Canadian Senate Reform Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Canadian Senate Reform - Essay Example However, all the hard work to modify the governing body has been failing for the past several years. Ultimately, the present government resolution is to accomplish the task of reformation. The conformist government, which is under the Prime Minister, suggests cutting down the period senators’ rule and choosing them by ballot. However, the government is operating into tough political oppositions. The Senate in Canada keeps hold of a central position in the history of the country (Smith, 2009).Without a doubt, the alliances made in Canada for the past decades were because of the accord to take in the governing body as it is now incorporated. The legislative body of Canada is an exclusive establishment, being the only succeeding chamber contained by the Canadian coalition, as well as the lone in the western part whose affiliates are all chosen. This paper will highlight the bill meant for the agenda of Canadian reform and some of the main contents of the bill. It will also explai n the major provisions of the Act as well as the conditions for the senate candidates. The script will as well talk about the arguments made by the leaders concerning the issue of government reform. It will outline the doubts of the senators as well as the arguments made by the opposition, and the side supporting the reform. ... Lastly, this paper will give recommendations regarding this matter of the Canadian reform. It will discuss the importance of the changes to be made in the government body as well as what effects the reform could have to the country. Bill for the Agenda In the year 2006, the Canada’s Prime Minister conformist government had established two bills to change the senate. One was to institute restricted conditions for senators, reinstating the system on hand of appointment until one reaches 75 years. The other bill was to launch consultative voting for the legislature with the Prime Minister appointing the conquerors of the election. The â€Å"House of Commons† and the Senate heard the bills but neither of them was ratified into ruling (Smith, 2009). In the first session of the Canada’s forty-first parliament, Bill C-7 was proposed. The bill was based on an Act with regard to choosing of senators as well as adjusting the constitution Act, 1867 regarding Senate period r estrictions. The first part of the endorsement ascertains a structure for selecting Senate appointments contenders from the territories as well as provinces. Two main ideologies would be relevant to the procedure of election. The first one was that, the Prime Minister, in advocating Senate candidates to the â€Å"Governor General† for a region or province, would be compelled to put into regard, names from a list of entrants presented by the regional or provincial administration. The second principle was that the contenders list would be resolved by a selection held according to the regional or provincial laws ratified to put the framework into practice. The second part of the endorsement modifies the occupancy of senators who are to be called

Private School vs Public School Essay Example for Free

Private School vs Public School Essay Many public school facilities are impressive others are mediocre. The same is true of private schools. In the public school system, the twin engines of political support and economic revenue base are critical. In private schools the ability to attract endowments and other forms of financial support are just as critical. Private school facilities reflect the success of the schools development team and that of the school to continue to generate alumni support. Some private K-12 schools have facilities and amenities which surpass those found at many colleges and universities. Hotchkiss and Andover, for example, have libraries and athletic facilities on a par with those at Brown and Cornell. They also offer academic and sports programs which make full use of all those resources. It is hard to find comparable facilities in the public sector. They are few and far between. Public schools also reflect the economic realities of their location. Wealthy suburban schools will have more amenities than inner city schools as a rule. Think Greenwich, Connecticut versus Detroit, Michigan, for example. So, who has the edge? Lets call it a draw, all things considered. Class Size: According to the NCES report Private Schools: A Brief Portrait private schools win out on this issue. Why? Most private schools have small class sizes. One of the key points of private education is individual attention. You need student to teacher ratios of 15:1 or better to achieve that goal of individual attention. On the other hand a public system has to take almost anyone who lives within its boundaries. In public schools you will generally find much larger class sizes, sometimes exceeding 35-40 students in some inner city schools. At that point teaching rapidly degenerates into babysitting. Teaching: Public sector teachers are generally better paid. Naturally compensation varies widely depending on the local economic situation. Put another way, its cheaper living in Duluth, Minnesota than it is in San Francisco. Unfortunately low starting salaries and small annual salary increases result in low teacher retention in many public school districts. Public sector benefits have historically been excellent; however, health and pension costs have risen so dramatically since 2000 that public educators will be forced to pay or pay more for their benefits. Private school compensation tends to be somewhat lower than public. Again, much depends on the school and its financial resources. One private school benefit found especially in boarding schools is housing and meals. Private school pension schemes vary widely. Many schools use major pension providers such as TIAA-CREF Both public and private schools require their teachers to be credentialed. This usually means a degree and a teaching certificate. Private schools tend to hire teachers with advanced degrees in their subject over teachers who have an education degree. Put another way, a private school hiring a Spanish teacher will want that teacher to have a degree in Spanish language and literature as opposed to an education degree with a minor in Spanish. Budgets: Since local property taxes support the bulk of public education, the annual school budget exercise is a serious fiscal and political business. In poor communities or communities which have many voters living on fixed incomes, there is precious little room to respond to budget requests within the framework of projected tax revenue. Grants from foundations and the business community are essential to creative funding. Private schools on the other hand can raise tuition, and they also can raise significant amounts of money from a variety of development activities, including annual appeals, cultivation of alumni and alumnae, and solicitation of grants from foundations and corporations. The strong allegiance to private schools by their alumni makes the chances of fund-raising success a real possibility in most cases. Administrative Support: The bigger the bureaucracy, the harder it is to get decisions made at all, much less get them made quickly. The public education system is notorious for having antiquated work rules and bloated bureaucracies. This is as a result of union contracts and host of political considerations. Private schools on the other hand generally have a lean management structure. Every dollar spent has to come from operating income and endowment income. Those resources are finite. The other difference is that private schools rarely have teacher unions to deal with. Advantages and disadvantages: There are many advantages and disadvantages to both public and private schools. As a parent, both options must be explored and the choice must be based on what is right for each particular child. Public schools often have a larger variety of subjects available, especially when it comes to electives. However, what is learned is somewhat decided by the state because public schools need to do well on standardized testing. Private schools, on the other hand, whether parochial or private have much more freedom of choice in curriculum and can choose to make their own assessments. Because of the individualized instruction, private schools tend to do generally better on standardized testing, that is, if they choose to use it. Private schools, many times, have more demanding curricula and have a higher rate of students who go on to attend college. Public schools are larger and also have larger class sizes. Public schools also have larger student-teacher ratios. According to a web site called Public School Review, Private schools average 13 students per teacher, compared with an average of 16 students per teacher in public schools (public school review). However, public schools have certified teachers. Private schools typically have teachers who are not state-certified and who may not have expertise in their subject matter. The biggest difference between public and private schools probably is that public schools are required to educate all students. They cannot deny any student admission. On the other hand, private schools have complete control about which they accept and can kick students out much more easily. Public schools are funded by tax revenue whereas private schools are funded privately. That means private schools cost money to attend called tuition. Taxpayers pay for public schools so the payment is included in what people pay. However in private schools, the payment is upfront for students to attend. Overall, there is no one right answer for which kind of school a student attends-public or private. The decision must be made for each individual student as there are advantages and disadvantages of both. Comparisons: Private school can be more beneficial than going to a public school. Private schools focus on preparing students for the next level of education; public schools are focused on test preparations sessions. Choosing the right school system for your child has a repercussion towards their future education. In the public school system the classrooms are overcrowded with students. Each class has an average of 27 to 30 students to it, which can limit the ability of one on one interaction with the teacher. A lot of the bullying issues come from the unstructured dress codes. This can create social divide to the less fortunate kids that can’t afford all the name brand items. In public school teachers are quick to say your child needs to be on medication if they are high strung, without knowing what other forms of issues might be occurring in the home. When parents try to discipline their child at home the school seems to always try to step in. Some things should be up to the parents to handle without haven to worry about the school stepping in. In the private school system when a child enters the school for the first time he or she will start out with a minimal class size with no more than 20 students. This allows more one on one time with the teacher, it also opens up more time for activities. The private school has a very strictly enforced dress code to eliminate animosity between the students. The schools are very family oriented with parents and students being involved with school activities. Teachers and parents are held to higher standards from the private schools. Teachers are expected to continue to grow and parents are obligated to maintain discipline of their children even in their absence. The testing that takes place at private schools is called Terra Nova, and kids are tested two or three times a year. Conclusion So, who comes out on top? Public schools or private schools As you can see, there are no clear-cut answers or conclusions. Public schools have their advantages and disadvantages. Private schools offer an alternative. Which works best for you? Thats the real question which you have to answer.

The Rise Of Facebook In Vietnam Media Essay

The Rise Of Facebook In Vietnam Media Essay Reading Public Relations at university, I am always fascinated by the art of communicating with and persuading people. Being a heavy user of Facebook, I am amazed how the social network since its birth has brought about so many changes to the ways people share and communicate. This research paper is my attempt to investigate the marketing communications role of Facebook in my home country, Vietnam. A survey targeting at 100 Vietnamese internet users and interviews with two industry experts were conducted and analysed. I was able to sit in the positions of both users and marketers to view the issue. Findings showed that Facebook marketing communications in Vietnam is currently at its young age however has had a very interesting journey of development. The young internet community and marketing practitioners in Vietnam love Facebook. Nevertheless, that is not enough to secure future success; the social network has to do much more in order to increase its digital influence in a highly competitive market. Chapter 1: Introduction Overview There have been a number of studies on effects of social media on marketing communications, a few of which have a specific investigation on the social network giant Facebook. However, most of those only focus on cases in the West where the emergence of social media first happened and most of the marketing trends originate. I am thus keen on doing a research on how social networks and Facebook specifically have found its ways and been used as a marketing communications tool in the other side of the world. Vietnam is one of the fastest growing internet populations worldwide with around 30 million users, making up a third of the total population. The Facebook block issue which caused difficulties logging in the site starting since late 2009 has not made this social network less attractive in Vietnamese users perspectives. Facebook marketing and communications in Vietnam moreover enjoys a boom when agencies have increasingly appreciated the power of the site in influencing audiences. This research paper attempts to study the nature of this development and its roles to marketing communications in the eyes of both users and marketers. Objective The aim of this study is to investigate the current performance and future potential of Facebook as a marketing communications tool in Vietnam. It is hence important to determine profiles of Vietnamese Facebook users and their behaviours towards the social network. Opinions of industry experts on how effective Facebook is and will be to approach and persuade audiences are also essential. Key areas of investigation include: What is the current place of Facebook in the Vietnam social web market? What is happening to Facebook in Vietnam? Is this really blocked? Who use Facebook most in Vietnam? How do they interact with the site? What are their concerns when using Facebook? How reliable Facebook content is compared to other media platforms? How effective is Facebook in terms of marketing communications in Vietnam? What is the future of Facebook marketing in the country? The study is in general to provide an insight of Facebooks performance in Vietnam, focusing on its marketing roles. It specifically aimed to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the social network as a growing marketing communications tool in this emerging economy. 1.3 Background The internet in Vietnam has had a fascinating journey of development, in opinion of Thomas Crampton, Asia-Pacific Director of Ogilvy 360Â ° Digital Influence. He believes that the rapid growth of the internet in Vietnam receives support of three main factors including a developing nation, young population and the Government (Vietnam News, 2010). In terms of statistics, a research in 2010 by TNS, one of the worlds biggest market research groups, showed that 45% of Vietnamese are highly engaged in digital activities. The countrys figure is ranked fifth in Asia-Pacific area and slightly higher than the United Kingdom (43%) and the United States (42%). According to the same source of statistics, Vietnam is known as one of the youngest internet populations worldwide with the average age of 27. Another significant feature of the internet in Vietnam is its growing mobility. Again, statistics proved it best when showing that Mobile internet in Vietnam saw a growth of more than 800 per cent last year, reaching a total of 110 million mobile subscribers in early 2010 (Vietnam News, 2010). All of these somehow draw an overall picture of Vietnams internet environment with a young, mobile-going and highly-digital community. Social Media in Vietnam Like the development of the internet, Vietnam social media has witnessed dramatic growth since its first day in the country. Social network usage increased significantly from 4% in 2009 to 64% in 2010 (Crampton, 2010). Social networking was ranked as the most important digital activity by 25% of Vietnamese internet users, just behind Emailing which was ranked first by 27% of the research participants (TNS, 2011). The social web market in Vietnam marked its first turning point in 2005 with the launch of Yahoo!360, a blogging tool which allows users to compose their writings, customise screens and socialise with friends. Before the emergence of Yahoo!360, the social web environment in Vietnam relied on a few dominant platforms. Yahoo dominated the instant messaging and emailing sectors while its searching function was relatively popular together with Google. Community pages varied when users tended to participate in their online local community such as school forums rather than a particular national-scale page. A similar situation happened to video/music-sharing sites when several providers shared the popularity. After Yahoo!360 came, it ruled the social media world in the country, possibly with the support of Yahoos early dominance in Vietnam internet services. Millions of Vietnamese enjoyed writing about their daily lives and gossiping celebrity news. They gradually created a mass online comm unity and a unique blogging style called Yahoo!360. It was not a tool specifically designed for Vietnam market, but the market took it anyway, with great passion and enthusiasm. (Nguyen, Ogilvy 360Â ° Digital Influence, 2010) Only people from Mars dont know about Yahoo, said Hoang An, 21, one of countless fans of the portal, which has one of the countrys most potent brands. (Russell, Asian Correspondent, 2010). The next turning point happening to the Vietnam social web community was in 2009. Yahoo!360 dominated social media in Vietnam however did not work well in other countries. The blogging tool failed to serve global customers, forcing Yahoo! global to close the service. The firm gave warnings about the closure several times since early 2009; however Yahoo Vietnam has seen a mix of trying to maintain the operation and investment versus tempting to close it down (Nguyen, 2010). The reason was as clear as the brand has achieved such a significant success in the country. Yahoo!360 users or in this case a majority of the Vietnam web community were strongly against this decision. Nevertheless, their efforts could not help prevent the closure of the site in 2010. Yahoo! Vietnam not long after that launched a local blogging service targeted specifically at Vietnam market called Yahoo!360 Plus. However, the replacement has not achieved such extreme success like its original version did. Since th en, the market has witnessed the emergence of a number of social media, both domestic and international brands. Facebook in Vietnam The number of Facebook Vietnamese users has reached more than 1.5 million in early 2011 (Social Bakers, 2011). The figure in 2009 was around 40,000 and impressively doubled in 2010. Facebook estimated a number of 1.9 million Vietnamese users in 2011. The social network has a Vietnamese-language version along with its English site; users thus have a choice of the language they want for their own pages. However, language has never been a problem preventing the popularity of social media in general and Facebook especially in Vietnam. English was the only language used in many social media tools; however, what really matters is that users can always propose their own content in Vietnamese or any other languages. Facebook is furthermore an international social network thus designed to reach international users. Chapter 2: Literature Review When researching the performance of Facebook as a marketing communications tool in Vietnam, I came across a number of concepts and facts which help build a better understanding of the topic. In this chapter, I will then explore these concepts and their relations to the study of marketing communications on Facebook Vietnam. They include the growing roles of social media in general and Facebook especially to marketing communications, the place of Facebook in comparison to its competitors and the internet censorship issue in the country. 2.1 Marketing Communications to Social Media and Facebook There are a variety of definitions of the term social media. Social media guru Larry Weber in his book Marketing to the Social Web suggested that The social web is an online place where people with common interest can gather to share thoughts, comments, and opinions. It includes social networks such as MySpace, Gather, and Facebook [] and branded web destinations like Amazon, Netflix and eBay. In summary, it is a new world of unpaid media created by individuals or enterprises on the web. (Weber, 2009: 4) Looking at another source, Brian Solis and Deirdre Breakenridge (2009: xvii) defined social media as the democratisation of content and the shift in the role people play in the process of reading and disseminating information. In general, definitions slightly vary but all feature social media as new media platforms whose content is created on the web and by internet users. The term marketing communications meanwhile is widely agreed to consists of the promotional activities pursued by the firm and includes personal selling, mass selling, (comprising advertising and publicity), public relations and sales promotions (Monye, 2000: 11). It is the process of interacting with audiences or customers in a way that promotes a favourable brand image and helps build goodwill. Putting social media and marketing communications together, it then results in the concept of a new communications tool which is based on strengths of social web. Zarrella in The Social Media Marketing Book believes that the best way to define the term is to compare it with marketing on traditional media (including television, newspapers, radio and magazines). The author describes these traditional media as one-way static broadcast technologies while social media with new web technologies have made it easy for anyone to create and, most importantly to distribute their own content (Zarrella, 2010: 2-3). Marketing on the social web hence does not require huge sums of money to embed their messages but can make their own interesting content that viewers will flock to (Zarrella, 2010: 3). Supporting the idea of this growing power, Larry Weber believes that the social web has transmitted the way we do marketing: Rather talking at customers, marketers should talk with them. And the social web is the most effective way in the history of the world to do just that on a large scale. (Weber, 2009: 4) Among a number of different social media platforms, social network giant Facebook indeed makes up to the word giant. The review will focus on the marketing communications role of Facebook, which also seems to be one of the sites most significant social influences. The Facebook Marketing Book has a comprehensive summary of various marketing tactics Facebook. According to this, key strengths that make Facebook an effective marketing communications tool lie at its larger audience than old media and huge amount of personal information which has been volunteered by users to give the site then therefore advertisers (Zarrella, 2011: 3). From big brands to small businesses, anyone is able to use Facebook adverts, applications, and pages to communicate directly with audiences and leverage their brand image. It is suggested that the diversity of Facebook applications, from messaging and photo sharing to gaming, is beneficial to not only users but also marketers. Marketing people now have more platforms to engage with customers and carry out new effective strategies. For example, a Facebook Profile could make huge contribution as it represents how people share things with their large and very connected group of social connections. 500 million profiles on Facebook hence become precious sources of data for marketers to get use of: In fact, this is Facebooks biggest selling point: the site actively encourages users to fill their Profile with the type of information marketers are always trying to find all for free. (Zarrella, 2010: 33) Facebook Pages, Groups and Events are also believed to be the key to most social media strategies and will more than likely be the central point for most of marketers efforts and promotions. The popularity and importance of creating and monitoring Facebook page was emphasised as users nowadays look at the site much the way we look at the internet 10 years ago and are confused when they cannot find their favourite store or celebrity (Zarrella, 2010: 65). In terms of statistics, each of 500 million users on Facebook is connected to 60 Pages, Groups and Events on average. Overall, Facebook is considered as a highly competitive and fast-moving channel but amazingly cost effective, which if used properly can be an extension of your brand, helping you present the same personality, tone and visual faces as you would in any other materials (Zarrella, 2011: 7). 2.2 Marketing Communications on Vietnam Social Media The phenomenon of Yahoo!360 blog in Vietnam resulted in the emergence of influencers who are called hot bloggers in Vietnam. Their blogs attracted several millions of page views at the time and many of them are journalists. The social media expert in her article described these hot bloggers as whom PR departments in various agencies incorporated into clients marketing communications and PR activities (Nguyen, 2010). In general, it could be said that from the very early day when social media marked its appearance in Vietnam, PR and marketing have already been strongly involved in and taken advantage of the social web. The social web environment in Vietnam after the age of Yahoo!360 has seen a rapid and diverse development, when a number of both local and international companies have joined the market. None of them seem to have made a phenomenon like what Yahoo!360 did; however more social media platforms are getting popular. Among those, social networks have especially marked a significant growth in the country: Those who like local social networks became members of Yume, ZingMe, Tamtay, i-pro, Henantrua, Vietspace, etc., while others who like foreign networks joined Multiply, WordPress, Yahoo Plus, Twitter, etc. However, none rules the market (Vietnamnet, 2010). The top influential social media sites in Vietnam was recently summarised in the below chart by the Ogilvy 360Â ° Digital Influence team. Figure 3.1: The landscape of Vietnam Social Media 2010 (Ogilvy, 2010) According to the research above by Ogilvy, social media tools listed in the smaller circle are evaluated as being more influential than those in the larger circle of the same sector. Vietnam overall is considered as a fast-growing country in terms of social web development. There are both local and international names operating in different sectors, ranging from blogging, social networking and music sharing to QA and online trading. In the sector of social networking specifically, Facebook is put behind three local sites in terms of digital influence. In other words, it is competing with local providers to be the top choice of online marketing communications tools. 2.3 Facebook Block Story Facebook is currently not the biggest social network in the country but growing fast in both number of users and influence on audiences. Its growing power has been proved after the blocking. The story started in late 2009 when it was getting difficult accessing Facebook in Vietnam, leading to a worry that the government would ban the social network. There were reasons for such claim because Earlier this year, Vietnams government tightened restrictions on blogging, banning political discussion and restricting postings to personal matters. Police have arrested several bloggers for writing about politically sensitive subjects (Russell, Asian Correspondent, 2009). The government and state-controlled internet providers did not respond to a request for comment. Private internet companies meanwhile blame the spotty access on technical issues, without offering an estimate for when the problems will be resolved (Ngo, CNET News, 2009). Facebook seemed to face its end in Vietnam at the time when local media started spreading the rumour that the site is going out of service and following the pathway of Yahoo!360: The Thanh Nien, one of the most popular newspapers in Vietnam, ran an article with the headline Facebook in grave illness. It hinted that this is similar to the process of what happened to the now defunct Yahoo360, suggesting maybe its time to look to other social Web sites. (Ngo, CNET News, 2009) The situation remained sophisticated since there has been no official statement regarding the problem logging in Facebook in Vietnam. The only obvious fact was that Vietnamese users could not access Facebook in their usual way. However, not the investigation of whether the government blocked Facebook and why they did so, state of the site after that is more the concern of my study. In relation to this, Global Voices had a comprehensive and interesting review of the whole issue: When Vietnam blocked Facebook, everyone was talking about a smaller China. One year after the governments endeavour, Facebook Vietnam tells another story. Not only does Vietnam remain on the list of 10 countries with the fastest growth of Facebook users. (Chip, Global Voices, 2011) The author explained a simple reason for the above fact: Because they can. If users in China have to pay for a VPN and go through a painful process to gain access to Facebook and other blocked websites, people in Vietnam just need to change their DNS settings and enjoy a full Internet experience for free. Information gathered from other sources showed an exactly same situation when Vietnamese users found and spread ways to access Facebook as if there had never been a problem logging in the site before. Some tech-savvy Facebook fans have found ways around access problems by readjusting their web browsers to a different configuration. They have been sharing instructions for doing so online. (Russell, Asian Correspondent, 2009) Trung, a 15-year-old high school student, taught me how to change the DNS: I figured it out myself, Trung said proudly, I just Googled it. Indeed, after a few Google searches, I found plenty of simple ways to bypass the ISPs DNS settings. (Ngo, CNET News, 2009) The commentator from CNET concluded: Blocked web sites are new to Vietnam. However, this seems to be the first time people are out in big numbers looking for ways to bypass. This shows the popularity of Facebook and the desire of young Vietnamese to reach out and stay connected with the rest of the world. 2.4 Facebook Vietnam to Marketing Communications Facebook which had been doing relatively well in Vietnam, after the block seemed to catch even more attention. Its popularity immediately convinced marketers and PR people to take the site as a growing powerful marketing communications tool. ZingMe, which is the biggest social network in Vietnam and once considered as more influential by the Ogilvy team, now seems to lag behind Facebook, in the opinion of an industry expert: We have tried some campaigns on ZingMe, but the results werent very good. Most of Zing Me users are under 15, and many of them log in ZingMe just to play Nong Trai (a game similar to Facebook Farmville). There are not many activities outside games. Facebook is still the most effective despite its being blocked, both in term of interaction and conversion rate. (Chip, Global Voices, 2011) Fan page which can be created by anyone on Facebook and allows users to become members of a group supporting a particular brand or person has increased significantly in terms of number and popularity. It proves the growing power of Facebook as an online marketing communications tool in the country: The largest fan page in Vietnam currently has 484,000 likes. For a market of 1.7 million users (and growing), the number means that this page has reached to almost 30 percent of Vietnamese Facebook users. Imagine this ratio worldwide, we would have a fan page with 100 millions likes. (Chip, Global Voices, 2011) The article on Global Voices emphasised another factor showing the rise of Facebook marketing in Vietnam which is the shift of hot bloggers from Yahoo!360 to the social network. Gao, real name as Vu Phuong Thanh, who was once a Vietnamese hot blogger on Yahoo!360 is now arguably the most popular Vietnamese on Facebook with more than 90,000 likes on her page. She is also working as the PR Manager for a new boy band in Vietnam. Regarding her media plan for the launch of the band, she shared that Social media, Facebook and YouTube, accounts for 60% of their marketing plan. Facebook is where people get to know about 365. She doesnt want to use ZingMe or other Vietnamese websites. The fan page of the band on Facebook had more than 7,000 members after three weeks. It could be said that the blocking issue has not had significant impacts on the users side since they are still able to access Facebook. The block of Facebook even somehow helped raise public awareness and promote the popularity of the site in Vietnam. Agencies have recognised the growing power of Facebook in marketing communications hence taken actions to develop this new effective tool. The current situation generally looks promising to Facebook Vietnam, yet requires further actions and support: 100% our customers are international brands. Social media is still new here, local companies dont allocate budget for it. But I think from next year there will be more Vietnamese companies interested in social media. Advertising agencies now understand the efficiency of social media, and they are the ones who advice and allocate budget for brands. said Vo Thanh Cuong, CEO of Click Media, an agency specialised in digital marketing and communications. (Chip, Global Voices, 2011) From the other party which is Facebook itself, the social network has also taken this as a serious issue that needs to be considered and dealt with thoroughly: Last October, Facebook put up a message on its career page that they are looking for someone that has experience in government relations work and navigating government agencies along with an extensive network of contacts in the government and the technology space. The recent visit of Javier Olivan, Head of International Growth of Facebook, to Vietnam suggested that Vietnam will be soon taken care of. They should- said Cuong Vietnam is not a small market at all. With a population of 90 million and Internet penetration rate of 27.5%, Vietnam is definitely not small. (Chip, Global Voices, 2011) Summary The statistics and information gathered above all in all shows an overall picture of the emergence and development of Facebook in Vietnam. A review of its marketing communications roles has also been covered through brief analysis and case studies. In summary, social media generally and Facebook especially are emerging powerful marketing communications tools. In Vietnam, social media has its own ways of developing and approaching users as well as an increasing power to marketing communications. The use of Facebook marketing is at its early stage but growing rapidly with positive figures and comments from both users and marketers. The censorship issue seems to remain sophisticated but not affect the growth of Facebook in the country in a short run. Meanwhile, government relations and further support from different parties is the key to a more sustainable development of the social network in Vietnam. The literature review however has shown a one-sided positive picture of Facebook marketing and communications in general. In order to investigate the issue thoroughly, further research and analysis on both advantages and difficulties of Facebook marketing in Vietnam is required. Chapter 3: Methodology In order to study the marketing communications roles of Facebook in Vietnam, I believe that a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods will be more helpful than using a single type. I decided to carry out a survey targeting at a variety of Vietnamese internet users and intensive interviews with local communications experts. The survey is expected to provide numbers and facts regarding Facebook usage from the audience side while the interviews aimed to bring an insight of its marketing roles and future development in the opinion of local industry professionals. Survey I conducted a survey which aimed to approach 80-100 Vietnamese internet users. As survey could be used to not only describe things but also explain them, data gathered from survey is expected to provide public behaviour, population characteristics and also measurements of variables between which relationships can be analysed (Gunter, 2000: 24). In this case, the purpose of doing survey is to find out who are using Facebook most in Vietnam, how they are interacting with the social network, and how reliable the content is to them. At the same time, it is expected to make comparisons of characteristics between different groups such as Vietnamese living in Vietnam and abroad, different genders and ages. Designing, delivering and managing a survey was said by Barrie Gunter as not just asking a group of people a few questions. It requires much planning and a high level of skill in its administration to ensure that valid and usable data are obtained (Gunter, 2000: 23). Firstly, questions were constructed using different types depending on the purpose and nature of research. For example, multiple-choice was used when specific information is needed and could be easily made while opinion-based questions required a rating function. Questions were put in logical order, from general to specific and all easy to understand. Furthermore, the survey length was also taken into consideration; the number of ten is believed to be reasonable enough as it takes participants less than five minutes to finish. Furthermore, diverse angles of the research topic Facebook usage in Vietnam were included, from time length, frequency, and means of access to content contribution and opinions on content reliability. Due to the fact that targeted respondents live in different parts of the world and all use the internet, I chose an online survey tool to carry out my quantitative research. Participants who were my circle of friends, relatives and colleagues could start the survey whenever they wanted by clicking the link sent via email, Facebook message or Yahoo Messenger. The reason for using different delivery channels is to ensure that the research will approach both Facebook and non-Facebook users. This includes respondents who use other social networks rather than Facebook and who do not use social network at all. This is in attempt to minimise bias and make comparisons more accurately. I chose my circle of friends and relatives on the internet as my sample because higher rates of responses and honesty could be expected using personal relations. They also represent a random thus typical group of internet users fulfilling requirements of including different age groups living both in Vietnam and abroad. In terms of survey layout, the online survey provider was selected instead of sending an attached file via email to ensure professionalism and maximise the response rates. I also added an introduction which is short, realistically worded, non-threatening, serious, neutral and pleasant but firm because one way to increase the response rate in any survey is to prepare a persuasive introduction (Wimmer Dominick, 2000: 171). Receivers who fulfil the sampling characteristics and know the sender as well as purpose of this survey are believed to be likely to contribute. Finally, as a function provided by the tool, data was gathered in an easy-to-use format and valuable for comparisons and analysis. Reponses are available to be viewed individually and in group so that it is possible to compare respondents who belong to different age, gender and location groups. The survey link was available for one month during which reminders and following-up were regularly carried out in order to achieve the targeted response rate. Intensive Interviews If the research survey aimed to seek an overview of Vietnamese Facebook users profiles based on quantitative data, the interviews are expected to provide an in-depth evaluation on Facebook marketing in Vietnam. Evaluation on the effectiveness of something is believed to be best undertaken by people who create it. In this case, they are communications and digital marketing professionals whose work is to create efficient marketing tactics on social media. (See Appendix 2 3) Some expert comments on the issue have already been mentioned in the review of literature (Chapter 3), most of which however are relatively general. The intensive interviews were therefore designed and conducted in a way so as to provide specific, detailed and valuable opinions for further analysis. Since the objective is to obtain opinion-based responses, observational methods are not appropriate and intensive interview seems to be the only practical one. Areas of investigation include their opinions on Facebook development in Vietnam and its effectiveness as a marketing communications tool. The questions were constructed based on SWOT analysis model in attempt to evaluate strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of Facebook marketing in Vietnam. Especially, examples or real case studies are encouraged to be provided by the interviewees in order to back-up the statements. Interviews were conducted via email due to the fact that the interviewees live abroad and were too busy to schedule a long telephone interview. The lack of interaction and flexibility that this channel may result in was already taken into consideration. The interviews were therefore designed as a mini research paper which the respondent dealt with as an assignment. The positive side is that interviewees tend to take it more thoroughly with details and valuable back-up information than some thoughts that come up at the time she gives the answers face-to-face. The interviewees were given a reasonable length of time ranging from one to three weeks in order to provide the most comprehensive answers possible. Based on their responses, further questions were given to clarify an issue or develop an idea in more depth and generally increase interaction. All in all, the interviews receiv

Cold Pasteurization can Change the World :: science

The preservation of food is essential to maintain life and growth. Its daily intakes nourish our bodies, providing enzymes, in turn giving us energy. The ability of matter exerts radiation in its domain by means of energy in selected foods. Such rationale debates whether a development of technology creates an effective way to reduce the incidence of foodborne diseases, while treating a variety of potential problems in our food supply. An effective method of research in food irradiation illustrates substantial evidence in its safety, nutritional adequacy, and social-economic global effects. Irradiation is capable of improving the safety and quality of many foods. It is the process that emits high-energy rays passing through [food] products, virtually killing all harmful bacteria and parasites in or on the food (OCA, 1998). Yet, the food remains raw and undergoes only minor chemical changes. Foods are treated with ionizing radiation to accomplish many different goals, one being the delivery of raw meats and sprouts. There is no guarantee that raw ground beef or sprouts will be free of certain harmful bacteria. These foods provide a favourable environment for bacterial growth, whereas, the production process does not include a step to reduce these bacteria, such as cooking or pasteurization. For these foods, irradiation provides a bacteria-killing step. However, one association disagrees the issue and claims that irradiation only covers up problems that the meat and poultry industry should solve, increasing the fecal contamination that results from speeded up slaughter and decreased federal inspection. Irradiation is a ‘magic bullet’ that will enable [the company] to say that the product was ‘clean’ when it left the packing plant (OCA, 2001). The claim, more rather, lacks the key source in evidence, for even the best sanitation and standard antibacterial treatments cannot ensure safety in foods. In addition, irradiation cannot occur properly if the food is too heavily contaminated, preventing industries from using this practice as a substitution for good sanitation practices. Irradiation is not harmful in producing resistant strains of bacteria, nor does it make food radioactive. It simply reduces the amounts of bacteria in foods that may become potential illnesses in humans. Accordingly, food irradiation advocates 40 years of research showing the process to be safe, however, evidence for this assertion is missing. An article in the Nation’s Restaurant News states that detractors of irradiation paint the process as a potential health risk that has n ot been studied sufficiently (Liddle, 2001, p 60, 3p, 4c).

ACL Injury :: Sports Medicine

Sports Medicine ACL Injury The Anterior Cruciate Ligament is one of two central ligaments that support the knee. ACL injuries occur most frequently in planting and cutting sports such as soccer and basketball. ACL injuries are thought to occur more often in women then in men due to the anatomical differences between them. The Anterior Cruciate Ligament also know as the ACL is located behind the patella (kneecap). It connects the femur and tibia. The ACL acts as a seat belt in the knee, it keeps the tibia from slipping as a result of jerky movements. Since women’s hips are wider it may put extra pressure on the ACL, making it more vulnerable to injury. High estrogen levels at mid-cycle may also make the ACL more likely to tear from to much movement. Women tear their ACL’s at a rate of two to eight times that of men. The ACL is listed as the most commonly injured ligament in the knee. Most often when ACL injuries occur the knee may feel as if it is coming apart or giving way, and a commonly described â€Å"pop† may be heard at the time of the injury. most athletes are unable to continue participating in their activity, but some are able to stand and walk. Swelling usually begins in the first few hours after injury. Pain progressively worsens and muscle spasms may occur, A complete exam at the time of the injury is ideal. Anterior Cruciate Ligament reconstruction’s are performed using arthroscopic surgery. The surgery is performed by removing the damaged section of the ACL and replacing it with a graft from the patella tendon, hamstring tendon, or a cadaver graft. To connect the graft back into the knee two tunnels are drilled one into the tibia and one into the femur. Then two small pieces of bone are placed in the tunnels and then the graft is attached to the bones. Traditional rehabilitation after surgery involves a period of rest then the gradual introduction of exercises to improve range of motion, strength, and functional ability.

Playing Billy Beane

Since publication in 2003, Moneyball has entered the baseball dictionary.   When a team decides to brush off traditional strategies, they are said to be playing moneyball. This is what Billy Beane, the general manager of Oakland Atheltics and the hero of Moneyball, is best known for.   Beane, as a player was not so great, but as the A’s manager at the sidelines, he started a revolution. In a nutshell, Beane knows how do more with so much less.   The A’s $55 million salary fund would pale in comparison to the Yankees’ $205 million (Hammonds 84).   Given the economics, Beane admits they can’t do the same things the Yankees do.   But with roughly one-third of the Yankees’ salary cap, the A’s still managed to finish big with the second-best win-loss record in the league—next only to the Yankees. How did Beane do it? Beane’s tactics and exploits off the field were the center of Michael Lewis’ Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game.   Professional baseball is a sport divided by teams who have much and teams who have none.   It is a derby between big-market teams who wave hefty paychecks temptingly under the noses of star players and smaller clubs who scrap for what’s left. That is the first managerial philosophy of Beane—scooping up potential team assets that rivals have ignored and undervalued.   As far as Beane is concerned, statistics and math work but only when they properly correspond to a player’s economic value. (86)   The Beane formula is to find players on the rise, potential superstars who are not red hot at the moment but could catch fire later on.   He will keep them until market catches up, give them away at a point he can no longer compete. A classic example was when Oakland signed 28-year-old Matt Stairs, a washed-up outfielder from the minor league.   Beane got him for $130,000 per year in 1996. Everyone though it was a bad catch, everyone except Beane.   But the former first round pick was right.   Over the next four years, Stairs hit the ball.   In 2000, his performance dipped as his market price went up.   Then Beane let him go for a pitcher. For Beane, every recruit has a potential to make it big.   Every move has its own risk but also its own purpose. Instead of looking at a player’s batting averages, fielding, or getting fascinated with his home runs, Beane focused on walks, on-base percentages and power. (85)   Oakland sought for players who can get on base like patient hitters who could tire out the opponent and finish it with a walk or a base hit.   The A’s type of player is one who can contribute in ways other ball clubs do not value as much. Beane is an expert in exploiting market mismatches.   He firmly believed that the criteria and standards set by scouts and managers in spotting players have been previously illogical.   Beane is gutsy, he takes risks.   But unlike most general managers, he finds a way to reduce the risks as the season progresses. He has learned the importance of calculated opportunism and this was evident in the 2002 draft when the A’s went the all-college approach. Gone are the days when general managers judge potential players by their sheer abilities.   These days, in a sport that has become a serious money-making venture, economic feasibility prompts every decision.   At the same time, as general manager, he says he had to evaluate players not only by their current feasibility but also his future trend. Citing all the numbers and statistics, Beane says baseball is predictable. (87)   He says there is always a way to least risk.   Like a true economist, he believes there is a great chance that the team will get some return on a particular asset. With Beane’s unconventional sports economics, Moneyball has been recognized not only by sports critics but also by economists.   Beane knows the baseball market place.   He acknowledges the gap between the market and the player’s value.   Knowing that market price and a player’s performance do not follow the same rules, he made sure to leave a way to narrow the gap. Considering the fact that Oakland cannot afford much, Beane has learned to thrive within windows of opportunity.   Like a baseball analyst says, the A’s are in a â€Å"commodity-management business†.   Beane’s philosophy is to keep the organization as flexible as he can.   He is good at creating options and the same time knows how to look at things the grown-up way.   Players are commodities with a tag price and the good thing is he knows whether that commodity is sinking or rising. As a general manager, Beane also knows that he has to rebuild.   The stakes evolve and therefore expecting continued success by doing the same things over and over has become impossible.   For Beane, it’s a matter of â€Å"identifying the moment.†Ã‚   One has to be creative enough to know when to trade off existing players and start fresh.   He cautioned however that when one chooses to rebuild, he must give it all.   No hesitations.   All or nothing.   It’s either a team rebuilds or not. As general manager, Beane also makes sure the players and the coaching staff knows who’s the boss.   Beane says he takes full responsibility of what happens in and out of the field.   He believes in giving his directors autonomy but during critical decision-making, he says he has to be there and cast his lot. A baseball club has a tight inner circle.   There is no bureaucracy and hours of organizational meetings fishing for hundred different opinions do not happen. Beane’s managerial style deviated form the traditional.   He acknowledges that all he can afford is to operate within windows of opportunity.   He has perfected the formula of matching a player’s performance metrics with his economic value.   He knows how to use his guts and correspond it with the statistics on paper that other teams might ignore. Oakland is an underfinanced team and it cannot afford superstars.   As the boss, Beane is expected to think differently, take risks, and effect changes.   At a time when scouts judge players by computers, Beane decided to oversimplify the thought.   Baseball’s traditional sabermetric community has been critical about this approach saying baseball’s math is much complex than Beane likes to admit. However, Beane insists that he recognizes the importance of statistics and that numbers are still at the heart of what the A’s do when they are out in the field.   The only difference is that Beane does not content himself with just what percentages or averages say.   He has learned how to relate this with how much a player is truly worth. As a baseball insider, Beane understands that the sport is predictable.   This gives Beane the chance to play the casino.   There is no way he could lose. The painful truth however is that building and sustaining are two different things all together.   With the A’s doing much with less, it is safe to assume that Beane as general manager has been successful in building.   The question now is can he sustain it?   Will the A’s keep on winning?   Between building and sustaining, the latter is much difficult to come by. Works Cited Hammonds, Keith. â€Å"How To Play Billy Beane.† Fast Company Magazine. April 2003: 84-87.   

Critical Thinking Questions- Ap World Essay

1. Discuss the fate of the indigenous populations of the United States, Canada and Latin America. How did their fate relate to the sense of mission in each area? During the 19th and early 20th centuries, many of the indigenous people were treated unfairly and no respect was given for either them or their land. Many of these natives were forced off their land and left homeless because industries wanted to use the land for industrial purposes. In places like the United States, the government would often kick the natives of their land in order for the land to be used for new settlers and railroads. Because of such treatment, many natives were forced to migrate away from their homelands. Later on, the governments started to pass laws and reforms to try to force many of the Native Americans to convert to the white way of life and give up their lands more willingly. The Trail of Tears began when these Native Americans were forced to move away. The Trail of Tears represented the quick and abrupt movement of these people from their homelands who were forced to migrate in order to find a new home to live in. In many other areas, like Canada, many of the natives even took a stand and started to fight back. In Canada, a native named Louis Riel started to take charge of the indigenous people as well as the metis, and began to lead his people as they worked toward their rights. Eventually, Riel and his new government were dismantled and sent to live in exile. During this time, construction had begun on the railroads, which had threatened the settlement of the indigenous people. Although the indigenous people fought hard, the Canadians had dominated and continued to use their land in the west for industrial reason. Over in Latin America, the indigenous people were being pushed off of their homelands by the Creole elites as they attempted to raise a claim on American lands which would be used for agricultural purposes, as well as ranching. The creoles began to establish Euro-American hegemony which allowed them to have an easier time taking over the land. 2. Examine the picture of Emiliano Zapata on page 859. What role did he play in Mexican history? What role did peasants and social stresses play in Latin American history? Emiliano Zapata was definitely on the most influential people in the Mexican Revolution during the 20th centuries. He worked alongside Francisco Pancho Villa to lead the lower classes. Zapata was a very charismatic person and was able to organize massive armies to fight for land and liberty, or tierra y libertad. He challenged the Mexican government and political control along with Villa. He confiscated hacienda lands and distributed them to the peasants. Both he and Villa managed to avoid being captured by both the U.S. and Mexican forces. Zapata, no matter how popular and powerful he became, never managed to capture any of Mexico’s major cities. He was killed in 1919 after being captured by government forces. This successfully ended the Mexican Revolution. And yet, if all of the workers, peasants, and middle class people not joined the fight, there might not even had been a revolution or even a constitution. These people began to feel the social stresses between them and the upper classes over the estates. This caused them to join in the revolution in hopes of a better life. La Reforma played a major role in forming these social stresses because when the attempt to create a small independent farm society by redistributing land, it failed because the land was bought up by the upper-class and transformed into plantations and haciendas. To conclude, the forms of social stresses; such as class division, rebellion, and caudillo rule, and civil war lead to a period of instability and conflict in Mexican history.