales mark for the first time, making it one of the nation’s leading breweries. Adolphus Busch died in 1913 and was succeeded by his son; August A. Busch, Sr. The brewery’s bleakest period began at midnight on Jan. 16, 1920, when national Prohibition became law. Rather than close its doors, as more than half of the nation’s breweries did, Anheuser-Busch diversified and remained in business. Under the leadership of August Sr., the company marketed more than 25 different non-alcoholic products such as soft drinks, truck bodies and ice cream. In preparation for Prohibition, Anheuser-Busch released Bevo, a non-alcoholic cereal beverage, in 1916. On April 7, 1933, beer was re-legalized. Recovery from Prohibition was slow but steady under Adolphus Busch III, who became president of the company in 1934, upon the death of his father, August Sr. Economic conditions caused by the Great Depression also restrained growth, but, thanks in part to the introduction of the metal can in 1936, sales began to climb. By 1938, Anheuser-Busch hit the 2 million barrel mar k. During World War II, the company diverted many of its operations in support of the war effort, voluntarily relinquishing its West Coast markets to conserve railcar space for war materials shipments. Following the war, America and Anheuser-Busch experienced an era of growth and prosperity throughout the 1950s and 1960s. In 1946, August A. Busch, Jr. became president of the company following the death of his brother, Adolphus III. Beginning with the opening of the Newark, N.J. facility in 1951, August Jr. created a national network of nine breweries. Under his leadership, beer sales increased from 3 million barrels to more than 34 million barrels, and corporate diversification was extended to include family entertainment, industrial products, real- estate and can manufacturing. In 1957, Anheuser-Busch became the leading U.S. brewer, a position it retains today. August A. Busch III was elected president of Anheuser-Busch, Inc. in 1974, and the next year succeeded his father, August Jr., as chief executive officer, becoming the fourth generation of the family to lead Anheuser-Busch. August III led the company to build four additional breweries, expand the family entertainment business, and significantly strengthen the company’s horizontal and vertical integration. In 2008, Anheuser-Busch and InBev combined to become Anheuser-Busch InBev. The new company is the world’s largest brewer and one of the top 5 consumer goods companies in the world. Mission It is AB’s mission to be the United States beer company. The company is working hard to elevate and enhance the image and relevance of beer, plus making their brands the preferred beer of choice. It is also AB’s mission to deliver superior returns to their shareholders, which in return will provide more benefits and resources for the company. Product/Bud Light In 1982, the company introduced Bud Light nationally, which grew quickly in popularity and today is one of the world’s best selling beer brands. Bud Light is an American style lager made from rice, hops and barley malt. It is less alcoholic than regular Budweiser beer. It is marketed in the premium-light category, and Anheuser-Busch banks on the drinkability of Bud Light being its defining characteristic Bud Light Marketing Strategy Bud Light beer has long directed their marketing strategy through sports. For years their ads have dominated the Super Bowl advertising bonanza. Bud Light also has used various sports themes in their commercials and has a strong presence in many sporting events (in the venue and through television). Bud Light’s advertising campaign has been extremely effective. They have targeted the young male demographic and have done a phenomenal job of it. Relying on humor and sports has been the staple of their strategy, and it has worked very well with their target audience. Advertisements for Bud Light almost always are a comedy, and as they close they briefly plug the actual product. This has been their recipe for success. Bud Light has well graded commercials and a very high percentage of the beer market. Who can forget the â€Å"secret fridge,† â€Å"real men of genius,† â€Å"hidden Bud Lights,† or countless other commercial lines that Bud Light has created. The ads are remembered, and in marketing that is half the battle. But, that is the issue. Why is beer being marketed solely through the use of comedy? Because comedy is much more successful than a realistic commercial. How successfully would Bud Light market themselves if they were forced to use the reality of their product? Would they show how drunken men get home after football games? Would they show people drinking too much? Would they show the average user of their product? No, of course not. They would never be able to market their product successfully if they used its real circumstances. While Bud Light solely relies on comedy, many other beer manufacturers have taken other approaches. Some show where their beer is made. Samuel Adams commercials currently focus on the early years of their organization and the development of their company. Additionally, most beer ads, other than Bud Light, heavily stress using responsibility while drinking. Guinness beer is a good example. Although Guinness mostly uses comedy to sell their product they stress responsibility in every ad, and even have comedic ads focused on responsibility. Bud Light should consider using a similar formula if they continue to stick to comedy. Bud Light has an amazingly successful marketing strategy through the use of comedy and sports. * Geographic Anheuser Busch sells its beer products domestically and globally. It operates 14 breweries in the U.S., brewing approximately 30 kinds of beer. They offer a wide variety of premium and sub-premium beverages, each of which has a unique taste and price. Another area of interest for A-B is the international marketing of their beer. This segment is regulated by Anheuser-Busch International, which operates 15 breweries – 14 in China and one in the United Kingdom. The product of Budweiser is brewed in seven other countries outside the United States under the direct supervision of Anheuser Busch brew masters. They include Argentina, Canada, Ireland, Italy, Japan, South Korea and Spain. * Psychographics Anheuser Busch reaches out to diverse groups of people with various psychographics. They deal with people that have a social lifestyle and enjoy going out to bars and clubs. They also deal with consumers that are interested in sports. Anheuser- Busch is a major sponsor of every sporting event possible, taking profits in the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NASCA. Lastly, Anheuser – Busch maintains a strong social affiliation with consumers who drink beer just for relaxation and comfort. A major market consists of social drinkers who drink one or two beers a night after work. Consumer Markets Anheuser Busch’s primary consumer market consists of males and females over the age of 21. The age groups range from seniors, Baby Boomers, Generation X, and a part of Generation Y. They also target every category involving family life cycle, including married, single, divorced, widowed, and parents. AB products are not sold to a particular social class, however depending on whether the consumer’s are Capitalists or underclass, might play a major role in deciding which AB beer they purchase. Finally, ethnicity is a major focus for AB, they believe in promoting diversity in all of their relationships. They actively support numerous community programs sponsored by a wide variety of ethnic groups; they encourage the development of minority and women-owned companies by purchasing more than $400 million in annual goods and services from those companies. Anheuser-Busch is also a close friend and partner with Americas ethnic communities. Their programs are designed to preserve the unique traditions within diverse communities and to provide immediate and long-term benefits through joint efforts with national, regional and local organizations. Business Markets AB has a variety of business markets that it is involved with. The most important are grocery stores, super centers (Wal-Mart), convenience stores / gas stations, warehouse membership clubs (Costco), restaurant / bars, and sporting event venues. Restaurants/Bars are the most important business markets for A-B, because they buy and distribute the most amount of beer. Also, restaurants and bars are two of the easiest places that adults can access beer. Finally, in a bar, most beer is distributed from a tap off of keg, and more beer can be distributed with a keg, than selling bottles or cans individually. Size and Growth A-B owns nearly 50 percent of the United States domestic market share in the beer industry. The company produced close to 11 billion barrels of beer in 2009, which is 7.5 times its closest domestic competitor. The company has four trademark brand families; Budweiser, Michelob, Busch and Natural, each of which play a key strategic role as the volume drivers of the company. A-B’s size is definitely strength, because the company has the resources in place to increase beer industry volume, while continuing to meet the needs of today’s consumer. A-B currently offers over 40 brands of beer. Of this wide variety of premium and sub-premium beverages, each beer offers its own unique taste and blend. Yet, A-B is not standing still; the company is committed to creating new beverages that appeal to today’s adult consumers. To meet these changing tastes, A-B introduced more than 30 new in the past five years and encouraged consumers to experiment with their new flavors. Of these, Budweiser Select, the newest addition to the Budweiser family was introduced, and has become one of the company’s most successful new product launches, with more than 2 million barrels sold. Other new offering included malt beverages, flavored beers, and beers such as BE, which combines fruit flavors with caffeine and guarana. A-B’s relentless commitment to constantly improving and innovating new products is keeping them ahead of the competition. Distribution Over the years, Bud light has been distributed in many sizes and containers. Bud light is primarily distributed in just three packages cans, 12-ounce glass and aluminum bottles. Along with this expansion came advances in bottling automation, new bottling materials and more efficient distribution methods. These advances have brought to market many new containers and package designs. Eagle Packaging Eagle Packaging, Inc. satisfies all of Anheuser Busch’s packaging needs. It supplies 100 percent of Anheuser-Buschs domestic crown and closure liner material. This means Anheuser Busch spends less time dealing with numerous suppliers, and more time spent on producing beer. Eagle Packaging, Inc. also stands behind every product they sell, and they continuously work with their manufacturers to provide Anheuser Busch with the highest quality products and services possible. With Eagle Packaging, Inc. as Anheuser Busch’s partner, they improve their business position by offering innovative solutions and proactive ideas. They also work with Anheuser Busch to coordinate a â€Å"Just in Time â€Å"delivery schedule. This saves Anheuser Busch inventory space and costs, while keeping them properly supplied. Longhorn Glass Corp. Longhorn Glass Corp. supplies Anheuser Busch, the nation’s largest buyer of glass bottles, with about 8% of its glass bottles. This Anheuser Busch subsidiary was established in Houston, Texas in 2001. Longhorn Glass Company provides 60% of Anheuser’s, Houston brewery, with its longneck bottle needs. The company primarily produces one product, Amber Longneck bottles. Anheuser-Busch Recycling Company Anheuser – Busch Recycling Company recycles used beverage cans, which are converted into sheet aluminum for manufacturing new cans. The company was formed in 1978 to provide a positive alternative to mandatory deposits and to help reduce container costs. They recycle over 90% of the cans sold domestically by the Anheuser Busch beer company. For over a decade, it has been the world’s largest recycler of aluminum beverage containers. Metal Container Corporation The purpose of the Metal Container Corporation, the largest partner of Anheuser Busch, is to provide cans, lids and services that exceed the expectations of our customers and consumers. Metal Container Corporation was formed in 1973 and operates eight can and three lid manufacturing facilities that are strategically located across the United States. It supplies 60% of Anheuser-Busch’s domestic beer cans and 75% of Anheuser-Busch’s domestic lids. Their main customers are Anheuser-Busch, Pepsi, Coca-Cola and Grupo Modelo. In total, the company makes more than 26 billion cans and 29 billion lids annually. Precision Printing Packaging, Inc. Precision Printing and Packaging, Inc produces more than 25 billion metalized labels annually for Anheuser-Busch and other customers including Bush Beans, Wrigley, and Pepsi. The company supplies 80 percent of Anheuser-Buschs labels. Pricing Methodology A-B is best described as market oriented because the sales of their products do not depend on an aggressive sales force, but rather on the customer’s decision to purchase their product. The company focuses on customer wants and needs by offering a diverse selection of products while giving a relentless commitment toward quality and by doing so is able to distinguish its products from competitors’ offerings. The company is also able to adhere to customers wants and needs by offering different prices for their beer, while still offering the same relentless commitment to quality. A wide variety of premium and sub-premium brands, offer a broad range of prices. However, price does not excuse A-B’s commitment to quality on all its products. Budweiser is on the upper echelon, where as Natural is on the lower end. Competition The emergence of the Bud Light brand was illustrated to develop a competition-based position. In the mid-1970s, Miller Brewing Company introduced a brand that was called Lite beer from Miller. In contrast, Lite beer from Miller was positioned as the beer that tasted great, but had fewer calories than regular beer. The advantage of this product was that users could drink more without getting filled up. The campaign, which was developed by Backer Spielvogel, targeted 18-34 year old males with blue-collar occupations, who were the heavy users of the beer category. The campaign was supported by the endorsement of ex-athletes and other beer-drinking personalities and aired on television during sports programming. The result was impressive sales of Late. Consumption of the brand was substantial in-home as well as in bars and restaurants, where 30% of all beer is sold. Unexpectedly, however, the majority of users were not the 18-34 year-old heavy drinkers of beer. Rather, more moderate drinking 25-44 year old professionals were the dominant Lite users. Anheuser-Busch viewed Lites introductory campaign as a potential threat to their Budweiser brand, which at the time commanded 43% of the beer market. A-B responded by entering the light market in 1977 with the premium Natural Light brand and in 1978 with a super premium Michelob Light brand. The logic behind these introductions was that A-B dominated Miller and other brewers in distribution, and this domination would enable A-Bs new light brands to emerge as strong players in the light category. A-B introduced Budweiser Light (currently known as Bud Light) in 1982. The goal was to market a brand that, unlike Natural Light and Michelob Light, would have a strong point of advantage in relation to Lite. The advantage was the heritage of Budweiser, the king of beers. The introductory campaign was targeted at the 25-44 year old professionals, which by this time all light beers were targeting. The position was the light beer with superior quality because it is made by A-B. The introductory campaign featured a clydesdale horse, which was an icon that A-B had associated with their Budweiser brand, running free on the beach and the slogan bring out your best. The voice-over explained that the brand had been developed slowly over time with the same care, quality, and commitment that went into Budweiser to ensure that it lived up to the heritage of Budweiser. Subsequent executions showed season-appropriate sports including football, hockey, skiing and baseball. Each was aired during sports programming. Indeed, Miller Lite had over 50% of the light beer market and Coors light entry was the second leading beer in the light category. Business results were impressive. In 1982, Budweiser Light sold more product than Lite had in its first three years, and by the end of 1983, Budweiser Light achieved a 20% share of the light beer market. At the same time, Budweiser Light had failed to make significant inroads in the out-of-home market. Apparently, when people asked for a Budweiser Light in bars and restaurants, they were more often than not being served either Miller Lite, or a regular Budweiser. As a result Lite beer from Miller maintained a market share of over 50% in the light category. A-B also found that a substantial percentage of Budweiser Light sales were at the expense of the flagship Budweiser brand. To address these concerns, A-B made several changes in their marketing program for 1984. One change was the brand name from Budweiser Light to Bud Light. The other was to introduce a new campaign called Make it a Bud Light. It focused on the fact that Bud Light was a light beer and that if they just asked for a light they might get any number of different objects that were not Bud Light beer. It was anticipated that this campaign would be run for several months and then Bud Light advertising would return to the heritage focus that had been used to launch the brand. However, when it was found Bud Lights sales increased in response to bar call, the campaign was run for five years. In 1987, Miller Lite was still the leading brand in the light category and had actually maintained its advantage over Bud Light. Sales of both brands had grown substantially as light was now almost 30% of the beer market. A-B was particularly concerned about these developments because the growth of the light category was largely at the expense of their Budweiser brand. Indeed, many of the heavy-drinking blue-collar males under 25 were abandoning regular beer for light beer. In addition, the growing consumption of white wine and soft drinks were limiting growth of the beer category. In an effort to capture the under-25 heavy user, A-B segmented the market and developed two campaigns. One was focused at the 25-44 year old professionals, who were the traditional users of the light category. The other campaign was targeted at the under-25, heavy user of beer. It featured a dog named Spuds MacKenzie, a party animal who attracted the attention of beautiful women. As their share and sales began to decline in the nineties, Miller Lite sought a campaign that would deliver news. In 1997, Millers CEO Jack MacDonough decided that a dramatic change was needed if Miller Lite was to reestablish its position as the number one light brand. He hired Fallon McElligott, the hot Minneapolis agency. Their charge was to attract 21-24 year olds with the proposition that Miller invites you to Miller Time, where its always fun, entertaining and unexpected anything can happen. Two Swedes, copywriter Linus Karlsson and art director Paul Malmstrom, developed the Miller Time campaign. These creatives were under 30 and were best known for work on Diesel Jeans in Europe, which included humorous references to American culture. These drastic marketing measures by Miller still weren’t enough to top A-B. Today, the light category has 40% share of the beer category sales and Bud Light is the best selling beer in the U.S and the number one beer in the world. Bud-Light is brewed at all 12 Anheuser Busch based breweries. Environmental Impact * Ethics/Social responsibilities A-B is making many extensive efforts to get involved in the community, by teaming up with charitable foundations and reaching out to those in need. Over the past decade, the company has donated more than $320 million to charitable organizations, including those that support education, health care, the arts, cultural enrichment, social services and environmental conservation. A-B released a â€Å"making friends† campaign which involves local communities, disaster relief and â€Å"true music† in which they sponsor music artists and related programs. The company also created a one million dollar â€Å"fallen heroes’ fund† which is a scholarship fund for spouses and children of those killed in Iraq. A-B has worked hard to establish a history of giving back to build on lasting friendships. By investing in and adding communities, the company is enhancing its image and reputation, increasing awareness for its brands, and creating loyalty among its customers. A-B has earned a reputation as the industry leader in the fight against alcohol abuse. The company has promoted responsibility efforts for nearly 100 years, and over the past two decades, have invested more than a half billion dollars in a comprehensive portfolio of more than two dozen community-based programs and national advertising campaigns to promote responsible drinking and help prevent underage drinking and drunk driving. A-B has also created effective community based programs that train bartenders, waiter, store clerks, etc. on ID checking, and also have distributors bringing speakers into schools about issues such as drunk driving and underage drinking. In their effort to promote responsible drinking, A-B is strengthening the community, which in return is strengthening the company’s image and reputation. A-B’s commitment to quality extends beyond packaging development. The company operates with care and concern for the world’s environment. A-B Recycling Corporation (ABRC) is one of the world’s largest aluminum recyclers. In 2009, ABRC recycled more than 1200 million pounds of aluminum and was introduced into the Waste Wise Hall of Fame by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. ABRC also develops educational programs that promote voluntary recycling. A-B’s longstanding commitment to waste reduction and recycling programs has not only made up for their consumption of natural resources, but has also built a reputation for about the environment. * Legal/Regulatory/Political A-B experiences many threats do to new laws and regulations regarding the distribution of alcohol, such as: The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. In dealing with alcohol, the ATF regulates the qualification and operations of distilleries, wineries, and breweries, as well as importers and wholesalers in the alcohol industry. ATF has established mutually beneficial working relationships to minimize the regulatory burdens on businesses while still providing necessary government oversight and protecting consumer interests. The ATF National Laboratory Center is the premier tester of new products coming onto the market, as well as the facility that determines whether any products currently on the market pose a health risk to consumers. To ensure alcohol beverage labels do not contain misleading information and adhere to regulatory mandates, ATF examines all label applications for approval. The goals of the ATF are to ensure the collection of alcohol beverage excise taxes; to provide accurate deposit and accounting for the taxes; to prevent entry into the alcohol industry whose business experience or associations are a risk of tax fraud; and to suppress label fraud, commercial bribery, diversion and smuggling, and other unlawful practices in the alcohol marketplace. Many states have started to use â€Å"Dram shop† laws. Under dram shop liability laws, a person injured by an intoxicated person can sue the business or establishment that contributed to that person’s intoxication. Regulation of the sale of liquor to minors or individuals who are intoxicated; requiring most states require an alcohol license. These limit the time and place where sales take place. The government also regulates the production of alcohol by taxing businesses that take part in the selling and production of alcohol. This provides a source of revenue for the government. The Alcohol Beverage Act of 1988 which, requires all alcoholic beverages to bear a clear and conspicuous label warning of the dangers of alcohol consumption. Laws limiting alcohol distribution, and advertising such as college sporting events * Technology AB continues to implement several cost saving initiatives. Brewery modernizations, such as improvements to packaging line flexibility and increased bottle line speed, reductions in brewery material costs and transportation initiatives, including several consolidation and improved scheduling of shipping carriers, contributed nearly $100 million in incremental productivity improvement savings. Analysis of Marketing Strengths and Weaknesses Through my analysis, I have identified that A-B has many current strengths in all aspects of their domestic operations. They offer a unique product, which is distributed and promoted to precision. A-B has very few if any current weaknesses. Strengths Product A-B owns nearly 50 percent of the United States domestic market share in the beer industry. The company has four trademark brand families; Budweiser, Michelob, Busch and Natural, each of which play a key strategic role as the volume drivers of the company. A-B’s size is definitely strength, because the company has the resources in place to increase beer industry volume, while continuing to meet the needs of today’s consumer. A-B currently offers over 40 brands of beer. Of this wide variety of premium and sub-premium beverages, each beer offers its own unique taste and blend. Yet, A-B is not standing still; the company is committed to creating new beverages that appeal to today’s adult consumers. To meet these changing tastes, A-B introduced more than 30 new products in the past 5 years and encouraged consumers to experiment with their new flavors. Of these, Budweiser Select, the newest addition to the Budweiser family was introduced, and has become one of the company’s most successful new product launches, with more than 2 million barrels sold. Other new offering included malt beverages, flavored beers, and beers such as BE, which combines fruit flavors with caffeine and guarana. A-B’s relentless commitment to constantly improving and innovating new products is keeping them ahead of the competition. Along with variety in beer, A-B is offering a variety in new packaging styles and shapes to elevate the image of beer. A-B launched aluminum bottles for those consumers who want to look stylish when out at a club, bar or upscale restaurant. The company also released a new clear plastic label to its Bud Light and Budweiser Select packages, which enhances the premium image and appeal of the brands. By offering new product lines in packaging, A-B is strengthening its image as the leader in the market. Place A-B owns and operates 12 strategically located breweries in the United States. These breweries give A-B a competitive advantage of its competitors by reducing freight costs associated with shipping out supplies, but also by offering the freshest beer of any major brewer. On average, A-B beers are 14 days fresher than the nearest competitor. Promotion A-B encounters significant advertising and promotional expenses; however these costs are necessary because advertising and promotion are key elements of their marketing strategy. Each year the company advertises through numerous sponsorships, programs and campaigns to focus on their unique imagery and product difference. A-B also does a fair amount of advertising through sporting events, they have been the exclusive beer advertiser during the Super Bowl for the past 18 years, and are also associated with the National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League, and the majority of National Football League teams. They also are currently in contract to sponsor Dale Earnhardt Jr. A-B is also known for its creative, catchy commercials. The Clydesdale horses are recognizable by most, and Budweiser Select’s national advertising campaign featured U.S. beer company President August Busch IV which highlighted the company’s sophistication and its â€Å"Expect Everything† brand identity. Price A wide variety of premium and sub-premium brands, offer a broad range of prices. However, price does not excuse A-B’s commitment to quality on all its products. Budweiser is on the upper echelon, where as Natural is on the lower end. Employee A-B has worked hard to develop and build a diverse workplace, in which teamwork and open, honest communication is valued. They are committed to promoting diversity in ethnic background. At the centerpiece of their effort is â€Å"Partners In Economic Progress,† a structured initiative designed to ensure that minority and women-owned firms have an opportunity to do business with A-B and its subsidiaries. In their efforts to building a diverse work force A-B has strengthened its brand name, as well as developed a strong relationship with many ethnicities. A-B has also worked hard to create a safe, productive and rewarding work environment, where each employee is responsible for contributing to the company’s success. The company emphasizes preparing employees for challenging and rewarding careers through extensive training and education provided by the A-B Training and Development Group (ABTDG). ABTDG’s main focus has been developing skills for employees of all business units within A-B, giving special consideration to technical, leadership and professional development. Technical training focuses on brewing, packaging, sales, maintenance, engineering and information technology, where as leadership and development courses center more general skills needed to prepare the future leaders of A-B. A-B has also offer highly competitive salaries and one of the most generous benefit packages in the industry. Benefits include health, dental, vision, and prescription plans; vacation; holidays; 401 (k); pension.

Learning Plan Essay Example for Free

Learning Plan Essay The learning plan described in this paper is to have students debate a topic related to the Civil War. The debate topic is â€Å"Was the Emancipation Proclamation enacted for moral reasons or political reasons?† The main concept of this learning plan is to have students work collaboratively to research facts, and recall and use facts from the Civil War unit to incorporate into their arguments. (It should be noted that the learning plan described in this paper will take several classes to complete, however the learning plan procedures will only address the class where the debate will occur. ) It is assumed that debate skills were taught in a previous class. The learning theory certainly incorporates constructivist aspects. They are constructing knowledge rather than absorbing it. This is constructivist approach is illustrated through the collaborative nature of the assignment, as well as through the research that students’ must produce. In terms of the use of technology and media; the students will be instructed to research one source of information, from the internet, related to their argument. They must submit a one-page analysis of the information in which they found along with a references page. This must be submitted to the teacher a week before the scheduled debate. The teacher will assess the content of the paper, but the references page will also be important. Teacher must evaluate the kinds of internet sources that the students have used. The credibility of the internet source, and the strength of student’s research will be analyzed by the teacher. The purpose is to assess student’s traditional literacy and critical analytical skills (assessed when evaluating the content), and information literacy/interpretation skills of online material (assessed by reviewing the reference page). Finally, the teacher will hand back papers to the students, and he/she will instruct each group to use at least two of their group members’ papers into their group’s arguments. Media and technology will also be incorporated with the use of social media. The teacher will tell students that their debates will be recorded and submitted to youtube or a private school website (if issues of privacy are raised). Others will be allowed to view the video to evaluate the strength of each team’s arguments. Based on the comments of public viewers, a winner will be chosen (by popular vote). This popular vote will be incorporated as a small percentage into the assessment. This is being done as to allow students to  participate in new media opportunities within an educational context. Learning Plan Context Setting The high needs school will be a High School in the Bay Area, either in San Francisco or Oakland. There will be 25-30 students in an individual classroom.  The lesson will take place the week after the Civil War unit is finished. It is anticipated that the unit will last about two weeks, therefore the debate class will occur during the third week. The actual debate class will take up one class period. The content area is US History/Politics. The grade level is Juniors (11th grade). In sum, the curriculum unit is 11th grade, US History/Politics, Civil War unit. Standards According to California standards for literacy in History/Social Studies in 6-12th grades. A student must be able to demonstrate analysis of primary and secondary sources, and connect these insights to the understanding of the whole text. This ability will be addressed and assessed when students must incorporate information learned from the textbook with information gained from the internet, and use both sources of information, into their debate. The student’s ability to undertake this task will be evaluated by the teacher with the submission of student’s sources, and also during the debate. (http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/documents/finalelaccssstandards.pdf.) Also according to California standards, students must be able to evaluate various explanations for events and actions. Learning Objective Students will be able to collaboratively demonstrate their knowledge of Civil War policy, events and information, from the textbook and from online sources, by formulating arguments to be presented within a debate. Learning Theory Applications Constructivism is certainly at play in this lesson plan: The activity allows knowledge to be organized into schemas, concepts, and worldviews. This activity is emphasizing the use of authentic activities by constructing knowledge through interaction with the environments (internet and peers), and applying it to real-life situations (debate). The collaborative component certainly illustrates constuctivism; learners will help each other create conceptual connections. Finally, students are working autonomously with the help of the teacher as facilitator, supporter, and model (Ormrod, 2006). Learning Accommodations: Individualized Education Plan for Special Accomodations: In each team, all students will be assigned a role. For example, â€Å"speaker†, â€Å"writer†, â€Å"time-keeper†. A student’s IEP will be taken into consideration when assigning roles. A student with an IEP, will be assigned a role that best fits their IEP. For example, a student with ADD, may be best suited to be a time-keeper since their attention span is not as focused. They may be anxious to change the pace of the group’s discussions, and therefore they may be eager to keep track of the time. Language Development needs: When assigning the internet-based research; the teacher will give ELL students a website to navigate to, instead of having the students navigate the internet themselves. Teacher will give explicit instructions as to where to look on the website so students do not feel too overwhelmed with the English language. Teacher will ask the students to try to comprehend some of the information, however if this proves too difficult, then the teacher will ask the students to find 15-20 words from the website that the student did not understand. The student will then find the meanings of these words in their own language. They must write at least a paragraph about the Civil War unit incorporating five of the words that they found on the internet. Also,  at least two of these words must be incorporated into the arguments of their team. Gifted and Talented needs: This is a challenging component to consider because a gifted/talented student does not necessarily mean an academic-rigorous student. To really tailor the lesson to address the interests of a gifted/talented student, then the teacher will have to be familiar with the personality of that particular student. However, some situations will be addressed here. First of all, from the research, the lesson itself befits that of a gifted/talented studen t. Competition, which characterizes a debate, usually suits the nature of gifted/talented students. The first situation to consider is a student who is gifted/talented, but not academically rigorous. This student will be given a leadership role within his/her team. He/she may be assigned to organize/manage all the ideas of the students. He/she is the one who will be given the rubric for what the teacher is assessing when observing the team’s discussions and arguments. He/she is the manager, and he/she will be assessed on their ability to keep his/her team on task. In this way, this student isn’t necessarily doing more â€Å"academic† work, but he/she is being challenged in a rather difficult manner. A second situation to consider is to have a gifted/talented student who is academically rigorous. The teacher will give this student a second component to add to his/her research paper. The student must connect textbook material and internet material to the US politics o f today. This is increasing the cognitive process from analyze (which all students must do with their research papers) to evaluate (Anderson and Krathwol, 2001). The student can choose to incorporate this extra component into their team’s arguments. Resource Accommodations: Low tech: There are no computers, projector, or internet access in the classroom. If this is the case, teacher may have to allocate time in different lessons to use school facilities where computers are available. Computers must be used so that the teacher can show students the kinds of websites that are credible, as well as to use sites, like youtube, to show students examples of debates. Computer use is necessary so teacher may have to take time before or after school to meet with students (who are willing) to show them the above-mentioned websites. Mid tech: One computer connected  to a projector is available in the classroom. The teacher can use this computer to show examples of credible websites, as well as to show examples of debates online. High tech: Class is equipped with several computers. Teams can go online themselves to view videos of debates and start research for their paper. In this way, the collaborative nature of the lesson will start even earlier (in the pre-plan ning stage). Content-Based Literacy Skills In terms of text-based literacy; students must incorporate information from their textbook into their arguments Critical thinking, reflective thought, and text-supported thinking will be illustrated when students must draw connections between internet-based information and textbook information while doing their analysis/research paper. This connection will be evaluated when student’s cute their sources within their paper. (This explanation will also illustrate students’ information literacy.) New Media Literacy Skills Performance: This skill is illustrated when students view sample debates on the internet and use this as models of performance in their own debates. Collective Intelligence: This skill is done when students are within their respective teams and they must draw upon their own and others ideas, research, and knowledge to formulate strong arguments. Judgement: This skill is illustrated when students must judge which websites and information are to be included in their research/analysis paper. Networking: Once again, this skill is illustrated when students must search, connect, and analyze information on the internet for the purpose of their research/analysis paper (Jenkins, 2001). Learning Material: Textbook: Learners will need textbook so that they can recall information. Paper, pen: Leaners will need so that they can write down information. Rubric: Both the learner and teacher needs. Learners need it so that they are aware of what’s expected of them while working in teams and formulating their arguments. Teacher needs it so that he/she can refer to it when assessing the team’s progress. Notes: Learners will need them as a reference when formulating arguments. Stopwatch/watch: This will be given to  the student whose job is timekeeper. Video Camera: Used to record the debate Learning Plan Procedures Phase I: Motivation Activity Teacher will show a short clip of a very powerful, interesting debate. Possibly a presidential debate. The clip will only show the most poignant part (according to the teacher) of the debate. Hopefully the clip will be no longer than 5 minutes long. (if there’s no computer available, then teacher must bring in her/his own computer.) In a class of 30 chair/table. There will be 15 chairs/ tables on each side of the room. They will be facing eachother. Learners will enter the classroom and sit down immediately with their team. The teacher will then show the video as soon as the class is seated and quiet. This activity is being done to motivate, encourage, and remind students of what a good debate looks like so that the output of the students’ debates can match skills such as speaking (clear and concise) and eye-contact of the debaters within the video. Phase II: Input (Teacher Driven) Activity: During this class, the teacher will, serve only as facilitator, therefore not much activity will be driven by the teacher. However, after the video, the teacher will remind students of the rubric that was given to them, and tell students that she/he is only their to assist in the logistics of the debate (time, flow, managing emotions if this becomes a problem). The teacher will also instruct students to take notes on each other’s arguments because this assignment will be important for their homework assignment. She/he will also remind student that they will be recorded. Teacher will tell all students to take out their rubrics. She/He will go over some key point from the rubric as it relates to the debate. The teacher will tell students to make sure that they keep these key points in mind because these points will be assessed during the debate. The teacher will instruct students to have their rubrics out for the entire class so they can monitor their team’s progress by themselves. Teacher will formally go over key questions from the rubric that he/she hopes the teams have incorporated into the nature of the debate (clear speech, eye contact,  concise points, respectful behavior) as well as into the content of the debate. In term of the nature of the debate, questions might look like â€Å"Is my team being quiet/respectful as the other team presents their arguments?†, â€Å"Are my responses to the other’s teams arguments not insulting?† etc. In terms of the content of the debate, questions may look like, â€Å"Did my team incorporate facts from the textbook?†, â€Å"Did my team use at least two credible internet sources within the argument?†, â€Å"Did my team follow special instructions assigned by the teacher (e.g. incorporating ideas from IEP students, ELL student, gifted students)?.† This activity and these questions serve to remind students of the importance of the collaborative nature of the learning objective. They also serve to remind students that they must be able to demonstrate their understanding of the Civil War unit, as well as their understanding of outside sources within the context of an argument. Phase III: Output (Learner Driven) Activity Students will take part in a debate. The topic is â€Å"Was the Emancipation Proclamation enacted for moral reasons or political reasons?† This activity will illustrate the learning objective in several ways. First, the collaborative nature of the previous classes will finally be demonstrated. Second, the students must illustrate their knowledge of Civil War policies within their arguments. Third, both sides’ arguments must include information from outside sources. The teacher will select one team to present their arguments first. Recording will begin The speaker of that team will stand up and come to the front of the class. They will present their team’s argument. In the argument they must mention the sources in which they got their information. For example, if they got a particular piece of data from the textbook, then they must state â€Å"As is presented in the textbook†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . If they got a particular piece of data from the internet then they must state, â€Å"As is presented on so-called website, or by so-called author†¦Ã¢â‚¬  They must also explicitly state how they used the â€Å"special instructions† from the teacher. For example, â€Å"(ELL’s student’s name) found that ‘compromise’ was not a possible solution of the Civil War.† In this example, it is assumed that compromise was on a list of words that an ELL student did not understand. He/she presented these list of words to  his/her team. The team reviewed the list, and chose to use the word compromise as part of their argument. The student will finish the presentation of his/her argument. The teacher will tell the next team to present its argument. The team will follow the same procedure as above. The teacher will then stop recording of the debate. This debate will naturally lead to questions, comments from both the teacher and the students. Phase IV: Culmination  The teacher will ask the groups to clear up any misunderstandings or misinformation the teams may have had within their argument. This is to give other team members a chance to speak about the argument, which reinforces the collaborative effort of the lesson. The teacher will also ask students how their team’s or the other team’s information and debate skills differed and how these things were similar to the debate presented in the beginning of the class. As a smaller activity, the teacher will instruct all the students to come up with one question, comment, critique of the other team’s argument. This assignment will illustrate each student’s understanding of the Civil War Unit because it challenges students to relate, connect, or counter-argue their own knowledge of the unit. This question will be submitted to the teacher. Phase V: Exten sion For homework, students will write a one-page analysis of the opposing teams arguments. The student will address the opposing side’s arguments. He/she will evaluate the argument’s weaknesses, strengths; and why he/she disagreed or agreed with the points that were made. Learning Plan Analysis Formative assessments will include analyzing the collaborative efforts of the team, the behavior of each team during the presentation of the opposing team’s arguments, how well each team member took on their role within their team, and how well the team incorporated textbook information, outside information, and ‘†special instructions† from the teacher into their argument. A summative assessment will include the teacher’s evaluation of the internet analysis/research paper, the one-page analysis of opposing team’s argument, teacher’s evaluations of the strength of the arguments, and finally the â€Å"popular vote† (the results of youtube or school-based website). Weaknesses of this lesson plan include time constraints, and the many assessments involved. It may be difficult to accurately assess how well each team members took on their roles. Some students may still be taking on more work than others. Also, incorporating ELL/IEP students proved to be a difficult task.. Strength of the lesson is it fosters team work, analytical skills, and gives students more power in the direction and implementation of a lesson. The teacher will implement these varied assessments in its first year, and then will evaluate the effectiveness of these assessments for future classes. The learning theories applied in the first phase was Vygotzky’s Cognitive Process. Students are witnessing two adults debating and they are expected to try to learn/imitate the behaviors of those adults. In the second phase, social cognitive theory is at play. The teacher both models desired behaviors/outcomes, as well as emphasizes self-efficacy and self-regulation. In the third phase, constructivism is illustrated. The debate is student-driven because the students are demonstrating their constructed knowledge within the debate. The assessments have a behaviorist component. Negative reinforcement (decrease a behavior) is illustrated when the teacher warns students that if they are not respectful or a team member does not contribute meaningfully, then they may be marked down (Ormrod, 2008). References Anderson, L. W. , Krathwol, D. R. (2001) . A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing, 28-31. California Department of Education. (2013) California Common Core State Standards. http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/documents/finalelaccssstandards.pdf Jenkins, H., Clinton, K., Purushotma, R., Robison, A. J., and Weigel, M. (2006). â€Å"Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century.† Chicago, IL: MacArthur Foundation. Ormrod, J. E. (2008). Educational Psychology Developing Learners, 8. 25-36. Teachers First. (2014) http://www.teachersfirst.com/gifted_strategies.cfm