Freedom and Slavery in “Huckleberry Finn” Essay

â€Å"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn†, by Mark Twain, is a classic American novel, considered by some to be the finest example of American literature. It follows Huck and Jim, a poor Southern white boy and a runaway slave, as they travel down the Mississippi River in a quest for freedom. Sometimes regarded as a simple children’s story, â€Å"Huckleberry Finn†, while still existing on that level, also has an abundance of symbolism and meaning that’s not immediately apparent. The novel contains ideas and observations that Twain felt were significant to the culture and the people he was writing to. The primary theme of the book (most appropriate considering the time period in which it was written) is the struggle between freedom and slavery. Huckleberry Finn experiences this struggle as the adults around him attempt to â€Å"sivilize† him and force him to conform to their ideas of appropriate behavior. Witnessing their hypocrisy, their interest in being SEEN as good respectable people over actually BEING good respectable people, Huck instinctively dismisses and rebels against their teachings. He resists being molded into something that’s pleasing to others but not himself, against becoming a slave to the person everyone else wants him to be, forever prevented from expressing who he truly is. Perhaps more literally, Jim also must struggle for freedom. A slave all his life, he becomes a runaway, forced to rely on a white boy whose attitudes and ideas have been molded all his life to view blacks as inferior. He’s struggling against society, which literally attempts to enslave him as someone whose only purpose is to serve his superiors (whites), whose life means nothing more than to serve as a piece of property. Both Jim and Huck fight for their own forms of freedom when all outside forces are trying to enslave them. Both merely want to be the masters of their own lives and persons, without external control. Not only is this concept a key theme in the novel, but in the South throughout it’s history.

Identity struggle †The narrow and broad path in James Baldwin’s Go Tell It on the Mountain Essay

James Baldwin’s life was deeply marked by an identity struggle. A struggle to find out what it meant to be an American and foremost what it meant to be an Afro American. Like in other works he also deals with this topic in his first novel Go Tell It on the Mountain, where John Grimes confronts this problem on his fourteenth birthday. The following paper will therefore take a look at the possibilities offered to the Afro American characters in the story, especially to John, and what role the church plays in this context. Moreover it will outline John Grimes situation between a religious up-bringing in poverty and the longing for a better financial life by adopting white ways. Finally it will try to elaborate on the basis of two key scenes whether John’s decision is based on faith or hopelessness. II. Imposed roles – Afro Americans in a dominantly white society From the very beginning of the novel the possibilities of Afro Americans in American society are depicted as very remote, especially in John Grimes’ case: â€Å"Everyone had always said that John would be a preacher when he grew up, just like his father.† . His entire life and all the people in it are set in a religious environment, blocking out any kind of secular influence. As a matter of fact no other future option for him is ever mentioned in the novel. At some point though his teachers notice that he is very intelligent: â€Å"You’re a very bright boy, John Grimes [†¦] Keep up the good work.† .His parents don’t seem to be aware of this or don’t consider this to be of importance for his future perspectives. This hopelessness can be traced throughout each character’s life in the novel. Those who do not accept their role imposed to them by society tend to fail in life. For example Aunt Florence who sets out North in order to achieve a higher living standard, but ends up alone after driving her husband away from her due to her ambition to gain a higher social standard. Further, John’s real father Richard is crushed by the injustice against black men in a dominantly white society and consequently commits suicide. Hence, John and the following generations are taught to accept the circumstances and their status in American society. In order to cope with this they are advised to lead a highly religious life and to shut out all secular elements. It is this aspect that Baldwin criticizes mostly. He blames the black people for accepting the myth of being inferior to white people without a struggle . Moreover he accuses them of copying white ways and replacing their own African traditions . Aunt Florence even takes a step further in the novel by trying to bleach her skin with beauty products, hereby rejecting her black skin and thus her heritage. At the same time he blames the Anglo-American society for depriving black people of all freedom and power to direct their own lives . This identity struggle is clearly visible in John’s case and will be discussed in detail in chapter three. 2.1. Black church as a helpful companion or a mere distraction from reality? Since the current story evolving around John primarily takes place in a church and deals with his conversion it is important to take a closer look at the role of Black Christianity and the Black Church. The Temple of the Fire Baptized, family Grimes’ church, is presented to the reader as a place of redemption and as a shelter from all the sin in the world. John is confronted with this supposedly sin on his way to church every Sunday in the form of men and women coming home from bars and cat houses . The constant threats of damnation and hell itself, which Macebuh states as being part of the Black Christianity, also appear throughout the entire novel. Due to the permanent warnings of temptations and sin by his parents and the church community, John lives in abiding fear of God’s wrath, even in harmless places such as the movies: He waited for the darkness to be shattered by the light of the second coming, for the ceiling to crack upward, revealing, for every eye to see, the chariots of fire on which descended a wrathful God and all the host of Heaven. In return for refuge and brotherhood, the members are curtailed freedom and have to renounce all worldly pleasures. Especially this aspect of religion is irreproducible for John and even more for Roy, who openly criticizes his father for forcing them to obey: Yeah [†¦] we don’t know how lucky we is to have a father what don’t want you to go to movies, and don’t want you to play in the streets, and don’t want you to have no friends, and he don’t want this and he don’t want that, and he don’t want you to do nothing. We so lucky to have a father who just wants us to go to church and read the Bible [†¦]. In the novel the church primarily seems to be a place of comfort for those in sorrow, such as Aunt Florence. She remembers having gone to church only once since she moved to the North and her visit to the Temple of the Fire Baptized now is due to her cancer and fear of death. So it seems that people rather turn to God out of despair than out of strong belief. This assumption is also enforced by an ironic observation the narrator makes concerning the character’s habits of church going: Tarry service officially began at eight, but it could begin at any time, whenever the Lord moved one of the saints to enter the church and pray. It was seldom, however, that anyone arrived before eight thirty, the Spirit of the Lord being sufficiently tolerant to allow the saints time to do their Saturday-night shopping, clean their houses, and put their children to bed. Especially the younger people do not seem to go to church voluntarily to help out, leaving John usually alone to clean up the Temple, unless Elisha shows up to give him a hand: â€Å"Lord, Sister McCandless,† he said, â€Å"look like it ain’t never but us two. I don’t know what the other young folks does on Saturday nights, but they don’t come nowhere near here.† . Ironically, while Elisha says this, John thinks to himself that not even Elisha shows up frequently on Saturdays. All these passages show that the so called â€Å"saints† in the novel do not go to church out of religious reasons but because they are desperate and consider the church as a â€Å"rallying point around which they sought to lessen their pain by sharing in one another’s joys and suffering† as Macebuh puts it . Peter Bruck interprets this similarly. He sees the Negro Church as the only available social space for the black society in history. But still this social field of activity does not help to change the inhuman conditions each character suffers and the prayers also do not improve their psychological and social circumstance . In this context, particularly in chapter two, â€Å"The Prayers of the Saints†, the reader gets an idea of what the prayer of each member consists. During mass all of them reflect on their past and recall their sins, but they do not pray out of their love for God but out of fear that He might make them suffer his wrath, since He is not the â€Å"compassionate God of the New Testament† . Colin MacInnes goes even further in his essay by referring to religion as â€Å"a fierce and constant compulsion that never abandons them [the characters] a second† . Bone states that religion means refuge from the terrors of everyday life and God therefore represents safety: â€Å"God and safety became synonymous, and the church, a part of his survival strategy†. However, the price for this safety is renouncement of personal power of one’s sex and social power of one’s people . Overall Bone reckons that the church offers either the path of self-hatred or the path of self-acceptance, with Christ as a kind of spiritual bleaching cream. In this structure the Negro masses function as a ritual enactment of their dai ly pain . Edward Margolies depicts the Negro Church as a â€Å"kind of community newspaper† which links the new immigrants to their Southern past and functions as an output for their rage, terror and frustrations . In addition to all the authors here mentioned, Margolies expands the church’s functions upon the field of masculine identity. The church exemplifies by means of the wrathful Old Testament God a masculine role model many Negro adolescences lack in their family environment . This can also be applied to John’s case. Rejected by his father, or as the reader knows, his stepfather, he feels unloved and ugly. On the one hand he despises God, since he sees his father as God’s minister . On the other hand though, he longs to be saved and become God’s son, who would then protect him: Then he would no longer be the son of his father, but the son of his Heavenly Father, the King. Then he need no longer fear his father, for he could take, as it were, their quarrel over his father’s head to Heaven – to the Father who loved him, who had come down in the flesh to die for him. This passage clearly shows that the church provides John with some kind of psychic compensation for the love his father deprives him of and that he sees in God an ally against his father. This would become redundant if he were to find out that Gabriel is not his real father and that he has also sinned in his past life, namely in the form of his unclaimed firstborn son with Esther . As for Elisha, who also tries to bring him closer to God, John sees in him a brotherly and fatherly figure he looks up to, but he also feels attracted to him in sexual ways. Elisha somehow represents the earthly protection and guidance John needs in order to find his identity. He is also the one who shows him another side of God and religion. Instead of the wrathful God his father preaches him, Elisha speaks of a caring and blessing one who protects and saves . In general, the church is depicted as a kind of sanctuary for the characters, just as it was for James Baldwin himself. The black Church offered him in a similar way shelter and refuge from the terrors of the streets . Overall, true belief is disregarded in contrast to safety which now stands for Christianity. III. In search of identity: Between secularization and clericalization Given the background so far John Grimes is trapped between the clerical life his parents force unto him and the secular life that awaits him outside his home on the streets. The title of the novel, the first line of a Negro spiritual, refers to the good news of Jesus Christ’s existence. Additionally, the first chapter that introduces the reader to the characters is called â€Å"The seventh day†, a clear reference to the creation story of Genesis . Both function as allusions to biblical constructions. In a figurative sense, John’s fourteenth birthday can therefore be seen as a creative process, which marks his finding of self-identity, as well in religious terms as in worldly or sexual terms. The following chapters will take a closer look at two passages where John faces different paths concerning his identity, one characterized by a more material and white world and another leading to a strictly religious life. 3.1. John’s getaway to Manhattan – Denial of his black heritage? On his fourteenth birthday John uses the money his mother gives him to buy a metro card and drive down to Manhattan. As mentioned before John feels attracted to the shining and sparkling world of white men and is not so â€Å"much interested in his people† . He cares more about what the white people think of him and feels very proud when they notice his intelligence in school . This intelligence symbolizes for him a special power the others do not possess and which he hopes will bring him the love he lacks: â€Å"Perhaps, with this power he might one day win that love which he so longed for.† . For John the white world represents power and success . Thus, once he arrives at Central Park and reaches the top of the hill, he feels as if he could counter the entire city: He did not know why, but there arose in him an exultation and a sense of power, and he ran up the hill like an engine, or a madman, willing to throw himself headlong into the city that glowed before him [†¦] Then he, John, felt like a giant who might crumble this city with his anger; he felt like a tyrant who might crush this city beneath his heel; he felt like a long-awaited conqueror at whose feet flowers would be strewn [†¦] He would be, of all, the mightiest, the most beloved, the Lord’s anointed, and he would live in this shining city which his ancestors had seen with longing from far away. There alone on the top of the hill he dreams of being part of the city and belonging to the upper white class, which would accept him unconditionally. But as soon as he recalls the people’s reactions to him he is pulled back into reality: â€Å"He remembered the people he had seen in the city, whose eyes held no love for him [†¦] and how when they passed they did not see him, or, if they saw him, they smirked.† . Despite these incidents John still feels as part of the white social stratum due to his intelligence, but reality looks quite different and resembles more his parents’, especially his father’s warnings of the city and white men in general. As he walks along Central Park he keeps imagining what it would be like living in such an environment and being wealthy. The absence of God in this society is not a drawback for John, since he sees that the way of life according to the Lord has not really helped his parents with their everyday struggles: In the narrow way, the way of the cross, there awaited him only humiliation forever; there awaited him, one day, a house like his father’s house, and a church like his father’s, and a job like his father’s, where he would grow old and black with hunger and toil. The way of the cross had given him a belly filled with wind and had bent his mother’s back; they had never worn fine clothes, but here, where the buildings contested God’s power and where the men and women did not fear God, here he might eat and drink to his heart’s content and clothe his body with wondrous fabrics [†¦]. Despite the fact that he knows that â€Å"their thoughts were not of God, and their way was not God’s way† , he cannot believe how the white society, being so beautiful and gracious, could end up in hell. He himself had been witness of their capacity to do good when he was sick and one of his teachers had brought him medicine. Although John does not really know yet who he is and where he belongs, at this point he does know that he never wants to end up like his father. Due to his young age and inexperience it is more likely that he feels attracted to the white society on the grounds of a wealthier future it seems to offer and not because he tries to deny his black heritage. His aversion to black people derives basically from the fact that his entire Negro environment characterizes itself by poverty and does not offer him a successful, strong or caring male role model. On the contrary, John’s self-hatred and accusation are a result of his father’s treatment. Hence, he tries to find an explanation for his father’s rejection in his own shortcomings, such as his desire to leave the ghetto or his intelligence which singles him out . Gabriel’s ongoing criticism of John’s outward appearance leads to insecurity and self-doubt: His father had always said that his face was the face of Satan – and was there not something – in the lift of the eyebrow, in the way his rough hair formed a V on his brow – that bore witness to his father’s words? In the eye there was a light that was not the light of Heaven, and the mouth trembled, lustful and lewd, to drink deep of the wines of Hell [†¦] two great eyes, and a broad, low forehead, and the triangle of his nose, and his enormous mouth, and the barely perceptible cleft in his chin, which was, his father said, the mark of the devil’s little finger [†¦] he most passionately desired to know: whether his face was ugly or not. By contrast, the white society stands for success and seems to offer him all the possibilities his father deprives him of. Most of all John associates access to knowledge with white people. Next to the incident at school, which was mentioned earlier on page three, John feels both attracted and frightened by the Public Library on 42nd Street. He believes books to be part of high culture and thus a white privilege. Scared he stands in front of the building not knowing how people would react to him if he dared to go inside: He loved this street, not for the people or the shops but for the stone lions that guarded the great main building of the Public Library, a building filled with books and unimaginably vast, and which he had never yet dared to enter [†¦] But he had never gone in because the building was so big that it must be full of corridors and marble steps, in the maze of which he would be lost and never find the book he wanted. And then everyone, all the white people inside, would know that he was not used to great buildings, or to many books, and they would look at him with pity. This passage also shows that even though the big city fascinates John, it also seems to him as a kind of maze that terrifies him and brings back his father’s words of warning. Despite all these admonitions and the fact that John is aware of the Negro treatment and history in the United States , he believes that his knowledge is the key to white acceptance. His getaway to Manhattan also leads him to Broadway, which he automatically associates with the broad path to Hell and damnation: â€Å"Broadway: the way that led to death was broad, and many could be found thereon [†¦]† . Still he immediately dismisses this image and decides to see a movie on Sixth Avenue, where once again he is plagued by thoughts of God punishing him for this supposedly sin . Inspired by the main character of the movie, whom he admires for her strength and independency, John tries to figure out whether there is a third path in life: â€Å"John thought of Hell, of his soul’s redemption, and the struggle to find a compromise between the way that led to life everlasting and the way that ended in the pit. But there was none [†¦]† .   This trip to Manhattan signifies for John an escape from his father’s religious world and one step closer to the life he wishes to lead, one that is characterized by financial security and social status independent of his skin color. As mentioned before, this tendency in John can be ascribed to a longing for a better life and not to an intended denial of his blackness. Still his desire to be part of the white society leads automatically to a negation of his ancestor’s past and hence to alienation from his own people. Therefore John’s desired white identity is only a mock identity which would never work. The only way of finding his real identity is by accepting his own heritage and history and consequently his own father . Moreover, by attending the movies he does not only carry out an act of social participation but also an act of defiance both against morality and religion, since he identifies with the white heroine’s attitude, who â€Å"tells the world to kiss her ass† . Ironically, in the end John remains in his secular thinking as much a victim of his fears of God as those who are willing to accept God’s power . 3.2. John’s conversion – True belief or a mere survival gimmick? The other path, the narrow one which is available for John, is the religious one his parents and his community offer him. Here the third chapter â€Å"The Treshing Floor† or rather the conversion scene in this chapter can be taken as a good example. Even though John mentioned before that â€Å"he did not long for the narrow way, where all his people walked† , in chapter three he engages in an ecstatic conversion. Therefore this experience is questionable and rather seems to be a flight from the quest for identity into the ostensible safety the black church offers . During his spiritual experience he encounters various obstacles, his father being the most difficult one. While John is lying in front of the altar he sees his father looking down on him without pity or love, but instead he keeps hearing him say: â€Å"I’m going to beat sin out of him. I’m going to beat it out!† . As mentioned before the only way to God is through his father and by admitting his sin. Like the son of Noah, he too had made fun of his father’s bareness and was now cursed for it to the present just like Ham. By accepting this, namely that â€Å"all niggers had come from this most undutiful of Noah’s sons† and that â€Å"a curse was renewed from moment to moment, from father to son† , he embraces his black heritage. Some critics, e.g. Csaba Csapà ³, go even further by assuming that by doing so he also embraces his homosexuality, which comes to show in his relationship with Elisha . But this is altogether a different topic of the novel, which does not contribute to this essays matter and will therefore not be discussed at this point. His ongoing journey takes him into a grave, which symbolizes the past, isolation, death but also resurrection, where the collective singing and praying further strengthens his realization of his own history : In this murmur that filled the grave [†¦] he recognized a sound that he had always heard [†¦] This sound had filled John’s life, so it now seemed, from the moment he had first drawn breath. He had heard it everywhere [†¦] It was in his father’s anger, in his mother’s calm insistence, and in the vehement mockery of his aunt [†¦] Yes, he had heard it all his life, but it was only now that his ears were opened to this sound that came from darkness, that yet bore such sure witness to the glory of the light. And now in his moaning, and so far from any help, he heard it in himself. This experience creates an identity in John which no longer separates him from his black environment but rather strengthens the feeling of solidarity. Nevertheless, this identity-shaping does not change John’s relationship to his father: â€Å"[†¦] the living word that could conquer the great division between his father and himself. But it did not come [†¦]† . Peter Bruck explains this situation with the fact that John’s experience does not signify relief from his damnation, but merely constitutes a momentary ease from the existing situation, similar to the Noah and Ham network . This assumption is also supported by Gabriel’s comment after John’s conversion: â€Å"It comes from your mouth [†¦] I want to see you live it. It’s more than a notion.† . He reminds John of the fact that his conversion is merely the first step and that he is still to be tested by the long, complex journey of life. This is also emphasized by the unchanged picture the saints face the morning after John’s conversion, which stands in contrast to the development he has undergone: Yet the houses were there, as they had been; the windows, like a thousand, blinded eyes, stared outward at the morning – at the morning that was the same for them as the mornings of John’s innocence, and the mornings before his birth. The water ran in the gutters with a small, discontented sound; on the water traveled paper, burnt matches, sodden cigarette-ends; gobs of spittle, green-yellow, brown, and pearly; the leavings of a dog, the vomit of a drunken man, the dead sperm, trapped in rubber, of one abandoned to his lust. This passage clearly shows the constant burdens of life and the unimproved reality awaiting John. The picture is characterized by decay and waste and thus depicts John’s hopeless situation in spite of his new found identity. As his father mentioned to him he is still endangered by his environment and his relationship to yonder has not improved at all. The people will still confront him with the same pity and hostility as before, calling him â€Å"Frog-eyes† and other names . Hence the church only offers a temporary place of refuge without really creating better options for the future. It only partially illuminates things and merely hides or damns others . But in the midst of all this pessimism there also exists a spark of hope for John. He has now found a new ally in Elisha who already helped him through his conversion and will keep on doing so in the future. Further, he has introduced John to the love of God, instead of the theological terror of the false God his father preaches . As Robert Bone also hints at, the church can function as a â€Å"path of self-hatred† or as a â€Å"path of self-acceptance† . The following lines point to a new start and ongoing journey lying ahead of Jo hn: The sun had come full awake. It was waking the streets, and the houses, and crying at the windows. It fell over Elisha like a golden robe, and struck John’s forehead, where Elisha had kissed him, like a seal ineffaceable forever. Again, this kiss and the rising sun can be interpreted as John’s awakening homosexuality, which in the following works of Baldwin is also seen as a source of hope . The closing lines of the novel â€Å"I’m ready [†¦] I’m coming. I’m on my way.† impart an open ending to the story, leaving out which path John is going to take after all. IV. Conclusion The ending of the novel leaves the reader wondering whether John has definitely chosen the â€Å"narrow path† he so long avoided, even despised. Only several hours before, he still dreamed of a wealthy life midst the white society, far away from his own people and poverty. The moment he realizes that â€Å"this world was not for him† and that â€Å"they would never let him enter† , as his father always kept preaching him, he turns to his only other option, the black church. Thus, it seems to be more a last desperate act to survive in the brutal streets of Harlem, than an act of religious belief. This step can also be found in James Baldwin’s own biography. After having served as a preacher for several years, he left the black church unsatisfied and misunderstood, still searching for his own identity as an American, better as an Afro American. In exchange for sanctuary he had to give up his sexuality and entirely isolate himself from the outer world, which might get him into conflict with the white power. This meant exchanging the personal power of one’s sex and the social power of one’s people in exchange for the power of the Word, in Baldwin’s eyes the historical betrayal of the Negro Church . A similar pattern of behavior can be observed in John, who sees in religion also a survival gimmick. Although during John’s religious ecstasy the reader might get the impression that he is acting according to belief, his final words to Elisha on the way home evoke insecurity in this decision: â€Å"[†¦] no matter what happens to me, where I go, what folks say about me, no matter what anybody says, you remember [†¦] I was saved. I was there.† . It seems as though he knows that his conversion is not the finish line and yet another journey awaits him that may lead him away from the church, as it did James Baldwin. V. Bibliography Primà ¤rliteratur †¢Baldwin, James: Go Tell It on the Mountain. New York: Bantam Dell 1980. Sekundà ¤rliteratur †¢Bone, Robert A.: â€Å"James Baldwin† in: Keneth Kinnamon: James Baldwin. A Collection of Critical Essays. New Jersey: Prentice Hall 1974, p. 28-38. †¢Bruck, Peter: Von der „store front churchâ€Å" zum „American Dreamâ€Å". James Baldwin und der amerikanische Rassenkonflikt. Amsterdam: B. R. Grà ¼ner 1975, p.24-36. †¢Csapà ³, Csaba: „Race, Religion and Sexuality in Go Tell It on the Mountain† in: Carol E. Henderson: James Baldwin’s Go Tell It on the Mountain. Historical and Critical Essays. New York: Peter Lang 2006, p.57-74. †¢Fabre, Michel: „Fathers and Sons in James Baldwin’s Go Tell It on the Mountainâ€Å" in: Keneth Kinnamon: James Baldwin. A Collection of Critical Essays. New Jersey: Prentice Hall 1974, p.120-138. †¢Jones, Beau Fly: „The Struggle for Identity† in: The British Journal of Sociology, Vol. 17, No.2 (June 1966), p.107-121. †¢Kent, George E.: „Baldwin and the Problem of Being† in: Therman B. O’Daniel: James Baldwin. A Critical Evaluation. London: AD. Donker 1977, p.19-29. †¢Macebuh, Stanley: James Baldwin: A critical Study. New York: The Third Press Joseph Okpaku Publishing Company 1973, p.49-68. †¢MacInnes, Colin: „Dark Angel: The Writings of James Baldwin† in: Gibson, Donald B.: Five Black Writers. New York: New York University Press 1970, p.119-126. †¢Margolies, Edward: „The Negro Church: James Baldwin and the Christian Vision† in: Harold Bloom: James Baldwin. New York: Chelsea House Publishers 1986, p.59-76. †¢Rosenblatt, Roger: â€Å"Out of Control: Go Tell It on the Mountain and Another Country† in: Harold Bloom: James Baldwin. New York: Chelsea House Publishers 1986, p.77-90. †¢Sylvander, Carolyn Wedin: James Baldwin. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co. 1980, p.27-44. View as multi-pages

An Overview of Selective Amino acid Based NLO Crystals

An Overview of Selective Amino acid Based NLO Crystals Piperidine ring is one of the most recognizable structural entities among heterocyclic molecules [24]. Piperidine has a six-membered ring similar to cyclohexane with one methylene (CH2) replaced by secondary amino (NH) group. In 1853, Cahours, discovered the alkaloid piperine 1, which occurs in black pepper. Piperidine which was first isolated from piperine 1, inhibits human P-glycoprotein and CYP3A4. Thousands of piperidine compounds have been cited in clinical and preclinical studies. The synthesis of piperidine is easy, economic and less time consuming. The parent molecule is flexible in nature and hence various derivatives can be easily prepared by altering its substituent. In recent years, research efforts have been made in exploring novel organic materials for their potential use in a variety of devices. The materials which could produce green/blue laser light and could withstand high energy light radiation are of vital importance for their uses in devices. The basic understanding of organic nonlinear optical materials has been well established and extensive studies have been motivated by their wide range of potential applications. Optical second-harmonic generation (SHG) induced by an acoustical field was observed in several composites, both in bulk as well as in large sized nano crystallite samples. The effect is generally explained by a non-centrosymmetric spatial charge density distribution of photo carrier excitation under an external acoustical field due to the electrostriction (photo acoustical) effects. An organic molecule should possess large second-order hyperpolarizability to exhibit good non-linear optical properties. ОІ can be enha nced by increasing the intermolecular charge transfer interaction and by extending the size of conjugated system. The piperidine derivatives are well known for their outstanding green light transmittance much better than those observed in inorganic crystals and show conspicuous inclination to crystallize as non-centrosymmetric materials. The structural flexibility of organic compounds is an asset for materials with optimized second order NLO susceptibility, fast response and tailor-made flexibility. An innumerable of organic crystals are synthesized and grown as a part of this. One of the noticeable requirements for nonlinear crystal is that it should have excellent optical quality. For a device to flourish, it is vital that it should meet a number of criteria such as optical nonlinearity, chemical and thermal stability for life time system capability. Organic NLO materials are attracting a great deal of attention for possible use in optical devices because of their large optical nonlinearity, low cut-off wavelengths, fast response time and high thresholds for laser power. Most of the organic molecules show large nonlinear optical response, with the electron-donor and electron-acceptor groups located at the extreme of a system involving correlated and high delocalized П-electron states. A nonzero SHG behavior is present in centrosymmetric crystals if chiral molecules and circularly polarized light are used. It has been recognized that the two-photon optical properties of materials should be affected by the donor acceptor strength, the molecular structure, the conjugation length and the intermolecular charge transfer etc. The D-A conjugated oligomers usually have two types of molecular structures, such as asymmetrical D-A type and symmetrical D-A-D or A-D-A type. The optical properties of these oligomers can be easily tuned by the introduction of different donor or acceptor moieties. Apart from structural flexibility, which allows fine-tuning of chemical structures for the desired NLO properties, the organic materials are of great technological interest due to their low cost, ease of fabrication, handy integration into devices, low dielectric constant, high electro-optic coefficient value, and resistance to laser damages. Polar organic crystals, which form non-centrosymmetric crystal structures, are attracting much interest due to their potentially high nonlinearities and a rapid response in electro-optic effects that often surpass those on inorganic nonlinear optical materials.

Globalisation Friendly Policies of China Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Globalisation Friendly Policies of China - Essay Example The economic part of globalization is the key because with the whole world becoming a kind of global village, barriers between the countries are broken with integration happening mainly in the economic aspects. So, Globalisation has made an impact and developing majority of the countries all over the world including China. That is, countries like China are following many ‘globalisation friendly’ policies, thereby developing themselves, and to show they are developing, they, in turn, are impacting other countries through that development. When one closely looks at the annals of many countries, it will be clear that for a nation to develop and reach the top echelons, particularly in the aspect of giving its people the needed facilities and also to achieve superiority over other nations, its economy should be very strong and still growing. This economic strength will elevate the country in other aspects of military strength, space power, sports, etc, etc, thereby impacting other countries. As any country’s economy cannot exist like an island insulated from any impacts, its growth or lack of growth will surely have an impact on many countries both in the positive as well as in the negative direction. So, this paper will examine how China has developed optimally through ‘globalisation friendly’ policies, and how that development is visible in the way the Chinese economy and its people have developed, and also how this development of China is turning out to be an economic challenge to the United States and Europe. For a long time, China mainly depended on agriculture for its economic generation as well as for the livelihood of its people. However, after the onset of globalization, China started to focus on industrial growth.  

Cell Phones Should Be Allowed in Class Assignment

Cell Phones Should Be Allowed in Class - Assignment Example Cell phones have enormous benefits to offer to the society and its members and thus individuals expect to be able to use them every one. One setting where cell phones have been enormously criticized is in classrooms. Although cell phones have been criticized, this technology should be allowed in classrooms because this technology enhances learning, security, and connectivity.  Mobile phones should be allowed in classrooms because these devices enhance learner’s learning. Those who oppose this technology in classrooms believe that this technology is an obstacle in learning because this technology diverts the attention of the student from what is being taught in the class. These devices do not become an obstacle to learning what is being taught, they rather support and enhance the understanding of the course material. There are many instances when even the instructors fail to provide information relevant to the course material. In such instances, cell phones allow individuals to search for information in connection with course material and this information does not only benefits the user, this information even benefits other class members and the instructor. According to Ferriter, mobile phones can be used in classrooms to replace essential classroom supplies (Ferriter 1). Ferriter states that while conducting a lab experiment students required timers to time their experiments. There were insufficient timers to help the students, so mobile phones were used as timers and this activity allowed cell phones to perform various functions such as helping students in locating definitions and sharing of knowledge with other students through texting.  Security is one of the major issues that have been addressed by the use of cell phones. When students are restricted in a classroom they are unaware of the happening in the world outside the classroom. Due to this students face security issues as information regarding negative events taking place outside the classr oom is essential for students to take preventive measures while returning to their homes.

Works of art as inspiration grade 8 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Works of art as inspiration grade 8 - Essay Example nts in describing the picture, identifying details that could tell about the circumstances during that time, recognize things, places, people or facial expressions that would inform about the setting. It also aims to develop the children’s critical thinking, expressing their criticisms in words in an organized fashion, naming things they observe in the picture and relating what is happening in the picture to their experiences and observations. In addition, the students should be able to infer from the picture what it is all about and discuss with their classmates whatever information they grasped from the picture. The lesson will start with an introduction of the painter and his painting: Paul Kane is one of Canada’s most popular painters who was born in Ireland in 1810 but emigrated to York, now known as Toronto, by the age of nine. He travelled a lot to many places to learn from the masters in the field of painting which enhanced his skill and allowed him to meet people who eventually inspired him in his work. Scene in the Northwest is just one of Kane’s many paintings which became very famous because it is now recorded to be the most expensive painting from a Canadian artist doubling the price of the second most expensive Canadian painting (National Gallery of Canada Archives). Presenting the picture, the lesson will be executed in a similar fashion to this: Student C: The ice is thick and it is impossible for cars to travel because they might sink in or get stuck on the road. Also, there are not many people in the area so there are probably not much stores or gasoline stations where they can buy their needs or ask help from in case their car can not move. Student C: The area behind the people is very wide but there are no other people or houses besides those we can see. I think they are in a place like the northernmost or southernmost parts of the globe where only scientists go to, to study the weather there or find new discoveries that can make them

School Lunch Lady Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

School Lunch Lady - Essay Example Hence, the staff in those schools was extremely strict, especially the lunch lady, so that the students learn to adjust to the harder way of life. She used to make the same porridge everyday, and gave only fixed amounts of food to everyone, to keep the children away from any kind of luxury. Although the image of that lunch lady is still in the minds of children today, not one school has a lunch lady of that caliber. Today, children are not scared into doing something, but are politely made to understand between right and wrong, and their consequences. For instance, if children need to be stopped from eating a lot of candies, they cannot be forced or scared into doing it, but be explained the harmful effects of doing what they are doing. I believe that this image of the lunch lady should have been gone with the extinction of old boarding schools, but media was always there to save it from dying, and has still kept it alive. Fairy tales and other children's books have played a major role in keeping the lunch lady alive. The stereotype can be seen in stories like Hansel & Gretel, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and others.

Note taking by condensing Quinn's first nine chapters into notes Assignment

Note taking by condensing Quinn's first nine chapters into notes - Assignment Example He realized this gorilla was able to develop an adaptation to his environment at the zoo and came about the norms of the civilized community from his observations of people who’d visit him at his lair. He must have loved the wild, for certain, except that with incessant utilization of resources from the mountains and the destruction of their home or habitat, life there becomes improbable and risky for a wild beast like him. The changes of course brought questions on identity, as human beings desire that all animals, things, and objects must have names—regardless if this is culturally or zoologically befitting to be named as such because translocation apparently is appended with untangled or mystifying confusion and disorientation on life’s dichotomy. Children for instance would love to enjoy trekking in the forests and learn on the variation of species but this Gorilla perceived of those mountains as vast strange wasteland. The lesson of captivity provided an opp ortunity to anchor such human beings’ restiveness for paradigmatic discernment on their dependency on nature for survival but is, on similar note, engaged in wanton destruction of environment and resource. They are the same people who are very passionate about life but also became authors of armed conflicts; murderers of those who refused to adhere to the power of those who subjugate. These peoples, who claimed to be the most civilized beings on earth, but whose knowledge are used to disadvantage others; made laws to repress civil liberties; and, used their minds to despair other hearts. Will Ishmael be able to pursue his desire to change the world? Or, will this remain a dream? Maybe reviewing peoples’ culture and ideological differences seemed to have buried the common values required to appreciate multi-ethnicity and variegation of faiths. Those who dubbed themselves as the

Organizational Communication and Tourism Dissertation

Organizational Communication and Tourism - Dissertation Example 3.4 Tourism managers working in retail outlets with a physical location 9 3.5 Organisational communication and employees 12 3.6 Organisational communication and customers 14 3.7 Organisational communication and competitors 15 CHAPTER 4: CASE STUDY 17 CHAPTER 5: EVIDENCE 17 5.1 What evidence was used 17 CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION 17 CHAPTER 7: RECOMMENDATIONS 18 CHAPTER 8: REFLECTION REPORT 19 LIST OF REFERENCES: 19 BIBLIOGRAPHY: 20 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 The aims and objectives of the dissertation The aims and objectives of the dissertation are to consider the processes of organisational communication in regard to its relevance with the operation of businesses within the tourism sector. To achieve this aim, the role of the tourism manager will be considered in depth, and there will be a discussion on how the concept of organisational communication has an impact on the role of the tourism manager, in terms of achieving commercial success. The roles of various other stakeholders such as employees and customers will also be focused upon, in considering this matter further. This dissertation aims to synthesise all of this material and communicate a view as to how the modern day tourism manager has been shaped by the recognised processes of organisational communication. 1.2 Background The challenges faced by the modern day tourism manager are numerous (Page S., 2003). The environment in which the modern day tourism manager operates demands professional and effective communication techniques (Page S., 2003), with many stakeholders such as colleagues, third party businesses, investors, competitors and others (Page S., 2003). Baker notes the shift from informal to more formal methods of communication for these sectors: "managers have traditionally... The aims and objectives of the dissertation are to consider the processes of organizational communication in regard to its relevance with the operation of businesses within the tourism sector. To achieve this aim, the role of the tour manager will be considered in depth, and there will be a discussion on how the concept of organizational communication has an impact on the role of the tourism manager, in terms of achieving commercial success. The roles of various other stakeholders such as employees and customers will also be focused upon, in considering this matter further. This dissertation aims to synthesize all of this material and communicate a view as to how the modern day tourism manager has been shaped by the recognized processes of organizational communication. The challenges faced by the modern day tourism manager are numerous (Page S., 2003). The environment in which the modern day tourism manager operates demands professional and effective communication techniques (Page S., 2003), with many stakeholders such as colleagues, third party businesses, investors, competitors and others (Page S., 2003). Baker notes the shift from informal to more formal methods of communication for these sectors: â€Å"†¦managers have traditionally spent the majority of their time communicating in one form or another (meetings, face-to-face discussions, memos, letters, e-mails, reports etc). Today, however, more and more employees find that an important part of their work is communication†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Baker K., 2002)

Human Biological Systems, Gas Exchange & Transport Assignment

Human Biological Systems, Gas Exchange & Transport - Assignment Example Overall, this CNS control determines the depth and frequency of the respiration. (Schwartzstein & Parker, 2006, p.3) 2. Ventilatory Pump a) Muscles of respiration: there are two sets of muscles that are classified either muscles of inspiration or muscles of expiration. Diaphragm and external intercostal muscles are muscles of inspiration whereas internal intercostal muscle is the muscle of expiration. There are some accessory muscles that assist in forceful inspiration or expiration such as sternocleidomastoid, scalenus, pectoralis and abdominal muscles. b) Chest wall skeleton: rib cage provides the major skeleton support for lungs. c) Chest wall connective tissue: d) Airways: nares (nose), larynx, trachea, bronchus and bronchioles. e) Pleura: visceral pleura and parietal pleura. f) Spinal cord and peripheral nerves: C3, C4 and C5 spinal segments provide innervations to diaphragm via phrenic nerve. All the intercostal muscles get segmental innervations through intercostal nerves that run in the intercostal groove along with artery and vein. Most of the structures of Ventilatory pump, such as muscles and skeleton, ensure appropriate movement of the chest wall and adequate change in the intrathoracic pressure during inspiration and expiration. All the components of airway provide an uninterrupted passage of air to and from the alveoli. The passage is also lined with special epithelium that produces mucus and is studded with cilia (Hlastala & Berger, 1996, p.23). Mucus moist or warm the air whereas cilia traps any foreign particles and clear excess mucus. Parietal pleura line the chest wall and visceral pleura cover the outer surface of the lung. In between these two layers is a pleural space that contains a small amount of fluid. This pleural space plays a critical role in changing the intrathoracic pressure. Spinal cord and peripheral nerves provide a communication between controller and muscles of respiration. (Schwartzstein & Parker, 2006, p.15-23) 3. Gas Exch anger a) Alveoli: the terminal bronchioles are studded with hollow grape like structures called alveoli. b) Pulmonary capillaries: these capillaries originate from the branches of pulmonary artery and aggregate to form pulmonary vein. Terminal bronchioles and alveoli are the sites of gas exchange (no gas exchange take place in the rest of the airway and is referred to as dead space). These alveoli provide abundant surface area for adequate diffusion of gases. Understandably, alveoli are surrounded by thousand of blood capillaries to ensure effective transfer of oxygen and carbon dioxide. TAQ 2: 1. Using annotated diagrams explain the processes involved in breathing in and out. Fig 2.1: shows the process of breathing and the structures involved. Breathing In: The process of breathing in is called inspiration. There are two important muscles, diaphragm and external intercostal muscles, that take part in this process. When a person breathes in, diaphragm contracts and chest expands inc reasing volume of the thoracic cavity and creating a negative intrathoracic pressure (fig 2.1). Therefore, air flows from a relatively positive atmospheric pressure towards the negative intrathoracic pressure and fill both lungs. Breathing Out: The process of breathing out is called expiration. Unlike inspiration, expiration at rest is a passive process and do not require muscle support. In fact, the elastic recoil

Final Marketing Plan Presentation Essay Example for Free

Final Marketing Plan Presentation Essay The Allstate Corporation is the largest publicly held personal lines property and casualty insurer in America. Allstate provides insurance products to approximately 16 million households. Allstate was founded in 1931 and became a publicly traded company in 1993. Listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the trading symbol ALL and widely known through the â€Å"You’re In Good Hands With Allstate ®Ã¢â‚¬  slogan. (Suite 101, 2013). Being such a large provider of consumer protection takes hard work and dedication from every individual in the company to provide consumers with the highest level of customer service. While Allstate was trying unsuccessfully to diversify, rivals were revolutionizing the auto insurance business, which Allstate still counts on for most of its sales. Auto premiums generated 55% of its $31.4 billion in revenue last year.Geico and Progressive Corp. found a new formula for growth in the relatively mature business. They crafted a lower-cost model combining direct sales over the Internet and telephone with heavy television advertising. Offering lower prices and more convenience, they grew rapidly at the expense of Allstate and other insurers that sell mostly through agents.Allstates second-place share of the auto insurance market fell to 10.4% from 11.3% over the past five years, while Chevy Chase, Md.-based Geico jumped two points to 8.7% and Progressive climbed to 7.9 %( Suite 101, 2013). State Farm Insurance the largest car and home insurer in the U.S. and a mutual company owned by its policyholders consistently rated better for claims handling and service than Allstate. The claims department of Allstate has some of the most critical interaction with the consumers because it is during a time of need. Consumers contact the claims department when they have suffered a loss to establish a claim. The claims adjuster has the responsibility of obtaining claim pertinent information from the consumer to effectively evaluate the loss. At Allstate Insurance claims departments are separated according to customer needs. Large claims offices known as Market Claim Offices, MCO, are strategically located to provide adequate coverage across the nation. A Market Claim Office presides over a few states or an individual state depending on claim volume and consumer coverage. Allstate has specialized offices that handle claims for the entire nation but only if they meet certain criteria. The Hudson Express Office out of Hudson, Ohio is an office with a focus on handling claims with a reduced cycle time or the  time from claim submission to claim settlement. A starting to examine the external factors impacting customer expectations, which may or may not be off-kilter with necessary protocols and the terms of coverage insurance in general, is the medias unflattering portrayal of the industry; especially in light of post Katrina claim controversies and litigation. Aside from merely being a nuisance, the media also contribute to customer apprehension, which invariably affects the entire claim experience, starting with the initial exchange. Customer leeriness combated, comfort level enhanced easily by treating the customer and the claim with care and speed. To meet this reduced cycle time the Hudson Express Office only handles smaller claims with a total loss under $10,000. Everything within the Hudson Express Office is completely in house with no need for outside adjusters. A challenge area that arises because there are no outside adjusters is to efficiently write an estimate for structure damages and example of this comes from a customer’s review: (Five Weeks and Still Waiting, Jan 18 2013)†. I was broadsided by a driver who didnt stop at a stop sign at a 4 way intersection. My car was left un-drivable. She didnt have her insurance card with her. After a lot of investigating I found out who her insurance company was and called them myself. They told me an adjuster would be out to look at my car. No one showed up. I have called every day since. I have been told that as soon as they receive the police report and accept liability, they will put me in a rental car. It has been almost 5 weeks!† Description of the new product of service Allstate aims to compete more effectively with Geico and Progressive on their turf. After a successful four state pilot of the new Claim Satisfaction Guarantee for auto insurance across the country. Will Shorten claim cycle time ultimately results in higher customer satisfaction because the consumer can resume life as usual sooner rather than later. Allstate Insurance has implemented a new web-based customer service center to in able consumers to provide claim pertinent information via their computer through the use of the customer website. Consumers are able to enter file notes into the claim as well as submit a list of stolen or damaged items through the customer website that can be instantly attached to the claim. An opportunity area for decreased cycle time is with regard to property estimates. An in house  estimating system is utilized by inside adjusters to create a preliminary damage estimate. For smaller less complicated damage areas a web based estimating system would allow consumers to generate their own estimates. A simple web page can include multiple selections for damage areas including fences, doors, and windows. Once a damage area has been selected, multiple choice questions would allow consumers to describe the damaged area as well as the style and material the damaged area. If a consumer does not know the material or style, a default or average style and material would allow an initial estimate to be completed. Once the consumer receives an estimate or invoice from a contractor to complete the work, the claims department can review it for validity and issue any supplemental damages incurred. On simple claims, a consumer could file and settle a claim online without waiting for a call from a claims department representative significantly decreasing claim cycle time. SWOT Analysis The idea of developing a page on an insurance claim and being able to submit your complaint and receiving an instant response sounds great; Allstate needs to ensure that claims are being handled in a way in which will not create the webpage to become overloaded, it has to be user friendly and appropriate for any age group .Other considerations include the cost effectives of this type of service and how it will benefit the consumer and profitably for the brand.New automation also lists the opportunity in cost saving measures such as employee down sizing. Other key item to consider when marketing this type of service can be Advertisement on social media, newspapers,word of mouth, Blogs etc†¦ which are all great ways of promoting the new product and it also provides an opportunity to identify other forms of the same productoffered by the competitor. Target market including geographic Target market is middle market emerging affluent and mass affluent consumers with retirement and family financial protection needs. Priority status at the network repair shops and with our Service Centers. saving time and effort by having Allstate manage the entire repair process. Using the online system with real time updates to electronically monitor your vehicle at the repair shop. Progression updates are given on repairs so you can  spend time doing other things. working to minimize the repair time, which means a quicker reunion with your car. Quality factors including the quality of repairs, Guaranteeing repairs for as long as you own or lease the vehicle is one market point. If a policyholder has a burning question about a claim at 2 a.m., they are able log in to the online service site at any time to check the status of the claim. Porters five competitive forces model Allstates Consumer Segmentation Strategy When purchasing insurance or any other product or service, consumers have more choices than ever before and they know it. But decision making power is not in the customers hands alone. A company can build tremendous customer loyalty over time by making it a top priority to understand and meet its customers needs. As a result, Allstate will continue to refine its product offerings, marketing outreach and customer service based on careful research. Allstate serves four different consumer segments with distinct interaction preferences (advice and assistance versus self-directed) and brand preferences (brand-neutral versus brand-sensitive). Marketing research is an approach conducted to evaluate particular strategies.As well as the tactics used toward the web-based estimating system. The marketing research will help to connect with the consumers to analyze what is needed to research opportunities and evaluate marketing actions. This will also help to prevent uncertainties for the new service provided. The market research will allow the chance to determine how well the system is working. The competitive intelligence will help to identify what competitors are doing and how Allstate can differentiate service to gain customer loyalty. Marketing research will aid in developing a strategy that will increase the satisfaction of our new product of service. Allstate is working to provide quality service and conveniences. Therefore, the quantitative research will touch base on many incentives needed to process the claims. Other approaches will involve the act of identifying any other areas of concern. In which could relate to technical issues and a collection of data needed to estimate totals. The marketing research approach described will enhance the quality and promotion for Allstate’s new web-based system. The overall marketing plan should ensure the quality of each area of the  product and should provide the opportunity for clients to get on the site with hassle free problems and get the service that each individual needs. The mission should be to provide the best customer services and to ensure that the client gets what is needed in the end. Positioning statement Our Shared Vision provides the â€Å"why, how and what† behind everything we do at Allstate. It provides the road map for our continued success. Through this vision, we will truly put the customer at the center of everything we do (Allstate, 2013). We will become an even more valuable company to our customers, associates, investors, our communities and society a company with strong earnings potential and financial performance that sets the benchmark for our industry. We are the Good Hands: We help customers realize their hopes and dreams by providing the best products and services to protect them from lifes uncertainties and prepare them for the future. Deliver substantially more value than the competition by reinventing protection and retirement to improve customers lives. Put the customer at the center of all our actions. Utilize consumer insights, data and technology to serve customers and generate growth and attractive economic returns. Take an enterprise view of our people and processes and work as a single team to advance Allstate rather than our individual interests. Strategy and Position Description An automated online estimating system needs to be easy to understand and easy to use. The first element to the estimating tool is it needs to be easy to understand as well as aesthetically pleasing. When a customer logs on to his or her internet profile the option to choose an action needs to include selecting an existing claim on the insurance policy. Once the claim has been chosen, there will be a selection for estimating system. When the estimating system is chosen, the customer will be prompted regarding the damages he or she has sustained. For example, a customer was a victim of a recent theft loss where the front door was kicked in. The customer will select the damage option for entry door which will lead to a chain of questions regarding the  door. Options for the door will include material in which the door is made such as wood, metal, or fiberglass and whether or not the door is painted. Next, the customer will indicate the size of the door, if the customer does not know how to measure a door there will be a help icon that will advise the proper ways to measure a door. Style is another important factor in the cost of entry doors, options such as flush, panel, French, or security are the most common doors available. The next area of focus will include the damage sustained, whether the door, frame, or both are damaged will determine the proper repairs. The last area of concern for an initial estimate is whether the hardware is damaged and what type of hardware the customer currently has. When all of the information has been entered the estimating system will automatically construct an estimate for the removal and replacement of damaged property as well as the disposal of any debris. When the estimate is finished a disclaimer will be needed to inform the customer that the estimate is only a preliminary estimate and if any discrepancies arise when a contractor has seen the damage to inform the claims department for a review of the estimate. Since claims are being filed online, the movement on this is a little quicker. First of all, it reaches the company faster. The need to have the customer come in and get the information then in-putting it into the computer and have it looked at by the investigating agent, then processed, prepared for payment (if need be). Instead, you are cutting out the getting information process, and the inputting it into the computer by the agent. Instead you call or go online and put the information yourself and then let it get processed and then get paid. The affect it has on the movement is that it gets through quicker, you get faster response time from the company, and you get as accurate information as possible. The life cycle in a sense lasts shorter. Instead of taking a few weeks (possibly), it could take up to a week or less. So the life cycle in this case is a shorter one, which is good much better for the company overall. The only downside to this is that even though you get pretty accurate information, you then need to process it into insurance terminology so to speak, in which case you have an agent process the information. It’s also a good thing, because the agent is proof reading it so to speak to make sure that the information posted or given is  correct, and is process correctly, and is given to the proper division within the company. It’s sort of a backup plan and a much needed help for the customer who really has little to no knowledge on how insurance claims work. So overall, it is a faster and easier process which is set up to help the customer, and speed up the process to get claims paid quicker. Over time, while it does become easier, eventually other companies will begin to do this as well, and people will switch to whoever is cheaper. Service Packaging Packaging is not needed for our products or services. Instead we are offering our customers an easier way to file insurance claims. Normally a client would have to call in to the hot line number in order to file a claim. Once the operator answers then the client is expected to listen to numerous options and select which one applies to their personal needs at that moment. This process can be time consuming and aggravating depending on how many clients the customer service representatives the operators are assisting. The next step would be to explain the situation to the operator and wait for them to file the claim for the person. The on line website will be a fast working, easy to navigate website. There is nothing more aggravating then trying to complete information on a website that is slow and takes a long time to accept information. With technological advances, being able to file on line may be more convenient for those who do not have time to call the hot line and file claims. Clients will be able to access the website from laptops, cell phones, iPad, or any other media devices that allow access to the internet. Add value because it will be less time consuming for customers, if a follow-up is needed then the information may be easier to retrieve due to the pre-online registration. With every question there will be a detailed explanation of what information is required for that particular question. The question and additional information will be explained thoroughly to customers without them having to wait on hold in the phone for long periods of time just to speak with a live operator. This will add value to the customers in three ways. The online website will save time. Allow customers to have a more hands-on experience with the editing of claim information. Product Life Cycle Over the lifecycle of a product, a companys differentiation and positioning strategy would need to change as the market, competitors, and product change. When we say that a product has a life cycle we assert four things; Products have a limited life, Product sales pass through district stages, each posing different challenges, opportunities and problems to the seller, Profits rise and fall at different stages of the product lifecycle, and Products require different marketing, financial, manufacturing, purchasing, and human resource strategies in each life cycle stages (Product Life Cycle | Stages and Limitations of Product Life Cycle (PLC), 2014, p. 1). Product life cycle (PLC) deals with the life of the product in the market with respect to business or commercial cost and sales measures (Product Life Cycle | Stages and Limitations of Product Life Cycle (PLC), 2014, p. 1). There are five stages of each product lifecycle: product development, introduction, growth, maturity, and declin e (Product Life Cycle | Stages and Limitations of Product Life Cycle (PLC), 2014, p. 1). During the introduction stage, Allstate will be launched into the market. Sales grow slowly in this time, and informative advertising is done (Dinesh Bakshi, n.d.). Many firms do not earn profits in this stage. There wouldnt be much price skimming because our product is not a new invention and does have competitors. Due to the amount of competitors in the insurance market, competitive pricing is used. Sales rapidly grow during the growth stage, so we use persuasive advertising to gain customers. Competition is stiff at times prices may be reduced to stay a top competitor. Even though competition may be stiff, firms start to earn more profits in this stage. Our sales increase slowly and the highest figures are reached during the maturity stage of the product cycle. Since competition is at its max level, it would be in Allstates best interest to implement promotional pricing. Our profits are also at their highest level. We use competitive advertising to attract and retain our customers (Market Force, 2005-2014). Next we enter the decline stage where sales and profits decrease. During this stage, we must determine if the decline is temporary or permanent by conducting marketing research. Production may be stopped if the decline is considered to be permanent. If the decline is temporary, extension strategies are  implemented. The extension stage comes into play to come back from the decline. Original products may be reintroduced in other variations by changing the design, starting a new advertising campaign, and more (Dinesh Bakshi, n.d.). Pricing The price strategy of the web based system. The primary goal is to assure that this meets the needs of our loyal customers and anticipated customers. Moreover the pricing of our new web based system is an essential part of the marketing piece. Indeed this product of service can be very successful through proper indications of the pros and cons. Other price strategies could relate to what new services are provided by our competitor’s. However, researching the value, quality and conveniences of the product of service is essential. Pricing strategies with our new service can work to help gain satisfaction from the customers. Consequently, if the market research is not implemented correctly; this can work against the organizations overall plan. Contingency plans will also help the guide the new product in the process of service. Most of all pricing factors outline important steps of the web based system. In which will differentiate us from other insurance organizations such as Sta te farm. Furthermore one of all states insurance pricing strategies would involve a small fee. This fee will be deducted from the insurance holders policy every month or every six monthly. The web based system will be done as a package deal. Therefore customers will have the option to participate or not. The new product of service will also be explained to every customer .As well as step by step instructions to give a better understanding of how to use the system. Ultimately the use of the system operates to have claims estimates completed in a timely manner. Customers immediately have an opportunity of seeing the breakdown of damages and cost online. Overall the web based systems pricing is a concern that customer will have a choice to speed the process of with their claim .Although there are some people who may prefer to wait to speak with a claims adjuster. Most of all the new product of service will eliminate many problems with the process of claims. Customers will have an opportunity to view their own claims, and get a compete estimate without waiting for a call back from a claims adjuster. Although  this is a preliminary estimate of the claim, this is a positioning factor that gives Allstate’s customers satisfaction. Pricing figures are major factors towards marketing as well as the competitors. Promotional Strategy Allstate has several online competitors (Progressive, eSurance and Geico) that equate themselves as easy and fast. One of Progressives main thing is price match, which allows consumers to compare rates without providing too much personal information. Many people are reluctant to participate in many online services such as this because they think they will bombarded with spam and other marketing tactics. Generally, customer just a roundabout amount of what they would have to pay for car insurance based on their specific coverage needs. Allstate has identified this problem and created an innovative solution. First and foremost, Allstate designed a new way for customers to shop for quotes and have them delivered. According to Marketing Edge (2014), quotes would be delivered anonymously (no personal information required), fast and easy, helpful (accurate), contemporary, and intuitive (para. 4). Allstate needed to spread the word on this innovation, and the best way was to implement a campaign. This campaign included banner ads online and other tools designed to focus on online shoppers. Allstate needed to market themselves differently than their competition in order to stand out, excite consumers, and provoke attention. According to Marketing Edge (2014), The new anonymous quote tool was the centerpiece of the program. Once it went live on the www.allstate.com site, DRTV, paid search, and online advertising campaigns were implemented in order to drive traffic to it. The DRTV campaign used a unique URL, getallstate.com for tracking purposes. Online banner ads linked directly to the site so visitors could be tracked through initiation and completion of a quote. The Program Objective: Develop and market a category-unique online shopping/quoting tool and introduce it to consumers in a way that cost-effectively invites greater shopping/quoting in the direct channel (para. 7). This creative strategy had continued to allow online shoppers the freedom  and convenience to stay anonymous. Customers do not even have to provide their name to receive a quote (estimate). There is no application to feel out and no surveys to take. All of the other necessary information is gather by simply inputting your zip code. There are helpful tools strategically placed to assist customers, and the web site design is contemporary but not too flashy. According to Marketing Edge (2014), Based on their information, shoppers are presented with an array of estimates in a matrix that allows them to compare different features and levels of coverage that meet their unique needs. And it provides a price for each option. The tool demonstrates throughout the ease with which consumers can obtain the customized price and coverage information they want (para. 10). Professional Selling Effort In order to market the new automated system for making claims, Allstate needs to express to the customers exactly how beneficial it will be to them. The best approach would be to build the value to the customer. They would have to show the customer exactly how it would benefit them to manage their claims online rather than deal with a claims adjuster right from the get go. Several people will find it convenient to be able to fill out the accident forms right from their mobile device, like their smart phone or tablet, while others will not be so prone to using technology as they are not technologically advanced. We will show the customers not to be afraid of the new systems, and that they are a benefit, not a burden. Initial Budget The budget is a financial plan for Allstate that quantifies the resource allocation plan for the years to come. To start, Allstate would have to create a specific amount, generated from how many people are going to be monitoring the online claims, and how many hours those individuals are going to be putting in. A sum of $208,000 will needed for ten individuals needed for the new system, all set at 40 hours per week and being paid $10 per hour. Allstate will have to create a budget for the person or company putting together the mainframe for putting together the portal for online claims, and setting up the website. Allstate will have to keep in mind that it is going to be a process to put this together and a lot of storage is going to be needed for their clientele. Generally, websites and web design  are going to cost Allstate anywhere from $1,000 t $2,500. Allstate will create jobs for this new system, and they will have to advertise or promote within in order to fill those jobs, b ut this will be very minimal cost to Allstate. The company expects to have a gross profit in the first year of $250,000-$500,000 due to the amount of claims that are not going to need claims adjuster to visit sites to assess the damage personally. The targeted output rate is 1,000,000, and with the average of 86% of all applicants that start the claim online actually finish it, that leaves 860,000 people that use the online claims and pricing. Allstate does not expect any losses with the new market plan. Success Plan Measurement There are several ways to measure the success of Allstates marketing plan. For Allstate to accurately measure their success plan they must start with the end in mind (Dyke, 2014). One of the first things to do is ask why the project began and what the goals are. Companies cannot lose sight of why they started something. Once that drive is lost the campaign goes under and the company is next. Numbers do not lie, so if the marketing plan is working it will show in revenue. Dyke (2014), Measure success on your marketing program’s ability to meet the needs or desired outcomes of an objective. Remember your business planning here – start with setting your goals, list objectives that meet these goals and then identify tactics that will achieve your objectives. The best objectives are SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and tangible) (para. 13). To start tracking progress and success, Allstate must determine who their audience is. having a newsletter can be the turning point for a business. You can see which articles have the most readers and track statistics. Dyke 2014, Begin to gather intelligence around the reader’s interest in the topic, taking the newsletter from a passive strategy to an interactive strategy, and one that can be measured. At the bottom of each online article, give readers several options. They can comment or ask questions, request that a lawyer call them, request a white paper or a helpful form or  checklist you’ve developed, or they can register for topical events. Remember, your responsiveness to requests is critical in developing relationships (para. 20). Next, reducing that amount spent on proposals and pitches will help to increase rates in other areas. get to know clients rather than just what they think they want. Allstate must stay one step ahead of the competition to succeed. Many say the perception is reality, so it is imperative to know exactly what Allstates clients think about them. This can be done by implementing satisfaction surveys for the clients to ensure all their needs are met. All threats or problems acknowledged or revealed by the client must be handled swiftly. Allstate must market for the sake of revenue, not for the sake of marketing – and take the momentum of your success and apply throughout all your marketing initiatives (Media coverage: grabbing the bull horn). Ethical Issues Reference Dinesh Bakshi. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.dineshbakshi.com/igcse-business-studies/marketing/revision-notes/814-product-life-cycle Dyke, S.V. (2014). CBA Practice Link. Retrieved from http://www.cba.org/cba/practicelink/mt/measureefforts.aspx http://www allstate.com/claims/report- Insure Me. (1993-2014). Retrieved from http://www.insureme.com/insurance-agent/marketing-tips Market Force. (2005-2014). Retrieved from http://uk.marketforce.com/price-checking/ Marketing Edge. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.marketingedge.org/marketing-programs/collegiate-echo/challenge-history/dma-international-echo-showcase/winner-allstate Perreault, W. D., Cannon, J. P., McCarthy, E. J. (2009). Basic Marketing. A marketing Product Life Cycle | Stages and Limitations of Product Life Cycle (PLC) . (2014, Summer). Textile Learner, (1), 1. Retrieved from http://textilelearner.blogspot.com/2013/12/product-life-cycle-stages-and.html Strategy Planning Approach. (17th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Company

Obesity in Black American Women Essay Example for Free

Obesity in Black American Women Essay Culture, Biology and Lifestyle Cause Forty Nine Percent of Black American Women to be Obese Abstract. Obesity is a major factor in health today. Certain ethnic groups and genders suffer from obesity more than others. Around 49% of all Black American women are classified obese today. There are many reasons for this. But the three the Black American women are susceptible to are culture, lifestyle and biology. Forty nine percent of Black American women are obese. This is an over representation compared to 38% of Latina women and 33% of non-Hispanic white women. (Phelan, Johnson, Wesley). Many factors determine a person’s weight and health status. Economics, lifestyle, diet, culture, biology and society all affect a person’s body size and composition. Culture, biology and lifestyle have the largest impact on why Black American women are obese. Health, economic and societal implications of obesity are overwhelming and affect every person in this country. The medical community defines obesity as having a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or greater. BMI is simply a comparison of weight to height. The actual formula is weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared. A BMI of greater than 25 but less than 30 is considered overweight and a BMI of greater than 40 is considered morbidly obese. BMI is a comparison of weight to height, not fat to height. BMI is a useful tool for most of the population, but does not work well for heavily muscled people, such as body builders. Fat is damaging to health. Muscle is not. The general population knows that obesity causes diabetes and heart problems. But obesity is much more severe than that. Obesity causes health problems that many find eye opening. Obesity causes hardening of the arteries, increased cholesterol and cardiac failure. In addition to damaging the heart and arteries obesity causes cancer. Twenty percent of all cancer related deaths in women are attributed to obesity (Dixon). Fifty percent of all Type II diabetes patients are obese. (Dixon). Obesity is associated with increased risk of metabolic syndrome and fatty liver disease (Kogiso, Moriyoshi and Nagahara). Obesity causes many more not so well known, but still very concerning health issues. Thirty one percent of all arthritis patients are obese. (Dixon). Sixty three percent of women who suffer from osteoarthritis are obese (Dixon). Obese women show a 37% increased risk of depression (Stunkard). Obesity can cause infertility and pregnancy complications (Phelan, Edelman). It even can reduce the effectiveness of birth control. Obese people are three times more apt to suffer from sleep apnea (Visscher, Seidell). And for the real shocker, 300,000 deaths per year in the United States alone are attributed to obesity! Obesity is only second to smoking in preventable deaths per year in the US. (Visscher, Seidell). The reasons nearly half of all Black women in the US are obese are complex and many. We can point our finger at economics, lifestyle, society, biology, diet, culture. Culture, lifestyle and biology are the primary reasons 49% of Black women in the US are obese. Studies have shown that culture can have a profound effect on body size. Several studies have found that the Black American population has a preference for larger body size (Johnson). Portia Johnson, in her article, Scholarly Perspectives on Obesity in Black American Women, references a 2002 study that shows that African American men prefer African American women with a larger body size. The same author also cites a 2006 study that shows that African American women â€Å"describe a model of health that speaks to the Black womens cultural belief that a larger body size is ideal† (Johnson). African women also have a preference for larger bodies. A 2006 study on ethnic Zulus, Zulu migrants to London, and Anglo Londoners show a preference for larger body size by the Zulu migrants and the ethnic Zulus (Brewis 88). Each participant in were shown gray scale images of women of known BMI. The participants were asked to choose which image represented the most healthy and attractive body. The Anglo Londoners chose a BMI size of 20, the ethnic Zulus chose BMI 26 and the migrant Zulus chose a BMI of 24. Dr. James Kirby and colleagues made the interesting discovery that simply living in a community with 25% or more non-Hispanic blacks increases ones propensity of being overweight (Kirby et al). Similarly Dr. Kirby discovered that living in a community of 25% or more Asians decreases a person’s propensity of being overweight (Kirby et al). Kirby surmises this is due to the availability of healthy food, parks, sidewalks and recreation facilities in each community. Kirby found that a predominance of black Americans live in communities with fewer recreational facilities, gyms, parks and fewer choices of healthy food than other ethnicities. The same study also found more fast food restaurants and convenience food stores in predominately black and Hispanic American communities. Perhaps the most convincing evidence is in the words of African American women. In her article ‘Voices from the Inside: African American Womens Perspectives on Healthy Lifestyles’ Jill Rowe interviewed African American women on healthy lifestyles and food choices. One woman explains eating in African American culture as: It’s almost like every person in my family has something they cook real good and I don’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings. When you go to your mama’s house, I’ve always gone to the refrigerator. That’s how African Americans show their love. From the birthday parties, to when you have company. My family, when we’re happy we eat. When we’re sad, we eat. We eat when we’re married, we eat when we’re born, we eat when we die. It’s always, who’s bringing the fried chicken and pound cake. (Rowe) Culture can significantly affect a person’s weight. But we should also be aware that biology can affect weight too. Researchers have found that Black American women have a lower Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR). RMR is the rate at which energy (calories) are metabolized to keep organs functioning at rest. Black American women have a lower RMR than white or Hispanic women. This means they burn fewer calories throughout the day and function more efficiently than white Americans making it harder to lose weight (Johnson). A 1996 study found that the Resting Energy Expenditure (REE) of black American women was lower than for Caucasian American women. The researchers measured the REE of each participant and found that the Black women had a REE of 1790 calories per day at rest, while the Caucasian women had an REE of 1949 calories per day at rest. Simply put this means that Caucasian women burn, on average, 250 more calories per day at rest than Black American women do. This makes it harder for black women to lose weight (Johnson). Researchers have also discovered that Black Americans have an over expression of fatty acid transport protein. This means that more fat is delivered to fat storage cells making it easier for Black Americans to store fat than white Americans (Barakat). Researchers have measured and found more upper body fat in Black Women compared to white women. A larger below the skin level (subcutaneous) fat level was found in Black Women as compared to white American women (Conway). Diet and exercise are part of a persons’ lifestyle and both have a significant impact on weight and health. Several studies have proven that Black Americans eat more sweetened foods as compared to European Americans. Portia Johnson and colleagues cite a 2000 study on preference for sweet food amongst African Americans and European Americans. The study offered taste tests to each ethnic group and compared how each group responded to sweets. The researchers discovered that Black Americans ate more of the sweetened foods offered at various intervals during a taste test (Johnson). They conclude that African Americans could be using a sweetened food to compensate for greater perceived stress causing greater weight gain and obesity. Angelia Paschal and colleagues examined the results of a study on self-reported diet and exercise habits of African American men and women. They found that 55-75% of the women in their study rarely exercise. They also found that 76% of all participants did not eat the minimum daily requirements for fruit and less than half met the minimum requirements for vegetables. Not surprisingly this study reports that 62% of participants were diagnosed with hypertension and 14% were diagnosed with elevated blood sugar levels and/or diabetes (Paschal et al). A study that compared fitness of Latina American women to Black American women found similar results. â€Å"More than one-half of the women reported engaging in no regular physical activity. However, the substantial variability in the number of minutes exercised per week points to the need to investigate methods to enhance the duration of physical activity. † (Sanchez-Johnsen et al). Genesis, a church based health and fitness program aimed at Black Americans, found that many of the participants did not correlate obesity with poor health. The participants in Genesis completed a self-reported survey where only 16% indicated they were obese, but when clinically measured 87% were found to be overweight or obese. This indicates that participants failed to connect excess weight with medical risk, possibly due to cultural conditioning, personal denial or not associating body weight with health risk (Cowart et al). It is not all gloom and doom for women of color in the US. Culture, biology and lifestyle are all things that can be changed or at least worked with to lose weight and gain fitness. There are several programs in this country aimed at overall fitness for Black American women. The Genesis program has worked with black Americans through churches and found this combination very successful. Genesis provided health and diet education, exercise prescriptions and a motivation partner. Some of their successes include a 71% less soda consumption, fried meat consumption was reduced from 91% to 55%. The percent of respondents reporting no exercise at all went from 45% at the start of the program to 27% on the post pilot survey (Cowart et al). Just as diet, lifestyle and culture can be changed so can biology. Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) can be raised by obtaining a leaner body mass as muscle is more active than fat. Withers and colleagues have proved this with a study conducted on 49-70 year old women. Their study has found that aerobic training in older women increases RMR. They compared active women to non-active women and found that the active women had a significantly higher RMR. Having a body composition of more lean mass to fat mass greatly has â€Å"implications for increased independence and improved quality of life. † (Withers et al). Black American women have special challenges and considerations in weight loss and fitness. They face a culture that encourages eating and appreciates large body size, a more efficient metabolic system that uses fewer calories at rest, a propensity for their bodies to store fat, and a lifestyle that makes diet and exercise difficult. Yet knowing these challenges is half the battle. With knowledge, the support of the community and their family, and commitment they can overcome these challenges and reach a goal of lifetime fitness and health. Works Cited Barakat, HA. â€Å"Obesity; Overexpression of Fatty Acid Transport Proteins May Contribute to Obesity in Black Women. † Science Letter. 7 Feb 2006. 1218. Web. 18 Feb 2013. Brewis, Alexandra. Obesity Cultural and Biocultural Perspectives. New Brunswick. Rutgers University Press. (2011). Print. Conway, Joan. â€Å"Ethnicity and Energy Stores†. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 62. 5. Nov 1995. Web. 18 Feb 2013. Cowart, Luvenia. et al. â€Å"Designing and Pilot-Testing a Church-Based Community Program to Reduce Obesity among African Americans. † ABNF Journal. 21. 1. (2010). 4-10. Web. 18 Feb 2013. Dixon, John. â€Å"The Effect of Obesity on Health Outcomes. † Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology. Vol. 316. Issue 2. 25 Mar 10. 104-108. Endocrine Aspects of Obesity. Web. 18 Feb 2013. Edelman, Allison. â€Å"Special Feature: Do We Have a Problem? Obesity and Contraception. † OB GYN Clinical Alert. Dec 2011. n. pag. Web. 18 Feb 2013. Johnson, Portia; Yvonne Wesley. â€Å"Scholarly Perspectives on Obesity among Black Women. † ABNF Journal. 23. 3. (2012). 46-50. Web. 18 Feb 2013. Kirby, James, et. al. â€Å"Race, Place, and Obesity: The Complex Relationships among Community Racial/Ethnic Composition, Individual Race/Ethnicity, and Obesity in the United States. † American Journal of Public Health. 102. 8. Aug 2012. 1572-1578. Web. 18 Feb 2013. Kogiso, Tomomi. et al. â€Å"Clinical Significance with Fatty Liver Associated with Metabolic Syndrome. † Hepatology Research. Vol. 37. Issue 9. Sep 2007. 711-721. Web. 18 Feb 2013. Paschal, Angelia. et al. â€Å"Baseline Assessment of the Heath Status and Health Behaviors of African American Participating in the Activities for Life Program: A Community Based Health Intervention Program. † Journal of Community Health. 29. 4. Aug 2004. 305-318. Web. 18 Feb 2013. Phelan, Sharon. â€Å"Obesity in the American Population: Calories, Cost and Culture. † American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Volume 203, Issue 6, Dec 2010. 522–524. Web. 18 Feb 2013. Rowe, Jill. â€Å"Voices From the Inside: African American Women’s Perspectives on Healthy Lifestyles. † Health Education and Behavior. Vol. 37. Dec 2010. 789-800. Web. 18 Feb 2013. Sanchez-Johnsen, Lisa. et al. â€Å"Ethnic Differences in Correlates of Obesity between Latin-American and Black Women. † Obesity Research. 12. 4. Apr 2004. 652-660. Web. 18 Feb 2013. Stunkard, Albert. â€Å"Depression and Obesity. † Biological Psychology. Vol. 54 Issue 3. 1 Aug 2003. 330-337. Web. 18 Feb 2013. Visscher, Tommy, Jacob Seidell. â€Å"The Public Health Impact of Obesity. † Annual Review of Public Health. (2001). 355-375. Web. 18 Feb 2013. Withers, RT. et al. â€Å"Energy Metabolism in Sedentary and Active 49- to 70-yr-old Women. † Journal of Applied Physiology. Vol. 84. Apr 1998. 1333-1340. Web. 18 Feb 2013. Bibliography Brewis, Alexandra. Obesity Cultural and Biocultural Perspectives. New Brunswick. Rutgers University Press. (2011). Print. Brewis’ book is a must read for anyone studying, researching or working in health, weight management or fitness. The author takes a look at obesity from an anthropologist’s standpoint. Where did obesity originate? How does if effect certain races/genders more than others? These are some of the questions answered. The author has lived in different cultures and worked with different ethnicities obtaining answers to some of the mysteries surrounding weight gain. She has uncovered reasons why obesity is prevalent in the United States and other countries. And discusses why some ethnicities are more vulnerable to weight gain after migrating to the United States or other developed nations. The author has studied the culture of the Pima Indians of both the US and Mexico and explains why obesity affects the US Pimas more than the Mexican Pimas. Brewis also explains why some ethnicities find larger body weigh acceptable and why some ethnicities have larger males than females and why they find this perfectly normal. Biagioli, Brian. Advanced Concepts of Personal Training. National Council on Strength and Fitness. (2007). Print. This book was by a medical doctor. This manual is applicable to anyone interested in learning more about physical fitness, nutrition, physiology, body composition and exercise mechanics. It is the National Council on Strength and Fitness’ guide for all their certified personal trainer candidates. The manual contains 540 pages with many illustrations explaining obesity, Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR), Body Mass Index (BMI) and physiology. This manual includes chapters on special populations such as women, children and special needs individuals. HBO The Weight of the Nation. HBO Documentary Films; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; National Institute of Health. Et al. Various actors/directors. (2007). DVD. This is a four part documentary on obesity in America. Each part is approximately one hour long. The parts consist of consequences, choices, children in crisis and challenges. The films explore why the United States is facing an obesity crisis, and what we can do about it now. Various health experts narrate the films. Interviews are conducted with a host of citizens dealing with obesity right now. They tell in their own words the challenges they face. There is significant commentary and interview on ethnicities, females, citizens living in inner cities and the issues surrounding obesity and weight gain. The Skinny on Obesity. Perf. Robert Lustig et al. UCTV Prime. 12 Apr. 2012. Web Video. This video series plays on UCSF Prime TV online. Dr. Robert Lustig is endocrine expert at the UCSF Children’s Hospital. This is a seven part series that tackles the basics of the obesity epidemic such as sugar, hormones, fast food, childhood obesity, and endocrine system. Each part is about 15 minutes long. Only a basic understanding of health and physiology is needed to fully understand concepts presented. Platkin, Charles. The Automatic Diet. New York. Penguin. 2005. Print. This book discusses how to slowly improve your diet over time with small changes. Dr. Platkin holds a master of public health and is one of the nation’s leading public health advocates. He writes The Diet Detective, a syndicated article that appears in hundreds of newspapers throughout the country. His book takes the reader through small steps of diet and lifestyle changes that together create a whole new diet makeover making healthful eating simple and thus ‘automatic’.