Ongc Corporate Governence

Corporate Governance Corporate Governance is a reflection of the company’s culture, their relationship with stakeholders and commitment to values. ONGC has a pioneer in benchmarking its corporate governance practices with the best in the world. ONGC Corporate Governance philosophy is based on the following principles:- Achieving high level of transparency, openness and accountability and fairness in all areas of operation. Promoting ethical conduct throughout the organization with primary objective of enhancing shareholder’s value.Sound system of internal control to mitigate the risks. Compliance of law, rules and regulation in true letter and spirit. Independent verification of the company’s financial reporting Strategic supervision by the board of directors of appropriate composition, size, varied experience and commitment to discharge their responsibilities. Timely and balanced disclosure of all material information to all Stakeholders. Protection of the inter est of all Stakeholders In recognition of excellence in corporate governance, the following awards have been conferred on ONGC: I.SCOPE Meritorious Award for Corporate Governance 2006-07 received II. ICSI National Award for Excellence in Corporate Governance 2003 III. Golden Peacock Global Award for Corporate Governance in Emerging Economics – 2005, 2007 and 2008 by World Council, U. K IV. Golden Peacock Award foe Excellence in Corporate governance by the Institute of Directors in the years 2002, 2005 and 2006. The company is managed by the Board of Directors which explicates strategies, policies and reviews its performance.The board of Directors has an adequate combination of Functional and Non-Executive Director. The company has a practice of periodic retreats where all the members of the Board and senior officials of the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas discuss issues of Corporate Strategy and Policy. The company being a PSU, all Directors are appointed/ Nominated by th e President of India. Board / committee Meetings and Procedures: 1. Institutionalized decision making process 2. Scheduling and selection of Agenda items for Board/Committee Meetings 3.Recording minutes of proceedings at the Board Meeting 4. Follow up mechanism 5. Compliance 6. Training and evaluation of non-executive Board members To have the benefit of cumulative knowledge and experience of the ONGC family, an assembly of the past and present members of the erstwhile Oil & Natural Gas Commission and Board is organized every year. The key Executives in-charge of Assets, Basins, Services and Institutes meet periodically with CMD and the functional Directors to review performance and to formulate future plans.The company has the following committees of the board: Audit & Ethics Committee: The role of audit & ethics committee includes the following: i. Oversight of the company’s financial reporting process and the disclosure of its financial information to ensure that the finan cial statement is correct , sufficient and credible. ii. Recommending to the board, the appointment, re-appointment and if required , the replacement or removal of the statutory auditor and the fixation of audition fees. ii. Approval of payment to statutory auditors for any services rendered by the statutory auditors. iv. Reviewing with the management , the statement of uses / application of funds raised through an issue, the statement funds utilized for purposes other than those stated in the offer document and the report submitted by the monitoring agency monitoring the utilization of proceeds of a public or rights issue, and making appropriate recommendations to the board to take up steps. v.Reviewing with the management performance of statutory and internal auditors adequacy of the internal control systems. vi. Reviewing with the management, the quarterly financial statement before submission to the board of approval. vii. Reviewing the adequacy of internal audit function viii. Discussion with internal auditors any significant findings and follow up there on. ix. Discussion with the auditory before the audit commences about the nature and scope of audit. x. To review the functioning of the whistle blower mechanism. Remuneration Committee:ONGC being a Government Company, appointed and terms and condition of remuneration of Executive Directors are determined by the Government through administrative ministry, the Ministry of Petroleum & National Gas. Non Executive Part time official Directors do not draw any remuneration. Shareholder’s/ Investors Grievance Committee: The Shareholder’s/ Investors Grievances committee specifically looks into redressing of Shareholders and investors complaints pertaining to transfer of shares, non receipt of annual reports, dividend payments and other miscellaneous reports.The committee also monitors implementation and compliance of company’s code of conduct for insider trading in ONGC’s securities. H uman Resource management Committee: The term of reference include consideration of all issues concerning human resource planning and management, HR policies and initiatives and promotion. Project Appraisal Committee It examines and makes recommendations to the Board on projects or Capital investment. Health, Safety and Environment Committee The terms of reference includes review of policy, processes and systems on Safety, Health, Environment and Ecology aspects.Financial Management Committee The committee looks upon the matters pertaining to Budget, Delegation of power commercial issues, Forex and Treasury Management, Capital structure, Issue of Securities, Short and long term loans periodical performance review of subsidiaries. Apart from the above committees, the Board from time to time, constitutes Functional committee with specific terms of reference as it may be fit. Meeting of such committees are held as and when the need for discussing the matter concerning the purpose arises .Time schedule for holding the meetings of such committees are finalized in consultation with the committee members. Code of Conduct for Members of the Board and Senior Management: The Company is committed to conducting business in accordance with the highest standards of business ethics and complying with applicable laws, rules and regulations. A code of conduct, evolved in line with the industry practices was adopted by the board on the recommendations of Audit and Ethics committee. All members of the board and senior management have compliance with the code of conduct for the year.Subsidiary Monitoring Framework: All subsidiaries of the company are Board managed with their boards having their rights and obligations to manage such companies in the best interest of their stakeholders. As a majority shareholder, the company nominates its representatives on the boards of subsidiary company and monitors the performance of company periodically. Disclosures The Company has not entered i nto any material financial or commercial transactions with the Directors or the Management or their relatives or the companies and firms, etc. in which they are either directly or through their relatives interested as Directors and/or Partners except with certain PSUs, where the Directors are Directors without the required shareholdings. The company has compiled with applicable rules and the requirement of regulatory authorities on capital market and no penalties or strictures were imposed on the company. Means of Communication: Quarterly or Annual results News release, Presentation Website Annual Report Guidelines on Corporate Governance by DPE: No Presidential Directive has been issued during 2008-09 and the last three years.No items of expenditure have been debited in books of accounts, which are not for the purpose of business. No expenses, which are personal in nature, have been incurred for the Board of Directors and top management. The administrative and office expenses were 3. 79% of total expenses during 2008- 09 as against 5. 45% during the previous year. The decrease in 2008-09 is on account of reversal in 2008-09 of excess pay revision arrear provided during 2007- 08 and also provision of additional gratuity in 2007-08 due to increase in the maximum amount of gratuity to Rs. 10 Lakh from Rs. 3. 5 Lakh.

Social Studies Interview and Standards Investigation

Running Head: INTERVIEW AND STANDARDS INVESTIGATION Interview and Standards Investigation Sarah Woods Grand Canyon University EED 465 Curriculum, Methods, and Assessment: Social Studies Leah Barley December 8, 2011 Interview and Standards Investigation Social studies is a complicated subject for teachers to teach and for students to learn because it encompasses so many different disciplines. On top of that, society is characterized by increasingly rapid social and technological changes that affect what social studies content is being taught to students (NCSS, 1988). For many years students have been forced to learn low cognitive level information that lacks meaning and fails to transfer to real life situations. For these reasons Social Studies is the subject that students love to hate (Hope, 1996). Rather than dwelling on what has gone wrong in the past, it is best to look to the future and learn from past pedagogic mistakes to determine what can be done to energize social studies instruction in order to restore respect by students and teachers alike for such an important field (Hope, 1996). The implementation of state and national standards has been an important step in making this happen. This assessment will evaluate the state of Arizona’s Social Studies Standards for sixth grade for thoroughness, clarity, user friendliness, and comprehensiveness. It will go on to provide a well-supported, objective, academic response to the interview conducted with Ms. Traci Smith, a sixth grade social studies teacher at Will Rogers Junior High in Claremore, OK, and the standards investigation by analyzing how social studies is taught today. The Arizona Department of Education website contains five sixth grade history strands that emphasize World history from its earliest cultures through Enlightenment, including the early cultures of the Americas. The Arizona State Standards for sixth grade are extremely thorough containing strands for American History, World History, Civics/Government, Geography, and Economics each with well-defined concepts and performance objectives for students at the sixth grade level. According to the NCSS definition of Social studies, each of these topics plays a vital role in social studies education. The thoroughness of these standards helps guide lesson planning and learning because teachers know exactly what they are supposed to teach and students know exactly what they are supposed to learn in order to achieve mastery. The Arizona State Standards for Social Studies are very clearly defined by topic. This makes them easy to read and understand. This reduces confusion and frustration and promotes integration with other subject areas. Each strand is broken down further into concepts that explicitly say, where applicable, which other strand(s) they connect with in order to further student understanding. This characteristic makes the Arizona State Standards for Social Studies extremely user friendly. Finally, the Arizona State Standards for Social studies are very comprehensive. They cover a large scope of information in order to help Arizona students develop the ability to make informed and reasoned decisions for the public good as citizens of a culturally diverse, democratic society in an interdependent world (NCSS, 1993). According to Ms. Smith, social studies instruction has come a long way since she began teaching fifteen years ago. When she started it was common practice for students to read the sections in the social studies textbook, answer the questions at the end, and then take a test to demonstrate what they learned. This seemingly meaningless busy work compounded by the implementation of NCLB led to a dramatic reduction in social studies content as teachers became more concerned with high stakes testing in the primary subject areas. High stakes testing has contributed to the trend of moving away from constructivist learning and student centered teaching approaches such as discussions, role-playing, research papers, and cooperative learning (Vogler & Virtue, 2007). This is in dramatic contrast to what new teacher education programs are teaching which may be setting new teachers up for failure once they reach the classroom. In spite of the demands of high stakes testing, when Ms. Smith realized that social studies was beginning to slowly disappear from the curriculum altogether she decided to take a stand. Ms. Smith is now the sixth grade English and World History Department Head at Claremore Public Schools. Although she does teach from a textbook, Ms. Smith employs numerous hands on activities to convey subject matter to the students. For each section the students must create a project that coincides with the lesson. Her favorite section is on the Middle Ages in Europe. During this lesson the entire sixth grade participates in meaningful learning activities such as making head gear and shields, memorizing poems from this era that they must recite to their classmates, and learning the requirements for becoming a knight or a lady. Students earn certificates for acts of chivalry and the individuals who have the most certificates at the end of the unit are awarded a crown as 6th grade King and Queen. The unit culminates with a field trip to the Renaissance Festival and the Castle of Muskogee, a landmark in Oklahoma, which is where the Renaissance Festival is held (Personal Communication, T. Smith, December 12, 2011). These activities are much more meaningful than simply reading the text and completing the section review. This allows students to practice their literacy and public speaking skills which, according to Wineburg (2005), are crucially relevant for schools because it provides a way of thinking about text that allows students to find truth in the cacophony of voices that confront them in the social world. Social studies instruction is heavily influenced by teacher preparation programs. These programs are meant to teach future teachers how to teach social studies effectively. Historically these programs have had to respond quickly to social issues and events by developing courses in social sciences and education that address the concerns of minority groups. For example, a recent increase in the numbers of English Language Learners in the nation’s schools has led to added pressure to prepare teachers to work effectively with students from diverse backgrounds. For the most part these influences have had a positive impact on the preparation of social studies teachers; however in some cases the creation of new classes and requirements for pre-service teachers has led to a bloated curricula and programs that lack clear purpose (Adler, Dougan, & Garcia, 2006). The NCATE standards embolden pre-service teachers to refine their focus to prevent overlap and redundancy. Most teacher preparation programs are aligned to professional teacher standards such as this. This helps to adequately prepare teachers to facilitate learning for today’s students so that they are informed, knowledgeable, and eventually able to compete in a global society. Standards based instruction has been a double edged sword for social studies instruction. On the one hand it has led to the reduction in social studies content as a result of high stakes testing since social studies is not one of the subjects covered under NCLB, but on the other hand social studies standards have revitalized social studies instruction to help make learning fun, meaningful, and relevant for students increasing the chances that they will be able to transfer the concepts learned in the classroom to real world scenarios. If social studies teachers can continue to resist the urge to teach to the test and do everything they can to employ effective teaching strategies then hopefully everyone will realize how important social studies content is for students at all grade levels. This will ultimately result in civic minded individuals who are understanding, knowledgeable, and tolerant of other cultures which will serve them well into adulthood. References: NCSS. (1988, June). Social studies for early childhood and elementary school children: Preparing for the 21st Century. Retrieved from http://www. ncss. org/positions/elementary. Hope, W. 1996). It’s time to transform social studies teaching. The Social Studies. Washington: Jul/Aug 1996. 87, 4. Retrieved from http://proquest. umi. com. library. gcu. edu:2048/pqdweb? index=7&did=10101635&SrchMode=3&sid=1&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1323634607&clientId=48377&aid=1. Arizona Department of Education Standards Based Teaching and Learn ing. (2006). Social Studies Standards Articulated By Grade Level Sixth Grade. Retrieved from http://www. azed. gov/wp-content/uploads/PDF/SSGrade6. pdf. National Council for the Social Studies. (1993, September). A vision of powerful teaching and learning in the social studies: Building social understanding and civic efficacy. Social Education. 57, 213-223. Vogler, K. & Virtue, D. (2007, May). â€Å"Just the facts ma’am†: Teaching Social Studies in the era of Standards and high stakes testing. The Social Studies. Retrieved from http://web. ebscohost. com. library. gcu. edu:2048/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer? sid=f1d20017-f490-4fd4-833e-c04d40d45566%40sessionmgr111&vid=2&hid=113. Wineburg, S. (2005, May). What does NCATE have to say to future history teachers? Phi Delta Kappan. Retrieved from http://web. ebscohost. com. ibrary. gcu. edu:2048/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer? sid=8a089d33-cc0e-40df-aaee-cdf4091de420%40sessionmgr112&vid=2&hid=113. Adler, S. , Dougan, A. , & Garcia, J. (2006, January). NCATE has a lot to say to future social studies teachers: A response to Sam Wineburg. Phi Delta Kappan. Retrieved from http://vnweb. hwwilsonweb. com. library. gcu. edu:2048/hww/results/external _link_maincontentframe. jhtml? _DARGS=/hww/results/results_common. jhtml. 44. Interview Notes Traci Smith, a 6th Grade Social Studies Teacher and 6th grade English and World History Department Head, has 15 years of experience in the classroom. Social Studies Interview Questions: 1. Do you use a textbook? If so, do you like the content? Do the students have workbooks or activity sheets to accompany the textbook? Yes, we use Glencoe’s textbook, World History: Journey Across Time – The Early Ages The students have 2 workbooks: A note-taking guide which we use from time to time, and a Guided Reading book which we do not use very often. There are teacher resources for each of the units which include vocabulary practice and guided reading activities. There are also other resources for mapping, cause-and-effect, and comparing the past to the present. . What is your favorite Social Studies lesson to teach? What sort of hands on, meaningful activities or innovative teaching methods do you use when teaching this lesson? My favorite unit to teach is the Middle Ages of Europe. The entire 6th grade participates in making head gear, shields, memorizing and reciting poems, and learning about the requirements for becoming a knight or a lady. This unit culminates with a field trip to The Castle of Muskogee where they hold the Renaissance Festival. This unit is taught at the end of the year and is a highlight for the 6th grade. We award those who have shown chivalry and crown a 6th grade King and Queen. 3. In 1992 the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) adopted the following definition of the field of social studies: Social studies is the integrated study of the social sciences and humanities to promote civic competence. Within the school program, social studies provides coordinated, systematic study drawing upon such disciplines as anthropology, archaeology, economics, geography, history, law, philosophy, political science, psychology, religion, and sociology, as well as appropriate ontent from the humanities, mathematics, and natural sciences. The primary purpose of social studies is to help young people develop the ability to make informed and reasoned decisions for for the public good as citizens of a culturally diverse, democratic society in an interdependent world. How does social studies instruction at Will Rogers Junior High relate to this definition of social studies? At the junior high, we not only teach how our ancestors affected future generations and the things we have learned from them, but we also have an Advisory hour for 6th grade. During this advisory hour we teacher character development and teach the students how to apply what they learn in their everyday lives. 4. Do you believe that values should be part of the social studies curriculum? If so, what values do you feel are most important for today’s students? Yes, I do. The values of integrity, compassion, and respect; these values can be taught throughout the social studies curriculum. When I teach the religions of the world, I talk to the students about having respect for others and their beliefs. We talk about how some of the heroes of ancient history showed integrity and compassion. This is also carried over into our Advisory hour. 5. Does the State of Oklahoma have state standards for social studies? If so, what is your reaction to Oklahoma State’s Social Studies Standards? If not, do you think that Oklahoma could benefit from a set of state standards? Yes. I believe they should be more detailed. 6. What do you feel are important benchmarks for students at the 6th grade level? English and Math; the reading skills learned in social studies and science trickle over into the English curriculum. The same goes for Math and Science. . How much time per day does each student spend on Social Studies content? 2 hours per day – World History and Advisory 8. How do you rank the importance of social studies in the elementary curriculum? Please rank the following subjects in the elementary curriculum in order of importance to you. 4 Physical Education (P. E. ) 2 Mathematics 3 Science 3 Social Studies 1 Reading/Language Arts 9. How do you integrate technology i nto the Social Studies curriculum? I use power points. 10. Do you believe that the social studies curriculum should be narrowed

Interview : Interview / Background

For this interview process, my initial intention was for it not to be so much of a question and answer type of interview. Since I do have a relationship with these two ladies, I was wanting to make this as smooth, casual and fun as possible. This helped, because it did not create any form of uncomfortable situations; by creating awkward situations, I feel that it can alter the way the interview is conducted and how it can be of a result. The interview took place at as restaurant where the three of†¦ In my interview I choose to interview one of my housemates Samantha Wood. I do not know Samantha very well but have communicated with her the odd time. Samantha goes to Georgian college and is 21 years old. I choose to interview her specifically because she is quite about her life and interests so I was motivated to use this interview to get to know her better. I asked Samantha basic questions about her use of and experiences with social media. The interview process was beneficial for what information†¦ This paper intends to describe an interview conducted with an eight year old about sports. A remarkable quote from this young man was â€Å" I only struck out twice last season and I didn’t get out after that at all†. The sports that Cannon Crooks plays, his favorite sport, his favorite player, his favorite position, and future aspirations and more shall be covered in this paper. The interview was conducted over the phone with an eight-year-old boy named Cannon Crooks. Cannon Crooks is a third grader†¦ There are three types of interviews: structured interviews, semi structured interviews, and unstructured interviews. Structured interviews are interviews that are formal such as telephone interviews, survey research and political polling. The interview is set up with a designed place ahead of time and a set of questions preplanned. Semi structured interviews are interviews that allows the interviewee to talk about a topic more â€Å"open minded† (pg. 87) rather than structured and to the point. The interviewer†¦ research that a well-prepared interview guide is crucial. Within the interview guide, all the items of the interview are included and organised in a certain order with the purpose of promote the flow of the interview. This includes the sections of the interview, task that the interviewer has to do and designed questions with careful wording selection. Although the role of interview guide is crucial in semi-structured interview, it is stressed that the idea of interview guide is â€Å"much less specific†¦ Family Interview and Genogram I chose to interview Inmaculada â€Å"Alex† DeFeo (2015). She is the source of much of the information. I based assessments on my analysis of her explained life. Detailed is given to her age and familial relations. The strength perspective used in order to highlight strengths in how overcoming or living with situations, statuses, and results of events. Individual and family patterns, concern, and influences regarding them aimed are touched upon. Family Members Names†¦ selects interview as the second method to generate the data. This paper, for that selection, deals with the second key research instruments, interview. Specifically, it explains and proposes a plan for carrying out interview for the research. The section starts with discussing the advantages of interview instrument. What follows after is a brief overview and discussion around the issue of critical dimension of interview. This review helps to provide guidelines for the deployment of interview in this†¦ At the very beginning of the interview I noticed how much I was looking down to document what Amy was saying. I was so focused on making sure I had documented everything Amy said and I think I lost some meanings by not watching her body language. If I were to put myself in Amy’s position I probably would have felt like I was just there to answer a bunch of assessment questions and the therapist really did not care what I had to say. The empathy was there in my voice, but not in my actions, so†¦ Interview Analysis The mock interview assignment really helped me identify different strengths and weaknesses in interviewing. This document will be a discussion of my mock interview. I will discuss my strengths during the interview as well as my faults and what I will do in the future to adjust those. I will apply what I learned in this experience to interviews in the future. Perhaps one of the easiest weaknesses to identify in my interview was in my appearance, specifically my hat I forgot to†¦ The majority of the interview took place during periods three, five, and six, but I was able to ask her a few questions before and between the other periods I shadowed her. I first asked her about her schedule and what classes she had other than English and math at the end of the day. She explained that she had three other classes, government, IT, and band. When I expressed curiosity as to how that worked since she didn’t have a science course. Students are given the option to opt out of science†¦

Toxicology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Toxicology - Essay Example At the same time, new methods may be able to point out where chemicals interact to produce disease. But because of human safety numerous animals are used for experiments and testing. Most of them are killed or subject to unacceptable pain and distress. This state of affairs shook the scientists conscience. A movement was started within the scientist community to change the conditions. During World Wars nations were more involved in producing chemical weapons. These chemical agents were tested on animals in many warring countries. The shocking results of these tests initiated the thought process in scientists to do something for the welfare of animals. The first proposal in this regard using three R's term was presented in 1954 by Charles Hume, founder of the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (UFAW). He proposed that UFAW start a scientific study of humane technique in laboratory animal experiments. Christine Stevens, founder of the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) also contributed financially from U.S. Soon this movement gathered momentum and spread all over the world. Legislators in Europe and the United States proposed use of laboratory animals under certain regulations. Laws were introduced for restraining use of animals in laboratories. The three R's stand for replacement, reduction and refinement. ... Various organization were established for safe guarding and monitoring the matters related to animal usage in laboratories. The proposed use of three Rs is described here briefly. First R Reduction The reduction proposes some alternative methods for getting similar level of information by using less number of elements. Thus reducing the number of elements used in laboratories. It was observed and proved that poor experimental methods and inadequate information leads to increased usage of animals. It was proposed that measures should be taken to reduce repeated experiments. The data gathered previously should be used. The revolution in information technology has made it easy to access variety of information available at far off places so that experiments may not be repeated and thus number of animals used in laboratories may be reduced. Second R Refinement Refinement means to use such methods that lessen pain and distress and increase animal wellbeing. The pain and distress can be reduced or removed by using various drugs like anesthetics, analgesics etc. It can be materialized by a program of animal care to find and reduce animal sufferings. It was proposed to evolve ways and methods of assessing animal suffering during various experiments. Accomplishment of refinement depends on the ability of scientists and experts willingness to contribute and coordinate for refining the methods and quality of their experimentation. They should realize that any method that inflicts suffering on animals should be avoided. It is unfortunate that not much funding is provided to investigate and refine experimental techniques and

Annotated Bibliography and Thesis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

And Thesis - Annotated Bibliography Example The US government role in Vietnam was to offer the Vietnam government with much needed military help in order to enable it overcomes the guerrilla leaders who wanted to advance the communist agenda. In addition, the government wanted to create a country that was viable and one that upheld the democratic views. However, I think the role of US in Vietnam was one of its foreign strategies to cement its dominance in other parts of the world. The Vietnam War was used by US to test its military strength and response of the Soviet Union on matters of national interest. However, after the eruption of war, the US government was unable to withdraw on time as the opposition groups in Vietnam responded vigorously. With the marine being unfamiliar with the local terrain, they suffered heavy casualties. Nevertheless, retreating from this war would have encouraged the Soviet that the US is weakening militarily, an aspect that would have created more space for Soviet insurgence. I think the fear that the Soviet could gain ground in Vietnam made the United State intensify its military aid towards Vietnam. President John F. Kennedy believed that the US has a mandate of preventing the communist-led insurgencies from subverting and overthrowing the shaky new government of Vietnam. Therefore, it offered itself to help Vietnam establish its authority in the land through strengthening its financial and military position in the country. However, this did not auger well with the Diem who tried to seek help from communist countries in order to reduce US insurgence. This led to eruption of war that was sparked by ideological differences. Nevertheless, I think US was not well prepared to fight this war. Instead, its initial strategy is to play an outside role in stabilizing the Vietnam government. The Role of US in Vietnam was to reduce the influence of the Soviet Union in the land. In

Valuing Bonds Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Valuing Bonds - Essay Example The call provision feature allows bond issuers to pay off the remaining debt early before the maturity date. The role of the borrower is to make a lump sum payment derived from a formula based on the net present value (NPV) of future coupon payments that  will not be paid because of the call. The call provision right is usually exercised at times of low interest rates and it allows the bond holder to retire what is currently a high interest debt and reissue it at a lower interest rate. Call provisions limit a bonds potential price appreciation because when interest rates fall, the price of a callable bond will not go any higher than its call price. Thus, the true yield of a callable bond at any given price is usually lower than its yield to maturity. A discount bond is a bond issued at a price lower than its par value is a bond currently trading at less than its par value in the secondary market. An example is a $4,000,000, 9%, 5-year bond with par value of $1000 issued at $970. A premium bond is a bond issued at a price higher than its par value is a bond currently trading at more than its par value in the secondary market. An example is a $4,000,000, 9%, 5-year bond with par value of $100 issued at $105. For a 5% bond, interest is paid is calculated at the interest rate on the par value of bond and is paid periodically (annually or semi-annually) while for a zero coupon bond, no periodic interest payments are made. When the bond reaches maturity, its investor receives its par (or face) value. "Calculate the price of a $1,000 (FV) zero coupon bond that matures in 20 years if the market interest rate is 6.5 percent." (Cornett, Adair, and Nofsinger, 2012, p. 147). Assume semi-annual compounding. 4. "Compute the price of a $1,000 (FV) 4.5 percent coupon bond with 15 years left to maturity and a market interest rate of 6.8 percent." (Cornett, Adair, and Nofsinger, 2012, p. 148). Assume interest payments are paid semi-annually,

Adonis musati project Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Adonis musati project - Article Example The Adonis Musati is a name that has a great significance for the project as it points to the mission of the project. Adonis Musati is the name of refugee who died in a line while queuing to have his application of being a South African Asylum seeker verified. His death, which resulted from fatigue and hunger, touched the heart of many and hence this project was launched to ensure that such an incidence did not happen again in the history of this country. From a broad look, refugees in South Africa have always been face of major challenges after escaping from the neighboring countries. For instance, there is a high inflow of Asylum seekers from Zimbabwe, a country that has constantly been involved in war. Unfortunately, these refugees end up suffering from torture and discrimination in the government. The process of becoming an asylum seeker has always been rough and punctuated by strings of corruption. Consequently, the rights of these marginalized groups have always been suppressed and this only makes the situation worse for them. Adonis Musati Project is an interventional project that aims at alleviating any form of suffering from those who escape their countries due to harsh conditions. The aim of the project is to ensure that Asylum seekers are provided with basic necessities such as food, clothes and shelter and to ensure that they are free from any form of suffering. The project has pulled a large number of sponsors to help in funding the project and support the welfare of this minority group. The project also seeks for the rights of the refugees in their process of applying to be South African Asylum seekers. They protect especially the females who are vulnerable to harassment and the old who cannot take care of themselves. The project has continuously taken an initiative to improve the lifestyle of the marginalized in an effort to make them equal humans in the face of the world. The

Opportunity cost Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Opportunity cost - Essay Example The word cost in the context of economic production is defined as the opportunity cost of producing any good or service. It is considered to be the value that the factors of production or the resources could have generated if they were utilized for the next best use. In other words the opportunity cost is the sacrifice of the next best alternative that is made by consumption or production of a good or service. Thus when the resources are limited an individual has to make choices between the different alternatives. Accordingly by choosing one alternative he gives up the opportunity for enjoying the other remaining alternatives that he has not opted for. This is known as the opportunity cost of consumption or production. Hence it is the most important element in the context of economic that helps in the determination of the choice between the scare resource and the efficient allocation of the resources. Hence the opportunity cost is not only the money value that is given up for one par ticular choice but also the time costs and the psychological costs that are paid for the non-consumption of a product or service. This can be explained with the following example. A person having $10 may decide either to buy a book or an ice cream. If the person buys a book he would have to give up his opportunity to buy the ice cream and enjoy it. On the other hand if he buys an ice cream he gives up the opportunity to read the book. In both the cases the person has to pay an opportunity cost for choosing one option over the other (Samuelson 17). The concept of opportunity cost is used mostly in the context of production decisions. The main factors of production include capital and labor. Suppose a person works in a factory and he earns $10 per day. On the other hand he could have worked in his own farm and could have earned $ 7 a day and could have enjoyed labor for a longer time. Therefore by

Arnold Lazarus Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Arnold Lazarus - Essay Example Central to his work has been the phrase that started this report "Think Well-Act Well-Feel Well-Be-Well". This is his model and it is prominently displayed on his website. His contributions to the field have moved counselors into a better understanding of the "best practices" for certain disorders. Not only has he been a pioneer in the field but he has received hundreds of honors and opportunities in the past and in the world today. Lazarus was born in 1932 in Johannesburg South Africa. Not much is known about his life in South Africa but it is known that his early education started at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. While he was there he studied psychology and earn a B.A. degree. His interests lay in psychology and behavior. In 1956 he published his first paper in psychotherapy as his [perhaps] his Masters thesis entitled, "Behavior Therapy (Novel Guide, 2009). Lazarus came to America in 1963 to become a "visiting assistant professor" in psychology at Stanford University for one year. After that he went back to Witwatersrand University to lecture at their medical school for psychiatry. In 1966 he moved to America again to become the director of the Behavior Therapy Institute in Sausalito, California. He continued writing and in that year he published, Behavior Therapy Techniques with his colleague Joseph Wolpe (Novel Guide). By 1970, Lazarus became a visiting professor at Temple University Medical School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as a behavioral science professor. In each situation he continued to focus on human behavior and psychology. Lazarus is credited with being a pioneer in the field of psychotherapy. Prior to his work most psychotherapists used a "token economy" or other behavior technique that often took a lot of time and energy for the client to find relief. Lazarus saw that behavior therapy alone was not effective in treating some

Renewable Energy Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Renewable Energy - Research Paper Example Since the beginning of industrial revolution, the consumption of energy in the world has been rapidly increasing. The need for renewable sources of energy has resulted from two factors: 1. The pollution resulting from burning of petroleum fuels 2. The inevitable decrease of oil reserves The use of renewable sources of energy as opposed to fossil fuels has led to the reduced rate of carbon emission. Most of the renewable energy is not produced directly from the source for use but has to use some equipment for it to be useful. There are various types of renewable energy. The type of renewable energy used in any particular country depends on its relative geographical location. Types of renewable energy Hydropower Water is denser than air and thus small amount of water is capable of producing a good quantity of energy. Energy gained from water is in different forms; micro hydro, ocean energy, hydroelectric energy and hydro without using dams. Water has a lot of power in it and contribute s the largest percentage of all renewable energy. Its energy is produced using mechanical energy of flowing water. The water is piped through a penstock pipe which turns the generator thus producing electricity. Solar Power Solar energy is among the oldest renewable source of energy. It consists of the energy which comes from the sun inform of solar radiation. Sun energy can be used in three different ways. One of them is the use of solar cells. In solar cells, photovoltaic or photoelectric cells directly transform light into electricity. The second one is solar water heating. Here, heat from sun is used for warming water in glass panels. This glass panels are set at the top of the roof for direct heating by the sun. Therefore, there is no further need of gas or electricity for warming the water. The last is the solar furnaces. They make use of the mirror to which captures the sun radiations to small area thus producing high temperatures. The solar furnaces are commonly used for coo king food. Biomass It is the most versatile form of renewable energy. Biomass fuel includes everything starting from wood to all trash in landfill. This is currently converted into methane for producing natural dry gas. Biomass fuel is burned in boilers thus heating water which turns a stream turbine creating electricity. Recent research has shown that animal waste especially manure is being used for by the dairy forms for energy production. Wind power Wind is one of the oldest sources of energy. As source of energy it involves a very simple process. Wind turbines are used to convert wind motion (kinetic energy) to the form of mechanical energy. This is in turn used for electricity generation. According to Maczulak (2009), the energy converted the second time using he generator to electrical energy. The converted energy is again passed through a grid where it is then transferred to power stations. The best position to establish the turbines is along the coastal areas, open fields an d hill tops. The biggest wind farms that have ever existed in the world are found in West Texas. Geothermal Power This involves the process of trapping underground heat. Energy that rises almost to the surface in heat form is then built. After the heat naturally forms steam, it is thus used for turning a steam turbine hence generating electricity. The decision on the type of energy source used by each country is based on the countries economy, resources and the willingness of the citizens to corporate. For instance, as suggested

Ethics and Morality Essay Example for Free

Ethics and Morality Essay Environmental ethics is the study of the moral relationship between human beings to the value and moral status of the environment and its inhabitants. It is morally wrong for human beings to destroy the natural environment and other resources in the planet. The future generation will require living in an environmentally hospitable, favorable and hygienic condition that is being determined by the present generation. These conditions wholly depend on the way we treat the environment today. If we take care of all components of the universe such as the air, the soils and forests and other resources the earth shall be a favorable and friendly place for the future generations (Nash 1989). Although the question of ethics and morality is very complex, it is always important to explore environmental issues from a diverse point of view since what may seem right to an individual may be very immoral and unethical to another. The issue of dumping toxic waste and other forms of hazardous waste need no debate due to the adverse effects of the toxic to the well being of plants and animals living within the affected region. It is for this reason that Alabama act to damp the waste was environmentally unethical since he only considered the completion of his work and ignored the fate of other inhabitants within the location where the dumping was taking place. The sentence though seemed harsh, but I would consider it very light considering the impacts of his action both in the present as well as in the future (Enger Smith 2002). Alabama Man Sentenced For Dumping Hazardous Waste Alabama decision to dump hazardous waste at the abandoned industrial sites draws mixed criticism from different philosophers. Although to the majority of the people Alabama’s decision to damp such toxic waste on an open region was wrong and showed disrespect to the environment as well as to the inhabitants currently living and those to live after. From an ethical perspective, Alabama’s decision was an ethical. Because he was not considerate on the wellbeing of the people and other inhabitants living within the region he chose to damp the toxic waste. From a moral point of view, may be Alabama perceived his action as correct since his newly discovered dump site had been abandoned and no one lived around. For this reason, he might have considered on the time and money he was bound to save by transporting the waste to a nearby site than to the far designated region (Enger Smith 2002). The fine set upon him was very fair considering the impacts both directly and indirectly the hazardous waste would cause to the environment, both to the present generation as well as to the future generation. The fine should be made harsher with steeper penalties for any unethical injustices done to the environment. According to the anthropocentric theory of moral responsibility regarding the environment, Alabama action was environmentally unethical because he considered the human interests only with the assumption that human beings are the only significant creatures and that the rest of the inhabitants such as the plants and animals are not significant and can be overlooked while making certain decisions regarding the environment. This line of thought is wrong because all the inhabitants of the earth are depended on each other and the destruction of one result to failure of another. In his critic Naturalist Philosopher Emerson, blames commerce for the environment injustices taking place. In his argument, man’s actions threaten to upset the balance between men and nature. Emerson disagrees with Alabama’s action which is financially driven in that he chose to locate a secret dump site for his toxic waste so as to clear with his assignment within a short period of time and save on the transport cost as well being paid for the completed assignment. Alabama’s decision is thus unethical, because he did not put into consideration all the components of the environment but chose to be driven by the moral urge to work within a short period of time and save on other costs he was bound to incur (Enger Smith 2002). The biocentrism theory towards the moral responsibility to the environment suggests that all forms life have a right to exist. According to some biocentrism animals are more valued than plants and greater responsibility is placed on them. According to Alabama, his responsibility to the environment had some biogenetic traits whereby his concern was more to people than the plants species that where being affected directly by the toxic and hazardous waste dumped at the industrial site. Henry David Thoreau in his naturalist campaign describes Alabama’s act as a â€Å"do not care altitude† whereby few people do not care for the things they need to protect but instead vandalizes them. According to John Muir, Alabama demonstrated a high level or irresponsibility and went against the ethics of divinity. He believes that the wilderness mirrors divinity, nourishes humanity and vivifies the spirit and by dumping the toxic waste in an authorized place threatened the existence of the wilderness. As philosopher Aldo Leopold describes in his thinking, no man will ever see the beauty of the wilderness such as the long grass prairie, the beautiful flowers that stirrups the fields if men in their unethical deeds as Alabama demonstrated continue destroying the fields through illegal dumping of wastes and other toxic substances whose effect is being felt by both plants and animals living within the region the dumping takes place (Enger Smith 2002). The ecocentrism approach to environmental responsibility maintains that the environment deserves direct moral consideration in whatever we do, although the environment is considered to be at moral par with humans. Aldo Leopold had advocated that land is the basic concept of ecology that is to be loved and respected but Alabama failed to demonstrate this love by dumping waste illegally, to him anything is ethically and morally right if it preserves the integrity and stability of the community otherwise it is wrong. According to Leopolds idea, the land is an object of moral concern that needs protection from everyone and all its inhabitants. He maintained that it is morally wrong to eliminate any species from the land with a simple reason of increasing the monetary value of any activity being undertaken knowingly. It is this very act Alabama went against by illegally dumping toxic in a designated area which posed serious threat to all the inhabitants within the region (Nash 1989). . Conclusion In conclusion, ethical issues concerning the environment can be viewed in various ways and at different levels depending on the prevailing priorities within the society, but this does not mean that the environment should be abused by few for their personal gain but must be the responsibility of everyone to take care of the environment for the sake of the future generations and its overall stability. References Enger, E. D Smith, B. F. (2002). Environmental Science: A study of Interrelationships. Tenth Edition. McGraw Hill Higher Education. Boston, MA (USA). Nash, R. (1989). The Rights of Nature: A History of Environmental Ethics, Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press.

Process Proposal Essay Example for Free

Process Proposal Essay The process that is being analyzed is the payroll process at a firm. The process can be viewed as a series of steps done on a daily basis and then at month end when salaries are to be distributed. Their process flow along with diagrams is given below. Daily: The work of the system starts as soon as an employee enters and checks in for the days work. Every employee owns a magnetic swipe card which is given to him/her upon employment at dollar. The swipe card machine notes and stores the time of entry and exit for every employee along with other necessary information such as employee number, name etc. at the day end, this data is imported to the current system database (running on FoxPro) using a third party software. Issues such as total time worked per day (depending on employee type), overtime, absences and leaves are resolved then and there. Every employee, in case of over time put in, is handed a sheet at the day end called the ‘Overtime Sheet’. Records of it are maintained by respective supervisors as well as the current system. Monthly: At month end, the data that has been accumulated over the whole period along with the overtime sheets that every employee submits is used to calculate total salaries of the employees and then paid to them in the form of payslips. All deductions and additions regarding overtimes, absences, leaves etc. are resolved and then sent to the supervisors for verification. Upon verification, deductions regarding gratuities and additions such as benefits, allowances etc. are verified from the HR system records and then forwarded to the account system for tax deductions. The final process is then to transfer funds to each employee’s personal account and distribute payslips to each one of them. The transfer is carried out by the accounts department in co-ordination with the HR system and the payslips are distributed via supervisors. A diagram that illustrates this process is given below: As it can be seen, the process has various repetitive steps that can easily be eliminated if a computerized system is used. Especially the processes at month end, these can be shortened a lot if redesigned and enabled with IT.

Patient Advisory Board Internship

Patient Advisory Board Internship Patient Advisory Board Internship at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital For this cooperative education project I have chosen to write about my internship at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital (ZSFGH). I was chosen for this internship from a pool of pre-medical student applicants based on my resume, letter of interest and in person interview. The work was advertised as needing someone to run the formal Patient Advisory Board Council (PAC). I wasnt aware until my interview with the Medical Director and Floor Manager that I would be doing much more than running a once a month meeting. I would also be in charge of recruiting new members to the PAC, seeking out presenters and providers wishing for patient input, enrolling patients in and training them to use the online SF Health Network Patient Portal, running the monthly Diabetes in Motion Clinic, and doing various other small duties around the hospital. I had to commit to being available 30 hours a week that were flexible but must include Fridays. I was excited to be chosen for this opportunity to ha ve great potential in improving patient health and satisfaction at ZSFGH, San Franciscos community safety net hospital; while also growing my own knowledge of what it takes to provide high quality health services to underserved populations. Before being allowed to start my volunteering duties there were many steps I needed to tackle to be eligible to work with patients, both for my own safety as well as theirs. I had to find time to go to the hospital to procure blood work and testing to be sure I didnt have Tuberculosis or a list of other communicable diseases. I was required to take just over 10 hours of training geared to helping familiarize myself with the layout of the hospital; in addition to how to safely interact on a daily basis with the unique population at ZSFGH. My learning objectives were to understand what I would need to do in my daily work to knowledgably comply within HIPAA rules and NIH safety protocols. Method For my content for this report I performed research on site at my Internship. ZSFGH has an extensive medical library that is free and open to the public. The librarians are well versed in what is available in the event that I had any questions arise during my time there. The Volunteer Services Office also stocks many resources that are available for learning about how best to care for patients wellbeing and properly protecting their personal information online and in daily hospital interactions. I utilized both of these resources in my off-volunteer hours either before or after doing internship qualifying hours. Discussion Literature Review Initial Onboarding In order to be able to be an official volunteer at ZSFGH, I had to complete their online Volunteer Orientation Course. This took about 2 hours and was helpful in walking me through the layout of the SF Health Network as well as the buildings where I would be working. Also outlined were the health requirements of all volunteers in the network requiring blood work and vaccinations. After completing those steps I was assigned a volunteer identification number to be able to log my Internship hours and a badge identifying me as a Volunteer that also shows which clinic I am a part of, my flu-shot status and lists the hospital wide emergency response codes for easy reference. In order to be useful in my positions I needed to learn about the San Francisco Health Network Primary Cares missions and vision for providing the highest quality primary and preventative care to adults, regardless of ability to pay. There are 4 main aims of the clinic that follow from building a foundation of healthy, engaged, and sustained primary care workforce. To ensure an excellent patient experience, optimize access, operations and cost-effectiveness, have sustainable patient centered care and finally, to improve the health of the patients served. The specific clinic I was hired to do my internship with was the Richard Fine Peoples Clinic General Medicine Clinic (RFPC-GMC). This is a clinic consisting of mostly low income, homeless and immigrant patients. The Volunteer Services Office at ZSFGH assisted my learning about patient information security by providing some short video training from the SF Department of Public Health. (Public Welfare, 2009) This helped me learn what information qualifies as needing to be private and secured; treated as sensitive and protected health information. There is an established national set of standards for identifying protected patient health information (PHI) such as a patients demographic data relating to past, present or future medical needs. (The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) It is anything that can be used to identify patients such as their first or last name, medical record number, phone numbers, email addresses, date of birth, Social Security Number or a ddress. Rules for handling such information is that you must never store PHI on an unencrypted computer, a flash-drive or take home files with PHI. If necessary for an email this information must be encrypted and titled as Secure. Written information must be disposed of in the locked to be shredded bins when no longer needed. Information can be stored on the provided work computer server only accessible by UCSF ward computers. (Burnap, 2012) Unlike a Kaiser or Sutter insurance network hospital or clinic, the SF Health Network is part of the citys health system that provides a significant level of care to low-income, uninsured, and vulnerable patient populations. ZSFGH is a unique in that it is also a training hospital tied with UCSF. Patients benefit from cutting edge training for their Doctors and Residents as well as generous philanthropic funding that the University benefits from annually. A large part of ensuring patient self-empowerment lies in building their networks and increasing accessibility to services, which this funding can bring. (Corburn, 2007) Patient Advisory Council Prior to working within the SF Health Network I was not aware that there were 26 clinics across the city. This aids in vastly improving patients access to care in or near their own neighborhoods. Each clinic was challenged with starting their own PAC in 2016. There are now 21 PACs across the city for various different types of clinics and patient populations including 2 in Spanish and 1 in Mandarin languages. Prior to instating these PACs much of the average providers knowledge of patient satisfaction was just word of mouth. The main motivating force behind coordinating clinic PACs is aimed at inviting longtime and new patients to provide input for quality improvement projects from the ground floor. Assessing involvement at the direct patient level can lead to fast strides in community health improvement. (Dannenberg, 2008) I was responsible for the outcome of the Richard Fine Peoples Clinic PAC. I needed to work on recruiting new and diverse members to the team and learn how to lead a group of people that is outside of my everyday socio-economic peer group toward a common goal. I looked to resources for what has worked for other projects for medical recruiting methods prior to mine. (Dannenberg, 2006) I had to coordinate presenters and inquiring providers to ensure that the board provides helpful information to both patients at the clinic and those within the larger health care network. While the focus was on our individual clinic, there is also a hospital wide PAC that was able to push forward any ideas we might have that would benefit the entire hospital population at ZSFGH. In addition to organizing the agenda for the PAC meetings, my duties involved gathering information from patients and providers that generated from our meetings to then enter them into other systems and/or up-channeling ideas inv olving specific patient populations and their recommendations and desires. Some more recent accounts of improving health at one community level have shown to have a positive impact on the entire city. (Bhatie,Corburn, 2011) I kept meticulous records of all agendas and minutes of every meeting for all attendees records as well as past and future reference needs of progress. I was also assigned to help the RFPC Residents on their new project concerning the SF Health Networks Patient Portal. They tasked me with recruiting current patients to enroll in the waiting room. The Patient Portal is a tool for empowering patients to be proactive regarding their own health. Most of my patients are housing insecure so I had to seek out examples of positive outcomes of patients evolving from homeless to housed and how to be aid those in transition. (Kessell, 2006) A few strategies for recruiting new patient advisors, portal users and clinic class attendees were given to me by the previous Intern that I was replacing. I had to meet quota goals for portal enrollees, training and tracking; recruit new patient users in clinic for the online Patient Portal and do some data entry for tracking contacts, new enrollees and demographics. I had to figure out the best way to narrow down how best to contact clinic patients to arrange one on one training sessions for the online Pa tient Portal. I looked into ways in which your immediate surroundings can shape your ideas of your own perceived ability to achieve healthy outcomes as guiding the ways I would approach patients. (Cummins, 2005) To keep the PAC running, I needed to also book conference rooms for upcoming meetings and was able to book a nice meeting room through December 2017 for ease of transition for the next intern. I made reminder calls and sent out an agenda one week prior to meetings to those members with access to email. I collaborated with members to see what topics they are interested in learning more about for upcoming meetings as I was responsible for coordinating them with presenters. (Dearing, 1996) I surveyed members about what their favorite snack foods were so I could best provide for our meetings. I was allowed to spend $50 for each meeting so we had quite an assortment of foods, all within reason of course as we are promoting healthy lifestyles after all. I guided the meetings but also recorded notes for action items to follow up on as well as to write minutes for future reference as available to the public. Diabetes in Motion Clinic The SF Health Network also has a Community Wellness Program branch that allows for patient learning on a variety of fronts from smoking cessation lectures to Zumba classes and nature walks. The Wellness Programs are offered at several clinics across the city and aim to provide and promote innovative services to staff, patients, their families and all San Franciscans. They are designed to be accessible culturally and linguistically as well as to all physical ability and/or limitation levels. The classes that are part of the Working on Wellness (WOW) Healing Moves, Active Living Initiative are open to all and free of charge. Another important part of my duties was to also work on chronic disease group visits in the diabetes clinic. It was important to help try and understand the unique hurdles specific to this particular patient population. (Bhatia, Seto, 2011) The Diabetes in Motion (DIM) Class was an extra duty inherited by me as the previous Practice Manager moved to Hawaii and requested that the incoming PAC Coordinator (me) adopt the class. This 2 hour class was held once a month and tasked with helping those with Diabetes, the pre-Diabetic and their caregivers better understand how to help improve their conditions. I noticed immediately that there might be low attendance, only 5-10 attendees, due to a lack of a unified agenda across the year of these classes. I researched ideas of how living in an urban environment can impact health and wellness differently than a more rural setting for insight into health problems. (Bodea, 2009) I decided that we would try breaking the class into 2 portions, a movement portion (due to the title) and a healthy eating portion. There was no dedicated staff and, as we had plenty of funding left in the available grant I was able to hire 2 local instructors. I hired Sylvie Minot, leader of the Syzygy Dance Project as an Exercise Instructor and Catherine McConkie, Founder of The Caregivers Table as our Nutritionist. Ms. Minot was able to lead progressive movement exercises that were accessible to all levels of mobility incorporating yoga, stretching and dance movements. The importance of exercise is shown across the lifespan. (Bauman, 2007) During the exercising portion of the class she would lead a discussion about the importance of incorporating movement throughout daily life. (Saelens, 2003) Ms. McConkie would follow for the second half of class with easy and affordable food ideas that she made during the class so the attendees could participate. In addition to making healthy options accessible, she would also pass around ingredients that might be new or unusual for the patients and discuss why certain foods are good or bad to eat. Eat Better, Feel Better! Colorful Choices is a San Francisco Health Service System program aimed at adding more fruits and vegetables to daily routines. I was able to team up with them for our classes to provide free fruits and vegetables to attendees. (Drewnowski, 2004) A $25 Safeway gift card was given to the first 22 participants that stayed for the entire class. Participants were able to take home a bag of food to make the recipe presented in class, for any who could not afford them on their own. (Kim, 2006) I created and distributed English and Spanish language flyers throughout the hospital as well as purchased the patient incentives, organized an agenda with the instructors and ensured 2 interpreters (Spanish and Mandarin language) could attend. Following each class I gathered receipts from all 5 of us leading the course to submit to our grant overseer for documentation and reimbursement. Our attendance went from a low average to roughly 30 patients per class in just 3 months. Patient Portal In addition to putting together the DIM and PAC monthly meetings I was assigned to work with the RFPC Residents that were writing a research paper on empowering patients to improve their own care knowledge. The biggest aspect of this was increasing patient awareness, enrollment and use of the SF Health Networks Patient Portal. This online tool enables patients to see all of their most recent and up to date data from any meetings with providers as well as testing and results. Not only can this aid individual improvement through expanded knowledge of care but it also provides an easily accessible list to give to out-of-network providers. The system also newly rolled out the ability to email your assigned provider. The system self regulates to ease provider burden by immediately rerouting easily accomplished tasks such as appointment scheduling or refill requests before any emails actually go to the provider. Initially, I was tasked with 10 hours per week of recruiting new enrollments in the Patient Portal system by visiting with people in the waiting room. With an iPad in one hand and flyers in multiple languages in the other, I spoke with each patient on hand to see if they were aware of the program and would like to enroll if not already. I tracked demographics for the residents as well as number enrolled by me or already. I also had proxy forms available if someone wanted their child or spouse etcetera to have access to their information due to any learning disabilities or language differences as the system is only currently in English. I was able to use Google Translate as well as my flyers in 6 different languages to speak with everyone in the room one by one. After doing this for 2 months the residents decided I should transition to training users to increase the amount of actual users of the system once enrolled. I utilized the electronic Clinical Works application (eCW) to resear ch which patients were already enrolled in the Portal. I would then call patients with appointments on a particular day for the next week as determined by the Residents until I found about 10 people willing to meet with me before or after their appointments. Together, we would then walk through accessing the system and what benefits and uses it provides to the patient. I would send training videos to anyone I spoke with that wasnt interested in meeting in person that they could view on their own if they so wished and they had access to my UCSF email if they had any further questions arise. The largest barrier to increasing user numbers or active users for the Patient Portal ended up being access to electronics and language barriers. The specific patient population at RFPC has phones that may or may not be web-enabled and a lot of them do not have computers or are computer savvy. In meeting with patients I was able to teach them how to recover their login information and perform simple computer navigation. I provided introductions to the hospital library where free computers are available all day that I had never seen full. The system is eventually scheduled to be accessible in Spanish and Mandarin sometime next year. Extra Tasks There were some one time tasks on my plate as well. I needed to accomplish the yearly update of the Clinic Care Team Boards. All of the providers are divided into one of three color care teams to help ensure that, even if you cannot visit your assigned Doctor, you will see someone familiar with them and your file. The previous boards were on a small black and white listing with a few pictures. I used the Adobe program InDesign to organize everyone by provider type, team, procured color head shots of all providers and found a local print shop to print each team board on a 3 x 5 color poster. I also needed to keep the waiting room stocked of specific informational flyers and magazines every few days. Results Participants Adult patients I was able to add to the PAC were recruited through various methods. Informational flyers were posted in the waiting room and at the pre-appointment health screening station. Providers were encouraged to mention the Council to patients they felt were well informed and/or had the desire to work on quality improvement projects for the Clinic. Most respondents that became full time members of the Council were older adults, 45-72 year old, 4 women and 6 men. Participants were compensated $10 and offered free food (cheese, meat, crackers, fruit, veggies, cookies and water) for their 90 minute participation at each meeting. 3 of the members additionally qualified for free Muni transportation vouchers and 1 for free parking passes. All participants were asked to read the agenda sent to them one week prior to each meeting to prepare any questions or ideas they might have on each topic scheduled to be addressed. Accomplishments Weve been able to get funding to remodel the waiting room with more comfortable furniture, a new color of paint on one wall (blue instead of white) and wall hangers to provide information of free local services available throughout the month. Weve also spearheaded projects such as surveys to fill out prior to your appointment while you wait in the waiting room and converting the waiting room television from daytime drama shows to clinic specific informational ticker that rotates from a video documentary about the namesake of the clinic to various free or affordable services offered throughout the city for the current month. Starting in April, we will be part of the coordinated effort to have Food Pharmacies across the network. In partnership with the SF Marin Food Bank, patients will be able to get a bag of free and healthy food after their appointments. PAC members will be available once a week to assist. Another issue raised was of transit safety. One of our members was on disability due to having been run over by a vehicle while she was legally using a crosswalk. The incident left her unable to work for over a year while undergoing multiple surgeries and a lengthy recovery. We had several presenters come to a meeting to get insight from our patients in regard to possible pedestrian improvements. (Mejia, 2017) The PAC raised money to have a portrait painted of our Clinics namesake, Dr. Richard H. Fine that it is to be hung in the waiting room. We are waiting on the display box that is being made to keep it displayed securely. Dr. Fine founded the General Medicine Clinic at ZSFGH, one of the first outpatient clinics in the nation at a Public Hospital that provides health care to underserved populations. He ran it for 25 years. To recognize and thank Dr. Fine for his acute discernment of patient needs, the General Medicine Clinic (GMC) was renamed as the Richard H. Fine Peoples Clinic (RFPC) in August of 2015 three months before his death. There is a wonderful documentary about his life that I was able to show the PAC members at the end of one of our meetings. (Biker with a Moral Compas: Dr. Dick Fine and the Evolving Culture of SFGH http://mission-healthequity.blogspot.com/2015/07/moral-compass.html) I was able to establish more clear and concise PAC values and guidelines as none had been expressed in writing prior to my tenure as leader. We were to work in partnership and collaboration to address systemic issues versus individual situations. We would do so by working in partnership with the clinic management to support the clinic mission and vision. We would represent the diverse socioeconomic and cultural needs and perspectives of RFPCs patients. We would seek the input of other patients to broaden perspectives. We also established term limits to facilitate turn over and diverse patient representation. Our meetings would create and maintain a safe environment for all members and guests to share ideas and points of view. Respect would be given to the confidential nature of information received at the meetings and we would review and sign HIPAA confidentiality agreements and release forms annually as opposed to only upon initial recruitment. As the PAC coordinator I worked hand i n hand with the Clinic Champion, Mr. Michael McGuire who, as the Practice Manager of RFPC was the link between the PAC and clinic leadership. He was able to provide some assistance to help me coordinate with staff and providers to ensure successful collaboration on PAC initiatives help me ensure progress was being made on PAC projects. DIM The grant to fund the DIM Clinic was picked up for renewal for next year and the instructors I chose were invited to stay and wished to do so. The dramatic increase in attendee numbers rose from 5 or 10 to upwards of 30 under my tenure. We received a lot of positive feedback from patients with successful weight loss and blood sugar stabilization. Patient Portal Recruiting Training I was able to interact with 815 patients in the waiting room and successfully enrolled 230 new Portal users. For online, in person training I spoke with 87 patients over the phone and met one on one with 34 for individualized training. This data will be included in the Residents research paper as well as my experiences with what the patient population specific challenges were for our Clinic. Conclusion I was able to impart some positive change within the community of ZSFGH during my Internship. I also learned several important lessons such as how communication can be difficult at times but its helpful to try to display an open and approachable demeanor. Patients may be upset when they do not receive what they have requested from staff, but remaining clam and expressing compassion can help diffuse and redirect the situation. Because of Dr. Fines close connections to the community, he was able to hear about subsets of people who were not seeking health care and make visible what was invisible to many. I am happy to have been a part of so many diverse projects to assist disenfranchised and marginalized populations of San Francisco. Empowering patients to be proactive about their own care and the outcomes they wish to see has been my main take away from this internship. Helping patients to see ways to incrementally improve their own physical and mental health can not only save money in treatments not needed down the line but also be the first steps towards becoming more independent and being well enough to provide their own income and stable housing. While the community wellness programs in San Francisco promote interventions aimed at addressing lifestyle issues such as diet and smoking, they also recognize the ways in which social determinants of health such as housing status, neighborhood safety, and access to affordable healthy food play a critical role in wellness promotion and encouraging healthy lifestyle choices. With this in mind, I worked to incorporate strategies such as public health education and advocacy in addressing poor health outcomes during my Internship. References Bauman A, Bull F. Environmental Correlates of Physical Activity and Walking in Adults and Children: A Review of Reviews. London: National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence; 2007.Bhatia R, Corburn J. Lessons from San Francisco: Health impact assessments have advanced political conditions for improving population health. Health Affairs. 2011 Dec:30 (12):2410-18Bhatia R, Seto E. Quantitative estimation in Health Impact Assessment: Opportunities and Challenges. Environmental Impact Assessment Review. 2011. DOI:10.1016/j.eiar.2010.08.003Bodea TD, Garrow LA, Meyer MD, Ross CL. Policy and Practice: Socio-demographic and Build Environment Influences on the Odds of Being Overweight or Obese: The Atlanta Experience. Transportation Research Part A 2009:43(4):430-444.Burnap P, Spasic I, Gray WA, Hilton JC, Rana OF, Elwyn G. Protecting patient privacy in distributed collaborative healthcare environments by retaining access control of shared information. International Conferenc e on Collaboration Technologies and Systems. 2012:490-497 DOI: 10.1109/CTS.2012.6261095Corburn J, Bhatia R. Health Impact Assessment in San Francisco: Incorporating the Social Determinants of Health into Environmental Planning. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management. 2007 May:50(3):323-341Cummins S, Stafford M, MacIntyre S, Marmot M, Ellaway A. Neighborhood environment and its associations with self-rated health: evidence from Scotland and England. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 2005 59:207-213.Dannenberg A, Bhatia R, Cole B, et al. Use of Health Impact Assessment in the United States: 27 Case Studies, 1999-2007. Am J Prev Med. 2008 Mar:34(3):241-56Dannenberg AL, Bhatia R, Cole B, et al. Growing the Field of Health Impact Assessment in the United States: An Agenda for Research and Practice. Am J Public Health. 2006 Feb:96(2):262-70. Dearing JW, Rogers EM. Agenda-setting. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. 1996:5-20 Drewnowski A, Darmon N, Briend A. Replacing fats and sweets with vegetables and fruits a question of cost. American Journal of Public Health. 2004 94(9):1555-1559.Kessell ER, Bhatia R, Bamberger JD, Kushel MB. Public Health Care Utilization in a Cohort of Homeless Adult Aplicants to a Supportive Housing Program. J Urban Health. 2006 Sep:83(5):860-73Kim D, Kawachi I. A multilevel analysis of key forms of community- and individual- level social capital as predictors of self-rated health in the United States. Journal of Urban Health 2006 83(5):813-826.The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), Public Law 104-191 ÂÂ § 261-264Public Welfare, Department of Health and Human Services, 45 C.F.R. ÂÂ § 46 (2009). (C.F.R. is the Code of Federal Regulations) Mejia, P. Beyond the Traffic Report: The News About Road Safety and Vision Zero in San Francisco. Berkeley Media Studies Group. 2017 Jan:3-12Saelens BE, Sallis JF, Frank LD. Environmental correlates of walking and cycling: findings from the transportation, urban design, and planning literatures. Ann Behav Med. 2003;25(2):80-91.

Cyberspace and the Constitution Essay -- Government Politics Internet

Cyberspace and the Constitution Cyberspace is a new frontier for American courts. In the past, when faced with new situations, courts have analogized older laws into the new situations. However, due to the many unique qualities of the Internet, courts have had a difficult time determining how to apply prior law in the realm of cyberspace. In the United States, the ultimate framework of our laws is the United States Constitution. The Constitution, and most especially the Bill of Rights, has entered arenas that the founders could not have imagined. Today, courts know that they must apply the constitution to cyberspace, but the question remains: how is it to be applied? The District Court in U.S. v. Pataki devised an interesting solution to the constitutional problems of cyberspace, by using the Commerce Clause in a situation where at first blush, the First Amendment would seem to be the constitutional provision to apply. The issue in Pataki was whether a New York statute criminalizing the use of a computer to disseminate obscene material to minors was constitutional. The statute criminalized sending sexual material to minors that was "harmful to minors." The statute defined material as "harmful to minors" if it 1) Considered as a whole, appealed to the puritant interest in sex of minors; 2) Was patently offensive to prevailing adult community standards with respect to what is suitable material to minors; and 3) Considered as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, and scientific value for minors. Essentially, this is the Miller obscenity test, devised by the Supreme Court, applied to minors. Although the statute was modeled after the Miller test, it still faces First Amendment concerns. First, what are "pr... ...upply this, since they would run afoul of the Commerce Clause, as did New York in Pataki. Thus, Congress must provide the legislation. Furthermore, since the Internet is international, this legislation must stem from international treaties. This is a lot to ask, and many people are concerned about "Big Brother" controlling our communications, and they argue that the Internet should be free to regulate itself. However, there must be regulation on the Internet. The Internet allows the freest mode of expression in human history. Anyone is a publisher. With this great freedom, comes great responsibility. The framers of the Constitution never imagined the Internet, but they did imagine principles which should continue to guide us into the electronic frontier. Principles of the Commerce Clause and the First Amendment must continue to apply in the realm of cyberspace.

Examine The Ways In Which Lang :: essays research papers

Examine the ways in which language and identity are treated in ‘Translations’   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ‘Translations’ is set in 1833, in County Donegal, which was soon after the time when Britain had claimed Ireland as part of its empire. The British and the Irish therefore had differing languages, so the British decided to go through the process of naming or renaming Ireland’s geographical features. In ‘Translations’ language and identity are used more as a plot device and plot feature rather than as part of stylistic technique, which is their most common role.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When the play was first performed by Friel’s own theatre company it was performed in the Irish language, and at the start of the play, all the characters speak Irish as their first language, the English language comes into the script a lot later, which reflects the course of events in Ireland over the past two centuries. All these characters have been brought up speaking the language and it is a fundamental part of their life, culture and identity.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  English is the second main language in the play. It represents the future to Maire and Owen, and ‘a mistake’ to Hugh and Manus. The two English speakers come as part of the same assignment, to make a map of the country and to ‘see that the place names are ... correct.’, but they have greatly differing attitudes towards Ireland and its identity. Captain Lancey sees the Irish as inferior to the English, which is evident when he is willing to evict a whole village of them, over the disappearance and probable death of one Englishman. Yolland however falls in love with Ireland, its language and culture and he feels that ‘something is being eroded’ by his task of renaming the geographical features of Ireland. Yolland is not the stereotypical English male of the time, because he ‘missed the boat’ to India and that stereotypical way of life, which would be following his father’s wishes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The other two languages used in the play are Greek and Latin, which are spoken only by Hugh and Jimmy. These two classical languages create an identity of intellectualism in their users and it is significant that it is the Irish rather than the English characters who can speak them contradicting Lancey’s view of them being inferior.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Friel shows us the use of language in several different forms. The first scene where Manus is teaching Sarah to speak shows us that language is used to create communication.

Metaphilosophical Pluralism and Paraconsistency: From Orientative To Mu

Philosophical Methodology Metaphilosophical Pluralism and Paraconsistency: From Orientative To Multi-level Pluralism M.E. Orellana Benado, Andrà ©s Bobenrieth, Carlos Verdugo Universidad de Valparaà ­so ABSTRACT: In a famous passage, Kant claimed that controversy and the lack of agreement in metaphysics — here understood as philosophy as a whole — was a ‘scandal.’ Attempting to motivate his critique of pure reason, a project aimed at both ending the scandal and setting philosophy on the ‘secure path of science,’ Kant endorsed the view that for as long as disagreement reigned sovereign in philosophy, there would be little to be learned from it as a science. The success of philosophy begins when controversy ends and culminates when the discipline itself as it has been known disappears. On the other hand, particularly in the second half of the twentieth century, many have despaired of the very possibility of philosophy constituting the search for truth, that is to say, a cognitive human activity, and constituting thus a source of knowledge. This paper seeks to sketch a research program that is motivated by an intuition that opposes both of these views. Section 0.0 Introduction In the West, human beings have been doing philosophy for roughly 2,500 years. Eastern traditions are, perhaps, even older. What can we learn about philosophy itself through this experience and practice? This is the initial question of metaphilosophy, the body of discourse that collects and articulates our observations and reflections about philosophy as a human activity. Answers to it are essential in order to address the further issue of what contribution, if any, philosophy has made, or can be hoped to make, toward the education of humanity. For, to be sure... ...its set of well-formed formulas. (15) Wang, Hao: Beyond Analytic Philosophy (Cambridge M.A., London: MIT Press, 1988) p. 10. (16) For another view that, together with those of Rescher and Wang, restricts the scope of metaphilosophy to philosophy see Double, Richard: Metaphilosophy and Free Will (Oxford : Oxford University Press 1995). For an example of a discussion that falls within the institutions of philosophy component see Mandt, A.J.: "The inevitability of pluralism: philosophical practice and philosophical excellence" in Cohen, A./ Dascal, M. (eds): The institution of philosophy (La Salle: Open Court, 1991), pp 77-101. (17) The authors acknowledge with gratitude the generous support provided by Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Cientà ­fico y Tecnolà ³gico (Chile) to the research project here outlined as well as the confidence and comments of two anonymous referees.

Human Physical Appearance Essay

The appearances of people is like their cover, that? s why it? s so important, because it? s what can be seen, the first thing you note in a person, and like it or not, it tells a lot. It? s like a book, most of the time it? s judged by it? s front page, the right thing would be to read the review where you can know the details of it? s content, but what do you notice first? That why I compare the human appearance with a book, and I affirm that you can? t know a person only by the way they look, because it?  s not always what it seems, wearing designers clothes not necessarily shows your economic status and you can? t know a person only by their physical appearance, because this can be modified by a very important factor, self-esteem According to the Pequeno Larousse Ilustrado (1976), Appearance is â€Å" the outside look of a person or thing†. In another words is peoples physics, but there are situations in which the person can be criticized by this, specially during the te enage, that are the years of physical and mental development, but the physical part is commonly judged. Are we really conscious of what we say about other people? , I? m not saying it? s wrong, because the physical appearance is important, but is it all?. The appearance are not always what they look like, and even more in the teenage, the psychiatrist Felix Loracca says that we are modeling are personality in function of what others expect from us. For example, psychologists say that women tend to want to be accepted, not so much for their personality but for them to feel prettier. Young men present a similar case, now that they pay a lot of attention to their physical appearance, without neglecting their clothes, their hair, etc. The way each and every one of the teenagers practice their personal care for their appearance changes from one to another, but basically the aim is the same one, â€Å"try to look good†. Teenagers not only change their clothes, but their response, their expressions, their vocabulary and recreative activities. The way they dress and the physical appearance become very important, it can be a way to express solidarity with their friends, or as a way to declare their growing independence from their families. Another important aspect to consider is that clothing not necessarily proves your economical status, and this is more discussable nowadays, because material things don’t tell who you really are, a good example of this is Mahatma Gandhi, who despite of everything he owned economically speaking, acted like the most humble person in the world. People use to go for others clothing. Physical appearance influence, but is not determinant when we meet someone, and you can’t determine their economy, or their education by this, because everybody can have any kind of clothes or material objects without mattering the cost of these, there is who say â€Å"fashion, what suits you† and people can dress according with what they feel comfortable with without caring what other people think about them. Elton Mayo says that human relationships are majorly based in ties that exist between the members of society, thanks to communication, that can have many ways: principally visual, linguistically, affective and by specially created languages for the development of complex societies, that’s why he affirms that there is some importance in the physical appearance. One of the human needs is to relate with other living creatures, like Maslow shows in his hierarchical pyramid, in the affiliation is the friendship, or the creation of relations with other people. But in any moment he affirms the importance of the physical appearance. The changes in how we look to others are related with our self-esteem and not to our auto-perception, that’s why any change in our physical appearance can affect our present ME status, if we don’t have the ability to accept and adapt to these changes, in the same way this affects directly in our emotional status. In conclusion, physical appearances are an important part of people presence, but they are not determinant in the way to judge them, for what we saw previously. They exist an infinity of questions that we can make as thinking beings, that we lead us to much more questions, but it all ends in ourselves, the answer is in each one of us, you decide what to base in, how to act with others and how you want them to see you, but without losing your own personality.

Journey to the Dwarf Planet Essay

netherworld is a property heading that has been mistaken for a satellite and a comet in the past. naked as a jaybird evidence has revealed that the antecedently thought ninth planet of our solar transcription is actu bothy just an ice-dwarf, and like to all other determinations in the Kuiper rush. This musical theme explores netherworld through the vision of New Horizons, the fastest ballistic capsule ever launched. This spacecraft would travel to infernal region in most nine years and reveal much(prenominal) active the control surface of this unusual space object that unselfishness feels especially attach to, given oer that it was a part of our solar system for a long time. apply S. Alan Sterns explanation of the impressiveness of infernal regions surface that, in fact, this space object carries essential reading about(predicate) the origins of the solar system this makeup provides a reason for military personnels interest in the deputation to netherworld. It is suggested that netherworlds environs would provide grand clues about the footings milieu. And nonetheless if it does not, all password is good risings in the world of science. It whitethorn actually well be that the mission to infernal region would teach valet de chambre nothing new, and unaccompanied renew its taste perception for the living environment of Earth.Perhaps this new aw arness and appreciation would somehow help to save the Earths environment. JOURNEY TO THE DWARF major planet pageboy 3 go to the shade Planet infernal region is and 1413 miles in diameter, with a surface that is believed to be make up of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, methane and water ices. umteen of the moons in the solar system are bigger in size than Pluto.Moreover, Pluto is said to make water its own satellite, Charon, which whitethorn or may not be considered a regular kind of satellite, given that it is almost as big as Pluto (Connor, 2006). consort S. Alan Stern (2002), co mmittal to writing for Scientific American, the material on Plutos surface may attenuate into a rarefied atmosphere when the planet is in the part of its orbit that is close-hauled to the sun. In addition, scientists believe that Plutos surface may be experiencing the bam of geysers on occasion.Gas and ice may be shooting above the surface of the planet in plumes. Today, we understand that Pluto is a dwarf planet, not a real one. It has been called the ice-dwarf, too, seeing that this space object is far different from the planets in our solar system. The rotation of Pluto, for instance, is in the opposite statement to the rotation of the octette planets we k in a flash Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Pluto is most unlike the Earth, which is a overstrung planet.It is also unlike the gaseous Jupiter (Connor). Hence, scientists have been wondering about the real constitution of Pluto for quite some time. Pluto has been referred to as a comet to boot (Wilker, 2006). It all started only ten years after Pluto was first discovered by American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh in 1930 (Connor). During the mid-forties and 1950s, researchers suggested that perhaps Pluto was the brightest of a extensive group of icy space objects in the area that it occupies. ThisJOURNEY TO THE DWARF satellite Page 4 concept came to be known as the Kuiper Belt, named after the Dutch-American astronomer, G date of referencerd Kuiper, who was first off in casting doubts about Plutos status in our solar system (Stern). Based on new evidence, scientists have come to the conclusion that the Kuiper Belt contains at least one one C thousand objects that are larger than blow kilometers across.In fact, the Kuiper Belt may rattling well be the big brother to the star-shaped belt, writes Stern. This big brother of the asteroid belt has more mass, more objects, including those of larger sizes, and a greater supply of ancient, icy and organic material le ft over from the birth of the solar system. Stern adds It is now clear that Pluto is not an anomaly. preferably it lies within a vast pullulate of smaller bodies orbiting between about fin billion and at least eight billion kilometers from the sun. Because this far-off region may hold important clues to the early emergence of the solarsystem, astronomers are keenly provoke in discipline more about Pluto, its moon, Charon, and the bodies making up the Kuiper Belt. It is not only the astronomers that are interested in learning more about Pluto. Rather, it seems that the entire humanity is longing to find out about its own origins, and how it came to occupy the environment that it lives in today. Given that greater awareness about Pluto and its environment would provide humanity with clues regarding the origin of the Earths environment scientists have worked very hard to happenJOURNEY TO THE DWARF PLANET Page 5 Pluto somehow. Explaining their efforts in his article, Journey t o the Farthest Planet, Stern introduces to the reader the $488 jillion project called New Horizons. This is a mission established by the Southwest inquiry Institute, based in San Antonio, Texas, and the Applied physics Laboratory (APL) at Johns Hopkins University.New Horizons is still supported by a aggroup of scientists from various universities, research institutes, and NASA centers. The mission is, of course, for humanity to explore Pluto and its so-called double, Charon (Connor). According to Stern, this mission is equivalent of conducting an archaeological tug into the history of the outer solar system a place where researchers can thwart a valuable glimpse of the long-gone era of planetary formation.