Characteristics of Maggie and Don in the Rainbow Bird Essay

Maggie is a nature-lover & fascinated by nature. Instead of paying attention in class, Maggie’s mind â€Å"had been filled with a vision of the bird.† This clearly shows that she is so enthralled by the rainbow bird that she cannot concentrate in class. From what her mother said, â€Å"It’s a bird now†, I can infer that she may have other interests before. In school, she carried â€Å"beetles’ wings and cowries† about in her desk â€Å"to stare at† and this shows that she is a person who loves nature. Her love for nature is also evident in the way she reacts when she finds out that the Honey Man killed the rainbow bird and its family. Her anger and sorrow reveal how much the bird means to her. She is secretive, loner and is misunderstood by others. Maggie refuses to let her friends know about â€Å"her secret† about the rainbow bird. She is afraid that if they find out about the rainbow bird, they will start teasing and making fun of her. Maggie is very emotional, sensitive and revengeful. Upon hearing about the rainbow bird’s death, Maggie â€Å"lets herself get worked up† and started to curse the Honey Man. This is evident in â€Å"He will die. I know he will.. Serve him right, too† She hates the Honey Man so much that she describes him as a â€Å"devil† and a â€Å"beast† and wished that â€Å"forked lightning would leaped out of the sky and char him to ashes.† This clearly shows that Maggie holds a grudge against the Honey Man and is revengeful. Maggie immediately questioned the Honey Man, â€Å"What’re you doing with that gun?† This shows that Maggie is very straightforward and rude because she did not greet the Honey Man when she saw him. Immediately after school, Maggie â€Å"raced down† constantly urging Don to hurry up. This shows that she is anxious to meet the rainbow bird and impatient. She told Don to â€Å"chuck† the bird away and Don â€Å"obeyed† her. Maggie was able to make Don listen to her and able to control Don. Maggie could identify that it was Cafferty the Honey Man who was the â€Å"big, dark figure† on the slope. She could see a â€Å"lump† in his pocket. Maggie watched the Honey Man’s every move and is therefore observant. Even though the rainbow bird is dead, Maggie is still hating the Honey Man that he killed the bird. She also thought that the people were â€Å"burying the rainbow bird†. This shows that she is unrealistic and was still thinking about the rainbow bird. Maggie is imaginative. Although the rainbow bird is dead, Maggie is trying to â€Å"imagine† the rainbow bird and thought that the people were â€Å"burying the rainbow bird†. This shows that Maggie is very imaginative. Upon hearing that the Honey Man is charging â€Å"six-pence† for every rainbow bird, Don planned to go hunting for rainbow birds with other boys. He was not on his sister’s side and wanted to kill the rainbow birds for money. This shows that Don is greedy. Don â€Å"obeyed† his sister and â€Å"chuck† the rainbow bird away. Don wanted to † feel if there were any little ones† in the nest without considering that the mother bird would go away. He did not know that there was someone near the nest and was about to go on but Maggie stopped him. This clearly shows that he is rash, and do things without thinking. Even though the rainbow is dead, Don â€Å"pretended he did not care† and did not console his sister. He did not feel sad when the rainbow bird is dead. This shows that he is unfeeling and cruel.

Population Trends and Problems of Public Health Essay

The scope and emphasis of a public health program are necessarily influenced by the changing characteristics of the population it serves. The rate of population growth affects long-range planning of community health and medical facilities. Alterations in age composition, internal migration of racial or industrial groups, changes in population density and urban-rural movement require current adaptation of the health program to solve the new problems thus created. Among the various characteristics of recent population trends, aging of the population is one of the most fundamental in its bearing on national health. The social and economic effects of an aging population have long been recognized. Dr. Louis I. Dublin appraised the problem of old age in some detail in 1926, when the provision of economic security for the aged was the dominant theme of contemporary discussion. 1 The passage of the Social Security Act in 1935 represented the fruits of the efforts of this early period. Adjustment of national policy with respect to the health problems associated with aging of the population has been slower in development. Under the terms of the Social Security Act, a limited expansion of activities designed to promote the health of older adults—control of cancer and pneumonia, and industrial hygiene services—has been made This paper was presented at the Eighteenth Annual Conference of the Milbank Memorial Fund, April 2–3, 1940. The Milbank Quarterly, Vol. 83, No. 4, 2005 (pp. 569–608) c 2005 Milbank Memorial Fund. Published by Blackwell Publishing. Reprinted from The Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly, Vol. 18, No. 4, 1940 (pp. 359–92). Style and usage are unchanged. possible in the cooperating States. However, the Act makes no provision for the solution of such fundamental problems as invalidity insurance and medical care of the aged. During the past five years, the health aspects of old age have received increasing attention in the discussions of public health administrators. It therefore seems appropriate to resurvey this general problem, and to consider, in particular, the nature of future trends in mortality, morbidity, and the receipt of medical care which may be expected solely as a result of changing age structure of the population. The Effect on the Death Rate The effect of a declining proportion of children and an increasing proportion of â€Å"elders† on the future trend of the death rate may be readily predicated from the characteristics of age variation in mortality, which are generally familiar. The period of infancy is characterized by a large proportion of fatally terminating illnesses. Following the high mortality of the first year, the death rate declines rapidly in the succeeding years of early childhood, and the rate among children 5 to 14 years of age is lower than in any period of life. The age curve of mortality remains at a relatively low level in youth and the young adult ages. During the period of middle age, a marked upward trend in the death rate becomes apparent, and the increase thereafter is progressive. The sharp downward trend in the death rate following infancy and the rapid rise which occurs during middle and old age are the most pronounced characteristics of age variation in mortality. The mortality rate in infancy and early childhood has shown a marked reduction in the present century, while the rate at the advanced ages has remained practically unchanged. Thus, the death rate at the older ages has shown an increasing relative excess over the rate in the early years of life. Furthermore, aging of the population has increased the number of older persons exposed to the chance of death. Deaths of persons 45 years of age and over constituted over two-thirds of all deaths in this country in 1935; in the Registration States of 1900, the proportion was approximately two-fifths. It thus results that the diseases which at present are the leading causes of death in the population of all ages are largely those characteristic of middle and old age. Diseases of the heart, cerebral hemorrhage, nephritis, cancer, and diabetes accounted for 65 per cent of the deaths among persons 45 years of age and over, and for 44 per cent of the total deaths

Black queer feminists Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Black queer feminists - Research Paper Example The purpose of this essay is to explore the black queer feminist movements to highlight the struggle that women of color have when identifying with queerness. It will become evident that, though the situation is becoming easier with time, it is only through the actions of outstanding individuals that this improvement is possible and there is still a long way to go before black queer feminists are seen favorably in society. The Combahee River Collective is an organization active in Boston in the 1970s, comprising of black feminist lesbians, who developed the Combahee River Collective Statement. This statement was influential in defining and discussing black feminism and the concept of identity (Johnson & Henderson, 1996), and has had a huge impact on the work of a number of social theorists. The Combahee River Collective Statement suggests that black feminists may have problems defining an identity because the notions of â€Å"black†, â€Å"lesbian† and â€Å"feminist† are so often seen as being at odds with each other (Harris, 1996). This notion is common amongst a lot of black feminist literature and highlights part of the struggle that those identifying with all three labels may face. The statement suggests that ‘Feminism is...very threatening to the majority of Black people because it calls into question some of the most basic assumptions about our existence’ (Comb ahee River Collective, 1982), again highlighting that there may be problems with being both black and identifying as a feminist, and there is a need to correlate the two identities. Audre Lorde was an African-American lesbian feminist active in the 20th century. Her work included a huge amount of poetry, as well as articles and feminist critiques (Hammonds, 2004). Lorde was critical of the feminist movement of the 1960s because she felt that it was aimed at

Please give a conclusion of this presentation Essay

Please give a conclusion of this presentation - Essay Example For a good student, after graduation, he or she is married and take time to think about the future life. Get money and save for the sake of the future life and for the coming generation. For students, the major aim is to have focus on the future life. For a good student, he or she is supposed to have a good future by passing very well and avoid debts in order to build wealth by saving from the little earned at work. It is health to save money because of emergency and wealth building. Also one can avoid impulse buying because of the stress one faces and may lead to a syndrome problem. In building the wealth one must create a budget that will govern and direct the investment procedures. Wealth has values like creating security to someone and promotes investment. One should avoid credit cards because they facilitate a lot of spending. It is a challenge for the students to focus on their lives and think about their

Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words - 4

Marketing - Essay Example This will be followed by the marketing mix of the company. The paper on the whole provides a deep insight into the company and marketing aspects of the M&S. The term marketing has a number of different views and opinions and there is a high level of confusion that can be found on this term. Different people from different industries have different views on the term. Ever industry uses the term marketing for different processes within the company (Webster, 1988). For instance, for a company selling coal, marketing is simply an understanding of the local markets and the cost that he can sell the produced coal. However marketing is very different for a person working for a company that sells products in the market. The alternative definition to marketing includes that by the AMA (The American Marketing Association). The AMA has defined marketing as, â€Å"The performance of business activities directed toward, and incident to, the flow of goods and services from producer to consumer or user† (OShaughnessy, 1984, p. 4). The above mentioned definition focuses on the distribution aspects of marketing and there is clearly no mention of the most essential aspect of marketing, i.e. the Four P’s. The AMA has revised this definition and changes it to a more comprehensive one in 1985 which explained, â€Å"The process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational objectives† (Marketing Library, 2010). As seen the revised definition of marketing takes into account the various elements and concepts related to marketing. The newer definition of marketing is one which provides a completely rounded explanation of marketing. Market oriented organisations have a number of characteristics which include, a) Customer focus, b) Customer Orientation, c) Marketing Coordination & Integration, d) Long term focus and

AntiSemitism in the U.S Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

AntiSemitism in the U.S - Essay Example The Jews are clannish. They stick together and care little about others. The Jews are not to be trusted with money matters because they are too sharp in their business deals. The Jews are rich and greedy and want to dominate the world. They are not to be trusted politically. They are more loyal to themselves and their homeland, Israel than to the citizens of the country in which they live. These concepts are very harsh and hurtful towards the Jews and are often repeated and make anti-Semitism work. It is interesting to note that all of these ideas were set in the time around the middle ages and the anti-Semites of the 1920's, 1930's and 1940's still followed these concepts. Thankfully, not everyone in the world shares these views. Psychologists, historians, and sociologists began to study the origins of anti-Semitism and were trying to find something universal about it in all its manifestations. The next, and perhaps final, step in understanding the essence of anti-Semitism comes in the form of a question that these people hedged around and exposed. Is the hatred and rejection of Jews - known as Anti-Semitism since the last quarter of the nineteenth century - the same phenomenon throughout history in all its manifestations Or, perhaps, is this term simply an umbrella for all social, political, and psychological phenomena, which caught on thanks to terminological or ideological convenience After the Holocaust, there emerged three basic approaches to dealing with anti Semitism's causes. One approach proposed that there was never a real problem between the major group of people in an area and the Jewish minority that it was just a deception exploited for the benefit, be it political of social, of those in power. Proponents of this approach felt that there was no real problem, even in Germany, between Jews and non-Jews. The hatred of Jews due to a manipulation of historical prejudices and the focusing of peoples bitterness on an imagined enemy. Nostalgia and a desire to preserve and re-enforce the myth of German-Jewish coexistence tainted the formulation of this idea. Another way of investigating the origins of Jew hatred places significant portions of the blame for Anti-Semitism squarely upon shoulders of Jews, their leaders, their conduct, and their actions throughout history. As this reasoning goes, at one point in the history of Europe Jews lost the ability to perform a meaningful social function, such as artisans and money lenders, and survived off of their wealth and status. This created a real conflict between Jews and the other social classes in Europe. Had the Jews and their leaders recognized this and done something about it, Jew hatred would not have manifested itself the in the way that that it did. Unfortunately, the prevailing opinions of the day in German society no doubt played a role in developing this approach towards anti-Semitism. A third way of dealing with historically anti-semantic thoughts is completely different than the first two. It proposed that there was nothing really special about the modern manifestation of Anti-Semitism in the Holocaust. This should come as no surprise since it is a direct result of the hatred and destruction of the Jewish nation through out Gentile and Jewish history. Proof of this can be seen in the decline of Jews during the Christian period of the Roman Empire, then again in the Dark Ages during the Black Plague, and yet again in the Chmielnicki

The Clash of Science, Politics,and Medical Marijuana Essay

The Clash of Science, Politics,and Medical Marijuana - Essay Example Apart from that there is additional proof to support the utilization of marijuana for pain and nausea resulting from chemotherapy, as well as muscle spasticity linked with multiple sclerosis. Therefore, nurses play a crucial role being activists in encouraging elimination of obstacles to the use of medicinal marijuana. With the legalization of medicinal marijuana, nurses will be permitted to advocate for patient use of marijuana when it comes to medicinal purposes. This is possible through the coming together of a growing number of state nursing associations through the backing of therapeutic use of marijuana (Diana, 2011). What problems were encountered? Although medicinal marijuana has a number of benefits associated with it, marijuana has in most cases been flaunted as one of the harmless recreational substances available. Perhaps this is true considering that a number of reputable scientific studies concur that alcohol, cocaine, heroin, and even cigarettes tend to be more dangero us to the health of the user compared to marijuana. Apart from that, the celebrated pharmacological elements of cannabis have resulted in thirty-six states permitting its application as a curative drug for, amongst others, those agonizing from AIDS; a variety of painful, incurable, as well as debilitating illnesses; the dangerous consequences of cancer chemotherapy, along with glaucoma. On top of that, marijuana became used in the treatment of anxiety, as well as mental disorders (Diana, 2011). The most powerful argument against the marijuana use in the treatment of a medical condition is that marijuana might lead to the hastening or provocation of the same disorders it became applied to treat. Regular smoking of marijuana damages the cells within the bronchial passages that guard the body against breathed in microorganisms, while at the same time, decreasing the capability of the immune cells within the lungs in fighting off fungi, bacteria, as well as tumor cells. For those patien ts whose immune system became already weakened, this is an indication of increased possibility of risky pulmonary infections, consisting of pneumonia, which in most cases proves fatal in patients suffering from AIDS. The principal respiratory outcomes of regular smoking of marijuana tend to be pulmonary infections, along with respiratory cancer, whose association to marijuana application became resiliently suggested, yet not conclusively proven. These effects comprise of chronic bronchitis, lung inflation, impairment in the role of the minor air passages, the development of probably pre-cancerous abnormalities within the bronchial lining, as well as lungs, in addition to a reduction in, the abilities of a number of defensive mechanisms in the lungs (Diana, 2011). There is a perception that marijuana is at the source of a number of mental disorders, comprising of acute toxic psychosis, delusions, panic attacks, flashbacks, depersonalization, uncontrollable aggressiveness, hallucinati ons, depression and paranoia. Marijuana has for a long time now been known for prompting mental illness’ attack like bipolar (manic-depressive) psychosis, together with schizophrenia. This association with mental illness must assemble health

'A small businesses should adopt e-commerce' Essay

'A small businesses should adopt e-commerce' - Essay Example E-commerce is business over the internet and using the internet technologies which facilitates them to accomplish an organizations focus and objectives (Chaffey, 2004, p.46 - 53). As internet technologies are exploited to its entirety by the businesses providing products and services to consumers and customers, auctioneering turns out to be an everyday issue. Hundreds to thousands of people are taking part in the auctions which are arranged by the businesses over the internet for goods ranging from furniture to DVD’s. An internet strategy is urbanized to envelope all of their present problems and enhance good customer and supplier relations. Creating an internet website would make the company stand accessible anytime-anywhere. In doing so the security factors regarding data and transactions must be taken care. The problems with the present system must be analyzed for better insight of the organization and to fetch the primary reasons of enveloping technology. The present system of the small business is usually traditional in nature and is composed of paper work and manual systems which do not envelope the entire business integration and online operations. There is no mechanism to capture enough personal data about customer’s, namely feedback, preferences and tastes, to retain them or get new ones. Their Customer Relationship Management is quite poor. Analysis of customer base is not done at all. In addition to that the present system neither possesses automatic links for replenishment of their stock, which makes an impact for their suppliers. The present system is quite slow and does not exploit the brand value for selling its products and services to a large community of users. The technologies have a great impact on the building and construction of the e-commerce system. The various technologies used are classified into client and server side and more specifically they denote the e-commerce and

To what extend does Joint Commission International (JCI) Accreditation Essay - 2

To what extend does Joint Commission International (JCI) Accreditation standards improves healthcare facilities - Essay Example Therefore, collectivism can be considered the second main factor after that of religion in influencing Saudi culture. On the other hand, one of the cultural issues influencing healthcare in Saudi Arabia is consanguineous marriages. These societies prefer consanguineous marriages for various reasons such as to strengthen family relationships or to avoid financial assets or property falling into the hands of individuals outside the family (Bittles, 2001). Regarding healthcare, according to Al- Abdulkareem and Ballal (1998), consanguineous marriages have been found to be one of the causes of certain inherited blood diseases among Saudis. In 2003, the Saudi government therefore introduced a pre-marriage test to reduce the rate of such diseases. However, a study by Alsulaiman and Hewison (2006) on attitudes to the pre-natal and pre-implantation diagnosis of Saudi parents at genetic risk showed that, out of 30 couples asked, only 50% would accept such a test. In KSA, modern healthcare system and quality management did not exist until 1926. Up until then, health services had been provided by individuals not governmental authority. Healthcare and quality have organised through several stages to reach present day status. However, quality management started to appear in the public and private healthcare sectors, by many workers attracted to the idea of Total Quality Management (TQM). Dale (2007) argues that shifting TQM from the manufacturing industry to the health sector is difficult for a number of reasons: the managerial environment differs from other sectors, consumers in healthcare are different as they use the service as patients, the nature of failure, where few errors are able to be fixed and the complexity of the workforce in the health sector. All these reasons make the implementation of JCI accreditation standards in TQM or continuous quality improvement a challenging

Human Resource Management Overview in Health Care Research Paper

Human Resource Management Overview in Health Care - Research Paper Example In this regard, past literature review can be helpful for healthcare human resource managers to manage their roles efficiently with the ever changing focus. The literature related to resource-based view (RBV) of companies reviews the level of employees’ knowledge, expertise, and capabilities along with their motivation and loyalty to be inseparable with the human capital of companies. More than that, formal and informal communications among employees and between employees and the company are recognized to be associated with social capital of companies. As per the Resource Based View (RBV), focus has changed from outside factors of competitive advantage to inside company resources, which has added legitimacy to the human resource’s claim that people are strategically significant to company success (Sadatsafavi & Walewski, 2013). The criticality of human resources in producing a long-lasting competitive advantage is necessary for the strategic leadership and management. O bserving human capital through the lens of RBV reveals the importance of human capital for creating competitive advantages as it is mostly the company’s most distinct resource and the means employed for creating and managing it could be complicated. It shifts and offers equal significance to human resource management system as a tool for creating competitive advantage from human capital. ... The behavioral arrangements provide sufficient inducements to the workforce, along with the built environment to add to the varied list of human resource management tools for increasing the criticality and distinctiveness of the mechanism from which the human capital pool of the company is created. Additionally, the principles of RBV indicate that the value generated by a rare, distinct, and complicated resource pool cannot be copied for reproduction by the competitors (Sadatsafavi & Walewski, 2013). When discussing human resource for health, decentralization of power and resources is important but more than that, it is the challenge to set answerability procedures in place of those who take decisions and act, irrespective of the matter what rank they hold. Human resource management, quality and equity of staffing cannot change for the better if decentralization policies are not there to check accountability. Equally important are innovations in capacity building of all actors in fra ming efficient incentive measures (Lodenstein and Dao, 2011). Evaluate Three to Five (3-5) Functions of Human Resource Management in Terms of their Level of Support to the Health Care Field, and then select which One You Believe is the Primary Function in Furthering the Health Care Field Some major functions of human resource management that add to the healthcare field include use of technology, which is going to increase in future in healthcare. The increasing focus on technology is going to impact job profiles of employees. It would heighten the role of leadership to adapt to the changed environment. It is general opinion that good leadership helps in creating a better job environment with reducing retention issues and employees’ crunch (Berardino et al.,

Respect Essay Example for Free

Respect Essay I have been told that I need to write a 1000 word essay on disrespecting a Non Commissioned Officer. But it is really hard to write about this because I am having a hard time wondering how I disrespected them. So, where do I start on this and what do I say about it. As far as this essay goes I am just going to write how I feel about respect and how respect works both ways. It is wrong to disrespect a Non Commissioned Officer because they are appointed above me to guide me to the right place and things to do. But it is really hard to respect someone when they do not respect you. Respect works both ways and if that person or leadership does not respect you trying to respect them is difficult. No matter what is said it is disrespect. For example: I am writing this because I was called about a meeting that my squad leader decided he wanted to spring on the squad after we were released for the day. When I asked the squad leader was the meeting about something that we could have discussed the next business day, he replied no, with a sly smirk on his face. As he began to talk it was clearly the same information that was put out at the end of business. I do not know how that was disrespect when it was the truth. In regards to this essay I am not sure what to say about disrespect other then it works both ways. They tell you to respect the rank not the person but when that person abuses the rank it is really hard to respect it. I think that in today’s United States Army no one respects anybody the way that they should be. They are too quick to say that you are disrespecting them and that they are just trying to make you better but they are disrespecting you in the processes. How can you work for someone or some place when all that they do is disrespect you and everything that you do no matter what it is? When I first came in the United States Army a Non Commissioned Officer would work with you on how to be a good soldier and actually sit with you and respect you on what you were doing if you did a good job and worked hard they didn’t try to beat you down to where you just give up on everything. I used to respect everyone that was above me because they cared about you as a person they respected you and helped you with the hard things that were thrown at you and made sure that you were good not just quick to demote them and kick them out of the United States Army. They had an interest in you as a person and if they had something to learn from you then they would respect you enough to ask for help and respect you enough to talk to you. Respect and disrespect is a hard topic because I am a strong believer in respect someone and you will receive respect back or treat someone the way that you want to be treated. The whole time that I have been back in the United States Army the Non Commissioned Officers that were above me were basically like new privates. They were new to the job and they didn’t know a lot about it. I know that I have been in the United States Army for only a short time and I am only a specialist, I have worked with someone above me disrespecting me not just as a soldier, but as a human being. I feel that leadership should stop turning what people say into disrespect it was not that way AT ALL. I was just asking a questioning and stating the obvious, not disrespecting that person. You know they always preach about disrespect but they do not give respect at all. So as far as this essay goes how do I write it to what they want because no matter what is said in here they will one way or another say it is disrespect or some other form of berating them. 1 Respect and disrespect is an important part of a soldier Non Commissioned Officer relationship and needs to be enforced upon not only the soldier but also the Non Commissioned Officer and Officers. I have had a really hard time in this company because I think that people just think that I am just disrespecting them instead of getting to know their soldiers and how their soldiers talk and phrase things. They are quick to just say HA you disrespected me. I have seen way worse disrespect then what I have ever done to anyone. In my eyes disrespect is if you just plainly say hell no or fuck off. I have never done that and yet they automatically think that if you are asking them why you are told to do something it is disrespect but in fact is not disrespect it is that the soldier is trying to learn from them. If I remember correctly the Non Commissioned Officer Creed states â€Å"Competence is my watchword. My two basic responsibilities will always be uppermost in my mind-accomplishment of my mission and the welfare of my soldiers. I will strive to remain tactically and technically proficient. I am aware of my role as a Noncommissioned Officer. I will fulfill my responsibilities inherent in that role. All soldiers are entitled to outstanding leadership; I will provide that leadership. I know my soldiers and I will always place their needs above my own. I will communicate consistently with my soldiers and never leave them uninformed. I will be fair and impartial when recommending both rewards and punishment. † But it seems that only a few of the Non Commissioned Officers respect the lower enlisted. Why should soldiers’ words get twisted and why is that NCO’s are not respecting the soldiers and their needs. We need to be respected that is one of the many needs of the soldiers of today. That is why a lot of soldiers act out against Non Commissioned Officers. Ok so disrespect is all on what that person thinks is being said to them not really how and what is being said. When someone makes a statement and the other person comments on it, it is not disrespect it is just informing them on what they think. How is that disrespecting them? There is also a little thing that Non Commissioned Officers should do and that is lead by example and not respecting a soldier is not leading by example it is showing that that what is good for the goose is good for the gander or do as I say and not as I do! 2

Reasons Of Market Failure Economics Essay

Reasons Of Market Failure Economics Essay Market efficiency is the property of society maximizes the benefits it achieves from the use of its scarce resources. When the production is efficient, the economy will obtain all it can from the scarce resources that is available and there is no way to produce more than a good without producing less of other goods. Market failure is a circumstance which a market will overlook its own fails to allocate resources efficiently. Thus, there are several possibilities that can cause market failure such as externalities, market power and public goods as well as incomplete information. Externalities are based on the impact of an individual action on the well-being of a bystander. Hence, they enforced people other than the consumers and producers of goods and services. Thus, externalities are also described as spillover effects. Third parties are refer as people except consumers and producers who are affected by these side-effects of market exchanges. Externalities may be either positive or negative which it may cause beneficial or disadvantageous to the third party. For instance, we are off to bed and our neighbour is having a dancing party with high volume rock music. The action of our neighbour is imposing negative externality toward us and the third parties who are trying to sleep. As the results from annoyance of our neighbours playing the music, this is an example of a consumption externality. However, externalities are also an external positive externality too; by the way, negative externalities are only caused by market failure. On the other hand, the production externality is generated, for examples, depletion of natural resources are caused by atmospheric pollution from factories and the long-term environmental damage. The factories expel harmful gases such as CFC, carbon monoxides, hydrocarbons from the chimney that causes bystander health. The externality is considered to be an important factor contributing to economic growth. Market power is also one of the reasons of causing market failure. Market power, which refers to a firm, can influence the price by exercising control over its demand, and supply. It does not exist when there is a perfect competition, but it does when there is monopoly, cartels, or monopolistic competition. The invisible hand of the market leads to an allocation of resources that makes total surplus larger as it can be. As monopolies can lead to an allocation of resources unlike from a competitive market, the monopolists keep its prices and profits high by using its market power to restrict output below the socially efficient quantity. The monopolists choose the profit-maximizing quantity of output at the intersection of the marginal-cost curve and the marginal-revenue curve. It is not at the lowest point of the average total cost curve, intend that the available resources are not fully use and it will fail to produce an efficient allocation of resources. The inefficiency of monopoly also can be measured with a deadweight loss triangle area between the marginal-cost curve and the demand curve, which reflects the total surplus loss and the costs of the monopoly producer. Buyers who have willingness to pay less than the price will not buy it. It is the reduction in economic well-being that fall out from the monopolys use of its market power. Microsoft market shares in PC operating system in the natural monopoly are one of an example because everyone is using their products. It would also leads to an increase in competition and variety as well as cheaper products for consumers. Moreover, after determining the level of Microsofts market power, we know that the relevant market is the licensing of all Intel-compatible PC operating systems world-wide. In addition, some consumers may not interest on some types of application, they might seek for others, such as Apple Company. Other than those reasons above, the reason which will cause market failure happen is public goods. Public goods can define as goods that will not reduce the availability of it for consumption by others after people making consumption. By the way, once public goods are available, no one can be withheld to consume them for free. Public goods are usually provided by the government examples like protection provided by police, fire departments, and the military. Public goods may provide free rider problem, which means the private organizations cannot get all the benefits of the public goods which they have produced, there would be no incentive for them to voluntarily provide public goods; consumers can take advantage of public goods without contributing sufficiently to their creation. This situation can produce inefficiency and a resulting market failure. When markets failure occurs, it will eventually affect economic recession, social unemployment rate to increase, financial deficits, and inflation and so on. In order to seek full employment, price stability, maintain economic growth and international revenue as well as expenditure in balance; government will launch a series of economic policies to intervene the market economy and to correct market failures. Government policy is a kind of coercive force which is a noticeable act that controlled by individuals and organizations performance during the trade. Moreover, the government policies are divided into three parts, which consist of taxes, price control and subsidies. Tax is an imposed manner which the burden of a tax is shared among participants in the market. When a tax is imposed on goods, this will affect supply curve to shift upward by the amount of the tax. In addition, taxes can directly and indirectly affect on other area such as cigarettes, petrol, and alcoholic drinks. According to the text above it has already shows out that an increase in tobacco tax is the best means to reduce tobacco uses, particularly to prevent young people to become smokers. The price of tobacco products has increased by 70%; it can avoid 1/4 of smoking death rate in the world. In addition, an increase in tobacco tax will not only help or reduce in tobacco production and consumption; it will also be a great solution to the shortage of national financial revenue problem. In high-income countries, 10% of the rate increase in tobacco products can reduce a consumption of tobacco by 4%.Whereas, in low-income countries it can reduce about 8% but tobacco taxes but will increase by almost 7%.For example, in the U.S. government make the federal tobacco tax from 39 cents per pack to $ 1.01, which is by far the most significant U.S. government to raise the federal tobacco tax. Select a recession in the domestic tobacco tax increase to help smokers to quit and this will be great power. Britain is the worlds that has highest tobacco tax. However, in 2009, the United Kingdom has doubled up the tobacco tax. Price control is the import and export of goods or services on the enforcement of price-fixing measures. At the equilibrium price, there will be no shortage or surplus. The government may prefer to keep prices above or below the equilibrium. There will be a shortage, if government sets a maximum price below the equilibrium price. Price will not be allowed to rise to get rid of this shortage. This is called a price ceiling. There will be a surplus, if government sets a minimum price above the equilibrium price. Price will not be allowed to fall to get rid of this surplus. This is called a price floor. For instance, fluctuation in weather can affect the crops. If industry demand is price inelastic, prices are possibility to fluctuate severely at a minimum price that can prevent a fall in producers incomes that would accompany periods of low prices. Whilst, if government sets a maximum prices to prevent them from rising above a certain level. This will generally be done for reasons of fairness. In wartime, or times of famine, the government may set maximum price for fundamental goods so that poor people can afford to buy the goods. Government keeps prices down for the consumers. Besides that, subsidies are also other forms of public policies to overcome market failure. Government policies are very common in countries and it is benefit a lot of industries. Other than that, agriculture, education, free school meals, employment, state benefits, transport, working tax credits, regional development, housing are also some examples of the subsidies from government. In the Egyptian economy, food subsidies can be affected in various sectors. A major objective of a research was done in order to examine the agricultural policy-making in the environment of a growing foods subsidy system. In addition, misallocation and in efficiencies of resources in agriculture take place when food subsidies are hidden costs of such systems. Nevertheless, it is a vital to divide out from the entire bundle of policy goals and relate it with those instruments that are directly or indirectly related to food subsidies. A complete quantitative evaluation of a country`s agricultural policy and its determinants can be provided by its basis. Furthermore, commodities that are strictly controlled on the production section are also strictly rationed at a fixed price on the food distribution are such as sugar and rice. Product such as maize, wheat and meat are non-rationed or not strictly rationed commodities. Moreover, products that are not strictly rationed commodities are considerably to have less interference in allocation and marketing. The input and output prices of agricultural are distorted in different ways. Tax are usually taxed or given under the field of crops. Whereas, the production of milk and meat has been protected by the supply of subsidized and by import restrictions. Food policy may cause a consumer-to-producer to transfer and a producer-to-producer to transfer when a special situation for livestock or feed has been point out, in which it accompanies redistribution of income among the production sectors in an agriculture sectors. In conclusion, as market failure will arise and government will established several policies to improve the market allocation. According to the cases as stated above, obviously, subsidies is the best effective policies that can be under take by market inefficiency. As it is the one of a positive solution and it can encourage producers to put more effort on producing and fully used the resources. The producers have no hesitation about accepting the government most generous offer. They are willing to produce maximum outfit by using subsidies that had given from the government. Hence, subsidies are no way to compare with other policies.

Estimating And Pre Contracts Quantity Surveying Construction Essay

Estimating And Pre Contracts Quantity Surveying Construction Essay The most important stage of any project is Estimating and Pre-Contracts Quantity Surveying. Care has to be taken at this stage, to produce a more accurate and realistic cost of the project so that the client is in knowledge of the financial requirement with no major surprises, for successful completion of project within the budget. Construction projects are always out of budget and delayed completion date. The two main reasons are either a wrong assessment of the cost and duration for the completion of the project or the client is being deliberately presented with a reduced budget and a tight schedule for completion of project. However the most common reason is the combination of the cost and time estimates and the latter being used by most consultants / architects to convince the clients to go ahead with the project. The reduced budget and the tight time schedule is sometimes way away from the actual, which is the main reason for the collapse of the client. One of the bitter experience is with the Dubai Government Roads and Transport Authority being provided with a Cost Estimate of about 4.25 billion dollars (15.5 billion dirhams) for the Dubai Metro Rail Project, which went over budget and crossed time limit while crossing 7.67 billion dollars (28 billion dirhams) expenditure with still part of the network stations being incomplete. As per RTA there were four reasons of the increase, first the project was extended by 4.5 km, secondly adding a station with few more kilometres of the rail, thirdly adding two more stations on the Red Line and lastly the changing of the interior of the stations drastically and including footbridges. Also to the fact that in my career of 10 years in Dubai, I have noticed only one project completed within the budget and within the allotted tight time period. The project was executed with good management and proper allocation of resources to achieve the completion within a short period of time. However it is not fair to put the blame on Pre-Contracts procedure deciding the major part of the fate of the construction project. ABSTRACT The PCQS has to submit various documents according to the various stages in Pre-Contracts. The various areas to be considered in the Pre-Contracts Quantity Surveying stage are as following 1) Selection of team. 2) Collection of historical data. 3) Identifying key personals specialised in particular field to co-ordinate. 4) Incorporating inputs from various departments heads. 5) Defining and implementing practically a clear quality check procedure. 6) Following the various steps according to the stage of the document submittal. 7) Team leader to identify and distribute the work to the responsible personnel. 8) Quality Management, especially during the end of the submission date. 9) Preparing a more realistic cost estimate. 10) Back-checking by comparing the Engineers Estimate and the realistic tender opened. 11) Client can make the consultant responsible by asking to provide backups for the quantities and rates. 12) Including feedback and data provided from ongoing projects by Post Contract Quantity Surveyor. 13) Preparing of BOQ for Remaining Works of a contract after the termination of the Main Contractor. 14) Making the Consultant responsible for cost estimates provided to clients, to avoid huge variation. 15) Quantity Surveyors to be fast and accurate in dealing with Notice to Tenderers. To learn good lessons and avoid future loss to the members of the construction industry, some case studies are being provided. ESTIMATION AND PRE-CONTRACTS QUANTITY SURVEYING The Pre-Contracts stage needs a very good Quantity Surveyor having a wide range of experience with skills to manage the calculations with the available software and most importantly the historic data available in the organisation for using it as a base in Estimating. The normal procedure in the pre-contracts estimating is preparing the estimate during the Preliminary Study, Preliminary Design, Final Design and Tender Design. For repetitive or similar projects, for which the organisation has good sound recent historic data, the difference between all the stage estimates shall be very less, provided there is no drastic change in the scope of the work. The Quantity Surveyor shall prepare and keep standard rates derived from historic data and keep as common. It is better that the person preparing the estimates, derives the standard rates himself, so that he is in knowledge of those items which are lumped into some unit rates or for those items whose cost to be separately calculated if possible, or just allow some percentage in the contingencies or any other line item. As the stage progresses the quantities and items becomes well defined and then only applying appropriate unit rates becomes a key factor. But at each and every stage the Quantity Surveyor using any assumption shall keep records for any future justification of all the estimates even until the start of the project. The various stages of Pre-Contracts document submittal with approximate time frame is mentioned below: Stage 1 Preliminary study One page estimate prepared by PCQS to be included by the Project Manager in is study report. Stage 2 Preliminary Design (After approximately one month from stage 1) Volume 1 Tender and Contract Conditions Sample copy from previous project Volume 2 Specifications Sample copy relevant to the project Volume 3 BOQ Sample copy with item description and without quantities, relevant to the project Volume 4 Drawings Relevant to the project, including standard drawings relevant to the project Preliminary Design Cost Estimate One page estimate of the project Stage 3 Final Design Document (After approximately one month from stage 2) Volume 1 Tender and Contract Conditions With all details relevant to the project Volume 2 Specifications Only relevant to this project Volume 3 BOQ Actual items and quantities from drawings of this project Volume 4 Drawings Relevant to the project only Stage 4 Final Design Cost Estimate (On the 7th day from stage 3) Final Design Cost Estimate Detailed cost estimate with quantities from drawings and current market rates. Stage 5 Tender Design Document (After approximately one month from stage 3) Volume 1, 2, 3 4 Tender and Contract Conditions Same as in stage 3 with incorporation of corrections and changes. Stage 6 Notice to Tenderers (After the floating of Tender documents to the bidders and not after 10 days before Tender opening date) It consists of a report stating the changes in all or any of the Volumes and the new pages. Stage 7 Engineers Estimate (On the day of Tender opening date, after all Bid documents are opened and is submitted to the Client separately) It consists of a detailed cost estimate with quantities from drawings and current market rates, after incorporating all NTTs. Stage 8 Tender Analysis (On the 14th day after stage 7) The PCQS has to prepare an analysis report of the bid documents submitted and compare it with Engineers Estimate. Stage 9 Contract Documents (After stage 8 and finalization of the successful bidder to award the contract) The PCQS has to compile all the documents of Volumes 1, 2, 3 4 submitted by the bidder and check if all the NTTs are incorporated and include if any missing. He has to also include any post tender correspondence and changes as agreed. This document is sent to the Contractor for him to check and sign. This signed document is then signed by the Client and thus the Contract is formed. One copy of this signed document goes to the Post Contracts section, with which the responsibility of the PCQS is completed. Below are the various formats used in Pre-Contracts Documents: The software required is very nominal such as MS Word and MS Excel for preparing documents. And for calculating quantities MS Excel is most powerful which can be used along with Autocad, Microstation and Geopak. The Preliminary Study and Preliminary Design BOQ, consists of sample BOQ items with nil quantities as shown below: Figure 1 The Final Design BOQ and Tender Design BOQ consists of actual work items with quantities calculated from drawings as shown below: Figure 2 Preliminary Study and Preliminary Design Cost Estimate format is as given below: Figure 3 Final Design Estimate and Tender Design Estimate is a detailed estimate with work items, quantities and rates, as given below: Figure 4 A sample page of the Tender Analysis is shown below, which compares the rates and amounts quoted by three contractors. It also calculates the minimum, average and maximum rates of all the contractors: Figure 5 The index of the Volume 1 Tender and Contract Conditions is shown below: Figure 6 A sample of the unit rate calculation sheet is shown below: Figure 7 PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF PRE-CONTRACTS QUANTITY SURVEYING The study is fine tuned to Infrastructure projects like Roads and Bridges and using FIDIC contract conditions and CESMM3 method of measurement. The following are important areas to be considered in Pre-Contracts stage. 1) Selection of team depending on the project and client : This is the job of the person in-charge of the QS team to select the particular QSs who shall be able to deliver the required project with accuracy and in time. If the project is more specialised and unique then the key QSs shall have a better engineering background and innovative skills to deal with issues which comes up during the preparation of BOQ and estimate. However some portion of the work shall be similar to routine work, which can be done by other QSs. Thus within the team roles and responsibilities shall be divided as per calibre and capacity of doing the job. The most important aspect is of communication, i.e. each and every person of the team shall be communicated of any changes and share new information received from other departments or client. 2) Collection of historical data from similar kind of projects : The various stages of estimates are Preliminary Study, Preliminary Design, Final Design and Tender Design. The first two stages needs the estimate to be a one page estimate, having most of the items clubbed together to form a single line item like Roadwork, in which the items included are preparation of formation, laying sub-base, road-base, prime coat, asphalt base course, tack coat, asphalt wearing course, road markings, trial trenches, any demolition works, etc. The cost per meter square of roadwork can be calculated by adding the unit rates of all the above items, except for trial trenches and demolition works for which a percentage of around 5% of the unit rates can be applied. The per unit cost of bridges can be worked out by calculating the total cost of a concrete bridge from previous project and then dividing it by the plan area of the bridge giving us the unit rate of bridge per square meter. Thus in the preliminary study and preliminary design stage the major line items ha ve to be identified and their most likely unit rate shall be derived in terms of unit which can be calculated easily from the available drawing. Since the areas of roads and bridges are clear at these two stages, the quantities are defined in area unit. All the rates used in these line items, shall be taken from the recently opened tender and if required apply uplift for inflation on a quarterly basis. 3) Identifying key personals specialised in particular field to co-ordinate during the progress of Bill of Quantities preparation : Depending on the type and nature of the project and the various departments involved like Highway design section, structural design section, traffic study section, steel structure section, landscape section, intelligent transportation section, various service departments, the QS team leader has to co-ordinate with respective section heads. The point of contact person shall be the same throughout the project. Any message or information passed on by sub-ordinates to sub-ordinates of QS section shall be communicated through the responsible section head. Frequent meetings shall be arranged between all the section heads, by the project manager so as to assure proper progress and to nullify any delay by any team being lagging behind which shall effect the project delivery. 4) Incorporating inputs from various departments heads including on-site and off-site : The QS team can refer to the historic data available with their company for usage in the current project. In addition to this, the PCQS also shall co-ordinate with the post-contract QS to get some feedback from the ongoing projects so as to rectify those mistakes committed in previous documents and incorporate in their next submission. This procedure is normally not followed practically as the two sections behave as separate distinct entity. But there shall be a better communication between the pre and post-contract QS and it can be achieved very easily by the head of the QS section with very little effort, enhancing the overall quality of pre-contracts works. 5) Defining and implementing practically a clear quality check procedure before submitting the document to the client : A very important procedure of quality check shall be included in the pre-contracts work, to provide quality documents for the clients. Any document after preparation and before sending it to the client shall undergo quality check by Senior QS or experienced QS in the section. This procedure shall eliminate minor mistakes definitely and also have a check on major items to avoid any blunder in quantity or description of items. It is sure that certainly the quality of the document shall be enhanced even if this procedure is implemented for atleast about 1 to 5 hours, depending on the time available for submission. This procedure of checking can be made effective by making the person sign the document after his checking of the document. This procedure can be followed if the internal audit plan cannot be followed due to time restrictions. However the normal internal audit procedures available with Corporate are good enough for a quality product. 6) Following the various steps according to the stage of the document submittal : Various steps has to be followed according to the stage of the submission, whether preliminary study, preliminary design, final design or tender design. During the preliminary study the pre-contracts QS has to prepare only a one page estimate based on the key layout plan for e.g. Calculate the area of the road and bridges from the plan and then multiply it with the area of the road and bridges from the plan and then multiply it with the derived rates from previous standard projects. And consider percentages for services, landscape works, street lighting works, contingencies, etc. to arrive at the total project cost. In the preliminary design stage the PCQS has to submit a one page cost estimate and a detailed sample BOQ with the quantities as nil. The BOQ items shall be standard items, from previous projects relevant to the current projects. Even the tender and contract conditions is provided same from the previous similar project. In the final design stage, the Volume 1 Tender and Contract Conditions, Volume 3 Bill of Quantities and a detailed cost estimate is submitted. This stage is a more detailed stage and may be entirely different from the preliminary design, based on the changes being incorporated during this stage. The PCQS has to prepare volume 1 incorporating the description of the project, duration of the project, any milestone, any stage handover, the particular conditions of contract, penalties, liquidated damages, conditions for advance payment, performance bond guarantee form, tender bond form and the general conditions of contract. The volumes shall be a detailed BOQ, with no assumed quantities and all the items and quantities shall be derived from the available drawings. In addition to this there shall be a Bill No. 1 for General Items, containing the items for Method Related charges and Time Related charges for the contractor to price, so that he receives the initially invested money early a s mentioned in this Bill. But sometimes contractor uses this Bill to front load these items to get initial profit earlier as he shall put all his profit in the Bill and price less profit in the actual work items. The next submission is the Tender submission which is similar to Final Design submission, with the only difference that any changes in the drawings from Final Design to Tender Design has to be incorporated into the BOQ. Care has to be taken in this document as it shall be provided to the Tenderers for bidding and any mistake at this stage shall be borne by the client and in turn by the Consultant. A real example of a very serious mistake happened by inserting the Quantity as One in the BOQ for costly items, whereas in the drawings there were huge numbers. The contractor being aware of this fact priced high for these particular items and later during the project execution, when the client got aware of this he claimed the excess amount from the consultant as it was a pure mistake of the consultant, by putting the item in the BOQ, but not putting the exact quantity as per drawing. This could have been avoided by having a QC check before floating the document as Tender. The cost estimate known as Engineers Estimate shall be provided on the date of the Tender Opening. In between the Tender submission and the Tender Opening, the consultant can issue a number of Notice to Tenderers to incorporate any changes in drawings or any tender documents. In this process, the PCQS can also rectify his mistakes which were not seen in the Tender Submission. The NTT is of standard form, consisting of serial numbers and the front page summarising the pages to be replaced or added from any of the Tender documents. 7) Team leader to identify anD distribute the work to the responsible personNEL of various departments and within Quantity Surveying department : The team leader of the PCQS has to carefully allocate and distribute responsibility of preparing the Volume 1 and various parts of Volume 3 such as roadwork, bridges, landscape works, services, tunnel works, electromechanical works, etc. accordingly. Also he has to co-ordinate and be aware of instructions and details provided by different section heads for preparation of the BOQ. Any change in any of the service or other section, shall be communicated through the section heads to the team leader and the PCQS doing that part of BOQ. The project manager shall also be aware of all these communications. 8) Quality Management, especially during the end of the submission date, when major design changes occurs : As discussed earlier there shall be a specific quality management plan for the PCQS works for a better quality product to the clients. This can be achieved by conducting a 1 to 5 hour QC check of all the documents prepared before sending it to the client. Criteria of checking each document is to be set out and the document used for quality check shall be stamped and signed duly by the Quality checker QS and the Team leader so as to be responsible for the document. This procedure shall atleast make 90% free of mistakes or blunder in any of the documents. This specially becomes difficult when huge changes in design are done when the submission date is very near and even getting 1 to 2 hours for checking is difficult. But it is suggested to have a quality check even in this tight schedule, when chances of mistakes are more. 9) Preparing a more realistic cost estimate for Tender Opening : After the tender document submission, the cost estimate known as Engineers Estimate is submitted to the client at the tender opening time. Care has to be taken in preparing this estimate for the following reasons, a) there shall not be large variations from the final design estimate, other than the changes in design. b) the estimate shall be reflecting the current market rate, since it is derived from a previously opened tender and hence inflation rate has to be applied. c) The estimate shall be within the range of the offers submitted by the bidders at the tender opening time. d) Justification and hard copy proof shall be kept for those items, for which rates are not available from previous tenders and is derived from basic as there might be major differences when compared with the bidders. Since these proofs might be required to justify these rates at a later stage if the estimate is way out of the range of the lowest bidder. For the fact that certain clients fix the maximum limit of variation of engineers estimate as 15% and if it goes beyond it then the consultant is responsible for that variation. 10) Back-checking by comparing the Engineers Estimate and the realistic tender opened, for future incorporation of any shortcomings : After the opening of all tenders the offers of all the bidders shall be compared with the engineers estimate. This is submitted to the client which is a part of tender analysis report. However the consultant shall also check for items where the engineers rates have large variation from all the bidders and try to avoid this mistake in future estimates, to provide a more realistic estimate to the clients. Normally the bill amount for General Items is considered as a percentage of the cost of work items and ranges from 15% to 30% depending on the class of the contractor and their overheads cost. But sometimes some of the contractors price these bill items less than 10% or even more than 30%, however we have to consider the average percentage from a majority of normal class contractors pricing. 11) CLIENT CAN MAKE THE CONSULTANT RESPONSIBLE BY ASKING TO PROVIDE BACKUPS FOR THE QUANTITIES AND RATES : Another way of achieving quality and accuracy in the BOQ and estimates, is by asking the consultants to provide backup and calculation of each quantity and rate. By checking this client can ensure the reality of the BOQ and the estimates. 12) Including feedback and data provided from ongoing projects by Post Contract Quantity Surveyor to the Pre-Contracts Quantity Surveyor for future contracts in design stage : One of the most important aspects of Quantity Surveying is the co-ordination and exchange of information between the pre-contracts and the post-contracts quantity surveyor. This is not done practically. However this can be done very easily by arranging monthly or bi-weekly meetings among them by their in-charge personnel. This will provide the PCQS the data about the new rates, missing BOQ items, quantity variation, claims due to BOQ, high rates for provisional items, high rates for mis-calculated BOQ quantities, to elaborate BOQ items description, insufficient BOQ description creating ambiguity of the scope of work. The comments and suggestions of the meetings can be used to incorporate in all the future tender documents to get a refined product for the client. This is a way by which the PCQS can assess the application of the documents prepared by them at site and measure the quantum of loss, occurred due to small or negligible mistake done during the pre-contracts period. This woul d also suggest the PCQS to include QC checks relevant to these mistakes in their checklist of quality control. 13) Preparing of BOQ for Remaining Works of a contract after the termination of the Main Contractor, to award the remaining works to a new contractor : This is a very rare case that the main contractor is terminated and the remaining works is awarded to the new contractor. However, if this happens then the PCQS has to be very cautious in preparing the BOQ for the remaining works. The BOQ of the balance works to be prepared by taking the difference between the tender quantity and the actual work done quantity at site. However, care shall be taken to prepare some new items such as manholes and such other works which are partially completed by the main contractor and remaining has to be done by the new contractor. These item quantities shall be accurate if possible to be measured at site and no assumptions shall be made, as if the quantities are less than actual, then the new contractor shall price it more, the excess of which shall be paid by the main contractor, it is not good from an ethic point of view. Any item partially done and unsure of quantity shall not be included in the BOQ. Also to avoid major losses to the main contractor , items of this kind shall not be included in the BOQ, since the new contractor shall price it very high during tender stage, which we cannot control his pricing. However, if these items occur at site and if there is no BOQ item, then a better controlled new rate can be approved by the consultant, minimizing the loss to the main contractor. Items like testing of pipes, duct proving etc. shall not be included in the BOQ as the new contractor shall definitely price it very high than the actual incurred by them. 14) Making the Consultant responsible for cost estimates provided to clients, to avoid huge variation after the opening of the tender : One important stage of the PCQS is to provide the cost estimates to the client. Sometimes the consultant might underestimate the cost of the project to make it look cheaper, so that the client goes ahead with the project and the consultant is free from the responsibility of providing the most economical design for the client. This can be nullified by making the consultant responsible for the cost estimate and impose a fine, if the cost estimate varies more than +15% to -15% of the lowest bidder. Also the fees for the consultant design fees shall be based on the lowest of all bidders including the consultants cost estimate. In this case the client shall also take particular interest and ask justification for the rates being priced for the BOQ items by the consultant. 15) Quantity Surveyors to be fast and accurate in dealing WITH Notice to Tenderers within A short period of time : Notice to Tenderers provides a sort of cover to the mistakes or late design changes for the consultant and the client. Always these are issued within a short span of time in hurry and most probably having a risk of containing mistakes and errors being sent to the tenderers. Since the time is short and a lot of parts such as drawings, specifications or BOQ has to be re-issued there is chances of error. However this shall be avoided by having a rapid and thorough QC check. If it is not possible to do even this check, then the consultant shall request from the client to provide an extension of time, for the tender opening. This would avoid and nullify any future major loss of money or ambiguity during the post-contracts period. Also this is good opportunity for the consultant to rectify any mistakes done by any of their department during the pre-contracts stage in the tender documents. In this notice even the consultant has to send in the answers to the queries raised by the bidders. La ter on during the formation of the contract document, each page and every answer of the query forms an integral part of the contract document in Volume 1 and other Volumes as applicable. Notice to Tenderers, before issuing to the client who in turn issues it to the bidders, shall be authenticated by the responsible heads of department, who is related to the contents of the Notices. The PCQS responsibility is the preparation of Volume 1 and Volume 3 and cost estimates at any stage. After the tender opening, even the preparation of the contract documents has to be done and thoroughly checked by the PCQS. A very systematic procedure shall be followed in preparation of the contract documents. Because, even if in the pre-contracts stage a mistake of the consultant is rectified in the subsequent NTT and that page is not incorporated in the Contract document, then the purpose of NTT is lost and the contract after signing has to be executed with that mistake, giving rise to disputes and claims. Initially the original Tender document has to be taken and then one by one the succeeding Notices shall be applied by the PCQS. He should take responsibility for all the Volumes, because the other department personnel might not remember or not have any documentation to replace the pages as mentioned in the NTT. A important point to be noted is that each and every page issued in each NTT shall become a part of respective Volume. Sometimes or more often there are certain discussions negotiation being held after the Tender opening known as the Post Tender stage. Each correspondence and documents submitted during this post tender stage shall become a part of Volume 1, as it shall be the deciding factor of the contract during a later part of the construction stage. Once the contract document is signed by both parties, ie. The client and the contractor then the contract is formed. At this point of time the responsibility is transferred from Pre-Contracts Quantity Surveyor to Post Contracts Quantity Surveyor. TO LEARN GOOD LESSONS FROM CASE STUDY TO AVOID MISTAKES AND AVOID HUGE LOSSES : Case Study 1 The items for Drainage Manholes were included in the bill, but the quantity take-off from the drawings was not included in the Tender BOQ. The contractor knowing this fact priced it four times high, since the quantity in BOQ was unit and it did not effect the overall tender price. The client became aware of this fact that the actual Manhole quantity is more and the client shall have to pay around 5.48 million dollars (20 million dirhams) more. The client wrote a letter claiming this excess amount from consultant. This mistake happened at the pre-contracts stage, due to non-inclusion of the working of the Drainage bill quantity done by team member into the main BOQ excel file. Conclusion: Teamwork is important and each team member shall ensure that his part of work is included in the main work. Case study 2 Due to lack of time the area of concrete retaining wall was calculated as length multiplied by average height of 3.5m. During the execution of the work, the actual quantity seemed to be three times more than the quantity mentioned in the BOQ. This excess amount was out of the clients budget and he asked a justification from the consultant. This mistake happened since the QS preparing the quantities did not refer the road profile drawings in which, the starting and end point stating the heights of retaining wall were clearly mentioned. Conclusion: To check each and every drawing while calculating quantities, referring to partial drawings shall definitely mislead and create error. Case study 3 Due to non-availability of time between Tender document issuing date and Tender Opening date and also the pressure created from the project manager, major electro-mechanical items were missed from the Tender BOQ. Later on during construction period, lot of variations cropped up and the consultant was responsible for this loss to the client, as the contractor would have priced these with a competitive rate during the tender stage as compared to the present new rate. Conclusion: This mistake happened due to the pressure created by project manager to complete the work in short time. However this could have been avoided by extending the tender period and giving sufficient time to issue a proper well developed NTT. Case study 4 The client asked to submit all the four stage documents of the pre-contracts stages urgently one by one, by

Pro Legalization of Marijuana in the United States Essay -- essays res

With all of the complex issues facing the nation today, it seems as if the legalization of marijuana is being set on the back burner of legislation. There are so many opinions, sides, and overall arguments for and against it that many vote seeking politicians and policy makers have put up a strong resistance to this issue. In this paper I will illustrate the reasons why I think marijuana should indeed be legalized and also the arguments from people who disagree and feel that it should stay an illegal drug. Marijuana has been around for centuries. It comes from the species of plant Cannabis Sativa, and is used for things other that its renowned drug form, such as rope, clothing, medicines, and oils. Other common names for it include weed, pot, grass, reefer, and bud. The drug was actually not outlawed in the United States until the passage of the Marijuana Tax Act in 1937, which made the possession and sale of the plant illegal. A large part of the original fear and misrepresentation was due to ethnic and racial concerns of the southwestern U.S. Large immigrant populations moved into the area and introduced pot as a recreational drug, similar to the use of alcohol or tobacco. The xenophobic reaction caused the initial rejection of the drug and led to its outlaw in 1937. Since that time, government and society’s ignorance have kept the drug illegal. In a nutshell, there are many substantial reasons why the use of marijuana should be made a legal drug. Some of the reasons I will be discussing to support my argument are crime reduction, government benefits, medicinal benefits, lack of evidence to support harm, and constitutional rights. First and foremost is the issue of one’s constitutional right. Even if a drug is shown to be ha... ...here have been no recorded deaths as a result of marijuana use, unlike alcohol or tobacco, and most doctors will agree it is safer to use. Its recreational use would not stimulate more crime as some would try to argue. Marijuana being illegal essentially has no validity at all. So, because of all the positive aspects, marijuana should definitely be legalized in the U.S. Bibliography 1. Bonnie, Richard & Whitehead II, Charles H. â€Å"Marijuana Conviction: History of Marijuana Prohibition†. New York: Open Society Institute, 1999. 2. Bender, David. â€Å"Drug Abuse: Opposing Viewpoints†. New York: Green Press, 1994. 3. Goldberg, Raymond. â€Å"Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in Drugs & Society†. New York: The Dushkin Publishing Group, Inc., 1993. 4. Randall, Robert. â€Å"Marijuana Rx: The Patients’ Fight for Medicinal Pot†. Thundermouth Press, 1998.

The Awakening :: essays research papers fc

The Process of Edna Pontellier's Awakening The society of Grand Isle places many expectations on its women to belong to men and be subordinate to their children. Edna Pontellier's society, therefore, abounds with "mother-women," who "idolized their children, worshipped their husbands, and esteemed it to a holy privilege to efface themselves as individuals" (689). The characters of Adele Ratignolle and Mademoiselle Reisz represent what society views as the suitable and unsuitable women figures. Mademoiselle Ratignolle is the ideal Grand Isle woman, a home-loving mother and a good wife. Mademoiselle Reisz is the old, unmarried, childless, musician who devoted her life to music instead of a man. Edna switches between the two identities until she awakens to the fact that she needs to be an individual, but encounters resistance from society. This begins the process of her awakening. Chopin carefully establishes that Edna does not neglect her children, but only her mother-woman image. Chopin illustrates the idea by telling the reader, "...Mrs. Pontellier was not a mother-woman" (689). Edna tries to explain to Adele how she feels about her children and how she feels about herself, which greatly differs from the mother-woman image. She says, "I would give up the unessential; I would give my money; I would give my life for my children; but I wouldn't give myself. I can't make it more clear; it's only something I am beginning to comprehend, which is revealing itself to me" (720). Similarly to Edna's relationship with her children is that with her husband, Leonce. The Grand Isle society defines the role of wife as full devotion and self-sacrifice for your husband. Edna never adhered to societies definitions. For example, the other ladies at Grand Isle "all declared that Mr.'Pontellier was the best husband in the world" (689). And "Mrs. Pontellier was forced to admit she knew of none better"(689). By using words like "forced" and "admit", Edna has to acknowledge her true feelings towards Leonce. Edna's leaving Leonce's mansion is another important detail when considering the process of her awakening. By moving to her own residence, Edna takes a big step towards her independence. Throughout The Awakening, Edna increasingly distances herself from the image of the mother-woman, until her suicide, which serves as the total opposite of the mother-woman image. Adele Ratignolle and Mademoiselle Reisz, the two important female supporting characters, provide the two different identities Edna associates with. Adele serves as the perfect mother-women in The Awakening, being both married and pregnant, but Edna does not follow Adele's footsteps.

Abusive Parents :: essays research papers

Researchers at the University of Toronto have taken important steps toward producing a profile of an abusive parent. Prof. Gary Walters and doctoral student Lynn Oldershaw of the Department of Psychology have developed a system to characterize parents who physically abuse their children. This could ultimately allow social service professionals to identify parents in child abuse. Over the last five years, Walters and Oldershaw, in collaboration with Darlene Hall of the West End Creche, have examined over 100 mothers and their three to six-year-old children who have been physically abused. In the laboratory, the mother and child spend 30 minutes in structured activities such as playing, eating and cleaning-up. The family interaction is video-taped and later analyzed. The researchers have developed a system which allows them to record the effectiveness of parenting skills. They are particularly interested in disciplinary strategies because abuse most commonly occurs when the parent wants the child to comply. "It's a question of trying to determine which type of parent produces which type of child or which type of child elicits which type of parental behaviour," explains Oldershaw. As a result of their work, Walters and Oldershaw have identified distinct categories of abusive parents and their children. 'Harsh/intrusive' mothers are excessively harsh and constantly badger their child to behave. Despite the fact that these mothers humiliate and disapprove of their child, there are times when they hug, kiss or speak to them warmly. This type of mothering produces an aggressive, disobedient child. A 'covert/hostile' mother shows no positive feelings towards her child. She makes blatant attacks on the child's self-worth and denies him affection or attention. For his part, the child tries to engage his mother's attention and win her approval. An 'emotionally detached' mother has very little involvement with her child. She appears depressed and uninterested in the child's activities. The child of this type of mother displays no characteristics which set him apart from other children. In order to put together a parenting profile, the two researchers examine the mother/child interaction and their perception and feelings. For instance, Walters and Oldershaw take into account the mother's sense of herself as a parent and her impression of her child. The researchers also try to determine the child's perception of himself or herself and of the parent. Abusive parents are often believed to have inadequate parenting skills and are referred to

Marijuana Prohibition Canada

The Controlled Substances Act (Marijuana Prohibition) CLN-4U Unit One Essay Cailey Bazik CLN 4U – Unit One Essay Controlled Substances Act Marijuana Prohibition The Controlled substance act pertaining to Marijuana has been a long on going battle as to whether marijuana should be legal in Canada and taken out of this act. The law behind the drug has a long history and many failed attempts at decriminalization. There are both positive and negative effects to this law, but I believe the positive effects weigh out the negative and that because of this marijuana will be legal in the near future.The Marijuana laws in Canada today are unresolved, as superior courts have ruled all cannabis laws to be of â€Å"no force or effect†. Although the federal level of courts have made this ruling it has not caused any changes to other Canadian jurisdictions, the Criminal Code or the Controlled Substances Act. (â€Å"Legal History of Cannabis in Canada) The Controlled Drugs and Substanc es Act was passed in 1996 by the government under Prime Minister John Cretien. It is Canada’s federal drug control statue. This act outlines penalties for possession, trafficking and production of the substances established as illegal, including Marijuana. â€Å"Controlled Drugs and Substances Act) Canadian laws pertaining to drugs began in 1908 with the opium act, which was replaced by the opium and narcotic drug act in 1920. Marijuana however was not added to the confidential restricted list until 1923. (â€Å"Legal History of Cannabis in Canada†) Marijuana and the laws surrounding the issue only started to receive attention in the 1930’s and even then it was very minimal. It wasn’t until the 1960’s where problems arose with the law. At this time the maximum penalty for possession of small amounts of cannabis was 6 months n prison and a $1000 fine. A government injury was commissioned and public hearings were held to analyze the law over a perio d of three years. A report on the findings of this inquiry was published in 1972. The â€Å"La Dain Commission† suggested that penalties for can ibis possession be abolished, but to not legalize the substance. Of course this proposal was denied, along with other potential law reforms over the years. (â€Å"here to help†) In Recent Years the fight for the decriminalization of Marijuana has been more persistent.Research showed that Marijuana for medical use could help a number of ailments and disieses. Medical Marijuana in Canada was made legal in 2001 for things such as HIV, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord disease and injury, anorexia severe pain, seizures and persistent muscle spasms. (â€Å"Legal History of Cannabis in Canada†) Along with the boost in medical use came a boost in personal use. According to a report from the United Nations Canada is the highest in marijuana use in the industrialized world and more than four times the global rate. â€Å"Can adian Pot Use Four Time Global Rate†) In May 2002 Chretien introduced a bill to decriminalize marijuana for personal use. This bill was denied mainly because of pressure from the U. S and a threat to slow down border crossing between the two countries. Paul Martin in 2004 tried to pass an almost identical bill, which was also rejected. (â€Å"Legal History of Cannabis in Canada†) It was in 2007 when Justice Minister Rob Nicholson and the conservative minority government introduced Bill C-26, which presented mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenders (â€Å"Controlled Drugs and Substances Act†).A recent poll released by Toronto’s Forum Research showed that majority of Canadians support relaxing marijuana laws. In fact it showed that 65 % of Canadians support either the decriminalization in small amounts or legalization and taxation of the substance. (Ballingall) Unfortunately with the new mandatory minimum sentences it seems our laws do not reflect soci eties views. (Wood, Antweiler) Although it seems Canadians and Americans are in favour of decriminalizing Marijuana it is important to understand the reason these laws are there in the first place.Marijuana is harmful to ones health and to youth. The president of the Canadian Police Association believes Canadians are trying to decriminalize marijuana prematurely. He says supporters of change are overlooking the risks. â€Å"We don’t have the tools and the training available to us now to ensure that people aren’t driving cars, for example, or operating machinery, while they’re impaired by Marijuana† he said. â€Å" There are all kinds of implications that I don’t think people are considering carefully enough†¦ Its still a harmful substance ultimately† (Ballingall)That being said there are many negative effects to having the prohibition of Marijuana in place. The Union of B. C municipalities passed a resolution summoning research be done looking into the legalization of marijuana. They came to the conclusion that the prohibition has been ineffective in deterring youth use, and production of the plant. (Wood, Antweiler) It seems that other measures need to be taken in order to ensure the youth of Canada don’t use drugs recreationally, and criminalizing marijuana has little effect. Researchers from the University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser’s university have estimated B.C’s marijuana market would be worth more than $500 million annually. Unfortunately most of the revenue goes to criminal organizations. (Wood, Antweiler) This number is based on one province alone, think of how much this number would go up if the whole country were involved in their research. The profiting of criminal organizations in turn causes more violence, guns and other illegal activity in the country. If Canada were to legalize and tax cannabis the government would then receive all the profits, this money could fund government programs such as health care, social assistance and education.It would also significantly decrease criminal activity, and save money in courts and jails. One of the main reasons in the past for the prohibition on marijuana was the negative response from the U. S, however there are now 12 states that have decriminalized Marijuana (Wood, Antweiler) meaning there is less pressure from our bordering Country. This and the obvious preference of legalization from Canadian citizens means it is only a matter of time before marijuana is officially decriminalized, taken out of the Controlled Drugs Act, the criminal code and consistent laws in all Canadian jurisdictions.This I believe will come first, and potentially government controlled sales and taxation shortly after. It would be insane for the government to not take seize the opportunity to bring in so much revenue for the country. It seems as though the prolonged struggle to legalize marijuana still needs time and The Controlle d Substances Act will remain as it is for a while longer. Although there are potentially many positive effects to decriminalization and controlled sales for taxation It is clear Canada still need the time to prepare to ensure it is done safety, effectively and not detrimental to youth.Canadians may be ready for a change and the government will eventually have to surrender, regardless of minor health issues cannabis causes. Bibliography 1. ) Ballingall, Alex. â€Å"Canada. † Thestar. com. The Toronto Star, 20 Nov. 2012. Web. 21 Feb. 2013. . 2. ) â€Å"Canadian Pot Use Four times Global Rate. † Canadian Pot Use Four times Global Rate. N. p. , 10 July 2007. Web. 21 Feb. 2013. . . ) â€Å"Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. † Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 02 Oct. 2013. Web. 21 Feb. 2013. . 4. ) Hathaway, Andrew. â€Å"Legal History and Cultural Experience of Cannabis. † Www. heretohelp. ba. ca. N. p. , 2009. Web. 21 Feb. 2013. . 5. ) â€Å"Legal History of Cannabis in Canada. † Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 02 Apr. 2013. Web. 21 Feb. 2013.

Discretionary family trust Essay

In the general life, wealth management is necessary on attaining a sustainable and a desired level of living standard over someone’s lifetime. Following this desire, individual persons take various steps that are aimed at ensuring the future flow of income on the effective utilization of the current levels of income and in making the necessary investments that will ensure the future flow of income. This can take an individual person perspective or as a family. This results into the formation trust funds. The trustee is the owner of the trust; however there are other participants depending on the nature of the trust. The paper is meant to compare and contrast the role, responsibility and duties of a trustee of a self managed superannuation fund and a discretionary family trust. It takes an approach of describing the Discretionary Family Trust and the role of the trustee, and the from the identified roles, responsibilities and duties of a trustee, they are confronted with the roles, responsibilities and the duties of a trustee under the role, responsibility and duties of a trustee of a self managed superannuation fund on coming up with the possible similarities and differences. Discretionary family trust Discretionary family trust forms one of the common business structures that are adapted in Australia . The business structure is adapted with an aim of benefiting the family members. The benefits that accumulate in the family arise from the reason that, it enables the family members to share a tax burden. It also used as a step towards protecting the family assets. It becomes significant in situations when a family holds assets that realize capital growth and the assets that generate income overtime. The discretionary family trust is comprised of the trustee, appointer, trust fund, and the beneficiaries. The trustee is the legal owner of the trust, the appointer it the person who is responsibility of hiring and firing the trustee, trust fund implies the assets, and the beneficiaries imply the persons who are likely to benefit from the trust. The appointer can be the trustee at the same time. The main objectives for taking the discretionary Family Trust as a business structure follows from its features the enable it to perform its expected tasks. Some of the features that are attributed to discretionary Family Trust include the following: Discretionary family trust enables the family to avoid the family business from going bankruptcy and insolvency. Discretionary family trust is also attributed as being the most cost effective business structure to adapt following its low cost of maintaining and simplicity in operation. As a strategy, the business structure enables the transfer of income to the family members with a low tax rates according to the Australian tax rates, which imply that the family is likely to reduce its tax burden following the reduced tax revenue that is paid by the family as a whole. This business structure is also used as a means of streaming income to the family members, that is , a given type of income can be streamed to one member of the family whereas the other types of will also be streamlined to the other members of the family. The Discretionary family Trust is estimated to be lasting for a time of up to eighty years . Following the features of the discretionary Family Trust provided above, it can be perceived that a trustee has a responsibility of ensuring an improved welfare for all the family members that are included in the trust fund scheme. Therefore, he or she can be perceived as a custodian for the family property on ensuring mutual benefit to the family members. He or she is the custodian of the family business, which is certain to benefit the family in the long-run. There were amendments in all the family trust in Australia in 2002. The amendment introduced the Capital Gain Tax Small Business Role over relief that was meant to reduce the Capital gain Tax which the discretionary family Trust was expected to pay at the selling of the assets or business. The main reason for introducing this relief was to provide the discretionary family trust to plan for longer time in consultation with tax lawyer and adviser over the tax tariff to take. Therefore, the trustee can be perceived to had taken an initiative planning for the family business in the long run. On undertaking a discretionary family trust, different business vehicles can be taken that involve operating the business as a sole trader, a partnership or a company but in this case through a Discretionary Family Trust . One is expected to make a rational decision on choosing a business vehicle. The changing of a business vehicle is perceived as change of ownership and for that reason tax is imposed on every change. Therefore, it’s advisable to choose a business vehicle rationally on avoiding the tax impositions. This means that a flexible business vehicle should be chosen. The trustee has a responsibility of choosing the best vehicle that will enable an efficient and cost effective transfer of ownership of the family business. The beneficiaries of the trust are determined by the trustee, that is, it not all the family members that should benefit from the trust. The decision on who should benefit from the trust is done by the trustee, but should get advice on who should benefit from the appointer. When a trustee fails to define who gets the income from the income, the default beneficiaries are given the annual income flows from the trust . The other beneficiaries, that is, the ones who are not default beneficiaries receive income from the trust only on the acknowledgement of the trustee. The settler, that is, the financial advisor, lawyer or accountant is not a beneficiary of the trust. The role of the settler is only to start the trust. Therefore, a trustee can be perceived to having a duty of determining on who should benefit from the trust, that is, he or she ensures that rightful beneficiaries get their dues.

A Month to Live

A Month to Live Everyone should live like today is her last day because no one knows if it will be her last one. If I knew I only had a month to live I would try to focus on things that are most important to me. I would spend a lot of time in prayer. God, who knows me better than myself, also knows I would have a lot of request. First, I would try to get all my business affairs in order for my family. I would want them to know about the life insurance policies, retirement benefits, and other matters they need to check on.I would make sure I told them about any details that were important to me such as funeral arrangements or burial location. I would also try to figure out who I wanted to have any of my valuable or sentimental possessions. This way I could give it to them before I was no longer here. Even though these practical details are necessary, I would spend little of my limited time concentrating on my worldly affairs because there are more important things to do.Next, I would take a little time to reflect on my life to see if I needed to make peace with anyone. If I knew I offended someone or treated someone badly then I would definitely want to make amends. If I was holding a grudge or thought someone was holding a grudge against me I certainly would want to make things right for both of us. I would want my friends to know how much they all mean to me. I would be sure to tell my family members how proud I was of each of them and that I expected them to continue to take care of each other.I would even like to tell my ex-husband that I forgive him for not being there to help support his children when they were growing up. Third, I would focus on spending time with my family, especially my children, grandchildren, parents, and siblings. We could sit and talk about our lives and all the wonderful times we shared. I would take my family on a vacation together. Just being able to sit and talk with them, seeing their smiling faces or reaching over to give them a hug, or just hearing their voices.Their laughter would make me very happy during my last month. Spending time with them is all I would want to do. Just as my life revolves around taking care of them, their happiness would be my main focus till my death. Finally, I would want a little peace before I leave this world. For example, I would like to sit under the trees remembering my life; I would appreciate the star, the sunset, and just the natural beauty of the world. I hope I would be able to think of my life and know I would not trade it for anyone else’s.