Teacher Internship Paper

My Public Policy and Administration Program Internship took place at California Common Cause. I began as a volunteer in February of 2006, which quickly turned into an internship, followed by a fellowship. I have now been working at California Common Cause as its Northern California Organizer since January 2007. California Common Cause is a non-profit, non-partisan citizens’ lobby organization working to hold public officials and public institutions accountable to the people. California Common Cause’s current focuses include redistricting reform, public financing of elections, and media reform. Its budget is composed of membership donations and grant funding. It has offices in Sacramento and Los Angeles with six paid employees, including myself. California Common Cause is the state organization for the national Common Cause. While California Common Cause provides state support for national issues, it mainly focuses on the state and local level within California. I was very excited to have the opportunity to volunteer for California Common Cause and am thrilled that it has turned into a full time position. I have been a member for many years, during which I was always impressed by the organization’s work. I particularly like its emphasis on remaining non-partisan, working solely for the common good of all Californians. Due to the small number of employees and the diversity of the work, I was able to participate on a huge variety of projects, including redistricting reform efforts, researching state campaign contributions, summarizing state bills and drafting letters of support or opposition of bills, writing sample letters to the editor and political officials for CCC members, organizing public financing efforts in the San Jose region, writing CauseNets, our â€Å"Action Alerts†, and updating the website. Redistricting Reform One of California Common Cause’s main focuses is promoting redistricting reform. Currently, the State Legislature draws political districts for state and Congressional representatives. California Common Cause sees this as a clear conflict of interest. Politicians are basically picking and choosing whom to include in their own districts, allowing the m to draw districts that will be most beneficial to their reelection. As such, California Common Cause has been working with a coalition of various interest

Policy Framework Development

Introduction In this essay, I will discuss the welfare state since World War II and how it has impacted society in England and Wales. In addition, I will discuss the importance of social policy, how it was developed and the four most frequently used approaches. The ideas behind these approaches will be explained and some examples of such policies in different fields will be provided. Overall, evidence will be provided on how social policy became educational discipline in its own right. The origins of the National Health Service One of the most drastic social policies put into action in England and Wales has been the implementation of free medical treatment for all, through the National Health Service. According to Alcock (2008), illness was very common and health care expensive before the National Health Service (NHS) came into existence in 1948. Poor housing, overcrowding, poor sanitation, malnutrition and lack of education were common, enabling the spread of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis. Life expectancy was considerably lower, at a mere 60 years. During the 19th century, health care was provided through the workhouse, or municipal and voluntary hospitals. The rich were often treated in their own homes or in a private practice. A lady Almoner was responsible for carrying out a means test, which determined who got medical treatment, she was also responsible for approaching charities for funding. (Alcock, 2008) The ideology behind the development of the NHS was to put an end to ignorance, squalor , disease and poverty, by ensuring health care was available to all. This included free treatments for all, a family benefit scheme and full employment. Although some saw it as a politically risky move, Prime Minister Churchill gave his full backing for the NHS in 1943, thus starting the reform towards free health care. As Bochel reports: â€Å"During 1944, White Paper proposing a national health service, and the election of a Labour Government in 1945 made the establishment of a NHS almost certain. The necessary legislation was passed in the 1946 National Health Service Act.† (Bochel, 2009, p. 332). Finally, the NHS became a reality on July 5th 1948. It was an enormous achievement but due to the significant investment in time, money and resources, it was not met without opposition- this was a time when there were food and fuel shortages, as well as a dollar economic crisis. However, the general public wanted the new service to succeed, and as such Britain became the first country in Western Europe to offer free medical service, funded through the general taxation system. According to Bevan: â€Å"It was based on three core principles which include; it meets the needs of everyone, to be free at the point of delivery and it to be based on clinical needs, not ability to pay.† (National Health Service History, 2012). These core principles have remained the same since the creation of the NHS (Bochel, 2009,p. 332). However, free health care as provided by the NHS proved to be very expensive, with the drug bill increasing from ?13 million to ?41 million within the first two years of its creation. Additionally, as medicine progressed as a science, new technologies and methods increased the cost of the NHS from ?200 million to ?300 million. The provision of free health care for all led to excess demand, adding pressure to the already limited medical resources. The Government was reluctant to cover the excess cost, as it needed to invest in other sectors, such as education. As a result, charges for certain services, such as spectacles and dentures, as well as for prescriptions were implemented (Alcock2008). Neo-liberal ideology and the NHS In 1979, when the NHS had been in place for several decades, a Neo Liberal Government was elected, with little sympathy for the state provision of welfare and the high level of expenditure associated with it (Bochel, 2009, p. 332). Neo-liberal ideology supports the reorganization of the financial and organizational aspects of healthcare services worldwide, based on the argument that the then-existing health systems had failed. According to the recommendation report in 1983, four major problems of health systems globally were: i) misallocation of resources; ii) inequity of accessing care; iii) inefficiency; and iv) exploding costs. It was claimed that government hospitals and clinics were often inefficient, suffering from highly centralised decision-making, wide fluctuations in allocations, and poor motivation of workers (Alcock, 2008). Quality of care was also low, patient waiting times were long and medical consultations were short, misdiagnosis and inappropriate treatment were comm on. Also, the public sector had suffered from serious shortages of medical drugs and equipment, and the purchasing of brand-name pharmaceuticals instead of generic drugs was one of the main reasons for wasting the money spent on health (Navarro, 2007). Private providers were more technically efficient and offer a service that was perceived to be of higher quality. Neo-liberal policies Examples of policies implemented by the Neo-Liberal Government were those based on cost-effectiveness. Cost-effectiveness was presented as the main tool for choosing among possible health interventions for specific health problems. Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) were used to measure the burden of disease and thus allowing comparisons between specific health problems. Greater reliance on the private sector to deliver clinical services was encouraged, with the expectation that it would raise efficiency. It was suggested that Governments should privatise the healthcare services, by selling the public goods and services, buying the services from the private sector, and supporting the private sector with subsidies. In order to increase efficiency, unnecessary legal and administrative barriers faced by private doctors and pharmacies would need to be removed. Neoliberal policies in healthcare were heavily criticised as they reportedly misdiagnosed the problems and its treatment, lea ding to a situation worse than it was before the policies were implemented. Shrinking from welfare state to minimum liberal state, retreating from most of the public services and letting the area to irrationality of market dynamics is making pharmaceutical, medical technology, insurance, and law companies the lead actors. It has been claimed that a system providing services according ability-to-pay rather than healthcare need, ensures decreased availability and accessibility to services† (Danis et al., 2008; Janes et al., 2006; Unger et al, 2008). New Labour and the NHS In 1997, the New Labour Government was elected, with a main focus to make a significant improvement on peoples’ health. This was expected to be done by rebuilding the health services within the NHS through â€Å"decentralizing of power and decision-making to local health trusts†. Decentralising was important in order to achieve increased responsiveness to local health needs by widening patient choice, and promoting organizational efficiency. The underlying premise was that decentralization would shorten the bureaucratic hierarchical structure and allow flexibility for local trust managers and health professionals- thus improving organizational performance from the ‘bottom-up’ (Crinson, 2009 :p 139). In 1997 the Government put forward its plans in the White Paper: â€Å"The New NHS: Modern, Dependable† (Blakemore 2003:p 172). The objective was to reduce bureaucratic control from the centre and restore autonomy to health professionals within the NHS. A t the same time, the Government was determined to limit public expenditure by looking at what was already put in place by the previous government. One of the new Labour objectives was to reduce the number of people on the treatment waiting list by offering patients greater choice of provider at the point of inpatient referral. This was put in place from January 2006 onwards, where patients have been offered a choice of at least four hospitals when referred for treatment by their general practitioner. In addition, a new inpatient booking system was put in place, where patients themselves could book their place and time of treatment (Adam, 2006). In 1998, health inequality targets were included in the public service agreements with local government and cross-department machinery was created to follow up a ‘Programme of Actions’, which had the general aim to reduce inequality in terms of life expectancy at birth, and to reduce the infant mortality rate by 10 per cent by 20 10 (Glennerster, 2007 : p 253). Examples of health care policies implemented by New Labour are: Maximum waiting times for in-patient treatment: six months by 2005 and three months by 2008; Patients able to see a primary care practitioner within twenty-four hours and a GP within forty- eight hours; Maximum waiting time of four-hours in emergency rooms; Plans to improve cancer treatment and health inequalities. In addition, in order to improve efficiency, two bodies were set up to give advice and push for more consistent and effective clinical standards in determining the cost of new drugs and procedures. This was the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) (Glennerster,2007 : p 250). However, as argued by Peckham and colleagues (year?), the decentralization of the NHS had mixed results. They note that the process of decentralization was not clear and that there were contradictions, reflecting a simultaneous process of centralization and decentralization, in which local perf ormance indicators were centrally-set. If achieved, this resulted in increased financial and managerial autonomy. However, there was some supportive evidence that decentralization had improved patients’ health outcome, as well as improved efficiency in coordination and communication processes (Crinson, 2009 : p 140). The Government at the time met its target for treatment waiting lists by 2000- the number of people on the waiting list had fallen by 150,000. However, one main criticism came from the doctors, nurses and other health professionals where they were the ones dealing with prioritizing patients based on medical need, whilst having to explain to other anxious and angry patients why their treatment is delayed (Crinson, 2009). Coalition Government and the NHS In 2010, the newly established Coalition Government published the NHS White Paper ‘Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS policy’, prepared by the Department of Health. This policy included important changes compared to those proposed by the previous Government, and reflected the aims of the Coalition’s five year plan. Some of the proposed changes include: i) responsibility for commissioning of NHS services shifted to GPs, as the Primary Care Trusts and Strategic Health Authorities were dissolved, and ii) Foundation Trust status granted to all hospitals, ensuring increased autonomy and decision-making power. These reforms were part of the Coalition’s broader goal to give more power to local communities and empower GPs. By way of estimation, it is expected that this cost to about 45% for the NHS management. Strengthening of the NHS Foundation Trusts in order for these Trusts to provide financial regulation for all NHS services was another objective of the reform. An independent NHS board was set up, with the aim to lead and oversee specialised care and GP commissioning respectively. The objectives behind the Coalition Government’s plans was to increase health spending in real terms for each year of Parliament, with full awareness that this would impact the spending in other areas. The Coalition Government still maintained Beverage idea that all health care should be free and available to everybody at the point of delivery, instead of based on the ability to pay. It was expected that this approach would improve standards, support professional responsibility, deliver better value for money and as such create a healthier nation. Although the Prime Minister rectified it in his speech, the Government failed to provide a clear account of the shortcomings of the NHS and its challenges. The preparation of the White Paper, which was to pass the coalition committee’s examination, saw more compromises. The elimination of PCTs was not foretold but the conservatives would make PCTs remain as the statutory commissioning authority responsible for public health despite their commitment to devolving real budgets to GPs. It was rumoured that the Liberal Democrats policy of elected representatives to PCTs appear weak. The compromise was to give greater responsibility for public health to local authorities and eliminate PCTs. This resulted in the formation of the GP commissioning consortia and the Health and Wellbeing Boards. Despite concerns raised by stakeholders, the proposals saw just a few changes. Maybe we can call it a missed chance in retrospect. Conclusion In conclusion, it can be argued that without the NHS coming to force when it did at such a dire time after the Second World War, the already high mortality rates would have continued to rise. The NHS was vital in changing peoples’ lives in England and Wales and around the world. The system was designed meet everyone needs, regardless of financial abilities and without discrimination. Many changes have taken place since the birth of the NHS in 1948. Four different Governments adapted the NHS with their policies and legislation. However, throughout its evolution, the NHS still provides healthcare free of charge, as was intended from its conception. References Alcock, (2008). Social Policy in Britain. 3rd ed.Basingstoke: Palgrace Macmillan Alexion Pharma (2010). Politics and Policy [Online] www. [email protected] Available From: http://www.pnh-alliance.org.uk/politics-and-policy/the-department-of-health-publishes-equity-and-excellence-liberating-the-nhs. [Accessed on: 06 Nov. 12] Blakemore, K (2003). Social Policy an introduction. 2nd ed. United Kingdom: Open University Press. Blakemore, K, Griggs, E. (2003). Social Policy an introduction. 3nd ed.England: Open University Press. Bochel, H., Bochel, C., Page, R., Sykes, R. (2009). Social Policy Themes, Issues and Debates. 2nd ed. England: Pearson Education Limited. Crinson, I. (2009) Health Policy a critical perspective. London: Sage Publication Ltd. Glennerster, H. (2007). British Social Policy. 3rd ed. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. Danis, M.Z., Karatas, K., Sahin, M.C. (2008). Reflections of neoliberal policies on healthcare field and social work practices. World Applied Sciences Journal, 5(2), 224-235. Ezeonu, I. (2008). Crimes of globalization: health care, HIV and the poverty of neoliberalism in Sub-Saharan Africa. International Journal of Social Inquiry, 1(2), 113-134. Hospital Stories from Hell: National Health Videos (1998) [DVD] London: Channel 4. Recorded off –air 19/03/1998 Macara, S. ( 1998). Nursing Studies. BBC News: True to its principles [Online]. Available from: NHS Choices. Moonie N. (2003). Health and Social Care. Series ed. Oxford: Heine Educational Publisher. Navarro, V. (2007). Neoliberalism as a class ideology; or, the political causes of the growth of inequalities. Int J Health Serv, 37(1), 47-62. NHS. ( 2012). Nursing Studies. About the NHS: NHS core principles [Online]. Available from: NHS Choices. Oliver, Adam. â€Å"Further progress towards reducing waiting times†. Health Policy Monitor, April 2006. Available at http://www.hpm.org/survey/uk/a7/1 . [Accessed on: 14 Nov. 12] Pennies from Bevan: National Health Videos (1998) [DVD] London: Chanel 4. Recorded off –air 14/06/1998 Rivett, G (2012). Nursing Studies, National Health Service History. [Online]. Available from: http://www. NHS history.net [Accessed 06 March 2012). Socialist Health (2010). Coalition Health Policy 2010 [Online] http://www.sochealth.co.uk. Available From: http://www.sochealth.co.uk/campaigns/health-and-social-care-bill-2012/coalition-health-policy-2010/. [Accessed on: 06 Nov.12] Viveash, B, Senior, M. (1998). Health and Illness. London: Macmillan Press.

What Is Responsibility of Accounting

According to allbusiness. com, responsibility accounting is defined as a â€Å"collection, summarization, and reporting of financial information about various decision centers (responsibility centers) throughout an organization† (allbusiness. com). The article also explains that responsibility accounting helps an organization trace costs, revenues and profits to the individual managers who are responsible for decision making. Responsibility accounting also measures performance of each manager in regards to how he or she manages these costs, revenues, and profits. I am not sure if my company uses responsibility accounting; however, I will assume the company does due to its many departments. Our company has a research department that I would assume is a cost center. The company also has a cost center for each region to keep track of all costs related to the spending of office materials, travel expenses, and administrative costs. The profit centers within our company is our sales departments and brand team departments. Each brand team deals with different categories of medications. Examples of the different brand team departments are, cardiovascular brand team, the respiratory brand team, the oncology brand team, and the CNS brand team. The different brand teams have different managers who are responsible for the budgets, calculating ROI and implementing appropriate costing systems. As mentioned in an article in MAAW online, the advantages to responsibility accounting within the company I am employed by fit the reasons explained below. â€Å"Provides a way to manage an organization that would otherwise be unmanageable. † * â€Å"Assigning responsibility to lower level managers allows higher level managers to pursue other activities such as long term planning and policy making. † * â€Å"Provides a way to motivate lower level managers and workers. Managers and workers in an individualistic system tend to be motivated by measurements that emphasize their individual performances† (MAAW, 2010).

Exam 1 Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Exam 1 - Case Study Example Edmund Wilson publicized that literary writers worked like modern scientific theory in the new idea of reality. Scientists always work to produce formal explanation of the world whereas poets’ works to interpreted lively models that would help them explain a particular culture. In as much as many studies are related to science researchers have tried to find out hoe matters pertaining to science and literature has some form of relationships (Picasso, 133). It is often said that tradition, like history, is continually being recreated and remodeled. To what extent did writers, painters, and composers of the early twentieth century deliberately break with tradition? Explain how they accomplished that goal. Music took a very different turn in the years’ 1900-2000, with lots of changes due to technological discoveries. Though it is clear that music has grown over the years, it is difficult to point out the exact date and time when music modernized. Researchers try to place their fingers on when exactly the progress officially began and have given their maker as 1907. German and Australian composers made mammoth strides towards wider range of tonal vocabulary. Gustav Mahler who worked amid 1860-1911, at this point, considered more of a romantic musician than a modernistic one (Picasso, 38). As the director, to Vienna Opera Orchestra, Manher set the pace and has done numerous works of art. At that time, German remained rich in culture. The country’s pride was at its peak, theses also led to the rise of Adolf Hitler and Third Reich. John Corigliano and Tan Dun have maintained in composition of music into the twenty first century. The two are internationally approved for integrating famous styles, folks and traditional in their music genres. The genres of music that they have engaged in includes but not limited to

Kansas city History museum Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Kansas city History museum - Research Paper Example what was formerly the Conservatory, the Carriage House where the previous owner’s daughter Loula Long Combs displayed her trophies from being a famous equestrienne, and the Corinthian Hall, which is a four-story residence housing seventy rooms. At present, both the Carriage House and Corinthian Hall are closed to the public for renovation (Leathem nd Smith 8). Still, even if there are active renovations going on, the site is still open daily to accept visitors. Visitors need only go to the Museum Visitor Center so the museum can provide guides for visitors who are knowledgeable in the history of Kansas City and the family background of the previous owners of the land. At the StoryTarium, there is frequent showing of films with historical value, like Bad Blood, which is a classic pre-Civil war film.  Around the museum property, there are colorful informational sections showing the expected outcome of the renovations being done at the Carriage House and the Corinthian Hall. There are regular picnickers who frequent the place to stay at the open areas and just enjoy the sight of Kansas City’s cityscape. The long’s residence was completed in 1910 and the family lived there for 24 years. Robert Long’s two daughters were already married and living in separate homes, while his wife died in 1928. When Robert Long passed away in 1934, a two-day auction was held. After that, nobody occupied the house until five years later when the Kansas City Museum Association formed the museum in 1939 and held its grand opening in May 1940. Kansas City earned the property’s title in 1948, and in 1967, tax collection was established to fund the museum’s operations. In 1980, the property was listed under the National Register of Historic Places. The museum’s staff is comprised mostly of dedicated individual volunteers of the Musettes and the Women’s Division. They worked tirelessly in education, fundraising, exhibits, and collection development either on-site or within the

Childhood Prejudice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Childhood Prejudice - Essay Example This will be elaborated and pointed out in the succeeding pages. According to Piaget, the stages of cognitive development, plays an important role in the learning ability of a child. Learning process involves the introduction of a stimulus for orientation and it teaches the child the manner of response in accordance with what is learned. Furthermore, cognition involves a schema that follows a chronological order that allows no interruption, otherwise will create an adverse effect. This involves the encoding of the perceived stimuli followed by the storing of the data encoding in the memory. Finally the retrieval of such memory when the need arise thus completing the entire process. This cycle follows a patter in processing information along with the other psychological and biological skills. The impact of this process is also determined by the social and environmental factors present, together with the constant reinforcement aid of education and authorities. Should there be a flaw, disruption or inadequacies to that process, learning becomes defi cient. Thus the child begins to form biases or preferences. According to Frances E. Aboud (1988), prejudice is not genetically inclined to happen, as it happens along with the development of the cognitive skills. In her book entitled Children and Prejudice, she asserted that at a very juvenile age, beginning 3 to 4 years, "children already notices racial distinctions, absorbs racially related images and assumptions, begin to learn and express racist ideologies (Aboud. 1988). Biases are formed due to the primary obvious aspect particularly noticed by the child at first glance, like the colour of the skin. The child absorbs everything that is perceived by the senses like sponges, and because they are incapable of discerning the right from wrong, therefore requires guidance from authority figures such as the parents. Thus the acquisition of preference among children is parallel with that of the parent's. The research further concluded that the meagre cognitive skills as well as the predisposition to ethnic preferences becomes gradually diminish as the child learns the distinction between virtues and mere peripheral. But this conjecture was opposed by Author Rupert Brown (1995), emphasizing that prejudice do not disappear with adulthood. In his book Prejudice: it's a social psychology, he said; "thirdly, and Aboud (1988) has noted, there had been some marked changes in measured prejudice level in adults over the past 40 years and yet recent studies of children's ethnic prejudice have shown that children below the age of 10 still continues to manifest various kinds of bias and discrimination" (p. 154). Nevertheless, he agreed to Aboud's finding about the three-stage model in which cognition is governed solely by perception and affective process occurring until the age of five. To strengthen her claim about the correlation of cognitive development to the development of prejudice in children, Aboud, together with Amato came up with a book in 2001 entitled Developmental and socialization influence of prejudice on inter-group bias, in which it claims the existence of prejudice even at the time when the child begins to form social organization. As earlier stated

A summary about a primary source about american history before 1865 Essay

A summary about a primary source about american history before 1865 - Essay Example Such was a significant stand that had earned him hatred among the white farmers who relied on slave labor. Furthermore, slave trade was a large industry that contributed to the economy of the country at the time. The president restates his desire to end slavery owing to the inhumane aspects it exhibited. He explains that he seeks to end slavery by influencing a change in the country’s constitution. This way, he shows that he respects the constitution. He would only introduce a change in the constitution by influencing the mindset of other elected representatives. In the letter, he expresses his desire in saving the union. The civil war threatened to destabilize the United States. He therefore explains his desire and efforts aimed at ending the civil war thus saving the union. In doing this, he explains will comply with the letters of the constitution and ending slavery thus creating a cohesive state that upholds the values of