Establishing a Planned Giving Program Essay Example for Free

Establishing a Planned Giving Program Essay Charitable institutions play an important role in society, now more than ever, as socio-economic issues mount. The essence of charitable institutions is to facilitate the sharing or transfer of resources from those with excess to those who are wanting. The culture of giving emerged as a means of ensuring overall social welfare by pulling excess resources to segments of the population having more than they need to people without resources. Charitable institutions develop fund raising activities and schemes to encourage philanthropy as well as manage funds to translate this into programs for the targeted beneficiaries to fulfill this role effectively and continuously. The philosophy of fund raising for charitable work is that philanthropy plays an important role in democratic societies and fund raising is inevitable to philanthropy so that fund raising becomes an absolute necessity to democratic societies. (Kelly, 1998) Over the years, charitable institutions developed many fund raising processes or systems to ensure the short and long-term flow of funds necessary to support their important function. Planned giving is one long-term fund raising program that emerged. This works by providing donors with the option, other than outright giving, to defer giving to charitable institutions years after expressing the giving behavior, usually upon the death of the donor. This then focuses on assets instead of income as the measure of the capacity of donors to give. (Kelly, 1998) The rationale for this option is to facilitate the passing of assets from one generation to another through a system that allocates assets from their estates to charitable institutions upon their death according to their preference (Harrington, 2004). If people elect to pass their assets to charitable institutions then they can do so through planned giving. This also finds support in the governance system by providing incentives to philanthropy in the form of tax exemptions. II. Review of Literature A. Important Concepts and Definitions in Planned Giving Kelly (1998) conceptualized planned giving as the managed effort by charitable institutions to raise funds from gifts of assets of donors utilizing estate and financial planning processes and tools. The purpose of planned giving is to generate major gifts by offering donors with another option aside from outright giving. This fund raising scheme expands the prospect pool of donors by centering on assets, instead of income, as the determinant of the capacity to give. The sole concern of planned giving is facilitating the philanthropy of individual donors as compared to the other fund-raising efforts directed at the public. Previously, this fund raising method was known as deferred giving because financial benefits for the recipient charitable institution usually are postponed until years after the donor has set-up the gift, usually upon death resulting to the appropriation or management of the estate. The description explained planned giving in terms of the implications to charitable institutions and donors of the benefits from financial planning and incentives for planning giving. Weinstein (2002) defined planned giving, also known as charitable gift planning, as the giving of charitable contributions with some level of professional guidance. Most planned gifts have the effect of reducing the estate taxes, income taxes, and/or capital gains taxes of the donor. Charitable gift planning supports the charitable intentions of the donor while at the same time helps donors better manage their assets for their families and loved ones. Usually, planned gifts are bequests, which mean deferred actual receipt by charitable institutions. Non-profit organizations receive the bequest after the death of the donor. There are also other planned gifts, such as donations of appreciated stock, which accrue current contributions for the charitable institution. This definition focuses on planned giving as a process or system and the manner this works in supporting the fund raising activities of charitable institutions and asset management of donors. Hopkins (2005) explained that planned giving ideally concerns â€Å"long-term capital gain property† (p. 245) that is likely to increase in value. The greater the increase in value, the greater would be the charitable deduction as well as the income from tax savings. Value appreciation comprises a core concept in planned giving so that a planned gift is essentially interest in money or an item of property of the donor. Planning giving involves the transference of partial interest in property based on the concept of property as having two interests, which are income and remainder interest. The income interest from an item of property depends on the income generated by the property at the current time while the remainder interest from an item of property pertains to the projected value of the property, or the property produced by reinvestments, at some future date. As such, the remainder interest is the amount equal to the present value of the property when received at a subsequent point in time, which is higher than the income interest assuming that the property is appreciating. Measuring these two types of interest in property is through the consideration of property value, donor’s age, and the period when the income interest will exist. An income interest or a remainder interest in property could be subject to charitable donation. However, a deduction is almost never available for a charitable gift of an income interest in property. By contrast, the charitable contribution of a remainder interest in an item of property will likely give rise to a charitable deduction with compliance of all technical requirements. This provides an explanation of the manner that the system works and serves as an elaboration of the previous definitions. The explanation also provided a rationale for planned giving since remainder interest, which accrues in the future is usually always subject to charitable deductions when compared to income interest accruing at present. Hopkins (2005) further explained the two basic types of planned gifts. One is legacy or charitable giving contained under a will. This is a gift coming out of the estate of a deceased as a bequest or devise. Planned giving in the form of a legacy works through the inclusion of a charitable institution as a beneficiary of the estate of the donor with entitlement following the death of the donor. As such, this perpetuates the philanthropy of individual even in death. The amount assigned to the charitable institution comprises a tax exemption that decreases the estate tax. The other is a gift made during a donor’s lifetime, using a trust or other agreement. An example is charitable gift annuity that commences when a donor gives a charitable institution a certain amount of money that the institution can use, similar to a premium paid for insurance, but with the condition that a beneficiary receive payment of a certain amount every year. The amount given by the donor is subject to tax exemption. After the payment of annuity ceases such as with the death of the beneficiary, the charitable institutions gains the amount paid and all other interest accruing from its appropriation. This explains the options available to donors, with options supporting the charitable intentions of donors and providing them with convenient options for financial planning. B. Basic Steps in Establishing Planned Giving Program for a Non-Profit Organization Establishing planned giving program for a non-profit organization should involve some basic preparatory steps similar to a business plan in profit organizations. The first step is preparation. This involves an assessment of the capability of the organization to manage a planned giving program to determine areas requiring improvements to accommodate the program. Another must do is obtaining the feedback from the board over the development of the planned giving program since the board’s support determines a successful program. This step also involves a feasibility study to determine whether the intended program meets two criteria. One is whether the leaders and members of the organization together with donors believe in continuing its existence in the long-term and the other is whether donors express their belief in the longevity of the organization through significant gifts. (Barett Ware, 2002) In satisfying these criteria there is a higher probability of success. Second step is planning. This step covers the identification of goals and specific objectives of the program, the changes in organizational structure including the creation of committees and sub-committees and assignment of leadership positions and tasks, the plan for staffing such as part time or full time, the budget to cover all aspects of the program, and the timetable for the phases of the planned giving program. (Dove, Spears Herbert, 2002) These areas should receive focus to cover all planned program to support viability. The third step involves the identification of the program’s core and specific features. The idea of planned giving is to provide givers with various options on the ways through which they prefer to actualize their charitable intentions and manage their assets in the process. This means the need to identify the particular planned giving options that the non-profit organization would make available to its donors together with the details of how these works. (Ashton, 2004) This is for the benefit of the staff who would be directly dealing with donors and for the benefit of donors wanting to learn more about giving options offered by its preferred charitable institution. The fourth step is policymaking. Guidelines and protocols are inevitable in actualizing the planned giving program. Policies should cover issues such as legal advice, confidentiality of information, conflict in interest and authority in negotiations. Guidelines should also thoroughly explain procedures in executing and accepting planned gifts, valuation of donations, according of credit for planned gifts, investing managing and administering of planned gifts, and limitations and terms of planned gifts. Lastly, the policies should also establish the functions and roles of the committees and administrators. (Barett Ware, 2002) The fifth step is promoting the planned giving program to individual potential donors as well as the community in general. There are a number of ways for non-profit organizations to promote their planned giving programs including the handouts or leaflets, newsletters and other widely distributed publications, hosted events, seminars, and personal testimonials or referrals. The important thing is to introduce the program to people as a means of developing interest in planned giving and reaching out to existing donors who could be interested in different options. (Reiss, 2000) The sixth step is prospecting. This involves a two-fold consideration. On one hand, this involves the determination of the likely uptake of the program by considering potential donors including the involvement in planned giving by members of the board themselves. This results to identification of anticipated long-term fund raising position of the organization. On the other hand, this also involves the determination of the impact of the program including the possible issues and problems to support contingency planning. (Rosso, 2003) C. Establishing Goals and Objectives for Planned Giving Program Goals comprise statements of the position or outcome that the organization wants to gain while objectives set out the manner of achieving this position or outcome (Lewis, 2006). Establishing the goals and objectives of the planned giving program also goes through a series of interconnected cyclical processes. The first process is communication and clarification of issues, problems, challenges or opportunities that provide a context for establishing the program. These support the determination of goals. If a challenge is giving options then the goal would be diversified giving options for donors and the objective is the development of a planned giving program. (Lauer, 1997) The second process is evaluation of alternative solutions to express needs and requirements into goals and objectives through measures of success that would also constitute the criteria for evaluating the extent of fulfillment of the goals and objectives. (Lauer, 1997) The third process is articulation by drawing the participation of all stakeholders in providing perspectives over the areas for improvement and drawing consensus on actions (Lauer, 1997).

Recent Trends in Indain Banking Sector Essay Example for Free

Recent Trends in Indain Banking Sector Essay The economy can be divided in the entire spectrum of economic activity into the real and monetary sectors. The real sector is where production takes place while the monetary sector supports this production and in a way is the means to the end. We know and we accept the financial system is critical to the working of the rest of the economy. In fact, the Asian crisis of the nineties, or for that matter what happened in Latin America and Russia subsequently and also Dubai Crisis have shown how a fragile financial sector can wreak havoc on the rest of the economy. Therefore the banking sector is crucial and we want to express our views to explore how this sector can work in harmony with the real sector to achieve the desired objectives. the b Banking sector has been immensely benefited from the implementation of superior technology during the recent past, almost in every nation in the world. Productivity enhancement, innovative products, speedy transactions seamless transfer of funds, real time information system, and efficient risk management are some of the advantage derived through the technology. Information technology has also improved the efficiency and robustness of business processes across anking sector. Indias banking sector has made rapid strides in reforming and aligning itself to the new competitive business environment. Indian banking industry is the midst of an IT revolution. Technological infrastructure has become an indispensable part of the reforms process in the banking system, with the gradual development of sophisticated instruments and innovations in market practices. IT in Banking Indian banking industry, today is in the midst of an IT revolution. A combination of regulatory and competitive reasons has led to increasing importance of total banking automation in the Indian Banking Industry. Information Technology has basically been used under two different avenues in Banking. One is Communication and Connectivity and other is Business Process Reengineering. Information technology enables sophisticated product development, better market infrastructure, implementation of reliable techniques for control of risks and helps the financial intermediaries to reach geographically distant and diversified markets. The bank which used the right technology to supply timely information will see productivity increase and thereby gain a competitive edge. To compete in an economy which is opening up, it is imperative for the Indian Banks to observe the latest technology and modify it to suit their environment. Not only banks need greatly enhanced use of technology to the customer friendly, efficient and competitive existing services and business, they also need technology for providing newer products and newer forms of services in an increasingly dynamic and globalize environment. Information technology offers a chance for banks to build new systems that address a wide range of customer needs including many that may not be imaginable today. Following are the innovative services offered by the industry in the recent past: Electronic Payment Services – E Cheques Nowadays we are hearing about e-governance, e-mail, e-commerce, e-tail etc. In the same manner, a new technology is being developed in US for introduction of e-cheque, which will eventually replace the conventional paper cheque. India, as harbinger to the introduction of e-cheque, the Negotiable Instruments Act has already been amended to include; Truncated cheque and E-cheque instruments. Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) Real Time Gross Settlement system, introduced in India since March 2004, is a system through which electronics instructions can be given by banks to transfer funds from their account to the account of another bank. The RTGS system is maintained and operated by the RBI and provides a means of efficient and faster funds transfer among banks facilitating their financial operations. As the name suggests, funds transfer between banks takes place on a ‘Real Time basis. Therefore, money can reach the beneficiary instantaneously and the beneficiarys bank has the responsibility to credit the beneficiarys account within two hours. Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) is a system whereby anyone who wants to make payment to another person/company etc. can approach his bank and make cash payment or give instructions/authorization to transfer funds directly from his own account to the bank account of the receiver/beneficiary. Complete details such as the receivers name, bank account number, account type (savings or current account), bank name, city, branch name etc. should be furnished to the bank at the time of requesting for such transfers so that the amount reaches the beneficiaries account correctly and faster. RBI is the service provider of EFT. Electronic Clearing Service (ECS) Electronic Clearing Service is a retail payment system that can be used to make bulk payments/receipts of a similar nature especially where each individual payment is of a repetitive nature and of relatively smaller amount. This facility is meant for companies and government departments to make/receive large volumes of payments rather than for funds transfers by individuals. Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) Automatic Teller Machine is the most popular devise in India, which enables the customers to withdraw their money 24 hours a day 7 days a week. It is a devise that allows customer who has an ATM card to perform routine banking transactions without interacting with a human teller. In addition to cash withdrawal, ATMs can be used for payment of utility bills, funds transfer between accounts, deposit of cheques and cash into accounts, balance enquiry etc. Point of Sale Terminal Point of Sale Terminal is a computer terminal that is linked online to the computerized customer information files in a bank and magnetically encoded plastic transaction card that identifies the customer to the computer. During a transaction, the customers account is debited and the retailers account is credited by the computer for the amount of purchase. Tele Banking Tele Banking facilitates the customer to do entire non-cash related banking on telephone. Under this devise Automatic Voice Recorder is used for simpler queries and transactions. For complicated queries and transactions, manned phone terminals are used. Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) Electronic Data Interchange is the electronic exchange of business documents like purchase order, invoices, shipping notices, receiving advices etc. in a standard, computer processed, universally accepted format between trading partners. EDI can also be used to transmit financial information and payments in electronic form. Implications The banks were quickly responded to the changes in the industry; especially the new generation banks. The continuance of the trend has re-defined and re-engineered the banking operations as whole with more customization through leveraging technology. As technology makes banking convenient, customers can access banking services and do banking transactions any time and from any ware. The importance of physical branches is going down. Challenges Faced by Banks, vis-Ã  -vis, IT Implementation It is becoming increasingly imperative for banks to assess and ascertain the benefits of technology implementation. The fruits of technology will certainly taste a lot sweeter when the returns can be measured in absolute terms but it needs precautions and the safety nets. It has not been a smooth sailing for banks keen to jump onto the IT bandwagon. There have been impediments in the path like the obduracy once shown by trade unions who felt that IT could turn out to be a threat to secure employment. Further, the expansion of banks into remote nooks and corners of the country, where logistics continues to be a handicap, proved to be another stumbling stock. Another challenge the banks have had to face concerns the inability of banks to retain the trained and talented personnel, especially those with a good knowledge of IT. The increasing use of technology in banks has also brought up ‘security concerns. To avoid any pitfalls or mishaps on this account, banks ought to have in place a well-documented security policy including network security and internal security. The passing of the Information Technology Act has come as a boon to the banking sector, and banks should now ensure to abide strictly by its covenants. An effort should also be made to cover e-business in the countrys consumer laws. Some are investing in it to drive the business growth, while others are having no option but to invest, to stay in business. The choice of right channel, justification of IT investment on ROI, e-governance, customer relationship management, security concerns, technological obsolescence, mergers and acquisitions, penetration of IT in rural areas, and outsourcing of IT operations are the major challenges and issues in the use of IT in banking operations. The main challenge, however, remains to motivate the customers to increasingly make use of IT while transacting with banks. For small banks, heavy investment requirement is the compressing need in addition to their capital requirements. The coming years will see even more investment in banking technology, but reaping ROI will call for more strategic thinking. Future Outlook Everyone today is convinced that the technology is going to hold the key to future of banking. The achievements in the banking today would not have make possible without IT revolution. Therefore, the key point is while changing to the current environment the banks has to understand properly the trigger for change and accordingly find out the suitable departure point for the change. Although, the adoption of technology in banks continues at a rapid pace, the concentration is perceptibly more in the metros and urban areas. The benefit of Information Technology is yet to percolate sufficiently to the common man living in his rural hamlet. More and more programs and software in regional languages could be introduced to attract more and more people from the rural segments also. Standards based messaging systems should be increasingly deployed in order to address cross platform transactions. The surplus manpower generated by the use of IT should be used for marketing new schemes and banks should form a ‘brains trust comprising domain experts and technology specialists. Conclusion The banking today is re-defined and re-engineered with the use of Information Technology and it is sure that the future of banking will offer more sophisticated services to the customers with the continuous product and process innovations. Thus, there is a paradigm shift from the sellers market to buyers market in the industry and finally it affected at the bankers level to change their approach from conventional banking to convenience banking and mass banking to class banking. The shift has also increased the degree of accessibility of a common man to bank for his variety of needs and requirements.

Stress: Impact on Health of Hong Kong People

Stress: Impact on Health of Hong Kong People Stress – Main Reason for Decline in Health of Hong Kong People Introduction In the crowded and competitive city, Hong Kong, pressure which appears in all age groups damages health of residents. According to the Department of Health (Public Health Information System, 2015), the main external death cause of Hongkongers were intentional self-harm. The World Health Organization (WHO) identified depressive illness is projected to be the second leading cause of disability worldwide in 2020. The main reason for the decline in health of Hongkongers are stress caused by the onerous educational system, taxing working environment and strict social conformity, but they can be resolved by reforming the educational system, modifying the work policies and implementing public stress management program to improve the health of Hongkonger. The purpose of this report is to present recommendations of stress relief. Analysis To begin with, strain is caused from Hong Kong rigorous educational system which sorts students into institutions ranked hierarchically[A1]. This system compels schools to focus on the academic results and vie against one another in fierce competition (Ho, 2008). There are exorbitant expectation, excessive homework and frequent tests for students. A study found that the first-year tertiary education students in Hong Kong are prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress. The high rates of morbidity and high prevalence of symptoms were alarming (Wong, et al., 2006). In fact, the academic problems, such as disaffection, disruption and underachievement were stressors for not only the students, but also their family members (Service Network on Ethnic Minorities, 2010). In Hong Kong, parents arrange pre-school educations and extracurricular activities insanely for their children as they are extremely anxious about their development. The students with overestimated ability will doubt about their performance in getting others acceptance and agreement. Besides, extreme pressure from this onerous educational system may trigger mental disorder, social withdrawal and even self-destructive behaviors. Education Bureau (EDB) can modify the educational system to relieve the school related stress by promoting well-rounded development and self-regulated learning. The comprehensive educational infrastructure in the United State (US) is established in a stress-free environment (University of Michigan, 2015). EDB can reform the system by referring to the well-rounded teaching method in US which is innovative, for instance, role playing, use of computer games, simulation, experience method and application method (Vallance, et al., 2014). As well as changing the teaching method in school, EDB should modify the education orientation. EDB should fund a wide selection of curricula opportunities while the education should be more value oriented than career or money oriented. Teachers should focus on the imagination and creative ability of students. The main point is reforming the entrance examination of schools. This modification of educational system can discover creative personnel and deceas e the burden on students. It makes the teaching more enjoyable (Patankar Jadhav, 2012). It motivates and stimulates students to develop happy normal lives as they can have their own goal. Thus, the school related stress, can be relieved. However, it takes time to change the operating mode of schools. EDB needs to collaborate with schools and provide a definite instruction so as to change the teaching method and selection system progressively. Another argument is that the decline in health of Hongkongers arise when there is pressure from placing a strain in workplace. Work related pressure occurs where workers perceive they cannot subject or cope with the demands within the workplace. Overloaded work, long working time and nebulous career prospect inducing excessive or uncontrolled pressure disquiets Hongkongers. The Hong Kong worker stress level was at 55%. The value was ranked third in the world and higher than the global average (Sarti, 2012). Work strains go home with the worker while home strains come to work with the worker (Perth College, 2014). As the ability of workers were overestimated in tight workplace, which brings terrible consequence such as fatigue, muscle wastage, adult-onset diabetes and adverse lifestyle, it would disturb their ability to perform to expectation (OvercomeBullying.org, 2015). It is time for the Legislative Council to formulate a work policies and legislation modification by referring to the cross-college Stress Management Policy and legislation in United Kingdom (UK) as a response to the decline in health of Hongkongers. The value of stress level of workers in UK was lower than the global average. Legislative Council can formulate this policy in Hong Kong in order to mitigate the occurrence of related potential harm from work. Under this policy, manager, supervisor and staff will be assigned responsibilities. The basic responsibility for managers are ensuring staffs are fully trained to discharge their duties. They should not only provide equivalent developmental opportunities for each staff, but also monitor workloads, working hours and overtime so as to ensure staffs are not overloaded or overworking. Supervisors are accountable for conduct Wellbeing and Staff Surveys to identify stressors in the workplace and ensure managers take appropriate actions to address the issues. Additionally, human resources staffs are in charge of conducting and implementing recommendations of risks assessments within their area of responsibility (Perth College, 2014). Along with acknowledging the responsibilities and ways to protect the mental wellbeing of themselves or their subordinate, work related pressure can be identified and managed by managers. Employee can seek assistance and support from their representative as early as possible as the policy requirement too. Therefore, the strain in workplace can be eliminated by protecting the autonomy and remuneration of all employees.On the other hand, as this legislation is related to settled responsibility of different stakeholders, it may cause dissension between each other easily. So, Legislative Council must hold a public advisory with promotion before the formulation. From a social point of view, Hongkongers are accustomed to blind conformity which brings an exhausting lifestyle. It is well-known that Hong Kong is a fast paced city where workers all have busy work, school, social life and other commitments. They pursue to be efficient in any time. However, this conformity damages health progressively. For example, overeating fast food causes obesity, overusing internet brings visual impairment and staying up late with harm to mental well-being. Some residents claimed that the main reason for the decline in health of Hongkongers are the insalubrious lifestyle, smoking. It is because cigarette smoking is the major cause of lung cancer (Public Health Information System, 2015). Although smoking is a lifestyle, it is a herd behavior. Hongkongers tend to follow the actions or beliefs of others. Under the social pressure, anyone who pursue to achieve social goals and have an intangible competition damage their health eventually. Hospital Authority (HA) should focus on seeking collaboration with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in order to relieve pressure of Hongkongers by implementing public stress management program. Government health sector plays a leading role. HA is already leveraged on available capacity and capability in the private sector through public private partnership (PPP) for managing demands (Cheung, 2015). If HA focuses on community-based activities and prevention concurrently, it will arguably better place to approach and win the trust of local communities. Moreover, NGOs can make a close affinity with community by collaborating with other advocacy groups (Thara Patel, 2010). Afterward, the seriousness of stress can spread widely by promotion and education which increase the awareness of the early signs of this treatable depressive disorder. Through the combined efforts from both the public and private sectors, this collaboration leads to an overall improvement in healthcare service qu ality. It alerts residents to have self-management of stress while early diagnosis and prevention benefit in further control of the health status. Nevertheless, a key problem in NGOs is the source of their funding which rise required to augment resources. To tackle this problem, Labour and Welfare Bureau can establish a fund for providing assistance to organization. It encourages the organization to strengthen the related activities by solving their economic burden. Conclusion This report describes stress is the main causes of the decline in health of Hongkongers. It reminds people about the fact that an anxious status is in hazard. A process of collaboration and communication across public and private domains that focuses on common goals can relieve stress of Hongkongers comprehensively. Education Bureau, Legislative Council and Hospital Authority should be the leaders in creating a new stress-free educational system, working condition and social ethos. Take it as a mutual responsibility to further partnership activities and monitor impact on the health of the public.

journalism Essay -- essays research papers fc

In old days men had the rack. Now they have the press. That is an improvement certainly. But still it is very bad, and wrong, and demoralising. Somebody - was it Burke? - called journalism the fourth estate. That was true at the time, no doubt. But at the present moment it really is the only estate. It has eaten up the other three. The Lords Temporal say nothing, the Lords Spiritual have nothing to say, and the House of Commons has nothing to say and says it. We are dominated by Journalism. The Soul of Man - Oscar Wilde Feudal society was traditionally divided into three "estates" (social classes). The "First Estate" was the Church (clergy - those who prayed). The "Second Estate" was the Nobility (those who fought - knights). It was common for aristocrats to enter the Church and thus shift from the second to the first estate. The "Third Estate" was the Peasantry (everyone else, at least under feudalism: those who produced the food which supported those who prayed and those who fought, the members of the First and Second Estates). These "estates" are defined primarily by what one does (as well as by the social class one is born into). The term 'fourth estate' is used today to refer to the mass media as a powerful watchdog in liberal democracy, revealing abuses of state authority and defending the democratic rights of citizens. The notion that the press is a great instrument of liberty providing a check on the abuse of government power – any power - is a central part of any political culture. "If people don't know about power and let their attention wander completely then those in power will take liberties". Andrew Marr, BBC's political editor Former editor of The Independent The main role of the press is to ensure transparency and accountability in the government’s dealings. The publisher of a newspaper is most often also the owner and is the papers top manager. If a chain or a large corporation owns the paper, the publisher represents the owner’s interests and ensures the business’s profitability. According to the News Writers Handbook, the owner’s opinion about the news of the day is usually echoed by the editorial page editor on the editorial page and on the op- ed page opposite the editorial. It is common for the editorial page editor to report directly to the publisher, and not the paper... ...t. The education editor reviews books and other education material that is to be used by students. "Perhaps the most urgent--and complex--task facing American education today is to figure out how to hold schools accountable for improved academic achievement. In this important new work, Helen Ladd†¦.. this book should be at the top of the reading list for anyone seriously interested in transforming the quality of American schools." Edward B. Fiske, Education Editor, The New York Times All the editors work together to produce a newsworthy newspaper. The sit in the newsroom and deliberate of the ethical principles and legal ramifications of running certain stories. They act as a checking system on one another and so help in upholding the philosophies of categorical imperative, hedonism, veil of ignorance, golden rule, golden mean and utilitatianism for the good of the newspaper and the greater good of the public. BIBLIOGRAPHY Rudin, Richard and Ibbotson, Trevor, Introduction to Journalism. Focal Press, 2002. Keeble, Richard Newspapers’ Handbook( Media Practices) Routledge, 1998. Frost, Chris, Reporting for Journalists. Routledge: Taylor and Francis Books Lt, 2001

Life Or Death Essay -- essays research papers

We are all aware of death, and we know it will come to us all. To many of us death brings a chill down our spine ridden with fear, but to others it is ridden with strength and satisfaction of accomplishment. Fortunately or unfortunately we are all condemned to death. However no one knows when exactly the inevitable will approach, but we all know it is inescapable. But what makes death seem more realistic to us and those in denial of it is the lucid pictures of people suffering, in pain and those on their death bed before many of us can be rationale and accept the truth. Someone once said, “Life is about 50-70 years of pain. One is born through the mother’s pain and die leaving others in pain.'; How do we accept and deal with the process of our last days with all the suffering we go through, and the suffering our loved ones share with us? What impact does suffering and death leave behind? Does the love we had experienced decline with our shrunken bodies, does the responsib ilities we challenged take control of us or does our friendships eventually sail in the distance like the compost to become of us; or perhaps all three? Or conceivably we build a stronger love for life, and a stronger legacy for our loved ones to cherish? What pain do they feel? Yet, all in all we need to distinguish what it means to suffer? Is it “to endure death, pain, or distress?'; Or can it be to sustain loss or damage. In this paper I will attempt to show that as human beings we take for granted what “life'; is and seem to forget that death is inevitable. But most importantly how suffering and death have an impact on our daily and routinely concepts of love, friendship and responsibility. What is “Love';? Is the love you feel for your child the same as the love you feel for your spouse? Is the love you feel for the brand new car sitting in the dealership the same as the love one feels for their parent? Love exists in many levels, and can be defined in many ways. The flourishing part about love is that only an individual can define what love is because its something only he or she can feel and distinguish. Love can be expressed in either combination or all of the following: Love towards our faith, love in an exotic nature, love for our children, and lastly love for material things. It does not matter what religion or type of faith o... ...t the sake of the family and always wish never to leave a scar on the family name. Pleasing others and not oneself can also be a liability, because one would feel that they lived life not for their sake but for others; would it then be right to question what the true meaning of life was to you, during your last minutes of life? Personally, I doubt it. We are all born to die. And die is what we shall do inevitably. But what we live behind, our legacy is simply a formation of how we live life for the time we are here on earth. Every one of us should live life to its fullest and to its fullest means that we shall consider accomplishing our duties as parents, family or friends. Our lives may seem like a circus, with so much to juggle, nonetheless we should not forget that life has essentially been a gift. We all make mistakes and this should not be regrettable, rather educational. Living life allows us all to learn and learning is the greatest satisfaction. Suffering, pain and death should not be the only emotions considered during one’s last breath, but also the beginning of change and the strengthening of love, friendship and our responsibility for those you leave behind.

Characterization in Oedipus the King Essay -- Oedipus the King Oedipus

Characterization in Oedipus Rex  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚        Ã‚   The dialogue, action and motivation revolve about the characters in the story (Abrams 32-33). It is the purpose of this essay to demonstrate the types of characters present in Sophocles’ tragic drama, Oedipus Rex, whether static or dynamic, whether flat or round, and whether protrayed through showing or telling.    Werner Jaeger in â€Å"Sophocles’ Mastery of Character Development† pays the dramatist the very highest compliment with regard to character development:    The ineffaceable impression which Sophocles makes on us today and his imperishable position in the literature of the world are both due to his character-drawing. If we ask which of the men and women ofGreek tragedy have an independent life in the imagination apart from the stage and from the actual plot in which they appear, we must answer, ‘those created by Sophocles, above all others’ (36).    Surely   it can be said of Sophocles’ main characters that they grow beyond the two dimensional aspect into really rounded physical presences. This is done through mostly the showing technique, though the chorus at times is involved in telling the audience various pieces of information. At the outset of Oedipus Rex the reader sees a king who comes to the door full of curiosity: â€Å"Explain your mood and purport. Is it dread /Of ill that moves you or a boon ye crave?† When the priest has responded that the people are despairing from the effects of the plague, the king shows another dimension to his character with his deep sympathy for his subjects: â€Å"Ye sicken all, well wot I, yet my pain, /How great soever yours, outtops it all.† Shortly thereafter a second round character makes his appearance on stage in the pers... ...and Creon become so later in the tragedy. Rarely does the dramatist use the chorus to convey information; most of this comes from exchanges of dialogue, which would be the showing technique.    WORKS CITED    Abrams, M. H. A Glossary of Literary Terms, 7th ed. New York: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1999.    Ehrenberg, Victor. â€Å"Sophoclean Rulers: Oedipus.† In Twentieth Century Interpretations of Oedipus Rex, edited by Michael J. O’Brien. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1968.    Jaeger, Werner. â€Å"Sophocles’ Mastery of Character Development.† In Readings on Sophocles, edited by Don Nardo. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1997.    Sophocles. Oedipus Rex. Transl. by F. Storr. no pag. http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/browse-mixed new?tag=public&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&part=0&id=SopOedi

Information Technology; How It Affects Our Lives

Along with the advancements of mankind, although some might disagree it is not technology, the telegraph became he telephone; the telephone became the cell-phone and; wired services became wireless (pallbearer, university of Phoenix, 2012). It Is a fascinating concept that a person can go to the far reaches of not just earth, but into space as well, and still we can share information with those aboard the International Space Station, or relay information to the Hubble Space Telescope, to look for certain objects in space.Personally I find it fascinating; the ability to communicate with friends and family around the world, the first words of a child, seen or heard through the use of audio r video devices. Technology, with all it has to offer, Is a key element to our future and the future of our children. It Is now possible through both audio and visual help, and the introduction of computers, students are learning at a somewhat more equal pace. Children at home, providing the home has one, using a computer or even a handheld device, are learning the alphabet and numbers at an earlier age.Albeit to say that even many video games the children play using this technology, helps to develop eye-hand coordination. Information shared between professionals In the deiced Industry, both current and previous physicians Is great as It can determine how a patient may recover from an illness, or colleagues can look over the same information and diagnose a patient. Technology and all its advancements are beneficial in the fields of medicine and science and help to save lives.Through personal observations and research material it is quite clear that many people have become or are becoming more dependent on the internet and information technology. We have a need to have contact every waking moment with our 964 friends online. We have the need to sit home with our children and explore the internet instead of the outside world. While Information Technology is a key element to our f uture, excessive time wasted can result in physical and mental health risks; as well harming us socially and economically.With the introduction of Information Technology, many people are finding themselves without Jobs to go to tomorrow. Economically speaking several major corporations are closing their doors, as there are many places one can access on the internet to purchase goods such as e-books; digital downloads of movies, music and television; one can even make use of purchasing their weekly groceries and having them all delivered to the doorstep. Information Technology, although useful in the field of education, has also had some major drawbacks.Students have gained a vast amount of knowledge from the internet, which if searched properly can help in the student's education. However what has happened is that ‘Plagiarism' has shown an increase over time as well. Instead of utilizing time wisely, many students are known to have done nothing on their essays but copy and pas te information someone else may have worked so hard to obtain to get a fair grade themselves(What is Plagiarism? , 2012)..Plagiarism is by far not the only form of theft that takes place in information technology either. Piracy involving illegal downloading of books, audio and video files has also increased over time. Many retailers have lost revenue due to little or no sales in the market for CDC, DVD's, and book sales. But here, some of that lost revenue stems from websites that offer downloads for a lesser cost, than it would be to drive to a local retailer. The worst part in theft of information in the technological aspect is the theft of personal information.Everything from a single credit card or bank account number to complete identities are stolen and sold on the black market and in vast quantities every day. People's lives are ruined. There is no trust in each other anymore. Worse yet, some of this stolen information might take place on a major scale. Without the proper up to date security software, TX Max had information stolen concerning numerous customer accounts. This not only created headaches for the consumer, but think how much it cost TX Max over time.They had to spend millions of dollars to first compensate the losses; design and implement a better security program; spend money in marketing, not only convincing existing consumers, but future customers as well, this breach of security would never happen again (Essentials of Management accomplished from the comfort of your favorite chair, sofa, or lying in bed, with devices such as a laptop, wireless keyboard (using your flat-screen TV as a monitor) or your cell phone.With the introduction of social websites, a hug is now a poke; pictures are sent via, again from the cell phone for the entire world to see and share. Writing letters and sending them to friends and relatives, also is impacting us negatively. Over-dependence on Information Technology, because of people's inactivity, can result in physical and mental health risks. Sitting at a computer desk an lead to serious health issues early in life with obesity listed as number one.Based upon 52 independent studies, there seems to be statistically, a relationship between body fatness and TV viewing among children and adolescents, due to the increase of sedentary leisure activities. With the increased usage of information and communication technologies, so has obesity in both adolescents and children, reached a new high over recent years. â€Å"This study confirms that the global epidemic of overweight and the use of new technologies may be related phenomena: weight tutus is associated with computer and possibly cell phone use (Lacunae, H. Seeks- Reawaken, A. , Plinking, L. , Rose, R. J. , Risen, A. , & Capri, J, 2007). † Other risks might include diabetes, high blood pressure, pinched nerves, and even atrophy of the muscles for lack of exercise. Spending too much time on the internet can result in too little sleep in both adults and teens. Mental health can deteriorate, even though we think we are learning something and gaining ground. By staying awake all hours into the night and depriving ourselves of needed sleep, it makes it virtually impossible to fully function the next day.Mentally, we can be affected also because most of the answers we search for, are given to us; again all with little to no effort, physically or mentally. â€Å"Using electronic devices before bedtime was common, with 60% on average overall watching TV, 39% using cell phones, 36% laptops or other computers, 21% phone, 8% video games, and 29% music devices. Devices meant to make life easier and more entertaining often make us sleepier, according to the latest poll by the National Sleep Foundation (Kathleen Doyen, 2011). † Having 964 friends on some social web site can only mean one thing.We are spending so much time trying to catch up on their updates, while researching that school paper; downloading the latest music; watching our favorite TV show; all the while depriving ourselves from a real hug and kiss; nodding off at the keyboard; and perhaps sooner than later; winding up in the hospital with a blood clot in the right leg before we have reached the age of 25. Although the Information Technology has many legitimate uses, many have become inactive due to excessive time wasted in front of the computer, on the phone, or sending texts via a mobile phone; therefore we should omit the time we spend in doing these things.Time periods should be assigned for all members of the household to eliminate health problems or mental distress. Take time off as a family and spend one or two days at the park or walking along the beach front if that is possible. If a Job's requirements are to sit all day in front of the computer screen, go outdoors during a lunch break or coffee break. Fresh air will do you good. It is nice to have opportunities to shop online, but by going out, you get fresh air; and wha tever it is you wish to purchase, by being up close and personal oh get to feel, see, and possibly hear it before you buy it.