Lt. Col. Consuelo Castillo Kickbusch

The United States has a solid history of migration and it is a mixture of societies. Thus it has become a country made out of various races and various people groups originating from various ethnic foundations. This has affected American culture as far as the economy, the harmony and request circumstance, business, and the training system.Advertising We will compose a custom exposition test on Lt. Col. Consuelo Castillo Kickbusch explicitly for you for just $16.05 $11/page Learn More These things are continually cooperating to make openings and issues for all US residents. In any case, there are the individuals who had the option to acclimatize and there are other people who fizzled. In late decades †notwithstanding the talk on equivalent open door for all Americans †various examinations show that minorities are in a disadvantage.[1] Two significant ethnic gatherings, the African Americans and Hispanics are thinking that its difficult to prevail in a profoundly serious worl d and the main driver why a considerable lot of them are poor, jobless and engaged with an existence of wrongdoing isn't only the absence of assets and the absence of chance yet the nonattendance of the craving to succeed. In this way, the narrative of genuine models like Lt. Col. Consuelo Castillo Kickbusch must be told as much of the time as could be expected under the circumstances so kids from oppressed homes must not surrender in their battle to discover their place in the place where there is the daring and free. Destitution isn't an Excuse Kickbusch was not brought into the world with the famous silver spoon in her mouth. Truth be told, she was brought up in an obscure barrio along the outskirt of Laredo, Texas. She was encircled with the standard issues that has cut down numerous individuals to the point of urgency and constrained numerous to surrender their fantasies. She has a private information on destitution. Her family attempted to give and feed to all the Castillo you ngsters. It was in this manner a consistent pound and every day battle just to get past the day. Other kids from well-to-do families stress over the things that they may jump on Christmas and stress over their computer games. However, the Castillo youngsters including Consuelo need to stress over progressively difficult issues throughout everyday life. Beside neediness, the youthful Consuelo Castillo needed to manage the results of segregation. She likewise needed to manage the effect of lack of education around her. A youngster experiencing childhood in a poor neighborhood and growing up encompassed by kids who discover no motivation to endeavor hard in their examinations is inclined to just accept the way things are. Yet, the youthful Consuelo Castillo contradicted some common norms so-to-talk and chose to read well.Advertising Looking for article on history? We should check whether we can support you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Although the Castillo family was a poor settler family, Consuelo Castillo’s guardians gave her non-material blessings and it was information about their Mexican legacy, and the qualities, customs, and confidence that would have helped guider her for an incredible duration. Urgent Need for Role Models America is the place where there is the valiant and free, just as the place that is known for circumstances. Also, America should be a land wherein assets are overseen in the most proficient way. The perfect situation along these lines is to have state funded schools with the goal that poor youngsters approach quality training. As indicated by one critique, â€Å"The government funded schools exist to manufacture an American people group, to help the two newcomers and local conceived youngsters get ready for adulthood as individual residents †¦ a definitive law based exercise is human correspondence, and the schools must show our kids that we are all in a comparable situation, all individuals from one socie ty, paying little heed to race, ethnicity, or spot of origin.†[2] Therefore, even offspring of workers should absorb and secure quality instruction. In a perfect world, Latinos and Mexican outsiders ought to anticipate a brilliant future. Be that as it may, the current reality doesn't bolster this case. Beside money related difficulties offspring of migrant families who can't absorb to the U.S. training framework are likewise hampered by different components. Mexican and Latino kids must have a good example that would advise them that quality training is inside their span. They ought to understand that Consuelo Castillo didn't permit the boundaries and the preliminaries to get her far from her fantasies. She didn't just finished her High School confirmation, she went to finish her professional education at the Hardin Simmons University. The things that she did after she moved on from school is the motivation behind why she will end up being an incredible good example for some burdened youngsters. Subsequent to acquiring an advanced education, Consuelo Castillo filled in as an official in the U.S. Armed force. She didn't just turned into a Hispanic female official in the Army, which was an uncommon accomplishment during those days, she additionally turned into the most noteworthy positioning Hispanic lady in the Combat Support Field of the U.S. Armed force. During her two decades administration as a lifelong military official, Consuelo Castillo Kickbusch earned numerous enrichments. One of her generally paramount and critical qualification was the Legion of Merit. What's more, she likewise got the National Defense Service Medal. She was regarded to have gotten the Meritorious Service Medal multiple times. She likewise got the Army Achievement Medal two times.[3]Advertising We will compose a custom paper test on Lt. Col. Consuelo Castillo Kickbusch explicitly for you for just $16.05 $11/page Learn More After 22 years of die hard loyalty and in the wake of winning the position of a lieutenant colonel, she could have become complacent yet she accomplished something that astonished her companions and administration of the U.S. Armed force in light of the fact that at her prime she chose to end her vocation on account of the Army. In the year 1996, after retirement from the Marine Corps, she moved to San Antonio, Texas and concluded that her life is for the administration of others. She established a non-benefit bunch called the Educational Achievement Services, Inc. She uncovered later on that her choice to resign early was a direct result of the need to respect her mother’s wishes that she should serve and offer back to the network. Through the EAS, the non-benefit bunch she established, Kickbusch had the option to figure out how to turn into a powerful orator. Her aptitudes as a speaker allowed her the chance to impact the lives of numerous individuals. Lt. Col. Kickbusch isn't just ready to impact the lives of poor Hispanic yo ungsters and grown-ups, she likewise turned into a looked for after speaker and addressed various gatherings of individuals. For instance, she could converse with representatives of a Fortune 500 organization like IBM and yet she could likewise contact youngsters living in the most unfortunate neighborhoods in America. She would consistently reveal to her crowd that they ought to perform as well as could be expected and they should not surrender after the main indications of difficulty that they experience during their excursion to individual development.[4] Aside from advancing qualities and the need to ingrain an inspirational standpoint in the lives of her crowd, Kickbush additionally strived to present to them a message about assorted variety. Lt. Col. Kickbusch discloses to her customers that their organizations will profit by applying the standards of assorted variety. She said that the working environment must grasp assorted variety. She said that assorted variety empowers co rporate pioneers to take advantage of various arrangements of abilities and capacities. Lt. Col. Kickbusch emphasizes her message of expectation and rouses individuals to leave a heritage. She shows the estimation of authority to an association. In any case, her principle objective is to help the young people of America to ascend and defeat the impediments that came their direction. She could undoubtedly deserve the admiration and profound respect of her crowd since she could highlight explicit stories throughout her life wherein she showed her longing to win against all odds.Advertising Searching for paper on history? How about we check whether we can support you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Find out More Beside her military honors, Lt. Col. Kickbusch was given the Latina Leadership Excellence Award. Her latest qualification originated from a gathering called Hispanic Business and the gathering said that she was remembered for the 100 most powerful Hispanics in America. As the years progressed, Lt. Col. Kickbusch offers battling youth a message of expectation. She has become a positive good example for some distraught offspring of America through the Yo Soy El Army National Motivation Youth Tour. She discloses to them that there is an exit plan through administration, assurance and integrity.[5] Bibliography All American Speakers. â€Å"Biography of Consuelo Castillo Kickbusch.† 2012. Web. Hardin-Simmons University, â€Å"Consuelo Castillo Kickbusch,† 2012. Web. Ravitch, Diane. â€Å"Diversity, Tragedy, and the Schools: A Considered Option.† The Brookings Institution. 2002. Web. Rochin, Refugion Stephen Mello. â€Å"Latinos in Science: Trends and Opportunities. †Ã‚ Journal of Hispanic Higher Education 6, no. 4 (2007): 305-355. US Congress. Congressional Record. Washington, D.C.: GAO Publications, 2004. References Refugion Rochin Stephen Mello, â€Å"Latinos in Science: Trends and Opportunities,† Journal of Hispanic Higher Education 6, no. 4 (2007): 305. Diane Ravitch, â€Å"Diversity, Tragedy, and the Schools: A Considered Option,† The Brookings Institution, 2002. Every single American Speaker, â€Å"Biography of Consuelo Castillo Kickbusch,† 2012. Hardin-Simmons University, â€Å"Consuelo Castillo Kickbusch,† 2012. US Congress, Congressional Record (Washington, D.C.: GAO Publications, 2004), 7511-7512. This exposition on Lt. Col. Consuelo Castillo Kickbusch was composed and presented by client Kash Flores to help you with your own examinations. You are allowed to utilize it for exploration and reference purposes so as to compose your own paper; in any case, you should refer to it appropriately.

Nasa Research Paper Essay Example for Free

Nasa Research Paper Essay The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, all the more normally known as N. A. S. A, was begun after the Soviet Union sent a satellite named Sputnik into space the prior year. They are an administration office in the United States of America that has assumed the undertaking of investigating science and innovation identified with space and air [1]. NASA has moved between different stunning accomplishments a seemingly endless amount of time after year since the space race. NASA’s objective is â€Å"to go after new statures and uncover the obscure with the goal that what we do and realize will profit all humankind†[1]. For more than 50 years NASA has been attempting to respond to the inquiries all of humanity has about the immense miracles of room. In the start of NASA applications for space innovation were being created by utilization of climate and correspondence satellites. After the initial steps on the moon by Neil Armstrong during the Apollo 11 crucial July 20, 1969 NASA focused on building up a reusable boat for access to and from space utilizing the vessel known as the space transport [1]. The primary dispatch of the space transport was in 1981 and it flew more than 130 trips before being resigned in 2011. A global undertaking in 2000 speaking to the 16 countries work was begun, the Russia and the U. S. built up consistent human nearness on board the International Space Station [1]. NASA explore crested again in 1997 when the crucial blemishes started. The Mars Pathfinder was a shuttle sent to investigate Mars inside the following ten years so researcher can decide whether life at any point existed there. As the new century turns about, NASA comes to over the universe. The Rover is still at present investigating Mars after its appearance with his sibling Spirt in 2004. While Cassini circles around Saturn, Juno will trek his approach to Jupiter. The Hubble Space Telescope looks at and finds the deepest functions of the universe. NASA is in the matter of science, human investigation and activities, and air transportation inquire about. So as to finish these objectives NASA has sent satellites, space transports, and everything possible into space to facilitate America’s information on the extraordinary pit all while as yet concentrating on earth through telescopes and sensors. NASA is an administration possessed, worked, nd supported affiliation. NASA’s financial plan from years past beginning from 1958 till 2012 has been, altogether, around $560 billion. Tragically, because of current financial emergency, President Obama has conceded NASA a minor $17. 7 Billion for 2013 which is $59 million not exactly a year ago [2]. NASA is by a wide margin the most regarded, adored, and notable office on the planet. NASA’s achievements is an extremely extensive rundown however there are some more remarkable than others. The first and most staggering would be when NASA entered America in the Space Race in 1958 with Explorer 1 which was utilized to contemplate the earth’s circle [3]. 961-Freedom 7, Alan Shepard was the primary American to circle Earth. This strategic the point of reference for future kept an eye on missions. A genuine achievement in mankind no doubt the most significant of all Apollo 11, the moon arrival, One little advance for man, one mammoth jump for humanity. Some time went than the genuine intensit y of mankind’s creativity was demonstrated when the team of Apollo 13 arrived back on earth securely in 1970. The Hubble telescope was an enormous achievement when they previously began getting point by point photographs of the universe in 1990 [3]. A long time later Chandra Telescope utilized X-Ray instead of light to record pictures.

Best Delivery Food On Campus

Best Delivery Food On Campus Okay, Ill admit it: even I get lazy towards the end of the semester. And, as always, with my procrastination comes an increased demand for delivery dinners. So Im here today to tell all of you prospective students the best delivery on campus! Chopstix Gif from Giphy.com Any Illinois  student will tell you that Chopstix is the go-to Chinese delivery on campus. It is cheap, tasty, and gives huge  portions. Some of my favorites are the sesame chicken or the steamed chicken and veggies. The meals always come with rice and fortune cookies, too. Jets Pizza Gif from Giphy.com Jets is my favorite delivery pizza from the burbs, but with two locations near campus, my love for Jets followed me to Champaign-Urbana. Jets is inexpensive and great quality. The corner pieces are the best, and I recommend getting it well done, too! Insomnia Cookies Gif from Giphy.com Who doesnt love cookies, especially in the middle of the night? Insomnia Cookies delivers cookies early into the morning, and the cookies always come warm and gooey. They usually have great specials for ordering in bulk, too. My favorite? Classic chocolate chip. Wingin Out Gif from Giphy.com Im not a huge wing fan, but plenty of my friends are. Wingin Out has the best wings on campus, and delivers. I recommend the mac and cheese bites. Jimmy Johns Gif from Giphy.com A classic delivery with a catchy slogan, everyone knows about Jimmy Johns. Jimmy Johns made my best delivery list because, not only is it fast, but it is always delicious. The website allows you to customize your delivery order, too. My typical order is a number 4 with sprouts. Rachel Class of 2020 I am studying Middle Grades Education with concentrations in Social Sciences and Literacy in the College of Education. Although I now reside in Champaign, I am originally from Vernon Hills, a Northwest suburb of Chicago.

Prison Officials A New Form Of Punishment Essay

Dating back to the early nineteenth century, the United States had adopted a new form of punishment. The punishment involves imprisoning people in a cramped, concrete, windowless cell for between 22 and 24 hours a day. Solitary confinement for many prison officials has been a method to deal with difficult or dangerous prisoners. Recreation for these prisoners is often only three to five hours a week alone in another cage with little to no purposeful activities. There has been numerous class actions challenging prolong solitary confinement. Due process along with rights guaranteed under the eighth and fourteenth amendment has been brought into questioning. The eighth amendment specifically states that the US federal government is prohibited from imposing excessive bail, excessive fines, or cruel and unusual punishment. The fourteenth amendment addresses citizenship rights and equal protection of the laws, which was proposed in response to issues related to former slaves following the American Civil War. All around the world and including the United States, there has been movements calling for the end of solitary confinement. Most of the movements across the United States have been prison-led. Issues such as substandard medical care, the use of isolation, and conditions of confinement are just a few of the issues that have gained media attention and public scrutiny. The issue of solitary confinement has even reached all the way up the ladder of the UN. From the laterShow MoreRelatedWhy the Death Penalty is Ineffective1552 Words   |  6 Pagesof death as punishment arise from differences in religious, ethical, cultural, and morale perspectives. The role of death as a punishment for an offence has not been solved today, and remains a dilemma for the citizenrys political, legal, social, and religious thought. This is because an answer to the question is the death penalty effective? is not clear or evident today, as it was in the 18th century. Many studies have tried to create a persua sive response and evidence that official state killingsRead MoreThe Punishment Imposed On Perpetrators1228 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"One word can aptly describe the punishment imposed on perpetrators in the first half of that century — cruel† (Curland). Crime and punishment in the 1800s was very severe and often was amusing to the public. Some techniques of punishment included branding, whipping, and ear nailing. The English-American colonies used a patriarchal method to their punishment. The men, typically civil officers, or religious leaders, made the laws. The less fortunate, including children, servants, slaves, soldiersRead MorePros And Cons Of Solitary Confinement1001 Words   |  5 PagesOver the last couple of decades, prison systems have adopted the use of solitary confinement as a means of punishment and have progressively depended on it to help maintain obedience and discipline inside the prison structure. Solitary confinement is a form of incarceration i n which a prisoner is isolated in a cell for multiple hours, days, or weeks with limited to no human contact. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, the United States represents only 5% of the worlds population yetRead MoreA Look Into The World Of Solitary Confinement Essay1614 Words   |  7 Pages Looking back to the early nineteenth century, the United States had adopted a new form of punishment. The punishment involves imprisoning a person in a cramped, concrete, sometimes windowless cell for hours ranging from 22 to 24 hours a day. Solitary confinement for many prison officials has been one of the primary methods to deal with difficult and sometimes dangerous inmates. Recreation for the rest of the prison population is usually about an hour a day, where with somebody that’s in solitaryRead MorePunishment Versus Rehabilitation1513 Words   |  7 PagesPunishment vs. Rehabilitation Brenda A. Dove AJS/502 Version I September 10, 2012 John V. Baiamonte, Jr. Ph.D. Punishment vs. Rehabilitation Punishment versus Rehabilitation, there has been many debates on the effectiveness of punishment compared to the effectiveness of rehabilitation of convicted offenders in prison and under community supervision. If an individual commits a crime serious enough to warrant incarceration, then the individual is sent to prison as a form of punishment. While incarceratedRead MoreIncarceration Of Prison And Prisoners869 Words   |  4 PagesFor many years, people with knowledge and statistical results and data, drew to logical conclusion that prison has become a revolving door and the ones who study how prison and prisoners acted that prisons were replacing mental hospitals. â€Å"On any indictment or presentment for a misdemeanor, process shall be issued immediately.   If the accused appear and plead to the charge, the trial shall proceed without delay, unless good cause for continuance be shown.   If, in any misdemeanor case the accusedRead MoreEarly Correctional History : The Rise Of The Modern Penitentiary System1409 Words   |  6 PagesAncient Greece and Rome. Even offenses such as murder, justice relied on the victim s family with the threat of private war or vendetta the means of protection against further slights. This idea that there must be some final justice is the earliest form of justice, and it characterized ancient times, at least up until the development of lex talionis after the fall of the Roman Empire (476 AD). Lex talionis means an eye for an eye or tooth for a tooth but it technically refers to the switchover inRead MoreHistory And History Of Corrections1069 Words   |  5 Pageshave been around since almost the beg inning of the nomadic time of people. The Huns developed systems of punishment for behavior or resistance throughout Mongolia. Because of the development of agriculture cities started to become more populated and cultures and fears of people taking advantage or causing harm to others became more and more widespread. This led to more formal systems of punishment and corrections for crimes developed. These rules based on cultures, and also the early Babylonian lawsRead MoreThe Controversy Over the Death Penalty Essay907 Words   |  4 PagesThe Controversy Over the Death Penalty Why is the death penalty used as a means of punishment for crime? Is this just a way to solve the nations growing problem of overcrowded prisons, or is justice really being served? Why do some view the taking of a life morally correct? These questions are discussed and debated upon in every state and national legislature throughout the country. Advantages and disadvantages for the death penalty exist, and many members of the United States, and individualRead MoreSolitary Confinement Is The Violation Of Rights Essay1563 Words   |  7 PagesSolitary confinement surpasses the violation of rights and reaches the level of torture as prolonged exposure to isolation can have irreversible effects. The United Nations, established following the end of World War II, attempted to form universal standards of human rights that would force accountability for each country. This charter was in direct response to the heinous crimes against targeted groups, especially those that were placed i n concentration camps. While the U.N. does not specifically

Abortion A Heated Debate and Hot Topic in the United...

There are always a number of heated debates within the United States. These debates are always a hot topic and very controversial issues. Due to how controversial they are, is why they become such largely debated topics with many people having very different views on the specific topic. For example, there is a Democratic and Republican party in the United States; people either stick with one side or the other due to their beliefs and sometimes can be neutral or on the other party’s side for certain topics. Abortion is a very controversial topic as it always has been all around the country but more specifically in the United States. There are two sides to the debate: those who believe abortion should be legal and their organization is†¦show more content†¦Therefore, in Europe and Great Britain and of course many other countries, abortion was looked at in a very negative way and the women who got abortions were perpetrators. â€Å"Abortion was illegal in Britain under the 1861 offences against the person act. Any person, including the pregnant woman herself found guilty of attempting to procure abortion was liable to receive maximum penalty of life imprisonment† (Jones, v. 20.2, pgs. 283-298). Along with other countries the United States saw abortion as a wrong doings in the past. In the past before the 1800’s the United States did in fact allow abortions until of course laws were set in. This movement from abortion being legal to becoming illegal happened in the late 1800’s. Abortion was then outlawed in different states for many reasons. Due to abortion being illegal in most states, many women tried to have self-induced abortions which caused them many health problems (National Abortion Federation). Also, the National Abortion Federation gave statistics such as: â€Å"Between 1967 and 1973 one-third of the states liberalized or repealed their criminal abortion laws† (History of Abortion).For over 100 year’s a bortion was illegal in every state and finally about forty-four years ago it was barely being made legal again. Additionally, the case of Roe vs. Wade wasShow MoreRelatedThe Debate on Abortion Laws in the United States 1256 Words   |  5 Pagesnumber of heated debates within the United States. These debates area always a hot topic and very controversial issues. Due to how controversial they are is why they become such largely debated topics with many people having very different views on the specific topic. For example there is a Democratic and Republican party in the United States people either stick with one side or the other due to their beliefs and sometimes can be neutral or on the other party’s side for certain topics. Abortion is aRead MoreShould Abortion Be Legal?971 Words   |  4 Pagesmany years now the topic of abortion has been very controversial and has indirectly split the country: Prolife and Pro choice. Pro-Life Arguments includes; abortions are immoral, causes psychological harm, and take away the opportunity for adoption for those who can’t conceive. On the other hand, pro-choice argues that the government shouldn’t be allowed to decide what a woman should do with her life/body and laws against this right is an invasion of privacy. The right to an abortion was given by theRead MoreAn Argument in Favor of Stem Cell Research Essay1507 Words   |  7 PagesAbortion, gay marriage, and illegal immigration are all hot button topics currently being faced by Americans. As ardently as each side defends their stance on a controversial issue, an opposing side fights with equal diligence for the beliefs they feel should be valued by our nation. Perhaps nowhere is this battle more heated than in the fight over stem cell research. While supporters of this new field of science tout it’s potential to cure everything from blindness to paralysis, those against stemRead MoreShould There Be More or Less Laws Leading Abortion Ess ay1577 Words   |  7 PagesThere are many reasons why abortions are performed. The main way of looking at abortion can be summarized in five points: birth control issues, human rights, legal precedence, when life begins, and religious reasons. (Abortions allowed women to pursue their educational goals.)(Hill, 2007) Based on both moral and empirical claims, a wide variety of views supporting either less or more legal restriction on abortions has enlarged in America. While advocacy groups define the issue through its moralRead MorePro Life And Pro Choice1649 Words   |  7 Pagesperhaps the most heated controversy is that of abortion. In today’s society you are either a Pro-life or a Pro-choice, there is not a middle ground. Pro-life are individuals who believe abortion is immoral and should be stop for the wellbeing of women and unborn babies. In contrast, the Pro-choice individuals do not necessarily promote abortion, they just believe women should be the ones to make d ecisions over their bodies and health. Although the two main sides of the abortion debate have concernsRead MoreA Comparative Analysis of the Activism and Views of Women Held by Eleanor Roosevelt in the 1930s and Hillary Clinton1848 Words   |  7 Pageslargely unpopular today, she is among the few good women shaping the opportunities availed to women in all generations. Through her fascinating efforts, simple justice typifies the advances she has made over time. Her efforts reflect the continued debate over womens role in the modern society. This has led to major positive strides towards workplace equality for women. Up to date, opinions made by Barbara Franklin have strongly shaped the success of the foreign policy and the Watergate debacle (StoutRead MoreAbortion And The Issue Of Abortion1946 Words   |  8 PagesThe important ways of looking at the issue of abortion are most easily categorized into five major points, legal precedence, birth control issues, human rights, religi on and when life begins. Based on both empirical and moral claims, a wide spectrum of views supporting either more or less legal restriction on abortions has emerged in America. While advocacy groups define the issue through its constitutionality and its moral views represented by their constituents, politicians define the issue byRead MoreThe Importance Of Election For President Of Georgia1636 Words   |  7 Pagespolitical, and economic state, I have decided to run for President of the United States in 2032— anticipating a win as the first female president in our history. As a white Republican woman with conservative views, I have a plethora of tactics and strategies that will be imperative to implement in order to gain supporters from the Democratic party, as well as other dissatisfied third-parties. Regardless, the first step in my campaign will be to circulate my positions on the heated issues debated todayRead More Stem Cells Essay4600 Words   |  19 Pages Stem cell s are a large focus of study in today’s biomedical world. They are cells that exist in an undifferentiated state, and transform into differing tissue types depending on what the cells surrounding them are. The different types of stem cells have the ability to repair many classes of damaged human tissue. However, only one type of stem cell promises to regenerate virtually any class of tissue. This is the highly controversial embryonic stem cell (ESC). Unfortunately, there is a dark sideRead MoreOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 PagesD421.E77 2010 909.82—dc22 2009052961 The paper used in this publication meets the requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992 Printed in the United States of America 2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3 1 C ONTENTS Introduction Michael Adas 1 1 World Migration in the Long Twentieth Century †¢ Jose C. Moya and Adam McKeown 9 †¢ 2 Twentieth-Century Urbanization: In Search of an Urban Paradigm

Themes in the Good Earth Free Essays

In Pearl Bucks novel The Good Earth she gives an inside look at the Chinese culture. In the novel Wang Lung is poor farmer married to O-Lan, a loving wife who takes care of Wang Lung’s father, plus her own children. Three themes that Pearl Buck uses are survival, family structure, and the subjugation of women. We will write a custom essay sample on Themes in the Good Earth or any similar topic only for you Order Now One theme used to show Chinese culture is survival. For example, when Wang Lung’s family is struggling to find food, his sons steal meat, and they defend themselves by saying, â€Å"I took it – it is mine, this meat (Buck 112). When it is hard to survive it can make a person do something that they wouldn’t normally do. Survival not only changes a person, but it also changes their outlook on life. While O-Lan was giving birth to another child Wang Lung is thinking, â€Å"Male or female it mattered nothing to him now – there was only another mouth coming which must be fed (Buck 81). † Trying to survive took Wang Lung’s excitement and turned it into worry. Pearl Buck is trying to show that if people are trying to survive that they will do anything possible. Another theme used is family structure. For example, Wang Lung’s father never had to worry about going hungry, â€Å"As for the old man, he fared better than any, for if there was anything to eat he was given it, even though the children were without (Buck 78). † No matter what the circumstances are, the eldest male in the house will always be served first. Even while there was no women around Wang Lung still had to serve his father. Associated essay: Themes Developed in Maru After Wang Lung’s mother died he had to be the one to take care of the old man, â€Å"Every morning for these six years the old man had waited for his son to bring in hot water to ease him of his morning coughing (Buck 3). †Even though Wang Lung is a man with no woman around him, he must take care of the oldest in the house. Pearl Buck is trying to show the respect and loyalty that people in China have for family. One last theme used in the novel, is the subjugation of women. For example, when Wang Lung is thinking of selling his daughter O-Lan tells him about her past, â€Å"I was beaten with a leather thong which had been halter for one of the mules, and it hung up on the kitchen wall (Buck 135). † Women were treated as nothing more than an animal. Not only were slaves treated badly but so were the daughters. When Wang Lung is waiting to find out the sex of his baby he reacts badly when he finds that it is a girl, â€Å"Wang Lung stood still. A sense of evil struck him. A girl! (Buck 65). Even though Wang Lung wanted children he is sickened to have a daughter. Pearl Buck is trying to show people just how far that women have come. All in all three themes that Pearl Buck uses are survival, family structure, and the subjugation of women. Some points that Pearl Buck is trying to point out are that survival changes people in drastic ways, family order always comes first, and that women are treated no better than animals. There are many more themes in this novel to show the importance of Chinese culture. How to cite Themes in the Good Earth, Essay examples

Capital Budgeting Techniques Analysisâ€Free Samples for Students

Question: Capital Budgeting Techniques Analysis? Answer: Introduction Capital Budgeting is a process in which the long term investments are evaluated in order to measure their feasibility and profitability. Some of such expenditures include addition or replacement of fixed assets, expansion of production, purchase of land and building etc. also a company may have to choose from a list of options as the amount to be invested is limited, in such cases, capital budgeting helps in the decision making. There are various techniques which are used in the process of capital budgeting. One of the most important techniques is Net present value (NPV). If the NPV of the project gives adverse results, the project is not accepted under any condition. Other techniques also play an important role. Capital Budgeting Analysis In the present scenario, Cussons Limited wants to choose between two capital investments. The capital budgeting techniques have been used to evaluate both the options. The results of the techniques are discussed below. Table of cash flows Project 1 Project 2 Project 1 Project 2 Year Cash flows Cost of capital Present value of cash flows 0 -2,50,000 -2,50,000 1 -2,50,000.0 -2,50,000.0 1 70,000 70,000 0.909 63,636.4 63,636.4 2 70,000 70,000 0.826 57,851.2 57,851.2 3 1,20,000 70,000 0.751 90,157.8 52,592.0 4 1,30,000 90,000 0.683 88,791.7 61,471.2 5 1,20,000 0.621 0.0 74,510.6 Project 1 Project 2 NPV 50,437.1 60,061.4 IRR 17.9% 18.2% (Calculations shown in annexure) Payback period Project 1 Project 2 Project 1 Project 2 Year Cash flows Cumulative cash flows 0 -2,50,000 -2,50,000 -2,50,000 -2,50,000 1 70,000 70,000 -1,80,000 -1,80,000 2 70,000 70,000 -1,10,000 -1,10,000 3 1,20,000 70,000 10,000 -40,000 4 1,30,000 90,000 1,40,000 50,000 5 1,20,000 1,70,000 Payback period 2.9 years 3.4 years Profitability Index Project 1 Project 2 Sum of cash flows 3,00,437.1 3,10,061.4 Initial investment 2,50,000 2,50,000 PI 1.20 1.24 Accounting rate of return Project 1 Project 2 Accounting Income 3,90,000 4,20,000 Initial investment 2,50,000 2,50,000 Accounting rate of return 156% 168% Capital Budgeting Techniques The techniques used above are very useful, however all techniques have their respective strengths and weakness, some of which are discussed below: Net Present Value (NPV) It is the most common used technique of capital budgeting. The future cash flows are discounted using the cost of capital. The excess of present value of cash flows over the initial investment is the net present value. A positive NPV makes the project acceptable and vice versa. Strengths Time value of money is recognized All cash inflows and outflows are considered in calculations Gives the value added by the project to the company Considers risk in the project as the future cash flows are discounted using WACC (in most cases) Weakness It is difficult to understand and calculate Does not gives the results in percentage, however managers are more interested in knowing the percentage returns It is very difficult to ascertain the correct cost of capital, a slight mistake in calculating the cost of capital may hugely vary the project results While comparing projects of different amount of investments, NPV is not the satisfactory technique Payback period It is the time period required by the project to recover its initial investment. Projects with high earnings in the initial period have lower payback periods and vice versa. Lower the payback period, the better it is. Some companies may set a maximum payback period within which the original investment should be recovered. If the investment is recovered within the specified period, the project is accepted (Titman, Martin, Keown, Martin, 2015) Strengths Easy to understand and calculate It gives some measure of risk as shorter payback period may ensure guarantee against future losses The liquidity of the project can be determined as the emphasis of the technique is on short payback period Weakness Time value of money is not recognized Cash flows within the payback period are only taken into consideration. Further future cash flows are not considered Profitability of the investment cannot be determined It is difficult to set the maximum acceptable payback period The magnitude and timing of cash flows is not considered Internal rate of return It is therate at which the NPV is 0. For a project to become acceptable, the IRR should be more than the discount rate. IRR is the rate at which the funds invested can be reinvested. It is called IRR because the calculation of IRR solely depends on all cash inflows and outflows. Strengths Time value of money is recognized All cash inflows and outflows are considered in calculations Helpful in comparing two mutually exclusive projects Suitable for managers as they are more interested in rate of return Weakness IRR calculation is complicated IRR assumes that the cash inflows are reinvested at the IRR whereas under NPV, cash inflows are reinvested at discount rate. The second assumption is more realistic It may give negative results and thus may not be helpful in decision making Profitability Index PI is the ratio of sum of discounted cash inflows to the initial investment. A project is accepted if the PI is more than 1 and rejected if the PI is less than 1. Strengths Time value of money is recognized All cash inflows and outflows are considered in calculations Helpful in comparing two mutually exclusive projects by using the incremental benefit ratio Weakness Cannot be used to evaluate two projects having different useful life Two projects having huge difference in investments and cash flows can give the same PI Accounting rate of return It is the ratio of average accounting income after taxes to the average investment. Strengths Is can be calculated using the financial statements Easy to use and understand Gives rate of return, hence preferred by managers Weakness uses accounting profits instead of cash flows ignores time value of money the life of project is not considered Recommendation It is recommended that the company should go ahead with Project 2 as it has a higher NPV, IRR, accounting rate of return and PI. The project has a higher payback period but that cannot be considered as a selection criterion because both projects have different useful lives. Reference Titman, S., Martin, T., Keown, A., Martin, J., (2015), Financial Management: Principles and Applications, 7th Edition, Pearson Australia

William Shakespear Persuasive Essay Example For Students

William Shakespear Persuasive Essay Born on April 23, 1564 in Stratford-Upon-Avon, England. Â  His father John Shakespeare and his mother Mary Arden. Â  W.S. was able to attend grammer school and learned Greek and Latin classics (this is comparable to college education today). Â  At age 14 his father lost the family fortune and remained poor until his death At 18 he married Anne Hathaway in 1582. Â  She was 26 years old. Â  They had three children Suzanne(1583) and the twins Hamnet and Judith(1585). In his mid-twenties he left Stratford(supposedly because of poaching on the Queens land) for London. Â  His first job with Richard Burbages men was as an osler; next an actor. We will write a custom essay on William Shakespear Persuasive specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now No one knows what he was doing during 1585-1592. By 1592 he had become known in London as an actor and playwright; his rise was rapid. Queen Elizabeth 1 supported the arts and the theater. In 1592 a plague closed the theaters(Shakespeare wrote poetry during this time to support himself). Â  In 1593 a brief reopening of the theater happened. In 1594 theaters reopened. The troupe became the Lord Chamberlains Men set up on a servant co-op structure. Â  Requirements for actors: 1. loud voice 2. sing and play instruments 3. good swordsman 4. good memories During this time he wrote many comedies: Â  Comedy of Errors first of any status. Histories were written in support of the govt. Â  This is where they were receiving much of the financial support so they wanted to keep the govt (Queen) happy. Â  W.S. was a major stockholder in the theater. 1597-bought New Place in Stratford(2nd largest house) 1599-Lord Chamberlains Men bought land and built the Globe Theater in Southwark(South Bank of the Thames River). Â  W.S. owned 1/10th 1603-Queen Elizabeth died. Â  King James took reign of England. Â  He loved the arts more than the queen. Â  The name was changed from Lord Chamberlains Men to the Kings Men. 1608-Added to the Globe Theater by buying the Black Friars Theater and giving performances there also. Â  W.S. owned 1/7th 1613-Fire at the Globe during a performance of Henry 8th; rebuilt within a year. Â  Left comedies and histories to write tragedies soon after the Globe reopened. Sonnets-published in 1610 but circulated earlier. First Tragedy: The Tragedy of Hamlet Late plays: Cymbeleneand and Winters Tale became bitter, ironic, and sad (much as his mood was changing toward the latter parts of his life.) The Tempest: last play written as a posible farewell to the theater He wrote 37 plays throughout his life. 1612-retired as a country gentlemen to New Place in Stratford 1616-wrote his will(by himself) 1616-April 23,1616 died on the day and the month he was born 1623 first folio was done by two of the men who admired him from his company at the Globe. Category: Biographies

College websites of all types can make a huge difference

College websites of all types can make a huge difference Technology is a beautiful thing. It can keep you in touch with your parents (especially when you need money); it can keep you in touch with old friends from high school; it can help you study, manage your money, and find all sorts of information to make your college life easier. Below are listed the most popular websites for college students, divided by category. Keep it handy for those times of need! Use College Websites Themselves Most students dont think about going onto their own colleges website, but heres the thing. These sites are managed by students themselves, in cooperation with the campus IT department, and they are updated almost daily. Here you will find loads of stuff about campus services, activities, coming events, and posts that relate to studying, writing, and time management all very helpful. Check out Unigo. This site provides reviews and information on virtually every college and university in existence. If you are still in high school looking for a college or a current student looking to transfer, this is straight talk from actual and former students. Study Sites for College Students Heres a listing of great sites that will help you study or organize yourself for study. Ice Cream Apps: this is cloud software that helps students take screen shots, prepare slides, make videos for presentations and convert from one media genre to another. Very cool site! Pocket: this great little app lets you save articles and other stuff you find as good resources for essays and papers but dont have time to read right now. Save them and read them on your own time in the comfort of your own room or apartment. Study Blue: You can make flash cards from your lecture notes and readings and save them for when you have to study for exams saves going through your text and lecture notes all over again! Copyscape: Use this little app to make sure that what you have written doesnt contain any plagiarism. Yu just paste that essay or paper in and let it do its thing. Grammarly: If you want a more comprehensive app for plagiarism heck and for grammar checking as well, this app is great. There is a one-time fee, but then you have it forever. Open Study: Cant get a study group together on campus? Thats okay. This site lets you find other students from anywhere who want to collaborate on course study. Join any of this huge number of groups, all categorized by academic field and course. AssignmentReview.com: If you need to use an academic writing service, make sure you find a good one. This site publishes great reviews about online writing services, so you can pick one that you know is reputable. Sites for College Students Who Need to Take Control of Their Finances Mint: Running out of money toward the end of each month? You can track your spending, item by item and see where you can cut expenses. Then set up a budget for yourself. Great for now and in the future. Photius: Heres a site that gives you the lowdown on sales, special pricing and discounts and coupons everything from clothes and food to music and entertainment. Overdrive: this app works with your local library (yes, get a card its free) so that you can download any book you need to read, free! Post Your Book: Heres a site where you can sell you used textbooks to other students who are looking for a bargain. Search for used books too! LifeHack.org: Need some extra cash? Check out blog posts on this site for great ideas for freelancing while in school. General Websites for College Students Here are a couple of favorites for just general hacks for college life: HackCollege: This is a type of survival guide for virtually any need you have from dealing with crap roommates to eating on $10 a week. Everything is organized by category for easy navigation. LifeHack.org: Yes, his one was mentioned previously, but it is also a great site for just general student lifestyle challenges. Again, everything is categorized. Go forth! Use these sites and get control of your life.

Faculty empowerment and the changing university environment Research Paper

Faculty empowerment and the changing university environment - Research Paper Example Empowerment acts as a lubricant in reducing the workloads or job stresses of the employees with respect to their profession. Globalization and Liberalization has increased the requirement of empowerment because of the diversity of workforce working in the current organizations. Leadership styles are changing day by day in organizations because of the immense changes happening in the business world at present. Many of the traditional management concepts were given way for scientific management principles at present. For example, earlier, most of the organizations encourage autocratic management styles in their workplaces in order to derive maximum out of the employees. Moreover, traditional organizations encouraged only the individual works. However, modern organizations adopt democratic style management in their workplaces and they also encourage team work in their workplaces. Relationship building is accepted as the core of every organizational function at present. Without employee empowerment programs it is difficult for organizations to prepare their employees capable of meeting the present and future challenges. Most of the prominent organizations are working at an international environment at present. For example, most of the prominent universities have diverse instructors and students. For example, in many of the American and British universities, both the students and faculties constitute people from all over the world. Many Indian and Pakistani students and faculties are studying and working in these universities at present. Because of such extreme diversity in such campuses, the needs of the local students and foreign students may clash each other. Even the diverse faculties face difficulties in their profession because of the cultural differences between their country and that of other countries. Empowerment is the only way to prepare the faculties capable of meeting their professional challenges in diverse environment. â€Å"Empowerment is the proce ss of increasing the capacity of individuals or groups to make choices and to transform those choices into desired actions and outcomes† (Empowerment, 2009). It is difficult for a person to achieve the desired targets in his personal and professional life without seeking help from other sources. Moreover, the complexity of the job functions are growing day by day and without proper guidance, it is difficult for the employees to complete their tasks independently. Some employees may have better ideas; however, in order to convert such ideas in to practice, empowerment is required. For example, it is difficult for a professor to excel in his profession if he fails to update his knowledge. A physics professor who is around 50 years old may not have many ideas about the current developments in electronics or computer science. The inventions happening in the electronic world is huge and without empowerment or training, that professor cannot update his knowledge. â€Å"Empowerment is a multi-dimensional social process that helps people gain control over their own lives. It is a process that fosters power in people for use in their own lives, their communities and in their society, by acting on issues they define as important (Page & Czuba, 1999) Empowerment is a general term which is applied in almost all the segments of life activities nowadays. It is now applied as a core concept in education, politics and economic circles. Human often tries to improve the quality of all the life segments. The quality improvement of life is not possible without empowerment. For example, nowadays people talk about quality education. Quality education is possible only if the educational aids

Advantages and disadvantages of using mail surveys Essay

Advantages and disadvantages of using mail surveys - Essay Example The respondents also have an interest in the subject of the survey (Mail Surveys, 2005). The person administering the survey should also possess beforehand a mailing list of the respondents (Mail Surveys, 2005). Mail survey is practical to use because the researcher need not consume a lot of time setting an appointment with the respondent for a personal interview or dialing each of the telephone numbers for a phone interview. In a phone interview, there is a possibility that the respondent cannot be contacted due to a number of reasons (e.g. sudden important appointment of respondent, emergency meeting). In a mail survey, once all the letters are delivered to the post office, the burden of delivery is shifted to the postal network (Mail Surveys, 2005). Mailing cost is cheaper (Mail Surveys, 2005) than commuting personally to reach a respondent. This method can reach a wider sample size because there is no personal interaction between the researcher and the respondents (Mail Surveys, 2005). Respondents are not time-pressured to answer the questionnaires but can do it any time at their convenience (Mail Surveys, 2005). Moreover, bias of the interviewer is reduced with lack of personal interaction with the respondent (Mail Surveys, 2005). It is appropriate in soliciting customer suggestions and proposals or feedback on the changes to be implemented by an organization (Mail Surveys, 2004). This is also an effective approach in acquiring sensitive information such as personal feedbacks of respondents who are discontented or disgruntled with a service or organization (Mail Surveys, 2004). Mail survey is disadvantageous because the respondent may simply ignore the questionnaire and not take the effort to answer it and mail it back. In short, there is no assurance that the target respondent will respond to the mail survey (Mail Surveys, 2004). People with low literacy usually have low response rate (around 20

Human Genome Project: Legal, Ethical and Social Implications

Human Genome Project: Legal, Ethical and Social Implications In this dissertation we consider the human genome project in its wider context. We take a brief overview of the aims, the working and the sequencing techniques used together with the timeline achieved. The ability to sequence genes has given a greater understanding of the human genome. This understanding has thrown up a great many legal, social medical and ethical problems and dilemmas which clearly need tube both addressed and solved. This dissertation looks at many of the issues, analyses them, and considers some of the possible solutions. We primarily consider the situation in the UK, but comparisons are drawn with the arguably more litigious society in the USA, particularly in consideration of the legal implications of the subject. We make a consideration of the ethical position of researchers, medical professionals and also individuals whether they are considered as research subjects or simply as private citizens. We draw conclusions from our findings and present them. Introduction The Human Genome Project (HGP) was a vast and ambitious concept which was conceived in the 1980s and formally started in 1990, the main stated aim of which was to achieve the mapping of the entire human genome. It was originally anticipated that the process would take approximately 15 years and was therefore scheduled to be complete in2005/6 but the advances in technological hard and software improved sequencing ability to the extent that the entire undertaking was actually completed in 2003. The project itself involved over 1,000 principal scientists in over 200Universities, Government laboratories and private facilities. The stated and defined primary goals of the project were to: identify all the approximately 20,000-25,000 genes in human DNA, determine the sequences of the 3 billion chemical base pairs that make up human DNA, store this information in databases, improve tools for data analysis, transfer related technologies to the private sector, and address the ethical, legal, and social issues that may arise from the project. (after Collins FS et al 1998), Although the project was primarily about the sequencing of the human genome, part of the intrinsic preparatory work was carried out in the sequencing techniques of other organisms such as E Coli and Drosophila(the fruit fly) Brief description of the genome The genome of an organism is a term which relates to the sum total of the DNA of the organism. This is replicated in virtually every cell in the organism and it should be noted that it includes not only the nuclear DNA but the extra-nuclear DNA as well. It is the basic code for making all of the constituent proteins and thereby it is the ultimate determinant of the various processes that occur within the organism. The human genome has approximately 3 billion base pairs (abbreviated as A T G C). These are arranged in sequential style in the DNA double helix and are unique to an individual. There are large areas of repetition and large areas which appear to be â€Å"biologically silent† but we shall discuss this in rather greater detail later in this dissertation. (Nichols, E.K. 1998) Sequencing techniques used The eventual sequence derived in the human genome project does not represent anyone individual’s genome. The original samples were taken from multiple sperm and blood (from females) donations which were mixed and sent to labs across the world. The differences were comparatively insignificant as the vast majority (99.7+%) of the genomic sequence is identical in every individual.(Collins et al 2001) Sperm is used, as the DNA : protein ratio is higher in sperm than for other cells and is therefore easier to prepare. It should be noted that sperm contains both the male and female sex chromosomes (X Y) so equal numbers of each were added to the samples and the blood DNA was added to ensure that female derived DNA was also present. The original sequencing techniques (in the 1990s) were primarily those of gel electrophoresis, which is slow, labour intensive and expensive. It was reported that the entire human genome project team managed to sequence 200Mb of gene in 1998. Advances in technology and automotive processing allowed one participant (DOE Joint genome institute) to sequence 1.5 billion bases in one month in January 2003. (Soga, Kakazuet al 2004) It was the discovery and large-scale implementation of the capillary gel electrophoresis technique that was mainly responsible for these advances. One of the major advantages of the capillary tube method is that the comparatively larger surface area of the capillary tube allows for greater heat dissipation which was the rate limiting step for the older models as too much heat would melt the gel carrier. (Tsai et al.2004) The actual mechanism for sequencing is extremely complex but in essence each chromosome, which comprises between 50 and 250 million base pairs, is fragmented into more manageable size pieces. (the sub cloning step).Each piece is then set up as a template from which a set of smaller fragments are generated, each one is a base pair shorter than the parent (the template preparation and sequencing reaction steps). (Marsha et al 2004) The resulting fragments are separated by electrophoresis which is an ideal method because of their differing size (separation step). The end base of each fragment is then identified (base-calling step). Automated sequencers then can analyse the resulting patterns which will give representation of the base order which is then â€Å"reassembled† into blocks of about 500 bases each (for ease of handling the data) . Number of very sophisticated computer programmes then analyse the raw data for potential errors and can identify specific genes and silent areas (Krill P et al 2000) Once sequenced, the final details are placed in the public domain such as Embank for open access to all. We have made several references to the draft and final sequences. The explanation of the difference lies in the fact that there are both intrinsic errors in the processing and also in the variability of the genetic material used. The original draft sequence was published in June 2000. This was the result of each area being analysed at least 4-5times to minimise the errors. This original data was presented inspections of about 10,000 base pairs and the chromosomal locations of the genes were known at this stage. A higher quality â€Å"final† reference sequence was published in April 2003which represented a 8-9 fold sequencing of every chromosome to fill in gaps and to minimise errors which were quoted as being no more than one in 10,000 bases (Kaiser et al 2004) Human genome project timeline 1990 Official commencement of HGP work Apr. 1998 HGP passes sequencing midpoint March 1999 Target completion date for â€Å"Human genome Working Draft† accelerated to early 2000 Dec 1999 Human Chromosome 22 sequenced (first human chromosome ever sequenced) May 2000 Human Chromosome 21 sequenced March 2000 Drosophila genome completed April 2000 Draft sequences of Human Chromosome 5, 16 19 completed June 2000 Working draft of DNA sequence achieved Dec 2001 Human Chromosome 20 sequenced Dec 2002 Complete Mouse genome draft publication Jan 2003 Human Chromosome 14 sequenced June 2003 Human Chromosome Y sequenced July 2003 Human Chromosome 7 sequenced Oct 2003 Human Chromosome 6 sequenced March 2004 Human Chromosome 13 19 sequenced May 2004 Human Chromosome 9 10 sequenced Sept 2004 Human Chromosome 5 sequenced Oct 2004 Human gene count estimates changed from 20,000 to 25,000 Dec 2004 Human Chromosome 16 sequenced March 2004 Human Chromosome X sequenced April 2005 Human Chromosome 2 4 sequenced Legal issues Patenting The whole issue of patenting the genome and the offshoots of the project caused an enormous furore in medical, scientific and pharmaceutical circles. The opposing ends of the spectrum argued that, on the one hand, the benefits of such a fundamentally important piece of work should be freely available for the human race in general and the scientific community in particular, to the other who believed that the money to be made by the commercial exploitation of the genome could be used to finance other related projects. (Nuffield 2002) The culmination of the argument was that the genome was fragmented and patented piecemeal. In order to fully understand the implications of this we must explore the workings of the patent system. In the UK, patents are issued by the Patent Office. Applications must be received within 18 months of the discovery (it is 3 years in the USA). Once granted, they remain in force for 20 years from the date of issue. In order to be considered suitable for a patent to be issued a product must generally satisfy four criteria, namely: Useful – the patent application must be accompanied by some practical application of the invention (whether it has actually been applied or has been proposed in a purely theoretical sense) Novel – it must be a new, or previously unknown entity. Non-obvious –it must be a significant modification that is not simply a minor adjustment made by someone with appropriate skill and training in that particular area Detailed – the item must be described in sufficient detail to allow person who has appropriate training in the field to use it for the purpose for which it was designed. This is often referred to as the â€Å"enablement criterion† ( after Cochran and Cox. 1997) The academic argument referred to earlier was intensified by the knowledge that raw products of nature are not generally patentable. Special provision had to be made by the agencies on both sides of the Atlantic to allow for patents to be issued for genetic material. The general guiding principal in issuing patents is that they are issued on a â€Å"first to invent† basis. Where a specific application is not immediately obvious (as is the case with many pharmaceutical and bio-tech products), provisional patents can be applied for and enforced for up to one year after either discovery or publication of the findings. This is a mechanism to allow for the full implications of the finding to be worked out and patented.(Nickols F 2004) In specific reference to our considerations here, we should note that with bio-tech discoveries in general and DNA patents in particular, coincident with the application for a patent, the applicant is required to deposit a sample of their discovery in any one of 26 designated biological culture repositories which are distributed throughout the world. (Bjorn tad DJ, et al. 2002) It is a reflection of both the scale and importance of this work to appreciate that to date, there have been over 3 million separate genome-related applications for patents received on file throughout the world. The legal ramifications of this process are huge. In the UK, USA and Japan (where the bulk of the applications for genome-related patents are filed) the system requires that the details of the applications are kept completely confidential until the full patent is finally issued. As we have discussed, this process can take up to a year. (Brown,2000) The corollary of this fact is that those scientists and companies who utilise the data ( which is available on the Internet) to evaluate clinical or pharmaceutical applications of gene sequences risk the issuing of a future injunction if it transpires that those particular sequences have been the subject of a previous patent application which has subsequently turned out to be successful. (Morris AH 2002) The 3 million genome related patents include the genes themselves, gene fragments, tests for specific genes, various proteins and stem cells. To satisfy the Patent Office the four tests set out above are specifically modified to accommodate genetic material thus: (1) identify novel genetic sequences, (2) specify the sequences product, (3) specify how the product functions in nature i.e., its use (4) enable one skilled in the field to use the sequence for its stated purpose (after Caulfield 2003) Even this is not completely sufficient for the current needs of science. If we take the example of gene fragments. Their function is often not known although their structure almost invariably is. The practical applications can be extremely vague. A quoted utility of a gene fragment has been cited as â€Å"providing a scientific probe to help find another gene†. Clearly it could cause substantial practical difficulties if a patent were to be issued on such a basis, and the subsequent usage was found to be substantially different, it would not invalidate the patent. The significance of this can be fully appreciated if we consider that the typical gene fragment, comprising about 500 bases (known as expressed sequence tags or ESTs) actually represent typically about20-30% of the active chromosomal genetic material, the full chromosome may be about 40-60 times larger than this. The active chromosomal genetic material is often referred to as canal and typically only contains its information-rich (or exon) regions. The scientific importance of these gene segments are that they represent very useful tools for research as they can duplicate the actions of genes, can be synthesised in the laboratory, and remove the need for scientists to manipulate the entire gene. (HUGO 2000) It can therefore be clearly be appreciated that such gene fragments are very useful tools in genetic research and the granting of patents touch entities has sparked off another major controversy in the scientific community. There have been major representations to the various Patent Offices throughout the world not to grant such patents to these universally important entities to applicants who have neither determined the base sequence of the genes nor yet determined their function and possible uses. As a result of this, the UK and USA Patent Offices decided to issue more stringent guidelines (effective as from 2001) which required that an application for patent of a gene fragment must now specifically state how the fragment functions before a patent can be issued. The wording is specific and substantial utility that is credible, but is still considered by many to be too indeterminate. (Thompson 1992) The basis behind the objections stem from the two main arguments already put forward. Firstly the patenting of such a â€Å"bottleneck or gatekeeper† product can seriously hinder the eventual development or even the characterisation of more complex molecules. Secondly, scientists are obviously wary of utilising such entities because of the possible financial constraints and penalties that would be imposed if the particular entity that they were using subsequently was found to bathe subject of a provisional (and therefore initially secret) patent application. In essence the patent of the gene fragment could be taken out after a comparatively small amount of scientific work and exert totally disproportionate control over the possible commercial and scientific development of more advanced genome research. (Schwarz D teal 1997), There are also less obvious, but very practical, implications to this type of patenting. Let us consider the situation where patents have been separately applied for, and granted to gene fragments, the gene and various proteins that the gene expresses. Any scientist wishing to-do research in that area has not only to pay the various license holders for permission to use their patented entity, but there are also hidden costs in the research necessary to determine where (and whether)the patents have been granted. (Short ell SM et al 1998), Not all research has been hampered or driven by the restrictive practices that the issuing of patents inevitably promotes. Let us consider the case of the Welcome Foundation who, in collaboration with ten other smaller pharmaceutical concerns, agreed to form a non-profitmaking consortium whose stated goal was to find and map out an initial300,000 common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). To date they have discovered nearly 2 million. In a truly philanthropic gesture they generated a publicly available SNP map of the human genome in which they patented every SNP found solely for the purpose of preventing others from making financial profit from them and making the information available to the public domain. The SNP is a single variation in the base sequence in the genome and they are found, on average, about one in every 500 base units. It can occur in an active or in a non-coding region. The effect will clearly vary depending upon the actual site of the variation but they are believed to be a fundamental cause of genetic variation which could give researchers important clues into the genetic basis of disease process or variations in responsiveness to pharmaceuticals. (Russell SJ1997) In addition it is believed that SNPs are responsible for variations in the way that humans respond to a multitude of potential pathogens and toxins. The SNP is therefore an invaluable tool in the research behind multifactorial disease process where complex environmental and genetic interactions are responsible for the overall phenotypic expression of the clinical disease state. (Santis,G et al 1994). We have referred in passing to the arguments that are currently raging relating to the issues on patenting genetic material. We should therefore consider the question of why patent at all? Would we be better off if the patent offices did not accept patents of genetic material? On first examination of the situation one might think that scientific investigation, in general terms, might proceed faster if all scientists had unlimited and free access to all information in the public domain. More careful consideration suggests however, the laws relating to intellectual property are built on the assumption that unless ownership and commercial profits can be reasonably secure (by means such as patents) few organisations would be willing to make the substantial investment that is typically necessary for development and research. The reasoning behind the mechanism of patenting intellectual property is therefore the marrying together of the need to secure a potential income from one’s work with the ability to allow the transparency of full publication of one’s discoveries which will therefore allow others to consider and utilise the information in their own research. (Berwick. 1996) Consideration of this point will suggest that the only other effective means of safeguarding the costs of one’s research would be total secrecy which clearly would not be in the general interest of the scientific community. If we add to the general thrust of this argument, the fact that, in general terms, the costs of development(post-invention) far outweigh the costs of research (pre-invention) we can see the economic sense in allowing innovative research-based firms the financial security of development by preserving the profit incentives by means of the Patent. (DGP 2002) In general terms we could view the patent mechanism as a positive development.(McGregor D 1965). Perhaps it is the breadth and number of the patents allowed in the field of genomic research that is the prime cause of unease in the scientific community. Special cases The arguments presented above can be broadened further if one of the natural extensions of the human genome project is the research into the possibility of cloning. We will not consider the (currently totally illegal) possibility of human cloning per se, but the therapeutic embryo cloning for the purposes of harvesting human stem cells. Such cells have immense potential for the study and therapy of a great number of disease process. As such they have enormous value as both intellectual and commercial property. The background to our discussion here includes consideration of the fact that courts in both the UK and the USA (Diamond v. Chakrabarty1980) have set precedents that single celled organisms (genetically modified bacteria) were intrinsically patentable. Legal argument then followed and shortly after there were similar rulings in favour of the patentability of simian stem cells. It logically follows that human stem cells should be afforded the same legal protection. The problem arises then that such a move would offend other legal principles such as technical ownership of another human being.(PGA 2001) Clearly there are enormous, and some would say insurmountable, difficulties in this region. We present this point simply to illustrate the potential difficulties surrounding ownership of the human genome. Broader legal issues Matters relating to the legal implications arising from the human genome project already fill countless volumes and we do not propose to make an exhaustive examination of the subject. There are however, number of major issues that arise either directly or indirectly from this project. They are largely interlinked with major social and ethical considerations and society, as a whole, has looked to the law to provide authoritative answers to some of them. (Stripling R et al.1992) One of the major problems associated with the potential ability to decipher the human genome is what to do with the information that it gives us. The ability to â€Å"read genes† brings with it the ability to discriminate with increasing degrees of subtlety. Discrimination is inevitably linked (historically, at least) with varying degrees of injustice. Whether it is the more obvious forms of discrimination such as insurance loading on the basis of predisposition to disease traits or more insidious and pernicious scenarios such as the ability to discriminate by genetic association with various ethnic groups, the ability is there. Will it become acceptable to refuse a mortgage application on the grounds that a person has been found to have a genetic disposition towards gastric cancer? Could health insurance premiums be based on an interpretation of various aspects of one’s genome? Some lawyers have already voiced their concerns about the ability of the law to provide genetic defences where it may be possible to challenge prosecutions on the ability to undermine the ethical principle of the validity of individual responsibility. The concept of free-will may be legally challenged in the prospect of discovery of various genetic traits that may predispose the individual to any one oaf number of behaviour patterns such as antisocial or thrill-seeking behaviour or violence. (Laurie G 2004) We currently accept that some manifestations of the human genome are now routinely enshrined in virtually unchallengeable law. DNA identification in criminal law is commonplace and scarcely questioned. Paternity suits are settled on the basis of genetic make-up. It doesn’t take a quantum leap of intuition to appreciate that there may soon be potential negligence cases brought against physicians and the like who fail to warn patients against the possibility of developing the ever increasing number of disease processes that are thought to have a genetic predisposition or component. The converse of that dilemma is should we expect physicians to suppress information found by genetic testing if there is no known cure? It follows that if we do not then people could be condemned to live with the knowledge that they are statistically likely to develop any one oaf number of diseases that they may very well, in other circumstances, have chosen to live in ignorance of. (Hyde, SC et al. 1993) Such cases have already surfaced, unsurprisingly in the USA. The estate of a colonic cancer victim unsuccessfully tried to sue a physician who failed to warn him about a genetic predisposition to colonic cancer from which he subsequently died. (Safer v Estate of Peck 1996) Some measures have been taken to try to protect exploitation of the genetic status of individuals where it is known. In the USA, some 16states have enacted laws to prevent both health and other insurance companies from using any form of genetic information to load premiums or to refuse cover. The initial reaction to these moves was one of delight, but it soon became clear that this was only of any potential value when the individual was asymptomatic. There was no bar to premium levels once the symptoms became apparent. To some extent, although the same level of legal prohibition does not apply in the UK, there is little difference. In this country, insurance companies will still load premiums or refuse cover once symptoms are apparent. (Rothstein MR1999) Social and medical considerations As we have implied earlier in this piece, the fundamental nature and importance of the human genome project to humanity as a whole means that its impact has great implications for the fields of law, ethics and social considerations. This is hardly surprising as, at the most basic level, all these three considerations are inextricably linked. Many of the social implications are also tied up with medical considerations and therefore we shall consider both of these elements together. Humans, as a race, have about 3 million pairs of bases that determine their genetic identity. Interpersonal differences between individual humans however, are determined by only one tenth of one present of our collective DNA. These three million base pairs are ultimately responsible for the physical and perhaps behavioural diversity that we observe in our species. (Erickson 1993) It is in the nature of inheritance that this variation has accumulated across the generations by small mutations or variations in the base sequences. These small differences are ultimately responsible for all human diversity including many overt disease process and predisposition or resistance to others. It is clearly important where these mutations take place as some have no functional effect, others may confer some form of advantage or benefit (and thereby the motive factor behind the evolutionary processes) others may cause disease or even be incompatible with life.(Griesenbach U et al 2002), It can be argued that all disease process have at least a genetic component. It can be completely due to a genetic malfunction such as the defect in the single gene for the cystic fibrosis transmembraneconductance regulator (CFTR) which results in an abnormal expression of one protein (the protein is still expressed, but due to one amino acid irregularity it folds in a different way) which results in the clinical situation of cystic fibrosis. (Piteous DJ et al 1997). Equally it may be due to a variation in the genetic code that modifies how the immune system responds to a particular pathogen (Yoshimura, K et al. 1992). As we understand how our genome influences literally every aspect of our health we will inevitably discover more ways to combat and tackle the diseases of mankind. Before we move on to discuss overtly social and ethical considerations we should logically extend the appraisal and examination of the medical issues, as they have a pronounced bearing on these other areas. With the advent of a greater understanding of the human genome and the cellular mechanisms of regulation and disease comes the prospect of gene therapy. On the one hand, the potential benefits for the sufferers of single gene mutation syndromes such as Tay Asch’s disease and Sickle Cell Anaemia are clear and undisputed, and yet the same technology has enormous social and ethical ramifications. There are thought to be about 4,000 single gene defect syndromes known to medical science at present (Termite, S et al 1998). These are the prime targets for the gene therapy researchers There are also an enormous number of more complex, but still primarily genetically determined disease process, such as Alzheimers Disease and schizophrenia, together with the commoner Diabetes Mellitus and hypertension variants which, although having a genetic component, are thought to be manifested after a period of interaction with environmental factors. It is quite possible that the techniques of gene therapy could ultimately be applied to these conditions as well.(Sikorski R et al 1998), Social and medical benefits The advent of understanding of gene function leads to other developments in the fields of both diagnostics and possibly preventative medicine. There is already considerable debate in pharmaceutical circles about the ability of researchers to utilise genetic information to make predictive assumptions about the ability of individuals to metabolise drugs. (Sailor R et al. 1998).One of the big problems with pharmacology is that, although a normal response to a particular drug can be predicted reasonably accurately, there are variations in genetic make-up which cause marked differences in threat of metabolism and excretion of some drugs. In many cases, these differences are of minor clinical importance, but in anaesthetic and cytotoxic drugs, the differences can be lethal. (Wriggle DJ 2004). As extension of this thread of argument is that it is known that some malignancies will respond well to some cytotoxic agents while others will show no response at all. The point behind these comments is that there are considerable efforts in the pharmaceutical industry to identify the particular regions of the genome which are ultimately responsible for these differences. If they can be found it follows that they may either be capable of modification (by gene therapy or other mechanism) or their effect can be measured so that the dose (or even the type) of medication can be adjusted with far more confidence in the knowledge of the likely pharmacodynamics of that individual patient.(Spindle et al 2002). It is the ultimate hope and goal of these efforts that the pharmaceutical industry will ultimately be able to speed up the process of drug development, make the drugs faster and more effective while dramatically reducing the number of adverse drug reactions observed. Social and medical difficulties Gene tests are currently in the process of being developed as a direct result of the human genome project. Some are already commercially available. the social implications here are huge. Quite apart from the medical implications of being able to predict the likelihood of possibly developing certain disease processes, there are legal and social applications as well. Courts have been presented with the results of gene tests in cases as diverse as medical malpractice, privacy violations, criminal cases and even child custody battles.(Diamond. B. 2001) The immediate difficulty in this area is, firstly that there is insufficient knowledge to be able to interpret the results of the gene tests with 100% accuracy. This, when combined with the knowledge that many of the conditions that currently can be tested for have no known or successful treatment, leads to enormous social and ethical dilemmas. While it may be considered quite reasonable to tell a person that they are carrying a defective gene for cystic fibrosis ( as a carrier state, rather than a symptomatic individual) and thereby allow them to make positive decisions with regard to whether they choose to run the risk of passing that particular gene on to future generations. Is it reasonable to tell someone in their 20s that they are likely to develop Alzheimer’s Disease in their 60s? How will that knowledge impinge upon their approach to life? (Douglas C 2002) Equally how will such knowledge affect the eventual application and acceptance of health insurance policies which are currently worked out on Citizen Service Centres (KEP): Perceptions of Customers Citizen Service Centres (KEP): Perceptions of Customers 1. Introduction 1.1 Importance of the Research According to the philosophical bases of marketing customer wants satisfaction. As the consumer is the key for a firm, the voter is the central element for a government or party (Lock and Harri,1996).In this context the citizen voter wants satisfaction and searching his satisfaction from the services that are offered to him is ‘‘ a lens through which government and public managers can gain a better perspective on how citizens respond to the performance of public services, (Van Ryzin , 2004) and offers important findings for the policy makers. Citizen satisfaction surveys are frequently used by U.S. local governments and public administration researchers in order to measure the quality of local government services (Hatry et al., 1992; Miller and Kobayashi, 2000). A big number of U.S. cities use surveys regularly (New York , San Francisco, Phoenix etc.),in order to analyze in a descriptive and unvaried way , the level of perceived quality of services ,within a locality and over time (Van Ryzin et al., 2004). Recent studies have compared citizen satisfaction with benchmarks that were developed from data collected across many localities (Miller and Miller 1991; Miller and Kobayashi 2000), and have focused on the individual, jurisdictional, and city-specific determinants of citizen ratings of service quality (De Hoog, Lowery, and Lyons 1990; Hero and Durand 1985),like taxes and expenditure ,and also on demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of respondents such as race (Schuman and Gruenberg, 1972). Other investigations have negotiated the citizen satisfaction from the police according to their ethnoracial characteristics (Brad W. S. 2005), or satisfaction from the education system or from hospitals (Amyx,Bristow ,2001, Suda Anita D.,1998). The importance of the public services quality became popular in the United Kingdom at 1990s when the political parties put an emphasis on the subject ,but even in our days the need for quality services that meet â€Å"customer† citizens needs and expectations, is more and more obvious .This need for quality public services is even expressed by the European Social Fund, as the implementation of the strategy and policies of the European Committee at Member States ,is strongly related with the public service organizations, which many of them are responsible for (ESF,2009). And although, in the marketing research exist a number of well-developed models of approaching customer satisfaction, there has been little development of a model that would test citizens satisfaction. As a result, it would be valuable to test such a model in the framework of Greek public services. 1.2 The Research Objectives The overall objective of this research is to examine the Greek citizens perceptions and expectations of service quality concerning the Citizen Service Centres (KEP) -a Greek public service based on servqual model. From this overall objective a number of more specific aims can be identified: Investigate consumer expectations towards the service offered from public services Examine citizen perceptions about Citizen Service Centres(KEP) Asses the factors that play an important role in the service quality of Citizen Service Centres (KEP) 2. Literature Review 2.1 Politics and the marketing concept It has often been argued that the application of ‘marketing tools and instruments in politics is nothing new (Perloff, 1999; Baines and Egan, 2001).In the last twenty-five years what have changed about the political marketing is not just the size of political marketing management but also the belief that political actors act and think in political terms. Political actors are them that they try to do marketing management in a frame of integration of marketing instruments in a coherent marketing strategy (Newman, 1994a; Dermody and Scullion, 2001). It is supposed that the selling of politicians and the selling of a product is linked (OShaughnessy, 2001) and that commercial and political contexts are essentially similar (Kotler, 1999). Many marketers believe that the tools and concepts of marketing can be transferred directly to the political arena (Lock and Harris ,1996) .The applications of political marketing are used as a tool of managing politics, developing policy (Nimmo, 1999), or even governing (OShaughnessy, 2003). The marketing concept in commercial terms is based on the principle that all company planning and operations will be customer oriented. As such the philosophical basis of the marketing concept is that customer want satisfaction (OCass, 1996). When a political party or candidate applies this concept to the political process, they must be in a position to adapt to and satisfy voters needs (Mauser, 1983; Newman and Sheth, 1987; Reid, 1988). For major mainstream parties, the overriding objective is to attract voters, win elections and hold power (Lock and Harris, 1996).In this extent knowing the degree of satisfaction of citizens seems to be important. 2.2 Citizen Citizen is every person of a state that has the citizenship of it (New Encyclopaedia, 2006). According the place and the time different criteria were used to define the citizen .The genealogical criterion, which is the oldest, the legal criterion and the economic (taxation) criterion .According to the first, citizen is the son of citizen that hasnt lost his rights. This definition was used in the ancient cities in order to distinguish the mass from the public. According to the second criterion citizen is each one that is recognized like that from the law. And finally, according to the last , citizen is each one that owns property or a quantity of goods and contributes to the governmental budget (Encyclopaedia Papyrus Larousse Britannica, 1992).Citizens have some rights and obligations .Their rights are political such as the right to vote, to be member of the jury or public servant , and personal such as the right to live ,to have free speech , to work, to live in freedom ,etc . ,that are protected from the state and are given to everyone. Citizens obligations such as taxation are set in order to protect the privileges that are offered to citizens from the government and they emerge from the need of the States existence (New Encyclopaedia, 2006). One of the governmental works is the provision of goods and services. All the modern governments take part directly to the economy by providing goods and services , organising industrial enterprises I promoting economic activities .Providing sanitary, education, and social insurance services , is one of the modern states concerns (Heinz Eulau ,1992). 2.3 Citizens as Customers, Customers as Citizens The classic definition of customer is â€Å"one who purchases or receives a product or service† (Carlson, 1997). The concept of customer is often more complicated in the public sector. For example, the city of Coral Springs in Florida, refined the idea by considering two distinct categories of external customers. Moreover, a building permit applicant is a direct customer while the applicants neighbors are among the indirect customers who will benefit if the decision helps to ensure a safer city and more appropriate land use and construction practices. But even with these refinements, â€Å"citizen† sometimes has a broader meaning. Citizens enjoy rights and take on responsibilities that extend well beyond those commonly recognized to customers (Popovich, 1999). Despite the passage of generations, the fact that government cannot succeed without the peoples trust and support, is a true even today. These essential elements of civil society shape the capacity and help determine the actual performance of government. Societys efforts to accomplish its highest priority and most practical goals are likely to fall short in the absence of the peoples agreement in the functions of government. As the customer is the key for a firm, the citizen -voter is the central element for a government. 2.4 Public services A service is a non material product (education, health safety etc).The meaning of public services isnt constrained in the area of Public and Αdministrative law .The public service is a known significance in the economy, as an appropriate tool of the states expansion in the social relations, for the preservation of stabilized provisions for the welfare state. Beyond the needs of the of practical policy, the interest of the political science with the expansions of the political philosophy is expressed , as the public service is characterized as the expansion of the state in its social activity . In other words , it is the way by which the state contacts the citizens in order to cover their direct needs .After the two World Wars this phenomenon is observed in the European area .In Germany , this works as ‘‘Anstalten (institutions) and the ‘‘ offentlichen Unternehmungen (public enterprises) . The administration (the welfare state) undertakes and guarantees ben efits even for the preservation of life of human who live massively in big cities such as transportation ,cleanliness , water , electricity etc. ÃŽ ¤he principles of function of the public services are connected with the needs and social aims that are tended to fulfil. Therefore, services are provided to everyone in the same way in order to cover the needs, under conditions that change from time to time (Encyclopaedia Papyrus Larousse Britannica ,1992 ). According to the Europa Glossary that is being updated given the recent signing of the Treaty of Lisbon ,the concept of public service is >. At the same time the Europa Glossary defines that continuity of service quality security of supply equal access affordable prices social , cultural and environmental acceptability Article 16 of the EC Treaty, introduced by the Treaty of Amsterdam, confirms the role of public services in the European Union. The EU policy on operators of public services is still shaped by the desire to liberalise network public services and to widen the scope of competition on national markets, be this, in the areas of rail transport, postal services, energy or telecommunications>>. 2.5 Citizen Service Centres (KEP) The institution of KEP was founded in 2002, based on an idea of the Deputy Minister Mr Beno. The KEP were founded according to the article 31 of law 3013/2002 and were staffed with short term labour agreement workers, according to the processes of article 6 of law 2527/1997. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs (2007), over 60.000 of citizens visit every day Citizen Service Centres (KEP) for certified or not processes, ratifications of registrations, certifications of genuine signature and every kind of administrative information. The last three years 40 new KEP were founded and now they are 1035 at their total. The centres are open Monday to Friday, 8:00 to 20:00, and Saturday, 8:00 to 14:00. At Citizen Service Centres (KEP) citizens can:  · obtain information on what they need to do in order to manage their transactions with the municipality * submit applications for the processing of matters that involve the City that the KEP is registered and state agencies in accordance with joint decisions issued by the Interior Minister or other competent Minister >(City of Athens ,2007). Some of the procedures (about 1.014 at total) that Citizens can carry out at Citizen Service Centres are the following:  · The registration or transfer of registration of a passenger vehicle or motorcycle  · The issuance of a birth certificate duplicate  · The issuance of a criminal record duplicate for general or legal use  · The issuance of a marital status certificate  · The issuance of a birth certificate duplicate for those registered with the City of Athens  · The application for a rent subsidy for the year 2006 to Workers Housing Organisation beneficiaries (former recipients)  · The issuance of a registry birth certificate duplicate for an adult or minor  · The issuance of a public transport pass for individuals with disabilities  · The application for the seasonal unemployment benefit in accordance with Article 22 of Law 1836/89 OAED (Greek Manpower Employment Organisation)  · The issuance of a marital status certificate for individuals registered with the City of Athens (online)  · The application for a rent subsidy for the year 2006 to Workers Housing Organization beneficiaries (new recipients)  · The issuance of a marriage license duplicate  · The application for the OAED (Greek Manpower Employment Organization) family subsidy  · The issuance of a drivers license  · The issuance of a Type A military status certificate (full)  · The renewal of a drivers license  · The issuance of a registry death certificate duplicate  · The application for change in passenger vehicle or motorcycle ownership  · The issuance of a permanent residence certificate  · The issuance of a judicial interdiction certificate See Appendix 1 Progressively KEP were transformed to Centres of Completed Transactions, bringing the Public Administration more near to citizen. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs (2007), citizens trust KEP and are in general satisfied from them. Nowadays they have permanent staff which possesses about 2588 positions. The number of affairs that KEP handled the last years is presented at the table below: PERIOD NUMBER OF AFFAIRS SERVED CITIZENS 2006 3.042.509 1.154.554 2005 2.305.195 1.527.516 2004 1.643.313 1.316.505 2003 423.759 356.872 Medium number of affairs per day from Monday to Friday: 11.805 Medium number of affairs per day (Saturday): 821 According to the Ministry KEP are recognizable from about the 80% of citizens. Equally big are the visits to them that they exceed 60%, since they were enriched with new, more attractive for the citizen processes. But more interesting are the numbers linked with the subject of satisfaction of citizens, which according to the ministry exceeds the 90%. The problems that the Public Administration was facing when KEP were created were multiple. The most serious of them were the bad organization and the centralism of public services, lack of confidence in the government owned services, lack of evaluation, lack of meritocracy, weakening of ASEP, fragmentary, and consequently unsuccessful, efforts of application of Electronic Governing, absence of controls and sanctions and finally inflation of bureaucracy and corruptness. For this reason in 2007 a number of regulations of the article 15 of the law for Citizen Service Centres (KEP) were introduced, in order to fight the difficulties and dysfunctions of citizens service (Ministry of Internal Affairs, 2007). Some of the regulations were the following:  · The foundation of the Direction of Organization and Operation of KEP in the General Secretariat of Public Administration and Electronic Governing. The Direction was founded in order to guarantee the proper operation of KEP, but also their evolution in Centres of Completed Administrative Transactions, and the resolution of problems that emerges, because of their big number, the crowd of subjects and processes that they realize and the recent enlargement of their competences. The monitoring and the co-ordination of the operation of KEP is practiced , up today, at fragmentary way from the existing Direction of General Secretariat of Public Administration and Electronic Governing, fact which creates difficulties as far as it concerns the united confrontation of problems.  · The regulation of subjects of mobility of permanent personnel. The employees will stay in the KEP of their placement, for at least a five-year period, so that the experience, which has been acquired in the particular KEP, not to get lost.  · The simplification and acceleration of processes  · The restriction of joint responsibilities between the Ministries. It is indicatively reported that Minister of Internal Affairs does not act jointly in more than 25 different regulatory actions  · The obligatory deadline of 50 days for the transaction of the affairs of citizens  · The payment of complete compensation in the citizen in case of delay  · The self appointed search of supporting documents from the service on behalf of the citizen. 208 certificates can be requested from the service without the citizens presence, for 18 of them the self appointed search is obligatory. Indicative is the progress that took place in the case of self appointed search of certificates of birth from KEP, where, while in 2005 they had 231.327 certificates and medium time of transaction the 8 days, in the end of 2006 the transaction reached 432.188 certificates, that is to say almost double, with medium time of transaction the 5 days. Same is the acceleration as far as it concerns the certificates of familial situation, where while in 2005 were published 253.071 certificates, in 2006 until 2007, 373.219 certificates have been published  · The suppression of submission of supporting documents and their replacement with a personal declaration form for 7 cases  · The videoconference of administrative bodies  · The generalization of electronic communication and exchange of documents between the services. The network â€Å"SIZEFKSIS† ensures 50.000 digital certificates (under form of card) in civil servants equal in number. With this way is provided the possibility of electronic distribution of document, with simultaneous place of signature on this, with electronic way, without a problem of genuineness, after the distribution becomes from the above permitted employees with the use of digital certificate of (card). This electronic distribution involves big acceleration of process of publication and mission of document and contributes considerably in the fighting of bureaucracy.  · The application of a plan of restriction of state expenses and the enlarged public sector, by reforming the public services, so that they become more functional and effective  · The promotion of a regulatory reform, with the establishment of rules of good legislation as well as a system of evaluation of the results of legislative regulations in the competitiveness and the entrepreneurship The City of Athens operates a total of seven (7) Citizen Service Centres (KEP), one in each City District. Citizen Service Centres provide an online service for Athens citizens with regards the following: * City of Athens municipal roll certificates * Permanent residence certificates * Certification TAP property fee payment (in cases where agreement exists on the number of square metres registered with the Public Power Corporation and the contract of purchase) The Citizens Helpline 1595 provides information on documents required for all procedures processed by Citizen Service Centres. 2.6 Service marketing Usually marketing had been seen as having dual dimension.On the one hand, there is the notion which supports that the existence of an organization in economical and social content is based on the satisfaction of customer needs and wants, and on the other hand there is the â€Å" set of activities † which serve this philosophy in order to be implemented (CromptonLamb,1986). The marketing of services is a sector with particular characteristics .The expenditure on services is growing in most industrialized economies. According to the European Commission , â€Å"the percentage share of gross domestic product attributable to the services sector rose from 38 per cent in 1970 to almost 50 percent by 1990†. Crowell supports that â€Å"what is significant about services is the relative dominance of intangible attributes in the make up of the service product†. Services as a special kind of product usually they do not result in ownership but they can be linked to a physical good require special treatment. According to Jobber, as many offerings may combine tangible and intangible characteristics the distinction between them is >. For example, a marketing research study provides a physical good, which is the report that comes out, but also is the result of a number of service activities such as interviews with respondents, analysis of results, designing of the research, etc. Products such as a skirt or a pair of socks usually are not accompanied by a service so they can be characterised as pure goods, but also a visit to a doctor or psychotherapy can be regarded as a pure service as there is nothing tangible that the client receives. 2.6.1 THE NATURE OF SERVICES Service characteristics can be summarised to the following four: intangibility, variability, perishability and inseparability. 2.6.1.1 Intangibility As intangibility can be characterised the fact that services cant be smelled, touched, tasted or seen. Service is â€Å"a deed, performance or effort and not an object device or thing† (Berry, 1980). In other words customer cant evaluate a service before buying it and sometimes cant evaluate it even after consuming it. For this reason the challenge for the service providers is to prove the quality of the service by communicating tangible benefits to consumers. Another characteristic of intangibility is the fact that the service cant be owned so customers pay for the use of product or the performance. 2.6.1.2 Variability The provision of service quality may vary depending to the person who provides it. In other words important factors are the capabilities the person has, his physical and mental situation (tiredness, attitude etc.) the location the service is provided .So, in order to control quality variation , methods such as evaluation systems , tight quality controls and service standardization methods are necessary (Jobber,2004). 2.6.1.3 Inseparability In contrast with physical goods services cant be stored in order to be used later. Services are characterised by the â€Å"simultaneous production and consumption.† Because of this characteristic service providers role is very important to the satisfaction of consumer, as many times he is supposed to be himself the company in the eyes of customer (Berry, 1980). For this reason â€Å"the importance of service provider is an integral part of the satisfaction gained by the consumer†. The behaviour of the service provider is also important for the experience that the customer has for the provided service .So, great importance must be given to the training and rewarding of the staff and its selection (Aijo,1996). Another element that is connected to inseparability is the fact that the customer may experience the service in combination with other customers because of the nature of the service and the place it is offered. At this case marketing managers should take into consideration the role of customer interactions between them, but also the inter customer conflicts and nuisance (Barron et al., 1996). 2.6.1.4 Perishability Unlike the physical goods, services cant be stored in order to be used in the future or at peak times. So service providers should take into consideration the combination of demand and supply and use methods such as multi-skilling of the staff in order to be used at peak seasons or part time employees, supply flexibility, differential pricing and reservation system in order to minimize time waiting (Jobber, 2004). Today one of the greater challenges that the sector of services has to face is the increasing competition in combination with the growing expectations of customers and the developing demands of customers as service improves (Joseph Walker, 1988). 2.6.2 SERVICE MARKETING MIX Models had to explain the relationship between the market and the organisation in order to maximize the seconds performance (Gronrooss C, 1982). To certain extent managing services are more complicated than managing products, as products can be standardised. The standardisation of a service is far more difficult as there are more input factors i.e. process, people, physical evidence, to manage than with a product. The service marketing mix consists of the 7Ps model. These include except from the classical 4 Ps that stands for: Product, Price, Place, Promotion, three more Ps which are People, Process and Physical evidence. 2.6.2.1 People People participate and deliver the service experience, the efficiency and effectiveness, the availability and capability, the customer interaction and the internal marketing. Any provision of service includes as an essential part the use of appropriate staff and people. In order to gain an organisation competitive advantage it is important that it recruits the right staff that is well trained in the delivery of service. Usually consumers perceptions and judgements are affected by the employees they interact with. Consumers wait from the staff to have the appropriate attitude, service knowledge and interpersonal skills that they are paying for. So many organisations train their staff to certain standards. Physical Evidence Physical evidence concerns the place where the service is delivered, infrastructure, facilities, surroundings, essential evidence and peripheral evidence ,equipment and premises. It is an element of the service mix that contributes to the formation of the opinion of the consumer about the organization .So the judgments and the perceptions of the consumers are formed by the sight of the service provision .For example if you walk in an office you expect a friendly environment neat and tie. Process The systems used to assist the organisation in delivering the service, constitute the process. So process refers to the operating process that takes the customer through ,from the initial contact till the service experience and evaluation , database management, service delivery, queuing systems, ordering ,standardization .The customer usually expects efficiency and quickness at the process of the service delivery and this fosters consumers loyalty and confidence in the organization. 2.6.3 Quality Quality is important to business organisations and their consumers, because quality products or services can and will secure consumers business. In addition, linking quality with expensive spending is not absolute, as price will not determine always quality. The high or low quality of a product or service is usually determined, â€Å"by how it made the consumer feel and whether consumer expectations were satisfied or exceeded† (Kotler P. et al, 2008). Quality was very popular in the marketing literature,  « where the notion of satisfying the customer was a dominant model of quality of service provided and consumer satisfaction  » (Raftopoulos V., 2005). The US Strategic Planning Institute in 1972 developed the concept of relative perceived quality (RPQ),  «that is the perception of quality as defined by customers, relative to the offerings of competitors. In other words quality is what a customer perceives it to be and this is a dynamic and complex notion.  » 2.6.3.1 Public service quality The need for quality public services is also expressed by the European Commission through the European Social Fund in its program for 2007-2013.The reason is that the quality of public services affects the implementation of policies and the strategy design as public sector organizations are responsible for them at a big degree at the Member States ,e.g. government ministries , local authority departments and special agencies (ESF,2009). The fact of how important is the quality of public services and the need to be improved, became popular, in Britain, at 1990s when the Government gave clear > on the subject, by the proposal of the Conservative Prime Minister John Major enclosed in his Citizens Charter White Paper (Prime Minister, 1991). The issue faced great consensus from the political parties as the same year both Liberal and Labour parties published their own citizen charter proposals. The citizen driven improvement of the quality of public services was a fact (Black et al., 1994). This policy which faced the citizen as user and needed the reporting of performance from the service providers was continued for a long period it was enriched with best value new policies and was popular as>.According to this concept public services is better to be managed than administrated (Black et al.,2001). At the same time another reason that public service quality is important is that the needs and expectations of the users change and increase. Service quality and how to measure it developed to be a critical issue ,so during the 1990s performance measurement techniques developed as a result of >such as government legislation ,regulatory activity by industry keepers and major policy initiatives, as Black St. et al. , characterize them, and not as a result of the needs of the service provider. Meanwhile , all the efforts of understanding and measuring public service quality where characterized as weak and an increasing interest for quality improvement models techniques , certification and awards developed .So a number of new significances appeared such as total quality management and continuous improvement, process mapping techniques, Institution Standards and Charters. The revolution of the commercial service sector that took place the previous decades influenced also public sector organizations that faced the need to provide quality services that meet ‘customer needs and expectations. As Wisniewski remarks, > (Wisniewski, 2001). The notion of treating the customers has started to change as they dont receive passively uniform services without their voice or influence being considered (Skelcher, 1992). At the opposite side, the adoption of traditional methods may lead to the delivery of a service distant from customer needs. So organizations many times, after a more profound search, discover that the needs and values of customers are different from what they assume before searching (Farquhar C.R. ,1993). In order to discover customer perceptions and collect data concerning the attitudes o