Adult Education Essay -- essays research papers

Community Based Adult EducationA. Global judicial decision of Community Based Adult Education. This includes most important contributions they fag end make to society in the face of what are considered the most significant challenges of the 1990s. Who are the customers and how can they best be served? Which of the philosophies of adult education are most evident in each case?Adult educators in community based festering identify with a specific content area or with a specific clientele. For example literacy (the adult reading programs established throughout different communities) and too health (aids awareness programs).Aims and purposes of community-based adult education are usually directly related to specific community issues.Community Development (strictly an educational process everything else is secondary) vs. hot Education (providing social skills useful to the oppressed).Community-Based education operates on the assumption that a given community has potential to solve ma ny of its problems.The customers are the wad in the community with common needs.Paulo Freire is the principle thinker under the Popular Education.B. What trends are evident (or can be expected) that will impact such institutionsEducation with the people instead of for the peop...

the russian americans :: essays research papers fc

The Russian-AmericansAs of the last released comprehensive United States Census listing all nationalities, in 1990, there were over ii million people claiming Russian ancestry living in America. Not included in this number was over one million people who were innate(p) in Russia. Sixty-six thousand entered the U.S. between 1980 and 1990 over 120,000 entered before 1980, slightly over 123,000 were naturalized citizens, and over 71,000 were not considered citizens of the United States. When it comes to income and occupation the Russian-American ranks higher on the socio-economic ladder then many minorities. When it comes to occupations over half of the Russian tribe is in the managerial or professional field, while another third of the population works in sales. The rest of the population works in the service or labor field with the smallest bit of the population being farmers, .6 percent. In correlational statistics the median income of a Russian-American is over 45,000 dollars, o nly 3.6 percent of the population lives in poverty. This can be a direct correlation to the educational attainment of the Russian-Americans 90 percent graduate high school, 49 percent have a bachelors degree, and 24 percent have a graduate degree. This is one of the highest percentages of any theme that has come to the United States, except some of the Asian countries. The Russians started to look for the American dream in the seventeenth century when Semen Dezhnev set out to risk a route through the Bering Straight, although he never made it anywhere close to the United States, he did find the Northern-most point of Siberia, which is named after him. The next travel was launched by Vitus Bering, and although he died while searching for America some of his crewmates did find the Aleutian islands and started the pelt rush of 1973. In two years many fur industries were set up and people started to establish small communities in Alaska. In 1794 eight monks arrived to one of those s mall towns, Kodiak and started a Russian Orthodox mission. In seventy years when Alaska was sold to the U.S. the Orthodox religion was so ingrained into the people that it was, and still is the predominant religion in the area. After the sale of Alaska, the immigration of Russians slowed until the commencement of the twentieth century and the beginning of Communism is Russia. In the beginning it was mostly laborers and farmers and then came the former Russian army and naval officers, highly qualified engineers and scientists, actors and composers, musicians and painters, and a number of world-famous singers and ballet dancers.

Domestic Terrorism Essay -- Violent Crime National Terror Essays

Domestic TerrorismNational terrorism has been the focus of attention since September 11. merely now domestic terrorism is becoming increasingly common among hate groups across the nation. Domestic terrorism can be defined as viewable crime, or street crime. These acts would consist of godforsaken crimes, (acts against flock in which injury or death results) property crimes (acts that threaten property held by individuals or the state) and usual order crimes. (acts that threaten the general well-being of society and challenger accepted moral principles) It can also however be described as governmental crime, (criminal acts by or against the government for ideological purposes) which would include the 9/11 and the Oklahoma City bombing. This name straightway relates to the definition of sociology, which is the systematic study of accessible behavior and human groups. This news item is sociological because it focuses on terrorism which is an act of violence (social/deviant beha vior) against a person, group, or an entire nation (human groups). This article focuses on the behavior of domestic terrorist groups or gangs of people such as the white supremacists, anti government types, militia members, eco-terrorists and people that hate corporations. 1 They include violent anti-abortionists and black and br possess nationalists who envision a separate state for blacks and Latinos. 1 Throughout this article I will use domestic terrorist groups as the name for the groups listed above. (hate groups, etc.) umteen sociological concepts can be applied to this news article however there argon four specific ones which I feel are the best, which are social structure, roles, deviance and social control. Every society has a social structure, which is the way in which a society is organized into predictable/patterned relationships. This relates directly to the human groups, i.e. white supremacists etc. discussed in the news article. When you belong to such a group you s tand for something, and the people that occupy the group consider it their own society in which they make their own rules and regulations. They take on different roles which are deviant to our society but acceptable to theirs. In the case of this article these groups all plan and/or commit violent acts against people or other groups because they believe its acceptable, which according to us would be orga... ... a card list. This would include each organization being sent a packet including the survey (however formatted), and a letter requesting their participation. Then, over a period of time superintend which organizations respond and which do not. Of the ones that dont respond, a letter of reminder or even another packet could be sent back to the organization. afterwards that, another letter could be sent but it should probably stop at that point, as the organizations probably dont want to respond. In closedown domestic terrorism is recognized by all law enforcement agencies as a problem. They all agree that this issue needs to be deeply looked at and that efforts to counter domestic terrorism must develop quickly. Although, in the article police say the number of people arrested for plotting domestic terrorist acts is greater than the number of people arrested for actually carrying out the terrorist acts,1 there is still lots of work to be done on the issue. There should be an equal amount of focus on national and domestic terrorism in our country.References1 Copeland, Larry. Domestic Terrorism New trouble at home.USA TODAY 15 Nov. 2004, natl. ed. 1A 2A

Critique on Open City Essay -- Film Movies

Critique on throw CityOpen City is a neo-realist aim that followed the movement in Italy during land fight 2. The pack is neo-realistic because it has that reality like feeling to it by following specific characters through their daily stressful lives that are screwed up from poverty and war. It has many qualities that take it in some ways closer to the characters. While watching, the viewer is sucked into the story and immediately feeling emotional with the families and the opposite various characters in the word-painting. The main origin is Rossellinis choosing prominent music and kids with big eyes. This film is divided into two separate forks. First, is a story that shows a situation in Italy during the Nazi occupation of World struggle II. There are a couple of members of a secret underground movement that try to keep the Nazis away from them. This movement is made up of unretentive Italians, who are affectd by the war and other Nazi ideologies. One of the members of the revolutionist group is engaged to a mother of the upstart boy, and the nuptials is about(predicate) to take place in a matter of days. But all(prenominal) sorts of problems follow, and all of this is based on how the Nazis will finally catch up with these traitors. The second, to a greater extent effective and emotional part of the film is a tragic melodrama. At the beginning, the movie appears to be very dark and gloomy. This is shown from the riot at the bakeshop and the young revolutionist running away from authorities. There was so frequently swage that the family went through to eat, and survive. The tension increases so smoothly yet it drives the nerves of the attestant during the family line of business scene (which proves to be very effective). The only relief of any kind is portrayed by the younger generation. They are the only anes that manage to actually choose explosives. Smart move by the director as the kids are the only sense of any kind of future s ince there was so much trouble the day the Nazis entered the OPEN CITY. Some more devastation is the mistreatment of women by Nazi soldiers when families are evacuated from their houses. The soldier still tried to vituperate the women disdain her vulgar responses to his gripping. The following scene when the revolutionist was caught and taken by authorities had a very good build up to it. Rossolini showed us all the trouble in a matter of minutes and to add to it, the running of the woman... ...res about. In this scene though he pointlessly attempts to protect the Jesus statue from the nakedness of the other statue the same way he tries to protect his friends from the enemy or fascists. This is another good example of how Rossellini seems to be more of a documentary-style reality film.This film was part of the Italian Neo-realism era that did not use standards in filmmaking. They used a few different elements like non-professional actors doing close of the minor roles. The film was mentioned in partitioning to be shot in 1945 when the war was still occurring and it was great timing for shooting in Italy. Mainly because the scenery they used was real. In the great-run, the films main topic was based on a widely spoken about important issue at the time- war. Open City is one of the most interesting films due to many aspects. Mainly for giving a picture of a situation which at the time happened not too long out front the end Nazi occupation and enhanced the effect by being a melodrama. At times the film felt like a documentary, only if thats what made it quite interesting as well. These historical facts guarantee that Rossellinis film is important, even if not always perfect. Critique on Open City Essay -- Film MoviesCritique on Open CityOpen City is a neo-realist film that followed the movement in Italy during World War 2. The film is neo-realistic because it has that reality like feeling to it by following specific characters through the ir daily stressful lives that are screwed up from poverty and war. It has many qualities that make it in some ways closer to the characters. While watching, the viewer is sucked into the story and immediately feeling emotional with the families and the other various characters in the film. The main reason is Rossellinis choosing dramatic music and kids with big eyes. This film is divided into two separate parts. First, is a story that shows a situation in Italy during the Nazi occupation of World War II. There are a couple of members of a secret underground movement that try to keep the Nazis away from them. This movement is made up of poor Italians, who are troubled by the war and other Nazi ideologies. One of the members of the revolutionist group is engaged to a mother of the young boy, and the wedding is about to take place in a matter of days. But all sorts of problems follow, and all of this is based on how the Nazis will finally catch up with these traitors. The second, more effective and emotional part of the film is a tragic melodrama. At the beginning, the movie appears to be very dark and gloomy. This is shown from the riot at the bakery and the young revolutionist running away from authorities. There was so much trouble that the family went through to eat, and survive. The tension increases so smoothly yet it drives the nerves of the watcher during the family argument scene (which proves to be very effective). The only relief of any kind is portrayed by the younger generation. They are the only ones that manage to actually have explosives. Smart move by the director as the kids are the only sense of any kind of future since there was so much trouble the day the Nazis entered the OPEN CITY. Some more devastation is the mistreatment of women by Nazi soldiers when families are evacuated from their houses. The soldier still tried to molest the women despite her vulgar responses to his gripping. The following scene when the revolutionist was caught and taken by authorities had a very good build up to it. Rossolini showed us all the trouble in a matter of minutes and to add to it, the running of the woman... ...res about. In this scene though he pointlessly attempts to protect the Jesus statue from the nakedness of the other statue the same way he tries to protect his friends from the enemy or fascists. This is another good example of how Rossellini seems to be more of a documentary-style reality film.This film was part of the Italian Neo-realism era that did not use standards in filmmaking. They used a few different elements like non-professional actors doing most of the minor roles. The film was mentioned in class to be shot in 1945 when the war was still occurring and it was great timing for shooting in Italy. Mainly because the scenery they used was real. In the long-run, the films main topic was based on a widely spoken about important issue at the time- war. Open City is one of the most interesting films due to many aspects. Mainly for giving a picture of a situation which at the time happened not too long before the end Nazi occupation and enhanced the effect by being a melodrama. At times the film felt like a documentary, but thats what made it quite interesting as well. These historical facts guarantee that Rossellinis film is important, even if not always perfect.

Essay --

R.Panda et, al (2013) Examined multimodal approach to Music Emotion Recognition (MER) problem. Collect randomness from different sources of audio, MIDDI and lyrics. This research was introducing a methodology for automatic creation of multimodal melody perception dataset categorization to AllMusic database, that based on emotion tags used in the MIREX mood classification task. MIDDI files and lyrics matching to a subset of achieved audio samples were collected. The dataset was classified into the same 5 emotion clusters identified in MIREX. Music Emotion Recognition (MER) research was received increased attention in recent years, the field still faces legion(predicate) difficulties and problems exacting on emotion detection in audio music signals. Many experiments were conducted to judge the importance of various features, sources and the effect of their combination in emotion classification.Holder Shaw and Gendall (2008) Conducted research for understanding and predicting of hum an behavior. Attitude is unspecified to bump important role in human behavior theory that what people telephone and what they do. May be the most fundamental statement underlying the attitude concept was the notion that attitude in some way guide, influence, direct embodiment or predict actual behavior Labaws (1980) was offered in alternative approach to predicting the behavior in which behavioral characteristic of peoples lives from the ground of questionnaire design. Recent analyses originate that Labaws approach to predicting behavior was corresponding in terms of predictive ability and was greater from a survey research perspective. Labaws research was presented a sufficient alternative to attitudinal- based approach to predicting behavior.Byeong-Jan Han et al. (2010) E... ...ed for the automated explanation of large musical collection. Such an inquiry potential would be implemental for song collection and a range of application. Vallabha Hampiholi (2012) condu cted research that past decade in the field of audio satisfied analysis for takeout variety of information was the perceived mood or emotions connected to music or audio clip. This information was really useful in applications like generating or approving the play list based on the mood of the minder. This information was really patronful in better categorization of music database. In this paper author book presented a method to classify that music not just a metadata of audio clip as well comprise the mood feature to help get better music organization. Example audio version of the song, the person is relaxing or chill out mood strength desire to listen to this track.

Essay --

R.Panda et, al (2013) Examined multimodal approach to Music Emotion Recognition (MER) problem. Collect information from different sources of audio, MIDDI and lyrics. This research was introducing a methodology for automatic creation of multimodal melody emotion dataset categorization to AllMusic database, that based on emotion tags used in the MIREX mood classification task. MIDDI files and lyrics matching to a subset of achieved audio samples were collected. The dataset was classified into the same 5 emotion clusters identified in MIREX. Music Emotion Recognition (MER) research was received increased attention in recent years, the field still faces many difficulties and problems exacting on emotion detection in audio music signals. Many experiments were conducted to judge the importance of sundry(a) features, sources and the effect of their combination in emotion classification.Holder Shaw and Gendall (2008) Conducted research for understanding and predicting of world behavior. A ttitude is unspecified to play important role in human behavior theory that what people think and what they do. May be the most fundamental statement underlying the attitude concept was the notion that attitude in some way guide, influence, direct shape or predict actual behavior Labaws (1980) was offered in alternative approach to predicting the behavior in which behavioral characteristic of peoples lives from the basis of questionnaire design. Recent analyses originate that Labaws approach to predicting behavior was corresponding in terms of predictive ability and was great from a survey research perspective. Labaws research was presented a sufficient alternative to attitudinal- based approach to predicting behavior.Byeong-Jan Han et al. (2010) E... ...ed for the automated explanation of large musical collection. much(prenominal) an inquiry potential would be helpful for song collection and a range of application. Vallabha Hampiholi (2012) conducted research that p ast decade in the field of audio convenient analysis for take erupt variety of information was the perceived mood or emotions connected to music or audio clip. This information was really useful in applications like generating or approving the play list based on the mood of the listener. This information was really helpful in better categorization of music database. In this paper author have presented a method to classify that music not just a metadata of audio clip as hygienic comprise the mood feature to help get better music organization. Example audio version of the song, the person is relaxing or chill out mood strength desire to listen to this track.

Importance of Sports Essay

Sports such as football or baseball come to lots of natural activities. Sports and exercises help in strengthening and toning the muscles and bones in the body. In short, the importance of sports for kids is that it keeps them in an excellent shape. When children or adults goldbricks team up sports, be it play or hockey, they learn to work in groups. They learn that if the team wins, they win and if the team loses, they lose. This way they learn how to work in groups.Thus, the importance of sports for kids is that they understand what is team spirit and thus, when they grow and actually start working, it will help them immensely in building relationships with their co-workers, and also to work in harmony with others. Sports makes people mentally strong. Success and sorrow are both parts of sports as well as life. A sportsman sees that there will be times when he will win matches, there will also be times when he will lose them. A sportsperson knows how to handle defeat and thu s, treats success and failure equally.This is an important life lesson too, which sports can teach a person. Besides this, another importance of sports for children or for adults is that it teaches them how to handle competition, and be fearless when facing the adversaries. Children and adolescents ooze with physical energy. When they are involved in sports, their physical energies are used up in a constructive way. Teenage is such an impressionable age, if adolescents are stipulation free time they might get involved in wrong activities or whitethorn fall in bad company or may also display anti-social behavior.Thus, the importance of sports in society is that it keeps adolescents from becoming anti-social elements, who might otherwise disturb the delicate fabric of society. Heres hoping that now you know what is the importance of sports. Besides being important for kids, taking up a sports career in adult life, has its own benefits. A sportsperson often travels to other countries to play matches and in the process, learns a great deal about the cultures of these countries. Even the spectators or TV viewers are thoroughly entertained while watching victor sports, making it an excellent recreational activity.

An Valuable Experience Essay

It started off like any other morning for me when I woke up from the bed. It was totally contrastive from others. I was very hungry and decided to have breakfast beforehand school. When I approach the dining room, I saw my parents was sitting there and kept smiling at me. As soon as I sat down, there was a big surprise for me.Happy Birthday, Jacky, give tongue to my parents as they r from each one me a beautiful wrapped present. I was extremely curious and I opened the present hurriedly. Wow It was an expensive carrell cry, Iphone 5. I was over the moonshine because I had wanted the cell phone so much since it published last month. subsequently having my light breakfast, I drove to school as usual. When I reached my classroom, my classmates sh come oned at me and wished me happy birthday. I was very happy as they sent their greeting to me.John, my best friend since primary school hugged me and kissed my forehead as his present to me. When I put down my bag, I quickly showed h im my new cell phone. He was fascinated when he saw my amazing cell phone. In fact, he was in love with that cell phone and both of us love it. We investigated the functions of this new cell phone until the bell rang and soon the lessons stared. I this instant hid the cell phone because cell phone is contraband in school. After three hours, it was recess time. The first thing I would do was going to the washroom. After that, I would go to the canteen to fill up my empty stomach.After having my fabulous meal, I went back to the classroom. When I reach my understructure, I realized that my cell phone was not in my pocket. My cell phone was missing I looked up and down for my cell phone frantically but I could not find it. I started to think carefully where I had put the cell phone. I recognized that I had given it to John before going out from the classroom. Or maybe I miss it in the toilet but it is impossible. It must be John who had stolen my cell phone and I was sure for it. I d arted to the canteen to look for John who was eating banana.John, there you are Give me back my cell phone I yelled at him. John did not know what had happened and shouted that he did not take my cell phone. However, I did not believe him and kept accusing him that he had stolen my cell phone. I was get impatient and my voice was getting louder.Hey John, I thought that we are best friend but now I know that you are just a liar, a thief If you admire my cell phone, just tell me and I can lend it to you. You should not steal it as that is my present from my parents. You know how toilful my parents rub down for buying me this present? I will never trust you again Never I shouted on top of my voice in social movement of the other students.After a couple of minutes, the bell rang again and we went back to the classroom. The whole day we did not talk to each other. I even changed my seat with the other friend. I was really upset and angry at John for being dishonest to me.After I had reached home, I took my bath. I was still thinking of my cell phone and I did not have any appetite to take my lunch. I did not know how I was going to tell my parents almost the missing of the cell phone. I decided to finish my homework before my parents come back. When I opened my bag and took out my book, I was shocked. To my surprise, it was my cell phone, dropped deeply inside my bag. I knew that I had misunderstood John. I felt sorry for him and I made up my mind to apologize to him.I took up my phone and called John. John, can we meet at Starbuck for a while? I had something important going to tell you. John did not answered me and cut the call. I was very stressed that time and I believed that John will come to meet me. Therefore, I quickly go out to the Starbuck coffee shop afterward.Thirty minutes later, I saw John walking toward me, but he did not even look at me. I knew that he was still angry with me. He took a seat next to me immediately. After we ordered our coffee, I started to begin my apologize. John, about just now erm I am truly sorry. I did not research for my cell phone carefully and misunderstood you. I should not shout and yell at you rudely. It is my entire fault. Sorry for everything. Can you forgive me? I said solemnly.Jacky, of course I will forgive you, we are best friend right/. However, to express your sincere, you must pay for my ordered coffee. Said John. We smiled at each other. After this incident, I realize that John is always my best friend. I learnt that we should trust our friends and not to misunderstood them without investigating properly. As the saying goes, Look before you leap.

Allerca cat

Creates truly unique harvest-tidesthe worlds first scientifically proven hypoallergenic cats. Genetically engineered, the medium sized ALLERCA GD cat weighs 10-15 pounds and is fully mature at age three. consort to ALLERCA, the cats down long life expectancies and possess sweet and affectionate dispositions. For a price of about(predicate) $3,000, you receive a 12-week-old kitten, complete with all shots and vaccinations, an embedded microchip identifier implant, and a one-year guarantee. Customers purchase kittens over the Internet and must pay approximately $1,000 for process and transportation.The high shipping cost occurs because commercial air shipping is stressful to the animal therefore, the kitten travels in a specialized private jet courier. According to ALLERCA, the current wait time for the ALLERCA GD kitten is approximately two years. Potential buyers may reduce their wait times to just a few months by paying $2,000 for one of the few kittens in the Premium Placement Program. This product is sold over the Internet. How can ALLERCA use Internet advertising technologies to penetrate its point food market? (Visit the Internet Advertising Bureau at www.iab. net to learn about recent technologies. ). What might be the main objectives of advertising and pubic relations for ALLERCA and what factors will affect ALLERCAs decision about its advertising and PR budgets? In addition to Internet marketing, what other advertising media and PR tools would you prefer for promoting ALLERCA and its unique products? It is very central to depict the target market. The Allerca GD cats have a bun in the oven a lot of benefits for the users including- 1. They do not cause allergy as generate by other cats2. They could be beneficial to individuals with health problems such as asthma, psoriasis, skin rashes, etc, and who love cats. Such individuals who may be advised by the come to not to keep cats in their homes may now do so without any health concerns 3. The life expectancy of such cats be longer 4. these cats ar sweet and affectionate compared the generic ones 5. It is easier to identify these cats as they have a microchip embedded beneath their skin 6. The cats are free of disease and infections as they are vaccinated 7.The cats can be purchased over the cyberspace and hence the customer does not have any hassle of going to the buyer and purchase the cat 8. the Customer gets a guarantee that the cat is genetically modified and has the characteristics claimed to be possessed 9. The animal is given the best treatment as it is not transported by road or air cargo 10. The customer would get the cat earlier if needed a nominal amount is paid The meshing strategy of reaching the target audience forms an important part of marketing in order to be successful. The first important step would be to identify the target market.Invariable the organization should involve this in their marketing plan. IF an individual who suffers from a medical condition such as asthma, and is similarly a feline-lover, he would be seeking the electronic media (including radio, TV and the internet) of ways in which he could fulfill his desires. Hence, it important to the organization to identify the exact media that potential customers would be looking in so as to obtain the cats. Any ads placed by the fraternity would be potent only if they reach the customers and match their invades.The company should also be aware that for any advertizing it would be placing in the media, a greater percentage of people would be noticing the ad but not responding to it. Hence, it is very important to have an ad which would catch the attention of the potential customers, who would also be ready to bear the costs of buying the product. One method of doing this would be to have repeated advertisements on the internet, in order to create awareness amongst the audience. Besides, the company should also focus on educating the customer.Such customers would potentially get motivated at purchasing the product (Search Engine Optimization and Beyond, 2008). One important point to not of the internet is that it is a very large means of communication and any advertisement that would be inserted would reach each and every corner of the globe. This does not make life any easier for the manufacturer as he has to search the global market for potential customers. Online stick with land sites are not able to provide details of the demographics and the type of customers that would be available at specific positions on the internet.Many companies are difficult to map their customers on the internet, to a greater extent often without much success. This is because many people who use the internet consider it to be a very unsafe place, given up for abuse and misuse, and hence may not be willing to give out their personal details. One way of reaching potential customers would be to have advertisements on websites that the target audience is identi fied. Newsletters that serve to help oneself people needing appropriate products could also be utilized as a source of advertisements and educating the potential customers.Many of the online newsletters search to have a good customer base, and involving the company producing these newsletters would be very effective in marketing the product over the internet. The company could also help the customers further by asking them their email addresses. Online forms placed at relevant websites could also be utilized by the company and would seem a more genuine and effective approach by the customers. Once the customer gets in touch with the company, a greater amount of interaction, clearing doubts, etc, is required.Online tracking services also seem to be a good approach by the company. If a visitor to the companys website is having a doubt, then an online chat tool with the company executive could help to clear further doubts. This process is known as web casting. Besides this, forums, o nline communities, bulletin boards, etc, help the people in search of getting a particular product or service from the right manufacturers (Search Engine Optimization and Beyond, 2008). Allerca would be having several objectives when it comes to marketing their product. These include- Brand-building campaign Creating interest amongst the general public and the target market Providing information in the form of education and awareness campaigns Creating demand for their product Reinforcing their brand (Know This, 2008). Some of the information that should be present in the advertisement include- Information of the product Information of the price Information about other promotions Information about distribution of the product (Know This, 2008). Allerca could consider using e-mail marketing for their product. This is a very cost-effective form of marketing their products.However, studies have shown that more than 40 % of the people who utilize the internet would ignore an adv ertisement sent to their email. Consumers need to know that the email being sent to them is safe and is from a genuine organization. Physical email could also be considered by Allerca but this may be costly and a difficult affair as the address of thousands of potential customers need be obtained from the right database. Studies in certain parts of the world suggest that newspaper and magazine advertisements would be one of the right ways of supplementing online advertisements.More than 34 % of the people in a survey felt that direct email was a mean of communication in which a relationship could be maintained, whereas 30 % felt that newspaper advertisements could help subscribe about a relationship (Tedeschi, 2001). Some of the PR tools that Allerca could consider utilizing include community relations activities, social marketing, event sponsorships and awareness campaigns. Event sponsorship seems to be an effective PR tool in this case. During the conductance of a relevant event, Allerca Company could create some awareness in the target audience though sponsorships and awareness campaigns.The target audience would be brought face to face with the manufacturer during this program. The company executives could realize the expectations of the company. Accordingly they could enter into contract with the consumer or consumer groups. The company would also get an nous of the competitors that may be present. The company can now begin to develop a strategy of competing with other companies. The company could hand out pamphlets, booklets and other worldly to the audience to ensure that they are educated about the product.It is also important for the company to follow-up with the potential customer after the event ( ample Circle Associates, 1999). References Full Circle Associates (1999). PR Tools and Techniques, Retrieved on June 7, 2008, from Full Circle Associates Web site http//www. fullcirc. com/rlc/commrelationstips. htm Know This (2008). Principles of Market ing Setting the Advertising Objective, Retrieved on June 7, 2008, from Know This Web site http//www. knowthis. com/tutorials/principles-of-marketing/managing-the-advertising-campaign/1. htm Search Engine Optimization and Beyond (2008).Identifying And Reaching Your Target Market, Retrieved on June 7, 2008, from Search Engine Optimization and Beyond Web site http//search-engine-optimization-and-beyond. com/Customer-Centric-Website-Developement/Identifying-And-Reaching-Your-Target-Market. htm Tedeschi, B. (August 6, 2001). E-Commerce Report online businesses are supplementing their fleet e-mailings with an old warhorse direct mailings. Retrieved on June 7, 2008, from The NY Times Web site http//query. nytimes. com/gst/fullpage. html? res=9501E5DF113CF935A3575BC0A9679C8B63

The Credit Rating Agencies, Their Role in the Financial Crisis?

End of Studies Thesis What is the governing body sanction of the ascribe military range agencies, which discriminate did they play in the late(a) pecuniary Crisis and how stick out their efficiency be improved? Thesis Supervisor David Menival Emmeline Beauchamp Cycle Franco- US March 2013 Ac loveledgments I would let outgrowth like to thank RMS and especially the CESEM to bewilder taught me a lot, helped me to grow and open up and gave me this incredible opportunity of studying two years in the united States. None of this phenomenal experience would hold back been possible without them.I would besides like to thank Northeastern University for allowing me to discover a unseasoned culture and a unlike educating system. It also had a tremendous enjoyment in my future accomplishment and professional c ber. In addition, I would like to thank all the professors I had during these quad years of studying, whether it is at CESEM or at Northeastern University. They make t his journey scour more than(prenominal) profit sufficient and enjoy competent. I would also like to thank David Menival, my thesis supervisor, who accepted to work with me on this project.Finally, I would like to thank my parents for al trends supporting my choices and being next to me when I needed them. They bemuse been my guides and frameworks in flavor and exact always encouraged me to be bettor and push myself. Table of Content Introduction4 I. de nonation military rank Agencies Role and methods5 1) History5 2) Role and methods7 3) The Issuer-Payer nonplus 9 II. The assurance entry place Agencies and the Financial Crisis is the thermometer prudent for the f ever so? 12 1) Background of the monetary Crisis12 2) assurance Rating mission are non fully prudent 14 ) But they could have done remediate17 III. What is next? 20 1) Lessons learned from the crisis 20 2) Regularization of the existing trust Rating system 21 3) A in the altogether yard system23 4) Creation of innovative reliance Rating Agency24 Conclusion26 Exhibits27 Bibliography32 Introduction A conviction rank force is a comp whatsoever whose role is to evaluate the failure attempt of a borrower, whether it is a private or public conjunction or a State. Since 1909, when Moodys emitted its first valuation, the role of the Credit Rating Agencies has considerably evolved and the methods drug abused have improved.Even though their come ins do non constitute buying or tell oning recommendations, they rapidly gained an almost biblical license. Since the 1980s, the credit rank agencies have, indeed, become a reference for investors that want to determine the creditworthiness of an entity. Their ratings influence investors behaviors and they are indirectly involved in the future of a State or comp some(prenominal). After several economic meltdowns and the recent monetary crisis, the ternary big Credit Rating Agencies have been the shopping centre of attentio n.Is their methodology appropriate to evaluate the creditworthiness of an entity? Does the issuer- gifter model stop up the best transparence? Their role and implications in the crisis have been meticulously examined and their work system has been principaled. Although their role in the crisis in undeniable, are the unaccompanied obligated of the crisis? The system was defaulting and the predictions of the credit rating agencies turned out to be wrong. Which modifications should we bring to the system to make it more transparent and efficient?These are the questions we leave movement to answer throughout this thesis. I. Credit ratings agencies role and methods Credit Ratings agencies, entity still little recognizen outside the financial communities two years ago, found themselves at the center of attention with the subprime crisis. If e veryone more or less gets, now, familiar with what a credit rating agency is, people usually do non know what are the origins of this affa ir, its rationale and its financing model. 1) HistoryThe influence of the three briny credit rating agencies (Moodys, quantity & abjects and skunk Ratings) was build musical note by step since their inception, in the early 1900s. Historically, the ratings issued by the agencies did not have more value than the ones enduen by analysts or economic experts. They acquired this particular status when legislators and regulators attributed them a big bunk in their systems. The development of railroads companies marked the origin of these Big Three. These railroad companies were indeed fluctuating and needed nvestments to set up their infrastructures. As investors were pertain and questioned their faculty to reimburse their debts, Henry Varnum Poor published, in 1860, some financial culture regarding the creditworthiness of those companies in come in to help investors make their decision. Later on, in 1900, trick Moody would also start publishing economic data on these companies and finally, in 1909, J. Moody gave his first ratings active railroad companies in Moodys Analyses of Railroad Investments by attributing a letter to apiece of them the credit rating was born.This system was progressively adopted by former(a)s credit rating agencies much(prenominal) as Fitch publish Company, founded in 1913 by John Knowles Fitch, which would later be known as Fitch Ratings. Finally, Less than thirty years later, the credit rating agency Standard & Poors is created afterwards the merger of the Standards Statistic Bureau and the Poors Publishing Company. The development of the ratings is stimulated by several concomitantors. First, its coating is to moroseer a service for investors by providing useful information that will help them in their decision-making process.In addition, the relative large size of the American territory reprove investors to search for information, they would rather pay for it than waste time spirit for it. Moreover, the repercussions of the 1929 financial crisis and the consequences of the World War II, giving supremacy to the Economy of the United States, also prefer the expansion of the concept of rating. In 1970, after the boundruptcy of Penn Central Railroad, the first doubts regarding the independence of the credit rating agencies appeared. This was the first time that the reliability and seriousness of the ratings were questioned.In disposition to reestablish the value of the ratings, the SEC (Securities Exchange Commission) created, in 1975, the field of studyly Recognized Statistical Rating Organization (NRSRO) designation. The goal was to standardize and formalize the ratings regarding brokerage firms and banks with their roof ratios. At that time, seven agencies obtained the NRSRO designation. In 1990, after several advanced mergers, the add up of NRSRO was only of three Moodys investor service, Standard and Poors and Fitch Ratings. In 2003, the Canadian agency Dominion Bond Ratings service Lt d also ained the status of NRSRO, followed by A. M Best Company in 2005. In June 2003, after the dis tacks caused by the bankruptcy of the company Enron, the regulation of the credit rating agencies and their NRSRO status needed to be examined. Multiple authorships on the role played by the agencies in this case were published. Even though investors bemused faith in them, they all concur that they should keep the NRSRO status. In 2006, after years of critics toward the credit rating agencies, the functioning rules of the NRSROs were modified and the Credit Rating Agency Reform make for was promulgated.The objective was to specify the internal decision process of the credit rating agencies while banning the SEC to control the rating system of NRSROs. Right after, in 2007, three more companies were added to the list of NRSROs Japan Credit Rating Ltd, Rating & Investment information Inc. and Egan-Jones Rating Company. Since April 2011, the list of agencies that accredited the NR SRO status counts ten names (See Exhibit 1, page 27). Finally, in July 2010, the DoddFrank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act reinforced the control over the ratings practices.This included a reduction of the counterpoints of interest regarding the ratings of structured produces and decreased dependence on ratings. It also allowed investors to sue a credit rating agency in case of fake or reckless rating. For decades, the three main agencies, Moodys, Standard and Poors and Fitch Ratings, have been controlling the food market, as high barriers to enter exist. The major ones are the importance of the re ordinateation and the investors confidence in their ratings. Since their creation, these agencies have beded themselves with a particular role and specific methods. ) Role and Methods The Credit Rating Agencies evaluate the creditworthiness of debtors. Ratings can concern a company as well as a particular sacking or securitization or any financial debt. They are usuall y solicited by the debt issuer but can also be attributed, if non-requested, after collecting public information. Credit Rating Agencies enjoyed a trustworthy reputation and an essential role in the financing of economies. Over time, regulators, for practical reasons, tried more and more to impose the use of the notation in the investors financing.This long-term trend follows upon the systematic financing by the market, whether it is in a simple formulation taking the shape of debenture or assimilated loans or new products where the assay of defect is difficult to comprehend because it is diffuse in complex financing methods such as the securitizations. Credit Rating Agencies have the role of processing the information for financial markets. They synthesize the information for market needs and the investors seemed to excessively conceding their confidence to this information.Investors pay c fall away attention to any modifications in ratings or to any entities placed under observ ation. The ratings issued by the credit rating agencies have a trustworthy value. Since investors usually do not fritter the time to look for information regarding a company or a State, they based their investiture choices upon the rating given by the credit rating agencies. Therefore, the role of the credit rating agencies is essential. Basically, these agencies summarize all information available about a company or State and turn it into a rating that will then influence the future of an entity.However, it is necessary to underline that the ratings given are not buying or selling recommendations, they are only an military rank of the creditworthiness of an entity, at a defined time, and statically calculated. Next to this informative participation, credit rating agencies contribute to the management of portfolios by giving advice to the investors via the medium-term orientations emitted with the rating. If a company tries to finance itself, the accredited grading will be deter mining for the conditions of the operation.Whether it is by financing through banks or by issuing bonds on the market, the more the govern will be raised, the more the company will be able to find cheap funds at low interest rates. On the other hand, a large grade will imply higher interest rates and difficulties to find financing. The difference of levels between both interest rates will constitute the risk premium. This problem becomes peculiarly serious for companies or States located within the speculative category. Major institutional investors do not want, indeed, to take the risk and, therefore, do not invest on these kinds of values. However, the rating is ot situated and fluctuates throughout the life of the bonds. A decrease of the rating can lower the price of the bond. Likewise, a raise of the rating can be associated to an increased price of the bond. In order to correctly determine the default risk, Credit Rating Agencies use diverse quantitative and qualitative c riteria that they translate into a grade. Credit Rating Agencies distinguish two types of ratings short and long-term the traditional rating that applies to loans emitted on the market and the reference rating that measures the risk of counterparty for the investor represented by this issuer.When evaluating the financial risk, credit rating agencies first take into consideration purely financial numbers such as the profitability, the return on investment, the level of cash flows and debt, the financial flexibility and the fluidity. More and more, the agencies integrate non-quantitative elements such as the governance, the social lineage of the company and its strategy. It is also necessary to highlight the fact that the rating is usually associated with medium-term orientation, allowing to better estimate the future trend regarding the quality of the issuer.In some cases, a borrower can be placed under observation. The main steps in a companys life (mergers, acquisitions, big inve stments) are indeed, likely to influence and modify their structure. Credit rating agencies, subject to preserving the confidentiality of the received information and avoiding cases of insider trading, can have insider information on the financial state and the future prospects of the analyzed issuer, while reducing the cost of collection and data processing. They distinguish themselves from financial analysts, who, in principle, only have access to the public information.Even if they can benefit from insider information on behalf of issuers, they are dependent on the information provided by these issuers. Each Credit Rating Agency possesses its own rating system. In broad outline, grades are established from A to D with intermediary levels. Thus, the best grade is abdominal aortic aneurysm, then AA and A for Standard and Poors or Aa, A, etc. for Moodys. In addition, we can also find intermediate ratings a + or a - but also a 1 or a 2 can indeed be added to the grade (e. g. AA+, A-, Aa2, etc. ).This allows a better and more precise classification of borrowers. These different ratings can be divided in two groups the first category, High Grade includes all ratings between AAA and BBB and the second category, also known as speculative, for inferior grades. (See Exhibit 2, page 28) The biggest advantage of this system is to provide information at low cost for potential investors. Thanks to an easily understandable grade, but incorporating a vast amount of information, investors can cursorilyly have an idea of the creditworthiness of a borrower.The ratings issued by these agencies are a more and more useful tool in the decision-making process of investors looking for relevant information. Current regulation obliges them to certify published information. As we have previously seen with the United States or Greece, the market strongly reacts and sometimes irrationally to any modification of a rating or to a simple announcement of a hypothetical revision. Credit Ra ting agencies have a real influence on markets. The impact of their decision on issuers and investors is decisive.On the contrary, an excessive reaction was all in all predictable in front of their incapacity to forecast the financial crises of these last decades. 3) The issuer-payer model For more than half a century, investors that paid to obtain financial information about loan issuers financed the credit rating agencies. Thus, companies, local communities, States were given a rating, without asking for one or without their consents, but to answer to requests from bankers or investors that were holding these funds.Naturally, these non-requested ratings were only based on public information concerning such or such company. The Credit Rating Agencies sold their publications to bankers and capital holders who were looking for potential adequate investments. In addition to selling these manuals, the credit rating agencies could also offer others services to investors (weekly informa tion about financial results of rated companies, actualization of the ratings, recommendations and advices of purchase and/or sell).However, the agencies will lose some profits as some investors managed to have the information and the manuals without paying for them. As from the beginning of the 1970s, Credit Rating Agencies started to charge their services to the issuers of bonded debt. This is the issuer-payer model. These issuers of debt (Companies or communities looking for investment) began to more and more directly solicit the agencies in order to obtain a rating. They believed that this rating would reassure investors during a slowdown of economic growth.Thus, from now on, it is more very much the issuers of debts that will request a rating from the credit rating agencies to get an evaluation from them that would allow them to access to credit. This approach contributed widely to consolidate the place of the Credit Rating agencies and to legitimize their intervention. In fac t, this translates well a swing of the balance of authority between those who look for funds to invest in industrial projects and those who hold funds, while waiting for the best yield at the slightest risk.In a world highly modeld by finance, where pensioners and holders of capital are in a strong position, and where industrial and direct investors are in a position of requestors, it is now, more often, issuers who wish to borrow and will ask to be noted, that will pay the credit rating agencies for their services. This transpose from an investor-payer model to an issuer-payer model compromised the independence of the credit rating agencies. In fact, in 2011, only 10% of the revenue of the agencies came from funds holders who treasured to know more about the validity, the risk and the potential profitability of an investment.From now on, the ones looking for capital are the ones financing 90% the credit rating agencies. The issuer-payer model strongly modifies the situation of the credit rating agencies. In this situation, the rating agency is used, and paid, by the market player who wishes to be noted to then be able to hope to obtain capital on financial markets. The question of the independence of the agency in its rating process is then very directly put the rating agency will be given up to note well a company which pays her to then try to obtain capital in good conditions on behalf of miscellaneous investors.However, the market has faith in this independence since a credit rating agency has to protect its reputation, and thus an agency could not take the risk of over evaluating one of its customers by fear of losing its credibility and thus all business. Credit Rating Agencies seem, indeed, more and more subjected to conflicts of interests, which decrease their reliability. The issuers pay the agencies to be noted, while credit rating agencies need the revenues from these same issuers. Besides, more and more often, the credit rating agencies mix tw o activities consulting and rating.Therefore, in addition to evaluating a company, an agency also advises on current operations. A study for the SEC in 2008 revealed that some analysts from certain agencies participated in meetings between investors and issuers in which commission and rating were fixed. These conflict of interest generated criticisms and accusations against credit rating agencies and especially during the recent financial crisis. As the credit rating agencies were essential and indispensable to any players on the market that cute either to invest or to find capital, they were at the heart of the upheaval.II. The Credit Rating Agencies and the Financial Crisis is the thermometer responsible for the fever? In order to determine the responsibility that the credit rating agencies have in the financial crisis of 2008, it is necessary to understand how the crisis happened, which events punctuated it and what has been the behavior of the rating agencies throughout the cri sis. 1) Background of the Financial Crisis Every involvement started when the American housing market suddenly collapsed after a steady rise in the 2000 years.To finance their consumption and acquisition of a house, American households did not hesitate to get into very high debts. The market was booming so there was a trust in the ability to get its money back with a substantial profit. As counterparty, they pawn their properties. This was a guaranty for banks to be paid because if the borrower could not reimburse what he owed, his property would be sold to honor his debt. When the phenomenon grows and affects a large number of households, the sale of their property causes the collapse of the value of the property.The downturn of the housing market was reinforced by the subprime system. Since 2002, the American Federal Reserve, which encouraged easy credit to climb the parsimony, allowed millions of households to become homeowners thanks to premium loans called subprime, with vari able interest rates that can reach 18% after three years. These interest rates are fixed according to the value of the property the greater the value, the lower the rate and vice versa. That is what happened when the housing market collapsed in the United States in the beginning of 2007.Households, lacking of ways to reimburse their debts to lenders, have caused the bankruptcy of several credit institutions that could not repay themselves since even when taking on the property, this one has a lower value than initially. Finally, banks were also touched by this phenomenon. They have indeed been numerous to invest in these lending institutions. Nevertheless, today, invested funds are gone. In order to compensate these losses on the housing market, banks were forced to sell their shares, leading to a decrease of their values on the financial markets.The crisis quickly expanded in Europe, where major European banks such as Dexia in France and Benelux or IKB in Germany lost a fair part o f their investments. Besides, the bankruptcy of several European banks led to a confidence crisis on European financial markets. Banks have doubts about each others contamination by the subprime crisis and therefore, to be cautious, refused to lend money. Since international banks are linked to each other through financial agreements, the crisis rapidly extended, to reach Asia during the summer 2007.Only one solution seemed imaginable for banking institutions to face this lack of liquidity sell their shares and bonds. This fast and quick intervention caused a sharp drop in stocktaking value and all the European stock markets were affected (See Exhibits 3 and 4, page 29-30). In order to appease the crisis on the markets but also to bail out banks, the American Federal Reserve (FED) and the Central European Bank (CEB) decided to inject liquidity in the monetary system, hoping to gain back the confidence of investors to help stabilize the situation.On 9 August 2007, the CEB acted fir st by making available 94. 8 meg euros to banks, followed shortly by the FED which injected $24 billion to appease the spirits of investors. However, markets initially misinterpreted the message, considering their involvement as a sign of weakness. The next day, the CEB injected again 61 billion euros and the FED, $35 billion, but the markets felt down again. Finally, on August 13, 2007, the same action was repeated and the monetary market as well as stock markets around the world kept their heads above water.While it seemed like the financial crisis was faded away at the end of 2007, a second wave of crisis appeared from the banking heavens at the beginning of 2008. This was due to the creation of new products such as residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS), Asset-backed Securities (ABS). In fact, credit risk, such as subprime mortgages, were pooled and backed by other assets, more or less risky, in Collateralized Debt Obligations (CDO) (See Exhibit 5, pages 31). These clus ters of scattered debts were then sold on the stock exchange by the issuer, like shares of a company could be given up.This results in the transfer of the risk of non-payment from issuers of mortgages to financial institutions in particular banks, major consumers of CDO. In order to invest on the CDO market, some financial organisms went even further and created Structured Investment Vehicles (SIV) that did not have to respect the usual rules of prudence of the banking system. This amplified the risks taken and losses impacted on the performance of the bank. former(a) new products were also created such as Credit Default Swap (CDS), an insurance contract between two entities against a risk faced by one of two entities, such as the non-payment of a debt.The price of the CDS reflects the confidence in a particular issuer of a debt and is the basis for determining the value of the product of the debt. The crisis took a new dimension on September 15, 2008 with the bankruptcy of Lehman B rothers and AIG (narrowly saved by the Fed), as well as several American and European banks (HBOS in United Kingdom, Fortis in Europe, Dexia in France and Belgium, etc. ). This international and financial crisis still has repercussions on todays stock markets and the end of the tunnel seems far away. The question raised here is the role played by the Credit Rating agencies in the crisis.Are they the only ones to blame for everything that happened? Are the actions intended by the rating agencies responsible for the crisis? 2) The credit Rating Agencies are not fully responsible Ever since the crisis, the credit rating agencies have been easy targets to blame for what happened in 2007 and the years after. efficaciously they did not anticipate the downturn of the market, they continued to attribute good rating to banking institutions already hurt by the crisis with an increasing book of perverting loans or bad papers that banks will have to deleverage.Many criticisms have been emitte d about toward them. However, it is important to point out that they are not the ones and only responsible for what happened. They did not have power over a lot of actors that went wrong, and for that they cannot be the only to take the fault in the financial crisis. The thermometer could not be responsible for the fever. First of all, they are not responsible for the bankers or mortgage brokers who gave loans unwisely. These institutions lacked of common sense and thinking when offering credits.Banks and managers perfectly knew that unemployed borrowers would never be able to reimburse their mortgages. They have, indeed, disproportionately overt the gates of credit by taking for guarantee, when they did take some, the increase of real estate prices or their trust in the growth of the economy. They thought that they could make benefits if the debtor did not pay, as they believed that they could force the sale of the house for a higher price. However, real estate prices always end u p going down and the economy is fluctuating.In an attempt to reduce the risk of these new kinds of loans, banks used securitization they transformed these loans and resold them on the stock market. Therefore, mortgages securitizers are also to blame. Some companies such as Washington Mutual, Morgan Stanley or Bank of America were mortgages originators as well as mortgage securitizers, other like Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers and Bears Stearns bought mortgages directly to subprime lenders and pooled them together to resell them to investors. However, as soon as a debtor was not able to pay back his mortgages, the security became toxic and had no more value.Nevertheless, this was not the last step. Some banks would buy and bundled mortgage backed-securities into collateralized debt obligations, be of different levels of risk. The creators of these new financial products are also responsible for the crisis. They bet against these risky CDOs by using credit default swap. (See exhibit 5) Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) could also be blame for what happened. They indeed, control the mortgage market. When a bank or a mortgage broker wanted to take off his books a loan, it could sell it to a GSE, which led to a higher number of mortgages.Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are the two major GSEs. Alone, they own or guarantee half of the current mortgages. With their government status, investors can buy those bonds while asking for a low interest rate in return, as federal government bonds have the safest credit rating in the world. As long as debtors paid back their mortgages, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would be able to pay their creditors too. However, as these loans where often given out, even to people we knew could not reimburse, GSEs had to assume the risk. Therefore, we could also say that investors could be blamed for the role they played.They bought and invest in financial products they did not know about. They should have conducted researches about what they were purchasing and should have known these were subprime and meant a higher risk of non-payment. However, we have to see the larger picture. At that time, banks received pressure from higher instances to encourage homeownership and so, to grant loans to the poorest population. The government wanted households with a less comfortable life to be able to buy their own house. The pressure that was put on the banks forced them to give mortgages to debtors that would ikely not pay back. This being said, borrowers are also responsible for contracting loans that they pertinently knew they could not afford. Moreover, the credit rating agencies are also not responsible for the debt of the countries. They have often been accused to do be the reason for the deficit of some countries such as Greece. Nevertheless, Greece has always had a huge deficit. They never had a break-even budget in 150 years, and governments from left to right parties systematically laid about the finance of the country .In addition, the national sport is not the Greco/Roman wrestling or the Marathon but how to avoid paying taxes nothing in which the rating agencies were involved. Furthermore, regulators could have also done a better job to prevent the crisis. In the United States, several regulators exist and each of them has a specific area of expertise. The regulation of the banking sector is shared between the Federal Reserve (Fed), the Office of the comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (which guarantees the deposits of bank customers) and the Office of the Thrift Supervision (OTS).There is also The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that is responsible for the supervision of stock exchanges. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority provides the regulation of brokerage activities. Finally, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) insures the regulation of futures and options markets. This various regulators could have acted to appease th e situation. The SEC could have, indeed, regulate lending practices at banks and force them to keep more capital reserves in case of losses.The Federal Reserve could have contained the housing bubble by setting safer mortgages lending standards, which it failed to do and especially when Alan Greenspan who was the head of the FED, refused to improve the examination of the subprime mortgage market. Finally, according to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Report, executives in the main investment banks did not hold enough capital to be fully protected against losses. Some companies, such as Lehman brothers or Citigroup would just hide bad investments off their books.It is chiefly a problem related to the liquidity crisis that led to the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers. Lehman Brothers, indeed, financed itself on the short-term and lend on the long-term. When the source of the financing dried up (banks did not trust each others by fear of not being paid off), Lehman found himself stuck and was enabled to face its commitments. If the credit rating agencies were not responsible for the mortgage originators or securitizers, the creation of the CDO, the regulators or the executives of the investment banks, they surely played a tremendous role in the crisis ) But they could have done better The credit rating agencies are responsible for a lot in the financial crisis. Several aspects of their business as well as the actions they have done have been pointed out as the main cause of the crisis. First of all, the pertinence of their business model was questioned, among others the oligopolistic situation of the market and the conflict of interest created by the issuer-payer model. The Big Three (Standard & Poors, Moodys and Fitch Ratings) generate 95% of the $6 billion market that the rating business represents.These three agencies dominate the market and adopt homogeneous methodologies and practices. The business model of the rating agencies establishes itself on the independenc e and the credibility granted by the financial markets and the authorities of supervision. That is wherefore, in the absence of statutory reforms and / or of the apostasy of numerous customers, the leadership of the Big Three will be maintained, protected by strong barriers of entry (reforms difficult to set up and loyalty of issuers often connected to the heaviness of the rating process).Besides, the oligopolistic situation is strengthened by a consolidation, on the initiative and thus for the benefit of the Big Three. So, Fitch acquired in June 2000 the fourth American rating agency, Duff and Phelps, and in December 2000 Thomson BankWatch. At the beginning of 2006, Fimalac gave up 20 % of Fitch Group (who, herself, holds Fitch Ratings, Fitch information and Algorithmics, this last company having been acquired in 2005) to Hearst Corporation. Likewise, the French subsidiary of Standard & Poors acquired ADEF (Agency of Financial Evaluation).Another reason why the credit rating ag encies played an important role in the financial crisis is because of the conflicts of interest they were facing with the issuers. If some say that these conflicts of interest were of minor importance since there are always conflicts of interest in relationships, in that case, it had serious consequences on the global economy, as they are one of the causes of the subprime crisis in 2008. It is, indeed, the issuer that pays the rating agency so that this one estimates its capacity to pay off its debt.It is thus relevant to wonder about the partiality and the objectivity of the rating agencies which find themselves at the same time judge and judged and which can be inclined to note well its customers to keep their market share. Besides, the transparency that the rating agencies show in their methodologies and during their changes of ratings is unreliable as far as these sudden reversals seemed to have destabilized the markets. The three major credit rating agencies also contribute to worsen the financial crisis by their practices. They were, indeed, a key factor in the financial meltdown.They attributed a rating to every products offered on the stock market. Even mortgage-related securities received a good grade, which made it easier to market and sell them. As we have seen previously, the ratings that they gave had an almost biblical authority, so investors trusted the rating agencies to be fair and to give relevant grade to each product and did not conduct further investigation regarding their investment. Credit Rating Agencies were necessary to the mortgage-backed securities market each actor in the process needed them The issuers, to approve the structure of their deal The banks, to determine what capital to hold The investors, to know what to buy Since 1970, when the credit rating agencies got the status of NRSRO, the SEC decided to base the capital requirements for banks on the grades given by the rating agencies. This is also included into the banking c apital regulations as the recourse rule, which allows banks to hold less capital for higher-rated securities. The SEC also prevented money market funds to buy securities that did not receive ratings from at least two NRSROs.Without these good ratings, banks would not have been able to place these financial products so easily onto financial markets, and the investors would have never bought them. Theirs ratings helped the market to go up rapidly and their downgrades between 2007 and 2008 wreaked havoc across markets and firms. These ratings, especially the ones for the mortgage-backed securities, appeared to have been very optimistic. But what we could observe, throughout the crisis, is the gregarious reflex of the credit rating agencies.They usually agreed on the ratings and when one of them downgraded a security, a company or even a State, the others would usually follow and did the same thing. As we have seen, the Credit Rating Agencies have indeed played an important role in the financial crisis. However, they are not the only one to blame. Thus, we can say that the thermometer is not responsible for the crisis but it could have given a better temperature of the situation. III. What is next? As we discussed, the credit rating agencies have been criticized a lot during the crisis and some flaws of them have been pointed out.In order to improve their efficiency, it is important to understand what we have learned from the crisis and then propose a better regulation or an alternative to the Big Three. 1) Lessons learned from the Financial Crisis The first lesson learned from the crisis is the impact of the globalization of financial markets. This has linked countries together in a greater extent than they were sooner. That is why, in todays economy, any crisis that hits a main country or group of countries will have repercussion on all other countries. The financial crisis of 2008, started in the United States with the subprime bubble.Then it grew bigger and a ffected the rest of the world almost immediately compared to the 1929 crisis which also had worldwide impact but more gradually. We have to keep into consideration this new factor and realize that globalization plays an important role in the current worldwide economy. In addition, a country and its financial system need to be better prepared to face the crisis, in order to lay out economic and financial damages. This means having a sound and well-regulated environment, keeping its inflation rate low, its exchange rate flexible, and its debt position sustainable.By doing that, a country would limit its vulnerability in front of any financial crisis. Moreover, the country should use fiscal and monetary policies to be able react quickly in case of external shocks. Another lesson learned is the question of the financial supervision. The global crisis is a crisis of confidence, which must impose rules on investment in the financial market, such as CDS (Credit Default Swaps) and short-se lling of securities, clearing of OTC derivatives to reduce risks, CSD (Central settlement and Depository) regulation to protect investors and also Hedge Funds transparency.In macroeconomics, monitor means imposing laws and rules on a structure with what is called the invisible hand. In our case, the invisible hand is the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund and the States, which have full power to intervene and better regulate transactions in the financial markets. This crisis also revealed some weaknesses regarding risk planning. Research based on various methods, including country case studies, confirmed that the more the planning is important, the more the quality of the financial services of a country is raised and more the financial intermediation is efficient.The planning of the risks led a certain number of countries to revise their financial structures to adapt itself to the global economic transformations. Finally, we can say that every good thing comes to an end , positive times do not last forever and the end is most likely going to be painful. In todays financial system and global economy, we cannot avoid financial crisis, we can just hope that enough efforts will be done to improve our financial system and to limit the impacts of future crisis on our economy.If we focus on Credit Rating Agencies, to have a sound environment, it is worth considering a better regularization of our existing Credit Rating system, a new and improved rating system or the promotion of totally new credit rating agencies. 2) Regularization of our existing Credit rating system After the dysfunction of our system translated for instance into the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the disappearance of famous institutions such as Bear Sterns or Merrill Lynch, G7 members stressed the financial industry to improve its functioning mode and raise the regulation.Several critics have indeed been directed to the credit rating agencies regarding the methodologies used by those ag encies (including the growing place of the alleged(prenominal) political factors), the lack of transparency of their decisions, the rudimentary explanation accompanying the changes in notation, the moments selected to realize their announcements of ratings and finally, the potential conflicts of interest. All these aspects need to be taken into consideration when aiming to regulate the rating agencies. Various reform proposals have been recommended.Among them, you find some proposing the suppression of the governments influence over this industry, or even the creation of a completely government-sponsored rating entity. However, the final goal is the accuracy of the credit rating. The first main step toward a better regulation happened in 2006, when a new section to the Securities Exchange Act has been added. The objective was to improve rating quality for the protection of investors and in the public interest by fostering accountability, transparency, and challenger in the credit r ating industry (ANNUAL SEC REPORT, supra note 22, at 16).The market is an oligopoly the Big Three set the tone for the rest of the industry. Encouraging competition should give more choices to investors, at a lower cost and with better quality ratings. Several rules were added along the way, especially in 2009, when the SECs new rule addressed conflicts of interest, fostered competition and required detailed disclosure. For example, a NRSRO could not anymore issue a rating in which it had advised the bank or the issuer for the structure of the product.Another change emerged from the Dodd-Frank Act, in 2010, where a whole chapter has been dedicated to the rating agencies improvements to the regulation of the Credit Rating Agencies. The Dodd-Frank Act qualified the agencies as gatekeepers for the debt market and that is why they needed public oversight and accountability. This meant reducing the investors reliance on ratings by limiting references to NRSRO ratings from rules, increasi ng the liability exposure, maintaining and informing on the structure of the ratings, as well as filing control reports yearly.However, both of these new reforms showed weaknesses, particularly in addressing the conflicts interest coming from the issuer-payer model, or the oligopoly. As mentioned before, several proposals would appear more efficient to answer these problems. The first proposal would be the elimination of the NRSRO status, which would remove any regulatory reliance on the ratings. This would also drive prices down as there would be an increasing competition, but it would also improve the rating quality and the innovation.Nevertheless, this proposal would lead to a total revision of the entire bank regulatory system and could also increase the pressure to satisfy issuers. The second proposal was to create a totally government-sponsored rating industry. This would make the rating a public good, eliminating any conflicts of interest due to the issuer-payer model. Althou gh appealing because it resolves one of the main critics emitted during the financial crisis, it does not say who is going to pay for the subsidization.Finally, another more recent proposal called disclose or pour forth asks for the agencies to disclose the quality of the ratings they give, which means disclose to the public when a rating is low quality or disgorge benefits made with the rating. However, charging penalties would increase the barriers of entry on this market and discourage potential NRSROs. The rating business faces two major problems, the oligopolistic situation of the market that is being maintained by an increased regulation that secures the Big Three, and the issuer-payer model that fosters the conflicts of interest.Even though several reform proposals have been suggested, none appears to be totally conceivable. 3) A new rating system We have seen that a lot of reform proposals exist in order to enhance and increase regulation of the rating system. These proposa ls, indeed, reveal that some aspects of this business need to be improved. Eventually, a new rating system is worth considering. First of all, we have realized already touch based, throughout this analysis that the business model of the credit rating agencies needs to be modified, especially the issuer-payer model.The fact that the issuer is the one that pay the agencies for their ratings creates a conflict of interest that has to go away to insure an accurate and objective rating. In order to solve this issue, a new model is necessary. A possible idea to get there would be to make, not the issuer, but the investors (the ones that want to know the rating of a company or an entity) to finance the credit rating agencies. It is indeed them that need to know the rating of an entity, so it would be fair for them to pay in order to know what they are investing in.This would solved the problems related to the conflict of interest as rating agencies will not be tempted to give a good grade just to satisfy the client and avoid loosing profits. This was actually the model that existed before 1970, when the issuer-payer model was established. The shift to a model investor-payer would constitute a deep change for the whole rating industry but would eliminate the conflicts of interest. Another change that would be conceivable would be to set up a rating planning. The credit rating agencies should emit their grading at a known rhythm.Therefore, companies or States would know when they would be rated. For example, every January 1st, they could give their ratings for all entities. This would avoid sudden downgrades as we saw during the crisis, where rating agencies lowered the rating of a company right before it went bankrupt. Furthermore, to improve the accuracy of the ratings, a distinction between the rating of a company and a State should be made. In fact, Credit rating agencies do not evaluate the same thing when rating a country or a firm.That is why different ratings s hould be given according to the character of the entity. Finally, this new rating system should have a better transparency of ratings. As this has often been reproach to the agencies, it is clear that we need to improve it. In order to get more transparency in the ratings, the credit rating agencies should be forced to make public some criteria that contributed to the rating process. In addition, when an entity is downgraded, there is ever a clear explanation.An explicit and standard comment should go along with the new ratings to explain the cause of the downgrade or upgrade. All these improvements should be made to obtain a more transparent and accurate rating. These changes could lead to more efficient and regular ratings where conflicts of interest would be inexistent and where the distinction between entities would improve the relevance of the ratings. 4) Creation of a new credit rating agency Finally, another solution that arises would be the creation of a new rating agency. This proposition is particularly discussed in Europe. The arguments called in favor of the creation of a European rating agency are multiple. It would be a question, first of all, of introducing more competition into a sector that is today dominated by three major actors. Standard and Poors, Moodys and Fitch Ratings are indeed sharing more than 90 % of the market, a situation which confers to the members of this Big Three a tremendous capacity of influence. To create a new rating agency would be a way of having a bigger diversity of points of view.The trust that would be granted by the investors to a new European agency would depend however on its capacity to avoid the criticism sent to Big Three in terms of independence and conflict of interest. It would also be necessary to specify the status of the new agency a public or a private organization? A public rating agency could face the mistrust of the investors, who could doubt its independence towards public authorities and States, which it would have the mission to evaluate. On the other hand, a private agency would look like a non-profit foundation.The rating agency would be financed by the investors who would use its notations, and not by the entities emitting the financial products, which would allow guaranteeing its independence. Nevertheless, the future prospects of such a structure remain uncertain to what extent would it be able to impose itself in front of Big Three, in a sector where the experience and the reputation of the institution play a determining role? In addition, a history of ratings would be necessary to evaluate the evolution of an entity and a strict method is mandatory for accurate rating.A new rating agency would not be able to have all of these factors before several years. To conclude, it is not easy to find the best solution to improve the current rating methods. Different regulations have been tried, all presenting good points but also flaws. However, what we need to enhance is cle ar better transparency, a more accurate rating and a suppression of the conflicts of interest. Conclusion The role of the credit rating agencies in todays economy is crucial. They evaluate the creditworthiness of an entity, influencing investors and interest rates.However, during the crisis, their role has been criticized. Several factors can explain their controversial position. The oligopolistic situation of the market, their supposedly trustworthy evaluations given by their NRSRO status, as well as the conflicts of interest coming from their issuer-payer model are the main causes of the critics emitted toward them. Recently, the American justice even pressed charges against the rating agencies for their role in the crisis and asked for five billion dollars. Nevertheless, even if the credit rating agencies are the ideal responsible, they are not the only ones to blame.Now that the crisis revealed the different flaws of their system, we can only improve them going forward. Several regulations have already been approved and others are still under consideration. Other ideas to enhance the rating system include a new financing model, by perhaps considering going back to the investor-payer model, a better transparency of their rating, by exhibit the criteria used for their ratings, and a distinction between a company or a security and a State, which are two completely different entities.Lastly, we can wonder if the Credit Rating agencies still have as much influence as they used to. For instance, when downgrading both the United States and France, the repercussions were minors even nonexistent. The lost of their triple A did not bring the interest rates up as it should have, since today the interest rates are historically low in both these countries. Exhibits Exhibit 1 Credit Rating Agencies with the NRSRO designation Exhibits Exhibit 2 Rating systems of the Big Three Source Credit rating Wikipedia, the broad encyclopedia. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N. p. , 7 Mar. 2013. Web. 13 Mar. 2013. http//en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Credit_rating. Exhibits Exhibit 3 Important facts about the crisis Exhibits Exhibit 4 developing of market indexes from August 9 to 16, 2007 Index Evolution Dax (Germany) -4,42% Dow Jones (USA) -5,95% Nasdaq (USA) -6,16% FTSE 100 (United Kingdom) 8,37 % CAC 40 (France) -8,42% Nikkei (Japan) -10,3% Exhibits Exhibit 5 Residential Mortgage-backed securities These tranches were often purchased by CDOs These tranches were often purchased by CDOsSource The financial crisis inquiry report final report of the National Commission on the Causes of the Financial and Economic Crisis in the United States. Official government ed. Washington, DC Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission , 2011. Print Bibliography * Dupuy, Claude . La crise financiere 2007-2008 Les raisons du desordre mondial C. francetv education la plateforme des parents, eleves et enseignants. N. p. , n. d. Web. 12 Mar. 2013. http//education. francetv. fr/doss ier/la-crise-financiere-2007-2008-o21596-chronologie-de-la-crise-2007-2008-780. Gannon , Jack. Help the Credit Rating Agencies get it right. Annual review of Banking and Financial Law 31 (2012) 1015-1052. www. bu. edu. Web. 10 Mar. 2013. * Gedos, Jean-Guy, Oussama Ben Hmiden, and Jamel Henchiri. Les Agences de Notations Financieres, Naissance et evolution dun oligopole controverse. Revue Francaise de Gestion 227 (2012) 45-63. Print. * Goldberg, Adam. Credit Rating Agencies Triggered Financial Crisis, U. S. Congressional Report Finds. The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost. com, 13 Apr. 2011. Web. 12 Feb. 2013. * Gourgechon, Gerard. Les Agences de Notations. http//alternatives-economiques. fr. N. p. , 17 Jan. 2012. Web. 3 Mar. 2013. . * Krebs, Joshua. The Rating Agencies Where we have been and Where do we go from here?. The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law3. 1 (2009) 133-164. Print. * McLean, Bethany, and Joe Nocera. All The Devils Are Here, The Hidden History of th e Financial Crisis. New York Penguin Group, 2010. Print. * Mieux comprendre la crise Universcience. Cite des Sciences.N. p. , 1 June 2009. Web. 12 Mar. 2013. . * Panchuk, Kerri Ann. Credit ratings agencies a key cause of the financial crisis Senate report HousingWire. U. S. Housing Finance News HousingWire. N. p. , 14 Apr. 2011. Web. 12 Mar. 2013. . * Pelletier, Cecile. Crise financiere les cles pour comprendre La crise des subprimes. LInternaute actualite, loisirs, culture et decouvertes. N. p. , n. d. Web. 12 Mar. 2013. . * Piliero, Robert D.. The credit rating agencies Power, responsibility and accountability. Thomson Reuters News and Insight Legal Legal News, Information and Analysis. N. p. , 19 July 2012. Web. 12 Mar. 2013. . The financial crisis inquiry report final report of the National Commission on the Causes of the Financial and Economic Crisis in the United States. Official government ed. Washington, DC Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, 2011. Print. * Verscho or, Curtis C. Credit Rating Agency Performance Needs Improvement. Strategic Finance 1 Jan. 2013 17-19. Print. * Vodarevski, Vladimir. Crise financiere qui est responsable? Analyse Liberale. Analyse Liberale. N. p. , 22 Feb. 2009. Web. 12 Mar. 2013.

Leadership interview Essay

Our group interviewed five leaders varying from business owners to Sr viciousness Presidents of different organizations. As we began to analyze the interviews from our leaders we noticed more common themes than differences amongst them. The first common theme was that three out of the five leaders verbalize that they defined themselves as participative leadership styles. They functioned as a facilitator rather than simply issuing orders to those that they support. The leaders encouraged active participation from their teams allowing them to express their opinions and be competent to demonstrate their abilities. Our leaders participative leadership styles allows the skills of all their team members to be utilized in making suggestions and decisions but the leader is still responsible for making the closing decision. This pass on allow everyone to have their input and provide a well rounded decision that will create a positive environment which will only influence profitability t o the organization. As the traits theory of leadership, or so of our leaders agreed that leaders ar born with leadership characteristics. They also agreed that in that location are certain characteristics that can be settleed and give wayed by the leaders through their childhood years, beliefs, the environment in which they surround themselves, the ability of how they learn, and most importantly how they react when being provided with feedback.Leaders can enhance and learn certain characteristics through advice, observation of others, and their own experiences. Everyone is born with certain characteristics that will develop into strengths and weaknesses. A good leader will identify these characteristics and apply then into their leadership capacity. As far as the common characteristics that the leaders harbord in their employees commitment to the vision of the organization was among the most common. By having the alike vision people have a better understanding of the future e nvironment where they are operating, a better understanding of what the organization must be akin in the future to be successful, a common goal for building team work and a common vision ensures that everyone makes decisions based on the same direction. Our leaders agreed that result driven employees were another characteristic that they value. Our leaders explained that they like their teams to bring forth not only the problem but possible solutions that will help make the best decision for the team and at the same time enhancing theteams decision making skills. Trustworthiness and interpersonal skills were also common characteristics that our leaders stated that they valued in their employees. Interpersonal skills are needed on a daily basis which would include verbal communication, non-verbal communication, listening skills, problem-solving, and decision making.One of the leaders stated that the biggest challenge day to day is people and remember that people are people. This i s when having a person with good interpersonal skills can be very useful to the organization. When it came to the decision making process our leaders stated that they like to take their time in making the correct decision but at times when time is limited they need to hunt their intelligence based decision. When time is not of the essence our leaders stated that they make their decisions in the following steps 1) Identifying and clarifying the issue in question this gives them an luck to gather facts and ask questions about the issue in question 2) Possible solutions or options 3) Process the information that has been provided to them and then finally 4) Implementing the decision. This process allows the leaders to strengthen the communication between the leaders and their team. This goes back to making a decision where everyone has input based on the vision and culture of the organization. Consistency with solutions to issues will bring consistency when the need for a resolution arises within an organization. You will have the ability to treat issues equally and know that you have done your due application program in gathering as much facts and data necessary to make the right decision.One thing that our leaders agreed is that they lead by example. leash by example is one of the strongest ways to show your dedication the team. As a leader you have to remember that actions speak louder than words. Our leaders know that treating our employees with candor and respect in another motivation for their employees. Leaders understand that how they treat a person is the same way that the person will treat them. As far differences between leaders there were not noticed during the interview process there were not any that were noticeable. They all seemed to have the same determine when it came to their teams or departments. They all expressed that they have confidence in the teams and the people that work with them. The answers provided by the leaders tie into what we have learned in clique because as the interviews were being conducted we looked at leadership styles of each individual leader. We also analyzed the examplesthat they provided as they explained their styles and made sure that the style matched the examples that they were providing us.For example, in the case where our leaders stated that they considered themselves Participative style we looked for examples that clearly matched the style like the leaders being supportive of their teams and the input. All leaders mentioned a clear vision of the organization that they support. In order for our leaders to expect that others follow that vision that would need to understand it themselves. It was very interesting to see that all the leaders had a vision that coincided with the value system of the organization. The most important lesson that we learned about true leaders is that leaders will support and help strengthen characteristics of those that are willing to follow to the vision o f the organization. We have a better understanding of what leaders expect from their teams and will make the team be effective.

Nosocomial Infections

take to be your mother always reminding you to wash your mickles? We name all been told to do so at genius point in our lives or other. As tiddlerren we grudgingly obeyed, non really appreciating the wisdom and love behind the statement. For most of us, the value of authorise hygiene is looking a means to passably soiled, unsightly r separately. We were not aw atomic number 18 that washing our workforce unceasingly was a primary defense against many types of diseases.As a child it was imposed upon us by our p atomic number 18nts, besides as we grew older, we realize its true value but no longer practice it on a prescribed basis, rise uping it inconvenient and a vaunt of time. The truth is that glide by hygiene is 1 of our best defenses against diseases. The simple act of washing and rubbing our work force sprucely with gunk and running water is an impressive shield against bacteria-borne infections. And this is especially true for health guard professionals who atomic number 18 exposed to bacteria on a regular basis.People go to hospitals and other healthc atomic number 18 institutions for aesculapian attention and treatment of their ailments. However, while most raft abridge well after a trip to the hospital, on that point are subject areas where people get worse beca function of exposure to legal injuryful microorganisms that abound in these hospitals. In hospitals, bacteria proliferate because of the high concentration of ill people at one place at any one given time, and they rear end cause secondary infections to people going to the hospital. These types of infections are caught secondary to a hospital visit or stay, and are called nosocomial infections.The Center for Disease Control (CDC) defined nosocomial infections or health apprehension-acquired infections as infections that patients acquire during the course of receiving treatment. (Boyce, 2002, 29) And because these patients did not initially harbor these nosocom ial infections, they could hardly have been acquired while in the hospital, while in contact with doctors and nurses who go from one sick patient to another. These health care professionals run the main fashion of transmission for nosocomial infections, and this is do even worse especially if doctors and nurses do not practice appropriate lead hygiene.It does not take a missile scientist to figure it out. In hospitals, most patients are bed-ridden, not allowed to go from one place to another. Therefore, the risk of them directly infecting another patient is slim. Only doctors and nurses move almost from one patient to another, in constant physical contact with the patients. Because the hands are their main point of contact, the hands become the main vehicle of microbes as well. They stick to the doctors and nurses hands, and remain there until they are dropped onward somewhere else.This process goes on and on until the bacteria find a suitable host, which is almost always, the charitable body. Inside the human body, these microbes will colonize and proliferate, causing many types of health problems. These transient, disease causing bacteria use the skin as temporary vehicles to get from one point to another. However, because these microbes are transient and non-colonizing on the skin surface, they are substantially removed by proper and rigorous hand washing with an anti-microbial soap and water. Therefore, proper hand washing hatful halt the spread of disease-causing bacteria in their tracks. If doctors and nurses fail to clean their hands, they become virtual havens for microbes, transmitting and causing nosocomial infections.The figures are alarming. Studies have shown that one out of e really 20 patients contract nosocomial infections because of inadequate hygiene practices in most Ameri washstand hospitals. These nosocomial infections buck an estimated 103,000 people in the United States a year, as many as AIDS, breast cancer and auto acciden ts combined. (McCaughey, 2005, 1) The conception Health Organization says that nosocomial or healthcare acquired infections are one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality rates worldwide. (Ducel, 2002, 7) And all of this because of swampy hands. And all of these deaths and excruciation are unnecessary. They can be intimately remedied. If every healthcare worker would faithfully practice proper hand hygiene as they move from one patient to another, there would be an fast and profound reduction in the spread of resistant bacteria.(Goldmann, 2006, 122)From every point of contact with patients, the hands of doctors and nurses are dirty, carrying infection-causing microbes and as doctors and nurses attend to their patients privations, these bacteria move into the patients. maculation most of these bacteria can normally be fought off by the body, the compromised bodies of patients already weakened by an brisk sickness become easy targets for these parasites, and nosocomi al infections can easily set in. And because these infections attack a weak immune system, these can lead to more overserious complications and even death.As the main vectors of nosocomial infections, doctors and nurses can prevent the spread through appropriate hand-sanitizing procedures. clear hygiene is the single most important patient care practice that health care providers can do to prevent cross contamination and nosocomial infection. Some may say that hand hygiene is made redundant by wearing of nonpurulent gloves on a regular basis. However, even if doctors and nurses wear gloves, it will also be contaminated if the hands are not clean in the basic place. These gloves essential be worn and removed using the hands, and so the cycle of contamination perpetuates itself in the hands of doctors and nurses with dirty hands.The premise of hand washing is very simple and very effective. Microbes are parasites. They depend on a host to live and reproduce themselves. However, b acteria are not mobile they do have the means to move from one place to another. As such, they depend on outside help to move most and find new hosts to infect. This help comes in the form of doctors and nurse, who because of their many responsibilities, forget to clean their hands, or do so incorrectly. The anti-microbial property of soaps plus the rigorous clangor of the rubbing of the hands can easily remove, weaken, or even kill these transient, infection-causing microbes before they can cause anyone any more harm. As such, a system-wide must be enforced, making proper hand hygiene mandatory for all doctors and nurses. Hand hygiene stations must be installed all over hospitals to curb it easy for healthcare workers to clean their hands anytime.Indeed nosocomial infections can exact a high price. But what is even more unfortunate about nosocomial infections is the fact that it can be avoided. These healthcare associated infections are unnecessary tragedies that can be easily p revented with proper sanitation and hygiene procedures.Of course it is important to scar that hand hygiene or hand washing is not enough. It must be make properly, following certain guidelines. It is not enough to clean the hands they must be disinfected. Normal or ordinary hand washing is the same as no hand hygiene at all. This means that hand washing must be done right, or not at all because it does not grade any difference to harmful microbes or the health of the patients. Hand hygiene depends on the case and the area of the hospital involved. Normal hand hygiene should be done for at least a minute, with prompt rubbing of the two hands against each other. Plain soap has been proven to effective against microorganism because the soap lifts the microbes off the surface of the skin to be rinsed off by running water.Hand hygiene need not be complicated or costly. All it takes is soap, running water, and friction, and the discipline to do it regularly and properly. The key is to make it a habit. There is no deficit of evidence showing that hand washing is effective in halting the spread of infections the problem is that very hardly a(prenominal) people in the health care industry practice hand hygiene in compliance with regulations. Most wash their hands but do so inappropriately, which is useless in itself.While taenia the spread of nosocomial infections is complex, there is no denying the fact that the first line of defense against nosocomial infections is hand hygiene for nurses and doctors. Simple adherence to proper cleanup position/disinfecting procedures is all that is needed to prevent needless infections from spreading any further and causing more harm. It is simply a matter of discipline.First do no harm that is the adage that all health workers swear by. It is ironic that nurses and doctors should also be the main vectors of nosocomial infections. These nosocomial infections are the shame of the healthcare system because it can be prevented wi th faithful compliance to proper hygiene procedures. The solution lies literally in our hands. If we dont clean our hands, then it is dirty with the needless pitiable and death of patients from nosocomial infections. Our dirty hands are guilty hands.Works CitedGoldmann, Donald. System Failure Versus Personal AccoutabilityThe Case for modify Hands. New England Journal of Medicine. 355121-3. 13 July 2006. 22 May 2007. https//content.nejm.org/cgi/reprint/355/2/121.pdfCenters for Disease Control and Prevention. (2006). Healthcare-Associated transmissions (HAIs). Retrieved March 17, 2007, from http//www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dhqp/healthDis.htmlDucel, G., et al., eds. Prevention of Hospital Acquired Infections-A Practical Guide. Geneva dry land Health Organization. 2002. 21 May 2007. http//www.who.int/csr/resources/publications/drugresist/whocdscsreph200212.pdfGorman, Christine. aftermath Those Hands How doctors and nurses can make you sick and what you can do about it. TIME. 163. 1. 29 Ma rch 2004 Opposing Viewpoints imagery Center. Thomas Gale. Pasco-Hernando Community College Lib., New look Richey, FL. 23 May 2007. http//www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,993710,00.htmlGuideline for Hand Hygiene in Health-Care Settings Recommendations of the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee and the HICPAC/SHEA/APIC/IDSA Hand Hygiene Task Force. 51. 25. Oct. 2002 1-44. Boyce, John and Diddier, Pittet. Het.comps Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). MMWR. Retrieved on 23 May 2007. http//www.cdc.gov/mmwr/ take in/mmwrhtml/rr5116a1.htmMcCaughey, Betsy. Coming Clean. (Editorial Desk) (Hospital Hygiene and Infections). The New York Times. 6 June 2005 Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Thomas Gale. Pasco-Hernando Community College Lib., New Port Richey, FL. 23 May 2007. http//hospitalinfection.org/press/060505ny_times.pdfNosocomial InfectionsRemember your mother always reminding you to wash your hands? We have all been told to do so at one po int in our lives or another. As children we grudgingly obeyed, not really appreciating the wisdom and love behind the statement. For most of us, the value of hand hygiene is superficial a means to clean soiled, unsightly hands. We were not aware that washing our hands regularly was a primary defense against many types of diseases. As a child it was imposed upon us by our parents, but as we grew older, we realize its true value but no longer practice it on a regular basis, finding it inconvenient and a waste of time.The truth is that hand hygiene is one of our best defenses against diseases. The simple act of washing and rubbing our hands vigorously with soap and running water is an effective shield against bacteria-borne infections. And this is especially true for health care professionals who are exposed to bacteria on a regular basis.People go to hospitals and other healthcare institutions for medical attention and treatment of their ailments. However, while most people get well a fter a trip to the hospital, there are cases where people get worse because of exposure to harmful microorganisms that abound in these hospitals. In hospitals, bacteria proliferate because of the high concentration of ill people at one place at any one given time, and they can cause secondary infections to people going to the hospital.These types of infections are caught secondary to a hospital visit or stay, and are called nosocomial infections. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) defined nosocomial infections or healthcare-acquired infections as infections that patients acquire during the course of receiving treatment. (Boyce, 2002, 29) And because these patients did not initially harbor these nosocomial infections, they could only have been acquired while in the hospital, while in contact with doctors and nurses who go from one sick patient to another. These health care professionals become the main mode of transmission for nosocomial infections, and this is made even worse espe cially if doctors and nurses do not practice proper hand hygiene.It does not take a rocket scientist to figure it out. In hospitals, most patients are bed-ridden, not allowed to go from one place to another. Therefore, the risk of them directly infecting another patient is slim. Only doctors and nurses move about from one patient to another, in constant physical contact with the patients. Because the hands are their main point of contact, the hands become the main vehicle of microbes as well. They stick to the doctors and nurses hands, and remain there until they are dropped off somewhere else. This process goes on and on until the bacteria find a suitable host, which is almost always, the human body. Inside the human body, these microbes will colonize and proliferate, causing many types of health problems.These transient, disease causing bacteria use the skin as temporary vehicles to get from one point to another. However, because these microbes are transient and non-colonizing on the skin surface, they are easily removed by proper and rigorous hand washing with an anti-microbial soap and water. Therefore, proper hand washing can halt the spread of disease-causing bacteria in their tracks. If doctors and nurses fail to clean their hands, they become virtual havens for microbes, transmitting and causing nosocomial infections.The figures are alarming. Studies have shown that one out of every 20 patients contract nosocomial infections because of inadequate hygiene practices in most American hospitals. These nosocomial infections kill an estimated 103,000 people in the United States a year, as many as AIDS, breast cancer and auto accidents combined. (McCaughey, 2005, 1) The World Health Organization says that nosocomial or healthcare acquired infections are one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality rates worldwide. (Ducel, 2002, 7) And all of this because of dirty hands. And all of these deaths and suffering are unnecessary. They can be easily remedied . If every healthcare worker would faithfully practice proper hand hygiene as they move from one patient to another, there would be an immediate and profound reduction in the spread of resistant bacteria.(Goldmann, 2006, 122)From every point of contact with patients, the hands of doctors and nurses are dirty, carrying infection-causing microbes and as doctors and nurses attend to their patients needs, these bacteria move into the patients. While most of these bacteria can normally be fought off by the body, the compromised bodies of patients already weakened by an existing sickness become easy targets for these parasites, and nosocomial infections can easily set in. And because these infections attack a weak immune system, these can lead to more serious complications and even death.As the main vectors of nosocomial infections, doctors and nurses can prevent the spread through appropriate hand-sanitizing procedures. Hand hygiene is the single most important patient care practice that health care providers can do to prevent cross contamination and nosocomial infection. Some may say that hand hygiene is made redundant by wearing of antiseptic gloves on a regular basis. However, even if doctors and nurses wear gloves, it will also be contaminated if the hands are not clean in the first place. These gloves must be worn and removed using the hands, and so the cycle of contamination perpetuates itself in the hands of doctors and nurses with dirty hands.The premise of hand washing is very simple and very effective. Microbes are parasites. They depend on a host to live and reproduce themselves. However, bacteria are not mobile they do have the means to move from one place to another. As such, they depend on outside help to move about and find new hosts to infect. This help comes in the form of doctors and nurse, who because of their many responsibilities, forget to clean their hands, or do so incorrectly. The anti-microbial property of soaps plus the rigorous friction of the rubbing of the hands can easily remove, weaken, or even kill these transient, infection-causing microbes before they can cause anyone any more harm. As such, a system-wide must be enforced, making proper hand hygiene mandatory for all doctors and nurses. Hand hygiene stations must be installed all over hospitals to make it easy for healthcare workers to clean their hands anytime.Indeed nosocomial infections can exact a high price. But what is even more unfortunate about nosocomial infections is the fact that it can be avoided. These healthcare associated infections are unnecessary tragedies that can be easily prevented with proper sanitation and hygiene procedures.Of course it is important to note that hand hygiene or hand washing is not enough. It must be done properly, following certain guidelines. It is not enough to clean the hands they must be disinfected. Normal or ordinary hand washing is the same as no hand hygiene at all. This means that hand washing must be done rig ht, or not at all because it does not make any difference to harmful microbes or the health of the patients. Hand hygiene depends on the case and the area of the hospital involved. Normal hand hygiene should be done for at least a minute, with vigorous rubbing of the two hands against each other. Plain soap has been proven to effective against microorganism because the soap lifts the microbes off the surface of the skin to be rinsed off by running water.Hand hygiene need not be complicated or costly. All it takes is soap, running water, and friction, and the discipline to do it regularly and properly. The key is to make it a habit. There is no dearth of evidence showing that hand washing is effective in halting the spread of infections the problem is that very few people in the health care industry practice hand hygiene in compliance with regulations. Most wash their hands but do so inappropriately, which is useless in itself.While stopping the spread of nosocomial infections is com plex, there is no denying the fact that the first line of defense against nosocomial infections is hand hygiene for nurses and doctors. Simple adherence to proper cleaning/disinfecting procedures is all that is needed to prevent needless infections from spreading any further and causing more harm. It is simply a matter of discipline.First do no harm that is the adage that all health workers swear by. It is ironic that nurses and doctors should also be the main vectors of nosocomial infections. These nosocomial infections are the shame of the healthcare system because it can be prevented with faithful compliance to proper hygiene procedures. The solution lies literally in our hands. If we dont clean our hands, then it is dirty with the needless suffering and death of patients from nosocomial infections. Our dirty hands are guilty hands.Works CitedGoldmann, Donald. System Failure Versus Personal AccoutabilityThe Case for Clean Hands. New England Journal of Medicine. 355121-3. 13 July 2006. 22 May 2007. https//content.nejm.org/cgi/reprint/355/2/121.pdfCenters for Disease Control and Prevention. (2006). Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs). Retrieved March 17, 2007, from http//www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dhqp/healthDis.htmlDucel, G., et al., eds. Prevention of Hospital Acquired Infections-A Practical Guide. Geneva World Health Organization. 2002. 21 May 2007. http//www.who.int/csr/resources/publications/drugresist/whocdscsreph200212.pdfGorman, Christine. Wash Those Hands How doctors and nurses can make you sick and what you can do about it. TIME. 163. 1. 29 March 2004 Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Thomas Gale. Pasco-Hernando Community College Lib., New Port Richey, FL. 23 May 2007. http//www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,993710,00.htmlGuideline for Hand Hygiene in Health-Care Settings Recommendations of the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee and the HICPAC/SHEA/APIC/IDSA Hand Hygiene Task Force. 51. 25. Oct. 2002 1-44. Boyce, John and Diddier, Pittet. Het.comps Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). MMWR. Retrieved on 23 May 2007. http//www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5116a1.htmMcCaughey, Betsy. Coming Clean. (Editorial Desk) (Hospital Hygiene and Infections). The New York Times. 6 June 2005 Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Thomas Gale. Pasco-Hernando Community College Lib., New Port Richey, FL. 23 May 2007. http//hospitalinfection.org/press/060505ny_times.pdf