America Needs Bilingual Programs Essay -- Argumentative Persuasive Top

America Needs Bilingual Programs      Ã‚  Ã‚   As a lighthouse stands against the storm, its tireless beacon showing the way to safe harbor, so too does America stand in an increasingly dark and turbulent world. The bricks and mortar would have long ago succumbed to the pounding of the waves but for one reason, the lighthouse is built upon a foundation of bedrock as old and as strong as the earth itself. Likewise, the tower that is our nation would have long ago toppled if its foundation were not rooted in equally strong materials.    Unlike the lighthouse, this grand experiment we call America is not built upon rock and dirt; our nation is built upon the strength of its people. Of these people, only a small minority would call this place home if not for the great immigrations of the last half-millennium. These countless individuals, who left their homelands for many different reasons, all chose America because of the presence of limitless opportunity. Yet, after each new group begins to find its American identity, that group turns and attempts to bar those waiting in the queue from realizing their own American dream. Limiting educational opportunity is one method used by previous arrivals to limit the successful integration of newcomers. Immigrants are quickly being prevented from realizing their full potential as citizens by the nationwide movement to outlaw bilingual education. In order for America to maintain its position as the world's only remaining superpower, we must continue to offer our new a rrivals full access to bilingual education.    The classroom use of a language other than English is not a new or revolutionary concept in the American educational practice. The first law allowing th... ....educationworld.com. 21 Apr. 2001. Gentry, Curt. J. Edgar Hoover: The Man and The Secrets. New York: Penguin Books, 1992. "History of Bilingual Education." Rethinking Schools Spring 1998. http://www.rethinkingschools.org/Archives/12_03/langhst.htm. 21 Apr. 2001. Krashen, Stephen. "Bilingual Education: Arguments For and (Bogus) Arguments Against." Georgetown University Roundtable on Languages and Linguistics. 6 May 1999. http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/JWCRAWFORD/biling.htm. 21 Apr. 2001. Porter, Rosalie Pedalino. "The Case Against Bilingual Education." The Atlantic Monthly May 1998. http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/98may/biling.htm. 21 Apr. 2001. Sund, Carole. "Bilingual Education: An Overview." National Education Association. 4 October 1999. http://www.nea.org/issues/bilingual/. 21 Apr. 2001.   

Julius Ceasar Essay -- essays research papers

Character Counts   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  William Wordsworth once said that â€Å"The best portion of a good man’s life is his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and love† (Health Communications, Inc. 213). In William Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar, Marc Antony exhibits the character counts pillars respect, responsibility, and also caring. Marc Antony shows his respect when everyone was against Caesar, but he still was tolerant of the difference. He displayed responsibility when after Caesar’s death, and Brutus’s speech, he told the people of Rome that Caesar was not ambitious, but true to Rome and then continued on to read Caesar’s will. Lastly, Marc Antony displays caring when he grieves from Caesar’s death.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Marc Antony displayed respect when everyone was against Caesar, but he was tolerant of the difference. â€Å"Friends am I with you all, and love you all, / Upon this hope, that you shall give me reasons / Why and wherein Caesar was dangerous†(McDougal. 642). During the time when all of Rome was against Caesar, and chaos was everywhere in Rome, Marc Antony respected the citizens opinions, and was capable of dealing peacefully with his anger, the insults, and disagreements. Even though Antony was being badgered for sticking by Caesar, he took to thought the feelings and opinions of the citizens at that time, and was able to discuss them calmly with the people while others might have turned against Caesar. Therefore, Antony was not ...

Medieval Castle Research Paper

As time went on castles became more and more advanced. Castles were first created in the 10th century in Normandy. The first types we re emote and bailey castles; these castles were surrounded by ditches often filled with water, moats, to defend the mounds. There often was a drawbridge to go over the moat and w alls around the castle itself. These walls were thick; some of them were up to 2030 feet thick, which helped defend the castle.The reason castles were built was that the people needed more space for the court of justice, the storehouse refuge, entertainment held there, their king a ND of course, a home. War was a big part of life in the Medieval Era, so castles were built in a ay to be hard to attack; however, most castles had the same tactic so they knew how to attack one another. There were three main ways to attack: starvation tactic, mining, and treachery.The s titration tactic was surround the castle they were attacking so that the people inside would e eventually have to 2 come out and fight or starve to death because there was no way out since the y were surrounded; the mining tactic was when the attacker would tunnel under the walls and set the ground on fire making the ground unstable and allowing the walls to fall, this was prevented by the moats most f the time; the last tactic, treachery, was basically a surprise attack on a bull arable area, a place that was not guarded so they had an easy attack.There were many ways to d fend a castle however, and the architecture was a huge way. The location was on a hill with wet ground caused from the moat, which also gave them easy escape; another architecture oral defense mechanism was the shape of the castle, they were mainly circular to avoid core nurse for the miners and they had many thick walls that were difficult to get through. Also they were e on a slope so if boulders were dropped they would fall down the hill. Sometimes they would I re attackers to a restricted area where they then controlled and killed them.Richard the Lionhearted had started one of the most formidable castles for his b rather Chateau Gaillardia, who did not even get to enjoy the castle due to death. It was then given to their other brother John who lost it in a siege. Richard the Lionhearted did not build al I of the popular castles though. Some of the most popular castles in this time were Babylon, Mycenae, and Troy. Babylon was believed to have 23 feet thick walls according to the writing on s mom of the fallen walls, Mycenae was a strong massive masonry which was prompted on a big hill, and Troy was lilt on top of nine cities making this castle one of the most historical ones.Life inside of a castle was very different than life is now; everything in the me devil era was different, however, the way they lived their lives compared to how people live their life now is very different It has definitely changed for the better. Children were treat d as useless until they were an adult. Normally, they were not even raised by their parents, they got shipped off to 3 somebody else to get raised.If a child was born into a poor family, they were often sold for one of two reasons: either the family needed money so they sold their child or the did not have enough money to afford their child's living expenses so they sold their kid. No matter if a child lived inside or outside of a castle, they were treated poorly and had little to no rights. Another similarity all children shared was getting baptized; in the medieval era, all chill drew got baptized because baptism apparently got rid of sin and evil from the child. Everybody g to baptized as a baby because they had to before death since this era was very catholic.Food and drink were two very important essentials in this time, as they are no w. Wine was the most valued drink. Back in the 1 10th 1 lath century people did not belie eve in aging the wine so the taste varied much from today's wine. Ale was probably the next p popular drink with Made following close behind. Made was made by fermenting honey and WA term which gave it a very sweet taste. Cider was made from apples and sometimes it was blended with pears, it has not changed very much, meaning it is similar to the cider many people drink n owe in 2014.There were different types bowfin and Claret was one of them; it was sweetened WI the honey and spices and when it was sweetened further it was called â€Å"Manley. † Punches, the last of the popular rinks, was rumored to help tooth decay, but has never been proved a valid p mint. Food was also very important, not only for surviving but also impressing. Inter jestingly, the most common food among everybody was bread. Of course the more MO nee one has the better his/ her product is. The best bread was made out of properly ground whole wheat and was served to the lord of the castle, it was so different it got its own special name † Munched. The most common bread, served to commoners, was made from rye; the poor pee pole or people who lived outside of the castle go bread that was made from peas or beans. Bread was so important to people that they also used it as a plate and called it a â€Å"trencher. † The normal meat they had was either cattle or sheep which were both â€Å"hunted† from their livestock. Along WI the the lack of real plates they also did not have forks; they had knives and spoons and used thee r hands for the rest. This meant that they not only had to wash their hands before their meal but a Iso after because they would be filthy from eating with them.Many people had their own gardens in which they grew fruits, vegetables, fool were, and herbs for two reasons: medical needs and food. They grew parsley, sage, chip SE, dill, marjoram, ND cumin all to cook with. Many of these herbs are still used to cook. They al so grew betony and chamomile and anise and chamomile to help or prevent medical issues. Be Tony and chamomile helped get rid of headaches and anise and chamomile helped flat lance. They grew leeks, cabbages, carrots, peas, turnips, onions, and parsnips which are all Vega eatables in their gardens.Some fruit trees and bushes that they grew included apple trees, plug m trees, pear trees, cherry trees, mulberry bushes, gooseberry bushes, strawberry bushes, and gar ape vines. Flowers were also used for cooking and medical purposes. Violets, primrose, and NASA radium were all used for cooking; whereas, honeysuckle, used as an nondiscriminatory, and chi restatement, used for colds and fevers, were used for medical purpose. In the 1 1 the century the castles were simple with the emote and bailey. They h ad timber frames and palisades evolved into substantial concentric castles by the 14th c entry.Major changes occurred with developing completely new castle designs. Locations, Concentric Castles Abroad, Access, and Defensive Architecture was the key points in the medieval I castles during the 14th century. A big component when d esigning the castle was the location of it within itself. In many 5 instances the site itself would determine and even limit the castle plans. The c castle called Bamberger Castle on the Northumberland coast was built on a very high group ND overlooking dunes and the North Sea. Due to the design and fortifications were built roar ND the pros and cons of the location.With the pros and cons of building on a very high hill is that the eye are usually not evenly topped off so sometimes they would be built very high up on one end with Others just reinforced. An example of how castles were denied building construction was if they were rocky topped or any chance of any sliding. The castle in North Wales where the plan s were restricted by the rocky outcrop it was built on and led to a design which has been com eared to an hour class where if would eventually just drop and run out of support. With that bee Eng said the castle buildings were very difficult to construct.The concentric castles were a type of defense which was seen during the crud dads in Spain and of course Cornerstone in France. The earliest Of this type was said t o probably be the Land Wall in Constantinople which was built around the 5th century. The con enteric castle had three distinct walls each one becoming progressively larger. The biggest door on the castle was the entrances usually a drawbridge for MO SST. Even though it was the biggest it had its cons. They go back to the very early age buy t recognized as their weakest spot.With that being said they had to encompass surrounding buildings and allow for space to accept refugees from neigh pouring towns that created the need f or concentric castles with walls getting progressively smaller. One thing that you would expect from Castles would be the size and with size comes defense. A big building usually has a lot of options of weapons for attacking a ND playing the offensive part in a battle. Well the defensive architecture covers drawbridges, s piral staircases, 6 killing grounds, machinations and loopholes or nurseries to name but a fee w.The defensive objects were enabling people to work with them and advance them in many ways into the 1 5th century and were largely common wherever the castle was built. In the medieval times people made their own entertainment. They had to beck cause back then they didn't have anything like we do today. The entertainment we use to daddy take for granted and simply had not been invented back then. † In medieval times that is the four entities from William the Conqueror through to the age of the printing pres s entertainment was a very popular and necessary part of people's lives.We take a look at me devil entertainment in the 14th century the era most commonly associated in Poe plea's minds with the word ‘medieval' as it was the time of knights, jousts, chivalry and the crusades ( Medieval Entertainment Medieval Games, Gambling, Recreation†¦ ) In total there are eight mai n Crusades and a number of smaller ones. By the e ND of the 1 lath century political conditions were stable across Europe. Pilgrimages to Jeer Salem were fairly moon and the Catholic Church had responsibility for maintaining the holy places.At the end of the 1 lath century, Alexis Comments instigated the first Crusade in response e to local chieftains with in the middle east fighting amongst themselves and endangering the pill rims in the process. Crusades rarely ever achieved their military objectives but the impact that the y had on medieval society was profound. 350 years they stimulated trade. With all the Crusades that had happened out of the 5 not including the later o ones the third crusade was probably the most efficient. After the fall Of Acre the crusaders marched along the coast to Gaff the coast Richard still fail to capture Jerusalem.The Crusade end De with a threaten truce with Salad's. The first significant military success was when they took the town 7 of Acre. This military action was driven by Richard the lion heart. One of his gar tastes success was that Philip Augustus sailed back to France where he plotted with John, Rice hardy's brother. The direct outcome was the building of Chateau Gaillardia. Response to Salad's ‘s capture of Jerusalem the two other notable leaders were Philip Augustus of France and redbrick Barbarous who enjoy the title of King of Germany as well as that of the holy Roman Emperor.Medieval history including medieval life and medieval castles can sometimes be better understood if we know the rulers in power at the time. The Norman ruled of r almost 1 00 years but the Pleasantness that followed were in power for almost 250 years. With everything about Medieval Castles there is so much more that couldn't b e talked about but with a little research you can find out just as much. The crusaders g o into depth within after the 1 lath century along with the 14th century. The advancement of weep ions during the time would be unthinkable during that era and goes along to say with the defensive tactic.The construction of the buildings are still used today in some cases of houses. If y oh take the era of the medieval castle and compare to modern day some things we adopted fro m the centuries or those. The weapons they used along with the building techniques are very ad Vance for their time period. The history goes way back even before they had the thought of build Eng up castles for a way of life to contain their people it's amazing from before that time when so none owned property how easy it was to overpower them and take their village as to be in the 1 lath century having a army to protect your goods.The legendary heroes are something the medieval times took very serious including Robin Hood who was a character but before that was al so a very popular name during the 13th century. It was said to be Robin Hood was portrayed as living during the time when King Richard I was away on 3rd Crusade. The Ro bin Hood was some none like modern 8 day super heroes the people depended on Robin Hood when the King was go en because there was no one in rule to stop some of the crime going on during the time. People were getting away with stealing and the higher power were involved with it. The education of Or bin Hood has it's own background.

Soc Week 4 Paper

Week 4 Assignment 1 Soc 100 July 29, 2012 In this paper I will be discussing the article â€Å"Study of delinquent, diverted, and high-risk adolescent girls: Implications for mental health intervention†. I will start by giving a brief summary of the article I have chosen. Followed by discussing the type of article this is and my conclusion I have drawn form the information found in this article.Lastly I will discuss how this article fits into our sociology class as well as how this article differs from non-scholarly periodicals The article begins by describing the issue of increasing numbers of adolescent girls being entered into our nation’s juvenile judicial system. The study aims to assess the most common risk factors that are affecting adolescent girls being entered into the juvenile judicial system. It also aims to find the effectiveness of the prevention factors in place to keep adolescents out of the system.For the study a survey was administered over the course of nine months to a hundred and fifty-nine adolescent girls. These adolescent girls were broken into three categories delinquent, diverted and high-risk. Delinquent girls are the girls that have been entered in the juvenile justice system in some form ranging from home care to a penitentiary. The diverted girls group consists of girls that have engaged in behaviors that have brought them to the attention of the juvenile justice system but instead of being entered into the judicial system were referred to some form of community-based services.Lastly is the high-risk group which are girls are receiving services in programs as a result of problems or behaviors that have them at risk of involvement with the juvenile justice system. The risk factors assessed included delinquent behavior, experiences of discrimination, negative life events, child trauma such as abuse or neglect, depression and suicide attempts just to name a few. Some of the protective factors assessed included mental hea lth services used, positive school experiences, positive peer involvement and rational coping behaviors.The results from the surveys provided the information that on average the girls in all program types reported mild to moderate levels of depression, but girls in closed residential juvenile justice placement were significantly more depressed than girls involved in the home-based programs. Another surprising result was that nearly one third of the total sample had reported that they have considered suicide. In almost every scenario girls in closed residential juvenile justice placement experienced higher numbers in child trauma, negative age and peer relations, delinquent behavior etc. he only factor that all the girls represented similar experiences were in the form of discrimination. All girls reported some form of discrimination but no one group reported increased amounts. This article is a combination of previous research and new data because though this research added the elem ent of high risk adolescents there has been previous research done dealing with delinquents and diverted adolescents.I also like the article stated find the research to be incomplete in that no true definitive conclusions can be drawn from the limited samples taken solely in this study. From this article I believe that there should be more focus on understanding the risk factors that contribute to delinquency in adolescents. I also believe there should be more preventive programs in place to help promote proper mental health for our adolescents which I believe will lead to less adolescents in our juvenile judicial system.Though we may not be able to stop the predisposed risk factors such as impoverished conditions, having unstable family systems, living in multiple out-of-home placements we can change the programs in place to better support adolescents in these situations. I believe this article enforces the concepts we have learned in chapter five on socialization. This article pro ves how much early childhood experiences and the family element play a role in development of adolescents. I believe more research in the mental development of underprivileged adolescents needs to be done.I am a firm believer that there are not enough programs in place to aid underprivileged children in this country and that we take too much of a one size fits all approach in development of our adolescents. Research like this proves there are mental development differences dependent on your upbringing and early family element and more work needs to be done to aid these adolescents. From my experience I generally find the material in scholarly periodicals has more reliable information than non-scholarly periodicals.I find that the scholarly periodicals are usually written by or reported by the people actually performing the research. Non-scholarly periodicals are generally written for the general public and usually are a summary of information found elsewhere. I find both scholarly a nd non-scholarly periodicals to be very similar in many aspects simply because the main goal is to get the information out. This being said it not uncommon to find flashy titles or distinguishing fonts to help draw and audience.I believe this paper provides a clear explanation of the concepts expressed in the article as they pertain to adolescent girls involved in the juvenile judicial system. From the results of the study I believe that it is clear that this is a rising issue and without a push to better the situation it will only get worse. Work Cited: Ruffolo, Mary C. , Sarri, Rosemary. , Goodkind, Sara.. â€Å"Study of delinquent, diverted, and high-risk adolescent girls: Implications for mental health intervention. † Social Work Research 4(2004):237. eLibrary. Web. 29 Jul. 2012.

Terri Schiavo

Nurs 2500: Ethical, Legal and Moral aspects of Nursing School of Advanced Nursing Education The University of The West Indies Melissa Balbosa Craigwell 811005170 Biography of Terri Schiavo On the 25th February 1990, 26-year-old Terri Schiavo suffered severe brain damage when her heart stopped for five minutes. In June of 1990, Michael Schiavo, Terri’s husband, was appointed her plenary guardian by the courts. In September of 1993, Michael Schiavo authorized the nursing home she resides in to write a DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) order for Terri.Schiavo spent the following years in rehabilitation centers and nursing homes but never regained higher brain function. In 1998 her husband, Michael Schiavo, filed a legal petition to have Schiavo's feeding tube removed, saying that his wife had told him before her medical crisis that she would not want to be artificially kept alive in such a situation. Terri Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, fought this request. Florida judge Georg e W. Greer ruled in 2000 that Schiavo was â€Å"beyond all doubt† in a persistent vegetative state and that her husband could discontinue life support.But as legal appeals in the case continued, the case became widely known as some religious groups and pro-life activists began to insist that Schiavo should be kept alive. Schiavo's feeding tube was removed in 2003, but reinserted six days later when the Florida legislature passed â€Å"Terri's Law,† which allowed the state's governor to issue a stay in such cases. The law was later ruled invalid by the courts. At this time, there may also have appeared to be a conflict of interest, as Michael had two children with a long-term girlfriend.In March of 2005 Schiavo's feeding tube was again removed, and the case became a greater public sensation when the U. S. Congress was called into special emergency session to pass a bill allowing federal courts to review the case, with President George W. Bush flying from Texas to Washin gton especially to sign the bill into law. However, federal judges and the U. S. Supreme Court refused to intervene. After two weeks without food and water, Schiavo died of dehydration on the 31st March 2005 at the age of 41.Some the ethical issues involved in this case include; autonomy, beneficence and non-maleficence, justice, religious views – Roman Catholic – sanctity of life, no advance directives, Terri’s pre incapacitation verbal comments, and conflict of interest (familial, financial and institutional). The patient had severe brain damage. This followed a history of a sudden collapse secondary to cardiac arrest which resulted in prolonged cerebral hypoxia. She was diagnosed as being in a persistent vegetative state. Prognosis for patients in this state is poor. This condition is deemed to be chronic and irreversible.The goal of treatment is to alleviate pain and suffering. The probability of success cannot truly be determined as the patient is unable to communicate. In this case rehabilitative efforts were found to be unsuccessful, and a court order was issued for life support to be ended. The patient benefits from medical care through treatment that alleviates any pain or distress. Nursing care also seeks to alleviate pain and distress through palliative care which seeks to provide comfort and maintain dignity. Harm is avoided when there are no conscious efforts to hasten or prolong death.Terri Schiavo was not mentally capable and, therefore, not legally competent. The evidence of her incapacity lay in her inability to communicate. Buchanan 2004, stated that legal competence is specific to the task at hand. It requires the mental capacities to reason and deliberate, hold appropriate values and goals, appreciate one's circumstances, understand information one is given and communicate a choice. If the patient were found to be competent, then according to Michael Schiavo, she would be asking for treatment to be withheld and ongoing treatment to be withdrawn.A patient’s ability to self-govern is grounded in cognition (Fine, 2005). So, assuming she had the mental capacity to make her own decisions, her autonomy would have been respected and her decision upheld by the legal system. As a part of informed consent, all information would have been given to the patient concerning benefits and risks specific to her circumstances. She would have voluntarily indicated her understanding of treatment options available and given her consent in a written or oral form or possibly by some type of implied behaviour.In her incapacitated state, the appropriate surrogate should, by moral and ethical standards be her husband Michael Schiavo and indeed, he was her court appointed guardian. Butts and Rich (2008) defines a surrogate as a court appointed individual who has the authority to make decisions on behalf of the patient. The question as to whether Mr. Schiavo used appropriate standards in his decision making can be meas ured against the principles for proxy decisions with incompetent patients as set out by Olick (2001).These principles in relation to Terri Schiavo say that competent patients have a right to refuse life sustaining treatment, and he testified in court that prior to her collapse she verbalized that she did not wish to live like that, to be a burden to anyone. Incompetent patients have the same rights they are, however, exercised differently. No right is absolute, instances in which a patient’s right to refuse life support is outweighed by societal interests is rare, this case was one of those rare instances.Withholding and withdrawing treatments from a terminally ill or permanently unconscious patient, does not constitute killing or assisted suicide. Terri was not diagnosed to be either terminally ill or permanently unconscious. A subjective standard of implementing the patient’s wishes should have been used, and it was. It is recorded that the patient while competent cl early made her wishes known through informal conversations with several individuals, including her husband. There were no advance directives to rely on for guidance in this case.Local processes of review in the clinical setting in order to facilitate the resolution of disagreements were denied by Mr. Schiavo, therefore, recourse to the courts which should have been rare were frequent. This analysis indicates that appropriate standards for decision making were utilized. Whether they were adequately utilized can be debated. Advance directives, as discussed by Butts and Rich (2008), include the use of formal, written legal documents, which may take one of three forms; a living will, a medical care directive or a durable power of attorney.None of these, however, were used to express the patient’s preferences. Terri had been medically assessed to be in a persistent vegetative state, with no higher brain function. In this state, it was judged that she would have been unable to coop erate with medical treatment. To say that she may have been unwilling would be denying her medical diagnosis, suggesting that she did have the higher brain power necessary to choose between quality and quantity of life. In summary, I do not believe that the patient’s right to choose was being respected to the extent possible in ethics and in law.This is reflected in the absence of compliance with several of the principles for proxy decisions. These would be; the attempt to enable her to express her wishes, respecting society’s interest for the continuation of life support, facilitating patient review to determine capacity and competence and finally not withholding and not withdrawing treatment from a patient who was not terminally ill or permanently unconscious. The New England Journal of Medicine (1994) discusses the prospect of return to a normal life with treatment. ‘Therapy aimed at reversing the persistent vegetative state has not been successful.There have been occasional reports of a benefit from dopamine agonists or dextroamphetamine, but the benefit has been modest at best, direct electrical stimulation of the mesencephalic reticular formation, nonspecific thalamic nuclei, or dorsal columns has been attempted experimentally in patients in a vegetative state, with claims of recovered consciousness in a few instances. The quality of the recovered state was not described in detail, however, and these approaches remain experimental. Overall, there is no published evidence that coma sensory stimulation improves the clinical outcome in patients in a persistent vegetative state. It continues to note that ’If the decision is to treat the patient aggressively, diligent medical treatment and nursing care are required to prevent and treat the complications that are likely or inevitable in states of severe brain damage. The survival of patients in a persistent vegetative state is, to some degree, related to the quality and intensity of the medical treatment and nursing care that they receive. Preventive care is foremost. Daily exercises in a range of movements slow the formation of limb contractures, which otherwise become particularly severe in patients in a persistent vegetative state.Daily skin care and frequent repositioning of the patient prevent decubitus ulcers. A tracheostomy may be required to maintain airway patency and prevent aspiration pneumonia. Bladder and bowel care is desirable for hygienic reasons. Since pulmonary and urinary tract infections are common, appropriate monitoring and, if necessary, treatment with antibiotics are required. Placement of nasogastric, gastrostomy, or jejunostomy feeding tubes is usually necessary to maintain adequate nutrition and hydration. ‘The outcome probability at 12 months was determined in patients who remained in a vegetative state at 3 months and at 6 months. In addition, the probability of functional recovery was determined for two possible outcomes: goo d recovery or recovery with moderate disability, and recovery with severe disability. On the basis of these probabilities, a persistent vegetative state can be judged to be permanent 12 months after a traumatic injury in adults and children; recovery after this time is exceedingly rare and almost always involves a severe disability.In adults and children with nontraumatic injuries, a persistent vegetative state can be considered to be permanent after three months; recovery does occur, but it is rare and at best associated with moderate or severe disability. ’ NEJM (1994) ‘Patients with a good recovery have the capacity to resume normal occupational and social activities, although there may be minor physical or mental deficits or symptoms. Patients with moderate disability are independent and can resume almost all activities of daily living.They are disabled to the extent that they can no longer participate in a variety of social and work activities. Patients with severe disability are no longer capable of engaging in most previous personal, social, and work activities. Such patients have limited communication skills and abnormal behavioral and emotional responses. They are partially or totally dependent on assistance from others in performing the activities of daily living. ’ NEJM (1994) A bias does exist, according to Viswanathan et al. (2012), a reporting bias is the difference between reported and unreported findings.This would have made a big difference to the results obtained from any form of continuous assessments at the hospice. Based on the very minimal treatment options chosen by Michael Schiavo, reflective in a refusal to allow physiotherapy, oral hygiene or antibiotic administration, we may deduce that a continuation of life, with contractures, infections and poor dental state would be undesirable. There was a plan to discontinue life support by having her feeding tube removed. There was also a DNR order in place. The reason for both of these actions was to prevent prolongation of her death.The documentation suggests that there were plans for palliative care, as Butts and Rich (2008) points out that palliative care includes the choice to forego, withhold or to withdraw treatment, it also includes DNR orders. Palliative care does not hasten or prolong death, but provides relief from pain and suffering and maintains dignity in the dying experience. Michael Schiavo had a long-term girlfriend, with whom he had fathered two children, according to Funaro (2007). There may have existed a conflict of interest in balancing the affairs of his new family with the needs of his wife. He claimed that a part of him had moved, yet he still oved his wife so much that he was willing to fight to carry out her wishes. This conflict may have had an influence on his decisions. Provider issues that may have influenced treatment decisions, lie in the fact that the institution in which Terri was being cared for was one in which end -of-life management was carried out. The treatment provided by the hospice staff would only have recommended palliative care. Are there financial and economic factors? Yes. Fine (2005) tells us that ‘Families may bankrupt themselves caring for patients in a persistent vegetative state, at which point Medicaid steps in.Medical costs are the leading factor in bankruptcy. her parents objected to her being supported by government funds. The hospice caring for Terri Schiavo provided $9. 5 million of charity care to patients in the past year. Another question of distributive justice relates to insurance. Can a society that cannot find enough resources to insure the 44 million persons (25% of whom are children) with no government or private health insurance really afford to maintain patients in a persistent vegetative state at a cost of $40,000 to $100,000 each per year? The lack of health insurance costs lives.According to the Institute of Medicine, 18,000 deaths per year are direct ly attributable to a lack of health insurance. ’ Terri Schiavo had been a devout Roman Catholic, Lynn (2005) this religion upholds the sanctity of life. It was difficult for her parents to believe that she would not have wanted to hold on to life at all costs. They questioned whether Terri would have wanted to be starved to death. Their’s and by extension Terri’s prior existence was a culture of life. There are limits on confidentiality, the incompetent patient still has a right to privacy and confidentiality. This right should be upheld by the legal guardian.Treatment decisions are largely affected by the laws that govern options for patients to be able to choose to accept or refuse care, and for legal guardians to make decisions on their behalf when they are not able to. A great deal of clinical teaching and research is involved on an ongoing basis. It brings about new information and better ways of managing conditions. Yes there was a conflict of interest on the part of the institution. Lynn (2005) ‘regulations generally prohibit a hospice from taking a patient who is not terminally ill and expected to live longer than six months to a year.But Felos was chairman of the board of directors of the hospice at the time, according to the non-profit’s annual reports, and was likely able to arrange for her admission. He subsequently stepped down from the post. ’ George Felos was Michael Schiavo’s attorney. The committee’s specific findings related to this case are as follows; ‘decisions near the end of life, whether to maintain a treatment that may not be beneficial or to withdraw or withhold a life-sustaining treatment, should be effectively handled in the majority of cases by the primary treatment team.Ethics consultations are available and can be particularly valuable in cases of uncertainty or conflict. Palliative care consultations are available in cases of uncertainty or when needed to help manage c omplex symptoms, including physical, psychological, social, and spiritual suffering. Such suffering is often at the root of many an apparent conflict, and when the suffering is properly addressed, the conflict resolves.When these efforts fail to resolve conflict over decisions near the end of life, the rule of law suggests that the conflict be resolved in a court and not in legislative deliberations for a single patient. At the end of all of the medical, legal, and ethical argument, it is most important to remember that no matter how certain any of us may be of our analysis, decisions near the end of life should never be easy. We must remind ourselves that true wisdom comes with the acknowledgment of uncertainty and admitting that we cannot know all there is to know.This uncertainty is neither an excuse to engage in endless moral relativism or to engage in intellectual nihilism, refusing to search for the best possible solution or the least terrible outcome for a troubling moral pro blem. ’ Fine (2005). In light of the above discussions, with heavy emphasis on the seven principles for proxy decisions with incompetent patients, the committee has decided against the removal of the feeding tube. The rationale for this decision, lies mainly in the fact that these principles were not upheld as best as they could have been.As shown in the above discourse, a thorough attempt had not been made to closely follow these principles. As such, the committee recommends that the feeding tube not be removed. In conclusion, there is no traditional moral obligation to provide non-beneficial treatments based upon the classic goals of medicine, which are, according to Hippocrates, â€Å"the complete removal of the distress of the sick, the alleviation of the more violent diseases, and the refusal to undertake to cure cases in which disease has already won mastery, knowing that everything is not possible to medicine†.There is a traditional duty to relieve suffering, ni cely restated by Sir William Osler 1849-1919: â€Å"To cure sometimes, to relieve often, to comfort always. † References Author unknown, 2004, Terri Schiavo Biography (Medical Patient), J R Soc Med; 97(9): 415–420. PMCID: PMC1079581, retrieved from www. infoplease. com/biography/var/terrischiavo. html Fine, R. , 2005, From Quinlan to Schiavo: medical, ethical, and legal issues in severe brain injury, retrieved from www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov †º †¦ Funaro, S. 007, Why didn't Michael Schiavo seek a divorce? , retrieved from www. legalzoom. com/planning-your-estate/living-wills/why-didn Lynn, D. 2005, Life and Death Tug of War-The Whole Terri Schiavo Story, retrieved from www. wnd. com/2005/03/29516/ – 115k, Published: 03/24/2005 at 1:00 AM New England Journal of Medicine, 1994, Medical Aspects of the Persistent Vegetative State, N Engl J Med 1994; 330:1572-1579 DOI: 10. 1056/NEJM199406023302206, retrieved from www. nejm. org/doi/full/10. 1056/NEJM199406023 302206 Olick, R. S. 2001.Taking advance directives seriously: Prospective autonomy and decisions near the end of life. Washington, DC: Georgetown university Press, p. 30. Viswanathan M, Ansari MT, Berkman ND, Chang S, Hartling L, McPheeters LM, Santaguida PL, Shamliyan T, Singh K, Tsertsvadze A, Treadwell JR. , 2012, Assessing the Risk of Bias of Individual Studies in Systematic Reviews of Health Care Intervention, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Methods Guide for Comparative Effectiveness Reviews, retrieved from effectivehealthcare. ahrq. gov/index. cfm/search-for-guides-rev – 148k

Explain the Concepts of Equality, Diversity and Rights in Relation to Health and Social Care

BTEC Extended Diploma Health and Social Care Unit 2: Equality, diversity and rights in health and social care. P1, P2, P3, M1- Concepts and discriminatory and anti-discriminatory practices. 6th November 2012 By Grace Kirby. Contents Page: Page 3 – 5 Part 1(P1): Explains concepts of equality, diversity and rights in relation to health and social care. Page 5 – 8 Part 2(P2): Describes discriminatory practices in health and social care. Page 9 – Part 3(P3): Describes the potential effects of discriminatory practice can have on staff and individuals using health and social care.Page Part 4(M1): Assess the effects on those using the service of three different discriminatory practices in health and social care settings. Part1 (P1): Explains concepts of equality, diversity and rights in relation to health and social care. In this report will evaluate how Equality, diversity and rights incorporate into the health and/or social care sector and how it is benefited by all m embers of staff, service users or patients in each health and/or social care settings.Equality is being equal to everyone else, especially in rights, status or opportunities. There are laws in place to ensure that every individual is treated equally this includes organisations having equality policies to reinforce the concept. Diversity is accepting and respecting differences between yourself and also other individuals around you. This means that everyone is recognised as being different which is valued and respected. Rights are legal entitlements.For example, an individual has a right to live in society without being abused or intimidated because of their race, beliefs, gender, sexuality or disabilities. ‘Working in the health and social care sector, equality, diversity and rights are at the core of everything you will be doing. These terms embrace all individuals using the health and care sectors and every person working within them. It is essential that people working withi n health and social care recognise the need to treat every individual equally o matter what their gender, race, beliefs, sexuality, age, disability, ethnicity, sexual orientation, education, language, background or skin colour. ’ In Britain it has truly broaden its multicultural society with a huge variety of different types of cultures and backgrounds who live and work all over the country. ‘In total, 6. 5 per cent of the British population consists of ethnic minorities. The British population is made up of the following ethnic groups: * White – 53,074,000 (includes Irish, Polish, Italian, etc) * Black Caribbean – 490,000 Black African – 376,000 * Black Other – 308,000 * Indian – 930,000 * Pakistani – 663,000 * Chinese – 137,000 * Bangladeshi – 268,000 * Other Asian – 209,000 (includes Vietnamese, Malaysian, Thai) * Other – 424,000 (people who did not think they fitted the above categories)’ W ith Britain being so diverse it has a lot of benefits to being so multicultural such as; the arts, diet, education, language, tolerance, social cohesion and cultural enrichment. ‘The arts provide a valuable way of bringing diversity to a wide audience.For example, films made in other countries can demonstrate culture from around the world in a form that is easy to interpret and may intrigue as well as educated people about other cultures. Museums and exhibitions also give an understanding of cultures from around the world, past and present. Plays and other theatrical performances can bring an experience of contemporary world culture. All these things can help us understand and appreciate ‘difference’. With knowledge from the arts a person working in health and social care can develop a deeper understanding of diversity. ‘Another good reason to enjoy a multicultural society is its food. In a recent survey in Britain the Chinese dish Chow Mein was voted the fa vourite food, with Indian food being the other main choice. In fact these two foods accounted for 70 per cent of food choices according to the market leader in consumer survey analysis Mintel. This information is very important for the health and social care profession, as individual tastes have to be taken into account when planning a person’s diet. More and more people are enjoying a diet with herbs and spices.This is partly due to our multicultural society and also because more people are travelling to other countries and tasting different types of food and drink. A person’s diet also needs to be tailored to their health requirements. For example, diabetics and some older people may need to exclude certain foods; likewise, a person’s religious belief may mean that halal meat is a requirement. Asking people about their food likes and dislikes, and what they can and cannot eat, is all part of considering and respecting their diversity. Education has been one of the most developed over recent years with diverse cultures being explored and valued within the curriculum. ‘Schools and colleges now include studies in a wide range of cultures and languages. The education system has also benefited from people from different backgrounds reaching management positions and making positive changes in relation to diversity. The inclusion of equality, diversity and rights training in the health and social care profession has increased and has become an important part of the professional training programme.All organisations are required by law to train their staff in equality, diversity and rights, usually under the equal opportunities framework. Education is an important tool in helping to get rid of ignorance about diversity. ’ In today’s society many people know more than one language, this can either the mother tongue or a language that is learnt through the education system or self taught. This can be beneficial for health profes sional, it gives chances to work abroad as well as learn something new. With the development of online services, there is a wealth of information in most spoken languages. Information is also available in sign language, and the visually impaired can use specialised software, which speaks to the viewer. People who can speak languages other than English are highly sought after in health and social care because many of those using the services may not speak English. Interpretation is seen as a new career in the health service, so speaking another language is clearly beneficial for health and social care professionals. ‘Tolerance is a very important quality to have when working in health and social care. You may come across people you do not get on with or who have different views from, you this is life and has to be accepted; after all, we are all individuals. You have to be mature and professional and professional when working with colleagues and helping people, even though you may sometimes not feel you want to be. Difference has to be accepted – even more in health and social care than in other occupations. Social cohesion is where a community sticks together behind many reasons such as ethnicity. Feeling belonged somewhere is very important to human behaviour as it provides a safe and understanding environment where a group sticks together. In health and social care team members need to form this type of bond. Working in a diverse team requires each member to value and respect all others in the team. Without this bond a team works ineffectively and will eventually fall apart, causing major problems for the people using the service.Cultural enrichment is ‘all the social and cultural benefits described above will bring about cultural enrichment through diversity, which will improve life for everyone, both those who work in health and social care and those who use the services provided. ’ Active Promotion of equality and individual righ ts Health and social care professionals need to actively promote equality and the rights of individuals, whether they are working in or using these services. The word ‘Active’ emphasises the need to ensure that action is taken on these issues.There are many laws, policies and procedures in effect to promote equality and individual rights such as the care value base (CVB). There are seven principles which promote rights for every individual who uses a service within the health and social care sectors. The care value base principles are all equally important and should in theory form the basis of all your relationships with clients and colleagues. The seven principles are: 1. The promotion of anti-discriminatory practice 2. The promotion and support of dignity, independence and safety 3.Respect for, and acknowledgement of, personal beliefs and an individual’s identity 4. The maintenance of confidentiality 5. Protection from abuse and harm 6. The promotion of effect ive communication and relationships 7. The provision of personalised individual care. In health and social care there are various ways to actively promote equality and individual’s rights such as the following: * Promoting the rights, choices and well-being of individuals * Anti discriminatory practice – empowering individuals * Dealing with tensions and contradictions Staff development and training * Practical implications of confidentiality, e. g. recording, reporting, storing and sharing of information Part 2(P2): Describes discriminatory practices in health and social care. In health and social care discrimination occurs more often than expected this can vary from your colleagues discriminating against you or the service users also the service users discriminating against you. Discrimination can happen in many forms, people are discriminated against for many things as well.People are mostly discriminated against for the following: * Culture * Disability * Age * Soc ial class * Gender * Sexuality * Health status * Family * Status * Cognitive ability Culture ‘A person’s culture is important to them and identifies who they are in the world. It is developed within the social group they are raised in, and can change when they are mature enough to decide for themselves what culture best suits them. In the health and social care profession, respecting a person’s culture is important for all concerned.It is important for the individual because it creates a sense of support and understanding, promotes their well-being and can help their health. It is also important to health and social care professionals because they see the benefits of their care value base and this underlines the importance of respecting an individual’s culture. ’ Disabilities ‘In health and social care, you will work with and support people with various disabilities. The disability Discrimination Act (DDA) makes it unlawful to discriminate aga inst someone who has a disability.The act covers employment, access to goods, facilities and services of organisations, education, buying and renting a property and transport services. There has to be full accessibility for anyone with a disability. The organisation you work for will be required by law to have a policy in place regarding disability. ’ Age ‘Age discrimination happens ‘when someone is treated unfavourably because of their age, without justification, or is harassed or victimised because of their age’.There have been some controversies regarding the dispensing of certain very expensive drugs to older people because of their shorter life expectancy, due to their age. Some people have argued that the money would be better spent on drugs for younger people. However denying a person a drug due to their age may open the health service to considerable legal risk, and legal advice needs to be sought first before decisions like this are made’. S ocial class ‘Our social class is apparent from the place where we live. The higher the class, the better the place is kept and maintained.This inequality has also infiltrated health and social care. In the forward to a department of Health publication, Alan Milburn MP, former Secretary of State for Health, stated that the poor are far more likely to get cancer than the rich, and their chances of survival are lower too; the letter carries to say that health care is a postcode lottery. However: ‘At the heart of human rights is the belief that everybody should be treated equally and with dignity – no matter what their circumstances’ – Source: Equality and Human Rights Commissions (www. equalityhumanrights. om)’. Gender A person cannot be discriminated against because of their gender. Under the Gender Equality Duty 2007, all organisations, including health and social care services, cannot discriminate unfairly due to a person’s gender. Equa l rights of access, health care and rights must be followed. Sexuality Sexual orientation can be referred to a person is attracted to another person of the same sex (gay or lesbian), the opposite sex (heterosexual), or both sexes (bisexual). Discrimination against someone because of their sexuality is against the law.If someone feels discriminated against because of their sexuality or feels they are being discriminated against they can seek legal help. Health status ‘sometimes difficult decisions have to be made regarding a person’s medical treatment, taking into account the cost of the treatment, their expected quality of life after the treatment, their expected quality of life after the treatment and their overall life expectancy, people making these decisions should always keep questioning their own assumptions and prejudices, and do their best to balance the welfare of individual patients with broader funding considerations. Family status Since sexuality has broaden ed in society with the sexuality act, people are discriminated against gay and/or lesbian parents, single parents, parents of different genders, parents of different races with mixed race children and other family groupings. Cognitive ability ‘Discrimination on the grounds of cognitive ability may arise because of a brain injury a learning disability or difficulty, or a person’s social class or education. It can be easy to discriminate against people with cognitive disabilities but care must be taken not to do so.Valuing People Now is a government strategy which aims to improve the lives of people with learning disabilities, and those of their families and carers. Part 3(P3): describe the potential effects of discriminatory practice can have on staff and individuals using health and social care. In all aspects including health and social care discriminatory practice has very negative effects on the people being cared for. This section will explore the effects in more de tail. Marginalisations (treat a person or group as insignificant)Marginalisation is when people feel as if they are not a part of the main group or society as if they don’t belong anywhere. This is a potential effect of discrimination because a person is made to stand out and made to be different from everyone else and they can therefore feel like they are all alone and marginalized from the rest of society or in the case of a health and social care sector, other service users. When a person is marginalized they are made to feel like they are different and not in a good way.For example a lower class citizen being admitted to a private care trust because there is no room elsewhere and being surrounded by all upper class service users. They may then be treated differently because of that i. e. discriminated against and they may begin to feel pushed out alone because of whom they are and where they are. This is a clear example of Marginalisation. Disempowerments (make a person o r group less powerful or confident) ‘Individuals or groups that are discriminated against by other individuals or more powerful groups will feel disempowered.They may be willing to fight against this and in some cases will win their case. However, many do not and they lose the will to fight against discrimination. As a result of this, they may become depressed and devalued and disempowered, which in turn may lead to more health issues. ’ This could happen in a health and social care setting for example Low self – esteem and self – identity Discrimination can lead to people losing their self- worth or self esteem. Some people already have low self esteem before they begin to use the health and social care services.A person with low self esteem will experience negative self-identity, which brings a feeling of worthlessness and depression. The health and social care professional needs to ensure that an individual’s self esteem is maintained at a high l evel or can be raised when its low, to health the person copes with the situation there in. Restricted opportunities ‘All types of discrimination may lead to a person not using health and social care provision and this can lead to poorer health. The discrimination may be by individuals, health organisations or even the government. ’ Negative behaviours such as aggression or criminality Negative behaviour, aggression or crime can be partly caused by discrimination. Living in poverty and experiencing discrimination. Living in poverty and experiencing discrimination can affect an individual’s behaviour. People may experience hardship and then take their frustrations out on police, teachers and health and social care professionals. People may take out their anger on those they see in a position of power and health professionals can find themselves being verbally or physically attacked. People may have anger management problems and they may take this out on the health and social care professional.Drug users may also display negative behaviour while in care. ’ Definitions Equality: the state of being equal especially in status, rights and opportunities. Equity: the quality of being fair and impartial Diversity: the state of being diverse; variety Rights: that which is morally correct just or honourable Opportunity: a set of circumstances that make it possible to do something Difference: a point or way in which people or things are not the same Overt discrimination: when you do not hide the fact you are discriminating, it is not hidden Covert discrimination: hidden or subtle discrimination.It is opposed to overt discrimination Stereotyping: view or represent as a stereotype Labelling: assign to a category, especially inaccurately or restrictively Prejudice: preconceived opinion not based on reason or experience Disadvantages: unfavourable circumstances Belief: an acceptance that a statement is true or that something exists Values: the regar d that something is held to deserve; the importance or preciousness of something Vulnerability: the state of being vulnerable or exposed Abused: the improper use of somethingEmpowerment: authorization: the act of conferring legality or sanction or formal warrant Independence: freedom from the control, influence, support, aid or the like of others Interdependence: mutuality: a repriciocal relation between interdependent entities. Racism: prejudice or discrimination directed against some of a different race based on such a relief. Sexism: prejudice, stereotyping or discrimination, typically against women on the basis of sex. Homophobia: an extreme and irrational aversion to homosexuality and homosexual people. ——————————————– 1 ]. Edexcel Health and social care level 3, Book 1 BTEC National P. 48 [ 2 ]. British Council, 2009 [ 3 ]. Edexcel Health and social care level 3, Book 1 BTE C National P. 50 [ 4 ]. Edexcel Health and social care level 3, Book 1 BTEC National P. 50 [ 5 ]. Edexcel Health and social care level 3, Book 1 BTEC National P. 50 [ 6 ]. Edexcel Health and social care level 3, Book 1 BTEC National P. 50 [ 7 ]. Edexcel Health and social care level 3, Book 1 BTEC National P. 50 [ 8 ]. Edexcel Health and social care level 3, Book 1 BTEC National P. 2 [ 9 ]. Edexcel Health and social care level 3, Book 1 BTEC National P. 65 [ 10 ]. Edexcel Health and social care level 3, Book 1 BTEC National P. 65 P. 66 [ 11 ]. Edexcel Health and social care level 3, Book 1 BTEC National P. 66 [ 12 ]. Edexcel Health and social care level 3, Book 1 BTEC National P. 67 [ 13 ]. Edexcel Health and social care level 3, Book 1 BTEC National P. 69 [ 14 ]. Edexcel Health and social care level 3, Book 1 BTEC National P. 69 [ 15 ]. Edexcel Health and social care level 3, Book 1 BTEC National P. 69

Career Development Plan Part Iv - Compensation

Now that we have structured our new team, identified their roles, identified ways to manage their performance and created an appraisal system we are now proposing a new compensation plan. This part will outline the plan, describe how it will help motivate employee performance, describe our total rewards program and outline how this program will benefit the individual and InterClean. Account Executive Financial Compensation Plan Compensation structures can be broken down into two distinct categories, financial and non-financial (Cascio, 2006). This section overviews the financial compensation plan for account executives, which includes pay and benefits. Account executive pay will be primarily commission based. Each account executive will receive a base salary at minimum wage, with the rest of their salary coming from commission. We feel that a generous commission structure will motivate performance because pay will have a direct correlation with sales volume. We structured our proposed commission plan to reflect InterClean new strategic direction (University of Phoenix, 2007), and how employees are rated in their quarterly appraisal. This means a focus on retention, up-selling and volume. Account executives will receive 8% commission on sales for the first six-months of revenue. 10% commission on sales after six-months of continuous revenue. 13% commission on sales after one-year of continuous revenue. 13% commission on up-sells and account executives that meet their quarterly sales volume will also receive a bonus equaling 3% of total revenue earned. New Business Account Executive, The New Business Account Executive has different goals, and therefore a different pay scale will apply. He or she will receive a base salary of $30,000 per year, plus a 3% quarterly commission on revenues earned from the accounts he or she acquired. We feel that this structure will adequately reflect the difference between new account acquisition and account retention. Cumulatively, the maximum amount of commission paid on revenues to account executives would be 19%. In related to the benefits Account Executives will receive the standard benefits due to all InterClean employees, including; †¢ Health Insurance with employee share of cost †¢ 401k match 14 days paid vacation †¢ 6 days sick time †¢ Health, Financial, Stress and Motivational Counseling through our employee wellness program. Managerial Financial Compensation Plan The managerial financial compensation plan will focus on overall team performance. We feel that creating a plan that rewards managers for team performance helps ensure management’s focus on creating a strong team that meets financial objec tives. Managers will receive a base salary dependent on their pay grade, ranging from $50,000 annual for the solution expert and $65,000 annually for the sales manager. The rest of their salary will be based on team performance as 3% commission on total revenues per quarter of all account executives that have met his or her goal, and 2% on total revenues per quarter if all account executives meet their goals. We feel that paying based on meeting objectives, and sharing in total revenues accomplishes two important things such as rewards managers who ensure account executives meet their goals by providing the tools and support they need. And it encourages over-achieving by not setting a limit on revenue sharing. In terms of the benefits, managerial employees share in the aforementioned benefits, and are given one additional week of paid vacation (five days) per year. As mentioned, compensation does not only include financial compensation; there are certain non-financial rewards that motivate employee performance, increase loyalty and decrease turnover. The following non-financial rewards were chosen based on a survey conducted in the United Kingdom (Employee Benefits, 2006) as additional â€Å"perks† for employees. Sales Employees, All sales employees are eligible the following reward package flexible working arrangements. Employees can work at home when appropriate on dates arranged between them and their manager. Flexible work time is the top-rated non-financial reward in the UK survey (Employee Benefits, 2006) and offering such an arrangement can increase productivity by diminishing stress caused by work-life conflicts. And corporate gym membership also ranked high on the survey, and using our corporate pull to offer a free membership not only encourages wellness, but exercise has countless benefits such as stress relief, increased creativity, and energy. Also, we will include employee discount at restaurants. Using the promise of higher volume by internally promoting local restaurants to our employees, HR has arranged for employee discounts at local restaurants. This benefit decreases the costs of lunch for our employees and gives them another reason to value InterClean. Managerial Rewards, The following rewards are available to managers in addition to the preceding rewards available to all employees such as use of company vehicle: Surprisingly, the UK survey listed â€Å"sports car as company vehicle† as the number one â€Å"benefit they don’t receive but wish they had† (Employee Benefits, 2006, para4. . Company gas card, not only should our sales manager ride in prestige, but we understand that the majority of driving they do benefits our company, so they also have use of our company gas card. The compensation and rewards system outlined in this plan are geared to motivate performance by tying pay directly to the revenue gained for InterClean. Our new strategy of fo cusing on solution-based selling (University of Phoenix, 2007) means we must grow retention, up selling, and total volume. This plan rewards all three by reducing the base pay of account executives, increasing commission and tiering commission based on retention and up selling. We reward achievers and not low-performers. Tying managerial pay directly to the performance of the team rewards good managers (Vigoda-Gadot Angert, 2007. ) Finally, offering a substantial but not overly high base pay takes into account fluctuating economic and environmental constraints. Offering bonuses quarterly rather than annual avoids penalizing employees for one bad quarter, which can happen to even the best sales person. Finally, our reward system is built to make InterClean a great place to work, that values the employees well-being and offers perks as part of the job. Offering this reward system can help InterClean retain the best possible account executives and managers (Cascio, 2006). Because we offer competitive pay and creative rewards that ease the work-life conundrum, and add a certain level of prestige to those who work for InterClean.