Three Varieties of Bathtubs :: Jeffrey Harrison Literature Essays

Three Varieties of Bathtubs Past, present and future are the simplest ways in which humans perceive time. We recognize the past through our memories and our recall of events that already have happened. When looking into the future, we can only look at where we are now in order to guess what our fate might be in the future. Or else we only have our dreams and goals that we look forward to one- day accomplishing. When viewing the present, however, everything around us is not an idea or memory in our head, but a reality that we use our senses to see, feel, touch, smell or hear. We are using our body's functions to live and take in what is around us at the moment. When "living in the present" (as one would say to someone who is constantly aware of the moment and what is around them), there is less chance to miss what's in front of us rather than always looking behind or too far ahead. Jeffrey Harrison, in his poem "Bathtubs, Three Varieties," seems to feel the same way about living in the here and the now. The three varieties of bathtubs Harrison writes about were separated into three stanzas according to their design and their purpose now, in the present. In the first stanza of the poem Harrison describes an old- fashioned bathtub, one that was raised off the floor by porcelain animal paws that extended off each corner. The particular bathtubs that he was describing were no longer serving their intended purpose, but rather were outside in a yard like an old car that was once one's hotrod, now scrap metal. These bathtubs, retired from their original purpose, now just sat through the seasons and let outside forces such as the weather and changes in other living things like the walnut tree carry on without regard to their presence. In the description of these bathtubs, Harrison shows something that although is still here, is part of the past and really does not have a life of its own anymore except just lying underneath the walnut tree. This is very much like a person whose thoughts ar e caught up in the past, because they, too, are still trying to live something that is over and then lose purpose in the present. Harrison also relates these bathtubs twice to sheep, which are commonly viewed as animals that follow each other, never really having a choice or idea of their own.

An offshoot of business process outsourcing Essay

1. (TCO 2) An offshoot of business process outsourcing which requires a greater skill or knowledge of the industry or inner workings of a firm is: 2. (TCO 3) How are the procurement responsibilities divided between the project manager and contract administrator? 3. (TCO 4) What is the difference between the Cost-Plus-Percentage-Fee (CPF) contract structure and the Cost-Plus-Fixed-Fee (CPFF) contract structure? 4. (TCO 5) To assess the impact of a contract on both the buyer and seller, an analysis of exposure can be completed. Categories analyzed in this exposure analysis include all of the following except: 5. (TCO 6) Factors that may affect the BPO agreement structure include all of the following except: 6. (TCO 6) Sometimes a seller is selected based solely on lowest price. However, sometimes this is not always the most efficient or effective way of selecting a seller. What are some of the other evaluation criteria that a buyer may use to help select a seller? 7. (TCO 7) Issuing an RFP to only one vendor may be appropriate when: 8. (TCO 7) Explain the purpose of an RFP. What are some common elements of an RFP? 9. (TCO 8) What is an independent estimate and why should a buyer produce an independent estimate before selecting a seller? 10. (TCO 2) Part 1: Explain the various steps of the project procurement process. Part 2: Using the simple decision of packing and moving your home furnishing from the east coast to the west coast, provide an example of what you would do under each of the six steps of the project procurement process. Part 3: The buyer determines the contract pricing structure during which step of the project procurement process? 11. (TCO 1) Part 1: What are the four contract pricing structures available? Part 2: Describe the appropriate utilization of each and the impact of risk to the buyer and seller. Part 3. What contract pricing structure would you use if you had little to no scope defined? PROJ 410 Midterm Exam 2 1. (TCO 2) A firm should concentrate on its _____ processes while outsourcing its _____ processes. 2. (TCO 3) Explain the difference between a contract  administrator and a project manager in a procurement situation. 3. (TCO 4) What is the difference between the Cost-Plus-Percentage-Fee (CPF) contract structure and the Cost-Plus-Fixed-Fee (CPFF) contract structure? 4. (TCO 5) To assess the impact of a contract on both the buyer and seller, an analysis of exposure can be completed. Categories analyzed in this exposure analysis include all of the following except: ______. 5. (TCO 6) Factors that may affect the BPO agreement structure include all of the following except: ______. 6. (TCO 6) Three commonly used evaluation criteria listed in an RFP are overall cost or financial proposal, reputation, and experience. What can the buyer glean from this information and how can the buyer use it to make a decision on a particular seller? 7. (TCO 7) All of the following are common RFP topics, e xcept: ______. 8. (TCO 7) Explain the purpose of an RFP. What are some common elements of an RFP? 9. (TCO 8) What are the two ways to rank the seller’s proposals before selecting a seller? 10. (TCO 2) Part 1: List and define the six phases of the project procurement management process. Part 2: How could you organize a simple project such as renovating a bathroom into the six steps in the project procurement management process? Part 3: The buyer determines the contract pricing structure during which step of the project procurement process? 11. (TCO 1) Part 1: Discuss the following types of contract pricing: (a) fixed price, (b) cost-plus price, (c) time & materials, and (d) unit price. Part 2: Explain the appropriate utilization of each contract pricing type and the impact of risk to the contracting parties. Part 3: What type of contract pricing structure misaligns the buyer’s motivations with the seller’s? 12. (TCO 3) Identify and describe the benefits that procurement outsourcing will bring to the organization. 13. (TCO 1) Discuss the importance of obtaining support for the process of Business Process Outsourcing. Who would be important to involve and why? PROJ 410 Midterm Exam 3 1. (TCO 2) A firm should concentrate on its _____ processes while outsourcing its _____ processes. 2. (TCO 3) What activities is the contract administrator responsible for in a contract situation? What about the project manager? 3. (TCO 4) What is the difference between the  Cost-Plus-Fixed Fee (CPFF) and the Cost-Plus-Incentive Fee (CPIF) contract structures? 4. (TCO 5) To assess the impact of a contract on both the buyer and seller, an analysis of exposure can be completed. Categories analyzed in this exposure analysis include all of the following except: ______. 5. (TCO 6) The Term, Contracting Party, Integration, Retained Assets, and Performance Standards are all: _______. 6. (TCO 6) List three commonly used evaluation criteria listed in an RFP and explain why a buyer would want this information before selecting a seller. 7. (TCO 8) What is an independent estimate and why should a buyer produce an independent estimate before selecting a seller? 8. (TCO 7) For most customers, requesting multiple bids is the preferred approach because it: _______. 9. (TCO 7) Describe the common sections of the RFP. 10. (TCO 2) Part 1: List and define the six phases of the project procurement management process. Part 2: How could you organize a simple project such as renovating a bathroom into the six steps in the project procurement management process? Part 3: The buyer determines the contract pricing structure during which step of the project procurement process? 11. (TCO 1) Part 1: Discuss the following types of contract pricing: (a) fixed price, (b) cost-plus price, (c) time & materials, and (d) unit price. Part 2: Explain the appropriate utilization of each contract pricing type and the impact of risk to the contracting parties. Part 3: What type of contract pricing structure misaligns the buyer’s motivations with the seller’s? 12. (TCO 3) Evaluate the most common business drivers for outsourcing business processes. Which two drivers would be among the most important? 13. (TCO 1) List and describe the directives to consider the process of outsourcing if you are a senior manager. COPY THIS LINK TO YOUR BROWSER: http://oassignment.com/PROJ-410-Midterm-Exam-03-Sets-1687.htm

Interview with a Doctor

The current American healthcare system and its problems The interview is with Dr. John Tomas who is a surgeon in New Jersey. Dr. Tomas has been practicing medicine for over twenty years so he has a lot of experience in the medical field. Dr. Tomas deals with plenty of people who are from the middle and lower class. Those people are so concerned about the costs of the healthcare bills and they have a lot of trouble handling these costs.. The healthcare discussion should also be seen from a doctor’s perspective and that is why this interview is valuable Dr.Tomas has also a lot of knowledge about the politics of the healthcare system in the United States. He has a personal view of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act which is another term for Obama care. 1- What is your view of current American healthcare system? The current American healthcare system has a major problem which is the cost. The cost for the American healthcare system is 2. 5 trillion dollars per year whi ch is much higher than any other industrialized country in the world. The medical expenses on every citizen are $7,960.Other industrialized countries spent average of $3,233 annually per person which is much lower and these people from other countries get more medical valuable care. 41 percent of working Americans have problem with paying their medical bills. Taxpayers don’t receive the service that they actually pay for and a lot of people go easily bankrupt because they can’t afford to pay their medical bills. The American government covers 46 percent of these expenses and that is one of the reasons why we are in a huge debt and it is another factor for the major economic crisis in the United States. -what are the current major problems with the current American healthcare system? I think there are too many regulations in the current American health care system. There are also a lot of politicians and lawyer that get involved in the medical field. When these factors get involved, the insurance costs get higher and the medical expenses become very expensive. Practicing medicine is not pleasurable to me personally anymore because I am afraid to get sued and lose my insurance. All these outer factors that get involved in our field make practicing the profession of medicine much tougher for doctors. -Do you think defensive medicine is good or bad for the American healthcare system? In the United States we have a major problem with regulations that are involved in the medical field. In the United States, doctors have to do a lot of tests and plenty of consultations with other physicians before performing any operation. The reason for that is because the doctors are afraid of the lawsuits that could cause them losing their insurance or even their license. American doctors follow the defensive medicine by doing a lot of unnecessary tests that significantly increase the costs of healthcare.In other countries where there are not too many regulation†™s in the medical field, doctors in other countries do the operations with the same outcomes but in much lower costs. This is obviously an issue and it has its advantages and its disadvantages but the American defensive medicine system is much safer and the foreign medicine system is much cheaper. 4-Do you think that Obama care will lower the costs for the current healthcare system? I don’t think so because when government gets involved in any filed, the cost usually get much higher.Obama care will cost $1. 165 trillion dollars over the next ten years. The government hasn’t been very successful with Medicare or Medicaid which proves my point. The healthcare should stay as a private business that is managed by private healthcare companies. If the government takes over the healthcare system, the country will spend a massive amount of money and the quality of the care will be lowered significantly. 5-Do you think that Americans could have a better healthcare system if t hey follow the socialized healthcare system of Canada and Europe?And what are your solutions for the problems that we have with our healthcare system. I have been to Canada and Europe. I also have a lot of friends who are physicians in these countries. They don’t like what they have there. Patients could wait six months to get an operation in Canada. There are risings costs of medications in Canada and Europe. Those increasing of the cost of the medications make it harder for people to get a good care under the socialized healthcare system. A lot of Europeans countries are going bankrupt eventually and the socialized healthcare system is one of the reasons of that.The solution to our healthcare problem is not going backwards by following a socialized healthcare system. The solution comes with creating more competition between healthcare companies that take advantage of the American people. Even though we had a recession in the last few years, the profit of the insurance compa nies has been increased by 56 percent. Creating the competition between those insurance companies will definitely lower the costs and the medical bills that have been a heavy weight over the shoulders of the American pope.The healthcare discussion is very important because unlike fancy cars or fancy clothes, everybody needs to have healthcare. Plenty of Americans are suffering every day because they don’t have the money to cover the expenses of their medical bills. People go bankrupt because of these expensive costs and that is rare in any other industrialized country. The reason why the cost is too expensive in this country is because there are too many regulations, politics, lobbyists, lawyers and unfairness in our healthcare system.Obamacare could be another disaster for our healthcare system because it is going to raise the costs of the healthcare system and our economy is already in a very bad shape. The most practical solution to our healthcare system is to create a fai r competition between healthcare companies which will significantly lower the costs of the current healthcare system. If I have a second chance to do a second interview, I will also discus the medicine field with the person that I am having interview with because the topic is very interesting.

Yeltsins Critical Inactivity †Government (300 Level Course)

Yeltsins Critical Inactivity – Government (300 Level Course) Free Online Research Papers Yeltsin’s Critical Inactivity Government (300 Level Course) Boris Yeltsin took the office of the Russian presidency in 1991 under a black cloud, following a failed coup against then president Gorbachev. Yeltsin’s presidency has become synonymous with failure and by the question of â€Å"what went wrong?† This question of what has gone wrong during the Yeltsin era is an almost bottomless topic. Yeltsin struggled through his first term from the attempted coup in 1991 to the foolish decision to invade Chechnya in 1994. Still all of these troubles can be contributed to the critical time period immediately following Yeltsin’s coming to power. This time period can be analyzed in three ways. First, in the actions that Yeltsin took. Second, in the actions that Yeltsin did not take. Thirdly, by what steps that Yeltsin should have made. These three things point to a final conclusion. Boris Yeltsin as the new Russian president should have moved quickly to schedule new elections and the adoption of a new constitution. Boris Yeltsin came to power during a tumultuous time in Russian history. In hindsight, the table was set for immense change and he was the only man to do it. He had the popular support of a people that were otherwise up in arms. Yet when studying the events of ten years ago in today’s classroom, little attention is paid to this important question of â€Å"what steps did Yeltsin take?† Why is such little attention paid to this question? Because Yeltsin did next to nothing to create change. In his own memoirs, Boris Yeltsin says, â€Å"the idea of dissolving the Congress and scheduling new elections was in the air, although we did not take advantage of it.† Years later he himself admits to his inaction at such a critical time. At a time when Russia was as vulnerable as they have ever been, their new president chose an attack on an economic front, leaving the reorganization of the government to compromises and political games. This is an evident failure on the part of Boris Yeltsin. So just what did the newly elected president of Russia do at this time? Yeltsin attempted to impose central control on the far-flung territories of the new Russian Federation. However, in this endeavor he was entirely by himself. Whereas Gorbachev had the Communist Party for backing, with its crumble by 1991, Yeltsin was all alone. So without the vast party apparatus and the potent ideology that the Communist Party had provided Russians leaders, this attempt became an administrative nightmare. Therefore all that Yeltsin could do in an effort to form a lasting chain of command was to appoint presidential representatives to be his eyes and ears in the Russian territories following the coup. Yeltsin took all of these steps with the best of intentions, yet they were in too small a scale to provide any change of be of any effectiveness. This leads to the question of what Boris Yeltsin should have done. What he should have done was to scheduled new elections. The Communist Party was the rock that Russia stood upon. It’s membership declined so badly that Yeltsin banned the party in September of 1991. Yeltsin should have also worked to adopt a new constitution. Yeltsin’s memoirs told of his fears that the adoption of new elections or a constitution would only lead to another revolution, as in 1917. Yet this is simply a cowardly excuse on Yeltsin’s part, as the conditions were far from the same as some seventy years earlier. Yeltsin leads the reader to believe that he was not powerful enough to prevent such a catashphrophe. Yet despite everything that had transpired from 1990-1991, the public preferred Yeltsin to his communist opponents in parliament. These were the same men that Yeltsin was afraid of, in a time when he could have used his popularity to reappoint them with non-communist m embers who supported him and adopted a new constitution. However like many world leaders before him, he neglected to take action when it was necessary and sat idle hoping for change instead of going out and getting it. Therefore no one should feel any sympathy for Boris Yeltsin. If they should feel anything at all, pity may be more appropriate. Yeltsin should have acted to revive Russia, but instead he let its reigns slip out of his hands. There were things that he simply did not do. The steps he did take were clearly not aggressive enough. And he seemed totally oblivious to the steps that needed to be taken. What should pain any historian however is Yeltsin’s clear cut ignorance. Hindsight is the most reveling perspective that anyone can have. They can easily see what they should have done, even if at the time it was not at all clear. It is in this one opportunity then that Yeltsin could earn some respect for himself, by admitting that although it did not look like it then, today he realizes that he should have acted on new elections and a new constitution. But he only states that he would not change anything, and thus, buries his own reputation. Research Papers on Yeltsin’s Critical Inactivity - Government (300 Level Course)Appeasement Policy Towards the Outbreak of World War 2Quebec and CanadaBringing Democracy to AfricaAssess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 EuropePETSTEL analysis of IndiaResearch Process Part OnePersonal Experience with Teen Pregnancy19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenCapital Punishment

Women and World War II - Women in the Government

Women and World War II - Women in the Government In addition to thousands of women who took government jobs in support of the war effort or to free up men for other jobs, women played key leadership roles in government. In China, Madame Chiang Kai-shek was an active promoter of the Chinese cause against the Japanese occupation. This wife of the Nationalist leader of China was head of Chinas air force during the war. She spoke to the US Congress in 1943. She was called the worlds most famous woman for her efforts. British women in government also played important roles during the war. Queen Elizabeth (wife of King George VI, born Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon) and her daughters, Princesses Elizabeth (future Queen Elizabeth II) and Margaret, were an important part of the morale effort, continuing to live at Buckingham Palace in London even when the Germans were bombing the city, and distributing aid in the city after bombing raids. Member of Parliament and feminist, American-born Nancy Astor, worked to keep up the morale of her constituents and served as unofficial hostess to American troops in England. In the United States, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt played an active role in building morale among civilians and military forces. Her husbands use of a wheelchair and his conviction that he must not be seen publicly as disabled meant that Eleanor traveled, wrote, and spoke. She continued to publish a daily newspaper column. She also advocated for responsible roles for women and for minorities. Other women in decision-making positions included Frances Perkins,  US Secretary of Labor (1933-1945), Oveta Culp Hobby who headed the War Departments Womens Interest Section and became director of the Womens Army Corps (WAC), and Mary McLeod Bethune who served as director of the Division of Negro Affairs and advocated the commissioning of black women as officers in the Womens Army Corps. At the end of the war, Alice Paul rewrote the Equal Rights Amendment, which had been introduced into and rejected by each session of Congress since women had achieved the vote in 1920. She and other former suffragists expected that womens contributions to the war effort would naturally lead to the acceptance of equal rights, but the Amendment didnt pass Congress until the 1970s, and eventually failed to pass in the required number of states.

The School Nurse Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The School Nurse - Essay Example However, in today's world the school nurse position is not given the resources necessary to accomplish this goal and the role has become so unmanageable and the task so encompassing it may be placing education and students at risk. The number of students taking Ritalin has doubled since 1990 and now exceeds 3 million students (Goldberg, 1). The over worked nurses must medicate these students to insure the proper dose to the correct student. The pervasiveness of lunchtime medication has become so involved and lines of children outside nurses' offices so prevalent, that in Boston, schools are now facing a challenging dilemma; Who should have responsibility for the medicating According to Carey Goldberg, reporter for the New York Times, "...school officials have proposed that individual nurses be given permission to delegate the distribution of their ''meds'' to handpicked, supervised staff members". Many nurses who advocate the addition of higher paid nurses as a solution rather than reducing their roles have discredited the plan as unsafe. However, school officials see it as a reasonable cost cutting measure in this New World of psychoactive drugs. Untrained personnel handing out sensitive and dangerous drugs a re certainly placing the students at an increased risk. School nurses are called upon to walk obese students, insert catheters, and administer diabetic insulin. These are disciplines that call on the highest order of medical training. Food poisoning, infectious diseases, sexually transmitted diseases, and injuries from student violence complicate these situations. The nurse is required to perform the duties of a general practitioner while having the training of a nurse and the attendant pay scale. Still, school systems balk at the possibility of adding more nurses to the staff due to cost considerations. While the National Association of School Nurses recommends that a school system have one nurse per 750 students, the national average is one nurse per 1350 students (Vail). Attending to the students medical needs should be a priority to assure that the system is promoting adequate and fair education, but staffing at a 50% level can not guarantee success of the health of the student body. Obesity is running rampant through the school corridors and nutrition and healthy food have come into the spotlight. Once again, the school nurse is called on to make recommendations and plans to provide a healthy diet and reduce the problem of overweight children. Nutrition is a special discipline and often runs counter to the school's agenda of providing vending machines and a junk food cafeteria. There is more profit in a McDonald's station than there is in a healthy dietary offering. The American Medical Association advocates a proactive approach based on food types and amounts that are to be offered through school lunches ("Expert Committee Recommendations", 8). Dedicated school nurses can not be expected to protect the health of children in the existing political and economical climate of many school boards. They are not trained as nutritionists and do nor serve the political function of being socially

360 Degree Feedback Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

360 Degree Feedback - Assignment Example 360-degree feedback system may however not be effective in assessing result-oriented performance, which are more quantitative such as sales and market share. When compared to the traditional performance appraisal, the 360-degree feedback can be said to be advantageous in how it ensures active participation by major stakeholders including employees themselves (Kaye, 2010). Such participation is enabled because includes an employee self-assessment to start the process. This way, the eventual outcome of the appraisal can be said to be the exact representation of employee performance. The feedback system may however be disadvantageous when an organization has to deal with a very large employee size. This is because such large size of employee and the use of 360-degree feedback may be highly time consuming. This is situation could also delay the turn-around time to get employees assessed. When used to measure ineffective and effective performance, the 360-degree feedback guarantees an in-depth understanding of factors that account for employee performance. This is because of the qualitative nature of the feedback system. but in cases where an employee’s performance is dominated by quantitative and numeric outcomes, the feedback system becomes inappropriate in measuring effective and ineffective