Supporting Notes Essay Example for Free

Supporting Notes Essay The practitioner we were most inspired by was Katie Mitchell. The crucial idea behind Katie Mitchell is that of Stanislavsky, naturalistic but with a contemporary twist. We chose to explore an extract from Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen. Being, a naturalistic play, we thought that by using Katie Mitchell as our practitioner, we would be able to put a slight twist onto the dated play, and gain more knowledge of the characters. This involved us researching the era of the play, the characters with depth, and the specific extract we were choosing to do. Katie Mitchell focused on exploring the characters with much depth, and allowing a real portrayal to be shown to the audience, in order for them to relate to. After researching into the background of Katie Mitchell, we found that she directed Ghost, another Ibsen play, which encouraged us to explore other Ibsen plays. This led us to Hedda Gabler, a naturalistic play in which we believed we could adapt and direct to suit Katie Mitchell’s style of play. By following the book ‘The Director’s Craft’, we could gain an insight into her ways of directing and how she believes you should work in order to achieve a certain style of play. The exploration of the characters within the play, allowed us to record a backlist of what we believe may have happened, allowing a bigger picture to form in which we could establish what we thought the play was trying to achieve. This allowed us to create more believable characters and discuss what we believe to of happened between the time gaps between the scenes. Katie Mitchell’s idea of performing a play is that to completely immerse yourself within a character, and imagine you are them from all angles, this allows us to understand emotions and feelings behind the character. We chose an extract mainly reliant upon having two female speaking parts, however, allowed a good scope to improve and explore acting styles to suit this extract. Although the play didn’t advise much movement for this extract, we believe there is much that can be done in order to increase the tension and difficultness between both the characters within this scene.

Factors That Affect the UK Pension Crisis

Factors That Affect the UK Pension Crisis Investigating the factors that affect the UK pension crisis Introduction This review examines the background literature regarding the causes of the UK pension crisis[1], and the various measures taken to combat the crisis. In order to understand the nature of the problem, it is first necessary to consider a bit of background on the UK pension system, and UK demographics. There is some debate over which types of pensions – pay as you go (PAYG) or funded schemes – are best. Barr (2006, 2) explains that ‘[i]n a PAYG scheme pensions are paid out of current income. In a fully funded scheme, pensions are paid from a fund built over a period of years from members’ contributions. Virtually all state pension schemes are mainly PAYG; private schemes are generally funded (though not necessarily adequately).’ The UK state system ‘is a complex mix of several components, paid for on a pay-as-you-go basis though a mixture of national insurance contributions and general taxation’ (Hills, 2006, 116). Non-state, voluntary schemes include occupational pensions which may be either defined contribution (DC) or defined benefit (DB) schemes, and private pensions which are usually DC. In recent years the majority of occupational DB schemes in the UK have closed. The demographics of the population have changed significantly over recent years. Barr (2006, 4) argues that ‘[a]verage age at death in the UK (and similarly in other countries) has been rising steadily at least since 1860 Clearly, as more and more people live to pensionable age and, having achieved that, live longer and longer beyond that, the costs of pensions rise and, as a proposition in pure logic, rise disproportionately.’ However, the UK also faces some country-specific pension issues, and these will be the focus of this dissertation. At the root of the problem with PAYG schemes is the ageing population, but there are other factors which affect the supply and demand of funded schemes, and against which policy may be more easily directed. Three of these are drawn out in this dissertation. As such, and for clarity, this literature review is structured around the three themes: public knowledge and understanding of pensions in the UK; the level of private savings in the UK; and the recent decline of DB schemes in the UK. However, it should be noted that these three factors are interrelated, as will be demonstrated in the analysis that follows. Public pension knowledge Pensions are always subject to a problem of imperfect information – when one considers how and how much to save for retirement, the decision is made on an estimate (not a certainty) of life expectancy. However, there are further problems in terms of knowledge and understanding of pensions, particularly in the UK. ‘On the microeconomic side, the advantages of consumer sovereignty are predicated on well-informed consumers, a very strong assumption in the case of pensions. Individuals are imperfectly informed, first, because of uncertainty about the future—individuals are not well-informed because nobody is well-informed. Second, they are imperfectly informed in the face of risk (Barr Diamond, 2006, 20). This second problem is particularly acute in the case of the UK. As the DWP (2006, 12) outlines, ‘[a] long-standing feature of the UK pensions system has been its complexity, which can confuse both employers and individuals trying to make the best financial decisions for the long term.’ Hills (2006, 123) confirms this point, and elaborates on it: ‘The UK pension system is—perhaps understandably—poorly understood, and that understanding has if anything declined in recent years: in 2000, only 53 per cent of the population reported at least a ‘reasonable, basic’ knowledge of pensions, but by 2005 this has fallen to 47 per cent. At the same time, levels of trust in pension providers and financial products are low. Even if people do realize that their pension will be inadequate, this combination makes it very hard for them to make a plan to do something about it.’ In addition to high levels of confusion about the pension system in the U K, there is relatively high freedom for the individual to decide how and how much to save for retirement. Banks et al (2002, 16) explain that ‘[t]he UK pension system allows individuals a great deal of choice over how much they save for their retirement and in which form they save.’ The DWP (2006, 6) claims that it is ‘helping people to make better informed choices about their retirement, introducing a range of pension forecasts to give individuals an understanding of the income they are likely to receive in retirement. Since their introduction, the Government has issued just over 20 million of these forecasts and we are developing web-based retirement planning services.’ These measures may not, however, be sufficient to guide individuals through what remains a complicated system. Considering the government also seeks to place the responsibility for pension decisions firmly with the individual[2], it is likely that more needs to be done to increase public knowledge and understanding of saving for retirement. Blake (2000, 233), for example, does not view such measures as sufficient. ‘The fact that membership of pension schemes at the second pillar remains voluntary is highly worrying for reasons of myopia and moral hazard. Compulsory contributi ons are seen as one way of dealing with individual myopia and the problem of moral hazard. Myopia arises because individuals do not recognise the need to make adequate provision for retirement when they are young, but regret this when they are old, by which time it is too late to do anything about it. Moral hazard arises when individuals deliberately avoid saving for retirement when they are young because they know the state will feel obliged not to let them live in dire poverty in retirement.’ In the next section, the problem of the lack of private savings will be considered in more detail. Lack of private savings Relative to many other countries, there is a lack of private saving in the UK. As the DWP (2006, 11) explains, ‘[r]etirement undersaving has arisen for a variety of reasons: because individuals have not trusted private pensions, because suitable savings vehicles have not been available to them, and because, in the face of a historically complex pensions system, financial short-sightedness and inertia have left inaction as the default option.’ This demonstrates the interrelationship between public knowledge of pensions and retirement income and levels of saving (eithrer through pensions or otherwise). This point is reiterated by Davis (2004, 22) who claims that ‘[s]urveys suggest there is a major underestimation of saving needs for retirement – and most individuals focus on pensions only 10 years ahead of retirement†¦ The saving problem may partly be linked to poor information.’ Clearly a lack of easily accessible and comprehensible information ha s contributed to the low levels of private savings in the UK. However, there are also other reasons. In addition to understanding how the system works, it is necessary that individuals are presented with the right incentives to encourage private saving. Davis (2004, 4)explains that ‘essential background for evaluating private pensions is provided by the structure of social security pensions. As in all countries, the scope for developing funded private pensions in the UK is conditional on the nature of compulsory, pay-as-you-go social security pension provisions. Broadly speaking, the development of social security in the UK has been favourable to private schemes, particularly as a consequence of the rather limited scope of social security on offer and the ability of employees to opt out of earnings-related social security pensions.’ However, in practice, low levels of private saving suggest that such incentives have not been sufficient. In addition, there are various disincentives to save for retirement and, indeed, there are disincentives for financial advisors to provide advice on retirement savings to those with low incomes. This is due to the risk that by the time they retire, their savings will disqualify them from certain means tested benefits to which they would otherwise have been entitled. Davis (2004, 10) argues that in the UK ‘[a] systemic incentive problem is that income support has a non-pension income test, such that benefits are withdrawn when incomes accrue, which discourages saving by low-income workers, and may also discourage membership of pension schemes.’ In a similar vein, the Economist (2005) argues that ‘[m]uch of the blame lies with the pension credit, one of Labours pet policies, which is damaging the incentive to save. By 2025, almost two-thirds of pensioners will be eligible for this means-tested payment, which tops up the meagre basic state pension. Since it is withdrawn at a rate of 40%, they will thus in effect be liable to the top rate of income tax on their savings income.’ In order to combat the low levels of saving in the UK, the government has developed various initiatives to promote and encourage saving. According to the DWP (2006, 15), they are going to ‘[i]ntroduce low-cost personal accounts to give those without access to occupational pension schemes the opportunity to save. People will be automatically enrolled into either their employer’s scheme or a new personal account, with the freedom to opt out. Employers will make minimum matching contributions.’ By creating a scheme into which people are automatically enrolled unless they opt out, this is likely to impact on private savings since, as Hills (2006, 123) explains, ‘[s]avings behaviour does not follow the optimizing pattern predicted by some economic models. Instead people procrastinate about difficult financial decisions and display considerable inertia. Interestingly, it appears that membership of otherwise identical pension schemes in terms of incentives such as employer contributions is much higher when people are automatically enrolled into them, with the right to opt out, than when they have to make a conscious decision to opt in.’ The closure of defined benefit schemes Traditionally, the UK has had a high level of private pensions as the state pension was meager and most employers offered DB occupational pensions. In recent years, however, most DB schemes (at least for private sector employees) have been closed to new entrants. This can be seen as a result of two key factors: increasing longevity and, more recently, the poor performance of the stock market. According to the DWP (2006, 10), ‘[s]ince the 1970s, employers have been retreating from occupational pensions as rapid increases in life expectancy and then the end of the high equity market in the late 1990s pushed costs higher than had been anticipated when occupational pension schemes were designed. This trend has continued, with 2 million fewer members of open private sector occupational pension schemes in 2004 than in 2000.’ The relatively poor performance of the equity market has certainly had a major impact on the nature of occupational pensions since funded pension schemes in the UK have traditional relied very heavily on investment in the stock market. The Economist (2002), for example, claims that ‘Britains pension funds have punted heavily on equities for many years. That strategy has paid off handsomely, but it does expose them to greater risk in the short term than more cautious strategies which put more money into less volatile bonds. The bear stockmarket of the past two years has hit pension funds hard and brought home to companies the investment risk that they are shouldering. At the same time they have become more aware of the risk of rising life expectancy at older ages, which increases the cost of a defined-benefit promise.’ These two issues combined have led to the closure of many schemes, and by the end of 2002, many schemes were running with large deficits (Davis, 2004, 12). The closure of so many DB schemes is deemed to be a contributing factor to the pensions crisis for two main reasons. The first is that the alternative – usually an occupational DC schemes – is considered more risky for individuals. The second is that there is generally a lower take up of DC pensions as compared with DB schemes. Thus, in effect, the switch to DC schemes is discouraging saving. Each of these two reasons will now be examined in turn. As Barr (2006, 2) explains, ‘[i]n a DB scheme, often run at the firm or industry level, the pension a person receives depends on his or her wage history and on length of service. One feature of this arrangement is that the risk of differential pension portfolio performance falls on the employer, and hence is shared more broadly than with DC arrangements. Second, the pension a worker gets is not fully actuarially related to his or her previous contributions.’ However, it can be deomnstrated that DC schemes actually tend to be more beneficial for employees who change employers several times over the course of their career (since such employees are effectively punished for each switch of employer in the DB system). Since most individuals these days do change employer at least a few times, this provides a strong argument for the case that a DC pension can be at least as good as a DB pension. Turning to the second reason, there is indeed evidence to suggest that individuals take up DC pensions at a lower rate than DB pensions. According to the Economist (2005), ‘[w]hen companies close their DB schemes, they typically offer a defined-contribution plan, in which employees build up their own pot of pension money. However, contribution rates into these DC plans tend to be much lower. According to the GAD [Government Actuary’s Department] survey, the total contribution rate from employers and employees into DC schemes is 8.9% of earnings compared with 18.8% into the private DB schemes.â⠂¬â„¢ This problem again relates back to the problem of lack of public knowledge and understanding of pensions. If DC pensions can be shown to be at least as good as DB pensions for the majority of employees, and yet the take up rate is lower, there must be a problem of information or incentives. In order to combat the so-called ‘problem’ of the closure of DB schemes, therefore, it may be more important to improve information about, and incentives to take out, DC pensions, rather than to try to resurrect the system of DB pensions. In the words of the Economist (2002), ‘[t]he way forward is not to lament the demise of final-salary schemes but to make DC plans work.’ Conclusion At the heart of the UK pensions crisis are two issues which work together to cause a crisis. With an ageing population, the dependency ratio increases to the extent that it is not possible to rely on PAYG schemes. At the same time, the level of savings within the UK is too low for the retired population to be able to rely on funded pensions. The low level of savings can be seen as caused by a number of factors, including a lack of clarity and information on pension requirements and choices, a lack of trust in the financial services sector and the information it provides, as well as certain disincentives which discourage individuals, particularly in the low income sector, from saving. The closure of DB schemes has interacted with the poor information and lack of trust to discourage certain people (who would previously have enrolled in a DB scheme) from enrolling in the DC alternative. All of these problems are interrelated and it is the combination of them that can be seen as causing the UK pension crisis. In the words of Davis (2004, 22), ‘the savings gap is aggravated by †¦ the deficits and closure of defined benefit funds, loss of confidence in personal pensions and also in life insurance generally following mis-selling of personal pensions.’ As such, it is a combination of policies that is required to tackle these problems. Bibliography Banks, J., Blundell, R., Disney, R., Emmerson, C. (2002). Retirement, Pensions and the Adequacy of Saving: A Guide to the Debate. London: Institute for Fiscal Studies. Barr, M., Diamond, P. (2006). The Economics of Pensions. Oxford Review of Economic Policy , 22 (1), 15-39. Barr, N. (2006). Pensionse: Overview of the Issues. Oxfor Review of Economic Policy , 22 (1), 1-14. Blake, D. (2000). Two decades of pension reform in the UK: What are the implications for occupational pension schemes? Employee Relations , 22 (3), 223-245. Davis, E. P. (2004). Is there a Pension Crisis in the UK? London: The Pensions Institute, Cass Business School. DWP. (2006). Security in retirement: towards a new pensions system Executive Summary. London: Department for Work and Pensions. Economist. (2002, February 22). End of the party: How bad for employees is the decline in final-salary pensions? The Economist . Economist. (2005, June 23). Pension reform: The shape of things to come. The Economist . Hills, J. (2006). A New Pension Settlement for the Twenty-First Century? The UK Pensions Commissions Analysis and Proposals. Oxford Review of Economic Policy , 22 (1), 114-133. Mullan, P. (2002). The Imaginary Time Bomb: Why an Ageing Population is not a Social Problem. London: I B Tauris. Footnotes [1] While discussion of the UK ‘pension crisis’ is very common, it is worth bearing in mind that the current situation is not unanimously viewed as a crisis. Barr (2006), for example, argues that a problem exists but not a crisis. Mullan (2002) does not even consider it to be a problem. [2] â€Å"We need to be clear that individuals must be responsible for their own plans for retirement. The reforms will ensure the provision of high-quality savings vehicles, and a solid state foundation to private savings. But the choice of how much to save, the level of risk to take with investments, and how long to work must be available to the individual. That provides the right balance of choice and support for individual responsibility.† (DWP, 2006, 22)

Evian bottled water brand in the US market

Evian bottled water brand in the US market 1. Case overview: Although it has achieved great success in other part of the world, the Danone and its Evian bottled water brand are facing significant pressure while handling the U.S. market. After the cola giants Coke and Pepsi set up their own bottled water brands, Dasani and Aquafina, Danone is the number four in the U.S. market with only a 3.5% market share in 2001. Danone is facing two main problems when dealing with the U.S. market. Firstly, the U.S. customers do not accept the premium on the Evian brand, they care less about the type of the bottled water and prefer cheaper water like Aquafina or Dasani. Then, the distribute system in U.S. market is quite different from that in Europe. To carry out a strategy for its further business in the U.S., Danone made the first agreements in April 2002 with one of its most powerful opponents Coca-Cola to let Coke take charge of the Evian brand in North America. Coca-Cola will help Danone within the distribution and market performance, and will get incentives in return of the annual sales growth of Evian bottled water. The second agreement carried in June 2002 is mainly about the two companies announced a joint venture. Danone will contributes license for use several value brands and production facilities, while Coca-Cola pays cash for ownership interest and provide management. Coca-Cola needs to help achieve a guaranteed profit level; however, the penalty is not clear. The alliance of the two companies provokes debates about whether it is a way to improve sales condition or it is a sign of Danones unofficial quit from the U.S. bottled water market. What is the right decision for Danone remains to be proved. 2. Why Evians market share in the U.S. kept falling after the cola giants start their bottled water brands in the late 1980s? The Japanese strategist Kenichi Ohmae developed the 3Cs Model indicated three main players that are necessary for successful business strategy: the corporation, the customer, and the competitors. (Kenichi Ohmae, 1982) When mention the competitors, Coke and Pepsi who sell purified water that avoid extra handling and transport costs, enjoy much lower cost than Evian does. Meanwhile, their distribution systems are well developed thanks to their successful operating on other beverage such as cola. The result is that they can have their cheaper products on more shelves quickly. What is more, as Coca-Cola, Pepsi and NestlÃÆ'Â © are all well-known companies throughout the America, not only their products quality are guaranteed, but also their bottled water brands do not need too much promotion. For the customer part, in the European market where Danone has achieved great success, the customers understand the differences between glacier-sources water and purified water or tap water. They are willing to pay the premium price to purchase the consistent quality and taste of bottled water. But the U.S. customers seem to ignore the classifications of bottled water, and they are extreme price-sensitivity, their first choice is often the cheapest water on the store shelves. Obviously, the Danone Corporation itself has done quite few when facing the hard situation. The company was not well prepared for the entry of cola giants at the beginning. The former achievement within other part of the world especially in Europe makes the company blind worship its Danone business equation and refused to change its business strategy to fit the U.S. market. Also, Danone did not introduce its innovative products which are very popular in the European market, and few marketing activities such as advertises are mentioned to introduced to encourage the U.S. market accept the glacier premium. 3. Positive and negative sides of Danones strategy of running business on its own in the U.S. market. Generally speaking, one advantage of going it alone strategy is it will help keeping the companys national, historical and family pride. The following will analyse the pros and cons of two parts of this remaining one single business entity strategy respectively. The first part is to admit that the Evian brand is not a U.S. market leader but a niche product which is a high-end premium bottled water with the label of health. As the U.S. bottled water market determines the market leader by price and logistics, Evian has to make full use of its nature of unique pristine qualities to provide higher-margin product for specialized customers who understand and appreciate the price premium of bottled water which has better resource and quality. Such customer can be created by purposeful marketing and advertising. Though the group size of these customers might be not so big, the sale profit can be guaranteed by the higher sale price. Clearly, segmentation will help the company focus its strategy but the development of broad-brand equity might be inhibited. The second part is about to place its locally-sourced spring water compete against the Big Three of the U.S. bottled water market in the mid-market which has high sale volume and is price-driven. This plan sounds a good way for Danone to get the lost market share back in the U.S. The defect of this strategy is that large sum of investment need to be paid for acquiring the production facilities and distribution systems, the cost-recovery, however, would take a very long-time. Since the result of compete against NestlÃÆ'Â © and cola giants in the U.S. market are not so lucidity or even optimistic, this plan is unsuitable for Danone. Besides, manage large number of new employees for production and distribution would be another problem for the company. 4. The effect of Danone give up the whole U.S. bottled water market. The impact of keeping Evian brand only as a niche player in the U.S. market has been cited before as only a smaller group of specialized customers will be considered as target, and Evian will be redefined as a high-end premium bottled water in the market. There are many other ramifications of Danones getting out of the U.S. market. Firstly, since there is no report of loss in the American market, it keeps earning money for the company though not as much as other market does, abandon the U.S. market means the company will lose the market share and profit from the market. Secondly, the company has to deal with assets and employees that will no longer working for the corporation. Since there are only a few potential buyers for these assets, powerful buyers can minimize their cost of purchase. Thus the company may suffer a sizeable loss on that. Thirdly, leaving the U.S. market might be a negative signal to other markets and its stakeholders that the company is unable to handle such a profitable market. The direct result may reflect on its share price which will experience a significant fall. What is more, the exiting strategy will blemish the value and goodwill of both Evian brand and the Danone Group and it is not good news for the companys business in other market. Finally, once exit, the re-enter to the market will be much tougher. While remain in the market helps keep the long-term opportunities for the company, it is really difficult for any external company to find a chance to get in and earn money. 5. Comment on the joint ventures with Coca-Cola. Clearly, the joint ventures with the cola giant have many advantages. To be specific, since the Danones strategy and market method cannot meet the needs of the U.S. market, shifting the marketing and distribution control to a company that has more success experience is sensible. With the help of Coke with the marketing and delivery, Danones products can expect a sizeable increase in sell. Besides, as Coca-Cola take charge of those Danones business in the America, the saved resources including marketing and managing expenses and human resources can be put into other markets which are more likely to gain success. In addition, the Evians brand image of high-end will be maintained according to the marketing strategy of the joint ventures. In other words, to remain the corporation and its products in the U.S. market with the sale volume growth guarantee provided by Coke is a safe game for Danone. However, there are some unreasonable factors within the joint ventures. First, as is mentioned in the case, no punishment of Cokes unable to achieve the sale promise is unclear, what if the Danone products keep losing market share? Second, as Coca-Cola gets 51% of the ownership, Danones suggestions might be so weak while making important decisions. Besides, there seems to be an overlap between Cokes bottled water Dasani and Danones Danone brand spring water, so it is doubtful the cola giant is willing to accomplish the sale growth of its joint ventures partners at the expense of its own products. In sum, the cooperation with Coca-Cola is the most ideal way for Danone when handling the U.S. market, but the result might not so ideal because of those internal and external (i.e. economic and market changes) uncertainties. Bibliography Ohmae, K. (1982). The mind of the strategist : the art of Japanese business. New York: McGraw-Hill. Kotabe, M Helsen, K. (2008). Global marketing management. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley Sons, Inc.

The Power of Dillards A Field of Silence Essay -- Field of Silence Es

The Power of Dillard's A Field of Silence    In her essay, Annie Dillard wrote: "There was only silence. It was the silence of matter caught in the act and embarrassed. There were no cells moving, and yet there were cells. I could see the shape of the land, how it lay holding silence"(396)1. The story in which she talked about the silence of the land was published in 1982, and today, almost two decades having gone by, A Field of Silence, is still able to relate to its readers.    A Field of Silence is a story about one of Dillard's religious experiences. It may be considered boring and confusing to most people, but I found it to be quite interesting. I have to admit though, I found the story a bit boring the first time that I read it, but after reading it over a couple of times, I was able to understand what Dillard was trying to accomplish. She used a story telling technique to grab the reader's attention and then at the end she gave her own impression of what she thought about her experience. If Dillard just came right out and said what she believed was a valuable piece of information for everyone to know, this essay would not have survived as long as it has out there in the real world. Most people are not interested in being told the facts right away; they want to think about what it is that the author is trying to tell them. Although some people may complain that they are confused and that the article is boring (I know I did at first), most people will ag ree that they would try to figure out what the author is saying. For that reason, Dillard does an excellent job with A Field of Silence.    I believe that there is an advantage to reading an essay about a religious experience from another time period for ... ...h them. Most people, including myself, remember sayings a whole lot easier if there is a story behind it that we can fall back on or relate to, and that is exactly what Dillard did in A Field of Silence.    Whether people find this article boring or interesting most people would agree with me that Dillard knows how to relate to her readers. She knows how to grab the audience, drag them through her entire story, and leave them hanging wondering what it was that she was actually trying to tell them. No wonder I do not find it amazing that almost two decades later, people can still relate to Dillard's experience.    Work Cited: 1 Anderson, Chris and Lex Runciman. (1995). A field of Silence. In A Forest of Voices: Reading and Writing the Enviroment (pp.395- 399). Calafornia: Mayfield Publishing Co. Hereafter, all quotes will be taken from this source.

Revealing the Heart of Darkness in Apocalypse Now Essay example -- Mov

Revealing the Heart of Darkness in Apocalypse Now Often a novel filmed as a movie departs from the original story, sometimes for better, sometimes for worse.   However, many great works of literature have inspired movies, and served as the basis for a great film, even though the film may approach the literature in a different way. Such is the case with Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now, which was inspired by Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness.   Coppola and the screenwriter, John Mileus, took a story written nearly eighty years earlier and used its basic theme of the inner darkness of man and the idea of the journey up a river into the unknown to tell a story about one of the darkest, most confusing chapters of American history: the Vietnam War.   Coppola's alterations to Heart of Darkness serve to exemplify his overall point, namely, that the United States' involvement in Vietnam was itself a descent into the "heart of darkness".   Coppola was able to make a movie with such a theme for an American audience that was still dealing with Vietnam.   The movie came out five years after the last troops finally left Vietnam, and the American public was still asking itself what had been accomplished and why we had been involved, while the troops who had served there were haunted by memories of the horrors they had seen, and were left wondering what it had all been worth as well.   Coppola found a story in Heart of Darkness t hat dealt with the same issues of darkness and confusion, and he applied them to Vietnam to accomplish the task of demonstrating the darkness that was the Vietnam War.   Coppola uses the basic plot structure and theme of Heart of Darkness to convey a message that America was wrong in the Vietnam War, and he comes... ... saw the darkness of a bloody, confusing war that surely parallel Conrad's colonialism, but that also showed that the inner darkness of all man was still at work in the world.   He shows that war is at its heart only a manifestation of that darkness.   As Mike Wilmington puts it in his article "Worth the Wait: Apocalypse Now," "It's a search . . . toward death and dissolution.   Probably Coppola . . . could not explain what that search was meant to find" (288).   With Apocalypse Now, Coppola has looked down a crooked unclear path into the heart of darkness. Works Cited   Chatman, Seymour.   "Two and a Half Versions of Heart of Darkness."   Conrad on Film. Ed. Gene M. Moore.   Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.   Wilmington, Mike.   "Worth the Wait: Apocalypse Now."   Heart of Darkness, Norton Critical Edition.   New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1988.   

Disease Surveillance

Disease surveillance is defined as the systematic data collection, data analysis and interpretation of the results in order to enable effective planning in the aspect of disease control. It enables infectious diseases to be detected early so that their potential threat to the public is minimized. The threats may be due to cases of food borne infections, bioterrorism and communicable diseases (Lombardo and Buckeridge, 2007). There are several systems and networks that have been put in place in order to help in the surveillance of infectious diseases.Disease surveillance also requires the collaboration of different partners and officials, an effective communication system and reliable laboratory networks in order to be effective. BioSense involves the use of syndromic data derived from different electronic sources. This improves the speed at which disease is detected. It enables outbreaks to be detected early enough before they lead to serious problems. It has been applied in different sectors by the state such as to detect any cases of bioterrorism and other threats that may put the lives of the citizens in danger.This system has been employed by CDC (United States Government Accountability Office, 2004). Electronic Laboratory Exchange Networks (eLEXNET) is a surveillance system used in food safety. It is a web-based system used in state, federal and even local agencies. It enables the collaboration of both the government and health officials in that the data regarding food safety is shared and therefore the potential risk of a possible outbreak of food borne diseases is detected early enough (United States Government Accountability Office, 2004).The other type of syndromic system is the Electronic Surveillance System for the Early Notification of Community based Epidemics (ESSENCE). It relies on data that is got from hospitals, dispensaries and clinics. This data is collected daily and assist in the tracking of the common syndromes found in a particular area. H istorical data is also helpful in this system since it acts as a starting point for the epidemiologists. The officials can also pin point the specific area or region with a high number of a certain syndrome through the use of a geographic information system (United States Government Accountability Office, 2004).Epidemic Information Exchange (Epi-X) is a web based communication system usually used by CDC. It enables the sharing of information with the state, federal and other pubic health officials. It is an effective system since it enables the authorized users to share information and get feedbacks on every issue such as the efforts put in place for the control of infectious diseases (United States Government Accountability Office, 2004). Food borne Disease Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet) is a system which is designed to respond to any new food borne disease that is of public importance.It also monitors the trend and identifies the specific sources of these diseases. It is a more reliable and an accurate system in the estimation of incidences of these diseases (United States Government Accountability Office, 2004). Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) enable keen surveillance of diseases which have either been confirmed or rumored. It is mostly used by WHO in the surveillance of diseases that are of worldwide importance. The information is gotten from different sources such as the media, institutions and health ministries in different countries (United States Government Accountability Office, 2004).Other systems that have also been used include Global Public Health Intelligence (GPHIN), Health Alert Network (HAN), Laboratory Response Network (LRN), National Electronic Disease Surveillance System (NEDSS), National Electronic Telecommunications System for Surveillance (NETSS), National Retail Data Monitor (NRDM), Real Time Outbreak and Disease Surveillance (RODS) and Sexually Transmitted Disease Management Information System (STDMIS) (United States Government Accountability Office, 2004).These systems require a number of key factors in order for disease surveillance to be effective. First, the source of data must be reliable to enable the accurate and fast response during surveillance. The data is the baseline for surveillance as seen in all the systems above such as ESSENCE and BioSense. Therefore, surveillance cannot be possible without data. Secondly, effective communication networks which enables the information to be shared with other partners such as the state, federal and public health officials. References Lombardo, J.S. & Buckeridge, D.L. (2007).Disease Surveillance: A Public Health Informatics Approach. New Jersey: John Wiley & sons, Inc. United States Government Accountability Office. (2004). Emerging Infectious Diseases: Review   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   of State and Federal Disease Surveillance Efforts. Retrieved on 12th May 2010 from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d04877.pdf

Modern Gadgets: A Boon or Bondage? Essay

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