Analyze the Oregon Health Plan- see directives below Essay

Analyze the Oregon Health Plan- see directives below - Essay Example ic and private-partnership for ensuring access to health care for all Oregonians covering Medicaid reforms, insurance for small businesses, and high risk medical insurance. During the late 1980s, millions of Americans did not qualify for public assistance or Medicaid, uninsured by their employers, and could not afford medical coverage (Department of Human Services, 2006, p. 1).Thus, â€Å"instead of seeking early preventive care, the uninsured sought emergency care when their illnesses became severe† (Department of Human Services, 2006, p. 1). The â€Å"free† emergency treatment that the uninsured receive, however, was not genuinely costless because costs are merely passed on thereby increasing the cost of insurance premiums of those who can afford the premiums (Department of Human Services, 2006, p. 1). In 1987, Oregon Governor Neil Goldschmidt created a workgroup of health care providers, businesses, labor, insurers, and lawmakers to address three fundamental questions on the Oregon Health Plan: who is covered, what is covered, and how it is financed (Department of Human Services, 2006, p. 1). The workgroup agreed that all citizens should have full access to basic levels of care and that society is responsible for caring poor people (Department of Human Services, 2006, p. 2). The workgroup also agreed on providing a basic health care package for low income groups as well as health insurance reforms to make it more available and affordable (Department of Human Services, 2006, p. 2). The Oregon Health Plan sought to lower costs by reducing cost pass-on, emphasizing early intervention and primary care, and not covering ineffective care (Department of Human Services, 2006, p. 3). From 1987 to 1993, several legislative reforms were undertaken until â€Å"Medicaid was expanded to inclu de Oregonians under 100% of Federal Poverty Level (FPL), providing a Basic health care benefit package via the Prioritized List† (Department of Human Services, 2006, pp. 3-5). Reforms were

Socrates The Symposium and Its Serious Purpose Essay Example for Free

Socrates The Symposium and Its Serious Purpose Essay Socrates (469-399 B.C.E.)was a Greek philosopher.   Plato (ca. 429-347 B.C.E.)was the student of Socrates.   According to David H. Richter, because Plato mistrusted writing, he did not set down his philosophy in the usual form of a set of treatises but rather in dialogues (18).   The Symposium comes from a dialogue of Socrates ideas transcribed by Plato, because Socrates never wrote anything himself. Whether or not Plato kept his own ideas out of Socrates is the subject of debate:   . . . at times we may wonder whether Socrates is being serious or ironic, at other times whether he always speaks directly for Plato (Richter 18).   Be that as it may, The Symposium discusses the nature of love, and although it is written in a comic tone, nonetheless it also strives to explore love in a serious manner as bound in morality in the structured forms of drama, rhetoric and dialect.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Symposium takes the form of several speeches by guests at a symposium, or drinking party, at the house of Agathon.   Each of the seven party guests, and their respective speeches, represent a different aspect of love.   Phaedrus takes a literary approach to the topic of love, while Pausanias a legal perspective.   Eryximachus brings a doctors view to the topic, and Aristophanes, as a comic poet, sticks with a humorous take on the subject.   Agathon uses a self-conscious poetic outlook, whereas Socrates puts a religious spin on love.   Finally, Alcibiades talks about his relationship, whether erotic or not, to Socrates.   If love is a part of or even the basis of morality, then it is not surprising that Socrates and Plato were interested in coming up with a clear idea of what love was, because according to D. Brendan Nagle, Socrates and Plato, came to the defense of the beleaguered city-state and tried to find a new and irrefutable moral basis for it (162).   Socrates was looking for a basis for morality, and certainly he thought at least a part of it was bound up in the idea of love.   C. M. Bowra, in Classical Greece, says that Socrates was the first exponent in Greece of a morality based on the demands of individual conscience rather than the demands of the state (137). This work explores this idea of love bound in morality.   Socrates, at a time before the drinking party, speaks to Diotima, who tells him a story about love.   She brings together the ideas of love and eternality, or what we might today call a true and undying love.   She relates how some men were willing to die for the sake of their name being bound to a good reputation even after their death.   She gives the example that Achilles would not have avenged Patroclus was it not for the memory of their virtues, which still survives among us, would be immortal? (The Symposium).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Plato uses the dramatic form as one type of structure for The Symposium (Platos Symposium).   There is an introduction, the body of the play, and an afterward.   The drama is built around the verbal antics of three pairs of speakers with differing points of view.   Phaedrus is a social climber and wants to get in good with the poets.   He is a rival to Pausanias for Agathons attention.   Pausanias, however, is Agathons current lover, so the plot thickens comedically in this first episode. The next scene takes place between Eryximachus, the physician who is bombastic and Aristophanes, the comic dramatist who was known for bringing down people with big egos.   The final portion is a debate between Agathon and Socrates.   Plato draws a verbal picture of Agathon as a flamboyant self-centered character, whereas Socrates comes across as simple and unfashionable.   These pairings help produce the comedy and satire of the piece.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The rhetoric of this piece can also be used as a form for the discussion of love in which these characters partake.   Some of the characters deliver their speeches in an exaggerated manner, such as Eryximachus and Agathon.   Others, like Socrates and Aristophanes, use a plain style.   By the end of the piece Alcibiades, the last speaker, explains in summary that inner beauty is more attractive than outer charm.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Another way to understand The Symposium is as an example of the Socratic method itself.   It starts with basic ideas about love, and gradually it grows to deeper understanding based on a question and answer format made famous by Socrates.   Phaedrus begins with the idea that love elevates the lover, but Pausanias counters that love can have a religious context or a secular one. The doctor gives a medical explanation for love, claiming that love will bring peace to the mind, whereas Aristophanes thinks that love is more self-centered, because the lover is looking for self-actualization through the means of love. Socrates has the final summary through expressing the ideas of Diotima to the other party guests that love in its purest form wants eternally to be immortal and also wants the good and the beautiful to be the focus of its immortality.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Socrates used humor as well as structure provided by drama, rhetoric, and the Socratic method of question and answer to get his message concerning love across not only to the guests at the party, but eventually to the world.   This piece has been the foundation upon which Western cultures idea of love was based.   Although Socrates students loved him, the state, not surprisingly, did not for several reasons.   The city-state leaders did not like the idea that Socrates questioned the popular religions of the day. He believed his search for self-individualism was greater than the needs of the state.   The state of Athens thought Socrates, in his role as an educator, to be a corrupting force on the youth of the city, and they condemned him to death.   He died surrounded by his friends and talking to them, after he had drunk hemlock, the poison that would take his life.   Plato called Socrates,the wisest and most just and best man who ever lived, a saint and a martyr (Bowra 138).   Even after Socrates death, Plato wrote down the words that Socrates said, and this is why we can begin to understand his thoughts in The Symposium. Works Cited Bowra, C. M. et al.   Classical Greece.   Alexandria, VA:   Time-   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Life Books, 1977. Nagle, D. Brendan.   The Ancient World:   A Social and Cultural   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   History.   2nd ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:   Prentice Hall,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   1989. Plato.   Symposium.   http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/p/   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   plato/p71sy/symposium.html Platos Symposium.   http://condor.depaul.edu/~dsimpson/   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   tlove/symposium.html Richter, David H.   The Critical Tradition:   Classic Texts and   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Contemporary Trends.   2nd ed.   Boston:   Bedford Books, 1998.

Vitanzas CyberReader and Internet Confusion Essay -- Vitanza CyberRea

Vitanza's CyberReader and Internet Confusion A rock falls off a cliff and hits another. Both these rocks in turn collide with many other rocks as they fall down the cliff. Finally, all the rocks splash into the water with a mess of confusion and chaos. Victor Vitanza's compiled text, CyberReader , made me feel as if I had finally reached the cushioned bottom with a sense of relief and triumph, tinged with a bit of confusion. Vitanza attempts to, but does not successfully accomplish his goal, which is in his own words is "to introduce. . .the Internet (the Net) and the World Wide Web (WWW)" (vii). He progresses from an explanation of the terms used in the virtual world to an explanation of a wide array of advantages and disadvantages of the Internet. Each side is unselfishly supported by specific examples giving readers a chance to make their own opinions. Vitanza has chosen articles which incorporate the basics of the Internet, its history and its downside in an open and honest manner. Unfortunately, CyberReader is not for thos e who want a clear cut step-by-step method to the Internet. Vitanza begins CyberReader with articles defining virtual reality, cyberspace and hyperreality. One murky chapter follows another, providing readers with a glimpse into the world they are entering when using the Internet. To begin with, although the articles attempt to focus on making analogies to real life events, they tend to be vague. In fact, as in the section titled, "Enchanted Castles", by Umberto Eco, there is often not even a direct connection made to the Internet. Compounding the confusion, Vitanza at times leans towards over explanation rather than understatement. The authors plunge into a long, endless spiel on privacy, censorshi... ... the Internet and types of writing found there, which leads to confusion after confusion. Already a massively misinterpreted medium, computer technology and the Internet need a clear cut explanation, rather than a confusing and inaccurate jumble of articles. Although Vitanza's CyberReader attempted to provide a concise, easy to follow path through the World Wide Web, he fell far short of his goal. Navigating through this confusing compilation was a long enduring battle, and quite frankly, the battle wasn't worth it.  The CvberReader may become useful after many revisions and edits, but for now it is a book that computer classes, English classes and amateur computer users can do without. Work Cited Vitanza, Victor. CyberReader. Needham Heights, Mass.   Ã‚  Simon & Schuster, 1996. or Online. Internet. 18, November 1996. Available: http://www.abacon.com/~cyber/

Child and Young Person Develpment Essay

There are certain areas in which a child can develop starting from birth till 19 years. The physical development refers of body development, the motor skills, the co-ordination between the hand and the eye. The social and emotional development includes the relations and the social skills, the feelings for the others and the self –confidence. The intellectual development includes the understanding of the information, the logical thinking and the reasoning. The language development means the speech development which begins from one word to complex sentences. There are some transitions periods from one stage to another which are called milestones. These stages are divided in the most important ages: * 0-3 years * 3-7 years * 7-12 years * 12-19 years At the beginning of a child life I mean from birth till age of three the physical development is concentrated on the perception of sounds and familiar faces like mum and dad faces, their voices, starting sitting, start to walk, feed himself, starting to play, holds crayon in one hand and starting doing marks on paper. The social and emotional development for the child from birth till 3 years it has on the centre of the universe the mother, which feeds him, smiles on her face, depends on her affection, later on he starts to play with children but he stills needs the adult reassurance and attention. Intellectual he realise that others are separate beings and he is another soul. On language the child starts first to make happy sounds, after the age of one year he will begin to use words and after try to create sentences. After 3 years the child starts to jump, run, ride a bicycle, catches a ball, start using pencil, paints and doing buttons and shoe laces. He becomes independent and more sociable and friendly with others, responsible for himself and others. He starts to understand the needs of others, the differences between objects and the sameness. In the language he starts to use past tense, he extends his vocabulary, he will tell stories and start to understand books. After age 9 the child will start playing team games. He starts to form friendships after 8 years old. He starts to read to himself. His vocabulary will develop; he will speak fluently, because of reading loud. Adolescence (12-19 years) is the period of detachment of the child of his parents. The boys will start to develop sex characteristics like deep voice, body hair, and muscle growth. The penis growth will start later. The breast of a girl will start to develop around the age of 10 and also her pubic hair. Some girls can reach physical maturity by the age of 13, others by the age of 15. The adolescent is in a continuous changing and he will feel the need of indepen dence, starts to concentrate of their friends more than parents. He starts to create his own personality. The adolescent start to think on his future, his occupation, making a family, children of his own. He can become sarcastic and ironic but he just tests his new language skills. If a child has a learning difficulty that makes harder for him to learn what others children at the same age are already learning than he may need extra support, or other ways of teaching with the help of a computer, images or sounds. So it is recommended that the activity and the progress of the children needs to be checked so any delay of development needs to be tracked on time and the supports offered on time so the child can develop normally like the others of his age. For example if a child has a language delay, this one can affect the others areas like emotional development, he won’t be able to form relationships, he won’t be able to express feelings, speak in front of the class or the teacher. He will develop a poor image of himself, and his self-confidence will diminish. Also if a child h as language development, this will affect his writing area because he will need to speak to be able to write. So is better that this delays in one area are tracked on time and additional support start as soon as necessary so the child can develop normally in all areas. There are some factors which can affect the child development relied on family conditions like health, the motivation and the support offered by the family, the relations between the child and the family, the background from school and his influence and the influence of the community on child actions. The article of Pamela E. Davis-Kean about The influence on parent education and family income on child shows that parent education is important on child achievement. In this article the income of the family don’t affect negatively the achievement of the child in his education the important effect is more the expectations and beliefs of the family, because a family of high and moderate income may have the same expectation on a child like a poor family. Also the mother and her belief is very important, a mother with higher e ducation may have higher expectations on her children achievement. In this article the warm of the mother and her education affect more the child than the lower-income. The reading has a big effect on achievement for a child. So in conclusion the parents are like models for the children. For example a mother who is a doctor is like a model for a girl which can choose maybe the same job, and the mother’s word value a lot for the child by her position. The teacher can be a model for a child for example when I was a child I use to love the French teacher and because I use to like her I start to love French so she become a model for me she determined me by her attitude to chose the university of foreign languages with French the first option. The environment where the child lives can be a strong influence on his education because if his family don’t offer the support and the warm which the child needs he may not be able to concentrate on his study, he can become shy or interiorised he can lose his self confidence and this can have negatives effects on his development. Once the Learning assistant had identified that that a child has special educational needs he must intervene with through the school action. So the child has an Individual education Plan which shows the actions and the pupils that must work with the child so he can achieve the target. A psychologist is consulted for the intervention that must be done on the child. In this individual plan the parents will also support the child. The school can ask for the help of the specialist or the technology a computer or the local authority may be involved. There may get a daily support for a learning support assistant or he may need to learn in a special school. So if such a placement will be chosen the parents will be informed within 12 weeks by the local authority. A disable person is someone who has a physical or mental impairment, is blind, deaf or dumb or is handicapped by an illness on a long term. A disability might enhance learning difficulty that will need for special education needs. But not all the children that are disables need special education needs. The same not all the children with special education needs will be defined as disabled. From the article: The learning Trust’s approach to SEN, Definitions of SEN and Disability I took the schema from next page. Also the learning assistant must be aware to help the child if he has speech problems, because he may be unable to express thoughts, to form relationships, to communicate. It is very important for a practitioner to be able to develop speech, communication, language and identify the children which has communication needs. If a child is identified with having speech, language and communication needs a language a therapist might be involved and the local authorities and the parents. The difficulties with speech affect all the areas of developments like social and emotional, intellectual and the language area. A child who has a speech difficulty, can’t make friends, he is enable to socialise, he is shy and he lacks of confidence, he finds difficult to understand the information, he can’t create correct sentences, he can’t express his ideas and he can’t establish a right communication with other peer.

Importance Of The Perception Of Customer Service Quality

The impression customers receive when they are paying for a service is very important. Rather than judging the quality of the goods, or the cost of the item, the customer can only base their opinion of a service on the way the service makes them feel and the effectiveness of the service. There are potentially 7 gaps where customer service quality can be affected within a service organization. It is therefore highly important that management of service industry employees are aware of these potential pitfalls and manage their employees to mitigate these problems.There is a Knowledge Gap where management must understand the level of knowledge the customer has, and define this properly. Once management has this understanding, they must develop standards for employees to ensure a high level of service quality. The gap between management understanding and the translation to standards is called the Standards Gap. However, the creation of standards by management does not necessarily translat e into the customer service reps communicating with the customer properly. This is called the Delivery Gap.These gaps can all be linked together under a framework of Internal Communications gaps. At the end of these internal processes, the customer receives the service product. At this point in time, the perception of the customer can be different than the perception of the customer service representative. The representative may think they are offering high quality service, but the customer perceives it negatively. This is called the Perception Gap. Additionally, the customer will be presented with promotional materials and communications from the company.The perception of these materials may not match what the company believes it is communicating. This is called the Interpretation Gap. These two culminating gaps ultimately link together to create the overall Service Gap. This gap is a culmination of potential differences throughout the process. If a company is experiencing low leve ls of customer satisfaction, it is imperative to work back through the gaps to find where the problem may be occurring. A good example is the car insurance service industry.In the area of insurance, the typical consumer will not understand the finer details of insurance – what premiums are, what deductibles are, and the varying types of additional coverage that can be purchased. Management might assume that the customer knows more than they do, or less than they do. This would be part of the knowledge gap. The processes they develop for service representative would not meet customers' needs very well. This would result in an overall service gap.However, if management can understand the knowledge needs of the customer, they can potentially increase sales, as the customer may come to realize that they need more in an insurance package than just the basics they were first considering. If the customer service quality is excellent from the beginning, the insurance company is able to attract a new customer, as well as increasing profits for the company from that one customer. Additionally, the company may think that since they are following internal procedures, their customer service quality is excellent.However, the company must watch its customer retention rates. If it finds that it is loosing customers, it must find out why. It is probably due to an interpretation or perception gap. Perhaps the printed material does not appeal to the target audience. Or perhaps the language the service representatives are using does not meet the customers' expectations. In either case, the overall service quality will decrease. It is therefore very important that the company constantly evaluates its level of customer satisfaction and revises its internal processes to meet customers' needs.