Friday, September 6, 2019

The part of the film Essay Example for Free

The part of the film Essay In the opening scene of the film there is an important camera shot going on, a point of view shot of a creature flying over the water, which eventually leads into a and if you listen very carefully you can hear a drum beat that could relate to a heart beat, this could make the audience become jumpy or scared because it could make them feel as if they were there. That camera shot is effective because it begins to involve the audience. The camera shot continues over the water and up until you have a point of view of Santa Carla and the rides, because it is night time have is a slight horror element because most villains and monsters get their prey at night. Straight after that we go into a close up of David and his gang and the people he fights with on the carousal, this is when we get our first glance of who David is and makes the audience ask questions like, Is that the vampire? When David attacks the man on the carousel we get to see what he is going to be like throughout the film. In the camera shot after this we can hear flapping and laughing of the creatures suggesting that it is a vampire of some sort. This part of the film, this would make the audience jumpy because it goes from a close up on the guard to show his fear and a point of view shot from the creature to show its getting closer. When the creatures finally get the guard we see the door been ripped off and screaming of the guard, the cameras very cleverly disguise is to the audience can not see what is been ripped apart. This would build tension because the audience would want to known what is happening and what the monster is meaning they will have to wait until further in the film. The camera shots that are filmed in the day part of the scene also bring the horror element to the film. At the very start of the day scene it is a similar camera shot to the start of the night scene, due to it looking like a point of view shot over the water, yet again. When entering into Santa Carla on the back of the welcome sign it says Welcome to the murder capital of the world in a red paint. This is a moment of iconography because the colour red is the same colour as blood and gore. At this time the Mother says I know what we have been through over the last couple of years. This is ironic because of what has happened so far suggests that this will not be much different from what they have had before. All the characters in the car are completely oblivious about it and do not know what will happen and what is happening. During the next scene we get a camera shot of a close up, on the people of Santa Carla with inter cut ups of missing posters suggesting that Santa Carla is a weird place going with that and the weird people. This shows quickly that Santa Carla is a weird place and has some strange problems. That part of the film links to the song that is going on at this point, People are strange, the part of the film fits in with the song because the people of Santa Carla are actually acting very strange.

Prime Duty of the Government Is to Serve Essay Example for Free

Prime Duty of the Government Is to Serve Essay The dining area is more than just an area to place the  tables and chair. It should be inviting, warm and cozy, a place where the family enjoys sitting together. Think back to your childhood. Chances are, mealtimes stand out in your memory. The family sits together, eats, and talks. If you dont want everyone to just eat and run, strive to make this place as inviting as possible. Here are some tips. Seating All too often we come across sleek  dining room chairs  with little or no padding. Although these may look good depending on the rest of the decor, they are not the most comfortable. If you like to linger over a meal with your loved ones, ensure that the seats are as comfortable as can be, with plenty of padding. If the dining table is placed in the corner of a room, consider placing sofa-bench style seating on the wall-side of the table. You could have comfortable chairs on the other side. Candles Eat by candlelight! You dont need to spend a fortune replenishing candles. Take a tall glass, fill it up with water, and float a tea-light on the top. Light this every night. A single tea-light burns for around four hours, so it should last you three or four nights. You could lower the lights and truly enjoy the experience and reduce electricity costs. Place a  dimmer  switch on the lights. Keep a tall candlestand on the center of the table to hold straight, elegant candles. Light these when entertaining. Flowers A vase of flowers looks charming. Ensure it doesnt occupy too much space, and you dont need to remove it when serving the food or when seated at the table. Also, remember that the flowers should not prevent people on the table from seeing each other. Tablecloth Stay clear from  plastic tablecloths, no matter how practical they are! If your children spill when they eat and want to avoid staining wooden polish, invest in a table with a  glass tabletop. Alternatively, use a regular cloth tablecloth. Anything simple, which you can subject to regular wear and tear, will do. Keep the fancy tablecloths for entertaining. When purchasing tableware, dont pick up anything that catches your fancy. Try to co-ordinate the items. This is easy to ensure when you are decorating your home from scratch. If you already have a crockery set that you use on a daily basis, pick up a couple of tablecloths to match this crockery. Pick up a separate tablecloth to go with your expensive crockery that you plan to use only when entertaining. In any case, whether to use a tablecloth or not is entirely up to you. If you table is very attractive by itself, skip the tablecloth entirely. But if your table is stained or otherwise in poor condition, cover it up. Mats Always use  placemats  though. A table is not completely set without mats. If you are using  cloth napkins, it is a good idea to starch them. Sideboard If you have the space in your dining room, invest in a sideboard. You can store your crockery, cutlery,  placemats, napkins and tablecloths here, so when you are  setting the table, everything will be easily within reach. In addition, you can always keep valuable crockery, like silverware, in your sideboard under  lock and key.

Thursday, September 5, 2019

Medicalization for understanding shifting ideas about health and illness

Medicalization for understanding shifting ideas about health and illness Medicalization is term for the erroneous tendency by society-often perpetuated by health professionals to view effects of socioeconomic disadvantage as purely medical issues. It is the process by which human conditions and problems come to be defined and treated as  medical conditions  and problems, and thus come under the authority of doctors and other  health professionals  to study,  diagnose,  prevent  or  treat. The process of medicalization can be driven by new evidence or theories about conditions, or by developments in social attitudes or economic considerations, or by the development of new purported  treatments. Medicalization is often claimed to bring benefits, but also costs, which may not always be clear. Medicalization is studied in terms of the role and power of  professions, patients and corporations, and also for its implications for ordinary people whose self-identity and life-decisions may depend on the prevailing concepts of  health  and  illness. Once a condition is classed as medical, a medical  tends to be used rather than a  social model. Medicalization may also be termed pathologization (from  pathology), or in some cases  disease mongering. The concept of medicalization has educated the sociology of health and illness for many years now. Typically, it has been deliberated and examined with critical nuance, though some key thinkers within the discipline have suggested that it is not unequivocally negative. Conrad criticised and disputed that the development and growth of medical authority into domains of everyday existence was promoted by doctors and was a force of social control that was to be rejected in the name of liberation (Conrad 1973). Medicalization describes a process by which non-medical problems become defined and treated as medical problems, usually in terms of illness or disorders (Gabe et al. 2004:59) and likewise be simply classified as a procedure of increased medical intervention into areas which would more often than not be outside of the medical province. The term  medicalization  entered academic and medical publications in the 1970s, for example in the works of figures such as Peter Conrad  and  Thomas Szasz. They argued that the expansion of medical authority into domains of everyday existence was promoted by doctors and was a force of social control that was to be rejected in the name of  liberation. This critique was embodied in now-classic works such as Conrads The discovery of hyperkinesis: notes on medicalization of deviance, published in 1973 (hyperkinesis  was the term then used to describe what we might now call  ADHD). Medicalization explains a situation which had been previously explained in a moral, religious or social terms now become defined as the subject of medical and scientific knowledge. Many years ago for example some children were deemed and regarded as problematic, misbehaving and unruly. Some adults were shy and men who were balding just wore hats to hide it. And that was that. Nevertheless, nowadays all these descriptions could and possibly would be attributed to a type of illness or disease and be given a diagnosis or medicine to treat it in some cases. Medicalization explains this. Likewise, medicalization has been applied to a whole variety of problems that have come to be defined as medial, ranging from childbirth and the menopause through to alcoholism and homosexuality (Gabe et al. 2006: 59). Furthermore, the term explains the process in where particular characteristics of every day life become medically explained, thus come under the authority of doctors and other  health professionals to study,  diagnose,  prevent  and or  treat the problem. Originally, the concept of medicalisation was strongly associated with medical dominance, involving the extension of medicines jurisdiction over erstwhile normal life events and experiences. More recently, however, this view of a docile lay populace, in thrall to expansionist medicine, has been challenged. Thus, as we enter a post-modern era, with increased concerns over risk and a decline in the trust of expert authority, many sociologists argue that the modern day consumer of healthcare plays an active role in bringing about or resisting medicalisation. Such participation, however, can be problematic as healthcare consumers become increasingly aware of the risks and uncertainty surrounding many medical choices. The emergence of the modern day consumer not only raises questions about the notion of medicalisation as a uni-dimensional concept, but also requires consideration of the specific social contexts in which medicalisation occurs. In this paper, we describe how the concept of m edicalisation is presented in the literature, outlining different accounts of agency that shape the process. We suggest that some earlier accounts of medicalisation over-emphasized the medical professions imperialistic tendencies and often underplayed the benefits of medicine. With consideration of the social context in which medicalisation, or its converse, arises, we argue that medicalisation is a much more complex, ambiguous, and contested process than the medicalisation thesis of the 1970s implied. In particular, as we enter a post-modern era, conceptualizing medicalisation as a uni-dimensional, uniform process or as the result of medical dominance alone is clearly insufficient. Indeed, if, as Conrad and Schneider (1992) suggested, medicalisation was linked to the rise of rationalism and science (ie to modernity), and if we are experiencing the passing of modernity, we might expect to see a decrease in medicalisation. The idea of medicalization is perhaps related only indirectly to social constructionanism, in that it does not question the basis of medical knowledge as such, but challenges its application. Nettleton continues and states that is draws attention to the fact that medicine operates as a powerful institution of social control (Nettleton 2006: 25). It does this by claiming expertise in areas in life which previously were not regarded as medical problems or matters. This includes such life stages such as ageing, childbirth, alcohol consumption and childhood behaviour moreover, the availability of new pharmacological treatments and genetic testing intensifies these processesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ thus it constructs, or redefines, aspects of normal life as medical problems. (Conrad and Schneider 1990 as cited in Nettleton 2006: 25). Medicalization can occur on three different and particular levels according to Conrad and Schneider (1980). The first was explained as conceptually when a medical vocabulary is used to define a problem. In some instances, doctors do not have to be involved and an example if this is AA. The second was the institutional level, institutionally, when organizations adopt a medical approach to treating a problem in which they specialise and the third was at the level of doctor patient interaction when a problem is defined as a medical and medical treatment occurs (as cited in Gabe et al 2004:59). These examples all involve doctors and their treatments directly, not including alcoholism which has other figures to help people such as the AA. The third level was the interactional level and this was where the problem, social problem, becomes defined as medical and medicalization occurs as part of a doctor-patient interaction. Medicalization shows the shifting ideas about health and illness. Health and illness does not only include such things as influenza or the cold, but deviant behaviours. Deviant behaviours which were once merely described as criminal, immoral or naughty before have now been labelled with medical meanings. Conrad and Schneider five-staged sequential process of medicalizing deviant behaviour. Stage one involves the behaviour itself as being deviant. Chronic drunkenness was regarded merely as highly undesirable, before it was medically labelled as chronic drunkenness. The second stage occurs when the medical conception of a deviant behaviour is announced in a professional medical journey according to Conrad and Schneider. A prominent thinker in the idea of medicalization was Ivan Illich, who studied it profusely and was very influential, in fact being one of the earliest philosophers to use the term medicalization. Illichs appraisal of professional medicine and particularly his use of the term medicalization lead him to become very influential within the discipline and is quoted to have said that Modern medicine is a negation of health. It isnt organized to serve human health, but only itself, as an institution. It makes more people sick than it heals. Illich attributed medicalization to the increasing professionalization and bureaucratization of medical institutions associated with industrialization (Gabe et al 2004: 61). He supposed that due to the development of modern medicine, it created a reliance on medicine and doctors thus taking away peoples ability to look after themselves and engage in self care. In his book Limits to medicine: Medical nemesis (1975) Illich disputed that the medical profession in point of fact harms people in a process known as  iatrogenesis. This can be elucidated as when there is an increase in illness and social problems as a direct result of medical intervention. Illich saw this occurring on three levels. The first was the clinical iatrogenesis. These involved serious  side-effects  which were are often worse than the original condition. The negative effects of the clinical intervention outweighed the positive and it also conveyed the dangers of modern medicine. There were negative side effects of medicine and drugs, which included poisoning people. In addition, infections which could be caught in the hospital such as MRSA and errors caused my medical negligence. The second level was the social iatrogenesis whereby the general public is made submissive and reliant on the medical profession to help them cope with their life in society. Furthermore all suffering is hospitalised and medicine undermines health indirectly because of its impact on social organisation of society. In the process people cease to give birth, for example, be sick or die at home And the third level is cultural iatrogenesis, which can also be referred to as the structural. This is where life processes such as aging and dying become medicalized which in the process creates a society which is not able to deal with natural life process thus becoming a culture of dependence. Moreover, people are dispossessed of their ability to cope with pain or bereavement for example as people rely on medicine and professionals. (Illick 1975) Sociologists such as Ehrenreich and English had argued that womens bodies were being medicalized.  Menstruation  and  pregnancy  had come to be seen as medical problems requiring interventions such as  hysterectomies. Nettleton furthered this notion and discussed this in relation to childbirth. The Medicalization of childbirth is as a result of professional dominance. She stated that the control of pregnancy and childbirth has been taken over by a predominantly male medical profession. Medicine can thus be regarded as patriarchal and exercising an undue social control over womens lives. From conception to the birth of the baby, the women are closely monitored thus medical monitoring and intervention in pregnancy childbirth are now routine processes. Childbirth is classified as a medical problem therefore it becomes conceptualized in terms of clinical safety, and women are encouraged to have their babies in hospitals. This consequently results in women being dependent on medical care. Nevertheless recent studies and evidence have shown that it may actually be safer to have babies at home because there would have been less susceptible to infection and technocological interference (Oakley 1884, as cited in Nettleton 2006: 26) Medicalization combines phenomenological and Marxist approaches of health and illnessà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ in that it considers definitions of illness to be products of social interactions or negotiations which are inherently unequal (Nettleton 2006: 26). Marxism discussed medicalization and linked it with oppression, arguing that medicine can disguise the underlying causes of disease which include poverty and social inequality. In the process they see health as an individual problem, rather than a societys problem. Medicalization is studied in terms of the role and power of  professions, patients and corporations, and also for its implications for ordinary people whose self-identity and life-decisions may depend on the prevailing concepts of  health and  illness. Once a condition is classed as medical, a  medical model of disability  tends to be used rather than a  social model. It constructs, or redefines, aspects of normal life as medical problems (Nettleton 2006: 26). Medicalization has been referred to as the processes by which social phenomena come to be perceived and treated as illnesses. It is the process in by issues and experiences that have previously been accounted for in religious, moral, or social contexts then become defined as the subject of scientific medical knowledge. The idea itself questions the belief that physical conditions themselves constitute an illness. It argues that the classification and identification of diseases is socially constructed and. It has been suggested that medicine is seen as being instilled with subjective assumptions of the society in which it developed. Moreover, it argues that the classification and identification of diseases is socially constructed and, along with the rest of science, is far from achieving the ideals of objectivity and neutrality. The medical thesis has much to recommendà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦including the creation of new understanding of the social processes involved in the development and response to medical diagnosis and treatment To understand the level of social power that the medical community exercises through medicalization, Conrad explains that physicians have medicalized social deviance. They accomplish this by claiming the medical basis of matters such as hyperactivity, madness, alcoholism and compulsive gambling [Conrad, p 107]. By  medicalizing  social matters, medical professionals have the power to legitimize negative social behavior, such as the case of suspected killers in judicial courts who claim temporary insanity and are, therefore, exonerated on medical basis [Conrad, p 111]. In extending this concept, the Endocrine Society may have medicalized social deviance in men who reduce their work motivation or become characteristically unpleasant because they are experiencing andropause. In effect, despondency in older men might become an indicator of male menopause rather than a possible indicator of social deviance. Physicians also play a direct and significant role in the medicalization of social experiences. In analyzing the doctor-patient interaction of medicalization, Kaw argues that medical professionals have medicalized racial features by encouraging cosmetic surgery among Asian American women, for example, in order to avoid the stereotypical physical features of small and slanty eyes that are often associated with passivity, dullness and lack of sociability [Kaw, p 75]. Kaw asserts that plastic surgeons use medical terms to problematize the shape of their eyes so as to define it as a medical condition [Kaw, p 81]. Their use of technical terms and expressions should be questioned, especially since the power of such language influences Asian American women to pursue cosmetic surgery, when it is not necessary [Kaw, p 82]. Analogously, the Endocrine Society medicalized testosterone deficiency by defining it as Andropause; this helped perpetuate the notion, among older individuals, that if the y lack sexual drive or sense depression and fatigue, they should seek medical attention because they are experiencing an acute medical condition rather than a stage in the physiological cycle. The role played by the health care structures in medicalizing conditions is enhanced by that of the pharmaceutical industry. In order to achieve implementation of a drug in the market, the medicalization of a problem is critical [Conrad, p 111]. Once a medical definition for male menopause was established, the pharmaceutical company further medicalized the problem by launching strong advertisement campaigns aimed at older men and physicians alike, so as to popularize the drug among the general public and medical community [Groopman, 2002]. In a  Time  magazine advertisement, the industry appealed to the emotions of older men by linking low sex drive to the decline of testosterone levels rather than to a life process [Groopman 2002]. In this manner, the pharmaceutical industries profit based ideology facilitates the medicalization of testosterone deficiency by popularizing conditions that may be exceedingly common among health product consumers. Medicalization also changes patients ideologies of biomedicine and leads them to believe that biomedicine must not only offer cure for illnesses, but also offer life enhancements. Similar to the way that impotence and hair loss was medicalized by promoting drugs like Viagra to enhance sexual performance, and solutions like Rogaine for hair re-growth, male menopause has been medicalized because it causes low sex drive among other general symptoms [Groopman, 2002]. As a consequence, older men will opt to not only seek but demand life enhancements achievable through medicine disregarding the fact that such treatments can be detrimental to health. In fact, Groopman states that known side effect of testosterone therapy include abnormal enlargement of the breasts, testicular shrinkage, congestive heart failure and enlargement of the prostate gland [Groopman, 2002]. Medicalizing a problem can be harmful and deadly, yet medical professionals perpetuate this dangerous behavior by medicalizing conditions that patients may seek to treat for their personal wellbeing It is important to realize that medicalization is not merely the result of medical imperialism but rather the interactive process that involves society and the health community; [Conrad, p 115]. It includes patients and doctors alike. Nonetheless, awareness of the mechanisms by which the medical community affects society is important because medicine pertains to all health consumers. Male menopause only serves as one of the many examples of life experiences that have become medicalized by the healthcare community. Concluding this essay, the concept of medicalization started with the medical dominance which involved the increase of medicines influence and labelling over things regarded as normal life events and experiences. However in recent time, this view of a submissive lay populace, in thrall to expansionist medicine, has been challenged. As a consequence, as we enter a post-modern era, with increased concerns over risk and a decline in the trust of expert authority, many sociologists argue that the modern day consumer of healthcare plays an active role in bringing about or resisting medicalization. Furthermore Such participationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦can be problematic as healthcare consumers become increasingly aware of the risks and uncertainty surrounding many medical choices. Moreover the emergence of the modern day consumer not only raises questions about the notion of medicalisation as a uni-dimensional concept, but also requires consideration of the specific social contexts in which medical isation occurs (Ballard and Elston 2005). In addition they suggest that as we enter a post-modern era, conceptualizing medicalisation as a uni-dimensional or as the result of medical dominance primarily is insufficient.

Wednesday, September 4, 2019

Making the World a Better Place with My Communications Degree Essay

Various people throughout my educational pursuit have asked me, â€Å"What can you do with a degree in Communications?† My answer is, I can do many things but mostly I want to deliver messages in order to help others. I am a networker by nature and I want to use that skill in order to help initiate positive change. In order to capitalize on my innate persuasive talents, I feel I must strive to speak to people and not at people. Anyone can talk but a true communicator can extract information and talent from others and shed a positive light on an issue or a cause. I want to be that communicator. The historical progress of communication has gone from face-to-face grunts, groans and body language, to cave paintings, to print media and now to social media whereby you can reach virtually anyone in the world. What has not changed are key points, first you must get the other party to hear your message, secondly the message must be received and interpreted and there must be a form of feedback and participation for the message to be successful. I remember my first State College Communication epiphany was realizing that to be a good communicator, you must be a good listener. Communication, particularly in the social media age is a continuous loop of realization that the sender of a message is simultaneously a receiver of message. Without this sender/receiver loop, a person is not communicating with another. When I think of communication, I look to Maslow’s hierarchy of Needs for answers. Abraham Maslow developed a model presenting human needs; starting with the most basic an d advancing to those that motivate and foster personal development. The stages are biological and physical, Safety, Belonging and love, Esteem, and lastly Self-actualizat... ...tions and 9) Interaction posture-otherwise known as the ability to respond to others in a descriptive, nonevaluative and nonjudgmental manner (Lustig & Koester, 2010). Armed with the tools I obtained at State College, I am ready to go out into this complex and exciting world to be a vessel for social change and economic development. I will assist start-up companies as well as small companies that are struggling to enter social media promotion. As a former non-profit director and volunteer, I will extend my volunteer work to include cultural competencies and strategies to promote health, prosperity and cultural tolerance. Works Cited Miller, K. (2012). Organizational communication; approaches and processes. (Sixth Ed.). Boston Lustig, M. & Koester, J. (2010). Intercultural competence: Interpersonal communication across cultures. (Sixth Ed.) Boston

Tuesday, September 3, 2019

Matching You with Your Mate :: essays research papers

Is it really better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all? Some of the couples today make that statement seem to be the ultimate truth and others make it questionable. Some appear to be perfect for each other, and others can cause you to wonder just what it is that they have in common. From a girl’s point of view, there are many different types of boyfriends with various behaviors out there. Some go for the typical shy guy, others for the ticking time bomb, the twenty-four seven frisky friend, the little puppy its way, or even the searched for soul mate. Just to think that the next guy you meet may turn out to be just the opposite of what you’re looking for creates a risk that no girl can seem to refuse.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The guy sitting next to you in your summer English class appears to be your typical shy guy because he never has much to say. Imagine yourself a month from now dating him and picture how he’d be as a boyfriend. Now you’re not only spending time in the classroom, but you’re also devoting and sharing everything you have with him. You find yourself waiting for the moment for him to come out of his shell, but it just never seems to come. This proves that the shy guy never really changes much over a period of time, relationship or not. There will always be an awkward moment of silence with him that may cause things in the relationship to become a little unsteady. For example, when you both attend your company’s annual picnic, he comes off as being an unsociable date that seems to be attached to your hip because he never makes the effort to converse in your conversation nor his own. For some people a shy guy isn’t so bad, but for those who are looking for a long-lasting relationship, it’s not recommended.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Moving up a step or two from the shy guy brings you to the ticking time bomb that some girls just can’t seem to get enough of. These are the guys that make it hard for you to take them out because it’s unpredictable when that bomb that you’re holding hands with will go off. Fortunately for these guys, some girls will put up with the edginess that these easily irritated guys seem to possess.

Monday, September 2, 2019

open house :: essays research papers

Review of Open House I am an avid reader. The type of person who can wipe out a good book in a day or two. For the past several months my only reading has been my textbooks. So I was excited sitting down and reading a book just for pleasure. A girlfriend of mine had given me this book and said she enjoyed it. Plus it was a selection of the Oprah book club. Surely Oprah wouldn't steer me wrong. It's Friday night. I am in my room, settled down with everything I need for a night of reading. I actually managed to finish this book with about six to seven hours. This would lead you to believe this was one of those books that you couldn't put down. Unfortunately this was not true. I was sadly glad to just be through it. The story is about a women named Samantha, and the experiences she has during her seperation and divorce. While there was a minimal amount in the story that I could relate to, feeling she has been living what her husband and son wanted her to be. She has to find herself and her own way now. For the most part the story was totally not what real life is about. While I would have liked to have spent the days after my spouse moving out overcharging at Tiffany's. Then the story switches to problems with money. She wanted to charge him out at Tiffany's then suddenly wants to make it on her own. Yet is real slow at looking for a job. When her husband is described as extremely wealthy, yet they didn't live that way. Ok. So Samantha takes in borders. The first one was an older woman who's daughter works at the grocery store. How many of us when looking for a roommate would actually choose a woman in her 60's. Samantha needed to roll her Mom's advice with the old womans example. Because Grandma had a boyfriend. They dated, she spent the night with him. Samantha actually lies in this woman's bed one night and thinking what their lovemaking must be like. Samantha does make a male friend in the story. His name was King. He was the moving man who delivered the roommates funiture. He stopped by a few days later while he was doing another one of his jobs of dog walking.

Sunday, September 1, 2019

Individual Assignment Two Essay

The popularity of Southwestern University’s football program under its new coach, Bo Pitterno, surged in each of the 5 years since his arrival at the Stephenville, Texas, college. With a football stadium close to maxing out at 54,000 seats and a vocal coach pushing for a new stadium, SWU president Joel Wisner faced some difficult decisions. After a phenomenal upset victory over its archrival, the University of Texas, at the homecoming game in the fall, Dr. Wisner was not as happy as one would think. Instead of ecstatic alumni, students, and faculty, all Wisner heard were complaints. â€Å"The lines at the concession stands were too long†; â€Å"Parking was harder to find and farther away than in the old days† (that is, before the team won regularly); â€Å"Seats weren’t comfortable†; â€Å"Traffic was backed up halfway to Dallas†; and on and on. â€Å"A college president just can’t win†, muttered Wisner to himself. At his staff meeting the following Monday, Wisner turned to his VP of administration, Leslie Gardner. â€Å"I wish you would take care of these football complaints, Leslie†, he said. â€Å"See what the real problems are and let me know how you’ve resolved them†. Gardner wasn’t surprised at the request. â€Å"I’ve already got a handle on it, Joel†, she replied. â€Å"We’ve been randomly surveying 50 fans per game for the past year to see what’s on their minds. It’s all part of my campus-wide TQM effort. Let me tally things up and I’ll get back to you in a week†. When she returned to her office, Gardner pulled out the file her assistant had compiled (see the following table). â€Å"There’s a lot of information here†, she thought. Questions: 1. Using at least two different quality tools, analyze the data and present your conclusions. 2.  How could the survey have been more useful? 3.  What is the next step? Fan Satisfaction Survey Results (N = 250) Rochester Manufacturing Corporation (RMC) is considering moving some of its production from traditionally numerically control machines to a flexible machining system (FMS). Its numerical control machines have been operating in a high variety, low volume intermittent manner. Machine utilization, as near as it can be determine, is about 10%. The machine tool sales persons and a consulting firm want to put the machines together in a FMS. They believe that a $3,000,000.00 expenditure on machinery and the transfer machines will handle about 30% of RMC’s work. There will, of course, be a transition and start up cost in addition to this. The firm has not yet entered all its parts into a comprehensive group technology system, but believes that the 30% is a good estimate of products suitable for the FMS. This 30% should fit very nicely a â€Å"family†. A reduction, because of higher utilization, should take place in the number of pieces of machinery. The firm should be able to go from 15 to about 4 machines, and personnel should go from 15 to perhaps as low as 3. Similarly, floor space reduction will go from 20,000 square feet to about 6,000. Throughput of order should also improve with this family of parts being processed in 1 to 2 days rather than 7 to 10 days. Inventory reduction is estimated to yield a one-time $750,000 savings and annual labor savings should be in the neighborhood of $300,000.00. Although the projections all look very positive, an analysis of the project’s return on investment showed it to be between 10% and 15% per year. The company has traditionally had an expectation that projects should yield well over 15% and have payback periods of substantially less than 5 years. Questions: 1.  As the production manager for RMC, what would u recommend? And why? 2.  Prepare a case by a conservative plant manager for maintaining the status quo until the returns are more obvious 3.  Prepare the case for an optimistic sales manager that you should move ahead with the FMS now. ACM is an electronics component manufacturer that has been located in Singapore since 1991, supplying original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) with quality components. In the past several years, ACM has experienced increasing pressure from other manufacturers located in other countries. In Singapore, while labor remains quite inexpensive, there has been a relatively steady increase in labor costs. In addition, utility costs – most notably water and energy costs – have led the firm to contemplate moving operations elsewhere in Asia in an attempt to make the firm more competitive. ACM remains profitable, but margins have shrunk, and management is interested in ensuring that the firm remains competitive in the medium term to long term against other component manufacturers. A team of senior management has formed a committee to reach a decision regarding possible relocation. The committee has identified two additional locations as possible candidates for relocation: Hong Kong (People’s Republic of China [PRC]) and Kuching (Malaysia). Hong Kong’s main attractions stem from the fact that since 1997, when its sovereignty was transferred back to the PRC, labor costs have decreased as access to labor has increased. Hong Kong enjoys a large seaport and very good transportation infrastructure, and this is important in moving in raw materials and moving out finished components  to customers. Senior management believes that an increasing number of OEMs will move to the PRC in the next several years, as has been the case in the past decade. This will only increase the attractiveness of locating the manufacturing facility in Hong Kong. Kuching is located in the Malaysian province of Sarawak, on the island of Borneo. It is the fourth-largest city in Malaysia and home to a population of around 650,000. Several points make Kuching attractive to the relocation committee. First, locating here would give access to natural resources and other production inputs. Second, the transportation infrastructure is good, and the city hosts a deep sea port for moving raw materials in and finished good out. That said, the port is not as large or accessible as those of Hong Kong or Singapore, and several committee members have expressed concern about the frequency of ship visits to Kuching. If the port does not receive regular service from container ships, transportation costs to ship components to OEMs will doubtlessly stable and inexpensive in Malaysia. The committee has contracted the government of Singapore to elicit possible incentives to not relocate to another country. Singapore is offering a five-year exemption on taxes for ACM if the plant remains in Singapore. The government will also assist by partially subsidizing labor, water, and energy costs for five years. Committee members realize that the Singapore plant, which has been operating for years, has already been amortized, and opening a new plant would require additional capital costs. That said, opening a new factory would also provide an opportunity to upgrade production equipment to more productive and energy-efficient alternatives. Questions: 1.  What advantages and disadvantages does each potential location offer? 2.  What other relevant factors that are not mentioned in this case study might play a role in this decision? 3.  Why is transportation infrastructure so important in this decision? 4.  This is a long-term, strategic decision; what factors might change in the next 10 to 20 years? How will this influence the decision? 5.  Which alternative would you recommend, under which circumstances?† Henry Coupe, the manager of a metropolitan branch office of the state department of motor vehicles, attempted to perform an analysis of the driver’s license renewal operations. Several steps were to be performed in the process. After examining the license renewal process, he identified the steps and associated times required to perform each step as shown in the following table. State Automobile License Renewals Process Times Step 1. Review renewal application for correctness 2. Process and record payment 3. Check file for violations and restrictions 4. Conduct eye test 5. Photograph applicant 6. Issue temporary license Average Time to Perform (seconds) 15 30 60 40 20 30 Coupe found that each step was assigned to a different person. Each application was a separate process in the sequence shown below. Coupe determined that his office should be prepared to accommodate the maximum demand of processing 120 renewal applicants per hour. He observed that the work was unevenly divided among the clerks, and the clerk who was responsible for checking violations tended to shortcut her task to keep up with the other clerks. Long lines built up during the maximum demand periods. Coupe also found that the Steps 1 to 4 were handled by general clerks who were each paid $12 per hour. Step 5 was performed by a photographer paid $16 per hour. (Branch offices were charged $10 per hour for each camera to perform photography.) Step 6, issuing temporary licenses, was required by state policy to be handled by uniformed motor vehicle officers. Officers were paid $18 per hour, but could be assigned to any job except photography. A review of the jobs indicated that Step 1, reviewing the application for correctness, had to be performed before any other step could be taken. Similarly, Step 6, issuing temporary licenses, could not be performed until all the other steps were completed. Henry Coupe was under severe pressure to increase productivity and reduce costs, but he was also told by the regional director of the Department of Motor Vehicles that he had better accommodate the demand for renewals. Otherwise â€Å"heads would roll.† Questions: 1.  What is the maximum number of applications per hour that can be handled by the present configuration of the process? 2.  How many applications can be processed per hour if a second clerk is added to check for violations? 3.  If the second clerk could be added anywhere (and not necessarily to check for violations, as in (2)), what is the maximum number of application the process can handle? What is the new configuration? 4.  How would you suggest modifying the process in order to accommodate 120 applications per hour? What is the cost per application of this new configuration?