Friday, January 31, 2020

Blood Alcohol Content Essay Example for Free

Blood Alcohol Content Essay The thought of alcohol being involved in fatal crashes brings about an emotional response. Recently, there has been a movement based on emotion rather than logic to change a certain drinking and driving law. This involves lowering the Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) from 0. 10% to 0. 08% nationwide. However, this attention is misdirected. By looking at my personal experiences, statistics, and current laws, it is clear that there is no need for lowering the BAC. First off, I do not drink. Yet, I’ve had many experiences relating to drinking and driving through my friends. One thing I’ve noticed is that it is extremely hard for people to tell if they are legally drunk or not. Furthermore, I have never heard any of my friends say that they feel that they should drive home because they have only a . 09% BAC. The law has very little effect on how many drinks a person decides to consume. Therefore, lowering the legal drunk limit will not result in people acting more responsible. Supporters of lowering the BAC like Judith Lee Stone in her essay â€Å"YES! † think they are targeting the problem of drunken driving, but the real problem lies within the higher BACs. Ninety three percent of fatal accidents are 0. 10% BAC and above, and half of those ninety three percent have a BAC of 0. 20% and above. The average BAC for fatal accidents is at actually at 0. 17%. This seems like a more logical target for new laws then 0. 08%. Furthermore, Stone asks â€Å"Who would want their children in a car driven by someone who has consumed three, four, or even more beers in an hour† (Stone 46)? I couldn’t agree more. However, this common argument from the pro-0. 08% side is more like a parent responsibility question. They use this to manipulate our emotion by putting an innocent child in an improbable and unrelated situation. She also goes on to state, â€Å"A study at Boston University found that 500 to 600 fewer highway deaths would occur annually if all states adopted 0. 08%† (Stone 47). On the other hand, a similar study at University of North Carolina shows no significant change after their adoption of 0. 08%. Which study is correct? Most likely, both have some truthfulness. It could be either way depending on the state. The lowering of the Blood Alcohol Content percentage law is unnecessary and useless. Nevertheless, some states have already moved to the 0. 08%, and we hear the argument: â€Å"It makes no sense for a driver to be legally drunk in one state but not in another† (Stone 46). To that, I ask a couple questions of my own. Why can I carry a concealed gun in one state and not another? Why is it that I can drive a certain speed in one state, but a different speed in another? The response to those questions and Stone’s statement is all of the above are state laws. At this point, the federal government seems to get confused. In October 2000, congress passed a law that uses the states’ money against them. It asserts that if a state doesn’t lower its BAC percentage to 0. 08% by 2003, it will lose two percent of its highway money. States that don’t like the law will be forced to vote for it because they are desperate for highway construction money. Strings shouldn’t be attached to this money. What are lost in all of this are the current laws for drunk driving. Driving while impaired is already illegal whether the person tests 0. 04% or 0. 10%. Courts can use alcohol test of 0. 04% and higher as evidence of impairment. It’s at 0. 10% where a person is legally drunk and cannot legally operate a vehicle. Therefore, it’s not as if people who test 0. 08% are going unpunished like the other side would have you believe. In conclusion, anybody who picks out one particular aspect and says that it is not working hasn’t looked that the whole problem. The president for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Brian O’ Neill, says that he’d rather see resources directed toward enforcing existing drunken driving laws. Hopefully, with more education, more awareness, and more enforcement we can successfully reduce drinking and driving fatalities. Bibliography Stone, Judith Lee. Yes!. Reading and Writing Short Arguments. Ed. William Vesterman. Mountain View, California: Mayfield Publishing Company, 2000. 46-47. Word Count: 702.

Thursday, January 23, 2020

University Exclusivity Essay -- Education Argumentative Persuasive Ess

University Exclusivity This country that we live in, the United States of America, has a reputation as being the "land of opportunity." Foreigners and native-born citizens regard this land as the pot of gold at the rainbow's end for those individuals who wish to make a life for themselves through hard work and perseverance. Yet for many minorities and economically disadvantaged people, the dream is unfulfilled because the educational opportunities that they need are unavailable. The universities are as unreachable as top- shelf merchandise in a warehouse without ladders or lifts. They are no less unwelcoming than heavy steel doors slamming shut in the face of a visitor. The selections from The Presence of Others: Voices that Call for Response collectively give the reader a snapshot of which individuals are being excluded, and why. The role and responsibility of the university must be established, and areas in need of change should be explored. Historically, racism has prevented many from ever having the opportunity to move a tassel across their forehead. To rectify this situation, minority based schools were established. Affirmative action policies made their way into colleges all over the country and quickly became policy in many states. However, Shelby Steele pointed out that these policies may actually hinder more than they help. He believed that policies giving preference to anyone based on race alone actually increase the racial tension between minority and non-minority groups (75). He also wrote that such policies are only part of the problem. The fear of racial hatred may prevent prospective students from even attempting to attend college. He cites instances of blatant racial harassment even on campuses in which "b... ...ryone must be assigned an equal designation of worth. No one person is more deserving of an education than another. To deny the opportunity to anyone based on such criteria as class, race, gender or ability is to tip the scales and make some people less deserving than others. Universities cannot have license to do this. To all who would listen, let them learn. Works Cited Lunsford, Andrea A. and Ruszkiewicz, John. The Presence of Others: Voices that Call for Response. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1997. Brooks, Gwendolyn. "We Real Cool." Lunsford 147. Hooks, Bell. "Keeping Close to Home: Class and Education." Lunsford 85-96. Rich, Adrienne. "What Does a Woman Need to Know?" Lunsford 44-51. Rose, Mike. "Lives on the Boundary." Lunsford 97-111. Steele, Shelby. "The Recoloring of Campus Life." Lunsford 63-84.

Wednesday, January 15, 2020

Ob : All the Wrong Moves

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR-I CASE ANALYSIS All the Wrong Moves Submitted to: Dr. Saleena Khan Asst. Professor, OB & HRM Area IMT, Nagpur Submitted By: GROUP-1, SECTION-A Aakanksha Garg 2012001 Abhinav Aggarwal 2012007 Abhishek Gupta 2012013 Abinash Dash 2012015 Aditya Mohan 2012022 Akash Agrawal 2012029 Anant Kr Ajmera 2012040 Ankita Pandey 2012051 Introduction: This case is about a company ‘Nutrorim’ which was founded in 1986 by an organic farmer and his wife.Nutrorim manufactures various lines of vitamins and nutritional supplements. The case is about the flaws in decision making process of the company. Don Rifkin is the main character of the case who tries to correct the decisions made by the company at the time of crisis or otherwise. The employees of the company give mixed and different reviews over the same discussions. Don the CEO of the company tried to find out the feedbacks with the help of consultants. While going through the case we tried to find out the main re asons for poor decision making of the company and tried to find the solutions for the same.Background: Nutrorim which was founded in 1986 by an organic farmer and his wife had been at the top of its field. Nutrorim’ s products had gained national attention and the company’s organic, performance-enhancing supplement powder Charge Up had gone through the roof due to an endorsement by a famous Olympic athlete. This lead the Nutrorim to hire hundreds of new employees, expand its production facilities and acquire two vitamin firms. Nutrorim went public in the year 1997 and by 2002 Changeup was the best-selling performance-enhancing sports powder on the market.Don Rifkin who joined Nutrorim as CEO in 1989 had tried hard to foster a happy, participatory, democratic culture at Nutrorim. Steve Ford was the head of the R&D section of Nutrorim. But during the past one year, Nutrorim had suffered from a spate of bad decisions. A consultant was hired to review the company’s decision making processes that had individual interviews with senior managers. Objectives: * Understanding the importance of objective analysis and oversight at strategic level decision making in an organisation Necessity to have a firm and clear hierarchy within an organisation for effective decision making in face of crisis. * Understand need for a Leader to identify the expertise that his subordinates have and assigning them responsibilities accordingly for running an organisation effectively. * Understanding the ineffectiveness arising out of decision making process in an organisation if it is too democratic at strategic level. Analysis: The said company was presented with an accusation that their product was making people sick.The company's options were to keep the potentially dangerous product on the shelves, which could turn into a law suit, or to accept the costs and do a recall. In meeting of the top managers there were huge disagreements on who should have the most power i n the decision-making process and there was little organized discussion and not all the voices were being heard. There was a lack of centralized leadership that was able to weigh all the voices and make a more discerning decision. The committee members were not unified on what should actually be done.Employees in positions of power did not ask the right questions to make well-informed decision. The decision to recall Charge Up was made under a lot of uncertainty and was the facts were not analyzed thoroughly before taking decision. The company knew the consequences of recalling or leaving the product on the shelves. This decision was a non-programmed decision that should be made by top managers. The situation was brought to a local radio station and the company began to panic that the information would go public ruining the company's reputation.There are too many people giving their inputs and many took the accusations personally which limited objective, productive discussions on wh at was the best action for the company to take. The company needs to name a person or a small group of people that are able to take charge in times of crisis in order to manage discussions better and make the ultimate decision. The leadership should be able to question or conduct research of cases surrounding their dilemma. The Leadership here wasn’t effective in identifying the expertise of its members which at times created conflicts within the team.Solutions: * Nutrorim lacked a definite plan for taking actions when decisions are to be taken especially when a time was a constraint. * Don was correct when he wished to have a little democratic approach to taking decisions but relying completely on consensus resulted in beating around the bush too often and wasting a lot of time. Taking multiple perspectives of looking at a problem and finding its solution can be done systematically by the process of one by one feedback but the final decision must rest on the C. E.O and the c oncerning department head as a decision taken by a majority vote may not be correct as the domain expertise of employees participating in the meeting shall be vivid (It depends on the area where the problem is arising). * In this case when Nutrorim was accused of causing gastric problems to its customers; a timely action was imperative as the name of the brand was at stake. Calling multiple meetings was a waste of time and actions should have been taken by Don as a leader himself after listening to every ones views. He should have instructed PR Director to immediately revert to the calls she got from the media person (radio station) to let the public know that since such an investigation is taking place the company gives maximum priority to its customer’s health and it shall even consider a recall till the time the investigations were completed by the health department. This action would make the public aware that the company was not trying to hide something under the carpet and it was cooperating with the health department. A decision has to be taken with all the facts and perspectives in mind and not just taken because it’s to every ones taste. Ones the rationale is clear behind the plan of action for addressing the problem at hand, the chair shall immediately ensure its timely execution. * Corporate culture was not sound. Steve’s behaviour towards Nora was inappropriate and his behaviour should have been condemned and sorted out by Don. It’s very essential for employees to work cordially for healthy functioning of an organisation. Presence of a Knowledge department in the company keeps a record of effective course of actions taken by other companies at the time of similar crisis in the past helps to take timely measures effectively. Learning from others helps in decision making. Theoretical Relations: * Bounded rationality: He could perceive that recalling the product is the only plan of action. He didn’t explore other opt ions. * Rational decision making: He measured the options, took feedbacks from the other employees, and did a thorough study before taking a decision. Pro-active personality: He takes initiatives, has decision making abilities. * Employee engagement: He engages all the employees of the company in decision making process. * Workforce diversity: There is diverse workforce in the company. Managerial learning: * A manger should understand skills of each team member and assign them responsibilities according to their areas of expertise. * Controlling power: A manager should have firm control over the decision making process in the organization and should also be an effective team leader. Coordination: A manager should be able to establish coordination among the employees. There should not be conflicts among the employees if any then manager should intervene and resolve the same. * Balance between democratic and dictatorial approach: A manager should not be too democratic as well as dicta torial in decision making. REFERENCES United States Edition , entitled Organizational Behavior, 14th Edition, ISBN: 9780136124016 by Robbins, Stephen P. , Judge, Timothy A. , published by Pearson Education Inc. , publishing as Prentice Hall 2011

Tuesday, January 7, 2020

Ones Education Impacted by a Very Important Incident Free Essay Example, 1500 words

John Howard s parents had always tried to help charitable organizations and young orphans to live a better life in whatever way they can; his mother had raised him in a way that he knew about the terrible things that could happen to people physically and emotionally and make them mentally different in terms of living their lives, as compared to others. John was thus in the habit of doing little things like donating his old clothes and always taking food for orphans on festive occasions. These habits had been inculcated within him so deep that somehow, looking at that young child in that cafe that day, struck a chord inside him. His gut feeling was urging him to join the social service unit in order to interact with differently abled children and understand how they lived lives. Looking at that young boy helped John realize that the life that he had been given was something extremely precious even on the most mundane of his days, John was more privileged than so many other children out there who did not even have decent means of education and play time. We will write a custom essay sample on One's Education Impacted by a Very Important Incident or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/page