Ethical Dilemma: Donna and Wilma Essay

Abstract In this paper, you will be able to see how to apply professional values, codes of ethics, and decision-making model to the process of ethical decision-making. I chose to look at ethical dilemma number 4. In this dilemma, a client’s confidentiality has been breached; due to her counselor. The first approach is for me to identify the problem and apply the ACA code of ethics. I then identify the moral principles and list all possible courses of action that could betake. Also list all possible consequences for each action that could be taken. I then carefully review, after which I chose what I believe to be the most accurate course of action for this scenario. So lastly I will take you step by step of how this action plan will be implement. Ethical Dilemma I chose to review ethical dilemma 4. Where Wilma, a counselor in a community agency, has been working with Donna for several months for anxiety and panic disorder. On multiple occasions, Wilma has given Donna homework to complete between sessions that has not been completed by Donna. This past week, Wilma sees Donna again in session and assigns her some more homework. Later that week, Wilma and a friend go out to dinner. Wilma looks up to see that Donna is her waitress. Frustrated with Donna’s lack of effort with her homework and in an effort to hold Donna accountable, Wilma decides to inquire if Donna has done her homework and says, â€Å"Donna, I am glad I ran into you. Have you done your homework since our last session?† I chose to review this particular ethical dilemma because this is something that could easy happen to any professional, if you fail to think before you speak. It can even be done with no ill intentions. However this could possible destroy the client and counselor relationship that has been built. The problem with this hypothetical ethical dilemma is that the client’s confidentiality was broken and relationship boundaries were crossed. This is an ethical and possible a  legal problem. It is an ethical problem because the clients confidentiality was broken when Wilma inquire if Donna had been working on her homework from their last session. It can also become a legal issue if Donna pursues it. This can become a major problem as it relates to the Wilma and the agency that she works for because the client’s confidentiality was broken. Donna could contact the agency that Wilma is employed for, or even contact the state board of counselors. The ACA code of ethics covers any ethical issues that a counselor maybe faced with. While reading over the ACA code of ethics confidentiality privileged communication and privacy was coved in great detail. Respecting Client Rights was defined as â€Å"counselors maintain awareness and sensitivity regarding cultural meanings of confidentiality and privacy. Counselors respect differing views toward disclosure of information. Counselors hold ongoing discussions with clients as to how, when, and with whom information is to be shared† (Ethics & Professional Standards, 2005). In the case with Wilma and Donna , Wilma was not sensitivity regarding Donna’s privacy. Wilma was having dinner with a friend and Donna was at work. That was not the right time to address anything that they had coved in a counseling session. According the ACA codes of ethics Wilma did not have respect for privacy or respect for confidentiality for her client. The ACA code of ethics defines respect for privacy as â€Å"Counselors respect client rights to privacy. Counselors solicit private information from clients only when it is beneficial to the consoling process† (Ethics & Professional Standards, 2005). It is also stated that respect for confidentiality â€Å"Counselors do not share confidential information without client consent or without sound legal or ethical justification† (Ethics & Professional Standar ds, 2005). I believe that it a counselor’s main moral principle is loyalty to their clients and honoring their commitments to them. In this case Donna believe that anything that was discussed in their counseling sections would remain confidential. â€Å"There are state and national organization That work to assist clients and professional counselors in taking the appropriate legal and ethical steps. The American Counseling Association provides free confidential professional/ethical consolations to members of the ACA. If a counselor is advice they van contact the ACA Ethics and Professional  Standards Department to set up appointments. Counselors can also contact their state LPCA to receive information regarding the proper protocol for certain cases† (Ethics & Professional Standards, 2005). There are several potential course of action in this case. Any course of action that would be taking would be fully up to Donna in this case. Donna could ignore the comments that Wilma made to her. Donna could talk to Wilma, and express that she didn’t appreciate how she addressed her personal issues in front of a stranger and while she was at work. Also let Wilma know she would appreciate if she wouldn’t do that again. After Donna address this issue with Wilma she could chose to keep her as her counselor or ask for a new counselor. Donna could also consult another counselor to determine the best course of action to take against Wilma. Lastly, Donna could contact ACA for legal and ethical advice regarding breach of confidentiality. For each potential course of action there is a potential consequence(s) and implications for each chose. If Donna choses to ignore the comment that Wilma made to her, there will not be any consequence for Wilma. However there could be potential consequences and/or implications for Donna. If Donna ignores the comments, Wilma may keep to making statements. If Donna talks to Wilma, and express that she didn’t appreciate how she addressed her personal issues in front of a stranger and while she was at work, this could help. The consequences of this course of action could be beneficial to both Donna and Wilma. It could be beneficial to both parties, Wilma will see that she breached her clients confidentiality and Donna will have the chance to express how that made her feel. This could help rebuild the trust that was lost do to Wilma’s lack of professionalism; it could also help Donna with her anxiety. If Donna consults another counselor to determine the best course of action, this could be very important in this case. By discussing this with another counselor can help Donna gain a better insight as to how to handled and move forward with treatment. Lastly if Donna contacts the ACA board for legal and ethical advice, this could have major consequences for Wilma and the agency. Wilma will most likely be fined or even have her licenses revoked. I believe that the best course of action in this case would be for Donna to talk Wilma, and express that she didn’t appreciate how she addressed her personal issues in front of a stranger and while she was at work. I believe this is the best course of action only because Wilma did not go into detail  about what the homework consisted of. Although Donna confidentiality was breached, no significant information was exposed, other then the fact that she sees a counselor. I don’t believe that is would be necessary for any legal action to be taken. I do believe that Donna should inform another member of the agency of what happened and the course of a ction that she has chose to take in dealing with dilemma. The selected course of action does not present any new ethical problems in my eyes. I believe that Donna has covered herself in all areas. If Donna talks to Wilma and also consult another counselor in the agency, this should eliminate any potential ethical problems. After reviewing all possible courses of actions and consequences, I believe the most beneficial option would be to for Donna to talk Wilma, and express that she didn’t appreciate how she addressed her personal issues in front of a stranger and while she was at work and consult another counselor in the agency. I applied the test of justice, publicity, and universality here are my findings. Justice: In this case choosing to consult Wilma with this dilemma it will help Wilma be more aware of confidentiality of her clients. Publicity: In the public eye Wilma is not acting ethically. Universality: The course of action that Donna has chosen (addressing Wilma and consulting another counselor in the agency) would be a great recommendation for other people put in similar situations. There are certain steps that Donna has to take in order to implement this course of action. First, Donna needs to consult the other counselor that works for Wilma agency. Donna should have a sit down conversation with this person and go over each detail of the event that happen on the night she was working. Also Donna should express the course of action that she wants to take to handle this case. Lastly Donna, Wilma and the counselor that Donna informed of the incident should all have a sit down conversation. Donna can then explain to Wilma how she felt and the lack of professionalism. Wilma and Donna are both being protected in this case because there is a three person there to over see the conversation and take notes that can go into Wilma and Donna records. References Chappell, C. (2013, July 1). Virginia Board of Counseling . Retrieved November 15, 2013, from Virgunia.gov: www.dhp.virginia.gov/counseling/counseling_law_regs.htm Ethics & Professional Standards. (2005). Retrieved November 15, 2013, from American Counseling Association: www.counseking.org/knowledge-centr/ethics

Opposing Viewpoints Essay Essay

Everyone has their own opinion. The person sitting next to you can have an entirely different outlook on something you do. Having different opinions is what makes for interesting arguments. Especially an author and a critic†¦ like Steven Johnson and Dana Stevens. In the article â€Å"Watching TV Makes You Smarter†, Steven Johnson believes that TV does make you smarter, while in her article â€Å"Thinking Outside the Idiot Box† Dana Stevens completely disagrees and critiques his article. The two have opposing views on the topic. Both these writers use different examples of ethos, pathos, and logos in their articles to back up their opinion and make for an interesting argument. In my opinion, Dana Stevens overall did a better job at using ethos, pathos, and logos to back up her argument. â€Å"From the vantage point of someone who watches a hell of a lot of TV (but still far less than the average American), the medium seems neither like a brain-liquefying poison nor a salutary tonic† (Stevens, 2012, p. 298). This quote is what Steven really tries to prove the whole article and back up with her arguments. Ethos has to do with credibility and trustworthiness. It is usually conveyed through the tone, and the writer’s reputation. This technique is used to make people seem credible and someone whom we respect. Dana Stevens uses ethos very well when trying to make her argument in â€Å"Thinking outside the idiot box.† Stevens starts off with informing the audience that she has a Ph.D in comparative literature from the University of California at Berkeley. If the author has earned her a Ph.D in comparative literature that gives her credibility because she has had to go through a lot of years of schooling and she has a lot of writing experience by now after getting a job in the field. â€Å"Dana Stevens is Slate’s movie critic and has also written for the New York Times, Bookforum, and the Atlantic† (Stevens, 2012, p. 295) is just another example of how experienced  Dana Stevens has a lot of experience with her work and knows what she is talking about. Steven Johnson used ethos the best in his argument. In the beginning he is introduced as: â€Å"Steven Johnson is the author of seven books, among them Everything Bad Is Good For You: How Today’s Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter (2005) and Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation (2010). Johnson is also a contributing editor for Wired, writers a monthly column for Discover, and teachers journalism at New York University.† (Johnson, 2012, p. 277) He is the author of seven other books and list them all. It then goes on to say Johnson is a contributing editor for Wired, he writers a monthly column for Discover, and teachers journalism at New York University. All of these things about Johnson give him a lot of credibility to begin with. Pathos has to do with appealing to your audiences emotion. Using imaginative impact, and stories can convince your audience of your argument by creating an emotional response. Tone is also a huge part of pathos, the way you state your argument can have a impact on their opinion. Dana Stevens wants to expose Steven Johnsons article and she does so by using pathos to get to the audiences emotions. At some points Stevens even makes fun of Johnson when she says â€Å" Johnson’s claim for television as a tool for brain enhancement seems deeply, hilariously bogus.† (Stevens, 2012, p. 297) This statement impacts the audiences emotions by making the reader feel kind of dumb if they actually agreed with Johnson that television makes you smarter, dumb enough that it would be hilarious if they were to actually believe that. She also makes a point when she says â€Å"he breezily dismisses recent controversies about the program’s representation of Muslim terrorists or it implicit endorsement of torture, preferring to concentrate on how the show’s formal structure teaches us to â€Å"pay attention, make inferences, track shifting social relationships.† (296) The mention of endorsement of torture usually makes people feel very disgusted and upset because of their morals. In the beginning Stevens (2012) basically says to the audience that anyone who agrees with Johnsons argument that TV makes you smarter are like â€Å"rats in a behaviorists maze.† (Stevens, 2012, 295) This creates a negative  emotion towards Johnsons argument, no one wants to be thought of as rat in an experiment being fooled. Steven Johnson uses pathos to get in touch with the audiences feelings by using TV shows that go against any normal persons morals. He used shows that brought up a lot of public controversies. â€Å"Over the preceding weeks, a number of public controversies had erupted around 24, mostly focused on its portrait of Muslim terrorists and its penchant for torture scenes. The episode that was shown on the twenty-fourth only fanned the flames higher: in one scene, a terrorist enlists a hit man to kill his child for not fully supporting the jihadist cause; in another scene, the secretary of defense authorizes the torture of his son to uncover evidence of a terrorist plot.† (Stevens, 2012, p. 278) Of course a statement like this will get peoples attention firstly. It will also really get people into their emotions too. The one sentence about the scene when a terrorist enlists a hit man to kill his child for no fully supporting jihadist cause will catch anyone’s attention even if you don’t really pay any mind to the subject. Something that is out of the norm like that will also get into peoples emotions. The other scene brought up about the secretary of defense authorizing the torture of his son to uncover evidence of a terrorist plot would take anyone by surprise and most likely feel disgusted. As a parent you should always want to protect your child†¦ not torture them, so imagine how an audience would feel especially parents after reading about this. It would most definitely catch their attention and get in touch with their feelings. Logos has to do with logic, reasoning, argumentation. Using facts, figures, and case studies to prove the point. If people know someone is using facts to prove their argument they assume it has to be true, facts don’t lie. Dana Stevens doesn’t exactly use facts and information the whole time, but she just wants the audience to understand that they are able to control their own choices about how much television they should watch. She bases a lot of her article off of this idea. Stevens also says at a point â€Å"just turn the set off†¦ and see if you get any dumber.†(Stevens, 2012, p. 298) Turning off the TV for a few days will not make you become dumber. If you turn off  the TV and pick up a book instead you’re more likely to gain more knowledge from that. The point Stevens is really trying to make is Johnson’s argument just doesn’t make any sense. How can TV make you smarter if you’re perfectly fine not watching it for a couple days and can actually gain more knowledge from doing something more educational like taking a trip to the library. This is just proving the point that watching TV does not make you any smarter, and not watching TV does not make you any dumber. Steven Johnson uses logos when he starts stating facts about TV shows and lets the audience know full details about it. Johnson goes on to talk about Television shows, when doing so he gives the audience a lot of facts about them to show they are legitimate. â€Å" During its 44-minutes- a real-time hour, minus 16 minutes for commercials- the episode connects the lives of 21 distinct characters, each with a clearly defined â€Å"story arc,†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. (Johnson, 2012, p. 278) He states the exact commercial times, the network, the date, exactly how long it was, what the show was about, etc. Johnson always states the exact full detail about every show he uses to prove his argument correct. When Johnson does so he gives the audience a sense that he knows what he is talking about. He always backs up his argument with facts†¦ this can let the audience know he has done his research, he has gone through the trouble to figure out everything there is know about the show including small things like the airing time, etc., and basically he just has all the facts there to prove his point if anyone disagrees with him. In conclusion, both writers use a lot of ethos, pathos, and logos to prove their argument. At some points one author may have used them better to prove their argument. Steven Johnson had a very strong ethos, pretty good pathos and also an average logos. Dana Stevens just used an overall strong use of all three ethos, pathos, and logos to prove her argument that TV does not make you smarter. The whole point of her article â€Å"Thinking Outside the Idiot Box† was to show the invalidity in Johnsons article. She gave facts, appealed to the audiences emotions, gave the audience a sense of credibility and trustworthiness. Both writers are very talented and experienced but Dana Stevens won the audience over with all these techniques backing up her argument.

Coming full circle Essay

You could almost say that Leadership, the US Army, the Quality Circle (Editors, 2007), and the Baldrige Criteria (Commerce, 2006) have a shared history: Having established above the importance of leadership in all aspects of life in that it is found in the military as well as in the civilian: business even in the spiritual (servant-leadership) or religious—it was the US Army which took the lead in the formation of â€Å"quality circles† during the Second World War in the 1940s to ensure that the US produce large quantities of war materiel of best quality (Anonymous, 2002). It even took a US Professor, W.Edwards Deming (Editors, 2007), of Western culture, to teach the Japanese, of Eastern culture, to this concept of â€Å"quality circles† (Anonymous, 2002; Editors, 2007; Jarvis, 2006; Swinton, 2007), catapulting Japan slowly but surely to Asian world power status and endearing Prof. Deming to the Japanese who honored him with a prestigious award after his name, the Deming Award. Faced with slack economic progress in the 1970s, the US government set up the Baldrige Criteria/Awards to catch up and to try to lead again in the world’s industries (Commerce, 2001, , 2005, , 2006, , 2007a, , 2007b, , 2007c). In effect, it cannot be avoided if the Baldrige Awards is compared with the Deming Award in Japan. All things besides, the Baldrige Criteria attempts to accurately measure those seven (7) identified aspects (more about later) which contribute to organizational success. Even this year 2007 (Commerce, 2007b), many modifications have been in place in the Baldrige Criteria to keep up with new challenges met, showing how dynamic the Baldrige Method is. It now took the Employer Support for the Guard and Reserve ESGR (E. S. G. R., 2007), a US Department of Defense agency working for the US Armed Forces to take the lead in possibly showing other applications of readily available Baldrige Criteria raw scores. Statement of the Thesis Problem Attempting to prove that when Leadership Scores Category are high as measured by the Baldrige Criteria, then the other six (6) Category areas measure high as well, such as Strategic Planning; Customer and Market Focus; Measurement, Analysis, and Knowledge Measurement; Human Resource Focus; Process Management; and Business Results and to show a correlation as such. Hypotheses Hypotheses to be tested: 1. Leadership scores category are significantly correlated with the scores of the other six category areas. 2. Significant multiple regression equation exists between leadership scores (Y, dependent variable) and the scores of the six category areas (X, independent variables). Objectives of the Thesis 1. To determine the difference between Leaders (or Senior Leaders) and Others (or Junior Leaders) using performance excellence criteria of the Baldrige framework. 2. To determine which of the different concerns contribute to leadership. Materials and Methods The Survey Data Provider The set of raw data used as the primary research of this paper provided the basis for the Report (Peacock, 2006) submitted by Gartman and Associates, a Baldrige-accredited contractor duly authorized to conduct the Baldrige survey using the 2006 Baldrige Criteria as the framework. This criterion is the de facto criteria of performance excellence used globally by manufacturing, service, small business, health care, education, and nonprofit/government for improving organizational performance. The criteria has seven focus areas: Leadership; Strategic Planning; Customer and Market Focus; Measurement, Analysis, and Knowledge Management; Human Resources Focus; Process Management; and Business Results. The Survey Date and the Target Institution. During the week of 4 through 8 December 2006, Gartman and Associates performed a high-level, initial â€Å"quick look† assessment of the National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, ESGR (E. S. G. R. , 2007). Employer Support for the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) is a Department of Defense (DoD) organization of the United States of America (USA). It is a staff group within the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs (OASD/RA), which is in itself a part of the Office of the Secretary of Defense. The nation’s Reserve components, referring to the total of all National Guard members and Reserve forces from all branches of the military, (Laurent, 2006) comprise approximately 46 percent of the total available military manpower of the USA’s Armed Forces . The current National Defense Strategy indicates that the National Guard and Reserve will be full partners in the fully integrated Total Force. The USA Reserve Forces will spend more time away from the workplace defending the nation, supporting a demanding operations tempo and training, take note, to maintain their mission readiness. In this environment, civilian employers play a critical role in the defense of the nation by complying with existing employment laws protecting the rights of workers who serve in the Reserve component. ESGR was established in 1972 to promote cooperation and understanding between Reserve component members and their civilian employers and to assist in the resolution of conflicts arising from an employee’s military commitment. ESGR is the lead DoD organization for this mission under DoD Directive 1250. 1.

Pakistan Cng Industry

Compiled by: Mirza Rohail B http://economicpakistan. wordpress. com/2008/02/10/cng-industry/ Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) is a substitute for gasoline (petrol) or diesel fuel. It is considered to be an environmentally â€Å"clean† alternative to those fuels. It is made by compressing methane (CH4) extracted from natural gas. Argentina and Brazil are the two countries with the largest fleets of CNG vehicles. As of 2005, Pakistan is the largest user of CNG in Asia, and third largest in the world. The Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) sector of Pakistan by end of 2007 has attracted over Rs 70 billion investments during the last few years as a result of liberal and encouraging policies of the government. Presently, more than 2,700 CNG stations are operating in the country in 85 cities and towns, and 1000 more would be setup in the next three years. It has provided employment to above 30,000 people in Pakistan. Over 2 million vehicles were converted to CNG as of march 2009, showing an increase of 35 percent yearly. On average 29,167 vehicles are being converted to CNG every month. All Pakistan CNG Association (APA) Sana-ur-Rehman confirms that CNG stakeholders have invested Rs. 90 billion in this sector and another Rs 20 billion investment is in pipeline. The CNG consumers had invested around Rs 60 billion in converting their vehicles to CNG. The CNG was replacing at least 6. 12 billion liters of petrol every year and saving foreign exchange to the tune of billions of dollars. The CNG sector pays 24 percent sales tax and 4 percent withholding tax to the government. Moreover, the CNG is contributing tremendously towards maintaining the air pollution level lower since it emits almost 85 percent less harmful gasses, zero lead and zero particulate matter. Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) is a substitute for gasoline (petrol) or diesel fuel. It is considered to be an CNG has grown into one of the major fuel sources used in car engines in Pakistan, Bangladesh and India. The government of Punjab, Pakistan, the most populous province of that country, has mandated that all public-transport vehicles will use CNG by 2007. CNG conversion 3rd generation environmentally â€Å"clean† alternative to those fuels. It is made by compressing methane (CH4) extracted from natural gas. It is stored and distributed in hard containers, usually cylinders. Conversion has been facilitated by a substantial price differential with liquid fuels, locally-produced conversion equipment and a growing CNG-delivery infrastructure. A ‘Blue-network’ of CNG stations is being developed on the major highways of the Southern Cone (including Chile and Bolivia) to allow for long-haul transportation fuelled by CNG. According to the International Association for Natural Gas Vehicles, Pakistan has the third-largest number of natural gas vehicles. In the Middle East and Africa, Egypt is a top ten country in the world with more than 63000 CNG vehicles and 95 fueling stations nationwide. Egypt was also the first nation in Africa and the Middle East to open a public CNG fuelling station in January 1996. Brisbane Transport and Trans-Perth in Australia have both adopted a policy of only purchasing CNG buses in future; the former purchasing 216 Scania L94UB and 180 MAN 18. 10 models, with the latter purchasing 451 Mercedes-Benz OC500LE buses, including 58 articulated buses. Brisbane Transport has also ordered up to 30 articulated CNG buses on MAN chassis’. During the 1970s and 1980s, CNG was commonly used in New Zealand in the wake of the oil crises, but fell into decline after petrol prices receded. Technology CNG can easily be used in Otto-cycle (gasoline) and modified Diesel cycle engines. Lea n-burn Otto-cycle engines can achieve higher thermal efficiencies when compared with stoichiometric Otto-cycle engines at the expense of higher NOx and hydrocarbon emissions. Electronically-controlled stoichio-metric engines offer the lowest emissions across the board and the highest possible power output, especially when combined with EGR, turbo charging and inter-cooling, and three way catalytic converters. The octane rating of CNG is far greater than Petrol and if handled correctly it can produce same or more power output from an engine provided the Compressed Natural Gas is compressed properly and accurate amounts of BTU Figures attained. CNG cylinders can be made of steel, aluminum, or plastic. Lightweight composite (fiber-wrapped plastic) cylinders are especially beneficial for vehicular use because they offer significant weight reductions when compared with earlier generation steel and aluminum cylinders, which leads to lower fuel consumption. CNG may be refueled from low-pressure or high-pressure systems. The difference lies in the cost of the station vs. the refueling time. There are also some implementations to refuel out of a residential gas line during the night, but this is forbidden in some countries. CNG compared to LNG and LPG CNG is often confused with LNG. While both are stored forms of natural gas, the key difference is that CNG is in compressed form, while LNG is in liquefied form. CNG has a lower cost of production and storage compared to LNG as it does not require an expensive cooling process and cryogenic tanks. CNG requires a much larger volume to store the same mass of natural gas and the use of high pressures. CNG is also often confused with LPG, which is a compressed blend of propane (C3H8) and butane (C4H10). The Advantages of Compressed Natural Gas The Environmentally Clean Advantage Compressed natural gas is the cleanest burning fuel operating today. This means less vehicle maintenance and longer engine life. CNG vehicles produce the fewest emissions of any motor fuel. Dedicated Natural Gas Vehicles (NGV) has little or no emissions during fueling. In gasoline vehicles, fueling emissions account for at least 50% of a vehicle’s total hydrocarbon emissions. CNG produces significantly less pollutants than gasoline. Tailpipe emissions from gasoline operated cars release carbon dioxide, which contributes to global warming. This is greatly reduced with natural gas. The Maintenance Advantage Some fleet operators have reduced maintenance costs by as much as 40% by converting their vehicles to CNG. Intervals between tune-ups for natural gas vehicles are extended 30,000 to 50,000 miles. Intervals between oil changes for natural gas vehicles are dramatically extended–anywhere from 10,000 to 25,000 additional miles depending on how the vehicle is used. Natural gas does not react to metals the way gasoline does, so pipes and mufflers last much longer. The Performance Advantage Natural gas gives the same mileage as gasoline in a converted vehicle. Dedicated CNG engines are superior in performance to gasoline engines. CNG has an octane rating of 130 and has a slight efficiency advantage over gasoline. Because CNG is already in a gaseous state, NGV’s have superior starting and drivability, even under severe hot and cold weather conditions. NGV’s experience less knocking and no vapor locking. The CNG Cost Advantage Natural gas is cheaper per equivalent gallon than gasoline (an average of 15% to 50% less than gasoline). The Safety Advantage Surveys indicate that NGV’s are as safe or safer than those powered by other fuels. A 1992 AGA survey of more than 8,000 vehicles found that with more than 278 million miles traveled, NGV injury rates per vehicle mile traveled were 34% lower than the rate for gasoline vehicles. There were no fatalities reported–even though these vehicles were involved in over 1,800 collisions. The Financial Incentive Advantage Some States offers a 50% investment tax credit for each vehicle converted to natural gas. This 50% credit on state income tax features a three-year, carry-forward option. A federal tax deduction is also available for the cost of conversion. Apprehensions in Industry The CNG Stations Owners Association of Pakistan (CSOAP) in January 2009 demanded the government to introduce a separate tariff for CNG to protect the investment by CNG station owners. An executive committee members meeting of CSOAP Thursday urged the Ministry of Petroleum and OGRA to keep the CNG policy 1992 enforced. The recent steps by the government to increase gas price would damage the CNG industry and would put additional burden on the common man. The current increase of 10 percent in gas prices is unjustified and uncalled for when the fuel prices all over the world have plunged. The 33 percent steep increase of gas prices in July 2008 by SSGCL and SNGPL was fully absorbed by CNG station owners and dealers by reducing their profit margins. He said the CNG sector as a whole consumes less than 6 percent of total gas output from SSGCL and SNGPL. The investments of more than Rs 60 billion of middle and lower middle class people who converted their vehicles to use cheap and environmental friendly CNG would go waste if the government does not revert the recent increase of gas price immediately. The CNG industry’s efforts to reduce government’s burden of foreign exchange payments and huge savings of Forex reserves resulted from shift to CNG use in vehicles. He claimed CNG has resulted in savings of more than $250 million per annum of foreign exchange for Pakistan. The recent increase of gas prices would force the CNG vehicle owners to buy CNG at a higher rate forcing CNG stations to close down their businesses leaving 2. 1 million vehicle owners including rickshaws and taxis prone to inflation. He said if the government did not meet their genuine demands, they would be forced to shut down their businesses and would not be able to pay their leasing payments and other loans. All Pakistan CNG Association (APA) in 2008 had also expressed resentment over the government’s plan to increase CNG prices equalizing petroleum prices so as to resolve ongoing gas crises in the country. The APA has contacted the planning division for holding a meeting on the issue but the concerned officials have refused to meet the stakeholders, he claimed. The APA chairman Sana-ur-Rehman claimed that there is an anti-CNG lobby in the planning division. He said that the CNG stakeholders have invested Rs 90 billion in this sector and another Rs 20 billion investment is in pipeline. He expressed apprehensions that the industry would totally collapse if the CNG prices were equalized with petroleum prices. According to APA Chairman, the CNG sector accounts only for 6 percent of the national gross consumption of the natural gas, where as it is being portrayed as the cause for present gas shortage crisis. The domestic sector consumes 21 percent gas during summer, which rises to 69 percent in winter and that was actually responsible for the gas shortage every winter season. He informed journalists that gas was provided to industrial sector for a contract of 9 month in a year. The industries were required to arrange for alternate energy source during the remaining three months of winter, he maintained. However, he regretted that the government machinery wanted to provide supply of gas to industrial sector throughout the year for the last several years against the contractual obligations. CNG Conversions Converting a gasoline-powered car to CNG requires only minor engine modifications. To learn more about converting your car, please contact a certified CNG conversion company. (c) ECONOMIC PAKISTAN

Disney’s Transition into Television and its Effects on Child Actors Essay

Disney has expanded their enterprise into many different areas, one of them being television. As Disney has explored the medium of television, they have focused the shows for the audience of children. In 1955, The Mickey Mouse Club was one of the first shows that Disney had on television. In order to appeal to younger audiences, the show had â€Å"young attractive stars performing before a live audience, clowns, magicians, cartoons, guest stars, educational elements, and music written for the show† (Pendergast). Children liked to watch the show because they were watching kids that were about the same age as them, and they could relate to the actors. The children watching the show were heavily influenced by the Mickey Mouse Club because they looked up to and saw the actors as role models (Telotte). They wanted to be like the actors, so Disney profited off this generation of children by putting out merchandise related to the show. In this way, Disney started making more and more money because of these child actors. Many people argue about the effect that watching Disney’s television shows and â€Å"their positive and negative influence on kids† (Hillstrom). However, what about the effect that Disney’s television shows have on the child actors? These children spend their childhood on the sets of television shows, â€Å"being a kid is a full-time job, with scripts to memorize, and tutoring to endure† (Corliss). They are playing the characters of normal kids, without being able to experience a normal childhood themselves, it is no wonder that many child stars get into trouble when they â€Å"start growing up and moving out† (Armstrong, Markovitz) and leave Disney, because they have not been able to experience normal life growing up as a Disney actor. Disney’s â€Å"ability to grow teen talent† year after year is what makes the Disney Channel so successful (Luscombe). While Disney’s other ventures are not making as much money as they used to, â€Å"Disney’s Teen Machine has become a finely tuned profit pump in an industry rife with unpredictability† (Luscombe). Disney seems to have figured out the formula for a great teen star, and they know when they see one. Casting agents at Disney say that â€Å"while they love high-energy kids who can deliver a line and get the humor, they avoid overtrained types† â€Å"they try to cast very real kids who have raw talent† (Armstrong). For most child stars, television is not the endgame, it is just the launchpad that they need to build themselves up until they become big stars. They also cannot just rely on their raw talent to get them though, acting is their job and they are getting paid to film the shows and star in the movies that Disney creates, so they need to not only be â€Å"cute, smart, and quick to learn lines, but also dedicated, focused, and in it for the long haul† (Armstrong). Disney Channel’s stereotypical television character is a teenage girl or boy with a strong family who sometimes gets into funny situations that they learn from in the end. The story lines differ from show to show, but the characters usually have that same background. They always have strong family values with an annoying sibling or two in order to make the show more interesting. Many of Disney’s successful shows have been known to continue for at least four seasons and sometimes more. This is because Disney is a family friendly network so they advertise â€Å"wholesome family entertainment†, and appeal to not only the children, but also their parents (Pendergast). Parents are a very large part of Disney’s enterprise, because they are the ones who are buying all of the merchandise. If they do not think that a certain show is having a positive influence on their children, they will stop letting their children watch the show which leads to less merchandise being bought. In this way, the teen actors also need to be very aware of the decisions that they make. Because they are the stars of these Disney shows, the kids that watch them on television look up to them. They instantly become role models for these children whether they want to be or not. And if they make a bad decision in their everyday lives and it gets into the media, and parents disapprove of the message it sends to their children, they stop being consumers of the actor and the show. Eventually the child and teen actors grow up, and want to leave the Disney Channel and pursue a career as an adult actor. However making the switch from Disney to Hollywood has not been achieved often. Disney has crafted a certain image for their stars, and it is hard for the actors to shake an image that has been associated with them for most of their childhood. The young actors grow out of the Disney shows and want to branch out into more serious roles, and many leave Disney and a lot of money behind to do so, for example Hilary Duff star of the hit Disney show Lizzie McGuire â€Å"famously walked away from a multi-million dollar offer† to start off on her own without Disney (Armstrong, Markovitz). Sometimes the upside for Disney is that when a star moves on, â€Å"the company no longer has to answer for every saucy leaked photo and tabloid scandal† in order to keep up their cookie cutter image (Armstrong, Markovitz). However, Disney would like to keep making money off of the stars, and they do that by â€Å"creating more opportunities so that the talent is more interested in engaging longer with the company† (Luscombe). In trying to keep their young stars, Disney has â€Å"created more opportunities for the stars within the company† (Luscombe). Disney has created many paths that they have their stars take, in wanting them to stay at Disney, they make the stars get involved in all aspects of disney. They make the stars go into no only acting in their television shows, but also getting involved in music and singing. This not only helps the stars gain more fame and fans, but makes Disney much more money than before. Instead of hiring actors and singers and dancers, Disney has shaped their stars so that they do everything with just one person. Disney has also had success in putting all three of these aspects together when they created High School Musical and The Cheetah Girls. They also take stars from their different television shows and put them in special episodes of other shows. This tactic advertises the individual actor and also a new show. Another way Disney gets their stars more involved in the company is if the stars record music and they put it in another movie, it advertises both the actor and the new movie. Disney’s advertising tactics have make their company more successful, and also their stars more famous. However because Disney has incorporated the stars into the company so much and has advertised them and their work as Disney, it is hard for them to branch out, which is exactly what Disney wants. They want to make it hard for the Actors to become disassociated with Disney. However, some stars handle branching away from Disney better than others. For example, Shia LaBeouf became very successful after Disney, starring in many great movies such as the Transformers series. Other former Disney stars handled the Disney branding badly, such as Miley Cyrus. She starred in the very lucrative Disney Channel show Hannah Montana. Where she played a very pure girl who moves for Tennessee to Malibu and has a secret life as a pop star. Miley had an even harder job at getting away from Disney that most other stars because she was not only known for the character Miley Stewart that she played on the show, but also for the character Hannah Montana which was the pop star alter ego on the show. She had two Disney characters to disassociate with and not just one. It was no secret that â€Å"Miley had been publicly testing the waters of adulthood for a few years†, she was taking dramatic and daring Vanity Fair photos and had â€Å"vaguely stripperish dance moves† at an awards show performance (Donahue). She also started to dress differently, less like the character on the show, and more of the short shorts and skin showing clothes. She was trying to change her image from Disney to more dangerous. However, the parents of the children who watched Hannah Montana were angry and made accusations that Miley was now a bad role model for their children and she lost some of her Disney fan base. â€Å"Disney makes you a star, you make them an enormous amount of money, and then you either crash and burn or you go out and stake your claim in the real world† (Donahue). In trying to branch out and get out from under the Disney stereotype, many of the former Disney stars have gotten into trouble with drugs and partying because they go to such drastic measures to change their image. They turn to drug use for the reason that it is so anti-Disney and they feel like that is the only way for people to see them not as their Disney Channel characters but as adults. But because Disney started their careers, they are indebted to them and feel like they owe it to Disney to stay with them for longer than they would want to. They also now have so much money that they could potentially get out of the business all together and be fairly well off. Disney has made a lot of money off of them and their fame, but they have also made a considerable amount off of Disney. Disney has made its young actors so famous that the kids have the world at their feet (Armstrong, Markovitz). But how much has the Disney lifestyle affected the child actors in their development and view of the world around them. They have not grown up like other normal kids did, they act for a living, and it is a full time job. They have to memorize lines and they are on set all day, they do not have time to go to school so they have tutors (Corliss). They play characters that live normal lives, and go to school, but they have not experienced these things themselves first hand. They are sheltered from the outside world while they are being shaped by Disney. They are who many normal children look up to and want to be, but sometimes they might want to just be normal. Having to represent Disney and watch everything that they do and say is a stressful job, and that stress created by Disney’s expectation of them and their fans expectation of them is enough to make anyone want to act out a bit, especially because they are teenagers. Being in the public eye and always being careful of what you do is not how children are supposed to grow up. They are supposed to be able to make mistakes and learn from those mistakes, but these Disney stars do not get the opportunity to make those mistakes because everyone is watching them and if they made even a minuscule mistake, the public would criticize them to no end. They have to live up to the Disney stereotype of the perfect pure child and also try to grow up and learn. Which is why when these stars try to deviate from Disney and to branch out from them, they take the most drastic measures possible because they do not know any other way. These child actors have so many children looking up to them, and so many people watching them that they do not have any room to breath and just be kids, they grow up too fast and then people criticize them for doing things that are too adult like wearing clothes that show ample amounts of skin or going out to clubs and partying, they grew up too fast in Hollywood and in the public spotlight. Disney has made billions off of these child actors and have created many opportunities for them to build their fame and fortune (Armstrong). But is Disney taking these children, shaping them into what they want the stars to be, and then when they are too old and Disney no longer needs them are they throwing these actors out to fend for themselves when they do not really know anything different than Disney? Society expects these children who have had to grow up too quickly in the environment that they were placed in and have not had proper childhoods to be perfect and to not make any mistakes when realistically we should be encouraging them to make mistakes and learn from them. Our society has expectations that are too high for these children and are too high even for adults to meet. We need to put less pressure on these Disney child actors to be perfect and to encourage them to be kids and to have fun. The pressure that they have on them from Disney to be successful, make a lot of money, and to conform to what Disney wants them to be combined with societies expectations for them to be good role models and to always make the right decision is too much pressure for these children to handle. So they turn to drugs and alcohol so that they are no longer expected to be the perfect person. The child actors are sometimes overlooked in the argument of television, but they have also been affected.

Design an org Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Design an org - Term Paper Example It will be a non-profit organization that seeks to popularize space sports because of the perceived benefits of the same. In that connection, it will have a vibrant marketing team to recruit followers and a finance department to track expenditure and other financial implications. Finally, there will be a technical team to advice on the realities of playing basketball in outer space. In outer space, there is little gravity (Asimov, 2006). As such, the rules that apply to basketball on earth cannot apply to Mars. For example, since there is no gravity on Mars, one of the rules will be that that basketball passes through the ring from below and not from above. There also needs to be a rule on the standard basketball court applicable in outer space (Labossià ¨re et al., n.d). Most likely, it should be an enclosed structure with a ceiling to decelerate and stop the ball when it goes up. There could also be more points for an opponent who rescues a team member stuck on the ceiling because they jumped too high. All conflicts arising from outer space basketball will be directed to this body. Inevitably, human interactions are known to be incubators of discord. Any emerging differences will be reconciled in a hearing presided over by the Federation. The Federation will also be tasked with the responsibility of generating a calendar of activities throughout the year. Various tournaments will be organized, planned and executed in the year. Strict adherence to the annual events will fully integrate the sport in the society and create its indispensability. It is very unfortunate that there is very little that happens in outer space in the form of entertainment. Entertainment is necessary to rejuvenate the spirit after a hard day. It could even be a disincentive for more scientists to explore the universe. The Federation will seek to add glamor to space visits. The goal of tourism is poised to be a long-term economic breakthrough for interested

Management and Information Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Management and Information Systems - Essay Example And when the management team and the employees work together, they will be aided by various tools, including technological tools Through out the 20th century, many technological products including Information Technology products were developed around the world, which had and is still having applications in all spheres of human lives. Out of the many technological products developed, a good number are being used in organisations, particularly Information Technology products. That is, organisation of today have used or integrated technology in every aspect of their functioning. From opening a simple door to carrying out advanced operations, technology has become an omnipresent entity in organisations, with their entire operations hinging on the support provided by technology, particularly Information Technology. The employees working in organisation will use the technological tools in various ways to complete their works effectively, easily and quickly. But, at the same time, the same employees could use the technological tools, specifically Information Technology products negatively to gain undue advantages or profits for themselves, and thereby cause damages to the organizations. This could happen when the employees’ thought process due to the certain negative situations and intentions, starts functioning in the negative direction. Negative direction in the sense, the employees instead of positively contributing his/hers skills, knowledge and experience to the organization, will try to damage their employers in all aspects using Information Technology. The employees could wreck the organisations in which they are working, by using Information Technology in both ways, that is, they could alter or break down the Information Technology products found and functioning in the organisatio ns, and also they could bring in or use other external Information Technology products from outside to disable the technologies used in the organisation. Apart